New Article Updates Plans for Six Flags Qiddiya + Falcon's Flight is Real?

© Six Flags Qiddiya

Six Flags Qiddiya, to be located in Saudi Arabia, is currently the only foreign licensed Six Flags that appears to have forward movement taking place.  While still several years out from the planned opening, the theme park is going to be one of the most themed Six Flags parks on the globe when complete (according to developers).  The park is not being built by Six Flags Entertainment, instead they actually receive revenue for allowing the park to use their name as well as helping to design and bring it into reality.

The plans for the park were announced at the end of last summer, and included some amazing attractions that seemed pretty fantastical.  A new story from BlooLoop on Six Flags Qiddiya answers some of the questions that many of us have had, and also sheds some light on who's behind the project.  I do not intend to steal BlooLoop's thunder so I suggest you read their story, but the two top guys for this project both have a ton of theme park experience, specifically from when Universal first expanded into a resort.

© Six Flags Qiddiya

The BlooLoop story details how the developers research has shown that a large millennial class of folks in Saudi Arabia are hungry for thrills, and that's led to some rather huge thrill rides planned for the park.  The largest is Falcon's Flight (video in this post) that is planned to be the world's tallest, longest and fastest coaster.  The video shows a ride that appears to defy gravity, at least without some big launch sections, and many wrote it off as marketing (along with the shown top speed of 156ish miles per hour).

However, according to the story that's not the case.  Developers say the plan for the coaster is not only real, but will be similar to the video and they've already done testing on the cliffs that the ride is shown going on top of.  One thing's for sure, if a ride of that size does get built it will cost an amazing amount of money and be one heck of a ride.

As we've seen with other international park developments, it's tough to actually see them get built and open.  But if Six Flags Qiddiya does, the plan is for a 2023 opening.

Busch Gardens Tampa Shows Off Impressive Iron Gwazi Progress

© Busch Gardens Tampa

Towering 206 feet over Busch Gardens Tampa, Iron Gwazi is a site to be seen... literally probably from miles around the theme park.  The track instillation is getting close to the final stages, and to celebrate the park is starting to show off more of the ride - but we're still missing an official point of view animation!

Regardless, the image up top showing the ride's massive layout and towering features comes from this video, which you should definitely check out if you haven't already.

© Busch Gardens Tampa

Not long ago the park started to add the Iron Gwazi trains to the track, aren't they good looking?  I love the color choices that the park has gone with for the coaster.  Anyone who's been on an RMC coaster before knows just how needed those lap restraints are once riders encounter all those forces!

These two photos are really just a taste of what the park showed off today, however.  They held a tour of the ride, which included the entrance, queue and station plus a ton of new details about the experience.  There's several great stories out there featuring pics from today, one of which can be found here over at Expedition Theme Park.

Dorney Park Adds New Webcam Featuring Seaside Splashworks Construction

© Dorney Park

Dorney Park's new fun for 2020, Seaside Splashworks, is starting to take shape, and the park is now able to show off just where the construction process stands via a new webcam.  Available from the park's official webpage, the aerial view of the construction site shows that plenty of progress has been made on the multi-level play structure to date.

Also of note, the concept art up top here reflects a slightly different look of the structure than when it was first announced, that art can be seen in our original announcement post.  Both show an exciting structure filled with fun interactive activities, though the current art shows a more polished, and probably final, look.

© Dorney Park

Here is a view of the webcam from earlier today when the park was in the middle of a very significant concrete pour.  As the park notes in a recent blog post update, there is a ton of underground work to do when building a massive water play structure like this.  That work seems to be complete since concrete is going on top of it.  If you look closely at the image you can also see how much more concrete there is to be poured, as the footprint of Seaside Splashworks extends out much further onto the island than Island Water Works did.

Also on that blog post is some footage of Island Water Works being demolished, which is pretty neat to see.

In 2020 Dorney Park is celebrating not only the addition of Seaside Splashworks in Wildwater Kingdom, but also the return of the super popular Grand Carnivale celebration from July 25th through August 16th, and the brand new Summer Nights event which runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings from June 20th through July 12th.

