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To be honest, I'm almost more excited about this one than any of the other SeaWorld/Busch Coasters! I mean, I get it, Iron Gwazi will be the best but we know what that one will be like. Pantheon is going to be super unique and very different from most coasters!

Busch Gardens Williamsburg has announced that Pantheon will open on March 25! https://buschgardens.com/williamsburg/roller-coasters/pantheon/ Pantheon™, the world’s fastest multi-launch roller coaster, is officially launching at Busch Gardens® Williamsburg on March 25, 2022. Members will have exclusive opportunities to ride starting March 4! Harnessing all the speed and strength of five of the greatest Roman gods, this record-breaking coaster stands 180 feet tall with a top speed of 73 mph, and features a 95° drop, 4 launches, 5 air-time hills and 2 inversions. One of the world’s most anticipated coasters of 2022 will open in the park’s Festa Italia village, elevating Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s portfolio to eight world-class coasters that are sure to delight even the most daring thrill-seekers.

I'm probably the biggest Avalanche fanboy on this site, and I approve. Anything that keeps it from getting torn down.

Well this is exciting and scary. I hope the vast majority of the landscaping that has grown in around the ride over the last 25+ years can be retained. I know it’s going to be very challenging for them to get equipment into the area. I hope the land clearing will be minimal to get cranes placed where they need to be. But also exciting because we’re essentially going to be getting a brand new Nemesis that’ll last at least another 30 years!

I feel like there are a lot of uncovered stations in California. I always figured it was some weird flex about their good weather?

Looks awesome! Bonus points for the simple fact its going to piss off/freak out bunch of people off that are too fragile to handle any kind of change ever.

Exciting and scary sums up my thoughts too. Nemesis still runs great and is glass smooth, but Incredible Hulk 2.0 is running great too so that puts my mind at rest. I never even thought about access. I'm sure they would have had to talk about material changes to the landscaping, and the 'what won't change' section mentions no trees will be removed. It will be fascinating to see how they do it though.

Hopefully it will be open for at least the first part of the season. I agree that they're probably planning on completing for the anniversary. Another thing I thought, I wonder if the trains are going to be replaced too? Hopefully it will be a like-for-like track replacement, worried that they might smooth out the inline twist a bit which is probably my favourite part on the ride.

Nothing confirmed just yet but they could time it to close at the end of 2022 and reopen in 2024 for its 30 year celebration.

^ Lotte World Busan will be opening soon and the park will be 365 days a year. They will only have a Blue Fire clone and a Power Splash and temperatures here can be -20 in Winter so I'd assume they looked into whether there would be a dry mode for the coaster to operate because otherwise that park is going to be down to only 1 coaster for 3 months a year. I know before it permanently became just a Trax (they ripped out all the water jets on the track), the sister park in Seoul used to find a way to operate the Aquatrax in the winter to make sure the same problem didn't happen.

