robbalvey

^ Let's hope so. This is what they need. quote="DBru"]The park has to find a way to stay afloat, and if they were to charge half of the amount they are charging now, there is no way a profit (or anything close to it) could be made. At first, $40 may seem like a lot, but it is still a drop from last years' price of $50. Not to mention, that price was set for all visitors. The park is now offering a reduced price for children (with the addition of a new, small, children's area), and apparently, many discounts. First off, has anyone actually heard about "many discounts" or are we just making assumptions? Secondly, the price probably wouldn't be such a big deal if parks like Carowinds or Six Flags Over Georgia were less money for a *LOT* more. And I'm not even talking a few rides more, we're talking a *LOT* more. Carowinds you get a park with twice as many attractions as HRP PLUS a full water park for $5 less. At Six Flags Over Georgia you get a great line-up of coasters and enough for the family to do for $10 less. That's my biggest complaint about the price. How do they justify MORE money than those other parks, while still a good distance away, are still the closest compeition, and I would assume that a large amount of Myrtle Beach's tourists probably come from the areas that those two parks service. Of course they have to stay afloat and make a profit, but they also need to get people through the gates. Something the previous owners failed at. When they bought the park, they bought it (from what I understand) free of any debt. So now they have wiped the slate clean and need to get people in the park. I'm not convinced that a $40 admission price is going to get them that. --Robb

The name of the song is "Diddley-Dee" and the artist is "Cartoons". They actually are more of a kids song group, like the Wiggles. --Robb

LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!! OMG! OMG! OMG! *picks self off the floor* Wait...I'm not done.... LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!! OMG! OMG! OMG! My side hurts. Wow. That was awesome. I love TPR. Brings out the comedians in all of us! --Robb "Wes has competition!" Alvey

^ In one of the articles I did read they would open the dark ride, but without the Moody Blues theme. But then I've also heard conflicting reports. We'll just have to see when the park opens! --Robb "Even with the dark ride, $40 is still too much." Alvey

Also, as a rule of thumb, when I lived in the area I would try to avoid Knoebel's on wristband days. I've found that on ticket days, they seem to crank through people, but on wristband days, they sometimes go a bit slower and even run only one train on coasters. More tickets collected = more money! It might be a little more expensive to go on a ticket only day, but you may find you get more rides in. --Robb

Something about all the remaining monorails in the world getting dismantled...nothing important! --Robb

Ticket Prices have been announced: http://discovermyrtlebeachforum.com/index.php?showtopic=2096 While it's good to see the park drop the price, I still think $39.95 is very expensive for what that park has to offer. I mean, a ticket to Cedar Point is only $5 more! Or a better comparison is Carowinds. An adult ticket is $36 and the kids ticket is $21.99. Six Flags Over Georgia is $29.99 for all ages. How can they justify being MORE EXPENSIVE than a park like Carowinds or SFOG??? That's just insane! I really, REALLY hope they have a ton of discounts and coupons and no one that goes to the park is paying much more than the kids price of $24.95. Personally I think THAT is the right price point. This park should be no more than $24.99 for adults and $15 bucks for kids. There is just simply NOT ENOUGH TO DO to justify a $40 admission. Get there this season. There won't be a 2010. And if there is, I've lost all faith in humanity. --Robb

This is more about risk management. They can run it empty or with fewer people but if a ride has a history of vallying due to a lack of weight, they are not going to take a risk of sending the train out without a certain number of rides and then having to evac potentially creating a safety hazard. It's far less of a risk to run a coaster without people than to have your paying customers stranded somewhere in an uncomfortable situation. It really is a bitch to evac a ride if it valleys, especially if it ends up coming to a stop where it's not easy to evac riders. So asking for a specific number of riders kind of kills to birds with one stone. 1. You have a better guarantee that the train will in fact come back to the station. 2. You avoid the risk of having to evac a train in an not-so-convenient spot (may even have to require cherry pickers or even worse the local fire department) and avoid having to dis-assemble the train, winch it back, or remove a piece of track in order to take the train off. (One of those three usually has to happen.) They normally figure out how much weight the train needs to make it around, let's say 2,000 pounds, and do an average weight per rider, let's say 175 and that would be 12 riders needed. Sometimes this number can change due to weather conditions. Perhaps on a day where the winds are above 20 MPH they may need 16 or 18 riders. (I'm just making these stats up as examples, I know nothing about the operations of El Toro, but I do know in general the operations of a coaster that needs x amount of weight to run.) Hope this helps explain things. --Robb

I want to warn you that I've heard from several people that the media day is Thursday May 21st, but we were told at WCB the ride will open to the public on Saturday, May 23rd. There is a *chance* that the ride will be open on May 22nd, but I have not heard that as the opening day. Just wanted to let you know before you show up and be dissapointed. --Robb

They must have run out of cheese. There is no other acceptable reason to close early. --Robb

So THAT'S where babies come from! Yes it's true! ALL babies come from Elissa's mom's vagina. I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP! --Robb "She just fired out four of them while I typed this." Alvey

Great update! What a difference 24 hours can make, no? --Robb

LOL! Did you just NOW figure that out? --Robb "This forum is way too cheesy." Alvey

Agreed. I think it's one thing to be allowed to stay on the coaster if there is no one in line for your seat (like when the park is slow and the stations are empty) but to walk up the exit and jump into an empty seat just because you're a single rider, well, I'm not really sure that's fair. I think if you want to ride, you should have to go through the actual ride queue like everyone else. (Unless you have a FlashPass or unless there is an actual sign posted single rider line.) Just my two cents. --Robb

The bridge is in the background of this picture, and the digger is right behind it:

Guys, guys, guys... PLEASE...stop the back and forth bickering...it's getting us nowhere. And besides. I think you all have forgotten the MOST IMPORANT thing which makes the rest of this argument totally invalid...

