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^ That's another question that has to be answered. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if Cedar Fair will end up shuttering Canada's Wonderland and KI's theaters, since they're so far removed from the rest of the park (and will probably just be used for Halloween Haunts anyway). Carowinds's theater could be converted to indoor auditoriums, since these parks have only one other indoor theater. Who the heck knows about KD and CGA, but I doubt we'll see Snoopy in the theaters, since they're so far removed from the other Planet Snoopy areas. Then again, they might pull in some other 4D ride film (Geauga Lake did this with Lego Racers 3D it's last season... and Valleyfair does have an IMAX theater still inside it's gates). It's anybody's guess... but like I said before, this is more interesting to me than a new carbon-copy coaster, since it requires a lot more creative work on Cedar Fair's part.

I think that they should be more diverse with the costumed characters...what about Pig-Pen (kickin' up dust is a must), Franklin, Peppermint Patty and Marcy? I think kids should know about these characters too!! These are the only walk-around characters I've seen around Cedar Point (though I have heard people talk about Franklin, but I've never seen him). Still, it's a smaller, simpler cast of characters than Nick has. It all boils down to having more chances to meet principal characters, more frequently. I suppose they could add more Peanuts to the mix (since some of these Planet Snoopys are going to be bigger).

There are still some unanswered questions here. How will the Runaway Reptar Jr. Inverts work (Canada's Wonderland gets out of this with Silver Streak)? How will the dark rides be re-themed, if at all (i.e. are they really removing Scooby, or will they just leave it generic... Drop Tower and BLSC come to mind). How will they re-theme Avatar at KI? What are they going to do with KD's Treasure Cave, or the Slime Zone walkthrough (or the Spongebob one at KI, or the Wild Thornberry's one at CGA)? And how will they handle having a Kidzville at half the parks (for example, at CGA, Taxi Jam is outside Nick Central... but at KI, it's all integrated... same thing for half the rides at Canada's Wonderland)? How will they re-theme the flyers at Carowinds (or will they use this re-theme to take them out)? The Paramount parks were very similar in some respects, but their kiddie lands were all over the place. It will be interesting to see how they plan to pull this off, since each park has so many differences. My point is, this won't be a one-size-fits-all makeover. So this is much more interesting to me than any big coaster coming in this year (...so far).

Milestones: Page Five: Official Press Release for all five parks Original Post: So I have a bone to pick with TPR's Forum Nerds. I'm slightly tired of seeing "But Nickelodeon is better" and "Kids don't know who Snoopy is" popping up in threads. It's actually pretty irritating for me, because of a few bullet points: 1. Money. Cedar Fair knows how to trim the fat in quite a few places (which is almost enough to make another thread). Paying for Nickelodeon and Hanna-Barbara/Scooby-Doo and Snoopy doesn't make sense, especially when they're trying to manage debt. Snoopy already has a home at most of the Cedar Fair "Legacy Parks" (except Valleyfair, which I'll get to in a minute), so it would be cheaper to re-align the remaining parks with Snoopy and ditch everything else. 2. Nickelodeon has Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America, which is competing with Valleyfair. (Ironically, Nick Universe used to named "Knott's Camp Snoopy," and Cedar Fair used to run it). I'm sure, if Cedar Fair decided to replace Snoopy with Nick, this would be a heated issue (and for all we know, maybe the parks would have stuck with Nick if not for the Nick Universe at Mall of America). For the record, the park also does not use the Snoopy characters. 3. Cedar Fair has a history of building ice shows around Snoopy (although they have been modified to use Scooby-Doo in the past few years). If you've ever sat through these shows, you'll notice the similarities between them. Sending these to the former Paramount properties also saves some cost on the development aspect (see also: Halloween haunts, All-Wheels Extreme, Nik Wallenda's tour, etc). 4. Costumed characters are a huge expense, so having a small and stable cast of characters is a good thing. Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, and Sally are really the only characters you'd need. Compare that with the cast of costumed characters you'd need for Nick, and the list could easily be two dozen. And in ten years, the list would look very different. 5. Merchandise with Snoopy could be standardized throughout the all the Cedar Fair parks. From a business perspective, this is great because these parks get to buy something that's evergreen (i.e. a television show getting canceled). 6. The character will become the mascot of the park. Whether kids know of Snoopy and the Peanuts or not, it won't matter. I don't think Snoopy is any less relevant than the Looney Tunes, Woody Woodpecker, or Garfield. Do kids have to know who Mr. Toad is to enjoy his Wild Ride? Do kids have to know who Mr. Rogers is when they visit Idlewild? Similarly, do you have to watch Batman and Robin before riding Mr. Freeze? Or what about Dudley Do-Right before riding Ripsaw Falls? These characters become a part of the park experience, even if you don't know them from other entertainment. Kids know Snoopy's at Cedar Point (or Dorney Park, or Worlds of Fun, or Knott's), and Cedar Fair's all the happier with that. If Snoopy goes through a rediscovery, a rebirth... (like a live-action movie... it happened to Garfield and Scooby-Doo) then Cedar Fair's ahead of the curve. If not, then at least they have a certified franchise that kid's parents will remember, and hopefully share with their kids. My last point is, no matter if your kids (or your nephew, or whatever) know about the Peanuts or Snoopy, they will still enjoy the new Planet Snoopy(s). Just because it's not in-your-face Spongebob, or retro Scooby Doo, doesn't mean it won't be a hit with the kids. And as more parks open up to the beagle, the more widespread his fans will become. As I've said before, I wish they would hold on to the Nick license, because it would have something new to add or remodel every five years or so, but that's not the kind of opportunity Cedar Fair is looking for. And I do see the points of posters who say "I'll miss Nick," don't get me wrong. But there is still a Nick Universe park at Mall of America (and apparently there's more where that came from).[/b]

