If we’re being honest, Cedar Fair and theme rarely seemed to overlap. The Ohio-based park operator (best known for its flagship, Cedar Point) tended to operate parks that were clean, safe, and friendly, but overwhelmingly coaster parks. In fact, between its legacy gates (Cedar Point, Valleyfair, Dorney Park, Worlds of Fun, and Michigan’s Adventure) Cedar Fair parks boasted a cumulative zero dark rides, instead peddling exclusively in sun-drenched midways, pizza stands, self-contained Snoopy kids areas, and other classically-“amusement park” standards.
That became a major issue for fans when, in 2007, Cedar Fair purchased the Paramount Parks chain for $1.24 billion. Overnight, the thrill park company acquired a portfolio that included Kings Island, Kings Dominion, Carowinds, and Canada’s Wonderland. While each counted coasters as its top draws, these parks were also more than midways. Through their origin in the ’70s and ’80s (“post-Disneyland”), all came equipped with themed areas, historic environments, hub-and-spokes layouts, park icons, special effects, and yes, dark rides that a theming-averse Cedar Fair needed to contend with. Early results were somewhat rough, with behemoth steel coasters dropped in quiet areas, generic ride re-namings, and several gut-wrenching closures.
But even if Cedar Fair was slow to embrace the world of theming (no doubt still riding the declining high of the Coaster Wars back in 2007), in recent years, Cedar Fair parks have shifted beautifully to have thrills and theme comingle. Recently, the company has weened off of its dependence on off-the-shelf B&M coasters in favor of personality-filled, customized creations like Mystic Timbers, Copperhead Strike, and Wonder Mountain’s Guardian. Increasingly, coasters seemed to fit into the larger environments of the park, with stories and even scores all their own…
Now, in a post-Wizarding-World industry, that gradual bend toward theming and storytelling is leading to a new era at Cedar Fair’s parks. Instead of fighting against the themed areas inherent in their acquired parks, the parks have embraced and even enhanced them! And why not? As proven by the Butterbeer model, per capita revenue can increase by exponents when guests can opt into “in-universe” dining, unique snacks, must-have collectibles, and merchandise that lets them join a story in progress. It’s not just about rides anymore; it’s about lands.
Maybe as proof-of-concept, last year, Kings Dominion re-launched one of its original “lands,” leading us to dive deep into Jungle X-Pedition and how we thought the family-focused, story-based build-out could serve as a model for regional parks to go big on theming.
Turns out, we were right! Next year, four Cedar Fair parks will launch new or reimagined “lands,” bringing more than just big, off-the-shelf coasters to their thrill-focused parks. These four lands all bring new flat rides and family-ready capacity, sure. But they also bring refreshed environments, new decorations, original restaurants, and yes, even storytelling that promises to continue Cedar Fair’s slow wade into the world of theming. We can’t wait for these immersive areas to bring a little theme back into our local, regional parks. Do you like this model, or do you wish these parks would stick to coasters?
1. Fiesta Village at Knott’s Berry Farm
Knott’s Berry Farm is a Southern Californian treasure. Located just a few city blocks from Disneyland, the historic park counts itself as the first theme park in the country, dating back to Walter Knott and his wife Cordelia opening an immersive Californian “Ghost Town” next to their fabled chicken restaurant. Knott’s has long been a showcase of Californian history and culture, with the original “Ghost Town” as its core and additional themed lands (like the Boardwalk, Calico, the Roarin’ ’20s, and Camp Snoopy) growing around it.
Though Cedar Fair acquired the park in the ’90s, it still feels like something different with three substantial dark rides and spectacular history and theming. Of course coasters have been the name of the game since Cedar Fair’s purchase, but Knott’s has also tended to care more about its themed “lands” than any other park in the chain.
That continues in 2023 with the revitalization of the park’s Fiesta Village (above) – a celebration of Southern California’s Latin culture and food. Sure this is “just” a colorful, creative, and much-needed visual “plussing” to an existing area, but the reimagining of Fiesta Village is also the kind of essential reinvestment that it’s too easy for parks to forget about.