I would like to know how this works? Many parks will allow you to enter the park, for free, to "shop" if you leave your drivers license at guest relations at the front of the park. You have 30 minutes to enter, buy your item, and return to collect your ID. If you do not return in 30 minutes, you agree to be charged for a full day's admission. I know that Disney, Universal, and Busch Parks used to offer a "shopping pass" as they understood that the parks carried items that could not be found anywhere else, and sometimes a guest just wanted to come in to buy something, but didn't want to spend a day at the park. Now with many items being available online, or the shopping services offered (for example, most of Disney's products are now available either online or you can call them to place an order for park-specific merchandise) and because of this many parks have done away with the shopping pass. That's pretty much how I understood it to work. I've personally never used it, though. --Robb

^ Just suck it up and absorb more cheese!

Guys, guys, guys... PLEASE...stop the back and forth bickering...it's getting us nowhere. And besides. I think you all have forgotten the MOST IMPORANT thing which makes the rest of this argument totally invalid...

I have posted a higher quality version of our Kentucky Rumbler/Beech Bend Video to CoasterTube: [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=kentuckyrumbler_qqd1[/coastertube] Remember, you can purchase this DVD from the TPR Store! www.themeparkreview.com/store

OMG! Fuji-Q! Of course! How has it not been mentioned yet in this thread? That's a GREAT example. One of the biggest parks in Japan (I'd say #3 behind Disney and Universal) and it closes ALL THE TIME in the rain! And they have HORRIBLE customer service. "Free ticket for closing early in the rain? FORGET IT! IN fact, we're going to charge you to leave!" If you want to complain about any park, Fuji-Q is a perfect example. Great Adventure and all of the Six Flags parks are light years ahead of this place. ...yet I don't see Fuji-Q losing ANY guests because of it. I have to believe they DID give out free passes to those who were in the park. But our original poster never made it that far, nor did he ask the correct person about his parking refund. (Which, dude, why don't you have a parking pass if you go as frequently as you do?) --Robb EDIT - GatorChris and I were thinking the same thing at the same time!

New Terminator update posted here: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=730828#730828

April 12th Update! From here you can see what looks like a nearly complete woodie! Deja Vu and his new pal, Terminator! White truck spotting! Ooh, the bridge is getting close to completion...there's also a lot of black poles that have been installed. White truck, new concrete, and black poles! The backside of curves. I like the bridge, but I can't help to think it's a bit narrow. The nail smacking people are hard at work! Today we heard a lot of nail smacking going on. Looks like the lift hill is nearly complete. Some dudes working up there on the super secret platform where the chain wheel thingy will go. *smack* *smack* *smack* Oooh! Nail smacking action CAUGHT ON FILM! You can see the guy on the left is MID SMACK!!! There is track laid down everywhere! C'mon guys! Finish that lift! I want to ride this thing! This has to be the most dense GCI ever built! As you can see...track is there! Absolutely beautiful! Looking forward to May 21st! I will end today's update with this picture. I don't know why, but I just found this very amusing... "Boys of Steel!" LOL! --Robb

Is that what you teach in your business strategy classes? Blame the costumer? I think he's talking about the fact that - 1. As a theme park enthusiast he understands he's taking a chance going to the park when there is a bad weather forecast. 2. He was just there the previous week in bad weather and saw rides close. 3. People on this forum in just the past week warned against going to the park this weekend in bad weather. Knowing all this information, and he still went to the park, IMO I agree that he should have known this was a possibility. He's not talking about "blaming the customer" for the park closing. He's talking about the kids reaction. He's bashing the park for something he should have known better about and shouldn't be suprised about. I know damn well that if it's raining outside here in So Cal, I don't go jump in the car and make the two hour drive down to Knott's because I know there is a GOOD chance they will be closed or most of the rides will be closed. Even if I called ahead and someone at the park told me they were open. As a park enthusiast and a member of this site, you have a great volume of information that is not available to that person answering the phone at Six Flags. Yes, in many ways, we actually KNOW BETTER than the person at the call center. Had this kid not been aware of ANY of this, and been a totaly newbie to the site having just registered to share his experience, I as well would have been more compasionate to his situation, and tried to make him understand why parks make these decisions. But when it's the 2nd week in a row? C'mon man! You should know better! I'm not buying you crying wolf. Again, I think he's more pissed at himself for making the trek out there, KNOWING this could have been a possibility, and instead of putting some blame on himself, he just wants to blame the park. Honestly, him driving 3 1/2 hours to a park that he knew could have led to dissapointment because of the weather was a dumb move, IMO. And I've made dumb moves too, not trying to slam this kid...we all do it. But I tend to take responsibility for my dumb actions instead of trying to blame someone else for them. I think Elissa said it best...when you only have 20 cars in the parking, clearly that seperates the smart people from the dumb people! In short, GatorChris isn't saying the kid is to blame for the park closing, he's saying he's to blame for going in the first place. --Robb "I don't agree with parks closing early, but I think it was the best business decision they could have made." Alvey

^ I have actually found a really kick ass Zingo POV, but thank you for looking! --Robb