I don't get it. Do people plan vacations around Golden Tickets? I always thought it was lamer than the Academy Awards: you already know who's going to win, and winning doesn't mean a park really is the best of the best. Plus, like I said in the thread for Canada's Wonderland's Planet Snoopy, it's all about money. It's cheaper to have Snoopy, and it doesn't matter if kids "know" who he is or not, since Snoopy will just become associated with whatever park he's featured in. There's also the timelessness of Snoopy. Nick is so focused on what's on the cable channel right now... in ten years, it will need a revamp. Snoopy is done, creatively, so it's more stable. It's in Cedar Fair's best interest to keep the Snoopy franchise and dispose of Nick (besides... KI's Nick Central was already starting to show it's age last year). The only thing that really worries me from this point, is that only Canada's Wonderland announced any actual new family/kiddie rides. Carowind's Intimidator animation left out one or two rides from the current Nick Central (though it could be a limitation on the part of the animator), and with this announcement that Scooby Doo is also leaving, I don't know what's going on quite yet (I don't know if they mean the character appearances/ice show, or the dark ride). So there are still some unanswered questions.

You guys really aren't getting it... Snoopy and the Peanuts gang? They're cheap. Merchandise is easy, because it's standardized inside Cedar Fair. There's a limited number of characters, which makes it easier for costumed walk-around characters (there are a ton of Nick ones by comparison). Ride themes? Red Baron, Kite-Eating Tree, Woodstock Express... that's it, and anything else could be folded into it (no expensive or elaborate re-themes.. just look at how they did that for CP's Planet Snoopy). Even if kids today don't know who the characters are, they become representative of whichever park the kids know about. Look at parks with mascots like Duke the Dragon, Kenny (from Kennywood), Kozmo, the Indiana Beach Crow, the crocodile from Blizzard Beach, (there are other examples... a historic one is Alfundo) Kids like that stuff, even if they're only seeing them for the first time. Don't count out Snoopy yet. Just because he's seldom seen on TV, doesn't mean he'll flop. It just means kids with identify Snoopy with whatever park they saw him in. How is that a bad thing? Now, a disclaimer: I like the Nick stuff, and I wish they'd hold on to that license. Clearly, it's more expensive for the company, but it's hipper, and evergreen in the sense that there will always be another show or up-coming character to promote. But, Nick has other (non-Cedar Fair) parks with their characters (and one's in competition with Valleyfair), and other ventures (the hotel, for example), so I'm not surprised they're dumping it.

Good for them. It's about time Cedar Fair did another Camp Snoopy/Planet Snoopy children's area. Hopefully, they can squeeze a little more out of it than Cedar Point did, creatively. Wonder if they'll use this makeover to move the Nick rides out of the back of the park and remove the old Saltwater Circus theater? That could make for a big expansion area. Could this be in the works for CGA as well? For them, it could be a cheap re-(de-?)theming, that's for sure. This will probably come to Carowinds and King's Dominion next-next year (read: 2011). I can't imagine them throwing these popping up next to these park's two big, new coasters.

If the track was built with a double-spine so they could put up less supports, why do a few of these pieces still have two connections for supports? That doesn't make sense to me. I would like to propose a theory: What if this double-spine track is really to hold a larger train (perhaps four-across)? Or possibly a Baco-style train? Because, with the pieces they have there now, I'm not really seeing a correlation between more spines and less supports.

IOA could use something in-between... they have B&M's, and a Rollerskater, but what about a Mine Train? I could kinda see that go in Jurassic Park, next to Ripsaw Falls. I don't know if that could be seen as the same thing as Mummy next door, but hey, it's a pretty big gap between the coasters.

Mean Streak is a fine ride, if you know how to ride it. The line is typically shorter than Magnum's, and I feel the ride's a longer experience (and absolutely great at sunset). The structure itself is very solid (same with Blue Streak, if you ever look at it), but the trains are where the majority of the problems come into play with it. They're just not comfortable for a lot of guests. Cedar Fair won't buy new trains, as that would be the type of huge investment in older infrastructure they just don't typically do (see also: Cedar Creek Mine Ride's old lap bars, which should be given the Preimer single lap bar upgrade that a few other mine trains have these days). Since Maverick opened back there, the ride's been doing better ridership-wise anyway.

Haha, that's going into the next Hard Rock Park. But, uh, all joking aside, I'm kinda surprised they haven't done more with video games (besides the Wii stations).

