Discovery Hills [RCT3]

[liftsifter]

Great Times Entertainment Corp. Purchases 328 acre property in Illinois

August 15, 1991

 

In a quick maneuver, Six Flags hands over management of "Hills of Adventure" to Great Times Entertainment in an effort to leave the un-profitable park. ON August 14th, Six Flags signed a contract with GTE to take over the park, and purchase the property. GTE would like to introduce their CEO, Mr. Liam Higgins. Liam worked as a park manager for Cedar Fair, and will now be the owner and operator of "Discovery Hills" an amusement park for families, teens, and adults alike! The following is the park's plan to recovery.

 

Step One: Fill in missing spots left by corporate miss-management.

 

Step Two: Remove the rarely open scenic railway, and fix damaged areas affected by the rail.

 

Step Three: Re-theme Gotham City.

 

Step Four: Replace the low capacity entrance with an all new high-capacity entrance.

 

Step Five: Improve or Remove the Asian area.

 

We will have a follow up soon. We hope to hear from you, our investors about this plan.

 

Thank You.

[ericm95]

Im happy this is back! I really liked the park it has great potential. Can't wait to see more! One suggestion is to add a lot more trees. It'd make it more realistic

[AlmereStars]

^ Adding more trees does make it more realistic, but it also makes it harder to renew that area because you have to remove all the trees again.

 

I'm a big stadium/Arena fan, and I have to say that you made a nice one! Good luck with the rest of the park

[liftsifter]

May 1993

 

After Discovery Hills went a season without operation, Great Times Entertainment Corp. is ready to operate the park! With additions and improvements around the park, it seems that new life has been born into the park, taking it from a coaster centric cement park, to a lively family and thrill-seeker park!

 

U.S.A.'s iconic first loop.

 

This family coaster, "Mario Explorer" is one of the new Intellectual Properties that we've acquired.

 

American Thunder sports a new theme!

 

With all the new additions, Swinger wasn't able to get new hydrolic fluid.

 

Say hello to the newest area of the park!

 

loop-de-loop was brought over from a closed amusement park.

 

The park's skyline has changed with the addition of, "Mario's Drip, Drop!"

 

See Ya' Soon!

[RCTFreak123]

Loving the flat rides!!

[tiger01]

What custom scenery set did you use to make that laser loop station. Really well done!

[liftsifter]

June 1993

In a stunning turn of events, regional theme park, Discovery Hills, announced that they will be removing the popular mega-looper known as "USA." The park cited operation problems, and high maintenance costs as the ultimate reason for the removal. The park wouldn't say too much, but did say that, "the addition will be much more efficient and exciting. We expect to release our official announcement by the end of August. The ride's last day will be on June 21."

 

Also, to add the the shocking news at Discover Hills, Great Times Entertainment announced that their largest share holder, Putnam Investments, has achieved the majority of the company (36%). Putnam Investments CEO, Andrew Gilland stated, "We don't plan to change anything in the parks. The parks will continue to operate under the Great Times Entertainment name and continue to receive the shocking thrills that we serve to provide, but will focus on more in-park spending. We will also begin to change corporate management, we will be removing all current executives and will begin to place new executives starting within the next month."

 

After news broke, guests filled the queues!

 

Many guests just wanted to experience the ride for the last time.

 

The iconic first loop.

 

I'm sure the very forceful boomerang turn will be missed.

 

The double corkscrew is the most rattling part of the coaster.

 

It's clear why next year's addition is going to be quite big.

 

But, will the addition be as big as "Gotham City" was?

 

Or will the rumors of more Gotham expansion prove true?

 

We will soon learn what the future will hold.

[liftsifter]

I decided to combine two updates, this way we can move along a bit faster into the real updates. Plus, the first one was boring..

---

July 1993

Taking the coaster down is obviously much faster than putting it up! Within a span of three weeks, this behemoth has been brought down to only a few more supports.

 

Also, as a side note, the company has announced two new executives, as CEO, Mr. Mark Anderson, formerly of Putnam Investments, and as CFO, Mr. Ed Truck, formerly of Putnam Investments. Mark said openly, "We will make changes. Big ones. We will see old rides that are unpopular leave, and we will see new rides that are more appealing enter.", he continued to add, "We will be changing our corporate name to 'Putnam Parks (PNP)' and will expand our chain."

