Sk610

Good point on the new trains for ROS and ME. I hope they get the new Intamin trains that seat 4 across as that would up overall capacity. I also hope they get the new looser restraints on ME. I would accept those as decent capital expenditures for next year along with paint on ME and ROS

IF premier stays in management, expect a good thrill ride or maybe even a small coaster. On top of that, Premier will add something to the waterpark as well. If the park is sold, it is totally up in the air. Only time will tell what happens next year, but traditionally small announcements happen in February or March.

I dont count the additions when they were Premier, but under SF ownership of almost 7 years, they added shipwreck falls, twister, ROS, tornado and kahuna. That is not alot into the park over that time, That is realistically 5 years worth of improvements, maybe less.

I would say that i don't miss SF at all. Yes, they did have a few decent additions, but there were lots of years when they added absolutely nothing. I really think they gave up on the park and truly ended up neglecting it in the long run. Now I would love to have the new SF in charge of DL as the new group has stepped up their game with major themeing and such. I will also defend PARC and HFE that we do not know what their budgets were. I still say HFE did the most with what they were given. I just hope the park is sold to one owner and not a group that brings in a separate management group as it is now.

I would like tp point out that all the picture showed was that ROS trains off the track. They could be setting them in that spot in order to put them on a truck to go to the scrap yard for all we know. If the picture showed the trains inside the maintenance buildings or shrink wraped, then yes I would be concerned. There is still hope for new ROS trains next year...

My guess is that Lake Monster was a deal between HFE and RMC and those plans left when HFE left. If anyone remembers when SF owned the park, they said they had 4 coasters already designed for specific areas of the park, it was just a matter of time and money as to when they were built. My guess is that those plans were not handed over to CNL/PARC at the time of sale. This is a prime example of why ownership continuity is good for the park. I'm sure SF spent decent money to get those coasters designed and not building them is like throwing money in the trash. I think our only hope for Lake Monster may be to see HFE return as the park owners.

I do understand about both enterprise and haymaker as well. They may have tried a similar deal with Fahtz they did with Huss On the topic of Premier vs HFE, I am not giving credit to Premier on the current painting situation. I think HFE added more to the park, and actually made major improvements overall. Yes, Premier added two good rides, but they only added to very small areas. When HFE added rides, they re-worked entire areas of the park with new pavement and everything. I also cannot fault them for the overall operations as they did not hold the budget. I think if they had their way operations would be way better than Premier. As good as this years additions were, they were cheap and very cookie cutter, which is exactly what Premier has done forever.

Well CNL did say earlier in the year that they sold 3 parks, but only Elitch Gardens announced the sale. Basically two other parks will be announcing soon. Last year we knew by Halloween, and I would expect similar this year. CNL needs a bit of time to clear out and close things up for the year. My guess is that DL is one of those parks that was sold, and the new owner is the one paying for the painting of ME and the new trains for ROS and ME as well. Now it is a matter of when the announcement happens, and who is the new owner.

I will agree that if Premier either manages or owns the park next year, I woud expect to continue the one wet ride and one dry/flat ride. Also, I was at the park saturday as well, and Twister was running in the morning/early afternoon. My son and I were in line for the antique cars and he and I were talking about riding it when he is tall enough. It is a good sign that it was running after being down most of the season.

I went to the park today and it was VERY busy. I am sure the nice weather and the fact that tomorrow is the last operating day has alot to do with that. Twister was running today! As were all other rides other than Ranger and the water rides. There was lots oing on, including some live shows in front of the emporium. I was rather impressed with everything I must say, and at no time did I hear anyone wanting halloween or fright fest stuff. The park definitely had fall decor out with hay bales, corn stalks and mums all over. Also, I know the area back by the go karts has been discussed on end here, but while i was waiting in line to ride the antique cars with my 5 year old son, I noticed another small spot. Just to the left of twister is a nice small plot of land that would be ideal for a flat ride. If the park were to add a new area back there, they could very easily add a flat ride in that spot, which may help bring more guests back that way.

I am pretty sure the reason DL does not do the halloween event is due to a few factors. First, the weather is very iffy and unpredictible. Second, getting staff is difficult at this time of year with so many of the regular staff being back at school. Third, it is very expensive to run, and again with the staff. Finally, WNY has an abundance of Halloween events and Haunted Houses that DL would compete against. My guess is it was just too costly overall to operate the park as needed to properly put on a fright fest event

I may be the only one who thinks this, but I would be OK with Premier owning the park. They have good additions and tend to have a few things just like this year with a water slide and flat ride. As long as they had full ownership and not under a management company holding the purse strings. Don't get me wrong, I would prefer HFE, but am OK with Premier fully owning the park. In a few years we would have a great selection of cookie cutter coasters like a eurofighter and one of those new Premier launched coasters.

