As we're now getting close to "announcement season" we're also knee deep in "leak season" as in things are starting to be found out about attractions that are coming in 2017. Because parks have to file permits for attractions, and those permits are public record many on the internet have gotten wise to the process. 
Of course, all of this is strictly rumor at this point, but it does start to bring up "how much of a good thing is too much of a good thing". And that's just what RD is talking about today. 

​We are about six weeks from 'reveal' day for the Six Flags chain - the special day of the year when the SF corporate people reveal what parks are getting what for 2017. However this year has been full of leaks - leaks by the dozens in fact. And with that comes the realization that there is a LOT of disappointment abounding from many sides. 

Since Premier Parks took control of the chain back in 1997/8, the idea was to take former  Premier parks rides and try to work the magic that the SF name had on it around the country. Former Premier parks such as Geauga Lake, Adventure World and Riverside quickly flipped into SF parks, with the associated themes and rebranding of rides; additional coasters to fit the park's needs appeared almost as quickly as the names changed. Superman: Ride of steel appeared at three of the parks - all three former Premier parks, while other attractions began to spring up in     quantity - all with the same theme. Fortunately, most of this clone action was limited to three or four of a type... but it was a harbinger of the future. 

As we all know, SF went into severe financial hardship in the middle of the 2000s. This financial indigestion was felt throughout the chain, as capital expenditures began to be reduced. Parks had to go without major expansion while reorganization occurred, and the finances were paid down. A smart move to help reshape and rebuild a brand which had grown too fast too quickly - all on debt that was high interest and due quickly.

At the turn of the decade, the picture began to improve, and parks began to expand again. A handful of parks got new coasters in 2011... but in 2012 we started to see the beginning of a disturbing trend. Duplication... at every park. 

What's going on, SixFlags? Record profits, record turnstile numbers, record revenues & record spending in the parks should tell you that perhaps it's time to return to the roots and to the core values that Six Flags once stood for: Regional parks with a regional flair. The term Six Flags stood for something: Innovation and themes based upon the Six Flags that were raised above each park's home territory.  
While this has been dilluted down with the addition of non-core parks over the past 40 years, so has the differentiation between the parks. So many parks are now beginning to look identical in ride offerings, show offerings and such. You can't throw a stone in many of the base SF parks without hitting a BatClone coaster (even in Texas) from B&M.  And let's count the super-loops. 

Now mind you, gentle readers, that other park chains do the same thing. Cedar Fair has their fair share of duplicates - such as the S&S Power Towers, and to a lesser extent Morgan Hypercoasters. At the same time: Every Cedar Fair park retains their own image, attractions & such. You won't find 'The Beast' at Cedar Point. And you won't find I-305 at World's of Fun. Nor will you find Montezooma's Revenge at Carowinds (well... you DID... but long before Carowinds became a Cedar Fair park.) They've retained their identity while maintaining a sense of brand, location and purpose. And thus, they have an individuality to them like none other. 

Duplicating rides in parks has been a trade secret that was no secret for years. But when it came to key attractions - log flumes, coasters, etc. you always saw each park having it's own individual stars; ones that were unique to the park and to the chains they belong to. ​

It isn't working. While the GP go "Oooh, new!" for one season... the next year, they're asking for something different. They want originality. They want expression. They want something better. 

Six Flags promotes one of the facets of their season pass is being able to visit most any park in the chain for the price of their pass. At what point will people go "Gee, this is like our own home Six Flags" when they go in and see the same BatClone coaster, the same Justice League dark ride, the same Larsen SuperLoop, the same Star Flyer, the same...everything.  The novelty wears off quickly when all you see are the same attractions in every park everywhere you go. 

