There are scant details about what is planned. But the SpongeBob expansion will be part of a major investment by Beto Carrero World, which is Brazil’s largest theme park. In a recent interview, Alex Murad, the park’s president, said that Beto Carrero World would be shelling out $2 billion reais ($385 million US) throughout the property over the next four years and that the coaster would be “the most expensive in the Southern Hemisphere, costing twice as much as any other existing today.” So SpongeBob won’t be helming a modest kiddie ride.

According to rcdb.com, Intamin will manufacture the coaster, and it will have a price tag of $450 million reais (a cool $86.6 million US). That will likely make it a highly themed attraction. Indeed, rcdb.com says that it will include an indoor section, which will probably feature some show scenes, perhaps with animatronic characters. The site also reports that the ride will span 4,593 feet and feature multiple launches, rapid track switches, and 18 airtime moments.

SpongeBob and his pals already meet and greet guests at Beto Carrero World. Other IPs represented at the park include Hot Wheels and DreamWorks franchises such as Madagascar, Shrek, and Kung Fu Panda. 2.9 million guests visited Beto Carrero World in 2025. Murad says that the hope is that the investment and expansion will double attendance by the end of the decade. In addition to the SpongeBob land, the park will be adding a land geared to young children based on YouTube sensation, Galinha Pintadinha (Lottie Dottie Chicken to English-speaking fans), and three new hotel towers with 600 rooms. According to Murad, the accommodations will help establish Beto Carrero World as a theme park destination resort.

A sweet park is on the way to Sao Paulo

Brazil will welcome another theme park destination resort when Cacau Park, which is scheduled to debut in late 2027, opens its gates. Taking a page from Hersheypark, the Cacau Show candy company is developing the park. With a budget of $2 billion reais ($380 million US), Cacau Park will have 70 attractions, including three roller coasters. One of them, which Vekoma is building, is being billed as the tallest and fastest coaster in Latin America. It will climb about 180 feet and hit a top speed of around 75 mph. The as-yet unnamed coaster will include a launch and four inversions. Mistral, a suspended family coaster, will also be part of the lineup as will a second family coaster; Vekoma will be providing both of those as well.

Share

When it opens, the Cacau Park resort will include two themed hotels and City Walk (hmm, that name rings a bell), a dining and shopping complex that will put the spotlight on chocolate and other Cacau Show goodies.

Brazilians can’t seem to get enough of theme parks. Before an economic downturn in Brazil and COVID curbed travel, the country was the number one source of overseas visitors to Florida’s theme parks. The homegrown theme park resorts would seem to be an attempt to capture the market and keep folks and their discretionary vacation reais in Brazil.

Is SpongeBob worthy of an E-Ticket coaster attraction? Is the world ready for another chocolate-themed park?

Leave a comment

Those interested in the promotion can go to Allegiant’s Website, search for flights departing Orlando (MCO) and arriving at McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) in Knoxville on November 6 and then choosing the special flight #925. The airline is promising a Dollywood-centric experience aboard the outbound flight, including a celebration at the gate with live entertainment (which undoubtedly will include a rendition of “9 to 5”), an in-flight trivia contest (suggested question: What was the name of the park before it was Dollywood?), exclusive merchandise, and themed food and drinks. Perhaps the airline can serve some cinnamon bread and a cup of ambition as part of its in-flight offerings.

The fun won’t stop when the flight lands. Those passengers that purchase park tickets (which, I’d have to imagine would be most, if not all of them) will have additional perks at Dollywood on the following day, Saturday, November 7. The park says that it will provide special treats (more cinnamon bread?), exclusive ride time, reserved seats for shows, and “other surprises.” Since the visit will take place during the Smoky Mountain Christmas festival–which is among parkdom’s best seasonal events–the reserved seating will likely be for one or more of Dollywood’s stirring holiday productions.

The park is also offering hotel packages for Flight #925ers at its properties, Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and Dollywood’s HeartSong Lodge & Resort. Deals include discounted room rates, park tickets, complimentary TimeSavers front-of-the-line passes, and a $100 dining and shopping credit.

Share

“Flight #925 is all about embracing the joy of travel,” says Drew Wells, Allegiant’s chief commercial officer. “Partnering with Dollywood Parks & Resorts allows us to deliver a unique experience that reflects the best of both brands: great value, unforgettable moments, and the chance to create memories from the second you step on board.”

Sure, the route between Orlando and Knoxville is a popular one, but there are plenty of other feeder markets that Dollywood and Allegiant could have targeted. I do think that zeroing in on Florida’s theme park corridor is intentional. In my estimation, Dollywood holds a special place in the industry. It may not quite be on the level of Disney or Universal (although Night Flight Expedition, which is scheduled to debut this spring and should be open for the November event, certainly looks Disney-esque and E-Ticket worthy), but it’s a considerable step above most regional parks and a destination theme park resort in its own right.

Share Arthur's About Theme Parks

So, does the 925 tie-in sound intriguing to you as well? Unfortunately, a quick check of the Allegiant site seems to indicate that all tickets for the special flight have been sold. But if you want to get in on the promotion, check with the airline to be sure. The quick sale of tickets demonstrates strong demand. Perhaps Allegiant and Dollywood will schedule additional dates and flights–in which case they’ll need to stock up on cups of ambition.

What in Thunderation is going on at Silver Dollar City?

Sister park Silver Dollar City recently revealed that this will be the final season for Thunderation. The popular coaster, which opened in 1993, has apparently reached the end of the line. When I first boarded Thunderation a number of years ago, I was impressed by the ride. A classic mine train coaster from defunct manufacturer, Arrow Dynamics, it climbs 81 feet and hits 48 mph, which is fairly potent for this type of ride. It also features a nice helix. During my last visit to the Branson, Missouri park, however, Thunderation had become noticeably rougher and was showing its age. So yeah, it’s time to bid farewell. The park is giving fans a big heads up so that they can get in their last rides this year. It will also be presenting special ceremonies, promotional merchandise, and other ways to give Thunderation a proper sendoff.

Both Silver Dollar City and Dollywood are owned and operated by Herschend Family Entertainment. You get bonus points if you were able to answer the trivia question I posed earlier. For those scratching their heads: Before it was Dollywood, the Tennessee park was known as–pause for dramatic effect–Silver Dollar City and took its cues from the original park in Missouri.

Would you want to participate an airline/theme park promotion like Flight #925? Will you miss Thunderation?

In addition to the historic and refined Hotel Hershey (where, among many other nods to the company’s signature confections, guests can enjoy a chocolate-infused spa treatment), the Hershey Lodge, and the Hershypark Camping Resort, the resort will welcome Hershey Inn & Suites. Folks looking for a place to stay when they visit the park will be able opt for the new, moderately priced property when it opens this spring. The hotel will include a complimentary hot breakfast and provide shuttle service to the park. As with all resort guests, perks will include early admission to the park during the summer season, extra evening hours at the park, and free admission to Hershey Gardens and The Hershey Story Museum Experience. The exterior of the new hotel will be decked out in candy bar-chocolate. And get this: All guests receive free chocolate treats at check-in.