 

USA was being removed as quickly as possible.

 

Two weeks in, only two major parts were left.

 

On the third week, all that was left was some land clearing, and a few supports.

 

By today,all that's left are about 5 supports from the lift hill.

 

---August 1993

 

Well, by the looks of it, the park will be adding a major addition. Construction has been underway since mid July, and the park is only a few days away from making their official announcement. While major construction is going on, the park is also focusing on some minor problems throughout.

 

This coaster is EXTREMELY tall!

 

American Thunder: Blue is going through some track work to secure the rise for the future.

 

Earlier this week the park commented and said that, "Sky Tower will re-open."

 

Short lines call for single train operation at swinger.

 

Mario's Drip, Drop! is a very popular attraction! 240ft. is quite tall!

 

See you for the announcement!

[liftsifter]

October 1993

 

DROP, SPLASH, TWIST AND LOOP INTO THE FUN IN 1994!

In 1994, Discovery Hills will make it's largest expansion EVER, with the addition of SEVEN new rides and coasters this season! The park will add it's first Bolliger and Mabillard (B&M) coaster, Hawaiian Thunder! Hawaiian Thunder climbs a startling 25 stories and plummets back down to earth at speeds of over 75MPH! The second coaster is Déjà Vu, a Vekoma Boomerang Coaster! The coaster climbs 117 feet, and plumets into a boomerang loop, and then enters a 10 story loop. Be prepared to face Déjà Vu again, because your seeing this all over again! When your done bracing our coasters, get soaked on Tidal Wave and Water Quake!

 

Hawaiian Thunder is about to thunder down the first drop!

 

Guests can experience heavy g-forces during the 150ft. Twist!

 

Tidal Wave is about to splash!

 

Magic Carpet is making a re-appearance!

 

Sky Tower is working again!

 

This unique flat ride will not flip you upside down, but it will drop you unexpectedly!

 

Déjà Vu is looking good!

 

Tidal Wave is sure to be a hit on the warm summer days!

 

Water Quake is a prototype rie that has a 110% chance of getting you wet!

 

An overview of the expanded area.

 

 

See you on April 2, 1994!

[AlmereStars]

I think its still a shame the corkscrewcoasterwent away. I liked that one.

 

The new coaster looks good, I would love to see a picture of the lay out

 

Tidal wave, is that a water coaster that you combined with a log flume or something?? looks good

[liftsifter]

April 1994

 

My name is David, and I am the local newspaper's newest writer. I have a designated column on Discovery Hills, our local park.

 

Putnam Park's Presents: Discovery Hills, a new park for all ages!

In 1993, Putnam Investments became the largest investor in GTE Corp. and took over management of the company. Mark Anderson presides over the company as the new CEO, President and Chairman of The Board of Directors. Mark wasted no time and got directly to business by switching the company name to 'Putnam Parks.' In January of 1994, Putnam Parks acquired three other properties in California, New England and Florida. Mark made a public announcement about the future of Discovery Hills and said, " We want the park to step away from high-thrills after we've completed the park's main layout. We anticipate that this should happen by the end of 1996. For the 1995 season, we really anticipate to step-it-up and put this park on the map!"

 

Hawaiian Thunder is considered to be one of the best coasters in the world!

 

While rumors said the Ferris Wheel would receive some paint, lots of people say the Ferris Wheel may be retired soon..

 

Mario's Explorer was renamed to, "Kid's Coaster." No real reason given.

 

Quite a bit of track work was finished on American Thunder, which still is smooth!

 

There is still an open slot in the new area.

 

Fireworks celebrated a successful opening day, and the start to a great season!

 

Some riders are beginning the start of a journey!

 

-- David

[liftsifter]

June 1994

 

After a few months, the park is shaping up to look very nice, and from the rumors we've heard, the park seems to want to go bigger, badder, and fasterest next season. Only time may tell.

 

This light house was added as a prop, the light on top turns at night!

 

Blue Side is set to open with, "Something pretty awesome," in 1995!

 

More preparation to re-open the Amphitheater!

 

Where did Swinger go! ( I hear the park has re-located it..)

