Cedar Point 2012

Yeah, I just checked out pics of PE's boats, and that 12' figure looks to be about right, if even a little conservative. Trying to build ADA compliant ramps to reach that level would be impractical, to say the least.

I cannot imagine that the Dinosaur exhibit would be a permanent attraction. And, did I read elsewhere they there is a $5 extra charge for folks to see it at King's Island? If they remove a "free" family attraction to replace it with one that will cost me an additional $20 to walk through then I don't consider that an "even swap".

I'd be more impressed if they spent the money to upgrade the Paddlewheel animation.

That's a good point. I didn't consider the possibility of it having an additional charge.

I don't know if I'm right. I thought I read some comments that someone who saw it at KI didn't think it was worth the $5. I have no idea if that is true or not.

Wouldn't it make just as much sense to keep Paddlewheel, only remove the existing antiquated animatronics and replace them with dinosaurs?

It is 5 bucks (to enter...more to watch the movie, etc...) at Kings Island, but it has also been a huge hit, and families have responded very positively.

And I agree with Ensign and above comments...I would be much more impressed if it were kept and improved. Dinosaur theming would be an upgrade, and make just as much sense as the current random placement of theming, which, like Walt said, is a shell of what is was.

Chief: I was at KI last Wed., and was sitting right across from the Dinosaur attraction for a half hour and saw exactly 0 people enter, and 0 people exit. Most people I heard that took a look said they weren't going to pay $5.00 to see fake dinosaurs.

According to the last conference call, it has been very successful. Folks at KIcentral have also pretty much had nothing but praise for it. It's been a hit.

KI seems to have made a solid investment here. But I don't know how the crowds at CP would accept fake dinosaurs....

They haven't had a problem with real ones for years, not sure they'd notice fake ones taking their place.

very nice. :)

I went through KI's attraction the first week it opened. I would say that it is neat, and a relaxing time away from all the coasters, but I would never say it was worth the five bucks.

Since that trip I have been to KI around 5 times, and have seen very few people go in or out of the exhibit. The people that have went through it, as of late, say the dino's are quickly deteriorating.

The worst part of it is, now that people have gone through it and thought it wasn't worth it, how do you get them to pay up that 5 bucks again next year? They say they will add a few new dinos every year, but if you didn't think the original ones were that cool then why go through it again?

Walt said:
Lose one family attraction, gain one family attraction. Obviously the goal is to grow family appeal, but there isn't a "loss" in this scenario.

I'd be inclined to agree with you if these dinosaur attractions weren't popping up everywhere right now. A family likely won't have to travel more than 30 minutes to find one nearby (the Metro Detroit area has at least 2 to choose from, not to mention the associated IMAX dino movies and so on). As far as I know, there aren't any paddleboat excursions in SE Michigan.

Am I the only one who feels this dino fad will likely be a distant memory in a few years, simply due to overexposure? The only unique aspect of having a dino attraction at CP will be the occasional MF train zooming by, drowning out the "roars". Is that enough of a draw to get families interested?

And charging for this attraction would only compound the above problems, in my opinion.

djDaemon said:
(the Metro Detroit area has at least 2 to choose from, not to mention the associated IMAX dino movies and so on).

3 actually. Detroit Zoo, Detroit Science Center and Cranbrook Institue of Science. Although, all 3 are temporary installations that will move on after the summer.

And there you go. Given that the population of Metro Detroit (a huge chunk of CP's market) consists of about 12 people, what happens when they've all had their fill? My nephew's already seen two of these attractions this year.

I don't disagree. I was just looking at it from a "high altitude" viewpoint.

I'm in the park now and I saw a guy with a shirt and tie walking around with what looked to be blue prints

YES! The blue prints are for that 500ft. wooden coaster with a water splash! I knew it! That explains the paint marks! LMAO!!!

I can't resist sometimes...

Please try harder to resist :)

I bet its just fir the new haunted houses.