Should a Theme Park do a Former Rides Graveyard Like the Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard?

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I recently took the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream tour in Vermont and one of my favorite parts of the whole tour was the flavor graveyard. It was a small plot of land with actual stone grave markers for flavors that had been discontinued. It had the flavor name, dates it was sold and a witty little saying. Some also had QR codes where you could get information on the former flavor. There was even an attendant working the area handing out black roses to lay by your favorite. Could this be something a theme park could do? Either permanent like Ben & Jerry’s or part of a Halloween festival like Fright Fest, Halloween Horror Nights, Howl-0-Scream or Great Pumpkin Luminights?

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Predator at Six Flags Darien Lake is an Awesome Coaster with a Little Help From Some Titan Track

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Predator at Six Flags Darien Lake is a shockingly great wood coaster. Although it’s more of a hybrid coaster today with the installation of Titan Track on about 80% of the course. However, the Titan Track makes the train run like butter and the bumpy last 20% without it actually serves as a reminder of what a great decision the retrofit was. The retrofit has been a 5 year process with the remainder of the conversion scheduled to happen the offseason. Once that is complete this could be one of the best wood hybrid rides anywhere.

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Visiting Enchanted Parks Great Escape with a Six Flags All Park Passport Season Pass

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Here’s my experience and review of visiting Enchanted Parks Great Escape (formerly Six Flags) using my Six Flags Over Georgia Gold Pass with All Parks Passport. The bottom line was that everything wasn’t seamless, but the Great Escape team did a great job at making everything work in the end. This included complementary parking, admission and even my drink plan.

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Riding the “Burger King Coaster” in Niagara Falls Canada

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There is a roller coaster on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls that’s simply known to enthusiasts as “The Burger King Coaster”. Now that’s not its name, but it gets it from being situated on the roof on top of an operating Burger King. The ride is actually called the “Frank N’ Coaster” and it sits on top of the House of Frankenstein. The Burger King just happens to be the ground floor, but you can see with the theming of Frank clutching a burger that they’ve all decided to be good, mutually beneficial neighbors. Here’s a brief review and overview of the experience.

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THRILLZ in Atlanta Opens and Georgia Adds a New Roller Coaster

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Picture courtesy of THRILLZ

THRILLZ, the indoor adventure amusement park, has opened in Atlanta and with it comes a new coaster credit for Georgia. TRILLZ is located in the Doraville area in Northwest Atlanta near the intersection of Interstate 85 and 285 and joins the company’s other parks in Pennsylvania and Connecticut. The new indoor coaster is an SBF Visa, so nothing intense, but still a lot of fun. The 56,000 square foot park also has several other rides including a 40 foot drop tower, the Rush 360 inverting pendulum ride, a VR coaster and numerous slides and obstacles.

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Motocoaster at Darien Lake is One of the Only Flywheel Launch Coasters Left

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When most people think “launch coaster” they think LSM (Linear Synchronous Motor) or magnetic launch. However, before this there was another system that was ingenious for its time and worked almost as well, a flywheel launch. A flywheel is a heavy, rapidly spinning wheel that can store kinetic energy and release it in a quick burst. In the case of a roller coaster, this allows a slingshotting of the train with rapid acceleration. There aren’t too many of these out there anymore, but one of the best is Motocoaster at Six Flags Darien Lake.o

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Did you Know Some Disney Characters Have Middle Names Like Donald “Fauntleroy” Duck?

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Donald Duck in Disney World Parade

Disney is known for its iconic cartoon characters. Chief among them is Mickey Mouse, but on the next tier with his own meet and greet is Donald Duck. However , did you know Donald Duck had the middle name Fauntleroy? His middle name was first revealed on his military draft card in the 1942 cartoon Donald Gets Drafted made during the heart of World War II. This was an interesting blend of cartoon and current events for sure!

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Five Major Differences Between LEGOLAND Florida and LEGOLAND Billund

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LEGOLAND Billund Entrance
LEGOLAND Billund Entrance
LEGOLAND Florida Entrance
LEGOLAND Florida Entrance

LEGOLAND Florida and LEGOLAND Billund are both “LEGO” theme parks, but they are by no means copies of each other. Both parks are run by Merlin and share a common IP and feel, but there are some distinct differences between the properties. These are good differences, not things that make one better than the other, but rather things that make each property unique. LEGOLAND Billund is the original “LEGO” park, opening in 1968, while LEGOLAND Florida followed in 2011, giving it the opportunity to take some of the best of LEGOLAND Billund, but also make the LEGO IP it’s own for a different audience. This article will look at five (5) differences you’ll probably notice if you visit both parks as well as some similarities between the two locations.

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Is Nateland Theme Park Real? As More Information Comes Out it Appears This Could Really Happen!

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Nateland Logo
Nateland Logo (Courtesy of Storyland Studios)

Comedian Nate Bargatze is looking to build a theme park and it’s slated to be called Nateland! The park is inspired by Bargatze’s childhood memories of the former Opryland and looks to blend in aspects of his childhood and career. For example, the entry plaza will resemble a 90’s shopping mall (a modern take on Main Street USA), a Tennessee section and a section dedicated to Times Square. Nate is partnering with Storyland Studios, a group who specializes in the master planning, architectural modeling and full project delivery of themed environments filled with former Walt Disney Imagineering and Universal Creative folks. At first some saw Nateland as a publicity stunt or a joke, but now with Storyland Studios involved and some actual park renderings, it appears to be becoming more real by the day.

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Crazy Red Bull Ferris Wheel Obstacle Course Stunt and Ferris Wheel Rescues

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Danish athlete Ida Mathilde Steensgaard completed the world’s first moving obstacle course built inside a rotating Ferris wheel. The stunt was sponsored by Red Bull and took place at Odense Harbour in Denmark. Steensgaard had to clear six custom-built obstacles while the Ferris wheel actively rotated. She is a two-time Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) world champion and the obstacle course was specially built into the 98-foot-high (30-metre) Ferris wheel. What’s also interesting is that the skills she showed are the same techniques used by fire departments for an emergency rescue from a Ferris wheel.

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