As some regular Theme Park Review readers might know, I live in Bonn, which is not only the former capital of Germany, but also very close to Phantasialand. The park has a solid reputation for building excellently themed roller coasters like the “Colorado Adventure” Vekoma mine train, the B&M inverter “Black Mamba” and most recently the Intamin multi launch coaster “Taron”, embedded in the genuine world of “Klugheim” that opened in 2016. Phantasialand is a family owned park, so it came quite as a surprise that they announced another world class rollercoaster to open in 2020: F.L.Y., located in the new themed area “Rookburgh” – a steam punk type of land. This flying coaster, build by Dutch manufacturer “Vekoma” features 0.75 miles of track, two LSM launches, a “dark ride” part, two inversions and the most innovative loading system I have ever seen on the flying coaster: to enable riders to board, the track is mounted against the station wall and the seats are rotated 90°. To put passengers into the “flying” position, the seats rotate back seamlessly after the ride has passed the short “dark ride” section. The whole setting of the attraction is amazing: steam emerges from the underground, there are tons of details and the sound design creates a perfect immersion. But it is at night, when “Rookburgh” really shines. A visit during the “Wintertraum” event is greatly recommended, as the park stays open late and there are little to no wait times – even at top attractions like F.L.Y., Taron and Black Mamba. The steam effects and the low winter sun make for some cool "god rays" The coaster interacts with the elaborate themeing. I really love that shot. Speaking of themeing … They use metal detectors and a clever locker system, so F.L.Y. flies literally over the guests heads. Tracks and trains and winter sun and blimps and Vekoma goodness This inversion makes the cars look like a petal. Pier 5 Just one of many "airtime" moments. And yes: that's ice on the top of the backbone. 30°F. A panoramic view of F.L.Y. and the whole "Rookburgh" area. Pretty, uh? To the left you can see the first straight LSM launch segment. For the real enthusiast, there is a capsule style hotel embedded into "Rookburgh": "Charles Lindbergh" gives guests some exclusive views of "F.L.Y." (as the trains literally travel around your rooms) and front of line access. I did mention the excellent themeing, didn't I? It's all about flight. They might not completely follow german mask policies, but at least those girls seem to have fun. They do way better (as most of the guest do) One of the infamous steam effects. This gauges turn red before those effects go off. Did I mention the themeing? I'm pretty sure, I did. And there is lot of it. When the sun sets the whole area becomes even more "magical". After sunset. That's some impressive view, isn't it? They even do a short "light show" when the lighting turns from "day mode" to "night mode". Another panoramic view of "Rookburgh". Track and lights and steam. This is the second launch stretch. It catapults you upward.

I always smile, when I see this page at my credit union's website. Go Vancity!

I think it’s really just the extra headaches that come with building codes.

fun swag from the SFOT Winterfest presentation yesterday. in addition to a 1 day admission ticket, also got a Pirates of the Spelunkers Cave keychain, and an Aquaman Power Wave metal bottle. (they showed slides as of Friday of the Turntable concrete support being put in, and noted they had to move the queue line due to the adding of the turntable. . so that's added to the time for opening it. . . but they look like they are about to start installation of the turntable shortly) oh, and interestingly, a question was asked if they could operate the ride with no splashdown option for the colder months. . and the response was along the lines of "I've heard they can do that. . and wouldn't it be fun if we are able to do that?"

Wow...sure hope this is bullshit clickbait type rumor, if not poor Darien Lake. This was their only really good coaster for near 20 years, so if this was to be axed...if I was local I'd throw quite a tantrum .........I'll see myself out

Yeah but finding local investors that have the capital to make such a purchase AND have experience in the amusement park industry? A LOT easier said than done. The odds would be much more likely that this would cause the park to deteriorate rather than improve. Now outsourcing a few things, like some of the food operations, maybe.

