bkroz

Very true! Ironically, that's exactly how I feel about Cedar Fair... It seems as if every park they come into contact with switches its entire marketing and promotional scheme to "We're a family park now / again!" And then they come along with Halloween Haunt, where no one and nothing is off limits... Doesn't really match their nearly universal claim of "we're not thrill parks, we're family amusement parks!" and it certainly doesn't match their often-toted promise that the park is back to the way it used to be before Paramount came along... As always, just sayin'!

*crosses fingers for Curse of DarKastle*

Cost of five Paramount Parks? $1.24 billion. Cost of a dozen Cedar Fair parks? $700 million. I know that's not a fair representation due to debt inheritance, etc. It's just a funny thought. But as always, CBS really got the last laugh... Both against Cedar Fair and, in many ways, Viacom!

^ Though I don't know the legality of it all, Universal has rides and attractions themed to Popeye, Woody Woodpecker, and Betty Boop. Tom and Jerry, I don't know... Still sounds good to me. ^^ Clever! Even, "Nintend'o-round". Like, Nintendo-go-round? *cheesey eyebrows* If Nick-O-Round works, so does Nintendo-Round!

In Cedar Fair's defense (what am I saying?!) what would anyone here have named them that would be "less generic"? I don't know what could make them any better (or worse, really...). They're named exactly what I'd guess they'd be named for the most part. Was "Danny Phantom's Phantom Fliers" un-generic? Or "Timmy's Air Tours?" If so, how is it any less generic than "Sally's Sea Plane"? Flight Deck? Generic. Boo Blasters on Boo Hill? Generic. Drop Tower? Generic. But I wouldn't call most of the Planet Snoopy names generic. Just... simple. The same way that Nickelodeon Universe and Hanna-Barbera Land were simple.

Yes, but it could be if it shared a theme with it! Doesn't anyone else have any ideas?! Haha.

I know, it's a joke. Hahha! But I thought it was interesting to consider.

No, it isn't that hard. But if you ask me, it's just another instance of Cedar Fair seeing what folks want, but not taking the extra time to do it. It surely won't cost any more money to make a Beastie sign than it takes to make a Woodstock Express sign... But it's just "too much" to do that, I guess? Their big thing is "turning the park back to the way it used to be." If by that they meant that they removed "Paramount's" from the name, then they were right! If they implied that they would do anything beyond that, they were not telling the truth. If you ask me, it would've made more sense to unify all the Cedar Fair parks under Hanna-Barbera than under Snoopy. But one license needed renewed and one didn't... Cedar Point folks are not as connected to Snoopy as we all are of Hanna-Barbera... Just sayin'!

I know a lot of folks on here are excited for Snoopy, a lot are disappointed. But both groups can surely elaborate on what they would like instead of Snoopy if they had creative control. Obviously I think Mickey Mouse is a bit far-fetched, but even something like Looney Tunes, etc. To be honest, I think that Snoopy has as much resonance as the comics in use at Toon Lagoon at Universal's Islands of Adventure, but in Toon Lagoon its done in a far-more whimsical way. And Toon Lagoon isn't even passed off as their kids area (that would be Seuss Landing) - it's a place for adults to sort of gasp and go "I remember that comic!" etc... And keep in mind, they're reduced to dealing with the comics who aren't represented by other theme parks, so no Peanuts, no Garfield, etc. As far as my ideas, both are little ridiculous and the first is more of a joke (I've mentioned it before and got some funny responses, so I'll elaborate)... If we did have two "kid" area like Islands of Adventure this would be passable (but also highly criticized... but you know Kings Island, no one and nothing is off limits!). Imagine if Nick Universe became The City of Quahog. Stewie's Mindbender (formerly Avatar) - A twisting, turning, bouncing adventure as Stewie and his hypno-ray attempt to gain control over Kings Island's masses! The giant Avatar figure would be replaced with: Chicken Fight (formerly, Blue's Skidoo) - Each Blue figure is replaced by numerous, different colored chickens, fists extended, flying in circles as they try to catch up to the chicken in front to pummel them. Evil Monkey Coaster (formerly Little Bill's Giggle Coaster) - Enjoy this fanciful kid's ride as you bounce in circles around the Evil Monkey who lives in Chris' closet. Family Guy: The Ride (formerly, Scooby Doo & The Haunted Castle) Enter into the Griffin's front door and board Stewie's newest transportation device for a hair-raising tour, crashing through the homes of Quahog's most famous residents! As a second idea (far more realistic), a figure that not many know about, who would undoubtedly be considered a mascot for Kings Island. He's a character from a video game: A raccoon named Sly Cooper who is a full-time thief, stealing his family's heirlooms back from the evil Fiendish Five. He's aided at all times by the brains of the operation, a turtle named Bentley, and the brawn, a pink hippo named Murray. I have plenty of ideas for such a kids area, but I hesitate to include them because I'm "designing" my own park (as so many of us do) and use Sly Cooper's world as the kids area for my park. So perhaps you'll see soooooon? What are your ideas!?

