[RCT3] Kings Paradise

Ok, My bad, I should have known that I should have posted 3 pics.. But anyway

INTRODUCTION

KINGS PARADISE is an amusement park located in Laramie, Wyoming 15 miles from Cheyenne and 72 miles from Denver, Colorado off of the I-25.

It is currently the only amusement park in the entire state of Wyoming since the closure of a small children’s park in Cheyenne (Lions Park). Furthermore, Kings Paradise has been rated one of the best amusement parks in the country.

Kings Paradise is a large fun park that is currently home to thirteen roller coasters, three of which are rated as some of the most thrilling roller coasters in America. The park has also changed hands several times. The park was family owned from 1970 to 1984, then Kings Entertainment Company owned the park from 1985 to 1994, Paramount Parks then bought out KECO and the park became “Paramount Kings Paradise” until Paramount Parks went out of business in 2007. Then, unlike the other Paramount Parks, Six Flags bough the park and it was renamed “Six Flags Thrill City”. Then the park get’s sold AGAIN and this time, Cedar Fair is the buyer and has operated under its original “Kings Paradise” moniker ever since.

Here is an arial picture taken last year.

Kings Paradise sure as hell didn't start out as the thrill seeker's nirvana as it is today, the park has gone through several changes throughout the years, going through FIVE different owners which is a rather large amount of ownership changes compared to other theme parks, but no matter what, Kings Paradise is still a fine amusement park full of thrills!

ORIGINS

The story of how the amusement park we know as Kings Paradise came to be starts circa 1957, when a small leisure park known as "Superland" opens to the public.

Superlands' main attraction and claim to fame was a simple, out and back wooden roller coaster built by the Philidelphia Toboggan Company named the "Super Coaster" It was a rather exciting coaster with a breathtaking first drop and several "Bunny hops" throuought it's course. It was a smash hit that attracted people all over the western United States.

The park even had a petting zoo which held animals such as sheep, turkeys and miniature horses and a swimming pool which kept the guests cool in the dog days of summer...

But soon...tragedy struck

One one fateful day in 1964, an electrical failure caused a spark which then ignited the Super Coaster's wood structure. Soon, the entire first hill of the coaster was completley engulfed in flames. The park staff were easily able to evacuate passengers and the park's visitors...but then, due to the fires, the wood structure began to weaken and break. Due to the sudden imbalance of weight, the entire flaming structure suddenly tips over and capsizes. Killing 15 people that were standing on the path when the roller coaster came down.

Superland was subsequently closed and never reopened.

Fast forward to 1968, the park is now in total disrepair, rides are covered in graffiti, the petting zoo and pool are empty and the semi-destroyed Super Coaster lays dormant. There was next to no hope that the park would ever return.....but....

A young, wealthy son of a major business tycoon named Seamus Anders visits the abandoned park and gets an amazing idea...with his father's resources...he can easily get this abandoned amusement park back to it's former glory. By '69,work began on a new Superland.....

More updates coming soon!

ERA 1: Family-Owned Kings Paradise

Year: 1971

By 1970, reconstruction of the former "Superland" fun park was complete. Seamus Anders with the help of his father ,Patrick and his mother, Cathy, they were sucsessfully able to design and build a New Superland. But then, Seamus had an idea of giving the park a new name seeing how "Superland" was a very generic, redundant name. The place needed a name that was uniqe and grandiose....then, it clicked.

Kings Paradise opened to the public April of 1971. Admission and Ride tickets sold like gangbusters!

The most obvious change was that the reknowned "Super Coaster" was completley rebuilt! Then, the Roller Coaster Corperation of America (RCCA) was contracted to build a second track adjacent to the coaster! Thus creating a whole new coaster simply named "Racer".

Obviously, it became a huge hit!

Another change was that the swimming pool and petting zoo were both removed and replaced with two new thrill rides! A Tilt-A-Whirl and a Wave Swinger!

