Cotaland Construction Site Tour! What to Expect from this New for 2026 Theme Park in Austin, Texas!

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:14]Hello everybody. I'm Matt Huie, vice president of park operations here at the new Kodand opening 2026 in the summer.

[00:00:21]We're going to do a little bit of a construction tour today. Uh right now we are on the dock of our uh one of our newest coasters called Palendrrome. This coaster is going to surprise everybody.

[00:00:32]It does not fail. It's like riding a rodeo. So, can't wait to get you guys on this and see this. But how about we uh take a little tour and show you guys around.

[00:00:45]All right, folks. So, we're leaving Palendrum. We're heading now to the front gate area. You'll have a exit store that you'll be going through, a big retail, and then we also are guest relations, stroller rental, lock rental, all things you expect to see at a theme park. The entrance kind of funnels in.

[00:01:02]You'll go through metal detection here.

[00:01:04]You'll wander through here, and this is going to be the front part of the park.

[00:01:07]You'll actually come down this pathway in between these two buildings. This building that we're fixing to step up into is going to be our retail store.

[00:01:14]One of the major retail stores. As you can see, quite a bit of room up here.

[00:01:18]Lots to choose from. You can kind of see the funnel I was kind of talking about.

[00:01:22]That building over there is going to be your guest relations, ticketing, all that's going to be here. You're going to see some nods to the track. You're going to see some nods of that observation tower there. So, there going to be nods to what we are as far as our DNA kota.

[00:01:34]But then what you're going to find as you start coming in is you're going to start seeing that Austin weird vibe like what's this and why is this? It's just going to be very unique. I think what you're going to find with that is people are going to come to Cotland because it's codling. It's just a unique uh destination park that's be a little bit unusual than the typical parks that you see out there.

[00:02:00]As you enter in through the park, there's going to be a sculpture there for you to see. Uh I think it's going to be a fantastic photo opportunity with water and just a lot of energy, exciting, kind of setting your day and setting that mood. It reminds me of some of the older parks where you're at uh the exit of one ride and man there's an entrance to the next ride. You're going to be able to bounce through this park.

[00:02:18]Um and of course we spread things out with family thrill a little bit for everybody. So there's going to be something that where the family can actually stay together as they go through the park which I think is kind of a unique thing.

[00:02:36]This main circled area is going to have uh some retail space over here. We're going to have like a general store. Uh the coffee shop, the ice cream will be located right back over there near our palen drum ride. Head this direction.

[00:02:48]That big cement pad right there with the crane. It's fixing to build our ferris wheel. The views from that wheel is going to be fantastic because you'll be able to see obviously the theme park, but also a lot of the racing that's going on the whole property. So really unique there. As we go around, you're going to see our beautiful uh Starfire.

[00:03:04]I love that ride. I think the colors are fantastic. We got the big coat up sign that'll light up at nighttime. Our Star Flyer is 150 ft tall uh taking swingers up there. And again, great views of both Austin because you can see the downtown Austin from there as well as the whole code of property. But again, right across is another ride. So, we have the Evalux ride over there. That's the first one in the United States. So, just like you start seeing how we're beginning to start bouncing from ride to ride to ride. This ride's going to be kind of unique. As the seats spin around, the whole unit at that angle starts spinning around. Um, this probably be a one one and done for me. I don't know. That's probably for the the younger audience there. I don't know if I can handle that, but I do think it's a really cool looking ride. Not everything is geared towards racing, but we give nods to it.

[00:03:46]And so, I I think that's going to be a really uh crowd-pleaser here. This cement pad, um, in the next couple weeks, you'll start seeing our Music Express ride come up. Uh, I love those type of rides. The sound, the lights, energy, and ours is obviously car themed out. So, I think people are going to love it. But the actual ride units have nods to Austin. So, we know our music background. We know what Austin is. So, you're going to see that. So, that is a beautiful ride for our park. And I think it's a great ride for Austin because of what it brings to it.

