Flight Deck GONE!!! (at CGA)

What is up with all the panties getting tied in knots over a name?

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The new one is Afterburn which is better but probably not quite as good as Afterburner.

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Really? Can you show us your focus-group research that shows that the name Afterburner would lead to greater attendance and ridership?

These threads have popped up lately and I haven't taken the time to chime in, but this is ridiculous. Afterburn is worse than Afterburner?

I will take an educated guess, and assume that around 99% of the people who come through the door could not care less what a ride is called. To us coaster nerds, of course it completes the "ambiance" and may make it rank higher in your next Hyper-Awesome-Steel-Coaster-Rankings-2008!" poll that shows up on your myspace page, but it just doesnt matter.

Imagine this scenario:

DAD: "Gee kids, who wants to go to Kings Island today?"

KIDS: "YAAAAAYYYYY!!!"

KID 1: "My favorite coaster Top Gun is there! YAYAYAYA!"

DAD: "Actually Johnny, it looks like they renamed it Flightdeck. Hmm. Same ride...but it's named FlightDeck now. It's right here on the website"

KID 1: "Flight Deck? Gosh, dad. That name doesn't inspire the same feelings of thrill and suspense that Top Gun did. In fact, I am so disgruntled at Cedar Fair's lack of creativity and lack of foresight to contact the members of Coasterbuzz to help them name their rides that I dont think I ever want to go to Kings Island again. Let's go to the zoo instead!"

DAD: "Im so proud of you son. Hitting the keyboard as the camera pans above the father's head. DAMN YOU CEDAR FAIR!!!" *** Edited 1/29/2008 1:44:36 PM UTC by OhioStater***

The fact that people will generally not care doesn't make the name "Flight Deck" any less stupid.

KID 1: My favorite coaster Top Gun is there! YAYAYAYA!

Dad: WOT?!?!?! *thumps kid in nose* Go to your room until you grow a pair and start riding looping coasters!

KID 1: But Dad? I'm your daughter!

Dad: That's not the point! Now GO!

-CO
(who couldn't resist)

that one flew over my head :)

haha, if KI changes to Afterburn, they really should bring back the Gillette sponsorship of the ride. ;)

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The fact that people will generally not care doesn't make the name "Flight Deck" any less stupid.

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Actually it does, in a way. In order to label it "stupid", you have to care at least a little...or else you would just be indifferent to it. Which was my point. Cedar Fair does not lavishly "theme" a ride...so in a way it's sort of ridiculous to give a creative name that envokes "adventure, suspense" etc., to a ride with no theme.

If you asked people at the gate: "Hi, Im from Coasterbuzz...how do you feel about the name "Flight Deck" for the Top Gun coaster?", I think your most frequent response would be "I dont care".

Because no one does.

Except here.

^You don't care about names, I don't care about names, and most of the park-going public doesn't care about names. But "Flight Deck" is stupid if for no other reason than someone (or perhaps an entire group) in Cedar Fair's marketing department was actually paid to come up with that name. "Poochie, the Rockin' Dog" comes to mind.

CF has to start thinking like Six Flags. Name the rides "F-14/Tomcat" or "F-18/Hornet," and do an advertising tie-in with the Navy. And then crank up the Godsmack music in the station. The kids will eat it up. *** Edited 1/29/2008 6:22:13 PM UTC by Olsor***

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OhioStater said:
If you asked people at the gate: "Hi, Im from Coasterbuzz...how do you feel about the name "Flight Deck" for the Top Gun coaster?", I think your most frequent response would be "I dont care".

Because no one does.

Except here.

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This is a message board filled with coaster enthusiasts, dedicated to the discussion of things which 99% of the time don't matter to 99% of the people who enter your local park's gate. I mean if you want to only talk about things that matter exclusively to the general public you're probably on the wrong board.

Just sayin'.

*looks at calendar*

It's ALMOST FEBRUARY. I mean really!

-CO

Ohio Stater is just sore because his school is to National Championships what Six Flags is to the amusement business.

I dunno...on my ballot, Disney was #1, Universal second, Busch third, HW/IB/Mt. O tied at fourth, CF was fifth and Chuck E. Cheese was #6 before Six Flags.

But that's just my vote!

-CO

Ok, Lets just rename THE BEAST to flooded mine. Rename MF to Tall coaster. Rename Magnum to Ole English 800.

A GOOD name has draw power and marketing potential. A bad name? Forgetable. What was that coaster we rode at KI that swung back and forth, Oh yeah, TOP GUN! nobodys gonna remember Flight Deck.

At least they didn't name it Nighthawk.

A GOOD name has draw power and marketing potential.

A good name with a lousy marketing plan won't draw people to the park. A bad name with a good marketing plan will. Heck, any marketing team worth a dime can draw people to a park with NO new attraction to market.

What was that coaster we rode at KI that swung back and forth...

That's exactly how I've heard people refer to Ninja, Iron Dragon, Big Bad Wolf and others: "Let's go on that (red) one that swings!"

nobodys gonna remember Flight Deck.

(whispers to Chuck) Shhhh..don't tell anyone: Cedar Fair has dropped Flight Deck in favor of Afterburn.

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OhioStater said:
Because no one does.

Except here.

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Appropriate then that you're reading it here, eh?

Useless fact of the day: Afterburn itself is not even a term. The product of an afterburner is the engine exhaust with pure jet fuel dumped into it, which is ignited and gives you thrust-laden awesomeness. The term for that byproduct? Engine exhaust with pure jet fuel dumped into it, which is ignited and gives you thrust-laden awesomeness.

I give it to Cedar Fair that Afterburn is more marketable than Flight Deck, but Afterburner is far more appropriate.

The fact that they changed the name so quickly does not inspire much confidence in me about their ability to come up with clever names.

I must admit, though, that this name would hardly have an effect on attendance as, simply put, a ride name won't be that important of a factor to someone (minus the extremes, such as Mantis, where they thought Banshee was a really bad idea). I'm just curious why they didn't just take the space out in between Top and Gun, calling it Topgun, which is the actual name of the famous naval fighter pilot school from which the movie drew its inspiration. *** Edited 1/30/2008 12:36:01 AM UTC by sirloindude***

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Appropriate then that you're reading it here, eh?

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I never said I wasn't surprised to be reading it here ;)

Maybe the new name insinuates that it will have lingering psychological effects after riding it.

If it doesn't matter, then why do parks even bother?

I know right? I mean, in RCT, it's like, Wooden Roller Coaster 1 and Looping Coaster 2.