BGW vs KD

[SonofBaconator]

I talk religiously on this topic all the time but I want to hear what others have to say. 

Both parks opened in 1975 but started out in different directions. Kings Dominion opened more as an amusement park where as Williamsburg opened as more of a theme park. Today its no contest that Williamsburg is the superior Virginia park in terms of rides, attractions, and experiences. They have been succeeding the past decade where it seems like Kings Dominion has been receding. 

So what happened? What was the straw that broke the camel's back? Was it exclusivity clauses? Was it location? Tax incentives? Etc? While all of these had to have had some factor, there still had to be one singular decision that made one park become more successful than the other. That decision could have been made by the more successful park and payed off or it could have been made by the less successful park and failed.

I'd love to hear your thoughts

[coaster sally]

CF poured money into KD with I305, they told Intamin to make it the meanest coaster on the east coast so they did and it did not raise crowds significantly.  So they pumped more money into carowinds.  

[BeeastFarmer]

KI and KD were both planned and implemented as theme parks, not amusement parks.  Over the years, they turned into amusement parks where as BGW stayed true to its' roots as a theme park.

KD did not start with a resort, but with a motel.  Nor did it have a champion golf course.  But it was twice as expensive to build than KI was.  Taft was probably very happy with the returns it got from this park with it being limited in scope.  I don't know what long term plans were for the park with Taft.

Paramount seemed to pour alot of money into KD, transforming it from theme park into amusement/thrill park.  This set it apart from BGW.  I'd guess that CF wanted to continue this trend with KD because their initial investments were a located thrilling B&M (side note: i think they had the floorless in mind for KD the minute they bought GL, I mean they renamed the coaster "Dominator" and kept that name for the park it went to--"Dominion.")  Then CF installed I305, which seems like a merger of MF and Maverick.  

As has been discussed ad nauseum, I305 is not the coaster CF wanted per se.  It attracts enthusiasts but the GP and pretty flat towards it.  Then you add in the tax incentives that went to Carowinds instead of KD.  And, icing on the cake, KD fans are extremely negative and hypercritical.

B&M coasters are proven money makers with little downtime.  If there was/is an exclusivity clause with BGW and B&M, that also is why the park is facing ramifications to the present day.  CF would be wise to invest in a hyper, invert and wing.  Yes, there  are models of those coasters at BGW but it would benefit them if done correctly.