Younger visitors at The Boardwalk At Hersheypark water park, which is included with general admission, will have new ways to get wet this season. The Bayside Pier section of the park will welcome a new play zone with water spray elements as well as tipping buckets. Among existing attractions at The Boardwalk are the Breakers Edge water coaster, the Tidal Force shoot-the-chutes boat ride, and the Intercoastal Waterway lazy river.

Located in nearby downtown Hershey, near the corner of Cocoa and Chocolate Avenue, the company will be opening the Hershey Social Restaurant + Bar in the spring. In addition to signature cocktails (which, I’m guessing, will include chocolatey concoctions), hearty fare, and gooey desserts, the new eatery will also include “interactive darts” (not quite sure what that means), trivia competitions, and other ways to get, you know, social.

Share

Adventure awaits at PortAventura World

Spain’s premier theme park resort, PortAventura World, will debut two attractions this season. Kids will be able to tackle rope bridges, climb structures, and otherwise explore the new play area, Makamanu Jungle: The Adventure Trek. It looks like it will be a great place for niños to run around and expend some energy. Located in the Polynesia land, Makamanu Jungle will join other play spaces at Port Aventura Park, including Área Infantil in the China land and El Huerto Encantado (The Enchanted Garden) in the Sesame Street-themed SésamoAventura land.

The resort’s separate-admission Caribe Aquatic Park will welcome Coral Bay: The Lost Legend, a 6,000-square-meter expansion that will include new slides, an adventure pool with a water obstacle course, and a splash pad. PortAventura is also teasing that the water park addition will introduce a “unique water attraction in Europe that will leave you speechless.” More to come on that announcement I guess.

Have you been to Hersheypark? How about PortAvetnura?

Leave a comment

With a launch set for 2027 and no actual construction underway to date, the Dracula Land project seems iffy. Still, the plans are alluring. Let’s see what’s in the works.

As with most of the Disneyland parks, guests would be able to hop aboard a train upon entering the park. Dubbed the Transylvanian Railway, it would be one of the signature attractions of the Moonlit District. The Dracula Land folks say that the gateway land would remain open late into the evening and host a projection and drone show. Unlike the rest of the park, the Moonlit District would also operate year-round. In addition, the land would offer Romanian Odyssey, a flying theater ride that would likely take guests soaring above the Eastern European country, a double carousel, and Hollywood Vampires, an immersive exhibit that would probably explore movie incarnations of the creature, such as Bela Lugosi’s classic portrayal. The Main Street Opera House at Disneyland presents Walt Disney – A Magical Life. At Dracula Land, visitors could learn more about the inspiration for the park’s namesake in the proposed walk-through experience, The Legend of Vlad.

The Dracula’s Castle land at the park would feature a large-scale rendering of the mythical monster’s abode. As depicted in concept art (see below), the gothic building gives off distinct vibes of Frankenstein Manor, the fortress at the heart of Dark Universe at Universal Epic Universe. The Castle Escape attraction within the show building, which is described as a race through the catacombs to flee from Dracula, could aspire to Universal-level quality. This land would also feature a coaster, Flight of the Batwing.

Other lands would include Transylvania, which would offer the dark ride, The Magic Forest, as well as a mountain coaster. London Town would include a large Ferris wheel and a “vampire hunting training parkour and obstacle course” (whatever that is). In the Port of New Orleans, guests could brave the multi-launch coaster, Werewolf Run (apparently vampires wouldn’t be the only monsters lurking in Dracula Land). And younger kids would find play zones, an interactive dark ride, and toned-down spinning rides in the aptly named Family Kingdom.

The concept is certainly intriguing. And Universal has deftly demonstrated the appeal of horror in its theme parks, as well as at the new Universal Horror Unleashed attraction in Las Vegas.

Share

“The legendary figure of Dracula and the rich mythology of vampires are truly timeless–making a theme park dedicated to them is a brilliant and captivating idea,” says Chris Lange, owner of Creative Studio Berlin, which is helping to design the park. “With its proximity to Bucharest and Transylvania, the location could not be more fitting, as it lies at the very source of these enduring legends.”

Beyond the theme park, the scope and scale of the planned resort is impressive. The opulence of the 400-room Dracula Grand Hotel is implied in its name. Straddling the park would be a second, 200-room lodge, the Dracula Family Hotel. (I’m having a tough time wrapping my head around the intersection of “Dracula” and “family.” Then again, we do have Count Chocula and Count von Count.) At an announced 538,000 square feet, the Dracula Aqua Park would dwarf massive indoor facilities such as the DreamWorks Water Park in New Jersey. Toss in a mall with over 70 stores and restaurants, a 22,500-seat performance venue, and a race track and motor park (because, why not?), and it’s clear that the Dracula Land folks aren’t timid about aiming high.

Share Arthur's About Theme Parks

But the aggressive timeline for the project gives me pause. It would be difficult, if not nearly impossible, for a large-scale, €1-billion resort with a high-end theme park at its center to be built in less than two years. Making Dracula Land even more suspect: Apparently at least some of the financiers ponying up the €1 billion have yet to be secured. Much of the project’s official Website is targeted to investors.

The theme park annals are littered with projects that never made it out of the development phase. Dreamers (and sometimes schemers) have floated parks ranging from harebrained ideas to perfectly reasonable propositions. Just because a project checks all of the boxes, however, doesn’t mean that its visionaries can get the permits and funds to actually bring their visions to life.

That’s not to say we should put the final nail in Dracula Land’s coffin. I wish the project all the best and would love to visit the park and resort should it get built. But at this point, I’m not booking my flight to Bucharest next year.

Would you want to visit Dracula Land? Do you think the park will one day open its gates?

Leave a comment

Sure, there will be roller coasters at BON, which is now under development in Mexico. There will also be immersive dark ride attractions, water rides, spinning rides, shows, characters, and other elements you’d expect to find at a theme park. But BON, which is scheduled to soft open in fall 2026 near Puerto Vallarta on the country’s west coast, is taking an intriguing approach.

It’s there in the name. Officially known as BON Luxury Theme Park, it will be as much about pampering guests as it will be about immersing them in stories and delivering thrills. “BON” is an acronym for Beauty of Nature, and its designers are taking great care to showcase the ocean, rivers, mountains, and tropical splendor of the park’s locale as well.

Grupo Vidanta, which is one of Mexico’s leading vacation resort operators, is developing the theme park at one of its existing properties. It has rebranded the 2,500-acre coastal destination as VidantaWorld Nuevo Vallarta. A theme park might seem like a curious addition to the high-end resort. How will G-force-induced screams reverberate in a place where hushed spa treatments and margarita-enhanced respites at the beach are de rigeur?

