AintNutinElse2Do

On a sad side note this Christmas we lost BiBi a nearly 40 year old female gorilla at the Knoxville Zoo. Her younger mate Ernie a 25yo male silverback is very much saddened by the loss. It's amazing how similar they can be to us.

Okay I realize that the stadium location isn't the best for Great America but is it really that horrible. First as stated it's not even Cedar Fairs land so I don't get how they can be such a big dog in the fight. What bothers me I guess more is that say they MUST close during the games so they are gonna lose all kinds of money. Yes closing would make them lose money but why is it a must to close. Yes they would lose some overflow parking but can't they also turn football guests into theme park guests. Perhaps Cedar Fair should be a little nicer to the stadium and perhaps even create NFL days at the park. It could be an upcharge but one that well if your right beside it why not go. I think perhaps they are looking at spectators as the drinking, loud and insane fans and not the family that is taking a trip to the game. Both are there and I think Great America could actually gain from the stadium being there if they worked closer with them.

Math and Science days seems like a good idea but I think it may be too little. Why not go ahead and turn it into a full fledged festival of sorts. Look at some of the other parks that have great success with festivals. Dollywood and Silver Dollar City both fill the operating season with festivals in fact there's very little time at those parks that isn't part of a festival. Not saying Math & Science days are a bad idea I do think however if they made it a month long or more event it would target more. Perhaps even a Trekkie event (though i'm not a fan) could draw a big crowd.

It seems to me that it would be more beneficial financially to move some of those rides to other parks rather than sell them all. I mean do you sell a ride at 1/4 of normal cost (est.) or do you spend a little money and get a new ride for one of your parks for half the price. It just seems like there would be more to gain by relocating more. I know Cedar Fair is in debt but seems like you could get out of it quicker if your parks were doing better rather than taking everything to the pawn shop so to speak.

Could you imagine if it was still like those days. Hopping on the Island Queen in preparation to enjoy a fun-filled day at the park. What an experience it must of been back then, yet another thing current parks could learn from the past. Parks done a lot of things right back then and it was often more about the experience and not all about the money. Of course they were still a business so it wasn't about losing money of course there was some money there but the patron sure enjoyed a much larger value.

While not the scariest haunt I've been to my favorite is http://www.thehauntedcave.net/ It's really neat because it's in a natural cave and they have some pretty cool set-ups. That said I think the detail is nice and pretty but I think they are usually less scary. One of the scariest haunts I went to was one that the local firestation put on and they just had black plastic making the walkways. It wasn't nothing special but it was very scary. That I would have to think was probably the scariest but really close second was when one of Chuck-E-Cheese's (formerly ShowBiz Pizza) closed down and they used that building really neat when walking past the stage area. Also, around here (east TN) there are several Haunted Corn Maize's while they are cool they've never been scary to me just not enough scare-actors I suppose. Actually last time I went to one I think I probably scared twice as many people as the actors did. Nothing as fun as walking around backwards with a hoody on and jumping out of the corn.

While I do think that the Six Flags chain may shrink again I don't see SF going anywhere anytime soon. I too like the way Shapiro talks and I think the 3 year plan makes sense. Though I am assuming the 3 year plan didn't necessarily go in the order he listed I'll give an example. Six Flags Over Georgia 2006- Goliath (thrill seaker segment) 2007- general clean up (which i'll have to agree the park looked much better this year than in past) 2008- Thomas Town (obviously the family segment) so I would think 2009 would be the next thrill ride for SFOG if the 3 year plan sticks

I don't think primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) count as mellow or rustic. Perhaps this would be a better example.

Yeah I understand that Flight of Fear was originally Outer Limits Flight of Fear. I don't really have a clue whether or not it would need to change. I'm not sure how Paramount licensed FoF or any of their other rides. However just because it's not named after a movie or a show doesn't mean that Paramount or Viacom may not have the rights to it.

One thing to keep in mind about theming is that it can make or break more than just the ride itself or other attraction. When a typical park goer sees theming not kept up it does give a bad impression not only for the ride but for the park as well. If their not keeping up the theming what else are they not keeping up with? Just as if you went to a restaurant and the dining room wasn't kept up you'd wonder about the kitchen. It doesn't mean that the kitchen is jacked up and it doesn't mean that it's a bad restaurant. It will however create a negative effect and back in my marketing classes it was always said... that a guest that has a great experience will tell one person, but a guest that had a bad experience will tell ten people. For years I had a negative impression of SFOG due to a lack of upkeep throughout the park. It wasn't til my visit this year that I felt they had redeemed themselves, somewhat. Same with a particular fast food chain around here, nice thick burgers but one round of food poisoning and I don't plan on going back. I know there's differences in the situations but I think the basic principle is the same.

funny I thought Cartoon Network was more for adult entertainment than it was for children

