CoastersNSich Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 Fans say parks should keep unique ways Friday, May 26, 2006 2:17:57 AM By BENJAMIN ROODE benjaminroode@sanduskyregister.com SANDUSKY - For the thrill ride and roller coaster enthusiast, King's Island and Cedar Point are vastly different worlds. Cedar Point is a coaster-lover's heaven with 16 different thrillers that allow anyone, novice, intermediate and advanced riders, to enjoy their day at the park, according to the president of the Great Ohio Coaster Club Michael Burkes. Kings Island doesn't have that stepping-stone approach, he said -- it's all thrill rides for Greater Cincinnati. But what the Island lacks in intermediate and beginner coasters it gains in kiddy entertainment, with the award winning Nickelodeon Universe and Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera. The two parks, and two park chains in Cedar Fair and Paramount Parks, have distinct airs to them -- airs coaster fans hope Cedar Fair maintains after announcing it would buy the rival amusement company earlier this week. Rest of article: http://pointbuzz.com/news.htm?id=929 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersNSich Posted May 28, 2006 Author Share Posted May 28, 2006 I couldn't disagree more with Mr. Burkes, about the coaster variety at Kings Island. What about Little Bill's Giggle Coaster, Fairly Odd Coaster, and Rugrats Runaway Reptar, which are by no means "intense thrills?" but simply coasters designed for small children to pre-teens to ride with their parents? Has he tried looking at other family-friendly coasters likeItalian Job: Stunt Track or Adventure Express? This is NOT to say that KI is simply family coasters: Son of Beast is the other "extreme." In fact, I'd argue that Cedar Point is more thrill-oriented, though Burkes is right that there are a few "training wheels" coasters at CP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Bowser Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 I disagree too while CP is really for die-hard thrill junkies KI is for families KI is a great park to get your lil ones started on coasters they have great coasters for big and small also I love how they metioned Funtastic World of HB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shman Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 I would also highly disagree with the comment about "lack of beginner and intermidiate coasters" PKI has been known for quite a few years now as the kiddy coaster capital with the biggest collection of kids coasters in the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleHenry Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 I sent him an e-mail about his article. He claims that what he wrote was what other guests said, but clearly there are no quotes around his claims in the 2nd paragraph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKlockster Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 CP could use some of the kiddie type stuff that PKI has - like Avatar - and PKI could DEFINATELY use some of the thrill rides of CP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 No stepping stones? How about Little Bill's Fairly Odd Beastie AE Racer Beast SOB Vortex Flight of Fear Face/Off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatoneguy Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 I would also have to disagree. My cousin loved Runaway Reptar, he was about 8 or 9 the first time he rode that, and now he has moved up and loves all the coasters there, especially Vortex. He gradually moved up b/c of the different types that PKI has. There are several kid "friendly" coasters here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outdoor Man Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 i do wonder how the parks' development(s) (all of the CF park family) will develop. In the original CF world, Cedar Point was the obvious dominant park and flagship in many respects. Cedar Point was the older brother with several younger siblings. bringing PP into the fold brings in a blended family where in many (but different) respects, (P)KI and CP are each others competitive equals with a few of the PP locations excelling over CP in as many categories as CP excells over them. CP will probably continue to be the flagship... which will make it the favorite child, so to speak. But these other parks are used to receiving innovation and large investments individually. A few years ago, didn't PP spend some insane amount of money to develop Action Zone at PKI? Is $40 million right? maybe thats way off, but it was some absurd number. With PKI no longer being the flagship and favorite child, will we ever see such large investment years again? Thus coming back to the original post of the parks staying "unique"... I do think that CF will allow the parks to be more unique, as in all 5 parks getting the same coaster, same name, same theme, etc... but the days of multi-million $$$ investments to a single park might be history. Don't get me wrong, I think the CF purchase is a positive... but just wondering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TombraiderTy Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 "The first move for Cedar Fair at Kings Island should be a new Bolliger and Mabillard coaster; that company built Cedar Point's Raptor, Burkes said." Opinion right? Also sounds as if he said it probably will, like PKI said they should get x-flight, or adams, or bounce house, or any thing else of that type Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIfan73 Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 My gut tells me for whatever reason that CF will own the Paramount Parks just long enough to screw them up royally. After this, the asking price of Kings Island will have lowered enough for another company to buy it and turn it into