Monthly Archives: August 2009

Well it is official, Planet Snoopy has been announced for all 5 former Paramount Parks.  Each park has announced it on there website, besides Kings Island who announced, then removed it from their website a few days later.  So why is Cedar Fair spending all of this money on there parks to retheme large areas?  Royalty fees.

Nickelodeon Central and Hannah Barbera Land each hold massive Royalty fees so that the parks can incorporate their characters.  However since it is a tough time for theme parks, Cedar Fair decided to cut these two price tags out of their budget.  While it may be a good short term solution that will bring families into the park, in the long run, kids will associate Snoopy with the park that he is in, because Snoopy doesn’t exactly come one TV anymore.

Is this bad?  Perhaps.  I do feel Nickelodeon Characters are far more known with young children these days and several kids will think of Snoopy as a “new” character.  But honestly, I don’t understand why Cedar Fair doesn’t just do that.  Create their own small cast of characters that would not require any royalty fees and if well developed can be very relatable to children and introduced right away and be recognized.  Sx Flags Discovery Kingdom has done it with a number of their animals, Holiday World has done, and Tokyo DisneySea’s most popular character isn’t even from a Disney movie or show, he is a stuffed animal!

Well none the less, we will be seeing alot of construction in these parks as they remove, repaint, and build new items that will (hopefully) tie Planet Snoopy together as a cohesive land.

Leave your comments and park thoughts.

Cedar Point has been having alot of fun with toying with their massive fan base.  It is probably very smart of them to do all these mind games as it throws all internet rumors off track.  Which has been done incredibly well, so lets see what the park has hinted over the past weeks and see what it might mean.

“Cedar Point is not building an S&S, a B&M, a Grav. Group, a Mack, or a Gerstlauer.”  This is probably the only helpful hint out of all of them.  The only major companies left are Great Coasters International (GCI), Vekoma, and Intamin.  The park has a terrific history with Intamin with most of there most recent coasters being Intamin’s so I feel it is most likely.

“Two down…one to go.”  So does this relate to announcements?  Recently Cedar Fair has announced 2 coasters, Intimidator and Intimidator 305, so does that mean that there will only be one more coaster for 2010 in all of Cedar Fair?  Perhaps it means there is a third Intimidator on its way to Cedar Point?  Or maybe I am totally off and this actually has no true meaning.

Cedar Point has also been toying heavily with the name “White Lightnin'” which was originally thought to be the name of the Intimidator coaster for Carowinds.  It appears that White Lightnin’ or whatever the name ends up being will have a hillbilly/western theme.  Rumors currently state it will be an Intamin log flume, how interesting is that?

What do you think the new Cedar Point addition will be?

So a few years ago while on YouTube I found an incredible pair of stuntmen.  However these were not your ordinary stunt junkies, these two did jumps, flips, and tricks on water slides!

These two are very brave and crazy for doing some of the tricks they do.  If you check out the video at 0:16, I have to say that...

WipeOut at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk from Park Thoughts on Vimeo.

In case you missed it, here is a video I shot of the amazing Wipeout at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.  This twisted dark ride spins you in to insanity before returning back to the real world.  Enjoy your mind before you lose it.

Leave your comments and park thoughts!

Among the several different B&M Flying coasters, one remains the most unique.  Air at Alton Towers in the United Kingdom is a very different kind of flying coasters.  Most of the flying coastesr we see are huge monsterous beasts that make there guests feel as if they are soaring high above the ground and structures below.  However Air is very...

Crossbow at Bowcraft Playland in New Jersey is what I would call a very interesting coaster.  This Zierer custom coaster looks like a decent family coaster that would be an excellent addition for smaller theme parks with open space.  Crossbow winds through a few turns and curves and while not at a high speed it sure looks nicer then a...