I miss Paramount

[Whatever6750]

I used to have a pretty bad opinion of what paramount did with the park. I never liked the movie theming and thought of it as sort of cheap and a gimmick. I could never get over the fact that any of the rides really had nothing to do with whatever name they slapped on the ride. Plus all is well and good at first when a ride is new and the movie is new and they want to promote both but what about when people stop careing about the movie. Or realize its a crappy movie. For example drop zone. Horrible movie, has nothing to do with the ride at the park so whats the point? Why have this ride named after some mediocre movie that people are just going to forget about. I have to admit by itself drop zone isent a bad name for the attraction but just using that as an example for any of the other movie named rides.

Why not just think of a real name for the attractions insted of ripping it off some movie? Theres no question why really though, paramount was just trying to promote its movies. Movie names seamed to take away from a rides real character. So really my main problem with what paramount ever did with the park was name rides after movies. I will always think of that as just idiotic, and cheesy.

So when Cedar Fair bought up paramount parks I thought it was going to be great. Although I wasn't around (at least not old enough) pre-paramount I was hoping the look (theming) and feel of things would go back to how they where before paramount. The cutting of all the ties to stupid movies and give rides there own real name. Now though I'm kind of torn. I feel like now something is just missing. Its hard to explain. The atmosphere and energy just doesn't seam the same. Paramount seamed to be much more enthusiastic about its park, like the company really loved its park, and it seamed and appeared as a funner place.

So in my case its kind of complicated. Theres pros and cons to each. Would I take paramount over Cedar Fair thease days? I don't know really its a hard question to answer. We will never know what paramount might have done if they still owned the park. You also cant forget economic changes as a factor to what any owner would do with the park vs say the 90's. Cedar Fair has defiantly done much good to the park but I fear it will always be second to Cedar Point. Where as with paramount parks, Kings Island was pretty much there flagship park.

All in all I think Kings Island is doing alright. I feel like the park is still in a transitioning period where it really has to find itself and its character again. I just hope the park gets the attention it deserves from all the higher ups.

Sorry if this is kind of hard to read or understand. Its 4am and I can't sleep so its not the best.

EDIT: Oh and I will never forgive paramount for taking out antique cars for that gaudy thing there now. I might be a little bias though as its pretty much the oldest thing I can remember ridding at Kings Island.

EDIT2: I know a lot of people love the paramount movie theming. I would agree initially the movie theming helped with the excitement about a new ride. But just think of how those movie themes will age.

If paramount still owned the park and the movie theming was all still in place I feel like they would have had to start retiring some of the movie names and theming because they would start feeling dated. Or younger kids would have no idea what the movie was, never seen it etc. It wouldn't matter as much if the movie the ride was themed after was a timeless classic but I don't really have that opinion about any of the movies used for theming in the paramount days.

[raptor]

Personally all the kids in our family like dogs better than swiss cheese with eyeballs, but everyone's different I suppose

[bkroz]

They need to put the water effect back on BLSC . whats the chances of that.... soon there will be no fire

Again, do a short search and you'll see that the water was removed for a very good reason. The water was damaging to the track - Premier Rides (the coaster's manufacturer) apparently use a different method of sealing their steel than B&M, and the track on The Italian Job was beginning to corrode and rust thanks to the exposure to water.

Also, just this year, Cedar Fair fixed all three fire elements, added new LED lights to the helicopter scene, and added a brand-new musical score to that portion of the ride. I'm not sure what else they can do to show that they're invested in it. If you require water effects, then you can have them, but the ride will be straight up demolished in 3 - 5 years thanks to the consequences of having that water. Sound good? Didn't think so.

P.S. I, too, liked when I could "ride my favorite movies." But don't kid yourself into thinking it was some tremendous experience... Flight Deck is exactly the same as Top Gun was in its final years. FACE/OFF, for better or worse, is identical to Invertigo. Drop Tower is only a bit different from Drop Zone. The only rides impacted were Backlot Stunt Coaster (which still resembles the finale of the Italian Job movie to an incredible degree) and The Crypt (which was the only real loss when you think about it). I would also argue that some guests (maybe even many) didn't know Drop Zone or FACE/OFF were movies at all. I, for one, just thought they were great names. I don't think Paramount's intention was to reference the movies so much as it was to use a name they had in their catalogue that fit well. A bit of both, probably, but not overkill.