Just fine, according to Iván Chávez, executive vice president of Grupo Vidanta. That’s because the comfort and sumptuousness that is the resort’s hallmark will extend to BON.

“We are planning it all for low density,” Chávez explains. Instead of expansive midways designed for masses of people, the park will feature “thin, wooden walkways that will take you through the jungle and then you’ll discover an attraction,” he explains.

Essentially, BON is aspiring to Disney- and Universal-level lands and attractions but without the crowds, long lines, onerous need to make advance plans, imperative to slog through a packed itinerary, and other hassles that are often associated with parks.

“We want to ensure that when people come to this park, they know they’re going to have a wonderful experience,” adds Chávez.

Details are sparse about what exactly is on the way, but among the 23 attractions planned for lands such as Fantasy Gardens, Empire of Light, and Land of Legends will be Eternity, a boat-based dark ride; Vista Wheel, a Ferris wheel with swinging cars (think: the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island); and Beat It, an interactive flume ride from Vekoma.

Share

There are also five roller coasters in the works, including Delia’s Adventure, a family inverted coaster from Mack Rides that will include show scenes. It will likely be similar to Arthur, a charming attraction at Europa Park. Ashara: Goddess of Fire will be a switchback mine coaster that, based on a rendering released by the park (see below), appears to include a wild element in which the namesake goddess will send passengers racing backwards with a massive fireball. BON’s most thrilling ride will likely be Tecuani Beast, a double-launch Vekoma coaster that will deliver six inversions.

Chávez also shares that there will be a flying theater attraction from Brogent that will send guests soaring over Mexico. They’ll get a bird’s-eye view of many of the country’s sights such as Copper Canyon, which at 25,000 square miles dwarfs the Grand Canyon.

While there haven’t been any movie or other intellectual property tie-ins announced, Cirque du Soleil will be represented at BON. The popular troupe is staging Ludo (Latin for “I play”), a water-based production that recently opened as the first phase of the theme park. The dinner show is presented in a 696-seat venue that incorporates fine dining along with Cirque du Soleil’s avant-garde-style feats of acrobatic agility.

As guests make their way around the park, they will be enveloped in lush landscaping that will accentuate the nature theme. While the architecture and decor will take inspiration from Mexican culture, it will be based on original, whimsical stories and characters, the details of which have yet to be revealed.

Share Arthur's About Theme Parks

“You’ll find a fantastical version of nature with oversized flowers and buildings that will seem almost seem dreamlike,” Chávez hints.

And, he promises, there will be plenty of opportunities to decompress after a thrilling ride with lots of shaded seating and doting staff members who will provide exceptional service. There will be 25 restaurants, many of which will be full-service eateries with elevated menus. Should guests want to get away altogether from the park, admission will include access to the resort’s beach. To get there, they’ll be able to hop aboard the SkyDream Parks Gondola. The four-mile tram system connects the entire resort. (By the way, they won’t be able to make the journey by car, since the resort bans autos from the property to help maintain its away-from-it-all vibe).

So, how much will it cost to forego long lines and bask in all this luxury? While ticket prices have not been announced, Chávez says that they will be in line with what the major parks in Orlando charge. That would make it quite expensive for a park in Mexico, but competitive when considered on the world stage and the global market that Grupo Vidanta hopes to attract.

For a truly intimate and especially luxurious experience, folks may want to consider visiting the park during its soft opening period in 2026. That’s because initially, admission will be exclusively limited to Nuevo Vallarta resort guests, such as those staying at the new BON Hotel. (The general public will be invited to enjoy the park after its official grand opening, likely in 2027.) Opened in December, the 79-room hotel overlooks BON and will provide easy access to the theme park. Altogether, there are some 3,000 rooms across multiple hotels at the resort. According to Chávez, the resort is considering adding up to another 1,000 rooms with BON serving as a “reservations engine.”

Subscribe now

VidantaWorld Nuevo Vallarta is also hoping to expand interest and room bookings with a new concert series, which kicked off in December with Lionel Richie. In May 2026, Michael Bublé will perform at the resort.

Grupo Vidanta is marketing BON as the “world’s first luxury theme park.” That is not entirely true. It could be argued, for example, that boutique parks, such as Discovery Cove at SeaWorld Orlando and Atlantis Aquaventure, already fit the bill. I had the opportunity to visit Katmandu Park, which was part of the oceanside Falcon’s Resort by Meliá in Punta Cana during the short window it was open. The failed park was similar to BON in some ways, although at a mere four acres and with a handful of attractions (none of which were roller coasters), it was considerably smaller in size and scope than the more grand park planned for VidantaWorld.

On the other side of Mexico, the company has rebranded another one of its resorts as VidantaWorld Riviera Maya. It features the already existing Jungala water park, the Jungala Hotel, and Cirque du Soleil Joya, a dinner show experience that has been delighting audiences since 2014.

With BON as its centerpiece VidantaWorld Nuevo Vallarta is making a bold play as a major theme park destination resort. It represents a unique and ambitious vision.

“Visitors will have access to the best of all worlds,” Chávez contends, describing the reimagined resort. “The best beach, the best vacation, the best entertainment, the best food, the best service. You know, that’s what we’re after.”

What’s your reaction to VidantaWorld’s concept of a “luxury” theme park? Would you want too visit BON?

Leave a comment

The highly anticipated dark ride will take place inside a 44,000-square-foot show building and incorporate a vehicle that will travel on both roller coaster track and through a water-filled flume. Themed to the Great Smoky Mountains, the park says that guests will fly above a nighttime vista of the beloved national park, soar down one of its mountain peaks, brave river rapids, and float along a shimmering lake lit by colorful bioluminescent plants on the five-and-a-half-minute adventure. Climbing about 30 feet and reaching a top speed of 29 mph, NightFlight Expedition will be less a thrill ride (although there will likely be some modest thrills) and more of a family attraction. Its announced 39-inch height requirement will make it accessible to a wide swath of visitors.

Developed by Mack Rides, the Dollywood attraction will represent the company’s second iteration of its Rocking Boat ride concept. It will feature 10-passenger vehicles that will behave like a coaster car for part of the experience as it careens through the Smokies. The hybrid ride will also ply a facsimile of the national park’s waters. Rather than floating through a flume like most boat rides, the amphibious vehicles will remain tethered to the submerged track. The powered coaster will use onboard drive motors to control the speed of the vehicles and sync them up with the show scenes. Mack’s unique design will allow the boats to take tight turns and literally rock while they navigate through the water. Earlier this year, France’s Futuroscope opened Mission Bermudes, the first attraction to incorporate the Rocking Boat ride system.

