Splash Adventure (Alabama Adventure) Discussion Thread

[LegendLover]

Alright if I’m being honest, my immediate reaction was… well it might have been a vocal “f*** me a used wild mouse?” However, I do think this will be a good addition to the park. I would love to see a Gravity Group woodie, but I think it would make way more sense a couple years down the line after they’ve added one steel coaster. Personally, I’d want the GG woodie to be an out and back one that stretches along the parking lot at the front of the park, just so some of the members of the GP don’t get it confused with Rampage. If I’m being honest, I do wish that they’d put a larger coaster in the former spot of Zoomerang, but this is small enough that they can put other new rides up there in the future. 
Is this the biggest, sexiest addition? No. However, this will expand the dry side of the park and offer a wildly different experience than Rampage and will be a good stepping stone between Centispeed and Rampage. At least we know that at least one new ride will be coming each year for a while. From a recent comment of theirs on Facebook, it sounds like they may be adding a new ride up on that hill in 2023. 

[SteamedHams]

Yeah my hopes and dreams are pinned on 2023 at this point, and it better be damn good. We have been due the inverting steel coaster since 2019. 

[Shavethewhales2]

If they are indeed getting the mouse, it's a great ride. I didn't realize how high people's hopes were for this park, lol. Come' on guys, they have one coaster currently and are still mostly a water park. This is great progress that no one should be disappointed in. 

If they got an inverting coaster at this point, it would probably either be an old Boomerang or something like the L&T Wild Wind which isn't very good. Or maybe a Zamperla Volare...

[grsupercity]

I wonder why Lake Winnie got rid of Wild Lightning 

[LegendLover]

2 hours ago, Shavethewhales2 said:

If they are indeed getting the mouse, it's a great ride. I didn't realize how high people's hopes were for this park, lol. Come' on guys, they have one coaster currently and are still mostly a water park. This is great progress that no one should be disappointed in. 

If they got an inverting coaster at this point, it would probably either be an old Boomerang or something like the L&T Wild Wind which isn't very good. Or maybe a Zamperla Volare...

Oh yeah this will definitely be a great addition. I think many of us just thought their next coaster would be a Gravity Group or a Eurofighter because of that ACE event a couple years ago where they said they intended to add a water coaster and a roller coaster by about 2023 and that they were considering either a Gravity Group or a Eurofighter. 

Really the thing that keeps getting me is that they are putting a relatively small coaster up by itself on that hill. It is a winding path to get up there from the rest of the park, so I kinda figured they'd save that area for a large new expansion when the time was right. I figured a very small coaster like this would be better fit on the flat area where the Space Shot used to be behind where Galleon is now or on the plot of land where Buzzsaw Falls used to be. 

[The username]

Definitely a good in-between coaster. Hopefully there will be bigger investments in the future.

 

[SteamedHams]

Well, its confirmed Wild Lighting from Lake Winnie, but also, more rides will be announced over the months. Flats I assume.
https://fb.watch/a6OLZzdSpb/

Looks like they even use the TPR POV of the ride in the video lol

[LegendLover]

A little blurry, but I took a screenshot of how they are going to position Cheddar Chase. I’d like to make a few comments on this announcement:

1. I love the logo and the name. It’s a unique name for a Wild Mouse and the logo is pretty adorable! 
 

2. I think the location will be good as it leaves room on that plot for a flat ride or two. I love the views that it will give of Rampage.

 

3. I like that it was a steel mid-level coaster to contrast Rampage and Centispeed.

 

4. I’m excited to see how they’ll refresh that area as well as how they’ll refresh the ride. 
 

5. I can’t wait to see how they’ll expand that area next. 
 

I’m curious to see what those other announcements are. I can’t imagine that there will be four new flat rides added alongside this coaster. I’d have to guess there will be announcements of other infrastructure improvements to the park: maybe a new restaurant, a new game midway, etc.

I think my prediction for the four other announcements will be as followed: 

1. a new adult-sized flat ride, I would love to see a Music Express type ride or a Zamperla Disco or something. 
2. a new restaurant or an area with games.

3. a carousel or a kid’s ride

4. a new event, whether it’s a concert, a 4th of July festival, restarting the fall time event, or a Christmas event. 
 

What all do y’all think?

[CoasterGuy06]

Couple of things lately: announcement #2 was made on NYD and it is a new attraction called Little Tractors:

Quote

2022 Announcement 2 of 4! Little Tractors will be another new attraction coming in 2022 for the little ones in your family! We've got even more surprises coming too! The next two are even bigger! #AdventureHasJustBegun

The next announcement is scheduled for Valentine's Day. Looks like they will also be making a big deal about Rampage's 25th Birthday this year.

[LegendLover]

^^^ Going off of what you said, well, what the park said. 

The next two additions will be bigger. I really thought that not all four additions will be ride-based, but I think I could be wrong. We already know about Cheddar Chase, Lil' Tractors, and Rampage is slated to get a ton of trackwork this season. But the park MAY or may not have given away one of the new additions for next year in the most recent post about Cheddar Chase. They posted pictures of Cheddar Chase in the snow in the backstage area, and there was a picture that featured some waterslide pieces in the background. I commented and said, "could those waterslide pieces be another new addition?" The post was removed with a new one created that featured the other two pictures, but not the third. So I'm predicting that the four new additions will be as followed:

Cheddar Chase

Lil' Tractors

A new waterslide for Splash Adventure, probably in the same area as Rocket Racer

A new adult-sized flat ride.

I wouldn't be surprised if the waterslide will be the next thing announced. The tube that I saw was red, so maybe they'll announce it on Valentine's Day or something. I almost want to predict that it is the slide complex that used to be at Hydro Adventures with Rocket Racer. It was a small slide complex with three waterslides, one of them being red. But at the same time, it was a pretty small structure from an unknown manufacturer, so maybe they wouldn't want to buy it. 

