DaptoFunlandGuy

Trawling back looking for something else and came across this - and i'm wondering @joz whether now we have Atlantis open and Flume removed - is there another chapter to add on how the park is going?

This view is also lacking any buildings whatsoever for plant room, operator booth, or queue line. It's also not the entry view, and is looking from the claw side of the attraction, given the globe is left, sky voyager straight ahead, and the candy and ice cream shop further down. However it also show's Kenny's \ the food court buildings, so perspective is a little off, which is to be expected, because... IT'S AN ARTISTS IMPRESSION AND CLEARLY NOT CONSTRUCTION PLANS - which we've all been able to view for months now, so again, this shouldn't have come as a surprise.

From what i've heard Betelgeuse as a character is only returning for the Hooray event, probably cashing in on \ promoting the new film. I do hope they get a gravelly older guy to play the character. Keaton was in his late thirties when the first film was made, and he's in his 70's now. A young adult just wouldn't play the same, IMO. I also hope they stay true to the character and let him go with innuendo \ not be too PC. Not sure they could, but if they were going to reopen show-stage as a stage venue, something akin to Rockin Graveyard Review would be a winner.

I used to work for a company that held the in-house contract for the Big Top. Christmas Parties for sure were popular, but they aren't enough to sustain the venue. There are so many other spaces out there and competition has always been fierce. Naturally this always meant there was pressure on to reduce prices to remain competitive, or throw in other inclusions like rides \ attractions. Now LPS has redeveloped Maloney's Corner into Luna Land, along with BD3, they are running out of space they can use for opportunities like this. Judging by the social media post, it doesn't sound like clients had contracts in place, and venue availability isn't a guarantee. A few corporate christmas parties isn't anything to cry over (and if the venue reopens for those sorts of events, those 'annoyed clients' would be straight back on board, asking for discounts and ride inclusions once again. A simple template. it wouldn't be too hard to drop in some client logos, or dressy backgrounds. It doesn't have to be as fully immersive as the show itself. I never liked Big Top. If it didn't exist, then sure - but it's here, and as a facility it doesn't really lend itself to nostalgia. If it weren't being used for this attraction, it'd be an empty shell of a venue used for special events only - which isn't really as efficient a use of the space as an attraction that is open and making money every day of the week. As you say - its being done by the best in the business... Now you're catching on.

You sound really confident about that, but I wouldn't be so sure. Its a strong park, and can stand on it's own. If the group tried to close it down they'd get crucified, and selling it would be a HUGE mistake. As for land values - The area surrounding it is a lot of residential property. It's not a potential hub of industry at the junction of two major arterial highways. It's nowhere near Wonderland as a comparison. As far as attendances, Knott's ranks near the top of the group. Of the 11 Cedar Fair parks in this analysis, Knott's is beaten only by Cedar Point itself. Revenue wise, its about the same, or larger than Cedar Point too. No. While much is uncertain as a result of this merger - one thing is for sure - Knott's isn't going anywhere.

We stayed at Knott's for part of our April trip this year, and did drive from there to Valencia for the day - We are certainly not the average tourists when it comes to parks though.

My initial reply to this would have suggested there wouldn't be much difference given the distances and the locals for each park have little crossover, but the more I worked through it the more interesting it became. If knott's were to close, I feel like the majority of their tourism attendance would move to another Disney day, or just spend time around the Anaheim resort precinct. Locals on the other hand visit Knott's because they don't like the bustle (and robbery) of the D bubble. If MM were to close however - the solution is less obvious. The park's bread and butter are youths\young adults who are *relatively* local to the area, and seeking thrills, not experiences. The nearest big park is Universal, but it's a very different experience and not really what an Adrenaline junkie is looking for. I'd wager Universal would pick up some of the market simply due to geography, but those who have the ability to travel... Would they go all the way to Knotts for an Adrenaline fix?

lol. Yeah. *wink* $230 *wink* "value" *wink*

Village seem to have quietly dropped a cheaper locals One Pass recently. The One Pass Lite - priced at $179 - is $40 cheaper than the normal Locals One Pass (and $120 cheaper than the full priced One Pass). The lite version of the pass has: No White Christmas No Carnivale No Spooky Nights BLACKOUT DATES - From Boxing day to January 15th. For me, we rarely do the night events, even though they've been included in our passes for some time. We will go if friends are going, but mainly because we've got them for free. The current 'value' of the night events shown on the locals passes (ie $89 for WC, $69 for Carnivale and Spooky Nights) is not a price i'd pay separately. But considering we rarely use the night passes when we do have them this is an easy way for us to save over $100 on the next renewal (assuming we renew). We tend to avoid the Christmas holiday period entirely. The parks are stupid at that time of year so the blackout dates don't impact us at all. Overall, its a bit of a coin flip for us. If we went to just one night event it would pay off to buy the higher priced pass. If there were a bigger price gap - even marginally more, it might tip the scales for me - but at the very least its nice that they're finally offering locals a product that just gets them into the park regularly without bundling it with night events and resort stays. ETA: as long as they stick by the blackout dates this time. Back in the VIP days, they offered VIP with blackout, and VIP gold without blackout, and the first day of the blackout dates they had a bunch of families try to enter with VIP passes and caused a stink when they weren't allowed in - so the company folded and quietly deleted the blackout dates. Here's hoping the new investment firm have more of a spine.

