Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW BGE) Discussion Thread

[Jhcbiinoc]

This is upsetting news.....especially since I never had the opportunity to ride Big Bad Wolf. Last time I was at BGW it was not open but I could see that drop to the river and thought it looked like quite an awesome coaster, everything one of the old Arrow suspended coasters could be. I was unable to make my planned trip to BGW in 2008 to ride all of the coasters there, and it is highly unlikely that I can get out there before it closes for good. (I seriously need to start making more coaster trips outside of California.....)

 

As far as a replacement, I am assuming it will end up being a B&M Flyer, based on the success of Manta-with a Pretzel Loop diving to the river. As much as I love B&M coasters and think a Flyer would be a great addition to the park (especially with Kings Dominion getting a giga coaster) I think they also should add a coaster with a 42-48" height requirement to fill the void of a family coaster. IMHO, a really smart move on the park's part would be to wait on the Flyer-add a GCI terrain wooden coaster for now or maybe even a launched S&S coaster similar to Powder Keg at Silver Dollar City and then a year or two later add a custom B&M Flyer.

 

As disappointing as it is to see this ride depart, I can understand the park's decision in light of the maintenance costs. Just wish I had gotten a chance to ride it.....I have enjoyed the other Arrow Suspended coasters I have been on (Ninja/SFMM and the late XLR8 at the late Astroworld) and this one looked to be the best of its kind.

[redfoot12]

When You look around Busch Gardens, you already see two sections of the park solely dedicated to family attractions, now they really need to wow us and the GP with something Huge.

No, they don't need to.

 

A solid, signature 42" - 48" attaction would be just fine.

 

--Robb

 

I think one would be hard put to find four adult coasters at Kings Dominion to match Apollo's Chariot, Griffon, Alpie, and Loch Ness. So I agree with Robb on this, a reliable coaster that many guests can enjoy may be in order.

[TheRapidsNerd]

It's kind of weird because the last time I was there, I was contemplating on buying a stuffed howling wolf @ Wolf Gifts. We kept passing it and I kept thinking, "WTF am I gonna do with a stuffed wolf????" Finally I thought, "What the heck" and bought one. I'm glad I did now; I don't really have any other wolfie souvenirs.

 

Funny you mention that. On my last trip to the park in 2007, I only got a couple pics and a small bit of video. Thankfully, I picked up a BBW magnet and a couple post cards along with other ride souvenirs. Glad I did and one of those postcards might just go into a frame on my desk.

 

Back in the 80's I used to collect the acrylic ride logo keychains, and Wolf was a favorite.

 

Back to topic, while it's tough to lose a coaster many of us are familiar with or grew up with, we should try to be optimistic here. Good bet there will be new things to explore and do in whatever is planned for that side of the park. The Wolf will always be with us in spirit and will always be a favorite for many. I take comfort in this and look to the future.

 

EDIT: I just framed one of those postcards and 'tis a fine addition indeed. Ahh, good memories. Happy day all.

[DBru]

Robb, what coasters are made that are given a 42" height requirement, anymore?

 

I believe even GCI suggests a minimum height of 48" to ride their coasters...same with Gerstlauer spinners and wild mice.

[Capitalize]

I don't feel too bad about this. It was a decent ride but probably my least favorite in the park. I'm curious to see what they do with the land. I think a B&M flyer makes the most sense to me right now.

[RCFreak]

Robb, what coasters are made that are given a 42" height requirement, anymore?

 

I believe even GCI suggests a minimum height of 48" to ride their coasters...same with Gerstlauer spinners and wild mice.

 

 

Sierra Sidewinder (Knott's Berry Farm) is a Mack Spinner with multiple cars per train, a 42" height requiremnet, and is really damn fun! Busch could do great things with Mack and a large instalation of there spinner. Add me to the list of people who would like to see another family type coaster to the line-up. I've not ridden BBW, but suspendeds are high on my lists of favorite types of coasters, and I'm really bummed I'm not going to be able to ride this one as many people have said it's one of the best. And sucks even more that I was probnably going to head out that way next year! oh well, mediocre B&M's will have to suffice.