Want To Be One of the First to Ride Orion? Kings Island Has an Auction for That.

© Kings Island

If you're looking for the ability to ride Orion, Kings Island's new giga-coaster, a couple days before any one else, AND raise money for a great charity, then the park has the perfect fundraiser auction for you!

The theme park is holding a First Riders Auction that will take place on April 9th, two days before the park's 2020 opening day, from the hours of 6 pm until 9 pm.  Interested parties must sign up and raise at least $150 for A Kid Again, and the top 32 fund raisers will obtain a seat on the first train out of the station at the start of the event.  However, everyone who makes it to the $150 mark will be able to get a certificate of participation, food, a first rider shirt and unlimited rides for three hours on April 9th.

© Kings Island

If interested in the auction, you can sign up via a link on the park's website or through A Kid Again, and fund raising will go through April 3rd.

A Kid Again is a "a nonprofit organization which exists to foster hope, happiness and healing for families raising kids with life-threatening illnesses through fun-filled group activities and events. A Kid Again families are invited to participate in these adventures from the age of diagnosis until the child reaches age 20 through funds raised from events such as" the Orion First Riders Auction.

Screaming down a 300 foot first drop for an excellent cause - before all your friends - doesn't seem like such a bad idea!  The auction has already raised more than $20k for A Kid Again, and there's still months of fund raising to go.

Universal Studios Hollywood Updates on New Secret Life of Pets Dark Ride Experience

© Universal Studios Hollywood

Universal Studios Hollywood is starting to build buzz around their latest attraction, The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash, by finally announcing some details about the dark ride attraction.  Located on the upper level of the famous theme park in Pets Place, formerly Baker Street, the ride has been announced to be featuring the same vocal talent as in the feature films The Secret Life of Pets and its sequel.

"The film’s talent and their alter egos include Patton Oswalt as Max, Kevin Hart as Snowball, Eric Stonestreet as Duke, Jenny Slate as Gidget, Tiffany Haddish as Daisy, Lake Bell as Chloe, Dana Carvey as Pops, Chris Renaud as Norman, Hannibal Buress as Buddy, Bobby Moynihan as Mel, Jessica DiCicco as Princess and Tara Strong as Pickles."

Planned to open this Spring, the new ride is set from the perspective of riders being a stray puppy that's on the "ultimate quest to find their forever homes." The ride is said to blend "live, dimensional and animated characters with hyper-realistic media and projection mapping to fully immerse guests in a bustling New York City landscape."  The ride vehicles will resemble cardboard boxes that travel along a track toward the festive Pet Adoption event.

Other highlights of the experience include "technological firsts that combine sophisticated facial recognition with enhanced gesture tracking, which helps to identify each guest as a unique stray puppy for the duration of the ride."  Exactly what type of puppy each guest will be characterized as will change each time they ride, adding a level of repeatability to the experience.

When it opens this Spring, The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash will be housed in a structure themed as a busy New York Street.  The wrapping just recently came down on that, as seen below in a Tweet from Inside Universal.  You can see more of the ride facade in this update from the site.

Walls are down around Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash @UniStudios pic.twitter.com/xQxL7yUGWu

— Inside Universal (@insideuniversal) January 23, 2020

SeaWorld San Antonio Releases Full POV of New Texas Stingray Wood Coaster

© SeaWorld San Antonio

With construction entering the final phases, SeaWorld San Antonio has released a full point of view movie of a ride on the Texas Stingray.  The custom designed wooden roller coaster has been created for the park by Great Coasters International, and features a 100 foot first drop and top speeds of 55 miles per hour.

SeaWorld San Antonio started working on the coaster early last summer, which means that progress on the ride has been swift and it looks like it will have no problem meeting a Spring 2020 opening date.  The park has not said exactly when that will be, but has a very short off-season and actually opens again on February 22nd.  That may be a bit early for the new coaster, but hey, you never know!

Enjoy your ride on the Texas Stingray below.

