Cedar Fair 2020s

[SonofBaconator]

A new decade is upon us so I thought it would be fun to discuss the things that'll be happening to Cedar Fair in its parks during the 2020s as well as speculate the direction the chain is going in . Of course 2020 is already upon us so I'm going to obviously be looking at 2021 onward. Also I'm going to start out focusing on a broader view but anyone is welcome to look at specific things.

• The lower tier parks might get some attention in the ride department; IE coasters
• Kings Dominion will shift to a more family level park
• Cedar Point might relocate some less popular coasters to its more needy parks (see bullet one)
  • ex: Rougarou & Wicked Twister
• The company will continue to focus on more interactive experiences
  • Additionally the chain might resemble more of a theme park chain vs an amusement park one
• Top Tier parks might continue to get around 2 coasters per decade
• Focusing on high quality experiences at lower costs
• More themed areas across the chain 
• More focus on California's Great America
• Possibly more focus on water parks

Basically I'm arguing that the chain is going to be focusing more on quality vs quantity. As evidenced at the end of the decade, Cedar Fair started to remove rides and attractions that were costly to operate and out of date.

I'd like to think what I've listed above to be somewhat accurate but with Covid-19 hitting the globe, I think the company is going to be in recovery mode for the next year or so.

 

[King Ding Dong]

Needs to be something about increasing the availability of Coke FreeStyle machines.   

[Klabergian Empire]

As far as 2021 goes, I don't see anything new and major coming to the park. The 2020-2021 off season will probably be minor updates and cosmetic updates as such.

1 minute ago, King Ding Dong said:

Needs to be something about increasing the availability of Coke FreeStyle machines.   

I love Coke as much as the next person, but I must say......we need MORE FreeStyle machines.

[disco2000]

Adding hand sanitizer stations everywhere...

[King Ding Dong]

2 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

Adding hand sanitizer stations everywhere...

CDC says hand washing is better....

[disco2000]

1 minute ago, King Ding Dong said:

CDC says hand washing is better....

true...but the park already has restrooms and I see how few actually hand wash after using the facility...yuck..maybe they would be more likely to take a quick squirt before entering a line?

plus the restrooms with air dryers contribute to this as the toilets do not have lids

[Winterfestguy]

They need to put the paper towels back in the restrooms that were updated and replaced with Dyson air dryers - those air dryers spread and blow more germs around (Not to mention blowing any airborne virus particles from sneezes and coughs everywhere) whereas the paper towels actually help remove any remaining germs on your hands 

https://www.theverge.com/2016/4/21/11479038/dyson-hand-dryer-hygiene-paper-towel-debate

[VekomaRulz]

59 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

Adding hand sanitizer stations everywhere...

That would be great. At other parks that already have them at the exits to rides like Hersheypark, I used sanitizer after almost every ride just to be extra cautious (and also was my hands frequently as well).

I'm also hoping to see Valleyfair, Michigan's Adventure, Dorney and Worlds of Fun all get coasters soon. Even if they start to add coasters to those parks in 2022, that would make it 14 - 15 years since those parks last got a coaster that is still operating.

[coaster sally]

Hopefully we get more coasters than 4 in 11 years.  Would like a new coaster every two years at ki and cp.

[Benjamin22]

34 minutes ago, coaster sally said:

Hopefully we get more coasters than 4 in 11 years.  Would like a new coaster every two years at ki and cp.

That’s just unrealistic. In reality, our best case scenario would be two other coasters in 2020’s (likely 2025 & 2029). A coaster every 2 years is a waste of money in my opinion, I’d rather to see investments into flat rides, events, entertainment rather then more rollercoasters. 

[coaster sally]

2 minutes ago, Benjamin22 said:

That’s just unrealistic. In reality, our best case scenario would be two other coasters in 2020’s (likely 2025 & 2029). A coaster every 2 years is a waste of money in my opinion, I’d rather to see investments into flat rides, events, entertainment rather then more rollercoasters. 

We were getting one every 2.75 years why not 2 years?

[Benjamin22]

10 minutes ago, coaster sally said:

We were getting one every 2.75 years why not 2 years?

The recent trend has been 3 years, and as Cedar Fair has stated they want to spread out their larger Capex investments more. So instead of getting a coaster every 3 years it’ll likely be every 4-5 years. Furthermore Cedar Fair is about to have a very rough time ahead of them due to Covid-19, investing in another 25 million dollar coaster at a park that’s mature is not going to happen. The direction the park & the chain seem to be going in is to enhance the overall guest experience, grand carnival, retheming areas, seasonal events ect. Not rollercoasters which is what defined the Kinzel era.

