chadster

Is it in a theme park thread?

Does "it" have to do with a new ride or attraction for this year?

Does it have to do with a new ride or attraction coming in 2012?

I'm with you on that. When I look at all the failed projects currently lurking in a half completed or bare dirt state, I just don't see them getting the financing they need other than their own pocket books. My former boss, Phil Ruffin, made a killing off the New Frontier, he managed to bank 200 million off that sale using the other portion to buy Treas Island. He was a tight ass to work for, but the man makes money. I think we all know what happened to the Frontier, the overseas guys that bought it tore it down and ran out of money to do anything else. I can say that of all the properties he had that had potential, it was that one. About 8 million in room/casino renovations, tearing down the two story part an add on a convention hall would have made a hell of a lot more money while capital was being razed, get it, razed, than what it is now. Echelon is still no where near the re-start stage after tearing down the Stardust and it's surroundings, and then you have the $1billion needed to complete bankrupt Fountain Blue. Vegas is still in a holding pattern with hotels like Harrahs, Bally's, MGM, Flamingo all needing renovations to their guest rooms. If those guys were smart, they would enlist International Rides Management or the likes to sell Speed. The ride. Not acutal speed.

I am so thankful that I got that credit as a kid. I know some people in my class that work there, and it would be pretty embarrassing to have to make a credit run on that. Haven't been to Celebration Station in years though! Is it still run down? Very much so. No way I'd eat there.

Rode the Miner Mike at Celebration Station in Tampa. Me: "I'd like one ride ticket please" Girl at Ticket Counter: "For the Go-Carts?" Me: "Uhhh, not.exactly" Girl at Ticket Counter: "Ah, for the coaster, no problem, 2.50 please"

My off-season only lasts about 9 weeks, and with trips planned to AZ and CA, this year I should've have much of an off-season. But, I suppose during the downtime I do have, I will catch up on reports, College Football, a few concerts blowing thru, oh, and continue to search for new employment.

As a former unit holder in CF, I can safely say that if it's not listed in the published 2012 capital plans, it won't happen in 2012. While there is nothing to say that they can't/won't modify the plan, they more or less have to let the investors know ahead of time how much they plan on spending on capital improvements. I haven't ran the math, but the numbers look close to 90. Now lets compare the delay of Windseeker at Knotts due to a variety of factors that included a new survery after the Japan earthquake, and the planned rehab of the saved tower, to the troubles Worlds of Fun had with Thunderhawk and the amount of money they poured into it this year and the end of last year to get it up and running late this year(not sure that they ever really got it back up 100%) and the fact they spent millions on Planet Snoopy and the refurb of the GL Carousel this year. CF made the choice not to infuse any more capital for rides into Worlds of Fun in 2012 due partially to the above and instead opted for infrastructure improvements to get them ready for a capital investment in 2013. While the two situations aren't apples to apples, it's close enough. If I had to place a Vegas wager, I would place my money on the Windseeker dealy factoring in to scrapping any plans they may or may not have had for Knott's for 2012 and instead opted for infrastructure improvements. Those improvements, as hinted to in an above post, might be getting them ready to consolidate and re-arrange things for a new attraction. As far as B&M vs. Intamin for a giga, at this point I would prefer B&M. I realize that some of their new stuff is somewhat tame *cough*Carrowinds*cough* but I like them. For the record, I don't dislike Intamin, in fact El Toro is my #1 wood and there are several Intamins in my top steel's. *Edit, looks like some money is unaccounted for Leviathon - 27 million Windseeking 13 million Relocation of Invertigo - ~3 million Soak City - KI - 10 million Dinosaurs - 2 million Soak City - CP - 1 million Resort Renovations - ? (Can't be more than a few million, I once rehabed a 250 room all suite hotel for less than 3 million) Looks like about 32 million up for grabs here folks. Feel free to point anything I left out (I know someone will anyway )

Considering what they've done with the Monorail, it wouldn't surprise me to still see it sitting there in January when I come up. But I have to agree, the park needs some major infrastructure improvements, especially in the rear and over towards Scream. That area just seems to be "there" with no real tie in to the rest of the park. Just a thought, but even SFA is getting their act together...

