Parks that could be defunct within five to ten years....

[Airtime&Gravity]

What about Dorney park? From what I remember, it has the lowest attendance of the major parks in the area,(Hershey, SFGADV, Moreys) and I think Robb once said that the only thing keeping it open is the water park. The neighborhood also seems to complain when they want to add a major ride, and the park site could probably be sold for a lot once the housing market picks up. With the exception of Hydra, a lot of the rides could probably easily be moved to another park.

[sfkk339]

Kentucky Kingdom - not closed, but sold[/quote

 

Where did you get this Information? Kentucky Kingdom isn't sold it's still owned by SF. The reason why they closed a section of the park is to retrack Twisted Twins and Mile High falls and also to fix the confusing paths in that section...I also talked to a Employee ans said that section will be up and running next season and that there will be a celebration and everything when that section opens up again next season.

[coasterdude5]

Here's my list:

Delgrossos

Lake Winnie

Joyland

Six Flags America

Adventure City

Cypress Gardens

 

How do you figure? It's a great, small, regional park that's done well since 1925. Just because a small park doesn't expand consistently doesn't always mean it's in trouble. Trust me, Lake Winnie's not going anywhere.

 

Yeah, I know. I almost didn't put it down. However, I just got this feeling that it won't be around for too much longer... Hopefully I'm proven wrong, though!

[sfkk339]

Kentucky Kingdom - not closed, but sold

 

Where did you get this Information? Kentucky Kingdom isn't sold it's still owned by SF. The reason why they closed a section of the park is to retrack Twisted Twins and Mile High falls and also to fix the confusing paths in that section...I also talked to a Employee ans said that section will be up and running next season and that there will be a celebration and everything when that section opens up again next season.

[ginzo]

Cedar Point. Nobody ever goes there.

[Kennyweird]

Hong Kong Disneyland. Didn't Robb say they were having budget related issues due to a lack of visitors?

[Scaparri]

Deleted by user.

Edited April 6, 2015 by Scaparri

[YoshiFan]

What about Dorney park? From what I remember, it has the lowest attendance of the major parks in the area,(Hershey, SFGADV, Moreys) and I think Robb once said that the only thing keeping it open is the water park. The neighborhood also seems to complain when they want to add a major ride, and the park site could probably be sold for a lot once the housing market picks up. With the exception of Hydra, a lot of the rides could probably easily be moved to another park.

 

I remember reading Dorney gets over 1.5 million visitors a year. On the weekends the place gets packed, I think this summer the lot actually closed a few times because they ran out of room to park cars.

 

Here is an example of how crowded the park can get:

http://newsplusnotes.blogspot.com/2008/08/dorney-park-82308-update.html

[packfanlv]

Hong Kong Disneyland. Didn't Robb say they were having budget related issues due to a lack of visitors?

 

They just saw a huge attendance increase this year over last (from 4.2million to 5.7million) and Disney has said they are willing to put the money needed into the park for expansion.

 

I think the issue now is with Disney and the HK government working out exactly how much money each side is going to put in over the next several years to get the park to its proper size. I can't wait until they expand the park a little more. It is a wonderful park!

[jarmor]

Well, technically any park can be defunct in 5-10 years. No one thought it would be a natural distaster that could put SFNO under so to me any park is fair game...

[BeemerBoy]

Six Flags America

Alabama Adventure

 

Are you doing meth? Alabama Adventure has more potential than any park south of the Mason-Dixon line. You obviously don't know the management like I do. Give the place ten years. It'll soon be competing with the likes of Disney World and Universal Studios... maybe even Cedar Point.

 

What is Alabama Adventure?

[cathyJ]

RE: Six Flags America...

 

One thing they don't have in their favor is the local press. Frankly I am surprised nobody else pick this up?

 

For some reason the TV stations in Baltimore and DC really do not like this park. If the slightest thing goes wrong..BREAKING NEWS !! A great example of this is when Two face was stuck. DC's WRC-TV NBC4 had one of their choppers live on the scene. OK nothing wrong with that since that was news, but did the anchor on WRC really had to make that comment "..oh my this is very bad, people could be killed if a loose screw pops off !!.