the park that it can be. I don't feel good at all about CF owning Kings Island. Kind of like I would feel about a 16 year old getting the keys to a new Ferrari. I think they're in over their head. Hopefully things will go well, but I haven't been the slightest bit encouraged since I heard they bought PP. I hope I'm proved wrong, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooferBearATL Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 My gut tells me for whatever reason that CF will own the Paramount Parks just long enough to screw them up royally. After this, the asking price of Kings Island will have lowered enough for another company to buy it and turn it into the park that it can be. I don't feel good at all about CF owning Kings Island. Kind of like I would feel about a 16 year old getting the keys to a new Ferrari. I think they're in over their head. Hopefully things will go well, but I haven't been the slightest bit encouraged since I heard they bought PP. I hope I'm proved wrong, though. Nah, we've experienced that when Paramount took over the parks. A corporation that had absolutely no background in running a theme park -Paraoumount as opposed to A corporation that does nothing but run theme/amusement parks - Cedar Fair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Not to mention there is no asking price for those things that are not on the market for sale... I don't think Cedar Fair is buying the Paramount Parks to ruin or to resell...they are buying them to run them and to make money for their unitholders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Nemo Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 Not only do I dissagree, I thing the park has all the stepping stone rides from the young to the old. For example... Giggle Coaster, Avatar, Odd Coaster, Adventure Express, Italian Job, Racer, Vortex, Beast, Son of Beast. If you don't find that a stepping ston from young thrills to the extreme I don't know what is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cstrwomann Posted July 20, 2006 Share Posted July 20, 2006 I agree that the PP should keep their unique ways but they also need to add adult coasters also. I feel they should add something unique to each park every once in awhile to attract people/thrill seekers to the parks. Don't start repeating coasters at the parks like Six Flags did or people will not visit. People want to see new/different things at parks when they go on a vacation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted July 20, 2006 Share Posted July 20, 2006 Yep. Flight of Fear was unpopular because there is one like it in Virginia. Racer same story, as Rebel Yell and Thunder Road are too similar. Vortex is not all that different than Great American Scream Machine at Great Adventure or, for that matter, than was Shockwave at Great America in Chicago. Hurler has problems, as there are two of them--one in Virginia and one in North Carolina, and yet another very similar coaster in Louisville, Kentucky. Reptar? There are identical installations at Paramount and even Six Flags parks. Fairly Odd Coaster has near clones in more places than most can count, but most of them haven't been modified several times since they were built. The mice at KD and CWi are only barely different from each other, and this has resulted in the public being bored with both. Over on the old Cedar Fair side of the house, Steel Force, Mamba and Wild Thing have big problems, since all are very similar Morgan hypercoasters. OBVIOUSLY, the fact that a coaster may exist in the same or near same form at another park is not a factor to all but a very small part of a park's audience. MOST people, the ones who are by far the biggest part of the theme park business's customers, don't know or care whether a coaster is a clone. But worry not....I don't see many coaster installations at Kings Island or anywhere else after next year for quite some time at Cedar Fair or Six Flags. The chains are moving their focus elsewhere for a bit, but coasters WILL come back. The late nineties, early 2000's era was unique, though. Probably won't see coaster building like that again for a long, long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hauntguy Posted July 20, 2006 Share Posted July 20, 2006 If I had kids, there stepping stones at KI would be: Little Bill's Fairly Odd Coaster Avatar (still a coaster) Runaway Reptar Adventure Express Racers (forward) Top Gun Racers (Backwards) Italian Job Face/Off Vortex Flight of Fear Beast Son of Beast -Hauntguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOB_TOM Posted July 20, 2006 Share Posted July 20, 2006 Might I point out where the article came from, and then ask you if it was actual "unbiased reporting?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted July 20, 2006 Share Posted July 20, 2006 Is there such a thing as actual, unbiased reporting? Fair and balanced? No such thing. There is only deliberately biased and and those who attempt to keep their biases out of things. No one can be totally objective. No one at all. Take everything you read, regardless of source, with at least some grain of salt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 No stepping stones? How about Little Bill's Fairly Odd Beastie AE Racer Beast SOB Vortex Flight of Fear Face/Off You forgot about Runaway Reptar. I would put that right in there between Beastie and AE. i totally disagree with him for the simple fact that one PKI is in no way a thrills only park with no stepping stones as Boddah Pointed out, and another thing is that how can you say that CP is not partial to thrills (i.e. Milly, and TTD). There is one thing i do agree with him on though and that is that CP does have some stepping stone coasters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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