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Thanks for sharing the pics. Any idea if the project budget includes plans to spruce up the perimeter of Lake Silver prior to the opening of MRF? It definitely looks neglected (to be expected given the significance of the adjacent construction). It would be great to see them add a nice sized fountain in the center once everything is completed and the lake is filled once again.

Very cool. It's such a shame this attraction never saw its day at SDC. It would have been an awesome addition to the park. With all the talk about scrapping or rehabbing FITH and FM at some point, is it fair to assume this concept is dead for good? Knowing how popular indoor attractions are these days, I'm really curious if the ice house idea could be resuscitated at some point. Hind sight is always 20/20, but seeing the schematic and renderings now really makes me feel like SDC and HFEC really missed an opportunity with this one.

Hope and pray they do something similar in the not too distant future. Perhaps a reimagined FITH has the potential of bringing this level of theming, detail and excitement to the park.

I find it interesting that there is any fuss around the "drop". First of all the height of the lift does not equal the height of said drop. Not to mention, we're talking about a mere 45 degree plunge. Have no doubts it will be a fun attraction, but the ride facts and hype surrounding the actual numbers is mere PR fodder for the sake of engaging their key demographics. Despite what the park would lead you to believe is a new record-shattering thrill ride, I think it's fair to say this is going to be a very family friendly attraction. Not trying to insinuate that it will be underwhelming in any way, I just think the finale element creating any the negative comments will prove much more tame than advertised. 

Totally agree. I'm not a rapids ride fanatic, but definitely enjoy them on a hot day and really appreciate SDC and HFEC staying true to their commitment to detail, storytelling and ensuring that new attractions feel like they belong in the park. Also would have loved to seen more use of indoor elements, but applaud the length, and the addition of the curved section pre-drop versus just offloading you right into drop. Dropping through the building is a great touch as well.   

My only question is whether or not the Rivertown area is going to be a no outlet finger, or will also tie into another area? For the purposes of improving park flow and relieving overall congestion, I sincerely hope Rivertown connects to Wilson's Farm and/or Fireman's Landing via path.

Other than that, assuming there are no engineering glitches with the lift system, I think this is going to be another home run for the park.

Hoped and assumed so, but wasn't entirely sure. What is the confidence level that the ride will be touted as some sort or record breaker, be it longest rapids ride, steepest and/or largest drop on a rapids ride, etc.? Do we have any credible intel to suggest this will in fact be something very similar to Infinity Falls, or is there reason to believe it may introduce another "first" for an attraction of it's kind? I know it's tough given there hasn't been too much change since the latest visits, and it is a water attraction versus a coaster, but I anticipated more dialogue and speculation this close to the announcement.

I think we'll just be quiet and not ruin the surprise this time if you don't mind. 

You're going to love it and the whole backstory

I'm all for the element of surprise. Just expected there would be much more conversation leading up to the reveal. Excited to welcome another new attraction to the City.

Hoped and assumed so, but wasn't entirely sure. What is the confidence level that the ride will be touted as some sort or record breaker, be it longest rapids ride, steepest and/or largest drop on a rapids ride, etc.? Do we have any credible intel to suggest this will in fact be something very similar to Infinity Falls, or is there reason to believe it may introduce another "first" for an attraction of it's kind? I know it's tough given there hasn't been too much change since the latest visits, and it is a water attraction versus a coaster, but I anticipated more dialogue and speculation this close to the announcement.

So are we anticipating a full reveal next Tuesday, or simply another strategic marketing tease of the 2020 attraction?

So was LRO fed entirely through the water from Lake Silver? Goes without saying that constructing a holding pond for the water versus utilizing a "natural" source already on site would be much more costly, but using a natural lake also doesn't feel very sanitary. Is water circulated and filtered through pumps that run the attraction in this case?

Silly question, but are SDC season passes good for admission to Dollywood and vice versa? I'm doubtful, but wasn't sure given they're both HFEC properties and viewed by many as "sister parks" in a way. But perhaps that's only in spirit based on their similarities with respect to general theming.   

^If you click back a couple pages in this thread I made the note with one of the photos that they appear to have saved the old rafts and were apparently using them for testing. This trough above seems to support the theory that they are indeed being reused. I don't think the newer (larger) boats would fit in those.

Right, but even the old rafts seem like they would be too large for this trough. Will be interesting to see how the project progresses. On a separate, but related note. If it is assumed that a newer version of Lake Silver will in fact flank the new attraction, I'm curious what the motivation is in keeping it at all. The aesthetic value in doing so is obvious, but that real estate seems way too valuable to throw a smaller "lake" back into the space. Given how easily the old lake was drained to allow for construction of the 2020 project, does anyone have reason to believe the newer lake might only be temporary until another attraction is shoehorned into the footprint?   