Kings Dominion to Remove 'The Crypt' Huss Suspended Top Spin? Plus New Restaurant to Open

© NewsPlusNotes

While I haven't seen an official confirmation from Kings Dominion, it is being reported that they are currently removing their HUSS Suspended Top Spin, named The Crypt.  The news was broken by KDFans.com on social media, and Kings Dominion actually replied to the tweet with the surprised owl meme, which I guess is kind of a confirmation?

It makes sense though, as Cedar Fair has removed HUSS Top Spins, both mega sized and regular sized, from their parks in the past.  Off the top of my head Knott's Berry Farm, Calfornia's Great America, Dorney Park, Worlds of Fun, Valleyfair and Kings Island have removed theirs in recent years.  In that sense it seems The Crypt at Kings Dominion has been living on borrowed time for years now.

The ride opened at Kings Dominion in 2005 as Tomb Raider: Firefall, but lost its franchised theming when Cedar Fair purchased the Paramount Parks.

© Google Maps

Taking into account that Volcano: The Blast Coaster has already been removed from the park, it is looking like half of Safari Village will be rather empty for the 2020 season.  Seen above, with both Volcano and The Crypt gone a big part of the land - whose theme makes no sense now more than ever before - will be empty space.  There's already rumors out there about the next big coaster for the park, which seemed planned for the area Volcano took up.  But perhaps there's more to that plan than first thought?  As always, time will tell.

© Kings Dominion

One additional item for the park that is not at all speculation, a new restaurant named Grain & Grill will be added to International Street, where Panda Express was formerly.  The location will offer grilled meats and a nearly endless combinations of sides that guests can choose from.  The park is proud to accommodate a variety of special dietary needs at Grain & Grill, and there will also be a full bar!  Read more directly from the park at this link.

Kings Island to Debut New Orion Giga Coaster on Opening Day - April 11th!

© Kings Island

One of the largest new for 2020 roller coaster projects in the U.S. now has an opening date!  Kings Island will open Orion along with the park on April 11th, 2020.  The park has posted their schedule for the year and also confirmed they plan to have the giga coaster ready to do for opening day.  This news means that riders only have less than three months of waiting until they can get their first rides on Orion.

© Kings Island

And speaking of the ride, if you haven't been following construction you've missed a great deal of the ride's 5,321 feet of track going into place.  The park has already flown through the coaster's second hill, turn around (seen up top in a recent image from the park), and more recently the third and fourth hills as well.  Orion will feature a 300 foot first drop (also seen above) that will send the trains roaring around the track at a top speed of 91 miles per hour.

© Kings Island

It has been fun keeping tabs on Orion from Kings Island's webcam - here is a shot of the coaster from this afternoon.  Crews are hard at work on the giant helix that comes near the end of the ride.  From this image it looks like they're almost at the halfway point of the element.  That only leaves a relatively small amount of track and supports to go before the ride is complete!

That should leave plenty of time for testing ahead of the planned April 11th debut. 

Lagoon's 2021 Coaster Project Sees Track Installed + Mountain Being Formed

© DeLoreans Garage Via YouTube

Lagoon's super-secret roller coaster project for 2021 continues to take shape, as seen in a new video from YouTube user DeLoreans Garage.

The project's details are still under wraps, however since the park is building what appears to be a very large mountain at the park there's plenty to see at this stage in the game.  The latest video shows off the work site from the air, giving us a view into the ride's inner workings... at least to some degree.

What we can see is rather interesting.  The ride, which is expected to be named Primordial, definitely uses a traditional roller coaster track at times, some of that can clearly already be seen in place.  There is a suspected dark ride component to the attraction though, which also seems evident from this footage.  There is a large second story part of the ride with what looks like a switch track area followed by two straightaways in the building.  They lead to the massive concrete towers that are going up, though it's hard to tell just what will be in those towers at this point.

The entire one side of the structure is also being covered in frames for what I assume is some hefty rock work that will cover the structure, leading to the expected mountain theming.

