CoastersRZ

Interesting. While the improvements in Tower Gardens were nice, it still seems like an underutilized area of the park. Hopefully they do not destroy the charm of this area, and it is just for a special event. If it was closer to Grand Carnivale, I could see them bringing in some food trucks to that area. But that area is not really big enough for that. Time will tell.

If I had to guess, the new scanners will also allow them to collect data. For example, when are people using their Fastlane and on what attractions. How soon after purchasing a single use FastLane are they being redeemed? I am sure they can collect a lot more data than the old system, which relied on the operators to put check marks on a sheet of paper. This new system also allows for real time data.

Just curios, do you have any other season pass add ons? Going with the family to Carowinds tomorrow and Friday.

It is on my list of things to do. Having four kids has made my time somewhat limited. And since they ditched the rides, and now are closing, haven`t had much interest in updating it.

To be fair, Brenda Walker had handed over most control of the park to her son, Ron Walker Junior, who I believe resided in Florida and had little emotional attachment or interest in the park. He was simply looking to cash out. He sold the sister company (Leisure Systems, Inc. (the licensor of the Jellystone Campgrounds) to Sun Outdoors in December of 2021. https://moderncampground.com/usa/breaking-news-sun-outdoors-acquires-leisure-systems-incorporated/) His father had originally purchased the park to keep it open and a going concern. I do like how they are trying to distance themselves from shutting down the park and make it look like they are not the ones to close Coney that it was previous ownership. The writing was on the wall when they decided to remove the rides at the end of the 2019 season. Lack of investment and silly business decisions doomed their success.

Good line up. Although I am a little bummed that The Beast or Flight of Fear didn`t make the list.

Bill Balfour, the general manager at Entertrainment Junction, used to work at Kings Island. As a fellow model railroad enthusiast, I was saddened to hear this news. Hopefully, someone with the money steps up and preserves this institution. It is a wonderful place. Although I wonder how much growth it can have in the future.

Well, at least Moonlite Gardens might be saved... Still ashame that the pool will be demolished. I still miss working in the rides department there... Such a shame that the previous owners let it deteriorate... If only Ron Walker hadn`t passed away in 1997...

I think they were hoping to see a decent ROI. And with the current state of trying to keep margins high by reducing seasonal labor, this was a likely victim. Heck, look at KI. The train used to stay open until the park closed in the peak summer months. Now they have been closing it shortly after the water park is cleared of guests. The average guest will definitely see the cost cutting moves and attempts to save on labor. How long before they decide to strip out more than bare minimum checking restraints on coasters, which would increase dispatch times, causing longer lines and entice more people to purchase Fastlane, which would bolster their margins? Disney has done similar things, decreasing ride capacity to increase wait times to artificially inflate the demand for Lightning Lane and Genie Plus.

In the past, when they have had pass holder preview days on Friday, they were from 5-10pm. So 4-9pm isn`t out of the norm for preview days.

I think that if the merger doesn`t go through, they have to pay Cedar Fair a termination fee. They also have to get the deal approved by the regulators, which given the scrutiny that current mergers are going through (Re: Kroger and Albertson`s), that is far from a done deal. I just wish we would stop seeing Cedar Fair cutting budgets/hours/experiences. Eventually, the park guests will realize how many things are being cut. It is akin to shrinkflation in the consumer packaged goods arena.. Keeping prices the same, but getting less product for the same price.

What the ownership did to Coney still makes me sad. It had so much potential, and was terribly mismanaged by the ownership that eventually sold it to the CSO. When they removed the rides at the end of the 2019 season, that was the beginning of the end. They didn`t really invest much into the place after that point. I still miss working in the rides department there terribly. I know several of the full time staff that was laid off with the sale of the park. The concession stands at Riverbend that used to be run by Coney employees are now being run by MEMI`s vendor company. I shutter to think what the parking situation will be on the first sold out concert. Coney`s parking employees had the handling of traffic and parking down to a tee. The whole situation is sad. I don`t know why they could not continue to co-exist.

Yes, but they are advertising it is similar benefit to the former Platinum Pass, which had been around for years. I don`t know why they felt the need to switch a system, that most employees had down pat. Just wait until next year, provided the Six Flags merger goes through. Then we will have all kinds of quirks, I am sure with the season pass program.

