East Coast New Attraction Update

Greetings all! I just returned from a fun week in Virginia and Maryland visiting the local parks for the first time. Look for 3 part series in the coming weeks each featuring a different park I visited. It should be a great series, and hey, it's so hot out east right now why not stay inside and enjoy the parks on NPN while relaxing in the AC?

For now, I'll bring you the more time sensitive information in the form of new attractions and construction projects. Lets start with Six Flags America shall we?

Skull Mountain has given it's final voyage. From what I was told, the park has been salvaging what they can from the interior of the attraction and the ride should see major demolition starting in the upcoming weeks.

And the park is excited to point out that they will be adding more next year. I was unsuccessful in finding out what that attraction may be, though the popular rumor has been (even though the park denies it) that they will receive Iron Wolf from Six Flags Great America.

Next up is Kings Dominion. Still enjoying the popularity of the amazing Intimidator 305, the park has opted to add a Starlight Spectacular this year as their newest attraction, which is oddly similar in idea to IllumiNights at competing Busch Gardens.

The attraction is actually very impressive. This was my first Starlight Spectacular so I can't really compare to any others but it was much more than I expected. Check out the short video I shot on my iPhone below.

The park wraps up the night with Nights of Fire, a nightly firework show shot off behind Rebel Yell.

And last on the trip was Busch Gardens where two projects are currently ongoing.

First up is Mach Tower. While at the park, the park did a few tests. I never caught a glimpse of the actual drop but did see the catch car sitting at the top of the tower or lowering back to the bottom a few times.

A surprising rumor I heard that is circulating around park employees is that the main delay has been caused by a major brake malfunction that resulted in the gondola hitting the base so hard that in cracked the ride's foundation. Now the accuracy of this can't really be confirmed but it seems to be the story across the board with some even claiming to have been present in the area and hearing the crash.

For now, the ride is still closed and as the sign says, testing is in progress.

The other project going on is the construction of Verbolten, which is the name all the employees are using. Construction is very much under way, unfortunately I spent more time enjoying my vacation than getting shots of construction and this was really the only one I got.

You can kind of see the massive amounts of dirt being moved behind the old Drachen Fire station here.

That's it for this little update. Look for the 3 part feature soon that will be going a little more in depth into each park.