Labor Day Marks the End of the Season for Many Water Parks and Small Theme Parks

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Typical Theme Park Calendar Closed After Labor Day

The Tuesday after Labor Day is always a bit of a sad day as it marks the day many water parks and small Theme parks (especially in the north) are closed for the season. Although the end of summer is officially September 21st, Labor Day has traditionally marked the end of summer from a vacation perspective. More and more parks are holding Halloween and Christmas events and operating more days than ever, but for some this is the end of operations until sometime in 2025, especially water parks.

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Twizzlers Twisted Gravity at Hershey Park to Exceed Height of Serengeti Flyer at Busch Gardens

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Twizzlers Twisted Gravity
Twizzlers Twisted Gravity (https://www.hersheypark.com/)

In 2025 Hershey Park will be home to The World’s Largest Screamin’ Swing, taking the title from Busch Gardens. Twizzlers Twisted Gravity will be 137 feet tall, exceeding Serengeti Flyer‘s 135 foot height by 2 feet and at 68 mph its speed by 3 mph. This is probably a great example of the deals companies like S&S do with parks in giving them a “record breaking” attraction, but for a finite period of time before it is exceeded by something else. No doubt in 2026 or 2027 S&S will put a 139 foot Screamin’ Swing somewhere else. B&M has been similar with progressively steeper drops on their dive coasters. This is good business for everyone as having a record breaker is easy marketing for a park.

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How Walt Disney World’s Contemporary Resort Drew Inspiration From The Hyatt Regency Atlanta Hotel

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Disney Contemporary Resort
(Brian Kendig, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons (cropped))

As a kid I remember the Contemporary Resort near Magic Kingdom being iconic. It was the hotel you literally passed through as you took the monorail from the parking area to the Magic Kingdom. The Contemporary had a huge open atrium and the train literally drove through the building with a station inside. However, did you know that this large open atrium that is key to the amazing monorail views was actually inspired by The Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Atlanta?

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Review of the New Penguin Trek Roller Coaster at SeaWorld Orlando

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I found myself in Orlando for a quick business trip which gave me an evening to check out the New Penguin Trek at SeaWorld Orlando. Penguin Trek is a sit down launched family coaster by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M). It opened July 7, 2024 and is essentially a prototype, being the first B&M sit down family launch coaster. The ride is located in the Antarctica area of the park and replaces the Antarctica: Empire of the Penguins dark ride.

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Scorpion Roller Coaster at Busch Gardens to Close September 2, 2024

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Instagram post from Busch Gardens

In a surprising development Busch Gardens announced the impending closure of Scorpion on September 2, 2024. This cam out of nowhere and gives fans only about 10 days to enjoy “the sting of the Scorpion” one more time before closing forever. Thankfully though the announcement came with a promise that “new attractions “future thrills” would be announced shortly to take its place (get ready for the Giga rumors). Here is what the park wrote:

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The USPS Releases Carnival Nights Amusement Park Stamps

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Ferris wheel, roller coaster and fireworks on postage stamp

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has released an awesome series of amusement park stamps entitled Carnival Nights. These are first class forever postage stamps with 8 unique designs that were released on June 6, 2024. They feature swings, flat rides, a Ferris wheel, fireworks, a carousel and even a roller coaster in the corner of one. These would look great on Christmas cards, wedding invitations or birthday cards, so order online or head to your post office to get a sheet today.

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Korey Kiepert of The Gravity Group Does “Roller Coaster Support” for the WIRED Tech Support YouTube Video Series

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Korey Kiepert WIRED YouTube video

I’m a big fan of the WIRED “Tech Support” video series. The essence of the series is that they get an expert in a particular field to answer viewer questions about their area of expertise. I’ve seen everything including a mortician, an FBI agent, Penn Jillette talking magic, John Cena talking wrestling and now Korey Kiepert of The Gravity Group talking roller coasters!

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Georgia Surfer Coming Opening Day 2025 to Six Flags Over Georgia

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Georgia Surfer logo

Georgia Surfer has an opening day and it will be opening day of the 2025 season! During a Coaster Fest 2024 Six Flags Over Georgia General Manager Greg Fuller gave a great update on the construction of Georgia Surfer and the challenges it’s seen. He mentioned permitting was slow and they lost about 12 weeks there and then that there were “manufacturer challenges” with Intamin. Specifically that the gondola (train) just shipped ocean freight on August 14th from Europe. Maybe a little too much time worrying about Falcon’s Flights in Saudi Arabia? With all these delays, they just decided it was best to delay and do it right. He said they wanted to run the heck out of it and make sure it was 1000% right for next year. He also stressed numerous times that the ride was a prototype where some challenges are always anticipated.

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Happy National Roller Coaster Day! It’s Known More Today for Events Like Coaster Fest, but Did you Know it Actually Celebrates an 1898 Patent on the Vertical Loop?

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Today, August 16, 2024, is National Roller Coaster Day! Many may not realize that the holiday actually commemorates Edwin Prescott being awarded a patent in 1898 for a vertical loop on the Loop the Loop or Loop-de-Loop Roller Coaster at Coney Island. Loops did exist as early as the 1950’s on “centrifugal railways”, but Prescott’s resembled the modern teardrop design which has less intense g-forces and is easier on riders. However, even with the lessened forces the park found more people would rather watch than ride the new coaster.

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The Amazing Rudicoaster at Santa’s Land Fun Park & Zoo

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Santa’s Land Fun Park & Zoo is a great affordable family amusement park on the southern side of the Great Smokey Mountains. Santa’s Land has only one roller coaster and that’s the Rudicoaster, a highly unique Zamperla powered coaster. This is a custom coaster was built in 1989 and features a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer theme to go along with the Christmas theme of the park. The Rudicoaster is from the Zamperla Powered Coaster line where the coaster train itself actually has a motor to propel it up the lift hills. Rudicoaster has trees all through and surrounding the course, adding to the atmosphere and really making it feel like a coaster in the woods.

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