Weekly Rewind 7.31.10

Turns out that the Spongebob Splash Bash attraction at Blackpool's new Nickelodeon area isn't a Splash Battle at all - but one of Mack's new Twist 'n' Splash water filled flat rides. It's like tea cups only with a lot of interactive water features. Looks awesome!

Cedar Fair's Coasting For Kids event looks to have been a success across the nation. Coaster riding marathons were held at all the parks with the goal of riders collecting donations for Give Kids The World. Here's one report from the event at Dorney Park.

One other Cedar Fair tidbit - the company has announced that they have indeed completed the refinancing of their debt. It's a lot of financial jargon - but basically this gives them some breathing room over the next 5 or so years to keep expanding the parks and get some increased revenues. Bring on the new rides!

Sesame Place is celebrating it's 30th anniversary this season. What started as a small, 3 acres family fun area has grown into a large theme park that focuses on family fun. Read more about the park's celebration plans here.

Busch Gardens Tampa's 2010 Howl-O-Scream event will center around a band named "My X." In typical Haunt fashion they've launched several media sites to stay connected with the event including Twitter, Facebook, and their home page.

Another week has gone by, and there is now a lot less of the Scream Machine still standing at Six Flags Great Adventure. Pretty much the lift, drop, and vertical loops are what is left. Stay connected with the park's official photo updates.

Disney has announced a new parade for Disneyland, to debut in 2011. Parades are a very big deal when it come to Disney parks - no marching band wandering down the midway with these, the parades are full scale productions. This one will be called Mickey's Soundsational Parade, and obviously have a music theme to it. Read more from Disney Parks.

The rumor mill is pretty quiet on this one right now, but Westcoaster has pointed out that Knott's Berry Farm is currently covered in survey markings. Either they're going to repave the entire place or something big might be in the works. See the update here.

Still no word on what Hershey Park is starting to work on, but lots of survey markings are showing up there, too. RCPro has some shots of those. It sure seems like after taking a year or two off of big expansions all the parks are really gearing up for a wild 2011!