From James Rao on December 28, 2008 at 9:43 PM
Thanks, Robert. Worlds of Fun may not be a great destination park, but it is my home park, and its heart is in the right place. Besides, with the economy the way it is, I probably will only visit one park next year and it will be Worlds of Fun. So when I write a review of WOF's new coaster, Prowler, at least I can justify that fancy TPI Badge I wear around the neighborhood!

From Joshua Counsil on December 29, 2008 at 12:33 PM
Like the Oscars, TPI has really opened up to "indie" experiences over the last few years. I remember a time when my "local" park, Canada's Wonderland, the most attended seasonal park in North America, wasn't even on the site.

Thanks to James and Robert for this addition, though I doubt I'll ever have a chance to experience it.

From Robert Niles on December 29, 2008 at 1:27 PM
There is a bit of a balancing act involved in deciding which parks get a full listing on the site and which ones get in the right navigation.

Obviously, the top 20 parks on attendance make it. So do the top 5-6 international parks which significant English-speaking followings.

That leaves five spots for parks that I think are significant enough to merit discussion and that will draw traffic to the site by being listed.

At one point, we tried to get as many parks as we could on the website, and traffic tanked. The presence of all those smaller parks diluted the prominence of the big parks, leaving their fans to click elsewhere. So I culled the database and site traffic rebounded.

Since then, I've gradually added parks back to the mix. Worlds of Fun getting a new coaster this summer puts them on the list for 2009.

From James Rao on December 29, 2008 at 2:54 PM
FWIW, I think all the parks owned by the major players in the industry (20+ million in attendance) should be represented on the site: Disney, Universal, Busch, Cedar Fair, Merlin, and (unfortunately) Six Flags. Beyond those companies, I think the balancing act you referred to should come into play. Worlds of Fun is a Cedar Fair park and should therefore be included.