I did hear some talk a while back that the T-Rex concept is on hold for the time being... there wasn't enough interest from potential clients to get it off the paper for the time being. Plus of course they've got their hands full with the raptors and there is demand for them.
On the contrary, I think you could make the case that Wicked Twister could be better used in a park where it doesn't "disappear" in the crowd of coasters. At Cedar Point, Wicked Twister is just another coaster among many, and the others have a bigger draw and command more attention. As a result, it does little to help draw people to the park, and it doesn't even see a lot of traffic from the people who go there. It's a +1 for Cedar Point, serving mainly to inflate the number of coasters, and for that role it is quite expensive.
It's on hold, but not due to lack of interest. T-Rex is intended to be a product of massive scale - massive enough that physical development is a challenge. RMC's workaround is to leverage Raptor as a small scale test bed, as much of the technology between the two products will essentially be the same. Although Raptor is its own product, these rides provide a convenient opportunity for RMC to iterate their designs as Raptors proliferate throughout parks. Gen II Raptors may look almost identical to gen I Raptors, but they've basically been completely redesigned based on lessons learned from Wonder Woman and Railblazer, and based on Stunt Pilot's current performance, there's plenty of design work ahead of them. Aside from design readiness, T-Rex also isn't feasible to manufacture as of last summer. RMC's Iron Horse track and Raptor track is small enough where each plate can be hand twisted into position while framing each track section. T-Rex's track will be big enough that RMC needs to concoct some sort of machine bending process to frame the track. Granted, it's been over a year now since I talked with their director of design and manufacturing, and investigating manufacturing techniques is something that could have been done since then. The best way to think about it is like a concept car at an auto show. The big track segment that @ECG helped reveal a number of years ago now was just that - a concept. They do intend to bring it to production - it's just not quite ready yet.
At this point, it's all conjecture since neither one of us has the data in front of us. It'd completely depend on relocation costs, operating costs, and attendance projections for whatever park it'd get relocated to. I wouldn't think Wicked Twister would stand out at either Worlds of Fun or California's Great America, but I very well could be wrong. I'm still banking on (much) lower revenue at a different park vs operating costs, but time will certainly tell!
fox8.com
probably this week
There’s been a Beach cantina and numerous restaurants in the Hotel breakers for years along the boardwalk.
The stage was only ever temporary - the former stadium plot remains a literal open lot, that is only being lightly used as open space for “fun” activities, such as a kiddie obstacle course they run for Halloweekends.
Overall agreed. If I could choose, I'd honestly shoot for something comparable to Knott's Boardwalk section, a simple-themed selection of smaller coaster and flat rides (even Hangtime, a legit Gerstlauer, doesn't have a hugely "commanding" presence along the midway versus the wild mouse and other rides); but the original intent of removing the stadium was to create easier venue space for larger gatherings/concert features that don't take up valuable Soak City parking space (which yes, is the default concert venue lol). Covid threw a screwdriver into the entire plan for larger, close contact gatherings; but wouldn't be surprised to see CP reorient that way headed into the 2022 season.
Not too surprised after having months to think about what they were going to do with it. At least that means we will have the other impulses for a little while longer.
