Is Paramount "out of touch"?
Sometimes I think Paramount is out of touch with what a really good coaster is. Ok, Ok, the chain does offer a pretty good lineup (especially PKD) but if you took the top 5 Six Flags parks and put them against the 5 Paramount parks, there is NO comparison. First of all, there are ZERO hyper coasters in the Paramount chain. What are they thinking?? They are clearly out of touch with what guest want.
Paramount does like to gamble on a prototype coasters though. Hypersonic, Volcano, Super Saturator are hits, but.....not hypers.
There are only 4 B&M coasters in the entire Paramount chain and they belong to the smallest parks, PGA & PCWi. There are 7 Vekoma coasters in the chain. Vekoma engineers just haven't mastered the art of non-headbanging coasters. Paramount is clearly out of touch here. Is it the money? There are plenty of Arrow coasters in the chain too but most (if not all) were there before Paramount took over so I will give them that one. There is only 1 Intamin (adult) coaster in the chain I believe and that is just another example of Paramount being out of touch. Intamin by far offers the best that a steel coaster can offer. No B&M hypers have the steep drops or airtime that Intamins offer.
Ok, I had to get this off my chest. I wish I lived closer to a Six Flags park. Paramount just doesn't have the thrills to keep me comin back. PKD is by far the best of the batch.
And poor PCWo is getting the Zamperla, poor mans flyer for 2004. OUT OF TOUCH AGAIN!!!! Has any of the Paramount decision makers ridden one of these? Clearly the most uncomfortable and rough coasters next to Vekoma.
Paramount, WAKE UP!!!!! Do your homework!!! Travel to other parks and RIDE the best before you sign a deal with Zamperla or Vekoma.
Thank GOD Togo is out of business!!!!!!!
Sometimes I think Paramount is out of touch with what a really good coaster is. Ok, Ok, the chain does offer a pretty good lineup (especially PKD) but if you took the top 5 Six Flags parks and put them against the 5 Paramount parks, there is NO comparison. First of all, there are ZERO hyper coasters in the Paramount chain. What are they thinking?? They are clearly out of touch with what guest want.
But, the real comparison, when considering issues of capital improvements and corporate decision-making, is at the company level and it's clear that Paramount is performing better than Six Flags is. While certain Six Flags parks may outperform the Paramount parks, that could have as much to do with market as it does with coaster lineup. On the whole, though, it seems like the Paramount chain is far more successful and thus, better managed and more "in touch."
Maybe Six Flags is the company that's really out of touch with what the people want. Money talks, after all, and Six Flags doesn't have a lot of it.
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--Maddie--
What do I Listen-To?
May the Schwarz be with you.
*** This post was edited by Chernabog 8/30/2003 10:05:20 PM ***
Chernabog said:
On the whole, though, it seems like the Paramount chain is far more successful and thus, better managed and more "in touch."Maybe Six Flags is the company that's really out of touch with what the people want. Money talks, after all, and Six Flags doesn't have a lot of it.
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Thanks for the reply. I believe the only reason Paramount may be more successful economically would be the fact that they have fewer parks to manage. Compare that to the countless number of Six Flags properties and that may be part of THAT problem. Of course, my original complaint was that Paramount was out of touch with what guest want. Not that they perform better economically. You would think a better managed chain would add better quality coasters. The long term costs of maintaining a second rate brand may come back to haunt them down the road.
*** This post was edited by HarryTraver 8/30/2003 10:19:57 PM ***
*** This post was edited by HarryTraver 8/30/2003 10:20:22 PM ***
-Danny
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Coaster Insomniacs- Coastin' the Night Away
What's the point in PKI building a hyper coaster when Cedar Point has three coasters over 200ft? Similar thing for PKD with Apollo's Chariot on its door.
I would presume PGA and PCW have strict height restrictions.
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If you have a problem with clones, the solution is real simple—Stop traveling.
On the other hand , it *would* be great if PKI got the new Hyper , for a total of *two*......
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Now funny unless told otherwise.
Enthusiasts never seem to see the big picture.
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DELETED! What time does the water show start?
mOOSH
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PKI is probably one of the most family oriented parks I have been to. There is something for everyone to do all day. Not just a ride or two for each category of thrill seeker they cover you from 4 to 104. Cedar Fair is in touch with their guests because they made their guests want bigger, Six Flags is still working on finding guests ;p , and paramount continues to work at a different pace. They could ad a new coaster every year and cloan the heck out of it at every Paramount Park, and people would complain. They could go with the tallest and fastest and have ample down time, and people would complain. Why ruin what they have built up?
