If you could time travel, which business decisions would you reverse?

[Coaster Hipster]

Long time no see & Happy 2025,
To start the year (and return to this lovely forum) afresh, may I suggest a fan-fiction/alternate history heavy game to kill time before the new season really begin?

I was in part inspired by this earlier thread, with a major difference in scope: what pivotal decisions would you like reversed for either a theme park and/or group and/or supplier. (Hope the mods agree this is worthy enough for a new entry).


#1 Silver Dollar City chooses Arrow to build Wildfire

In our timeline: Despite the positive reception of Tennessee Tornado @ Dollywood, Herschend decides to go with then-market leader Bolliger & Mabillard to build the spiritual follow-up at SDC - Wildfire. The intriguing Arrow looper revival attempted with Tennessee Tornado remains a false dawn.

What IFs?

• Could an extra large-scale project have offered Arrow a lifeline sufficient to enable them to survive the costly setbacks of X and Stratosphere's fishhook?
• Could following up Tennessee Tornado with another looper success @ Silver Dollar City revive interest in Arrow for other park buyers?
• (And obviously, should Arrow remain in business, how would that affect Alan Schilke, S&S and RMC's timelines?)

#2 Arrow never partnered with Vekoma to enable the latter to use its designs

In our timeline: In the late 1970s Arrow strikes a deal with (then) newcomer Vekoma. Arrow allows the Dutch manufacturer to use its track (and presumably) other technology. In exchange, Vekoma-built coasters will use Arrow-supplied trains. By the mid-1990s, Vekoma outgrew this initial partnership and started providing product differentiation with its line of Junior Coaster and especially SLCs - leaving Arrow behind in many regards.

What IFs?

• So.. no Boomerangs, no SLC?... at least not the way we know it? (maybe eventually another manufacturer comes across with similar ideas?)
  
  
• Without Vekoma benefiting from Arrow know-how to springboard into attraction supplying, how would the European amusement park landscape look with a HUGE gap to fill? (Remember, besides the infamous Boomerangs & SLCs popping up everywhere including in America, Vekoma provided many flagship classic multi-loopers across the old continent, as a sort of counterpart to Arrow's Corkscrew then Megaloopers in the US)
  
  
• Could Vekoma still make it into theme parks on their own?
  • How would Vekoma output look like completely free of Arrow input from the very start?
• Could Schwarzkopf avoid bankruptcy in 1983/84 as a result?
  • If Schwarzkopf remained in business then, would Intamin focus their re-sell/broker to America relationship with Anton Schwarzkopf rather than Giovanola instead?
• Would Arrow have successfully entered the Inverted/Suspended Looping coaster market in place of Vekoma?

(Alright, enough Arrow fanfic for now)

#3 SeaWorld buys Six Flags Ohio (Geauga Lake)

In our timeline: In the early 00s, SeaWorld initially offers Six Flags to purchase the dry park formerly known as Geauga Lake, which happened to sit across the lake SW Ohio. Said dry park had only recently joined the Six Flags umbrella through a topsy-turvy series of acquisitions & reverse mergers.
BUT, Six Flags responds with a counter-offer and bought marine park SeaWorld Ohio to create an infamous & short-lived massive resort (SFWoA). By 2004, this whole investment strategy piled up on Six Flags's already ballooning debt.

So Mr Six's corporation sells its failed Ohio venture to rival Cedar Fair in 2004. Reversing to its initial name Geauga Lake, the park is mercilessly closed down for good only three years later, in 2007.
Six Flags eventually filed for bankruption. Its coaster building spree brutally halted - though RMC ensured a steady stream of more budget-friendly additions & thus more than keeping fan interest in the chain.

What IFs?