[Cody]

eh in 2005(when CBS division took ownership of the parks) The park was indeed in trouble. I'm Glad CF got the parks as soon as they could. CBS in my opinion(and many others) had no clue what to do with these amazing parks. I do miss the old paramount days 1994-2004

[KingCobra]

While I do agree with many of these points, I thought of something interesting with the Peanuts debate. Also remember what the original theme was of ride now called Boo Blasters on Boo Hill? Scooby Doo, which debuted in the early 70's I believe. While there are still reruns of Scooby on television today, so too can you see the Peanuts specials every major holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Valentines Day). My point being, that both Paramount and Cedar Fair have used cartoons that debuted many years ago. But I have seen children of all ages who love Scooby, Snoopy, any one in one of the larger than life characters. Everything has its pluses and minuses, just be glad that we do have an amazing place like Kings Island, and that it is still around after all these years and management.

[standbyme]

Just like Avatar...I can find good things & bad things with each of the park's owners. I could easily list 5 things that CF has done that I don't like...but the same goes for Paramount.

[medford]

I have a different view on the snoopy topic. I have a 3 year old. We typically go to the park on weekday nights, about once a week after work. He went during the day 1x early in the year w/ my wife when her neice was in town for the week, and we went as a family w/ other members of the family who went for a full day late in the season. As far as I know, the only times he's seen the snoopy characters were his two "full" day visits as they're not out in the heat of the afternoon. The 1 time I was with him, he was very excited to see snoopy and have a picture with him. He went and danced with linus in front of the Eiffel Tower mid afternoon shortly before leaving.

anyhoo, if we drive around town and see a random picture of mickey mouse, he automatically says "look dad, mickey mouse clubhouse". Obviously Cedar Fair can't use Mickey, but on a recent drive past a small airstrip, the metlife blimp was parked on the grounds there, presumably on its way to whatever event it was covering. When my son saw snoopy on the blimp, it wasn't "look dad, peanuts" it was "look dad, King's Island" We were a good half hour away from King's Island, so he's obviously tying snoopy with King's Island. Snoopy is instantly recognizable and you see it far more often than you think. However, with it not being on TV on a regular basis, my son ties in seeing snoopy with his trips to King's Island.

We don't let him watch sponge bob, though he knows the character having caught glimpses of it in the past. My guess, if he saw a picture of sponge bob, he would think of the TV show before he thought of any tie to King's Island (if it still existed). I think there is value in such a connection. There's little contrevesy with the peanuts gang, they're beloved from generation to generation; they're iconic. You know Snoopy is still going to be recognizable in 50 years. Sponge Bob? we shall see. The Peanuts have stood the test of time that few survive.

Additionally, Nick has a tie in w/ universal theme parks. It may not even be an option for Cedar Fair to use Nick characters as part of their themeing due to contractual ties with other parks/companies. However, I am wondering if there was a way to tie in Thomas the Train into their railroad. I doubt they're going to go back to the old railroad show I remember as a kid, so other than a means of transportation b/w the park and the water park, I mostly see families with young kids who enjoy a train ride who would be excited by the Thomas theming.

[diamondhawk]

Yeah I certainly miss being the flagship park because I always felt we could be even better than Cedar Point. Now I doubt that will ever happen.

[KIBOB]

Yeah I certainly miss being the flagship park because I always felt we could be even better than Cedar Point. Now I doubt that will ever happen.

Never say never.

There are only a few more months left of the person who prides Cedar Point like a superb child.

Also, Cedar Point doesn't have the amount of room to expand that is nearly equivalent to the size of the current park.

[The Interpreter]

...nor does Kings Island. Much of the undeveloped acreage is restricted from development in one way, another or more than one....

