Preservation vs. Reality

Just throwing my 2 cents in here, but aren't we, as the coaster enthusiasts and the park going community, at fault for the downfall of the small park industry? The bigger parks are having to accomodate the ever raising bar on roller coasters. Year after year they need bigger and better and faster coasters to keep up with what gets the public to the parks. We go to the Cedar Points and the PKI's and the SF's and neglect the smaller parks altogether. This makes it harder for the small parks to afford to compete. Eventually, their rides become antiquated and park attendance all but ceases to exist and then they have to close. If we, as enthusiasts, want to preserve the small parks and the classic rides that we all love so much, maybe our trip plans could take us off the beaten path and help build up these great but unknown parks.

Preserving a coaster is a nice idea but let's not compare it to the effort to fight cancer.

If we did compare it though, you would find that millions of people are behind the effort to cure cancer while (maybe) thousands are behind the effort to save classic coasters. There is your problem in a nutshell.

If I really wanted to DO something about it though, and I were affiliated with some type of enthusiast organization, there might be some ideas. Instead of running an event and making it's home a big, corporate park...make the home base a small park within driving distance of one of the biggies. The small park is likely to offer you more in terms of breaks on admission, food deals, etc. Then, when the press comes calling about your event you can explain why you are doing it a Pop's Park instead of the Six Flags 45 minutes away.

Another way to bring attention to a classic might be to have one of these annual riding marathons on one of the classics ala the Dipper in CA.

I don't think these ideas are going to change the fact that these coasters are going to continue to be sacrificed in the name of growth. When Borders bookstore comes to town it is inevitable that the local mom and pop bookstore is going to go out of business. But, if you want to expend some energy I am all for the effort. You go!

I can appreciate the connection you draw between Borders and the Mom and Pop Bookstore... a valid point, no doubt. The sad thing is, the closing of a park such as Miracle Strip is more like a Mom and Pop Bookstore being replaced by a a Chinese restaurant. because Miracle Strip hasn't fallen prey to another form of amusement park, it has fallen prey to high land values thanks to an endless desire to build strip malls and retail "boxes."

We actually kicked around the idea of a riding marathon at a small park such as Conneaut or Camden, and while we have no official plans at this time, it is something that we are considering. We feel that something like that would be excellent press for a small park if the media knew about it ahead of time. Its something that would have very short-term affects on a park, but its a small step nonetheless.