• SeaWorld gradually brings proven successful products from its Williamsburg & Tampa parks. Imagine a SeaWorld Ohio with a B&M Hyper and/or Dive, Inverted or Floorless in place of a currently vacant abandoned plot. (though plans to convert to a public park are announced)
  
  
• Would the cash flow from the Six Flags Ohio sale delay or avoid the chain's filing for bankruptcy altogether?
  • Would Six Flags have refrained from (in hindsight, perhaps ill-advised) decisions like demolishing & selling Astroworld, or selling all its European locations?
• Assuming SeaWorld Ohio'd be a success, how would that affect Cedar Point's investments from 2001 onwards?
  
  • Side-note, all the second-hand coasters that Cedar Fair parks (Kings Island, Carowinds, etc.) inherited from purchasing Geauga Lake would never come to be?

What do you think?
What would you do differently in the past 50, 100 years of amusement/theme park business history?

 

[Matt N]

Interesting topic, and welcome back @Coaster Hipster!

One business decision I think I’d prevent in hindsight is Tussauds being allowed to purchase Thorpe Park while still owning Chessington.

For those not aware, Tussauds purchased Thorpe Park in 1998, and in order to do so, they sold their stake in PortAventura in Spain. But in my alternate vision, I propose a new idea… what if Tussauds had been forced to sell Chessington instead?

It would have prevented Tussauds and later Merlin from having the stranglehold on the theme park market in the UK, particularly London and the South East of England, that they later had, and it would also have meant that Thorpe Park would not have been forced to pivot so aggressively towards extreme thrills so as not to step on Chessington’s toes and make Tussauds compete with themselves in the Greater London region.

If Chessington had been sold off, we could have had Thorpe Park become a more rounded thrill park with wider all-round appeal, similar to Alton Towers, as opposed to the aggressively pigeon-holed extreme thrill-focused, “adults only” park it morphed into during the late 2000s and early 2010s. I feel that this would have made them more successful in the long run than they have been, as the park would have wider appeal than it does now, and I still feel that they would have had a competitive advantage over Chessington due to more lax planning restrictions allowing them to build thrill rides more effectively.

If this had happened, we could have had a totally different UK theme park industry… with a different player owning Chessington, Merlin’s influence may have been diluted, and the whole Merlin Annual Pass culture may also have been diluted as a result. We could also have had Thorpe Park get a shot at usurping Alton Towers as “the UK’s #1 theme park” and become an “Alton Towers of the South”, if you like, with some brilliant thrill rides, but stronger all-round appeal.

 

[Graeme]

I'd reverse...

The closure of the Kursaal and Southend Cyclone - I just really wanted to ride it. Whilst that was never possible, it was tantalisingly close.

Rita/Thirteen - Not really criticising them, I just think that plot of land would have been good for a B&M Floorless in 2006 that dropped into trenches. If that had been chosen, there would be a much more major coaster in that part of the park, and something different to Smiler could have been built later as well.

Paris getting Euro Disney - Apparently they were looking at Kent for it, and I really would love to have one in the UK.

The closure of Belle Vue and the Bobs - I'm sure it could have been viable in some way, even if they just left the coaster. It was a Frederick Church woodie, after all, so very special. When you look at the popularity of the Christmas markets nowadays, I'm sure they could have set up some stalls and funfair rides around it sometimes.

Saw - I feel it cemented Thorpe Park as "adults only", and I preferred the look of the GCI woodie planned for the site. Now Hyperia is built, I'm not sure the same woodie layout would be possible, even if they removed the Gerstlauer.

Pleasurewood Hills, the Grevin years - Of all the things on my list, I feel there could have been different fortunes with different decisions. They definitely need to focus on family and family-thrill, in my opinion.

Nemesis II not built at Chessington - and just Chessington in general since the 1990s. It used to be my favourite theme park, but I feel like it lost its charm, and the ride choices became a bit weird after Vampire.

The removal of the Southport Cyclone - I feel this was really mean and petty - they just destroyed it so no one else could have it. But it hasn’t exactly helped Blackpool thrive, has it? To me, we become stronger by helping others up rather than by pushing them down.