[Whatever6750]

...nor does Kings Island. Much of the undeveloped acreage is restricted from development in one way, another or more than one....

Can anyone explain why that might be? Seams like quite a bit of room between The Racer all the way to the little miami, and from the SOB area back to the river plus all the old safari area.

[The Interpreter]

Yes, someone can explain. From buffers for noise for nearby residents to wetlands to geographic/geological factors, not all acreage you see can be developed, and/or done so economically.

[KIBeast]

I can relate to those who miss Paramount, although I never really liked Paramount all that well. I miss the days long before PKI when the children's area was Hanna-Barberra Land. Things are always changing and always will...I thought Paramount did some things well and then did some things horribly as well. Whomever owns KI and the other parks in the chain will never be able to satisfy everyone, so you have to go with the majority or your target market.

[Sergeant Pepper]

Before I even joined this website, I would have read the history section of the site over and over again. I think it would be nice to go back with Paramount and just to see how different it really is now that Cedar Fair owns the park. Now on the topic of who's better? Id say they've both had their downfalls and great accomplishments. With Paramount we'd had the classics. (At least for my era, that is.) I always thought when I heard Cedar Fair was buying the park, that it would be come a bland, empty space, with no theming. I would refuse to say the new ride names. But after I've been to the park alot more, I've realized that Cedar Fair has its own type of special that I couldn't explain. I also realized that for all the younger kids of today, today will be their classic Kings Island. So who's better? They're the the same in my eyes. Paramount brought us with the more themed but yet a tad gentler rides. But Cedar Fair has brought us great, more thrilling rides. Now on the topic of Snoopy or Nickelodeon, I'm much more in favor of Snoopy than NIckelodeon. My dad was in LOVE with Snoopy when he was a kid, and he's passed that down to us. I can see very much how it would be much different for other families.

[jbt]

Throwing in my two cents as a newbie... This is the first season I've ever been to Kings Island. When I tell people that I went, they say it's not as fun as the "glory days of Paramount". I don't really see what the problem is. I read the original names of the rides and they weren't movies I liked. Plus, they're all essentially the same rides, right (with the apparent exception of The Crypt)? I had a great time at Kings Island.

I'm not really a Snoopy fan, but I'll take that over Sponge Bob any day (though, I'm kind of bummed I missed out on Avatar). The only ride that really disappointed me was Boo Blasters on Boo Hill. I've read up on the Phantom Theater incarnation of the ride and am thoroughly disappointed by Boo Blasters. Even the Smurfs ride seemed cool. Oddly enough, my favorite ride at Disney was Delta Dreamflight which was replaced by a boring Buzz Lightyear ride very similar to Boo Blasters. Oh, well...

[LongLiveTheSmurfRide]

Someone say Smurfs?

Anyone who misses the Paramount theming needs to look back at how the theming was maintained, which as I remember it was not well after it had been around for a year or 2.

Top Gun's epic queue, anyone? Or better yet, Gillette's Mach 3 Top Gun?

[jlopez]

We will all get use to Cedar Fair and come to love it to I guess. Its probably better Cedar Fair owns it than six flags

[The Interpreter]

And why do you say that? Did you not see the SIX additions for next year? Do you not realize the former KI GM and Chairman and CEO of Paramount Parks now is the COO of Six Flags? Have you even been to a Six Flags this year?

Terp, who likes great adventures....

[jlopez]

I just hear bad things about the six flags parks.

[bkroz]

So did I. I found many to be baseless when I actually got around to visiting one this year (though I did visit Great America, which I hear is popularly considered one of the better Six Flags parks in most categories...) Perhaps the Six Flags of the past was a poorly run, carnival-style company for a time, but it doesn't appear to be that way anymore. In my experience, the parks are well-maintained, well-operated, and very fairly funded. On a day-to-day basis, the pricing for a season pass seems like a real steal, the food was affordable, the staff was friendly... The only detractor was $20 parking. As silly as it sounds, that really did keep me from visiting a second day, and I will limit my trips to Six Flags in the future so long as that pricing remains (which is truly sad when you think about it... I'd visit in a heartbeat for $12, but they'll miss out on 100% of my business as long as $20.00 remains the daily rental price of one parking spot in a half-empty lot).

