Since there have been a number of rumors out there regarding what the Big Bad Wolf replacement project will be, I thought I’d give a little rundown of the different rumors in one place.

Bienvenido a España
The most obvious and prolific rumor out there right now is that the replacement project will be a park expansion that will include a new country for the park taking over the former site of the Big Bad Wolf and what is currently Festhaus Park. As most people familiar with the park are aware, there was once an attempt by the park to use that land for one of it’s biggest additions ever, Drachen Fire. Obviously, that didn’t work out and the land was eventually left empty and used to host concerts (which had been housed in the Royal Palace Theater prior).
Furthermore, the country most named along with these rumors is Spain. While I’m not sure if there has been any specific information indicating there is a strong possibility that a new country would be modeled after Spain, it has been thrown around quite a bit and it certainly seems that Spain fits geographically and culturally in that location in the park more than other countries considered European and still unrepresented in the park.

Taking Flight
It’s also been common for the rumors regarding the expansion to include a new coaster, that new coaster being a flyer. The evidence supporting the speculation is clear. SPE (SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment) has had indisputable success with Manta in SeaWorld Orlando and it would be surprising if they were not using Manta as a learning process to build a larger version in one of their other parks. However, it’s not unheard of for SeaWorld Orlando to have ride types that are unique to that park, use Kracken as an example.


Theming Way Up
If there is park expansion it will no doubt come with at least one flat ride. An earlier article discussed the possibility of a drop tower going into the park, and while I’m not thinking there’s a huge chance that this will happen, it’s still a possibility. A reader pointed out what a fully themed tower could look like:

Would you be upset if there was a dragon themed flyer that went around a fully castle themed drop tower? I sure wouldn’t.

A Game Changer
There has also been speculation that the project will be like nothing else in the region and will be a game changer for the park. There are no real details other than, not a coaster & not a new country. This rumor also includes an estimated price tag of $51 million, which would mean the park would have to be very confident that the new attraction would be unique enough to draw a substantial number of people to the park.

Time Will Tell
Whatever the new project is, we may know something fairly soon as there is some chatter that the park will be making a major announcement in the Spring of 2010, perhaps to address the construction that will be going on during the 2010 season. Do you have an opinion, let us know, join us in our FORUMS.