Michigan's Adventure Future Plans

I agree 10mil For a Morgan hyper or 8.5 mil for a impluse. I'd go with the Hyper. It's time for the Hyper MA has already spent 3mil here and 5 mil there. An ArrowBATic would bea great addition for an Invert most likely better than a Verkoma SLC.

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I pray that the next coaster @ CP will be an Arrow 4D

*** This post was edited by Coaster Bob 5/25/2003 4:40:09 PM ***

You missed what I was saying entirely...$10 million for MiA would take a while to pay off and be far more speculative than it would have to be.

I hate to have to tell you this, but I'm not so sure a hyper or an Impulse is suddenly going to make MiA a 'destination' when every other major park around them already has one. Sure it made VF a player--but that was 1996. You could say it made almost made WOF a player too but SFStl added a small but free waterpark to their lineup and knocked the wind right out of their sails.

Which basically underscores the basic truth you don't wanna hear--spending the money intelligently is better than spending gobs of it at a time. Ultimately it's up to MiA management to make the right decision, and I hope they do.

-'Playa

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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.

There are other expenses that that park has to look at before they install another large coaster that could possibly draw in large crowds. The queues for a lot of the rides are not big enough to accommodate large crowds, there are not enough food, drink and restroom facilities, and things of that nature. There are more expenses then just a simple $10 million coaster. I would like to see a free fall ride or Intamin Impulse there. Those rides are perfect for smaller parks. I am sure they are also trying to make the park as a whole a better place to stay. There are shows they could put money into, lighting for nighttime, landscaping, advertising and more. You can't say that if they don't install a big coaster every year that they will not succeed. You may want to see that but it takes time for a small park to grow up. In the mean time it just means that I don't have big lines to wait in for Shivering Timbers!
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My knex coasters
GOCC member # 671

Trust me, there WILL be a steel coaster next year. I've been asured this twice now, as I was at the park earlier today too, and talked to yet another reliable employee. This one said that they WERE leaning toward a hyper.

Wolf, I was trying to figure the same thing out, where ARE they purchasing land? Supposidly they're already starting some purchases.

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Guess who's back... MIA JON!

For all those folks saying ,"MiA has to/should do whatever to succeed" a) what basis do you have for your conjectures? b) What makes you think you know any better than the people who get paid (for a good reason) to make these decisions?

And who plans 5 years in advance? Even TTD began planned after MF's debut.

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Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"It's not a Toomer" - Arnold Schwartzenkoph
"Those who know don't talk and those who talk don't know." -Jeff

talking about local parks getting huge coasters... CWoA is getting a 2 year $80m make over... Thorpe which is growing faster... parhaps an intamin rocket giga? ohhhhhh yea. as for my thoughts on MiA's future, CP will be giving a generous hand, but as some of you guyz stating above, it won't be all cookies and cream. Next year i think we'll see a steelie, inverted or hyper, but then the year after that i think it will be devoted to the parks infrastructure and area limits. It's really good however that the county is working well with the MiA officials

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Colossus [1]
Nemesis: Inferno [6]

Chicago area has a population of approximately 8mil while Detroit 4 mil appoximately. Just counting those two metroplotian areas you have 12mil to pull from. Does MA have the potencial of being a world class amusement park? Absolutely! Will MA invest in Coasters, accomidations, and more land? Yes MA will. There's the population to support it. We understand ROI. The Last coaster built was Madd Mouse in 99. The Hyper will be coming next year. In fact, If Cp would have waited another season to purchase MA the Hyper would have already been there.

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I pray that the next coaster @ CP will be an Arrow 4D

*** This post was edited by Coaster Bob 5/25/2003 5:51:46 PM ***
*** This post was edited by Coaster Bob 5/25/2003 5:52:50 PM ***

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It's really good however that the county is working well with the MiA officials

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Really? What's all this about sewer and water lines, then? Everyone wants it to happen, but no one wants to spend the money. I can just about guarantee that the county won't be spending it anytime soon, given the state of the economy.

Regarding a hyper, it seems like we need Moosh's wisdom right about now.

One way MiA could continue to distinguish itself is with a great new flat (think Huss Giant). Those rides may not be enough for the "major" parks in its population base (SFGAM and CP) to market on (PKD's delirium notwithstanding), but would be great for a park like MiA.

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http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~bnoble/

*** This post was edited by Brian Noble 5/25/2003 6:19:08 PM ***

Who is this reliable person? Everyone that has worked on Timbers thus far with the exception of one is a first year employee. Unless you talked to a gold tag...even then they've been known to fabricate stuff. Or maybe you mean the train engineer...do tell!

We need to make budget this year, lets just hope for that right now. Not making budget last year is hitting hard :(

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Kara (car-uh)
Magnum Crew '03
1024 Laps on Timbers
621 in '02

It's all about ROI, and MiA has no way of getting ROI on a $10mill coaster in a two years time let alone the time table some of you are playing with.

and SFoN - CPlaya and I have NEVER had a heated discussion on that subject - are you delusional? ;)

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SW:):)SH
midwestinfoguide.com

Swoosh my memory must be going out again ;-)

*** This post was edited by Six Flags Over Nebraska 5/25/2003 10:52:16 PM ***

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Alexander C. Curavo said:
How about pulling a Six Flags stunt....

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See, this was the first clue things were gonna go bad with this post.

Nobody clicks a mouse button to make these coasters go away like RCT. There's a huge difference between relocating a small Schwarzkopf coaster (that was probably sold both in fixed and portable models to begin with) and a mile-long, 200-foot tall hyper. Pass me some of what you're smokin' because the world must be warned about its side effects.

