We’ve written before about the exciting municipal water park coming to Bartow County and the flume slides have now arrived! Work continues at the Hamilton Crossing site with construction of the stairs and structure to support the flumes. The fumes themselves are staged at the perimeter of the park awaiting install and currently there is one enclosed and one open flume. Pictures here were taken on Sunday, February 22, 2026.
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It’s no secret that linear TV and cable subscriber numbers have been falling for years now, which is a drag on Comcast’s traditional cable TV business. What is perhaps newer for Comcast is a decline in broadband internet customers due to increased competition from fiber and home wireless 5G internet. Comcast revealed in its latest earnings report that it lost 104,000 internet customers and 257,000 cable TV customers during the third quarter of last year due to customer switching from increased competition. In the industry this is referred to as “churn” where customers switch from one service to another looking for better deals. One way to combat this is with loyalty programs (think airline miles or hotel points) where customers are rewarded for staying put. Comcast has ha such a program for some time, but has made some changes for the better and included some hefty theme park discounts the their Universal Orlando Resorts parks in Florida.
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On February 20th during the 2026 ACE Preservation T-Shirt Gala it was announced by Alex Ramsey of Alabama Adventure that the park would likely be reopening their wooden coaster Rampage during the summer of 2026! Alex is Alabama Adventure’s Human Resources, IT and Marketing Manager (he wears many hats) and was presenting during a night dedicated to wooden roller coaster preservation. The night also featured a screening of the documentary, “Save the Wooden Coaster”. The park will be doing a traditional retrack as the ride has been SBNO “for too long”. Things like Titan Track and RMC were considered, but were just too expensive at this time. There are still plans to do a more durable and permanent retrack (likely Titan Track), but this will come later and in steps over the next 5-6 years.
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Earlier in 2025 it was announced that Herschend was aquiring the US based assets of Palace Entertainment. This acquisition included famous properties such as Pittsburgh’s Kennywood, Iowa’s Adventureland, Noah’s Ark water park in Wisconsin Dells and Lake Compounce, the oldest continuously-operating amusement park in North America. It also included some smaller family entertainment centers including Malibu Norcross in Norcross, GA and Mountasia in Marietta, GA that we subsequently closed on September 28, 2025. Mountasia was specifically known for three mini golf courses, bumper boats and go-karts. I had a chance to drive by the now shuttered Mountasia and got some current pictures.
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The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan are currently taking place and with it the bobsledding competition. For many watching Bobsleds scream at 80 miles/hour down an ice track is the highlight of the Olympics. Celebrities like Jason Kelce and Colin Jost are also taking their turns with rides down the track. It looks like a roller coaster ride with its intense turns and speed and the roller coaster industry even designed a special type of coaster based on the bobsled experience.
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Alcohol at theme parks, once a rarity, is becoming increasingly common. The Busch Garden parks have always had it given their original ownership by Anheuser-Busch and alcohol availability at Disney parks is still sparse, but growing recently. Universal has had alcohol essentially since inception and fully embraced it with numerous options at Epic Universe. However, in almost all these locations (sans free beer days at Busch Gardens and SeaWorld), you’ll pay a pretty penny for a drink. However, one place breaks this mold with what is the best deal you’ll find on beer in the theme park industry and that’s Fun Spot at their Orlando, Kissimmee and Atlanta locations. You can get a 22 ounce beer in a souvenir glass for only $9.99 and refill it for just $3.99 all season long!
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It’s become a tradition for a representative of the winner of the Super Bowl to make a trip to Disney the following day and that continued with the Seattle Seahawks victory in Super Bowl 60. Quarterback Sam Darnold and Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III made the trip to Disneyland in Anaheim to celebrate their victory. There was a victory parade down Main Street, U.S.A and the pair also got to take in some rides including the famous tea cups! There’s also a really complex process that allows a TV commercial to be made about it on the fly as soon as the game ends.
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One of the highlights of the Super Bowl for many are the commercials. This year’s game was televised by NBC (owned by Comcast), so there were many nods to the Comcast group of businesses including Xfinity web service, the new Minions & Monsters movie and the Universal theme parks! The ad centers specifically around the Universal Orlando Resort and although every park was shown in some way, including Volcano Bay, the majority of the park shots were centered around Epic Universe and Stardust Racers.
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SeaWorld San Antonio released footage on February 4th social media of the first test run of their new B&M family inverted coaster Barracuda Strike. This is the second consecutive year the park will be adding a coaster and it’s 3rd new coaster in the last 6 years. The park has put out a lot of great graphics and concept art related to the ride’s theme, so it will be great to watch in the coming weeks as some of these elements come more into focus. Anytime there is a new coaster test cycling, no matter if it’s a family coaster or a new thrill coaster, there’s still a ton of excitement in the air.
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On a recent trip over Thanksgiving week to SeaWorld San Antonio we experienced the Shark Tour. If you’re a platinum pass holder this is one of the tours you can select for your “free animal tour” benefit and regular guests can get this tour for as little as $10 (potentially discounted further with a season pass). It’s a chance to go “behind the scenes” of SeaWorld and see how the park creates an immersive animal experience and actually touch a shark!
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BGT Safari 