Question about the former paramount parks.

I say if they have to remove all trees in the park to add 20 roller coasters then do it...haha...I mean I like to have trees and theming but aren't we coaster entusiasts here, not theming and tree enthusiasts?

I KNOW CP is not a theme park, and that is one of the reasons I just don't prefer it over other parks! It is also the reason that Cedar Fair tends to be bland with theming. Look at what they started with.....not a theme park! LOL

Nice backpeddling!

Jeff said:
...Maverick required only a few near the pond end of the ride, something that would be required for any ride at any park.

I'm not agreeing with the "CP has no trees" thing, but a cursory count of the trees around WWL easily gives me a total of 30, scattered throughout the site. Of course, it was a worthy trade-off, and Maverick will look spectacular in another 5 years or so, once the newly planted stuff starts growing in more.

Collin Aynes said:I say if they have to remove all trees in the park to add 20 roller coasters then do it...haha...I mean I like to have trees and theming but aren't we coaster entusiasts here, not theming and tree enthusiasts?

You'd be QUITE surprised at the number of "coaster enthusiasts" here that prefer a well-rounded experience complete with flat rides, shows, landscaping, theming, good food, clean restrooms, *and* rollercoasters. And since the thread's about PPs, I'm going to mention AGAIN how much I missed the floral clock on my visits to (P)KI this year. THe landscaping was one of the reasons I was bummed that CF took over from Paramount (the other way around would have been preferable for me at least, LOL).

There's defiantly a trend in theme park building.

Disney started the theme park trend followed by Kings Island, so now everyone seems to start with a main street (with or without a fountain) and that leads to a big circle format usually around a lake (Hard Rock, Astroword, Jazzland, IOA... even Wild West World as some prime examples)

^Randall Duell is largely responsible for the layouts. Not sure if this site is linkable, but I'll try: http://www.thrillride.com/RDuellinterview/RDuellInt1.html

Disneyland was inspired by Fairyland (built in 1950) and Tivoli Gardens (built in 1843).

It keeps the flow moving, and distributes the people (somewhat) even.

Kings island still does not have the floral clock?

I thought it was because we were there too early in the yeak. That sucks that they axed that.

Guess the lolcats are in charge of KI's gardening this year, with the "invisible Liberty Bell" joining the "invisible floral clock". If they could just make the people ahead of me in the line for Diamondback disappear too. :)

What, in the WWL days you were able to walk around the ride? Because all of the midway facing areas are exactly the same. They even used the old station. Seriously, what do you want?

And CP has no asphalt anywhere but the Frontier Trail. You can't even spit without hitting pavers now around that park. The average age of trees everywhere in the front of the park is in the decades. In fact, there's a net gain in trees since they planted a bunch near maXair when they yanked out the old games structures.

Are the midways wide? Yes. The park often serves more than 30,000 guests in a day, and fills those midways. I don't know what else you would expect. But you see what you want to see, and I see a very green park.

...a very green park with bland theming (for a park that doesn't specialize in theming in the first place).

;)

Mamoosh said:
I KNOW CP is not a theme park, and that is one of the reasons I just don't prefer it over other parks! It is also the reason that Cedar Fair tends to be bland with theming. Look at what they started with.....not a theme park! LOL

Nice backpeddling!

Duh. Where is there backpeddling? This is my original statement earlier in the thread! "

Cedar Fair has been mostly in the thrill rides business, not the theme park business. Not great at ride naming, and not great at theming. Cedar Point has lots of rides, but that is mostly what it is, lots of rides.....there is very little theming there, and with every installation, due to their landlocked situation, more trees and greenspace disappears."

I have never been a big fan of the feel of Cedar Point and have always preferred the former Taft parks because of their atmosphere. King's Island and Carowinds as well as CA Great America (a Marriott Park) however have definitely slid backwards over the years in being more like Cedar Point under the Paramount ownership.

Like said above, some only care about the rides. Others care about the feel of the park and like to get away into another world through the theming and landscaping. I am in the 2nd group.

Last time I was at KI (Memorial Day Sunday) the floral clock was being installed. The liberty bell was still MIA though.

ridemcoaster said:
Vater.. you didnt give Time Shaft the attention it deserves in answering that question.

Its more than just a rotor.. It was a queue line that went into a tunnel which led you to a room where there was blaring Rock Music and sweltering 90 degree temperatures, all the while spinning when the floor drops and you attempting to rotate your body upside down..

That, was Time Shaft.. :)

Was cool that you could see the people spinning below from the queue line though since the top was open to them.

Is Time Shaft still in that mountain at KD? I know the ride is closed of course but I have heard from many people and read on other sites over the years which claimed that the entire Time Shaft ride is still intact just rusting away inside that mountain.

Cedar Points atmosphere has really improved in the last few years, imo. The new games area near MaxAir and the new Frontier Trail has some pretty cool high tech lighting. The park adds new, great looking signage yearly. If they keep it up, CP's "theme" could soon become the standard for other amusement parks.

Interesting read, Gator. I used to design "fantasy" amusement parks when I was younger. It was a very strange hobbie.

Actualy Jeff, the entire gemini midway is also made of blacktop as well.

Glad to hear about the flower clock making a return.

Chriscub said:

Is Time Shaft still in that mountain at KD?

Thats a very good question.. On surface I want to say no because it would be sort of where the 1st launch is for Volcano. But now im curious.. In my search I did run across this cool site with lots of old photos of KD.

http://community.webshots.com/album/419637432CUOxsq?start=0

Great now im going to have to drive up there again.. geesh (twist arm) ;)

What I would love to see at KI and KD, is to bring back I-Street back to the way it was. Take those islands out, return it back to the way it used to look. Were it looked like a real street, bring back the side walks with the lamp posts on every corner with tables and benches out side the shops. That's what I would like to see.

If you want a green park with some great themes and fair amount of rides that make use of the surroundings go to Busch Gardens Williamsburg. It's a beautiful park. I always enjoy my trips there.

super7* said:

JoelWhy said:

My point, Paramount may have destroyed the original soul but Cedar Fair's neglect to detail moves KI toward resembling the bland theming of its other parks.

With Diamondback, they at least named the coaster and made the station to match the frontier theme. But removed countless trees and a lake to install the coaster. How much better would this coaster have been surrounded by trees like the Beast?

Have you seen photos of The Beast from back in the 1979 when it first opened?

Those lush forests that surround the ride grew in over the past 30 years to what it is today. It wasn't always like that.

When it first opened, there were bare patches of nothing surrounding the ride when they cleared land to construct it.