I agree 100% that record breakers aren't needed to make a great ride that brings in people. I think Paramount Parks is very smart to let CP, SFMM, and SFGAd fight it out with the world records. Ultimately, all records get broken...it happened with Magnum, it happened with MF, it happened with TTD, and it will happen to Kingda Ka. (Ironically, PKI's wooden records with SOB and The Beast are holding...for now anyway.)

Paramount's attractions over the last few years have focused much more on story telling, and the "experience" rather than the ride itself, and that seems to be working well for them. However, park management needs to keep in mind that these "experience attractions" are only as good as their themeing...if they don't maintain it and let themeing elements disappear, then all you're left with is a mediocre ride. For example, without the themeing, TR:TR is nothing more than a run-of-the-mill Top Spin in a garage!

I do have a few concerns about park operation's ability to maintain ride themeing over an extended period of time (like Disney, Universal, and Busch successfully do) as evidenced by Top Gun, and to a lesser extent--FoF. (Does everyone remember how the "experience" used to begin outside as you approached the building, and the story began at the outside queues? Somehow, the immersive experience isn't quite the same with Britney Spears and SpongeBob on Q-TV in the outside queue!)

Joel

^ That is so very true I can understand seeing spongebob while waiting in line for a spongebob ride but yeah I dont wanna see Britney Spears when I am gettin ready to board a coaster or a thrill ride it really mucks up the ''immersive experience'' .

I don't themeing to enjoy a ride. I would rather wait three hours for Top Thrill Dragster and Millennium Force before I waited an hour for Italian Job: Stunt Track. I like the idea for IJ:ST, but it does nothing for me. It is way too slow, and it's a very short ride.

That's just my opinion.

Kingda Ka has had it's first major breakdown. Read more here.

http://themeparks.about.com/

I don't themeing to enjoy a ride. I would rather wait three hours for Top Thrill Dragster and Millennium Force before I waited an hour for Italian Job: Stunt Track. I like the idea for IJ:ST, but it does nothing for me. It is way too slow, and it's a very short ride.

That's just my opinion.

Ben, no offense, but if you are willing to wait 3 hrs for TTD, a 15 SECOND RIDE! over an hr wait for a 1+ minute ride, you are a fool. I dont mean to offend you, but comeon dude, use your head! I dont care if you have to wear space suits to ride it, there is no way in hell I am waiting 3 hrs or even 1 hr for something that runs for 15 seconds and then tries to pass for a decent ride.

PS. the next time you go to post about ride times, dont quote the one you are going to bash as being too short when you want to wait longer for one of the worlds shortest coasters.

I don't themeing to enjoy a ride. I would rather wait three hours for Top Thrill Dragster and Millennium Force before I waited an hour for Italian Job: Stunt Track. I like the idea for IJ:ST, but it does nothing for me. It is way too slow, and it's a very short ride.

That's just my opinion.

Tom said it first, but I'll say it again:

Your reasoning is flawed if you do not like IJ because it is short.

Thing about IJ is, the reason it's short is the fact that it doesn't have a lift hill that takes 1-2 minutes to get up...there's your reason why it's short. If it had a 200 ft. lift or whatever, I'm sure you'd all be raving about the height of the coaster and totally ignore the fact that it's the same length of time, except for the addition of a lift.

If SOB was a smaller, low to the ground coaster like IJ, it'd be a heck of a lot shorter.

"Ben, no offense, but if you are willing to wait 3 hrs for TTD, a 15 SECOND RIDE! over an hr wait for a 1+ minute ride, you are a fool. I dont mean to offend you, but comeon dude, use your head! I dont care if you have to wear space suits to ride it, there is no way in hell I am waiting 3 hrs or even 1 hr for something that runs for 15 seconds and then tries to pass for a decent ride."

I completely understand what he is saying. I would rather wait three hours for TTD, which is short, but very thrilling as opposed to a one hour wait for a mediocre coaster with little to no thrills. He also mentioned Millennium Force which is not short at all and much more thrilling than IJ:ST.

I think that MF is a better coaster than TTD but i havent rode TTD yet though.

I think that MF is a better coaster than TTD but i havent rode TTD yet though.

Makes it sort of hard to base a reasonable opinion on then, don't you think?

I think that MF is a better coaster than TTD but i havent rode TTD yet though.

Makes it sort of hard to base a reasonable opinion on then, don't you think?

MF and TTD are pretty close in my book.

You said it Ben! I've rode IJ:ST twice and I probably won't be riding any more this year. On the other hand we went to Cedar Point for the first time this year and have rode TTD 14 times, MF 7 times and Magnum 24 times!

^I don't see anyone marathoning IJ.

You said it Ben! I've rode IJ:ST twice and I probably won't be riding any more this year. On the other hand we went to Cedar Point for the first time this year and have rode TTD 14 times, MF 7 times and Magnum 24 times!

So move to Sandusky.

IJST is a great ride for the families PKI knows what they are doing more so than Cedar Point.