Exactly what else the ride has in store is a mystery for now, and I am grateful for that.  It's fun to watch a massive mystery ride go up like this!

Check out the whole video below from DeLoreans Garage.

Aussie Mat Dash Racing Slide Headed to Raging Waves in 2020

© Raging Waves Waterpark

Illinois' Raging Waves Waterpark has been around for just over ten years, and has expanded several times since its initial opening.  It looks like 2020 will be another big year for the independent water park, as it will open Aussie Mat Dash, a brand new mat racing slide from ProSlide.

Raging Waves is themed around the Australian Outback, so the Aussie Mat Dash will fit in nicely with rides like the Platypus Plunge and Tasmanian Twisters.

© Raging Waves Watepark

According to the park, Aussie Mat Dash will be one of only three ProSlide Rally Racers, which feature enclosed sections of tube followed by a Rally Point where riders can briefly see each other to see who's in the lead.  After that it's back into enclosed tube as everyone races for the finish.  The ride, seen above, doubles over itself to save space, and will feature a bright rainbow color scheme.

The park, which is advertised as the largest outdoor water park in all of Illinois, is hoping that the Aussie Mat Dash's six lanes of racing will not only help improve capacity at the popular park, but also encourage repeat rides to try to claim victory!

Check Out the Latest Photos of Holiday World's New Cheetah Chase Water Coaster

© Holiday World

Announced toward the end of last summer, Holiday World's water park, Splashin' Safari, is gaining a set of water roller coasters in 2020 named Cheetah Chase.  Featuring two slides on which riders race each other, Cheetah Chase features a total of 1,700 feet of pathway.  Seen above in a new aerial photo from Holiday World, a large amount of the attraction is already in place!

Cheetah Chase features several interesting elements in its design, starting with a "water powered flat launch" section right out of the station before blasting up a large hill.

© Holiday World

Holiday World was hard at work today on pouring the large foundation for what will become Cheetah Chase's 68,000 gallon balance tank, located adjacent to the station.  That work can be seen in the above photo.

The attraction will not only contain the initial racing element, but also two points further on the layout where riders will closely encounter one another.  Another notable feature are the ride's Flying Saucer elements, which are large swooping turns that take place high over the midway.

© Holiday World

This photo is from slightly earlier in Cheetah Chase's construction, but gives a nice view of how the ride will interact with nearby attractions.  Part of the slide actually passes over the Bahari River, which can be seen at the right of this photo.

To keep up to date with Cheetah Chase's construction, be sure to check out the park's live webcam!

Alton Towers to Introduce Gangsta Granny: The Ride for the Park's 2020 Season

© Alton Towers

Alton Towers has announced a new dark ride experience for the park's 2020 season, named Gangsta Granny: The Ride.  An odd sounding name for sure, but it makes a lot more sense when you understand that it will be based on the popular Gangsta Granny children's book authored by David Walliams.  The theme park previously announced a new land based around Mr. Walliams' characters and stories, and the Gangsta Granny dark ride will be the main attraction.

In the book, the main character, Ben, discovers that his Granny is actually an international jewel thief, quite the opposite from the unassuming cabbage loving grandmother he knew.

© Alton Towers

The new attraction at Alton Towers will take riders on a journey with Ben and his Granny to attempt to pull off "the greatest jewel heist in history," with many amusing antics along the way.  Riders will sit in a vehicle that is able to rotate 360 degrees, which will combine with special effects, projection mapping and more.  The park promises a "special effects laden wild ride" that finishes with an "explosive escape" after riders try to nab the crown jewels.

The park has worked closely with David Walliams on the development of the new dark ride attraction, and has released a video giving more information on that partnership and the attraction.  If you look close you can even see the layout of the ride and more.

Universal Studios Japan to Open Super Nintendo World This Summer + New Details Emerge

© Universal Studios Japan

Universal Studios Japan has made a grand announcement that Super Nintendo World will officially open to visitors this summer ahead of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.  The news comes as the park began to show off some of the features of the area, which they describe as a "life sized, living video game."  Guests will not only enter the land and experience Nintendo themed attractions, they will also be "playing it" via different media applications.