[robbalvey]

Robb, what coasters are made that are given a 42" height requirement, anymore?

Well, not too many, which is why I said 42" - 48", BUT if you look at the park's line up, especially with BBW gone, they have a lot for *little* kids, a lot for *big* kids (read: teens), but not much for the kids inbetween.

 

Don't under estimate the amount of 4 to 9 year old kids that come to park who are bored of "kiddie coasters", but too short to ride the B&M's AND the amount of parents that simply won't ride a giant coaster that appears to be that "thrilling." Many people's mentality is that of "Well, if my 6 year old can ride it, how scary can it be?"

 

What about doing a really nice mine train style coaster? Just look at the one Gardaland just opened:

 

 

 

 

IMO, that's a VERY impressive looking ride *AND* it's got a 42" height restriction.

 

BGW doesn't need another 54" B&M monster coaster...they *NEED* another "family attraction."

 

Seriously, look at how great this coaster looks. If this ride was at BGW don't you think that would be awesome?

 

--Robb "Big Thunder Mountain is Disney's most popular coaster for a reason!" Alvey

 

Oh, and FYI DBru - Most wild mice and spinners are also 42". Only in rare cases do you see one of these coasters with a 48" height restriction.

[fisher1095]

^ Reminds me a little of Expedition Everest. One of those rides would fit in perfect.

[CoasterMonkey]

First, Hello!

I'm Virginian, and I've loved coasters since I was 10.

BBW was my first coaster, and the fact it still packs a punch for me makes it an impressive design, and the miraculous collaboration between Anton, Arrow, Ron, and the park really adds to BGW's charm. The park sat in a perfect storm for about 6 years. There were 4 coasters, 2 were inverted, 2 were not. 2 looped, two did not. Two were intense family coasters, while two were high speed G-Force hogs. Two shot into the water below, two careening down their own paths. The exclusion of the original Le Mans and Griffon are what I believe to be a storm of change, so at the news of the Wolf's removal, I wasn't too surprised. No matter how popular it was, the ends have been failing to justifying the means for year. It doesn't make a direct return on investment, it's quickly become a maintenance nightmare with round pegs from Vekoma fitting into the square holes left by Arrow Dynamics. Plus with rather poor capacity, it isn't statistically worth overhauling entirely to the point where the Wolf ceases to be the Wolf. While it may be emotionally worth saving for a precious few more years, Busch Entertainment has a rather clean record of park development (with a few blemishes, looking at you DF and Gwazi!) and I trust the management team that works very close with its enthusiastic visitors.

 

Second, say hi to kingsdominionlvr! To those who couldn't detect the bias within the name itself, it's best to avoid him. He'll slam my Gardens and cover his nasty tracks later...

 

Third, the park already has a few ideas in place, obviously. They mirror the Disney Parks in almost every department, from entertainment to food, from theming to landscaping, from the lowly ride op right up to my hero, Larry Giles. They aren't even that different in their coaster quality. The Busch parks don't have a lot of coasters like their caprate counterparts, but they don't dump clones (well, Sea World SA, you're misunderstood) and credit count boosters into the mix, just as Disney does. Is a new country possible? Yes. What will it be? The bean counters and the creative gurus have plenty of heads to butt before they decide, but it'd be almost suicidal to not place any coaster at all in the space. What would I like to see, seeing as it is my home park and my park destination for years:

Bring in a woodie. I don't want the Pain Train from Florida, but what I do want, is a hybrid Gravity Group/PTC ride that shoots down to the bottom of the Rhine, then turns around across the river, and cuts through the woods (at 90 degreEESSS!!) that Busch owns in the back. It'd bring in all the qualities of the Wolf: A family-friendly low height (no, not as low, but now that I'm older, I question how Wolf gets by with 3.5 feet), yet punch-packing river diving speed demon that uses the terrain and whips through the forest.