He's moved on to save Freestyle

NTSB Report issued on Monorail accident: NTSB Report WFTV

Oh do you know? And where might that be?

Shocking, except not.

^ I'm with you on the single rider line. It just amazes me that they've come up with 30 different scenerios, 30. I mean, if people think the staff is confused now, just wait until they roll out multiple pricing points(yeah, I know it won't be 30, but more than 1 is enough for me ). It looks like it would be based on crowd estimates for the day, I'd hate for the price to be one thing at 9am and something different at 2pm.

This report has an adequate number of trash cans in the photos, therefor, I approve! Thanks for sharing!

I took a survey last night from Universal Orlando, (Duh, it's the Univeral Orland thread afterall) which asked about 30 different pricing models and options as a potential change to their current Express Pass. They also asked preferrences for using a virtual queue from a wristband(qband) pager like device (qbot) or via text(qtext). Now, being the awesome CTPR member that I am, I searched the thread using the search function for anything on the above, finding nothing, I grabbed screen shots of all 10 options. Click on them to make them bigger Enjoy. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

After a great trip to Bay Beach, it was time to make the drive across the state to Marshall, WI to hit up another small park, Little Amerricka! Situated off in what amounts to farmland in the middle of nowhere, this little park has a few surprises. The first bit of advice I can give everyone is to call before you go. Their website indicated they were closing at 6pm, but nope, they were closing at 5pm. With me arriving at 4pm, I had to get a move on. So, I bought 10 tickets and started running to the rides. On this, the 10th of September, the park was busy. It has a ghetto atmosphere that I, for some reason, really like. I also like the fact that the parks rides have been installed and refurbed by the owner himself. Chalk one up for the little guy! So no more chit chat, lets get to it! Welcome to Little Amerricka! This is where you enter the park. "Hello, I'm a Ferris Wheel" EVIL!!! The little balloon thingy in the background was interesting to watch. But times a wasting, did I mention that you should call before you go? I'm told the park has a history of changing its closing time just for the heck of it. We will start off the this adventure by going in here. "Dear Heavenly Father, keep me safe, please bring me back home to my family and friends" This isn't going to be good..... "Help me Jesus! Help me Jewish God! Help me Allah! AAAAAHHH! Help me Tom Cruise! Tom Cruise, use your witchcraft on me to get the fire off me!" Ok, after a few bumps and brusies, it was time to embark on something a little less abbrasive. So I rode this, and banged my knees. So, it was time to get find something else, perhaps something tame. So, I hopped aboard the powered monorail and took a journey around the park. I have to say, the overview the monorail gives you is quite nice and covers most every aspect of the park. Hello Mad Mouse, I will collect you in just a bit. This would be the parking lot, in the middle of a farm. The putt-putt course looked rather nice. Over here is a log flume that the park recently purchased. Locals tell me that the park owner estimates the concrete cost alone to be around $1million and not to look for it to be built out anytime soon. I'm told the owner likes to buy older rides, tinker with them, then put them together. The tinkering may take 2 years or 5 years. Water boats for your pleasure. You can buy single ride tickets or a play all day wristband. The train takes you back in this little town village. I was told I had to take the train if i didn't do anything else. I was told correct. When you come to the park, don't just credit run it, take the train too! And we're traveling, and we're traveling.... I discovered they have an IP to use Mario on their tilt. Another well ran Scambler. You are not an amusement park if you don't have horses chasing themselves. If you happen to die on one of the rides, you should get a reduction in funeral costs. And we will end our journey on the monorail with a view of credit whore park. I mean the kiddie coaster. With other rides in the middle of it. I missed it They also had some decent bumper cars. Nothing, however, beats the ones at Oaks Amusement Park. Nothing. NOTED! We take a break in this awesome report for a NERD SHOT of the Mad Mouse. We now return you to your regularly scheduled awesome trip report. From this angle, the cars really do look like a pissed off mouse. Last, but not least, the Meteor! "This is an intense ride. Don't stand up. Keep your arms inside. Don't do anything stupid." Lift hill nerd shot. Here is a series of action shots for you. For a small ride, it is kinda fun. Well that's it, I conquered 8 rides in one hour, but really, you should plan about 2 hours at the park to really be able to relax and enjoy. Thanks Little Amerricka! So, where do I head next??? I bet you can guess! Until next time!

