Joshua

I'm curious, why did they spare the one house and bother building the facade? Why not just demolish it?

I guess this is the movie fan in me, but I just imagined this as the old RKO Pictures logo, but with the radio Eiffel Tower transmitting those beeping radio signals.

I hope the tradition continues. If not Phantom Theater, at the very least, it'd be cool to see Enchanted Voyage back from the dead.

Agreed. I've seen a bit of criticism towards "gimmicky" coasters lately. But by contrast, it seems like some criticize MT for not being gimmicky enough. Not passing judgment. I just find it interesting. Should each new coasters feels a step above the last? My personal thoughts are no, but I'd be interested in other's thoughts. As for the topic, I wouldn't mind a wing coaster.

Honestly, my only problems with the parking gates have come from other drivers. People drive like headless chickens, aimless, but with delusions of importance. There are things the park could do to make it better, but there will always be intermittent spouts of confusion at those gates because the world will never be in short supply of passive aggressive drivers ready to nearly sideswipe your car and blame it on you.

You could always wear suspenders!

It was amazing that many of us got to see Scooby Doo and Spongebob in the park, and those are memories that'll never go away, but we also need to remember why those characters were there in the first place, through Taft Broadcasting and Viacom's stakes in the parks. Though the park -- and likewise, the HB characters -- have changed owners since the 1970s, KI was able to retain the licenses to utilize an ever-dwindling number of the characters for a considerable amount of time, even throughout Paramount's tenure. Through the parks, Taft and Viacom were given an additional platform to promote their IPs. It wasn't just about the GP's familiarity with the characters, it was also about strengthening that familiarity. The park promoted the IP and, in a few cases, namely The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family, IP promoted the park. (These shows aired on WKRC, a Taft channel, an ABC affiliate at the time.) Had these media-based corporations not had ownership of the park, I'm not quite certain we would've had any cartoon (or picture book) character as famous as Fred Flintstone, Scooby Doo, and most certainly not Reptar nor Tommy and Chucky. The licenses to these IPs, especially when the Smurfs and the Nicktoon characters were in their prime, would be too costly. We might've ended up with picture book characters, like Berenstain Bear Country at Cedar Point, or maybe the park would've created its own generic characters for its kiddy land. (Though this conjecture is moot as KI as we know it might not have existed without Taft Broadcasting.) Snoopy may not be as popular now as some of the aforementioned characters were when they walked the park, but he's a worthy successor. His holiday specials are timeless, he's been a beloved character for decades, and he's a wholesome character that makes this new, strange place accessible for those young, future thrillseekers. It also helps keep The Peanuts alive. Kids may not know them as well because they don't currently have a television series on the air, but they're getting to know them through the park, the way many of us got to know Scooby, Fred, and Jabberjaw. Yes, Jabberjaw. Many seem to forget that a) many of the HB characters that inhabited the park in the late 80s/early 90s were unfamiliar to children at the time b) many of us discovered a lot of these characters by coming to the park and c) it wasn't these characters that drew us to the park in the first place. As children, our early experiences with the park come when our parents take us there. Even as we get older and we start asking to go, it's probably the rides, not the characters, that draw us there. By the time we outgrow the characters, we outgrow that area of the park.

I think there needs to be a class taught in school that illustrates how to determine validity won the internet. Lesson #1 If the video has a disclaimer, read it. Lesson #2 If you see it on a fan page, but not on KI's official page, it is not legit.

I don't know. The Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera seemed to do it well and there have been various TV/movie elements in the park since Day One. (The park, after all, was originally owned by Taft Broadcasting.) Also, a lot of ride-theming is derivative of movie cliches. Both Adventure Express and Mystic Timbers are big examples of this. And this goes double for Haunt, even down to KI having its very own version of The Cryptkeeper. I mean, that's why we go to things like Land of Illusion, Haunt, and Halloween Horror Nights. Some might argue it's to "be scared," but the experience of such is rooted in what know, love, or hate about scary movies and the mazes are designed as such. It being done well is what really makes the difference. Had Italian Job been in Action Zone, there'd be less complaints about its theming. Personally, it's fun having a ride designed after movie car chases. I can understand complaints about the ride itself being lackluster -- it is a little short and underwhelming -- but not its theming.