Ease up on the light posts on the pathways! This is an amusement park, not the sun!

Overall, I really like what you have done so far, and I really like Racer. Keep up the good work

I love the storyline to the park. But maybe add more trees and bushes.

Year: 1976

If we jumpstart to the year of the U S of A's bicentennial, you'll see some changes in Kings Paradise. The day this picture was taken, it seems that only one side of Racer is open, which is the original 1957 "Super Coaster" side.

Something's different here, Is that a steel roller coaster?

Yes it is! In 1976, King's Paradise got a hold of Ron Toomer from Arrow Development and they built one of the "Roaring 20s Corkscrew" coasters in the park! Tame rides by 2012's standards, but back in the mid 70s this was considered the ultimate thrill, seeing how the Arrow Corkscrew models were the first ever modern roller coasters to go upside-down! These bad boys were the granddaddies of all looping coasters you see today!

Also, I don't really have any pictures of it, but there is a third coaster in the park. An Alan Herschell wooden kiddy coaster named the "Junior Racer" It's only like, 20 feet high and goes 15mph. Even a little kid would think it's a lame coaster.

More pics coming soon!

RCCA didn't exist in the 70s.

RCCA didn't exist in the 70s.

(Poker Face) I.....didn't know that

Once again, cut down on the lampposts and add some benches and trash cans.

I do like the Arrow, however!

Once again, cut down on the lampposts and add some benches and trash cans.

 

I do like the Arrow, however!

The only area with the lamp posts is the "Promenade" area.

Thanks for the feedback though!

Year:1979

1977 and 1978 passed by rather uneventfully. Until 1979 when the park contacted Anton Schwarzkopf to build one of his famous roller coasters at King's Paradise! The result was Rocket,King's Paradise fourth roller coaster. Rocket is a non-looping steel roller coaster with a spiral lift jam packed with twisting helices and a breathtaking first drop that brings the train to a top speed of 55MPH!

I'm told that this partictular turn was VERY Intense!

This log flume was one of the first attractions ever built when this place was Superland. It's called the "Amazin' River" and is very good for cooling off in the summer!

The Tilt-A-Whirl is one of the most thrilling flat rides in the park! The Anders family obviously do not regret buying this ride!

Next Update: King's Paradise begins to go through economic trouble....

The park looks good, I like the Amazin' River.

Year: 1983

By 1983, King's Paradise had been operational for 12 whole years. But however, it was expected that soon, the Anders family would experience financial trouble in maintaining the park. Seamus,Patrick, and Cathy all knew it was going to happen, but not this soon and not the way it did. Then, they had to make a very desperate move to get money back into their pockets. Regrettably, they were forced to sell one of their major attractions.

It wasn't the legendary Racer.....

Unfortunatly, they chose to sell Corkscrew. The park's first steel coaster and equally as legendary as Racer in my opinion. Over the years, this coaster had become the most expensive to maintan, so by selling it, the park would have saved tons of money to build bigger and better things. I just find it sad that it had to require getting rid of a great ride...

After the 1983 season came to a close in September, park employees were granted one final ride on Corkscrew.

Deconstruction did not take long, seeing as how Corkscrew is a small coaster.

Soon, by November of 1983, all that remained of Corkscrew was the loading dock, entrance queue, and exit. Which the park is saving, probably for a future attraction...

Rest In Peace,Corkscrew. 1976-1983.

Up Next: What Happened To Corkscrew After It Got Sold?

Update: What happened to Corkscrew?

Corkscrew at Kings Paradise was sucessfully sold to another amusement company just a week after it was removed from the park. However the buyers for some reason, kept the track peices in storage for an extended period of time for unknown reasons...

