Kumba at Busch Gardens Tampa has closed and is now erased from the park map. The name “Kumba” was said to translates to “roar“ in an African Kongo (Congo) language, according to the Busch Gardens marketing material. The hollow track provided the distinctive roaring sound as the train traversed the track. However, there is still a ride named Kumba and it’s located at Serengeti Park Hodenhagen in Germany. It’s not a roller coaster, but a giant pendulum ride.
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ArieForce One will get the chance to continue to thrill riders! John Arie announced on the park’s social media that the coaster had indeed been sold in an enthusiastic video. He teased about when and where it was going, but ultimately no details were given. I guess we’ll have to just stay tuned, but this is spectacular news! Pretty amazing it all came together one day past a month of Fun Spot Atlanta’s closing too!
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Daredevil Falls at Dollywood and Bugs’ White Water Rapids at Six Flags Fiesta Texas are the only Hopkins Super Flumes left in the United States. They were both built in 1998 and are joined by 3 other locations in South Korea, Taiwan and Australia. Hopkins was acquired by WhiteWater West in 2012 and the last Super Flume was installed in 2015 before being discontinued. However, the Super Flume is making a comeback as the Super Flume Technology has been selected by Six Flags for Rip Roarin’ Falls at Carowinds. In this case it will be a WhiteWater West Super Flume, but it’s a successor to the Hopkins Super Flume. WhiteWater West differentiates the Super Flume from a traditional log flume because it features boats that hold up to eight passengers, offers the potential of turntables and backwards motion as well as enhanced theming.
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You may not have been following the saga of the Coyote vs. ACME movie, but it’s quite the story. This was originally a Warner Bros. Discovery movie filmed back in 2022 that they shelved in 2023 with plans to take a tax wrote-off rather than ever release it. The film had cost $70 million to make and there would be marketing budget on top of it. Warner Bros. thought it was better to take the loss even though it had done well with test audiences and had some star power with people like John Cena and Will Forte. There was an outcry from fans, the movie stars and production team that eventually lead to independent distributor Ketchup Entertainment acquiring the rights for $50 million in March 2025. Much of the outcry was on principle from people who obviously never saw The film on the principle that finished art shouldn’t just be buried with the remained being fans of the Looney Tunes franchise. The film was finally released on August 28, 2026 and grossed $15.5 million against a $70-72 million budget, quite good for a film that didn’t get much advertising. It has received positive reviews from critics and is expected to continue to do well by word of mouth as the fall movie season is pretty light on competition.
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The University of Tennessee football program has announced that a commemorative helmet sticker will be worn to honor Dolly Parton for every game this season. The university is located in Knoxville, near Dollywood and Sevierville where Dolly was born and raised. Dolly actually appeared at Neyland Stadium in 2023, escorted onto the field by Tennessee and NFL legend Peyton Manning to perform the Volunteer football anthem “Rocky Top”.
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Dollywood’s social media has posted that NightFlight Expedition will operate on Monday, August 31, 2016 from 2pm to 8pm. The ride has been shut down for several days as Dollywood said the manufacturer had asked for additional time to adjust the timing of the ride’s turntable in the flying simulator section. The park hasn’t made any promises after Monday, but the park is scheduled to be closed on Tuesday, September 1st anyway. Dollywood considers the ride in “technical rehearsals” so we can expect the schedule to be fluid, although I’m sure they’d love it operating 100% for Labor Day weekend. I had a chance to experience NightFlight and it’s an extremely ambitious ride with simulator, boat, roller coaster and dark ride elements all together. None of the ride elements of NightFlight themselves were revolutionary, but having one single Mack vehicle do them all in a 5 minute experience was pretty amazing!
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Opryland closed back in 1997, but several of its rides were purchased and still operate today. One of those rides was Lumberjack Falls at Wild Waves Theme & Water Park near Seattle, Washington which operated in Opryland as Old Mill Scream from 1987 to 1997. Unfortunately Wild Waves is slated to close permanently on November 1, 2026 with Lumberjack Falls is already closed for the season (which essentially means forever). This is sad to see on many levels, but perhaps in this there’s a small glimmer of opportunity. Comedian Nate Bargatze is looking to build a theme park called Nateland in Nashville, Tennessee. The park is inspired by Bargatze’s childhood memories of the former Opryland and the era it 90’s era of it’s operations. Wouldn’t it be something if Nate Bargatze bought the former Opryland attraction Old Mill Scream and brought it back to Nashville for his new Nateland theme park? This would be the ultimate homecoming and give Nateland an actual former Opryland attraction.
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Scooter Pals are essentially a scooter or ECV in fun and fuzzy packaging. The Scooter Pals website says they’re, “More than just a ride, these ScooterPals Fur-Wheelers® are a full-fledged animal attraction.” They have great names like Lumi McSparklepants the Unicorn, Boogie P. the Giant Panda and Rey’s the Giraffe. They are often found at places like zoos, but they’re now also available at Six Flags Darien Lake right near Rolling Thunder. You can rent a Scooter Pal for a $5 activation fee plus $0.39/minute. That’s the activation fee plus $23.40/hour. During a recent visit later in the day we saw several people enjoying them with a good percentage of the Scooter Pals rented.
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Popcorn buckets are a big deal at many theme parks. Many of the Disney ones are known to have lines that rival rides and often sell out. These popcorn buckets get exotic, taking the shape of characters, props or landmarks, often incorporating lights and sound. Dollywood now has an awesome looking collectible in its NightFlight Color-Changing Bioluminator Popcorn Bucket. The Bioluminator is a key part of the plot of the NightFlight Expedition ride and the popcorn bucket is a faithful recreation of it. You can get one at Dollywood for $29.99 and no doubt it will be a conversation piece wherever you display it.
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Opryland was a famous theme park in Nashville that closed almost 30 years ago. It had a nice group of rides which you probably need to be almost 40 to remember riding. Remarkably though, several of the rides from the park were relocated and are still operating today. One of those is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, a classic Arrow mine train, which is now operating as Canyon Blaster at Six Flags Great Escape (Enchanted Parks) in Queensbury, New York. There were a few modifications to fit the space, but it’s essentially the same ride. The signature moment for Canyon Blaster is the huge 900 degree helix at the end.
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BGT Safari 