^ and I think I speak for most of us here in saying this is why we are all hping for new complete ownership with no management group that will invest in these things. Also, next weekend is the last operating weekend for the park. If a sale has already been completed, announcements could come soon after. Last year, i think we knew before halloween that HFE was not going to manage the park any longer.

I do enjoy the Rainbow style rides. I always wanted DL to buy the old El Dorado from GL and put it in a 50s themed area with a johnny rockets style diner and all.

T-Rex, take another look at your list of ride...Silver Bullet is not a family ride. I do agree that the park has lots of family flats, but the Rowdy's Ridge area is mostly family stuff. The area should stay family or maybe a borderline thrill/family ride.

I am pretty sure that rolling thunder was meant to replace Ranger. The two rides basically do the exact same thing so why add the Zamperla Hawk? I would totally add another family type ride and another locker area to help with grizzly run.

They sure did have Ranger closed all season. I think most if not all of us expected Ranger to be gone when the park opens next year, but this pretty much confirms that. As for something in that space, it may be an area they could let sit for a while with just simple grass maintenance. It is not a super busy corner of the park, so they could opt to not put something in that spot for now. Plus it borders the maintenance area, so the expansion possibilities there are very limited to a flat ride.

If anyone is going to the park this weekend it may be an opportunity to look for thing like fresh paint or any small land clearings. With the park being closed during the week with nice weather, they could be getting a few projects taken care of early. Remember they started painting Mind Eraser in May before the park opened daily for the season and were going to finish in the fall.

Yes it did make mention of the meal plan. It also said something about discounts at other parks with details to follow, or something to that effect. That to me is a clear indication that the park will not be owned by CNL next year and will have one owner with other parks and no management company in the middle. That in itself makes me happy and ready to renew now. They also have a great deal to buy now and pay in February, which is pretty cool

^^Totally beat me to the point on this one. CF's purchase of the paramount Parks has done nothing but hurt the parks that were already in the CF chain at that time, and vastly improved on the larger former Paramount Parks. As mentioned, ask the people at Michigan's Adventure, World's of Fun and Valleyfair! how happy they are to be owned by CF. My guess is Dorney would be the only semi-happy customers. Wonderland already had a good base and lots of room with tons of population to draw from. DL doesn't have any of those things. DL is much closer to what Michigan's Adventure is, and when was the last time you heard about a major cosater going in there? Shivering Timbers? I think they may have added an SLC since possibly, but that is about it.

Just some food for thought.... I read on screamscape yesterday that there is a new amusement park corporation in the market called Apex Parks, and they just purchased Indiana Beach. Normally this is not big news, but with DL up for sale, or sold, could this company be a player for the CNL parks? The most intruiging part is the CEO used to be CEO of Paramount Parks along with some time at SF. I know Paramount Parks used to add some pretty cool and very well themed rides to their parks. If DL were to take a similar path as Canada's Wonderland, would that be so bad? I dont think so personally, but I do know that the major coasters did not show up until CF bought them.

I could see the overall entrance and exit to motocoaster being moved towards the inside of the park as opposed to Darien Square. I agree that Twister was most likely put back there to add some thrills back in a dead area. As for putting something by ROS, yes it is a great idea, but there needs to be both thrill rides and family style ride, especially if you are trying to appeal to those not going on ROS

Yes the ideas are great, but the park still has lots of room to build on inside the current borders. I look at what HFE did with the old pizza corral and scrambler area turning that into three rides instead of one and a food stall and still allow for ample room to walk and such. I could see similar things happening in other parts of the park as similar smart development happens. This is 100% why i think HFE would be the best owner for the park moving forward

Yes there is alot of room if Galaxy Theater and the go karts are removed. But its not unlimited back there as it backs up to the campgrounds. A good size coaster would definitely fit though. The better bet is the ROS plaza going towards rte 77. There is a ton of land up there, and moving over towards the hotel. There are two other large plots of land for expansion, the old cuda area being one. The second being behind scrambler and over towards the laser show area. Since we are getting into September, new ownership announcements could be made as early as the park closes for the year.

First off i want to test the locker filter theory. Second, the go karts do make the park money. Almost all up charge attractions make parks extra money. If they dont, they take them out. The fact that the go karts are still there after 25 years or more means they are still bringing in money. My other question is why can't they keep the go karts and still add a coaster there in the future? All they would need to do is put the supports in the gass in the middle of the go kart track and make sure the coaster track stays high enough above for the go karts to pass under. The galaxy theater may need to go though. It was not meant to be a theater, and they should demolish it and make a "true" theater elsewhere in the park, preferably near the boardwalk or pirate area.