DILinator

I actually carried on a coversation about Breaking Bad with my friend while riding GateKeeper once! Of course, that was probably my 18th ride on it on Media Day, so it's not quite the same!

Cedar Creek Mine Ride at CP! It immediately became my favorite coaster!

In its present state, not really, at least not well... Thank goodness they've expanded Wildwater Adventure so much, because that's where everybody goes, and I remember it was WAY to packed last time I was there (9 years ago.) This time, in spite of more people, it seemed less congested. I was thinking in the ride park, however, that it's not a park that could handle an onslaught of people in its present state. The key way to mitigate that? (Prepare the dead horse for its beating!) Build that connecting midway next to Wolverine Wildcat to circulate people better, as well as give them some other things to do (filling line queues.) I would definitely NOT want to see a headlining new coaster at MiA, until that first step was completed, personally... As for the cost of MiA? I don't much care for raising prices without a commensurate reason such as a large capital investment to go with it. That being said, MiA is still a pretty good value, comparatively, given what you're getting there!

^Man, I LOVE Lightning Racer! It's a Top 5 wooden coaster for me! (Which may say more about the wooden coasters I've ridden than LR, but...) Wildcat? It's "okay." I'll give it that... I love HP so much though, that even an "okay" ride seems better than normal!

The frivolous lawsuits that run amok in our society today irk me to no end! I just can't believe how much stupidity is well compensated in our society...

Honestly, I pondered it a while, experimented with trying to work it into the timeline, but the more I looked at things, the more a dedicated kids' area like "Planet Snoopy" feels redundant at MiA. The entire park already functions as a sort of kiddie park, with family friendly flats spread around the park, and even the larger rides not being major thrill rides (with the exception of Thunderhawk.) I was just there a week ago with my kids, which is the experience I am basing this conclusion off of as well, not some coaster enthusiast's disregard for all things not roller coasters. Now that doesn't mean they couldn't simply re-brand the small little area where Zach's Zoomer is now, but I think given the history behind that coaster, and my previously mentioned reasoning, a re-brand simply isn't necessary at MiA...

^What day did you go to SFGAm? Yesterday? I'm just curious if you went on a weekday to see what the crowds were like, since I'm going next week. BTW, the model of CGA was pretty cool! You say that was in the SFGAm shop?

I came here to post one for Michigan's Adventure, but you beat me to it! Seriously though... Michigan's Adventure 2016 - A new mid-size flat ride where Falling star used to be (Sreamin' Swing or Huss Frisbee.) Minor infrastructure improvements. 2017 - Create new midway by connecting a path next to WW finally. Shops, food stalls, refurbed flat, and a Disk-O ride added. 2018 - Finally get that new coaster, an Intamin Mega-Lite with a station off the new midway (track goes over water, train.) 2019 - Minor infrastructure improvements. Experiment with VR technology. 2020 - Wildwater Adventure expansion. (Including direct access entrance from the parking lot.) These aren't so much "predictions", as they are what I think would be a sound, smart 5 year plan for the park. If I was actually going to make predictions, I'd just put "nothing" after two of the years, a random flat after one, a waterpark expansion after one, and a used coaster after one. Seriously, that's probably even optimistic...

CA - Tatsu CO - Twister II FL - Kraken IL - Raging Bull IN - The Voyage MI - Shivering Timbers MO - Mamba (Mr. Freeze [pre-Reverse Blast] very close) NJ - El Toro NC - Fury OH - Millennium Force (Maverick very close) PA - Phantom's Revenge SC - Intimidator TX - Superman: Krypton Coaster VA - Apollo's Chariot (Volcano: The Blast Coaster very close) WA - Classic Coaster (Puyallup State Fair) Obviously, I haven't been back to some of the parks in these states I've been to recently!

Still no MiA, even after he added Dorney! Figures...

Oops! I meant to say a Sky Screamer/Funtime "StarFlyer" type of swing ride - at least 250-300 feet (unless there is a height restriction.) That being said, I love Screamin' Swings too! I would be happy with one at MiA, especially if it could swing out over the water! A screaming swing would fit perfectly where Fallon. Star once was and it'd be very cool to swing out over the water. But unfortunately that makes too much sense so it'll probably never happen similar to the path behind wolverine wildcat.

