Anakeesta Expansion Adds Capacity and Fun

Anakeesta’s latest expansion—which encompasses a series of attractions and an additional land—was crafted with the intention of bringing opportunities for aerial adventure to all visitors.

“It’s our mission,” explains Bryce Bentz, Anakeesta’s president. “We’re about adventure that everybody can do. We take advantage of our natural topography, mix in some beautiful landscaping, and voila,” he says as he gestures toward the two new attractions. 

The attractions, which include vibrant play structure BirdVenture and mountain coaster Hellbender, provide fresh offerings to visitors. The park has also introduced its third land, Stone Village. 

Befitting the new land’s name, all the buildings in the Stone Village area are fashioned out of stones with warm, Earth-tone hues and incorporate a crafty aesthetic—with the glaring exception of the BirdVenture structures. The three wooden birdhouses are painted in bright pastel colors and include oversized, fanciful figures of their occupants and Anakeesta’s newest characters, a bluebird, an owl, and a woodpecker. At night, dramatic lighting and projections bathe the houses in color and imagery.

The family-owned park’s founders, Bob and Karen Bentz, are landscape architects by trade and helped design BirdVenture, along with Stone Village.. They expressed their vision to ThemeWorks, a Florida-based planning and development company, which then built the quirky play structure and adventure zone. With their obstacle-laden rope bridges, just getting to the birdhouses is half the fun. Inside, there are interactive screens, attics to discover, and other compelling activities. 

Getting out of the birdhouses is perhaps even more fun. Guests could take stairs,  but it’s way more exciting to soar down one of the dry slides to reach the lower levels of the multi-story structure. Themed as worms, Wiegand manufactured and installed the peppy slides, some of which are enclosed, some of which are open, and some of which are covered in translucent Plexiglas panes. All the slides include motion-activated LED effects such as rings and chaser lights that really pop at night. According to Bryce, the project represents the first “slide farm” in the U.S. 

“It’s like Chutes and Ladders,” he says. “It brings the board game to life.” 

As with other play zones at Anakeesta, BirdVenture includes netted boardwalks and other precautions, so there’s no need for participants to wear helmets or be tethered with safety harnesses. When they planned the earlier play areas, the Bentzes assumed that young children would be the primary audience, and that parents would wait on the sidelines while their youngsters frolicked. That hasn’t been the case. 

“The adults follow their kids in,” says Karen Bentz. “And then we hear laughter. It really struck us. It’s bringing families together.” 

The new Hellbender mountain coaster brings families together as well. Also manufactured by Wiegand, it includes magnetic brakes so that guests can control the speed of the vehicles. The cars can accommodate two passengers, allowing children to sit, inline, with a parent or older sibling.

A true mountain coaster, Hellbender hugs the hillside and careens down the far side of Anakeesta while sending guests into twists, helices, and zig-zagging track sections along its ultra-smooth, 3,300-foot course. In 2024, the Bentzes plan to pay homage to the namesake Hellbender salamander that is native to the Smoky Mountains region by adding storyline elements. Passengers will assume the amphibian’s role and participate in an animal-centric auto race, complete with a victory lap when they go up the lift hill to the station at the end of the ride.

According to Bryce, ride operators can dispatch a vehicle every 12 seconds, giving Hellbender a theoretical throughput of 300 guests per hour. That’s higher than the park’s other mountain coaster, Rail Runner, and gives Anakeesta much-needed ride capacity.

“We’ve grown enormously, and we are seeing record numbers,” says Karen, citing the need for capacity as the primary reason for the park’s latest expansion. “We also want to keep offering new features to stay relevant and encourage people to stay longer,” she adds.