DirkFunk

Why would Six Flags be involved in selecting attractions for parks other than ones they own or have a license deal with? Wait... isn't that what I said? They have a license deal with the Dubai park, so I assume they are involved in selecting attractions, correct? Wasn't asking about parks they neither own nor have a license deal with. They probably do as they're being paid for their name and expertise here, in China, Vietnam, and in Saudi Arabia. Otherwise, no. They wouldn't work for free. OH I gotcha. When I said "only licensed," I meant as opposed to owned and operated by Six Flags, not opposed to just random parks unrelated to SF. I understand that. So yes, the answer to my original question. Thanks. The reason I asked is the attractions they select could be a mild indication of where they're going with their domestic parks in the future. It might, but realistically, those parks operate on a very strict and shrinking budget. This is a park where, assuming it is built, a bunch of money will be thrown into it for big attractions. I don't think there's any real takeaways here as far as how Six Flags will go about business stateside.

Why would Six Flags be involved in selecting attractions for parks other than ones they own or have a license deal with? Wait... isn't that what I said? They have a license deal with the Dubai park, so I assume they are involved in selecting attractions, correct? Wasn't asking about parks they neither own nor have a license deal with. They probably do as they're being paid for their name and expertise here, in China, Vietnam, and in Saudi Arabia. Otherwise, no. They wouldn't work for free.

Why would Six Flags be involved in selecting attractions for parks other than ones they own or have a license deal with?

It's a license deal. Plus this is the UAE, where the Universal Studios arch welcomes people to a patch of desert and rides rust in the sun.

FIRE HOT TAKE: Let's complain about the park when it is actually finished and operating. This is the UAE we're talking about.

And say a prayer for the kids Michael Jackson touched over by his memorial Pirate Ship. And go on the Scat. And drive your car onto the drag strip and start gunning it while telling yourself "jail isn't real."

If you have your date planned out, then I don't know what we are supposed to do. It probably won't be busy at all unless there's a company picnic or huge outing.

None of us here can offer better info than Cedar Point themselves re: ticket pricing and discounts.I really can't stress that enough. Alternatively, those joining you can look into discounts provided by local retailers and chambers of commerce.

The fries are good but overrated by people who eat complete garbage most of the time. These are the people that made Krispy Kreme into "a thing" only to see it fail miserably in the north and contract. The area immediately around it I'm not that familiar with but don't know of any sort of institutions that are specifically worthwhile. As a whole, it is Pittsburgh, and people will say Primanti Bros. I don't know which is closest. Kennywood closes at ?'o clock every day, so you might only have until 8PM regardless. All of those are basic necessities along with Auto Race and perhaps the log flume (which is the last arrow hydroflume with an uphill portion IIRC), Bayern Kurve, Whip, and Giant Discovery (Black Widow). Concentrate on Phantom's Revenge and Exterminator first due to capacity IMO. I would consider saving the money and do one day at Cedar Point (Friday/Sat if you're there on one of those) and assess Kings Island before buying one. There is virtually no chance whatsoever that you will stroll into any theme park on a Monday or Tuesday and find Fast Lanes sold out before the gates open. It isn't happening. Crap shoot depending on crowds. Lots of people will want a night ride on Beast. I will tell you that Banshee and Bat are on the opposite corner of the park and a long long walk back there. You're not getting on one at 9:15 and then getting into the Beast line at 9:30. Always, always, always get the credit first, worry about specific preferences later unless there's some sort of overriding scenario (e.g. a front seat is just an extra train wait and the line behind you is 3 hours). Never heard this and don't see it on the site. I'd tweet them or something asking for confirmation. If you're just looking at the direct Motel 6->Cedar Point path and you're at the Sandusky-Milan one, there's a bunch of fast food places along the way. Jolly Donut in Sandusky is a bit of a throwback and at least unique. If you want something a little more wholesome, Barry Bagels has a newish location on Rt. 250 and they're pretty decent for chain anything. Valravn builds a queue. Personally I'd say skip it one morning since it draws people who would go to MF and Maverick in the past. Now those rides are sending empty seats even on Saturday mornings.

I think the Cedar Fair parks started adding that after Pulse. I'm sure by hiring guys who basically did the same job as the shooter, we'll be a lot safer....

Bell's I can feel sorry for because they got punted out of their space not because they they were a failure, but because of Ol' Boy Politics. And like I said about the Galaxi: I don't believe they even own it. Which is part of my issue with this whole story, in addition to things like not paying staff. That's disgusting. Screw them.

LMAO thank you for willing to be less kind than I. This place would be busted ass garbage in Tajikistan, much less America.

A) Building a new theme park is a tough gig because infrastructure costs are enormous. This isn't really a new theme park. These are all portable/trailered rides, some of which are actually easy to figure out the sourcing on because there's so few of them out there like that ARM swing. B) I don't care what business you plan on running: If you don't have enough capital to run it for two/three years without profitability, don't bother. Stick to a 9-to-5. You'll piss your money away in no time by getting in over your head. C) Lesson about capitalism: Some people have no intention of succeeding. Thomas Etheredge of Wild West World is often used as a comparison point for these small parks that fail of a guy that "didn't understand the market" or some nonsense like that. He was convicted of securities fraud related to the investments on the park. He was a past offender who had committed it previously. Where did the money go? Authorities have no idea. My guess is that he'll live a surprisingly comfortable existence for someone with multiple felony convictions and many years spent behind bars, if you catch my drift. Theme parks are an offshoot of the carnie biz, and carnies are gonna carny.

