Carowinds Planet Snoopy Names Revealed

[Outdoor Man]

Ok- I have a sarcastic and a serious repsonse. yours to tell which is which.

I can only hope that they do as good with the retheme of SDatHC as the did with Tomb Raider / the Crypt. Just imagine the prospect of riding throgh former "Mystery Machine's" in empty dark rooms. And they could rename it- "the Building."

As far as dumb names... let's be honest- how good was "Scooby Zoom" or "Top Cats Taxi Jam" as ride names... really? I agree with the ascertian that Hanna Barbera could come back--- but when was the last time you saw ANY of those characters on TV? I love them- but they're lost. I don't like the idea of the Peanuts gang coming to the park (i think they're kind of lame)- but they do have TV specials at regular intervals: Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving (not necessarily in that order).

And, yes to the comment earlier of "Paramounts Cedar Point renaming Maverick- The Beast... always being Maverick"... yes- but in time, names become what they are. I love the name "Beastie" and hope it comes back- but before that it was called "the Scooby Doo." "Taxi Jam" is now Little Bills Coaster to my daughter. In the large scheme of things, the names don't really matter. If we get right down to it- Top Gun, er... Flight Deck seriously needs a new coat of paint- I would have preferred that over the off-season a few years ago they paint the supports black with red rails and rename it.... "The Bat." It went through the woods and mysteriously brushed up against something called "Son of Beast."

It's all about brand consistency. I wouldn't be shocked if sometime in the near future Boomerang Bay became Wild Water Kingdom. printing 10000 brochures with the same information on it costs much less than 10 different parks printing different collateral.

[CedarPointer]

The only really bad NU name was Fairly Odd Coaster, imo. I don't think BB will change, since, using the same logic, all CF parks could simply be renamed Cedar Fair. That'd save on printing, too. And some legacy CF parks have different names- Soak City, Knotts Soak City, Oceans of Fun, etc.

[Browntggrr]

Meanwhile, 2010 could potentially be the close of two $20,000,000+ rides from the last ten years (Son of Beast & The Crypt), a conversion from a current, well-loved kids channel to a "timeless" classic that children are seldom familiar with, and more than likely, one of those HIDEOUS Cedar Fair style maps with no foliage, cartoony rides, no themed area differentiation, and one big fat fence surrounding the whole park (see here). Aren't you pumped?! I am.

You can sit back and nit-pick everything to death, and it still wouldn't matter. Seriously, you are complaining about a map. Really? It's just a park map. I actually cannot recall the last time I said to my wife: "darn honey, that was one hell of a park map, we are going back tomorrow!"

Good riddance Nick. I wasn't happy with their introduction, but I am certainly happy they are leaving.

I would also like to see your facts that back up the statement that "Peanuts" are unfamiliar with children today. Seems to me that if "Peanuts" were so "unfamiliar" the seasonal specials would not be on primetime nationwide TV nor would their comics be ran in almost every newspaper nationwide.

And how can you possibly blame CF for SoB or Crypt? Both rides were fantastic failures long before CF signed a check to Paramount.

Ride names mean absolutely zip. Does the name change the ride? And if you really want to complain about ride names, start with Paramount's decisions to name rides off crappy movies (i.e. Drop Zone, Face Off, Italian Job, Days of Thunder) and destroying The Beast legacy with SoB and Tomb Raider with rides that are rather terrible.

I would rather hear you say that you just hate CF as opposed to coming up with weak arguements to bring up.

[bkroz]

I think Son of Beast is a whole different tamale. It surely was a high-rated coaster in the beginning of its life. And yes, Tomb Raider started to fall about during Paramount. I guess that gives Cedar Fair the right to write it off and continue its downfall. Under that banner of thought, Flight Deck WON'T be receiving a repaint. Why should it?! Cedar Fair, isn't the one who ruined it. In fact, they might as well TRY to rust it and make it worse, they can always say "Well Paramount started it by not taking care of it, so we figured we'd just take it the rest of the way."

