[Edwardo]

The photo on TN is of an older model B&M hyper train. Don't know why they'd use that for a new coaster if the last 2 hypers they built had the new style trains.

And I love all the fuss that Carowinds is too small of a park that they can't get back to back coasters, LOL.

1999-Top Gun
2000-Super Saturator
2002-Ricochet
2003-Reptar
2004-BORG

Ell Oh Ell...

[montumax]

Sometimes you have to consider the source too...

[Foghorn-Leghorn]

..of the pictures?

yea....

[Capler]

^ The only thing about the 2 hypers is that I suspect that both were already in the works with Paramount, when the chain was bought.

The GCI's though, I'm not sure on.

I'm not so certain about that Freak. I do believe the two hypers were part of a package deal but really don't see any indication that Paramount was moving to buy them. Paramount had been moving towards themed family rides. Fair said at the get go that it was their goal to add steel at the new parks. Under Paramount, Carowinds next coaster was to be a relocated FOF, Fair stopped that in it's tracks. It is very possible Carowinds and Dominion could get the next pair of hypers. Look what happened at the Island. There was a very fast turn around between a relocated GL, flyer and a new hyper. It seems as though Fair is just dumping those GL coasters into places that don't have one of the same kind without much bearing on long term plans for the park. Lets face it, like the invert, a hyper is a basic coaster every legitimate park should have just to fill out it's ride selection. This is why I feel Carowinds will be the next in line to get one. Dominion is a different story. There are already two in the market so I really don't know how pressed Fair will be to add another one.

[RollerBee]

^ The only thing about the 2 hypers is that I suspect that both were already in the works with Paramount, when the chain was bought.

The GCI's though, I'm not sure on.

I'm not so certain about that Freak. I do believe the two hypers were part of a package deal but really don't see any indication that Paramount was moving to buy them. Paramount had been moving towards themed family rides. Fair said at the get go that it was their goal to add steel at the new parks. Under Paramount, Carowinds next coaster was to be a relocated FOF, Fair stopped that in it's tracks. It is very possible Carowinds and Dominion could get the next pair of hypers. Look what happened at the Island. There was a very fast turn around between a relocated GL, flyer and a new hyper. It seems as though Fair is just dumping those GL coasters into places that don't have one of the same kind without much bearing on long term plans for the park. Lets face it, like the invert, a hyper is a basic coaster every legitimate park should have just to fill out it's ride selection. This is why I feel Carowinds will be the next in line to get one. Dominion is a different story. There are already two in the market so I really don't know how pressed Fair will be to add another one.

Kings Dominon doesn't have two hypers let alone one.

[LocoDriver]

Rollernut, I believe Capler is referring to Apollo's Chariot at BGW and Superman at SFA. He said two hypers in the market.

[bgwfreak]

Capler you make a good point.

What I'm thinking though is that most parks have their 5 year plan, and usually for something as big as a hyper purchase, they usually seem to make agreements and such a good way in advance.

Dave could probably shed more light on that since he actually sees how these projects happen behind the scenes.

[Capler]

I think that was the rule of thumb back in during the coaster boom days. B&M and others had something like a 5 year wait before they could get around to filling your order. Now B&M is lucky if it has 1 to 2 orders a year. This may explain why Paramount did not use them more often, -they just did not want to wait that long. If you recall, Paramount had a tendency to want to be the first out with a new coaster style. Fair sort of brought up the rear with bigger versions of older models. Except for Top Gun and SOB, my experience with Paramount is that they bought rides on the fly, and then decided which park to place them. There was a tendency to want to lock out the competition. After Top Gun at PGA, which was one of the first inverts, Paramount had to get in line and wait for the one at Carowinds, which could explain why it came so late in the invert game.

[Edwardo]

According to people that know, when CFEC took over officially, not only did they scrap plans to relocate FoF, but a 'large ride order' was canceled for any parks with anything that wasn't paid for. I'm not saying that Paramount couldn't have paid for the Beemers that they got and thus CFEC didn't stop the purchases, but from what I was told, everything big was canceled by CF. Granted, I could have misunderstood, or whatever. But as for the 'large ride order' (For multiple parks) comment, that was said by someone who would have known (and I'm not under any blanket NDA anymore, so I can at least say that much ).