Per the Knott`s Berry Farm page here: https://www.knotts.com/season-passes "++ Free General Parking is included with the purchase of a Gold Pass with All Park Passport add-on." And from the FAQ section of the All parks passport: " If they are trying to say that an All Park Passport does not include free parking, that is contrary to what is written on their website. Shame on them, if true and they are switching it. Seems like they are trying to bait and switch people and nickel and dime them to death. Wait to anger some of your loyal customers. Hopefully it was just some mis-informed employees. When I worked at Coney, several years we had a customer service program called "Give them the pickle." The gist of it was a guy owned a restaurant. One of his managers started charging a quarter for a pickle on a sandwhich. When the owner found out, he said "Give them the pickle", for free. It is not worth loosing loyal customers just to make a quick penny. By giving them the free pickle, they will be more apt to spend more than the cost of the pickle, and be a repeat customer, more than offsetting the forfeited revenue from the pickle. Same thing applies here.

Kings Island was doing this last year. I know there was a kiosk by Flight of Fear where you could purchase a single use Fastlane for either Flight of Fear or Orion. I believe that there was also a kiosk in Planet Snoopy selling some single use Fastlane passes for some Planet Snoopy rides.

I think the days of building large rides like Fury 325 are likely over. Why spend $40 million on a ride, when you can spend $30 million for a slightly smaller ride that will still be marketable and bring in about the same number of guests? It all comes down to return on investment. It will be interesting to see if the Cedar Fair or Six Flags strategy of capital expenditures comes into play. Remember there was a time a few seasons back where Six Flags wanted to add zero new attractions to any of their parks.

Kind of sad to see that Dreamland Drive In will not be returning. It was a great show (and it clocked in at around 55 minutes long). Outside of Kings Island, Dollywood is the only other park that I have had a season pass to. Big Bear Mountain is an incredibly fun coaster and a great addition. The park is wonderful and a must visit for anyone who has never been. I highly recommend it. Have taken my kids there, my in laws, my parents. It is a truly wonderful park and well worth the price of admission. Lets not forget the cinnamon bread either!

Yeah, my Dad`s pass showed up in my app as well and he doesn`t live with me. That being said, we have drink plans on four of our passes, and it isn`t showing up in the app for my son, but is for the other three of us.

I think the trend is for Cedar Fair to try and pull in rides to a cohesive theme. Look at what they are doing with Dorney Park and the Iron Menace area. They are retheming their existing Flying scooter ride to fit in with the steel mill theme. Even the new shops/food stands are getting rethemed. And they pulled in the Haunt into the storyline/theme as well. I definitely like the direction of this themed area that Cedar Fair is introducing to the parks. Time will tell if it continues once, and if the Six Flags merger goes through.

The question is, is there really a market for this thing? I know that model railroading can be an expensive hobby, and is often looked at as a dying hobby. There are several people on Youtube who have built some amazing layouts. There is even a former poster on these forums (not sure if he has posted in a while) that is working on a layout in his basement.

What is interesting is that Sea World Entertainment is renaming themselves to United Parks and Resorts. One can`t help but wonder what would happen if they merged with the Six Flags/Cedar Fair? Again the economics might not work out, and there are a few markets where they have some overlap (Texas and Virginia), but Sea World was interested in Cedar Fair before.

Yep. The food brand was owned by the J.M. Smucker company. Not affiliated with Cedar Fair.

And they allowed adequate time to complete the job so that it is done in time for opening day. I am not complaining about KI opening rides around Memorial day since the park is open until end of December with Winterfest. It just seems like Holiday World allowed ample time to execute their design in a reasonable manner, which will ultimately produce a better finished product.

I too have ridden all of the four rides you mentioned (in addition to the three Togo stand ups that used to grace Kings Island, Kings Dominion and Canada`s Wonderland). While it is a standup coaster, it doesn`t ride like any other standup coaster. It is just a purely fun ride. I found myself laughing with joy on the launch, because it was such a unique sensation and different from any other standup coaster. The Sea World person who was conducting the tour told us "this is not your traditional standup coaster". And he was so right. It is a very re-ridable ride. Just all around fun. One of the things I disliked about Riddler`s and Mantis back in the day was the pressure that these rides put on your legs. There was only slight moments of pressure on your legs.

I rode this ride when I was down at IAAPA Expo this year. It is such a fun ride. It is definitely a unique sensation. The fact that the "seats" can move 2" in either direction from the starting point (2" up and 2" down for a total of 4" of play), is a very unique sensation. I agree that I hope more rides like this get installed. I think I got five rides on it while at Sea World for an IAAPA Edutour, and could have done several more. It was just a fun ride.