Cedar Fair Announces Investment in Carowinds

[Jarrett]

That's my point. They plan on building "record-breaking attractions", and if that means a coaster, you can count out a Wing Rider. With Carowinds having a pretty bland lineup, I would expect whatever is planned to be unique. A Ring Racer-esque launcher would be cool, but will never happen. I feel like Cedar Fair uses B&M and GCI.....and that's it. Well at least after their fallout with Intamin. So it will most likely be a B&M. If it was a Giga, I'm not sure what record they would go for, however.

The only record I see anybody going after with B&M would be the biggest traditional drop, taking it from Steel Dragon. Maybe most inversions in the US, but Cedar Fair isn't that inversion crazy. Cedar Fair did use S&S a while ago for Power Tower and the other multi towers found at KBF and if I'm correct, Valleyfair. I don't think they've had any issues with them (could be wrong, though) and if they go with S&S, I could see them breaking the steepest drop record with an el loco and maybe a launch record (fastest acceleration, longest launch track, ect.).

 

[Hyde]

Carowinds removed their log flume in 2009 for Intimidator.

GET READY FOR ITS RETURN IN 2015!!!!!!!!

 

[bentcookie]

^Ha!

 

[Taxi]

I can see at least one big coaster out of this. Probably not the same size as Intimidator, but great nonetheless.

 

[steel]

I love Carowinds and a wing rider would fit in perfectly there. I would not be surprised at all to see a wing rider at Carowinds for 2015. They literally could not care less whether a few people on an obscure special interest Internet forum enjoy wing riders or not, they're great people-eaters and most people love them.

 

[Taxi]

I love Carowinds and a wing rider would fit in perfectly there. I would not be surprised at all to see a wing rider at Carowinds for 2015. They literally could not care less whether a few people on an obscure special interest Internet forum enjoy wing riders or not, they're great people-eaters and most people love them.

I agree. They are great people-eaters.

What parks are usually looking for; (in general)

-Something New, Exciting, and Innovating.
-Appeals to a Large crowd
-High Capacity
-Reliable
-Aesthetics


Wing Coasters take the cake....

 

[CPSFMMCW]

So what we're saying, is that if all of the rumors hold true, we'll be seeing a new coaster at Carowinds, Kings Dominion, Dorney Park, Michigan's Adventure, and Worlds of Fun? 5 of the 11 parks? Pretty sure thats not gonna happen. So the question is, which park(s) will have to wait till 2016 to get a new one?

 

[Jason Voorhees]

A B&M Giga would be a dream of mine...but it isn't going to happen because there is no place to fit it in unless it will actually be a coaster OVER the parking lot instead of next to it like Intimidator. Also Intimidator, my favorite coaster. <3

Do you know what would be a really good addition for the park? An Intamin Impulse coaster.

 

[Hobbes]

Do you know what would be a really good addition for the park? An Intamin Impulse coaster.

I didn't think of this, and its an interesting idea. It would fill the gap Carowinds has for a launch coaster (well, at least kind of fill the gap), and would be fairly easy to fit in the park given their small footprint.

However, I doubt it'll happen, for three reasons:
1. The previously discussed business problems between Intamin and Cedar Fair.
2. It's been a decade since one of these was built (not counting Voodoo, which was a relocation). I'd be surprised to see a new one built after all this time.
3. Carowinds has $50 million to use. I know not all of it is going to be spent on coasters, but I would expect a much more major attraction.

 

[bentcookie]

I love Carowinds and a wing rider would fit in perfectly there. I would not be surprised at all to see a wing rider at Carowinds for 2015. They literally could not care less whether a few people on an obscure special interest Internet forum enjoy wing riders or not, they're great people-eaters and most people love them.

I agree. They are great people-eaters.

What parks are usually looking for; (in general)

-Something New, Exciting, and Innovating.
-Appeals to a Large crowd
-High Capacity
-Reliable
-Aesthetics


Wing Coasters take the cake....

Firstly, "exciting" should never be a word used to describe a Wing Rider.

Secondly is this:

This guy. A terrible park with one redeeming attraction needs more than a crappy WR. They are the B&M Floorless of this time period.. except those rides don't suck.

 

[steel]

Firstly, "exciting" should never be a word used to describe a Wing Rider.

Secondly is this:

This guy. A terrible park with one redeeming attraction needs more than a crappy WR. They are the B&M Floorless of this time period.. except those rides don't suck.

