brenthodge

People. Are. Idiots.

They raised it a few years ago thinking that would help LOL. There’s this ridiculous sense of entitlement. That’s why the zoo has replaced MANY TIMES the statue/planter at the front entrance. My kids used to try to climb on the fiberglass rhinos and I would loudly say “those aren’t for climbing on-some parents just don’t care that their kids are destroying things, but we aren’t those kind of people” SOMETIMES the other parents would actually get their kids down-rarely though.

Ugh. For the life of me I can’t figure out why since they had The Beast down an extended period of time they didn’t take that time to fix the queue there as well. The wall/gate to slaughter house NEEDS to be pushed further back. Fix the entry to actually relate to the ride -like you are entering through the abandoned office of the KingsMils Mining Concern. Do we REALLY need more stupid overpriced pop machines? Get FastLane out of the exit lane, and WHY??? Why can’t we after YEARS of neglect fix the sluce fountain? I know the lake will never come back, but making a small “pondless resivoir” that the two end chutes drain into and it recycled to the top would not be that hard! Heck, even having two great big galvanized tubs surrounded by big rocks would act as two collection ponds. While we are at it, bring back the mine car stream as well with a new, smaller pond or at least clean up the bushes that block the entrance to the mine shaft-you can’t even tell what it is. I’m impressed with the ride itself-unimpressed how other details weren’t addressed. Hoping in a few years for ITS 50th! My 7 year old as soon as he saw the picture in queue of the original with the lake asked “why doesn’t it look like THAT anymore?”

Ahhh that’s sad, but makes sense. I applaud them for doing “something” but the dinky plastic petunia tubs just look silly. Maybe they are coming back since they left the holes and just covered them with the little pots. On a related note of petunias, the park has definitely upped the landscaping budget thus year. Should look amazing in a week or two with the rain we’ve had and the amount of stuff they’ve planted. Long unloved mulch bad scare coming to life finally. Now if the yahoos just keep their annoying kids out of the planters we will be set!

Wonder why the impressive row of banners lining the front walkway have been replaced with dinky plastic flower barrels?! It was too good to last I guess.

Wait??? KK has Dollywood cinnamon bread? I’m torn between ready to drive down, and depressed the uniqueness is gone.

I hate when places *******ize their own event logo... badly

Agree. I feel like each area of the park should have at least one water feature. We lost the waterfall in Rivertown, the fountain in front of festhaus, the fountains in the coney midway and even the theatre used to have an iron 3 tier fountain in front of it. The elephant from Hanna Barbera wound up at Jungle Jim’s!

Even a coat of fresh concrete stain would’ve done wonders. Should’ve happened while the marble squares were out.

Hopefully all the surrounding pavers get a deep clean. They look pretty scrungy. Would also be nice if they used the lighting rigs to actually focus light these.

As much as I think the logo is a bit clunky and “inelegant” I like that they have been fully committed to it and really gone for the trim package.

Oh, I agree. They did do a solid B in the eyes of the general public. Folks like us are a more select breed that can appreciate what is there while still seeing the little things that could’ve been done to make it much stronger. It’s a fun game, but I don’t let it ruin my days there.

That’s the problem-1) it’s too convoluted to quickly communicate through visual clues and 2) the visual clues are all wrong. Is it a new building? Old building? The lights on the posts are weathered in the front of the queue, shiny and new in back. It was a nice effort, but it’s all over the place. And that’s BEFORE the Cracker Barrel lush Christmas decorations and a random black glitter disco Christmas tree show up! LOL.

Wonderful detail. Wish they could communicate more clearly the “story” of the ride. The queue, while overall well designed, suffers from looking WAY to new. I never understood why all the mulch and minimal planting when they could basically over planted and let “weeds” take over the landscaping. The wood needed to be aged WAY more and the mishmash of “abandoned in the 80s” yet modern security patrolling it is odd. The “security camera” coverage makes it NOT seem abandoned. I think that tv (which is hard to even see) isn’t even needed and the “radio communication” works best when it sounds like it’s coming from urban explorers on the property. It seems like there are about 3 stories all going on and even the “monster” could be more effective if we never really saw so fully what it was. Projection mapping of vines advancing in the first part of the brake run would’ve helped and WAY more growth all over the entrance to the shed (instead of faded hobby lobby plastic ivy) would make the ending stronger.

