Dollywood has released its full 2027 operating calendar with an opening day of March 10, 2027 for passholders and concluding on January 2, 2028. There are 275 operating days, which surprisingly is 6 fewer than last year after the park adding extra days in the past. The addition of NightFlight does add another indoor option, but this is still a primarily outdoor park with minimum temperature requirements for many of the roller coasters to operate. The calendar is filled with all your favorite events as Barbeque & Bluegrass returning for the 2027 season on Labor Day weekend. This will be the first full season without Dolly as well, so no doubt we can expect some openings of memorials and other poignant moments too. It’s crazy to think, but 2027 will be here before we know it!

Rilix Coaster is a VR coaster experience in the arcade packaging. The Rilix Coaster isn’t just VR visuals though, but a complete immersive experience using haptic technology in the seat and a variable speed fan. The haptic transducer lets you feel every bump and turn while the fan creates wind which helps create a sensation of speed. These can combine to create an immersive experience and mentally tie together the visuals with a physical feeling of motion when you’re actually stationary. You can see in the reaction video below just how convincing the effect can be.

Andy Grove is the legendary former CEO of Intel and his office actually overlooked California’s Great America. One of the most important conversations in the history took place as he was looking out his window at the park. At that point in time Intel was primarily in the memory chip business and losing to Japanese companies subsidized by the government of Japan. Grove remarked to Gordon Moore (then CEO and co-founder), “If we got kicked out and the board brought in a new CEO, what do you think he would do?” Moore replied immediately, “He would get us out of memories.” At that point Grove remarked, Why shouldn’t you and I walk out the door, come back and do it ourselves?”

Six Flags has begun more aggressively marketing the regional access that comes with their Gold Season Pass. They have even created great maps like the one below that highlight the parks of each region. Although only a small percentage of season pass members will go to a distant park, the program does increase the perceived value of a season pass. It may serve to build loyalty and perhaps have some members plan a vacation around visiting a new park. Six Flags has even built web pages highlighting attractions at each park and even places to stay like this one for the Six Flags East Coast Region. This year I’v had the chance to travel to several Six Flags parks outside my home park of Six Flags Over Georgia and I couldn’t recommend using this benefit more!