Freestyle Music Park begins foreclosure proceedings

I'm surprised it took this long.

One of my best friends owns a business that is right across the street from Freestyle. He said that there was a group of about 10 people that going though the park last week.

I still would love to see the coaster collection end up in southern Indiana. It would turn our favorite little park into a major player. Only question would be what holiday would a Zeppelin be?

With the increases in attendance they have been seeing year after year, what incentive does holiday world have for veering from their game plan. They are doing fine with the additions they have been putting in.

Dave I have the perfect holiday answer... THE YESTERMORROW MOBILE!!

Anyone remember this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdscYh-HSws (go to 6:20)

Jason, I am sure you have herd the cry for HW to add a steel coaster. I hear it from none enthusiast friends that live in Owensboro, KY. I read it on FB all the time too.

The public has also said on FB that they want something with loops.

I feel that this particular collection would offer them attractions that would fill some of their holes.

Hang ten would be the next step up from Howler for the coaster kids.

Iron Horse and Roundabout are more family rides that would compliment Raven.

Soaked would fit well in the Splashin' Safari

Time Machine while not overly thrilling to you or I, would provide a coaster that would please the public and eat crowds.

The first time these were sold for $25 million. I can't see them going for that much the second time around. The question is how much to move and reassemble them.

Freestyle also had a few interesting flats.

It would be a shame to see these rides rusting away with so few that have ridden them.

IIRC, Cedar Fair said they estimated the cost of deconstruction and relocation of the Geauga Lake coasters at 1/2 the original cost. Not that they actually spent that much money. They already had the rides. But, they likely needed to come up with a valuation for book keeping between parks. In other words funds slated for Dorney's Cap Ex are used to pay GL. I'm not sure that makes any sense. Or, if that really happened. But, you see what I mean.

Regardless of the cost of the rides at FSP, my original question still remains. If Holiday World is getting significant boosts in attendance by adding attractions at their current pace. What incentive do they have for making such an investment in multiple used rides? We all know what happened to Six Flags Worlds of adventure when they built coasters in 2 years. Do we really want to see that happen again?

Actually Jason, I don't know what happened at SFWOA. That was before I was into coasters. Never went to Geauga Lake. We did go to SeaWorld a few times but never crossed over to the other side.

Well, I guess the short version of the story would be that the addition of so many new rides so fast created an artificial attendance jump that couldn't be maintained. And with out the maintained attendance, they couldn't afford the upkeep with all the added costs of the new rides. They stated cutting corners to save money and in turn the guest experience went down hill. It was a downward spiral that they never recovered from.

DaveStroem said:
Only question would be what holiday would a Zeppelin be?

May 6 (1937)?

Am I the only person who finds it hilarious that people think a 150-foot tall B&M looping coaster is a perfect fit for Holiday World?

Well, since I actually enjoyed Zeppelin very much, I belive Waldameer can squeeze it along the Peninsusla Drive parking lot next to or over the train tracks. I know this is very far-fetched but I'd love to see Waldameer step into the large steel coasters through a solid ride like this.

Hard Rock Park (never experienced Freestyle) was a great idea that was poorly executed. If the price was $40 opposed to $55, I'm sure a few more souls would have walked through those gates. Even opening the park from 4pm to 1am-2am could have drew more guests when the weather wasn't so intense. Also, the theme of "Hard Rock" is still not completely accepted by many families with young kids for whatever reason despite the atmosphere being very family friendly (except the female solider girls but I didn't complain). Additionally, from what I have heard from various sources, the marketing wasn't very extensive to begin with. Overall, Myrtle Beach is a place for the beach, and maybe a little research may have shown that. As seen with a lot of other daytime area attractions, they are either indoor or desolate until the evening hours. Although, a Hard Rock Pier might have worked. What a bust, and most importantly, a waste of new coasters and one of the best modern dark rides (Moody Blues).

I have heard that cedarfair has taken a serious look at hard rock park.

PhantomTails said:
Am I the only person who finds it hilarious that people think a 150-foot tall B&M looping coaster is a perfect fit for Holiday World?

If the price is right? It's not hilarious at all, it's an enormous opportunity. That the $400 million park was bought for $30 million, and that's what they want to recover in foreclosure, implies some potentially awesome deals could be had.

Jeff said:

PhantomTails said:
Am I the only person who finds it hilarious that people think a 150-foot tall B&M looping coaster is a perfect fit for Holiday World?

If the price is right? It's not hilarious at all, it's an enormous opportunity. That the $400 million park was bought for $30 million, and that's what they want to recover in foreclosure, implies some potentially awesome deals could be had.

Yes indeed and if you think of the terrain around Holiday World, some interesting flybys and near misses could also be created. Good for the Thanksgiving section with a large looper. The resale price of that ride would have to be quite a steal I would imagine.

On the other hand, it's a shame what has become of this park that had incredible potential :(

I think LZ would be a great buy for HW, also the mine train looks fun?

Something tells me one of the large chains will snap them up though?

RatherGoodBear said:

DaveStroem said:
Only question would be what holiday would a Zeppelin be?

May 6 (1937)?

Not sure if I'm the only one who appreciated the humanity of that joke. ;)

^ Jason, I understand where you're coming from, with what you're saying regarding attendance increasing with the current investment rate.

However, I'd suggest that (luckily for them) their attendance is increasing beyond the rate of what their ride hardware can cope with. There are lots of reports of lengthy queues etc and with HW not wanting to shift their entry fee - they need to keep a day there good value for money.

In the UK (I suspect many people have already stopped reading my post ;-) ) - Alton Towers faced a similar problem. They don't have the capability to offer each visitor who wishes to ride each coaster the chance to do so on a busy(ish) day. Their answer to this has been to drop the entrance price to £19 ($29 - by offering vouchers everywhere). Therefore, a visit for that amount is considered good value by the punters. You'll hear echos of "Well I know we didn't get on Nemesis but we did get in half price" as you exit the park.

That is the exact opposite of what I would do. I'm sure they have the numbers and info., but if my park were already too crowded, I'd raise the price, not lower it.

^Exactly