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Took my teen daughter to our local family entertainment center, Sonny's Place (Somers, CT). I was surprised that their carousel has some historical info setup in the corner courtesy of the New England Carousel Museum. Equally surprised that they are keeping up with maintaining this 1925 beauty! It has zero missing lights (it is indoors, of course), the paint is nearly all perfect with the exception of the bench which is in the process of being repaired, and it has a working (but electrically powered) Wurlitzer!! No piped in music here! Enjoy the pics. I was inspired by Bert riding carousels around the world. ^ The museum itself is near Lake Compounce. Sonny's Place is on the road from my house to SFNE. ^Cool little display of the actual scroll for the band organ. ^Anatomy of a pole dancer ^Nice little corner display. Can't believe no one messes with it! ^Carousel sits in a very nice specially constructed pavilion. ^Horsies ^A holdover control lever from yore ^Music

Silver Dollar City has announced a brand-new version of Fire in the Hole to open in 2024! Silver Dollar City today announces the new groundbreaking $30 million FIRE IN THE HOLE indoor family roller coaster, the largest in the Midwest. Opening in spring of 2024, the highly-anticipated attraction joins the park’s lineup of revolutionary rides. Located in the newly incorporated Fire District, FIRE IN THE HOLE doubles the size of one of The City’s most popular areas, already home to Station No. 3 firehouse and a collection of family-friendly attractions. Just ten months ago, the 1880s theme park, Silver Dollar City revealed an additional $30 million investment in new guest experiences and improvements, hinting at further development in the next five years. Tripadvisor, the world’s largest travel guidance platform, recently announced Silver Dollar City, located in the picturesque Ozark Mountains, as the number one amusement park in the United States based on traveler reviews and ratings. “Signifying our biggest investment in a single attraction, FIRE IN THE HOLE continues Silver Dollar City’s strategic, multi-phased growth plan offering families opportunities to play and stay together in the heart of the Ozarks,” said Brad Thomas, President of the Silver Dollar City Company. “Spurring the creation of The Fire District, the custom-designed FIRE IN THE HOLE makes history as the Heartland’s largest indoor coaster. As the District’s anchor attraction, it will be a favorite rite of passage for families where one generation introduces the next generation to this adventure and where the heroes of today spark the heroes of tomorrow.” The coaster experience, with a powered incline and gravity descent, including three drops and a quick splash-landing, promises a thrilling ride. In addition, a custom soundtrack with high-resolution onboard audio, show lighting effects and enhanced special effects, like using fiber optics to create a fast-burning fuse, heightens the ride experience and brings the FIRE IN THE HOLE story to life. Nearly a third-of-a-mile long, the new ride is housed in a five-story, temperature-controlled building to ensure ridership regardless of weather. True to Silver Dollar City’s roots, the new ride's storyline is steeped in authentic regional heritage as the story is a fictional account of a real night in Ozark Mountain history when the mining town of Marmaros was burned to the ground by notorious vigilantes called the Baldknobbers. Created for multiple generations, FIRE IN THE HOLE depicts the day when Silver Dollar City citizens of all ages are pressed into service to save their town. The makers of the finest fire wagons in America’s Heartland, the Silver Dollar City Pumper Factory, invite the townspeople to the unveiling of their newest model. Instead, the visitors find the town in flames due to the reckless Baldknobbers. Ignited into action, everyone bands together to battle the fire. Known for pioneering innovation in the theme park industry, and a decade since they first teamed together on the history-making, award-winning Outlaw Run, Silver Dollar City once again partners with Idaho-based Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) to custom engineer and manufacture the new FIRE IN THE HOLE. “Like Silver Dollar City, Rocky Mountain Construction is committed to creating custom-built ride experiences that haven’t been done before,” said Darren Torr, President of RMC. “We loved the challenge of engineering, fabricating, and installing the one-of-a-kind FIRE IN THE HOLE, creating a new ride experience while honoring a legendary coaster. It feels fondly familiar, yet it will be daringly different.” The new attraction is inspired by the original FIRE IN THE HOLE attraction, first imagined, engineered and custom built at Silver Dollar City in 1972. Now celebrating its final season at the Ozarks park, the first FIRE IN THE HOLE made history when it opened, being lauded as one of the world’s first indoor roller coasters. To date, more than 25 million guests have experienced the original Ozark adventure and final rides continue through the end of the 2023 season.

I am very happy to see this, don't get me wrong, but I am a little surprised to see all the "perfect fit" comments. Of course I do get that literally any new coaster is basically a great fit because the park has been so starved for one. However, I wouldn't have chosen this model even though I expect to like it fine. Yeah, it has the beyond vertical drop, but otherwise it is a B&M sit down steel looper not too dissimilar to Hyrda and at least in the same realm as Talon. There are tons of models that would have been a better fit in my opinion. A modern woodie, any RMC, a B&M surf coaster, any flyer, anything that spins, a launched coaster with an actual layout, etc. I could keep going. Beggars and choosers, I know. To be clear I am not remotely upset about this. I am thrilled, actually. I haven't been back to Dorney in close a decade even though I live in NY and visit PA parks almost annually. There just has been no reason to go back so I always skip it. Now there is a great reason and I look forward to not only checking this out but also re-experiencing the rest of the lineup. It is just that my reaction to this has been "wow, that's amazing that Dorney is getting this, but also kind of a weird choice" and everyone else seems to be thinking "great choice!" so I couldn't help but comment on that.