KBrylczyk Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Knoebels...I know you read these. Superstition Mountain. You know what to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 So, just spitballin' here...how much of a royal pain in my ass would it be to hunt for potential investors and try to find a way to reopen the park under new management? Again, just spitballing. I'm a live entertainment professional, not qualified to run an entire park. I'd certainly entertain the idea, though. Ba dum tiss. Theme parks are very capital intensive. I'm sure they would give anyone a hell of a deal on buying the park, but getting a return on your investment would take a LONG time after buying it, making sure you have the cash to operate it, and then pour more cash into it to actually grow the business.... Sounds like that's why this Apex park group is bailing on the theme parks business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewA86 Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Oh wow this sucks. I’ve been wanting to go for a while and never pulled the trigger. Should have went last year on my way to or from Great America.. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 What I don't understand is why Six Flags didn't buy these on the cheap. It appeared they were ready to scoop up a lot of parks just 2 years ago. Maybe the park wasn't being offered on the cheap? I imagine SF would also want assurances that the park can be expanded, which may have required rezoning that the municipality would never go for. Indiana Baech one of my favorite parks the first time I visited 15 years ago. In terns of rides it I really was comparable to Knoebels at that time with it's charm, wooden coasters, well run flats, quirky rides and Frankenstein's Castle. By visiting every 3 years I've seen the decline, but never thought it was actually come to this. It was clearly the gem of the Apex Parks Group, but they could not stem the tide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coneyislandchris Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Yeah, I'm pretty disappointed to hear this news as well. This was one of the stops on the ten-day amusement park road trip my son and I took back in 2017, and we really enjoyed our time there. But looking back on it, even then, the park was already in a state of disrepair and customers were few and far between. On the day we visited, I would estimate that there were maybe 20 to 25 paying customers through the front gate. In the middle of summer. Not great and I'm not surprised they aren't continuing to operate with that kind of attendance. I was kind of hoping we would get a chance to revisit them this year, as for Christmas, we had purchased season passes to Sahara Sam's, an indoor waterpark in mid-Jersey also owned by Apex. Admission to the Apex amusement parks was also included with that. Here's hoping someone swoops in to save the place. It definitely had Knoebels-lite potential for being out in the middle of Indiana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfkk Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Well, I guess my suspicions about no longer selling season passes was correct. I wonder if this means the end for Fantasy Island too. Also we lost Clementon Park as well, small to mid size parks aren’t doing too well as of late. You’d think the best economy in recorded history would help them, but maybe because of it people are deciding to plan bigger vacations to Orlando etc instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyUD06 Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Or it's just one company trying to get out of the theme park business. Indiana Beach, Fantasy Island, and Clementon were/are all owned by the same company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfkk Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 ^ Clementon Park was fully owned and operated by Premier Parks, not Apex. Also this park had demographic trends working against it too. It's in the middle of nowhere and people are leaving the countryside for cities. Look at population growth/ migration statistics. Unless they could start to significantly draw from Indianapolis or Chicago, they were doomed. Chicagoans went to Six Flags, Indy people probably went to Kings Island, Kentucky Kingdom, or Holiday World. Holiday World is in the middle of nowhere too, but they advertise in Louisville, Nashville, Indianapolis, St. Louis, etc... I have never once seen a single advertisement for Indiana Beach in Louisville. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Or it's just one company trying to get out of the theme park business. Indiana Beach, Fantasy Island, and Clementon were/are all owned by the same company. Clementon was owned by Premier Parks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyUD06 Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 I stand corrected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuxedomask5432 Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 “In this economy” destination parks are thriving now. However many smaller regional parks don’t seem to be doing so well. The numbers are starting to stack up: Clementon Park, Elitch Gardens, Scandia Amusment Park, Possibly Fantasy Island, Timber Falls, as well as Miracle Strip & Boomers in 2015. In Japan they’ve been closing regional parks left and right for some time now. I watched a video recently about the Hikikomori (Japanese Shut-Ins), and wondered if this had an effect on less visitors to regional Japanese parks. These people literally do not go outside, ever. They surf the internet, watch peak TV, and play video games all day long. Maybe this is also happening in the US to an extent as well? I have heard about shut-ins here too. There’s so much TV to watch, so many games to play, so many social media posts it’s nearly impossible to watch it all. But darn if some people aren’t trying. Just a theory perhaps but what are your thoughts on declining attendance at these parks? Poor maintenance? Lack of new attractions? Poor management? Maybe a combo of everything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfkk Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 So.. are they gonna refund all the people that already bought 2020 passes?, or just walk away with the cash... