SonofBaconator

This. I couldn't agree more

I know a lot of people want a Mack but I've heard that their launches aren't that intense. So if you want a coaster like Icon or Helix that's fine, you'll get awesome inversions, but the launches won't be anything special. For another launched coaster, I'm looking at what Vekoma is doing overseas and I'm honestly impressed. S&S or Premier would be another pick but Vekoma seems to be doing great do far in the new direction they're going.

@bengalsguy23 I take it back. I do have one thing I wish would personally like improved. I wish the water park had a certain theme to it. There's water parks themed to the tropics, pirates, blizzards, etc. I'd chose to theme our water park to the great outdoors, similar to Great Wolf Lodge.

I think those powerlines are the biggest thing holding the water park back from expansion. Other than that I agree a water coaster would be nice. You just have to wonder if the chain is going to invest more in their in-park water parks or not. KI doesn't really have any competition when it comes to waterparks except for maybe Coney Island. So to sum it up I'm personally happy with it but there's always room for improvement. It would be cool to see a water coaster, another lazy river, and other additions but that's up to the company to decide on whether to invest more or not.

An edge over all the east coast parks by having an original 4d coaster. Not a big edge but something to set the park apart from others, albiet in a small way.

If any of you are feeling KI withdrawals here's the Mystic Timbers' score

Assuming it's original and not a Joker clone, it'll give the park a certain edge over other parks along the east coast. With that being said though, I don't think Cedar Fair has a need to clone the ride I think once the 4d freespin is installed, it'll be a one-and-done thing for the chain.

I still think we need some flats in Rivertown- possibly on the land surrounding BLSC

To add to this list in a way, I wonder what other coaster companies the chain will be working with. Could we see something from Vekoma, Premier Rides, or even S&S?

In light of recent events, it might not be wise to open up Urgent Scare this season

I can't wait that long

^ I too am unfamiliar with this alleged woodie

I hope we see something like this again. I doubt we'll ever be rid of the laser tag guns but if the concept and the characters could return in some capacity I'd be all for it

I'm trying to get my mind off of Covid-19 and in an attempt to stay positive I thought we would discuss Haunt for 2020. What do you want to come back? What do you want to retire? What do you want changed? For starters I'd like the train to return but have it to where you just ride past a bunch of creepy scenes as opposed to being dropped off. I heard the locomotives' boilers have a limit to how long they can operate a season, which makes sense as to why they opted to operate them for Winterfest instead. ( I could be completely wrong so someone fact check me)

Another chain people often forget about when it comes to potential buyers is Disney. They tried to build a park in Virginia once but it fell through. Who's to say they wouldn't try again with an existing park?

Do you think if they ever chose to sell their parks, would they do it all at once or break them off?

Also if you look, the 4 top tier CF parks averaged around 2-3 coasters for the 2010s. CP- 2 ground up, 2 conversions, pipescream (if you count that as a coaster or not) KI-2 (Banshee & MT) CW-3 (Leviathan, WM Guardian, YS) CWS-3 (Intimidator, Fury 325, CS) So in reality 2-3 coaster installs a decade isn't low for a top tier park if you think about it

A new decade is upon us so I thought it would be fun to discuss the things that'll be happening to Cedar Fair in its parks during the 2020s as well as speculate the direction the chain is going in . Of course 2020 is already upon us so I'm going to obviously be looking at 2021 onward. Also I'm going to start out focusing on a broader view but anyone is welcome to look at specific things. The lower tier parks might get some attention in the ride department; IE coasters Kings Dominion will shift to a more family level park Cedar Point might relocate some less popular coasters to its more needy parks (see bullet one) ex: Rougarou & Wicked Twister The company will continue to focus on more interactive experiences Additionally the chain might resemble more of a theme park chain vs an amusement park one Top Tier parks might continue to get around 2 coasters per decade Focusing on high quality experiences at lower costs More themed areas across the chain More focus on California's Great America Possibly more focus on water parks Basically I'm arguing that the chain is going to be focusing more on quality vs quantity. As evidenced at the end of the decade, Cedar Fair started to remove rides and attractions that were costly to operate and out of date. I'd like to think what I've listed above to be somewhat accurate but with Covid-19 hitting the globe, I think the company is going to be in recovery mode for the next year or so.

Also would allow them to expand more to that land if they ever had to

I have a few I want to do yet. I'm planning on focusing on WoF's railroad but I'll have to do some digging since I don't know as much about the railroad

@collin.klopfstein KI is 4 hours away from CP so I'm sure they were invited. CF ultimately decides what a park gets- not Don or Chad

I'm assuming whatever they replace Vortex with will be in the low 20 million range- high teens if they're lucky.

I think you hit it on the head. I believe that during the Kinzel era they didn't want to over saturate Virginia with hyper coasters. However Apollo's Chariot is one of the first models of hypercoaster to ever open so having a modern hyper like Diamondback would have been enough to differentiate the two parks. (Heck San Antonio has two Batman clones) You could tell KD was trying to heavily conpete with BGW- they called themselves "Virginia's Premier Amusement Park" afterall. I wholeheartedly believe that the company thought I-305 would make them superior to BGW and draw in more guests and thrill seekers. Then I-305 was plagued with problems and when they were fixed, the ride was simply too intense for most. With all this said, I think it would've been a safer bet to go with a B&M hyper like the other 3 main Paramount parks did. B&M is less intense and would've been enjoyed more by GP. I daresay people could have called it "better than Apollo's Chariot." Heck Diamondback was once called "Apollo's Chariot on steroids" I think their fear of investing in B&Ms is what's holding them back. I hope they do get a wing or a flyer at some point.

I suspect NHL will follow suit since they have a similar season duration and a lot of their teams share arenas with the NBA

@Shawn Meyer oh I know but its just a personal preference of mine to have one just like how I ironically also want a floorless