 

Then not long after that there was a shooting in some apartment complex not far from SFA that left a young child dead but the way some of those Baltimore and DC stations made it sound that shooting took place IN SFA !!!

 

dittos with radio too. Just last year I heard a woman on DC's Mix 107.3 make the claim on the air that Six Flags America was "trash" and she wouldn't allow her kids to visit the place.

 

I have a hunch you wont hear any of the Pittsburgh stations say anything close to that with Kennywood, Harrisburg with Hersheypark or even Richmond with Kings Dominion.

 

Very, very true. And really pretty sad.

 

Even when KD had someone die on Shockwave years ago there wasn't that much bad press, and that was a part of a particularly bad summer where it seemed someone was hurt or killed on a ride every week and the media was freaking out constantly about it if I remember correctly...

 

I wonder if the Richmond stations have some sort of "deal" to downplay anything negative about Kings Dominion? That could be possible, years ago I heard a stroy about some radio disc jockey in Pittsburgh who was fired because he said on the air that "Kennywood Sucks".

 

In Denver, Lakeside, Waterword and even Elitches it seems always get good press. According to some of my friends who live in Colorado, when Elitches was having "troubles" a lot of that wasn't reported by the Denver TV stations.

 

On a similar note is that new football stadium in Indianapolis. Just the other day I was reading on another site where the Indy TV stations are downplaying the current economy woes becuase they dont want the local folks there to get the idea that their new football stadium for the Colts is a "waste of money". I would imagine Indianapolis got that idea from Baltimore...at the same time Camden Yards was built ( with Baltimore money ) that city was laying off teachers, firefighters and the police because Baltimore claimed they didnt have the money to pay them but they had the money for the Orioles new home.

 

Baltimore got a very bad black eye over that.

[GoogleMickey]

I really don't think the Hard Rock Park is going to last to much longer. Its a fantastic park, but with such low attendance levels, and the constant cute of staff really just leans towards a closure of the park. Of course this is the park's first year, but it just isn't looking to good for Hard Rock Park.

[cfc]

I wonder if the Richmond stations have some sort of "deal" to downplay anything negative about Kings Dominion? That could be possible, years ago I heard a stroy about some radio disc jockey in Pittsburgh who was fired because he said on the air that "Kennywood Sucks".

 

If Kennywood was one of the station's advertisers that wouldn't be particularly surprising.

[printersdevil78]

Just the other day I was reading on another site where the Indy TV stations are downplaying the current economy woes becuase they dont want the local folks there to get the idea that their new football stadium for the Colts is a "waste of money". I would imagine Indianapolis got that idea from Baltimore.

 

Yeah, Indianapolis steals a lot of things from Baltimore!

 

Moving on, it's time for me to weigh in on the whole defunct park issue. In many cases, I don't think it's the quality of the parks that will be their downfall, but their location and land value. My home park, Trimpers Rides, came dangerously close to becoming condominiums at the end of last season due to high property assessments. The state legislature has since granted the park "historic amusement" status, which would lower those taxes... but who knows?

 

This, more than anything, will be the downfall of Hard Rock Park, I think. I happened to be attending a convention in Myrtle Beach the day the big headlines were about the announcement of the Pavillion's closing at the end of that season, and I have no doubt land values played no small part in that decision. It suddenly became more cost effective to build and operate condos or hotels or whatever at that site than it was for the park to continue its operation. I think HRP is going to find itself in a very similar boat if it hasn't already.

 

If HRP does continue to operate, I highly doubt it will continue to operate as HRP. From the music itself to the ride names, licensing alone must kill that park's bottom line. At the same time, Myrtle Beach is a prime location for an amusement park (not just the Pavilion tribute at Broadway at the Beach). I wouldn't be surprised to see a situation similar to the Six Flags sell-off of Darien Lake. All the commercial music theming would disappear, of course. But if people are going to an amusement park, they're going to ride the coasters whether they're called Led Zeppelin and The Eagles: Life in the Fast Lane or the Beach Blaster and Myrtle Mine Train (or something slightly less corny).

