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We had the honor to be on the final train on the Original Fire in the Hole!

We were lucky enough to be on the first train of the season and on the last of the season!

A huge surprise was the handcrafted gifts that were made in the City! The first was a piece of the original track! Second was a handcrafted mug that has the final ride date.

It was a very special night that our family will never forget!

That's awesome MG! I was also in the final 48 to ride. I was the guy dressed up like Red Flanders!

Thank you again Swoosh for the amazing photos and captions. That first soft opening morning many of the effects weren't working but that's half the fun. It was amazing and I loved it. It was well worth the 4? year wait. All the theories, leaks, everything made it so much fun to think about and dream. Is there another example of a theme park doing a reboot of an existing ride like this? I really can't think of any. That barrel-o-laughs update scene...WOW! 

The only complaints I've heard from anyone so far is they wish the ride were a little darker. I'm sure in the coming weeks they'll tweak effects so I recommend withholding judgement until the official grand opening. I can tell the park truly cares about the guests want. Brad Thomas said at a presentation that they really try to listen to what people say on those email surveys so always fill them out and tell them what you want.

While I do enjoy rollercoasters my real passion is in well-themed dark rides and riding this made me feel like a kid again.

I need that Rube so bad I can taste the spraying water.

Great job as always Sir Willow! It was great to talk to you at the FITH 2.0 reveal and I still have my sticker!

There were 'special edition' Pathfinder newspapers given out to everyone at the FITH 2.0 announcement event. I haven't seen these posted anywhere else and they contain quite a bit about the overall new narrative story and effects used within the ride.

The fact that the special event is an hour long makes me wonder. What else would we be doing for an hour after the 30 min main presentation has ended. I'll be going to the event so I'll try to take as many photos as I can and let you all know what's going on for the "Special Surprise."

I'm upset that I never experienced the "Float Trip" - we were there when it was in existence, but somehow my parents kept that hid from us.

American Plunge used to be a really great ride when the tunnel had all the effects within it. Now it's just concrete walls. I do wish they would do something, but replacing that concrete would be extremely expensive.

Jay

What kind of effects did it have in the tunnel of American Plunge?

I was at the park on Friday and this is what I was able to take while the lights were on at dusk. You can see the lift and some pallets around the splash down section. Just couldn't see a whole lot else.

Does no one go to the park anymore or are these boards just dead?

They've walled off the switch backs near the Lumbercamp falls.  The Wildfire arch has been removed.  They only way to get to Wildfire now is to go past Replicating Lathe and then by American Plunge splash area. 

Trees, overgrowth and switchbacks have been removed to create new seating area for the new food court going in where the fire was.  Oh and the shed that survived the fire behind Flossie's has been removed

We're still around! I feel like this is sort of a "filler" year until FITH 2.0 comes out in 2023. I've been going every few weeks checking the boards for construction updates. How many years has it been since Mystic River debuted? 3-4?  I feel like we're definitely overdue for something big beyond the Harvest Festival additions.

Here's a News-Leader article talking about the auction and featuring some new photos inside Celebration.

https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2022/06/03/return-celebration-city-stirs-memories-riding-rollercoasters-having-fun/7468453001/

I'm starting to get really excited as construction continues. I had no idea how much larger the show building was going to be. As a HUGE dark ride fan I can't think of a dark ride or at least indoor rollercoaster with theming that's been completed in this area since well..Flooded Mine? Worlds of Fun has zero dark rides and Six Flags has Justice League (formerly Scooby-Doo! Ghostblasters). Driving to Dollywood for Mystery Mine & Blazing Fury was definitely worth it seeing. 

Wow, thank you for the updates Swoosh! Yeah, the building does look taller but it could be a matter of perspective. Has anyone gotten wind of SDC interior designs? I'd love to have an actual animatronic or two in the ride versus the 40+ old mannequins. I don't want to give my hopes up too much as I know SDC typically goes pretty minimal with set dressing for cost/time but technology has advanced so much in the last few decades.

Yeah, I guess I jumped to conclusions when I saw the photo. It looks like it would fit right in the park but you're absolutely right. We'll be seeing pretty much all the hobo/hillbilly decorations be leaving the park due to many viewing this as poking fun at various forms of poverty.

The hobos are back!
[Edit: Turns out the hobos are not back but at least they've gone to a good home.]

One option (the way Disney does it) is alcohol could only be served at specific restaurants and those patrons wouldn't be able to take it out of that area. Plus you'd have a server serving and observing them making sure they don't have too much. Thousands...millions visit Disney parks each year and there are very few problems.