Browntggrr

They will be in a partnership w/ PKI. I cannot imagine PKI "giving up" or even sell any part of their land. The only way the partnership would work is if the Hotel would rent the land from PKI. Now the rent is what needs to be settled. Will the monthly rent be enough of PKI to move the campground so there is no income loss, and will the rent be low enough for the hotel to be viable? There would have to be some sort of package deal between PKI and the hotel to encourage guests to visit both parks, unlike CP and the Great Bear Lodge which currently have no package deals together, but the GBL is about 10 driving miles from CP. The lodge really does not need PKI, and PKI does not need the lodge, but if they worked together I cannot see how this would be a waste of time/money. Each offers something that the other does not have.

If the Great Bear Lodge can be supported year-round in Sandusky, there is no reason that a larger one will not be supported near PKI where there are more year-round travelers. A indoor water park opened recently in my home town of Erie, PA (Splash Lagoon) and the park was put in an area with at least 15 hotels w/n a 7 mile radius. The park also has 3 hotels that are connected. Splash Lagoon has been such a huge hit that they are already putting in addition- after only one year. Erie does not even come close to the amount of people that travel through the area like the area around PKI on a year-round basis. The actual slow season will be the summer when the option of being outside vs. inside comes up. But for those days where a family will be arriving to the area a day or night before they go to PKI, they will enjoy the indoor waterpark. This is a HUGE addition for PKI and the surrounding area, every business will benefit.

Were there some posts that have been deleted? From what I can read, everyone has been fair, no insults, or flaming. Actually, it has been a really good topic of discussion. If I have offended anyone, I apologize.

I am getting mixed searches. Coasterbuzz says Delirium was about $8 million, wheras Amusement Business, has it around $4.5 million. Tomb Raider info- not exactly clear yet a good assumption: Tomb Raider

What!?! :stupid: Delirium was about 8 million and TR was about 20 million.

A large coaster addition will bring in more money. Now before you jump in with a reply, think about the parks that are near PKI. For the last three years the economy in the US has been in a "mini depression". So you would have to think that parks are not attracting the large numbers that they want. The Six Flags parks have issued statements that their earnings are down (attributing to the economy and weather), I am not sure about PKI or their parent company, but Cedar Fair had a 1.4% increase for 2003. The statement (Cedar Fair increase) says that the increase can be related to "successful new rides at CP and Valley Fair". Now we know that TTD was not as successful in 2003 as they would have liked (numerous breakdowns before July 4th), but the company as a whole still had an increase, and other corporations (Six Flags) did not. I consider PKI to be the flagship park for Viacom, like CP is for Cedar Fair. A park is never going to earn all the money back for a ride in one year, when the ride costs $5 million or more. The ride is an investment. In 10 years that ride should still be bringing people through the gate. But it is not just one ride, but the park as a whole: guests do not visit PKI just to ride Delirium, but to ride that and The Beast, Vortex etc. You have to give the guest options. Big rides and small rides. CP is constantly being bashed because they are building coasters that are huge record breakers. PKI is building rides that are record breakers, but currently not coasters. And if that is making them money, then they are doing it right- for both companies. PKI became the park it is today because of The Beast. They money earned over the last 25 years put PKI in the position to build other rides in the park. IMO PKI was burned by SoB. It is not the attraction that it was hyped up to be. PKI may be gun-shy to pull the trigger on another ride of that magnitude. Or they are covering their butts and making sure that the next time they spend big bucks, it will not have the same reputation as SoB, so they are taking their time on it. Bottom line- if you spend $25 million on a ride, it better be worth it!

Is it just me, or has anyone else thought that the title "The Italian Job", sounds like a XXX movie? -yes it has been a long off season.

10. WWC 9. AE 8. Delirium 7. TG 6. Recar 5. Racer 4. TR:TR 3. FoF 2. Vortex 1. Beast I am anxiously waiting to see if the off-season work on SoB will change my opinion.

How many days left till the park opens?? BTW- Great site!

