Endangered Parks

Besides the parks that are actually in immediate danger there are a number that could quickly become endangered if disaster strikes or the owner becomes ill or dies or the economic or competitive conditions in the region around the park change. Some of the parks where this is true are:

Lakemont Park -- Ride all day for $7.95 and the "crowds" aren't that great either on most days so how do they get enough revenue? Maybe the owner just loves running a park.

Camden Park -- They were endangered for a while, are doing better now. Main thing going for them is no competition for around 200 miles. Still, the WV economy isn't that great.

Lakeside Park -- This park has been in trouble recently but is now making a comeback. Its future will be much brighter if Elitchs folds.

Arnold's Park -- The "Conneaut Lake" of the Great Plains. Went through many of the same problems as the PA park but appears to be doing somewhat better now.

Enchanted Village -- Another of the Six Flags parks on the block. Likely to survive for now because there isn't much in the way of amusement parks in that part of the country.

Strickers Grove -- OK as long as they can keep booking those private picnics. If something happens that they aren't able to -- ????

Clementon -- There have been a number of predictions of this park's impending doom but it continues on and has added a new coaster recently.

Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom -- Small market, PKI, Holiday World, Beech Bend, and the usual Six Flags problems. These are a number of the reasons that this park might have problems in the foreseeable future.

Alabama Adventure -- one of the possible visions for the former Visionland was impending doom. Still this park could come out all right if it finds its niche.

Santa's Land (Vermont) -- smallest of the Santa parks, almost was converted to a Western themed park. Caught between two bigger and better known Santa Parks in NY and NH.

Geauga Lake -- How long will Cedar Fair have patience with this park? They are turning it around but is it happening fast enough? In any case, the waterpark is likely to survive.

Wyandot Lake -- This park will be closing for a year for important changes. Big question is, how much of a dry park will there be in the future? The waterpark's future appears assured.

Six Flags Marine World -- This park is getting a new name but there are still some doubts surrounding this park's future especially because of Six Flags' problems and this park's limited growth possibilities.

Six Flags America -- It's another Six Flags with an image problem. It's also sitting on valuable land. But it is in Snyder's back yard.

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millrace said:It's really pretty funny that a person can actually be called a "leading professional Santa." Are there many qualifications besides the obvious?

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1. Sees you when you're sleeping (Peeping Tom)
2. Knows when you're awake (stalker)
3. Knows if you've been bad or good (moral authority)

Considering just this much, those are hard to find in one person.... ;)

Seriously, Cabela's place in WV is sounding like a "go" more and more, certainly heard ALOT about it on my recent trip. If it goes up as quickly as planned, Camden might be hurt...not exactly clear on the demographic areas involved, as Camden seems "convenient to nowhere" in WV... ;)

Isn't Lakemont owned by Blair County, or some entity within it?

That park in Wheeling shouldn't have too much effect on Camden Park. It is too far away. If people in southwestern WV want to travel that far to get to a bigger park, they already have PKI and KW to go to.

If that Wheeling park takes off, I believe that the parks that it will impact the most will be KW and GL and even there the effect won't be that great. It is more likely that the new park will never become as grandoise as planned. It will probably have a large waterpark, a few rides and some themed attractions but overall it will remain relatively small.

KW won't take this sitting down. This might spur them to begin their expansion even before the highway gets built (if it ever does).

Camden IS convinient to a number of small cities that are close together in a 3 state area. These cities include Huntington, Ashland, Ironton, Portsmouth, and Charleston along with their neighboring towns and suburban areas. Combined, these communities provide a sufficient population to support a small amusement park. The problems here are lack of growth and a weak economy.

Camden seems to have found its niche and I don't see anything coming along to disrupt that. I hear the park is getting better and better each year and that's the direction they want to move in. As long as they know what they are and what they aren't, they should be okay for the forseeable future.

Whalom is dead.