Last weekend SeaWorld Orlando hosted another round of Inside Look, a special event that offers guests the chance to go behind the scenes of attractions, exhibits and experiences throughout the park. Some of these Inside Looks can only be experienced during this special event while others are typically reserved for paid tours and SeaWorld Camp. But instead Inside Look brings the access to all for what is a really fun and insightful event. I had experienced a few of the behind the scenes looks in previous years including the Manta aquarium and Shark Encounter, so my focus this time was to do offerings that were new to me. In the limited time I had, I was able to go through three Inside Looks, one for Orca Encounter, one for Wild Arctic and the last for Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin. While I was in the park, I was also able to see several of the recent or current efforts underway to update park elements with new paint, new decor and theming. It is nice to see updates happening throughout the park in advance of the opening of Ice Breaker next month, and it looks like this is only the start. Driving up to SeaWorld Orlando, guests are greeted by a new entrance sign. Gone is the former orca sculpture, replaced with a new rock structure. The Dolphin Nursery emerged from its recent refurbishment with an updated color scheme. Ice Breaker will officially open next month. The up-close look at the backstage side of Orca Stadium was clearly going to be popular so I went there first. The event started at 11:00 AM and this was the line about 15 minutes before that. This Inside Look had limited hours to allow the orcas to perform in the Orca Encounter show during the day. By the time 11:00 AM hit, the line for this experience ran all the way to The Waterfront. Once inside you are brought to the first of three stations in the back half of Orca Stadium... It is really neat to see just how expansive the complex is behind the stage. They weren't kidding when they said you got up close! Here we had a chance to see two orcas enjoying recreational activities while swimming between the three stations set up between three pools. One orca was tasked with taking this jello to a trainer at the third station's pool. Of the three stations, for me this was the best view I had. But as I experienced at the third station, it was all a matter of timing as the routing of these orcas was not being majorly altered for guests at Inside Look. Off they go! From the second station (the Medical Pool), I could see an orca doing a slide trick in front of the third station. The second station was the Medical Pool, where a rising floor can be lifted to raise orcas out of the water for treatment and inspections. We did get to see the orcas move through the Medical Pool to the third station. It was shared that much of the time orcas spend in the medical pool is recreational and comforting to build a familiarity with the space. This allows the orcas to be more at ease in the space, not having a purely negative association with the more stressful experiences that happen for medical or health needs. And yes, we learned how orcas know how to provide urine samples in the Medical Pool. We got a few swim-by's during our time at the third station, but nothing quite like I observed in the other two stations. At the edge of Sesame Street Land, the former Sea Carousel has reopened as the Sunny Day Carousel. A new construction fence on the Wild Arctic side of Sesame Street Land has gone up. Over by Wild Arctic there were some interactive stations presented by SeaWorld Camp. Headed towards the Inside Look entrance for Wild Arctic, it is hard not to admire the layout of Ice Breaker. I really can't wait to ride this one! From our walk to the Inside Look experience at Wild Arctic you could see even more of Ice Breaker. First stop for our Wild Arctic Inside Look was a peek at the enrichment items that the animals inside can play with. You don't realize just how much goes into a marine exhibit's water filtration until you see the system up close. We were able to see the food preparation kitchen for Wild Arctic. The science of how much food each resident of Wild Arctic gets is complex and incredibly interesting! The Inside Look ends by leading you out into the main Wild Arctic exhibit. Ice Breaker is looking ready to roll! Very cool. It was my first time seeing Kraken with its new paint scheme. The colors look pretty cool! A new Inside Look show, Seal of Fortune (a game show) was offered in the Nautilus Theater. The Inside Shark Encounter experience returned for this year's event. The Sky Tower has been undergoing a refurbishment including a new paint scheme. Turn right to go left. I was most eager to do the Inside Look for Antarctica, because it actually allowed us to walk the ride path of the former attraction. An open air penguin encounter had been set up in the final ride scene for Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin. It was kind of neat to be back in this space. Plus I'll never complain about a chance to see more penguins. We also had a chance to see the ride path's side of the penguin habitat. Quite a view! Puck from the former ride waved us on as we moved out towards the former ride's exit station. Looking back one more time... On the ride path of the exit station... I ended my dead with a quick stop by Kraken to check out the new paint job up close. The track and supports have been repainted with a new color scheme but the trains have not been updated. I still really like the new color scheme! Can't wait to come back and ride!

"Management hates this park! We never get anything good! We always get the short end of the schtick! We have a growing metro area and are overdue for a new original coaster, why doesn't Six Flags get it! We are an original Six Flags park, we deserve better! Our competition gets it and is going bonkers, why can't we have what they have! They should sell the park to some bozo who still won't care about it! All we get are dark rides, new entrance plazas, and "throwbacks"! All the park really needs is a record breaking giga-strata, launched, looping coaster and it will make boatloads of money, and be the number one park in the chain! Why does Six Flags only put money into big parks? The park is in a growing metro area, we should be getting all kinds of stuff! Just look at Carowinds..." There, saved them the trouble...

Thanks and yes I am. FINALLY tested negative after 7 positive tests so I can start rehearsals for a show I am playing!

You know there is an edit button so you don't have to make new posts in the same thread every five minutes.