WILLIAMSBURG, VA

​Although the general park at Busch Gardens remains closed, a new outdoor event will be open to ticket holders showcasing the different villages while enjoying local brews and fresh cuisine.
As of Thursday evening, Busch Gardens announced the event had already sold out for the limited-capacity event.
“Be sure to stay tuned because we are working on more ways to keep the fun going!” the park wrote on social media.


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BRANSON, MO

A 60th Anniversary Diamond Jubilee comes with a great big bow as Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri takes the crown for #1 Amusement Park in all the land by 10Best/USAToday Readers’ Choice Awards.
            In total, Silver Dollar City is awarded three amusement-related awards in this nationwide poll of USA TODAY readers. The two additional awards go to the 2015 Guinness World Record-holding wooden roller coaster, Outlaw Run, ranks in the Top 10 Best Roller Coaster poll (#10) and Buckshot Annie’s, home of the City’s favorite skillet meals, ranks as the #5 Best Restaurant.
            This news is during a season when the 1880s-themed park opens a historic ride and an all-new area.  Mystic River Falls, considered an engineering marvel in the global attractions industry, includes a rotating 4-platform, 8-story lift and massive waterfall drop – creating an only-of-its-kind water ride, rightfully claiming “The Tallest Drop on a Water Raft Ride in the Western Hemisphere.”
            “The roaring river experience, the adventure of the lift, the moments spent in the elevated channel and then the climax of the final drop combine to make this a unique experience only found at Silver Dollar City,”  according to Brad Thomas, President of Silver Dollar City Attractions. “Mystic River Falls is a family thrill ride, and joins our strong roster of award-winning family fun rides – from our famed coasters Outlaw Run and Time Traveler to a “City” filled with legendary adventures for the entire family,” Thomas said.
            As for Buckshot Annie’s, many loyal Silver Dollar City guests will tell you the massive skillet-created meals are a “must-do” during a visit to the park.  The original succotash recipe is one of a long-time employee whose grandmother taught how to throw together most vegetables in the garden (and then some), all presented today at the park on a grill in a 6-foot skillet.     
            “These awards highlight the world-class offerings at Silver Dollar City,” said Brad Thomas, President of Silver Dollar City Attractions. “Our guests come from all over America’s heartland.  The Silver Dollar City team strives hard every day to ensure these families can escape the concerns and worries of today to enjoy our crafts, our rides, our food, our shows and festivals.   We appreciate these guests for believing in us and supporting us for over 60 years, and certainly for voting for us in this poll.”   
            The internationally acclaimed 1880s-style Silver Dollar City was chosen as a nominee by a panel of amusement and theme park experts consisting of USA TODAY editors, 10Best.com editors and additional influencers from around the country.
Silver Dollar City is currently presenting Moonlight Madness, presented by Humana®, through August 9 with park hours extended until 10 p.m. and fireworks nightly. 
Information: 800-831-4FUN(386) or www.silverdollarcity.com.
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Six Flags is developing a modified version of Fright Fest in hopes of capturing pent-up demand for Halloween haunts and horrors now that Disney and Universal have canceled their lucrative separate-admission seasonal events in Florida and California due to the pandemic.

“We are planning to have something out there that excites families and our guests to get out there and come to the parks,” Six Flags CEO Michael Spanos said on an earnings call with analysts.


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Four nearly finished roller coasters set to debut this summer at SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks in San Diego, Florida and Virginia have been delayed until 2021 by the coronavirus pandemic.
SeaWorld and Busch Gardens rides still under construction and originally scheduled to open in 2020 have been postponed to 2021 in order to manage costs amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, according to a preliminary quarterly earnings report from SeaWorld Entertainment.
As a result, the Emperor dive coaster at SeaWorld San Diego, Ice Breaker quadruple launch coaster at SeaWorld Orlando, Iron Gwazi hybrid coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa and Pantheon multi-launch coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg will see their planned 2020 debuts pushed back until 2021.


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Not every theme park is owned by a mega-studio like The Walt Disney Company, which now commands the rights to its own extensive library, as well as Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox.
While Comcast owns NBC/Universal and the various IPs under that umbrella (Universal Studios, Dreamworks Animation, Illumination Entertainment, etc.), even the Universal Studios theme parks often have to resort to signing deals with other studios for the rights to use various other IPs in their theme parks.


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WILLIAMSBURG, VA

The parent company of Busch Gardens says it expects its Williamsburg park to start a phased reopening in early August, despite no indication from Gov. Ralph Northam that the park’s 1,000-person limit under Virginia’s phase 3 reopening plan will be lifted.
SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. shared the news in a press release Wednesday. The release didn’t mention plans for reopening nearby Water Country USA.


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These probably weren’t the sort of thrills they were looking for.
A roller coaster at a theme park in eastern England broke down, stranding its riders 150 feet in the air. According to reports, the passengers were stuck for over an hour on Sunday.
The Millennium roller coaster at Lincolnshire's Fantasy Island stopped while it was climbing one of the ride’s inclines, The Mirror reported. After about an hour of work, park staff reportedly had to use harnesses to remove the passengers from the ride.


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VAUGHAN, ONT

​Canada’s Wonderland is getting ready for its re-opening for the summer!
It’s not allowed to open under stage 3 of Ontario’s COVID-19 reopening plan, but they’re still working hard to get ready for when they are able to.
So, they released a list of guidelines that you must follow when they do re-open.

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Six Flags (SIX) is one of the companies that was affected the most by the spread of COVID-19. There’s no doubt that this year will be one of the worst in Six Flags' history, as its parks were mostly closed in Q2 and only recently started to reopen.
Nevertheless, I’m bullish on the company. With $832 million in liquidity at the end of March, Six Flags will be able to stay afloat and wait for the demand to return later on. While its total debt stands at $2.4 billion, most of that will start to mature only in 2024, so there’s plenty of time to tackle the debt problem too. I believe that it will take a long time for a vaccine against COVID-19 to be approved, manufactured, and distributed at scale. However, the positive sentiment regarding the development of a vaccine will help Six Flags stock to gain momentum and push it out from the distressed territory in which it currently trades. For that reason, I decided to buy Six Flags stock and plan to hold it until the end of the year.


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