^^I see what your saying I do and really a lot of prices have gotten out of hand many places in my opinion. What I was really trying to say though is it better to have 100 guests paying $5 or 50 guests paying $10 but then just think what happens if you change it to 100 at $7.50? I was more pointing out the strategy more so than the actual even in question. I personally don't like the upcharge but it's doubtful that it will personally affect me as I'm generally a one or two day ticket guy when I get the chance to make it up there. I do think there's a definite middle ground that they could take on the Halloween Haunt approach. Just a thought, but what if they allowed one Haunt admission per season pass and perhaps limiting it to the first 2-3 weekends of the Haunt. I just don't think that they can continue to offset decreases in attendances by raising across the board, I just feel the bigger problem lies in attendance. (speaking entire season not just HH)

The thing that scares me a bit on this though, is that it just seems to upcharge is more of the less guests + higher prices = more money theory. If you look at CF's press it just always seems like there saying downturns in attendance offset by per guest spending. That thinking can only work for so long. Sure I'm glad that they haven't went broke when less guests came to the parks. I just really wish though the focus would be on getting more guests to the park rather than milking the guests you already have.

Didn't Ohio pass a law exempting theme parks from the minimum wage? Which is ridiculous but didn't they?

If I was running for office I'm pretty sure I would be labeled a flip-flopper. But that's more so because I put out my thoughts... listen to responses... and then there's times I may alter my previous view. I don't think it's a bad thing but a lot of people in the media like to think it means they don't know what they want when in fact it's more they don't know what everyone else wants. Awww yes it is election season once again... time to hit some rallies and maybe some protests along the way. I am sure there will be many many more discussions in coming months on this. I will always welcome a good and clean debate.

"Flip-flop" man that term really stuck from the 04 election didn't it?

just to add a little bit first that was dated 6-6-6 kinda scary huh..... but lets say that the licensing started then... in that case Nick would expire in 6/6/10 which would be right in the middle of the season... that said I would think it would be likely that 2009 would be the final year of Nick because I doubt they would change it midseason.... not saying it will... not saying it won't... just a lot to think about

So hmm, if Nick was only for four years, and Paramount (with exclusions) was for 10 years. I wonder why the bigger hurry to get rid of especially the newer Paramount ride names. I think it's really gonna come down to who has the better price for inclusion at all their parks. There's been some rumors that Carowinds would be the only one remaining with Nick. Which doesn't make a lot of sense unless Viacom gave them a really good deal for one park licensing. If that's the case I could see Viacom not wanting another Nick U in close proximity to their new premier location at MOA. So, and I'm really not wanting to add to the Carowinds only rumor but from Viacom's standpoint I could see them wanting it to be further away which Carowinds is. This type of stuff does happen often with businesses. A good example is with car dealerships, a lot of car companies will only allow 1 dealership with their brand within a certain proximity. Or okay and now I know I'm asking for it kinda like how Cedar Fair didn't want Geauga Lake so close to it's flagship.

Check out this article... it's Motley Fool pre-announcement of Nickelodeon Universe being called such and slightly after the PP purchase. http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2007...ck-of-time.aspx

So perhaps they should rename TR:TR to Indian Burial Ground : The Ride "The natives are restless"..... or more appropriately.... Revenge of the Genocide "You may enter but you may not leave"

Thanks for letting me know... of course I had to go double check any time I'm proven wrong. Around here it used to be all Chevy Caprices then it went half and half with the Crown Vic's then about half went to Impalla's then now to Chargers. Depending on the city around here some still have all of them. Heck there's even a city that has a Chevy (will always be a GEO in my mind) Tracker police vehicle.

I wanted to bring up this topic. I for one think Nickelodeon has been great for Kings Island and it's sister parks. With Paramounts sale of the parks I do think it left some uncertainty as Nicks continued future with the park. I do think it would be wise to keep the licensing for Nick as long as feasibly possible. However, I think that feasibility may indeed run out sooner than later. With the park at Mall of America transitioning to Nickelodeon Universe it seems less feasible for the two parks to co-exist. In one hand they are trying to promote an entire theme park and on the other promoting a children's area of a much larger theme park. I don't think that we will see a change in the Nick theming for next year but I just have a feeling that Nick may very well raise their licensing prices once the current license runs out. It seems to me in the very least a name change will have to happen at KI's Nickelodeon Universe otherwise I think it will only cause confusion in the end not so much for KI but for MOA's park. Think about it, say you have a 12 yo and they ask "daddy daddy will you take me to Nickelodeon Universe?" Regular parent may reply "oh Tommy you know that's just the little kiddy area at Kings Island." Of course I see no problem for Kings Island in this situation as it seems like it can only create free advertising through mistaken identity but I would think that Nick might just have an eventual problem or at least keep jacking their prices. What does everyone else think about this situation?

True, around here they were using Impalla's for a while but all the newer one's are Charger's. Which believe me they are plenty of them around here. Too many in my opinion. Of course I think they have too many red-light camera's giving out tickets and soon to be work zone speeding camera's. I've yet to get a ticket in the mail though so I guess it's all good. It's crazy how much money they make off those camera's I'm sure that's part of the reason we're seeing so many new police cars down here.

If I'm not mistaken they no longer make the Crown Vic. Police tend to like the bigger wheel rear drive vehicles and at this point Charger is about the only one left in a good price range at least.

I too like the Blue Angel's idea it would be especially fitting for Carowinds Top Gun.