arson

Shane, I've heard that what became X-Flight and Batwing, were actually supposed to go to King's Island and Dominion before being sold to Six Flags at cut-rate prices because of the mechanical difficulties and low excitement level seen from Stealth. Do you know anymore on this? Apparently, that's how King's Island got Firehawk up and running quickly... they dug out the old site plans, so I've heard.

It floods every few years in Hershey. Last time I remember it, it was 2004 when I worked there, and it looked the same as this due to Katrina. Thank Spring Creek!

Let's hope. Cedar Fair is kind-of running out of parks to build Hyper/Gigacoasters in where they would make an impact.

Cypress Gardens had a Jr. Suspended coaster and a large Roller Skater - basically the same manufacturer and layout, just one was inverted (and it looks like they're sticking around for Legoland...) Wild Adventures has this, too, but the Roller Skater is the smaller variant. Gemini and Magnum, although they were a decade apart. Same basic concept for both (sitdown airtime machines), same manufacturer (Arrow), and right next to each other to boot. And then there's Glissade and Der Wildkatze, two Schwarzkopf's that opened at Busch Gardens a year apart. Also, Disneyland Paris has a looping, Vekoma Space Mountian, while the Studios park next door has a looping, Vekoma Rock'n'Rollercoaster. Again, decade apart, but still... Same with Universal Orlando, with Flight of the Hippogriff/Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster.

That & CGA doesn't have the bad rep for customer service & overall operations that GL had....had GL not been in the hands of SFI/Premier parks before CF had gotten hold if it GL would still be around but it was six flags that truely spelled the end of that park. Yeah, but CGA's land isn't owned by Cedar Fair, and it's in a place that's more desirable for the stadium. Geauga Lake's land... well, like everything in Cleveland, isn't really desired at all. The deciding factor is always profit.

BEST-CASE SCENARIO TIME! Six Flags America: Keep the park. It's got a lot going for it - some big rides like Batwing/Joker's Jinx and Roar/S:ROS that would be hard to re-locate, good location albeit with a lot of competition, waterpark that's half-way decent, ample expansion room, etc. Given time and budget, they could add 2-3 family flats, more entertainment, a dark ride, and a Big Spin-type coaster. Or to be more ambitious, they could install something along the lines of SFMM's Green Lantern (that would be a good fit for the place capacity-wise, while being unique enough for the market). The park's not a complete waste, though. There's a lot of room for improvement, sure, but maybe it'll start getting more attention? The Great Escape: Sell! Kennywood/Palace/Parques Reunidos would suit this park fine, although something tells me that CNL might be interested, too. After all, CNL does license Great Wolf Lodge in a few places, and Great Escape has an indoor waterpark lodge that seems like it was separated at birth. Either way, I visited this park this past Summer, and it was nice and all, but it doesn't gel with the Six Flags identity (and given the changes, they've seen this and are taking action). Either way, it could be a nice park for either company to pick up, despite it's proximity to Lake Compounce or Darien Lake. Six Flags Mexico: Why fix what isn't broken. Keep it. La Ronde: I'm sure Reunidos could grab that up if it's really in the air. I've never heard anything bad about the park, aside from not building a waterpark. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom: Nobody's bringing this up sufficiently, so I will. This park... I could see them giving it the Kentucky Kingdom treatment. Medusa and the kiddie coaster could move to St. Louis (really, why doesn't that park have a kiddie coaster?), and Big Spin could move to America, and the rest of the park could be sold off to another park operator or zoo. The transition into Discovery Kingdom sounded really cool, but really just meant some paint and sculptures, and not much else in terms of major new rides or exhibits. The other option would be to close out the animal attractions and replace them with waterpark attractions (cough Sea World Ohio), but that would be a costly gamble. Either way, I wouldn't be surprised if this park is gone or de-branded within five years.

Aren't all these rides about the scenery? It's not like all four parks have the same topography, adjacent rides, etc. Somehow, I don't think Knott's and Canada's Wonderland (or any others) will have the same feel to them, because of the view. Putting this at both KI and CP elevate them (pun!) above other parks, it doesn't put them in competition. In fact, if each park had gotten a different ride, then you would have an uneven playing field. The only thing I'm a little sad with, is what the rest of the parks are going to install (sans Valleyfair, Dorney, Worlds of Fun).