I disagree with some of the things Cedar Fair has done, yes. I think we all got our hopes up back during the "Universal is looking at the Paramount Parks" days. I expected some out-of-this-world movie studio with a history of theme park successes to come in and fix Tomb Raider, repaint everything, re-brand things, build new E-Ticket rides... Instead, I got an Ohio-based amusement park operator whose only history in theme parks comprised of closing at least one classic dark ride at each park in its chain. So was I a bit let down? Yes. Have a had a bad taste in my mouth since? Yes. I didn't expect a chain of parks with themes arguably just under Universal Studios quality bought by an amusement park operator with exactly two dark rides in its arsensal (see, Disaster Transport & Calico Mine Ride). Or, more interestingly, to not have any INTEREST in dealing with the themes. Why buy theme parks if you only do amusement parks? (Granted, they have gotten better.)

And Peanuts are no more unfamiliar than Hanna-Barbera characters. Let's suspend reality for half a second and say that the Peanuts are on TV five times a year, and you're anywhere between 5 and 10 years old (some of Planet Snoopy's main audience). Would you willingly say, "Hey, I've never seen this cartoon before! I think I'll sit and watch it," while five channels away, the new-fangled fast-paced action-filled cartoons of Nickelodeon are familiar, and actually grab your interest? Or better yet, if your mom or dad puts on the Peanuts specials and says "Oh, I loved these when I was a kid!" Well now the kids are interested, right?

And about the map, I just think it shows another step towards "amusement" park. Kings Island is a theme park, and has been since it was created. Sometimes the themes lose, like Action Zone, but it still works as a "colorful, fast-paced backlot where an action movie might be filmed." It's that sort of fine detail that will slowly disappear with a new un-themed map. At Kings Dominion, there are no physical barriers between areas (like how we don't have more than a "blending" pathway between Coney Mall and Rivertown, Action Zone and Oktoberfest, etc). and without having those barriers on a map, the themeing is unknown to visitors and essentially blends into the backround, the park becoming a big amusement park.

And what in the world was wrong with names like Drop Zone and FACE/OFF? I think it's fair to say 70% of the world has never heard of either of those names as film titles (I know I hadn't). And Drop Zone: Stunt Tower admittedly works better than Drop Tower. And FACE/OFF is a cool play-on-words to describe the nature of seating on what is now Invertigo. I had never heard, and never expected to hear, even one person say "FACE/OFF? That's the name of a movie! How lame..." Most people didn't connect the movie title if they ever knew it to begin with.

And you're right, I bet I'm the only person who has some issues with Cedar Fair for things like Son of Beast and The Crypt. I bet no one places even a slight amount of blame on them for anything. And anyone who does clearly HATES Cedar Fair and is just using weak arguements to express it. It's not like most people on here don't gang up against Paramount, seemingly forgetting that without them we would have all of about five roller coasters, if not be in about the same boat as Australia's Wonderland.

[CincyMan98]

I agree with you on Face/Off and Drop Zone. Those are rides that can actually be a regular name instead of a movie title. Especially Drop Zone. It's really actually stupid if you think about it. Now names like Italian Job, yeah, you have to change, and Top Gun.

[Gordon Bombay]

I actually cannot recall the last time I said to my wife: "darn honey, that was one hell of a park map, we are going back tomorrow!"

Better get your priorities in order, park maps can make or break a park. Only true RIDE WARRIORS care about park maps.

[bkroz]

Okay, so maps don't matter. Well if you're an everyday customer, a member of the general public (which, by the way, most visitors to Kings Island are... Yes, it's true, most people do need a map to navigate, and use it to judge which attractions look the most thrilling, etc.) which of these maps would you prefer:

OR

Most people would find the second map more informative, viewer-friendly, and realistic. In much the same way, Cedar Fair's map style looks very cartoony and offers little real information. Notice all the big open spots, like by Backlot Stunt Coaster (if you can even find it in the mess of drawings... And even if you can find it, I wish you luck in figuring out it's a coaster!) and the fact that, apparently, Grizzly is sitting in a large, open field. It's all fun and games until Kings Island receives this map overlay and suddenly The Beast is sitting in a big field... Then we'll see if anyone's upset over first-timers getting the wrong impression.

The fact of the matter is, they print tens of thousands of maps because people use them. Even people who casually visit the park once every couple of years likely couldn't make their way from The Beast to Son of Beast without significant effort, and its for that reason that they pick up a map as they enter and consult it through the day. The Cedar Fair style maps are a jumble of information, over- (or under-) exaggerated rides and no differentiation between themed areas. It 100% for certain has an impact on the visitors to the park, perhaps more than any other single aspect besides rides and food.

