Soak City Announcement on

Shane Denmark said:

... I don't get the need for closing announcements so people can go one last time...

Knowing something is going away makes it a higher priority and some people will stretch their budget or do the best they can to change schedules to experience it one more time when they otherwise would have waited until next year. I know my last visit to Geauga Lake would have gone differently if I had known it was the last visit.

Right, I think people tend to go in with a different feeling if they know it'll be their last time. You might try a wider variety of rides, or take more pictures, or whatever. Maybe it's not as big a deal with a water park, since you can probably find most of the same slides at any other big water park.

I wasn't a big fan of Disaster Transport, but I happened to be there on its last day of operation, and it was nice to have a final 'goodbye' ride. It wasn't any different than any other ride I'd had on it, other than I... paid attention more, I guess? knowing it would be my last.

I was also at Geauga Lake on its final day of operation, and if I'd known it was going to close forever, I would've ridden Villain one last time instead of Dominator, and would've made sure to get that Double Loop credit!

djDaemon said:

Fat Man Tarkey said:

I would also like to know the reason people seem to be against an RMC Mean Streak and Soak City expansion in the same year?

Who here is against it? Suggesting that both in one year is unrealistic doesn't mean someone is against it, it just means they're being pragmatic.

But the signs we've received point to Soak City and Mean Streak? Why do people not want the most innovative company out there. to make a Cedar Fair debut, especially given the obvious signs pointing to it?

Signs may point to those areas, but not necessarily in the same year. Given the utter lack of upkeep, it was clear for years that Space Spiral and DT were going away. But it didn't happen as soon as the signs began appearing.

CPGuru said:
But there are plenty of other projects for other years. A dark ride, a water ride, a flying coaster, a wooden coaster, a family coaster to round out the coaster collection, Sandcastle Suites renovation, a revamped Kiddy Kingdom, Top Thirll Dragster's replacement...

That's not at all how cap ex works. The parks have to justify what they spend, and for CP they typically spend around $30 million or less, including marquee attractions and minor stuff around the park.

Sorry if the wording was confusing, but I wasn't implying that all of those capital expenditures would be done in one year. I'm saying that I can think of many improvements/additions that may or may not come over the next several years. Just throwing out examples of what I thought was lacking or can use improvement.

But going back to your point about 30 million or less. Hypothetically speaking, If a Soak City expansion was 10-15 and RMC was 15-20, that's 30. Around the same as the year we got Gatekeeper and the main entrance revamp.

No, I understood what you were saying. I still think it doesn't make much sense though. If I were CF, I would find it much easier to justify a major SC update combined with a resort gate overhaul for one year, followed by a RMC for MS the following year, as opposed to both projects in one year. Doing both in the same year could lead to compromises.

What if the SC plans are a new slide complex and resort entrance that are nowhere near 10-15 million? I think some might be aiming s tad bit high for what is coming to SC but we shall see soon enough.

SC needs a lot more than just a new slide complex. Actually, a slide complex is probably the last thing it needs.

I think you and I have different ideas of this Soak City expansion though. I don't think it will be that major. I think it will definitely involve extensive work to the pathways, pavers, landscaping, entrances (including resort entrance), bathhouses, and overall feel of Soak City, but I don't think much of the attractions will change. My guess is that only new attractions we'll see are Knotts' Tornado, or Geauga Lake's Tornado and waterslide complex (assuming it does close down), one of those new trap door complexes they're putting in throughout the other CF parks and maybe a second wave pool. All of this shouldn't exceed 10 million or so.

That's actually what I've been thinking. Nothing too huge for SC.

I'm not talking about what SC needs or doesn't need, but rather the fact that we might not see a record breaking expansion of the water park but perhaps something much smaller.

Anyone stating that CF can't afford to do MS and a SC expansion in the same year are making huge assumptions to items that are unknown to anyone outside of company and park management.

I haven't a good clue as to what a MS re-do would cost, nor what a SC expansion would cost as we have no idea what exactly they are doing with either one just yet.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if they did both in the same year.

Right, I agree with you JUnderhill, my post was more directed to DJ.

CPGuru said:

I think you and I have different ideas of this Soak City expansion though. I don't think it will be that major.

I wouldn't be too surprised if you are correct, but I hope not.

Soak City, in my opinion, is very underwhelming by today's waterpark standards.

The two things it used to have going for it that appealed to me (other than its proximity to CP), were:

1) The Speed Slides, which were the only things there that thrilled me and really made SC a must visit when a the Point, and

2) The natural appearance and atmosphere of being next to the lake, which was severely negatively impacted IMO when they painted the flumes all the funky colors.

I hope that they add substantial new attractions, either in number or scale (hopefully a combination of the two).

Anything less is not likely to draw me back on any sort of regular basis. I'm too spoiled by the likes of Blizzard Beach etc. I'm not even referring to the theming, which I know will never happen on such scale at SC/CP. I'm referring to the quality of the slides and attractions.

When they removed the speed slides and the ability to actively ride the slide for speed and air, they did the equivalent of removing Magnum and MF from CP in terms of appealing to me personally. And painting the slides was to me the equivalent of removing the trees from Frontier Trail and making it a concrete jungle like the front of the park.

Oh, how I wish Soak City would get some crazy slides and water coasters and one of those wave surfing machines and so much more. But I just doubt it will ever happen for a park that's only open 3 months a year.

I doubt a water coaster is coming because of the negative publicity they have now (thanks to Verrückt), as well as the cost of them compared to what they can make off of it.

It may only be open 3 months a year, but it is seen as a driving force for multiple and extended stays at on-point resorts. The resorts are making large profits and higher increases than in-park revenues. So a big soak city expansion may be in the works to help drive those even further.

This is also bolstered by the planning for Carowinds expansion and an on property resort there.

Go Intamin said:

I doubt a water coaster is coming because of the negative publicity they have now (thanks to Verrückt), as well as the cost of them compared to what they can make off of it.

Verruckt is a water slide, not a water coaster. A waterslide with a bunny hill.

It's actually a master blaster. The hill has blaster jets all the way up, just like all the other "water coasters"

Yeah, I don't see what happened on Verruckt having any impact on a hypothetical attraction(s) that the park decided upon a year ago or more (as would most likely be the case).

It might delay the announcement, but not the addition.

All I'm gonna say is that I hope Bubbles gets some attention if Soak City is the next to get upgraded. The size, room for employees to work, and limited seating at the bar makes it almost dang near impossible to keep a buzz ;)

Why would they delay the announcement? Verruckt has nothing to do with CP or SC at all.