Well then it's a good thing you're not the one in charge of this decision isn't it? I'm sorry you don't think they're very interesting, but most people do. Most people are not roller coaster enthusiasts. That's the reality of it.

 

[jolash]

So what we're saying, is that if all of the rumors hold true, we'll be seeing a new coaster at Carowinds, Kings Dominion, Dorney Park, Michigan's Adventure, and Worlds of Fun? 5 of the 11 parks? Pretty sure thats not gonna happen. So the question is, which park(s) will have to wait till 2016 to get a new one?

Well it'd be amazing if Cedar Fair would spend even $10 on Michigan's Adventure. They have owned the park for 12 years now, and have NEVER, I say NEVER purchased an original coaster for the park. Every coaster in the park was built before Cedar Fair bought it, and the only "new" ride is the Thunderhawk transplant from Geauga Lake. How's that for neglect? This could be a great park if it could get some investments put into it.


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[Taxi]

Firstly, "exciting" should never be a word used to describe a Wing Rider.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w78FASvQvGA[/youtube]

Well this video tells a different story. People obviously ride them for some reason, they're popular enough to have had 6 installations in it's first 3 years on the market. Inverted Coasters had 7 installations by it's 3rd year, so I think it is safe to say that this is the new "Exiting" thing. What parks and people want in a coaster have changed, it's 2013. Balls-to-the-walls forcefully B&M's wen't out of style 10+ years ago, time to adapt to the change. Regardless of all the enthusiasts b!tching, these things will still sell like hot cakes.

So what we're saying, is that if all of the rumors hold true, we'll be seeing a new coaster at Carowinds, Kings Dominion, Dorney Park, Michigan's Adventure, and Worlds of Fun? 5 of the 11 parks? Pretty sure thats not gonna happen. So the question is, which park(s) will have to wait till 2016 to get a new one?

Well it'd be amazing if Cedar Fair would spend even $10 on Michigan's Adventure. They have owned the park for 12 years now, and have NEVER, I say NEVER purchased an original coaster for the park. Every coaster in the park was built before Cedar Fair bought it, and the only "new" ride is the Thunderhawk transplant from Geauga Lake. How's that for neglect? This could be a great park if it could get some investments put into it.


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I've always thought the same. MA is a great little park, and could really become something. Sadly, because it is a small park, attendance & revenue don't suffice for such big additions. Even it is owned by a big company like Cedar Fair, the park still has to make a return on it's investment, and 10$M is a bit far fetched for MI.

 

[steel]

The problem with MIA is that the only major population center nearby is Grand Rapids, and everyone there is much more likely to go to Cedar Point.

 

[bentcookie]

Firstly, "exciting" should never be a word used to describe a Wing Rider.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w78FASvQvGA[/youtube]

Well this video tells a different story. People obviously ride them for some reason, they're popular enough to have had 6 installations in it's first 3 years on the market. Inverted Coasters had 7 installations by it's 3rd year, so I think it is safe to say that this is the new "Exiting" thing. What parks and people want in a coaster have changed, it's 2013. Balls-to-the-walls forcefully B&M's wen't out of style 10+ years ago, time to adapt to the change. Regardless of all the enthusiasts b!tching, these things will still sell like hot cakes.

So what we're saying, is that if all of the rumors hold true, we'll be seeing a new coaster at Carowinds, Kings Dominion, Dorney Park, Michigan's Adventure, and Worlds of Fun? 5 of the 11 parks? Pretty sure thats not gonna happen. So the question is, which park(s) will have to wait till 2016 to get a new one?

Well it'd be amazing if Cedar Fair would spend even $10 on Michigan's Adventure. They have owned the park for 12 years now, and have NEVER, I say NEVER purchased an original coaster for the park. Every coaster in the park was built before Cedar Fair bought it, and the only "new" ride is the Thunderhawk transplant from Geauga Lake. How's that for neglect? This could be a great park if it could get some investments put into it.


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I've always thought the same. MA is a great little park, and could really become something. Sadly, because it is a small park, attendance & revenue don't suffice for such big additions. Even it is owned by a big company like Cedar Fair, the park still has to make a return on it's investment, and 10$M is a bit far fetched for MI.

So you're telling me that SheiKra, Goliath (SFOG) Tatsu, Manta, Griffon, Behemoth, Diamondback, Intimidator, Leviathan and Shambhala are out of style? These were all built from 2005 and after, and are pretty intense and forcefull. I'm pretty sure balls-to-the-wall coasters are still in style.

