originally posted on 12/30/2024
Photo: Courtesy Kings Dominion. View full-sized image.
Pantherian New Name for I-305
Kings Dominion (Doswell, Virginia) announced the new name for the park’s tallest roller coaster will be Pantherian starting in the 2025 season. The name comes from the legend of the jungle cat and fully incorporates the ride into the theming of the Jungle X-Pedition area of the park.
"We've been eagerly anticipating revealing Pantherian as it joins the highly anticipated, record-breaking roller coaster Rapterra in filling out the adventures of our Jungle X-Pedition area of the park,” said Bridgette Bywater, vice president and general manager of Kings Dominion. "The 2025 season promises to be a 50th anniversary celebration filled with new thrills and unforgettable experiences.”
The Jungle X-Pedition area was introduced in 2022, and each ride in the area represents a temple to jungle animals from an ancient culture. For Pantherian, the intense speed, rapid shifts and raw power mimic a large panther on the hunt. The ride's transformation comes with a new logo that shows an image of the jungle cat and new paint colors for the ride's support columns and track. The coaster is being painted by Baynum Solutions.
Photo: Steve Gzesh. View full-sized image.
Disneyland Paris Changes the Name of One of the Parks
Currently home to rides such as Crush's Coaster, Walt Disney Studios Park opened in 2002, 10 years after Disneyland Paris (Marne la Vallée, France) opened (then called EuroDisney).
Announced at Disney's huge D23 event this year, Walt Disney Studios Park will be renamed Disney Adventure World.
The €2 billion ( $2.1 billion) plans have started at the park, with a new entrance being added.
Replacing the park's Disney Studio 1 entrance building is World Premiere, opening in spring 2025.
The movie “The Lion King” will have a strong presence in later months. Fans at the D23 convention had a mock-up experience that saw a log flume plummet down Pride Rock as Rafiki the monkey looked on. The water attraction will take on the atmosphere of the film.
Visitors will also be immersed in the world of “The Lion King” through character interactions and themed dining as well.
This change comes after the entertainment giant reported weaker-than-expected theme park results last quarter.
In 2026, a new “Frozen” land will open, similar to the ones in Tokyo and Hong Kong.
Photo: John Robinson. View full-sized image.
FunPlex Myrtle Beach Closes
Another Myrtle Beach park has closed for good. Funplex in South Carolina stated that the Myrtle Beach location has ceased operation.
With a grand opening in May of 2021, the park hosted families for four seasons over its 3.5 years. It was nestled on less than half an acre, but it did feature an SBF Visa spinning coaster with the quirky name Fun in the Sun. The first three cars were spinners, while the last two were the “hamster wheel” vehicles that flipped riders.
Funplex still has two New Jersey locations that will remain open.
Photo: Jeffrey Seifert. View full-sized image.
SFNO Finally Coming Down … Maybe
In early November, the demolition of the Six Flags New Orleans (Louisiana) site had begun. By mid-November, work had stopped because the hired contractor lacked proper certification.
The Bayou Phoenix organization that plans to redevelop the 227-acre property into a mixed-use complex assures that progress on the site abandoned since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 will resume. Plans for the property include hotels, a waterpark, film studio, sports complex and retail outlets.
Photo: Courtesy Morey’s Piers. View full-sized image.
Morey’s Great White Gets a New Train
New trains have run on the rails of Morey’s Piers’ Great White in Wildwood, New Jersey. Two Millennium Flyer trains from Great Coasters International, Inc. will be in operation for the 2025 season.
The coaster was constructed by Custom Coasters International and opened in 1996. Up to this time, the ride operated with trains from Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, Inc.
Photo: Curt Schimmel. View full-sized image.
Aerosmith Exits the Stage
Who would have thought that one of the greatest rock bands of all time would be replaced by Muppets?
Disney announced that the Muppet-Vision 3-D would be leaving Disney’s Hollywood Studios (Lake Buena Vista, Florida) to be replaced by an attraction themed to the film “Monsters, Inc.” This is particularly sad for fans of Jim Henson, as this attraction was one of the final projects he worked on before his death in 1990.
But Kermit and friends will just be moving across the park. The indoor coaster Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster will soon receive a Muppets overlay. This means the rock band Aerosmith is nudged out. The ride opened in 1999 and admittedly, the band — who appear in video content — have aged a tad in the last 25 years.
Rendering: Courtesy Six Flags Fiesta Texas. View full-sized image.
Fiesta Texas Does a Name Swap
Announced on Friday the 13th, Six Flags Fiesta Texas (San Antonio) announced the change of name for its Bolliger & Mabillard inverted coaster, formerly known as Goliath. It will now be called Chupacabra. The coaster had been repainted in the fall with no indication that it was going through a retheme. The new name — and its Hispanic folklore — is a better fit for the Los Festivales section of the park. It’s not certain what other theming elements will be added in the weeks and months ahead, but the new name is more suitable, as “Goliath” was the fifth tallest coaster in the park.
— Tim Baldwin, ACE News
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