Tech & Business

Discovery Meadow: The Beautiful Gardens of Kentucky Kingdom Theme Park

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Discovery Meadows Logo (Courtesy of Kentucky Kingdom)

Theme parks can be beautiful places filled with trees, flowers and other botanical displays. For the 2025 season Kentucky Kingdom has opened Discovery Meadow, an $11 million investment that is “a perpetual garden party with a Kentucky twist.” In addition to some new rides and new themes on older ones, you’ll find lots of native Kentucky flora around Discovery Meadow. When you visit the park the biodiversity is quite shocking when you think about it as the park is an oasis of sorts in a sea of concrete with the fair grounds, parking, the interstate and the airport all bordering it.

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Peanuts Characters to Remain at Legacy Cedar Fair Parks as Six Flags Entertainment and Peanuts Worldwide Extend Licensing Agreement to 2030

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Camp Snoopy with dog in canoe
Camp Snoopy (Image courtesy of Six Flags)

Six Flags Entertainment Corporation announced it has extended its licensing agreement with Peanuts Worldwide for another five years. The new agreement extends Six Flags’ position as the exclusive amusement park partner for Peanuts™ in North America meaning guest at Knott’s Berry Farm, Carowinds, Cedar Point, Kings Island, Kings Dominion, Dorney Park, Canada’s Wonderland, California’s Great America, Michigan’s Adventure, Valleyfair, and Worlds of Fun will continue to experience the iconic Peanuts characters until at least the next decade.

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Will Winnie-the Pooh be Coming to Your Local Theme Park? How Copyright Law Works.

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Grady's Family Fun Park entrance with Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger statues
Grady’s Family Fun Park entrance

I was driving through southern Illinois and made a stop at Grady’s Family Fun Park. It has a bit of a feel of a permanent carnival attached to a batting cages and a mini golf course, but it is full of charm. One thing that struck me were the statues of Winnin-the-Pooh and Tigger at the exit. My first thought was that Disney was probably going to sue them, but a little research taught me otherwise as the original Winnie-the-Pooh copyright has indeed expired!

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Oklahoma Theme Park American Heartland Appears Cancelled After Investor Files Fraud Lawsuit Over “Text Messages From God”

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American Heartland theme park in Northeastern Oklahoma. A new lawsuit claims that the park’s founders defrauded a 91-year-old man, Gene Bicknell, out of over $60 million in investments toward the park using text messages pretending to be from God. According to reports, the lawsuit alleges that the defendants “executed a predatory conspiracy of psychological manipulation” and obtained the investment by “convincing Bicknell, through fraud and impersonation, that God himself was commanding him”. American Heartland was to be a $2 billion world-class theme park and resort off Route 66 in Vinita, Oklahoma scheduled to open in 2028. However, the park’s website has gone dark (along with that of parent company Mansion Entertainment Group) and combined with the lawsuit it almost certainly marks the end of the development.

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Top Gun Experience Coming to The STRAT in Las Vegas in 2028

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The STRAT Hotel, Casino and Tower (formerly known as the Stratosphew), will be opening a Top Gun Las Vegas immersive entertainment experience in the summer of 2028. Not a lot of details are known yet, but there are several details out there that are very exciting. I mean I’m sure there are people who know more, but in the words of the movie, “It’s classified. I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” We’ll litter several more Top Gun phrases throughout this article for fun too. Top Gun Las Vegas is to include rides, immersive storytelling and a sing-along bar all in tribute to the beloved films.

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Six Flags Launches $55 Season Pass with Access All 40+ Theme and Water Parks with “MVP” Sale!

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My local park, Six Flags Over Georgia (SFOG), has launched its latest season pass sale with the Most Valuable Pass (MVP) sale which will get you into 40+ parks until the end of 2026 for just $55! You can also do it as a membership at just $5.99/month with these prices good through September 2, 2025. This is such a good deal it almost seems like a mistake as last year you’d pay that just for SFOG and $100+ more for the All Parks Passport to get into all the other the legacy Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks. To top if you’ll also get a bonus free “bring-a-friend” ticket. If you get this pass the map below is your potential list of parks to visit immediately.

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Use LogRide to Track Your Roller Coaster Credits, Theme Park Trips and Tons of Other Stats

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LogRide theme park app logo
LogrRde Logo (courtesy of LogRide)

How do you track roller coaster credits, rides and parks visited? I’m a huge fan of the LogRide App. LogRide can track your rides and parks visited and currently catalogs 4,600+ parks, 5,600+ roller coasters and 74,800+ attractions worldwide. It’s super easy to use and comes in both a free version as well as a “pro” version for $0.99/month which gives you enhanced statistics. The app is easy to use while at the park and even has an Apple Watch version. The amount of data here is intense including trip reports, miles traveled on coaster track, total inversions and even steps walked inside of parks. You’ll also find ride information pictures and reviews from other users along with current wait times and show times for many parks. LogRide will quickly become your go-to app inside parks, sometimes more than the theme park’s own app!

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Superman IP Likely to Pay Dividends for Six Flags with New Superman Movie #1 at the Box Office

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Superman: Ultimate Flight roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia

Intellectual property is a big deal for theme parks as guests come to immerse themselves in themed worlds of their favorite characters. The largest license at Six Flags is DC comics and with that comes characters like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. On July 11th the new Superman movie debuted and box office results of $122 million domestically had it #1 this week with the 3rd biggest opening of 2025! Having the IP of a #1 movie in your park is never a bad thing!

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Brian Bacica Named New President of Busch Gardens Tampa

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Busch Gardens Tampa President Brian Bacica
Busch Gardens Tampa President Brian Bacica
Busch Gardens Tampa Sign
Busch Gardens Sign (Courtesy of Creative Sign Designs)

Update December 2025: It appears (according to well informed sources) that Brian Bacica will shortly no longer be with Busch Gardens Tampa. Screen shots of an internal Merlin message show him moving to LegoLand Florida to become VP on December 10th. I was able to independently confirm the LegoLand opening through a connection also applying for the position. This means Busch Gardens will have its 3rd park President in the last year!

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Netflix Getting Into the Theme Park Business with Netflix House in Philadelphia, Dallas and Las Vegas

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Netflix House (courtesy of Netflix)
Netflix House Logo (courtesy of Netflix)

Have you ever wanted to participate in the Squid Games? Perhaps you’d like to visit Hawkins, Indiana from Stranger Things? Starting next month you may get that chance in Dallas and Philadelphia in a new concept called Netflix House. Netflix is bringing its internet entertainment to the real world in the form of “immersive, in-world experiences that let you step inside your favorite shows, dig into themed meals at our in-House restaurant NETFLIX BITES, or grab exclusive merch from our shop.” These aren’t “rides” in the classic theme park sense, but more immersive worlds with actors and other interactive elements. These new venues will be called Netflix House Dallas and Netflix House Philadelphia and will be permanent locations where you can interact with your favorite Netflix worlds.

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