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Just what I was hoping for Knott's, a family/thrill ride that will finally liven up that DEAD area of the park. Good move Knott's.
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Can I assume the new children's area that is replacing Peanuts Playground will be rides from GL as well? And thank goodness Sandcastle is getting some work. That used to be a favorite place for us to stay, but it was looking pretty worn the last time we stayed there and that was several years ago.
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Amen to the Sandcastle comment. That place was threadbare in 2001.
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So this Pony Express ride sounds like the motorbike coaster. From what I've seen, they look pretty sweet. I've not read reviews of how they ride though. But, wow. Knott's sure has gotten a lot of new coasters recently. Silver Bullet, Sierra Sidewinder and now Pony Express. Pretty impressive. It makes me VERY nervous that the press release said Peanuts Playground is being replaced with a "new" kids area and not just being updated. That leads me to believe Nick is really coming. I hope I'm wrong, but the vagueness of the release just makes me nervous. Also, I'm glad CP is putting in a "family lounge with quiet areas for feeding". 
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^Especialy after the incedent at Busch.
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I had my first ride on Sierra Sidewinder during Scary Farm. I'm not sure what they can do, but the spinning rotation really only happens in the last car. I spent the entire ride sideways through the incredibly short course, didn't spin once. I'm a wee bit concerned that Pony Express might have the same issue, as once the novelty of the sitting position is gone, will there be enough track length and elements to make it a great ride? I'm hoping for the best.
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Well both rides are of the family variety, so thrill seekers need not apply. I noticed with Sierra that the spins definitely depend on the weight of the cars. I had rides that ranged from non-spin to crazy.
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overall the chain is moving in the right direction, just don't know how they drop 88 mill in one season, with their current debt load. i am also not yet convinced that Cedar Fair's quality, clean, and safe environment can translate to their recent acquisitions.
*** This post was edited by GoldenDome 11/5/2007 5:21:54 PM ***
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I guess if you're into roller coasters and nothing else, that side of Ghost Town really was a dead area, but it was nice that it was quiet and away from the noise. Oh, well. Good news about the coaster anyway. As best as I remember, as a frequent visitor for as long as they existed...the KECo/Paramount Parks were already known for quality, cleanliness, and safety. In fact, the model for the new family care center at Cedar Point is the one Paramount put into Carowinds two years ago. PS, the mom incident was at Universal, not Busch - correct?*** This post was edited by Seahawk & the Wave 11/5/2007 5:51:01 PM ***
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^^I'd guess the record expenditures are more due to the fact that they have 6 more proporties rather then them spending more money just because they feel like it. ^Yeah, Universal. My bad. I've been doing that a lot lately. I need to get more sleep. *** This post was edited by Jason Hammond 11/5/2007 6:14:24 PM ***
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Yeah, the total amount is pretty much inline with "normal" cap ex, and maybe even lower. It's not something they randomly decided to do, and I'm sure much of this was planned prior to the acquisition for the old parks, and with the acquisition for the new parks. It's figured into their long-term goals to pay off the financing.
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Does not hurt that a good chunk is from GL. What does it say when the largest capital expenditure in MIA history is a "used" coaster? I am sure it costs money to move and rebuild but they obviously are counting some "internal" value of the coaster as part of this cap ex. Koaster Keith
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absolutely, they're all good choices for the parks, all money well spent. I'm just curious to know if the costs of relocated Geuaga Lake rides are figured in as what they would have cost new - which is how it seems they're calling the $12 million for Thunderhawk at Michigan's Adventure. Did they even mention a $$ figure for Dominator in the KD announcement? I forget. Anyway, it makes me wonder, is it a plus or a minus to the investors to inflate the total, if it is inflated? On one side, the company wants to appear frugal, on the other they want it to seem these expenditures have value and are worth it. Like, it may only be costing $5 to $6 million in total to relocate Dominator, but the cost of such a ride new would be closer to $15 million, and it gives the investment more credibility, if that make sense. Calling it $5 million, if that's what it is, sounds like a cheapie, like a little throwaway fifth-rate ride rather than a quality ride from a quality manufacturer.