With its glowing plants and nighttime setting, the Dollywood attraction gives off distinct Pandora – The World of Avatar vibes. After dusk, the land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom comes alive with glimmering bioluminescent flora. It’s always nighttime when guests take a ride through Pandora’s lush, colorful forest aboard Na’vi River Journey, which would seem to have served as inspiration for NightFlight Expedition (although the new ride will be more thrilling than Disney’s tranquil experience). Both of the attractions are prime examples of the ways that LED lighting has given designers a powerful storytelling tool and revolutionized the industry.

Share

NightFlight Expedition will be located in Wildwood Grove. It will build on the story established for the fanciful land’s Big Bear Mountain. Opened in 2023, the wonderful family coaster introduced Ned Oakley, an explorer that invites guests to search for the titular bear aboard his tricked-out off-road vehicles. His niece and nephew, Cora and Jasper Oakley, will be taking passengers on a quest to find the Smokies’ Secret Lake in the new attraction. The scientists have developed a “Bioluminator” to detect the glowing plants that will lead the crew to the elusive hideaway.

“NightFlight Expedition is truly exceptional, combining cutting-edge technology and immersive storytelling that stays true to the heart of Dollywood and the Smoky Mountains to deliver an experience unlike anything else,” says Eugene Naughton, the park’s president. “As the largest addition in our history, it not only represents a major milestone for our company, but it also sets a new standard for guest offerings.”

Have you visited Dollywood? Might you make your way to the Tennessee park next year to check out NightFlight Expedition?

Leave a comment

Upgrade to Paid Subscriber

3.75 (out of 5)

At many of SeaWorld Orlando’s exhibits and shows, visitors ogle creatures in the water. For Infinity Falls, however, it’s the guests who are in the drink. They aren’t swimming among tropical fish or other marine life. They are aboard circular vehicles, floating downstream in turbulent, churning waters, and bracing themselves for the finale: the world’s tallest drop on a river raft ride.

Read more

Still, there is some news to share. Kings Island recently announced that it would be replacing its Boo Blasters on Boo Hill dark ride with Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare. Set to open next spring, it will take inspiration from from the Ohio park’s original Phantom Theater attraction, which operated from 1992 to 2002.

According to the park, the storyline will focus on the reopening of the Phantom Theater and feature Maestro, the ghoulish organ player who provided the eerie music for the previous ride. It seems that a violent electrical storm will cause the pipe organ to go kablooey and release “ghost notes” that will cause mayhem throughout the theater. Guests armed with interactive flashlights will travel in “enchanted opera boxes” to round up the errant notes (and, presumably, score points) by training beams of light on them. In doing so, the organ can return to normal, and the opening night show can go on.

Other returning characters from the original attraction will include Houdelini, Lionel Burymore, Hilda Bovine, The Great Garbanzo, and No Legs Larry, the usher who will guide guests on the mission. The revamped ride will welcome Arpeggio, Maestro’s black cat, to the proceedings. Sally Dark Rides will create animatronic representations of the creepy crew, which will populate the 26 scenes that the company is designing.

Sally, an industry leader for dark rides, crafted Boo Blasters on Boo Hill for Kings Island as well as its predecessor, Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle. The company has developed some noteworthy E-Ticket attractions, including SpongeBob’s Crazy Carnival Ride at Circus Circus Las Vegas and The Land of Legends in Turkey as well as the Justice League: Battle for Metropolis rides at Six Flags parks. Sally has also created some surprisingly sophisticated and engaging dark rides for smaller parks such as the wonderful Haunted Hotel at Funtown USA in Maine.

When Kings Island opened in 1972, guests could ride Enchanted Voyage, a boat-based dark ride that featured characters from Hanna-Barbera cartoons including Yogi Bear and the Flintstones. In 1984, the ride morphed into Smurf’s Enchanted Voyage. It changed again into Phantom Theater in 1992 and replaced the boats with Omnimover ride vehicles.

“Families who have visited Kings Island will remember how special the original Phantom Theater was, and they’ve always wanted it to return,” says Tony Carovillano, park manager of Kings Island. “While paying homage to the original ride, Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare’s modern and advanced features will help create new memories and stories for all who take their seat inside this amazing experience.”

Did you get to experience any of the previous dark rides at Kings Island? Are you looking forward to the return of Maestro and Phantom Theater?

Leave a comment

Upgrade to Paid Subscriber

3.5 (out of 5)

At 335 feet, Falcon’s Fury is quite an imposing site on the midway at Busch Gardens Tampa. It takes the record for the tallest freestanding drop tower ride in North America. Yes, the 415-foot-tall Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom at Six Flags Magic Mountain is taller, but its tower is connected to an existing coaster structure. Regardless, Falcon’s Fury has an, um, killer feature that cuts Lex Luthor down to size.

Read more

Treasure awaits at Gardaland

Animal Treasure Island, which represents a €10 million investment by parent company, Merlin Entertainments, is the featured attraction that the Italian theme park is rolling out for its big birthday bash. What is it? The boat-based dark ride appears to take inspiration from Pirates of the Caribbean, but instead of human buccaneers, it’ll be a battle between good and evil cats, owls, hippos, and other assorted animals. Merlin Magic Making, the company’s creative team, developed original IP and is designing the attraction. Animal Treasure Island will include 20 animatronics-filled scenes that will be accompanied by an original score delivered over a 360-degree binaural sound system.

In addition to the dark ride, Gardaland will be debuting “Prezzemolo and the Mystery of Hidden Worlds,” a new film in its 4D theater. It will tell the backstory of Prezzemolo, a hybrid dog-dinosaur who serves as the park’s mascot. The popular character has his own animated television series that is broadcast in Italy.

The park is also refreshing one of its lands and renaming it Dragon Empire. It will celebrate the Chinese New Year every day with colorful adornments and festive music. As part of the makeover, Dragon Empire will welcome Rocket Factory, an interactive experience in which guests will be able to create their own pyrotechnics (virtually, I’d have to imagine) and blast them into the night sky. The land includes the existing Dragon Rush Wild Mouse-like spinning coaster as well.

Share

Gardaland will be presenting two new shows for its anniversary. “Bim Bum Bam Live” will star Uan, a puppet familiar to Italians who watched his exploits on TV in the 1980s and 1990s. Artificial intelligence will be the topic of “A.I. – The Future Is Here,” a futuristic multimedia show filled with special effects (and, apparently, warnings about the threat the technology represents). Last year, the park opened Wolf Legend, a themed “Drop & Twist Tower” ride.

Get your paws on Chessington’s new land

In partnership with Paramount, Merlin Entertainments will be welcoming Paw Patrol to Chessington World of Adventures, another park in its portfolio, in 2026. Based on the characters that are adored by pre-schoolers, the new 1.4-acre land will include four themed rides, including a roller coaster (that will presumably be a kiddie ride a la Daddy Pig’s Roller Coaster at Peppa Pig Theme Park). Based on the concept art (above), it appears a Paw Patrol slide and water ride will also be part of the mix.