You guys are missing a point here: it's always about budget with Cedar Fair. Intamin usually bids cheaper than the average B&M coaster. Just look at the cost of both Intimidators for price comparisons. B&M's are known for their reliability (if they can keep their gearboxes in check), but an Intamin ride can push boundaries with a cheaper price tag. A balanced park would have both, if you ask me. So even if CP's new ride turns out to be from someone other than Intamin, keep in mind that, for coasters anyway, they usually beat out the prices of many other manufacturers. (Also likely the reason Hersheypark has two Intamins and one B&M. If the new ride's an Intamin, you'll know why.)

Your results may vary, of course, but on the drops, the front seat gets you almost too wet compared to a log flume/hydro flume. There will be a lot of people who loose electronics from the wave that comes over the top of the boat and hits you in your lap. Comparatively, the back doesn't get you wet at all, unless another boat's timed up on the second lift or someone's using a water cannon. I'd rather have an old Arrow log flume/hydro flume in the park than this... I've been on the ride ten times now (between opening day and one night of walk-on power-riding and half-empty boats), and the theming before the second lift was off two nights ago. It's a fun ride (at least the water isn't bone-chillingly cold, except for the geyser before Lift 2), but it's not better than, say, Log Jammer at Kennywood or Thunder Creek Mountain at Dorney Park (my favorite log flume). Shame about the height limit being raised, too. Kids would have eaten this ride up.

Photos here: picasaweb.google.com/tideblue/CedarPoint6262010#

http://twitter.com/#search?q=falfas

I've been hearing that since '08. Everyone back then assumed it would close that year, and they'd move the slides to Soak City for 2009. That turned out not to be the case. Then last year, I didn't hear anything about the park, aside from someone saying they heard a new Subway restaurant was going in (which didn't happen), and of course, that 2009 was the last year for it, and the slides would move to Dorney or another park. I know GL sells a lot of platinum passes, which I guess justifies keeping it open. Hopefully there's nothing make-or-break about a year when something as low-key as The Beach and Little Tikes Town are the big new additions. Yesterday, the weather was cool, and yet there were already more guests in the park than when we went on a hot day in July 2008, so that's promising.

Seems they're going for additions that don't add additional employees.

I just have a couple quick photo update of Geauga Lake's 2010 addition, The Beach. I took a lot of shots from around the park, but here are some selected photos: I wonder how much the apostrophe cost? Any promotion is good promotion. The Beach! Little Tikes Town's also new this year. Looking from The Beach towards Thunder Falls These kids don't know how to play Chess. There is a Checkers set as well. From the park that made a big deal about cornhole, now comes... BEAR PONG! Really? Bizarre little games area. These cats had to have been recycled from somewhere. Anyone know where these are from? Overview of The Beach. The "Chessboard" is inside the old Thriller Bees concrete pad. Tether ball, cornhole, and an arcade! And closed midway games (Duck Pond, Hole-in-One challenge, and Bear Pong). Stalemate! Once again, more photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/tideblue/GeaugaLakeSWildwaterKingdom2010#

When I lived in PA, the Hershey/Dorney/Knoebels (and sometimes Great Adventure) trifecta worked well at keeping me interested. Now that I live by Cedar Point though, I spend maybe 2-3 hours a day, 3-4 days a week, with most of the time going in, parking in the Soak City lot, and riding Paddlewheel and Gemini (or Mean Streak or Magnum), and maybe one or two other rides. Even today, I just went in to take photos, I didn't ride anything. I do try to ride every ride at least once a year (still have to ride some smaller rides, water rides, TTD, and Maverick this year, everything else is pretty much sealed up). But if a ride has more than a ten minute wait, I'm usually not one to wait around for it. Most of the time, I don't want to stand in line and hear people talk about food prices or Geauga Lake... I just want to turn around and scream, "Go to Kennywood or Waldameer then! They'll be happy to take you!" Uh, anyway... maybe I should start taking my iPod in instead.

Was only there for three hours this morning. I assume Wicked Twister reopened later. As for Chaos, it's been for sale for a while now. Considering Chaos is used in one of the banners out front this year, I'd imagine it's going to stick around, at least for this season. If not, I don't see why it wasn't removed already.

2010 Opening Day photos, featuring the new Mantis test seat, Paddlewheel's new smoking area, the grassy field where Demon Drop once stood, Shoot the Rapids views, new merchandise, and more. http://picasaweb.google.com/tideblue/CedarPoint2010# Enjoy.

