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  #21  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2016, 7:06 PM
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Originally Posted by mr1138 View Post
Perhaps anything with a track length shorter than 1,000' shouldn't count?
interesting idea.

however, i would still count boomerang and sidewinder as "real" roller coasters. they have permanent foundations and stand tall enough to provide real thrills with significant drops and inversions. they ain't no mere kiddie coaster ovals.

that would still only give elitch gardens 4 "real" roller coasters, so maybe it shouldn't count. in that case i'll add denver to the list of cities without a major amusement/theme park.
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  #22  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2016, 7:39 PM
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Why not do anything with over a million annual visitors? I'd consider that major.

The Netherlands only has 2 parks with 5 or more rollercoasters, but I think amusement parks here (and in Europe in general) are less focussed on roller coasters anyway. There are 4 amusement parks here that are considered "the major ones". All ~ 1 million annual visitors and the most major of them all in my city (metro area) with close to 5 million.

Last edited by SHiRO; Jul 21, 2016 at 7:52 PM.
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  #23  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2016, 7:43 PM
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Originally Posted by SHiRO View Post
Why not do anything with over a million annual visitors? I'd consider that major.
that would be another way to calculate things, but as a rollercoaster junkie, i'm a just billion times more interested in rollercoasters than attendance stats.

to me a "major" amusement park is one with a whole fleet of different rollercoasters. i don't really give a shit if 500,000 or 5 million people attend it annually.
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  #24  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2016, 8:05 PM
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Neither the Triangle nor the Triad in North Carolina, each with more than a million residents, have a major amusement park. Greensboro in the Triad has a big water park, though, and both metros are fairly convenient to Carowinds down in Charlotte. The cities of the Triangle, particularly Raleigh, are also only about three hours away from Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA.
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  #25  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2016, 8:17 PM
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Originally Posted by Steely Dan View Post
that would be another way to calculate things, but as a rollercoaster junkie, i'm a just billion times more interested in rollercoasters than attendance stats.

to me a "major" amusement park is one with a whole fleet of different rollercoasters. i don't really give a shit if 500,000 or 5 million people attend it annually.
I don't care either way, the Efteling is the only true internationally competing amusement park anyway. But it has less roller coasters than Walibi (formerly Six Flags) which is a park focussed on roller coasters.

Thing is, the Efteling is headed to 5 million visitors a year, while Walibi barely reaches a million. So going by roller coasters is a very American way of looking at things tbh. There's no doubt the Efteling is the most major park here and it only has 5 roller coasters since 2015 (the new one is also the best one I've ever been on). 3/5 don't even have inversions. One is a wooden coaster, one is a dark ride hybrid and one is completely in the dark.
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  #26  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2016, 8:25 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mr1138 View Post
While you're absolutely correct, Disney has never exactly been about "roller coasters." It might make sense to count "E Ticket Attractions" in their case... hard to say it's not a "major park" with rides like Indiana Jones, Pirates, and Splash Mountain that are arguably better than any roller coaster.
Especially if you count the modern indoor kind of rides like you see at Universal or Star Tours or Mission Space at Disney where you stay in one place but the room shifts or spins or whatever. Not a roller coaster but still a "thrill ride".
Either way it doesn't matter as Orlando metro obviously qualifies as having theme parks or amusement parks.
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  #27  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2016, 8:31 PM
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Amusement parks in the Netherlands:

Efteling ~5 million visitors, 5 roller coasters
Duinrell ~1.5 million visitors, amusement and water park, 3 roller coasters
Slagharen ~1 million visitors, 2 rollercoasters
Walibi ~1 million visitors, 7 roller coasters

between 500,000 and 1 million visitors:
Toverland
Hellendoorn
Julianatoren
Drievliet
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  #28  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2016, 8:35 PM
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So you're telling me that between Vancouver, Seattle and Portland there is not a single major amusement park in the Northwest? Somebody better tap into that market.
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  #29  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2016, 8:40 PM
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Originally Posted by The North One View Post
So you're telling me that between Vancouver, Seattle and Portland there is not a single major amusement park in the Northwest? Somebody better tap into that market.
This is the major park in the Northwest which is by Coeur d'Alene and not far from Spokane, but a bit of a drive from Seattle.

http://www.silverwoodthemepark.com/
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Welcome to Silverwood, the Pacific Northwest's largest theme park, with over 70 rides and attractions.