“Chessington World of Adventures and Nickelodeon have a deep commitment to creating entertainment that families can enjoy together,” says Marie Marks, SVP Global Experiences at Paramount, “and we are delighted that this new themed land will immerse young visitors in their very own Paw Patrol adventure.”

Have you been to Gardaland? How about Chessington?

Leave a comment

Upgrade to Paid Subscriber

3.75 (out of 5)

On the theme park beat, I often find myself engaged in unusual behavior. Case in point: Whenever I visit the Legoland parks, I flail my hands and arms wildly apropos of seemingly nothing. For many minutes.

But my strange actions have a very real purpose. My gestures are used to lob virtual weapons at villains and rack up points. The faster I karate-chop the air like a rage-filled Miss Piggy gone ballistic, the more targets I can hit and the higher my score. Since my pride is on the line–there is no way I am going to lose to any of the kids sitting alongside me–I flail away.

Lego Ninjago The Ride, which is available at US parks in Florida, California, and New York as well as other Leogland locations around the world, is the attraction bringing out the game warrior in me. Instead of using gun-like zappers or some other targeting devices, the unique attraction interprets passengers’ hand movements and transforms them into 3D projectiles that can blast evil skeletons, ghosts, and other computer-animated baddies into smithereens.

Read more

In Romania, however, folks looking to play a round of mini golf can find a course along with other fun in a highly unusual place: some 370 feet underground–in a former salt mine. Located in Transylvania, Salina Turda offers tours of the mine. Inexplicably however, it also offers rides and attractions.

Dating back to at least 1271, Salina Turda was an active salt mine. It ceased operations in 1932 and was used as an air raid shelter during World War II. It opened to the public in 1992 as a tourist destination and was expanded in 2010.

In addition to six holes of mini-golf, the self-described “amusement park” also offers a 65-foot-tall Ferris wheel and mini bowling lanes. Guests can play table tennis and pool as well or rent a row boat to paddle around the Terezia Mine Lake. An amphitheater carved out of salt anchors one end of the park, although it’s unclear what kinds of shows are presented there. With its striking architecture, dramatic lighting, and massive salt formations, Salina Turda looks like an outpost on a distant planet.

Beyond the park and tours of the mine, the site includes (an above-ground) hotel with a restaurant as well as a spa and wellness center with a pool, sauna rooms, and jacuzzis. Salina Turda markets the health benefits of salt, and the spa offers salt therapy treatments. There is also a saltwater lake on the grounds, and swimming in it is touted for its restorative qualities.

Share

Universal Horror Unleashed to open this summer

Turning our attentions to the U.S.A., the highly anticipated Universal Horror Unleashed, which is a year-round, permanent haunt under construction at Area 15 in Las Vegas, now has an opening date: August 14. That’s just a couple of weeks before Halloween Horror Nights, the wildly successful events at Universal Studios in Florida and Hollywood on which the new attraction is based, will kick off this year. Tickets, which start at $69 ($59 for Nevada residents), are now available. Universal is offering two passes, one that allows a single visit of each of the haunted mazes and one that offers unlimited visits.

As I previously reported, the 100,000-square-foot Universal Horror Unleashed will feature four walk-through haunted houses: the classic Universal Monsters, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Blumhouse’s “The Exorcist: Believer,” and a reprise of an original HHN maze, Scarecrow: The Reaping. According to Universal, the attraction will also include four “immersive entertainment areas,” which sound like scare zones in HHN-speak, as well as themed food and beverages.

What do you make of the salt mine FEC? Are you planning to head to Vegas for Universal’s new haunt?

Leave a comment

Grand Prix EDventure at Europa-Park in Germany

One of the attractions is slated for Europa-Park, which is owned and operated by the Mack family and which serves as a showcase for its innovative rides company. Grand Prix EDventure will be an interactive 3D dark ride featuring Ed & Edda, who have been the park’s mouse mascots since its founding in 1975. Guests will be invited to become members of the duo’s racing crew and and take a journey across Europe. The park says that the attraction will feature practical sets, animatronics, and state-of-the-art multimedia (in other words, screens).

Grand Prix EDventure is replacing Journey to Rulantica, which was a theater-based attraction in which banks of seats revolved around a stage with multiple scenes (something akin to Disney’s Carousel of Progress). The new configuration, which the park is calling the Gameplay Theater, will include ride vehicles that will apparently travel on a continual loop and incorporate a dark ride in a small show building. The vehicles will be outfitted with interactive shooters, although it’s unclear what passengers will be shooting at or what role the gaming will play in the attraction.

The new ride will be tied into “Grand Prix of Europe,” an animated film starring Ed and Edda that’s set to be released this summer. It will be the first big-screen movie featuring the mouse characters and the first film developed by the Macks. Warner Bros. is co-producing the movie and will be distributing it. The enterprising family will also be releasing an Ed & Edda video game in 2025.

Share

Grand Prix EDventure will be part of Europa-Park’s 50th anniversary celebration. Last year, the park debuted the highly acclaimed launched coaster, Voltron Nevera. It also opened Eurosat Coastiality – The Phantom of the Opera, a VR retooling of its Eurosat coaster.

Mission Bermudes at Futuroscope in France

The future-themed Futuroscope will be launching Mission Bermudes, an unusual water ride that will include themed dark ride elements. It will represent the first iteration of Mack Rides’ Rocking Boat ride concept. Ten-person vehicles will navigate a 1,640-foot course that will occupy 3.5 acres and include both outdoor and indoor scenes. The vehicles will mostly move through water, although they will be tethered to a coaster-like track and will include some aerial maneuvers out of the water.

Share Arthur's About Theme Parks

The one-of-a-kind experience will borrow from flume rides, river rapids rides, and water coasters, but will be wholly unique. The submerged track will be used to literally rock the boat to and fro and perform tight turns. It appears the vehicles may head backwards for part of the ride.

Themed to the mysterious Bermuda Triangle, passengers will encounter water explosions, fog-enshrouded scenes, and other effects. The 10-minute-long ride ride will culminate with an elevator lift that will raise the boats up 53 feet for a 37-mph drop.

Get a sense of the Rocking Boat concept in this video from Mack Rides.

Might you be planning a visit to either Europa-Park or Futuroscope? What[s your take on Mack Rides’ new Gameplay Theater and Rocking Boat ride concepts?

