I think the odds we see SF focus on quality of life improvements at parks is higher than a lot of people think. It's like I've been saying about theming. Post COVID dips in attendance may have taught parks they're not immune to losing customers. Plus with chaperone policies, regional parks may need to rebrand back to full-day, full-family, big-deal destinations rather than just a place to drop off your kids for a few hours. A place with nothing to do but massive coasters in concrete pads isn't enticing to almost anyone with the autonomy to make the decision to go (i.e adults). Plus nostalgia becoming as powerful as it has on the Internet will make parks lean into it like KD and KI have. The trajectory US regional parks are on is a good one imo. Even if we get fewer coasters every year, I'd love to see some of that magic make a comeback.
Concepts Think Tank
- Thread starter Shane
- Start date
Somebody may have already posted this concept for Backlot and Anaconda but…
Pyra’s Curse
Journey into a temple to the volcano goddess Pyra, the latest find in the excavation. The temple was found covered in ash, likely lost in the same eruption that claimed Rapterra. You see some of the notes about geothermic vents and possible volcanic activity from the excavation team and how technical difficulties have plagued the dig, earning it the nickname Pyra’s Curse. You board your jeep to tour the site, hearing the voice of an archaeologist warning you that the brakes are tricky, when suddenly it takes off, and the brakes aren’t working! you bob and weave between digging equipment and ancient pillars and statues, half uncovered in the volcanic ash and rock. Finally your brakes kick in in the main chamber. Before you is a massive carving of Pyra, and carvings of her many tricksters who were know to play tricks on unsuspecting villagers a long time ago. A voice booms “You have dared to face the mighty Pyra, mistress of fire and smoke! You shall burn!” As fire erupts around you as the trickster carvings giggle and move. The massive Pyra face’s open mouth fills with smoke the orange light as the car takes off again plunging you into darkness, before emerging and splashing down. As you come around to disembark, the same archaeologist comes on and says “when they say to burn rubber that’s not what they meant! Best be off before you get in trouble” as well as the typical exit spiel.
Anaconda
A new temple found to the animal spirit that takes the form of an enormous anaconda has been uncovered by the waters edge. The sound of hissing snakes fills the air as you get closer to the heart of the temple. An entry way with two golden snakes head on either side greets you and from within you can see many serpents all around watching you intently. A mural on the wall shows people on a snakelike vessel that allows them to traverse the raging waters unharmed. You board this snake shaped vessel as you prepare for your journey.
This would be a complete replacement, putting in a custom RMC Raptor that would utilize the tunnel and provide a much more thrilling and smoother experience that better utilizes the location. I couldn’t think of a better name tbh .
Pyra’s Curse
Journey into a temple to the volcano goddess Pyra, the latest find in the excavation. The temple was found covered in ash, likely lost in the same eruption that claimed Rapterra. You see some of the notes about geothermic vents and possible volcanic activity from the excavation team and how technical difficulties have plagued the dig, earning it the nickname Pyra’s Curse. You board your jeep to tour the site, hearing the voice of an archaeologist warning you that the brakes are tricky, when suddenly it takes off, and the brakes aren’t working! you bob and weave between digging equipment and ancient pillars and statues, half uncovered in the volcanic ash and rock. Finally your brakes kick in in the main chamber. Before you is a massive carving of Pyra, and carvings of her many tricksters who were know to play tricks on unsuspecting villagers a long time ago. A voice booms “You have dared to face the mighty Pyra, mistress of fire and smoke! You shall burn!” As fire erupts around you as the trickster carvings giggle and move. The massive Pyra face’s open mouth fills with smoke the orange light as the car takes off again plunging you into darkness, before emerging and splashing down. As you come around to disembark, the same archaeologist comes on and says “when they say to burn rubber that’s not what they meant! Best be off before you get in trouble” as well as the typical exit spiel.
Anaconda
A new temple found to the animal spirit that takes the form of an enormous anaconda has been uncovered by the waters edge. The sound of hissing snakes fills the air as you get closer to the heart of the temple. An entry way with two golden snakes head on either side greets you and from within you can see many serpents all around watching you intently. A mural on the wall shows people on a snakelike vessel that allows them to traverse the raging waters unharmed. You board this snake shaped vessel as you prepare for your journey.
