The title of this article may have you confused, an iconic roller coaster and a kid coaster are similar? However, when I found myself trying to describe the forces some new riders might experience on Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom with something they already knew. It turned out the best comparison I could come up with in terms of drop and speed was Air Grover and I was surprised with how similar they really were.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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?