It will be interesting to see if the current water features on RFYLCB (the coconuts, the jaguar, etc) will be replaced or just removed. PS! I think I may have been the first to use the abbreviation that it will doubtlessly come to be known by!!! Happy days!!!

Noice! For everyone: Character Carousel: Nick-O-Round Charlie Brown Wind Up: Backyardigan's Swing-Along Flying Ace: Runaway Reptar Joe Cool's Dodgem School: Jimmy Neutron's Atom Smashers Kite Eating Tree: Plankton's Plunge Linus' Beetle Bugs: Swiper's Sweepers Linus' Launcher: Danny Phantom's Phantom Fliers PEANUTS 500: Nick Jr. Drivers PEANUTS' Off Road Rally: Go Diego Go Race for Your Life Charlie Brown: Wild Thornberry's River Adventure Sally's Sea Plane: Timmy's Air Tours Snoopy Surf Dog: Avatar Snoopy's Junction: Aventura de Azul Snoopy's Splash Dance: Bikini Bottom Bash Snoopy vs. Red Baron: Blue's Skidoo? The Great Pumpkin Coaster: Little Bill's Giggle Coaster Woodstock Express: Fairly Odd Coaster Woodstock's Whirlybirds: Lazy Town Sportacopters Notice, Fairly Odd Coaster was not renamed The Beastie, and Scooby Doo & The Haunted Castle's replacement has not yet been announced.

I would absolutely say Worlds of Adventure was a flagship. I often have people who aren't even industry enthusiasts comment to me how sad it is that, at one point, Ohio did have the flagship Paramount Park, Cedar Fair park, and one of the Six Flags flagships, plus one of only four SeaWorlds! What a shame it is that literally each and every one of the parks is now owned by Cedar Fair. Love them or hate them, you must admit that it's sad to see four unique, incredible parks all united and meshed together to all have the same feel, the same soundtracks, the same ride names, the same atmosphere... It's very strange, and honestly quite sad. Again, love them or hate them, you must admit that it's certainly not how Ohio used to be... To think that we used to be the state for major parks after California and Florida! Perhaps the biggest thing I always ponder is, of course, that when the deal was first struck, it was SeaWorld attempting to buy Six Flags Ohio. One can only wonder what / if that park would still remain had that transaction gone through. Certainly the park wouldn't have had X-Flight, Superman, Batman, or any of the other coasters that were added as part of its Six Flags rebranding... But what would it be like? Those are the 'what if's that kill for a lot of us up here in the Aurora area... It's killer. It is very strange to see three major flagships "downgraded." And through it all, guess which park managed to outrank all the other Ohio parks. What a surprise, huh? But we could spend decades debating over what's happening in alternate realities: Paramount's Cedar Point? Six Flags Kings Island? Universal's Kings Island? And in one of those alternating realities, people are guffawing at the idea of Cedar Fair's Kings Island. It's true!

Would you create more competition for two of your own major parks by selling a park to your competitors? No? Exactly. While I disagree with their action from an enthusiast standpoint, I have to agree with it from a business standpoint. Many of the CF parks benefited from GL's closing, and CP has less competition. Right, that's what I assumed. But my point was, Geauga Lake sans X-Flight and Superman was, at most, a moderately sized park... Mostly wooden coasters with a real standout in Batman / Dominator. I think that, no matter who might've purchased it, it would've remained a mid-sized park and been quite successful as such, as it had been for a century before Six Flags came along. I do agree that the other parks have benefitted from its closure. I'm not saying what they did was wrong from a business standpoint, just wondering if they had put it up for sale at all. I guess the answer is no.

Haha true... But if it were even $100 less, it would be a short upgrade from a seven-day pass, which wouldn't do much for business unless they had a Disney Airline to connect the two resorts (not included with the pass).