[00:04:25]You know, for me now seeing it come to fruition and seeing these things get built, the energy of and the colors, it's it's just becoming more and more magical. So, we first started doing the park, palendrome was going to be one of our major coasters, if not the major coaster. And then as we developed and changed, uh obviously we coming to the circuit breaker ride that you see down on that far end. We felt it was important to actually divide and conquer. So when you come to the main entrance, Palendrome is right there for you to experience. And then as you wander through the park and meander through it at the very end down in our main section down there with the kind of the big racing motif, you've got Circuit Breaker there. So two major coasters, but also along with our Circuit Breaker ride, you've got the only 45 m sports car left in the world. So if that one's maybe a little bit more aggressive for you, we have a great family fun coaster right next door to it. So right over here is going to be the future home of uh Old School Tilt World. Ours has been updated uh to a new theme. One of our characters, we have four characters that will be at Kodan. Uh and so this one's uh Turbo Tommy and Turbo Tommy's a turtle. He wants to go fast. He is he's this great imagination. So we just felt with the the look of that particular ride, you'll be riding turtle shells as you spin around. We go back this direction over here and this general area here is going to be u uh it's it's got many many names, but it's a big air coaster. A lot of people call it the hamster wheel coaster. Has the two hamster wheels to it. uh that'll be located here. So again, as you kind of go through, we've got some major rides, then we've got some more family rides, just a really, really good mix uh for those folks who like that. Beyond that, um we know it's very important to have bathrooms in here. So, you're going to find that we're have plenty of bathrooms, I feel. So, a big bathroom complex here. And just on the other side, that will be our our pirate ship, which we'll take a look at here in just a minute.

[00:06:09]So, we're obviously, no pun intended, racing to the finish line to get this park open. My experience in prior life, you know, opening up one ride was pretty, you know, under that's a big undertaking. Opening 30 plus rides in a whole new park is a whole different ball game. Uh, never in a million years I expect to be able to do something like this. But the the being able to do something like this has been just a blessing. Uh, it's just so fascinating.

[00:06:31]And I think what's involved that people can really see behind the scenes is really really interesting. We're going pretty much seven days a week. Ton of energy out here. You know, this is Austin's first theme park and uh it's a great place to be and we want to be special and we're bookend here in Texas along the I35 corridor with some uh some great operators and and Six Flags and SeaWorld and and now we got Universal going up there. So, what an exciting time in Texas for the theme park industry. I mean, look at what we're doing. It's just fascinating. So, I it's so exciting. So, this is going to be where our Grand Carousel is going to be located at. And so they're going to see some unique elements from a theming standpoint and stuff. I think it's going to probably surprise a few people along the way for what this is.

[00:07:15]We're in Texas um and obviously we have some temperatures that kind of get on up there. So we will have a a fun little uh water ride here that you'll ride in then the teacups and shoot water guns at each other. We're super excited about that.

[00:07:27]And then right behind us you're going to see the Soggy Logger. That is our log ride. We can't wait to get that going.

[00:07:33]It will be a really unique themed. Uh it's kind of the Texas Hill Country, but there's be a few surprises in there that we're not talking about yet, but I think people are going to really enjoy. They are kind of neat and fun.

[00:07:50]Super excited about this ride. I think the theming on it, super cute. We have a little pirate that's going to ride there with you. One of the cool things we do with this ride is we actually put it lower to the ground. of being up surface. So, I think this is something that's kind of unique. I think it's kind of fun. It kind of ties into the element of you're in the the wild ocean with the pirates and so on so forth. A lot of people never get to see this is what actually sits underneath the ride unit that actually powers of the the pirate ship for us. You can kind of see the elevation changes, but what we're also doing is like pathways up this direction. This will get you up back up to those rides or to that bathroom that we're building right there. So, we're trying to make sure that you guys have uh accessibility to all that stuff that um and of course being in Texas um I promise you we'll have some some trees.

[00:08:29]We're going to have shaded Q- lines.

[00:08:30]We're going to keep you cool and and there's going to be a few mister fans along the way as well. So, don't worry, it's going to be there. Now, we got to take you over to uh show you where Hotlap is going to be. That's going to be a very unique experience. Uh we think it's the world's greatest ride because no one else has something like this. And then the Soggy Logger.

[00:08:50]So, this area over here is where we're going to put the world's greatest ride.

[00:08:55]We're going to have actual race cars.

[00:08:57]Uh, this is an upcharge, but you can get in and go with a professional driver on our Formula 1 racetrack. It's so exciting. I'm telling you, this is something you have to do. We're going to have ability to take pictures of you, film your experience, things you can take home with you. This is special cuz I've never seen this in another theme park ever. This is special. World's greatest ride.

[00:09:17]This general area here right now, they've uh this is going to be for our light post that they're getting ready.

[00:09:22]But in this particular pad area, we're going to have a a smaller coaster uh that's going to be also themed to one of our characters. We have a basically a bat, a horse, uh the turtle that we talked about, and a skunk. And this uh this particular ride is going to be for those who are daredevils, uh but at the younger age. It's a micro coaster by SPF Visa. So, it's like little airplanes.

[00:09:42]You're going to be flying around and it's it's so cute. And the colors are are just fun colors. So, it matches the that particular character's colors.

[00:09:54]This is the exit to the uh Sagi Logger.

[00:09:57]It's our exit store. Uh because yes, that's what you have to do on a major ride. You have to go through an exit store, but as you can kind of see the theming coming together. We kind of got the logging feel to it. Uh so this is going to be such a great ride. This is kind of nods to the old school flumes.

