DirkFunk

If they do build a dive machine and do a RMC makeover on Mean Streak after the Rougarou transformation back-to-back-to-back, I don't think they're going to need or want to do much coaster stuff for awhile. If they did, there's a lot of directions they can go in without Intamin where they've already bought similar things; dark ride/coaster hybrids from Triotech, Mack spinning coasters. Zamperla Motocoasters...one day they probably will call whatever iteration of Intamin exists then, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that day.

In our group, this very question came up during the Q&A, and that was their response, so I'll cosign what you just said. There was also a "Is Intamin actually less reliable than B&M?" which led to a very, very diplomatic answer that clearly intended to say "yes" without actually saying "yes".

I realize you aren't charging extra for the pools. The issue is that if you're going to operate two water parks w/gated entry and have one essentially just for the hotel guests, pools like Cabana Bay's that cost people nothing are will act as an alternative to the gated facility. If we're going to compare to Disney World, WDW doesn't allow pool hopping. I won't compare it with Atlantis because that plays operates by a whole different business model in a place where independently leaving the resort area is just not done. Since this rumor started making the rounds in earnest months ago and was then substantiated by the building permits that appeared in November, part of that rumor is "Wet N' Wild will probably close". Given how much has already been validated, and how much it makes sense to not generally go forth and compete with yourself, I think dismissing that possibility out of hand is probably not best.

If you're going to gear a brand new, full sized water park almost entirely to resort guests, why let them pool hop at extravagantly sized pool facilities you keep building?

I don't know you or your finances. Heck, I don't even know where you live. For people living in Section 8 or city run housing or living in bad apartments and trailers, regular trips to amusement parks simply aren't an option. Assuming you live in VA (guess from your profile info), do you think people living in Richmond's Gilpin Court are equally represented percentage wise in KD or BGW's numbers as a similarly sized housing development as in Fredricksburg or Midlothian? Most theme parks aren't in urban areas and are difficult to reach by public transport intentionally. It isn't a coincidence that developers chose those sorts of locations from the 1950s through to the present day (new Elitch's exempted). And I'm lucky that I am in a position where I can spend what I do on trips, no doubt about it. But I recognize that there a whole lot of people who's current situation precludes them from doing what I do. I've been there. It sucks for the billions of people who live in abject poverty, but my purchase of a Q-Bot at Six Flags Great America isn't making a difference one way or the other about that.

I'm not nearly as stoked about seeing Wet N'Wild close given the huge complement of slides there and how historically important it is to the water park industry. I'm not saying this new water park won't be really good, but I seriously doubt that they'll have an equal amount of attractions when opening as does Wet N'Wild. Oh, it'll be better themed, but if I want to get a beach chair and sit around a fake beach all day, I'd rather go to Discovery Cove and get a bunch of free SeaWorld and Aquatica days along with liquor and food.

They have Half Moon Cay and Princess Cays in the Bahamas, as well as the Mahogany Bay complex on Isla Roatan in Honduras.

The Silverdome since the Lions left has been a hilarious comedy of errors. People who look at the sale price alone don't understand that the place had offers for upwards of 18 million dollars that the city ignored, choosing instead to take the facility to auction thinking they'd increase their windfall. They were wrong. To be fair to the electors of Pontiac, having incompetent city management is better than outright corrupt city management, which is what Detroit faced for many years. But I digress. Pontiac is still in Oakland County, which among counties with a million or more inhabitants ranks in the top ten in the United States. But that doesn't fit well into coastal types stereotyping, so generally speaking the media doesn't, you know, acknowledge that at all. Ruin porn sells. Anyways, could an amusement park in Detroit's suburbs work? Yeah, probably. The metro area supported amusement parks for the majority of the last 120 years and is still one of the core markets to which Cedar Point markets itself. I hold out no actual hope that the Silverdome space will ever be home to a theme park though. This is a guy who really doesn't have boat loads of funding who thought he lucked into the deal of a lifetime buying what is now a white elephant and is trying desperately to make it look like he's doing something before the city officials start trying to nickel and dime him via code violations. At this point, I expect a couple more years of confusion, anger, probably lawsuits, and then the inevitable use of eminent domain to take the place back for something or other.

Planes put out massive amounts of greenhouse gases. The batteries that power the laptop I'm using right now, the tablets my wife and I own, and my cell phone require strip mining, probably in China or Africa with little to no environmental or labor welfare considerations. Same with the manufacture of virtually all my consumer electronics. It isn't that I don't think that me buying a Q-Bot may lead to someone else waiting longer when I utilize it. I realize that's the case. The thing is, I don't care. It is incredibly trivial in the grand scheme of the everything. Me not getting a Fastlane band isn't going to reduce the growing disparity between poor and rich in the Western World or change anything about mass urbanism. These are gated theme parks that charge a big cover price to keep poor people out. It is a feature. If you go to theme parks, you either accept that or you don't. If you don't, you are in the wrong hobby and you fill find yourself constantly frustrated and angry.

