Sk610 Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 I have to admit that i am sad by this announcement on a number of ways. First off, Chris Thorpe is a retread GM. He did poorly in his first go round when SF owned the park. If you recall they basically ran the park into a situation where majormrepairs needed to be made. We dont need more of that. The park was just starting to make some good strides in the right direction andthis appears to be a step backwards. Secondly, if HFE wanted to buy the park and make major improvements, but not buy the rest of the parks, CNL did everyone a disservice. HFE probably would have paid premium price for DL and would probably fetch more than what it would as part of a group sale. They could have sold DL to HFE and then sold the rest to Premeir and brought in more money overall for their investors. Bad business if you ask me... As a DL fan, CNL denied us of having a truly great park and HFE building on what they did over the past few years. On the flip side, DL is obviously the best park CNL owns, so when they do sell them as a whole, we should expect DL to see some of, if not the best additions in the chain year in and year out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 ^Why do you think HFE would have paid a premium for Darien Lake? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarienLaker Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 ^^So what you're saying is that rehiring Chris Thrope as Darien Lake's GM is a bad move for the park? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterkid124 Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 I was never a fan of Thorpe. He was never really around and didn't give us much of anything exciting. Montgomery was probably the best GM we had in a while. And he even left before this season. I really hope that this Premier gig ends quickly because I don't think that they will be able to produce much of anything being such a small chain. If Chris Thorpe were smart he would maybe push for a phase 2 of Splashtown now that it's five years later and we need a new slide complex. These are just wishes as I would be very angry if all we got was a show again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarienLaker Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Maybe Chris Thrope wants Darien Lake to end up like Geuga Lake, a water park only! Or on the other hand maybe he'll make the water park an extra charge attraction like they tried in 2010 when the water park was expanded, but then that would make a lot of people mad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterchitchat Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 I have to admit that i am sad by this announcement on a number of ways. Um... this is NOT an announcement, just a "rumor" posted on Screamscape I am making light of here on TPR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sk610 Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 I think HFE would have paid a premium for the park because they really wanted it and had plans for it. If you go to purchase a house that you really like, you pay asking price...if you are just OK with it, you oay lower than asking price. If CNL knows HFE really wanted the park, the price goes up....it's almost like a bidding war without having other bidders... I am OK with Premeir management and maybe even ownership as when they originally owned the park, they were small and knew how to run the park. I just didn't like how Chris Thorpe ran the park for SF. I know he had limited resources, but either way, I blame him for the disrepair the park was in durring the last few years under SF. The park could very easily add a new water slide complex next year. There is definitely time to do so. I am also looking for a flat ride of some sort next year as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDarkMaxim Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Thorpe was not GM during the Six Flags years. He became GM in 2008, and the park did fairly well during that time for what they were given. (PARC was extremely cheap in their management budget and had no idea how to run a park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sk610 Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 I will call my bad on this one. I thought Chris Thorpe was the parks GM under SF. Maybe he was assistant GM? Either way I just want a GM who knows how to run a theme park and is on the pulse of what park goers today want. I also want a GM who will make the most of every operating dollar he can... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarienLaker Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 With Premier now taking back operations and Chris Thrope returning as GM, I guess we can kiss a "Lake Monster" remodel of Predator goodbye, by now it's never going to happen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GwaziBSRider1 Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 ^ I didn't realize that there's people that still think it will happen. That idea's been quiet for quite a while now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SbSteveZ Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 ^ I didn't realize that there's people that still think it will happen. That idea's been quiet for quite a while now. Though personally I gave up on it a mere days after the new year, I feel like the idea would've still been really cool to have in WNY, and I know I'm still hoping in some way it will re-surface. But I don't think anyone is still truly serious about thinking its still going to happen... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarienLaker Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 I still had faith in Darien Lake eventually remodeling Predator as "Lake Monster", but now I finally had gave my hopes up on it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shavethewhales Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 The concept of giving Predator an RMC make-over will live on no matter who gets the park in the end. I'm not sure RMC will even be able to get to it before 2020 though by the sounds of it. If HFEC gets the park, I think it will definitely be put on the front burner. We'll see if the bit about CNL trying to sell all the properties at once is true. Sounds like a lot of haggling behind the scenes and I don't think anyone not actually there to see it can know what's really going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rollercoaster Rider Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 The concept of giving Predator an RMC make-over will live on no matter who gets the park in the end. I'm not sure RMC will even be able to get to it before 2020 though by the sounds of it. If HFEC gets the park, I think it will definitely be put on the front burner. We'll see if the bit about CNL trying to sell all the properties at once is true. Sounds like a lot of haggling behind the scenes and I don't think anyone not actually there to see it can know what's really going on. MILDLY OFF TOPIC Wonder if that includes Magic Springs as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarienLaker Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 ^If the case were CNL to sell their parks (all of them!) in a package deal, then Magic Springs would be included in it. If CNL decided to sell their parks off individually, then no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sk610 Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 I am pretty sure that if CNL was interested in selling off the parks individually, DL would have been sold to HFE already. Unfortunately, CNL wants to sell the parks as a bunch, which I totally understand and respect as it is the easiest way to do it. Plus, DL is a money maker with the camping and hotel that a number of other properties just don't have, so taking it out of the sale would make the other properties less valuable. On the topic of Predtor's conversion, it could easily be taken care of at a later date. I am pretty sure RMC would still have those plans stored away somewhere for future use. honestly, if I was RMC, I would wait until DL is sold and approach the new owners with the plans and say that they could do that very easily and quickly to show a new large investment into the park... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matman-TheRide Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 (edited) I know that Premier has had a history of adding "cookie cutter" model roller coasters. With that said, which current models do you guys think are most likely to be added (with consideration of CNL's tight budget)? I personally think an S&S El Loco could happen, or a Zamperla Volare. Edited November 25, 2014 by Matman-TheRide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matman-TheRide Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 I know that Premier has had a history of adding "cookie cutter" model roller coasters. With that said, which current models do you guys think are most likely to be added (with consideration of CNL's tight budget)? I personally think an S&S El Loco could happen, or a Zamperla Volare. (I recently noticed I re-posted this. Sorry ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 I am pretty sure that if CNL was interested in selling off the parks individually, DL would have been sold to HFE already. I disagree and think if HFE really wanted Darien Lake they would have bought it outright by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarienLaker Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 I know that Premier has had a history of adding "cookie cutter" model roller coasters. With that said, which current models do you guys think are most likely to be added (with consideration of CNL's tight budget)? I personally think an S&S El Loco could happen, or a Zamperla Volare. I say any one the following "cookie cutter" model roller coasters (with consideration of CNL's tight budget) . A Vekoma Giant Inverted Boomerang (if they're still making them) . A Premier launched coaster clone of Superman: Ultimate Flight (SFDK) . A Gerstlauer spinning coaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 The concept of giving Predator an RMC make-over will live on no matter who gets the park in the end. I'm not sure RMC will even be able to get to it before 2020 though by the sounds of it. If HFEC gets the park, I think it will definitely be put on the front burner. We'll see if the bit about CNL trying to sell all the properties at once is true. Sounds like a lot of haggling behind the scenes and I don't think anyone not actually there to see it can know what's really going on. I know people have been having this debate in the Knott's thread with GhostRider, but would you want Predator to get an Iron Horse treatment or just topper track? While Iron Horse could make that a really unique layout, I think the current layout is the perfect double-out-and-back layout; it's just ruined by roughness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GwaziBSRider1 Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 ^ Honestly, I didn't think it was all that rough, and I rode it in the back. I liked the layout, too. It just needs a good retracking or some Topper Track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterkid124 Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 I really enjoy the current layout and would prefer topper track. Maybe keep the camel backs the same but over bank the turnarounds a little. Then on the small hills heading towards the brake run maybe add a tunnel or some sort of barrel rolls. The coaster is so underrated just because it's a little rough. In all reality it has more airtime then a lot of coasters that I've been on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sk610 Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Yes Predator's layout is very good for a double out and back. Its relatively compact and has tons of airtime. It definately needs some track work and topper track would probably mae it great. I rode it when it was new, and it was a fantastic coaster. With some retracking it could be awesome. Honestly, I dont want to see the iron horse treatment with inversions as I think that ruins the wooden coaster experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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