This would be a complete replacement, putting in a custom RMC Raptor that would utilize the tunnel and provide a much more thrilling and smoother experience that better utilizes the location. I couldn’t think of a better name tbh .
As much as I love this concept, I doubt that Cedar Fair would ever give KD something this well themed anytime soon.
With Anaconda on the chopping block, I say we take this opportunity to restore Lake Charles.
As I mentioned in the Anaconda closing thread, they should move the Soak City entrance to behind Apple Zapple and Twisted Timbers, then expanding Soak City to the south and southeast to build a new lazy river and slide towers to replace the original Hurricane Reef attractions. Next, there should be a boardwalk around the lake to connect Candy Apple Grove to Pantherian. A flat could fit in the FreeStylin' plot. Actually, now that I think about it, that could be the entrance to Soak City using the same pass under Racer 75 created during the WaterWorks expansion.
As I mentioned in the Anaconda closing thread, they should move the Soak City entrance to behind Apple Zapple and Twisted Timbers, then expanding Soak City to the south and southeast to build a new lazy river and slide towers to replace the original Hurricane Reef attractions. Next, there should be a boardwalk around the lake to connect Candy Apple Grove to Pantherian. A flat could fit in the FreeStylin' plot. Actually, now that I think about it, that could be the entrance to Soak City using the same pass under Racer 75 created during the WaterWorks expansion.
I drew this up a long time ago, and it kinda echoes some of your points. Figured I'd share. The base layer of this (left) appears to be still accurate to this day, minus Tornado obviously.
This exact concept involves the removal of all the waterpark features (slides, lazy river, splash pads, etc.), moving what's movable over to the south side of Racer. This does keep a lot of the Soak City paths, and expands & connects them where needed. Main Soak City entrance would be between Timbers and Zapple, though the existing underpass access point could remain.
It's way ambitious, but the rides outlined here (bottom to top) include a Mondial Ventura (new-gen Top Scan), a Zamperla NebulaZ, Zamperla Disko, Gerstlauer SkyRoller, and a Vekoma SFC (453m model, same as Dragonflier) diving into the remaining lake. Those are just the ones I thought of to explain the concept, feel free to substitute whatever.
I am also not opposed to removing EVERYTHING there- truly opening up the lake again- like so. Would make for some amazing sightlines of Racer and Pantherian from around Victoria's, as well as from Jungle X.
This exact concept involves the removal of all the waterpark features (slides, lazy river, splash pads, etc.), moving what's movable over to the south side of Racer. This does keep a lot of the Soak City paths, and expands & connects them where needed. Main Soak City entrance would be between Timbers and Zapple, though the existing underpass access point could remain.
It's way ambitious, but the rides outlined here (bottom to top) include a Mondial Ventura (new-gen Top Scan), a Zamperla NebulaZ, Zamperla Disko, Gerstlauer SkyRoller, and a Vekoma SFC (453m model, same as Dragonflier) diving into the remaining lake. Those are just the ones I thought of to explain the concept, feel free to substitute whatever.
I am also not opposed to removing EVERYTHING there- truly opening up the lake again- like so. Would make for some amazing sightlines of Racer and Pantherian from around Victoria's, as well as from Jungle X.
This, but with the boardwalk following Racer and then turning to meet Pantherian, and possibly fitting a coaster station somewhere, would be exactly what I want to see.
Moving this over here, initially posted in the after the wing thread. A bit redundant, just echoing concepts being discussed here.
