PKI major announcement soon.

Shaggy and others, I agree 100%. And I must add that none of my so called (BASHING) of PKI is geared toward Maureen, Jeff or any of those guys. I just feel the park was miss managed. I also feel the only park unscathed by the Paramount takeover was PCW. That park had a ton of atmosphere and even the huge children/family section was cared for while it was transformed.

CF will make PKI a CF park, No doubt. This does mean pavement and lots of bright paint (Which is already underway) But it also means they will stress the quality of a attraction before starting it and cutting the budget on it later.

Except for Mantis (And it's not a bad attraction) I feel they get the most out of everything they try to do.

Chuck

....so there WAS validity to the claims of an Addams Family ride...but it was for a Mystery Mine TYPE of ride, as opposed to the IJ kind of ride that *did* come to fruition....verrrry interesting.

Thanks, Shaggy! :)

What all has been lost there?

Turnpike-area was full of trees, now all concrete

Gullivers Rub-a-Dub-buildings and walkway

Winnie Witch's Cauldrons

Keelboat Canal-nice water area, now a warehouse

Wheel of Fortune--pavement

Flying Eagles-for nothing

Tumble Bug/Skylab-replaced by rock wall climb

Zodiac (one of the coolest gentle rides ever)/Flight Commander-replaced by bungee jump

Cuddle Up-replaced by shop

Haley's Comet

Giant Slide

Bayern Kurve-replaced by King Kobra, not just an upcharge ugly attraction

Flying Dutchman-replaced by Advernture Express, could have easily been relocated, lots of charm with that ride

Spinnen Keggers-replaced by nothing

Cable Skyway-became buidlings

Monorail, replaced by coasters

Screamin Demon

Rotor, Barvarian Beatle/Ferris Wheel-replaced by big Festhaus building

Dolphin Staduim-raised and replaced by empty field

Antique car rides-1 sat idle for years, both replaced by horrible gravel-y, industrial Italian Job.

Too many rides replaced by ugliness!

For those who think Carowinds is nice now, check out these pics from "back in the day." The park had excellent, continuous theming and an overall theme of the Carolinas. There were theming details throughout the park right down to the coaster trains on Thunder Road (which was brilliant and white at that time instead of looking like rickety, unpainted wood as it does these days).

LOL, Carolina Boardwalk is a great example of how half-baked things are done in that park now. What is supposed to be coastal is recovered frontier buildings and there isn't a drop of water to be seen anywhere near the "boardwalk!"

http://members.aol.com/k9660r/earlywinds.html *** Edited 1/11/2007 8:55:05 PM UTC by super7**** *** Edited 1/11/2007 8:57:05 PM UTC by super7****

"What all has been lost there?"

But of significant note is that most of the rides listed ere lost in the Pre-Paramount "Linder" days. Those were actually the darkest days of the park IMO. I believe of those you listed, these were the rides lost pre-Paramount:

Gullivers Rub-a-Dub, Winnie Witch's Cauldrons, Wheel of Fortune, Tumble Bug, Zodiac, Cuddle Up, Haley's Comet, Giant Slide, Bayern Kurve, Flying Dutchman, Spinnen Keggers, Cable Skyway, Screamin Demon, Rotor, Barvarian Beatle, Ferris Wheel.

Also of note is that quite a few of these rides were "Chance" manufacturing. Chance was well known as a sub-par manufacturer... I think the going slogan among the industry was always "You take a Chance with Chance." However that still does not excuse the fact that so many traditional, and IMO, necessary flats were sacrificed for... well, not much.

Shaggy *** Edited 1/11/2007 9:34:06 PM UTC by Shaggy***

I agree, the parks suffered greatly from ride removal in before Paramount. The glory days of the flat rides were in the Taft days. The atmosphere started disappearing also with KECO, but then Paramount finished it off. What Paramount was most guility of was adding attractions themed to their easily forgot movies, and plopping them down anywhere in the park.

Like mentioned above, if a movie-themed area would have been created, and the movie-themed rides put together, it would have created atmosphere in addition to what was already there. Instead, they chose to rip out continuous theming elements and landscaping throughout the park to put those attractions here and there.......

Honestly, I think some of you like to complain about corporate parks just because they haven't been owned by the Whoever Family for the past 200 years.

I've been to PKI a couple of times. I would be more than happy to go back. Had a great time. As it appears to be one of the best-attended seasonal parks in North America, I'm guessing I'm not alone.

^Can I complain if a park is not owned by the Herschends then? ;)

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rollergator said:

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pkidelirium said:Who is the author of said book?

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MIGHT that be Rutherford book...one of my first coaster-related gifts....and an awesome resource.

