ElvisLuv

It took some time for Dollywood to get it's B&M but it did. And...Dolly got the second Gerstlauer when SDC's version of Mystery Mine was shelved during the throes of the recession and HFE decided it didn't want another Euro Fighter. That should have went where the Waterboggin was instead it gave Dolly their Powder Keg, but milder. Dolly has lost more rides over the years than SDC. They are getting rid of a 10 year old 5 million plus Mack Splash Battle ( I have to think they'll move it to WA or sell it), A Huss Topple Tower boondoggle and 5h3y crqpcanned a 5 year old Adventure Mountain that was Millions of dollars. Their newer flats came at the cost of older ones HFC converted Buzzsaw Falls to Powder Keg, and closed the waterboggin. Any rides removed were brought back(balloons and carousel) sans a ferris wheelFor those that don't know Mountain Sidewinder is a bit tamer than the SDC counterpart. Supposedly some injuries played a role in SDC's closing. If Dollywood did take a breather from coasters that would allow SDC to "catch up" a bit in 2020 as Branson lost the GCI when Celebration City closed along with that Gerstauer. The concept art of the spinners clearly showed one using the tower from the waterboggin as part of a coaster, would surprise me if that is still it's future.

What city would this be close to?

Which begs the question, Drop Line was a Funtime product, could SDC be getting a Funtime in turn? With The relocation for the S&S shot tower to SDC, that leaves a Star Flyer and that would glorious giving the setting and the lake in the distance

Well, since Herschend buys majors rides in pairs atgrom a single Manufacturer, what will Dollywood's Mack Be? The sole exception to this trend was that Dolly got two Gerstlauer coasters and that was mainly due to SDC's Mystery Mine type eurofighter got delayed due to the 08 meltdown and eventually changed to Firechaser Express Let's look at the pattern 2 RMC'S(Outlaw and lighting) 2 B&Ms albeit some time apart.(Wildfire and Wild Egale) 2 Mack Splash Battles 2 S&S Giant Swings 2 Arrows(Tenn Tornado and Thunderation) 2 GCIs ( Thunderhead and OzCat) OzCat was at Celebration City but it was the Branson GCI There has been been some one offs BuzzSaw Falls and then it's conversion to Powder Keg. But history shows it comes in twos even the old rides like the river raft rides and FITH and Blazing Fury, The Waterboggan rides (SDC lost theirs)and even two Flooded Mines (Dolly lost theirs)

If all that building in the middle of the course is used for is mechanical, that was a tremendously blown opportunity as the ride preview shows the train coming to a near complete stop at the first launch.

It will be. SDC always opens for Springfield's spring break, which this school year is March 12-16, 2018. Analogous dates for next school year would be March 11-15, 2019. Springfield R-12 is the largest school district in the state, so it's as good as guaranteed that they'll be open at that time. Keep in mind though that during the spring they have some staffing issues and so are open 8 hours a day for 5 days of the week. There's not a good way to predict which two weekdays the park will be closed until the calendar is officially released, and closing times of 5:30 or 6:00 are typical too. The Northwest Arkansas SB dates are 3/17 thru 3/23 and they are a huge demo for SDC. The exploding NWA area is extremely important for SDC. It's projected to eclipse Tulsa in size in about 15 years time.

Spring Break season is open but the weather could be 70s or 30 with snow.

I see they are super quiet on the building that certainly is being built mid course which I believe is a show building. You see the stop before launch on the preview video.

Interesting read about how American Dream may affect SFGA https://seekingalpha.com/article/4092876-six-flags-lose-25-percent-customers-new-park-meadowlands

The next to last pic show's what I believe is the foundation of a show building mid course the opening is the door to mechanical.

I don't remember hearing anything other than it is being delayed. I asked about this coaster when I was there. The employee I asked was a long time employee and said they still want to do it. He mentioned something about the two piers actually being in different townships (Wildwood, North Wildwood) and that the issues due to who gets the property tax, permitting, and so forth has been problematic. If you look at the maps, 26th Ave is the boundary line between the two and that would place the piers in different towns. Just what I was told.

I imagine that the push up the hill will be by launch as well.

Save on Disney Cruises by buying discounted gift cards at wholesale clubs like Sam's. For those that book a great deal of time out. Get a Discover IT and Chase Freedom at watch for 5X back quarters at wholesale clubs and make the discount larger.

Only problem I have with visiting is deciding which one of the two hotels to stay in.

Herschend would have to get over their aversion to alcohol for Busch parks though as it's well incorporated I would hate to see anything happen to the craft beer room at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Imagine how well micro distillery and/or brewery would mesh with SDC, but that ain't happening. I couldn't imagine Busch Gardens being "dry." That would be the rub.

And yet Sea World parks do pretty well on lists like tripadvisor. Here's an observation, and this isn't meant as derogatory in any way, people of this board seem to be pretty well tilted left on the political spectrum and are more sensitive to the whole Blackwater thing. I think we place way too much emphasis on the whole Blackfish thing and less on it just being that SeaWorld is in a very tough, crowded market in Orlando. It certainly has had more effect in a place San Diego cause Calfornia is going to California. I know families that have gone to San Antonio on vacation and SeaWorld was a must, yet have been to Orlando a couple of times and didn't do Seaworld. And I ask why and they were just consumed with all things Disney and if they did cheat on the mouse it was to Universal. SeaWorld has to create their customers instead of depending on getting a visit by the Disney crazed. Forget adding on Tampa There's too much other stuff competing for the attention for that free day, outlet malls Fun Stops, Orlando Eyes, time shares with mini water parks, ect. They have to get into the themed up and tied into the park resort business much like Phantasialand. As for Merlin, it's a mixed bag of emotions. First it should be for all of the parks, not just Busch. They are into the on site resort thing but maybe not to the scale of Phantasialand and Efteling. With them Owning Legoland Florida and California. There's some packaging synergy there. They are showing a will to build from the ground up parks in America(see Legoland New York) and there needs to be a Busch Gardens in San Antonio based on Central and South America and one in So California with a Asian flavor. I'very thought that SEAS should mimic the Lego/Sealife combos with a Sesame Street/ SeaWorld model but with hotels with an indoor water park like Great Wolf. Merlin could certainly do that. Gives them some differention wiggle room without over saturating a brand.