[SonofBaconator]

Also if you look, the 4 top tier CF parks averaged around 2-3 coasters for the 2010s.

CP- 2 ground up, 2 conversions, pipescream (if you count that as a coaster or not)

KI-2 (Banshee & MT)

CW-3 (Leviathan, WM Guardian, YS)

CWS-3 (Intimidator, Fury 325, CS)

So in reality 2-3 coaster installs a decade isn't low for a top tier park if you think about it

[BeeastFarmer]

true...but the park already has restrooms and I see how few actually hand wash after using the facility...yuck..maybe they would be more likely to take a quick squirt before entering a line?
plus the restrooms with air dryers contribute to this as the toilets do not have lids

Yuck. I don't want to think about anyone taking a quick squirt at KI or anywhere else.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[SonofBaconator]

To add to this list in a way, I wonder what other coaster companies the chain will be working with. 

Could we see something from Vekoma, Premier Rides, or even S&S?

[Benjamin22]

8 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

To add to this list in a way, I wonder what other coaster companies the chain will be working with. 

Could we see something from Vekoma, Premier Rides, or even S&S?

I think S&S is nearly certain due to the KD leaks, please Cedar Fair, give me an S&S screamin swing

[SonofBaconator]

Going off of what @bengalsguy23 said on the Dorney shuttle coaster thread-

Ouimet wanted to focus on the money makers where as Zimmer is trying to capitalize on all properties. I think this is a good transition considering they invested a lot of the company's capital in the parks they knew would give them a good ROI. Now they can focus on their mid to lower tier parks with smaller investments that are unique enough to increase attendance. I also think this is decade will be the one where they really build up California's Great America like they've been planning. 

This new concept of "everyone gets something every year" seems like a take on the Six Flags model. The difference is that Cedar Fair has the money to put in quality attractions with enough originality to where they're not repetitive of one another. 

If KI gets a new coaster every 5 years vs 3, you can almost guarantee that we'll get more flats in those between years as well as more quality family attractions and experiences. Plus a new coaster every 5 years might mean that the quality will be better; not that Cedar Fair has ever given us anything less than excellent.

[bengalsguy23]

5 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

Going off of what @bengalsguy23 said on the Dorney shuttle coaster thread-

Ouimet wanted to focus on the money makers where as Zimmer is trying to capitalize on all properties. I think this is a good transition considering they invested a lot of the company's capital in the parks they knew would give them a good ROI. Now they can focus on their mid to lower tier parks with smaller investments that are unique enough to increase attendance. I also think this is decade will be the one where they really build up California's Great America like they've been planning. 

This new concept of "everyone gets something every year" seems like a take on the Six Flags model. The difference is that Cedar Fair has the money to put in quality attractions with enough originality to where they're not repetitive of one another. 

If KI gets a new coaster every 5 years vs 3, you can almost guarantee that we'll get more flats in those between years as well as more quality family attractions and experiences. Plus a new coaster every 5 years might mean that the quality will be better; not that Cedar Fair has ever given us anything less than excellent.

I think the big parks will still get the massive B&M's as there coasters. The smaller parks will probably work with companies like gravity group, premier, S&S, and even RMC (Raptors). I think I read that one of those raptor clones costs $5 million. You have to think what is the return on the investment for 6 smaller parks to get raptors vs one big park to get a B&M. Not only that but that park would still be getting that B&M under this plan it would just be a year or two later. I think this makes a lot of sense in terms of ROI. I think Cedar Fair will give rides to each park every year but not in the way six flags does it. I don't think a park like Dorney will get a new rollercoaster next year and then another new one 1-2 years later like how six flags drops in all the cloned models into all of the parks. I think Dorney and other smaller parks will get smaller coasters every 5 years or so just like how the bigger parks will get larger coasters every 5 years. In between the parks will get flat rides, family rides, and other stuff. 

[SonofBaconator]

I have a very bold prediction for Carowinds

Vortex hasn't been converted and Nighthawk is living on borrowed time. What if the chain relocated Vortex to a lesser CF park (Valley Fair or World's of Fun) and give it the floorless treatment then removed Nighthawk a season later?

This would leave a huge plot of space available for a GCI since the park is missing a really good coaster in their line-up. 

 

This would be a win-win-win because Carowinds would be getting a new coaster, relocating one to a park that would appreciate it, and getting rid of one that was an outdated prototype that's reaching the end of its service life.