With the announcement of the Miners Mountain Express....which is a replacement ride for Thunderation, does it seem like SDC has really become dormant since 2018? Everything that the park has done since 2018 has been a replacement ride for something they already had. 2020 was Mystic River Falls, 2024 Fire in the Hole, 2027 MME....The park has done some transformations on the west side after the fire, and they also connected fireman's landing to the Grand Exposition, but it seems like the park over the last 10 years has just been a big maintenance (replacement) program.
I'm just wondering if this trend continues until the whole park is touched, or will they branch out to something unique sometime soon?
Jay
They might do something unique by 2029 or 2030
They added the plaza🙃 and next year we get a hotel.
But yeah, it's new stuff but has all been basically a replacement not expansion. Hopefully they will do a real expansion soon.
I don't know if the plan was to keep taking out then (basically) replacing or if they were going to add something and the situation arises where something has become more expensive to repair than remove. I'm sure it was more cost effective to take out FITH and Lost River than continuing to repair them. I did like the old FITH and Lost River better than I do their replacements but it is what it is.
Flooded Mine WILL be next, especially if more of the founders start dying off. We almost lost it a while back. Rumor is it hasn't been touched because Jack Hershend was pushing back on some of the proposed changes.
It is crazy how SDC has remained in the same general footprint replacing old sections of the park while Dollywood in the same timeframe has pretty much tripled in size with only a few casualties along the way being their version of River Blast and the Waterboggan.
American Plunge could be next.
I think AP is safe for awhile. It is both popular, apparently easier (than some rides) to maintain, and they went to a lot of expense to rebuild the channel and tunnel.
FM was heavily rumored to be taken out years ago and is still chugging along, but at some point they are either going to have to do a massive structural refurbishment or take it out just due to age. The wood rot on some parts is very noticeable. It's still a very popular ride though, and the park now realizes the nostalgia value of their old rides. I would assume that when it goes, it will be replaced with another indoor attraction - probably a more typical shooting dark ride like the Justice League rides at SF.
But getting back to the original question, SDC already covers a large land area, and only a few rides get lines on busy days over an hour long, so by most park standards they don't need to add-on to what they have, they just need to keep everything fresh. Most of the ride replacements lately have been due to circumstances out of their control. Lost River had major problems with water quality, FITH apparently had either mold or structural issues that they couldn't keep at bay without a major refurb, and TNT would have needed a major track replacement to keep going.
Miner Mountain and it's area feels like an expansion to me though. Having that connection will be nice. I'm sure the TNT plot will get re-used within the next six years or so.
Honestly, depending on how well Nightflight Expedition does at Dollywood (not counting the first day hiccups it's encountering), I could really see that model being used for a FM revamp somewhere in the park.
I'll have to pull up a topo map and see, but could another reason behind them not expanding out be because of the terrain? People already complain about Hill st and how rough it is to walk up, I can't imagine that the park would want to expand further down the hillside due to that and the cost associated with lessening the grade.
They have been steadily working on moving BOH operations from their current locations next to 76 (and behind fence at FITH) to off campus locations. I imagine this is to free up additional land there behind Lake Silver. I could see another "warehouse ride" be added in that area
I would almost put money down that FM will be the next classic to go. And the replacement ride system will be like Nightflight Expedition at Dollywood.
Losing FM will be a terrible blow to the City from my perspective.