 

Like I said, you don't need 15 coasters to be great, you just need a good one to boost attendance. Griffon, a rather subpar ride for me (maybe because SheiKra was really fun the second time?) should bridge the gap into the next great expansion of the park, where they add another massive country, with a great coaster as its centerpiece.

 

Looking forward to posting on TPR! (?)

[kingsdominionlvr]

When You look around Busch Gardens, you already see two sections of the park solely dedicated to family attractions, now they really need to wow us and the GP with something Huge.

No, they don't need to.

 

A solid, signature 42" - 48" attaction would be just fine.

 

--Robb

 

I think we can compromise Robb. I would be happy if they added a mine train like Iron Horse at FSMP, but with some nice German theming (if it were to occupy the same space as Wolf), I believe that falls within your height limit.

 

I don't think KD will ever surpass BGW in attendance. KD is definitely not close to being CF's best park, and adding a giga is not going to make it any closer. I honestly believe BGW is in a COMPLETELY different league than KD. but I agree with the family attraction thing. BG should replace this with another 42" ride. I think a family, terrain woodie by GG would be a good idea for that area.

 

Hah, You are one heck of a Busch Gardens fanboy. Kings Dominion will smoke Busch Gardens in attendance with the addition of the giga coaster in 2010 and beyond, if Busch does not plan on adding a new country, or something very big to wow the GP.

 

Second, say hi to kingsdominionlvr! To those who couldn't detect the bias within the name itself, it's best to avoid him. He'll slam my Gardens and cover his nasty tracks later...

 

Avoid Me? Wouldn't dedicating a paragraph of your post to me, be the opposite? I am bias only in life, not in word. I have not trashed your beloved park one bit, in fact, I have praised them for removing Big Bad Wolf.

[robbalvey]

Kings Dominion will smoke Busch Gardens in attendance with the addition of the giga coaster in 2010

I really doubt this will be the case.

 

Remember that Busch Gardens is part of a very popular vacation destination (Williamburg) and that has a lot more pull than Doswell.

 

Saying that KD is going to "smoke" BG because they are adding a giant coaster is like saying that BGT is going to "smoke" Disney if they were to add something major.

 

You'll see an increase at KD for sure, but I highly doubt they will ever touch BG's numbers.

 

In 2008 BGW reported attendance of 3,094,000. In 2008, Cedar Fair said "...Our southern region parks entertained 4.4 million guests...the southern region are Kings Dominion, VA; Carowinds, NC; and Worlds of Fun, MO."

 

So when three parks combined = about 3/4 of BGW's attendance alone, it would seem to me that Kings Dominion would have to see and increase of ~1 million guests in 2010 to surpass Busch's numbers.

 

That seems unrealistic to me.

 

I'm sure KD will do very well next year, but I hardly doubt they will be "smoking" Busch.

 

--Robb "Who is not a fan boy of either park, just reading the numbers..." Alvey

[kingsdominionlvr]

Kings Dominion will smoke Busch Gardens in attendance with the addition of the giga coaster in 2010

I really doubt this will be the case.

 

Remember that Busch Gardens is part of a very popular vacation destination (Williamburg) and that has a lot more pull than Doswell.

 

Saying that KD is going to "smoke" BG because they are adding a giant coaster is like saying that BGT is going to "smoke" Disney if they were to add something major.

 

You'll see an increase at KD for sure, but I highly doubt they will ever touch BG's numbers.

 

In 2008 BGW reported attendance of 3,094,000. In 2008, Cedar Fair said "...Our southern region parks entertained 4.4 million guests...the southern region are Kings Dominion, VA; Carowinds, NC; and Worlds of Fun, MO."

 

So when three parks combined = about 3/4 of BGW's attendance alone, it would seem to me that Kings Dominion would have to see and increase of ~1 million guests in 2010 to surpass Busch's numbers.

