CoastersRZ

I think as Shaggy stated, that the kids area could use a revamp. The last time it saw any investment was way back in 2015 when Woodstock`s Gliders and Snoopy`s Space Buggies were added. It could certainly use a theming update, some fresh paint and a new ride or two... I think they need to fill in Vortex`s plot of land with something eventually. Ideally before another coaster lands in the already coaster heavy Action Zone. Soak City could use something new over there as well in the next several years.

When I was at the park this Sunday, there was a sign on the door of Hanks that said "Mobile Ordering Pickup"

And don`t forget for several years they had Holiday Fest. You could ride in a pedal boat in their lazy river! Holiday Fest wasn`t much, but I ended up going to it a few times. Winterfest is hands down better. I only visited the water park once in the late 90`s. We had received some comp passes from some family when we went.

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2022/09/22/the-beach-waterpark-permanently-closed.html

The one time I tried it at Festhaus it was a disaster. They never saw my order and I waited fifteen minutes before they finally gave me my order. I still think they need to work on the configuration of the soft drink machines at the Festhaus so there is a more efficient flow of guests. There is always a bottle neck after the cash registers. It would be nice if they could get mobile ordering implemented and working smoothly at the park.

If I recall, a Gold Pass for 2022 when they went on sale last year was around $105 if renewing and $110 for new. So they went up about $20-25.

Thanks for sharing those photos. I love going to Dollywood. It is one of my favorite parks to visit, outside of Kings Island.

Interesting to see them break out the averages guests per park operating day metric. An average of 10,900 guests on average per park operating day. Glad to see that things are improving for them. Hopefully it means more investment in the parks in the future, including our KI.

Well, the main source of revenue, even when the rides were around was Riverbend. Every concert ticket sold at Riverbend and PNC Pavilion includes a parking fee that goes to Coney. Riverbend only owns a handful of handicap and VIP parking spots, but relies on Coney for parking, and for the really big concerts neighboring Belterra Park. Coney also staffs all the concession stands at Riverbend and gets a cut of that revenue.

Yes it is sad. I spent many hours working in rides there. I worked a few shifts at the paddle boats last year. Sadly this is the first year since 2001 when I have not worked down there. They certainly have let the place slide downhill. And they have essentially added nothing (other than an obstacle course in the deep end of the pool), since the rides were removed. I still hold out hope that a new owner will come in, or they will start to add some family/kiddy rides back. I don`t see anything like that happening with the current ownership however. I had some great times working there, and am still friends with many of the coworkers that I worked with over my 20 seasons there.

Yep. And said employee posts on here from time to time.

Awesome! Thanks for sharing, Paul!

Yeah, closing areas of the park, especially areas with kids rides is not a good sign. Seems like they are looking to cut costs wherever they can. That coupled with the reported mass layoffs, and doesn`t sound like the "premium experience" will offer much to those willing to pay.

Their new CEO is trying to reduce attendance to provide a better experience for the guests, so that those guests that do show up, will spend more money in the parks. Based on their quarterly results, the guests didn`t spend as much money as they had hoped. According to Screamscape, there were lots of layoffs at Six Flags in the last few weeks. That coupled with the apparent lack of capital investment in new rides set for next year, doesn`t bode too well for them. I haven`t been to a Six Flags park in years, though having small kids the last several years has limited our trips to Kings Island, Dollywood and a trip to Kentucky Kingdom. Six Flags parks always seemed very cheap to me. Not much theming, and a hodge podge of Looney Tunes and DC comics smattered all over the park.

I have a feeling that we will see something along these lines in the future. I too would love to see something like that, as well as a revamp of Planet Snoopy. The area could definitely use a refresh.