The eclipse on April 8, 2024 was spectacular with several theme parks hosting eclipse events. Now it’s time to prepare for the next one! The next major total eclipse in the United States is scheduled for August 12, 2045 and it’ll hit some huge Theme parks including Disney, SeaWorld, Universal and Busch Gardens. Heck, Epic Universe will be a 20 year old park by then! However, I’m hoping to watch it from Wild Adventures in Valdosta , GA

Wild Adventures in Valdosta , GA which will get 2 minutes and 30 seconds of totality according to Time and Date AS. A few miles can make a huge difference in what you see as the moon’s shadow line is stark. The park is situated slightly southwest of Valdosta where it will experience totality for several minutes while in Valdosta proper and east of Interstate 75 there’s no totality, only 99.99%. In an eclipse the difference by 99% and 100% is everything in terms of level of darkness, seeing the corona and seeing the stars/planets emerge in the middle of the day. Animals also tend to do crazy things in an eclipse too, so Wild Adventures could be fascinating from that perspective. I’m also guessing Wild Adventures will be more chill than Disney or Universal. Traffic has also been horrific in past eclipses, so being away from large cities is a plus.

The park of course has not released any info about plans for the eclipse (it’s 20+ years away after all!), but no doubt there will be cool stuff. The park did release some super cute images on social media of its animals experiencing the partial eclipse in Valdosta on April 8, 2024 with eclipse glasses though (used with permission).

Who knows what we can expect in 2045 as 21 years is a long time, especially for technology. Who would have guessed in 2003 that Six Flags Over Texas would have had a drone show during this year’s 2024 eclipse with hundreds of computer controlled vehicles creating pictures in the sky? What rides will be closed? What new rides will there be? There will also be another total eclipse at Wild Adventures in 2052, just 7 years later, that’s like winning the celestial lottery! I’m guessing there’s probably a turtle or bird there right now that will outlive all of us to see what will be a partial eclipse for the park in 2099 too!

The future by its very nature is unknowable. There’s no certainty where Wild Adventures, the theme park industry or any of us will be in 2045, but let’s hope for the best. Remember that Herschend is the owner of Wild Adventures, so just think of where Dollywood was 21 years ago versus today and there’s the potential that massive things could be coming in the next decade. Regardless, start making your plans for 2045 and 2052 now, it’s going to be epic!