Leave a comment

Park chain Merlin Entertainments announced that the two projects would include a Minecraft-themed ride and other attractions as well as lodging, dining, and retail tie-ins with the game brand. The company says that it will be investing $110 million in the initial rollout and that it plans to develop additional locations in the future. While the investment is nothing to sneeze at, the budgeted price tag for each of the first two Minecraft experiences would seem to preclude standalone parks, which would cost considerably more to build. Instead, it’s likely that Merlin will be introducing new lands at two of its existing parks. There might not be enough allotted capital to build new hotels either. I’m guessing that the chain will be re-themeing rooms and suites at two of the hotels already in its portfolio.

“It’s very exciting,” remarked Scott O’Neil, Merlin Entertainments CEO, in an interview discussing the Minecraft partnership at the IAAPA Expo held last November in Orlando, Florida. When asked where gamers might expect to see the new attractions, he demurred and said that “there’s a lot of room in a lot of different places. We’re not ready to give a location yet.”

Operating in 97 cities Across 25 countries, Merlin Entertainments is the third largest theme park operator by attendance in the world. In the US, its properties include the Legoland and Peppa Pig parks. The three Legoland resorts in California, Florida, and New York all have on-site hotels making them candidates for the Minecraft introduction. Merlin parks in the UK include Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Chessington World of Adventures, and Legoland Windsor.

Share

The Merlin Magic Making group, the company’s equivalent of Disney’s Imagineers, will be designing the attractions in conjunction with Mojang Studios, which creates Minecraft. According to the announcement, the attractions will include digitally enhanced experiences, which could indicate that they will incorporate augmented reality. AR is a great fit for game-themed attractions. Super Nintendo World’s Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge is the first major park attraction to feature augmented reality, and it uses the media to stunning effect.

Minecraft boasts 300 million players globally. In addition to the new attractions, Mojang is leveraging its popularity with a Minecraft movie starring Jack Black, Jason Momoa, Jennifer Coolidge, and Kate McKinnon that is set to be released in April.

“Merlin's expertise in creating world-class attractions makes them the perfect partner to help us bring Minecraft to life in new and immersive ways,” says Kayleen Walters, Microsoft VP. “Our vast and diverse community is always looking for new opportunities to explore and engage with Minecraft, and we are thrilled to build touchpoints around the globe that will surprise and delight them.”

Other gaming franchises that have found their way into parks include Uncharted at PortAventura in Spain and Angry Birds World in Qatar. The Qiddiya City giga-project taking shape in Saudi Arabia, which will open a Six Flags park and the AquArabia water park this year, has announced that a Dragon Ball theme park is under development.

Are you or your kids Minecraft players? Would you (or your kids) be interested in real-world Minecraft attractions?

Leave a comment

Danse Macabre recently opened (fittingly on All Hallows Eve) at Efteling theme park in the Netherlands. The attraction is not quite a dark ride–although it is certainly a ride in the dark. Nor is it a theater show or a flat ride, but it has elements of both. Danse Macabre is a curious amalgam of attraction concepts that weaves a tale of horror in a fresh and intriguing way.

Guests make their way through the grounds of a medieval abbey en route to its chapel hall. The queue and the show building, which are heavily themed, include artifacts from the Spookslot haunted house that stood on the Efteling site since 1978. That aging attraction was closed to make way for Danse Macabre.

Gothic architectural flourishes abound throughout the outdoor queue along with compelling sound design elements that include eerie chamber music, a peeling church bell, and a meowing cat that beckons guests towards the sanctuary. At night, the lighting and fog are evocative, helping to set the tone and build anticipation for the ride.

The backstory for the attraction is that a famed conductor and his orchestra mysteriously vanished in the late 1800s. His contemporary relatives have been lured to the remote abbey where apparitions of the lost musicians have taken up residence to perform haunting renditions of Camille Saint-Saëns’ orchestral piece, “Danse Macabre.” Guests are invited into the chapel to witness the chilling concert. Capitalizing on the stirring song, which has currency in both classical music circles and pop culture, is a masterstroke for a themed attraction. (Danse Macabre is also a badass name for a ride.)

Share

Making their way into the chapel, guests take their seats in the “pews.” Arranged like a theater in the round, the banks of seats face an elevated stage on which an orchestra’s instruments sit. The cathedral lights suddenly and ominously shut off leaving guests in the dark. The ghostly conductor, bathed in creepy blue light and floating high above the chapel in front of a large pipe organ, summons the spectral orchestra and choir to life.

Boasting animatronics, projected imagery, and other effects, the show appears to be captivating. But Danse Macabre is a ride as well. The banks of seats are on individual turntables that rotate to “dance” in sync with the music. The entire floor of the show building is itself a giant turntable that turns, bank, rises, rolls, and drops. The ride system from European manufacturer Intamin is the company’s first installation of its Dynamic Motion Stage.

Share Arthur's About Theme Parks

The ride profile is a bit like classic flat rides such as the Huss Break Dance and Eli Bridge Scramblers. In fact, Danse Macabre may have taken inspiration from amusement parks that have placed Scramblers indoors, usually in domes, such as Astrosphere at Funtown U.S.A. in Maine. They too spin passengers in the dark to music-typically blaring rock tunes-accompanied by strobes, colored lights, projections, and fog. In some ways, the Efteling ride could be seen as a super-duper, E-Ticket version of the indoor Scrambler.

Given the odd, hybrid nature of Danse Macabre, the park seems to be as challenged as I am to classify its latest offering. It describes the attraction as a “haunted spectacle.” Whatever it is, it demonstrates the Dutch park’s commitment to innovation and to its rightful place in the vanguard of themed entertainment. In addition to roller coasters such as the acclaimed Baron 1898 and more conventional midway rides, Efteling has an impressive collection of dark rides, like Fata Morgana and Symbolica, that wouldn’t be out of place at Disney or Universal parks.

How would you describe Danse Macabre? What other storylines might lend themselves to Intamin’s Dynamic Motion Stage ride system? Have you been to Efteling?

Leave a comment

Welcome to ART Talks, an audio narration of one of my articles that is exclusively for paid subscribers like you. An intriguing new attraction, which is the first to feature an innovative ride system, debuted a few weeks ago in Europe. Let’s check it out in this month’s episode.

Here is the text version of this article: Dansing in the dark

Read more

Located in The Hollow land, the ride will feature a bright red structure with braided columns that will look like pieces of Hershey’s Twizzlers. The seats will be colored and themed to four licorice flavors: strawberry, cherry, chocolate, and black. (Chocolate-flavored Twizzlers? Hmm.)

Screamin’ Swings are quite simple. Riders sit back to back on two gondolas. One vehicle swings forward, while the other swings backward, and they continue alternating direction. The compressed air launches get progressively more intense until the gondolas reach their maximum speeds and arc beyond 180 degrees. Standard models are 62 feet tall and deliver a potent 4Gs of force as well as powerful negative-G moments. Guests on the custom-configured Twizzlers Twisted Gravity will rise 137 feet into the air, giving Hersheypark bragging rights for the tallest Screamin’ Swing. It will hit a top speed of 68 mph.

