Paramount Parks since Cedar Fair acquisition

swampfoxer said:
well, for starters, they've scrapped the FoF move from PKD to Carowinds. I know, I know....
Also, they have decided to do away with the most Paladium concerts. Concerts aren't CF's thang apparently.
Oh, and they've given the axe to numerous employees based here in Charlotte's Paramounts headquarters and beyond....
It appears there will be no capital projects at Carowinds for '07. :(

If I may ask, where are you getting this info?

I hope it's not true, I was really hopeful we'd get SOMETHING because (a. the 35th anniversary and (b.we haven't gotten a new thrill ride since BORG in 2004. And I'm bored of the park. Still a fine park but I have no desire to return until the next addition. Especially with Goliath only an extra hour away (from here in Greenville SC). Don't believe me? As of tomorrow I'll have been at SFoG twice this year, and Carowinds none. I might go in September but probably not.

Hey, Carowinds is a nice park with a good mix of attractions. The only thing that stood out was a lack of a large, thrilling, signature flat ride (I tend to overlook drop rides, because we're getting to the point where it's becoming as easy to find as a Wave Swinger or a Frisbee).

A Screamin' Swing would do nicely here, or maybe something like Tomb Raider: Firefall? (Or, the park could go the route less traveled, and put in a Sky Swatter?) Like I said, the park has a good mix, but it just needs a big, high-capacity flat ride.

- Ryan - http://www.tideblue.com/painter/

WOF Guy said:
But would that really fit the family image of Six Flags? Do we really want more teens bouncing basketballs on the midway?

Actually, from what I saw at GL, the prizes were mostly stuffed animals for this game. Now if you were a 3-point shooting god, you had the option of winning one of those huge basketballs that is more for just bragging rights then being able to dribble down a midway.

I see no problem with SF getting this game if they gave out the same prizes.

Peabody: I do agree with you on the basketball thing. They should be handing out deflated basketballs.

My favorite MJ tune: "Billie Jean" which I have been listening to alot now. RIP MJ.

So that is what they're putting in next to Xcelerator.

Of course, I forgot to mention that Winterfest has been canceled at Kings Island and Carowinds...

Dental Plan! Lisa Needs Braces.

Deflated basketballs were suggested to a GM at some point (John Odum at SFoG perhaps?). Anyhow, apprently it HAD been tried, but with terrible results in that no one wanted to play the games anymore...so I think we're stuck with that particular annoyance. :(

Why are there no bouncing basketballs in Disney parks? ;)

That may be the case Gator for the other basketball games, but with this new 3-point shootout game, people are lining up and they aren't giving out regular size basketballs as prizes.

My favorite MJ tune: "Billie Jean" which I have been listening to alot now. RIP MJ.

Can someone explain why it's so annoying for someone to bounce a silly basketball around them? Are they throwing them at you? Bouncing them in your ear? Running into you as they bounce them?

I honestly don't get the annoyance factor, but maybe I'm missing something.

Running into you as they bounce them is definitely something I have experienced.

Passing the ball to a friend down a busy midway is another thing I have seen and that annoys me alot.

My favorite MJ tune: "Billie Jean" which I have been listening to alot now. RIP MJ.

Not to mention sloppy dribbling resulting in a runaway ball. I've also been hit by errant attempts at tosses to friends.

"Annoying" is a mild word to describe my feelings towards those particular "prizes".

--Greg
"You seem healthy. So much for voodoo."

^I almost tripped over a ball or ran into a kid several times while they were passing the ball back and forth while running down a crowded midway. Some of them just won't watch where they are going and they don't care.

-Tina

*** Edited 7/31/2006 1:15:08 PM UTC by coasterqueenTRN***

When one of those balls gets loose, it is always tempting to pick it up and hurl it into the nearest kill zone.

Trouble is, I'm too nice to actually do that.

I visited Kings Island recently, and the first thing I noticed was that the North parking entrance was open. The second thing I noticed was that all four lanes of the North parking entrance were open.

Inside the park, the ride crews have grown dramatically. There were a minimum of four people checking lap bars on The Beast, and the ride was making interval. I didn't think it was possible for The Beast to make interval, but I actually saw it happening. Pity it was running like crap.

