2006 PKD.. Italian Job Stunt Track.

Do you really think there is more theming that Paramount could have added to FOF, TRTR, Italian Job, Volcano, etc. to increase guest experience? Or are you talking more about the basically unthemed rides like Hypersonic, Son of Beast, Delirium, etc.? I'd rather still have the park add rides every year than one $40+ million all-out extravaganza every 4 years or whatever. Sure, I'd rather have MIB over Scooby and the Haunted Mansion and probably Mummy over Italian Job and Shrek over Spongebob, but with Boomerang Bay, Delirium, Nick Central, Tomb Raider, etc. all coming during that time frame as well, I'm pretty happy on what their budget can deliver, you know?

As far as the sort of break-up of lands is going now, the location of Flight of Fear and the building and idea around the outside makes it kind of quirky and acceptable in my eyes being in Coney Mall. As much as for theming purposes I wish they could stick Italian Job in Action Zone, that area is cluttered enough as is. Tomb Raider blends respectably into Rivertown. Being the most visited seasonal park in the country, PKI probably just sees that they have to expand and I'm sure for certain types of rides, placement is more difficult. The location of FOF (Coney) then the creation of Action Zone then Nick Central to Rivertown to AZ/HB to Boomerang Bay to Coney I see as more of a need to spread people out and it seems to be working alright. You still have a lot of the families with kids heading to Nick/HB first where they'll go to any number of things from SD&THC to Beastie to Reptar, most of the thrillseekers going for Action Zone or Italian Job, and then there are still some FOF and Beast fans that will go there first. I'd rather see everyone spread out and not all load up Action Zone than put everything that doesn't fit perfectly into Coney or Rivertown there. They don't have a lot of choices when those are 2 of their 3 major adult rides areas.

+Danny

Since Universal was built from the ground up as a movie theme park has a lot to do with their ability to create more of an atmosphere. As opposed to Paramount who has to work with what they bought. I agree, Flight of Fear is oddly placed and will continue to be unless they give the outside of the building a makeover when/if it becomes the "MTV Soundstage".

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Or are you talking more about the basically unthemed rides like Hypersonic, Son of Beast, Delirium, etc.?

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YES. If they are going to be a "movie park" they need to go all out.

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The location of FOF (Coney) then the creation of Action Zone then Nick Central to Rivertown to AZ/HB to Boomerang Bay to Coney I see as more of a need to spread people out and it seems to be working alright.

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Actually FOF is the one ride I have no problem with its location since it is not blaringly out of place and sort of "hidden".

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but with Boomerang Bay... all coming during that time frame as well

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Yes but Boomerang Bay is really a poor excuse for a waterpark and when you get down to it, they really did not add that much to the park. It was mostly a overlay to what was already there.

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Since Universal was built from the ground up as a movie theme park has a lot to do with their ability to create more of an atmosphere. As opposed to Paramount who has to work with what they bought

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No way, are you serious? That's what I have been saying from the get-go. All I am saying is that they need to do one or the other and not be this caught in the middle thing that they are doing right now.

What if Paramount just wants to stick to this moderate theming on their rides? I think they've themed every non-flat since 2002- all three Tomb Raider rides, the Italian Jobs, Boomerang Bays, Nick Central additions, Scooby Doo, Borg Assimilator,.. The only attempt to be all-out seems to have been with Tomb Raider at PKI, but I think they found that didn't work for them. I like the direction they're going. I never *really* do know what to expect from them. The new Mission: Impossible Stunt Show coming to PCW for 2006 already has me intrigued. Hopefully PKI and the other Paramount Parks will be getting this as well. The School of Rock show was surprisingly good and most people I've talked to liked it as well.

+Danny

Have you noticed that Paramount Parks and Universal Parks have totally distinct and opposite charateristics? For instance, Unviersal Parks have more simulator rides, and some thrill rides, with guests totally emerged in the atmosphere. On the other side, you have Paramount Parks, the chain of parks that specializes in thrills, and high speed coasters. I think the whole truth of the matter is that they both have different objectives. Universal Parks aim at getting the guests totally submerged into the environments of different movies (no matter how they do it), whether it be through shows, walk-throughs, mild rides, or even high thrill rides, they specialize in theming and atmosphere. However, Paramount Parks aim at thrilling guests with coasters, and high thrill rides. So in the kind of environment such as Paramount Parks, you're not going to experience much theming. I wouldn't say minimal, but not as much as Universal. If they do, it would be rides named after Blockbuster hits such as Tomb Raider, Italian Job, Top Gun, and so on. (Hopefully you all understand exactly where I'm coming from). Not trying to sound like much of an expert, I just think I understand the concept of the whole thing. That's it. If anything is wrong, please feel free to correct me...politely. LOL.

Don't get your hopes up for enjoying IJST at PKD next year.

If Zimmerman (the park's general manager), keeps up with his budget cutting ways for 2006, expect to see only 1 car running on it during the week, with lines out the ying yang.

I was at the park a week ago Wednesday, only spent 2 hours in the park, and I kid you not, ALL the coasters were only running 1 train, and all of the stations were full.

You all can say what you want, but, untill Zimmerman is axed from the park as general manager, operations are only going to get worse.

A station wait with 1 train doesn't sound that bad. I can think of some certain parks that would run one train with a line as long as how much as you spent at PKD!

^You mean like what PKI did with their IJST for most of the season? *sigh* That was terrible wait in line.

Ohh come on,when I went in july there were barely any lines outside the station for major coasters except Ricochet & Volcano.

Shockwave had such a short line during that trip which was the only reason we bothered riding it in the first place & all coasters had multi train op.....did I mention that this was on a saturday with huge crowds? even with TR:FF queued to the max V:TBC still had a line out the wazoo which is why we skipped it alltogether.

If only SFA could get their queues to run that fast,but what can you expect?PKD is a complete 360 in operations when compared to SFA.