Paramount has some world class parks for the areas they are in and they are very enjoyable to attend if you are looking for a day of fun. For a day of coaster riding maybe they aren't the best. That is why they are an "Amusement Park" and not just a "Coaster Park". Enjoy what you have and be glad it is their. Amusement is a tough industry and at any time most of the parks in the US could disapear. Look a LeSourdville Lake, great park, nothing incredible, and a terrible loss.
Sorry, had to rant on this one!
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*** This post was edited by ldiesman 8/31/2003 12:25:10 AM ***
Is Paramount starting their own ride rotation program?
It's clear to me that Paramount excels in may areas.
I took the Paramount polls that were sent out recently, as with thousands of others. The results of the poll were emailed to me and they clearly show that the public wants what none of their parks have. A hyper! So, in a sense, yes, they have been out of touch with a large segement of their guests over the years.
Listen, I am not some kid hung up on hyper coasters. I appreciate all coasters, flat rides, dark rides, etc.
And yes, they have been gearing their parks more towards families over the past several years. I feel, according to the poll results that Paramount may be ready to take some bold moves in the coming years and start gearing things towards teens and adults. I just hope they make the right choices. It's a tough business I know. I have and had friends in D&E, PR & Maintenance with Paramount over the years. I've learned to appreciate these aspects of the business.
It's clearly a matter of opinion. But the poll results speak for themselves. Financially, the chain may be doing well, that's great! It's obvious these polls were meant for non other than public feedback on future attractions. So, to me, that in itself is a feather in Paramounts hat.
Mamoosh said:
Dammit, Jeff...that's twice tonight you took the words right out of my mouth. I couldn't agree with you more, especially regarding PKI.
Moosh, you took the words right out of my mouth... except for the "twice" part, because that's just the first time.
I'm loving PKI more and more every time I visit. PKI is getting close to taking my "home park" status away from Cedar Point even though it's almost three hours further away.
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- John
Homepark: Cedar Point
Home-away-from-homepark: Paramount's Kings Island
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If you can't stand the heights, get out of the line.
Using the generally accepting definition of a hyper [non-looping coaster with top height and/or drop of 200 feet or more] there are only 16 in the US, according to rcdb.com. Of those, one park claims three of them [CP, with Millie, Maggie, and Dragster] so a total of 13 parks have hypers: CP, SFMM, SFNE, SFA, SFDL, SFOT, SFGAdv, SFGAm, VF, WoF, DP, KW, and KBF. I have not included shuttles or coasters with standard inversions in that list so SOB, Manhattan Express, Speed, Wicked Twister, and the like are not on that list.
16 parks...out of 267 parks currently operating in the US. So are you telling me that there are 254 parks in the US in dire need of a hyper?
mOOSH
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*** This post was edited by Mamoosh 8/31/2003 12:59:32 PM ***
I personally believe that PKI and PGA need new coasters; PKD and PC are just fine coaster wise.
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people on this thread have mentioned that it makes no sense for PKD to try to compete with BGW's Appolo's Chariot. that's silly. Apollo's Chariot, and its Hyper status, are the only thing that makes BGW remotely competitive with PKD in the coaster department. if PKD also had something that large, there would be little to no reason for any thrill-seeker trying to decide between the two parks to choose BGW instead of PKD.
in the 80's and 90's, PKD was world-class in terms of coasters, but Paramount's refusal to build bigger, more modern rides is quickly reducing their status in the eyes of coaster enthusiasts. if paramount were to replace one coaster in each of their parks with a B&M or Intamin hyper, they would almost undeniably have the greatest coaster selection of any chain. they've got the room, they've got the cash, and yet they keep putting in kids rides .. expanding in an area in which they are already number one. sure, it brings in the money, but it leaves us thrill seekers out in the cold a bit, having to make do with prototype rides and midget coasters from second-rate designers.
HarryTraver said:I took the Paramount polls that were sent out recently, as with thousands of others. The results of the poll were emailed to me and they clearly show that the public wants what none of their parks have. A hyper! So, in a sense, yes, they have been out of touch with a large segement of their guests over the years.
From the poll results I have checked out. the results didn't say anything about a hyper coaster. Yes, 71% of the results do mention a coaster without inversions (that doesn't totally define as a hyper to me), but those same results show that the top choice of a "awesome" ride (with 91% of the votes) goes to a coaster that goes upside down.
While I think it would be fantastic to see a brand new steel coaster (or coasters), inversions or not, at a Paramount Park sometime soon, I have no doubt in my mind the park knows exactly what they are doing and it shows.
Below is the link to a downloadable .pdf of the results.
http://www.thrillresearch.com/results/Ride_Survey_Results_2003.pdf
-Sean
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