 

Of course, if that doesn't happen, I suspect HRP will become a short-lived wonder like The World of Sid and Marty Krofft in Atlanta, Six Flags Power Plant in Baltimore or Blue Diamond in Delaware, only on a much larger and more public scale.

 

As for DelGrosso's, I don't think they're going anywhere for the very reason Chris pointed out: It's all about the sauce! This place doesn't count on its rides to make money; it makes it from its food. Based on what I saw during this summer's TPR trip, they aren't into plussing the park, bringing in the next biggest/baddest roller coaster or paying a lot of college kids to come in and put on cheesy musical revues; it's a small family park that concentrates on the local community, many residents from which probably spend their entire workdays in that big, glorious sauce factory across the street. DelGrosso's is basically what Hershey Park set out to be back in the day, before branching out to compete after C.V. Wood started raising the stakes with places like Astroland and Freedomland (speaking of defunct parks).

 

Anyway, that's my two cents' worth. Now that I've spent a paragraph talking about spaghetti sauce, I'm suddenly ready for dinner!

[okinawaboy11]

What about Dorney park? From what I remember, it has the lowest attendance of the major parks in the area,(Hershey, SFGADV, Moreys) and I think Robb once said that the only thing keeping it open is the water park. The neighborhood also seems to complain when they want to add a major ride, and the park site could probably be sold for a lot once the housing market picks up. With the exception of Hydra, a lot of the rides could probably easily be moved to another park.

 

I remember reading Dorney gets over 1.5 million visitors a year. On the weekends the place gets packed, I think this summer the lot actually closed a few times because they ran out of room to park cars.

 

Here is an example of how crowded the park can get:

http://newsplusnotes.blogspot.com/2008/08/dorney-park-82308-update.html

 

 

Wow, that's so weird to see those pictures. I was there about two weeks ago for my first time and the park was dead. Every ride was a walk on all day. And to my knowledge, school was not in session yet in the surrounding areas.

[ginzo]

Yeah, I know. I almost didn't put it down. However, I just got this feeling that it won't be around for too much longer... Hopefully I'm proven wrong, though!

 

Do you have any sort of evidence to bolster your claim beyond "I just got this feeling"?

 

 

Are you doing meth? Alabama Adventure has more potential than any park south of the Mason-Dixon line. You obviously don't know the management like I do. Give the place ten years. It'll soon be competing with the likes of Disney World and Universal Studios... maybe even Cedar Point.

 

Hahahaha. Awesome. I know exactly where this comes from.

[Jcoaster]

Im going to be very unoriginal and say:

 

HRP

SFA

SKK

[cathyJ]

[quote name="printersdevil78 Of course' date=' if that doesn't happen, I suspect HRP will become a short-lived wonder like The World of Sid and Marty Krofft in Atlanta, Six Flags Power Plant in Baltimore or Blue Diamond in Delaware, only on a much larger and more public scale.

 

[/quote]

 

I could be wrong but I don't believe the Six Flags Power Plant in Baltimore had any rides. I was there in December 1986 when a group of us went to see Bon Jovi at the Baltimore Arena, I never got that whole concept as to what Six Flags was thinking when they created this...power plant ????

 

Atlanta's The World of Sid & Marty Kroft, I remember reading a book years ago by the late Bob Denver ( Gilligan ) and he talks about one ride they had that was a huge pinball machine that you actually ride. I have never seen a pic of this. Someone once told me that at the time of this place, Sid & Marty Kroft was involved in a very nasty lawsuit with McDonalds over the use of a character from their Puffnstuff show, McDonalds believed the Krofts stole that idea from their Mayor McCheese character. Anyway due to that lawsuit the Krofts didn't allow cameras inside their theme park so as a result very few pics of thie rpark exist today. Not sure if that fact or an urban legend though.

[n7]

I do hope that HRP does get out of its slump in the next few years. It's quite a refreshing break from the standard formula of themes that a park "should" follow. I guess building a highly themed and original park to suit the teenager generation was a bad idea...we saw this play out elsewhere on the west coast...*cough DCA *cough.

