Project 2027/Willow: Return to Corkscrew Hill

[Thomas]

I’m assuming the new ride system will be just one big simulator room instead of the 2 they had before.

 

[horsesboy]

As for the Intamin issues - what manufacturer-caused ride system issues are they having problems with that aren't because of either the park trying to save money on maintenance (not having parts available when the inevitable breakdown occurs), or because the park's ride design and development requirements forced the manufacturer to build something innovative that also came with a huge risk of not being super reliable due to it not being a more commonly used solution?

Um you are aware that EVERY Intaman straddle in the world was ordered shutdown trains removed and modification required to be made after a major safety recall last year right? Then you had the year shutdown of Roman Rapids after the new rafts that Itamin promised would work kept jamming in the ride and even flipped a few times which caused the park to have to make extensive and expensive changes to the trough. I could go on but those are to major issues that are sololy on at the feet of Intamin and not the park.

 

[Jonesta6]

Um you are aware that EVERY Intaman straddle in the world was ordered shutdown trains removed and modification required to be made after a major safety recall last year right? Then you had the year shutdown of Roman Rapids after the new rafts that Itamin promised would work kept jamming in the ride and even flipped a few times which caused the park to have to make extensive and expensive changes to the trough. I could go on but those are to major issues that are sololy on at the feet of Intamin and not the park.

I had honestly forgotten about those - I guess not top of mind. Thanks

 

[the_pantsmith]

Even if it’s not a dynamic motion stage, I would love something that can rotate in some capacity. You could have a screen on one half and use sets on the other half for “transitions” between screen scenes where the ride just rotates 360 degrees before coming back to the same screen with a different video

 

[Vanewsman]

Is this why they closed the restaurant next door? Also.....after this attraction I have been told that a Mack Stryker coaster is in the works...nothing is official.....but to keep an eye on the area behind the revived Corkscrew Hill opening next year.

 

[BGWfan]

Thoosies can't stop predicting Mack Strykers everywhere

 

[AmyUD06]

I shall find it.

EDIT: How about:

Chasseurs de Tornades aka Tornado Chasers at Futuroscope​

Chasseurs de Tornades

The ride is called Chasseurs de Tornades, or Tornado Chasers, at Futuroscope in France. It opened in 2022 and was the world’s first Dynamic Motion Theater, supplied by Dynamic Attractions.

This fits Horseboy’s description almost word for word.

What the ride actually does​

Guests sit on one enormous circular theater platform holding up to 120 riders. The complete platform:

• rotates continuously in either direction;
• tilts and rolls;
• rises and falls;
• can accelerate to roughly 27–30 km/h;
• is surrounded by a gigantic 360-degree LED screen;
• stops at physical openings where live actors and real scenery appear;
• uses wind, rain, smoke, lighting, sound, and other practical effects.

That is not merely a simulator with a better screen. It alternates between media and real theatrical action, with sections of the surrounding screen opening to expose live physical scenes. Dynamic Attractions specifically described the system as a rotating theater surrounded by a screen that opens at key moments for live action.

Compare that directly with Horseboy’s wording:



That is an exceptionally close description of the Dynamic Motion Theater format.

Why it could support Corkscrew Hill​

Imagine the same system with the tornado theme removed:

• The platform rotates toward a physical witch’s laboratory.
• A section of the screen opens and reveals a practical giant or animatronic.
• The platform turns and the surrounding screen becomes the Irish countryside.
• Wind and motion simulate being carried through the forest.
• A dragon appears through media, physical scenery, or both.
• The riders descend or tilt while practical branches, mist, lighting, and scenery move around them.

That would let Busch recreate the original movie’s flights while also adding the physical characters and environments Horseboy mentioned.

It would feel like Corkscrew Hill physically materializing around the audience, rather than everyone simply watching a remake on one front-facing screen.

Would it fit the old simulator building?​

This is the biggest question—but the dimensions are more plausible than I expected.

The installed French version uses:

• an approximately 11-meter/36-foot moving platform;
• a roughly 17-meter/56-foot-diameter auditorium;
• a surrounding LED environment of approximately 5,000 square feet.

