DirkFunk

Calling I-305 and Skyrush derivatives of Maverick and showing them as examples of rides that "stay low to the ground" seems kinda hilarious to me. Maverick is a very good ride that expanded and combined what the spaghetti bowl coasters from Premier and California Screamin' had done. You can even say it is really derivative of Powderkeg if you want. But I also don't see it having changed that much about what's come since now that Cedar Fair has built three giga coasters and the RMC rides have taken off. IIRC it barely moved the attendance needle in 2007 too, probably because Cedar Fair under Kinzel didn't know how to market a ride that wasn't the biggest/tallest/fastest anything.

Cedar Fair will still be innovative and record-breaking, just maybe not with Intamin for a while. They haven't done anything innovative since Maverick, IMO. And I feel like under Kinzel RMC would've already had their influence at Cedar Fair parks instead of just one B&M after the next *yawn* In that case, Kinzel had 2008-2012 to innovate and the park wound up with a log flume that doesn't work correctly, a tower swing ride that doesn't work correctly, some Christmas lights, and some animatronic dinosaurs. If he was still around the hotel would still suck and you'd probably still be getting B&Ms.

Every amusement park in the United States will provide water for free or at cost of the cup from a food location. Just ask for a glass of ice water and they'll provide it. Water fountains are likely legal necessities as well, though the quality of the water that will come from them is entirely suspect. I know a lot of people have discussed using Hotwire and Priceline - I have nothing against either and had for many years used Priceline extensively. I used to book anywhere from 15-25 nights a year with that. Now? Maybe 1 a year if I can't find anything to stomach. I look at your plans and see Super 8, Baymont, Travelodge, and Days Inn appear...there is no rational reason why you shouldn't at least apply for the Wyndham Rewards Credit Card: https://www.barclaycardus.com/apply/Landing.action?campaignId=2046&cellNumber=12&prodidreq=CCVVS62385&referrerid=AboutWyn14 You earn 5 points per dollar spent on each stay and you pick up 35,000 points when you make your first purchase with the Signature Card. Yes - you pay $69 for the right to have that card, but there is no way whatsoever that you wouldn't earn points far exceeding the value of that when you buy a stick of gum after it arrives in the mail. Even if you get their free card, again, the points will be worth it. And obviously join the club. Otherwise you're letting a whole bunch of points (which are really currency) go to waste.

This is such a good thread, I had to offer a second post: Conneaut Lake Park: 2015: Purchase insurance on the park's remaining buildings and attractions, then set them on fire (except Blue Streak, which I privately ride). Pay off the fire chief to call it an accident. Collect the money. Scrap any metal you can. Purchase Hotel Conneaut with portion of insurance funds. 2016-2017: Begin construction of massive meth lab inside Hotel Conneaut and turn it into a seasonal brothel. Use remaining funds from insurance money to pay off local officials to zone prostitution and gambling as legal in the locality. Obtain sole gaming license and find partner to construct large casino. Dump toxic chemicals from meth lab into old parking lot. Continue this business plan in year 3 (2017). Retrofit Hotel Conneaut Brothel with heat, A/C, and new furnishings. 2018: Ramping up of construction for casino. Pave over toxic meth waste. Most of the town should, by this point, be addicted, including people in positions of power and authority. Begin brain washing program to make them more militant. Have Blue Streak reprofiled by Gravity Group so it has airtime on the back half. Refuse to pay insurance company or IRS. 2019: Forcefully secede from the US by starting a guerrilla war using methed out zombie soldiers immediately following construction of new casino. Stock their children, also on meth, in Hotel Conneaut and the casino to prevent strategic bombing. Obtain ceasefire from authorities granting some degree of authoritarian rule in the locality, to be renamed "The Republic of Methsylvania" and promote duty free meth, legal prostitution, gambling, and Cuban cigars.

JMHO: Pick a chain and stick with it. Also get the chain's credit card. If you're really interested in saving cash, eschew hotels for AirBNB. I think this may be a very low number given that you'll do your fair share of eating within theme parks. Even with a free breakfast at a budget motel, you're basically pricing yourself out of ever eating anywhere more upscale than Little Caesars. Entirely depends on the park. I just Google the park name and go from there. Club TPR actually has one of the most comprehensive lists of park discounts of any clubs, so that may be worth consideration. RE: Front of line- unless you're going on a holiday, I would specifically avoid pre-purchase of these things. They almost never sell out prior to opening. Judge the crowd and the lines and go from there if you're staying to a strict budget. Ask yourself seriously - is it worth saving 15 minutes in line for something you'll ride only once to eat good food instead of a $5 foot long? Cooking for yourself in a Motel 6 is simply impossible. If you're that tied to a $30/day budget for food w/o any way to prepare your own hot food, I would become very accustomed to eating cold cuts and dried/cured meats. You'll need a cooler, and the bigger you get, the better off you'll be. Consider seriously that you may get sick of drinking 4 oz cups of free water at amusement parks and may want a Sprite or Coke once in awhile. It does happen.