[Diamondback96]

And apparently, Anaconda has a splashdown.

[Beast1979]

^Well, as a matter of fact....

It does. Sort of.

[bkroz]

Like all things in Cedar Fair parks that have water effects... Sort of. Hahaa.

[Outdoor Man]

next time the lottery makes it up to the $1 billion plus range, we can all buys some tickets, win, and right some wrongs.

[flightoffear1996]

That would be nicer if the water acutally went over the top of the roof.

[Diamondback96]

Like all things in Cedar Fair parks that have water effects... Sort of. Hahaa.

What about Diamondback?

[Beast Man]

While I do think some of the names are corny, you have to think about this, Peanuts does not have all the characters to go along with every ride in Nick U like Nickelodeon did. Nickelodeon had a ton of character names, that is why all the ride names were original. There are going to be some repeat names, actually a couple of repeat names. I for one am anxious though to see how the rides transform in the off-season.

Exactly, which leads many to wonder (myself included) why Peanuts were chosen for the Cedar Fair conversion. It was my understanding (and I have yet to be corrected) that the former Taft parks have the rights (not exclusively) to feature the Hanna-Barbera characters for their lifetime. It seems to make sense considering we saw the Jetsons, Flinstones, and Scooby Doo (outside of the dark ride) during Taft, Paramount, and Cedar Fair ownership (see, Howl-O-Fest). So I guess my question is, why not explore the cheap (see, free) options that exist within the parks? Cedar Fair used Paramount's season pass system, which effectively revolutionized theirs, so why not explore the OTHER things that come with the Paramount Parks?

1) Hanna-Barbera Land could make a return. We could debate for years, but certainly Hanna-Barbera characters are just as well known (probably moreso) than the Peanuts gang. People's argument for why Peanuts are still recognizable by kids is because Snoopy is on a Metlife commercial, and the old movies air throughout the year. Similarly, Flinstones, Jetsons, etc. are still all over in marketing, and arguably are far more modern and accessible. Besides, the Cedar Fair and Paramount Parks do not need to carry thorough themes - if they did, we would have Soak City, or Cedar Point would have Boomerang Bay, neither of which translates well between parks the same way many doubt Snoopy will translate to Paramount Parks.

2) Have an exclusively themed Scooby Doo area, perhaps named "Coolsville, U.S.A." or something. The variety of Scooby Doo villains alone would allow each and every tide to be uniquely themed. Change everything orange to purple and you'd have the perfect Scooby area - purple and green lamposts, "gothic" fence work, etc. and it could all be structured around an upgraded, improved Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle. With the variety of villains, each ride could be so very different, like they were under Nickelodeon, and capitalize on what has been a literally timeless show.

As far as I can see, these would BOTH be near cost-free change-overs and would retain the former Paramount Parks identities as "theme" parks vs. Cedar Fair's "amusement" parks. The two have different lineages, different customers, and different traditions - they do not need to be unified to such an extent. Let their individual legacies shine through, and Hanna-Barbera is the one to do it! Whether you like it or not, chances are the Cedar Fair won't own the park in 10 - 20 years. So here's hoping that the next owner realizes the potential of these already well-known figures and capitalizes on it!

Meanwhile, 2010 could potentially be the close of two $20,000,000+ rides from the last ten years (Son of Beast & The Crypt), a conversion from a current, well-loved kids channel to a "timeless" classic that children are seldom familiar with, and more than likely, one of those HIDEOUS Cedar Fair style maps with no foliage, cartoony rides, no themed area differentiation, and one big fat fence surrounding the whole park (see here). Aren't you pumped?! I am.

I recall reading somewhere that the Taft parks signed an agreement to use HB characters in 1983 that ran for 25 years.So that means that it expired in 2008.

[Diamondback96]

While I do think some of the names are corny, you have to think about this, Peanuts does not have all the characters to go along with every ride in Nick U like Nickelodeon did. Nickelodeon had a ton of character names, that is why all the ride names were original. There are going to be some repeat names, actually a couple of repeat names. I for one am anxious though to see how the rides transform in the off-season.