But, just like Cedar Fair "vs." Paramount, there's a very different atmosphere and a different priority list that I've seen in Six Flags. For example, I wouldn't necessarily want a B&M stand-up coaster themed to Green Lantern at Kings Island. I already think there's a strange half-way feeling between Paramount's smaller, themed rides and Cedar Fair's large ones. To add in new superhero references and Loony Tunes doesn't feel like something that would benefit Kings Island given what it already has. But what do I know?

[The Interpreter]

The Wiggles.

Thomas the Train.

Evel Knievel.

Terminator.

All once at Six Flags, now gone.

And many more.

What is today is not what once was.

And new Six Flags management thinks very strongly that local parks target local audiences, not in the central planning theories seen at other sand dusky firms.

[bkroz]

And new Six Flags management thinks very strongly that local parks target local audiences, not in the central planning theories seen at other sand dusky firms.

This, I think, is a major downfall of the Cedar Fair chain. The parks are different. Very different. They have different strengths and different audiences. Even Kings Island and Kings Dominion are more different than they are alike thanks to the folks in their area. Kings Dominion's Planet Snoopy is three or four attractions and a boutique; for better or worse, it's a less family-friendly park. So to market it as "The Fun and Only" (which in and of itself is one of the more ridiculous marketing taglines I've seen applied to a dozen parks at once) is to severely miss the mark if you ask me.

Why can't Kings Island's marketing celebrate its interactive, themed rides and details? Shots of Backlot's flames and Firehawk's loop and Diamondback's splashdown - fun for everyone! While Cedar Point shows the food choices and the beach and the roller coasters and the entertainment options. Instead, we all get generic advertisements handed down from a distant, removed corporate office that either has never really experienced a day in the parks as a guest, or can't recall what it's like to be a guest. It makes the marketing feel very sterile to me. No charm or appreciation for the diversity of the parks. I think of the newest Ride Warrior commercials (something about skateboarding and grinding and roller coasters) and just know that a 50-year-old decided that this was how to get the kids involved. It's all very plastic and directionless.

[The Interpreter]

And why can't local management be given a budget and be allowed to decide priorities? Six Flags Over Georgia's big addition for next year is a much better show package. The park's GM strongly believes locals miss the fine shows the park had pre-Snyder/Shapiro. Under Reid-Anderson/Weber, she is allowed to decide additions, and is accountable for results.

[bkroz]

Accountability would be absolutely fantastic. My simple view of Cedar Fair's current system is that ideas (read, mandates) are handed down from the removed "old white men in the smokey room" (literally, as Q would have us picture) in Northern Ohio. If their attempt falls short, it's simply brushed under the rug and forgotten about. There's no accountability because everyone simply does what they're told, and those in power do not doubt themselves or their ideas. When Rock Band flopped, who took the fall? When the "cool, hip" skateboard-themed marketing fell on its face, who took the blame? Again, my simple and perhaps flawed understanding is that these ideas came from Sandusky and when they failed, no one was willing to take the blame.

Isn't the failed (and probably very costly) Rock Band Live! show was caused the rift between two prominent higher-ups? And was it perhaps because no one was willing to take the fall for the idea that was forced onto the parks?

It seems a strange way to do business to me. The unity of the former Paramount Parks and the Legacy Parks was necessary in areas like season pass systems and admission, and it was practical in terms of licensing (except somehow with Coca-Cola and Pepsi). But to treat the parks the same seems like a really ineffective way to handle them. Some shows don't work at some parks, certain attractions are out of place at certain parks, and one commercial cannot be applied to all.

[The Interpreter]

The respective Coke and Pepsi contracts are not up yet. When they are, look for Cedar Fair to become a one cola park company.

[bkroz]

But which one? I think they'll have an uprising on their hands either way!

GYK, rooting for Pepsi.

[coasterfanatic83]

No, Coke all day!!

[jlopez]

I am going with Coke.