Already posted this in the Soak City thread, but I'm really curious for people's thoughts on this:
1. Move/demolish everything in Soak City North of Racer 75.
2. Have the new entrance be when you pass under the coaster.
3. Expand Candy Apple Grove to the plot South of the Midway, really lean into the fun 70s theme park feel (mushrooms and apples everywhere)
4. Build a quieter, scenic connecting path between Candy Apple Grove and Pantherian's plaza (think Hershey's Skyrush path)
5. Lakeside Vekoma Tilt Coaster where the lazy river currently sits
The odds of this are about 0, but I would LOVE it. Imo KD is in need of a comfortable, thrilling looper (i.e. one more rerideable than Dominator)
Already posted this in the Soak City thread, but I'm really curious for people's thoughts on this:
1. Move/demolish everything in Soak City North of Racer 75.
2. Have the new entrance be when you pass under the coaster.
3. Expand Candy Apple Grove to the plot South of the Midway, really lean into the fun 70s theme park feel (mushrooms and apples everywhere)
4. Build a quieter, scenic connecting path between Candy Apple Grove and Pantherian's plaza (think Hershey's Skyrush path)
5. Lakeside Vekoma Tilt Coaster where the lazy river currently sits
The odds of this are about 0, but I would LOVE it. Imo KD is in need of a comfortable, thrilling looper (i.e. one more rerideable than Dominator)
As I mentioned over in the thread, I would love to see Lake Charles get utilized for water shows again—whether that be the waterski show or a new nighttime spectacular that could be done, a la Cinesational/Fantasmic, or even a combination of the 2. Could be super ambitious and would be super marketable.
Show itself could be called Wonders of the Jungle or something like that, and it could tell the story of Jungle X—from the beginning. Starting with the discovery of the Monkey temple, Tumbili, going through, in order, to Reptilian, Arachnidia, Pantherian, and finishing out with the most recent discovery of Rapterra. Show could start with something like “Long ago, deep in the jungle, the Whey Foundation discovered an ancient temple. Little did they know this was only the beginning of an EXTRAORDINARY expedition.”, with like beating jungle drums, lights, and water to set the tone. Show could incorporate waterskiing (tribute to KD’s past), boats (see: Fantasmic), drones, fireworks, and water jets. Complete with a custom score and narration. Monkey portion could utilize the waterskiing as like the monkeys goofing around, jumping, and such. Then, Reptilian could utilize a variety of water skiers and drones, and Arachnidia could utilize drones and fireworks. Follow up with Pantherian using drones, fireworks, and a speedboat or two to signify the power and speed of a panther, and then Rapterra could utilize all forms of the show, with fireworks, the drones to show a massive bird, a little more water skiing with a glider to show off a bird flying, water to add some dramatics. Then the finale is of all the temples and creatures existing in harmony and showing how far the research of the whey foundation has come, and closes out with a drone show of the whey foundation logo and more fireworks.
Add an outdoor theater on the Jungle X side for viewing area, and building upon the boardwalk portion, add something akin to SWO’s manmade island for pyro against it for access. Then in the unoccupied land from the theater being set up, add a restroom (as it’s desperately needed over there) and maybe a flat.
Would this actually happen? No, but one can dream.
Show itself could be called Wonders of the Jungle or something like that, and it could tell the story of Jungle X—from the beginning. Starting with the discovery of the Monkey temple, Tumbili, going through, in order, to Reptilian, Arachnidia, Pantherian, and finishing out with the most recent discovery of Rapterra. Show could start with something like “Long ago, deep in the jungle, the Whey Foundation discovered an ancient temple. Little did they know this was only the beginning of an EXTRAORDINARY expedition.”, with like beating jungle drums, lights, and water to set the tone. Show could incorporate waterskiing (tribute to KD’s past), boats (see: Fantasmic), drones, fireworks, and water jets. Complete with a custom score and narration. Monkey portion could utilize the waterskiing as like the monkeys goofing around, jumping, and such. Then, Reptilian could utilize a variety of water skiers and drones, and Arachnidia could utilize drones and fireworks. Follow up with Pantherian using drones, fireworks, and a speedboat or two to signify the power and speed of a panther, and then Rapterra could utilize all forms of the show, with fireworks, the drones to show a massive bird, a little more water skiing with a glider to show off a bird flying, water to add some dramatics. Then the finale is of all the temples and creatures existing in harmony and showing how far the research of the whey foundation has come, and closes out with a drone show of the whey foundation logo and more fireworks.