I wasn’t implying that things had to be kept “pristine” or never changed, more that with proper planning, a general theme can be maintained. Even Disney is (sadly) much less diligent about their careful sight line planning theses days, but at least at “ground level” there should be more thought out into things. I’m not asking them to play at the same level, but to at least respect some of the thought that went into the original development and design.

That’s not spot on. You can have both with sound planning and creativity. The first few years of Cedar Fair ownership they demonstrated none of that. They were more focused on cramming the biggest thing they could in spots irregards to theme or appropriateness (much like their predecessors) They’ve shown in later years with Mystic and Orion you can have both modern thrill ride and cohesive queue and sighting that integrate into an area. I don’t think this is just “an enthusiast looking for anything to complain about” that’s a lazy place to put the blame. I think a “once a year” attendee would want the best, most immersive experience possible, and a huge steel coaster craned into a “riverfront pioneer town” with a horrible queue and crappy carnival games in its helix is hardly attractive to a “once in a lifetime” guest.

Yeah. Paramount may have screwed up the story line and cohesiveness of the area, but Cedar Fair butchered it beyond belief when they crammed Diamondback in there with the laziest, poorest planning and site use possible. HATED those first few years of Cedar Fair ownership. They screwed up as much as they improved.

Wait… so there’s a paint shop where it can be taken… on site… to be repainted? So why did it get to shape it was in to begin with? I know the “guts” needed to be restored, but there seems to be a need for more on going preventative maintenance on these things. Even if there are a few days during the early season that things are off live or down for a few more weeks of refurbishment.

I don’t think you are being negative at all. My comment about mystic was more to the thought they put into the queue, the way the switchbacks are “hidden” behind the meandering path, and the way they preserved “some” of the old growth tree cover. If they used that idea of “reclaiming an old river side town” for industry and extreme adventure sports, then I’d buy it. I even like the idea of a single rail coaster replacing Vortex and using the idea they did at CaAdv with the dirt bike, explore the abandoned “beast woods”. Develop an underlying story of why this whole town was abandoned. Who found it and realized it would be a great outpost for camping, white water rafting, dirt bike tours and other outdoor adventure, and why being there has angered the “sleeping beast”. As it is, it’s a mess of stuff with vague “western” architecture that we aren’t sure if it’s new or old.

That’s not a valid justification. With good planning and good follow up, the look and feel COULD have been kept similar. Adding Diamond back did not make it mandatory to put crappy modern sunshades over a concrete wasteland with metal poles, the budget made them go that route. Mystic shows what can be done to add a major ride the right way. I’m not sure how it fits the overall “ story” of the area, but it integrates well into the area.

Why is that unpopular? various owners and decision makers have destroyed it over time. From paramounts “ride in a box” themed to a jungle… in the western frontier… in a very visible PDQ metal warehouse, to Cedar Fair’s faded glory ride themed to… sunshades? Repurposed buildings? Snakes? It’s a mess. It doesn’t know if it’s “old west historical period” with freshly painted buildings, old west abandoned with the rickety station of The Beast, old west eighties with Mystic Dance shed, or amusement park modern with the mess that is Diamondback queue.

Agree with the change at haunt. To not do it is super lazy considering it’s screens. The Christmas trim is also illogical. It’s beautiful swags with cotton, wheat and flickering lanterns… in an abandoned lumber mill. Where are the glitchy c9 bulbs and faded creepy blow molds I can give them a pass on the truck in that the whole “period” theming and story is long gone. Id be happy with a “reclaimed urban exporter, outdoor adventure outfitter theme that uses a vintage train to transport their white water raft riders to the head waters. Even age the train so it looks old instead of shiny and new. They just repainted the arcade building which further muddies the story. Is everything old and abandoned, period new, or just clueless theme park architecture?

Pretty sure it was open every night of Winterfest.

The whole space needs more color and detail. Hopefully some of that is coming back.