Which parks have gotten worse over time?

[DBru]

There should be an official "tips" page or something where people can post about the little things that may (or may not) improve park efficiency, themeing, and overall park experience. Like, here are 10 things that would make my experience at Great Escape more enjoyable: 1. Lose the seat belts on Condor, 2. blahblah... and so forth. I don't know how useful anyone actually running that park would find it but it could be a laundry list that people could know where to look.

 

Or am I being too naive?

 

 

Funny you posted that, because I posted a topic like that here that everyone said was great, but then just died... You can start it back up if you want!

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/1-vt40834.html?postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[307]

I can only really speak of Canada's Wonderland, since it's the only park I've consistently visited year in and year out since I was four or five.

 

Basically, the rampant commercialization of everything in the park takes away any atmosphere the park has. Basically I feel as though I'm just in a gigantic advertisement that has some rides in it. How long until we start changing the names of the rides to corporate-themed? We've already seen this in some parks, but I doubt it's much longer until the Mighty Canadian Minebuster becomes the M&M's Minebuster. Also, I have never got over them removing my favourite burger place in the world - Barney's Burgers - with a damn Pizza Pizza. That was the end of my childhood.

 

The employees at Wonderland generally just don't give a rat's ass about the park or people's experiences. I know this firsthand, having been one of those employees. What I think it stems from is both the lack of interest from most of the teenagers they have working there, and the work schedule/lack of flexibility/beatdowns the employees have to deal with. Plus, the area around the park where the staff is from are mostly made up of snobby kids who feel that they're slumming by working at Wonderland, and want everyone to know it. I know not every employee is like this - there are still the select few who love their job and love making people's days better - but the vast majority of them are.

 

The rides have taken a big hit over the years. Ill maintenance on woodies like Minebuster and Wild Beast have resulted in almost unrideable coasters. Granted, even at their best they were never top ten coasters, but all the fun has gone out of boarding them, and now I worry more about how to maintain my wits through the rough rides. The neutering of Minebuster via removal of a bunny hop and replacing it with a meandering hump was basically the last straw for that ride, and the new wheels that were fitted on Wild Beast last year basically ruined what had been one of my favourite Wonderland coasters.

 

The only other factor I haven't mentioned is my growing up and experiencing new parks, which stole my Wonderland innocence, as now I see that what I used to think was a great, unique park is really just run of the mill compared to other places.

[BeemerBoy]

Cool- Busch Gardens used to get a big thumbs down from all the high school kids I knew in Fort Lauderdale back in the late 80's.

For the record, I was NOT one of those kids (STA '92, btw).

 

To me, BG The Dark Tamprica has always been a great park. Adding a trio of great beemers only insured that it would keep pace with it's fellow Central Florida neighbors. Also, in doing that, they managed to not only maintain the classic Scorpion, but strike an excellent balance of being a world class zoo and thrill park......all while being in less than stellar surroundings - not easy to do. With Jungala, this park justcontinues to improve.

[ginzo]

The thing with this thread is so much of this is about perspective. I have only one visit to TGE and I thought it was awesome and it happened just last year. People in that area probably have a lot different opinion of what happened there. On the flipside, being a lifelong CP and KI visitor I think both have turned into places that make me hate the amusement park industry. For years I have hated how CP looks, but always felt they were run well. My last two experiences there have totally destroyed that loophole and I really doubt when I will be back. Related to that that KI had gotten so bad that I felt it actually had some improvement this last year with the CF accusation.

 

Related to these things, I just got back from SFOG nd thought it was ran just as well as four years ago and found the rides to be excellent. I really question people who don't enjoy the GA Cyclone as I just don't find it rough. At wdw I do miss several of the old attractions, but I feel that the park as a whole is still amazing.

 

Overall I feel as if the overall park experience is down across the board. Like shopping the amusement industry has become a bigger is better sort of thing. Service was lost for more rides, food was increased to cover new additions, and atmosphere was sarcrificed for marketing. For this I blame the customer. We vote with our pocketbook and we prove time and time again that the bigger corporate place is better then the small business. It is true of every industry in our country and parks are no different.

 

Excellent post.

 

Unfortunately, the smaller parks are being gobbled up as of late by larger companies. And at least one of the smaller parks, *cough* Holiday World *cough*, tries to act like a big corporate park. Thank God Knoebels is still keeping the faith because everyone else is selling out fast.

[PKI Jizzman]

Just by speculation, I think I can tell that SFMM has had a big turn around over the years. I remember hearing almost all bad things:

-Psyclone

-Garbage/dirtyness

-One train ops

-Closed rides

-Rude ops

-Lazy staff

-Flashback just sitting there

-The crappyness state of X

-Need of paint-jobs

 

Now, I hardly hear about those problems at all; two of them permantly out of mind.

 

 

I'm really thrilled to hear about these problems going away. It looks like SFMM deserves to be treated as the golden crown of SF, and I really can't wait to check out the park next spring break!

 

-JZ

[roland303]

Bummer about Holiday World. For a while, it sounded like one of the few parks you should make an effort and go see, no matter where you were (well, at least for the rides).

 

 

For the record, I was NOT one of those kids (STA '92, btw).

 

Plantation Colonels ('90). Talk about a mascot you only get away with in the South.... . Busch Gardens was in Tampa, which to most people at my school was like Gary, Indiana at the time. Plus, everyone was kind of a Disney booster (Senior Trip, etc.- all at WDW). So, it was a case of bias! That's high school, anyways.

