Six Flags Over Georgia has announced its new for 2024 Intamin Ultra Surf will be known as Georgia Surfer. This was the result of a contest with 2,500 suggestions and 27,000 votes. The new coaster is going in the spot of the former Splash water Falls and incorporates water features, giving visitors another way to get wet on hot Georgia summer days.
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This Valentine’s Day Busch Gardens is offering a special event for couples. Science says a shared experience where adrenaline is released can cause increased attraction between two people. What better way than to do this on a roller coaster! The event is $100/person and includes some great stuff, see the park’s description below:
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The SkyRide at Busch Gardens reopens tomorrow (2/2/24) after a long hiatus. It’ll be great to have it back with some of the amazing views of the Serengeti, the coasters and an easy way to get from one side of the park to the other. However, unless you have a season pass, it’s now going to cost you $5 for each ride you take.
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The SeaWorld Busch Gardens Platinum card is really one of the best values going for theme park membership. This is my review and how you can save money, with a catch. Busch Gardens is owned by SeaWorld Entertainment and you get unlimited access to any of SeaWorld Entertainment’s 11 great theme/water parks across the country, free preferred parking, free photos for the year, a daily free quick queue, a bunch of free guest tickets and a ton of other perks.
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The Phoenix is rising at Busch Gardens and it’ll be great to have a new coaster at the park. My only concern with this ride is capacity. If you’ve ridden the very similar Dragonflier at Dollywood, Swamp Thing at Wild Adventures or Freedom Flyer at Fun Spot Orlando you know these rides only have one train. These rides have very similar lengths, layouts and specs to what is proposed for Phoenix Rising. I’ve timed the Dragonflier at Dollywood several times and with a 60 second ride cycle and averaging 90-120 seconds to load/unload you’re only talking 20-24 cycles per hour. With 20 riders/train that’s only 400-480 riders/hour which is pretty low for a coaster as modern coasters range between 1,200 and 1,800 riders/hour.
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A thought leader I follow named Gavin Adams recently wrote about what he calls “The Law of Diminishing Astonishment” which is a derivative of the “Law of Diminishing Returns”. The first line below, basically encapsulates the theory and, although Gavin’s target audience wasn’t theme parks (although he’d probably be a great speaker for them), he used one as an example:
Continue readingNo matter how great something is, over time, we stop seeing it as excellent.
I’ve taken our family to Universal Studios in Orlando nearly every fall for a decade. I don’t know that our first trip was our best trip, but it was undoubtedly the most exhilarating. We just got back a few weeks ago from our annual trek, and we all felt the same way. It was fun, but I’m not sure we should return next year.
Unless they have a new ride!
Why did we feel that?
Gavin Adams
Camping was a big part of my childhood. In retrospect a lot of it probably had to do with the fact that my parents liked to vacation, but we didn’t have a lot of extra money for hotels and restaurants. It was always a bonus when the campground had an arcade, mini golf course or swimming area, but I couldn’t fathom my excitement if we had ever camped by a theme park. In Fall of this year people will have just that opportunity with the opening of Safari Campground at Wild Adventures!
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It’s a new year and it’s fun to speculate what it might bring. In the beginning of 2023 we of course had some suspicion that Sand Serpent may be closing sooner than later (like we hear about Kumba today), but nothing was confirmed. We also had no clue there would be a second B&M invert coming in the form of Phoenix Rising to take its place. In checking building permits there doesn’t seem to be anything new for 2024 other than some modifications to the giraffe barn. It’s early though and it’ll probably be summer and after Phoenix Rising’s opening before speculation turns to what’s next. However, I believe something Big has to be announced in 2024 for 2025, probably something EPIC if you catch my drift…
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Unfortunately theme park accidents do happen, however rare, and people are injured or even killed. However, there seems to be a trend now with the news media of showing roller coasters stopped on lift hills and acting like it’s some huge lapse in safety. I’d argue it’s actually just the reverse, it’s safety measures working just as they were intended. Getting stuck 200 feet up on a lift hill for 30 minutes may be disconcerting for some, but in most cases the riders are in no danger and there’s no mechanical issue. Instead, it’s often something like a tripped sensor (the equivalent of the check engine light in your car) that must be checked and cleared before the ride can proceed.
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More theme parks than ever are offering Christmas events and opening for more days of the year. The reasons for this are obvious in that more operating days equals more potential revenue from the same capital. Most northern parks end with Halloween as the winter weather is generally too much for both people and rides, but even in Southern states like Georgia and Tennessee see temperatures of freezing and below in December. So what are some of the considerations for a park being open these months in terms of crowd comfort and ride operations/safety? Will your favorite roller coaster be running?
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BGT Safari 