 

Teens don't really care about being "transported" to a different area through theme...they just care about the quickest and sickest rush when they go to a park. DCA's initial hunt for that demographic was a very bad decision and if not under the Disney name, that park could have never recovered. Unfortunately HRP doesn't have the same safety net. I have no idea what they can do to boost attendance...but I think installing a bunch of gimmiky coaster rides has not helped their cause. I mean, how late was MaxRPM to open - for an un-needed ferris wheel lift system? These kinds of ideas are cool...as ideas. When you bring them into reality, it just seems like more money could have been spent on a cooler ride than a cooler lift system.

 

I don't know - maybe HRP suffers from indulgent design...maybe if they do some more tried-and-tested additions over the years, the people will come. But I think the teen-demo for this park is going to sink it. Look to the family if you want a consistent client-base. Isn't that what DCA has been re-branding itself into throughout its strife? The teens won't come back year after year if the park doesn't change fast enough. The family will.

 

Exhibit B is KBF - I can't see the park lasting much longer under this system of management. It's lost all of its charm, lost all of its theme, it's running out of room for expansion and there are better parks on either side of it for the family and for the thrill junkies. KBF always was that 'great little park' just down the street that always seemed to be a world all it's own. Who knows if it could have lasted without the "Silver Bullets" and the "Xcellerators" or the highly wasteful and seasonal "Perilous Plunge" - all we know is that there's only a shell of that 'great little park' left.

 

So I can't predict its future, but it doesn't look good...it's like a seaside pier that's run out of room...

[winningfreak]

Knott's would still be great but Cedar fair knows one thing. Build the fastest and biggest roller coaster to beat Six Flags I seriously think the reason they bought KBF is to try and take traffic away from SFMM. Knott's is like trying to be the next SFMM and it seems like everywhere I turn (as an employee) there talking about taking somthing out and where the next ride can be placed!

 

I didn't realize how much I missed the shooting gallery when they put in the Panda Express till after it was gone even though I never really played it...

 

 

 

Atleast its themed but honistly I dont think you can really put a time scale on Knott's because you have people who will always go there...

[n7]

Doesn't that picture sum it all up? Panda Express themed to Ghost Town...huh. Sure it's themed nicely, but so are the McMansions popping up all around here. They're just empty shells meant to resemble a style and time that's long past.

 

If CF is trying to compete with Six Flags, they might as well just give up. Nothing at Knott's comes close to the coaster awesomeness that is SFMM.

 

But you do have a valid point, KBF won't be gone anytime soon...as long as there are easy ways to tear out more of the heart of this park, CF will to make way for another lackluster coaster or half-assed flatride. But I think eventually the people will react...it just has to get worse in order to do so.

 

I don't mean to sound so pessimistic...but when I look at pictures of KBF now, it's truly depressing. What a waste of a great park.

[Capitalize]

Six Flags America

Alabama Adventure

 

Are you doing meth? Alabama Adventure has more potential than any park south of the Mason-Dixon line. You obviously don't know the management like I do. Give the place ten years. It'll soon be competing with the likes of Disney World and Universal Studios... maybe even Cedar Point.

 

Disney World and Universal Studios? I think you're expectations are a bit too lofty unless I missed some sarcasm in there.

[BeemerBoy]

^ You did. Scaparri's response was based on some Visionland fanboy's rant about how the park would one day be a vacation destination. Soon after, he got introduced to Bantron.

[Ensign Smith]

I don't believe I read any mention of Indiana Beach. With the recent change in ownership and the decimation of full time and part time staffers, it seems like they're setting themselves up for a fall. I didn't get to the park this year like I had hoped, but I've read a few TR's that suggest ride maintenance and up time may be suffering pretty badly.

 

I think HRP will be back next year. Despite the vast gap between attendance expectations and actual headcount, simply too much money has been put into this project to allow it to fail...or at least so quickly. No, in the worst-case scenario, I see HRP sticking around for at least another 2 - 3 years, minimum.