Official Cedar Fair press release here: http://www.cedarfair.com/ir/press_releases/index.cfm?current_root=15&mode=story&story_id=203 Notice how Valleyfair is the last major Cedar Fair park to not have Snoopy and the Peanuts. KI's announcement site also still says "Planet Snoopy and the PEANUTS Gang will replace Nickelodeon Universe and Scooby-Doo," which says to me the dark ride's going to be re-themed (unless there's another use of Scooby Doo in the parks besides the ice show I don't know about... sounds pretty final to me, though). http://www.visitkingsisland.com/events/event_detail.cfm?event_id=650&ec_id=15 The Logo

I don't think, from the other announcements made today, that Disney would buy out a contract (not for movies, merchandise, theme parks, video games, etc). Disney seems like they're more than happy to ride out contracts (like I said before, $4 billion isn't going to break the bank for the Mouse). But, if companies don't like paying Marvel (and in turn, Disney, a major competitor) to keep using these franchises, they could just buy out early. I can imagine Universal doing this in a couple years, since they have other franchises (or room to make new franchises) they could use in the parks. Speculation. But I don't think Disney will pay to end any existing contracts. That will come from outside.

I meant new owners of the parks (Cedar Fair) versus newer owners of the Hanna Barbara franchise. As for King's Dominion, yes, it's mostly HB right now. Actually, that area is looking pretty dated these days, and needs a lot of refreshment (Treasure Cave is a shadow of it's former self, and it smelled like cat litter this year when we went through it in late April).

What's the rush? Until Disney has a replacement attraction in the works at one of the WDW parks (and WDI does like to take it's sweet time), I can't imagine them opting out. Think of the long-term... there's no need to make that $4 billion back right away. Just look at how they're handling video game licenses: http://kotaku.com/5349343/disney-will-rexamine-marvel-video-game-deals-as-they-expire

Spiderman is the only IOA ride that's joined at the hip with Marvel characters. Everything else could be re-themed (plus, what are the contract terms, and how expensive would it be to break them... and if Disney suddenly gets a cut of the licensing profits, what rush is there?) It's simple: Hulk -> Battlestar Galactica Storm Force -> ____ (Waterworld? Drawing a blank on this one) Dr. Doom -> Chronicles of Riddick Spiderman -> Transformers Took me ten minutes to come up with "Sci-Fi Island." Universal Creative can mail me the check As far as Disney using these characters in the stateside parks... DCA's pretty much filled up right now for a couple years, and I can't see them putting anything Marvel in Disneyland proper. Hollywood Studios would be the best place for them, in my opinion. Wonder what this will mean for overseas parks (Japan, Singapore, S. Korea, Dubailand if they ever build it).

The Scooby dark rides might be safe, yes... but all other use of the other characters might not. I know they're on a different contract, but Cedar Fair might opt-out of all licensing anyway (remember the whole "Top Gun/Italian Job/Drop Zone/Face-Off/Cliffhanger/Star Trek" re-name debacle a couple years ago?).

After I watched ice shows at KI and Carowinds, where they feature an ice-skating Scooby Doo, I kind of assumed they'd be keeping that license, and using Scooby Doo as the mascot of the former Paramount parks. Nickelodeon, we knew, was going to leave the parks at some point (especially after they started working on the Mall of America stuff), but the HB characters could have co-existed with Snoopy, or stood alone in the parks... which I kind of thought would happen. From the Wiki page for HB, it seems like Warner Bros. absorbed the studio, and Turner owns these franchises. So the HB stuff is all muddled up with different ownerships. I'm sure that's a big factor with Cedar Fair... they clearly want to improve/update the kid's areas in these parks (and they'd have to, with the Nick license expiring). Having the Snoopy license simplifies things, whereas there may be other contract clauses they have to deal with as there are new owners on both sides. Keep in mind, Warner Bros. does have ties to Six Flags (not that there's much substance there, besides at SF St. Louis and SF Great America). I would imagine that they want a contract to use a franchise exclusively in CF's theme/amusement parks in the US (I know Universal Studios has a license for walk-around Scooby Doo characters, and Six Flags New England has them in the park parade... plus perhaps even the Jellystone/Yogi campgrounds came into play in this, since CF does own a couple campgrounds). But this is all just speculation on my part.

^ They removed it. But it's coming (and they'd be foolish not to...).