It's a question many have asked for years, and it's finally been answered! http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/03/disney-premier-passport-unveiled/ Disney now offers "Disney's Premier Passport," allowing one year of access to all Disney parks in North America (including water parks, DisneyQuest, etc.) and free parking at all resorts for $700. If you think about, that's really a value. A week at Disney World is what, $450, plus $14 a day for parking (which is another hundred). So right there is $550 already. Plus, the kind of person this is catered to (people who visit Disneyland and Walt Disney World) obviously spend more than a week at each resort. I think it's a good idea, and I'm sure quite a few people will take advantage of it. Interestingly: Lucky for those whose Disneyland pass expires next week and just bought a Disney World pass last week... Though that doesn't necessarily apply to many, I'm sure there are folks in similar situations!

^^ Welcome countess, and thanks Fear the Four! Ahaha! Adventure Express did have fog... The third(?) tunnel, which is still vaguely themed to a volcanic eruption, was filled with fog and pulsing red lights, as I recall. As well, the final tunnel had fog in it, and when the god at the top "poured lava" onto folks, fog was released down from his big bowl thing as if it was dripping onto riders. There may have been more, I'm not sure. The only reason I disagree with having every light off is that, rather than being disorienting, I feel like the ride is just... dark. I took my mom on it (her first time riding any roller coaster other an Arrow coasters which had previously given her massive migraines and kept her off coasters for the better part of 10 years) last fall when all of the lights were off, and she didn't even notice that it went upside down. It just felt like a dark high speed, slightly-shaky ride. With the effect lights on, you can see the mass of confusing track around you, and it creates the incredible illusion of not knowing if you're upside down or not being able to see the track curving around you, plus the walls / ceiling / floor seemingly all looking the same.

My question is, did Cedar Fair attempt to put the park up for sale? Or did they just close it without even trying? If it's the latter, I expect it's a "If we can't have it no one will" what with Cedar Point being so close. But would/did the benefit of moving Geauga Lake's former rides to other parks really exceed the money that would've been made from selling the park outright? I think it was well-proven that no giant park could exist in that spot as Six Flags had tried to do... And even with it's smaller collection of rides post-Superman-and-X-Flight, Geauga Lake would have made a great addition to the Parques Reunidos family...

I believe that the only problem with that is 1) the tremendous cost of the fog juice and 2) the fact that Kings Island's rides have a bad history with fog. If they won't run it on the Backlot Stunt Coaster, Top Gun, Adventure Express or The Crypt (where fog machines are already installed and ready to use) I think it's highly unlikely they'd use it on Flight of Fear. Plus, if you ever had any questions about Premier's steel fabrication and its ability to withstand water, take a look at Backlot's former splashdown. Not that it would make a difference in the physical look of the ride since it's indoors, but it would certainly compromise the steel's strength with all that rust.

The park is doing it themselves instead of contracting the construction to outside sources. EDIT: Guess who beat me.

Six Flags' Kings Island? While I may not agree with what they say, I'll defend to the death their right to say it.

Sure! But when it comes to world's firsts, Travel Channel specials, theme park sites, etc. which set of rides would you think is more likely to be featured? Flight of Fear or Joker's Jinx? I would say the Flight of Fears...

I think Boo Blasters could go in Planet Snoopy, or could stay out of it. The same way Phantom Theater could be in Hanna-Barbera Land or be out of it, and Scooby Doo could be in Nick Universe or be out of it. So to me, their saying its included or excluded from Planet Snoopy makes no difference in my assumption of what the ride might become...

What would be the point in not having it be enclosed? The Flight of Fear clones are far more well-known than their counterparts because its mysterious, WAY more disorienting, and well-themed. To me, it isn't half as fun to launch seeing exactly what's coming up. But I guess you'd have to ask those who have ridden its outdoor clones... Again, I think it's spectacular the way you enter into the spaghetti bowl amid track pieces and supports, and the cieling / walls / floor honestly do make it near impossible to know if you're upside down, on your side, or rightside up for the first few seconds of the ride. That's something I wish I could fully appreciate again - knowing the layout of the ride really ruins that illusion for me, but even last year before I was familiar with the cobra roll's location, I couldn't tell which direction I was in. What an experience! If it were outdoors, I think it'd be far less fun, and feel much slower (but then again, neither of the outdoor rides use - or even have, as far as I know - that park-famous MCBR)...

Boo Blasters on Boo Hill isn't Snoopy-related... At least, it isn't as far as three of the four other Paramount Parks are concerned. And the one that does associate it with the Peanuts franchise does it in passing and with no real detail given... Just sayin'!

Can we expect the same for our Hoedown at the Peanut's Playhouse? It appears Great America will be getting the same entry plaza at Cedar Point's Planet Snoopy... Can we expect the same? I hope!