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I as to the speculation about the next expansion, I can see them moving M&C to the clearing near OR and using that spot next to FiTH/Mystic river as a decent expansion. But I personally think that the next project after this project will be where the original FiTH was and that back area.

With speculation surrounding the old FITH building/site, and a possible future replacement for FM, I'm wondering if there would be any possibility that they would eventually level FM and repurpose that area for expanded retail/demos, as well as a larger and improved loading station for the train? At the same time, leveling the original FITH building to build a larger and more advanced Flooded Mine replacement or indoor dark ride.

As the park seemingly stretches westward, I think it will be critical to retain an indoor ride option that offers much needed refuge from the elements on that side of the park. With the closing of the original FITH, the park is absent of that from a ride perspective right now.

There's been speculation about FM being leveled for a long time now. It seemed like they would retire it on it's 50th season, but that was over ten years ago. There was speculation at one point that we'd get our version of mystery mine to replace it. Then eventually we got Time Traveler instead.

I still think it's days are numbered, but there are too many higher priority things for them to do first. I think that's the only reason it has remained in place for the last decade.

I think if they were going to announce it this year, the teaser campaign would be more intense than it has been. There's been a few bits here and there since they can't hide that work is happening, but not like a big build up to a big new ride.

Most likely, we'll see the pathway connector open up next year, but the new ride is coming in 27. Unless there's more than one "thing".

I think that clearing is simply a backstage service road. It connects the back of the park to some of the key backstage areas and the main road. It's massive due to the amount of grading required to make it passable for large trucks. Guessing this will become a primary haul route for the park for many back of house things. I also originally thought it was too huge to just be BOH, but the satellite view makes it clearer.

I'm wondering what they needed the flat area for to the west of PK, but that is probably also a new back of house area for things like landscaping greenhouses, storage, or whatever. If this is going to be a coaster, it looks like it will be sandwiched between PK and wildfire. Since they are now clear cutting all the trees around coasters, this is probably a good thing.

I don't think they will expand the park much more beyond the area they have now. It's already as large as most parks. You can't get too big or it's burdensome on guests to get around to everything, especially with the hills.

lol I'm not sure what we are arguing about but be chill. Speculate all you want. Believe what you want. It doesn't matter. Sometimes the people designing these projects don't even know where it's going to end up 

General rule though: don't drag employees into this. They can theoretically get in trouble for it. Just say you heard it from a good source. It doesn't matter if people believe you or not - all rumors on this site can be taken or left as an individual sees fit. This is just for fun.

There's no way there will ever be a 1000ft tall roller coaster. At the speeds needed to achieve that, you'd have to enclose the car, use special wheels, and so on - and in the end it would feel stupid and not like a roller coaster anyway. Not to mention the extreme costs. It's already too expensive to even build another 400ft coaster.

I don't see SDC going taller anytime soon. We've already got a couple "big" coasters in Wildfire and Outlaw Run. Hopefully they'll focus on quality and theming and get more rides that compete with what Disney and Universal are doing rather than focusing on height and inversions.

Screamscape reports that they've heard rumors of this being a Thunderation replacement, with Mack being the manufacturer. Anything is possible I guess. TNT is still very popular though, and I was under the impression that it was both one of the easier rides to keep operating and one of the least expensive to maintain? Could be way off on that though, or perhaps that is no longer the case. They have had to rebuild sections several times due to ground shifts, and I feel that got worse when Time Traveler was built. Plus the mysterious loss of the second train does say something...

I don't think they've updated FB in a year either. That means they've let all their lower level people go. Never heard about any resolution to the lawsuits, but surely that has been wrapped up by now? They probably bankrupted the AH business to reduce their legal exposure/losses for the lawsuits. The contractors/designers they stiffed can only recover the money that AH had on hand.

I can't believe they couldn't even get the RV park going...

Not a lot of great options outside of Dollywood within reasonable driving range. I guess you could do the Iowa parks - Adventureland and Lost Island. The latter is supposed to be decently themed, but it's brand new and is still finding its feet. I'm thinking of taking a road trip up there myself within the next couple of months.

