Lookout Mountain Safari Roller Coaster at Lake Winnie Now Coming in 2027

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Lake Winnie was unable to get Lookout Mountain Safari open in 2026 and it now appears slated for 2027 instead. Lookout Mountain Safari is actually the coaster formerly known as Kombo that was removed from the Indianapolis Zoo. It is is a family coaster by Zierer that is 24 feet in height and reaches 21 mph on 656 feet of track. The Lookout Mountain Safari name fits the unique train well as the cars that look like safari vehicles. The track was actually constructed by spring of 2026, but the coaster was never able to open this season. It is still on the Lake Winnie website as “coming soon”, but the park will not open again until Spring of 2027.

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Are You Going to Visit California’s Great America Before it Closes at the End of 2027?

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It’s been rumored for some time, but it’s now official, California’s Great America will close forever at the end of 2027. After 50+ years of operation, Six Flags was unable to come to agreement on a new lease with the landowners of the Santa Clara property where the park resides. That lease ends in June of 2028, necessitating a 2027 closure. The final day will be Labor Day of 2027, September 6th. To their credit Six Flags is being very transparent with the lease situation and also giving guests a whole season to say goodbye. No doubt many theme park fans will make a pilgrimage out to visit for the first time or one last time. I had a chance to do this last year with Six Flags America and it was a very worthwhile experience.

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Universal Orlando Refillable Cup Gives You Free Coca-Cola Freestyle Refills All Day

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Unlimited Coca-Cola Freestyle Refill Cup at Universal Orlando
Unlimited Coca-Cola Freestyle Refill Cup at Universal Orlando

Refillable cups or sports bottles can be a tremendous value during a theme park visit as opposed to paying for each soda individually. Universal Orlando Resort offers a Coca-Cola Freestyle Souvenir Cup program that gives you unlimited free soda and ICEE throughout the parks. Most of this is of this is totally automated through Coca-Cola Freestyle machines and a RFID chip in the base of the cup. Cups begin at $19.99 and can get as cheap as $15.99 if you buy 3 of them. This price gives you the souvenir cups to keep and free refills for a day. The cup can be reactivated on a future visit for just $12.99 and once activated is good throughout the resort at self serve Coca-Cola Freestyle machines at Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Epic Universe, Volcano Bay and CityWalk. I think Epic has my favorite name for a refill station in Celestial Park called the Goddess of Refreshment.

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Longtime Owner and Leader of Lake Winnepesaukah, Adrienne White Rhodes, has Passed Away

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Adrienne White Rhodes, a third generation owner of Lake Winnie, passed away peacefully on November 3, 2026 at the age of 94. She was the granddaughter of park founders Carl and Minette Dixon, and worked at the park since childhood. Going to Lake Winnie in some ways is like a trip in a time machine to a different era of amusement parks with classic rides like the Boat Chute or it’s Carousel, both at a century of operations. The park park just had its 100th anniversary celebration in 2025 and looks to be poised to be part of the Rossville, Georgia community for generations to come.

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SEAQuest Legends of the Deep at SeaWorld Orlando Officially Delayed to 2027

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Sometimes a “New For 2026” becomes “New for 2027” and that’s the case for SEAQuest Legends of the Deep at SeaWorld Orlando. A delay had been rumored, but has now been confirmed. SEAQuest is a suspended dark ride by Vekoma themed to a submarine taking an underwater voyage. The ride vehicle made its debut at IAAPA last year and there was a lot of buzz about it.

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65 and Older Can Get Free Senior Admission to Six Flags for the Rest of 2026!

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Guests 65 and older get free admission to their Six Flags park for the rest of the 2026 season. Register online, then visit as often as you like through your park’s last day of the season. Simply choose your park and register online before the deadline. Free Senior Admission does not include parking or other perks and it’s open to guests born on or before December 31, 1961 are eligible. Participating parks and their last operating day of the season are below:

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Is Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts a Tilt Coaster?

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Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts at Universal Studios is a fantastic combination roller coaster and dark ride. However, can it actually lay claim to being a tilt coaster? Tilt coasters have gotten a lot of press recently with the debut of Siren’s Curse at Cedar Point, but could the first one in the United States have been in Florida since 2014. The post below from @jpland21 is a great demonstration of what’s happening on the coaster and the tilt mechanism at the beginning of the the ride is clearly evident.

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Midnight Showdown Indoor Wooden Roller Coaster Coming to Kentucky Kingdom

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Midnight Showdown Anchors an All-New Kentucky Kingdom, Capping Nearly $50 Million Theme Park Transformation

Kentucky Kingdom is off to the races in 2027 with Midnight Showdown, The World’s Largest Indoor Wooden Roller Coaster. The park’s seventh coaster overall, this family-friendly, horse racing-themed wooden coaster is the centerpiece of Bluegrass Downs, a new land inspired by Kentucky’s horse racing legacy. Set to open in spring of 2027, the coaster will feature 1,130 feet of pure wood track, two trains with seats for 10 riders each, and stand more than three stories tall.

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Could Six Flags Clone ArieForce One so Multiple Parks Get One?

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Would anyone be upset if there were two ArieForce One coasters?

There has been tremendous talk about Six Flags Magic Mountain getting ArieForce One over places like Kings Dominion of Carowinds. However, what if Magic Mountain just got the original ArieForce One and other parks got clones of it in subsequent years? Six Flags is the company that gave us 7 copies of the Batman B&M inverted coaster (a couple under a different name), multiple copies of the B&M flying coaster Superman and several S&S 4D spins. Universal and Disney do cloned rides too, so why not put an ArieForce One on each coast? RMC typically has not built “clones”, but I imagine for the right amount of money they’d entertain it. Would anyone be upset if there were two ArieForce One coasters?

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