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haymaker Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Fantasy Island is closing too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfoot12 Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Well, that sucks. I had a great time here on the 2014 TPR trip. It will be interesting to see what gets salvaged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rollercoaster Rider Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 “In this economy” destination parks are thriving now. However many smaller regional parks don’t seem to be doing so well. The numbers are starting to stack up: Clementon Park, Elitch Gardens, Scandia Amusment Park, Possibly Fantasy Island, Timber Falls, as well as Miracle Strip & Boomers in 2015. In Japan they’ve been closing regional parks left and right for some time now. I watched a video recently about the Hikikomori (Japanese Shut-Ins), and wondered if this had an effect on less visitors to regional Japanese parks. These people literally do not go outside, ever. They surf the internet, watch peak TV, and play video games all day long. Maybe this is also happening in the US to an extent as well? I have heard about shut-ins here too. There’s so much TV to watch, so many games to play, so many social media posts it’s nearly impossible to watch it all. But darn if some people aren’t trying. Just a theory perhaps but what are your thoughts on declining attendance at these parks? Poor maintenance? Lack of new attractions? Poor management? Maybe a combo of everything? Timber Falls closed cause Nick L of Mt. Olympus bought them and shut them down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shavethewhales Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 This sucks. I had IB on my bucket list for so long, especially Lost Coaster, but it's just so far out there and hard to get to... Fantasy Island closing as well means the small park sector of the industry is taking a major blow. It's basically grow into a major destination or go out of business anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drummermattk Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 I visited the park for the first time in 2017 ( with a trip report for you people that love them) and my first experience at the park wasn't the best in in my opinion. yeah i got on all the coasters and got all the credits but the park didn't really seem to "amuse" me with everything built on top of one another. When I went back in 2018 i had a better time and really enjoyed my visit. I'm sad to see the park go and hopefully the steel coasters can be relocated somewhere close (cough ed hart el loco cough) but it'll be interesting to see what happens with some of the rides. 2017 Trip Report Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJLehto Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Shame, seemed like a nice lil park with some solid coasters. I always heard Cornball was quietly epic. Guess this isn't too surprising, not in a big travel spot and doesn't have the pull of HW. Also didn't this place have tax issues and almost closed a few years ago? Sad I never made it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Laura said it best, it's too bad everyone won't remember it at its best. My most recent visit (5 years ago) was really frustrating. Cornball was fantastic! I'll never forget that standing up buzz bar airtime. I'm sure Steel Hawg and some other rides will get new homes. I hope this isn't really the end because we've all seen the potential this park has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfkk Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Also, the Beach water park in Cincinatti, OH will not be opening next season. That makes a total of 4 parks/ water parks that will not be returning next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drummermattk Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Also, the Beach water park in Cincinatti, OH will not be opening next season. That makes a total of 4 parks/ water parks that will not be returning next year. I believe they are opening this year as they havent found a buyer for the land yet and it could be the park's last season. I remember hearing something about it a couple months ago but dont quote me on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 For those of you interested, here are the TPR Filmed POV's of the Coasters... With the Indiana Beach and Fantasy Island closing announcements today I figured some of you may want to see the POV's of the coasters. Here you go! Steel Hawg Cornball Express Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain Hoosier Hurricane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfkk Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 I swear if this becomes rich people waterfront housing and Apex makes bank on their way out the door, I am going to flip my sh*t. Al Weber had true passion for running parks, since his passing I think that all changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jconsolmagno Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Also, the Beach water park in Cincinatti, OH will not be opening next season. That makes a total of 4 parks/ water parks that will not be returning next year. Source? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rollercoaster Rider Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 I swear if this becomes rich people waterfront housing and Apex makes bank on their way out the door, I am going to flip my sh*t. Al Weber had true passion for running parks, since his passing I think that all changed. Fantasy Island isn't even near water so that's not it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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