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No one is disputing whether or not the ride will be a hit, although I still think wait times will play a huge role in whether or not someone enjoys it. I'm just disappointed with the creative side. Silver Bullet is a hit too, but many of us here also complained how it completely changed the spirit/atmosphere of Ghost Town. It reminds me a lot of how Pony Express ended up in the park. Jack Falfas bought a motocoaster because he liked the concept at IAAPA and told the design team to figure it out. This seems like the same. "Hey guys, we're going to be adding these rides to all of our parks...do your best to make it work!" It's not terrible, but it's a HUGE drop-off in creative energy/quality from what KBF has done recently.

^Yes, but the first one is the most blatant.

Oceaneering's entertainment division has an office in Orlando in addition to the main office in Maryland.

All the old Necropolis costumes brought back out for this event...makes me wonder if that area will return to take over the boardwalk this year for Haunt.

^The freefall idea came from the corporate offices. Those at KBF fought hard behind the scenes to nix the idea. I'm not asking for Disney/Universal amounts of spending. That's completely unrealistic. But Log Ride/Mine Ride refurb spending would have been nice...

Looks like a much better thematic fit for the area. I did like the airfield theme (since aviation is a huge part of California's history), but next to Grizzly's peak it seemed a little out of place.

Yet somehow it comes out amazingly audible from the speakers in your car..maybe telepathy is one of her powers? The very first scene of the game after your "dive" the projector is right in front of you. It's hard to miss even if you are "focusing on the game." I get that Triotech is not Garner Holt...the problem is in a park with two fantastic ride overlays done by Garner Holt, it makes Iron Reef stick out like a sore thumb. For the 3rd or 4th time, I will say it again: I am sure many will love the ride because it's a giant video game. But guess what? I'm more critical because I am theme park guy. My ride was with 3 other people who also happen to be in the industry. Funny you mention that. My response after riding was "man, I'm glad I didn't have to waste time during my Haunt visit and/or pay to come ride this." Twisted Colossus hooked me into buying a Six Flags gold pass as soon as it was announced. I was on the fence about a KBF pass with the Boysenberry festival & the potential of this ride...not so much anymore. But to each their own. If the ride was a people eater, I could at least agree that it is a "solid" addition to the park since guests wouldn't be waiting so long for it. However, I have a feeling that it's not going to be as big a hit as you all suspect because of the wait times. I don't know if Knott's does surveys, but I imagine there will be a HUGE difference in how people rate the ride based on how long they had to wait. Ones who didn't wait will probably agree with the "it's fun, not amazing, but fun" while others who had to wait will probably like "Midway Mania is way better! My PS4 looks the same! Why did I wait so long for this?"

Guess what? You can see the projectors. It's bad show. But if you want more important things to complain about there is the terrible capacity, technical issues (hopefully those will improve), the sub-par storytelling, the finale of shooting jellyfish after defeating a monster who can talk without moving her lips... Personally, I think if one of the selling points of the ride is that everyone is happy there is something in the empty space again...well...I guess that's a win? To me, it's a very disappointing follow up to two great ride overhauls. It really feels like something that belongs at any other Cedar Fair park but KBF.

You could make an argument that now is not the time to be cheap in the ultra competitve So Cal theme park market. USH has Potter coming online+Comcast has already said they intend to have one new addition per year to both coasts (with Season Passes still being relatively cheap), Disney has the 60th Celebration+whatever rumored announcements come at D23 (and their giant AP base), SFMM has its dirt cheap passes and Twisted Colossus... To be fair, the Triotech rides seem like a much better fit for the other Cedar Fair parks that have no history with dark rides. KBF just did fantastic overlays of the Mine and Log rides, plus their history with Bear-y Tales and KoD so this seems really out of place.

^Nothing wrong with thinking that. As I said from the very beginning, I am sure many will enjoy the ride. It's a life size video game. As I also said earlier, it's a given you have to suspend reality at a theme park. The problem with Iron Reef IMO is that it doesn't do anything to help sell the "ruse" as you put it. Just falls flat for me on many levels because of the lack of storytelling, cheaply done feel, and terrible ending. Falls extra flat considering the great work the park had previously done redoing the log and mine rides.