 

Mini question- Busch Gardens Tampa or WDW? (Not all the other stuff like Blizzard Beach, just WDW).

[zburns999]

On the Rise: Six Flags Great Adventure

 

Man, what great park this is. Although I miss some of the "magic" I'll always associate with the Times Warner ownership of the park, the park was pretty much a dump back then. This last trip I took over the summer was fantastic. The security was busting skulls everywhere, the ride ops were amazingly friendly, and most rides were running two or even three trains. The park is clean, well-run, and best of all, seems to be constantly expanding.

 

On the Downfall: HersheyPark

 

Yes, I just said HersheyPark is on the downfall. As my home park and a place that I've been visiting since I was four, I've really been there to see the growth of this place from a park with four coasters to one with eleven. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, the park started to lose everything that I used to love about it. Actually, I have no problems with Storm Runner, Great Bear, or even Farhenheit. For me, the Boardwalk is what kills the place. I miss the days where my family and I would hang out on the front lawn in front of Decades and enjoy the park's atmosphere. Now, there's just a big slab of concrete and a bunch of losers in bathing suits running around. If they take out Canyon River Rapids for Boardwalk expansion, I'm disowning the park.

[Raiden Kitsune]

Worse over time? There's an easy one for me; Riverside Park (now SFNE).

 

Riverside was great. It wasn't huge, it didn't have the biggest or the most rides, but it was one of the best parks around. It was always friendly, it had atmosphere. It had some great, rare flats (Alpine Bobs, Tri-star). It had one of the best wooden coasters in the country with Cyclone (Thunderbolt's no waste of space, either, for a smaller ride). It was the only park I know of where you could go out back to their race track for a Demolition Derby or Automotive Football after you'd had your fill of rides.

 

When Six Flags first bought it, things looked good at first. They tore out the race track, (which several of my family members will never forgive them for), but started adding tons of new stuff, including the at-the-time #1 in the world steel coaster. I thought we were lucky to have a park like that within driving distance.

 

Now...Cyclone has been mutilated. The majority of the flats are nothing more than scrap metal and memories. Prices are soaring on everything from food to parking, and we're getting less and less for the money. The staff is ignorant, clueless, and disinterested.

 

At this point, all I can hope for is that, with Six Flags' financial situation, they'll be forced to sell the park to someone who can still save it.

[geaugalakeinexile]

To me Cedar Point has gone down the most over the past few years.

It has gotten to the point that I do not even plan on going anymore.

The staff doesn't seem to care. The food is awful. Prices are high.

The coaster mix is not as much fun for me as SFMM.

Magnum needs work, beats up your thighs if you are tall.

Mean Streak can be very rough, even the ride op's skipped the green train when testing. MF has lost it's appeal to me. Sure it's smooth and fast. But it has no life to it. It's just a windy Lazy Boy to me.

Gemini ran mostly 1 side in the mornings when I went, so no racing.

Maverick was OK but nothing special.

 

And believe it or not the park that I think has the biggest improvement is little Seabreeze in Rochester NY. The Jack Rabbit is still a great woodie even after 80 years. If you saw that park in the 1970's you would not have given it a chance to survive. They really try to make an effort. And it shows.

Also Darien Lake is heading in the right direction, especially with the addition of Motocoaster and adding local food.

[DBru]

^So I'm guessing you're a CP fanboy?

[LcHg5265]

Lake Compounce has come a long way in the last 10+ years. To look at the park in 1996, when Hershey owned it, and compare it to today, you would not be able to tell you were at the same park. With an approximate 5% increase in attendance each year, Lake Compounce will continue to grow into the large amounts of land available.

 

I also agree that the former Riverside experience was ruined by Six Flags. Lake Compounce has improved immensely in the same time frame that any feeling of Riverside was destroyed, and then some.

[DBru]

^I never knew Hershey owned LC. I guess we do learn something everyday... lol

[spaceace12]

Excellent post.

 

Unfortunately, the smaller parks are being gobbled up as of late by larger companies. And at least one of the smaller parks, *cough* Holiday World *cough*, tries to act like a big corporate park. Thank God Knoebels is still keeping the faith because everyone else is selling out fast.

 

So how is HW trying to act like big corporate park? Just wondering.

[ParkTrips]

^ I would start with the employees being robotic nazis..

[coaster05]

Add the lack of trees in the waterpark and just the general loss of atmosphere.

[sam06pr]

you know, sometimes smaller parks have to decide whether to expand or just be the same hoping it will not close. I guess thats why parks that are surrounded by growing towns and city, have to expand in order to keep up. I guess some are really just looking at ways to expand and forget what they are about. That's why I think BGA has done the best job of improving. Every time I go I see them remodeling something, improve areas, and new things pop up. They like to change, but they know how to change the correct way. They do not entirely focus on thrills only but rather animals and landscaping. I know some BGA fanatics think that Jungala was a waste of space, but I think it was a better alternative attraction, other than just coasters. I don't think they realize that coaster people are not the only ones to satisfy. With this new area, BGA added two more flat rides, and yes they are not big flat rides, but it's a start. So after this, they can now think of another major coaster that I am sure will not disappoint anybody. And all I can say is that BGA is on a roll and they need to keep it up, and I am making sure that my area does that with cleanliness and friendliness.