^ That's where they staged Maverick's tracks, so that seems likely!

^ Yeah, I'd be pretty happy with that! It's not an Intamin Mega-Lite or Hyper, or Chance Hyper-GTX, but it would still be really fun, and definitely affordable! Unlike the Playland model, I'd like to see one at MiA actually feature that twist that the model on the site shows! Oops! I meant to say a Sky Screamer/Funtime "StarFlyer" type of swing ride - at least 250-300 feet (unless there is a height restriction.) That being said, I love Screamin' Swings too! I would be happy with one at MiA, especially if it could swing out over the water!

Well, as long as we're voting... Even though I want to ride Batman at SFFT pretty bad, I think a park of GAdv's size can do better than that - especially in that particular area! Down the road, if they still want one, stick it over in Movie Town, and theme it to Green Lantern...

Honestly, I'm not crazy about Windseekers and normal drop towers. Now if MiA were to put in either a really high Screamin' Swing, or a Falcon's Fury type of drop tower...

Thanks for the link!

^Well done on the pie chart! That's a nice touch, and it's cool to get an idea of what each park is doing in adjusted EBITDA! What I'm referring to when I talk about the intimate details of CFs financial cash flow, is more specific stuff, like itemized breakdown of where all the money goes. Stuff that the public isn't ever going to see, only the IRS during an audit or something like that. It's not a big deal, I just don't trust that everything CF tells us is 100% accurate, financially. It doesn't really bother me profoundly or anything - I still like the company, their parks, and wish I would have invested years ago. But it does surprise me that so few others seem to question what they say, when most people are very quick to question the integrity of big business, capitalist industries...

CF used to share those numbers with shareholders in their annual report but have not since the Paramount purchase. So yeah, it is now just a guessing/estimation game with the broad numbers unfortunately. I wish I would have had my investor put my funds into FUN back in the day, and especially when the stock dipped a bit. But now, I fear, I'd be a bit late to the party... Ah, well... Story of my life!

Ok, that's where I got the Coaster Club part from... Thanks for the clarification! Hopefully I can make it out to Knoebels for the first time!

Interesting presentation. I wish they had actual numbers to go along with the revenue and EBITDA pie charts. I feel the same way... People are always talking about CF's financial decisions as if they have intimate knowledge of its actual workings (not just what the talking heads SAY is going on), yet nobody appears to actually see detailed, itemized breakdowns for the cash flow to/from the various parks. They point to stuff on CF's site, but none of that goes beyond superficial, surface numbers. I would be surprised, actually, if CF shared those detailed reports with the public, which is why I find it surprising so many people seem to think they know all about how CF operates their parks, and business. At the end of the day, all anybody can do is take CF at their word, and hope they are not lying. Because as we all know, people in big businesses NEVER lie about financial matters to the public!

Yeah, my mind was blown as well!

Hey guys! I've been trying to find details such as cost, registration deadlines, and all of that for PPP, but can't find any info on the Knoebels site, or anywhere else, for that matter. I thought I saw that info at some point, but can't locate it now. Could anybody either steer me in the right direction, or give me that info personally? Thanks! (I do know that it's an enthusiast event, and you have to part of a participating club. I got that much down! )

^Even though I didn't care for Shockwave, and am not at all sad it's being removed (except for the fact I hate to ever see any coasters removed - other than maybe GASM at GAdv and SoB), I still remember commenting to my wife after getting off that it had airtime, and how shocking that was for a stand-up coaster! I do think it was on the rough/painful side though.

^A steel coaster with a skinny footprint, and minimal need for supports, could easily get back there going over the waterpark. There's even a middle portion of blank land for the lower part of hills. However, remember I said it wasn't likely, especially since the type of coaster that could best utilize that land, they already have two of (hyper, giga). I agree that a further waterpark expansion would make the most sense back there. Speaking of which, I have to admit I'm surprised that there isn't a Pro Slide Tornado as a part of this expansion. Those seen to be pretty common for waterparks these days, and they're a great slide! Maybe something like that would be part of a future expansion.

Thanks for the responses, guys! I missed that previous reply! My guess is I just saw the bottom part, and didn't realize he was responding to me!