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I agree, from Outlaw Run today Sunday June 14, you can see more pieces for it in the staging area as well as what appears to be black round supports.

^ Neither did we ever go to CC.  I always felt SDC was competing against themselves by opening CC.  We were always too tired to go to SDC all day then venture to CC at night.  It was almost like you had to choose one or the other.

I didn't really feel they were competing against themselves as, at the time SDC wasn't a night park outside of November and December. CC was at its best the last few hours of the day (City Days, City Nights, Just Add Water was the tagline). I haven't brought myself to watch DFL's treatment of the subject as it still really hits close to home for me all these years later. Many of the ideas we have now come from CC, Moonlight Madness, the dance parties, the fireworks. I feel the drone show is the spiritual successor of the laser and fireworks show. I haven't felt a vibe quite like that at the park since the last night CC was open. I still see faces at SDC every week that I first remember from CC. Indeed, it is hard for me to hear Kool and the Gang and Smash Mouth without thinking of those nights. There are still a few spots in SDC that have the old Control Series JBL speakers and that dark colored sound that dominated CC's PA and Laser Wall. Come to think of it, I guess it is only fitting that the viewing area for the drone show is under the shadow of the old Accelerator, as it was at CC.

As of Thursday moring they were still adding steal to the new structure as they have more beams laid out and straps on the structure to help the bolt holes line up.

I could see something along the lines of Firechaser Express in TNT's spot, not terribly too intense but still big enough to write home about.

From the photos, it looks like the steel structure is actually 2 independent structures. My guess is one structure is building only and one is track only. Could keep the whole building from vibrating like TimeTraveler does when a train leaves the station.

True, I noticed this today on Wildfire. It is for the same reason Expedition Everest is three separate structures: Yeti, Ride, Building. I also noticed today there appears to be a ride vehicle pass thru with a mechanical pit directly under this support, much like what a station would have.

When I was there last Thursday, I noticed that structure appears to have mounts for track going over the top. If it is not a station, think Fire chaser Express or Voltron. You have to pull the trains off somewhere. Plus there is still a lot of work left to do around Powder Keg

American Plunge normanly doesn't close exactly on Labor Day (unlike the late Waterworks Water Toboggan, Wilderness Water Toboggan closed a little later in the fall as I clearly remember seeing Wildfire go vertical from the left side of Wilderness.) . They are clearly in a hurry to get the old Float Trip area prepped as they have thrown a lot of man power and equipment in a very small space. From what I could see, when they severed the bypass from the ride, they took care to leave the AP flume intact.

As today (Sept 5), it would appear the American Plunge is closed the rest of the season. Crews are wasting no time hammering out the old Float Trip portion that serves as a bypass between the lift and the old station.

One big difference between Outlaw Run and others like Texas Giant is Outlaw runs on steel wheels. my understanding is steel wheels allow for extra speed compared to poly.

Wildfire's "wildfire" applicators over the trains are operational again.

It's extremely smooth, with about the same length. The bridge drop is a lot smoother for sure. The collapsing  bridge effect is definitely bigger than the old one or Blazing Fury's. With the ride building being taller, it takes advantage of the extra vertical space in pretty cool ways (  no more spoilers from me ) I got 7 rides on it Saturday and walked away quite impressed. It's a great blend of the old and new with a lot of little details that take multiple rides to catch. I think there will be a few that will miss the charm that comes only with age, but the current one hits the right notes in filling the old one's shoes.

The new version of the song sounds great.

Consider, social media and instant communication are fairly recent inventions compared to the history of theme parks.
Agent K's remarks trying to recruit Agent J sitting on the park bench in Men in Black come to mind when the flag of transparency is raised and illuminated 24/7 365.

Is a new FITH for certain? Like, are there only rumors or has there been confirmation? Even from park insiders? Where would the new FITH be?

If you get there quick, say in the next few days or weeks, before they close the hole the rest of the way up, you can clearly see FITO style track on a slow grade, in multiple levels. Track wise, they have painted themselves out of the corner and may soon be ready to seal that side of the building up completely. Photos thru those windows are not too great but in person, it's clear as day what the ride is meant to be, especially when you compare it with construction methods of FITH on the park's own tribute site to the original.

It gets referred to alot as 2.0, but personally, having been on both when they both in their prime, I consider Blazing Fury to be the true FITH 2.0, as BF does have some nice iterations: 18 passenger train, tire drive station,  auto lap bars, it's just seems to be missing FITH's superior moisture remediation for some reason (speculation: FITH may have better ground floor air flow). There are more differences of course, as BF was built from the ground up with it's current layout, where as FITH was later modified to match BF's layout, omitting the second lap around the third floor. I personally prefer FITH, still has the lake, great opening scene room, the barrel of laughs, but BF does have some cool features.

I'm thankful that FITH is being allowed to go with its boots on, as I don't know how i would feel if I grew up going to SDC Tennesse and trying to wrap my head around "FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!!" with no splash. I honest prefer the route that has been chosen here.

Are you sure that wasn't for ones NOT left in the cubbies?

Sounds about right, TNT was running good and the mid-course was slowing trains like it was the mid-1990's last week. I could defiantly see a couple phones calling for help on their own. Back in the day when they tried to cheat and put wireless cameras on the lift, they delayed operations a few times because they thought they were getting Bluetooth interference. That little experiment didn't last too long.

I actually feel like the spinning and especially the abruptness of the stop at the bottom of the slide have significantly improved since opening. It really isn't that bad anymore.

I strongly second that. And in truth, much like Time Traveler, it's reliability and capacity the past two years is much, much better as well. Machines these days just take time to get to know, as has been causally pointed out to me on park.

P.S. If you try to use station number two these days, fire directly into the wave, otherwise you will miss the boat completely. If you try to use station number 1, well, you might consider buying a poncho first