2018 Announcement Winners and Losers

Cedar Fair and Six Flags have officially made their 2018 announcements, and while I'm sure Independent park announcements will probably trickle in, most of the important ones are over. So who do you think the 2018 Winners and Losers are?

Here's How I'd rank them

Winner #3
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

HQCC is a great fit for this park. It's a one of a kind attraction (for now until inevitably Six Flags clones it), and it fits into the lineup. I'm a big fan of this announcement, it was certainly unexpected, and I think we get to finally see one of these rides in action, and it went to a great park for it.

Loser #3
Six Flags St. Louis

Fans of this park have been crying out for a coaster forever yet this park continues to get overlooked. The slide they are getting looks fun, but they could do more for this park. I think the fans will take anything at this point.

Winner #2
Kings Dominion

They finally got a coaster. And as an added bonus, it was actually the coaster the fans asked for! This is a great addition to Kings Dominion's lineup! RMC took what many thought to be a weak RMC layout and turned it into an amazing airtime machine. After the PR fail announcement last year, Kings Dominion had a really great teaser campaign to lead up to an announcement that didn't disappoint. Great job by KD staff in evaluating their guests desires.

Loser #2
Worlds of Fun

Unfortunately not all Cedar Fair parks can get what they want. Looks like some funky family ride is the star attraction for 2018 at Worlds of Fun. At least Six Flags somewhat tries to keep they're park values consistent...

Winner #1
Cedar Point

No surprise here. They're getting a huge, fast, long, lateral filled RMC that also happens to feature 4 inversions, the most airtime on ANY coaster out there and a 205 foot 90?? vertical drop. And this adds onto a lineup that already features Maverick, Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, Raptor, Valravn and Gatekeeper. Id say Cedar Point's a winner.

Loser #1
Dorney Park

I didn't expect much from Dorney Park, but JUST a Pre-K pass?!? Cut the crap Cedar Fair, you can do better than this. Hopefully another down year means their time is coming soon, but just a little something would be nice.

So, who did you think the Winners and Losers were?

[Paradox]

2018 Winner is F.L.Y. at Phantasialand as far as I'm concerned.

[mkingy]

Steel Vengence is certainly up there as a big winner - although as Paradox says F.L.Y could well be far better - just need some more leaks to understand what the hell is going on!

Biggest loser - Dorney as mentioend followed by the only woodie Alton Towers will get being a family GCI. It looks decent but it what it could have been makes it a disappointment.

Not to be offensive but I had wanted to hear that SFMM would get the world's tallest Star Flyer towering over Drop of Doom, not a typical Giant Frisbee. That'd sound much better.

I mean, kiddie coasters that are of high quality may be better than added clones lol!

lol240 wrote:

Not to be offensive but I had wanted to hear that SFMM would get the world's tallest Star Flyer towering over Drop of Doom, not a typical Giant Frisbee. That'd sound much better

That was my thought too. I would have rather seen that and I was kind of expecting that to happen. What they got is good, but a Skyscreamer would have been great fit for them. I'm not offended, I completely agree

Eh, as far as Dorney is concerned I am hopeful an infinity coaster will be announced for 2019. The spot left open by the original food pavilion is a perfect space for one. I would also rather see them get nothing then something being removed, like the go karts.

I'm predicting a GCI next year at Dorney, but I still think the park deserved something. I feel like Cedar Fair has kind of given up on the idea of Dorney Park being the top park in the area with it's close proximity to Hersheypark and SFGAdv. I think that's why the additions haven't been constant. With that being said, they have not had a great 5 years. They got Larson Flyers, Waterslides, a Troika and Bumper Cars. Between 2013-2018 there have been 3 "park improvement" years which isn't common for a large chain park. Hopefully next year is their year.

I'm going to stick to the major regional chains.

Cedar Fair:

Winner: Kings Dominion. While Steel Vengeance does look like the best new coaster of 2018 (at least in North America), Kings Dominion needed Twisted Timbers far more. Plus, the park finally has their own Christmas event to allow for an extended operating season. The other three parks that announced new coasters (California's Great America, Cedar Point, and Knott's Berry Farm) are all runner-ups because all four coasters look like excellent rides.

Loser: Dorney Park. I get that this park doesn't draw enough attendance for frequent major additions, but given the competition in the region it would be nice for them to at least get something. In the past five years, they've only received three family flats and a waterslide complex, and as nice as a major coaster would be I think this park would benefit just as much from a major flat or two. I'm assuming that Kings Island is just holding off on an announcement, but if they wind up not announcing anything I'd consider them the runner-up loser.

Six Flags:

Winner: Every park receiving a record-breaker or world's first, plus SFOG. Seriously, this year's Six Flags announcement exceeded expectations based on the past couple years, and while there aren't many travel-worthy rides, almost every park got something that will be good on a regional level. I also appreciate the diversity...2015-2017 was very clone heavy, but few duplicates exist this time.

Loser: Six Flags St. Louis. Of the major parks, this park easily receives the fewest major investments. While Typhoon Twister does look excellent, I don't know that it will bring crowds in. Since Silver Dollar City got a big ride for 2018 and rumors have already started about the 2019 project at Worlds of Fun, hopefully SFStL will be the recipient of at least a Raptor in 2019.