The “new” version of the land will see everything refreshed, with “bright, colorful alebrijes and vibrant landscaping” spreading throughout the Fiesta Mercado. Flowers will grow across new arbors; flags strung down the streetscape; a new stage will take shape in the square; new lighting and paint schemes will overtake existing flat rides; new merchants will arrive to sell their authentic wares throughout the marketplace. It’s all built around the Casa California – a full-service restaurant joining the park’s legendary Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant.
The “anchor” of the project is the modernization of Montezooma’s Revenge – the classic 1978 Schwarzkopf shuttle loop coaster. Shuttered in February 2022, the historic ride could’ve been scrapped. Instead, it’s being relaunched (pun intended) as Montezooma: The Forbidden Fortress, allegedly retracking the classic and installing new launch hardware that will randomize the ride’s signature launch between forward and backward starts. While a nicely-themed area won’t be groundbreaking for Knott’s, this refresh looks like a major show of care for the park.
2. Aeronautica Landing at Carowinds
Located right on the state line between North Carolina and South Carolina, Carowinds treats the historical regions of the Carolinas as material fo lightly-themed and slightly-differentiated lands like Carolina Boardwalk, County Fair, and Blue Ridge Junction. In 2023, however, the park will lose one of its lands (the sparsely-themed Crossroads) in favor of Aeronautica Landing.
Billed as a celebration of the Carolinas’ role in the birth of aviation (this is where the Wright Brothers made their famous flight, after all), Aeronautica Landing is a sort of post-modern testing grounds for new flight technologies. Absorbing the park’s B&M inverted coaster (formerly Top Gun: The Jet Coaster, now called Afterburn but retaining its military flight decorations), the land will be a dynamic collection of cutting edge flat rides, family fare, and steampunk stylization. (See the fly-through video, above.)
The land will come stocked with existing rides (with the park’s Dodgem bumper cars and Yo-Yo swings expected to remain with new wraps) and two new flat rides: the inverting Air Racers (a Zamperla Air Race) and the mesmerizing Gear Spin (a Zampera NebulaZ; the new hot flat ride for lots of parks due to its near-miss visuals that make it as fun to watch as to ride).
Plus, of course, the whole land will be decked out in steampunk props, aviation-themed midway games (sold as training opportunity for up-and-coming pilots), and vibrant colors and textures devised just to create a master-planned modern oasis in the park. It’ll also contain Terminal A – a new eatery and bar. So even though thrill fans may clamor for coasters, think about what this land will bring! That’s the power of these “smaller scale” projects and themed “lands” that add so much richness to a park, not to mention so much capacity. Aeronautica Landing will be an excellent new addition to Cedar Fair’s lineup…
And that’s not all…
3. The Boardwalk at Cedar Point
Cedar Point has been playing the long game when it comes to the park’s beach. You have to remember that Cedar Point actually dates back to the late 1800s when visitors took railroads and steamships to the island to sunbathe. The park’s century-long evolution explains its real, historic dancehall on the beach (currently tragically underutilized as an arcade) and the historic Hotel Breakers that looks out over Lake Erie. But over the last decade in particular, attention has turned to reopening the park’s beach to the public, with waves of investment focused on the park’s shoreline prescence.
From the demolition of Disaster Transport (whose awkward showbuilding blocked views of the water) and its replacement with the beach-skimming Gatekeeper to the opening of the waterside Windseeker and its placement next to a beach entry gate, Cedar Point’s investment in the area comes to a head next year. having demolished the shoreline-parallel Wicked Twister, the park will officially redesignate the area as The Boardwalk in 2022.
Promised as a “modern interpretation of yesteryear” and an ode to Cedar Point’s “heyday,” the Boardwalk reimagining includes several relocated flat rides (two rides culled from scattered locations around the park, re-wrapped and re-named as the Tiki Twirl and Atomic Scrambler with midcentury decor), plus several existing ones (Troika, Giant Wheel, Windseeker, and the Matterhorn). The new Grand Pavilion along the beach will also serve as a wonderful restaurant and bar space, offering panoramic views of the water.
