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It seems fundamentally counterintuitive to have a mine train coaster without it going underground at some point. I'd say that confirms one of two scenarios. A) This ride will be going underground somewhere, but the feature is not currently visible and/or hasn't been constructed yet or B) this ride isn't going to be a mine train coaster at all. The theming cues in place certainly seem to point to the former. Any mine themed ride that stayed entirely above ground would feel like a huge miss. I would hope the candles included in the recent influencer teaser box were a metaphor for a significant subterranean feature as well.

To that point, could an "underground" show building be in the valley to the west?  It would make sense if it's being constructed and then covered. 

I remember seeing the model for Thunderation in 1992 and I thought the entrance to the mine (at the end of the helix) was the absolute coolest part of the whole ride.  "But Dad, it goes UNDERGROUND!"

I did a little more searching and I see that Nora's Ridge just purchased that parcel in 2025 and just had it rezoned (C-2) this past June.  Any chance that's a shell corporation for Herschend? 

[resort infrastructure]

Keep an eye on who owns land between the apartments and the new resort.  Seems like there's been some interesting occurrences here lately. 

I'm digging into the Stone County GIS data... looks like there are three companies that own land between the park and the resort: Destiny, Fulton BSH, and Nora's Ridge.  I assume the last one is a legitimate condo/timeshare/short term rental development.  I have no idea what Destiny does other than own land all over the area.  The one that piques my interest the most is Fulton BSH as it appears to be a "back-end corporate holding shell used by out-of-state institutional investors to purchase, develop, or finance premium commercial real estate tracts—such as high-end vacation rentals, resort infrastructure, or major acreage".  In 2023, they received $5.2 million from Bank of America.  I'm not a local, so I don't know anything personally about these companies.  Am I on the right track? 

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but the presumptive load station now has walls/siding going up on the PK side.  Sorry - no pictures. 

I know enough to take non-official comments with a grain of salt, but yesterday our cave guide was talking about how SDC is always growing and expanding and then he explicitly said they're opening a new resort and "moving White Water there next year."

Not news... just passing along the comment. 

I didn't get screenshots either but here's what I posted after I got the survey with the 3 choice names:




I got an email a couple of hours ago from SDC about the naming of a new family coaster being built.  The name choices were:

Miner's Rush
Prospector's Rush
Daredevil Railway

I was asked which name I preferred (I picked Miner's Rush) and which names fit in with the theme of the park.  I was then asked who I thought the name would appeal to (pre-teens, teens, adults, older adults, etc).  Then I was asked to put the names in order as 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice and I put them in the order above.  The first questions asked were if I and my family were season pass holders and to choose from the last 5 years if we had bought season passes (we have all 5 years).  Unfortunately this sounds like a T-N-T replacement to me.

None of these names have any active, pending, or historical filings in Class 041 (Amusement Park Services) with the USPTO.  I can't imagine SDC would publicly release potential ride names without having secured (or at least applied for) the trademark first, be it through a shell company or outright. 

I wonder how long they'll leave Thunderation SBNO before tearing it down, considering they aren't in a rush to year down the original FITH.

I have no inside information, but I think the difference is visibility.  FITH is a large building in a "corner" of the park; TNT is clearly a ride visible from both Valley Rd and Time Traveler.  I think that makes a difference from a PR perspective.  I also imagine the 2029 project will need to go on the TNT side of the park for crowd management, unless they are really all in on expanding towards the resort, which makes sense but would take a lot of infrastructure work.

I'm not sure about "significant" progress, but they are trucking in large loads of clean fill dirt and there is a heavy crane on site today. There is also a new wall being poured (in the previously seen cement forms) the entire length of Powderkeg's launch. 

Any ideas as to why several AP flumes are staged in the middle of the construction?  Not saying it means anything - just seems random.   

They are currently raising telephone poles (4 up, at least 3 more in a pile) next to the AP lift hill. 

Is it typical for footers to have conduit running to them? Would this indicate a launch in this area?

Got it.  Thank you!

Lots of interesting stuff in this short clip.  Anyone know exactly what we're seeing?  Obviously PowderKeg is in testing with a modified launch.  Is this a planned change/upgrade or relates to the new 2027 ride?

Here's the full video from Terry Wayne Sanders: https://www.facebook.com/reel/882097074816055

Does anyone have photos of the TNT model that sat across from (what is now) Eva and Delilah's in 1992 promoting the new attraction? 

I recognize the mining story is just their creative marketing campaign; do we have any ideas on what this means for the 2027 addition (mine themed ride, I assume) and/or the plot of land that TNT currently occupies?  While we're at it, any rumors on what is/will happen with the old FITH building?  It feels like lots of real estate is opening up, in addition to the 1200 acres between the park and the resort. 

I'm sorry to hear that - hopefully you'll all be feeling better soon!
Take care.