 

That seems unrealistic to me.

 

I'm sure KD will do very well next year, but I hardly doubt they will be "smoking" Busch.

 

--Robb "Who is not a fan boy of either park, just reading the numbers..." Alvey

 

Robb, Williamsburg's population is roughly 12,000 people. Kings Dominion pulls from Richmond (200,000) and Dc (592,000). To add on to that, Kings Dominion is right off one of the major high ways in the US. Drawling crowds will not a problem.

 

Kings Dominion has a location advantage by far, but for years could not boast anything to get people to come out. Now, they do. Busch Gardens, on the other hand, will not be adding, but subtracting attractions for 2010.

[pkdcoaster]

I do not see why people think that BGW and KD are in this heated competition. I do not think CF said "how can we pull families from BGW to our park, thats it! a Giga coaster!" for the past 34 years, VA and its tourists have proven that we can support both and they are both big nice parks.

 

I am going tomorrow with my son (he's 5 and BBW is his Favorite) to stock up on some rides, before she leaves. I wonder if there are any in park notices of the BBW doom. anybody been since the announcement?

 

I am really wondering what AB/Inbev plan to do with this land. Inbev had nothing to do with Manta's creation so I am not sure about a flyer. I wonder if they think grover is a suitable replacement for the Wolf (same height rest.)

 

I too am under the impression that if the original AB was still around we would not be saying goodbye to the Wolf.

 

I have very fond memories of BBW dating back to my 1st ride in 1987. It was just so cool and crazy back then to me to be under the track and swinging. I remember being a kid and mimmicking the suspended cars motions while running through my house and pretending the stairs were the big drop. It really makes me sad that Aidan (my son) probably won't remember too much of it when he grows up (how much do you remember about your 5th year?) I was hoping BBW would be around for alot longer but money talks unfortunatly

 

I could not stop thinking about it this weekend, it is just very depressing and the worse is still to come when they actually start demo work.

There is a small hope I guess that they might change their mind, if 6 flags can save a classic surely BGW can too.

 

depressed in VA

 

JEFF

[robbalvey]

Robb, Williamsbug's population is roughly 12,000 people. Kings Dominion pulls from Richmond (200,000) and Dc (592,000). To add on to that, Kings Dominion is right off one of the major high ways in the US. Drawling crowds will not a problem.

I never said they wouldn't draw crowds. I said they wouldn't be surpassing BGW's numbers.

 

If they do, I'll be more than happy to admit I was wrong, but have you ever worked at a park? Do you know what it takes for a park to have an additional 1 million guests per year?

 

When you only operate a full season of about 120 days, that's an additional 8,000 people PER DAY.

 

I can tell you having worked at/with many theme parks that an increase like this is unheard of. And I don't think there is a single park in the world that would be prepared for an additional 8,000 people to come through the gates every day from the year before.

 

I'm guessing that a "busy day" for KD is somewhere around 35,000ish people. So if all of a sudden 25% more people came the next year, I doubt the park would even have the infrastructure to handle it!

 

Even in 2003 when Cedar Point added the tallest, fastest coaster in the world, they only saw an attendance increase of 3.3% or about 108,000 people for the season, or about 1,000 people per day.

 

Trust me, I think you'll see a lot of people at KD in 2010, and I'm not biased about one park over the other, but if you're expecting KD's attendance to jump 800,000 to 1,000,000 additional people in 2010, I think you'll be quite disappointed when it doesn't happen.

 

--Robb "Set realistic expectations - that's my advice." Alvey

 

I do not see why people think that BGW and KD are in this heated competition. I do not think CF said "how can we pull families from BGW to our park, thats it! a Giga coaster!" for the past 34 years, VA and its tourists have proven that we can support both and they are both big nice parks.

 

Agreed.

[kingsdominionlvr]

Robb, Williamsbug's population is roughly 12,000 people. Kings Dominion pulls from Richmond (200,000) and Dc (592,000). To add on to that, Kings Dominion is right off one of the major high ways in the US. Drawling crowds will not a problem.

