1st post, long time lurker.
Firstly, I'm aware Knott's is landlocked, and surrounded by residential neighborhoods on its West side, and partially on its South side.
Supreme Scream is 310ft tall and roughly 1000 ft away from the closest residential home, and that was approved 25+ years ago, I saw this because noise and distance/closeness to homes have been an issue of concern for most at this park.
What I'm getting at is that when there's a will, there's a way, it's been proven.
Knott's does 6 million+ visitors per year (source CF Aug '23 Earnings call), historically the property has ALWAYS expanded in some way, either with CF or the Knott family themselves.
The last MAJOR change to the property was when Silver Bullet was built in 2004, at the time it was the single largest investment in an attraction in the parks history, and it's been the parks icon used in all TV and print ads ever since.
Silver Bullet, that good 'ol reliable B&M that's stood the test of time (20 years), STILL with the best hourly capacity and ride uptime out of ALL the other attractions and rides at the park, it has easily been the best Return on Investment the park has EVER had.
That was 20 years ago when it was built (Dec '04).
I mentioned that CF & the Knotts family has slowly & carefully expanded, and added to the property as every addition has to be one that will be the absolute best at Returns on Investments and last for decades to come, seeing as the park is landlocked.
So, thats why I firmly belive that a Giga or Hyper will still happen before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics (also the 30 year anniversary of CF's acquisition of Knott's Berry Farm from the Knott family), they have the luxury of time as Knott's is still the #1 most attended park in both Six Flags & Cedar Fair's portfolio, so realistically they aren't necessarily motivated to add much of anything outside of a MUCH needed parking structure (40-60 million dollars) or demolishing the Corporate Events Center and expand the Soak City parking lot.
Hell, Magic Mountain is the most attended Six Flags park, and both of these locations are in the heavily populated Southern California market, the ONLY market where CF & SF has to compete with industry giants in Disneyland & Universal Studios Hollywood.
Which has proven to be detrimental to the growth of Knott's Berry Farm, as in 2019 CF CEO Richard Zimmerman said that CF is pleased with where they're at as Knott's park attendance increased although they didn't add any attractions that year, as they were siphoning off the visitors from Disneyland as they had just opened up the 1 billion dollar Star Wars Galaxy's Edge.
CF has shown their Knott's business model over the past 20 years since they passed up on the wing coaster that would've "destroyed Ghost Town", according to Matt Ouimet's LinkedIn post from a few months ago (the wing coaster that eventually became Gatekeeper at Cedar Point), that business model since 2012 has spent 10+ years refurbing old and aging infrastructure and classic attractions (which is great, don't get me wrong).
Also, they keep prices low, include a wet & dry park, have affordable food & drink plans, no RSVP's required like Disneyland. It's perfect for families, especially in these post covid high inflation times. It's a business model that allows them to make smaller, incremental additions whilst still giving the consumer what they want. No other park in the area offers the value that Knott's does.
Its truly a great business model.
But here's the only growing problem...
With soo many annual pass holders, and increasing, when you renew your pass every year, because you truly LOVE your park and it's offerings, how it makes you feel etc, and new food items, merch & shows are the only new things to look forward to, and it's been a SIGNIFICANT amount of time since you've added a major investment project to your property (CapEx), you've gone TOO long without adding a new experience to the magic that captivated your core audience.
There comes a point when you have to add something significant, and you can't continue to coast on what you built 20 years ago, it's been 20 - 25 years since the LARGE additions were added, not "re-imagining" like Monte, but a full-on NEW experience.
You'd think Knott's Berry Farm, the #1 park in BOTH chains is worthy of something "BIG", like Canada's Wonderland has been saying recently
Anyone remember the out crying of support on YouTube and Twitter when those Dec 2021 Knott's Giga-Coaster blueprints leaked, memes from Titanic "it's been 84 years..."
the want and need is there.
If it does EVER happen, this will EASILY carry the Knotts for the next 20-30+ years and be an icon, like Millennium Force, Fury 325, & Superman the ride at Six Flags New England.
Those 3 rides have DOMINATED Golden Ticket's Best Steel Coaster awards since 2000, everyone loves it. It's an experience that Disney nor Universal could ever provide, giving Knott's a much needed edge over the billion dollar juggernauts, and giving us, a well rounded park for less.
Thanks for reading, Escape Designs and I created a CGI concept of my vision on YouTube, it took us 2 years to make. One year of my own research and development after the leaked blueprints of Dec. 2021, and another year of Escape Designs engineering and designing my layout as well as a reimagined front gate experience.
Go to their channel to see what we created (it's the 23 min video, the FULL and final version, the others are teasers)
Direct Link to Embedded Media Source
Firstly, I'm aware Knott's is landlocked, and surrounded by residential neighborhoods on its West side, and partially on its South side.