As for recycled rides, CF doesn't have to disguise old coasters as new because they didn't pull that 'Six Flags stunt' called overspending on their parks (read: SFWOA for starters). Buuuuut if you were really really lucky, you could wind up with DP's Laser. Now THAT would be awesome.

Coaster Bob: Surely you jest. You just have to be. Chicagolanders will drive away from their local park with a hyper and an impulse to Muskegon to do what? Ride another hyper or impulse? And they would do this why?

This is why CF is profitable and trading at a high price while SF stock is a shadow of what is was a year ago....they don't think like you.

-CO

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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.

*** This post was edited by CoastaPlaya 5/25/2003 11:59:43 PM ***

I don't even think that MiA brings in enough "thrillseeker" traffic to constitute a hyper. When I was there all I saw were a lot of families. I'd expect the campground/hotel next year, and MAYBE another flagship coaster the year after.

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I play in a really awful garage band, but it's still fun.
*** This post was edited by Craig the Coaster Freak 5/26/2003 12:26:39 AM ***

Who needs teens for a hyper? Your average 6 year old boy is tall enough to ride. That has nothing to do with it.

Again, I'm not ruling out a Morgan hyper. I can't shake the impression that the management there is gunning for one, too. I just wish they'd consider the alternatives, too--some incremental steps that would generate solid growth.

-'Playa

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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.

If they don't add a hyper I'd hope they add Huss Flat along with what ever they add. A water ride of some kind wouldn't be a bad addition ether (Ex; Thunder Canyon at CP or Bilgerat Barge at IOA) What ever they add I’ll be happy with long as it’s not a normal boomerang (invertagos and the other are fine with me)

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WARNING:
You are no longer who you were and tomorrow is now yesterday. In the event of an emergency, do not become alarmed. Move Quickly to the nearest exit.

*** This post was edited by Goku2216 5/26/2003 5:16:47 AM ***

CoastaPlaya... only very few 6 year old boys would be tall enough and brave enough to ride a hyper. Come on... you should have thought before making that post! Young boys however are not scared by smaller wooden coasters or perhaps a small steelie. But as you guyz are saying that MiA is a family park... well that brings into concept that the upcoming attractions should be widely family based, such as hotel/campground, a large kiddie addition to the park, but also the park will need a new steelie, and if jon's right, then it will be next year

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Colossus [1]
Nemesis: Inferno [6]

I'm not going to try to speculate whether or not Michigan's Adventure is going to get a hyper coaster next year. (I wouldn't be too optimistic, though -- not when the new "mine theming" for the miniature train has turned out to be an empty tunnel and the promised car ride theming is nonexistent.) However, at the risk of making myself unpopular, I'm going to say that Michigan's Adventure should not get a hyper coaster, at least not at this point in its development. It doesn't have the infrastructure to be a destination park and it doesn't have the clientele to justify a hyper.

I love Michigan's Adventure. My husband and I visit it approximately every other weekend in the summer (just under a two-hour drive). I've been there on weekends in July and August, and I've never seen long lines for anything. The longest line I have ever waited in there was probably a 15 minute line for Wolverine Wildcat. This makes parkgoing a very pleasant experience, but it also seems to imply that they already have as many coasters as they need right now.

Michigan's Adventure is primarily a family park. There's nothing wrong with that. The longest lines in the park are usually for Mad Mouse and Wolverine Wildcat, not Shivering Timbers. Now, both of those are low capacity compared with Shivering Timbers (especially WW with its pokey one-train operation), but I think there's also a popularity component. I think MA guests like their coasters fairly small.

Finally, although we go frequently, we never stay more than a few hours. This isn't just because there aren't many rides (although a few more flat rides would probably help), but because we get tired of the sun and heat, and because we get hungry and the food stands there are crummy. If there were an indoor restaurant, we could sit down and rest, have some food, and get recharged for a few more hours at the park. Without something better in the way of food, MA isn't going to be a destination park and so building a hyper would not attract enough people to make it worthwhile.

Thus, my opinion as a Michigan's Adventure junkie is that next year should bring a sit down restaurant, and future years should work on adding perhaps live entertainment and some more flat rides. These additions would make it a more robust park all around, and then maybe it could support a bigger coaster.

I beg to differ, UK. My son was 48" at 5 years old, and most of his friends rode hypers by the time they were 6.

I see a campground and/or hotel happening before huge steel. If MiA wants to draw people from further than a couple hours away, this is a necessity, but also requires the water/sewer issue to be resolved.

I see the catch-22: As Kara says, making budget is the first priority. You can't spend more money unless you are covering your current bills.

The park was pretty empty on Saturday, and this is Memorial Day weekend when the Muskegon area should have been crawling with weekend campers. The waterpark is a big draw for MiA, and it was too cool to open.

This was opening weekend, and for those of you who haven't seen the park yet, it has been prettied up. There are new bathrooms, and at least one more new concession stand. The employees this year were very friendly (or maybe they were just getting a kick out of this group of adults acting like children). They added fountains to what used to be stagnant pools, and a lot more landscaping.

I'm sure there will be more surveys taken this year, and no matter what plans they may have in the shadows, the only guarantee is that the park will improve, even if slowly.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead
http://www.webtechnik.com/ebony/CPLady.htm

Since I have never been to MiA, but will be in the area on my way back from CP, is it really worth a stop? I have a CF:LP pass, so the cost to get in won't be a factor - the park just looks extremely little compared to other parks in the chain.

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SW:):)SH
midwestinfoguide.com

It's worth a couple hours minimum, maybe a full day if you can't get enough of Shivering Timbers :) If you enjoy water rides and the water park is open, you can spend a full day, no problem.

It's about a 1:30-1:45 drive each way if you take US-131 from the I-94 interchange. I'd say definitely give it a try if you have the time; ST alone is worth the drive for me.