Reptilian
- Thread starter I305Evan
- Start date
My wife and daughters went to KD last week and my wife was remarking how awful Avalanche looked, as if it had not been maintained at all. It occurred to me that this might be intentional for a ride they don't plan to keep around (why invest?). I would also imagine parts for this 31 year old ride may be hard to come by given how few of them there are left. Is it possible that they would remove Avalanche? That would make this site significantly larger. Something to ponder.
It also could solve something that I've always found odd in my 30+ years of going to Kings Dominion - the walkway dead end at Avalanche - you could easily not even know Avalanche was there, much less how to find the station. And now the fact that Dominator is off on its own island. If I were in charge (and if I had to get rid of Avalanche, which I like and would not want to do), I would seriously look at connecting the walkways from the end of Dominator/Scooby Doo coaster to where Avalanche's station was. It would provide more guest flow options and there is enough space around there around which you could even build a cohesive new area. Heck, you could even put a coaster with a station behind Boo Blasters that runs out on the old Volcano site and it would not even have to be part of the Safari Village area. Just some thoughts...
It also could solve something that I've always found odd in my 30+ years of going to Kings Dominion - the walkway dead end at Avalanche - you could easily not even know Avalanche was there, much less how to find the station. And now the fact that Dominator is off on its own island. If I were in charge (and if I had to get rid of Avalanche, which I like and would not want to do), I would seriously look at connecting the walkways from the end of Dominator/Scooby Doo coaster to where Avalanche's station was. It would provide more guest flow options and there is enough space around there around which you could even build a cohesive new area. Heck, you could even put a coaster with a station behind Boo Blasters that runs out on the old Volcano site and it would not even have to be part of the Safari Village area. Just some thoughts...
I want to see them do an overhaul of the area like with Candy Apple Grove. I like Avalanche, but the area is just garbage. Scraping that and crypt can lead to a revitalization of that part of the park. Throwing in some new, exciting flats and a one of a kind coaster will do wonders.
If they remove another major ride like Avalanche that would be nuts. The defunct coaster listing on RCDB would have 4 additions in 5 years. The public perception now is they're just removing attractions left and right.
Avalanche is such a rare model. I doubt they would take that out after losing a 1 of a kind.
I consider it a real treat to ride Avalanche. It’s such a fun ride and a very unique experience! I think I’d be more upset if they got rid of Avalanche than I was when they announced Volcano’s closing haha.
Avalanche is one of my favorite rides at KD. Would I wait more than 20 minutes for it? No. That said, I wouldn't wait more than 20 minutes for literally any ride at KD (sans MAYBE Timbers).
I can safely say KD's lineup is significantly less appealing to me without Avalanche.
I can safely say KD's lineup is significantly less appealing to me without Avalanche.
At this point and time the removal of Avalanche would anger me more than the removal of any other ride in that park. Despite it's lack of a line it's still one of the more commonly ridden rides in the dry park (comfortably inside the top 10) even above some newer, higher brow rides.
I'm not sure how the removal of Volcano will affect traffic flow inside the park, but I feel that if KD were to remove Avalanche due to a drop in popularity it would be horribly unfair for the ride.
I'm not sure how the removal of Volcano will affect traffic flow inside the park, but I feel that if KD were to remove Avalanche due to a drop in popularity it would be horribly unfair for the ride.
HELL no to removing Avalanche. They already got rid of one unique coaster, don't do it to another. They can fit a coaster there even with it in the way.
Yeah low-key I love Avalanche. The only Mack Bobsled in the US and it's such an enjoyable ride. Plus a great stepping stone for kids since it does not have any large drops of any kind.
That makes me chuckle a bit as my daughters rode every major ride in the park, but were freaked out/scared by avalanche because it was rolling loosely in the trough instead of on rails.
Don’t get me wrong, I love avalanche. But it wouldn’t be the first time a park has taken out a unique older ride for maintenance or other unknown reasons. And its possible the untimely closure of volcano could be spurring them to look twice at the sizable plot of land that would open up.
Again, just a thought. I certainly don’t advocate it. And if they did do it I would hope it’s replacement would target a similar audience (family-friendly/moderate thrill).
Don’t get me wrong, I love avalanche. But it wouldn’t be the first time a park has taken out a unique older ride for maintenance or other unknown reasons. And its possible the untimely closure of volcano could be spurring them to look twice at the sizable plot of land that would open up.
Again, just a thought. I certainly don’t advocate it. And if they did do it I would hope it’s replacement would target a similar audience (family-friendly/moderate thrill).
As for connecting the Avalanche plaza to the back end of Planet Snoopy, I don’t think that would ever happen. They WANT you to walk past the store, the drink booth, the restaurant, and the games, in the hopes that you will spend money. Connecting the two with a shortcut will prevent spending.
^Aren't the motives of corporations fun? Imagine their logic for Volcano. Exec: "Hmmm repairing it will cost millions. What kind of ROI can we expect from that?" Financial Analyst: "very minimal. It probably would have minimal effect on attendance and we would just lose the money" Exec: "bulldoze that bit*h"
That's the question when coming to Avalanche - ROI? If Mack can still provide parts at a reasonable rate, and there isn't much downtime, then it would come to daily operating expenses vs. ridership... Something like expense per rider compared to other attractions.
While on the speculating game, if they were to loop the pathway in would they see each increase in ridership and/or guest satisfaction that would help increase return visits and/or shop/food sales, even if indirectly? Taking that a step further, what if they added a shop kiosk or food stall along the newly connected path - would that help or hurt?
While on the speculating game, if they were to loop the pathway in would they see each increase in ridership and/or guest satisfaction that would help increase return visits and/or shop/food sales, even if indirectly? Taking that a step further, what if they added a shop kiosk or food stall along the newly connected path - would that help or hurt?
Parts are still readily available and it ranked 7th in total ridership last year. It beat out 3 other coasters in Safari, excluding Volcano.
The problem with adding a loop pathway for that side of the Safari from the catering pavilions would be that it would be a straight shot from Dominator to Avalanche without interacting with any shops or games. The primary result of that would be that ridership may increase at opening hours for Avalanche, but it would likely have a negative result for the games and stores because now guests can walk from i305 back to I-Street and only interacting with a single game and a single food stand. Doubly so due to the staffing problems KD can have on the bookends of the season where some of the isolated stores and food stands are closed since the majority of food and merch sales come from Candy Apple Grove, I-Street, and Chick-Fil-A.
Normally I'd agree with this statement. However, since Kings Dominion has recently removed multiple other attractions, public opinion may be a bigger influencing factor in this case than pure economics.
Considering they went out and bought a brand new lift motor twice for the ride in the last 3 years, I seriously doubt they have any intention on removing it.
The smartass in me wants to say “that’s what they said about Volcano...”