But in the way of a flat ride, I'm going to predict a Flying Bobs ride. Looking at Intermark, where the park is trying to sell the water ropes course, the website just recently listed a Chance Flying Bobs ride as being sold. It was only $70,000, so that is definitely affordable for the park. Plus it was the one formerly at Fun Spot, so it was definitely in good shape. Just something to think about. 

[Vonni]

I'm not familiar with this park. Is there an abandoned rapids ride at the south end of the park? At least that is what it looks like on Google's satellite view. 

[CoasterGuy06]

Yes. Wild River Gorge. It was a terrible ride in pretty much every way.

[LegendLover]

So the park just did a Facebook Live where they went around the park talking about different projects for 2022 as well as 2023. Here's a few notable updates:

• Cheddar Chase will be the main new dry ride for the year and they plan to open it up in June, but not this opening weekend.
• Rampage received over a million dollars in work this offseason.
• The old water fortress was removed and will be replaced by a brand-new attraction by the end of this season, meaning the park will have made both a major dry park addition, a kiddie ride addition, and a waterpark addition for this year.
• The park has started construction on a major new addition behind Rocket Racer for the 2023 season. They have equipment onsite and they said you'll be able to watch the construction over the summer. 
  • Given most of their construction projects don't start until well into the offseason, I think it is a good sign that it is something major being added, probably for the waterpark since it is behind Rocket Racer.
    • That being said, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it'll be a water coaster. My bet would be that it'll be something like Thunder Rapids at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. 

 

[LegendLover]

Alright guys: opening day has passed and the new park map was released! The two biggest things to note are that the map even mentions the new for 2023 attraction, meaning that I think this will finally mean something large for the park. Also Rock’N’Tug appears to have been removed from the map and has the same question mark where it used to be. I’m not expecting anything too big here. I think best case scenario is either a Larson drop tower or a Zamperla midi discovery revolution. But I think it could just be another family ride, maybe a Ferris wheel. 

[CoasterGuy06]

On 5/11/2022 at 10:39 PM, LegendLover said:

 

• The park has started construction on a major new addition behind Rocket Racer for the 2023 season. They have equipment onsite and they said you'll be able to watch the construction over the summer. 
  • Given most of their construction projects don't start until well into the offseason, I think it is a good sign that it is something major being added, probably for the waterpark since it is behind Rocket Racer.
    • That being said, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it'll be a water coaster. My bet would be that it'll be something like Thunder Rapids at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. 

 

The same guy did another live a few weeks ago and at one point he mentioned something along the lines of "I just realized you might have seen something behind me for 2023 you weren't supposed to see." I went back and looked and it definitely looked like water slide pieces. 

[Twisterfan1995]

Water coaster maybe? That was mentioned as a potential future attraction option (along with a Kentucky Flyer-esque Gravity Group Woodie, and a Gerstlauer Eurofighter ala Tantrum or Iron Shark) back at an ACE event they did in 2019. 

 

[jarmor]

Why is rampage a racing coaster???

 

[Midgetman82]

^I thought I was going crazy seeing that too! 

https://www.facebook.com/AlabamaAdventure/videos/403188838454731/

I guess I checked their Facebook page just in time. Looks like the new wild mouse coaster is live and well.

I love seeing that this park is still getting some additions this year and into next year. I'd love to make it out to there again to give the water park another go, and finally get my Rampage credit.

Edited July 13, 2022 by Midgetman82
Added YouTube embed of same video

[jarmor]

At first I was like, someone finally built a real coaster in their backyard lol.  Then I saw rampage. . .

[prozach626]

People who build back yard coasters are already strange. The guy who has the resources, but still chooses to build something as terrible as a wild mouse is someone you probably want to stay away from. Far away.

[jarmor]

I mean, it could be for the kiddies lol lol lol.  I am definitely not a fan of them lol.

[The username]

So it looks like they used the image for LR at Hershey Park for Rampage on the park maps! Idk how they thought that was a good idea?

[CoasterGuy06]

And going back to those "Coming Soon" spots on the map last year...they park didn't announce a new attraction for this season.

[tndank]

At ACE Winterfest this weekend the park announced Rampage will not open in 2024. They are searching for a refurb partner. 

[bert425]

47 minutes ago, tndank said:

At ACE Winterfest this weekend the park announced Rampage will not open in 2024. They are searching for a refurb partner. 

a bit more detail.  . Steve Thomas, the park's new General Manager was who presented at Winterfest - he's well known in Texas, as until recently, he ran the Arlington Trader's Village rides area. 

and is the main man responsible for bringing Prairie Screamer to that location (Prairie Playland) from Scandia.   In Arlington they fully refurbed and reprofiled parts of it, and made it terrifyingly fun to ride.

We'll miss him in Texas, but our loss is Alabama Adventure's gain.

he told us that he walked the entire track earlier this month, and that Rampage is really in such bad shape, that the refurb is going to take an estimated 5 years. . tho they do plan on opening it during the refurb once the major issues are dealt with first.   And that is why the coaster will be closed for all of 2024.    But hopes it will be running in some capacity in 2025, and they will continue doing the refurb work on it every off season.

they have put out for bids to multiple contractors, but they have not chosen one yet.

his vision for the park is great, and sounds like it includes really building up the "dry" areas of the park with new flats as future improvements.   (and refurb or clean up of current unusable attractions - he pointed out the overgrown & unused rapids ride as a major eyesore right now that he'd like to address sooner rather than later.

And he teased another new coaster is on the table in the next 5 years as well, as they have identified a large, flat open space that is "just perfect for another coaster"