The Hersheypark ride will send passengers swinging a mere two feet higher into the air than the current Screamin’ Swings record holders, Tidal Surge at SeaWorld San Antonio and Serengeti Flyers at Busch Gardens Tampa. There are taller pendulum rides from other manufacturers out there. For example, Six Flags Great America in Illinois opened Sky Striker, the world’s tallest Zamperla Giga Discovery, this year. It sends passengers soaring 172 feet above the midway at 75 mph. For that ride, guests sit on outward-facing seats aboard a circular gondola that rotates as it swings back and forth.

Share

Barnstormer at Dollywood in Tennessee, which sends passengers racing headlong through an old red barn, is among the nicer-themed Screamin’ Swings. While The Giant Canyon Swing at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Colorado doesn’t go nearly as high or fast as what Twizzlers Twisted Gravity passengers will experience, it is perched on the edge of a cliff some 1,300 feet above the Colorado River.

Although it certainly makes sense to celebrate the town’s chocolate and confections legacy, Hersheypark’s candy theme can sometimes be a bit odd. Instead of cuddly anthropomorphic animals, cartoon characters, or superheroes, there are mascots dressed as Jolly Rancher, Reese’s, and yes, Twizzlers (the latter of which is, for some reason, decidedly female). The dark ride that takes guests on a simulated tour through a candy factory at the adjacent Hershey’s Chocolate World is great. And the chocolate-infused dishes and treats at Hersheypark’s The Chocolatier full-service restaurant and other dining locations wonderfully capture the theme. But it seems like a stretch to graft candy brands onto attractions such as Twizzlers Twisted Gravity. Still, the thrill ride will be a welcome addition to the park’s midway.

In other Hershey news, the company announced that it will be opening a new hotel, Hershey Inn & Suites, in 2026. The 130-room property will join The Hotel Hershey, the Hershey Lodge resort, and Hersheypark Camping Resort as accommodations for folks visiting the park, Hershey’s Chocolate World, and other attractions in the area. The Hotel Hershey is expanding with luxury accommodations at The Villas. Phase one debuted earlier this year with a second phase planned to open in fall 2025.

Have you been on any Screamin’ Swings? How about Giga Discovery rides? Do you love the airtime they deliver?

Leave a comment

Beloved for its charming 1880s mining village theme, the park has been stepping up its game in recent years with additions such as the reborn dark ride, Fire in the Hole, the unique, wild, and wonderful roller coaster, Time Traveler, and expanded festivals like its over-the-top An Old Time Christmas. In doing so, Silver Dollar City has become something of a destination park in its own right. Destination parks, almost by definition, call out for on-property lodging. In late 2026, it will offer just that when it opens the Silver Dollar City Resort. The six-floor, 262-room hotel is part of a 10-year, $500-million expansion plan that will help take the Ozarks park to the next level.

The resort will be located about a mile from the park atop a mountain that overlooks Table Rock Lake. It is part of an undeveloped, 1,200-acre tract of land adjacent to Silver Dollar City that parent company Herschend Entertainment purchased a few years ago.

The hotel will include a full-service restaurant, outdoor and indoor pool, and 17,000 square feet of meeting space. It appears that the resort will not conform to the turn-of-the-century look and feel of the park. Renderings of the property show a handsome building with echoes of a national park lodge, which nicely complements its Ozark Mountains locale. The company released few other details about the resort, but its hotels at sister park, Dollywood, give a sense of what is likely in store.

“We will take inspiration from Dollywood’s DreamMore and HeartSong and apply the learnings here so that there will be more ways for families to connect and enjoy the Ozarks,” says Merrill Puckett Miller, Herschend’s chief creative officer. “All of the things that guests love about Silver Dollar City, and the magic, stories, and characters that we've created there, will come alive here.”

Share

The Dollywood hotels are luxe and chic, but offer a down-home, comfy ambiance. Nightly rates start at around $300 and include amenities such as complementary TimeSaver skip-the-line ride passes (called Trailblazer at Silver Dollar City) and trolley service to and from the park. There are plenty of activities for children and families, including live entertainment. The food is exceptionally good at both Dollywood and Silver Dollar City (cinnamon bread, anyone?), and that carries over to the Tennessee park’s hotels. The dining at the new resort should be wonderful as well.

Along with the announcement, the company released a new logo that now identifies the property as “Silver Dollar City Parks and Resorts.” It is not located on the same campus, but nearby White Water water park falls under the Silver Dollar City umbrella. In addition to the new hotel, the park has long offered cabins and campsites at Silver Dollar City Campground.

Share Arthur's About Theme Parks

According to Herschend CEO Andrew Wexler, the hotel has a budget of about $100 million, which would leave $400 million available for other projects. That’s probably not enough for a second theme park (although there is plenty of room to build one), but it’s a sizable chunk of change that could be used for new rides, attractions, and more.

“We’re super excited about what it all means for Silver Dollar City, what it means for this land,” says Brad Thomas, president of the Silver Dollar City Company. He spoke at the under-development site of the new resort with its stunning views of the Ozarks, the lake, and the nearby theme park. “This land is remarkable,” he added as he gestured to the wide expanse. “We can go build things a lot of different places here.”

With history as a guide at other theme park resorts, the expansion plans could include a dining, retail, and entertainment center. Or they may include additional resorts. Dollywood opened its first hotel, the DreamMore Resort, in 2015, followed by HeartSong Lodge in 2023. It has already broken ground on its third resort and has plans for more.

Subscribe now

The company is touting Silver Dollar City Resort as the “Heartland’s first theme park resort.” Depending on how the American Heartland is defined, that’s not entirely true. Dollywood obviously offers hotels as do Ohio’s Cedar Point and Kings Island. Wisconsin and Ohio are also home to a number of major indoor water park resorts. There is no timeline for when it will open, but it is possible that the Universal Kids Resort coming to Frisco, Texas, which will include a 300-room hotel, might debut before the Silver Dollar City Resort.

The development of hotels at Silver Dollar City and Dollywood represents major investments and strong votes of confidence in the viability and potential of the two properties. They also represent a trend in the industry. Disney and Universal lead the way, but a number of other parks have been adding hotels as well. For example, the Legoland parks in California, Florida, and New York all have on-property, themed resorts. SeaWorld Orlando has announced that it plans to build hotels on its grounds. And Dutch Wonderland in Pennsylvania offers a Cartoon Network Hotel near its park.

It is also highly likely that Silver Dollar City will use a good portion of its half billion dollar development loot to create new rides and attractions at the existing park. I wouldn’t be surprised if the burgeoning park announces a major coaster or perhaps a new land within the next couple of years.

