fryoj

While busses are almost certainly the route they will go initially, they do have the disadvantage of having to travel down either Universal or Kirkman on public roads, fighting traffic, going past things that Universal doesn't own, etc. I think long term, some sort of monorail would be a preferred solution. Preferably something like the Hogwarts Express where you are immersed in the trip and they can maintain some sort of illusion that you are in one big resort like Disney. Cost and getting permits/ROW will be the things that may keep it from ever happening.

Universal Orlando is only 8 miles from the airport. It's likely that the height restriction is imposed by the FAA and not local government. This skycoaster's location is the same distance to the airport, if not closer, than universal, so thats not it. My understanding is that Universal's height limit is written into the zoning they agreed to when building the resort originally. Something to do with proximity to residential neighborhoods I believe.

I like the idea of moving the gate out. It opens up that area quite a bit. Makes an alternate path into Action Zone as well. You'd have to account for the loss of two merch locations, a bathroom, lockers and the season pass processing though. Not sure what all to the right of the current building is necessary, but there is quite a bit of room there that gets opened up.

Thats one of the grey areas, but Uni put a stop to it. The Guardians are getting incorporated into the Avengers movies, and Universal owns the theme park rights to the Avengers family. I'm pretty sure hearing that the screening was short lived as Universal called foul. Thats why you didn't see any Ant-man or Avengers 2 stuff in Disney World. Marvel really went out of their way to bail themselves out before selling to Disney, but part of that was just bad deals. The Uni deal for theme park rights. The Spiderman movie rights with Sony, The X-men/fantastic 4 rights with Fox. The fox deal is very contentious. But all of those deals have performance clauses. As long as the contracted party lives up to the standards of the contract, they keep the rights. Or, as Terp pointed out, Disney can try to buy their way out, but I'm not sure if there is an amount of money that would make Comcast agree to terms with Disney. Especially as hot as a property as Marvel is.

The contract between Marvel and Universal is on the internet for all to see. The use of Marvel characters, what they have to pay, which character families it covers, and the terms are all in black and white. Universal has exclusive rights as long as the want them and don't damage the brand. Marvel cannot rescind those rights. The rights are so ironclad that when Disney wrapped a monorail train as an Avengers advertisement a few years ago, they couldn't run that train on the Epcot loop as it goes through a park. They can't even advertise the Marvel movies in the Disney parks. If there was any chance that Disney could pull those rights, we would not be seeing a complete rebuilding of the Hulk.

While I have no insider info, the fact that we haven't seen any track at the B&M fab shop gives some credibility to the Screamscape rumor. It's a safe bet that they want this ride back up by the time the Summer crowds start hitting in May. Valravn and Mako track is all we are seeing right now. Valravn should open with the park in Spring and Mako is just listed as a Summer opening. If Hulk were to be opening in May, shouldn't there be track on the ground already? While that's not hard evidence by any means, it sure seems odd and reinforces the feeling I have been having about how they are going about this project. Edit - Now this surfaces: http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201510/4775/ That's a fairly reliable source. And it also says a nearly year long rebuild, which, if true, squashes the lack of track issue.

I'd say since Kumba is older than Hulk or Dragons, (and operates year round as well) there is a lot more to this than age or service life.

Now? http://www.italintl.com/detail_page.php?record_id=1945

I don't see this as anything more than a wide B&M track with square rails.

Well you are disregarding Well CF has other parks, but they don't seem to work on the same schedule as their "Big 5". After thinking about it, I'm not sure I should have included KD in my account. CP, CW, KI, KBF are there biggest attendance parks(If you believe TEA), and its clear they want to move Carowinds up the charts as well. CW's lineup is sorely missing a decent ride with inversions... Currently have an Arrow Looper, Vekoma Boomerang, Vekoma SLC and a Zamperla Volare... Using that logic, the only decent ride at KI with inversions is Banshee. Sure, if you pretend FoF, Firehawk and Vortex don't exist... Well I try to pretend that FoF doesn't exist... but Firehawk and Time warp are similar. Dragon Fire and Vortex are similar. You said those rides aren't decent at CW, so that means they aren't decent at KI right?...

Well CF has other parks, but they don't seem to work on the same schedule as their "Big 5". After thinking about it, I'm not sure I should have included KD in my account. CP, CW, KI, KBF are there biggest attendance parks(If you believe TEA), and its clear they want to move Carowinds up the charts as well. CW's lineup is sorely missing a decent ride with inversions... Currently have an Arrow Looper, Vekoma Boomerang, Vekoma SLC and a Zamperla Volare... Using that logic, the only decent ride at KI with inversions is Banshee.