If Busch Gardens were sold, amdd they shouldn't(there needs to be one in San Antonio based Central and South America) please Jesus let it be to someone like Herschend. Sometimes, I think, when a park that wants to fully immerse you into theming, needs to be privately held. Otherwise, you get the constant pressure of profit, profit, profit that gives us Six Flags. We don't get the quality that you see at SDC and Dolly or the quality you see at Europa, Phantasialand and Efteling. You get the equivalent to McDonalds, Wendy's and Burger King. Herschend would have to get over their aversion to alcohol for Busch parks though as it's well incorporated

This is what is offered on the Orlando Go Card deal.

I was excited tobe planning on visiting this park in 2019 when Taron was announced with the bonus of Raik. Now these coaster is just icing on the cake. How far out should I plan on booking a room at Phantasialand? When do they start booking for the following year?

Fallon was a Comcast vanity project if there ever was one. The wheels started turning on that before Trump was elected and then gave Colbert a hanging curve ball to smash out of the park with subject matter he excels at. But, that will all pass one day.

The sad reality of all this is that a perfectly fine coaster that would have a price tag exceeding well over 40 million If it was bought new today will be tossed in the trash. Hell, at the very least, relocate it to the new China park and have it duel again in it's original theming. A perfect fit for China. Some perfectly good slides at Wet and Wild is proof of what'll happen. I'm aure the folks at B&M are even bummed, has. A coaster of their's ever been tossed in the garbage?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Thisis right here^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ You wouldn't know Six Flags St. Louis existed in Memphis unless you just knew. Considering the amount of Cardinal fans in Memphis that make the trek to see ballgames(Memphis also home to one of Minor League Baseball's best stadiums and Cardinal Triple A club). They don't advertise one bit in Memphis. It's six one way and a half dozen the other for Memphians between SFST and Silver Dollar City and then Dolly wood the other. Holiday World hasn't pushed itself in Memphis but if I-69 ever got completely between Memphis the Kentucky Line I could sure see it. That brings me to Six Flags and their growth. Here we have Memphis and it's MSA of 1.35 million. That doesn't include areas like Jackson TN, Tupelo MS, Jonesboro/Paragould AR which pushes it to around mil. Then you have Little Rock at 2hrs away and then there's Jackson MS. Anywho, not one commercial water park in Memphis. Not saying they need to build a theme park but a Hurricane Harbor Water Park seems to me like a no brainer. Buy enough land that if the water park is hugely successful, add a the park later. In fact, Memphis would be a place to build an Outdoor with Hotel/indoor water park combo for a year round operation. I'm shocked that Memphis doesn't really even have a Fun Spot type park (Fun Spot are you reading). Since Liberty land and it's poor management t by gov't entities shutdown, there's a huge void. Not even Nashville has anything that replace the niches that Liberty land and Opryland filled. Memphis keeps coming up with grandiose ideas on how to reinvent it's Mud Island Park. Right now, the answer is a Tivoli Park like approach. Free admission, tickets to ride or a wristband for unlimited rides. A collection of rides meant for small spaces on part of the Island. A 250ft. Wheel, a 300ft+ Star Flyer, a old school carousel building that actually hold about a half dozen kiddie rides with the carousel as the center complete with birthday rooms. A small scale, compact woodie . And...a couple of compact steel coasters and 4 to 5 flats from mild to wild. With a couple covered but open air. All would have the same color scheme lime green with gold scroll work that would have a late 1800's ironwork feel. The queue's simple but elegant, iron fencing with plenty of Landscaping and shade trees. The rides would have an amazing led package to light the place up. It would be on the Mississippi River and between two major interstate bridges that cross the country north to south and east to west. Also, a so ring type ride feature the entire length of the Mississippi River addition to the River Museum would be swell along with a decent aquarium tied to the outstanding Memphis Zoo. To compliment the neat river walk with it's scale model of the river. Anyway, back to Six Flags, build a water park in the Memphis area, sell the gold passes to push folks to StL, ATL and Dallas as well while capturing some Little Rock AR and Jackson MS market share as well. Also, look at booming Northwest Arkansas for a stand alone water park, pushing the same concept to Dallas and STL while capturing some Tulsa market share as well.

I'm trying to track down the operating hours from this past March. Trying to plan a trip for Spring Break 2018(March 17 and 18) and tryin to get feel of how much time I would have at the park if we went there after we arrive at Tampa(takes less points to get there over Orlando). I figure it'll be Food and Wine again

Disney does not care about, nor do they react to anything Universal does. I really wish people would stop thinking this way, because it is wrong. If anything, I hope it gives UNI motive to spend more.

So, basically what the smaller GG woodies like Switchback holds. Yep, geared to smaller parks like ZDT and Fun Spot.