travel

Get Your Engineering Cub Scout Adventure Loop at Fun Spot America Kissimmee with Mine Blower!

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Fun Spot America Logo
Scout leader and scout in front of the Mine Blower roller coaster at Fun Spot Kissimmee

Earning the Arrow of Light “Engineering” adventure loop has the potential to be one of the most fun and exciting activities in scouting, especially with the increased interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). What’s even more exciting is that one of the recommended adventure activities in the cub scout handbook is to have scouts build their own roller coaster! A theme park is a great place for the scouts to explore and learn about engineering and Fun Spot America Kissimmee is perfectly suited for this adventure. Earning the “Engineering” Adventure Loop at Fun Spot Kissimmee can be as simple as watching a few YouTube videos, having a discussion, riding a roller coaster and participating in the park’s “build your own roller coaster” activity or doing your own at your next den or pack meeting.

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Adult Review of Peppa Pig Theme Park Florida

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I visited Peppa Pig Theme Park at LegoLand Florida with no kids while visiting Winter Haven on a business trip and had a very enjoyable couple of hours. I mainly went to get the roller coaster credit for Daddy Pig’s Roller Coaster, but found myself really enjoying and appreciating the rest of the park as well. The roller coaster is really phenomenal for what it is (a kiddie coaster), but the overall atmosphere is very lighthearted and pleasant. You’ll basically be able to do everything in a couple of hours and if you plan your visit accordingly you can do it at a reasonable price too.

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Celebrate Friday the 13th at Busch Gardens with Lights-On Tours of the Stanglewood Estate Howl-O-Scream House!

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Stranglewood Estate Howl-O-Scream House at Busch Gardens Tampa

Howl-O-Scream doesn’t start until September, but Busch Gardens is using Friday the 13th to help promote this year’s event a few months in advance. In this case they’re having a faux realtor style “open house” for Stranglewood Estate which essentially amounts to a lights-on tour opportunity. The event is actually two days, running Friday the 13th and Saturday the 14th. Halloween is big business at theme parks with year round planning for what are essentially several large extra attractions for those months. Tickets are already on sale for Howl-O-Scream 2025 at Busch Gardens Tampa and no doubt the goal of the June 13-14, 2025 event is to build excitement for this year’s event.

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A Review of a Delightful Day at Kentucky Kingdom and Their New Christmas Event

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Sledding hill and Ferris wheel at Kentucky Kingdom

We visited Kentucky Kingdom December 28, 2024 for their Christmas at Kentucky Kingdom event. For this event the park operates select rides, has special shows, great decorations and a massive sledding hill. The weather in Northern Kentucky in December can be hit or miss, but we had a perfect weather day. This was our first visit to the park and we found Kentucky Kingdom to be full of charm, but with a few quirks that didn’t necessarily detract from the experience, but instead were quite unique.

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Roller Coaster Patents: Epic Universe’s Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness Has a Patent on it!

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Patent sign from Tellus Museum
Donkey Kong Mine-Kart Madness layout

I was walking through Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia and they had a great display about patents that actually highlighted the patent on the Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness ride. This roller coaster has a unique design with hidden lower vertical track and a “boom” arm to create the illusion of jumps, movement over rough terrain and fast track switches. However, Universal is far from the only company to protect their work with parents as with a quick search you will find patents from companies like RMC, Disney and many more.

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Celebrating Dollywood’s 40th Anniversary with Eyes Toward Massive $50 Million Investment for 2026

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The 2025 season and Dollywood’s 40th anniversary are underway. For 2025 there’s no big new ride or attraction, but instead we’re getting a new restaurant, a bunch of refreshes/refurbishments and improvements to the guest experience. The park is already looking forward to 2026 with a reported $50 million expansion, the largest in the park’s history, and a major new attraction. An announcement this year teased a “Take Flight” theme with rumors of an indoor suspended roller coaster or flying theater coming to the back of Wildwood Grove. However, the additions for 2025 still represent millions of dollars in significant improvements that will make the park more enjoyable for years to come and help put the “theme” in theme park.

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SeaWorld to Combat Epic Universe Opening with New Expedition Odyssey Attraction and Free Beer!

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SeaWorld logo

Update September 2025: It appears the strategy may have worked as United Parks (SeaWorld parent company) announced that SeaWorld Orlando’s attendance was up in the 2nd quarter of 2025 post Epic Universe’s opening. It’s rare that United Parks announces park specific performance, so it’s obvious they were trying to make a point. CEO Marc Swanson said, “Our attendance at our SeaWorld Orlando park has been up in attendance since Epic opened on May 22,” he said. “It was up for the full second quarter, and it was up if you measured from the date Epic opened through the end of the second quarter. It continues to be up quarter to date in the third quarter through Aug. 6 on a day-to-day basis.” Swanson also said attendance was up at its Aquatica Orlando water park and Discovery Cove, and revenue also was up in Orlando.

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Will the New Pope be a Roller Coaster Fan? Will he Crave Both Airtime and Prayer Time?

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Catholic Cardinals riding a roller coaster

May 8,2025 Update: So we have a new Pope and he’s American Robert Prevost of Chicago, now known as Pope Leo XIV! What is shocking is that we could actually have sort of been right about this? There’s no word on if the Pope spent any time at Six Flags Great America outside Chicago, but in a video produced about him it has roller coaster and amusement park images! At the 1:20 mark of a Catholic News Service interview with the Former Cardinal Robert Provost (now Pope Leo XIV) there are a bunch of video from what appears to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk rides and coasters! The Catholic News Service is anews agency owned by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that reports on the Catholic Church, so you can view this more as a promotional piece where the former Cardinal Prevost probably had a lot of influence on the look and feel. Maybe the new Pope does love roller coasters!

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The Kōmbo Family Coaster at the Indianapolis Zoo is Unique and Themed Perfectly

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The Kōmbo Family Coaster at the Indianapolis Zoo is a highly unique family coaster by Zierer opened in 2001. At 24 feet in height and 21 mph on 656 feet of track Kombo’s stats from the zoo’s website won’t wow anyone, but it’s spectacular attention to theme and a few neat quirks make it a unique and fun offering in a surprising place. The day I went was a “school” day and so the park was pretty empty meaning I got one of the first “zen” rides (only rider on the train) I can remember in a long time.

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Safari Campground at Wild Adventures Theme Park: Review of an Incredible Camping Experience

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We had a chance to tent camp at the new Safari Campground at Wild Adventures Theme Park and it was a great experience. The campground is not only conveniently located to the park, but is full of great amenities as well. Chief among these may be the proximity to one of the largest animal habitats in the park. Sleeping next to wild animals certainly is a huge attraction as at Disney you’ll pay $500/night for that privilege at the Animal Kingdom Lodge while at Safari Campground you can tent camp for $40/night! We couldn’t recommend the campground more and Wild Adventures packed a lot of fun and thought into the facility to create something really great.

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