 

[owenstreet7]

I would say these are what I'm most curious about

1. Deciding to keep Kingda Ka open and explore LSM conversion options a few years later
2. Thorpe Park never closing Loggers Leap. It had a end of season refurbishment in 2015/16 and reopened in the summer of 2016.
3. Alton Towers replacing the Flume with a Water Ride with the Wickerman/SW8 being located elsewhere in the park.
4. Chessington not moving Samurai to Thorpe Park in 2004 and deciding to focus on a broader age range
5. Alton Towers deciding to replace their flat rides instead of leaving their sites dormant for years.
6. Blackpool Pleasure Beach refurbishing rather than unceremoniously demolishing Wild Mouse
7. What if Drayton Manor carried on with a more balanced investment cycle than a focus on Thomas Land
8. What if Paultons Park went into thrills a lot sooner.
9. What if PortAventura never had Ferrari Land
10. What if Phantasialand never had the fire of 2001
11. What if Thorpe Park never had the 2000 fire
12. What if Drachen Fire at Busch Gardens Williamsburg was a B&M Sit Down coaster instead of an Arrow Looping Coaster instead

 

[Hyde]

The Six Flags and Premier Parks merger caused a massive shift in business operation and park caliber for Six Flags, I would argue to the worse as Premier was in the business of buying Tier 2 and Tier 3 parks, while parks original to Six Flags (or acquired) throughout the 1961 - 1997 were just, better (save Six Flags AstroWorld, which we'll just let casually fall off ):

1. Six Flags Magic Mountain (California) - Acquired in 1979.
2. Six Flags Over Texas (Texas) - Acquired in 1980.
3. Six Flags Great Adventure (New Jersey) - Acquired in 1977.
4. Six Flags Great America (Illinois) - Acquired in 1984.
5. Six Flags Over Georgia (Georgia) - Acquired in 1992.
6. Six Flags Fiesta Texas (Texas) - Acquired in 1992.

Premier Parks brought a lot of parks to the marriage in 1997, but parks that subsequently bounced around in ownership, were sold off, or just closed outright.

With a tinge of revisionist history, Six Flags did have an earnest theme park root, and I'd like to think improvement of the existing park empire, rather than expansion, may have lead to a different outcome that made for even better coaster selection.

But hey, the inevitable conclusion for capitalism according to Marx is the commoditization of everything, which the Cedar Fair/Six Flags merger sadly proved.

 

[Rob Coasters]

As much as it pains me to say it, I would stop Lightwater Valley from building the Ultimate. I believe it's the sole reason for the park's downfall with how the park bit off far more than they ever could've chewed, and I believe the park lost a lot of rides for the sake of keeping Ultimate open (correct me if I am wrong), eventually leading the park down the path it's currently on.

I wonder where they would be today.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

As much as it pains me to say it, I would stop Lightwater Valley from building the Ultimate. I believe it's the sole reason for the park's downfall with how the park bit off far more than they ever could've chewed, and I believe the park lost a lot of rides for the sake of keeping Ultimate open (correct me if I am wrong), eventually leading the park down the path it's currently on.

I wonder where they would be today.

There was a time, when Drayton was on a similar path, that I believed they'd never recover. I was very very wrong. All it takes is the new(ish) owners to steady the ship, then the right people, with more ambition, to come along and push it on. There's got to be some hope still?

Of a similar ilk, mine would be John Broome's decision to invest millions into a brand new, severely troubled, flying island instead of a new coaster. Over £2M that cost, £4M in today's money. It was supposed to mark the beginning of a new era of investment, by Broome's Ventureworld, but instead it operated, intermittently, for a year, increased attendance by a factor of ZERO, and was the final straw with many of the park's closest neighbours. It marked the end of the American Adventure altogether.

I can't help but think that if they'd just gone for an off the shelf coaster from Vekoma, possibly even a used one, the general public would have lapped it up. Even a suspended looping coaster at the time, though a little more expensive, would have increased attendance massively, would have been much more reliable, and, given the park already had a Vekoma coaster, would have been easier on the maintenance budget. Instead, the Island flopped, Broome was gone a couple of years later, and the park eventually died.

