Top Thrill Dragster Extended Downtime

[McSalsa]

8 hours ago, WindingSon said:

Not to derail too much but here's a juicy bit rarely discussed from the book.

Kings Island was Dick's "white whale"

Woah. Imagine how different Kings Island would have ended up had that happened. My thoughts on this (Warning- BIG POST AHEAD): The park would have ended up separated from its former Taft brethren, as Paramount still gets those. The Bat (then TOP GUN) would probably have still happened as that was in the works well before it opened in 1993, just with a different name and theme, but: no Flight of Fear (Paramount likely builds a 2nd FOF still but at Carowinds or Canada's Wonderland). No Drop Tower- Cedar Fair always seemed to add S&S Combo Towers instead. No Invertigo- Cedar Fair generally avoided Vekomas. No Son of Beast- Cedar Fair would have known better than to add such a massive woodie thanks to their experience with Mean Streak, so the park would actually dodge a bullet there. No Tomb Raider: The Ride as Cedar Fair would not do a mega themed ride like this in 2002 as Kinzel was still stung by Disaster Transport's flop. No Delirium (because no TR:TR and Delirium was apparently built just due to the early success TR:TR had). No Backlot Stunt Coaster- though this means the OG Antique Cars and Flying Eagles both stay, likely even to this day. Yay a plus!

Even the Cedar Fair era stuff is not "safe". No Diamondback- as we likely would have gotten a hyper much earlier than 2009, maybe even in the mid to late 90s. It would have likely been a Morgan or a early era B&M. No Banshee in 2014- we likely do get a Invert, I would guess sometime in the mid 2000s, and it would probably be somewhere else as there would be no failed Son of Beast to replace. A GCI may have come sooner, or maybe we'd even have a Intamin Prefab built back when they were on much better terms with Cedar Fair, so also no 2017 Mystic Timbers most likely. With no Canada's Wonderland or Carowinds under Cedar Fair, would a B&M Giga have even happened? This puts Orion in some doubt, though it could still be a thing- heck, maybe we even get the FIRST B&M Giga.

I also have to wonder: what would have come instead, because Cedar Fair would add new attractions to the park obviously. As stated in the previous paragraph, I do think we probably get a hyper much sooner, as well as a Invert, and a modern wooden coaster (GCI most likely, small chance Intamin Prefab). Other new big coaster additions would probably include a B&M Floorless (maybe even the record breaking one Cedar Point turned down to build Maverick) or a B&M Flying Coaster (Firehawk never comes, read on...). Flat ride additions would probably include a S&S Combo Tower. I dunno if Phantom Theatre would remain, or what Cedar Fair would replace it with. Lion County Safari probably leaves as Cedar Fair doesn't do animal attractions like that.

Firehawk never comes in 2007, because I don't think Cedar Fair buys the other Paramount Parks in 2006. They just wanted KI, so they never go into massive debt. Because of this, Geauga Lake never closes (Cedar Fair suddenly had a lot of debt and a bunch of new parks that needed rides so they cut Geauga Lake), and because of this X-Flight likely stays put where it spends the rest of its life until its demise at the end of 2018. Geauga Lake probably doesn't get many large additions post 2004 though, but at least they'd be open. (Geauga Lake would probably be in a similar state to Worlds of Fun right now in terms of new additions and stuff).

I fear for the other Taft/Keco parks though in this AU. If Cedar Fair skips on buying them in 2006, because they already have KI, then it is likely they end up under CBS ownership for several years at least. Would Six Flags have bought them? Probably not due to huge debt at this time. IMO Kings Island would likely be in much better shape than all the other former Taft parks in 2019, unless Busch Gardens or some other great owner bought them.

And to end this: for a brief period in the 1990s, the kids area would have been...Berenstain Bears! (Then becoming Snoopy in late 90s)