Odd that you say 2015 will be a low cap year Swoosh. I know there are some recycled pieces, but are they not spending $8 million at the end of the day? That's at least a medium capital year, bordering on "large" classification as far as I've seen. I just speculating based on patterns here, but you have to go back to 2007 for the last time they spent big two years in a row on capital improvements (correct me if I'm wrong).
They're going to have to do something soon with FITH. The amount of work it needs is way past cosmetic.
This is also something I've been thinking about for awhile now. There are some inescapable engineering issues to overcome with FITH that will have to be addressed at some point in one way or another. I knew when Blazing Fury was messed with that the days were being numbered. All you have to do is start letting them get a little shabby, maybe take away a couple of the things that made them special, then people forget why they were so magical and nostalgic and eventually look forward to their replacement. Plus, in any case, a bumpy ride has no fans - just a fact of life in this industry.
Now someone with a heart for what makes SDC special would look to retrofit/expand/rebuild the attraction to capture what made it special
utilizing newly available technology, but a soulless corporate entity would demolish it to the pad, build a cheap new shell, fill it with gimmicks (guns and targets anyone), re-do the theme to be PC (no more baldknobbers), and put a little statue in front to honor whatever service people they're onto now in a heartless attempt to make the whole thing seem more special than it is. I don't want to rag too much on SDC's leadership, I've lauded them a lot recently for how they handled FL, but I'm pessimistic that they can mess with FITH and still maintain the Ozarkan spirit that made it come alive. I mean, I'm still pissed they took out Hobo Junction.
Hollywood, I agree with your basic premise about ROI, but realize that this site probably wouldn't exist without the allure of SDC's classic attractions, and the classic custom SDC rides are very much a part of that. Most of what's being built now is making the place into an upper class theme park, but I have always argued that the really creative and custom stuff like FITH and FM made the place better than any other theme park. I know I'm not the only one who's had this sentiment, and deep down I know a lot of SDC's patrons feel it too if you read into their comments a little. There's got to be a lot of money to be made in the classics, because they have all the elements that turned SDC from a roadside attraction to what it is today. On the other hand, there's a whole chain of parks that took the pure ROI approach: Six Flags, and they've just come out of bankruptcy and are headed straight back.