Nevermind, if you've got half a million to spare, you could always have this house on the site of the old Iron Wolf's first drop / lift instead? https://www.harronhomes.com/find-a-home/derbyshire/shipley-lakeside/shipley-lakeside-plot-91/

 

[Pokemaniac]

Literally everything that has anything to do with Parques Reunidos. Its owners don't care one iota about amusement parks anyway, the money is all they're after, so they could feasibly have gone and mucked up another industry instead and left the theme park world alone.

 

[owenstreet7]

Literally everything that has anything to do with Parques Reunidos. Its owners don't care one iota about amusement parks anyway, the money is all they're after, so they could feasibly have gone and mucked up another industry instead and left the theme park world alone.

This is honestly very similar to what I and many UK enthusiasts say about Merlin

 

[Joseph Hudson]

I think I'd stop merlin buying trussards

 

[RollerCoastersFrolicking]

theres only 2 major ones I'm capable of thinking of

X2 but smaller:
idk what it would be like but we'd still have arrow. personally I'd think they'ed look something similar to vekoma had they stuck around.

RMC GhostRider
this would be interesting, my guess it would be a mini twisted colossus (SFMM) mixed with Storm chaser (KK)

 

[spicy]

Interesting topic! Here are a few I would change..

1. Thorpe Park going with the sit down launched B&M rather than Colossus in 2002. I don't think it would have changed much in terms of the parks future other than it would have been better than Colossus.

Alternative Plans – Thorpe Park

Thorpe Park as we know it today could have been very different if the following plans came to fruition. Pirates 4D & Shoot the Chutes Ride - 1999 & 2000 These plans show an alternative version of Pirates 4D, featuring an entrance at the front of the building rather than the side, leading

www.attractionsource.com

2. Thorpe going with the 2009 Wooden Coaster Plans, a Great Coasters International Inc wooden rollercoaster which would have been way better than Saw. Again I don't think it would have changed much in terms of the parks future but Thorpe would have had a much better coaster line up if it went with these 2.

3. The famous 2005 cross Valley AT wooden rollercoaster. If only this could have been built would have been simply spectacular and AT would no doubt have one of the best woodies in the world. https://www.themeparktourist.com/ta...-infamous-cross-valley-wooden-roller-coaster/

4. The Arrow Fish Hook Coaster - Would just loved to have seen something on this scale a 700ft tall coaster over the vegas strip would have been insane.

5. John Broome's Battersea project going ahead -The plans looked pretty spectacular and would loved to have seen it come to life rather than just being derelict for years and finally becoming a shopping center. https://www.towerstimes.co.uk/features/the-battersea/

6. Universal not selling Port Aventura - I would have loved to see Universal's initial plans come to life, there were plans for a complete Universal Studios park I believe where Ferrari Land now is and would have been interesting to see how the park would have turned out if Universal stuck around. Although ultimately if Universal UK goes ahead then Universal selling PA wasn't a bad thing after all..

 

[cookie]

• Cut down Disneyland Paris's seven hotels to at most two and allocate those funds to building Discovery Mountain and the Indiana Jones sub-area of Adventureland and have them ready by opening day. I wholeheartedly believe DLP's biggest mistake wasn't the location or the culture clash but rather the absurd decision to open what was at the time a half-day park with a whopping seven hotels attached to it
• Halt Universal from selling PortAventura
• Stop the KumbaK conversion of Bakken's Rutschebanen and keep the original side-friction brakeman trains, maybe refurbish and update it like Tivoli did to theirs in 2014
• Get Europa Park to take fire prevention seriously way earlier
• Prevent Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit from being built

 

[Graeme]

There was a time, when Drayton was on a similar path, that I believed they'd never recover. I was very very wrong. All it takes is the new(ish) owners to steady the ship, then the right people, with more ambition, to come along and push it on. There's got to be some hope still?