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No,that would be David Bennett's book that I'm referring to for the KC pics...for those who've got the book the pic showing a five car train is on page#81 & the pic showing the full 6 car train is on page#162.

It's important to remember that no entity is a savior in this business, unless Uncle Walt emerges from his ice chamber like Han Solo from the carbonite. Cedar Fair will make some mistakes, and they will instill their own kind of bland, corporate atmosphere to the already-corporately-bland-but-in-a-different-way Paramount units. Theming is not CF's strong suit, and neither is preserving trees.

On the other hand, they bring a very wise eye to the process of developing a park. They tend to work slowly and carefully, and the attractions they choose are generally superb quality and well suited for their venues.

I truly agree with all the posts that lament the lost of charm and theming at PKI. It is a shame that things progressed the way they did. Every time I see the ugliness of Italian Job, the empty area where the Eagles were, or the hot and unimpressive look of the Action Zone, I wince...

The thing is, many corporate types will look at PKI's attendance, see it is the most attended U.S. park, and then say, "Why should I worry about looks and charm and theming when I am #1?"

That is the reality, but still I miss the way the park used to look and hope that one day such things are important again... *** Edited 1/12/2007 10:53:08 AM UTC by Mikewhy*** *** Edited 1/12/2007 10:54:07 AM UTC by Mikewhy***

Although I'm not as much of a PKI historian as those of you who have posted, I have to agree with the general "ugliness" complaints. What saddens me most is how irrepairable some of it is. TR:TR will forever be a big beige warehouse no matter what you name it or put inside. IJ is, well, doomed to become even uglier than it is already. Taking away the facts about the rides marketability to families, I would think Cedar Fair would groan to think of how much of an eye sore it will be when it needs paint, has no working special effects, and is stuck in the middle of the park.

Some of these issues simply aren't fixable without major overhaul work. I know they made effort to hid the ugliest parts of IJ towards the interior of the grassy area, but still. IJ might get might vote as the ugliest coaster ever built.

Italian Job is definitely an eyesore..........and they put it in 3 parks! You can see intermodal containers, police cars and (real) parking decks in downtown Cinti. It definitely does nothing to provide an "escape" from reality.

At least at Canada's Wonderland, they put it to the side of the park.

Kings Dominion is another park that lost tons of charm when they filled in the lake for the pavement waterpark. I think this was done before Paramount. With all the vacant land around there, it is baffling why they decided to destroy one of the most scenic parts of the park. It is appropriate that Italian Job sits there now, the icon of ugly lol.

Don't know, Last time I was at PKD was 1997 and other than around the raft ride and back in Grizzly area, There was no atmosphere to speak of. Chuck, who thought waynes world was worse than PKI's action zone if thats possible.

oh yes, wayne's world. Another short-lived, forgetful movie. Didn't they end up taking out the very atmopsheric railroad and destroying the wooded feel of the Grizzly with the additions in that area?

The woods of Grizzly were destroyed for Hypersonic.

That was one distinct rememberances I have of Grizzly was going through the woods off that second drop and saying WHOA! Due to the surprise of that tunnel and drop being hidden in 97

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Brian Noble said:

I've been to PKI a couple of times. I would be more than happy to go back. Had a great time. As it appears to be one of the best-attended seasonal parks in North America, I'm guessing I'm not alone.

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Just because it's a great park now (and I do think it is) doesn't mean it wasn't a fantastic park previously.

There are plenty of corporately owned parks that strike a balance between old and new, and make an effort to keep some sort of continuity with their theming. There's no reason (P)KI couldn't have done the same.

I get that. I wonder whether this thread is convincing anyone who hasn't been to PKI yet that it doesn't deserve a visit. The way some of you are describing it, it's only somewhat better than a garbage dump with rides plunked down on top of it.

Then again, I thought IJ:ST was a fun little ride, and thought it was rather well done. I guess I just don't have sufficiently high standards to be part of the cognoscenti.

My only saving grace is that I didn't think much of Action Zone, except of course some of the rides. ;) *** Edited 1/12/2007 10:27:58 PM UTC by Brian Noble***

I'm curious to see what direction CF will take KI in. Tomb Raider could have been done so much better, I always thought they should have covered it with "vines" and foliage, but alass they never did. One part of me says they will push it more in the theming direction, because it is more of a theme park than anything, the other part says they will make us almost Cedar Point, and have a couple themed rides and detheme everything else. At the least I can see Paramount Story removed for a large flat, it was always a waste of space.

They better keep the gardens. Now that the lake is gone, it's the nicest quiet spot in the park.