Off-Season Updates 1/11/18 - 2/12/18

Hello Coastal Thrills Readers! My name is Jacob, and I’m going to be talking about everything that has happened in the amusement park industry from January 11th, 2018 to February 10th, 2018. Now, there has been a lot. Especially for my home park, California’s Great America.

So let’s start off with California’s Great America. California’s Great America announced some new things on January 16th. They announced 4 new Treats, Sweets, and Eats. Candy Café will become an Indoor Starbucks! The park already has a Starbucks, however, that is outside near Planet Snoopy. And due to them receiving an Indoor one, this makes it likely that the “Drive-Thru” Starbucks, will become apart of the building next to it. Along with the change of Candy Café, “Trending Now” a store with all the hottest trending clothes and souvenirs, will be stripped down and remodeled to become, “Orleans Candy Kitchen”. Orleans Candy Kitchen is pretty self-explanatory. You will also be able to see Fudge, Churros, Taffy Pull, and more all from the Midway! In place of Sweet Treats, French Quarter Funnel Cake & Churros will be rising up! You can make your own Funnel Cakes by choosing what toppings you want. Of course, The cooks will do the frying. And the final Food-Related Announcement, Is Joe Cool’s refurbished building! Sierra Creek Lodge is a remodeled, refurbished building of Joe Cool. This could possibly mean that we could be seeing a “Camp Snoopy” theme soon.

Staying at Great America, Loggers Run has finally been destroyed. Which is really sad news. But along with this, H.M.B Endeavor is slowly getting removed. And Snoopy’s Splash Dance(A Small “Water Attraction” in Planet Snoopy) has been fully removed. In Great America’s words, “The park has a lot of new and exciting things planned in the next few years, and this area will soon be under construction for one of those projects”. Railblazer has finished its layout(minus the Brake Run, Transfer Track, Station, etc.) and they are currently working on the station. But a bit of landscaping has also been going on. Flight Deck will be celebrating its 25th anniversary on March 24th-25th. During the celebration, riders can get a Commemorative Dog Tags, Social Media Meetups for #FlightDeck25 aviator sunglasses, Top Gun(Rated PG) continuously playing in Theatre Royale, A Working scale model in the lobby of Theatre Royale, Special Flight Deck inspired food items being sold at Pizza Orleans, Photo opportunities with familiar looking, “Naval Aviators”, and listen to the iconic Top Gun soundtrack playing in the midways near the ride.

The Harlem Globetrotters will also be making an appearance at California’s Great America on May 12th-13th at 1 pm and 3 pm. They will perform a 20-minute show in Theatre Royale. After the performance, they will be staying for a 15-minute Autograph, Photography, and High Five Session for fans! The show is included in admission, but be sure to get there early to get the best seat for the show!

California’s Great America will be opening on March 24th, 2018, while Boomerang Bay(CGA’s Water Park) will be opening May 26th. At 9:50 am(March 24th ONLY) California’s Great America will hold an Opening Ceremony. Raul Rehnborg will emcee the ceremony and will highlight all the fun things happening in the 2018 season, which includes Railblazer, Red White & Brews, Taste of Orleans, and more!

With all this information about Great America, Let’s head down south to Seaworld San Diego. They have finally finished track work on Electric Eel! This will be the park’s 2nd and much need roller coaster. It’s a classic Sky Rocket 2 model and these are definitely fun to ride.

Here are some minor things that parks announced, that don't need much coverage. Diamondback(Kings Island) has received new seats, Twisted Colossus(Six Flags Magic Mountain), Batman: The Ride(Six Flags St. Louis) is confirmed to be rideable backwards from March 24th to May 13th, also at Six Flags St. Louis, The Boss is getting the Timberwolf(World’s of Fun) treatment by removing its large double helix and cutting it to a 180° turnaround, and Kennywood has confirmed to be adding a Thomas Town for 2018.

Back to the major things. But they aren’t just major. They’re also controversial. First off, we have Busch Gardens Williamsburg removing their dark ride called, “Curse of DarKastle”. First off, a lot of people were pretty mad by this, but what became the breaking point of people is the fact that it’s being replaced by an EVENT BUILDING. Let that sink in for a second. EVENT BUILDING. FOR ONE OF THE BETTER DARK RIDES IN THE U.S(Not including Disney and Universal)! A lot of people were furious that a dark ride that a ton of people likes is being replaced by an event building.

The second controversial announcement is that Kings Dominion is changing the name of Rebel Yell and Ricochet. Ricochet was expected to get a repaint, but its new name is Apple Zapple… WHAT!?! If you thought that was bad, the iconic Rebel Yell will now become Racer 75. Kings Dominion claims that it is named that after ACE’s 75th anniversary… I don't believe that’s why. But I don't really know…

So, after the bad news. There’s always good news! Canada’s Wonderland is rumored, however, confirmed now to be getting a B&M Dive Coaster. A drone outside of the park boundaries has found B&M Dive Track under a tarp at Canada’s Wonderland, AND They are working on an underwater tunnel by vortex. It is rumored that the name is, “Ziz”. The coaster will be coming in 2019.

Walibi Holland is letting RMC convert Robin Hood into a Hybrid in 2019. I find this interesting as now we have 2 confirmed out of North America conversions for 2019. More to come on this news.

But overall, this month has been ups and downs! There will be more and hopefully, we will try to be current starting Valentine’s Day. Coastal Thrills applications will not be opening up yet. And February 24th, Coastal Thrills ACErs Matthew, and Jacob will be attending the ACE California’s Great America Off-Season Tour. A report will be coming out the next day(February 25th). Next Off-Season we will have a podcast on our future Youtube Channel and it will be hosted every 2 weeks.

Anyways, stay Cool and Fresh and remember to ride the rails, Coast to Coast! Happy Valentine's Day!