A fan of wooden coasters and/or water parks would not agree. That's true. But if you weren't necessarily a Gravity Group fan, the dry park has nothing exceptional. If you were that serious about wanting to go to a water park, there's also better options out there in my view. to the original poster: Six Flags St. Louis, combined w/City Museum, maybe a baseball game, perhaps a visit to the Arch or Forest Park, then the drive through no-mans-land that separates it and Holiday World, and a solid amount of time sitting in the lazy river aside from Voyage rides is a much better idea than doing all that driving. Don't expect much of anything except perhaps construction on I-64 between the St. Louis and Santa Claus and you can't be disappointed.

You're driving a bit unnecessarily - you'd be better off flying into Evansville if you absolutely didn't want to backtrack (Louisville would be cheaper and has more flights). Cincinnati is a notoriously expensive airport to fly out of and is a bit of a captive "focus" airport (former hub) for Delta, so you would probably save money flying home from Dayton or Columbus. I wouldn't personally do a Tues PM-Saturday trip, but I don't know how your work schedule has you coming in or any of that. It is a 193 mile drive from Holiday World to Kings Island that takes about 3 hours. If you're willing to do St. Louis to Holiday World, you're already throwing another 3 hours or so into your schedule. Oh, and you lose an hour in transit going across the central/eastern time zone border. By comparison, Six Flags Over Georgia to Carowinds is a 259 mile, 3 hour 44 minute drive with no time change. Six Flags over Georgia is at least the equal of Kings Island or better in most every respect, while Carowinds, as a whole, is clearly far superior to Holiday World. No diss to Cinci, but Atlanta is much more of a cultural center, and Charlotte is an up and coming city as well. Both are airport hubs (Atlanta for Delta, Charlotte for US Airways) so there's a bajillion flights between them. I think you'd get a lot more out of that.

They may look at metal detectors, additional security, and increased use of lockers as a solution that has the potential to generate revenue vs. shutting the ride down for a couple weeks and redoing the entrance way or station, which will have no such potential. I don't know who has the ear of management more in this situation - creative or security/risk management. To say with certainty that "they would do it if it made sense" is overly simplistic. There's been tons of examples of things people suggest should be changed about park operations that may even be stubbornly kept to for years before changes are made. They certainly aren't trying it as to prove it ineffective. I just point at Disney as the industry leader, and even with rides like California Screamin' (definitely passes over guests!) there has never been an attempt made to put metal detectors out there at ride entry. Most large regional theme parks in the United States have this theoretical problem, and none of them feature metal detectors at the entrance to the ride EXCEPT Morey's and the Great Nor'Easter. Think about how ridiculous this sounds for a moment in the greater scheme of the theme park industry. Anyone can get hurt on any rides given conditions set outside the park's control. What does it tell you about Universal's risk mitigation strategy that they won't run a dueling coaster because of the potential of injury to riders, but Cedar Fair, Parque Reunidos, Six Flags, and Hersheypark all operate racing/dueling coasters in spite of having far smaller budgets?

No one is saying that there isn't likely a safety issue at play. The question is this - are metal detectors really the best possible solution to this in terms of both guest satisfaction and safety? Let us say for a moment that the core issue with RRR is that things fall out of people's pocket on the lift hill and into the queue area and station. Perhaps then a better fix would be to, just throwing this out there, build a roof or perhaps a tough nylon covering over the area to prevent those falling items from causing any harm to people below? Or you could do what Disney has done on multi-inversion coasters and put in zippered or velcro pockets in the seat back where people can place loose articles. The same is true for Hulk and the zero-g roll. A net already exists. If that is insufficent, perhaps construct something else in place of the netting and use the pockets there. Metal detectors have a negative connotation regarding personal safety, which is precisely why Universal is not putting them at the front gate instead. You're right, shoes can come loose. A button down shirt might too. Basketball tearaways also. Ban clothes. On second thought, what if you have a pre op transexual on board with some unattached "equipment"? Perhaps we should at least mandate boxer briefs. Boxers, which have buttons, clearly pose some degree of risk....

Apparently the experiment is over already . I've been told to expect them back tomorrow morning from the same individual who told me this was happening today.

Unrelated to this, Universal has installed metal detectors at the entry of Hulk and Rip Ride Rockit. Apparently there may also be wands further up the queue line as a secondary check. It sure sounds like anything that isn't clothing is being no-no'ed, but I'm sure clarification is coming.

To be entirely fair to both parties, Cedar Point hasn't had a lot of their upcoming rides leaked in recent years. But then also, in recent years there weren't always rides to leak. It is possible that Sandusky Register was told about the plans for Starlight Experience and just didn't print them because, you know, it was stupid. More than likely because of all the issues involving permits and so on, this would be more likely to leak than, say, a new water slide for Soak City.

