AndrewRnR

Just got an email this evening about a food truck event at Fun Spot Action Park this Thursday, March 1st from 5-9pm. Kinda short notice but I may swing by after work. Here is the flyer:

^ Good point. It is a trailer mount coaster.

^ They got a kiddie coaster and lost one - it wasn't there last week! I was there tonight getting my weekly go-kart fix (nothing beats 50 dollar annual passes!) and not only was the ride fully construction (ok so the station was still plywood but still..) but also operating. And yes, I did snag the credit. In with the new... ... Out with the old. I'm no expert but I would've thought you would remove the train first?

As exciting as it may be I still would consider this a rumor of sorts. Rocky Mountain has, in the past, alluded to different projects that didn't happen (i.e. talking about doing work on the Voyage). Also strange the manufacturer would confirm attractions - usually they are really hesitant to let any details slip until the park announces it. We got enough information to show it will happen I just wonder about if all the details are 100%.

And to think back then CCMR used to run 5 trains - so not only was the line longer but the ride had at least double the capacity! Great video of GL - and the photos of Raging Wolf!

Adding rides is exactly why the park was "killed" off - adding anymore would probably sealed its fault sooner. The park had too many assets for the amount of revenue/attendance that was generated. Hence why high-maintence rides like X-Flight were shipped out quick to help cut some of the huge maintenance budget. Kinzel has gone on record (prior to the Paramount Deal) that one of his biggest regret was not purchasing Geauga Lake when he had the chance in the mid-90s from FunTimes Inc. If they purchased it then I think it would have been another story - I would guess Cedar Fair would maintain it as a local attraction not try to over-expand it. The factors I believe are: 1) Too much, too fast - There is a reason no existing parks have added the amount of capital Six Flags did for the 2000 season. It throws off the balance sheet. 2) Six Flags directly went after Cedar Point (anyone remember the old SFO commercials - "We drove past Cedar Point to get here"). They went strong after the Detroit market - which was 4 hours+ away and had Cedar Point in-between. Whether it was marketing or captial they went after the wrong audience. 3) The area physically couldn't handle it - and the government didn't help. The park was a legal mess. Anyone who followed the park in the early '00s will remember the many legal battles the park faced (especially when it became SFWoA and it sat between two counties). Simple things like rerouting a service road was big point of contention in local court. The long-rumored hyper coaster was argued in court forever to try to get both cities to approve the height. Didn't help literally 50 feet from some of the rides were houses. The only real route to the park was a 10-min drive down a two lane road passed an increasing number of wealthy subdivisions whose residents didn't like the welcome attention. I honestly believe Cedar Fair buying the park and reopening it as Geauga Lake was one of the better things that could have happened. Who is not to say SF wouldn't have killed it also ala AstroWorld? I attended the media ceremony for the "grand reopening" and just talking to some of the execs and hearing them speak there was one consistent message - they wanted to "bring back the fun" by transforming it back into a smaller local park. Maybe I drank the koolaid but that seemed to be the right idea - trim the assets to match revenue and attendance and get back to what made the park successful for the first 50+ years. They even brought in some of their top leaders from the Point. Could CF have done a better job? Maybe a few things seemed to hurt them off the bat - including the park's rep with the local residents and government and some ticketing issues (i.e. fail with the season pass tie-in with Cedar Point). I think did the right thing by trimming the fat - honestly I wondered if they could've done more. Kinzel has also admitted removing the animals hurt more than they would have thought. I think my point is the park survived for so long (considering a large number of Cleveland/Youngstown parks didn't make it) because it was a local place - trying to turning it into a large force didn't work as planed (who's not to say if it was built up over time as local infrastructure was expanded that it wouldn't have worked. Cedar Fair is always painted as the bad guy when it comes to the final closure but I can't help but see it as they bought a sinking ship and couldn't repair it fast enough to keep it afloat.

Isn't Cypress Gardens Blvd a four-lane divided highway? I'm sure there was traffic was bad but considering 95% of the park's other operating days the crowds won't be nearly this bad... With that logic hopefully those Facebook posters haven't tried to drive up and down I-4 lately or near any of the other parks. Perhaps Orlando should widen I-4 and build huge off ramps to each theme park (and outlets) because 2-3 weeks a year there is big traffic jams (don't even try to drive near any park on NYE after the new year... the entire city nearly becomes a stand still).

Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom all experienced phased closings today. None of the parks were fully closed ("phase 4") today and its actually been a few years now since that has happened (2009?). But it makes a better news story when they say "park closed" and leave it at that.

^ I believe one article said construction will begin late spring as the park still has to get final permits from city and what not. With an opening of Feb/March 2013 I'd said we'll see vertical construction come summer. It really isn't that much land and it looks much smaller in person at least to me when I drove by the other day. As for Gwazi - I'm really interested to see how it runs after this winter's track work is complete. Gwazi is going on nearly two-years of daily operations without major track work. I'm no expert but retracking and then still running PTCs for a year before MFs probably doesn't help.

Yup. Got it- thanks! Went to spam folder - didn't bother to check there as TPR stuff usually doesn't hit as spam.

Maybe its operator error on my end but I didn't get a message?

