North America Quick Takes: Nashville Shores Ushers in ‘Mega Mayhem’; Parrots Roost Together at Great Bend Zoo
Nashville Shores’ Biggest Splash Ushers in ‘Mega Mayhem’
Nashville Shores water park in Hermitage, Tennessee, launched the largest water slide in the history of the park, which began operating in 1998, when it opened for the 2020 season in early June. The park says “Mega Mayhem” is the only slide of its type in the state of Tennessee and one of only six in the world.
“Mega Mayhem” launches from atop a six-story platform as riders first careen through a dark serpentine tunnel before suddenly dropping through a chute into a “tornado funnel.” Once inside the vortex, riders swing between zero-gravity moments and drops, according to Nashville Shores. The raft then increases speed down a 45-degree slope that transitions into a huge 40-foot-high near-vertical wall. Riders’ rafts proceed to rush into a narrow, enclosed slide, under a waterfall, and into a splash pool. “Mega Mayhem,” provided by ProSlide Technology, features a conveyor lift to transport the four passenger rafts to the top of the ride.
Nashville Shores says the park has undergone extensive renovations in the offseason, with numerous upgrades that include a new retail and concessions area, additional signage, landscaping, increased deck areas, and other improvements.
Colorful Parrots Roost Together at Great Bend Zoo
During its closure for COVID-19, the Parks Department in Great Bend, Kansas, worked hard to complete the outdoor portion of the 67-year-old Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo’s new parrot enclosure. The new avian habitat houses a blue-and-gold macaw, a sulphur-crested cockatoo, two green-cheeked Amazons, and one orange-winged Amazon.
The zoo says prior to building the new parrot house, its Amazons lived in a building located between its leopard habitat and old tiger yard. The macaw lived in the Herp House—home to reptiles—and the cockatoo lived in a nonexhibit area. Now, all the birds reside in one location for the enjoyment of visiting guests.