Yeah. MiAdv's isn't a great one. The only reason I consider it a loss is that it represents the second dry ride they've removed from the park w/o replacement. You have two empty ride pads now and another couple hundred people in line for something else on a busy Saturday or Sunday. At most places, that isn't an issue, but most places that have 7 coasters like Michigan's Adventure have attractions with significantly more throughput. Their ride selection was so pitiful to begin with that the Trabant was available on Fast Lane.

I hope not. The dry park is miserable enough on a busy day given the lack of capacity on just about anything.

There is no advertising. There is no marketing. None. That's the problem. The park opens in less than two weeks. There isn't precedence for this that I can think of in the industry because no one is dumb enough to not announce or market additions. Seriously, I think Fun Spot Orlando did more work to hype the 4-5 weeks that Air Race was set up at their Orlando location than Busch Gardens Williamsburg has done for a $6-10 million dollar attraction. So you're hoping for word of mouth to get out about the ride to promote it and boost attendance? That's Hard Rock Park level desperation. You can't possibly think that's a rational thing for a major theme park to do. You can refuse to believe whatever. The company is approaching financial ruin and they seem totally clueless on how to alter the downward spiral. If this is such a smart thing to do, why hasn't anyone else ever tried it? Disney is running successful press events for cupcakes and t-shirts and SeaWorld won't even do it for the biggest ride they're building in any of their parks for the 2015 season?

Even in the darkest days of the Burke regime at Six Flags, they had enough sense to market the largest capital expenditure project the chain was developing in any given year. It actually doesn't make any sense, and who is getting paid to do this type of thing (if they haven't been fired to save money) is currently watching attendance dwindle and the stock price auger into the ground. Any idiot can run a company badly, and that's clearly the situation with SeaWorld. You know what is a complete and utter waste of money? Spending MILLIONS on a new ride and making absolutely zero attempt to market it in advance. It is inexcusable and only serves as confirmation bias to those who thought that SEAS was without direction and meaningful leadership.

No. There's a lot that went horribly wrong though, and you can't blame them entirely for taking advantage of a situation beyond the park's control. You can, however, blame them for how things have been managed since.

The fact that you can go without the Dolphin Swim for as little as $150 and still get the entry to SeaWorld and Aquatica (and Busch Gardens for something like $25 additional) makes DC probably the best value in an increasingly expensive Orlando market. Been twice, will go again.

Usually they have a bunch of stuff open. Stuff that's newer gets a big line, stuff that isn't, not so much. I haven't been in years because, hey, it isn't that exclusive. Traditionally, if you wanted to marathon on Magnum at midnight though, Coastermania could definitely do you right. But I really don't hang out with many people in the scene anymore, so it isn't my thing even at the best possible price ($0).

Am I reading that right? As long as you're a member of a coaster club and have a season pass the event is free? I mean besides having to buy the club membership and season pass. Always been free. Also always huge attendance (like over 1000) for a coaster event.

I tend to think that there's too much competition in the area for it to work as anything but low budget. In a way, it being a hot mess is probably the most sustainable way to go about things unless something dramatic changes.

I walked around Maui Sands last year and it was uproariously bad. The whole complex is a frankenstein's monster where an existing hotel was retrofitted into a water park resort. I found pictures online of that huge room with the pool tables being an indoor pool. As of last year, the rooms there were largely under renovation with layouts taped to the windows. A hallway off from that led to all this stacked construction material and chain link fencing. There's tons of essentially abandoned stuff sitting around and tape over signage pointing to things the water park resort never restored after it reopened. Oh, yeah, so it was closed for like 2-3 years and at one point former NFL running back Jamal Lewis was apparently interested in reopening it. There's that too. Personally, I'd pay like $80 to stay there with the water park included. The layout of it is so bad, the amenities so weird and messed up, like...comparing it to the Trop in Vegas is criminal. It is actually far weirder than that.

If someone staying at All Star has the option of going to use the Yacht/Beach Club Pool or Boardwalk and so on for free, they're less likely to spend money on a water park. Most of these pool complexes we're discussing are larger than community owned aquatics complexes. I would be surprised if that fact isn't a reason why WDW doesn't allow pool hopping. Universal, of course, does. If they charge $30 for a water park ticket, they'd have the cheapest gate in Orlando. And of course they want to attract bigger spenders. But aside from your speculation that it could be a quasi-exclusive water park for resort guests, no one else anywhere that I've seen is suggesting that as a possibility. I don't think it makes a lick of sense, personally. If it did, you'd cut back on the pool amenities to drive people to go to the water park and pay the gate.

Plug N Plays are probably not being sold left and right because someone else has a superior technology that does more and costs less.

Depends on how big this full size water park turns out to be when the attractions are actually announced. Having a really cool lazy river would be nice. You know who would have one for free? Cabana Bay, and regardless of which UO resort I stay at, I can use it. Maybe they kill pool hopping to encourage use of the water park. They might do that! And my excitement for a new water park if I end up with both A) no poolhopping B) no more Wet N'Wild is gonna be super low. I say this as a guest who has favored Uni over Disney in recently years as my Orlando amusement resort of choice. I would love for it to stay open, and until I hear it is closing I'm just going to hope it doesn't.