Don't pis* her off! Use the VCR!

...and except for- The tunnels, the woods, the second lift hill, and ultimately the night-time rides. :jerry:

Even though I would not like to see it go, I really don't like SoB. Any ride that causes more pain than laughter just is not right. (Let's hope the modifications this year will change that!)

Tough question, and one that is really how an individual wants to look at it. Excluding dueling coasters (i.e. Lightning Racer @ Hershey, Dueling Dragons @ IoA, or Gwazi @ BGT- all of which can never be considered one coaster), most "Racing" coasters follow the same track (i.e. Gemini @ CP) or "mirror" each other, with the exception of Kennywood's Racer which is one track (one complete circuit w/ 2 trains). The Racers at PKI mirror each other, yet you could take one side down (demolish), and the other side could still run w/o much of a problem- unlike Gemini, so in my mind, it should be considered 2 coasters, especially since there are 2 different ways to ride it. :offtopic: The Racer at Kennywood is an extremely unique ride. You will get in on one side of the station, and end the ride on the opposite side. It is really hard to figure out, and is one of three still operating by John Miller.

Sounds like "Finding Nemo", but in this case it is "Finding Flipper".

Great site Rickster! Nice find! Kudos and plaudits to the site's owner!

I wonder why they want to add sound effects to The Beast. It has been one of the best coasters for 25 years now, IMO if it ain't broke don't fix it. Another question is: where are these sounds going to be at? In line, going up either lift hill, thru the tunnels? From my understanding the name "Beast" came from the KI execs taking some of the first rides and having the thought "it sounds like a Beast thru the tunnels". The ride goes thru the woods, and part of the fun (especially at night) is all you can hear is the coaster on the tracks, and the million crickets in the area. It is obvious that PKI is going with a heavy movie theme, but I hope that rides like The Beast will not be affected too much.

GMRC and SoGMRC just don't have the same affect....

Just to stop any rumors. Enquirer article

Perhaps the update will come when the "March announcement" is released.

You dont know that. I require evidence to support such ridiculous claims. Perhaps she was referring to the unknown fact of it being "smoother"

It still surprises me that some people's opinion is that a large coaster would not be a overwhelmingly welcome addition to PKI. Most don't think that PKI should be compared to a park like CP, but should be compared to a park like IoA. Well first, PKI just built SoB 4 years ago, the fastest and 2nd longest wooden coaster in the world (only The Beast is longer). SoB cannot be considered a family-type ride. Even Delirium and TR;TR are a high trill rides and not for all family members. PKI did add SDatHC which cannot be considered a high thrill ride for the family, but, to my disappointment, took out PT. PKI has built record breaking thrill rides and coasters, and they have to to compete with CP but also IoA, Kennywood, Hershey, BGW. Even though some consider CP to be a different type park than PKI, they still fight for the consumer dollars. Anytime a park puts in a large coaster, the media jumps all over it, and it makes huge news all over the nation. For example: When I found out about SoB, I heard it on AM talk radio during the ABC national news break at the top of the hour. As far as being compared with a theme park like IoA; PKI can certainly do it, the resorces are there, but even IoA has high thrill coasters. IoA could not compete with a park like Disney MGM w/o the coasters they have. I honestly think that PKI is gearing up for a huge coaster addition. With the non-coaster additions over the past 3 years, the advertising angle can be something like:"Thrill park and family park all wrapped into one."

Will anyone of us still be alive when this happens?

High School Cheerleading or College?

The main reason I go is for the coasters. While there are many reasons to go, that is the main one. As far as the employees, I have unfortunatly run into some that have no customer service skills whatsoever (I'm sure none are on this board ).

Not only is SoB the roughest coaster at PKI, it is the roughest coaster I have ever been on. I am happy to hear that PKI must be aware of this and is trying to fix the problem this off season. In all reality, the roughness of SoB is taking away how unique this coaster really is. Let's hope the engineers can find a way to improve it so SoB will be considered one of the great wooden coasters.