Why Didn’t Disney Announce a 5th Gate at D23?

D23 has come and gone with lots of major announcements that have fans excited. One thing fans had hoped for was a “fifth gate” or another theme park to add to Walt Disney World to match what Universal is doing with Epic Universe. Instead, Disney’s announcements were expansions and retheming of existing attractions. Many would argue you could preserve the existing attractions at the existing parks and simply roll all the new together to make a pretty amazing new park. This way you increase capacity at Disney world rather than keeping the status quo of real estate and attractions. The question is why?

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Georgia Surfer at Six Flags Over Georgia Delayed Until 2025

Georgia Surfer Logo from Six Flags Over Georgia
Georgia Surfer Logo from Six Flags Over Georgia

In sad, but not entirely unexpected news, Six Flags has bumped the Georgia Surfer, the new Intamin launched “surf” coaster, until 2025. The same day it was also announced that Six Flags Great Adventure was delaying The Flash Vertical Velocity, a Vekoma boomerang. Being already August with construction still ongoing the writing seemed to be on the wall although there was still hope after a Novermber 4th opening of Kid Flash Cosmic Coaster last year. The social media posts from the park read as follows:

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D23 Announces Suspended “Door” Roller Coaster for Monsters Inc. Land at Disney Studios!

Last night at the very end of the D23 Experiences Showcase a suspended coaster announced for Monsters Inc. Land at Disney Studios! This land was not something that was telegraphed or widely expected and was quite surprising. What was even more surprising was that construction is set to begin next year, so this isn’t “blue sky” stuff, this appears to be really happening. In fact it is supposed to being construction next year in 2025!

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D23 Concept Art Appears to Show a Roller Coaster for Villains Land at Disney’s Magic Kingdom!

Last night at the very end of the D23 Experiences Showcase the long anticipated Villains Land was announced for Disney’s Magic Kingdom. The details were VERY sparse with no opening date or specific attractions announced, just mention of 2 attractions, shopping and dining. However, if you zoom into the top left of the concept art shown last night it’s very obvious there is a coaster in the works!

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Busch Gardens Williamsburg Gets in on the $5 Meal Deal Trend!

Consumers are feeling the pinch of higher restaurant prices and chains like McDonald’s and Burger King have responded with $5 meal deals. In a move that was quite surprising, you can now get a complete meal at a theme park for just $5! Through August 14, 2024 you can get a hot dog, chips and a drink for just $5 at Grogan’s Grill from 11am – 7pm. According to @TrillGeek you can also add a second hot dog for just $2.50 if you’re feeling a bit more hungry. $5 is what you’d pay for the drink alone in many places, so this is a great deal. Thanks Busch Gardens for this awesome promotion!

ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show Talks About the Racer at Kennywood Being Held Up By Cinder Blocks?

Pat McAfee, the popular and sometimes controversial ESPN host, spent nearly 20 minutes of his June 30, 2024 show talking Kennywood and its rides. The show was commenting on a tweet by a local news channel showing The Racer roller coaster apparently being held up by a cinder block. It was obvious Pat loved the park and talked about his childhood visits there that devolved into watching a POV of the ride and reviewing the park in general. The viral story started with a Facebook post by oneBURGH and resulted with the park briefly shutting down the ride, a state inspection and some non-structural repairs.

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Santa’s Land in Cherokee, NC. A Review of Our “Christmas in July” in the Smokey Mountains.

The front sign for Santa's Land Fun Park & Zoo

We made an end of summer trip to the Smokey Mountains visiting Cherokee, NC for some whitewater tubing and a trip to Santa’s Land Fun Park & Zoo. In Georgia our kids started school August 1st which is crazy! Santa’s Land is sincerely both an amusement park and zoo that’s full of charm for kids and families. You can relax and ride all day for one low price with cheap eats under a beautiful tree canopy in the Smokey Mountains. We visited on a Saturday afternoon in summer and there were no wait times for anything even though the park felt like it was buzzing with activity. There’s not much here for adrenaline junkies, but tons of uniqueness and nostalgia that’s headlined by the amazing Rudicaoster, a “one of a kind” family roller coaster by Zamperla.

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Is Bluey Coming to a Theme Park? Which One? Disney? Sesame Place? Alton Towers? Bluey’s World?

Update April 2025: It appears Disney and Ludo Studios came to an agreement in December 2024 for Bluey to come to Disney cruise ships in 2025. It also appears there will be a Bluey movie in cooperation with Disney in 2027 and potential for theme park involvement too. So Disney has not “bought” Bluey, this is an enhanced license deal beyond just having the show on Disney+.

If you have children you know all about Bluey (and probably if you don’t too). Bluey is the Australian cartoon about a dog family with sitcom level writing and humor both children and adults can appreciate. Bluey has been on Disney+ for years with some reports stating it is responsible for nearly 30% of the streaming on the service, but Bluey has not yet made an appearance at a Disney park. Have you wondered why?

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The Six Flags Cedar Fair All 42 Parks Combined Season Pass Has Arrived! (at least at Schlitterbahn)

Image from https://www.schlitterbahn.com/new-braunfels/season-passes

Thanks to your friends at Schlitterbahn we appear to have the first details of the the new Six Flags Cedar Fair chain-wide combined season pass. It falls under the old Passport Add-on system from Cedar Fair and for $75 you can add all the extra parks! This benefit won’t start until January 6, 2025, but happy to see it coming. Access to 42 Parks on one season pass is amazing!

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Remembering the Original Phoenix that Lead to the New Phoenix Rising at Busch Gardens

Today (July 21, 2024) is opening opening day for Phoenix Rising at Busch Gardens. Phoenix Rising is is the new family suspended roller coaster by B&M. The ride is in the Pantopia area of the park in the area previously occupied by Sand Serpent, a couple of kiddie rides and the original Phoenix looping starship by Intamin. There will be many articles today celebrating the new Phoenix Rising, but I wanted to take a few minutes to remember the original Phoenix. Perhaps I can also take credit for being a bit of a future teller in the name of the new coaster?

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