I never said they wouldn't draw crowds. I said they wouldn't be surpassing BGW's numbers.

 

If they do, I'll be more than happy to admit I was wrong, but have you ever worked at a park? Do you know what it takes for a park to have an additional 1 million guests per year?

 

When you only operate a full season of about 120 days, that's an additional 8,000 people PER DAY.

 

I can tell you having worked at/with many theme parks that an increase like this is unheard of. And I don't think there is a single park in the world that would be prepared for an additional 8,000 people to come through the gates every day from the year before.

 

I'm guessing that a "busy day" for KD is somewhere around 35,000ish people. So if all of a sudden 25% more people came the next year, I doubt the park would even have the infrastructure to handle it!

 

Even in 2003 when Cedar Point added the tallest, fastest coaster in the world, they only saw an attendance increase of 3.3% or about 108,000 people for the season, or about 1,000 people per day.

 

Trust me, I think you'll see a lot of people at KD in 2010, and I'm not biased about one park over the other, but if you're expecting KD's attendance to jump 800,000 to 1,000,000 additional people in 2010, I think you'll be quite disappointed when it doesn't happen.

 

--Robb "Set realistic expectations - that's my advice." Alvey

 

You don't factor in the drop in attendance that Busch Gardens will almost definitely see next year. Their attendance dropped off in 2008 when they did not add anything, not only will they not add anything for 2010, they will lose an attraction. I never said you were bias, I know you are not, I know you are very knowledgeable, but I think Kings Dominion will win the attendance battle. It will be VERY interesting to see who is right!

 

I do not see why people think that BGW and KD are in this heated competition. I do not think CF said "how can we pull families from BGW to our park, thats it! a Giga coaster!" for the past 34 years, VA and its tourists have proven that we can support both and they are both big nice parks.

 

I know a lot of fearless teens (about 100 % of teens), who will beg their parents to go to Kings Dominion just for this new coaster, which you know they will be seeing endless commercials for on tv. Teens would be part of a family, right.

 

Anyway, nighty night Tpr members, try not to have to much fun speculating and crunching numbers without me.

[CoasterGuy06]

There might be some other examples, but the only park I can think of to draw 1million more visitors in one year was SFFT in 1999, and that came with them almost doubling the number of rides in the park. It's HARD to raise attendance 5%, let alone 50%.

 

On the BBW topic, I enjoyed the coaster. Count me in with the crowd that thinks they need a smaller height restriction coaster to replace it with.

[Homeboy23]

You don't factor in the drop in attendance that Busch Gardens will almost definitely see next year. Their attendance dropped off in 2008 when they did not add anything, not only will they not add anything for 2010, they will lose an attraction. I never said you were bias, I know you are not, I know you are very knowledgeable, but I think Kings Dominion will win the attendance battle. It will be VERY interesting to see who is right!

 

What drop in attendance? You are not understanding anything and yet you are calling other people fanboys when your username clearly states which park you only care about.

 

You don't understand, Busch Gardens is not just about coasters, they are the total package. You have theme, shows, rides, food, etc. One coaster leaving is not going to do a dent in their attendance.

 

Can we please drop this park war now? These are two completely different parks that should not be compared.

[Moose]

I like to compare BGE with the great European parks because it has a ton in common with the beautiful landscaping and the fact that there is more to do than just ride coaster after coaster.

 

I would hope that BGE would add something more than just a coaster. Vliegende Hollander, while not a great ride shows what can be done with theming to a family coaster. Fluch von Novgorod is more of a thrill ride, but its combination of dark ride and coaster elevated the rides appeal.

Wouldn't a Swiss section make sense with a bobsled coaster (either with the trough or gerstlauer)?

