Sk610

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.

^^Maxair at CP is the giant frisbe. DL does not attract enough guests to warrant that large of a ride. I think DL would do just fine with either the Zamperla or Mondial versions. I do think a ride like that is desperately needed at DL.

Yes, if Predator was going to be re-worked by any company other than a standard retracking, it would be closing about now to be able to do the demolition and then have ample time for full construction. I have to say that most likely a new flat ride or two and possibly a waterslide. Obviously this will all depend on ownership, but if any owner is planning on painting and possibly rethemeing ROS with new trains, a flat placed in that general area could go a long way. I hope it would be a frisbe style ride.

Also, the park seems to really empty out after about 7pm, so possibly wait until then for a few longer wait rides. Also, the giant wheel is pretty simple with tires driving the thing. Either both tires blew out AND the drive motor for those tires went also, or something is up. Look for people around it when you go, they could be measuring and surveying for lights...

Yes, I did not see Ranger overtaken by any weeds and i was at the park last wednesday night. Twister was installed in 2000, but I am pretty sure it was purchased used at that time, so I'm not sure anyone actually knows the exact age of the ride. As for the suggestions, a ride in Ranger's place, you bet! A flat ride in ROS plaza with a retheme and repaint of ROS? Absolutely! Remove the go kart, batting cages and galaxy theater for a new coaster? Sure thing! My only thing would be moving the picnic pavilions to cuda hill, as they could just build there as opposed to building in two places. It may be a cost savings thing, but a decent idea nonetheless.

Premier was always extremely good about advertising to draw attendance as well as adding decent attractions that bring in guests. I would not be upset if they bought the park, as the future would be good. I juxt think it would be better overall under HFE. With that being said, Premier is doing very good with what they have been given to work with

I think the bucket on hooks was removed due to a few people getting injured by the force of the water hitting them and knocking them over. I don't think it was due to mechanical issues at all, more a safety thing.

Yes, these are what i was talking about for ME. Didn't Kentucy Kingdom just retro fit T2 with these? I totally think it would make ME much more rideable as the coasters layout is pretty decent, its just the shaking that kills it

I think the second gen trains on mind eraser would go much farther in making the ride more enjoyable. ROS is still rather smooth. ME is just a headache

Absolutely agree with all above posts. Also, dont forget CNL announced that three of their parks have already been sold, and only one has announced the sale. If DL has been sold it will not be announced until after the operating year is over. On the flip side, any maintenance and possible painting could be done before the operating year is over if the new owner was allowed access to the park and funded the work. This is how I think ME painting is getting accomplished along with visible parts for ME trains