I think a lot of people underestimate the people here in the KC area. We aren't nieve country-folk who don't know of the outside world. Most people here do travel a lot, and do go to other parks. When at WoF people ALWAYS comment on how much better Mr. Freeze is, on how much better SFStL is, and how much better all their rides are. We do leave the KC metropolitian area. Most people thought the bootoo.merang was a waste, not a fantasic new ride. Just because they'd never been on it, doesn't make it fun.
It seems now that everyone at the park is commenting on how much it has changed throughout the last 5 years. It has absolutely zero theme compared to what it used to. With the millions they spent on Boomerang, they could've fixed up the Zambezi Zinger to its former glory (if you haven't seen it at it's new home- it looks GREAT). And those who think we don't have enough patrons to draw a profit with a B&M- I'd have to say you're wrong. The only reason attendance is down is because everyone said they aren't going to waste their money to ride 3 rollercoasters, expecially when you can go across the state to ride 6 coasters.
Then there is Silver Dollar City, which had 2.06 million in 99' (0.1 more than SFStL), and they're in the middle of no where. Branson is the only real destination, and it is a lot smaller than KC. They have some GREAT rides, and a new B&M on the way. They know how to theme a park, draw people to a park, and take chances. They've increased their attendance .25 million in only 4 years- WoF is pretty much in exactly the same place it was 5 years ago.
Finally, there is the WWoO (Wonderful World of Oz) theme park, which is being proposed to be built in De Soto, KS (45 minutes from WoF). They are projecting over 3 million in attendence yearly at this seasonal resort. If it does get built (they are re-voting in January) then WoF will have to step it up. This park is planning on opeing with 3 coasters- a woodie, inverted, and sit-down.
KC has potential, they just need to get some guts, like they did with Mamba, and built something huge to tap into that potential. I guess we can always hope for something huge, but with things going the way they are now I wouldn't be surprised if we got nothing.
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-Brenton-