The buyers of Corkscrew were the owners of an amusement park named FunSpot in the small town of Peppin, Winsconsin. FunSpot is a medium sized park with a few roller coasters. A Vekoma Hybrid (wood and steel) Mine Train coaster called the "Rock N' Roll Express" an Arrow Shuttle Loop named "Lazer Loop" and a tiny Wisdom Rides "Dragon Wagon", In 1991, Corkscrew was finally built and opened to replace the aging Pinfari "Galaxi" coaster.

In 2000, Corkscrew got new trains built by Vekoma and a new yellow and black paint job. It was also given a new name, "GravityMAX".

However, the tanking economy was not kind to FunSpot and they lost enough money to be forced to sell a roller coaster. Coincidentally, GravityMAX(Corkscrew) was beginning to show it's age as people complained of headbanging on the restraints and high amounts of roughness. In 2009, FunSpot's owner thought it would be best if he pulled the plug on the ride.

GravityMAX was replaced by a looping roller coaster built by the Italian manufacturers Sartori Rides, who is known for building the Cobra inverted coaster at Tivoli Friheden. The new coaster's name is Python and it's compact layout includes an Immelmann and a Cobra roll.

However, Corkscrew was not scrapped....and rumor has it that for some state carnivals around the US, people reported seeing a black and yellow steel Corkscrew coaster with Vekoma trains operating under the "Corkscrew" name...

How were they broke enough to sell a ride to make due, but then immediately able to build a new ride in its place? I feel like this scenario is very forced.

Year: 1984

Well, now that we know Corkscrew's true fate, we can now move back to King's Paradise! Now, where were we? Oh yeah, Corkscrew was sucessfully sold, we know that. The Anders family managed to procure a TON of money from that sale! And with that money, they decided to build a steel coaster that is a suitable replacement for Corkscrew.

Here is a picture of the roller coaster being constructed, actually using Corkscrew's old station, albeit repainted.

And by April of 1984, VENOM RAIL, a TOGO standing coaster was completed, the fourth of it's kind in the entire continent of North America! The other's being King Cobra at King's Island, Shockwave at King's Dominion, and SkyRider at Canada's Wonderland.

Venom Rail was tremendously popular when it opened to the public that June, defiently giving the park a greater "thrill factor" Contrary to popular belief, Venom Rail is NOT a direct clone of Shockwave at King's Dominion. After the loop, the helix turns to the left, not the right, producing a "mirror image" of Shockwave.

Next Update: King's Paradise gets SOLD!

Like I've said before and I'll say it again, please calm down on the lamps. It just doesn't look nice. Also, I didn't see any benches and trash cans on your paths. Put some of those in.

Other than that, I do like the TOGO stand up.

Era 2: Park owned by KECO/Taft Broadcasting

Year: 1985

Prior to the 1985 season, Seamus Anders resigned his position as the general manager of Kings Paradise Amusement Park. The park became too fiscally demanding over the past fourteen years that his family owned the park and to make matters worse, Seamus' father and co-founder, Patrick Anders lost his four year battle with Stage III pancreatic cancer, he was 67 years old when he died. It was a serious personal tragedy to Seamus and his mother, but his death also affected the park as well, seeing as he continued managing the park, even on his deathbed.

In January of 1985, Seamus made a utilitarian choice concerning the park. He decided to sell it to a major amusement company. Kings Entertainment Co./Taft Broadcasting took great interest in the park, seeing its potential. KECO at that time, owned Kings Island in Mason,OH , Carowinds in Charlotte,NC ,Mariott's Great America in Santa Cruz,CA ,Kings Dominion in Doswell,VA and Canada's Wonderland in Ontario, Canada. Before the park opened in June, Taft/KECO bought the park for $5,000,000USD. Kings Paradise was now a Taft/KECO owned park.

So.....what's next for King's Paradise? You're just going to have to wait and see....

You have a decent idea, but it needs to be expanded upon.

The one thing I see many people now are now forgetting with basic RCT3 is cohesion between scenery and attractions. take a look at this one post I made o n my project Bell Gardens which I worked on for nearly two years:

For some reason I can't link to it while posting from my iPad, I'll change it back later...for now just search bell gardens and it should come up.

