coasterbill

Great job putting this together! I feel like Twisted Timbers and Wicked Cyclone are higher than I would have expected. Twisted Timbers over Steel Vengeance is unexpected. I've been on Twisted Timbers a decent amount, but always when it's cold out so maybe that's why I don't entirely get it. I expected Velocicoaster to be ranked higher but #27 in the world is still amazingly good. Otherwise it seems as-expected. People like different things but it seems like mostly everything averaged out well to a pretty solid list. One other oddity that doesn't matter... I've never met anyone who preferred Ride of Steel at Six Flags America to Ride of Steel at Darien Lake but SFA #100, Darien Lake #124. ... odd Also, Candymonium dropped from #57 steel to #127 steel

I like the first plan better. You're going to Cheetah Hunt first and unless it Intamins itself it will be open with the park. Does Ice Breaker open with the park? It's new, so I assume the answer is yes but it's also SeaWorld, it's in the back of the park and last year their idea of "Park opens at 9" meant "Manta opens at 9 or you can look at dolphins or flamingos for an hour I guess".

Yeah, I’m confused as to how this is news, honestly. They’ve been doing tons of visible track work ever since the ride closed so we knew that the ride was reopening. When Six Flags says that something is “expected to open in the Spring” we all know that means little-to-nothing, especially since with the wording of that they’re gearing up to make it the state’s fault if it doesn’t. Plus “Spring” could mean late June. Lol

Our sunset dumpster ride on it was really pretty elite… 10/10

I want to be optimistic, and there are obvious pros to this but I’m definitely worried about a lack of competition driving prices way up. If all they need to do is be cheaper than larger carriers, they could double their prices and still pull that off.

Major disclaimer: I don't actually know this to be true so I'm ENTIRELY pulling it out of my ass but my guess is that when a park builds a ride, they depreciate it and probably use a modified accelerated depreciation schedule if they can get away with it. Insurance probably covered this, but it's not like they valued it the same as a brand new super loop. It's a six-year-old ride. It probably makes more sense to them to take the cash, write it off as a loss and then apply it to a marketable new addition down the line than take the cash and then spend more money out of pocket on top of that to buy a new ride that nobody cares about that nobody will realize is a new ride.

Yeah, it’s not going to close.

This park removing two major inverting coasters in one offseason is rough though…

Cheer up, I'm sure Valleyfair's Howl O Scream 2022 will be lit...

Yeah... announcing things, having them shipped to their park and then deciding they don't feel like putting them together is kind-of their thing but this is laziness on a grander scale than normal. lol

Wonderful news! If a ride is being run like dog shit and you're looking to La Ronde of all places to do it better then you need to let that dream die.

/checks weather uh… sending prayers I think?

Lol

Cedar Point is basically the only park in America without a consistent policy on this. If you're in line when they close the line, you can ride but they close the line whenever they feel like closing it. Some days they'll run it right until closing like they always did pre-Covid, other times they cut the Steel Vengeance line off 4 hours before the park closes. They will not advertise this or post in the app if the ride is closed even though the app claims that it will tell you this, you'll just have to walk all the way to the back of the park and figure it out. I wish I was kidding.

Agreed. I used to feel like SeaWorld was a step above Cedar Fair but I feel like lately they're trending in the wrong direction. That said, I feel the same way about Disney, Six Flags, Cedar Fair and basically the majority of the industry and at this point it seems like they're comparable. To me, I also feel like it's impossible to say which chain is better because they have such a diverse collection of parks (especially Cedar Fair) and I can't really fathom how anyone could do that. The top-tier Cedar Fair parks can go toe-to-toe with the Busch parks and I could see the argument either way. Michigan's Adventure / Dorney / Valleyfair / Worlds of Fun though? Ehhh... I'm not so sure. That said. SeaWorld San Antonio is also a huge step down from the rest of that chain and you can make the same argument in reverse. Sesame Place also exists, but I'll ignore that one for now. It's kind-of it's own thing. Or how about Soak City (or whatever) vs Discovery Cove? Operationally... same thing. Cedar Point's ops are amazing in the summer, but Michigan's Adventure runs 800 cars on a Wild Mouse and sends one around at a time. Busch Gardens Williamsburg's ops are fine, but SeaWorld routinely runs one train on Mako on weekdays regardless of crowd level.

I did, but worded it poorly. I edited it. Interesting fact: It looks like the highest voter turnout they’ve ever had was in the 70% range, and I’m sure that those people didn’t all vote the same way. A 2/3 yes vote when every absent vote is a no vote is going to be nearly impossible. This can’t be overstated.

They have money. The reason that this is unlikely is simply that it requires a 2/3 vote from shareholders and failing to vote would have the same impact as voting against it. They need near-unanimous yes votes and an exceptionally high voter turnout. The’ll send a letter like this to shareholders begging for votes, but this is a nearly-insurmountable hurdle.

It almost definitely won’t be but I’m going to enjoy every second of this while I can…

Pssssst: They’re both getting worse

No, Cedar Fair ripped out Wicked Twister so they can build a rooftop bar on it’s grave where I can go and scan my Busch Gardens pass for a discount on huge Funky Buddha drafts.

Hey, we all have terrible theme park opinions. For example, I hate Holiday World and think that Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit and Mystery Mine are god-tier coasters so whatever. If Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Busch Gardens Tampa “didn’t impress” but Valleyfair, Michigan’s Adventure and Dorney Park did then more power to you. You’re insane though… like super insane.

Oh so that post wasn’t a typo? So when you said “trash cans” you actually meant that you want every other park to get on Cedar Fair’s level with that, like Cedar Fair has the perfect number of trash cans? I swear I thought you made a mistake and meant it the other way around. That’s a first. Lol

I really feel like all-season dining plans are going to become a thing of the past across the board… Oh crap, I just thought of one more thing in the SeaWorld win column: They’re the only chain where a pass gets you a discount on booze! Catch that L, Cedar Fair people.

That post made no sense to me either, I’m almost wondering if he’s conflating the two chains.

^^My guess on how the parks will be re-branded is that they won't be. The only thing that would even be worth the effort would maybe be a Gilroy Gardens / Sesame Place re-brand but I have no clue what the operating agreement even is with that place...