Sk610

Of those things, my best guess would be the EuroFighter or premier compact launched coaster. i am not sure why I think this, but I do. The EuroFighter coasters seem very popular these days, and fit nicely into a compact space and look to pack a decent punch for thrills. The Premier compact coasters are the same. Plus, my guess is that the overall costs are not that terrible compared to a brand new B&M mega looper that would cost 25 million or more.

That part may have been added BEACUSE of ROS. The year they added that coaster, attendance was well ove 1 million, and I think it was 1.7 million or so. The roads around DL were not built to handle traffic like that, hence major concerns. It may not mean a major coaster will never be built at DL, but it may require some infrastructure improvements for a major coaster to be built

Yes that is a very interesting link. I never knew that site even existed! I do like that they said the ride will be oriented to run paralell to the giant wheel. I wonder if that means they are planning on doing something with the giant wheel to accentuate the look of both rides? Lights?

And how do some of us have access to the plan that was submitted to genesee county? If you work at the park, posting something private like that in a forum like this could jeapordize a job. I do think the area has space, especially back behind the old UFO pad over towards the sleighride. Depending on positioning, the buildings may not even need to be removed. It should prove to be very interesting as I think that is a very pivotal spot in the park for traffic flow and so on.

I was looking at that same area jand thinking about the new ride just the other day as well. I am interested to see how they position the ride in that relatively small space, along with what they do for a queue area and so on. There is room to work with, it's just a matter of how they do it. To me at this point, that is the most interesting part. As for the mini golf, they don't use it anymore, so i would remove it and put some sort of flat ride in there. Personally, I think it would make an awesome spot for a drop tower. It is relatively central in the park and there is lots of room inside viper for a queue

I would ttally expect DL's ride to be called Brain Drain, just like at EG. They already have the trademarks and logos pre made making this overall proces a bit cheaper. I just hope they put some lights on the giant wheel as well next year...

This new ride does do the same thing as Ranger. This most likely tells me that Ranger will most likely be removed. I know it was down for a good part of last year, and I am sure parts are not readily available. My honest hope is for more than just this ride. I would even like to see a restaurant or something else to improve the overall park experience

Yes this may be the only new ride, but there is always the possibilty for other things for next year. They could easily paint, pave or almost anything else. They could even add lights to the giant wheel. I am going to be hopeful that the new management will do what is best with what cash they are given from above.

And with this announcement, they are claiming to add a roller coaster, which should help bring crowds. They will probably be very dissapointed crowds, but crowds nonetheless. I am pretty sure that just about all SF parks that are not getting real roller coasters next year are getting these rides And I totally agree that this probably will replace Ranger, just in a different location. It is not the greatest, but it sure is better than nothing. Plus they already have the spot picked out, and I net installation would take a few weeks max.

I did not know El Dorado was actually instaled at another park after GL. That would suggest either poor ridership or maintenance issues. The views at the top would be pretty cool though. On the huss rangers. I think the one at DL was the last in north america. There may be some in Europe, but I think ours was the last in North America. I know MFI already sold their over the falls ride. If you drive by the park, the entire trailer is gone.

Maybe when they make an announcement, they will tell us that they removed the Ranger, and taking its place will be... I do think they will add some sort of flat ride next year, and if Ranger cannot be fixed, they should replace it with something fairly similar. I also would really like to see the old el dorado from Geauga Lake come to the park. I thought it was a very cool ride. Plus it is for sale on the used flat ride website

My guess on an announcement will depend on how big of an announcement it will be. If it will be a decent announcement that will generate buzz and sell season passes or create hotel/campground bookings now, it will come before Febbruary 1st. If this will be a ho-hum announcement, it will probably come in march or April.

The two train operation unfortunately does not make for a great announcement for anyone other than enthusiasts. Most general park guest would not make their decision to go to the park based on two train operation. I do however like the idea of a new name and possibly new colors on ROS. Also, consider that the ride was added to the park when the original Premier owned the park when they changed it over to SF. If the coaster was ever foing to be called soething other than S:ROS, we may never know, but this new Premier may, and if it was there may be able to bring it back under that name. If I recall Premier bought SF late in the year, and the transformations was very last minute, hence ROS may have already been a planned attraction, just under a different name and then was brande to fit the SF branding at the last minute. This may not be the case, but then again it sure could.

I agree that this sounds like CNL trying to explain their reasoning for disolving the relationship with HFE. There is always two sides to the story, and this is no different. I am sure HFE is probably saying they left because CNL would not give them the capital to do what they wanted to, and would not sell them the park outright in order for them to put their own cash into the park. My only hope is that Premier adds some good rides and brings more people into the park. Hopefully we will find out what is happening for 2015 shortly as they did say announcements will happen after the first of the year. Lets just hope its not the announcement of the new management.