Exactly, which leads many to wonder (myself included) why Peanuts were chosen for the Cedar Fair conversion. It was my understanding (and I have yet to be corrected) that the former Taft parks have the rights (not exclusively) to feature the Hanna-Barbera characters for their lifetime. It seems to make sense considering we saw the Jetsons, Flinstones, and Scooby Doo (outside of the dark ride) during Taft, Paramount, and Cedar Fair ownership (see, Howl-O-Fest). So I guess my question is, why not explore the cheap (see, free) options that exist within the parks? Cedar Fair used Paramount's season pass system, which effectively revolutionized theirs, so why not explore the OTHER things that come with the Paramount Parks?

1) Hanna-Barbera Land could make a return. We could debate for years, but certainly Hanna-Barbera characters are just as well known (probably moreso) than the Peanuts gang. People's argument for why Peanuts are still recognizable by kids is because Snoopy is on a Metlife commercial, and the old movies air throughout the year. Similarly, Flinstones, Jetsons, etc. are still all over in marketing, and arguably are far more modern and accessible. Besides, the Cedar Fair and Paramount Parks do not need to carry thorough themes - if they did, we would have Soak City, or Cedar Point would have Boomerang Bay, neither of which translates well between parks the same way many doubt Snoopy will translate to Paramount Parks.

2) Have an exclusively themed Scooby Doo area, perhaps named "Coolsville, U.S.A." or something. The variety of Scooby Doo villains alone would allow each and every tide to be uniquely themed. Change everything orange to purple and you'd have the perfect Scooby area - purple and green lamposts, "gothic" fence work, etc. and it could all be structured around an upgraded, improved Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle. With the variety of villains, each ride could be so very different, like they were under Nickelodeon, and capitalize on what has been a literally timeless show.

As far as I can see, these would BOTH be near cost-free change-overs and would retain the former Paramount Parks identities as "theme" parks vs. Cedar Fair's "amusement" parks. The two have different lineages, different customers, and different traditions - they do not need to be unified to such an extent. Let their individual legacies shine through, and Hanna-Barbera is the one to do it! Whether you like it or not, chances are the Cedar Fair won't own the park in 10 - 20 years. So here's hoping that the next owner realizes the potential of these already well-known figures and capitalizes on it!

Meanwhile, 2010 could potentially be the close of two $20,000,000+ rides from the last ten years (Son of Beast & The Crypt), a conversion from a current, well-loved kids channel to a "timeless" classic that children are seldom familiar with, and more than likely, one of those HIDEOUS Cedar Fair style maps with no foliage, cartoony rides, no themed area differentiation, and one big fat fence surrounding the whole park (see here). Aren't you pumped?! I am.

I recall reading somewhere that the Taft parks signed an agreement to use HB characters in 1983 that ran for 25 years.So that means that it expired in 2008.

I guess we need Terpy to tell us what it is.

[bkroz]

Either way, I doubt there are any other theme park operators clawing at the chance to have Hanna-Barbera characters. A few scattered parks around the world use them, so it must not be an expensive thing to do. And even if it did expire in 2008, they certainly used the characters this year at Howl-O-Fest.

[Beast Man]

Oops,I was off a year.It expires this year. http://www.KICentral.com/history/development.php

[khaoskat]

The only really bad NU name was Fairly Odd Coaster, imo. I don't think BB will change, since, using the same logic, all CF parks could simply be renamed Cedar Fair. That'd save on printing, too. And some legacy CF parks have different names- Soak City, Knotts Soak City, Oceans of Fun, etc.

Ocean's Of Fun was not a property originally owned by Cedar Fair. OOF was originally owned by Lamar Hunt, who also owned Worlds of Fun and the Kansas City Chiefs. They also had snoopy theming in the parking well prior to the park changing hands. I know they had it as far back as 1992, when it was still owned by Lamar Hunt.

I know this all from my personal knowledge of having been an employee for several years at both WOF and OOF and having lived in Kansas City.

[CedarPointer]

Ocean's Of Fun was not a property originally owned by Cedar Fair. OOF was originally owned by Lamar Hunt, who also owned Worlds of Fun and the Kansas City Chiefs. They also had snoopy theming in the parking well prior to the park changing hands. I know they had it as far back as 1992, when it was still owned by Lamar Hunt.

I know this all from my personal knowledge of having been an employee for several years at both WOF and OOF and having lived in Kansas City.

They've owned it since 1995, so I was referring to it being a "legacy CF park" because it was pre-Paramount purchase, and they owned it for almost 11 years before the Paramount purchase.