They re-did the ones near the entrance (behind taffy shop) this year. They redid the ones near Mystic a few years ago when that opened.

The one near TNT/TT are too small though and should have been rebuilt larger back when they were redoing that area. That's the only one I can think of that is kinda bad though. The one near Fireman's whatever is probably too small now too. They should probably add one near the new plaza area eventually.

Hmmm, if Mack does end up being the manufacturer, it's hard to see which product makes the most sense in that location. If it's like Wiener Looping, then wouldn't that be odd next to Wildfire? If it's like Stardust Racers, then doesn't that look odd next to Powderkeg? Perhaps we're getting a water coaster again. 

I see it now. So they did add some siding treatment, it's just hard to notice behind the food stands. I guess that's better than nothing, but it's just short of what they needed to do to add some real ambiance to the area. In the good old days they would have extended the facades up to hide the HVAC units and probably broken it up into false store fronts with lots of cheeky signage, props, etc. What they did just makes it look a little bit more like a barn...

I'm sure they'll work on it a bit over time. I know they wanted to leave it open to allow for large crowds since there aren't many other places for people to congregate in the park, but a few more trees would have a large impact.

Dynamic pricing is just another way for them to squeeze more out of you. All the days you want to go will now cost more, in exchange for the days you can't go being cheaper. I really hate how HFEC follows these greedy industry trends now. As if trailblazer wasn't bad enough.

They were still adding fill to that area behind Powderkeg on Saturday. Not sure why they need such a big flat space back there in such a remote location. Makes me wonder if it is just going to be a new backstage area, or if it's part of the new ride. Would love it if we did actually end up with a coaster with indoor/outdoor sections. The clearing is very odd. really makes you wonder what they are doing that necessitated extending AP's tunnel. For just a path extension, they could have just cut out the old Jim Owen's channels and extend the loop from Wildfire to Powderkeg. Perhaps it's better to have more of a straight shot by going over the tunnel area, but it sure is a lot of effort. Must be more than just a path, obviously.

Finally made it out for my first visit of the season on Saturday. Was pretty busy, but not unbearable. Surprisingly, Wildfire had a longer wait than PK. Time Traveler and FITH kept a pretty steady 45+ min wait all day. Didn't even try for Mystic River, but I understand it still commands an hour long wait or more during the summer. Say what you want about SDC's seemingly odd choices for rides, but the crowds love them. Thunderation also had a decently long line at times. During the morning I saw it stretch all the way through the tunnel! One train operations will do that though... the second train is long gone and it doesn't look like they plan to replace it? It looked like they had cannibalized the "good" cars from both trains to make a single frankenstein train. No more "beat up #7 and shiny new #13" trains.

Saw some good bluegrass, as well as the Homestead Pickers as always. The BBQ in Red Gold was severely lacking. $16 for a dry pre-cooked pulled pork sandwich. The poor guy in front of me got the $18 brisket sandwich, and I saw the worker give him a single (albeit thick) slice. Should have gone around to the Plaza first - they had some interesting looking options back there such as a BBQ grilled cheese and BBQ nachos. Only problem is the servings looked small for the same $16-$20 price range.

The "Plaza" is a joke. I know it's just a gap area to make room for festivals and crowd management, but come on. A few more tree planters would have gone a LONG way. It is seriously a backlot that feels like you are hanging out behind a warehouse. Not sure what they were thinking with this. They didn't even try to dress up the backside of FITH or Red Gold or anything. They made a whole announcement about it like it was a real addition that they were investing in. I honestly feel that they need more flak for this. This isn't the SDC standard that set the park apart from the competition and made them successful. I guess they are big enough now that it doesn't matter...

^They mention it over the speakers pretty often when they say to leave things in the cubbies. I occasionally get told to leave my glasses behind, though they are usually OK on the SDC coasters. Usually I remember my strap as well.