Orlando Thrill Park proposes ride lineup

Not if you stick with focusing on the thrill rides in your advertising, with just a mention that for the kiddies you also offer a few attractions to keep them occupied while big Brother and Big Sister are riding the big rides, as well.

Keep away from installing a kiddie area, and instead place one of two near the entrance / exit of the other rides (like Hersheypark). Medium sized rides, like Tilt-A-Whirl and Lolly Swings, among others, wouldn't hurt either.

They could wait to do those things after they open and see what kind of response they have, or they could antici... ...pate the problem and add attractions for the younger guests.

Why leave out attractions for the younger kids? This way, the whole family can come, and spend money, instead of just Crazy Uncle Jimmy and the teens.

I hear what you're saying, Gonch, but here is an interesting question: what would you add to a thrill-ride park to get the parents of the teens who *want* to go there to be willing to spend time there as well? I think it is a mistake to target families with younger kids. That's Disney's market, period, end of sentence. But, what about "older" families, with kids who have mostly outgrown Disney?

One idea: combine the thrills with some upscale shopping/dining, or perhaps put in a theater for civic light opera shows---the sorts of traveling post-Broadway productions that often find their way to moderately-sized cities. I can easily imagine a family with kids in their teens sending the kids off to ride the coasters for an evening (eating a few slices of pizza) while the parents go to, say, a production of Wicked combined with a nice dinner out, and maybe drinks afterwards.

Brian Noble said:
But, what about "older" families, with kids who have mostly outgrown Disney?

I suppose that's the million-dollar question. :)

That followed by, "What are older families who've outgrown Disney doing in Orlando in the first place?"

This place isn't a draw. To me, it's essentially a FEC, but with just coasters instead of the 'normal' FEC stuff. It's not going to bring people in to Orlando. It's just not. But a big ol' collection of coasters will be a draw to people who are in Orlando. (if that makes any sense)

I think the issue comes in the difference in having to maintain a mini-golf course or a few upcharge rides vs having to maintain a bunch of coasters.

I dunno. If people will spend $35 bucks for Go Karts and stuff or pay $30 or $40 to ride the Skycoaster or plop down $11 a head for a round of mini-golf, then you gotta figure there's a way to get them to cover the cost of a coaster collection.

Heck, $30 to $40 is more expensive or on par with some parks that are the same size or larger.

Im gonna guess that B&M coasters were too pricey for the owners of the park since I dont see a single one listed in the line up? I mean honestly? An SLC versus a nice B&M custom design? Just a thought...

LostKause said:
Crazy Uncle Jimmy and the teens.

That's the name for my band.

But it's not like families are either "young kids" or "old kids." I would think the target market would be "something for the older kids to do since they got dragged to Orlando so baby brother can ride Dumbo."

I just don't think you're going to get enough traffic to support that many expensive coasters from that market.

ApolloAndy said:

LostKause said:
Crazy Uncle Jimmy and the teens.

That's the name for my band.

Better than Teenage Jesus and the Jerks.

Anyone doubts that name, look it up. Real band.

Jeff said:
I think people travel to Orlando for theme parks. Let's be honest, if you want amusement rides, you probably have a standard decent-sized amusement park somewhere within driving distance (unless you live in Seattle). Why would I want to do that in Orlando?

Y'all are forgetting something important - us locals. The Orlando metro area has almost 3 million people and nearby Tampa has around 4. That's over 7 million people living within a 1-2 hour drive from the proposed park. That doubles if you expand it a couple of hours include South Florida.

We're fortunate to have easy, year-round access to Universal, Disney, Busch Gardens, and Sea World, but if we're looking for something more extreme, our nearest ride-focused park is Six Flags in Atlanta, more than an eight hour drive away.

Also, Orlando has very significant convention traffic, and those visitors rarely travel with children. The new proposed park's location on I-Drive makes it very easy to get to from the convention center. Assuming it's priced right for evening admissions, I could see it drawing some of that crowd.

And I'd suggest that "y'all" already have some pretty solid thrill rides in the area, at Universal alone. Why do you think they've been building those rides?

Season pass business alone won't sustain the thrill park. And, I think that actually might be cause to be concerned if you are an investor in this park. It has a chance to be a real hangout for locals. If you look at the history of "local" establishments you will find failure. Church Street Station and Pleasure Island just to name a couple of them.

Jeff said:
And I'd suggest that "y'all" already have some pretty solid thrill rides in the area, at Universal alone. Why do you think they've been building those rides?

Founded or not, there's a definite perception among Central Floridians that there is too big of a focus on animatronic boat rides ending in gift shops and a lack of world-class coasters. There are some decent ones around, but for whatever reason they all feel toned down a bit compared to a Six Flags or a Cedar Fair park. Except for Sheikra, none of them are particularly tall or fast. Even our tower ride feels watered down since you're only in the air a very brief time (it launches up).

