Frontier City

[Jesseda]

Attachment 16733

That would be great news. Six Flags is the worst. Anyways, here's a rough sketch of what ERP owns.

oh wow the land on the west side of coltrane could more than double the parks size if they use it. a lot of possibilities with that much land they own undeveloped

[shawnw]

So they would buy it from Six Flags or they would buy Six Flags?

[Jesseda]

So they would buy it from Six Flags or they would buy Six Flags?

frontier city is not owned by sixflags. Sixflags only manages it and only has the lease rights. I believe the park is owned by a company called EPR Properties

[shawnw]

OH, didn't realize that distinction

Would they continue to manage it?

[Jesseda]

OH, didn't realize that distinction

Would they continue to manage it?

I would doubt it and hope not. I rather The Herschend Company fixes it up and gives it a real Western them. I love the two parks Herschend company owns ( Silver Dollar City and Dollywood). They just finished up and announced this week of purchasing Kentucky Kingdom theme park. Hopefully rumor is true and if Herschend Company does purchases Frontier City from ERP that Herschend owns and manages the park so maybe then Frontier city can get the much needed TLC it is needing plus some new high end thrill rides and possibly expand .

[Plutonic Panda]

I thought that Frontier City was undergoing a nice renovation with rumors of an expansion? Has the new ownership and management not been good?

[Jesseda]

there hasnt been anything good in years. The only thing they have added to the park is carnival style flat rides.

[jn1780]

Frontier city and now Hurricane harbor has been better the past couple of years but obviously were not seeing major investments like Silver Dollar City and Dollywood sees. There is no guarantee the same owners would make that same kind of investment if true. Rumors may be driven by them looming for good deals in the market as everyone recovers from lockdowns and low attendance

[Southsider2]

http://www.screamscape.com/html/kentucky_kingdom.htm

Per Screamscape, the rumors stem from a deleted social media teaser post from the Kentucky Kingdom Twitter. The post showed a map of multiple Herschend parks. Each park is accounted for besides one. It shows their smaller parks, Dollywood, Silver Dollar City, and the Kentucky Kingdom. The last dot appears to be near Oklahoma/Frontier City.

[onthestrip]

When you think of it, Frontier City's potential does seem much higher than it is. A couple new rides and/or attractions would go a long way, maybe something geared towards adults and not just kids. Theres not a decent amusement park within 3.5hours of OKC, would be great to see new ownership or at least investment.

[SEMIweather]

When you think of it, Frontier City's potential does seem much higher than it is. A couple new rides and/or attractions would go a long way, maybe something geared towards adults and not just kids. Theres not a decent amusement park within 3.5hours of OKC, would be great to see new ownership or at least investment.

I feel the same way about putting a decent water park somewhere in the Metro. I think that a new build in Edmond, Yukon, or Moore would do really well.

[oklip955]

I was think as I was driving by the other day, if an indoor water park with other amusements attached to a hotel with nice dinning would go over well. Something that would attract visitors during the colder months and would allow for folks in other parts of the state to come and stay for the weekend. Maybe a come a play, shop and dine in the city package. Also it would pull from the highway if advertised. Travelers along the I 35/I-44 or even I-40 interstates could stop for the night and have some fun time with the family.

[scottk]

Theres not a decent amusement park within 3.5hours of OKC, would be great to see new ownership or at least investment.

I think one of the factors in Frontier City's continued success is that we are 3.5 hours from Six Flags Over Texas. Oklahoma families can purchase a Frontier City Season Pass, supporting the park locally, and get all of the Six Flags benefits with admission, food, parking etc. We have friends that visit Arlington a few times during the year and use their FC passes for this very reason.

The Six Flags name I think helps market Frontier City, but outside of OKC, Tulsa, and maybe Wichita, the market for potential customers stops. Anyone outside of that would be a closer drive to Worlds of Fun, Six Flags, or Silver Dollar City. Houston lost Astroworld, so I am thrilled that FC has been able to hang on.

If Herschend was to operate the park, I guess Silver Dollar City could be included within a local season pass?

I do agree that the park needs some general updates. One of the benefits of operating an "Old West" theme park, as things age, it's all part of the theme.

We went multiple times in 2019 and 2020 before Covid with our season passes. We also had the dining pass. We never expected big thrills, but the park was clean, most rides open, and employees were friendly.

[scottk]

I was think as I was driving by the other day, if an indoor water park with other amusements attached to a hotel with nice dinning would go over well. Something that would attract visitors during the colder months and would allow for folks in other parts of the state to come and stay for the weekend. Maybe a come a play, shop and dine in the city package. Also it would pull from the highway if advertised. Travelers along the I 35/I-44 or even I-40 interstates could stop for the night and have some fun time with the family.

Clinton has the indoor waterpark and a newer Holiday Inn Express attached. I wonder how many families stop unplanned at the location while driving along I-40, without initially knowing about it? In the age of online bookings of hotels, Google Maps, etc, how many families travel without a set destination already in mind?

On a similar note, with Frontier City being visually appealing from I-35, I wonder how many sporadic visitors they get?

[SEMIweather]

My thing with Frontier City and Hurricane Harbor is that neither of them actually look visually appealing, they both just look like rundown parks right off of the highway.