[00:10:11]You're going to have the old school logs that you're riding in the line, but we're going to have a few little fun elements to it. U and then of course we have a fivetory drop. So here you kind of start seeing the station for the soggy logger, the main entrance queue.

[00:10:22]Uh we also have a podium pass. It's kind of our version of uh flash pass, fast pass. And then over to here is the T20 building. This this thing is unbelievable. This is a restaurant.

[00:10:33]Large restrooms inside. It's just amazing. This is a big restaurant with both outdoor uh seating in a park setting upstairs seating outdoors where you can see views of the track and vistas over a,000 meals an hour. What kind of food are they going to serve in there?

[00:10:48]>> Don't have the full menu, but I think you're going to find throughout the park, you're going to find um you know, your typical hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, uh some quick serve stuff out here. We have obviously have pizza, but uh we do have a a full-time chef, so I think you'll also find some specialty items, things in here as well.

[00:11:11]in this general area.

[00:11:13]Not with every ride that we've done this, but we have a big log ride that's got a big drop for our younger guests.

[00:11:18]May be a little bit intimidating. So, in this pad right here is going to be our kitty version of a of a log ride. So, the little ones are our bigger chickens can ride this one and have a great time.

[00:11:27]It's the cutest thing. Uh, another cool ride that we have for our younger friends is right over here called Turn and Burn that's being installed now.

[00:11:34]This ride uh basically goes around like this. um has a little bit of fun to it, but again, it's one of those rides that's designed for uh families can ride together, but it gives those little ones something to do. There's something for everyone out here at Codland for a regional park. I think it's going to be very park fil. It's going to be pretty. And I think when you look at the two coasters that we are starting off with, major coasters, how incredible is that? Most parks would love to have either one. And to have two in the same spot is, I mean, just fascinating to me and first of its kind.

[00:12:01]>> Obviously, way off in the distance, one thing at a time. Do you see this as a park that can grow? Most definitely.

[00:12:06]Most definitely. Uh this property is so diverse and I I think we're going to have we have a very dynamic owner. This this guy's a visionary and so I think you're going to see all kinds of unique things sprout up here. It will not surprise me in the near future. If you came to Kota, uh whether it's come to Kodand, whatever you're here for or race, this starts becoming a two or three day visit to be able to do it all.

[00:12:29]I think that's going to be something you're going to see for sure.

[00:12:36]So, back this area over here, the spike of Palendrome. Right beyond that will be the Texas Porch Swing. Uh, I think of all the rides. If you want one that's, you know, thrillseeking and Pucker, that one's probably going to be it. So, I can't wait for that to get here and get going. We've parts and pieces have started showing up. So, that one's going to be exciting. And then our uh new parking garage. Since the park expanded just a little bit, we needed to uh create some parking. That is a godsend.

[00:13:06]Uh so excited about that. And the design of that actually can grow taller. Uh it's really fascinating. Um again, I've learned so much, not being from the construction world, but this has really been fascinating. And we're going to give everybody a sneak peek because no one's seen these yet, but these are our new friends I was talking about. So, we've got Buck, Fang, Turbo, and Checkers.

[00:13:32]this particularly over here as things are growing, you're going to find our uh our Wacky Worm coaster, our Jeep Safari ride. We have our Screaming Swing. We're going to have a helicopter ride, Kitty Swings, Kitty Train, a lot of rides down here, obviously. Uh the anchor is Circuit Breaker, which is, I think, just fantastic. But the one closest to my heart, my baby, uh is located right over here, which is the 45 me sports cough, the Texas Wildcat. It's the only one of its kind left in the world. And so the fact that we were able to save that and preserve it for our industry, I think is just very very special.

[00:14:17]So we're standing here in front of Circuit Breaker. This is uh the largest coaster currently at uh Kodand. It's a great ride. It's so smooth. Uh, I would tell you Vakoma is doing a fantastic job with their coasters.

[00:14:28]>> I think if you u have never ridden something like this, the uniqueness of it, I think you're going to be so impressed with how it is. So, that kind of ends our tour. I hope you guys saw a lot of interesting, fun stuff. I hope it got you excited. I can't really wait to greet you here. Uh, it's going to be so great to see everybody come through the doors. I never expected ever to be able to do something like this, uh, be a part of it. Uh, obviously, it's not me. Uh there's an army of folks out here and some very specialized people. But to be able to be a part of something like this, it's just a dream come true for really I'm just a carne guy, just an ace guy and love this stuff. And so I think you're going to find this place to be very special. I think you're going to find Hey, this is one of my favorite parks. Regardless, we just want to welcome you. I can't wait to reach you.

[00:15:05]We'll see you guys soon.