 

Kid's Coaster has a sign out front that says, "RIDE CLOSES ON JULY 5TH FOR SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE."

 

I think I'll be legitimately sad if the Ferris Wheel is removed. Although, I would look forward to what would replace it!

 

Splash!

 

'Tropical Go-Karts' is the name of this new up-charge attraction added to that empty area! Only $4 a ride!

 

Maybe we'll see something even bigger than Hawaiian Thunder!

 

I don't really know what this turn is called, but most guests call it, "The best part of the ride!!!!!"

 

-- David

[RCTFreak123]

where did you get the paratrooper-like thing, the giant tree ride and the two tall poles ride?

sorry i dont know the names!

[B.A.B]

I see a Vekoma Boomerang in the picture with the Go-Karts. The B&M Hyper needs some trees around it and maybe some landscaping to,but overall that park looks nice

[liftsifter]

August 1994

 

I had a chance to sit down with Putnam Park's CEO Mark Anderson and talk about the future of the parks, and how his experience as a CEO has been.

David: So, you've operated a chain of amusement parks for almost a full season now, how do you like the amusement industry?

 

Mark: I absolutely love the industry! It's a very welcoming environment, and I really love running these three great parks.

 

David: That's great! Do you think the chain will expand soon? Or is it too soon to talk about expansion?

 

Mark: I definetly want to expand the chain, but, we need to learn from other's mistakes. We can't just decide to add 10 parks in one season, it needs to be steady growth. So, I can see adding one-two parks within the next five seasons.

 

David: That sounds awesome! I've had a chance to visit Discovery Hills this weekend, and I must say something huge is happening on the hill, are we going to see continued expansion of the hill, or it this just a space saving thing?

 

Mark: As our season pass holders know, we've removed the un-popular and rough swinging inverted coaster, it was a pain in the neck for our guests, for our designers, and for maintenance, so we've just sold the ride to assure future expansion. Now, the hill was an interesting thing, because our designers didn't want to kill the feel of having this awesome hill as a back drop, so we chose to keep the hill and build above it. While I can't really say what exactly is going on up there, it's a near $50 million investment. We're really putting all of our capital in Discovery Hills, because it's in a key market, and an under-served market.

 

David: It's funny you should mention the market, what is your plan to take on Great America?

 

Mark: Great America really is a phenomenal park, but we're not trying to be a Great America, not at all. We want to focus on thrilling all our guests, so while one season you may see us add a small coaster for the young tykes, the next, you'll see us bring out the big guns and add a coaster like Hawaiian Thunder. It's all a balancing act, so we can't be quick to say that we need to be family oriented because that's what Great America is doing. Quite frankly, I don't care what's happening at Great America. Just because they've added a stand-up coaster, it doesn't mean that we should follow suit. We need to emphasize why we are the better park, by BEING the better park.

 

David: I have to say, this all sounds great, but where is all this money coming from, with $50 million dollar additions, won't the capital run short?

 

Mark: Absolutely not. Being a part of Putnam gives us a huge advantage. We can add something worth billions of dollars, and not see a return on investment until years later! So, I wouldn't be quick to say that we're not successful, because as of today, we've got absolutely no debt load, so we can expand all we want.

 

David: That's astounding. Really, unheard of in this industry, do you think you can give us anything as to what Discovery Hills has in store for 1995?

 

Mark: Well, we've got our scheduled press event on October 1, but, I'll say, We're adding the biggest, baddest, fastest thing around. I'd be surprised if people aren't afraid to ride this beast!

 

David: I'm up for a challenge! Now, We saw a tad bit of theming with the Tropics area, but will we see theming in the future?

 

Mark: Yes. Yes. Yes! We are absolutely going to get into theming! What's a coaster without theming? We can't just plop down rides with no effort. That's how you become a watered down chain that won't gain any success.

 

David: Alright, Thanks Mark!

 

Mark also told me that they went with a bold color for the ferris wheel to attract more attention to it. I think it looks great!

 

'Shark Run' is the new name for this kids coaster! I think the name suits the ride, but will we see any theming?

 

See you for the announcement!

[tdub96]

Everything is coming along nicely. I'm not an rct3 player, so I cant tell if the supports are custom or not. If they are, my only suggestion would be to space them out, rather than having a support for every section of track.