Naturally the land will contain many famous Nintendo locations, such a Peach's Castle and Bowser's Fortress, but spread throughout the area will be a host of interactive features.  There will be two main attractions, a wild Mario Kart ride that is highly anticipated, and a family adventure attraction starring Yoshi.  The below concept art gives an idea of how the finished area will look.

© Universal Studios Japan

In order to get the most out of a visit to Super Nintendo World, guest can get a Power Up Band which will sync to a smart phone application.  That way guests can track their progress as they explore the multi-level area and take part in "one-of-a-kind challenges."  It sounds like they can gather coins along the way, just like Mario does, along with other collectible stamps and badges.  More information on the land will become available in February when a large promotional event will take place in New York City.

For now, Universal has teamed up with Galantis and Charli XCX to debut a new music video sharing the excitement that will be found inside Super Nintendo World.  Make sure to check it out below as it gives many hints toward the attractions to be found in the area.  The land will open at Universal Studios Japan in Summer 2020, then followed eventually by lands in the California, Florida and Singapore parks.

Six Flags Gives Official Update on Chinese Park Development

© Six Flags China

As a follow up to our post from December 29th, Six Flags Entertainment Corporation has filed an update with the SEC that details the trouble they have encountered with their Chinese development partners.

As news started to spread about the halting of the construction of the first parks, located in Haiyan, the company filled in investors and it wasn't good news.  They stated that the Six Flags branded parks being built on Riverside Investment Group's dollar have "encountered continued challenges" and have "not progressed as" Six Flags expected.  They note that Riverside is facing "severe challenges due to the macroeconomic environment and the declining real estate market in China."

Riverside has defaulted on their payment obligations to Six Flags (remember these parks are not paid for by Six Flags, instead Six Flags earns a fee for helping design them and allowing them to use the Six Flags name) and they have been served formal notices of default.

This, according to Six Flags, means that the future of the projects could vary anywhere from the eventual continuation of all or some of the parks (perhaps with another investor), or even the termination of all the Six Flags branded parks in China.  Further, Six Flags will recognize no revenue from the agreement in the 4th quarter of 2019, and will instead have to book a $1 million revenue adjustment plus another $10 million charge due to the collapsing deal and other litigation.

Moving forward into 2020 Six Flags expects to not have any more charges on the books related to the China deal, however if Riverside doesn't improve their status they might get no further revenue from the partnership at all.  Perhaps we will see some of the rides designed and partially fabricated for Six Flags Haiyan show up in the 2021 season at the North American parks?

Unrelated to that news, Six Flags also let the investor community know that they experienced lower attendance in the 4th quarter of 2019, due to "softer than expected season pass and membership sales."  They expect revenue for the period to be less than the prior year by $8 to $10 million.

Needless to say Six Flags' stock dropped a tremendous amount the day the news broke, plunging to a five year low when all was said and done.

Knoebels Announces New Tornado Flat Ride for Park's 2020 Season

© Knoebels

Knoebels Amusement Resort, located in Elysburg, Pennsylvania, has announced the addition of a spinning new flat ride named Tornado for the park's 2020 season.  Created by Wisdom Rides of America, the ride will be one of the company's Tornado rides, already quite popular at parks and fairs across the globe.

From the park's press release on the addition, the Tornado with feature eight cars that hold four passengers each in individual seats facing the inside of the car.  The ride will move in a circle then tilt upward at 20 degrees, lifting the cars up to 15 feet above ground level as they swing in a giant circle.

Tornado also has an interactive feature as riders can spin the cars themselves.  "Controlling part of a ride provides a really unique and exciting experience,” said Richard Knoebel, Knoebels park president.

Riders will need to be 38 inches tall to ride Tornado with an adult, and 48 inches to ride alone.  The new ride will be set up near the StratosFEAR drop tower and the Kreeper’s Pumpkin Patch game.