And it also causes a bit of backlash: How long until park attendance begins to drop due to the facets of duplication - and the lack of hard-core investment in original rides, shows & attractions begins to take its toll? I can say that it won't be long, that's for sure. Six Flags has walked themselves into a corner - and it is going to be a long and expensive route to get out of. ​

The other Day RD and Gregg took one of those stupid Facebook quizzes ... "what is your true profession" (because we all know this isn't it). 
Both got something theme park related so that then turned into expanding on our ideas to have some fun with them. So below you'll find "How RD would run Six Flags Over Georgia" and "If Gregg was the boss of Knott's Berry Farm". We hope you enjoy. 

So what do you think? Do you like our ideas for these two respective parks? What do you agree or disagree with? Let us know in the comments below. 

If you'd like to take the silly Facebook poll, you can do so here. Let us know if you get anything fun. 

Today RD is back with a long overdue article, one that came about very quickly, and that's usually how the best articles work. 
I think we've all felt "obsolete at times, whether it's on a ride or otherwise. I know for me it's Slingshot rides, they just don't appeal to me and the one one time I rode one I thought I was going to be sick. (Ask SFMM's PR dept). But read on, and be sure to share your comments below. - Gregg

Recently, the PJ 'staff' were in a discussion - and the idea of a potential new coaster at a park being an RMC came up. Mind you, it's all speculation this far out for the most part, but it had been originally guessed to be a GCI wood coaster. 

I'm all for parks adding new coasters. It keeps our industry new, fresh & exciting. And it shows we are not just sitting on our laurels waiting for time to pass. In a lot of ways, that's been the case since 1884 (or earlier if you go to the old Russian Ice Slides). Parks & operators have always longed for the newest & most advanced attractions they can build - as it draws people & thrill seekers into a park. And this brings in money - which is the whole core of the business. It is to make money. ​

As y'all know already, I'm not a fan of transtracturing (be sure to check out RD's article about RMC's here) - that inane process of converting a wood coaster to steel. I'm a hard-core preservationist in the strictest sense; keep it simple, keep it natural, keep it the way it was designed and built. In a way though, this makes me obsolete. It goes against the thought of innovation, of new designs, of new concepts - and against the idea of new coasters in a park. 

As I look around at the many new coasters we've seen around the world over the past five years, I look at what we have built - and it's amazing.  RMC has cut a niche in rebuilding rides, and their own niche in new build coasters using their steel track or their layered steel-wood systems. Innovation that Alan Shilke can be credited for developing and engineering. At the same time - they don't appeal to me - they are outside my comfort zone. They have revitalized the industry - and made me obsolete. ​

Ride builders like Intamin, B&M and others have begun building taller, longer & faster rides - 200,300,400 plus feet tall. Innovation & size gratuity that grabs the attention of the media - and brings the guests in by the thousands. They stand out - becoming centerpieces of attraction innovation and visual acuity for a park. They are, for the most part, things I won't set foot on. Again - outside my comfort zone. They have rendered me obsolete. 

As I walk around my local parks (SFMM, Disneyland & Knott's on one coast; SFoG on the other) I see vast worlds of difference. Disney's family-friendly attractions are still popular 50 plus years after they opened, and they tend to be outside the general park box for the most part. But seeing Knott's, SFMM & SFoG (among other chain parks) I look to their additions over the past 15 years - and at how many are new-generation attractions - built for thrills & for impact - and doing that job perfectly. At the same time: I look at how many attractions are now gone - ones that were either overhauled into completely new rides - or removed entirely due to a lack of popularity. A part of me went with those coasters - like them: I'm obsolete. ​

I grew up with some of the best theme parks in the USA - HersheyPark, Kings Dominion & Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I saw these parks innovate, add attractions & deftly change the landscape by adding bigger and more advanced designs. And then, as now, innovation was key. Duplication as a whole wasn't started yet (We have to give it to BatClone for that era...) but competition was fierce. At the same time - I considered that even the smaller coasters were fun & rideable. And up into the past five or six years, for the most part I felt the same way: Many coasters are there for fun & for entertainment. Very few were in the 'extreme' category - only a handful of parks would have something in that class.