CoasterLover

Which is ironic considering ABC Family/Freeform is a subsidiary of Disney...

A lot of people like to hate on Comcast, but man have they invested in Universal Orlando! I mean, I'm used to there being a new (small) addition to each Six Flags park every year, but the way they have been going, Universal has had at least one new attraction open every year for the past few years and seems poised to continue doing that into the future. And these aren't small, minor attractions, these are big, high budget additions! And on top of that, they have doubled (I'm pretty sure) the number of hotels they had just a few years ago, have added a new waterpark (which looks to be poised to be one of the top water parks on earth) and seem to be just a couple years (maybe less) away from announcing a third "dry" park. All in all, it's Universal's way of trying to boost their own numbers but it certainly is working out to the benefit of the amusement park enthusiast!

That's amazing! It would be fascinating to get a figure on how much candy they hand out each year!

Anyone know (definitively) if Six Flags America is working with an outside contractor for Holiday in the Park and, if so, who? I know SFA has worked a LOT with Little Spider Creations for a lot of their recent Fright Fest props/haunts and I know several Six Flags Parks (including Great Adventure) have worked with Oak Island Creative for their Holiday in the Park decorations. I only ask because I know some of these groups will post images of what they're working on on their FaceBook pages and I love having the sneak peak. Really hoping once Fright Fest kicks into gear that they will start putting out more information on their HITP offerings (like what rides will be open, special shows, possibly a map for the event showing the theming for each section...)

Those Justice Leagues don't come cheep... some will argue that they are saving production cost money (mostly by splitting the bill over so many clones) by building so many, but those motion base vehicles they are using come with a pretty hefty price tag. While I don't have an exact price tag, I'd venture that the Justice League attractions cost about as much (if not more) than a decent size coaster and likely cost more than the S&S Free Spins they have been building.

See bottom of Page 3 (as written on the document)/Top of Page 4 (bottom of Page 6/Top of Page 7 overall), Condition 2 to see the original wording of the restriction and the suggested (and later approved) revised wording... http://www.cityofbowie.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/147?fileID=156

I don't believe they have a maximum limit... the stipulation is simply that they need special height variance approval anytime they want to build an attraction over 200 feet tall (as opposed to before where they simply could not build anything over 200 feet tall regardless). Anything under 200 feet tall would not need this extra approval but would still have to go through the usual permitting/planning/approval process. Given that SFA has some pretty NIMBY neighbors, I'm not surprised that they didn't go too much above 200 feet for this attraction (as opposed to building the 400' version of this ride). I mean, if they started out too big, it's likely the locals would protest every time in the future that the park wanted to go above 200' and getting future approval would have been much more difficult. I'm sure they'll place this in such a location that it will be seen/heard as minimally as possible from the neighbors (or at least as minimally as possible for A 242' tall tower).

Though to be honest... I would trade ALL of Gotham being open in exchange for a nicely decorated route along Capital Railways for HITP! I always loved when they used to go all out on the train for Fright Fest and I think they could really make Capital Railways a headline attraction if they can have the train open and decorated well along the route (accompanied with some Christmas music played over the sound system).

I don't think that's completely out of the realm of possibility... a lot of games/food options in that general area and it would open the possibility of using Gotham Arena for some sort of HITP show of some sorts... just sort of make a barricade right at Joker's Jinx...

I think corporate is pushing for them to have at least some of Gotham open for HITP (mostly to have some more of the headline coasters open). While it's doubtful that any of Gotham will be open for HITP this year, if the event is successful enough, Gotham would be the most reasonable location to expand the event to in 2017. If that's the case, they would surely open back to at least Superman and any of these options would then be viable.

Word I'm hearing from the park is that they are still finalizing plans (would explain why we haven't seen any permits filed yet). Personally, I'd like to see them put it on the old Krypton Comet spot (between Superman and Blizzard River) (Seen as Spot 1 in the image below). Another great option would be to actually put it right where the Batmobile is now in the middle of Gotham City (Seen as Spot 2 in the image below), however, I'd imagine they'd need to move most/all of the games there to make that possible. I like this spot a lot because it lines right up with the line of sight from Main Street. Finally, I had heard talk of them removing/moving Pirates Flight for a SkyScreamer a couple years ago. If those plans didn't change, it could go there (Seen as Spot 3 in the image below). It still lines up nicely with the line of sight coming down Main Street, but I think a lot of people would complain if they put it outside of Gotham City (though to be honest, if they kept it in Gotham, wouldn't it be time to change Gotham to "DC Superhero's Adventure... Something or Other..."?)

