SonofBaconator

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

Oh I didn't know that. There was a period where I wasn't on here as much before he left.

I don't know, I feel like his trolling was harmless. I've seen worse. Heck I think his name was on a tombstone for Banshee's teaser

Bring Gerogia Scorcher to KI. I've heard its one of the best standups out there and it would be cool for KI to a stand-up in their line-up again.

accidentally hit b instead of v

Bavarian Beetle, Bat, Demon, King Cobra, Ghoster Ghoster, Son of Beast, Firehawk, and now Vortex. Would you argue KI to have the most famous collection of defunct coasters or should that title be given to a different park?

I've been wanting to discuss how Kings Dominon is going to do this next decade so I'm going to do it on here. Kings Dominion has a lot of competition with its main competitor being Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Like @Benjamin22 mentioned on the KD freespin thread, BGW is becoming more of a high thrill ride park with additions like Tempesto, Pantheon, and the rumored shuttle coaster. Sure they also got family friendly Invadr but they've still been heavy on coasters since 2012 with four (five if you include the rumored) Now look at Kings Dominion whose lost a great deal of coasters and attractions in the 2010s. I'd argue the 2010s were a great decade for BGW and a bad one for KD. Even without Busch Gardens, Kings Dominon also has to compete with other parks in the east coast- Six Flags, Hershey, etc. Cedar Fair doesn't seem to be a driving force in the east like other chains do. So what does the chain do with Kings Dominon? Go smaller! I think Kings Dominon could benefit from going smaller. I've never been to Kings Dominon but like @rhyano said, Intimidator 305 might not have been as much of a success as they wanted it to be. Fast forward to today where there's rumors of KD getting a clone of a wing coaster and a 4d freespin. I'd argue if KD went the Six Flags route and aquired some small clones from across the globe, they'd certainly be doing something different thn BGW. Imagine a more family friendly KD where their coasters are smaller and less expensive. I think if they got reliable clones from parks around the globe (parks most Americans have never been to) that would be an ace up their sleeve. Besides that, I think they need to keep focusing on the family aspect. Its a shame Paramount took out a lot of the park's charm by removing their train ride. I think having a train, along with other family type attractions, would help them out greatly. If Cedar Fair treats KD as a mid teir park that's not meant to have KI type attendance I think they'll be prosperous. Trying to take down BGW seems like a poor move when you can just change your target audience. Try to bring in more families and become THE Virginia family park while Busch Gardens continues to focus on high thrill rides.

I'm gonna continue this on the kd thread I created so this thread can be for wing/4d talk

I wonder what Cedar Fair thinks of this park. Its got a lot of competition with BGW not to mention the Six Flags parks only hours away. Do you try to compete with BGW or do you try to change your target customer base?

If one comes to Kentucky Kingdom I'll ride it. Its crazy to think that Kings Dominion might get CF's 1st 4d freespin

@Waltny I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking this. You can't just replace a defunct coaster but Vortex should be an exception. I'm sure @VortexBFForever would agree