SonofBaconator

What are some takeaways you all have from this season (regular, fall, and winter when it comes time)?

I’m gonna break each option down then say what I voted for: Vekoma Launch- we did start working with Vekoma again so it’s possible that KI would be interested in some of their bigger products. CP did this with Zamperla afterall. Mack Extreme Spinner- this would be something truly unique to KI and would keep the park competitive with Herschend (not sure Dollywood would add an extreme spinner if we got one). The only downside is that spinners aren’t for everyone. B&M Surf- this is what I personally want to replace Invertigo and Congo Falls given their close proximity to King Cobra (the park’s original standup.) While I wouldn’t mind seeing a Surf replace Vortex, I feel like replacing one replace Invertigo and Congo would kill 3 birds with one stone. Zamperla multi launch- this, like Vekoma, is a possibility considering they’ve already done two coaster projects for the chain already. I’d think CF would want us to trial Vekoma since CP is trialing Zamperla. Mack multi launch- I hear that Copperhead Strike underperformed at Carowinds. Of all the launched coasters on this list, the traditional Mack multi launch seems somewhat inferior by comparison. B&M dive- arguably the safest option on this list. CF has bought 3 of them in the past 8 years with them being GP pleasers. Ground up rmc- arguably not the safest option on this list. CF worked with RMC on 3 projects in one season and from rumors circulating in the community, the relationship hasn’t been great. Personally I think a ground up RMC would upset the balance of ridership at this current time but that’s just me. In terms of what should be the park’s next coaster- I think a high capacity Vekoma multi launch would be great. With how KI fits in the CF chain however, I know that they don’t like to take risks so it wouldn’t surprise me if we got something from Mack or B&M.

Well that does promote brand consistency. How can you claim to be family friendly when you host scary events?

So here’s my take: When it comes to Haunts, KI actually competes with some pretty big names like Dent, USS Nightmare, Land of Illusion, etc. These attractions are only open for a few weeks (Land of Illusion is a different story) so they pull out all the stops- if you want a good scare, check those out. Truth be told, there aren’t a lot of family friendly Halloween events to do in Greater Cincinnati at night; I think this is where KI comes in. If they can focus more on their night rides and atmosphere while offering the haunts as a side dish, they’re able to bring in a wider range of people. Sure this will upset those who enjoy a good scare, but as mentioned previously- you’re more than likely to go to actual haunted houses if that’s your thing. Knott’s kind of has the opposite problem. While I’m sure there are plenty of haunted houses in the LA area, their target market isn’t families. If you want a family friendly Halloween event to do at night, you’re going to Disneyland/California Adventure. When it comes to haunted parks, Knott’s has to compete with Universal so they’re going to pull out all the stops to stay competitive- KI has no amusement parks to compete with when it comes to fall events in general. TL;DR: Cincinnati has a competitive haunted house market but not a competitive family friendly Halloween market so they’re going to opt for the market they don’t have to put as much effort into attracting.

This is what I think the land would look like vacant.

This would be a cool family attraction that could go around Area 72.

Firehawk’s funeral was more of a marketing ploy to hype what was to come down the road. KI didn’t give Vortex a funeral because they more than likely weren’t trying to draw attention to it considering that there wasn’t a replacement lined up for it.

I don’t know why it’s so hard to make the event atmospheric. Playing fall music isn’t hard.

I don’t see why the goals have to be mutually exclusive: make the mazes and scare zones for adults and older teens and make the pathways more family friendly.

The fact that someone went out of their way to create a nearly identical burner account to discredit the park is beyond petty.

Someone on here pointed out that the chaperone policy might make that difficult. If these people already have passes, they’re going to bring their little ones vs paying a babysitter.

I think this is why I think they should relocate all scareactors to mazes/scare zones. With the number of monsters you take off the pathways, you could open up one or two more mazes or scare zones. In my opinion this would fix some issues with the event. I understand people miss being scared and having things be more adult oriented but with the way things appear to be heading with chaperone policies and more parents bringing their little ones, I think opening up more haunts at the expense of relocating scareactors would be a fair compromise for people who still go for the Haunt element.

