shouldnt this thread be about the ride itself, and a there be a separate replacement concept thread. yall are speculating like theres actually a plan to renovate any time soon
Curse of DarKastle
- Thread starter Zachary
- Start date
I'm on board with a the park putting in a themed spinning coaster in the DarKastle structure. I don't think they could fit an off the shelf Wild Mouse inside the building, I think it would be too tall without raising the existing roofline or lowering the floor.
If MACK, Gerstlauer, Maurer, or even Zamperla came in and did a custom layout to utilize every square inch of available space they have inside that show building then have someone like Falcon come in and do some set pieces similar to Verbolten's it could be a solid family attraction and fill the gap that the park has been failing fill ever since the Big Bad Wolf we removed.
If MACK, Gerstlauer, Maurer, or even Zamperla came in and did a custom layout to utilize every square inch of available space they have inside that show building then have someone like Falcon come in and do some set pieces similar to Verbolten's it could be a solid family attraction and fill the gap that the park has been failing fill ever since the Big Bad Wolf we removed.
A Wild Mouse going in there would be quite ironic since there was one on that site previously.
Am I the only one concerned that an indoor coaster might be slightly redundant with Verbolten just a few steps down the path?
The man says to the park building a forward/backward launch coaster next to a forward/backward launch coaster.
Well, in that case, let's put in a Wonder Mountain type attraction. The best of both worlds.
I think you meant to put this in the Volcano thread...
I'm not, because:
- IMHO, the park needs more dark rides
- Despite Laff Trakk etc. references, anything that coaster like is 99% surely off the table. My assumption is a reuse of the Oceaneering ride system with Falcon or similar rethemeing. i.e. "CoDK II" and nothing like Laff Trakk, must less Bolt. (Though I wouldn't mind if they built something like Laff Trakk, and I really would prefer a TSM/Maus/Reese type ride to replace CoDK--so both of these formats are good ideas for elsewhere and would offset the underwhelming CoDK II and BfÉire, see point #1.)
- Bolt is clearly a traditional coaster with a dark show building. A hybrid, at best. I don't view it like any of the other rides mentioned here, nor even something like Aerosmith since that's 100% indoors....
- And lastly I'd like to see more (quality, worth the time) attractions open in cool season and offer breaks from mid-Atlantic heat/humidity in the summer--help move towards year-round (or at least Dollywood) seasonal type operation. See point #1.
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If they closed the ride due to high staff requirements and expensive operating costs... I really don't see them just reusing the existing, aged ride vehicles and basically doing the same thing but newer.
That's more consistent with my view of how SEAS operates from a investment perspective though... and do we know why they closed it? Even if rideops expenses were a driver, I'm sure those are viewed relative to the attendance figures. Was CoDK expensive too to run, or too expensive relative to the return on investment in terms of ridership and guest attendance? And would refreshing it on the cheap allow them to market a new attraction in e.g. 2021 that would draw attendance without a significant new investment?
I'm not a gambler...but my money would be on SBNO for a couple years then a BfÉire treatment as all new for 202x. Maybe use the space for events (HOS?) in the interim. Maybe the park has other near-term ideas for Festhaus Park, Festa Field, etc. and the space would be handy until they relaunch CoDK II. Similarly, my gut is CoDK shuttering is part of a multi-year plan--not a "Volcano-like" abrupt closure. SEAS is probably looking a things as a system over multiple years.
I'm not a gambler...but my money would be on SBNO for a couple years then a BfÉire treatment as all new for 202x. Maybe use the space for events (HOS?) in the interim. Maybe the park has other near-term ideas for Festhaus Park, Festa Field, etc. and the space would be handy until they relaunch CoDK II. Similarly, my gut is CoDK shuttering is part of a multi-year plan--not a "Volcano-like" abrupt closure. SEAS is probably looking a things as a system over multiple years.
I really think a dark ride, these days, needs to be interactive to maintain ridership. Any park isn’t looking to spend a few million dollars on a revamp (tens of millions on an all new build) to be popular for a season; they want to make sure that investment directly sells tickets for at least two years, and influences ticket sales for five, while still providing ticket value for ten. This is why parks are always seeking the superlatives. It isn’t necessarily about outdoing KD, as much as putting “whatever-EST” on the billboard. Fastest. Tallest. Scariest. Most authentic. Gwazi RMC has hybrid in there so that it’s the tallest, fastest in the world - hybrid coaster. It isn’t Kingda Ka, it isn’t Formula Ross’s, and it definitely isn’t the two combined.
Rolling out a new experience in every park each year (was that the term?) and a new ride in each market each year, I think illustrates this theory. A new experience could be a new grab-and-go eatery (more than a Coke mart, doesn’t need to be Festhaus - thinking about O’Taters, Josephine’s), or a new Emporium, even a new show at Royal Palace. That there is something new this year sells tickets and keeps memberships actively renewed. But one new thing in five years won’t drive repeat business each year, let alone each month.
To make sure I’m still in the vein of this thread, CoDK v2.0 should be interactive. That BfE tries to be, and many will say fails for the experience factor, shows how important it is to get it right-est the next time.
Edited to say @thopping I am not disagreeing with what you wrote, but backing up your thought. Wait, survey, quote, Inc tune, implement a revamp for the best possible product. And yes to the 5, 10, 15 year plans being in existence. While the
I enjoyed Wild Izzy and was sad to see it go. Seemed like a reasonable thing to have in an Oktoberfest themed area.
Thanks, that's I took your comment. I completely agree, and that's why I like the TSM/Maus/Reeses idea so much--story plus interactivity. Not sure the story + 3D glasses bit is as compelling, plus CoDK was old school tech (2005), and we already have (had) two 3D attractions in CoDK and BfÉire.
I really hope they don't recreate CoDK with a new story...but your point is exactly how I think they will view it--if they can get a couple-five year ticket bump out of a CoDK II, and do it on the (relatively) cheap by leveraging their ride system investment--then that's that a win and a better ROI than leaving the original CoDK in place.
Yeah, I'm 99% sure there are multi-year plans. Somewhat generic and more outlining locations/high-level options for growth than specifics, like you say. My main point is I think CoDK's closure is part of a multi-year effort on "something." Maybe there're plans to use the ride building, maybe not. But closing it (I think) was done knowing they have Tempesto, InvadR, BfÉire, then Finnegan's 2019, Madrid 2020, x 2021, etc... i.e. it was planned, any any refreshes/closures are veiwed in the greater context of other things coming over a longer timeframe...
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Wow. They really broke the bank on that one.
I would like to see a darker dark ride based on more German folk legends or the Brothers Grimm as a new attraction
