As Enchanted Parks begins ownership of new parks this season and starts to understand each parks' unique characterists and market dynamics, one park stands out amongst them all: Mid America.
Being the final of the 3 original Six Flags parks built under Angus Wynne, it was the only park of the 3 not designed by Randall Duell who was preoccupied with designing Astroworld. Six Flags Mid America is unique in that it doesn't feature the "Duell Loop," a design element that allowed park guests to walk by each attraction in a circular loop around the park often featured at parks like SFoT, Carowinds, Marriott's Great America parks, etc. Unfortunately, the Duell Loop didn't allow park guests to quickly go from one area of the park to the other side without having to walk the entire loop. In the case of Mid America, it featured an entrance that caused guests to immediately hit "The Wall" of retail stores, forcing park guests around the sides of The Wall to head to the back of the park or use small pathways on each side to enter the original 6 lands. It's an inefficient design and it creates an immediate physical/psychological barrier right inside the main gate of the park.
Not far from Mid America is Marceline, MO, one of the ancestral homes of Walt Disney and a place that influenced him and what was to come in the future with its town main street. One of the great accomplishments from Disney and his design team was creating "The Hub" at Disneyland and then later on at other Disney parks. The Hub became an efficient people-mover, drawing guests down Main Street to a central location that then connects to each land, allowing guests free movement from anywhere inside the park to the opposite side of the park without having to make a lap around the entire park.
As Enchanted Parks looks towards the future with Mid America as a flagship park, I have to think that eliminating "The Wall" and designing a new entrance gate/plaza, pathway, and hub would benefit the park immensely. To be able to stand at the front entrance gates and visually see into the park would draw the guest in, much like the entrance to a Disney park does with the castle as the draw. Keeping with the 1904 World's Fair theme, the Colossus ferris wheel could be centered at the end of the "Main St." pathway as the focal point, then in the evening new LED lights on Colossus could be programmed to coincide with music/street lights/building lights/water fountains, etc. all tied together for a nightly celebration as the "kiss goodnight" before guests exit for home. Many are hoping for coasters and other new rides but this one change feels "enchanting" to me and I think park guests would feel the same, creating a truly flagship park.
You must be logged in to post