NightFlight Expedition at Dollywood is open and it is a highly ambitious ride, but in these early days you may need a lot of patience. I went to Dollywood on Monday, August 24th, 5 days after the August 19th official opening date. This ride is complex with a moving loading platform, simulator section, coaster section (forwards and backwards with turntables), a water rapids section, a calm boat section and tons of screens and effects. Getting it all to work in sync borders of a miracle of technology as there is so much going on during this ride. The ride’s opening date was delayed from Spring to August and it’s obvious they’re still debugging the ride. However, when it all works it’s pretty cool, but try to ride as early in the day as you can as it has had a propensity for extended closures as they work to get everything right.

There is a roller coaster on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls that’s simply known to enthusiasts as “The Burger King Coaster”. Now that’s not its name, but it gets it from being situated on the roof on top of an operating Burger King. The ride is actually called the “Frank N’ Coaster” and it sits on top of the House of Frankenstein. The Burger King just happens to be the ground floor, but you can see with the theming of Frank clutching a burger that they’ve all decided to be good, mutually beneficial neighbors. Here’s a brief review and overview of the experience.

When you think of a roller coaster at a fair or carnival you’re usually going to picture a Wacky Worm or a Dragon Wagon. Carnival rides need to be easily portable which is often counter to a larger coaster experience. However, Wade Shows transports two copies of the Super Cyclone with 1,148 feet of track. The ride is an impressive 1 minute 20 seconds with a height of 30 feet and series of sharp figure-eight switchbacks and bunny hops. The ride has a theoretical capacity of 1,400 riders/hour which is greater than most theme park coasters.