Even if Paramount had made the decisions to add a hyper to both KI and CW, I would say that CFEC can't be anything but happy with what Behemoth has done for Canakuduh, and I'd say that KI will also reap the benefits next year as well. To me it looks as though right now CFEC is in a Beemer & GCI mood. And that's a good thing. I can't see prices between the major mfgs. being so different now that steel costs what it does, and the economy is what it is, so maybe B&M just provide reliability, quality, and CFEC likes what they're doing. They obviously like what GCI is doing. And they're investing heavily in the former Paramount Parks as far as I can tell by not only moving leftovers from Geauga (Who did have a great lineup, BTW) to the Paramount Parks that needed something first, then to the older CFEC parks that could use something. And now it looks as though they're putting in brand new coasters.

Even though I doubt we'll see a lot of major rides in the next few years if the economy doesn't hit a steep slope up, I'd say we'll still see some good ride investments and coasters added to the former ParaParks. And if Carowinds does indeed get a hyper in 2010 or soon after, hopefully they then focus on some thrilling new flats.

[bgwfreak]

The thing I thought was interesting for 08 was that most regional parks did pretty well or attendance was at least flat.

With the economy being "so bad" (as the media keeps telling us) you'd think people would have stayed home in droves. Well they did, they just stayed home and went to their home park!

If we don't get a major investment in 2010, then I hope we at least get a major overhaul of Hurler.

Heck, if it was up to me I'd say recycle the steel from Reptar, Saturator, Vortex and Cyclone and use that to build a hyper. I don't ride Reptar or Vortex anyway. And Cyclone I could live without.

[Capler]

When the economy starts heading south people don't necessarily stop spending but instead they cut back. Carolina folk who normally would go to Orlando will stay home and make a day trip to Carowinds. The folk who could not go to Carowinds will likely frequent their local movie houses. Carowinds, the NC Zoo, and the State Fair had record numbers this year. Big regional parks who draw folk from afar are fairly flat.

[Jonathan]

While it's true that economic downturns often help regional parks, the real effect on amusement parks will be seen next summer, not this past one. And if anyone needs the media to tell them the economy is bad right now they should probably open their eyes.

[aaronf1991]

I'm just gonna throw this in...but if gas keeps going the way it is....you'll see more travel to big regional theme parks because it will be more affordable. So we may not see any drop in travel to these parks next summer if the price of gas continues to fall. Heck, I'm thinking about going to Orlando this spring break if gas stays the same as it is now, cause with gas at $2 a gallon, it won't cost all that much.

[Thriller]

I agree! I believe this era of the bad economy, you will see "BIG" parks cut back and maybe scrap additions to the parks just to stay afloat. On the other hand, parks like Carowinds, will see big increases because the majority of its business is from the local public within a 150 mile radius...go Carowinds!

[Davidtmp]

I'm just gonna throw this in...but if gas keeps going the way it is....you'll see more travel to big regional theme parks because it will be more affordable. So we may not see any drop in travel to these parks next summer if the price of gas continues to fall. Heck, I'm thinking about going to Orlando this spring break if gas stays the same as it is now, cause with gas at $2 a gallon, it won't cost all that much.

And it is thinking like this that will get gas back to $4 real quick. True people can drive farther, but the bad economy is more than that. There is no cash flow right now, businesses can't get the loans they need to stay afloat. This means loss of jobs. If you don't have a job, you can't buy gas. The Amusement Parks really need to hit a home run with season ticket sales this year, as that is their guarenteed income. Thinking you are going to get XX visitors into your park this year is a bad accounting move. They may come up short on that number, therefore coming up short on their estimates of income, creating more job losses. They need to rethink their food prices. People are more likely to not pay high prices for food when they can bring their own and eat in the parking lot.