A lot of people were a bit surprised at the name and logo for Six Flags Great Adventure’s new coaster, Bakunawa? However, it actually has a really cool backstory. The Bakunawa is a legendary, dragon-like sea serpent creature from Philippine mythology. It’s known as the “moon-eater” and folklore credits it as the cause of eclipses, earthquakes and storms. Its name is a compound word meaning “bent snake”. Bakunawa was said to live in the ocean, but would fly to the moon to try to swallow it and thus cause eclipses. Filipino people would bang pots and pans during an eclipse to try to scare it away. It was largely an oral tradition, but below is 18th century engraving depicting a Philippine warship. Given the ride’s design and this name/mythology, there’s tons of ways Six Flags could use this in theming!

Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) roller coaster ArieForce One at Fun Spot Atlanta closed on August 2, 2026. Everyone is hopeful it will be relocated somewhere, but it probably won’t be in Georgia as its future is unknown. However, there’s still an RMC coaster in Georgia and it’s pretty darn good. Twisted Cyclone is located at Six Flags Over Georgia and opened in 2018 as a conversion of the former Georgia cyclone. Twisted Cyclone features 3 inversions and 10 airtime hills. It was designed by RMC coaster legend Alan Schilke. It’s on the shorter side at 2,400 feet, but packs one heck of a punch.

August 2, 2026 marked the last day for Fun Spot Atlanta and ArieForce One and Inwas lucky enough to be there. Lots of feelings for sure as I attended opening day of ArieForce One just a little over 3 years ago. This article isn’t about what might be next for the iconic coaster, but instead is just a recap of the day. I arrived at 9:30am and the ticket line was already long. ArieForce was already running as ACE had an ERT event that morning. John Arie, Jr. (Fun Spot owner) came out at 9:45am and gave a brief, but moving talk thanking the fans and the park staff and declared the park open a few minutes early.

On a recent trip to New York I had a chance to experience the newer Vekoma vest restraints on both an SLC and a Boomerang. I rode the SLC Mind Eraser at Darien Lake and the Boomerang Flashback at Darien Lake. For me they offered a sincerely improved ride on both attractions. The difference was especially noticeable for my 10 year old son on Mind Eraser as he is much more prone to head-banging with his barely 54” height. These restraints were comfortable and also look great on the new trains. I had ridden Boomerang at Darien Lake as well (which has the classic over the shoulder restraints) and the difference between it and Flashback at Great Escape were quite noticeable. Boomerang wasn’t bad, but the new trains and restraints on Flashback made for a better experience.

Predator at Six Flags Darien Lake is a shockingly great wood coaster. Although it’s more of a hybrid coaster today with the installation of Titan Track on about 80% of the course. However, the Titan Track makes the train run like butter and the bumpy last 20% without it actually serves as a reminder of what a great decision the retrofit was. The retrofit has been a 5 year process with the remainder of the conversion scheduled to happen the offseason. Once that is complete this could be one of the best wood hybrid rides anywhere.

THRILLZ, the indoor adventure amusement park, has opened in Atlanta and with it comes a new coaster credit for Georgia. TRILLZ is located in the Doraville area in Northwest Atlanta near the intersection of Interstate 85 and 285 and joins the company’s other parks in Pennsylvania and Connecticut. The new indoor coaster is an SBF Visa, so nothing intense, but still a lot of fun. The 56,000 square foot park also has several other rides including a 40 foot drop tower, the Rush 360 inverting pendulum ride, a VR coaster and numerous slides and obstacles.