Goddamn, that is one rough looking "park". Conneaut Lake is out there like "Yo, we got trees at least."

The Zyklon looks like Playworld Amusements' ride. Like, exactly like it. My money is on fraud, honestly - if that thing shows up in Michigan in two weeks for Ionia like it is typically booked or Wisconsin at the end of the month....yeah. I sense someone probably thought those were podunk folk to pull a viscous burn on with a shell company.

Completely spaced on this, but went to the first adult night back in April (?) - adults without children are not usually allowed in, but for these special nights once a month, you basically get free rein over the place with not a child in sight. Total blast. Most importantly, Michigan's only existing permanent dark ride is in here and it's really surprisingly good, and gives Detroit more trackless dark rides than Walt Disney World. There's also one of those Satellite style flats where you need to pedal to stay up in the air and a 4D theater showing the exact same films as at the Legoland 4D theaters in the big parks. And Legos. So many Legos. Also competitions (like high score on the dark ride) for prizes.

We all go to the parks for the rides, bro. All of us.

I find this post very interesting at the moment, because I think a lot of enthusiasts feel this way. As a matter of fact, I was convinced I had this same point of view, until my trip to Cedar Point a couple days ago. I legitimately feel that for me this park has so many rides and so much going on that it all kind of takes away from itself. I hadn't been to the park since 07, so for me it was always the end all be all of parks. I was really surprised with my impression of the park this time around. If you've been to a lot of amusement parks since, the shock of *hory shet there's a lot of rides" that Cedar Point offers has probably worn off. The thing that I think makes it different than, as an example here, Carowinds, is that there's a lot more offered thanks to the geography of the place. You can rent a kayak at Cedar Point and take it around the peninsula. The closest thing to "soft adventure" a Six Flags St. Louis or similar offers is the need for a machete to take down some of the weeds growing through asphalt in the parking lot.

1) New things. When you've gone to a lot of amusement and theme parks, you've seen the same things over and over. Even as much as we laud Disney and Universal for the expense they put into their parks, generally speaking, the rides between the various Disney "Kingdom" parks are pretty identical. You've been on one Peter Pan, it kinda feels like you've been on them all. Knoebels is filled with rare or one-off attractions: Black Diamond, Flying Turns, the Skyride, the boats, the Lusse Bumper Cars, the sky ride, the whip, the loopers, the flyers, Power Surge, and on and on and on. 2) Becoming, in some way, part of the local community. Some parks became this because it was the goal - Knoebels, Tivoli, Grona Lund, Liseberg, Rye, Coney Island - they all come to mind. Some just ended up that way because the urban expanse enveloped them, like Disneyland. Creating a theme park where people in the region travel to for one visit a year became the norm sometime ago, and you're seeing now that parks are trying to get away from that and become enticing in a variety of ways to locals to sell season passes by increasing the number of events they hold. Still, holding events on a cheaply built slab concrete slab doesn't turn a Six Flags or Cedar Fair park into a Knoebels. You need variety in food options (most parks have cut those to the bone); you need variety in entertainment; you need places to relax: you need all of those things to make yourself truly into a place that someone who doesn't get erections for coaster construction shots to get out of work on a Tuesday that lives in the area to say, "Hey, I think I might brave the potential crowds and use my pass to go to the park tonight." Because if they're instead being confronted with $20 hockey puck burger or chicken tender meals and nothing but crowds waiting for big ass rides, they're gonna stay home or do something else.

It probably did, but a lot of stuff has been lost to time, so I honestly can't say. I can't imagine that Mindbender had a unique set of trains.

Magic Kingdom did 19 million guests last year - that's 52,000+ a day. How many rides there have actual capacity of over 3500 an hour necessary to get through each of them in a 14 hour operating day? Not theoretical; actual capacity.

Wasn't also because the manual was only in German and not translated into English? There were a number of issues - translation (though of course this was not the only such ride sold to an Anglophile nation), quality control due to Schwarzcopf receivership/bankruptcy, design issues from Stengel, and questions about sufficient maintenance by the mall. Ultimately, the inquiry (which I believe is free to read online), found that the core issue came with the wheel assemblies, which were made in such a way that the screws keeping it together could not be visually or physically inspected on a routine basis by the maintenance crew. The ride had been making metallic noise and been stopped and maintenance called twice that same date, but nothing was discovered as there was no way to discover the issue without removing trains from the track entirely. Most of the assemblies were found to be loose, and this issue was corrected in the subsequent trains the ride got (along with new restraints that had independent locking systems to prevent the rider ejection - aka those awful accordions). It also shuts down a couple times a day for maintenance checks which is....suboptimal.

It's easy to argue that the park is at fault for a number of reasons, but until there's an inquiry, it is best to wait until there's conclusion. Edmonton Mindbender's infamous fatal accident turned out to be the fault of the wheel assembly design being basically impossible to properly maintain.

Did the whole coaster come off the rails though?? From the photos so far it only looks like one car came off the track. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3660890/Rollercoaster-ten-people-board-derails-Scottish-theme-park-plunges-30ft-ground.html The pictures are pretty clear that it is the entire train. Wheel assemblies are laying all over the midway.

Tons and tons of questions. Immediately I think "Does Interpark support these rides?" Pinfari doesn't exist any more, and as such who machines replacement bits? In all seriousness, a whole coaster coming off the rails is pretty much unprecedented in modern times.