I thought that was just a traveling exhibit at La Ronde for a short time (the same one, or modeled after, Dreamworld's walk-thru). I would figure that Universal has more sense to have a monopoly for all Mummy attractions in North America; at least permanent ones. Thanks, I forgot that one.

Well, I agree, they need to manage their debt, but hey, they've done well with the last couple of franchises they've used, so what else would work in a Six Flags park, or what existing rides could be "Bizzaro'd" into something new?

Six Flags has used a lot of outside franchises lately, like Tony Hawk, Terminator, the Wiggles, Thomas the Tank Engine, and Evil Knievel. They've also been going back to the drawing board with regard to past franchises they already had the rights (or were simple to extend) to use (Bizzaro and Aquaman being the big ones, but also in-park characters such as Wonder Woman and Green Lantern, and The Dark Knight film). So, I guess my question is, what could they do next? Or, conversely, should they stick to new, non-franchised-based rides, like Buccaneer Battle or the Glow in the Park parade? Personally, I think the A-Team would work well for a Terminator: Salvation-style wooden coaster (with explosions). The nostalgia (i.e. merchandise) is there to support it already, and there is a new movie scheduled for 2011 is already in the works. Also, I'd be down for a Dark Knight-style coaster themed to "Army of Darkness" with some dark humor thrown in.

I've been on all those rides, and I see your point, however... the average Sanduskian has not. No one out here knows what Knoebels is, or where the Hell it would be on a map (I'm from Hershey, Pennsylvania, and I can't even do that, unless it was labeled). Ditto for Lake Compounce. Six Flags' reputation was forever ruined in this area from Geauga Lake, even though they're rebounding elsewhere. The biggest comparison for the park and it's surrounding audience are parks like Kennywood, Geauga Lake, Michigan's Adventure, King's Island... maybe Kentucky Kingdom. Holiday World, or Fun Spot (I've heard them all come up in conversation with a few non-coaster geeks before), so Magnum (and MF and Dragster, by association) are going to get a lot of love from the locals. Personally, I agree with all the other rides you would rather ride. I still enjoy riding Wildcat, Iron Dragon, Disaster, Raptor, and all the flats, but for me, personally, I've been on clones (or better rides) of those types of rides before (I'm looking at you, Raptor. I'll take Talon or any Batman clone). I love Gemini, but I worked that ride for most of '07, so I'm just a little spoiled by it (I also miss speiling, but that's another story). Maverick's great, but it makes me miss Storm Runner (where I worked from '04-'06), plus it's still new to many guests, and therefore, has a long line. So, from this line of thinking, this is why I like Magnum so much. It's not that it's some legendary coaster to me, but I enjoy it. Plus, have you ridden Steel Force lately? They look the same, but the experience is incomparable. Now, only if Cedar Point were adding Laser this year... Edit: Woah, are there really seven pages of this?

Wow, what's with the Magnum hate? Compared with all the park has, it's one of the better rides in my opinion. It has a short line and a great view, especially at dusk. The only hypers to surpass it, once again, in my opinion, are SFNE SROS/Bizzaro and B&M hypers like SFOG Goliath and Nitro. Maybe if Millennium Force's second hill was a bit shorter...

Here goes... When Cedar Fair re-opens the park...

See who's coming back (and where they're going) in 2008. A lot of TL's and ATL's are up now. www.tideblue.com/cp08/

Funtown's a nice park. I went there this year (also hoping to get to the other two credits at Old Orchard Beach, but they weren't open). Funtown might be ghetto compared to SFNE, but it's a nice small family park. It could use a little landscaping in parts (and removal of what looked like an old go-kart track), but it's a nice park. And Excalibur rode like Legend Jr.

Lakemont is a nice park... it's only $8 for admission, so why not go? Skyliner is worth the price right there. Leap-the-Dips is a manually-braked coaster, and under the state of Pennsylvania, all friction-braked wooden coasters have to have a computer-controlled brake system to run more than one train (see also: Comet at Waldameer). I also know that the ride has a hard time running with more than two adults in the car.

It's a lot. A wave pool (as small as it may be), four slides, a wave rider, two play structures, and it's close to the major four water rides the park already has. Not bad. Construction Photos: http://photos.tideblue.com/ryan/themeparks/hersheypark06/boardwalk/

http://photos.tideblue.com/ryan/themeparks/holidayworld06/ There are my pics from this weekend. Enjoy.

I don't see the comparison to Premiere/Six Flags, just because that was a lot of parks (North America and Europe), and the parks in the deals were all built up by adding multiple coasters, flats, etc. Compare that with the Paramount parks, which are nicely maintained and updated. All parks have at least one or two "headline" coasters. Not to mention they all have water areas. CF is making a great deal here. I do not believe that the parks will change course much in the future. The exception being King's Dominion, only because it's in direct competition with Busch Gardens Europe, Great America with Six Flags Marine World, and Carowinds with Dollywood. That could get a little sticky in the future, as it's the only real new direct competition for the parks. So it will be interesting to see what happens there.

Cancelled. Not going to happen. More pictures: photos.tideblue.com/ryan/themeparks/hersheypark06/