I am about 99% sure that ^ will not be happening. I would however say that this doesnt surprise me all that much. Remebering when Premier originally owned the park, they ran it very well. Their additions were on point and did alot of good things to the park. Where they ran into problems was when they bought SF and couldnt keep up with a very large chain of parks like that. I am very optimistic for what they have to bring to the park in the future. I think this season pass teaser is just the first in a long line of good things coming, as long as CNL gives them the money to make their vision happen. Also, i was just thinking, if CNL wants to sell all their parks as a group, there would really be no individual park price most likely. If premeir was smart, they could buy all the parks from CNL and turn around and sell just DL to HFE, knowing how much they want the one park, and recoup a portion of their overall costs. Just a thought...

If HFE was still managing the park i could see those additions happening. With new management, it is hard to say exactly what will happen. I could very easily see a new flat ride along with a new water slide complex though. They would be very easy to install before the park opens, and they already have spaces for them without having to make major changes to the park.

Yes i agree that little investment does notmequal neglect, but then at least showmthe public you did something. Paint rides or buildings, pave walkways, add a used flat ride cheaply. These are all ways that parks can show investment in the gues t experience without adding major $ investments. I would like to say that DL did that this year by painting some buildings and possibly a few rides to make the park looks as it was kept up better.

I dont have attendance numbers for Michigans Adventure, but I bet they are similar to DL's with probably around 750,000 or so. I did think of MI when writing my post, but if you look at it, when was the last time CF added something major to MI? When i think of CF parks, I think of the big parks like CP, Knotts, CW, Carowinds and Kings Island and Kings Dominion. All of those parks are in major markets and have major thrill rides. I know CP is not in a major market, but we all know their deal. If CF bought DL they would be on park with MI, which basically puts them back where they were when SF owned them, an afterthought in the chain with little to no expansions. Also, I do not think it would be the same as CP and GL as the two parks are not in the same market, and really dont compete against each other much. In Buffalo, when was the last time you saw a CW comercial on US tv? CW has enough visitors that they dont need to draw from the US. GL and CP wwre both competing for the Cleveland Akron people, while CP was drawing from from across the country as well

Yes, absolutley welcome to the group! I think most of us would love to see DL sold to CF, but it just doesnt really fit their overall model. Buffalo is not a major market and the park is not a huge plot of land like the majority of their other parks tend to be. Plus i highly doubt CF will buy all of CNL's parks as that is how they want to sell them off. If CNL would sell just DL, it would be the best for DL as it is the best park in the chain. On the flip side, the value for the rest of the chain takes a huge hit.

Since they already have projects booked, is it a possibility Predator is one of those? That could be a good selling feature that the project is booked and maybe even partially or fully paid off just waiting for the sale of the park to draw crowds in for the new owners...

Yes Predator's layout is very good for a double out and back. Its relatively compact and has tons of airtime. It definately needs some track work and topper track would probably mae it great. I rode it when it was new, and it was a fantastic coaster. With some retracking it could be awesome. Honestly, I dont want to see the iron horse treatment with inversions as I think that ruins the wooden coaster experience.

I am pretty sure that if CNL was interested in selling off the parks individually, DL would have been sold to HFE already. Unfortunately, CNL wants to sell the parks as a bunch, which I totally understand and respect as it is the easiest way to do it. Plus, DL is a money maker with the camping and hotel that a number of other properties just don't have, so taking it out of the sale would make the other properties less valuable. On the topic of Predtor's conversion, it could easily be taken care of at a later date. I am pretty sure RMC would still have those plans stored away somewhere for future use. honestly, if I was RMC, I would wait until DL is sold and approach the new owners with the plans and say that they could do that very easily and quickly to show a new large investment into the park...

I will call my bad on this one. I thought Chris Thorpe was the parks GM under SF. Maybe he was assistant GM? Either way I just want a GM who knows how to run a theme park and is on the pulse of what park goers today want. I also want a GM who will make the most of every operating dollar he can...

I think HFE would have paid a premium for the park because they really wanted it and had plans for it. If you go to purchase a house that you really like, you pay asking price...if you are just OK with it, you oay lower than asking price. If CNL knows HFE really wanted the park, the price goes up....it's almost like a bidding war without having other bidders... I am OK with Premeir management and maybe even ownership as when they originally owned the park, they were small and knew how to run the park. I just didn't like how Chris Thorpe ran the park for SF. I know he had limited resources, but either way, I blame him for the disrepair the park was in durring the last few years under SF. The park could very easily add a new water slide complex next year. There is definitely time to do so. I am also looking for a flat ride of some sort next year as well.

I have to admit that i am sad by this announcement on a number of ways. First off, Chris Thorpe is a retread GM. He did poorly in his first go round when SF owned the park. If you recall they basically ran the park into a situation where majormrepairs needed to be made. We dont need more of that. The park was just starting to make some good strides in the right direction andthis appears to be a step backwards. Secondly, if HFE wanted to buy the park and make major improvements, but not buy the rest of the parks, CNL did everyone a disservice. HFE probably would have paid premium price for DL and would probably fetch more than what it would as part of a group sale. They could have sold DL to HFE and then sold the rest to Premeir and brought in more money overall for their investors. Bad business if you ask me... As a DL fan, CNL denied us of having a truly great park and HFE building on what they did over the past few years. On the flip side, DL is obviously the best park CNL owns, so when they do sell them as a whole, we should expect DL to see some of, if not the best additions in the chain year in and year out.