Add an outdoor theater on the Jungle X side for viewing area, and building upon the boardwalk portion, add something akin to SWO’s manmade island for pyro against it for access. Then in the unoccupied land from the theater being set up, add a restroom (as it’s desperately needed over there) and maybe a flat.
Would this actually happen? No, but one can dream.
Ok I mentioned in the gate design thread a dream use of the area and everything around KD. So presenting my dream concept for just an huge redevelopment of not only KD but the area round it as well. Going through my solid color areas:
- Wide Grey - A redesign of Doswell Road into a wider road able to handle increased traffic that would be coming down the area.
- Narrow Grey - New entrance to KD's parking lot and entrance to the new parking lot for Soak City.
- White - New Soak City exclusive parking lot.
- Green - New entrance gate with ticketing and security for Soak City
- Light Blue - Expansion pads for Soak City
- Purple - Relocated Offices and Maintenance for Kings Dominion
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This keeps traffic coming off the highway moving through the intersection nicely while keeping overall flow moving well. It also means the entrance off Kings Dominion Blvd would no longer be active which opens up flow off the highway. Additionally the entrance "toll" area from KD would stay at the same spot as what I would have is the new entrance off Doswell Road would then loop back up along Doswell Road and hairpin to the current payment booths.
And yes, I am aware that there is railroad tracks there. You can build the Diverging Diamond Interchange to go over the rail line, have Doswell Road stay east of the tracks. As you come down it would s-turn east with a path off to u-turn into the entrance of KD. That is a lot of work but moving the rail line is much much harder and would take too much space.
The other option I came up with is this:
The black line just relocates Doswell Road east of the new entertainment zone, so when it comes to the current location of Doswell Road it can elevate and "T-split" to take you to either Sock City or KD. This one is more extensive because the road would need to be relocated on both north and south of Kings Dominion Blvd but also the more elegant and easier solution. Came up with this one after posting the original option. I would actually put this as the primary way I would do this.
Now I know when you look at the thread saying to split off Soak City someone will say "But warfelg you said the county wouldn't go for moving or redoing roads". Yes, for just a Soak City gate. But, something like this, with the tax dollars that would roll in...that's quite different. There's now something massive to gain through adding this all in and moving roads. Do it right with a tourism tax and the construction to the roads would pay for itself in 2-3 years.
And with the translucent areas of the map:
- Green - This is the land that would get sold to a developer to do an entertainment district. The concept would be that this developer would put in a movie theater, 3-4 restaurants, an entertainment bar (like a Dueling Pianos), and a club. Think of a scaled down Disney Springs/City Walk type area.
- Yellow - This would be land continued to be owned by KD/SF but a hotel that is built and managed by someone for KD.
- Purple - Ok, the big dream part that's major to making this concept/dream work - An FEC built, owned, and run by KD. Mostly indoors, mostly kid focused. It can be the 1/4-1/2 day activity that can also be a spot to spend rainy days as a visitor. There's a lot of great little rides that are useless for a park but awesome for something like this but really different.
Overall vision:
This really changes and revitalizes everything around the park. KD is very stand alone, but if you make it a destination and give reason for people not just to spend more time up there in terms of number of visits, but also would encourage outside visitors to spend more time. I really feel as though this would be something that would require them selling land with the intent this is what would happen along with the municipality working with them, but hey that's why it's a dream right?
Other small things:
Moving park offices and maintenance would open up more area to either expand the park or redevelop the main gate. You could put in a foot path from the hotel to Jungle X area to make Jungle X an early entry area for people staying in the hotel. Now this would mean that the park needs to bring back Christmastown and more year round like operations, but the entertainment district and the FEC should be able to float them better for the season.
With SFA closing, KD is the only major SF park between SFGAdv and Carowinds. That's a really long stretch to go without something big like this. SF could look to capitalize on the growing amusement tourism boom going on in the area with a really unique setup going on. This also keeps some of the land south of Soak City for future expansion of more hotel, entertainment district, or even a 3rd small gate.