Supreme Scream is 310ft tall and roughly 1000 ft away from the closest residential home, and that was approved 25+ years ago, I saw this because noise and distance/closeness to homes have been an issue of concern for most at this park.
What I'm getting at is that when there's a will, there's a way, it's been proven.
Knott's does 6 million+ visitors per year (source CF Aug '23 Earnings call), historically the property has ALWAYS expanded in some way, either with CF or the Knott family themselves.
The last MAJOR change to the property was when Silver Bullet was built in 2004, at the time it was the single largest investment in an attraction in the parks history, and it's been the parks icon used in all TV and print ads ever since.
Silver Bullet, that good 'ol reliable B&M that's stood the test of time (20 years), STILL with the best hourly capacity and ride uptime out of ALL the other attractions and rides at the park, it has easily been the best Return on Investment the park has EVER had.
That was 20 years ago when it was built (Dec '04).
I mentioned that CF & the Knotts family has slowly & carefully expanded, and added to the property as every addition has to be one that will be the absolute best at Returns on Investments and last for decades to come, seeing as the park is landlocked.
So, thats why I firmly belive that a Giga or Hyper will still happen before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics (also the 30 year anniversary of CF's acquisition of Knott's Berry Farm from the Knott family), they have the luxury of time as Knott's is still the #1 most attended park in both Six Flags & Cedar Fair's portfolio, so realistically they aren't necessarily motivated to add much of anything outside of a MUCH needed parking structure (40-60 million dollars) or demolishing the Corporate Events Center and expand the Soak City parking lot.
Hell, Magic Mountain is the most attended Six Flags park, and both of these locations are in the heavily populated Southern California market, the ONLY market where CF & SF has to compete with industry giants in Disneyland & Universal Studios Hollywood.
Which has proven to be detrimental to the growth of Knott's Berry Farm, as in 2019 CF CEO Richard Zimmerman said that CF is pleased with where they're at as Knott's park attendance increased although they didn't add any attractions that year, as they were siphoning off the visitors from Disneyland as they had just opened up the 1 billion dollar Star Wars Galaxy's Edge.
CF has shown their Knott's business model over the past 20 years since they passed up on the wing coaster that would've "destroyed Ghost Town", according to Matt Ouimet's LinkedIn post from a few months ago (the wing coaster that eventually became Gatekeeper at Cedar Point), that business model since 2012 has spent 10+ years refurbing old and aging infrastructure and classic attractions (which is great, don't get me wrong).
Also, they keep prices low, include a wet & dry park, have affordable food & drink plans, no RSVP's required like Disneyland. It's perfect for families, especially in these post covid high inflation times. It's a business model that allows them to make smaller, incremental additions whilst still giving the consumer what they want. No other park in the area offers the value that Knott's does.
Its truly a great business model.
But here's the only growing problem...
With soo many annual pass holders, and increasing, when you renew your pass every year, because you truly LOVE your park and it's offerings, how it makes you feel etc, and new food items, merch & shows are the only new things to look forward to, and it's been a SIGNIFICANT amount of time since you've added a major investment project to your property (CapEx), you've gone TOO long without adding a new experience to the magic that captivated your core audience.
There comes a point when you have to add something significant, and you can't continue to coast on what you built 20 years ago, it's been 20 - 25 years since the LARGE additions were added, not "re-imagining" like Monte, but a full-on NEW experience.
You'd think Knott's Berry Farm, the #1 park in BOTH chains is worthy of something "BIG", like Canada's Wonderland has been saying recently
Anyone remember the out crying of support on YouTube and Twitter when those Dec 2021 Knott's Giga-Coaster blueprints leaked, memes from Titanic "it's been 84 years..."
the want and need is there.If it does EVER happen, this will EASILY carry the Knotts for the next 20-30+ years and be an icon, like Millennium Force, Fury 325, & Superman the ride at Six Flags New England.
Those 3 rides have DOMINATED Golden Ticket's Best Steel Coaster awards since 2000, everyone loves it. It's an experience that Disney nor Universal could ever provide, giving Knott's a much needed edge over the billion dollar juggernauts, and giving us, a well rounded park for less.
Thanks for reading, Escape Designs and I created a CGI concept of my vision on YouTube, it took us 2 years to make. One year of my own research and development after the leaked blueprints of Dec. 2021, and another year of Escape Designs engineering and designing my layout as well as a reimagined front gate experience.
Go to their channel to see what we created (it's the 23 min video, the FULL and final version, the others are teasers)
Direct Link to Embedded Media Source
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Thank you for appreciating our design, it took 2 years to complete, 1 year of my own research and on the ground experience, and another 1 year of design and creation.
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