We’ve expected this was coming for some time, so it’s not a huge surprise, but the park has made it official by applying for construction permits to expand the “German Village” to include new food buildings, walkway modifications and major ride and ride locations.
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So, what can we expect from this expansion? Well, as the application states, we can expect a new major ride (read roller coaster) we just don’t know what type right now. The long present rumor is that it would be a B&M flyer, but new rumors suggest it could be a smaller, more highly themed attraction from a different manufacturer. The latter rumors certainly fit the coaster-darkride hybrid rumors and would make sense for a Big Bad Wolf replacement. The fact that the application also states “ride locations” suggests that there will be a number of smaller attractions added with this expansion. It seems the only space available for a large expansion near Germany would be Festhaus Park. While the application states this is expansion of the German Village, I wouldn’t rule out that this new section will take on its own theming completely separate from Germany. With that said, it’s not unreasonable to postulate that the park will continue the German theme with the new section.
We can also expect new food buildings. It’s not clear if this means new restaurants or if it will be permanent snack stands, but I’d venture to guess that the park is adding at least one more full restaurant.
Walkway modifications are likely to take place both in Oktoberfest as well as what is currently Festhaus Park. What exactly they will be is again, unclear.
There is also speculation that this could just be for a revamping of the area that is to house the new drop tower and be completely unrelated to any actual expansion. With some pointing out that the area may be changed around and new food services added to the area to compensate for increased traffic in the area. Moving flat rides that from their current locations would certainly require walkway modification. We’ll be listening and looking for any updates we can find.
Update:
Based on information that has come to light since the original posting of this story it now appears that this is indeed a permit request for construction of the new drop tower and modifications to the area around it.
This was brought to our attention by iheartbgw2020 in our forums.