Take a look at how everything flows together. It has a certain "natural" feel to it does it not? Try to make your park feel as if you would actually enjoy being there and looking at the surroundings. As the Disney company has said time and time again, it's the details that really make their attractions so special.

Don't stay in your comfort zone, experimenting is key to finding a good style you can settle into. Also, try not to do a story until you have a decent base park. Often times I see people doing rather pointless and silly stories instead of focusing on the park. Devote more time to your park before you try to add a story, trust me, you'll be better off in the end.

Year:1986

Kings Paradise has been a Taft/KECO park for about two years now. Recently, the company made a press release revealing their future plans for the Wyoming park. The plans include an expansion to the left and an expansion to the right. Also, they plan to add four more major roller coasters before year 2000. And it was also confirmed that at least one of these proposed coasters will be a wooden coaster.

Also, 1986 marked the removal of Schwartzkopf's "Rocket" coaster. I'm not sure if this is correct, but the roller coaster was not owned by Kings Paradise but instead was a lease. I don't quite know what happened to Rocket after it got removed from the park, but If memory serves me correctly, as of 2011, it's operating at some park in Uraguay, South America.

And you can plainly see by this photograph that they cleared a HUGE amount of land! I can't tell you much now, but Kings Paradise is planning something big for 1987...Can you guys guess what it is?

While I appreciate your updates, I do feel a bit annoyed, and I imagine anyone else who has commented in this thread may feel the same way.

You have not even aknowledged nor taken any advice that has been given to you regarding this park. We're giving you good advice, the least you could say is "thanks but no thanks". I spent the time to take a look at this park, and point out areas that I think could be improved. I commented on this hoping to help you, but if just ignore what anyone has to say about your park that isn't good, you'll never improve.

Criticism: We didn't need two pictures of the same giant dirt space. Way to improve: Try taking pictures from different angles, and of different and new things. Experiment using the free look camera. You'll be surprised at how cool some of the angles are.

Criticism: All the ground besides the dirt is the exact same color. Way to improve: try changing the textures of your terrain wi the terrain painters. There's dozens of different textures to choose, so just try to vary things up a bit.

Criticism: There is absolutely no terrain changes, it looks un-natural. Way to improve: even slight different changes in terrain make a park seem more real.

Criticism: your park feels weird since all the paths seem bland and sterile and have way too many lamps. Way to improve: look at pictures of a real theme park. Look at how paths often have scenery around them and have trees and other ascetic features. Try to make you park feel more natural.

That's the ways I think your park can improve. I just gave you valuable criticism from an experienced player. I hope you at least read this comment and perhaps take to heart some of the things I've said.

-SCC

While I appreciate your updates, I do feel a bit annoyed, and I imagine anyone else who has commented in this thread may feel the same way.

 

You have not even aknowledged nor taken any advice that has been given to you regarding this park. We're giving you good advice, the least you could say is "thanks but no thanks". I spent the time to take a look at this park, and point out areas that I think could be improved. I commented on this hoping to help you, but if just ignore what anyone has to say about your park that isn't good, you'll never improve.

 

Criticism: We didn't need two pictures of the same giant dirt space. Way to improve: Try taking pictures from different angles, and of different and new things. Experiment using the free look camera. You'll be surprised at how cool some of the angles are.

 

Criticism: All the ground besides the dirt is the exact same color. Way to improve: try changing the textures of your terrain wi the terrain painters. There's dozens of different textures to choose, so just try to vary things up a bit.

 

Criticism: There is absolutely no terrain changes, it looks un-natural. Way to improve: even slight different changes in terrain make a park seem more real.

 

Criticism: your park feels weird since all the paths seem bland and sterile and have way too many lamps. Way to improve: look at pictures of a real theme park. Look at how paths often have scenery around them and have trees and other ascetic features. Try to make you park feel more natural.

