New News About Next Season?

I went to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure with my free tickets from CP. . .first time ever. . .

. . .and I have to say that seeing the 'regular' food places like Taco Bell and the freak advertisements (THIS ride brought to you by CORRRRRRRRRN NUTS!!!!!!!) really took away from the atmosphere of the park.

I would hate to see anything like that happen at Cedar Point. Now, Johnny Rockets is not that big of a chain, and I didn't even know it WAS a chain till I was told. That restaurant has a theme and an atmosphere all its own, while a Taco Bell is. . .well. . .Taco Bell

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It's CHRISTMAS already!!!!! Yay! SCREW Thanksgiving. . .bring on the LIGHTS!

You are going to see more national "chains" in parks in the coming years. McDonald's is all over property at WDW, Friday's at Cedar Point, etc. I do think this is a trend that will continue.

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"You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world...but it requires people to make the dreams a reality."

The Lake Erie Factory Outlet Center opened with fanfare sometime in the late 1980's (I think) about a mile north of the Ohio Turnpike on Rt. 250.

And it was an absolutely miserable place to shop or work! It was not an enclosed mall, Strike One. It was not shaded, had inconvenient parking, and was roasting hot in the summer, Strike Two. It was oriented so that the main concourse ran roughly east-west, creating a wind-tunnel that could freeze the blood in your face in the winter, Strike Three and out. The people that built it could have spent a little time learning about the area and the weather, as well as the shopping demographic, before they started construction. The whole corner, which costs many millions to acquire, improve and build, sold for about $800k, as I recall. An anemic, useless monument to poor retail planning.

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Tank
Magnum: 12

Pizza hut, taco bell, and kfc are not owned by pepsi any more i don't think. Pepsi bought them in 1977 but i think in early 90's they dropped them. Now they are owned by YUM! Brands (formally Tricon) which also owns Long John Silver's and A&W. Pepsi might very well still own them under the name YUM! Brands, but i really don't know

So where is this Kalahari waterpark going to go in Sandusky?

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"This second hill is my favorite part of the ride. It is so Cool!"
TTD Status: "Contaminates in the system" S.K. Per my conversation
"Hey Werewolf lady"

Kalahari is going to be on Rt. 250, south of Rt. 2. I haven't been out that way since they started building, so I don't know exactly where. But I think it's mostly going to sit in Huron Twp., with part of it being in Perkins Twp.

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Walt Schmidt
Virtual Midway

Ok, so basically on the south side of Sandusky between Route 2 and Avery. I'll keep watching on trips to Sandusky.

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"This second hill is my favorite part of the ride. It is so Cool!"
TTD Status: "Contaminates in the system" S.K. Per my conversation
"Hey Werewolf lady"

On 250 almost across from Fox Road.

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June 11th, 2001 - Gemini 100
VertiGo Rides - 82

OK, that makes sense. There's only a small portion of Rt. 250 in Huron Twp.

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Walt Schmidt
Virtual Midway
*** This post was edited by Gemini 11/21/2003 2:57:38 PM ***

This place looks awesome. Heres the website for Kalahari Wisconsin! If Sandusky's looks half as nice, I would go! And I'm not a fan of waterparks! I didn't see anything about the one in Sandusky on the site though. ):
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Evolution its a LIE

Does anyone have any pictures of the new color on Iron Dragon? I'm interested in seeing it.

Ya, I would like to see some photos to if possible!!!:)

I wouldn't count on it..

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June 11th, 2001 - Gemini 100
VertiGo Rides - 82

You know I got to wondering this earlier. When Mantis got repainted there was talk that it might be smoother. I didn't notice much of a change myself. Since Magnum is getting painted (and Iron Dragon) do you think these may ride a little different? And if so could this be better or worse for the ride? I think that Iron Dragon is getting a little rough, but Magnum is great the way it is.

168 days, 11 hours, 6 minutes :(

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Final 2003 Stats: Trips: 37
Top Thrill Dragster: 17
Magnum XL-200: 85 (last train of the year in 6-1)
*** This post was edited by fat chris 11/22/2003 9:51:26 PM ***

Um, does paint really have an effect on the speed, roughness/smoothness, or overall experience of a ride?? IMO, I don't think it makes a bit of difference, although some argue that Raptor was really flying when it was re-painted...it might be a matter of opinion..but scientifically, I doubt that the performance of the ride is affected..
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Every end, brings a new beginning.
The Matrix: Online. 2004

incase you didnt already know neo...they have a thing called speed paint...and yes it is suposed to make the ride faster,smoother ect.....and yes it does help from what i experienced......
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TTD=26

rollbacks seen=countless

rollbacks that i have been on=1

It may seem faster because the posts and tracks are bright and stand out more. Hence more visible more simulation of speed. It also will make the ride look a lot nicer.
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Evolution its a LIE

I didn't notice a change on Mantis this year. Not at all.
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"What's wrong with the offseason? It's when the fun stuff happens!" - Annonymous Cedar Point Employee

First, GLP owned the franchise to the Pizza Hut but the Director of the FS Department threw away that franchise in 2001 because he was an idiot. He was all bent because the park had to pay a royalty on the profits, even though it was the most profitable unit in the park.

Taco Bell and KFC (when it was still there) were frandhises owned by another company who leased the space in the park. Same with Mr. Hero and Subway. In fact half the units in the park are rented by outside brands (even if you don't know who they are).

Anyway that is a case of one park falling into the SFI model of reducing operating costs so far they can't staff all their units.

Second, franchises are encouraged to conform to deals made by the "parent" company (like Coke vs. Pepsi) but generally not forced to. I know of a couple of franchisees who told Pepsi to take a hike when the Brand was clearly Pepsi. They recieved threatening letters and whatnot. But in the end they won't take the franchise away unless you aren't paying the rights and royalties (again the all mighty dollar). So the point is even if Pepsi owns Taco Bell (which they don't) then it really doesn't matter to them if they sell Pepsi or not because that unit is making gobs of cash. Besides SFWOA has a sweet deal with Coke and sell it for OUTRAGEOUS prices. Which brings me to the another thought: which is that companies only make these deals with other companies for the kickbacks. Sure the lowered price on cost of goods is nice, but the check directly into CEO's pocket is even nicer ;)

As for the Gump thing. I can't imagine that Paramount would bother the worry about it. I'm sure they get money for the name rights. And while it could arguebly be putting money into the Point's pocket it's also putting some into their own. Plus if there isn't any sort of wording in the deal with said restaurant company then they have nothing to say until the deal expires. If CP pays the fees and royalties then i would imagine they could get their very own shrimp shack. But i lean toward the arguement of, "why would CP want to pay for Paramounts 'brand'"? Why not start you're own brand and keep more in your own pocket? It's not that hard to figure out what people like and want.

Sorry to drag this topic back from the dead, but I just noticed that if you find Iron Dragon on the Funcoast Cam and zoom in on the lift, you can clearly see that the supports are yellow. Looks pretty nasty if you ask me.

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-Chris Woodard
Friday, September 18th, 2003 at 10:10 PM. It finally happened. Rollback on Dragster in the front seat of the gold train!