^ I believe the Big Fun model was quoted at around 3 million dollars.

Just to play devil's advocate... Is it the worst? Most attendance reports (even if they are just estimates) should that Orlando parks own most others in terms of attendance and the estimates say those numbers keep growing. Even with the addition of Aquatica (which maxes out capacity routinely during the summer) the three other parks didn't take a big hit. The resorts additions are great but those are all (with maybe the exception of CoCo Key) going after the same market segment. I would think the Fun Spot park would be, as they say, an alternative to those and could be great for the thousands of guests staying in standard I-Drive hotels with just a basic pool. Just like how their attractions, and now coasters, aren't trying to steal busy from the coasters literally across I-4 but rather provide supplemental entertainment to the big park's guests or to fill a niche of the lower-priced market.

Gwazi has been hit or miss with the new trains for me but I can't help but wonder if the fact that the ride was retracked and then still ran PTCs for a year prior to the new trains have any effect. We've heard the stories about the Voyage's track being all out of whack for the Timberliners because of the PTCs - could that year gap between retracking/new trains have bowed out the track that causes the MFs to shuffle? Sorry to get off topic there just thinking out loud.

Going back and reading the first post of this thread (the original news from early this year) it says the Kissimmee park is getting a "Soaring Eagle" attraction. Now with what we seen at IAAPA that makes much more sense. It is just concept art but the wooden coaster in the video looks much larger than what I would have expected. Should be interesting.

Take it for what you will but word around IAAPA was that the park actually expects the ride to open in 2014 and the paper jumped the gun with the date. Just some food for thought. Not saying its 100%.

I'm sure he has been - Baker Leisure Group's office is a mile or two from the convention center.

Monday afternoon the zoning ordinance was presented before city council and was passed. I am no expert by any means but according to the news articles from a few weeks ago if the city council were to approve the zoning this would allow the park to be built in the planned location. With the passing of the ordinance I can only assume that means the zoning would now allow for the park. Strangely the passing didn't appear in any news outlets - unfortunately my original plan to attend didn't work out with my IAAPA schedule but I emailed a contact at City Hall today and was told it passed.

^ Actually there is a one day cheap ticket offered for Friday - $39 dollars, a two day for $59. Information can be found here: http://www.iaapa.org/expos/attractions/Registration.asp

^ The convention is open to anyone who wants to register. With that being said, while it can be fun, it is also a professional convention where business is going on everywhere you look. The best (and cheapest) way to attend is on Friday when a discounted one day ticket is offered and the floor has a much more casual feel to it. Just remember if you do see him he is there for business - I've seen far too many enthusiasts over the years stick there nose where it doesn't belong during the convention (not saying you would - just making a general statement).

Good to hear Bands, Brew and BBQ has been made into a two-day a week event. It is always a great time especially with the beer sample pass they usually offer.

Both Fun Spots keep expanding but I believe the one on I-Drive (literally a quarter mile from where OTP is proposed to be built) is the one they are looking to expand on a larger scale with bigger rides (link to article regarding expansion). I always thought (hoped?) that the Fun Spot parks would evolve like Big Chiefs did into Mt. Olympus. There is enough land around the Fun Spot on I-Drive for that to happen. Kemah Boardwalk is another example of a large-scale FEC.

^Interesting. I thought the project was all but dead. I was already going to be on a project day from work for IAAPA on the 14th so maybe I'll swing by the meeting if its in the morning. I stumbled across this page on the city's website about the proposal (with findings from different studies along with the master plan): http://www.cityoforlando.net/planning/cityplanning/Orlandothrillpark.htm

Its disappearance wasn't surprising though, as the system was greatly abused. Plus it allowed CP to reduce employees, saving money. The rides that needed the system required like 1 or 2 extra operators. As it is, Dragster runs with 11 people... I think in some sorts it was surprising - in the sense randomly one August day the system was there, the next it was gone. The story I heard is they actually waited until the ran out to ink then pulled the plug (take with a grain of salt.. but funny rumor at the least). I certainly wasn't expecting it. And while it costs money for infrastructure and in labor to operate the systems generate revenue by shifting people out of a line into, potentially, gift shops, arcades, and f&b locations. Parks arn't in the skip the line business just so people don't have to wait in line its more so about increasing per caps. Lo-Q prides itself on the fact their system is proven to increase per-caps. My bet was that FreeWay simply wasn't increasing the per-caps and thus became an expense.

The system was called "FreeWay" and it was basically FastPass done with stamps. At the height of it you could get two stamps in one day but most stamps ran out by 11:30/12. The system strangely disappeared without warning towards the end of the summer in the mid 2000s. Ironically the park announced their new VIP tours program later that same week. There was a short lived system in 2000 for Millennium Force called Ticket to Ride. From early through mid summer the only way to ride Millennium Force was to wait in line to get a ticket that allowed you to come back at another time. The problem became that was the ONLY way to ride it and the tickets ran out by early afternoon. They cut back slightly to where tickets were only given up until early evening then anyone could ride but it still caused issues and the system was dropped. I'm surprised we haven't seen a system at the park especially considering the capital the park spent for the "FreeWay" infrastructure (many of the rides on system had their queues modified and new entrances created for it).