That said, I do love being so close to our parks. The thrill rides may not be as numerous or extreme as you'll find at a place like Cedar Point, but there is something to be said about excellent theming. And we have what are hands-down the best two dark rides in the world - Spiderman and Harry Potter.

wahoo skipper said:
Season pass business alone won't sustain the thrill park. And, I think that actually might be cause to be concerned if you are an investor in this park. It has a chance to be a real hangout for locals. If you look at the history of "local" establishments you will find failure. Church Street Station and Pleasure Island just to name a couple of them.

If I remember correctly, Church Street Station's problems were management related. The rest of Downtown Orlando, and in particular the Church Street bar district, is absolutely packed on weekend nights.

Pleasure Island was an odd place. Disney won't come right out and say it, but the not-so-secret is that they closed it was because the rough clientele it attracted wasn't quite in line with their family friendly image. They were starting to have crime problems. At least those are the rumors. I went a few times and wasn't impressed.

Citywalk is doing well for itself though, and Halloween Horror Nights is one of the biggest nightlife events of the year for Floridians.

Would a park with 14 coasters worth of debt make enough money to survive though? I'm not sure. But that doesn't mean we're not excited about it.

Well, if you think Pleasure Island closed because of the clientele (and I've heard similar stories) who do you think is going to be going to that thrill park? In fact, I'd wager to say the clientele will be rougher since they won't be deterred by $9 drinks.

Church Street has been reinvented several times over. And, being packed on weekend nights is fine but that isn't enough for the big boys. They are looking to be packed every night.

I'm not saying Orlando (or Florida for that matter) doesn't need more coasters. I think South Florida is a particular wasteland that could be tapped. But, I'm just not sure this concept, as presented in a very basic form, makes a lot of sense.

Between Mummy, Hulk, Rock n' Roller, Tower of Terror, Manta, Kraken, Dueling Dragons, Dr. Doom, (or whatever they're called now) and all the awesome stuff down at BGT, I feel like Orlando already has a solid lineup of thrills. It is distributed between a whole slew of different parks, but that lineup could rival all but the largest regional theme parks for thrills.

The only thing missing is a hyper (and an actually good woodie, but let's not get greedy).

For the good woodie drive down to Ft Lauderdale and ride the Dania Beach Hurricane. It is a very lonely coaster in South Florida...but it is a good one.

wahoo skipper said:
Well, if you think Pleasure Island closed because of the clientele (and I've heard similar stories) who do you think is going to be going to that thrill park? In fact, I'd wager to say the clientele will be rougher since they won't be deterred by $9 drinks.

Church Street has been reinvented several times over. And, being packed on weekend nights is fine but that isn't enough for the big boys. They are looking to be packed every night.

I'm not saying Orlando (or Florida for that matter) doesn't need more coasters. I think South Florida is a particular wasteland that could be tapped. But, I'm just not sure this concept, as presented in a very basic form, makes a lot of sense.

The problem with PI was the dance clubs and the proximity to Kissimmee. I wouldn't expect a thrill park to attract the same group of people. I certainly wouldn't think that it would be any rougher than HHN, which attracts a much wider range of people than PI ever did and doesn't have have the same problems.

Maybe the problem with Orlando is, as ApolloAndy pointed out, the fact that the rides are all scattered. Regardless, I'm selfish. I want more rides! :)

Reading about the new thrill park, it has me picturing something more like the Fun Spot parks just with better rides. Hopefully they don't charge per-ride!

Is the Dania Beach Hurricane the wooden coaster along I-95? I drive by it whenever I'm going to Miami or the Keys but have never stopped. Is it part of a park or something?

^"Boomers" is what we refer to an an FEC, family entertainment center. Not really much there at all other than Hurricane, which does kick some pretty serious booty when it's running well. Other stuff there includes a few kiddie rides (carousel, etc.), some batting cages, a couple go-kart tracks, and several putt-putt courses. At one point they had a skyscraper, but that left a few years back when the repair estimate exceeeded 50K.

I don't think Halloween Horror nights is really comparable. That is a ticketed event (and not cheap at that) and a season pass is no good for it...unless something changed that I'm not aware of.

I know right......I have never seen a line for it....and never seen it operate while driving on I-95.

wahoo skipper said:
I don't think Halloween Horror nights is really comparable. That is a ticketed event (and not cheap at that) and a season pass is no good for it...unless something changed that I'm not aware of.

You are correct. HHN is not included with a regular annual pass or regular park admission, although passholders get a sizable discount. Tickets do cost less than a regular day ticket to the park though, and a HHN season pass is available for not too much more than a single admission ticket.

I thought HHN would be a valid comparison because they have copious amounts of alcohol, are open until closing time on weekends, and isn't about dance clubs.

Of course this is all speculation right now. We're not even sure this place is going to actually open, let alone whether they'll be open at night :)