Author: printingddd

Wild Oasis at Busch Gardens Now Opening July 15th with Capybaras!

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Wild Oasis Sign at Busch Gardens
Wild Oasis Sign (courtesy of Busch Gardens)

Update July 2025: It appears Wild Oasis will finally open to the public on July 15, 2025 and to pass members starting July 13, 2025. This has had a couple of delays, but this large redesigned and new land should be worth the wait. The full schedule is below.

• Platinum Pass Members Only: Saturday, July 12 l 10:30 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.

• Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze Pass Members: Sunday, July 13 | 10:30 А.М. – 5:00 Р.M.

• All Pass Members & Fun Card Holders: Monday, July 14 | 10:30 А.М. – 5:00 P.M.

• Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting – Open to All Guests: Tuesday, July 15 | 10:30 – 11:30 A.M.

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A Review of a Delightful Day at Kentucky Kingdom and Their New Christmas Event

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Sledding hill and Ferris wheel at Kentucky Kingdom

We visited Kentucky Kingdom December 28, 2024 for their Christmas at Kentucky Kingdom event. For this event the park operates select rides, has special shows, great decorations and a massive sledding hill. The weather in Northern Kentucky in December can be hit or miss, but we had a perfect weather day. This was our first visit to the park and we found Kentucky Kingdom to be full of charm, but with a few quirks that didn’t necessarily detract from the experience, but instead were quite unique.

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Some of the Toughest Roller Coaster Credits on Earth to Get Might be North Korea

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Mangyongdae Funfair in Pyongyang in 2012

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Mangyongdae Funfair in Pyongyang in 2012

There are roller coasters on every continent other than Antarctica with 6,557 operating roller coasters worldwide according to Roller Coaster Database. However, there are some that are tougher to get than others, perhaps nearly impossible if you are American. We’ve written in the past about the indoor suspended coaster in Ukraine which may not be the safest place to visit today, but there are other countries where Americans are banned or advised against visiting like Cuba, Russia and North Korea. Of all the world’s coasters, North Korea’s 7 roller coasters may be the most difficult for outsiders to ride.

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Roller Coaster Patents: Epic Universe’s Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness Has a Patent on it!

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Patent sign from Tellus Museum
Donkey Kong Mine-Kart Madness layout

I was walking through Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia and they had a great display about patents that actually highlighted the patent on the Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness ride. This roller coaster has a unique design with hidden lower vertical track and a “boom” arm to create the illusion of jumps, movement over rough terrain and fast track switches. However, Universal is far from the only company to protect their work with parents as with a quick search you will find patents from companies like RMC, Disney and many more.

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Active Duty and Veteran Military Discounts at Busch Gardens

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View from Sheikra (Picture courtesy of Busch Gardens)

If you are veteran or active duty military you and your family can potentially head to Busch Gardens for free with their great military offers! The Waves of Honor program permits any U.S. active duty military, activated or drilling reservist, or National Guardsman to one complimentary admission per year to either SeaWorld, Busch Gardens or Sesame Place for military personnel and as many as three direct dependents. Veterans can get up to four free tickets for them and up to three guests to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. Tickets are available until May 18, 2025 and must be used by July 31, 2025. If you’re a veteran reading this after May 18th, put a pin in this as the promotion seems to come around every May and is also available at other parks like SeaWorld. If you’re eligible this can be a great way to have some free fun at Busch Gardens this summer!

Washington Commanders Schedule Release Video is a Parody of Roller Coaster Tycoon!

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The NFL schedule was released on May 14, 2025 and with it many teams made fun and humorous videos to celebrate usually based on a fun theme from pop culture. This year the Washington Commanders released “Commanders Tycoon” based on the Roller Coaster Tycoon series of games. In the video each week and opponent is themed to a ride or attraction. My favorite has to be the Cheese Chaser Coaster based on the team’s week 2 game against the Green Bay Packers being that I’m originally from Wisconsin and a huge Packer fan. There is also some irony here with the DC area Six Flags America closing after this year.

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Celebrating Dollywood’s 40th Anniversary with Eyes Toward Massive $50 Million Investment for 2026

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The 2025 season and Dollywood’s 40th anniversary are underway. For 2025 there’s no big new ride or attraction, but instead we’re getting a new restaurant, a bunch of refreshes/refurbishments and improvements to the guest experience. The park is already looking forward to 2026 with a reported $50 million expansion, the largest in the park’s history, and a major new attraction. An announcement this year teased a “Take Flight” theme with rumors of an indoor suspended roller coaster or flying theater coming to the back of Wildwood Grove. However, the additions for 2025 still represent millions of dollars in significant improvements that will make the park more enjoyable for years to come and help put the “theme” in theme park.

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SeaWorld to Combat Epic Universe Opening with New Expedition Odyssey Attraction and Free Beer!

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SeaWorld logo

Update September 2025: It appears the strategy may have worked as United Parks (SeaWorld parent company) announced that SeaWorld Orlando’s attendance was up in the 2nd quarter of 2025 post Epic Universe’s opening. It’s rare that United Parks announces park specific performance, so it’s obvious they were trying to make a point. CEO Marc Swanson said, “Our attendance at our SeaWorld Orlando park has been up in attendance since Epic opened on May 22,” he said. “It was up for the full second quarter, and it was up if you measured from the date Epic opened through the end of the second quarter. It continues to be up quarter to date in the third quarter through Aug. 6 on a day-to-day basis.” Swanson also said attendance was up at its Aquatica Orlando water park and Discovery Cove, and revenue also was up in Orlando.

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Demolition of Scorpion Underway at Busch Gardens

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Scorpion Roller Coaster Demolition at Busch Gardens
Scorpion Demolition (picture courtesy of Vikings Coaster Crew)
Scorpion Roller Coaster Demolition at Busch Gardens
Scorpion Demolition (picture courtesy of Vikings Coaster Crew)

There have been reports online that Scorpion’s demolition has begun. This definitely looks like a demolition rather than a relocation based on cutting of the steel rather than disassembly. We’ve written before about the history of Scorpion and how it served as the first coaster inversion for a generation of Busch Gardens visitors. While it’s sad to see it go, hopefully this work means that this location could be home to something new in 2026. This would be quite the revitalization for Pantopia after just getting flight of the Phoenix Rising. I want to give a special thank you to  Vikings Coaster Crew and /railfan_andrew for the pictures in this post!

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Will the New Pope be a Roller Coaster Fan? Will he Crave Both Airtime and Prayer Time?

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Catholic Cardinals riding a roller coaster

May 8,2025 Update: So we have a new Pope and he’s American Robert Prevost of Chicago, now known as Pope Leo XIV! What is shocking is that we could actually have sort of been right about this? There’s no word on if the Pope spent any time at Six Flags Great America outside Chicago, but in a video produced about him it has roller coaster and amusement park images! At the 1:20 mark of a Catholic News Service interview with the Former Cardinal Robert Provost (now Pope Leo XIV) there are a bunch of video from what appears to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk rides and coasters! The Catholic News Service is anews agency owned by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that reports on the Catholic Church, so you can view this more as a promotional piece where the former Cardinal Prevost probably had a lot of influence on the look and feel. Maybe the new Pope does love roller coasters!

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