When I've made the choice to go to a theme park that has a $60 gate admission and $25 parking, I'm throwing away the "what about the poor people?" excuse immediately. People who are really poor - like living under the federal poverty guidelines poor - are probably not inside the gates and having a good time because they cannot afford to do so. The whole enterprise is built on being undemocratic. If the lack of equality really grinds your gears, you shouldn't be on forums like TPR. You should do something else with your life. Do I buy this stuff? If I walk around a park and recognize that it is busy, absolutely. I've done this enough to know now that these systems practically never sell out in advance, and it is always a better situation as a visitor to walk the park and see the waits before investing the money. Unless the money isn't an object of concern for you at all, in which case, do whatever.

Cobb's Texas Cyclone, when built, was considered more thrilling and intense than the original. He could build intense - he just also built a lot of pure crap.

Everything that Disney didn't do that it thought of doing is better than what it did do. At least, that's what Disney uberfans seem to believe.

Given how they've positioned themselves now, I wonder if a lot of these activities (like the cycle monorail) will be upcharge too. Making it a $2 fee would make up for the capacity issue. Carnival running it out of Europe for awhile isn't that new when they have a new ship since they're built there. It'll probably never go back. They seem to have left that market to Costa/P&O/Princess/HAL after the Sunshine showed up late and half finished to do routes there. I know they moved the Splendor up to NYC, so perhaps they're seeing a lot of potential capacity for 7-8 night cruises to the Bahamas from there to fill?

In before "Horizons to Mission: Space". The real answer is, and will always be, Soap Box Racers being torn down for Windjammer. END. THE. THREAD.

That's what some said about Colossus amidst all the rumors and fantasizing over an RMC rebirth. There aren't the same rumors with Gwazi, but there isn't the same following that SFMM & Colossus have either. It's certainly possible that Gwazi could be a potential RMC target. To me, it simply looks like BGT just doesn't quite know what direction they want to take yet. There are very clearly rumors that Gwazi is a victim of tighter budgets. Screamscape pretty clearly posted exactly that when the rumors it was closing came back in force around the time of the SEAS stock holders announcement. It wasn't even that big a surprise, because Gwazi being closed down to save money had been rumored for over a year prior to that. Shutting down half the ride and building a handicapped platform over the station for it seemed pretty obvious too.

If you decide to go to Discovery Cove, you can choose the *resort day pass* option which is cheaper (no dolphin swim) and pay an extra $20 to get into Busch Gardens Tampa and have unlimited admission to SeaWorld and Aquatica Orlando for 2 consecutive weeks. Obviously you wouldn't need all that time just for those, but it is a really good deal IMO considering what Discovery Cove offers for the price. Throw in a day for Universal and time for Disney and that's a *full* week and a half.

If a park only ads things that interest an enthusiast, it will not be a very well rounded park. "Enthusiasts" can like a whole lot more than roller coasters. Does Lake Compounce somehow really become a better rounded park after they build animatronic dinosaurs than they were before?

One of these years I'll go ahead and do a bobsled run. It'll happen. I did luge a couple years ago - strangely enough, Muskegon, MI has a luge course that has open luging most days. It was enormously difficult to control, and I was shocked by how tight my muscles were afterwards.

It isn't even "for what it is supposed to be" thing. It is, as close in my mind as exists, to an objectively good ride. If you don't enjoy barreling through the canyon portion at high speed, swinging through those banked curves, what are you doing continuing to pour money down the black hole of theme parks? If this is directed to you and you find that insulting, it only is if you want it to be. But do something else. Ski. Whitewater rafting. Scuba. Get a old Mazda Miata and drive recklessly at a club track. Something with a higher adrenaline threshold than roller coasters, because obviously this isn't for you any more.

I know the popular opinion is that things like this make money (do they really?), but from a standpoint of being a guest who isn't a 5 year old child, I have zero interest in these attractions whatsoever. Less than none even, as I find them the opposite of appealing. I won't even do the Cedar Point one again and it is free for me as a passholder.

My general thought process is that if you're the kind of person who can't enjoy riding Cheetah Hunt, you probably should find a new or different hobby.

To be totally honest with you, it depends on what your girlfriend wants aside from amusement parks. Cultural enrichment? Nature? Nightlife? Food? Shopping? Orlando and Southern California have the best theme park resort facilities in the US, but they have wildly different things away from the parks. If I had never really done significant travel in the US and I was a theme park fan and theme parks were going to be the primary focus of my trip, Orlando is the obvious option.

After all these months, I feel pretty certain my idea was still best.

Under the best circumstances w/Little Amerricka, I can't imagine spending more than 2 hours there. I'd try to mix in something else like House on The Rock. That or head towards Six Flags and commit to two days. Bay Beach is also a park where, should you ride everything that would interest super hardcore fans, you're looking at 2-3 hours with a longer amount of time only necessary if you really, really want to ride the wood coaster 20 times. Maybe stop in Milwaukee on the way up?

I pay money to go to amusement and theme parks primarily to go on rides. That isn't to say that I don't care about delicious food or entertainment or theming or any of that, but if all I want is theming and waiter served meals, I can go to the Rainforest Cafe and save myself a helluva lot of money. But the whole "I do this because it is fun" thing is paramount. All these rides are supposed to be entertainment, and if I get to a point where the majority are ceasing to be something I can enjoy, then it is time for me to move on and do something else with my money, time, and energy.