I think KI gets a coaster in 2018 at the earliest, but possibly/probably 2019. CF tends to be only doing one coaster per year. CP gets 2016. Both KD and CW have had longer stretches than KI since their last coaster. If thats the standard that CF uses, both should get one before KI. The drop coaster addition to CP out of cycle suggests that CF probably looks more at "holes in the lineup" and other factors than just who got one last. In that case, CW has a fairly well rounded lineup and CF may not see a need to put another there soon. I also don't know how/if Knott's factors into things. Either way, I think we see either a flat or dark ride in 17, the other in 18, and finally the giga in 19.

I think they'll go taller than Fury, just so they have the "tallest giga" title to advertise with. No practical reason not to, unless where they want it has space limitations(yes I know they have plenty of room, but if they want it in a specific spot, it may only be able to be so big).

Great post. I think what many are seeing when we see comments like "it's OK", "I'm underwhelmed", or "I wish they would have pushed the envelope" are comments that are coming from a very vocal minority. That minority is only impressed when a coaster announcement is: a new RMC a new Intamin anything other than a B&M There's a reason that Cedar Fair continues to order from B&M. The park representatives I've had a chance to talk to all LOVE B&M coasters. Park maintenance personnel LOVE B&M coasters. The general public LOVE B&M coasters, and Valravn is going to be no different. Parks know exactly what they're getting when they order a B&M coaster - a reliable, high-capacity ride that the public will like. That "we know what we're getting with a B&M coaster" mentality frustrates certain enthusiasts to no end. This is exactly the reason why parks don't listen to the vocal minority - and rightly so - because some folks are just not in tune with reality. I disagree. I'm a big fan of B&Ms. There are very few that I've rode that I don't like. If I owned a park, and had to buy a coaster and had to factor everything in, it would be a B&M. But this ride is very meh to me. I can't get past the fact it is Drop, Immelman, Midcourse Brake. For the plot of land they used, maybe thats all they really had the room to do. I'll still ride it given the opportunity, and probably will enjoy it, but I'd be shocked if I want to ride it more than once in a visit. But as far as Cedar Point and management goes, if they really want to know what the GP wants(ie the vocal majority), they'd look at their three most popular rides. Dragster, MF, and Maverick. But we don't want to mix reality into a good elitist argument...

Look at it this way. If you are only going to build so many coaters a year, and you have a company willing to pay over your asking price to make sure they get those coasters, why not do it? It takes all of the uncertainty out of your business. You know for the length of that contract, you are getting paid well and don't have to hunt for business.

Way too easy to get injured on these for anything like this to ever happen.

Yes but this board polices itself as though its an extension of Cedar Fair, and anything prohibited by them is prohibited here.

Frisch's chili is the best there is imo. Other than that.... meh.

They have never checked the identity of the passholder at the tolls any time I went through. Last year, when I hadn't processed my pass yet, my nephew got out of the car behind me, walked up, handed me his pass in clear sight of the attendant and there were no problems. Now that I say they, they will put new policies in place next year. lol

Yeah, this could very well be foreshadowing KI's 2017 addition. I could see one of these flyers in Coney Mall. Now, I'm not sure if they'd put a flying ride where you control your own car on the same spot that someone died on a flying ride where you control your own car or not, but that would be a good location.

If the train is indeed leaving for a Soak City expansion, I think the green area below is the most likely expansion slot. The red is there too if they are being really ambitious. Either way, with the train gone, I thing the blue box ends up being a new decorative entrance from the park. ki by fsjking, on Flickr

I don't know that Racer is still safe. Thunder Road was torn out at Carowinds to make room for a water park expansion. We could be in for a real big water park next year O.O That being said, this one is a surprise to me. I think we knew a water park expansion was coming, but it's not exactly common for Cedar Fair to do the same improvement at different parks in the same year(other than Widseeker). With Carowinds getting a water park upgrade, I just assumed KI would not get one this year. But its a needed addition, so....

Probably invitation only. Maybe at the top of the Eiffel Tower or some other small space. Or backstage somewhere they don't want guests.

The location for the announcement is in a place that can only be found by those who know where it's at. That confirms that The Racer is being torn down. They won't even tell Don where its at for fear of reprisals.

The amount of logic in this thread makes me concerned about the future of mankind.