New rides spotted at cedarpoint.

Add me to the "definitely worth it" crowd as well.

I know I say this over and over again, but Spongebob & Co kick Snoopy's ass everytime.

Might be a good time to look at the TV numbers again as a Peanuts special just aired - and I happen to feel it's a good indicator of interest.

"Great Pumpkin" did a 6.6 rating (just shy of 7.5 million viewers) on Tuesday night. From a set of characters who only get heightened-interest holiday special airings and who are only on TV a handful of times a year.

Spongebob does almost half of that every Saturday morning - and he's on 30 to 40 times per week.

And that doesn't account for any of the other Nick characters and their respective shows either. For example Fairly OddParents does just a hair less than the Spongebob numbers. Every Saturday morning these two shows do what Peanuts did in their annual Halloween special - a time honored tradition so to speak.

Nick is still on fire (Blue's Clues is on the TV behind me as I type this) and the only kids programming beating them on a regular basis are the Disney "Tween" properties that recently exploded (Hannah Montana, Zack & Cody).

Go to any place that has a large concentration of kids - do you see more Spongebob shirts or more Snoopy shirts? Check the book aisle in any store. Check the toy aisle in any store.

Whether or not that makes a difference in drawing the kids to a place that'd be fun regardless, is indeed 'fuzzy' as Gator puts it. But if I'm licensing a character to stick on those rides, might as well go with the odds. :)

One interesting thing that I have learned though about the Nick licensing is that Viacom gets a pretty big cut of souvenir sales. That creates an interesting scenario because per-unit sales then can be different enough that less is more.

Well, that mucks things up now, doesn't it?

^ Thankfully.

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crazy horse said:
Yea,

But they have 2 other kiddie coasters and disaster transport now. Do they really need another kiddie coaster?

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It would be nice to have BLMT in the Peanuts Playground area. It's a long walk from the front gates to the Camp Snoopy/Gemini Childrens areas which have the better kids rides by far not counting the insanely popular 4X4's. BLMT with its 40" requirement would be a nice bridge between the 36" Junior Gemini and Woodstock Express until the 46" ID and DT.

Half Pint Railway is interesting. Peanuts Express is a long but agonizingly slow ride, HP is much shorter so I don't see it as a replacement due to length and train size.

Tom

*** Edited 11/1/2007 5:49:55 PM UTC by LdScotsman***

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Lord Gonchar said:

Go to any place that has a large concentration of kids - do you see more Spongebob shirts or more Snoopy shirts?

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That became obvious to us during our vacation to Mexico over spring break. Outside the ancient Mayan ruins at Chichen-Itza the local children will sing traditional Mayan songs for a dollar. The little girls are dressed in traditional Mayan dresses like they have worn for centuries. The one little boy in the back was dressed in a Sponge Roberto T-shirt. Yep, Spongebob now rules the world. :)

I still think 3 kiddie coasters is a bit extreme. Jr gemini and woodstock express has little to no lines as it is now.

I have seen a little bit of a line on woodstock express only on crazy buisy days.

Do you think fifteen "normal" coasters is a bit extreme? I think three kiddie coasters fit right in.

LOL! The longest waits we had two Sundays ago were for Woodstock Express and Jr. Gemini. The load/unload cycle takes so long because they have those special seat belts with the tiny hole that they have to poke it to let you out, you can't get out on your own. Took 25 minutes to get on Woodstock, throw in a cell phone shutdown that added ten minutes. We actually got on Magnum in 10 minutes and Iron Dragon in five! :)

Tom

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crazy horse said:
I still think 3 kiddie coasters is a bit extreme.

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I don't know where I stand.

I do know I've complained about there not being enough to do at CF parks for kids under 48" - so this would help there.

Also, not sure they're kiddie coasters as much as family coasters. BLMT and Woodstock are great coasters for anyone in the family to ride together - imagine that. Togetherness at an amusement park!

I guess I do know where I stand after all. :)

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Jr gemini and woodstock express has little to no lines as it is now.

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Do you have kids? Those are some of the slowest lines in the park, for exactly the reason LdScotsman mentions. They aren't long in terms of number of people, but they are hideous in terms of wait time.

Thankfully, my kids are now old enough and tall enough to enjoy some of the "real" coasters. But, CP hasn't added anything other than the ice show for younger kids since Camp Snoopy in 1999. Upgrading the under-48 attractions is well overdue.

One thing that suggest this has merit is that Kinzel, I believe I heard somewhere, is proud of CP holding the record for most coasters. (And why wouldn't he be?) Along with all those other positives people have mentioned, installing BLMT would enable them to claim 18, leaving all other parks officially in the dust. And for (relatively) dirt cheap.

My daughter would like it. She could visit one our GL coasters on a regular basis.

Hey Gonch, I didn't know you liked Blues Clues. ;)

I prefer the "Steve Era" to the "Joe Era" :)

The show jumped the shark when Steve went to college and his brother Joe moved into the house.

Been thinking there are other parks in the chain that could probably get more *value* from BLMT...but having it at CP is far from a bad move. Have to wonder when the new ride at CP turns out to be a GCII coaster.

^^ Yeah, but then Steve got to go off and be cool with the Flaming Lips:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GEHJaROqDDI

Wow... I can't belive you made me watch that.

I don't get the kiddie train? Isn't the train currently in peanuts playground the same Zamperla model? Unless they just want the Geauga train for parts or something. Unless they plan to build a large track and run 2 trains.

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^ Why would they get a Nick Universe? The contract expires in a few years.........

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Sorry this was one of the first replies, but what contract exactly are you talking about?

The Nick licensing deal that Paramount signed, and is still in place in those parks.

CP is definently large enough to warrant a third kiddie/family/junior coaster without it being considered "too extreme". Even as much as I love the Peanuts, that area needed a serious facelift anyway...so this will be good.

Plus, having a four year old myself, I do like to see more options for him to have a good time. Thing is, he's already ridden BLMR...so I'll keep tight-lipped and he'll never know.