[fisher1095]

You don't factor in the drop in attendance that Busch Gardens will almost definitely see next year. Their attendance dropped off in 2008 when they did not add anything, not only will they not add anything for 2010, they will lose an attraction. I never said you were bias, I know you are not, I know you are very knowledgeable, but I think Kings Dominion will win the attendance battle. It will be VERY interesting to see who is right!

 

If Kings Dominion added an 550-foot Inverted Intamin Woodie Looping Aquatrax Dive Machine for 2010, and BGW took away Apollo's Chariot, Griffon, and Alpengeist, BG would still have higher attandance than KD.

 

Most FAMILIES don't go to parks JUST for the roller coasters. It's the atmosphere of the park. Why do you think Disney does so well? Busch Gardens Williamsburg has miles more of an atmosphere than KD, and you can't argue with that... (so please don't try)

[BeemerBoy]

You don't factor in the drop in attendance that Busch Gardens will almost definitely see next year. Their attendance dropped off in 2008 when they did not add anything, not only will they not add anything for 2010, they will lose an attraction. I never said you were bias, I know you are not, I know you are very knowledgeable, but I think Kings Dominion will win the attendance battle. It will be VERY interesting to see who is right!

You do realize you're the only person besides Cedar Fair executives that is interested in this, right?

[netdvn]

You don't factor in the drop in attendance that Busch Gardens will almost definitely see next year. Their attendance dropped off in 2008 when they did not add anything, not only will they not add anything for 2010, they will lose an attraction. I never said you were bias, I know you are not, I know you are very knowledgeable, but I think Kings Dominion will win the attendance battle. It will be VERY interesting to see who is right!

 

If Kings Dominion added an 550-foot Inverted Intamin Woodie Looping Aquatrax Dive Machine for 2010, and BGW took away Apollo's Chariot, Griffon, and Alpengeist, BG would still have higher attandance than KD.

 

Most FAMILIES don't go to parks JUST for the roller coasters. It's the atmosphere of the park. Why do you think Disney does so well? Busch Gardens Williamsburg has miles more of an atmosphere than KD, and you can't argue with that... (so please don't try)

 

If BGW were to take out the three signature attractions in the park, they would be pissing a whole lot of people off. Sure the park may have decent attendance at first, but there would be a drop in attendance over time.

 

Most FAMILIES go to theme parks JUST for the rides and to spend time together, not the theme. The atmosphere is there to add to the experience. The main reason Disney is so successful is because it's a brand that everyone can recognize, not because the parks are heavily themed. If theme were the focus, parks like BGW would have higher attendence than parks like CW.

 

With the loss of BBW, a lot of people will be very mad since BBW is the only coaster families with younger children can enjoy together.

 

Now chances are, if KD can market the giga-coaster right, they probably will pull people away from Busch. IIRC, KD received a boost in attendance with Dominator and they even had to close the park to capacity during one of the events so this giga-coaster might bring a lot more people in.

[robaroo723]

I just got back from a weekend in Virginia. We went to Kings Dominion on Friday and Busch Gardens on Saturday. I had heard that the Big Bad Wolf was on the chopping block, but didn't read the news that it was definitively being removed until Saturday morning, right before we left for the park (it was an awesome day, by the way, as our longest line was for Le Scoot).

 

The Big Bad Wolf was by far my favorite coaster at the park, so I'm grateful that I was able to get in my last ride. It's funny, while waiting in the queue, there is a clip playing on the video monitors that says something along the lines of "The Big Bad Wolf continues to entertain riders after 25 years," which I thought was kind of funny given the news. The Wolf was riding slightly rougher than I remember (especially following the final drop) from my last visit in 2007, but it may just been because I was riding somewhere other than towards the front of the train.

 

As upset as I am, Busch obviously has a valid reason for putting such a popular ride out to pasture - whether it's necessary for park expansion, or becoming unreasonably expensive to maintain. When I was in the gift shop, there were at least 10 or so people that came in to ask the cashier if the park was really getting rid of the coaster. One of the parents said that it's the only "big kid coaster" in the park that her children would ride.