What looks like and is assumed to be "trough" for the new water attraction appears to be awfully narrow for traditional river rapids rafts like that of the old LRO or an Infinity Falls type ride. Is the photo just deceiving, or is there chance the raft system will be something all together new and different?

Beyond an attraction to cool off during the dead of summer, can someone please help me understand what the novelty, or allure is with spending millions of dollars on a river rapids ride in 2020? So Infinity Falls has a unique loading and lift system and a 40 foot drop? Not sure I get the wow factor. Not trying to be a pessimist, but even that doesn't feel like anything revolutionary to an already relatively mundane ride concept. Is this simply a necessary evil for the PTB in terms of keeping a people eater in the center of the park for the dog days when it's filled to capacity and many welcome any refuge from the elements they can find? If and only if this took shape in a highly themed way, a la Disney's Kali River Rapids, then I could get on board. Have no doubt whatever fills the space will look nice, but without anything thematic in terms of the ride experience, it's just going to be another river rapids ride, even if it has a state-of-the-art lift system and an underwhelming drop of over 40 ft that puts into the "tallest" category.

LR was due for a very expensive rehab.  The ride system they had was lacking several modern safety measures and was far from being ADA compliant.  The trough was losing a lot water every day due to large cracks that it had occurred over the years due to neglect and a couple earthquakes. 

As far as you not personally getting the "wow factor" - you're not the target audience so that's to be expected. 

It's a little early in the process for the outrage in the rest of your post as nothing has been made public. 

Let's pump the breaks for now and wait for the process to play out.  You got two years to worry yet.

Outrage? I was simply asking an honest question. And I think it's a bit unfair not to mention presumptuous to say I'm not the audience for a river rapids ride. As I stated in my post, I wasn't insinuating anything. Merely asking the question about it's need an validity. Are rapids rides my favorite thing? No. Will I ride them? Of course. As will my kids. So yes, Swoosh, I am the target audience.

Swoosh, what is your confidence level in the speculation that LOR is being truly being razed for a new water attraction versus something else? As you pointed out with your recent pictures, with Lake Silver gone (even if temporarily), that is a very large footprint capable of accommodating just about anything HFEC would want to put there. Also, outside of retaining natural aesthetics, what value would incorporating a newer Lake Silver hold? This is awfully valuable real estate to have a lake with no purpose. I'm not insinuating anything. As long as we're still speculating, I'm simply wondering if the entire cleared footprint will be utilized for whatever attraction is in the works for '20, or they're clearing everything to make way for the attraction, which will include some newer iteration of Lake Silver, if that makes sense.

98% sure and about 80% sure it'll be like Infinity Falls. 
New LR is only a small part of this new project.  They're being very tight lipped on what'll happen eventually around Riverfront Playhouse.  They don't refer to it as "the most valuable land in the park" for nothing

Beyond an attraction to cool off during the dead of summer, can someone please help me understand what the novelty, or allure is with spending millions of dollars on a river rapids ride in 2020? So Infinity Falls has a unique loading and lift system and a 40 foot drop? Not sure I get the wow factor. Not trying to be a pessimist, but even that doesn't feel like anything revolutionary to an already relatively mundane ride concept. Is this simply a necessary evil for the PTB in terms of keeping a people eater in the center of the park for the dog days when it's filled to capacity and many welcome any refuge from the elements they can find? If and only if this took shape in a highly themed way, a la Disney's Kali River Rapids, then I could get on board. Have no doubt whatever fills the space will look nice, but without anything thematic in terms of the ride experience, it's just going to be another river rapids ride, even if it has a state-of-the-art lift system and an underwhelming drop of over 40 ft that puts into the "tallest" category.

Swoosh, what is your confidence level in the speculation that LOR is being truly being razed for a new water attraction versus something else? As you pointed out with your recent pictures, with Lake Silver gone (even if temporarily), that is a very large footprint capable of accommodating just about anything HFEC would want to put there. Also, outside of retaining natural aesthetics, what value would incorporating a newer Lake Silver hold? This is awfully valuable real estate to have a lake with no purpose. I'm not insinuating anything. As long as we're still speculating, I'm simply wondering if the entire cleared footprint will be utilized for whatever attraction is in the works for '20, or they're clearing everything to make way for the attraction, which will include some newer iteration of Lake Silver, if that makes sense. 

In terms of speculation regarding a future coaster, would you all bet on another family investment a la TT and TNT, or do you think HFEC will opt to go for something bigger? While TT is their largest investment to date, I think we can probably all agree the coaster is intended to appeal to a broader demographic, versus catering to the ultimate thrill seeker. Just curious what the consensus is on a best guess around the next possible coaster addition at SDC? While I do agree a smaller family oriented coaster would still be a nice addition near FL and/or GE, I personally would like to see a landmark coaster anchoring some westward expansion beyond PK and OR.