 

[jolash]

The problem with MIA is that the only major population center nearby is Grand Rapids, and everyone there is much more likely to go to Cedar Point.

That's the problem. With hands in the markets of KZoo, Grand Rapids, and Muskegon, why should people be willing to travel 3-4 hours to Cedar Point or SFGAm when MiA is within an hour. The park needs some rapid expansion and growth.


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[steel]

So you're telling me that SheiKra, Goliath (SFOG) Tatsu, Manta, Griffon, Behemoth, Diamondback, Intimidator, Leviathan and Shambhala are out of style? These were all built from 2005 and after, and are pretty intense and forcefull. I'm pretty sure balls-to-the-wall coasters are still in style.

No one is saying that, although 2005 was almost a decade ago and we haven't seen a flying coaster or a dive machine in the US for quite a few years. But YOU are absolutely not the ultimate authority on what is and isn't intense or what is and isn't exciting. You keep arguing against wing riders as though it's proven fact that they're boring and forceless and nobody likes them, but that's just literally not true. TONS of people like them - love them even!

If you want to talk about what parks are likely to ask from B&M these days, that still doesn't help your case. By far the most popular designs right now are their megacoaster and their wing rider (plus their invert is always fairly popular). Carowinds already has a fantastic B&M invert and a fantastic B&M hypercoaster. They're unlikely to get a gigacoaster, at least not yet, so that means a wing rider is the most probably choice if they go with B&M - which seems to be the trend at Cedar Fair these days. The other possibility is a GCI, which would also go well at Carowinds.

That's the problem. With hands in the markets of KZoo, Grand Rapids, and Muskegon, why should people be willing to travel 3-4 hours to Cedar Point or SFGAm when MiA is within an hour. The park needs some rapid expansion and growth.

Well, exactly. If people there want roller coasters, Cedar Point is so big that it's worth the few extra hours of travel. Cedar Point is a huge draw all over the country, even the world. That's tough to compete with - look what happened to Geauga Lake. It may be safer for MIA's future to stay on its local park trajectory and NOT try too hard to compete with the big ones.

 

[Hobbes]

I can't really comment on wing riders as I haven't ridden one, but they're definitely a popular ride type right now. They have to be worth something to parks given the amount that have been built over the past few years. Parks wouldn't invest in them if people didn't want to ride them.

It's true that Cedar Fair is pretty much down to B&M and GCI for their usual manufacturer options. However, this leaves them without any real provider for launched coasters now that they're done with Intamin (at least in theory). Assuming this new ride is launched (which, despite the wing discussion, I still think it will be), it will be interesting to see which manufacturer Cedar Fair chooses. I don't think Cedar Fair have ever used a launched coaster not built by Intamin, so I'm interested to see if they go with Mack or Premier.

 

[njn63]

Well this video tells a different story. People obviously ride them for some reason, they're popular enough to have had 6 installations in it's first 3 years on the market. Inverted Coasters had 7 installations by it's 3rd year, so I think it is safe to say that this is the new "Exiting" thing. What parks and people want in a coaster have changed, it's 2013. Balls-to-the-walls forcefully B&M's wen't out of style 10+ years ago, time to adapt to the change. Regardless of all the enthusiasts b!tching, these things will still sell like hot cakes.

The only thing that is weird is there have been no repeat customers for wing riders (at least in the US). SF put in X-flight 2 years ago and hasn't put in another. Cedar Fair put up Gatekeeper last year and went with an invert for Kings Island for 2014.

When SF put up the first Batman in 1992, they built another one in 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1997. Kind of makes me wonder if the ROI isn't that great on the wing riders...

The problem with MIA is that the only major population center nearby is Grand Rapids, and everyone there is much more likely to go to Cedar Point.

That's the problem. With hands in the markets of KZoo, Grand Rapids, and Muskegon, why should people be willing to travel 3-4 hours to Cedar Point or SFGAm when MiA is within an hour. The park needs some rapid expansion and growth.


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That is exactly why they DON'T need to expand. They can't compete with Cedar Point/SFGAm without a huge investment and the likelihood of drawing enough of a decent ROI is tiny. MA is a local park and the only realistic business plan is to stay that way.

 

[jolash]

steel and njn,

Let me rephrase. The LAST thing I think is that MiA should try to compete with the likes of CP or SFGAm. This park would NEVER make it is a national or international superpower. BUT... The severe lack of change in the park over the years can't be good for it.


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