Knoebels has also announced that their magic carpet flat ride, 1001 Nacht, will be removed from the park.  The ride has been at Knoebels for two decades but its age and declining popularity has led the park to decide to retire it.

Hersheypark Shares Snowy Update of Chocolatetown + Candymonium Aerials

© Hersheypark

Hersheypark's mega-2020 expansion, named Chocolatetown, recently was blanketed in a pretty layer of snow, fitting for January in Pennsylvania.  The park took advantage of the beautiful construction site and took to the skies to film some awesome drone footage, and promptly shared it with us all.

Not only are we able to see how far along all of Chocolatetown is, but we also get a nice status update of the park's new signature roller coaster, the B&M hyper named Candymonium.

© Hersheypark

The park had topped off the ride a while back, so we already knew the coaster had made a lot of progress.  These shots let us see that track and supports have extended all the way out to the ride's turnaround, which can be seen being constructed in the above shot.  The coaster will have a traditional high turn around element that jogs slightly to the right of the main layout.  The track then points the trains back toward the main park - it's neat to see how many times the ride crosses over the stream that runs under it!

© Hersheypark

Chocolatetown is looking very nice as well, with the major new buildings all up and enclosed.  You can make out many highlights of the area, Candymonium's station is at the bottom, you can also see the new fountain that overlooks the stream and the Carousel building as well.

The $150 million expansion is going to completely transform the entrance area for Hersheypark in 2020, allowing for faster entry and much more breathing room.  It also will feature a host of new dining and retail locations, all of which will offer mouth watering Hershey treats.

Keep up with the progress on Chocolatetown via the park's website, and check out the whole aerial video here.

West Coast Racers Now Open at Six Flags Magic Mountain

© Six Flags Magic Mountain

Proving that good things come to those who wait, Six Flags Magic Mountain has debuted their brand new "world’s first single track quadruple racing coaster," West Coast Racers.  The unique racing roller coaster was provided to the park by Premier Rides, and features trains that race each other around the course, which is actually made up of one singular track.

© Six Flags Magic Mountain

Each of the coaster's trains head through both sides of the track, one yellow and one white, and they are powered by four separate LSM launch areas.  West Coast Racers features a top speed of 55 miles per hour and each train navigates four inversions - three zero g rolls and one zero g stall - during the experience.  The ride's track extends around 4,000 feet in length.  The twisted layout includes 14 track crossovers and a "high five" element where the trains bank toward each other almost allowing riders to high five those on the train they are racing.

© Six Flags Magic Mountain

Six Flags Magic Mountain has partnered with the Burbank based West Coast Customs on the theming of the new ride.  The shop is known around the world for their car customizations, and they worked with the theme park on designing the ride vehicles for West Coast Racers.  The company also created the narration for the "pit stop" section of the ride, where vehicles wait for their second blast around the track.  The pit stop area provides riders with an "inside look into the West Coast Customs shop."

© Six Flags Magic Mountain

“We are thrilled to add yet another unique, record-breaking coaster to our second-to-none collection of world-class attractions. West Coast Racers absolutely delivers, living up to Six Flags Magic Mountain’s unprecedented thrill DNA,” said Park President, Neal Thurman. “With a broad appeal, this coaster is the centerpiece of the newly themed area, The Underground, featuring new dining and retail opportunities.”

© Six Flags Magic Mountain

The new roller coaster is the central piece of a newly themed area at Six Flags Magic Mountain, known as The Underground.  The "LA centric urban-themed area" gives visitors a "high-energy street vibe" that includes new retail and food and beverage locations.  These include Twin Charged Tacos, Chicken Coupe, Snack Trax, Speed Shop and Six Gear.  The Underground is also home to the park's wooden roller coaster, Apocalypse, along with the soon to be reopened go karts, Pacific Speedway.

A Final Update in the Story of Bowcraft Amusement Park

© Patch.com

While this comes as no surprise, it looks as though the final remnants of New Jersey's former Bowcraft Amusement Park were recently demolished, adding the final chapter in the story of the park.  While not a large amusement park or one with a hundred years worth of history, it's always sad to see a park go.  The local Patch news site featured video recently of the structures still standing on the site being razed, though all the rides were removed previously.  The park's site will become apartments.

