CaliforniaPinto

Nope. Have no desire to own or wear anything with the TPR logo on it.

To say you stand out in your TPR logo plastered wardrobe would be an understatement.

I'm aware of that, and I know Chad is too. I know him even though might not be aware of who I am. I've worked with SDC for quite awhile now and he has done some recent coverage of the park the last 3-4 years. His comment was just a little too... well unneeded hence my comment. And FTR, they had no issues in finding places to plant the trees.

And they already had a hell of a time trying to figure out where they were going to re-plant the trees they had to cut down for outlaw run. Sarcasm?

Actually, have ridden both, FCE and PK are nothing alike. The launch on PK is much more forceful whereas the ones on FCE is not. The ride is pretty much a given for SDC.

I know that this has been discussed earlier in this thread but there are several expansion pads the park can use for expansion. In fact you can see two of the most obvious from the new expansions. There is a spot for a coaster left open in Fireman's Landing between Fire Wagon and Fire Spotter. There is another between WildFire and PowderKeg (it's also earmarked for a coaster). There are also plans to relocate the round house and eventually expand into the parking lot on that side of the train tracks expanding from Outlaw Run. There are plenty of spots still and this only the tip of the iceberg

The Chicken Exit sign for Timber Wolf is actually a hand-me-down from the Orient Express. In the summer the park waters the wheels on Mamba to cool them off before heading into the station - this prevents the wheels from getting flat spots while sitting still. The wheels literally melt in the summer on Mamba and that's why they brake the coaster so hard at the MCBR. The fountain at Spinning Dragons is the left over dolphin pool that was at the Aquatic Arena in the Orient. After the dolphin show left, it was used as a dive pool for the Dive show. Chickie and Pete's has been at the park now for 3 seasons. The weird dinosaur photo you posted is the "dry river bed" section

We still have another week in Missouri to ride.

Have we figured out how the walkway will be now to get to the back of the park?

Hate to tell you this, but in the business word this is just a polite way of saying "no chance in hell" I have to disagree! Mr. Frazier has flat out told me "no" or "I can't go there" many times when asked a question. He really does not beat around the bush. He is a friend of mine and I don't believe he would purposely mislead me unless he had a really good reason and I was asking too direct of a question. some times I just want to pat you on the head and say "who's a good boy?"

It's pretty much confirmed that this only the first phase of the waterpark expansion. With all of the dirt work, why not go ahead and do infrastructure upgrades for upcoming expansions -- wouldn't it make sense to do that now all at the same time instead of having to go back in later and do the dirt work all over again?

Hate to tell you this, but in the business word this is just a polite way of saying "no chance in hell"

I do not have the clicks available to publish but even you cannot deny the fact they are more quantifiable than your guest satisfaction claims. Sorry, just because you think the coaster needs new trains does not merit the purchase of new ones. Like mentioned above, short of the park being forced to purchase new ones due to the current stock becoming mechanically unsound, it's not happening. Time to move on.

With the coming and continued investment by Cedar Fair, I don't see why new trains are a waste of money. Valleyfair invested ten million in Wild Thing when it was built, and it's now one of the more boring coasters in the park. With Valleyfair's limited size, every ride has to count, and while flats are more easily placed and removed, rollercoasters stay for decades. Wild Thing takes up a significant amount of room in the turnaround alone. The ride experience should justify the space used and the money spent, and it currently falls short. Trains that at least let you experience the ride at its possible best can help. Chance Morgan hypers are about speed (says so on the Chance website) and Wild Thing doesn't really feel fast when you ride in a bathtub that shields you from the chest down. In fact, in parts it feels downright slow. But according to the stats the ride is not slow. Riders are prevented from feeling the speed. Easy fix here, thankfully--Lightning Run trains, lower profile and better restraints! And made by the same company for the same track, no fuss no muss. They would be amazing on a coaster built to be fast. Just because other parks seem to be fine with old trains doesn't mean that they are. Steel Dragon switched and the ride experience improved. Why can't Valleyfair be the innovator in the USA and do something different? And I don't see how improving the attractions you have will prevent great future development. The next two years are going to be waterpark improvements anyway from what has been gathered, so why not improve Wild Thing so the dry park has something too? The trains will not steal a potential new coaster out of the investment budget, that's absurd. They're spending how much this year on waterslides--several million (I think 8)? And regarding Vortex conversions, I am aware of that. But if successful, they will start changing trains on other kinds of coasters to keep them palatable (think discount coaster wars) so I won't rule out train replacements on other coaster types. I am sorry, there is no quantifiable evidence to support anything you stated in your post. While you, PERSONALLY, might feel that the ride is now "one of the more boring coasters in the park," rider turnstyle clicks do not support your hypothesis. Also there is no proof that the ride experience would be improved upon with different style trains. The fact of the matter is that this is Cedar Fair. The trains current on the coaster work just fine. They're not hindering the ride in anyway and the turnstyle clicks do not warrant different trains. As far as your last paragraph - please explain to me how spending money on new trains will not take away potential money for future projects? Do you honestly think that the money for new trains will just come out of thin air and will be in addition to any money that would go towards new projects? It won't happen that way - trust me. I realize Cedar Fair has earmarked the park for growth, but let's not just throw money at things that don't need to be fixed just because some one has a flashier train than the one that you currently have

Why would you prefer them to waste money on new trains for Wild Thing instead of investing that money in a new attraction? The trains are just fine. They work for Mamba, Steel Force and Steel Eel - why is it such a burden to have the trains on Wild Thing? Seriously - there are things the park needs much more than new trains on a coaster that is already popular with the crowds. As far as the Rougaru conversions - they are speaking about the two Vortex stand up coasters being converted.

Wow. This new area is looking awesome, though it kind of looks like another Grand Expo area with some of the details that are emerging. Oh well, still an improvement over what used to be there. http://www.midwestinfoguide.com/silver/2014/12.13/

This is not a trend VF needs to hop on. I wouldn't mind a skyscreamer, but I would hope that the company isn't thrilled about adding more troublesome windseekers to the lineup. VF wouldn't need one much bigger than the one that was added to Adventureland in Iowa. Funny you say that they are troublesome as that park didn't experience any downtime that was worth noting.

Can they not build an extension on the roof or is that out of the question?

Do you think they'll retheme Poltergeist to Joker's Jinx now that the area will become Gotham City?

Considering that the only rideable seat on those wooden coasters is the center (non wheel) seat in each train. No.

I personally like Dinos because I can go there and get away from annoying teenagers for awhile. I usually go in there at least once per visit to the park. There is always lots of families in there and the younger kids just love the exhibit. Yeah, I know there are lots of people that scream "MORE COASTERS!" but those are the same people that don't really spend money at the park. They have their pass and basically leech off the park the rest of the season without spending money while they are there

^^ SPOT ON! That's exactly how I feel when he posts in this thread. He always has to name drop - just in case we forgot that he is "friends" with Mr. Frazier. If you have news and can share it, share it. Otherwise STFU already and sit on the interesting tidbits you have been given like the rest of us do. He is not the only one that has insiders to parks. The difference is that most of us that do have insiders don't feel the need to do the whole "I know something you don't know" crap.

Never left

If you have something to share, share it -- this whole "if you want to know what I know then you're going to have to dance for me" crap is very childish. You know the saying by now.

There is a "summer mode" and a "normal mode" -- during the "summer mode" there are two water jets that blast water up into the air when the train enters the splash pool. Those jets are turned off during "normal mode"