SonofBaconator

I consider the building to be a blank canvas waiting to be painted. The outside can be retrofitted to have a mining facade. The building was built to house a top spin so I don't know what can be put inside. Blank canvas aside I fear that it might be more cost affective to demolish the building for expansion instead of spending money to renovate it for something new.

Three points: I'm very interested to see where SEAS will stand coming out of this pandemic with the debt they have The number of water parks that might be acquired by larger chains might go up Smaller parks might seek help from large chains to stay alive if they can't recover

I was torn between the 2nd and 4th option. I think if was made to look like an abandoned mine shaft that would be great

If it had a light package like Hangtime I'd be down. I would be worried about size and capacity though. I would want something comparable to Vortex in size so I would be willing to wait. What's the biggest Gerstlauer ever made?

People are fast

I think if you have an RMC, you're almost guaranteed to get most visitors- especially enthusiasts who want to ride them all.

Oh I'm not saying they don't, I'm just asking. It would be nice to see another RMC

I'm not trying to sound rude but is Wild Adventures really that popular? Is it on par with parks like Adventureland, and so on? I've only heard about this park within the year.

Even from an operational standpoint? I'm not being argumentative I'm just asking. I know Six Flags operates Darien Lake and Frontier City but I believe EPR Properties owns them.

In the past I've talked a blue streak, no pun intended, about chains acquiring smaller parks or chains merging. There are some parks that got hit hard by the pandemic as well as a lot chains. Could we see smaller parks offering themselves to large chains in attempt to save themselves from closure? Could we see chains merge to try and alleviate some of their debt?

That's 10 years of not buying a single product from the company. Doesn't that say anything to you? Since 2007: Shoot the Rapids had a boat flip in 2013 and permanently closed in 2015 ($10,000,000 investment that only lasted 5 years) I-305 had to be redesigned in response to extreme geforces Maverick had to have its heartline removed before it opened Intamin has cost the chain an insane amount of money for rides that have been plagued with downtime.

The same thing can be said for what Hershey Park just did this past year with Candymonium- and they already have a coaster in the same height range. While Skyrish is considered a "wing", (I still don't fully understand that categorization when two of the four seats are right about the track), its been considered intense and painful by many: https://www.reddit.com/r/rollercoasters/comments/9yt9mx/fixing_the_thigh_crush_on_skyrush/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9qln0BPGCc https://www.coaster101.com/2012/05/29/skyrush-review/ (read the comments) https://coasterguy.wordpress.com/2012/06/24/skyrush/

Maybe I'm just the "play it safe" person but I don't understand the desire to want innovations- the coaster wars are over. I know I'm kinda contradicting myself since I made an "Innovations" thread a while back but I think there can be a little bit of both. Some manufactures can play it safe with their tried and true formula while others can innovate- both have their pros and cons. Advocating for the "play it safe" formula, if your company is making millions of dollars on the same rides then you don't really have the need to innovate. Sure you can fiddle around with designs here and there, change train types and such, but the overall formula is still present. Other companies can innovate all they want, but I don't understand the continued praise when their products have accidents, downtime, retracks, and occasionally fatalities. There's a reason why Cedar Fair has worked with B&M instead of Intamin this past decade.

Here's the room for the Theater scene where the pepper's ghost effect took place. To the top left is there the carriages are. The riders would be looking at the glass wall (right of the picture.) The black wall on the bottom left is where the characters went (there were also some up above). Finally there was glass on the right that made the effect work. You can even see it working now in the picture! http://www.dafe.org/articles/darkrides/phantomPharewell.html

Behind the scenes events typically don't cost parks much money since they're just showing people behind the scenes stuff so it would seem like a no brainer for to incorporate them into their off season schedule.

The title is a little clickbaity. There's been a lot of discussions regarding B&M and their desire to play it safe and stay with the same formula. That doesn't mean that they can still not create new designs. The Surf Coaster model is definitely an intriguing project. What ideas do you have for new B&M projects? I have a few: Have 6 train dive coaster with the layout of a traditional flloorless to make something like a higher capacity infinity coaster A low to the ground launched coaster A return to their old school hyper twister model that you see with Raging bull with modified trains. These aren't anything innovative or brand spanking new, just additions to their portfolio. The track design and trains would be the same as they have been.

It really kills me that this is the hardest scene to find any pictures or videos of and the Pepper's ghost effect is responsible for that. In order for Pepper's ghost to work the scene needs to be dark to allow for the characters to stand out. If anyone has pictures of this scene I would be extremely happy.

Pepper's ghost is basically like seeing your reflection in a department store window while still being able to look inside.

I've done some thinking and something like Helix would be great. I just don't want to get one and have it be constantly compared to Copperhead Strike. Make it different enough to stand out on its own.

I believe you are correct. Not that they won't look for an affordable option but their chain is all about quality over quantity. You started so see a gap after CF installed their 3 B&M gigas Carowinds: 2015-2019 Canada's Wonderland: 2012-2019 (I don't know how much WMG cost) Kings Island: 2020- (We probably won't see any signs of a coaster until at least 2023) I think we'll see Cedar Fair start to focus on their mid to smaller parks which will certainly bring B&M back into the question. B&M is always brought up when people discuss new coasters for California's Great America and Kings Dominion. Even if they're on the smaller side, these two parks need modern B&Ms. As for other chains I know Herschend had a B&M listed when they asked Silver Dollar City patrons what they wanted. Hershey just got a hyper this past year. B&M might not be producing a lot of US based coasters as frequently as they did pre pandemic but they have customers all over the globe. They'll be fine.

They probably don't see a need to innovative. They've manufactured so many coasters using the same restraints, track type, etc that they've pretty much perfected their own design. "If it ain't broke don't fix it." Why spend thousands of dollars in R&D when people are already spending millions of dollars on your current products? The smallest risk with the biggest reward for B&M is altering train designs on the same styled track. Companies like Intamin have built their legacy on innovation and ride diversity because that's what made them unique. Unfortunately this can have draw backs like ride malfunctions leading to downtime and high operating costs. B&M's might be considered formulaic, repetitive, and unoriginal but that's also what's made them successful. Their rides are reliable and have an overall good ROI. Enthusiasts might not like them but B&M has a tried and true business plan.

In all honesty though I understand what you're getting at but I don't think they're coming to an end. They're certainly not the manufacturer you want to go to when you're on a budget. I do think parks might go for more affordable companies like Vekoma, Gerstlauer, etc coming out of this pandemic. I wouldn't be surprised if Cedar Fair started installing more 4d freespins and maybe even sky rockets. I expect it'll be slow for B&M these next few years coming out of the pandemic but I don't think they're doomed. I'm sure there will be parks in Europe who will want their own Fury type coaster. Who knows, maybe this pandemic will encourage B&M to make new designs that are more affordable for smaller parks. They don't have a single coaster that features 2 across seating with exception to their family coaster and Steel Dragon's new trains.

Honestly a lot of fans have wanted to see Phantom Theater make a return ever since Paramount replaced it back in 2003. We've seen Cedar Fair return a ton of old favorites to parks across the chain and KI has been no exception. Could KI return this beloved attraction? I'd imagine it wouldn't return in its original form but just seeing the IP return would be enough for me. I'd even take a haunt attraction themed to the story or even walk around characters during the fall season.

I'm a firm believer in the quote "if you build it they will come." I understand CF might be content with MA but I think giving them some new thrill ride might boost attendance somewhat. They don't have to load the park up with new rides every year but its been too long. The last installation was Thunderhawk in 2008 and last ground up coaster was Mad Mouse in 1999. Surely they'd benefit from something new or relocated that would hold the park over for another decade or two.