As of about June, word I was hearing from management around the park was to NOT expect anything north of Wild One (I.e. Gotham and Whistle Stop)... at least not this year. As for decorations, apparently SFA's entertainment staff has been envisioning and day dreaming a Holiday event for quite some time now. It's only been recently that they got the green light from corporate, but as for having a plan of what they WANT to do, those have been in the works for several years... It will all be up to how much capital corporate gives them to work with...

Traditionally, the 45th (or in some cases 65th) anniversary is sapphire... the 70th anniversary is traditionally platinum...

Personally, the killer whales and dolphins are not the main reason I go to Sea World. I'd be just as likely to go if both were removed. I'm not sure how many other people feel the same way, but sometimes I wonder if they'll just have to bite the bullet and move in that direction. I know the National Aquarium in Baltimore has been moving in that direction for a few years now. They started with a show very much like you would see at Sea World with their dolphins, then they moved to a completely educational show, and now they don't really have a show at all (you can go in at any time and see the biologists working with the dolphins, but there is no [per se] performance). Recently, they even launched a letter talking about how they were considering options for the future of their dolphins, including them to a "sea pen". If one major aquarium would do it, it would (seemingly) put a lot of pressure on the other aquariums/parks/zoos that also have dolphins.

Freefly... Freespin...

My gut says 2016 will include a moderately large addition to the waterpark. The park's biggest draw is arguably the waterpark and it's been two years since they added anything to the waterpark. They are already removing Croc. Cal's Carrebbean Beachhouse (the water play structure) which makes me think a big new water play structure and possibly one other slide may be in store. SFOG is due to work on their Phase II portion of their waterpark, so I could see a larger deal with White Water West or Proslide that sees several new slides go to both parks. May we also see something on the dry side? Maybe, but I don't think it will be anything as big as Battle for Metropolis (Maybe a Skyscreamer or possibly a flat), but I'd be willing to bet decent money that the headline addition for SFA in 2016 will revolve around the water park... what I'd REALLY like to see added to the water park would be a watercoaster (even something as small as Deluge at Kentucky Kingdom)... none of the other local parks have one and I think it would be a HUGE draw for the park.

Funny thing is, I'm pretty sure they got a bunch of the shade structures from the abandoned SFNO and simply never installed them... I'm pretty sure these are them, sitting in the backlot as of April 2015...

Star Fox B&M Wingrider or Flyer with on board audio... "Do a Barrel Roll"!

Every new ride at every Six Flags park in the chain has opened around Memorial Day (or later) for the past few years. It's not just an "SFA thing"... it's a whole chain thing.

It would be cool to see something like the "Orlando Flex Ticket" for Virginia to offer unlimited admission, maybe over the course of a 7 or 10 days, to Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens, Water Country USA, and maybe 1 or 2 other local attractions.

Just dirt and footers at the moment...

^Crocodile Cal's Caribbean Beach House (a water play structure that was showing it's age... most of the effects we no longer working)... hopefully we see a replacement on the size of the one at Hershey for 2016...

I think some of the animatronics from Splash Mountain would be a perfect fit for just such an attraction...

From Six Flags America's Twitter...

A new park, assuming one is in the work, would take about three years to build and would open well after anything that is currently under construction on the property. I'm still a fan of a new Disney park opening in 2021 (Walt Disney World's 50th Anniversary), so an announcement wouldn't be for a few more years. In the meantime, all of the rest of the parks get some nice upgrades to be ready for the influx of guests (new Fantasy Land/the hub (MK), Avatar Land (AK), Frozen ride and meet and greet/Expanded Soarin w/ new show (EC), and whatever they may have in store for HS). If Universal can build as much as they have been building recently, then a similar amount of large investments would be completely feasible for WDW. In regards to Hollywood Studios, the park is in need of a lot of work, but with the closure of the tour, I think (hope) something big is in the works. I could totally see a California Adventure style/scope upgrade happening.