I went tonight….things seemed very PG-13. Not sure why the DJ couldn’t play Halloween music in Coney Maul.

Would it be feasible to have Haunt run on Thursdays without the rides- where it would be mazes and scare zones? They could say that the “No Boo” necklaces wouldn’t work those nights and it would just be for those who want to get scared. In theory, could a ride-less Haunt even work?

I mean no one had made a comment for nearly a month until now…

An idea I have that wouldn’t take much effort to accomplish but could get the park some more attention: adding titles to their rides. For example, instead of saying “The Beast is waiting for you this weekend” say something like “The World Famous Beast is waiting for you this weekend.” Instead of saying “Carpenters are spending the offseason replacing the wood on The Racer” say “Carpenters are spending the offseason replacing the wood on the Historic Racer.” “Guests enjoy their ride on the Record Breaking Banshee.” This is done here and there with social media posts but I think they should try and capitalize on anything they can to market themselves a little more. Including a few extra words could make all the difference. The World Famous Beast The Historic Racer The Record Breaking Banshee The Mile Long Diamondback The Award Winning Orion/Mystic Timbers

I didn’t know where else to put this: go to 54:00 and watch for about a minute and you’ll see where the owner talks about parts of Phantom Theater being in the Dent Schoolhouse (also at the beginning I think an old spinning cauldron from KI though he says Coney Island).

A single rider line would help that but I know that’s been unpopular with people in years past during Winterfest.

This might get me tarred and feathered but I think Monster should be dismantled and stored in favor of something that offers better capacity. I know it would never happen but I wonder how long people spend on that ride from the que, to loading, to riding, to waiting to be unloaded.

Launched wood to launched hybrid to chainlift hybrid

Safety would be a concern but Torture Tower seemed super unique: (2:12)

I don’t personally mind, I just don’t agree with the overall concept

That’s not always the case. I’ve seen actors avoid certain groups altogether because one of the people was wearing a necklace. If there’s a group of say 5 people and one of them is wearing a “no-boo” necklace, I don’t know how an actor can do their job properly in scaring the other 4 without indirectly scaring the one with the necklace that they’ve been instructed to avoid.

Also more food for thought: If I’m part of the park’s front office, I’m looking at where the dollars are going. Look at ride ops: you know you need a certain amount of people to operate a ride and you know the operating cost to staff it. You can calculate ROI based off of the number of riders per hour. You can’t really calculate the ROI of a roaming scareactor. If I’m Dent Schoolhouse, I know I’m getting my money’s worth with my staff….if I’m employing roaming scareactors in an amusement park setting with “no boo necklaces”, I don’t know if I’m getting all that I can out of them. If you put them in a maze or scare zone, you know they’re being used as effectively as possible. The no-boo necklaces certainly invite a more family atmosphere that I don’t see going away. More and more parents are taking their kids to Haunt because they see it as a less scary alternative to Dent Schoolhouse, USS Nightmare, Land of Illusion, etc. Also, with Haunt being open for late hours, enthusiasts are able to catch night rides on their favorite coasters later than they would during the regular summer season. The event is certainly evolving but I personally don’t think they’re making as much money off of employing scareactors as they should be.

I decided to make this it’s own thread because I think is needs attention. I’ve shared this before but I’m not a huge fan of the idea of roaming scareactors. I think the practice is an inefficient use of labor and therefore should be eliminated from Halloween Haunt. It’s been stated on here that there will be less scareactors this season. This could lead to less immersive mazes/scare zones. Why not simply pull these employees from the pathways and put them in the mazes and scare zones where they could be better utilized? I argue there’d be more value for guests if the mazes and scare zones were more immersive as opposed to spreading the staffing so thin around the park. Regarding value, I think guests should be allowed to choose whether or not they want to get scared. If people want to get scared, then they should go to the mazes/scare zones. I don’t agree with the idea that you should have to pay more to not be scared via the “no boo” necklaces. It comes off as an unnecessary cash grab. I don’t think I’m alone in this but I’m not confident that this will ever become a reality unless attendance drops to the point where they would need to take action.