Back in late 2018 the park's inventory of rides and attractions were put up for sale, with the park having operated for the last time that same year.  There was a nice selection of rides available, and hopefully they all found a good home.  I believe the Pirate Ship went to Alabama Adventure as a new for 2019 ride.

© Bing Maps

Bing has an aerial of the park with the rides removed, but the property not yet fully demolished.  You can see just a couple rides still in place, and the outline of where many of them once sat.

© Google Maps

That view can be compared to this one from Google, showing the park before anything was removed.

The fate of Crossbow, the park's family sized Zierer roller coaster, which was a tad bigger then you'd have expected to find at a park of this size, remains unclear.  The ride was listed for sale for $500k when the ride liquidation occurred, but I'm unaware of who picked it up - if anyone.  You can see some on and off ride footage of Crossbow at this link.  Also, if you feel like a trip down memory lane the park's website is oddly still functional, have a click around.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg's Pantheon Coaster Looking Mighty Fine in New Photos

© Busch Gardens Williamsburg

The layout of Busch Gardens Williamsburg's new multi-launch roller coaster, Pantheon, is getting close to the final stages of construction.  The park has steadily worked through the month of December, adding both track and supports for visitors to gawk at during the park's holiday celebration.

The photo up top is one of the park's official ones, showing off the ride's top hat element, which is followed by a very steep dive down toward the river below - also the ride's longest drop at around 180 feet.

CHECK OUT THE BANKING ON THIS ELEMENT! It's absolutely insane looking! There are a lot of reasons to look forward to #BGWPantheon, but we expect this hill to become a thing of legend. pic.twitter.com/DtJKcxTt7O

— BGWFans.com (@BGWFans) January 3, 2020

Thanks (as always) to BGWFans for their excellent coverage of Pantheon construction we have a bunch of new photos of the coaster's rather extreme looking outwardly banked turn.  While we've seen outwardly banked turns on many rides in recent years, especially those on RMC rides, other manufacturers have been slower to hit quite such extreme angles as we see here.  This giant turn is located just after the ride's drop (seen in the photo up top) and the trains should be moving at a nice clip through here.  I can only imagine the forces riders will experience as they soar over this peak!

BGWFans has plenty of additional photos of Pantheon work, including the supports that are now up for the ride's final two elements, both looks rather twisty in their own right.  Check it out here!

Nashville Shores Waterpark Building Mega Mayhem Slide for 2020

© Nashville Shores

Located just outside downtown Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville Shores Waterpark is building a massive new water slide for 2020 named Mega Mayhem.  The slide is a combination of two popular water slide features, mixed together into one thrilling attraction.

Mega Mayhem will be the largest water slide in the park's history, designed with rafts that are capable of holding the whole family.

“Mega Mayhem is a family-thrill waterslide that we are excited to bring to Middle Tennessee in 2020,” said Larry Edgmon, general manager of Nashville Shores. “This unique, thrilling ride is actually like two waterslides in one.  It is a hybrid slide featuring two distinct elements with a tornado funnel and a giant four-story wall that will provide a memorable group experience for families and friends.”

© Nashville Shores

Riders who choose to take a spin on Mega Mayhem will start atop a six story platform.  The diagram above shows the layout of the slide, and as you can see it will be brightly colored to attract even more attention.  After moving through a dark serpentine tunnel, riders drop into the tornado funnel which gives them brief moments of zero-gravity.

Moving through the center of the tornado funnel, rafts slide down more enclosed path and suddenly plunge down a steep drop and up onto the side of a massive 40 foot tall wave wall.  At the top of the wave wall passengers will feel more zero-gravity sensations, then the rafts will head through a bit more slide toward a waterfall and the final pool.

Created by Proslide, Mega Mayhem will utilize a conveyor left to carry the rafts to the top of the tower so riders do not have to.  The park is planning to have the attraction ready when it opens for the 2020 season in May.