But that was the most noticeable change. A lot more staff on the rides, resulting in more efficient operations. I am sure we will see more.

I heard a rumor over the weekend that at Kings Island a large number of maintenance people were let go as soon as the acquisition was announced. The implication, though, was that those people were laid off by CBS, not by Cedar Fair, and I wonder if Cedar Fair has brought any of them back, given that it appears that they are more interested right now in INCREASING staff.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I also cannot fathom why some people are so annoyed by basketballs. I have a feeling the people that are moaning about them will turn into one of "those crabby old man/lady" in the neighborhood that bit&$ about "those darn kids" all the time. :)

I guess I'm just too easy-going. :)

-Tambo

Chitown said:
Six Flags should look into installing these games.

SFA had one last season, it didn't reappear this season for some reason. However, it didn't appear to be done that great of a business. Then again, it was probably the prize they were giving away. I think the prize was a motorized scooter or something, not an I-Pod and if you lost, I think you walked away with nothing.

Wes-who hates the sound of the annoying bouncing basketball being bounced in the queue.

*** Edited 7/31/2006 1:36:02 PM UTC by coasterguts***

A day at the park is what you make it!

GregLeg said:Not to mention sloppy dribbling resulting in a runaway ball. I've also been hit by errant attempts at tosses to friends.
"Annoying" is a mild word to describe my feelings towards those particular "prizes".

...and I *know* I'm not the only one who has REPEATEDLY seen basketballs land in the tracks at coaster stations...and I'm always a BIT concerned to see employees walking on the tracks of an operating ride, even if it's to retrieve someone's errant dribble.

tambo said:
I also cannot fathom why some people are so annoyed by basketballs. I have a feeling the people that are moaning about them will turn into one of "those crabby old man/lady" in the neighborhood that bit&$ about "those darn kids" all the time.
I guess I'm just too easy-going.
-Tambo

It has nothing to do with the basketballs themselves. When that said basketball flies toward you, makes you almost trip over it, or the person that owns the basketball runs into you because he or she isn't paying attention because he or she has to show off his or her skills, that is when it becomes annoying.

Has nothing to do with age or being easy-going.

My favorite MJ tune: "Billie Jean" which I have been listening to alot now. RIP MJ.

^Exactly! It is more of a safety concern in my book. If the ball was deflated it would not have to be bounced and thus would not cause a safety concern -- AS IF WE NEED ANYMORE THIS SEASON! *sigh*

I still have a bone to pick with you Swoosh as far as Illinois drivers go. :)

Come to the Chicago area and find out why we don't mess around. Get out of our way or you will find yourself in a ditch. :)

My favorite MJ tune: "Billie Jean" which I have been listening to alot now. RIP MJ.

tambo said:
I also cannot fathom why some people are so annoyed by basketballs. I have a feeling the people that are moaning about them will turn into one of "those crabby old man/lady" in the neighborhood that bit&$ about "those darn kids" all the time.
I guess I'm just too easy-going.
-Tambo

I agree with Chitown...it's not the balls, it's what isdone with them.

To me it's no different than smoking. If someone is over in the smoking area they're not going to bother me...they can smoke 6 cigars at once as far as I care. But, if they're standing next to me somewhere else like a line blowing it in my face I have a real problem.

If someone won a ball and hung onto it, put it in a locker or stroller or whatever, fine! I don't get bothered by someone carrying a stuffed animal or whatever. But, the incessant dribbling (which is annoying as hell), tossing, passing, getting hit by stray balls, etc. annoys me to no end. *** Edited 7/31/2006 4:53:25 PM UTC by Peabody***

Real Cbuzz quote of the day - "The classes i take in collage are so mor adcanced then u could imagen. Dont talk about my emglihs" - Adamforce

Arson said:
Besides the trash cans at PKD, Anaconda was running with a very restrictive mid-course brake.

Its always been like that.(consider yourself lucky to be allowed to "fly through") I've always thought it really kills the momentum of the ride. Sure, the sloooow corkscrew at the end is kind of cool, but the slow pretzel-twist thing leading into it is just plain boring when the train is going so slow.