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Great news. I'm glad Sandcastle Suites is getting renovated, I can't wait t see how it looks when it's done! I also like the idea of a new children's area.
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^^ I wonder if it is money that will be used to pay down either debt that GL incurred over its run, or something along those lines.
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Did GL in fact run in the red? I thought the speculation was that it was just not meeting projections.
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So, is Pony Express going to be Intamin or Vekoma, or other?
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^IIRC vekoma is the only manufacturer of the booster bike coaster,at least that I'm aware of. The GL relocations of Voodoo,Thunderhawk,Dominator,Firefall & the various rides relocated to CP are definitely saving the company money in the long run.I'm suprised that no mention was made of BLMR going to CP as part of the new kids area though.
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It wasn't in the release, but it's gotten around that Pony Express is from Zamperla. Cedar Point hasn't made a full announcement of their new stuff yet. Actually, neither has Knott's - they were just quickie summaries on the investor relations page. The complete releases from the parks are probably coming later this week. Carowinds just did theirs today. As for Sandcastle Suites renovation - from reports I heard on the condition of the place this summer, that might be an order from the Board of Health rather than a capital expenditure.*** This post was edited by Seahawk & the Wave 11/5/2007 8:28:31 PM ***
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^I'm sure they were planning it, last summer they renovated the whole outside and I'm sure they planned to totally renovate the whole inside. Besides the place really wasn't that bad this summer.
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^^^ BatwingFan, Intamin does make them as well... http://www.rcdb.com/id3950.htm A Zamperla one should be interesting. Two 12 person trains sounds like awful capacity though.
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Capacity is really not an issue at Knott's Berry Farm. The park operates at capacity during Halloween Haunt, but aside from that the park doesn't experience too many overly crowded days during the rest of the year.
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Wow, they are stuffing Knott's to the gills with coasters. Too bad it wasn't a nice twisty GCI. I hope they manage to keep a lot of the trees in place back there.
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Ok is it just me or was Kings Island left totally out of the press release at the end they say "and finally" and K.I. was not mentioned at all??
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Seems like they are getting the shaft this year. They got a new coaster last year, so most likely they won't get anything this year.
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Did any one catch the new press release from Knott's? I think Michele or Jennifer should have proofread the thing before releasing it. Either that, or Cedar Fair is getting ready to sell off five of their parks.
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so....... is Valleyfair COMPLETELY out of the loop for anything this year? just wondering its my home park, and I've never been to Knott's Berry Farm, but this Pony Express ride looks really good. I'm not expecting a new roller coaster, just some kind of news as to anything new if anything. like i've heard we a running a rumor at VFZ for a while now that were suppose to 'inherit' 3 flat rides from Geauga Lake. their Time-Warp flat, El-Dorado, and cabin town ride (like the Astroneedle i have no idea what GL called it at their park). still wondering if the beaver land mine is gonna be put in CP. and if someone can point out to me... whats the difference is Camp Snoopy and Snoopy Playground? like i only remember two kid areas at CP, the little kingdom kids area on the midway, and Camp Snoopy right adjacent to Gemini. is there somewhere else i'm forgetting. cause if memory serves me right Camp Snoopy was perfectly fine and dandy for a kids area.
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Peanut's Playground used to be located in a wooded corner of the park by the Aquatic Stadium and Ocean Motion. It blended in really nicely with the landscape, so I'm not surprised you didn't notice it. Basically, it's on the opposite side of the Colosseum as the Kiddie Kingdom area you remember.
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I have mixed feelings about the Peanuts Playground change. More kids stuff is welcome, but, to me, the Peanuts Playground was great BECAUSE it was out of the way and sparsely-visited. Maybe that's not great from the park's perspective to have a "dead" area like that, but for families with little kids--let me tell you, its a great late-afternoon spot to just let the kids crash for a while and dig in the dirt away from the crowds. Something tells me that big sandbox of an area is going to be replaced with a bunch of whirring, buzzing, flashing lights and such. Which is fine, too, but still...
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Peanuts Playground was a very fient shadow of its former self, Bernstien Bear Country. Which when opened had lots of cool interactive things and was proably the best themed thing in the parks history. But like any themed thing at CF the Lawyers, Budget, and Time slowy took them away.
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