Great Pumpkin LumiNights at Wild Adventures Will Feature More Lights, More Pumpkins and More Fun than Ever

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Great Pumpkin LumiNights at Wild Adventures
Great Pumpkin LumiNights at Wild Adventures (courtesy of Wild Adventures)

Great Pumpkin LumiNights at Wild Adventures will be bigger and better than ever this year. The event will run from September 26, 2026 until November 1, 2026. Guests will be able to explore the park and see towering pumpkin sculptures (some with famous faces and places from Georgia and Georgia), experience over one million twinkling lights, sample some foods from the nation’s largest Pumpkin Spice Festival and trick or treat a long Spookly’s Trail. The park promises, “More Lights. More Pumpkins. More FUN!” and this is on top of all the regular great rides, food, animals and other attractions.

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New Vekoma Vest Restraint is a Nice Improvement for SLC’s and Boomerangs

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Mind Eraser at Six Flags Darien Lake
Mind Eraser at Six Flags Darien Lake

On a recent trip to New York I had a chance to experience the newer Vekoma vest restraints on both an SLC and a Boomerang. I rode the SLC Mind Eraser at Darien Lake and the Boomerang Flashback at Darien Lake. For me they offered a sincerely improved ride on both attractions. The difference was especially noticeable for my 10 year old son on Mind Eraser as he is much more prone to head-banging with his barely 54” height. These restraints were comfortable and also look great on the new trains. I had ridden Boomerang at Darien Lake as well (which has the classic over the shoulder restraints) and the difference between it and Flashback at Great Escape were quite noticeable. Boomerang wasn’t bad, but the new trains and restraints on Flashback made for a better experience.

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Lion & Hyena Ridge Opens at Busch Gardens Tampa

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Lion & Hyena Ridge at Busch Gardens Tampa
Lion & Hyena Ridge at Busch Gardens Tampa (Courtesy of Busch Gardens Tampa)

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay officially opened the all-new Lion & Hyena Ridge on Saturday, July 25th. The new area is massive at 38,000 square feet and houses the largest coalition of lions in an Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) accredited facility. Guests will have the chance to meet lions Pascal, Lou, Hugo, Henri and Herman and hyenas Dazi and Cazi. The exhibit offers incredible 270-degree views of the habitat which mimics an authentic environment with Kopje-style rock formations and naturalistic terrain. Designed to deliver an immersive safari-style experience, Lion & Hyena Ridge features expansive glass viewing areas that offer guests remarkable face-to-face perspectives of the animals. Guests can also explore interactive cave spaces and cross overhead bridges, creating unique vantage points throughout the expansive habitat.

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Six Flags Unveils 2027 Season Pass Plans with 4 Regions for Gold Pass and Free Fountain Beverages with Prestige Pass

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Six Flags Great Adventure has announced their  has officially launched sales for 2027 season passes Tuesday saw the announcement of their brand-new record-breaking 382-foot spinning roller coaster, Bakunawa and their new 2027 season pass plans. The bottom line is It looks like things are getting a tad more expensive 2026, but there are at least a couple of new nice benefits. The prices below are for Great Adventure with a massive new ride, so prices for other parks may be $10-$20 cheaper, but I’d expect them to be similar. Last year I was able to get a free “All Parks Passport” with my Six Flags Over Georgia season pass with the 2025 MVP Promotion (which was a stupid good deal) that I’ve used a bunch this year. It appears going forward the only way to do this is the Prestige Pass, but it is nice that the Prestige Pass now offers free beverages!

Update: Six Flags Over Georgia (SFOG) is out with season their pass info and it’s $65 for Gold and $189 for Prestige! You can also get 20 meals for only $89!

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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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