No B&M Invert within 200 miles of Cedar Point

At the Leviamania event at Canada's Wonderland, the GM stated that all the paper work was filled out for a B&M Invert at Canada's Wonderland. However, Cedar Point had/has a contract with B&M that said they couldn't build a B&M Invert within 200 miles of Cedar Point. Canada's Wonderland is 198 miles and Dick Kinzel still refused to allow CW to build it.

Is this the reason Kings Island never got an Invert and has anybody ever heard something like before?

Would there really be a contract with the individual parks that would prevent one from being built at another park owned by the same parent company?

Well the project was replaced with a Vekoma SLC, Flight Deck. So that would of been in 1995.

I'm highly skeptical that B&M would commit to any non-compete for that many years.

Canada's Wonderland is only 198 miles from Cedar Point? Even if you could travel "as the crow flies" straight across Lake Erie I don't think it is less than 200 miles away.

But, I think Six Flags Great America in Chicago was the first park to get a B&M Invert and I remember hearing that there was a grace period when a park within a certain distance could not get the same.

We know such contracts exist with the Dive Coasters with SeaWorld parks, it's ironic to me though that CP never sought a similar contract with Dragster.

They probably could take the temperature of "nearby" parks to see who would really be in the market for one. Considering there are only, what...a handful in existence...maybe they knew something.

Tilt-a-Whirl said:
We know such contracts exist with the Dive Coasters with SeaWorld parks, it's ironic to me though that CP never sought a similar contract with Dragster.

Why? Who cares if there is another similar coaster in NJ? For most guests, read 'non enthusiasts', that ride has no bearing on where they go. The only people who care are enthusiasts and most of them when comparing the two still say that Dragster is better simply because of the lap bars instead of the OTSR.

Calm down, dude- I was just stating an opinion. Of course it's no big deal that NJ has one, but wasn't the whole point of Dragster to have the title of world's tallest and fastest?

MS streets and trips says it's about 230 as the bird flies. I'm not sure how accurate that is.

Tilt-a-Whirl said:We know such contracts exist with the Dive Coasters with SeaWorld parks

I'd love to this day to see actual proof of this.

It's become the same as the "rumor" that CP had a 3 coaster contract with B&M.

Well Google Earth click-n-drag said 227 miles, and my clicking was pretty close. So the alleged "contract" must have been more than 200 miles.

B&M did have a non-compete for dive coasters in North America, and I think it lasted one year beyond Griffon. I have it on good authority that they have a regional one-year non-compete on another type of ride that will essentially not matter.

I don't see why Dick Kinzel decided not to have another Inverted Roller coaster at Kings Island or Canada's Wonderland. To me that sounds silly. I think that would be great for Kings Island since they already have a great line-up with The Beast, Vortex, Diamondback, Flight of Fear, and In-vertigo. Adding another quality B&M Invert would really be cool to add to Kings Island skyline.

I just don't think the timing worked out for Kings Island, whether there was a non-compete contract or not. In 1993, they opened Top Gun as a suspended coaster, and B&M inverts were just coming around at that time.

'97 Flight of Fear
'99 Action Zone/Face-Off
'00 Son of Beast
'05 Italian Job

Really SOB is the one I would trade for an invert. In retrospect, that would have been a much better decision eh? If CF had owned KI for all those years, it might have happened, but Paramount was more interested in Tomb Raiders and Nickelodeon than in coasters.

Out of curiosity, Jeff, what do they consider "regional"? I don't know which park you are speaking of, but if it was say, Dollywood, what is the region?

I have a feeling he isn't talking about wing-riders and more likely talking about coasters of the 300ft variety. But that's just my guess.

If so, "regional" is Eastern Canada & Upstate NY. Or, as Jeff said, "that will essentially not matter."