 

 

That's the ways I think your park can improve. I just gave you valuable criticism from an experienced player. I hope you at least read this comment and perhaps take to heart some of the things I've said.

 

-SCC

Ok. I'll preface this by saying. I am definetly NOT the best park builder in the entire RCT fandom, not by FAR. but I try my best.

I do agree the second dirt picture was redundant, but I wanted to show the massive amount of land that King's Paradise cleared for whatever's coming next year (1987) I'll make sure that I won't make that mistake again.

About the terrain, Some real life parks arent that hilly at all. Cedar Point is really flat, as well as Kings Dominion. And I'm definetly inspired from those parks.

About the lamps, You may not see it now, but soon King's Paradise will expand and have seperate areas. The area with the lamps is known as the "Promenade" area.

Probably my biggest weak point is the fact that I focus more on coaster design than scenery and buildings. I'm still learning new things about this game, now there there are a plethora of CS Items and more Custom Flats and Custom Track Rides that we even imagined there would be!

I agree with everything SoCal said. I think adding some bodies of water can ever help. Cedar Point is flat. But it has many bodies of water, and quite a bit of trees. Kings Dominion has some terrain. And many trees. Add more trees and make the paths wider. And have less lamps. I see potential here. Hopefully you take our advice. Good Luck!

Year: 1987 pre-season

Here's a little "preview" of Kings Paradise's new ride for 1987!

Looks pretty awesome to me!

(SoCal coasters: The freelook camera is pretty awesome! I don't have to keep holding down the middle mouse button to position it! Thanks for the tip! I'm probably going to use it for most of my pics now.)

Year: 1987

In case you didn't guess from the last update, In 1987, Kings Paradise not only expanded to the left, but added a new wooden coaster built by the legendary Charels Dinn who built The Beast at Kings Paradise's sister park, Kings Island. The new woodie's name is Thunderstrike, lets check it out!

It's roughly the same height as Racer (80ft), and it's top speed is around 48mph. But don't let that fool you, this ride packs a punch! The second hill I'm told has absolutley killer airtime!

Thunderstrike can be described as an "Out and Back/Twister" coaster. While it does follow the pattern of an out and back, there are several twists and turns in the ride! In particular, after the second hill, there is a twisted helix that produces crushing G-forces!

But here's the catch. At this point in time, Kings Paradise has four roller coasters. And three of them are wood coasters, even the Herschell Junior Racer is a woodie! Leaving Venom Rail, the TOGO standing coaster as the sole steel coaster. But however, I can tell you that in the not-so-distant future, that will change.

I can't give away much detail, but this particular view of the park will forever change.

(Creator's notes: I personally love the third picture, Freelook camera is awesome!)

Year: 1989

It is now June 2nd, 1989! The new coaster, Steel Python has finally opened!

Steel Python is a custom steel-track looping coaster built by the reknowned roller coaster manufacturer, Arrow Dynamics who also built the now-defunct Corkscrew coaster at King's Paradise. Steel Python is also now the tallest, fastest and longest coaster in the entire park, Standing at approximatley 110ft tall, reaching speeds up to 54mph, and a ride time of two minutes. The coaster features four different inversions in it's layout. A 65ft tall loop, a cutting-edge double inversion called a "Cobra Roll" which extends over a new manmade lake installed in a park. And a simple, but tried and true corkscrew near the end of its course.

This coaster looks fun as hell!

Here is a picture of the cobra roll over the lake! A unique inversion for its time, seeing as how most Arrow megaloopers have a Batwing inversion instead of a cobra roll.

Probably one of the things I like and dislike about this ride is the really slow, long turn at the brake run that turns into an unexpected plunge into a high G-force turn!

This ride really set the bar higher for coasters at King's Paradise, seeing how for 1989 and 1990 Steel Python was the most visited attraction!

(Creator Comments: The custom supports look like shiz, don't kill me.)