SonofBaconator

The one thing I don’t understand is why the ride wasn’t just based off of the film. Almost every large elaborate attraction at the Disney parks are just ride versions of the hit films. Like you see Ursula in the Little Mermaid ride because the ride itself is just a recap of the film. Not sure why they decided to do a ride “sequel” to the Princess and the Frog because it left out two of the film’s important characters since they’re canonically deceased. Just making the Bayou adventure ride a recap would give the movie full recognition as opposed to doing a sequel. I feel like people who watched the film will be disappointed when they don’t see Dr. Facilier or Ray.

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I’ve unfortunately never ridden Splash mountain, only seen POVs.

You accumulate a vast amount of wealth, enough to start your own amusement park chain. What parks are you acquiring and why? There is one rule: the parks in question cannot already be part of a existing chain…. for example, parks like Kings Island, Fiesta Texas, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, etc are off the shopping list.

This is my millennial/gen z take on it while not trying to take a side on Splash Mountain. I had no problem with the ride being themed after the stories of Brer Rabbit, Fox, Bear, etc. The film that Disney used as source material for the ride however, was the problem. From a PR standpoint, they should’ve never themed any ride at their parks to characters from Song of the South, it was just bound to create controversy- especially with Disney trying to sweep the film under the rug. With the ride opening in the late 80s/early 90s, there were tons of different IP they could’ve chosen instead of the character designs from Song of the South. Regarding the overhaul and retheme, I think it’s neat. The Princess and the Frog featured Disney’s first African American princess and yet after the film’s release, they didn’t really showcase the characters of the film with sequels, tv shorts, and other treatment that other Disney properties had received. I think there was actually a thread on this site from many many years ago where a princess Tiana costume wasn’t available year round at the Disney store (if I can find the thread I’ll provide it.) Edit: found the thread At the end of the day, these rides are designed catering to families and their children. I don’t think the little kids are going to judge a ride’s theming like adults would. With Song of the South being a nearly 80 year old film and Princess and the Frog film not even being 20 years old yet, it makes sense to retire a film that Disney has been trying to make people forget for some time in favor of a much younger one that doesn’t get enough recognition.

With the FUN SIX merger, I’d like to think that Magic Mountain would be a candidate for a post merger giga. I’m still holding out hope for a Busch Gardens Tampa giga with the rate SEAS is installing B&Ms in Florida.

I personally don’t think the GP will look at a Giga Dive and go “oh great, another B&M.”

Giga dive for me

A lot of my missed opportunities are thematic: Why wasn’t Woodstock Express painted yellow in the first place?- it would’ve had a double meaning as Woodstock himself is yellow and that was the coaster’s original scheme when it was Scooby Doo. Why wasn’t BLSC rebranded to Greater Cincinnati? When ownership changed hands, it would’ve been cool to see Cincinnati type billboards instead of having it themed to Hollywood- even the license plates on the train still say “California.” Why were the dinosaurs in Dinosaurs Alive all gray? I understand this was a product of Dinosaurs Unearthed but I feel like having all the dinosaurs be close to the same color probably got boring for kids after a while. I understand accuracy is an element to education but we have no clue what exact colors dinosaurs were… they could’ve gotten creative with some of them- the Columbus Zoo was able to do it: https://www.columbuszoo.org/blog/dinosaur-island-returns-extinction

Mine certainly isn’t the “biggest” but it was low hanging fruit: not overhauling Action Zone around Banshee’s debut. When Invertigo was repainted in 2012 they could’ve called it Screamin Demon to set the overhaul in motion. They also could’ve repainted Drop Tower to reflect the eerie feel they were trying to accomplish with Banshee/The Bat. Like I said, it’s not the biggest missed opportunity but it was a missed opportunity nonetheless.

Paramount was not shy about putting cloned rides across their parks, but their decisions on which park got what was….inconsistent. So the question has to be asked: why? Was KI considered for a Hurler?- why did Paramount decide to put a Hurler clone in two of their parks that were in neighboring states? By that logic why didn’t they give Carowinds an IJ:ST clone?- was that the plan down the road? I could go on.

From what I gather, the Invertigo model was extremely popular amongst roller coaster enthusiasts compared to the original sit down version, so naturally only 4 were ever built… I’m kind of surprised we haven’t seen a modern version of the Invertigo model with new track and vest restraints.

I’m honestly surprised they’re still keeping Vortex around.

They added a dive to FT in 2022

I always wondered if Top Thrill 2 and Iron Menace would’ve even been projects to consider post FUN/SIX merger as opposed to pre merger like what had actually happened. Thoughts?

I love Hanna Barbera but aside from Scooby Doo, there has hardly been any exposure anymore to warrant a comeback.

With Coney Island management wanting to build a larger park elsewhere, was Northern Kentucky ever considered when finding a new place to build the larger park we know today as “Kings Island?”

Lionel can always make models based off of any Crown locomotive since they’re all 4-4-0s

There’s still time

You make a good point. The only thing I can think of that would amend that would be changing stories-similar to how Chuck E Cheese used to change out their shows with different music back in the day; but even then you’d have to update the show nearly every other season to keep it fresh.

Have attractions that aren’t ride based- like the Hall of Presidents or Country Bear Jamboree. They’ve done a live action show in the KI Theater for the past two seasons. If entertainment wanted to focus resources on different shows, KI could still use the PT theme for a sit down animatronic show.

The Racer helped get KI started: The Beast helped KI grow

I don’t know about the sign but I know vulture is in storage.

Well^ I’m not trying to be conspiracy theorist here but…. With this announcement, the kids area is going to be nearly perfectly split into 2 halves. I know the Camp Snoopy theme ties into the Apple TV show and we also see this with Knott’s, but here’s my question: Why not go all the way with it? It could simply be a budget thing to just update the back part of the kids area but for some reason this reminds of of what Paramount did in the 90s…but in reverse. In the 90s the back part of Hanna Barbera Land became Nickelodeon with both sections coexisting up until the Nickelodeon Universe rebrand. With the upcoming merger of FUN and SIX, could the park be leaving the front part of the kids area open for a rebrand? Could we see “Bugs Bunny Boomtown” or “DC Superfriends” take over the “old” Planet Snoopy? Could we see Woodstock Express and Boo Blasters return to Scooby Doo IP? If they overhauled the whole kids section I wouldn’t even bring this up, but the fact that they split the kids area into two halves leaves the possibility open for the the “older” section to be considered for a rebrand that doesn’t involve Peanuts LLC.

Not to be critical at all but how much longer until companies quit using the pandemic as the reason to cut budgets? I acknowledge that during the pandemic and the years following there was a huge financial struggle across the board but are we going to be hearing pandemic well into 2030?