When Did Your Favorite Park Jump The Shark?
When did it all peak, then start going downhill?
Looking back, when various theme parks around the world
jump the shark?
(For those of you unfamiliar with the term, it means the moment that something peaked, then started going downhill.)
I'll start: Disneyland -- Jumped the Shark with the opening of the Indiana Jones Adventure. (Okay, one can argue the actual jumping came when Jack Lindquist retired. But Lindquist's momentum kept things going up until Indy opened and the Dark Days of Pressler began.)
From Anonymous
Posted January 28, 2002 at 10:17 PM
EPCOT: when they got rid of the old Journey to Imagination ride. Stupid Eric Idle.
From Joe Lane
Posted January 28, 2002 at 10:15 PM
Jump the Shark! That's a good one!
I think WDW hit in the following: Animal Kingdom, Aladdin's Magic Carpets, Imagination Refurbishment, and Carousel of Progress closing... by the time the Dino-Rama rides went in, the shark was long gone...
Universal may have got it with Animal Planet Live, Nickelodeon Studios cutting the majority of their production, and on an earlier note, Beetlejuice's Graveyard Review, but when MIB came along, things went rightside up again.
And the worst I saw at IOA was the Pandemonium Theater, the Sneetches ride cancelled, and the Triceratops Encounter, topped off with the Poseidon's Fury rehab... that was a killer, but I mean, c'mon, this is IOA we're talking 'bout here! If they don't start working on keeping the rides in good condition (like Cat In The Hat and Jurassic Park), then their lack of neatness may be their downfall.
From Bryan Fear
Posted January 29, 2002 at 12:41 AM
DCA - They opened the gates and the rubber hit the road. No more hype, only reality. All downhill after that.
A few more:
Kings Island -- The Beast
Knott's -- GhostRider
WDW Magic Kingdom -- Splash Mountain
EPCOT -- When "Kitchen Kabaret" closed. (Or: When my then-future wife, Laurie, played her last concert with the Disney All-American Orchestra. Not that I'm sucking up with that second answer or anything....)
Disney-MGM -- The day the Sorcerer's Hat thing got approved.
Universal Studios Florida -- Jumped on its opening day. Then got it back together with Barney (for the kiddies) and MIB (for the bigger kiddies.) Hasn't yet re-jumped.
Islands of Adventure -- Hasn't jumped yet.
From Anonymous
Posted January 29, 2002 at 12:07 PM
Paramount Canada's Wonderland....After they got The Fly (wild mouse coaster) it all started going down hill. They still add small rides every year but the last time they got a major coaster was in 1995(Top Gun) and they may not get another until 2005!
Chessington World Of Adventures, peaked when the Vampire and Bubbleworks rides were installed in 1994, after these installations, minor flat rides such as Ramesis Revenge and Samurai have been brought in. This is not to say, these installations were not good rides, they were but not that great, let's be honest!
However, the park, itself has fallen apart, maintainence and rollercoaster ways, the fabric of the park has definitely gone.
How with the re-hash of The NEW Vampire, things may get slightly better, but still the park cannot get any new rollercoasters past the planning regulators in the UK.
Looks like it may be the end of Chessington, with Thorpe Park, down the road getting Collosos, an Intamin Steel Megalooper, it has surely stolen Chessington's crown as the biggest and best themepark in the London/South-East region of the UK.
Phil Curds :- London School Of Economics & Political Science Student
For further details on Chessington, read ECC (European Coaster Club) Chairmen's review of the park, follow this link:
http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/lane/xxg01/coasterkingdom/html
These are the BEST things in the parks the peak of succes EPCOT-Mission:Space and the new JTYI opening
Magic Kingdom:PHYLARMAGIC
MgM:Tower of Terror
Animal Kingdom:BEASTLY KINGDOM
DISNEYLAND:INDIANA JONES!!
DCA:Soarin' and Tower of Terror.
P.S Pressler is doing a good job!! He does what he has to do. AND I LOVE DCA and don't ccare what any one says after seeing AK I found love for DCA
and the ride Dinosaur SUCKS!!!
From Joe Lane
Posted January 29, 2002 at 9:34 PM
BTW, back to Universal: despite attractions like MIB and T2:3D, I think the park is on the tip of the shark fin by not enhancing some of their older attractions. Attractions like The Gory, Gruesome & Grotesque Horror Make-Up Show and Alfred Hitchcock should be readjusted or in some cases completely rewritten for an overall better performance. Kong, Jaws, Earthquake, and BTTF need readjustments to keep up with some of the newest attractions like MIB, Twister, and nearly all of IOA. This will keep them fresh and innovative while still focusing on the classic movies they were originally based on.
From Mr. D. T.
Posted January 30, 2002 at 10:22 AM
I've never been to PKD, but I'm sure it jumped the shark when Volcano was built, some of its charming attractions were gutted down to make way for it.
