hammerstark

Honestly, I'd rather have an RMC'd Timberwolf than a launched coaster.

Some reports are saying they've fired the Director of Maintenance. Speculation is that the poor state of rides and operations is owed to that. Counter arguments seem to be that Cedar Fair's contribution to the park are minimal because they "don't care about it." So the budgets the park has to work with are severely restrictive and have led to the multiple issues with Rides Operations and ride dependability - i.e. Mamba's issues, Prowler's tracking problems, and Boomerang's near constant state of break down, along with the lack of progress on Timberwolf's retracking.

Interesting. It seems like it could go one of two ways. Either it will be a very big change that will push the park into more diverse territory with a bigger emphasis on competing with Silver Dollar City and SFSTL or it will be more of the same - incremental updates. So it will stay the same or change. That's a bold prediction Captain Obvious. What I meant was, we will either start to see significant investment in the park to make it more competitive, as it does sit in a major metro which has rebounded from the recession. (Especially given the prospect of the 10,000+ jobs Cerner's expansion is expected to bring to the KC area.) The initial explanation (at least speculated explanation, I suppose) was that Carowinds was seeing significant investment because the Charlotte metro was growing more rapidly and had a broader market reach than WoF does. But with the prospect of significant employment growth and with it, population growth; changes to management may see a change in direction where WoF is more heavily invested in to take advantage of the expanded customer base that may be within its grasp as well as more direct competition with SFSTL and SDC. Or CedarFair believed that Wilburn wasn't managing the park properly and brought someone new in to try to put it on the right track, and we will only see incremental improvements over the next few years with focus on customer experiences, ride management, etc. Or something completely different happened and the King's Island guy is just the person that happened to be willing to take the job, and we will continue to see the same thing out of WoF, small updates and maintenance of existing infrastructure and investment in "small rides."

Interesting. It seems like it could go one of two ways. Either it will be a very big change that will push the park into more diverse territory with a bigger emphasis on competing with Silver Dollar City and SFSTL or it will be more of the same - incremental updates.

Yeah, it's pretty awful. I went to Cedar Point for the first time, ever, last year and was thoroughly impressed with their gate setup, with the plaza in front. (Of course Gatekeeper made it just that more awesome.)

17:38 Don't be petty Fetty. Just remember, No matter how small or big this announcement is........ 'Don't sweat the petty stuff, Pet the sweaty stuff '. I'm optimistic that it's "something", because why would there be such a delay and no hints. Not only that, but if it was something as small as in-park wifi or funpix, which the investor information states ONLY the five largest CF parks are getting, why wouldn't they have announced that at the main press release, that isn't something that would require it's own separate event... I'm trying not to get TOO optimistic, but come on, in park wifi and funpix isn't something that would warrant its own, separate press release.

Orient Express! (One can dream...)

I think it's a good move. In comparison to a massive investment in a coaster, it provides a stream of ROI for the future. That combined with the fact that a large investment hasn't been made since Prowler, in 2009. Surely that means they have a significant amount of money saved up for something big in the future...possibly...maybe...right?? Also they may be putting something big off until 2018...45 years and all that.

Seems like they're saving Worlds of Fun and Cedar Point for last in the Cedar Fair announcement chain...surely that means something good for us...right??? *crosses fingers*

Its frustrating that Cedar Fair doesn't publicly release attendance numbers. According to sources, SDC has an average of 2 million visitors per year, which if you take into account the information that following Cedar Fair's acquisition of Worlds of Fun, the early 2000s brought about the first years with attendance below a million a year. If SDC is bringing more than twice what WoF is, Cedar Fair should realize that something went wrong... I whole heartedly agree. I think with the removal of Zinger and OE they really shot themselves in the foot. Granted patriot is great. But I feel like if they kept a few of these, and just added to their arsenal, things would be better. I know these rides have had their issues, mainly OE. But still, theres more than one way to skin a cat. I in know way know what goes on behind the scenes over there and I'm sure they had a reason to fully remove them, but for the sake of the public and for the people paying regularly, I feel like they really lost a lot of a rounded coaster line up. I also think its ironic that they have shirts that say "I LOVE ORIENT EXPRESS" and the like with ZZ in the clothing shops by boomerang. I am a proud owner of an ironic Orient Express shirt. haha. I have futile hope that one day they will do an "imitation" Orient Express....haha But on the honest side, I agree, I think Cedar Fair came in guns blazing tearing old stuff out with a grand plan and it fell through. Not only because the economy crashed, but because people felt betrayed, they came in like a big corporation and took out so many of the things that people loved rather than putting forth effort to improve what was here and adding to it.

Its frustrating that Cedar Fair doesn't publicly release attendance numbers. According to sources, SDC has an average of 2 million visitors per year, which if you take into account the information that following Cedar Fair's acquisition of Worlds of Fun, the early 2000s brought about the first years with attendance below a million a year. If SDC is bringing more than twice what WoF is, Cedar Fair should realize that something went wrong...

A small part of me is really hoping for a coaster, but I know its futile. I really wish we could get our hands on a wing-coaster. I may be on one of the few on here that really loved Gatekeeper at CP. Then you'll love 2017 at SDC. If that's true, that really bothers me. SDC is making great investments recently. Giving people a reason to go to Branson rather than WoF. That's why it bothers me that, in my eyes, Cedar Fair and WoF management haven't been positioning WoF to win this region... With that being said, I've never been to SDC, so I'm going to probably be making that trek soon.

A small part of me is really hoping for a coaster, but I know its futile. I really wish we could get our hands on a wing-coaster. I may be on one of the few on here that really loved Gatekeeper at CP.

Speaking of the Orient section, I've heard varying stories as to why there was never a coaster implemented as a "true" replacement to the Orient Express. You would think with the amount of money they spent on Patriot, they could have had a phenomenal traditional looping coaster or similar. I've heard that there was a ground cave-in and the ground was no longer stable, which is why nothing is where it was, but they did move the Festhaus further back onto ground the Orient Express once occupied, or very near it at least. Also constructing Spinning Dragons where they did blocked off access to that area. Just curious if anyone has more concrete information or ideas with why they basically blocked that area off?

Or Australia/Oceana. If they did, maybe they could move Boomerang there (because it really is more of an australian-themed ride, just look at the sign) and have room for something nice where boomerang was. Adding another "World" wouldn't be good for the park and especially for the people who care about the history. Yes and No, There was a mid-east leg in the Around the World in 80 days adventure, so they could go with that, though I don't see that flying. I think they really need to figure out a good way to expand Orient. It's such a small area. Americana and Africa is huge in comparison.