 

Well, Big Bad Wolf, you will be missed. I bought myself a stuffed wolf, wearing a red Big Bad Wolf t-shirt.

 

I have some pictures from Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens that I'll try posting once I download them from my camera.

[redfoot12]

Robb, Williamsbug's population is roughly 12,000 people. Kings Dominion pulls from Richmond (200,000) and Dc (592,000). To add on to that, Kings Dominion is right off one of the major high ways in the US. Drawling crowds will not a problem.

I never said they wouldn't draw crowds. I said they wouldn't be surpassing BGW's numbers.

 

If they do, I'll be more than happy to admit I was wrong, but have you ever worked at a park? Do you know what it takes for a park to have an additional 1 million guests per year?

 

When you only operate a full season of about 120 days, that's an additional 8,000 people PER DAY.

 

I can tell you having worked at/with many theme parks that an increase like this is unheard of. And I don't think there is a single park in the world that would be prepared for an additional 8,000 people to come through the gates every day from the year before.

 

I'm guessing that a "busy day" for KD is somewhere around 35,000ish people. So if all of a sudden 25% more people came the next year, I doubt the park would even have the infrastructure to handle it!

 

Even in 2003 when Cedar Point added the tallest, fastest coaster in the world, they only saw an attendance increase of 3.3% or about 108,000 people for the season, or about 1,000 people per day.

 

Trust me, I think you'll see a lot of people at KD in 2010, and I'm not biased about one park over the other, but if you're expecting KD's attendance to jump 800,000 to 1,000,000 additional people in 2010, I think you'll be quite disappointed when it doesn't happen.

 

--Robb "Set realistic expectations - that's my advice." Alvey

 

You don't factor in the drop in attendance that Busch Gardens will almost definitely see next year. Their attendance dropped off in 2008 when they did not add anything, not only will they not add anything for 2010, they will lose an attraction. I never said you were bias, I know you are not, I know you are very knowledgeable, but I think Kings Dominion will win the attendance battle. It will be VERY interesting to see who is right!

 

I do not see why people think that BGW and KD are in this heated competition. I do not think CF said "how can we pull families from BGW to our park, thats it! a Giga coaster!" for the past 34 years, VA and its tourists have proven that we can support both and they are both big nice parks.

 

I know a lot of fearless teens (about 100 % of teens), who will beg their parents to go to Kings Dominion just for this new coaster, which you know they will be seeing endless commercials for on tv. Teens would be part of a family, right.

 

Anyway, nighty night Tpr members, try not to have to much fun speculating and crunching numbers without me.

 

You really think KD's attendance will jump from 1 million to 4 million? I think this new coaster will mark the beginning of a new golden age for KD but a lot more needs to be done over the next several years for the park to be on Cedar Point's level--assuming that CF's goal is indeed to make KD the "Cedar Point of the East Coast".

 

Busch Gardens may see some drop in attendance if they don't announce a new attraction for next year but if Robb's numbers are accurate, there's no way they lose 3 million in attendance.

[Homeboy23]

 

Now chances are, if KD can market the giga-coaster right, they probably will pull people away from Busch. IIRC, KD received a boost in attendance with Dominator and they even had to close the park to capacity during one of the events so this giga-coaster might bring a lot more people in.

 

Of course a new coaster will bring more people in but that is not the debate going on here. The poster who started this said people will leave BG to go to KD. That is not going to happen. Busch Gardens will always have there attendance because of who they are, just as you said with Disney.

 

Most FAMILIES go to theme parks JUST for the rides

 

Notice I bolded the word "rides". The majority of families are not going to a park for the roller coasters, they are going for all rides, shows, food, and anything else a park offers. Busch Gardens has and more than likely will always offer all of these, which is why there attendance will only go down if people run out of money, not because of a new coaster an hour or so away.

[coolcalicoaster]

^^^^I am. I find it interesting to see how adding a giga coaster at KD will effect each parks attendence.