^I'm going to go out on a limb and say yes... And again, just to be clear, it's not that any of the projection mapping looks bad by any means...it just seems like it's a crutch for Disney to fall back on. I hope with whatever plans will likely be announced at D-23 (and the Avatar Land at DAK) we will see some truly innovative stuff again in the States.

^It's not the story (even if it is ridiculous) that bothers me, since suspending reality is a given at a theme park. It's that the story is never explained. Thus, from a creative point of view the ride is a mess. Of course since the ride appears to be very low capacity, most people should have plenty of time to watch the queue video multiple times...

It's footprint is roughly where Doc Browns chicken, Cantina (and it's patio), and the Flinstones Carnival games were. The other side just repurposed Ben & Jerrys and Louie's pizza.

He wasn't even part of the ride. Losing his characters is definitely a blow, but the Simpsons have so many characters that don't get enough time on the show there is a chance this could be a good thing as the show winds down!

The physical sets are definitely the most impressive part, but they are on par with a Sally ride. Not groundbreaking, but still good looking. I can't agree with the immersive part since you see the projectors and the scene ahead of you numerous times. Potential was there, but....

^I'm not really sure where you are going with that. All those examples you gave at least tell a story. It's a given reality is suspended when you are on a theme park ride. Iron Reef doesn't really tell a cohesive story, so you have no idea WHY reality is suspended. It's a giant video game---which as I said in the beginning, I am sure will make many people happy. However, given the great upgrades they did to Mine Ride & Log Ride---this just seemed like they phoned it in to have something to put in the vacant space. ^^I would MUCH rather have an Aquatrax in its place!

Just use the Aquabats version!

I'd first like to know how/why we are freezing robotic fish underwater....

^There was a pre-show?? I rode this morning before having to head to work. My initial reaction was "WTF???" I couldn't seem to find a rhyme or reason to the story at all. There's really two ways I look at this ride: I'm sure it will still be a hit because the average guest will be like "ooo...3D and shooting stuff...fun!", so in that regard KBF succeeded. However, the theme park person in me seriously wonders how much effort was put into the creative process: very visible projectors, seemingly random monsters, and I never heard how/why we were supposed to go underwater and shoot robotic sea creatures. The finale was very very very lacking too. We also had some downtime on the ride, so the same scene kept looping over and over and didn't appear to be keeping anywhere close to accurate score (no matter what we shot, scores would freeze for a few minutes then randomly go up then freeze again). I did, however, notice a few of the old knott's rides in the background of scenes and thought that was a nice touch. The 3D was better than what those renderings showed, but far from earth shattering.

It's always dangerous to commit to a hard date if you can't be 100% sure it will be ready by that date, so it's better to keep quiet until they can set a safer date.

I don't work in marketing and I've heard the term activation all the time. Usually when there is a booth at a sporting event/theme park/etc., it's called an "activation."

What's great about the Nintendo partnership is that there are SO many possibilities it's awesome to even think about. Nintendo properties could work as a show, interactive activity in the park, character meet & greet, interactive ride, dark ride, roller coaster...

I'm not as well traveled as most people on here but the last thing to wow me was Mystic Manor's particle effects of the music box, especially in the end room when it gets sucked back in, looked much more impressive in person than it did in any POV's I haven't been able to make it back to HKDL since that opened, so in no particular order a few things have wowed me in my travels: -Lava Monster -Expedition Everest Yeti (when it worked...even if you only see it for 5-10 seconds) -Shariki disappearing effect in TDS Tower -Forbidden Journey ride system -Musical Circus @ Parque Espana Just to be clear, nothing is WRONG with projection mapping. They still look great. I'm just hoping we can get back to the mid 90's when Universal and Disney were building blockbuster E-tickets with practical FX that were amazing for their time. Like Chris said, I hope Avatar (and whatever Universal may have in the pipeline) can bring that back!

I keep most of my stuff on my desk at work Bobbleheads and snowglobes! And Mirabilandia for good measure. Lots of Disney stuff. More Disney stuff & Evac for good measure. Prototype 3D glasses. Journey ride toy, USJ mini figures BTTF snowglobe, bullet train, Jaws mini lego thing from USJ

Arcades are low overhead with high profit margins.