Got to agree about Chessington. BUT Vampire and Bubbleworks were opened in 1990! The fall came after 1994, when Terrotomb was installed. Things seemed great... then came Rameses Revenge (Huss Topspin) and things went bad. A few years without anything worthwhile, with everything falling apart. And then poor installations after that. However, in 2000 maintanence and general atmosphere improved greatly. Perhaps 2001 could be even better!?
From Mr. D. T.
Posted January 30, 2002 at 7:58 PM
SF-Great America is not getting anything else new anytime soon, just an older show in the IMAX Pictorium. And Space Shuttle America, which disappeared in 1998, is making a return (I liked that better, anyway).
I've also been told that the Chinese circus show might be less interesting than the Russian Circus show that played there the past 2 years, but I can't always believe what I hear. I'll just have to wait and see.
DL went far down the slope with the cardboard Rocket Rods, the perverted Innoventions, and how many Country Bear fans will have a negative reaction to the Winnie The Pooh ride taking the place of the old theater? (Never went to DL, I just wanted to say this)
IMHO, Nothing's permanent! This is Earth!
Kentucky Kingdom, Chang.
since then there is more exposed metal than paint and more chewing gum mosaic than SFOG
Dollywood-The year after they built the Tennessee Tornado
That would be when Geauga Lake and Sea World became Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. We went in the early fall, so half the stuff was open. Still had a good time but knew if everything was open there was no way to do it all in one day. Not as many people went over to the animal part because a lot of times only the ride side enterance would be open and you'd have to walk the bridge across the lake or take the steamboat (which I have to admit was a nice addition.) The killer whales from Sea World were shipped to Sea World CA. When I was little, I thought combining the parks would be cool. We still had fun. There were just things here and there that made it different.
Oh! I miss the Hanna Barbera ride at King's Island, Figment' Journey Into Imagination,"EPCOT" instead of Epcot, I like the Pooh ride at WDW but they'd better keep Mr. Toad at Disneyland, the Electric Light Parade, the Corkscrew at Ceder Point and the one flume ride they took out, and some other stuff that I forget cuz its late and I'm babbling...
I would have to say when Knott's, installed GhostRider and Supreme Scream, and then was taken over by Cedar Fair. All they have been doing has taken the charm of a classic theme park into the run-of-the-mill amusement park. They need to bring back the themes to the park, or it all will be lost.
It's be known for years that Knott's is a BIG money maker for the city of Buena Park, and Orange County...
Knott's has always been the place that Buena Park is known for, Knott's has been thrilling riders before even I was born, but this question needs to be asked...
The word going around was that the city of Buena park wasn't going to let Knott's build is newest attraction, Xcelerator. Now I find this hard to believe, how could a city not let a park such as Knott's build a new world class attraction? Everyone and their grandma knows that Knott's had jumped the shark even before most of us were born; that park is a trend setter...
Now is this a PR game that the city and Knott's play? Or is Buena Park going to be hard on the place that brings them a lot of cash?! Heck it was even known that some people who sitted on city council in Anaheim, took care of Disney, and then were handed some great jobs, and titles with in Disney..
But even then Knott's has been taking in track for a while now since DEcember, so they know they'll have the okay to build, is this just a matter of PR, Knott's being the good business person, or is it more?
From Anonymous
Posted February 3, 2002 at 11:28 AM
In Derby, England, my second favourite park 'Jumped the Shark' in 1997. The American Adventure was a studio owned park. The studio was Granada, who make programs for ITV. It had Alien motion Simulator! It was great and CHEAP! £10.00 for adults (I estimate about $7.50 for you Americans.) In 1997 it was took over and a year later changed it's name. The logo looked exactly like the IOA compass and was called The American Adventure World. The Alien ride changed to Indiana Jones and the Temple of DOOM. After that, the park must of over spent or got sued because it was re-re-named The American Adventure and changed the compass. The Indiana ride changed to The Motion Master Theatre and played Astro Canyon Coaster. In 2000 the park nearly didn't open! The rides needed a coat of paint, but not getting one. Please Granada, buy The American Adventure back. If anyone has any idea who bought it , why it went bankrupt, please post to this thread
From Mr. D. T.
Posted February 6, 2002 at 4:44 PM
When? Partially when SF-Great America got this FastLane, which turned the front-row only lines (on Batman and Iron Wolf) to fast-lane express, making the stand-by queue for Iron Wolf much worse, since most people tend to wait for front-row. FIX THE QUEUE! (I'm not sure about Batman.)
Nothing new in World Showcase? No new rides in Magic Kingdom except a Dumbo clone? Just a cheap carnival section in Animal Kingdom? I thought Dinosaur was one of the greatest rides, but when I rode it again in 2001, I had noticed the taming. Rumor said in Screamscape that the ride may later be transformed back to its robust form.
Easy. When the management of Kentucky Kingdom handed the park over to Six flags and they took out the Starchaser rollercoaster. The park is ruined. Frankly it sucks.
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