http://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.M3...c46H0&pid=15.1




http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/73...c7d278d376.jpg
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  #30  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2016, 8:43 PM
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Originally Posted by The North One View Post
So you're telling me that between Vancouver, Seattle and Portland there is not a single major amusement park in the Northwest? Somebody better tap into that market.
it really does seem peculiar that the PNW doesn't have at least one major regional theme park.
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  #31  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2016, 8:47 PM
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Originally Posted by Cottonwood View Post
This is the major park in the Northwest which is by Coeur d'Alene and not far from Spokane, but a bit of a drive from Seattle.

http://www.silverwoodthemepark.com/
yeah, silverwood is technically in the PNW, but it's nowhere near the major population centers.

it's 5 hours from seattle, 6 hours from portland, and 7 hours from vancouver. those travel times are MUCH too long for day trips.


if a large regional theme park was built in the vicinity of olympia, then it'd only be an hour from seattle and 2 hours from portland with the potential to capture both markets as there's no real competition.
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  #32  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2016, 8:53 PM
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List of parks I've been to:

-Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando
-Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando
-Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris
-Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando Resort
-Efteling, Netherlands (>20x)
-Tivoli, Copenhagen (2x)
-Phantasialand, Germany
-Movie Park Germany
-Tibidabo, Barcelona (2x)
-Plopsaland, Belgium (kids park)
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  #33  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2016, 9:10 PM
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Columbus does not have one because we have two great ones nearby. Kings Island and Cedar Point are both within easy driving distance. I prefer Cedar Point actually and the drive is longer but nicer-not all boring freeway all the way.

Like with many things, if we don't have it, it is often nearby within driving distance(and sometimes this is the very reason we don't have whatever 'it' is. Too many other large, older, more established legacy cities nearby.
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  #34  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2016, 9:16 PM
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my list of amusement parks i've been to:

midwest:
six flags great america (my home park)
cedar point
kings island
six flags st. louis
mt. olympus
indiana beach
geauga lake (defunct)


florida:
busch gardens tampa
universal islands of adventure
universal studious florida
WDW magic kingdom
WDW epcot


other:
kings dominion
kennywood
luna park @ coney island (for the legendary cyclone)



and my lifetime rollercoaster count currently stands at 75
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Last edited by Steely Dan; Jul 21, 2016 at 9:34 PM.
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  #35  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2016, 10:50 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steely Dan View Post
my list of amusement parks i've been to:

midwest:
six flags great america (my home park)
cedar point
kings island
six flags st. louis
mt. olympus
indiana beach
geauga lake (defunct)


florida:
busch gardens tampa
universal islands of adventure
universal studious florida
WDW magic kingdom
WDW epcot


other:
kings dominion
kennywood
luna park @ coney island (for the legendary cyclone)



and my lifetime rollercoaster count currently stands at 75
You gotta get out to Magic Mountain man... you can add 18 coasters to your list
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  #36  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2016, 11:31 PM
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Metro LA has a some insanely good parks in it.

Houston is working on a new park, Grand Texas, but nothing significant which is shocking for a city of it's size.

Raleigh, New Orleans, Austin, Memphis, Tulsa, don't have parks.
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  #37  
Old Posted Jul 22, 2016, 1:45 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steely Dan View Post
my list of amusement parks i've been to:

midwest:
six flags great america (my home park)
cedar point
kings island
six flags st. louis
mt. olympus
indiana beach
geauga lake (defunct)


florida:
busch gardens tampa
universal islands of adventure
universal studious florida
WDW magic kingdom
WDW epcot


other:
kings dominion
kennywood
luna park @ coney island (for the legendary cyclone)



and my lifetime rollercoaster count currently stands at 75
Sixteen more roller coasters await you at Canada's Wonderland.
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  #38  
Old Posted Jul 22, 2016, 1:48 AM
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What city has the closest major amusement park to its CBD?
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  #39  
Old Posted Jul 22, 2016, 2:16 AM
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Originally Posted by xzmattzx View Post
What city has the closest major amusement park to its CBD?
Copenhagen
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  #40  
Old Posted Jul 22, 2016, 2:29 AM
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Originally Posted by SHiRO View Post
List of parks I've been to:
<snip>
-Phantasialand, Germany
<pins>
I went there way back in 1986 when I lived in Trier. It was a fun day.

And that name ... I loved it.
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