Definitely. I'm not sure how much a Vekoma Horus or Kalypso costs, but one of those combined with a Family Suspended would work a treat.

Of a similar ilk, mine would be John Broome's decision to invest millions into a brand new, severely troubled, flying island instead of a new coaster. Over £2M that cost, £4M in today's money. It was supposed to mark the beginning of a new era of investment, by Broome's Ventureworld, but instead it operated, intermittently, for a year, increased attendance by a factor of ZERO, and was the final straw with many of the park's closest neighbours. It marked the end of the American Adventure altogether.

Yeah, that park was too good to lose. I always thought it needed a really good family-thrill coaster - a CCI woodie would have been ideal.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Definitely. I'm not sure how much a Vekoma Horus or Kalypso costs, but one of those combined with a Family Suspended would work a treat.



Yeah, that park was too good to lose. I always thought it needed a really good family-thrill coaster - a CCI woodie would have been ideal.

That would have been great. Imagine they built it in all of that empty space around Fort St.Lawrence, had the coaster going around the fort, and interacting with the fort and the rapids. That area was already well themed, a wooden coaster would have been the icing.

 

[Disco Lumberjack]

What if Blackpool didn't build the Big One? I personally don't rate the Big One, it lost the height record very quickly and it fails to do anything notable after the drop. There are 2 different viable paths from what I can see:

1. Still build an Arrow hyper, but profile the track to actually give some decent airtime, my understanding is that Magnum XL-200 does have airtime, so clearly the ride model is capable of it.
2. Build a B&M, this would likely be either a sit-down or inverted looping coaster given the trends at the time. So it would have very little airtime and lots of positives, but it would likely have more sustained thrills than the Big One and could possibly be seen the same way something like Kumba is now.

And then another bonus Blackpool one: what if Hot Ice just didn't happen?

 

[Nicky Borrill]

What if Blackpool didn't build the Big One? I personally don't rate the Big One, it lost the height record very quickly and it fails to do anything notable after the drop. There are 2 different viable paths from what I can see:

1. Still build an Arrow hyper, but profile the track to actually give some decent airtime, my understanding is that Magnum XL-200 does have airtime, so clearly the ride model is capable of it.
2. Build a B&M, this would likely be either a sit-down or inverted looping coaster given the trends at the time. So it would have very little airtime and lots of positives, but it would likely have more sustained thrills than the Big One and could possibly be seen the same way something like Kumba is now.

And then another bonus Blackpool one: what if Hot Ice just didn't happen?

Doesn't the story go that Geoffrey Thompson decided to build the Big One after riding Magnum XL? Makes the difference all the more disappointing, he wanted a hyper with airtime, and Arrow failed to deliver.

 

[Justin2000]

Have Warner Bros. buy Thorpe like they were going too
Prevent the Thorpe Park Fire
Build the Relief Road for Alton Towers instead of 13
Ask John Wardley to look at the Wicker Man Layout before construction began
Prevent the Six Flags/Premier Parks merger of 1998
Cancel Disneyland Paris and use the money into WESTcot
Have Imperial Leather go bankrupt in 2004 So Professor Burps can remain forever
Go with Intamin for Rip Ride Rockit instead of Mauer Sohne

 

[owenstreet7]

Another one - I'd reverse the decision for Thorpe Park to do the Rise of the Demon upgrades on Ghost Train.

This would mean that Thorpe Park can refurbish Loggers Leap and potentially replace Slammer in the course of a couple of seasons.

A new rollercoaster could've then been added for the 2019 season in that case.

 

[Disco Lumberjack]

Doesn't the story go that Geoffrey Thompson decided to build the Big One after riding Magnum XL? Makes the difference all the more disappointing, he wanted a hyper with airtime, and Arrow failed to deliver.

Indeed, the path where it's still an Arrow hyper with better profiling assumes there was a realistic way of that happening. How did they get it so wrong?