The Williamsburg building previously housed two substantial simulator theaters. Busch would almost certainly have to gut the interior, remove the original platforms, and potentially combine the former theater bays. But a 56-foot circular room is far more plausible inside that footprint than an Intamin Ultra Tower requiring something approaching a 100-foot shaft.

The Dynamic Motion Theater would require:

• a large circular clear-span show room;
• a reinforced or newly excavated central foundation;
• space beneath the platform for motion equipment;
• a roughly 36-foot moving audience platform;
• a surrounding structure approximately 56 feet across;
• room outside that circle for physical show scenes and maintenance access.

I cannot verify the building’s internal dimensions from a public architectural drawing, so I cannot prove it fits. But based on the fact that the structure housed two large simulator bays, it is physically credible if Busch removes the dividing structures and performs a full interior rebuild.

Building-fit score: 8/10​

The main uncertainties are roof height, column placement, and whether the combined theater space provides a sufficiently wide clear span.

GenAI is bad, mmkay?

 

[MrBradferd]

Yea I really do not want a stryker please lol

 

[MikePat]

What if the ride system is just ArieForce One inside the Killarney Sim Building?

 

[Coolguy15]

What if the ride system is the friends we made across the way?

 

[CamisaAnn]

I remember the old Questor, but it's not the ride I remember. It's my family visiting us from New Jersey who would come just to go to Busch Gardens and ride the simulator that was "like Disney". The excitement my Uncle had for riding it is a core childhood memory. That's what I hope for this ride that it's something people will be excited for, maybe even travel for and not be disappointed.

 

[harry580]

now that corkscrew hill returning, can we get drachen fire/the 3 flat rides that built for da Vinci garden/gladitator gauntlet back but new and better, come on, pretty please?

 

[the_pantsmith]

now that corkscrew hill returning, can we get drachen fire/the 3 flat rides that built for da Vinci garden/gladitator gauntlet back but new and better, come on, pretty please?

This post made me go on a vision journey that culminated in an idea for a full Festa Italia retheme. Mostly the part about Da Vinci's Garden being restored. It's off-topic so I'm linking the write-up here.

 

[RocketChk]

GenAI is bad, mmkay?

I was just trying to find and give as much information as I could find because I was really excited about the project. Also wasn't trying to go digging to figure out what systems exist everywhere but here. My bad. I'll go back to not posting. But also hitting ignore because you love being negative and act like your better than in your posts.

We used to have fun here together figuring stuff out.

 

[MICHAELRG]

There’s plenty of great ride systems that could go in this building - I’ll throw my hat in the ring with a prediction: Simulator Ride Supplier: FUNRIDE

 

[figment1986]

whatever the simulator ride system is, hopefully it the manufacturer stays in business and supports maintaining the attraction for more than a few years.

 

[Murphy]

Looks like bottle caps on the sides?

Rescue Rangers style Leprechaun mobile.

 

[sotomexx]

Some more details

 

[Ziva]

Having trouble finding much about Wood Animation, but The Third Floor has a pretty good CV! The fact that they've worked on projects with Universal seems like a good sign for the quality of the animation for this project... The Third Floor, Inc. - Wikipedia.

 

[Zachary]

Some more details
View attachment 44266

Creative Director looks promising:



A little concerned that it doesn't sound like the original creator of the IP is involved though? Very curious to know how the IP rights are working here. Will they actually be able to reuse any of the original characters? Doesn't Synthespian Studios still own the larger, actual, Corkscrew Hill IP rights?

What I don't want to see here is a DarKoaster-style "we want to reuse the IP but don't want to actually pay the folks who created it so we're gonna use the name and a rough approximation of the look but really go a totally different direction with it." I feel like the reception of DarKoaster has shown that audiences do understand the difference between a hollow nostalgia cash grab (DarKoaster) and an actual honoring and recapturing of the original magic of a legacy attraction (Nessie's renovation, Wolf's Revenge, etc).