Knotts has said publicly that they like their B&M because of reliability and has the least amount of downtime in their park. Looking at that and all the trouble that Xcel has brought them, not to mention the redesign on I305, and you might have the keys to why they might go with B&M over Intamin. For me, personally, the Intamins, except for MF, with higher speeds, shake and rattle much more than one would think they should. Ka and I305(in its opening year) instantly come to mind. Capacity wise, I-305 will do 32 per train, and B&M can do 32 per train. I think MF is one of the few Intamins that will do 36 per train. Another option to consider, with Intamin you have a cable lift(which no doubt can get you their quick), B&M a chain lift. So, in theory, with B&M you could send the next train as soon as the lift is clear. With Intamin, you have to wait for the cable to come back and lock-in meaning your chances of having two trains on course at a time are slim even provided the Intamin had any block sections on course. (And since I know someone will say it, yes as noted the cable lift is faster going up, but whats not to say B&M won't come out with a new motor/gearing to get the train up faster than they have in the past, and if so, if you could send a train say 10 seconds faster over another model, how will that factor into RPH, could it increase or stay the same, I'm banking on an increase) Clam shell restraint checking is also quick and dirty compared to the Intamin needing to check belts and making sure the restraint clears. If they use the clamshell restraints, you'll get airtime. I've been out of my seat for 10+ seconds at a time on Diamondback, and got a couple of pops on Goliath at La Ronde(it sucks anyway). Intameidator at Carrowinds is the exception to my airtime experiences with the clamshell, the ride was kinda meh. With all that being said, there are quite a few scenarios the parks go through when deciding on a new ride. We just have to keep in mind they are not building a $15million dollar ride for enthusiasts to enjoy, but something their core market will want to come back and ride over and over, note: Cheetah Hunt. Whatever they decide, it will be better than Pony Express so we shouldn't complain

You had me at free unlimited beer. Next year...next year. Thanks for the TR!

^

It's crazy fast!

^ There's not enough room for the spider (which is partly outside rusting), the scrambler is MIA, not sure if he still owns it or not which is one reason I was hoping he'd be there, nonetheless there's no room for it either. He's said previously he hoped for three, and maybe four kiddie rides. The flea market itself was quite busy, lots of junk to be had. Reminds me of Mile High in Denver where they bascially rent you a storage unit with electric or a booth inside a big building. There are few who are just there for one weekend.

^ Vekoma needed all the help they could get They have sold a few more Aviators of late. But really they seem to be selling and manufacturing a wide range of things these days from multiple ride designers such as Vekoma. From their website

^ I think they've been around about 10 years now. I was kinda hoping the rides would have been operational so that I could talk to Robbie, but it wasn't to be. Being as he really only has the kiddie rides left, that really should be his target market, similar to Bernies. It's my understanding that the land you see in the picture is the land he gets. It wasn't clear if it was free of charge courtesy of the flea market or if his is paying a small fee. Many of the large spaces for rent there are only like $100 a month, but, it's Saturday only.

Drove by the new home of Bells a few minutes ago. Not much going on at the flea market. The two rides he had setup were not operating. But nonetheless here is a pic for those inquiring minds... With no safety barriers, which are required in Oklahoma, they don't look to eager to get going...