[Browntggrr]

And Peanuts are no more unfamiliar than Hanna-Barbera characters. Let's suspend reality for half a second and say that the Peanuts are on TV five times a year, and you're anywhere between 5 and 10 years old (some of Planet Snoopy's main audience). Would you willingly say, "Hey, I've never seen this cartoon before! I think I'll sit and watch it," while five channels away, the new-fangled fast-paced action-filled cartoons of Nickelodeon are familiar, and actually grab your interest? Or better yet, if your mom or dad puts on the Peanuts specials and says "Oh, I loved these when I was a kid!" Well now the kids are interested, right?

Exactly. When the Peanut specials are on, Nick gets turned off, and that is my kids' choice. We also have the privledge of having paid TV for Nick, many families do not, so the luster of Peanuts has not worn off as opposed to Sponge Bob which they can see at any time.

Even more satisfying is now that my daughter is getting old enough to read on her own, she opens the newspaper to the comics and reads Peanuts (But her favorite is Baby Blues).

I would love to see HB come back to KI, but since CF has Peanuts, that will probably never happen.

Why buy theme parks if you only do amusement parks? (Granted, they have gotten better.)

Good question. Why did Paramount purchase KI and destroy the themeing KECO laid out? Rivertown? Gone. Octoberfest? Gone. International Street? Gone. Hanna-Barberaland? Gone. Adventure Village? Gone. I really did not expect CF to bring back those themed areas, they are not in the theme park business. In the video: "Riding History to the Limits" http://www.cetconnect.org/KingsIsland/ you can clearly see the themed areas that were lost during the Paramount years. It is quite apparent that Paramount was more intrested in promoting their own brand as opposed to what the park patrons wanted.

It's not like most people on here don't gang up against Paramount, seemingly forgetting that without them we would have all of about five roller coasters, if not be in about the same boat as Australia's Wonderland.

With the exception of FoF, you are happy with the 3 other coasters Paramount installed in 13 years? I would rather have FH & DB in the whole 3 full years CF has owned it.

[CedarPointer]

Good question. Why did Paramount purchase KI and destroy the themeing KECO laid out? Rivertown? Gone. Octoberfest? Gone. International Street? Gone. Hanna-Barberaland? Gone. Adventure Village? Gone. I really did not expect CF to bring back those themed areas, they are not in the theme park business. In the video: "Riding History to the Limits" http://www.cetconnect.org/KingsIsland/ you can clearly see the themed areas that were lost during the Paramount years. It is quite apparent that Paramount was more intrested in promoting their own brand as opposed to what the park patrons wanted.

Paramount was getting better in their later years (TRTR, IJ:ST). Granted, they didn't follow the KECO themed areas very well (why on earth was TRTR in Rivertown?!), but they did at least try. CF does seem to be trying, though, and that's a good thing.

[KI Kevin]

I had never heard, and never expected to hear, even one person say "FACE/OFF? That's the name of a movie! How lame..." Most people didn't connect the movie title if they ever knew it to begin with.

Oh, that's odd, because I seem to recall a giant banner for the movie FACE OFF on the building attached to the Paramount Theater right next to the ride.

[Coaster Kid]

Nick-O-Round - Character Carousel

What?! Are you kidding me? And while it is likely that Avatar will be GR8 SK8, theirs is a magic carpet, not a Disk'O.

Maybe Avatar will be a conoe.

[RingMaster]

I had never heard, and never expected to hear, even one person say "FACE/OFF? That's the name of a movie! How lame..." Most people didn't connect the movie title if they ever knew it to begin with.

Oh, that's odd, because I seem to recall a giant banner for the movie FACE OFF on the building attached to the Paramount Theater right next to the ride.

If the posters from Face/Off and Drop Zone weren't in front of or next to their prospective rides, no one would've ever assumed they were based off a Paramount flick.

[faeriewench]

No, I'm referring to Balloon Race, Lolli Swing, Tilt A Whirl, Camp Bus, Head Over Heels, Krazy Cars, Pony Promenade, Road Rally, and other rides in Snoopy areas at CF parks that do not have Peanuts names.

Well isn't that Camp Snoopy? CP has different kinds of kiddie places, I don't think other CF parks have those generic names......do they?

Knott's Berry Farm home of the original Camp Snoopy lol