theme-park

Get Your Engineering Cub Scout Adventure Loop at Fun Spot America Atlanta with ArieForce One!

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Fun Spot America Logo

The “Engineering” adventure has the potential to be one of the most fun and exciting in scouting as one of the handbook recommended activities is to have scouts build their own roller coaster! A trip to a theme park is a great way for the scouts to explore and learn about engineering and Fun Spot America Atlanta is perfectly suited for this adventure. Earning the “Engineering” Adventure Loop at Fun Spot can be as simple as watching a few YouTube videos, having a discussion, riding a great roller coaster and participating in the park’s “build your own roller coaster” activity.

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See a Capybara at Wild Adventures Theme Park!

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The capybara is having a bit of a cultural moment. I’ve seen shirts and stuffed animals featuring capybaras at levels I never recall seeing before. There is even a local zoo in Georgia that offers capybara yoga! However, if you want to see some real live capybaras, one of the best places is at Wild Adventures Theme Park in Valdosta, Georgia. They have several of them that are quite active in a great habitat viewable from the giraffe overlook in the back center of the park. They are quite entertaining to watch and appear to be living their best capybara life!

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Could Regular Visits to a Theme Park Save Your Life? Study Shows 150 Minutes of Exercise a Week Reduces Mortality by 31%!

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Covenant health sign at Dollywood
People power walking at theme park

If you spend time at a theme park you know it can be a lot of walking. In some cases it’s 5-10 miles in a day complete with stairs and hills at some parks. That can be a serious workout and a new article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that it could actually be incredibly good for your health. The study showed that older adults who got 150 minutes of aerobic activity every week lessened their mortality risk by 31% compared to those who do not exercise. This means that the weekend trip to your local park with your season pass is “healthcare” if it gets you off the couch and away from screens.

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Review of Water’s Edge at Wild Adventures. New Expansion is Full of Lakeside Beauty and Fun!

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Water's Edge Logo Display
Water’s Edge Logo Display (Courtesy of Wild Adventures)

Wild Adventures opened its new season on Saturday, March 15th, with the debut of the new Water’s Edge expansion. Water’s Edge is home to three-family friendly rides, new animal habitats, a new stage and more. Water’s Edge is located along the park’s internal lake and offers stunning views in a tropical fun environment meant to mimic the vibe of a seaside village. This isn’t an expansion in the literal sense, but actually a refurbishment and transformation of the core of the park into a cohesive themed area. Water’s Edge makes better use of the 3 acres along the lake to provide more space for relaxation and fun. With new seating, spectacular views and fun new rides, it really hits the mark in transforming what was largely a “pass through” area into the beating heart of the park.

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Review of Georgia Gold Rusher at Six Flags Over Georgia, a Coaster Full of Story and Airtime Fun!

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Georgia Gold Rusher roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia

I won’r bury the lead, Georgia Gold Rusher is an airtime machine! I had a chance to ride the new Georgia Gold Rusher at Six Flags Over Georgia as part of the March 13, 2025 media event. I was able to score my invite through my ACE membership and got 12 rides on the new Intamin Ultra Surf Coaster. The first thing you’ll notice is the high level of theming Six Flags Over Georgia has installed since last season, really unprecedented for the park since Batman. The mining theme is everywhere with flowing water features, machinery and beautiful wood decking greeting you in line. The ride itself is spectacular fun. The launches feel forceful and there is a surprising amount of airtime on the bunny hill between the two spikes. The weightless on the spikes is awesome too, but it’s really about the airtime on GGR (the abbreviation for Georgia Gold Rusher) that is so crazy good and way more than expected. This is a 10 out of 10 and will surely be a hit for Six Flags Over Georgia as its only launch and spinning coaster.

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Did you Know IAAPA was in Atlanta in 2005-2006?

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Today the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Expo is almost synonymous with Orlando, but did you know there were two years when it was held in Atlanta. IAAPA in Orlando makes sense as Orlando is essentially the theme park capitol of the world, however there was a two year span from 2005-2006 where the show moved to the Georgia World Congress Canter in Atlanta. IAAPA was in Orlando prior to 2005 and returned in 2007, but there will always be that 2 year anomaly where the largest theme park trade show was held in Atlanta.

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The GetOutPass is a Great Value to Visit Local Theme Parks in Georgia and Other States

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We’ve had the GetOutPass for Georgia for about a year and couldn’t be more thrilled with it. The GetOutPass is an annual pass that gives you free admission to local attractions either once annually, quarterly or monthly depending upon the attraction. In Georgia this includes admission to Wild Adventures and Fun Spot America Atlanta. However, you’ll also get admission to great non-theme park locations like Zoo Atlanta, BreakOut Games (escape room), Terminus Wake Park and many more. In other states this includes SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Kentucky Kingdom and Silver Dollar City. GetOutPass prices are so good that the price of an annual GetOutPass is usually less than a single day at ticket to just one of these attractions!

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Headed to the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay, Wisconsin? Ride the Zippin Pippin Roller Coaster for Only $1.50 at Bay Beach Amusement Park!

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Zippin Pippin Roller coaster

The 2025 NFL Draft is headed to Green Bay, Wisconsin form April 24-26, 2025. It was also just announced from Bay Beach Facilities Supervisor, Britney Burkart-Labar that the city owned Bay Beach Amusement park will be open to coincide with the draft, operating on Wednesday, April 23 through Saturday, April 26 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m . What is Bay Beach you might ask? It’s a 100+ year old amusement park on the shore of Lake Michigan that is home to a world class wooden roller coaster that Elvis loved called Zippin Pippin and you can ride it for only $1.50!

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A Combination Spinning Flat Ride and Centrifugal Birthing Machine?

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Apparatus for facilitating the birth of a child by centrifugal force
Apparatus for facilitating the birth of a child by centrifugal force

Years ago I took a class on patents and was shown some examples of crazy patents to demonstrate that not all inventions have to work or be useful in real life in order to be granted a patent. One of these was US Patent #3,216,423 “Apparatus for facilitating the birth of a child by centrifugal force”. This was brought to mind again as Hashem Al-Ghaili recently released a video of the potential device in action that was mind blowing. To summarize the invention, it’s essentially a spinning table that literally helps pull the baby out with the same centrifugal forces you’d feel on your favorite theme park ride.

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“Hook & Slice” is a Perfect Fit for Fun Spot America Atlanta.

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Hook & Slice flat ride at Fun Stop Atlanta

Fun Spot America Atlanta in Fayetteville, Georgia has opened its new “Hook & Slice” ride. The exciting new attraction, a Mini Reverse Time ride by SBF-Visa Group, delivers high-energy fun and excitement for riders with great visuals for spectators. The ride officially opened on February 1, 2025 and we had the opportunity to ride on February 21st which was a beautiful spring day in Georgia. Our bottom line review, “Hook & Slice” may not be a physically large ride, but it packs a ton of fun in a small footprint.

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