Kennywood, Lake Compounce, Idlewild sold to Spanish firm

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with Kennywood being a National Historic Landmark, I believe there are limitations to what can be changed there and still maintain that status.

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You're assuming that some Spanish company gives a crap about an American historic designation.

^^Or to put it more simply, MoSOLSCHAFBO&MGN.
*** This post was edited by Ensign Smith 12/11/2007 4:15:45 PM ***

I think it's a little too early to assume they don't care, only because people in Europe seem to have a greater respect for history than people in this country. Go to most European countries and you'll see exquisite preservation of architecture that is centuries old, yet here in America we'll tear down a building that housed soldiers in the Revolutionary War to make way for a Wachovia branch. Still, I don't think any pessimism is completely unfounded.

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You're assuming that some Spanish company gives a crap about an American historic designation.

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Well, it's not so much that I assume they care or they don't about the designation, I just assume they care about what their customers care about. If they let things like that historic designation get revoked, it could adversely impact business.

That's why it's going to be important for people to make that clear to the new owners... and for the new owners to listen.

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people in Europe seem to have a greater respect for history than people in this country

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Yeah, but stuff that's "only" 100 years old in Europe is hardly considered historic.

I'm not saying they won't care about the designation, I'm just saying that it certainly won't be their primary concern.

I'm not scared about what Parque Reunidos would do to those parks. In Europe, its been explained to me that they're more of a group of parks owned by the same owner and each park is left to manage itself, sometime with amazing budgets.

For example, they bought Mirabilandia (from Phantasialand) in Italy. Its the park with Katun, the huge, themed B&M Inverted. The park was lacking in dark rides, so Parque Reunidos gave them the budget to build a western themed one with a live actor it is. It must have been good for them, cause they're building a second one now, with a 10 million euros budget!

The new owners will care about the designation only if it is good for business, just as the previous owners did. Anyone who runs a business is doing so to make money. The previous owners found a nice balance between doing making money and maintaining the traditional atmosphere of the park. In my opinion, the new owners would be foolish to totally abandon this approach (and I doubt they will) since it has been shown to be fairly effective. Pittsburgh, by it's nature, isn't the greatest market for an amusement park, but Kennywood has continued to do well through good times and bad. I am optimistic that this change in ownership will bring mostly good things... new rides, additional tourism for the city, etc. But I do expect that some sacrifices will be made, and I am comfortable with that.

You can read the (ignorant) opinions of some of my fellow Pittsburghers here:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07345/840808-42.stm

The good thing is that KW will most likely have the capital sources to build those new coasters that have been suggested for the park. With GL gone, there is nore opportunity to draw business from Ohio, particularly from those who are looking for something other than a Cedar Fair park.

Here's the things I don't want to see changed;

The classic rides (Noah's Ark, Auto Race, Turtle, Kangaroo, Whip, Old Mill/Garfield's Nightmare (except for future retheming). I do believe Jack Rabbit and the Carousel are safe but I could see a rebuilding of the Racer into a bigger ride that retains the mobius configuration.and which makes 4 train operation possible.

The Log Jammer (one of the best flumes around) with its rollercoaster-like design.

The picnic shelters and permissive outside food policy

The reasonably priced food, beverages and games

The landscaping

I could see the end to free parking in the foreseeable future (except for KG, HW, and SDC, do any other major parks have this?). Note that both Sandcastle and LC charge for parking.

As for the other parks, Idlewild should be developed into a park that combines elements of KG and HW. The park could use a mid sized wooden coaster and maybe a Christmas/Santa theme area.

LC should continue steady ghowth including more unique rides that make use of the mountain.

Overall, KW should continue steady but controlled growth to exand its drawing power in other regions (Ohio Central PA etc.). Here is my suggested additions over the next few years:

A state of the art wooden coaster similar to Voyage and using the terrain.

A multilooping coaster (with GL gone there are currently none between CP and HP)

An interactive dark ride.

A gondola Ferris Wheel (KW used to have one)

Another state of the art thriling flat ride (like Swing Shot or Chosmic Chaos)

A couple of additional family flats.

A family coaster (36" min. height) with ample thrills.

More shows (Including some that appeal to seniors -- then they won't have to give away the gate to the older patrons anymore).

*** This post was edited by Arthur Bahl 12/11/2007 6:03:47 PM ***

Uh, Kennywood is getting an interactive dark ride. This is old news as of yesterday.

Kennywood is one of my favorite remaining parks because it remains "untainted"..... as far as landscaping, preservation, hours (they don't slam the gates shut at 10) , food.... I don't like the sound of this one bit.

How soon we forget places like Geauga Lake when the numbers don't meet what the corporation wants.......

They had better not mess with my square dip cone with the nuts and cherry.. @#$%&@ !!!!!!

Short of Holiday World selling out, I can't think of a more tragic announcement. To me the company of Kennywood is more than a few anmusement parks. It has been a protector of traditional amusements as long as the roller coaster has been around. When a company like this goes down the question becomes, who will pick up the torch? Or is it true that anything is for sale now-a-days? Except for the few coasters classified as national monuments.*** This post was edited by rc-madness 12/11/2007 10:56:54 PM ***

I really fear that the numbers game will eventually prevail (probably within 5 years) and the "promises" will fade....

One thing KW has going for it is Sandcastle is a separate, unconnected (physically/geographically, I mean) entity... so we don't have to worry about the water rides swallowing up the park.

However, I see down the road the corporate greed to compete with the likes of Cedar Fair, and classic flats like the Turtle will meet the scrapper's torch to be replaced by the latest mega ride or gadgetry. :(

Two things. If they do phase out the classic rides, I REALLY hope other parks buy the rides. Would love some of those classics here at KI. Does this mean the hotel and other expansion plans are now done for?
*** This post was edited by CoasterDaddy 12/12/2007 6:50:49 AM ***

I wonder if foreign park enthusiasts have this conversation when an American company buys a foreign park. Say, Six Flags or Universal for instance.

Do you think the folks in Toronto were going crazy because the Americans were taking over Canada's Wonderland? Did a PR person say something like, "We aren't concerned about turning this into a Krispy Kreme stand"?

Geez.

Of course not. We want to play in everyone else's sandbox, but don't want anyone to play in ours.

^^best quote in this thread.

I wonder how many people on this board realize that half the US is foreign owned?

*** This post was edited by El Gato Coastro 12/12/2007 11:57:08 AM ***

Actually, only about 5% of American assets are foreign owned. Quite reasonable, and far less than in many countries.

You can't look at that without looking at our debt, which at $8 trillion is more than any other country, and it's 27.5% owned by other countries (2006). Then consider that our debt is 66% of our GDP. If we don't get our crap together, we're going to be in a world of pain.

Or a world of "Spain"...or Taco Stands for that matter. ;)