Of course, in true Cedar Point style, the piece de resistance will be a roller coaster. But the Wild Mouse isn’t a record-breaking ride; it’s a family one. The spinning Zamperla ride will be a perfect encapulation of the Boardwalk’s new era and new ethos, serving both pint-sized and massive thrills. (It’s also historic in a sense, since over its 150 year life, Cedar Point has housed three similar coasters; one Wild Mouse and two Wildcats.)
Without a doubt, Cedar Point’s Boardwalk will be a home run. Sure, fans might’ve hoped for a 500-foot coaster or at least acknowledgement of the future plans for Top Thrill Dragster… but whether adrenaline junkies like it or not, the Boardwalk is a much-needed mini-land and a thoughtful expansion of the park’s capacity that’ll look wonderful and provide generations of memories.
The only drawback? Somehow, in the year 2023, Cedar Point still doesn’t have a single dark ride or even an indoor coaster. Families’ only opportunities to escape the sun are restaurants and the occasional show. That’s a very odd omission for a park otherwise considered world-class. If there’s any hope to be had, it’s that the Boardwalk concept art (at the top of this page) prominently features that actual, historic dance hall that’s still just sitting, underutilized, with an arcade on its ground floor… Could the removal of the 3-Point Shot game turn the dance hall into the home of an excellent dark ride in an imaginary Phase II of the Boardwalk? Maybe a Cedar Point-stylized take on Midway Mania? Hmmm…
4. Adventure Port at Kings Island
When Kings Island opened in 1972, it represented one of the first from-scratch, post-Disney-World parks to borrow from Magic Kingdom’s lead. An “International Street” fountain-lined entry leads to a clear park icon (a 1/3 scale replica of the Eiffel Tower) from which “spokes” diverge toward themed lands. One of those lands in 1972 was Oktoberfest, with a lakeside beer garden, the Der Spinnen Keggers spinning barrel flat ride, and oompa bands.
In 1991, the iconic Arrow mine train “Adventure Express” came to the area, sending guests through collapsing mines, tripped booby traps, lost explorer camps, and an epic finale of drum-beating stone totems in an ancient temple. The Indiana Jones-esque mine train didn’t make much sense in a land called “Oktoberfest,” but for twenty years, the juxtaposition remained.
Now, in 2023, most of Oktoberfest will at last be given a proper reimaining as Adventure Port – an exotic, South American outpost village of explorers and adventurers built around the recently-discovered ruins of an ancient stone city. Filled with color, light, flags, and new gardens, the land will, of course, see a complete reimagining. Concept art shows a marketplace of new stalls, plus the reimagining of the land’s existing food offerings (which will become “The Mercado” and “Enrique’s”).
(We can certainly hope that it’ll also be packed with as much backstory as its spiritual sister, Kings Dominion’s Jungle X-Pedition. Concept art showing substantial “ruins” scattered around the area and tie-ins to the mythology of Adventure Express surely make us think so…)
It’ll also see the addition of two flat rides. Sol Spin (seen in the art above) will see guests strap onto an ancient “Sun Disc” mechanism created by an ancient civilization, which quickly becomes a floorless Enterprise. A second flat ride – the family-oriented Cargo Loco – will signal a clever return to the long-lost Der Spinnen Keggers, once again sending guests twirling in barrels from the “Arrow Cargo Company.”
Maybe most exciting, concept art shows a new entry for Adventure Express. Sure, the thirty year old Arrow mine train is a now-historic and beloved family coaster whose hokiness is half the fun. But as guests barrel through tunnels of frozen booby trap spikes, broken effects, and light leaking into a finale where animatronics are in various states of disrepair, you can’t help but wish the ride was given a new lease on life.
For years, it’s seemed that after decades of declining attention, it would be pretty astounding to see Adventure Express come alive with restored effects, new lighting, improved sound, maybe even projection mapping! The ride has so much potential to be more than a hokey throwback.
And now, that may be part of the plan! The packet of Adventure Port concept art includes a painting of the finale of Adventure Express… Perhaps new lighting, sound, and effects are actually going to happen? The revitalization of the land around it really makes us hope that Adventure Express will get an upgrade, too. And if it does, maybe we can hope that Cedar Fair’s new apparent interest in theming and storytelling sticks around to keep those upgrades working for years to come…