Silver Dollar City has already revealed that it will debut a new festival, Spring Exposition, in 2025 that will feature entertainment, special food offerings, and flower displays along with gardening demonstrations. The new season will also bring Night Sky, a drone and fireworks spectacular. It will be staged in a newly developed area, The Plaza. The multi-purpose space will house a performance stage and food booths that will change with the seasons and the park’s festivals.

Would you want to book a stay at Silver Dollar City Resort? Have you been to Dollywood’s hotels? Do you like staying on property at a theme park resort?

Leave a comment

According to the park, guests will witness the aurora borealis and encounter orcas, walruses, and beluga whales as part of their 4:30 journey to the Arctic. The attraction’s production team developed custom recording equipment to withstand the harsh environment. Here’s hoping the filmmakers were able to capture the actual northern lights and animals and will not be resorting to computer-generated imagery. (I’m looking at you, phony CGI whale and other counterfeit creatures in Disney’s Soarin’ Around the World.)

It’s intriguing that the SeaWorld attraction will simulate diving beneath the ocean, which is pretty much the opposite of flying. I experienced a flying theater, Voyage of the Fathom Wanderer, that featured underwater scenes at the now-defunct Katmandu Park in the Dominican Republic and quite enjoyed the unique take on the ride concept.

Following Disney’s template, flying theaters generally go easy on the thrills. The Soarin’ rides lift passengers about 50 feet into the air, which can be disconcerting for ride wimps. But the motion profile is gentle. A variety of manufacturers have developed their own flying theater ride systems, some of which remain on or near the ground. It’s unclear at this point what vendor SeaWorld will be using. The park says that the family friendly ride will have a 39-inch height requirement, meaning children as young as three will be able to hop aboard.

Share

This wouldn’t be the first time that SeaWorld Orlando has used a screen-based attraction to transport guests to the the northernmost part of Earth. Wild Arctic, which opened in 1998 and closed in 2020, incorporated a motion simulator ride system to replicate a helicopter journey. When they exited the simulator, guests got to see real beluga whales, walruses, and other animals in a frosty walk-through environment. Although the ride closed, the exhibit has remained open. The new flying theater will serve the same purpose as the shuttered ride and also purport to shuttle passengers to the Arctic by having them exit through the animal habitat.

Speaking of motion simulator attractions and flying theaters, can we get geeky for a moment and take a sidebar? Universal Studios Florida refers to its Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon as a “the world’s first flying theater.” The attraction opened in 2017, while the original Soarin’ debuted at Disney California Adventure in 2001. So [puts hands on hips and looks indignant], what is, ahem, up with that?

Share Arthur's About Theme Parks

The Fallon attraction isn’t a flying theater at all, at least not in the way that most of the industry defines the term. It is a motion simulator ride. Universal defends its nomenclature by saying that parts of the ride takes guests flying above the Manhattan skyline, the Statue of Liberty, and other New York landmarks. Also, the entire 72-seat theater sits on a single motion platform. So, the whole theater and its guests, who are supposedly members of a studio audience attending a “Tonight Show” taping, fly together. Hence, it is a “flying theater.” I guess it’s fair to say that flying theaters are a sub-genre of motion simulator rides. But not all motion simulator rides are flying theaters. Universal is free to call it anything it wants, I suppose, but it’s just confusing.

SeaWorld is hyping its new attraction as the “world’s first fully immersive Arctic flying theater.” To continue geeking out [shakes fist in the air and looks aggrieved], come on now! As noted, Disney opened the first flying theater in 2001. And no, of the many flying theater attractions that have opened since then, none of them fly above the Arctic. But to call it the world’s first Arctic flying theater seems like needless bragging. (Then again, as I’ve noted repeatedly, nearly every new attraction has to lay claim to some record, no matter how tenuous.) As for SeaWorld’s “fully immersive” hyperbole: What, there is another Arctic flying theater out there that’s only partially immersive? [Closes eyes and breathes deeply.] Okay, my geeky rant is over.

Am I too geeky and nitpicky? What flying theaters have you experienced and especially enjoyed?

Leave a comment

Maybe I’ve got quite a few more good years of riding the rails in me. After more than three decades covering the industry I love, I’m not exactly the spry G-force warrior I was when I started this crazy, wonderful adventure. But at the age of 72, Jackie Smith has a few years on me. And Alton Towers, the theme park resort in England, just hired her to be its first-ever “Chief Thrillseeker.”

According to parent company Merlin Entertainments, Smith’s responsibilities for the 12-month gig will include riding the park’s roller coasters and other thrill rides to “ensure the resort continues to offer the ultimate experience for visitors of all ages.” Sounds pretty cushy, right?

For her inaugural assignment, Smith checked out Nemesis Reborn, one of Alton Tower’s marquee attractions. Opened in 1994, it was one of the first inverted coasters from Bolliger & Mabillard (in which the trains hang suspended from the track above and passengers sit in ski lift-like seats to navigate inversions and other elements). The ride closed for refurbishment at the end of the 2022 season and was “reborn” this March. The park replaced the entire track and added multimedia effects to flesh out the attraction’s post-apocalyptic, alien creature theme. After riding, Smith said Nemesis Reborn “met my high standards for thrills.”

Lest you think this grandmother of four is just randomly gauging rides, she knows a thing or two about thrills. In 1971, at the tender age of 19, Smith was the first woman to join the the Red Devils, the British Army Parachute Regiment’s Freefall Display Team. Throughout her career, she has jumped more than 5,000 times and parachuted at spots across the globe including Rio De Janeiro and Yugoslavia. Smith base-jumped off El Capitan at Yosemite National Park in California. She was the first skydiver to consistently land on the target at the World Parachuting Championship (who knew there was such a competition?) in 1978. So yeah, extreme coasters aren’t going to faze Smith.

Share

“My first time on the iconic Nemesis Reborn felt like my first jump all over again,” she noted.

Other coasters that Smith will be evaluating will include Wicker Man, a themed wooden coaster from Great Coasters International. It includes fog-filled tunnels and the namesake burning effigy, through which the train passes three times. A coaster made of wood and a flaming effigy sound like an, er, combustible combination, no? With 14 inversions, the steel coaster Smiler holds the record for the most number of times it turns passengers upside down. The world’s first dive coaster from Bolliger & Mabillard, Oblivion drops 180 feet straight down into an underground tunnel.

Share Arthur's About Theme Parks

Smith can test her mettle for psychological thrills on the park’s famous Alton Towers Dungeon. The 45-minute walk-through experience includes live actors and a boat ride along the Black River.

In her role, Smith will also be hanging at Alton Towers’ biannual Thrillseeker Summit. I don’t know what the park has planned when she wraps up her year-long tour of duty. But if Merlin Entertainments is looking for another oldster with plenty of experience facing thrills with aplomb to step in, I’d like to toss my hat into the ring.

Would you like to be a park’s official thrill seeker? What do you make of Alton Towers’ choice of Jackie Smith for the position?

Leave a comment