Right 1. The Music: There was something magical about walking into the park as it opened and hearing the suite from Marc Shaiman's Addams Family score. 2. The Outer Limits: Flight of Fear: While the queue video hasn't aged well, the theming perfectly encapsulated the 90s UFO/X-Files/Outer Limits vibe. 3. The Props/Posters: I really loved seeing the Top Gun props, movie posters, and even Wayne's World's Mirthmobile throughout the park. 4. Green Slime Zone: This area was a lifesaver on hot humid days. Being able to walk right through a sprinkler system without really having to wait through line? They should've kept this. 5. Top Gun: Sure, technically it wasn't initially planned as such, but Top Gun was (is) a great ride. Not only that, but the film was a great selection as it was a popular film that had both brand recognition and with a story about fighter pilots training to be the best, it had ride potential. The theming of the queue line, before it was bypassed, was incredible, arguably immersive. When you finally bucked yourself in, it really felt like you were about to head right into the Danger Zone. 6. Tomb Raider: I never rode the ride as anything but The Crypt, which was underwhelming, but the more I hear about the ride's original theming, the more I wish I did. Wrong 1. Getting Rid of Great Rides: R.I.P Kenton's Cove 2. Not the Best Movies for Rides: While Top Gun, Flight of Fear, the short-lived Tomb Raider, and arguably The Italian Job were great with the theming, others felt lazy. Drop Zone and Face/Off were both bargain bin titles when they were christened as rides. Drop Zone was a downright, godawful movie with an enjoyable Hans Zimmer score (later used for The Mask of Zorro and Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl trailers) and one incredible, heroic moment that doesn't involve the film's star, Wesley Snipes, but a secondary, daredevil character named Swoop. Snipes feels sidelined, non-participatory throughout the majority of the film. Face/Off is notorious for its cheese factor with its two hammy leads doing impressions of each other and admittedly, it is a guilty pleasure for me. But it's obvious they just picked films that sound like ride titles, placed them on appropriate rides, and never bothered with the actual theming. Meanwhile, brands such as Mission: Impossible, Jack Ryan, and Star Trek were left in the dust. 3. The Theming: They could've done more, a lot more. Sure, there are a few decent examples, but the point of a movie studio buying/making a park is the immersive experience that comes from riding the movies. But a lot of times, it was just movie titles slapped on rides. They even re-named Amazon Falls after Congo, but never bothered to justify it with additional theming. 4. The Theming, Part II: This is arguably the root of the problem with Paramount Parks. As Disney and Universal have shown, there's a lot of value in the "riding the movies" concept. However, as Paramount Parks prove, it's better that a studio build and tailor-make a park for its own purpose than to purchase another park and slap branding all over it. The risk is, even if they go all out, which you want them to go all out, when the branding has to go, so does the value of the rides. Tomb Raider is the most unfortunate example of this. It was arguably the most immersive Paramount ride, but when they took out the theming, it killed the ride. 5. The Placement of Rides: Paramount Parks sure had a knack for picking the worst spots for a future defunct ride to rot in plain sight. The biggest culprits are Italian Job and Tomb Raider, both of which belong in Action Zone. But another one is Action Theater, an ugly, barely used building that sits smack in the middle of The Racer. It's just one of the weirdest spots to put a ride. 6. Son of Beast: All I will say is the more I learn about this ride, the more I'm amazed there weren't more accidents on it. 7. They Didn't Have Enough Fun With It: There was so much more that could've been done had they been more persistent with it. Imagine a ride based off the hilarious main title scenes from The Naked Gun films, where you're placed in a vehicle with a siren and taken from one strange environment to the next. Or why not a ride based on the Airplane films? Had Viacom not purchased Paramount a year after they purchased the parks, things might've been different. Viacom didn't really have much of an interest in the parks beyond using them to springboard brand recognition and, on occasion, using them to advertise upcoming movies. They never seemed to have fun with the concept of owning amusement parks. And it showed.

He's not wrong. It's filled with old Nokias and Motorola flip phones older than ten years.

Maybe they'll just turn it into a Denny's.

I just found there's wine at the Bier Garten. I rarely stop there, so I never knew. But that isn't the Wine & Cheese Salad bar the tweet refers to, is it? EDIT: Scratch that, I missed upstop's post.

Which gift shop was used for the Skyride? And where can I find this Wine and Cheese Salad Bar? Is that something that's no longer with the park or have I been oblivious to my chances to sip a fine red wine before riding Mystic Timbers this entire time? *raises glass to the ride photo*

"Maybe you should tell your friend Chad to find some new coasters he can actually find parts for when it breaks down all year???" This is a great example of how it doesn't require any thought nor education on a subject to have an opinion about it. Has this person ever posted here?

The only time I genuinely felt any disdain towards Fast Lane was on Banshee's opening day, when it was treated as "Walk Right On" pass.

My only problem with the layout I am seeing is that it's literally a giga plopped into Firehawk's space. That doesn't leave a lot of room for expansion in the X-Base area. I think the area is a great place for a new coaster, but I don't want X-Base to continue on with just a two ride layout .

I drink, but I've never understood the need to grab a beer at, well, just about anywhere. The thought of getting drunk and going on Banshee doesn't appeal to me, but it's the cost that is the biggest detractor. Seriously, if you pay the price of just one, you're well on your way to paying the price of a six pack at the store. But for some reason, people go for it. In fact, it's now a go-to business model for less suspecting establishments. Want to see a movie? Have a $6 beer? Shopping at Jungle Jims, why not get hammered? Even some Starbucks have beer. It works. I bet if Toys R' Us had offered craft beer, they'd still be around. It seems like the only way get more foot traffic is to offer people suds.

They could use the Outpost 5 concept for another ride, but Son of Beast is never coming back. I suppose they could do another Beast-themed coaster (Bride of Beast?), but the park just installed a new wooden rollercoaster last year.

I loved it. Let there be flames!* *Designated, controlled, safe flames. Let's not burn down my home park.

I just now noticed the thread title spells the Addams' name wrong.

I would have been less happy about that. I remember having to sit there while friends watch TRL and The Real World. It just felt soulless. But I did like Beavis & Butthead. I feel like they just picked movie titles that sounded like ride names. Drop Zone and Face/Off are the worst examples. The latter had its fans, but very ever cared about the former. I understand the use of The Italian Job and Tomb Raider, because they were recent properties, but neither proved to have longevity. (I seem to recall there ideas for an Italian Job sequel that never materialized.) They really should have went with the tried and true franchises.

So, there were, in deed, ideas for an Addams Family coaster, a Mission: Impossible coaster, and a Star Trek attraction? Apart from removing classic rides, a big stick in the mud for me with Paramount Parks were the unimpressive movies they picked to theme rides after, i.e. Drop Zone and Face/Off. At the time, this would have made me happy, not knowing the park's future, of course.

I will not miss it the way I do a number of former rides. The last time I rode it, I found it rather uncomfortable. It's also one of those rides I have little interest in waiting for. On days when I can walk right onto Mystic Timbers, Diamondback, The Beast, The Racer, and Banshee, why bother waiting for Firehawk or BLSC? Granted, I never thought it would go so soon. Next year, I plan to give more attention to the rides I always take for granted, a big one being FOF.

So, in theory, there was to be a Mission: Impossible themed ride? Interesting!