Peanuts Movie Ride

Matt Oimet confirmed a few months ago dark rides would be coming to Cedar Fair parks. He also said they were "hampered" for those dark rides "by not being able to purchase intellectual property for storylines."

Going on Facebook the last two days, it is clear that people still love the Peanuts. So many people have "peanutized" themselves.

Why then, doesn't Cedar Fair capitalize on this and create dark rides with an IP they do own? The Peanuts. Or, could this be in the works?

A Peanuts Canoe water ride would be awesome (I think of that every time I walk by the entrance to Camp Snoopy at CP...that canoe dangling there would be great idea for a flume ride). What about a Red Baron Blaster ride using the Triotech shoot-em-up ride system? Even a "normal" dark ride through the Peanuts world would be incredibly fun.

Cedar Fair doesn't own the Peanuts IP, they simply pay for the rights to use it. And it does appear that the IP is still very popular. However, I think they would like something that would appeal to everyone and not just kids and families. All attractions with Peanuts branding are kids rides. I think a group of adults likely wouldn't want to ride a Peanuts ride.

Furthermore, I believe that Matt Ouimet was referring to certain big name superhero franchises that SIX has exclusivity on (presumably), as well as the unique and popular in-house IP of the likes of Disney and Universal.

Cedar Fair is an amusement park company. They commission rides and attractions and maintain the parks. They are not a multimedia company like Disney or Universal, who have their own IP to pull from. Cedar Fair does have to pick certain IP to license and work with the licensor to ensure that any ride, show, or attraction they put in meets the IP-holder's guidelines.

They can do it, it's just not as easy or inexpensive a process on the scale of Cedar Fair's regional parks.

A Snoopy vs. Red Baron theme might appeal to the right adults (mainly those with kids or those who grew up w/Peaniuts) but the high school and college crowd I think would likely be a no go. I don't really see it happening though I think I would prefer it to the characters Six Flags has use of.

JeffH said:

A Peanuts Canoe water ride would be awesome (I think of that every time I walk by the entrance to Camp Snoopy at CP...that canoe dangling there would be great idea for a flume ride). What about a Red Baron Blaster ride using the Triotech shoot-em-up ride system? Even a "normal" dark ride through the Peanuts world would be incredibly fun.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robinshall/sets/72157629234719559/

Apparently a flume ride was considered for Camp Snoopy before Woodstock Express. This "Point Snoopy" version of the area would have been nice but I guess they had other, less ambitious plans ultimately.

Thinking now especially that it's bad they let the Nick licence go. Though in reality we on't know how much they were going to want for it so it could still end up being to costly.

As for Peanuts dark ride, they do have the right to use the IP on rides, but wonder if that would include a video based ride? Without knowing the ins and outs of the licensing deal we won't ever know for sure.

But Peanuts are an entire family IP, for the parents its a nostalgia trip. For the Teens it can be pretty thrilling (think a dog fight with the Red Baron) and for the younger kids it's coming back and with the new movie I think it will end up being popular again.

The fact that a movie is coming out will increase demand and likely increase value of the IP.

Given that the movie is in 3D cgi, it's also a great opportunity to monetize that technology and investment from the movie production. Using it in a dark ride while the movie is still relevant would be wise and presents an opportunity that was not there with the peanuts before.

The ride could be changed the following years for something else to fit the needs of the demo.

Personally, a Peanuts movie ride holds little appeal. I like the idea of a dark ride being tied into Lake Erie much better.

Agreed a thousand times.

I would argue that the Peanuts have a appeal than many of Disney's characters. Maybe not as large of an appeal, but certainly broader.

While they may not be as popular as they once were, they are nostalgic to many older people and and even some Millennials who grew up watching some of the Peanuts TV shows. Ironically its the children today who haven't really been exposed to them as much. The movie will likely change that.

Got to ride Boo Blasters at KI this year with my 4 year old grandson. He didn't care for it. The darkness and haunting sounds scared him. And the shooting of the targets was way over his head. He'd never been to an amusement park let alone a shooting gallery like the ones at CP. Me and my wife liked the ride. It was our 1st time on it. The thing that amazed me was the people in line that didn't have children. A few men together doing Boo Blasters? And groups of adult women too. I was also amazed that it was a fast lane ride and that adults were using that line too. I never been on that ride before because I'd assumed it was for children. After riding it once I've come to accept that I was wrong. Just because it's in kiddy land doesn't make it a kiddy ride. It's still a dark ride/shooter ride. I would want to ride it again with just my wife. It was fun. So I don't thing a children theme would stop adults from riding a dark ride at CP. As long as your wife doesn't outshoot you which was my case.

Pete said:

Personally, a Peanuts movie ride holds little appeal. I like the idea of a dark ride being tied into Lake Erie much better.

What is the theme of Lake Erie - avoid the algae bloom, catch some perch, take a ride on an ore freighter? When I think of Lake Erie nothing very specific comes to my mind. It is just a big lake.

What! You've never heard of the Lake Erie monster? It terrorizes the boaters as it battles to control the lake. I'm sure Pete has encountered the monster many times -- well especially after the last drink of the evening. LOL

Lake Eerie also swallows coasters, too right? Magnum will sink down to Lakey Jone's Locker at any moment.

How about a "Battle of Lake Erie" with cannons shooting all around you? Your job is to get O.H. Perry from Lawrence to Niagara under heavy fire. "Don't give up the ship"

Only problem there is that most of the general public likely has no clue that there was a Battle of Lake Erie. Poor Oliver Hazard means nothing to them.

Bluestreaker said:

What! You've never heard of the Lake Erie monster? It terrorizes the boaters as it battles to control the lake. I'm sure Pete has encountered the monster many times -- well especially after the last drink of the evening. LOL

Well, yes! The Lake Erie Monster puts up one hell of a fight!

What is the theme of Lake Erie - avoid the algae bloom, catch some perch, take a ride on an ore freighter? When I think of Lake Erie nothing very specific comes to my mind. It is just a big lake.

You could fight off some giant, mutant zebra mussels