theme-park

A Theme Park is a Great Place to Watch Fireworks on the 4th of July!

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Girl watching firework explode over roller coaster
2024 Celebrate America July 4th Fireworks Show at Wild Adventures in Valdosta

This 4th of July we headed to Wild Adventures in Valdosta for the 4th to watch some fireworks. Last year we did the same at Dollywood and honestly I think we’ll make the 4th of July and a theme park a tradition going forward. It is such an easy way to take in a great display in that you spend a great day having fun and around 9pm you wander over to the correct area and look up. Theme parks also usually have great sound and music to complete the atmosphere as well. Most of the time the display you’ll see will be equal or better to local fireworks too.

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Sweet Summer Nights at Wild Adventures has Awesome Benefits like 50% Off Food

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Sweet Summer Nights sign display outside Wild Adventures.

Have you ever heard of a theme park offerings 50% off of food? Me neither! However, this is exactly what Wild Adventures is doing on Friday nights this summer. We’re not talking off of a handful of select items either, but off of essentially everything. This discount made my awesome dinner of peach BBQ pork sandwich with two sides cheaper than a meal at the local Chick-fil-A at around $6. This is one of the huge benefits of Sweet Summer Nights at Wild Adventures for 2024 which runs through July 26th.

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ACE’s “World’s Largest Ride” at Wild Adventures on Boomerang

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On June 16th at 2pm participating parks simultaneously dispatch coasters as part of “The World’s Largest Ride” to celebrate the anniversary of LaMarcus Thompson’s Switchback Railway, the first modern roller coaster. The event is organized by American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) and this year is the 3rd annual celebration of the event. About 20 parks participated this year including Wild Adventures of Valdosta, GA where I participated.

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Who Wants to Buy a Used Roller Coaster for $15,000? How Parks Buy and Sell Old Rides.

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Update September 2025: It appears Canada’s Marineland is selling most of its rides. Bill Ossim of Rides Plus, LLC is handling the sale with details like pricing managed through a formal inquiry process for qualified buyers. There have been some reports of pricing online with family rides going for $75,000 and thrill rides as high as $2.5 million.

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Review of an Afternoon at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Amusement Park

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Arial view of Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
View of Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk from Sky Glider

On a recent business trip to California I had a free afternoon and decided to check out the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. This seaside park opened in 1907 and is California’s oldest surviving park. Walking down certain parts of the boardwalk feels a bit like a trip in a time machine, but most of the rides are now modern with one huge exception, the Giant Dipper wooden roller coaster. The Giant Dipper is the signature attraction of the park dominating the skyline and it was the main reason for my visit.

Giant Dipper Roller Coaster
Giant Dipper Roller Coaster
Giant Dipper Roller Coaster
Giant Dipper Roller Coaster
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Review of the VIP Diamond Pass Lounge at Six Flags Over Georgia

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April 2025 Update: The Diamond Pass has now become the Prestige Pass in 2025 with the Cedar Fair merger.

This is my first year being a Diamond pass holder at Six Flags and therefore my first time having access to the VIP Lounge. I have to say this is an extremely nice benefit! The lounge is a great air conditioned space with comfortable seating, free soda and a wide assortment of snacks. At Six Flags Over Georgia the lounge is also centrally located just past the Marthasville Train Station near Acrophobia and in front of the great new Along the Rails Tavern. At the entrance they simply scan your physical or electronic membership card and you’re in.

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Georgia Surfer Construction Update for Six Flags Over Georgia’s New Intamin Launch Coaster!

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I visited Six Flags Over Georgia on Saturday, May 18, 2024 and was able to check out the construction progress on the new Georgia Surfer coaster by Intamin. It was surprising to see a flurry of activity on a weekend day, so they must be pushing hard to get this done. There were now retaining walls in place, concrete footers poured, the beginning of what appeared to be a water retention area. No track or supports were seen anywhere, but I can’t imagine we’re far away from seeing the installation of the first few pieces.

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Construction Walls in Jungala, Does this Mean Long Rumored Busch Gardens Giga is Coming?

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Work walls up at Jungala at Busch Gardens
Work walls in Jungala courtesy of /railfan_andrew
Jungala at Busch Gardens
Tree Top Trail signs removed courtesy of /railfan_andrew
Survey markers near Jungala at Busch Gardens
Survey markers in Jungala courtesy of /railfan_andrew

Update April 2025: So the construction walls ended up being for a new area of the park called Wild Oasis. It is sort of a reincarnation or Jungala complete with a new version of Wild Surge called Tree Top Drop. Is the Giga still coming? Maybe. The future of Kumba is still uncertain and there’s also the area of Scorpion that could be used as a station to have a Giga sprawl all over the park like Goliath does at Six Flags Over Georgia. We’ll have to stay tuned.

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Busch Gardens Will Have Over 5 minutes of Totality for the 2045 Total Eclipse!

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Sunset on the Serengeti at Busch Gardens
Is a sunset on the Serengeti perhaps a small preview of what the eclipse could be like at Busch Gardens?

The eclipse on April 8, 2024 was spectacular with many theme parks hosting eclipse events. The next major total eclipse in the United States is scheduled for August 12, 2045 and it’ll hit some huge Theme parks in Florida including Busch Gardens. Animals also tend to do crazy things in an eclipse too, so Busch Gardens Tampa could be fascinating from that perspective. The park will get 5 minutes and 17 seconds of totality which is huge! If you’ve never experienced totality it’s a “bucket list” experience where you see stars in the middle of the day, temperatures drop and crickets chirp. It’s marvelous, amazing, weird and just hard to describe.

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Don’t Take Your Phone on Roller Coasters. You too Mark Rober!

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I saw the above video where YouTube star Mark Rober tested the fastest seat on a coaster, but subsequently got kicked out of a park for having his cell phone out on a ride. As a big fan with a 7 year old son who loves him too it was honestly disappointing to see. The parks though have good reason to take this seriously though as there have been a number of major injuries caused by foreign objects on rides with lawsuits looking to hold the parks responsible.

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