What Will Change or Be New For 2023?

[PKIDelirium]

Just paint Diamondback 100%, power wash the pool concrete, and perhaps add some theme elements to better fit with how the rest of Rivertown is, tie the "Miami River" background into it somehow. Mystic is an abandoned lumber company, Beast is a mining operation, Diamondback is... just there. Wouldn't mind some re-forestation in the area behind the Crypt building where it was over-cleared in 2008.

[silver2005]

If we're repainting Diamondback- black supports please. 

[PKIDelirium]

Eh, the yellow of the lift supports didn't last very well at all, but the light tan on the rest has done fairly well and fits in.

If they switch the track color from red instead of repainting the same like Carowinds did with Intimidator, maybe a deep green to blend in with the woods.

[Benjamin22]

On 9/16/2022 at 6:09 PM, disco2000 said:

I think KI has recognized that when you focus on the "little things" then the revenue and profit increase because people are spending more.  This has been a multi-year initiative that started with the I-street revamp, return of the antique cars, and fixing the glockenspiel, all the way through to fixing the carousel organ and Phantom Theater Encore and everything in between.

I do agree the park has put a great emphasis on improving the overall guest experience through minor enhancements like you’ve mention but my issue becomes with the fact that at times it appears they’re only halfway committed to this. As has been brought up numerous times the theming they’ve paid for, particularly at A72 is not always maintained. In addition I’d argue that flat rides very much are considered little things in the mind of guests yet the park has not added a new thrilling flat-ride in a decade. No excuses for that, especially when parks like Canadas wonderland are able to add a new kids area rollercoaster & a massive thrilling flat ride in the same year. I’d argue 2019 might be the best year for park improvements with Antique Autos, I street and the various other improvements. Largely in part due to the fact there was a new ride.

[PKIDelirium]

Yeah, whoever takes care of lighting and other theme-package things needs to step it up so things don't get shabby. Tomb Raider deteriorated rather quickly after opening in 2002, with various light, sound, etc syncing failing and not getting fixed, it would be nice for that to not happen with newer packages like Mystic and Orion.

And while they painted a LOT of stuff for the 50th and have also upgraded signage and logos a LOT over the last couple years, there's still plenty of simple cosmetic things that could be done. Viking Fury looks a lot better with the paint it got, but the rarely used queue house has become rather shabby.

Diamondback is a glaring omission from the paint projects, and Banshee isn't doing that great either, especially the track which even when new was more of a wine/maroon than the vibrant purple sort of color from the renderings. Paint, signs, replacement lumber on general structures, etc goes a long way.

And don't get me started on the continued existence of that giant box in Rivertown... The old SoB station is an eyesore, but unlike that box, it's at least lower profile and not visible from many places.

[brenthodge]

Viking Fury looks a lot better with the paint it got, but the rarely used queue house has become rather shabby.
 

agree and disagree. Queue needs to be totally redone and reopen the path behind the I street buildings like it was originally. The queue could just start at the switchbacks off of a new wooded and landscaped path with the exit just ending at the international gardens side. 
 

BUT, the ride looks boring with its solid “shiny sh!% brown” paint job. They painted over the side lights instead of fixing, they did no aging or character paint and then slapped on the “aged” masthead, which now just looks old and crappy. It was a missed opportunity to bring new attention to a pretty cool and underrated ride. Even if they had added to the water feature to add water cannons to “splash” to the sides when the boat swung over the water. 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

Doubt it happens in 2023, but man Lazy Bear Lodge at Canada's Wonderland looks so stunning and the food looks awesome! I think something like this would be perfect in Rivertown where the metal box is currently. Basically add this but flip the kitchen/service counter to the left side of where you enter so you can put seating and patios facing Diamondback kinda like how this views Yukon Striker. I really like the fish of the day option and brisket. I'll continue saying I want prime rib like KD has!

 

[DJSkyFoxx]

For me personally, and I speak for no one but myself, I would rather them take their time on bringing in a new attraction rather than throw in some run of the mill kind of ride or experience ( a Larson Loop anyone? LOL ).  I may be in the minority and I've stated it before, but I would absolutely love to see a new Vekoma sit down coaster in Vortex's place. Something that gives that classic looper feel but with today's technology. It probably may never happen in a Cedar Fair park, but a person can dream right? But I digress. My viewpoint is that I'm glad they're not just throwing stuff in just to say "here's something new". I'm sure we will get something amazing soon enough, but in due time. Again, just my own thought process.

[BoddaH1994]

On 9/16/2022 at 6:09 PM, disco2000 said:

Attendance is a weird dynamic that publicly traded amusement parks and shareholders use as a metric, but it would be nice to see this trend change from the past, but perception plays a big part in it.

Past years, all shareholders and the Board cared about was attendance, attendance, attendance.  For years we would see record attendance, yet per cap spending was going down.  Anytime there was a dip in anything, Bring a Friend for $9.99 days happened to increase the attendance.

Attendance going down is a perceived problem with publicly traded companies and share value usually takes a hit, even if the revenue and profit are records.  For example, look what happened to their unit price after each CF "quarterly" or update announcement about record revenues but lower attendance...it's value dropped on average about 6% those days...

When the narrative and perception is that attendance is the guiding factor, that is when we see the gate given away and the attention to the "little things" pushed aside.  And then it brings in a different kind of guest that doesn't spend anything once in the park, so revenues actually decline on a per cap basis.

If the perception and narrative could be changed to focus on revenue and profit with attendance as a lesser factor, then I think we will continue to see all the "little things" improvements we have been seeing. 

Personally I think that is the direction CF is going, at least with KI.  Did we see any of the crazy cheap Bring a Friend deals this year after their update indicated reduced attendance - Nope!  That is a big shift from years past.  I remember back in 2018 after the July update showed CF drop in attendance, the next day was wholesale cuts and BAF cheap days.

Chainwide, many still question the whole cheap gold pass at CP and how for being the destination and flagship park, they are still giving away the gate, but that is another topic and discussion to go somewhere else LOL.

I think KI has recognized that when you focus on the "little things" then the revenue and profit increase because people are spending more.  This has been a multi-year initiative that started with the I-street revamp, return of the antique cars, and fixing the glockenspiel, all the way through to fixing the carousel organ and Phantom Theater Encore and everything in between.

And then a funny thing happens...you get increased visits and per cap spending despite not giving away the gate....

Why... because a well-kept park with attention to detail is one of the subconscious acts that causes the non-riders to thrill seekers to want to spend more time in the park.  Ambiance plays a bigger role than people admit or think about.  And with that increased time comes more spending.  I do not think the well-received 50th merchandise and all the collector pins of former rides, etc. would be as hot selling as they are if the attention to detail and pulling on the emotional memory strings had not been started with all the little things improvements.

They mentioned the "dip" in attendance is mainly due to the lack of group sales and picnics as many companies have yet to re-engage in those types of events, but outside of those groups, the attendance is up.  Based on season pass sales, next year will probably see both an increase in attendance and per cap spending, maybe both as records, as I think many of the group sales and picnics will start picking back up.

Also, there was some restructuring and some people who leaned too heavily on BAF deals (in my opinion) are now gone.

Also also, the demand has never been higher, so BAF wasn’t terribly necessary.