Thanks for putting all that together so I don't have to read the big detail. if it's more like cedar taking over SF, i'm quietly positive about the move. it could see standards at SF improve. A SF taking over Cedar scenario is more unthinkable. Hopefully we don't get a Paramount Parks situation out of this, and the merge strengthens them as a company with more power to compete with the top two for market share. There is no scenario where the big players like CP, SFMM or Knott's are in danger. Some of the other more regional parks with lower patronage and ROI may see some changes out of this though, which is sad, but ultimately it's a business and they have to do what is profitable less they sink the entire ship.

from the entrance, the view is the photo opportunity. the view of the ride can be had from the lower end of main street. this was always the plan and shouldn't be anything new to anyone.

RIP

technically... we have an OLD font....

A day is still early access.

All absolutely good points. They may also want to do something with it but aren't able to allocate the funds to it yet. If they have a good summer, or their mid-year review shows a better than expected result, they may be able to allocate additional funds to a retheme. This may be why gold coaster was such a short notice period - they may not have known it was able to fit in the budget until the last minute. I agree this ride needs change (not removal) but with so much going on across the entire park - Tiger Island redevelopment, Rivertown, extensions to Ocean Parade, the Flyer in Main Street, the ongoing works in 'Dreamland' and the recent work on GD and the Train, if you add that to the retheme of Gold Coaster, install of Taipan, the removal of log ride, TOT, Wipeout and Buzzsaw, there is very little of the pre-TRRR park (outside of the wildlife area) that remains untouched. It's clear they're working their way down the list, so i'm happy to be patient.

Nearmap shows a train parked and uncovered in the transfer \ storage track in October 2022 and July 2023. It also shows a train parked there in October and November of 2020, but with covers on.

I honestly don't know when it stopped. When it debuted, it ran two trains fairly consistently. That's why it has two stations - so one train can unload while the other is being loaded.

Well now I feel old.

but when do they start selling hot cross buns?

It does raise big questions over their marketing and comms team if they can't keep things straight and we can, what the hell are they doing?

Yeah the old skirmish building gets great mileage as a temporary venue for mazes and walkthrough experiences that are pretty cool and clearly not that expensive to maintain and operate - but the whole area is currently a waste and they need to repurpose it. There's only a few black curtains separating the walkthrough area from the old Alien\Predator sets - use it or get rid of it and open the whole space up for other uses.

Do you notice how, even though they lift the chairs at the start, the fence surrounding the ride is actually level with the ride platform? it doesn't stick up above the level the ride parks at? Video captures amusement ride collapsing in Russia (nypost.com) There's a pretty good reason why these rides have a completely cleared footprint the entire length of the swing radius

Europe also allows a Tagada. So take from that what you will. It might be overkill, but i'm all for Dreamworld "erring on the side of caution" where a risk of fall or injury is possible. In case anyone missed it, yesterday was the anniversary of the TRRR incident. You don't need to be 'dumb' to step into the water, you can simply be enjoying your day and oblivious to the risks around you. Also falling onto a bunch (I heard 600?) of water fountain nozzles sounds like it would hurt.

You're right, but MDMC's layout is (IMO) only enjoyable because of the rider position. If it were a traditional sit-down car it would be (other than the launch) quite a boring ride. The current trains are very unaccommodating - as is evidenced by the number of times an operator spiels about the restraints. Even Jet Rescue's style of restraint system would be preferable, and far more accommodating, and you could quite easily still keep the motorbike theme with that style of restraint. But if you're going to change it then the possibility of changing the theme as well as the car opens up, so you could consider a spinner or something else to make it unique \ stand out. Being so close to new rivertown gives you the opportunity to fix the glaring oddity that is a motorsport themed ride in the middle of bushland by a river. All fair points, but it hardly justifies 'will never be' in the scheme of things. We've seen the financials. We know they're doing things on a shoestring budget so certain things have to compromise. there are things they can fix later on when they're doing better but they're just wasteful in their current financial situation.

I don't want to start a back and forth that lasts 6 pages - but you did say "this is why" it won't ever be a "Great theme park" so while you didn't say it was shit.... what did you mean?