[shavethewhales]

Frontier City is certainly not run down. They have been cleaning it up for the last decade. I don't think there's a single building or ride in the park that hasn't been renovated over the past few years. They've done all kinds of nitty-gritty TLC such as new windows/HVAC systems/paint/new controls, etc. At this point it's a whole new park with all the same old rides.

The big problem with FC is exactly that though: the same old rides. There have been a few ride replacements over the years, but not much expansion outside the mini-water park, and nothing really headlining and exciting. The biggest thrill ride addition has barely operated and is basically a lawn ornament.

The park simply needs a new coaster. Before covid hit, I thought they would announce one last year...

I don't buy the rumor of HFEC buying the park. I am sure they have made an offer recently, and I know they've made offers in the past, but I think EPR sells it to Six Flags eventually because they will pay more for it and already have their foot in the door with investments and contracts.

[oklip955]

Clinton has the indoor waterpark and a newer Holiday Inn Express attached. I wonder how many families stop unplanned at the location while driving along I-40, without initially knowing about it? In the age of online bookings of hotels, Google Maps, etc, how many families travel without a set destination already in mind?

On a similar note, with Frontier City being visually appealing from I-35, I wonder how many sporadic visitors they get?

That is what I was thinking, publicize it, offer vacation or overnight stays for say 2 night/1 day stays. Offer some other things to attract those on the road, premium food offerings at a good price, Think of the big Tex over by Amarillo, Maybe a way could be made to introduce a bit of a casino by teaming up with the tribe that operates the one at Remington Park. Might also be a nice place for people in outlaying areas of Oklahoma to have a fun family weekend.

[Dob Hooligan]

That is what I was thinking, publicize it, offer vacation or overnight stays for say 2 night/1 day stays. Offer some other things to attract those on the road, premium food offerings at a good price, Think of the big Tex over by Amarillo, Maybe a way could be made to introduce a bit of a casino by teaming up with the tribe that operates the one at Remington Park. Might also be a nice place for people in outlaying areas of Oklahoma to have a fun family weekend.

Casino is not possible.

[HOT ROD]

the thing is, name me one park that doesn't have "the same ole rides". We think it's the different because FC is a small footprint which can be completed in less than a day's visit.

I think what FC needs is MORE rides, MORE things to do, MORE and larger footprint - then make it impossible to do everything in one day. THEN we can have a World's of Fun type of park that "doesn't have the same ole rides".

[shavethewhales]

the thing is, name me one park that doesn't have "the same ole rides". We think it's the different because FC is a small footprint which can be completed in less than a day's visit.

I think what FC needs is MORE rides, MORE things to do, MORE and larger footprint - then make it impossible to do everything in one day. THEN we can have a World's of Fun type of park that "doesn't have the same ole rides".

Most parks add or change rides just about every year. Six Flags over Texas has added a number of large rides in recent years, such as Harley Quinn Spinsanity, The Joker coaster, the giant texas skyscreamer, etc. Silver Dollar City added a massive coaster a couple years ago and a massive water ride last year. World's of Fun has had much less impressive additions, but they have still added a few rides recently as well as fixing up their park and adding a big new restaurant.

I think it's actually astounding how little has changed at FC other than basic maintenance in the last 20 years. Other than switching out the kiddie coaster due to it's age, the park's most recent coaster was built in 2008, and before that you have to go back to 1993. That is odd, especially for the only park in OK! https://rcdb.com/4559.htm It's not like the coasters at FC are so outstanding and beloved that they are worth keeping forever, they are just too cheap to upgrade! (Although coaster enthusiasts do appreciate Silver Bullet and Diamondback for being relics of their time).

Aside from coasters, the park has only made a few switch-outs in rides. The drop tower was replaced with a cheap set of Larson flyers that was originally going to a zoo before they canceled their order (that's why it has pictures of parrots on it ), the mindbender was replaced with the brain drain super-loop ride, the dark ride was renovated to a different (IMO, worse) dark ride, and the awesome Round-up was replaced by the hangman, which as I mentioned earlier is really just a lawn ornament. Even Steel Lasso, the 2008 coaster, was a replacement for two rides that it took the space of! Finally, let's not forget the impressive slingshot tower that operated for a few years and was then taken down and replaced with absolutely nothing. Am I forgetting any?

But to be fair, they did add a small water park. Which was kind of an odd choice considering they have an a full size water park down the road, but it is a popular attraction.

[Plutonic Panda]

https://www.kiiitv.com/mobile/articl...hLuKmtnaeXyu_g

It’d be nice if FC could get some new large rides and roller coasters instead of banning people who carry water to stranded guest on decades old rides.

[soonerj2015]

https://www.kiiitv.com/mobile/articl...hLuKmtnaeXyu_g

It’d be nice if FC could get some new large rides and roller coasters instead of banning people who carry water to stranded guest on decades old rides.

He jumped the fence and climbed the lift hill of a roller coaster. Everyone knows that is restricted and will get you banned if not arrested

[shavethewhales]

^Yes, that is true. However, the sentiment of FC being in desperate need of new rides is well deserved. Looking back over this thread I can see we've been rehashing this discussion for years now, and what I said back in early March still holds true.

The new coaster at SFFT was a surprise to enthusiasts. Six Flags has been cost cutting aggressively, especially in light of the pandemic fall out and how it ravished their business. Frontier City actually lost a classic ride (the rotor ride called Tumbleweed), and may lose even more since so many FC rides are old, costly to maintain, and not very attractive on their own.

SFFT is a real example of how to successfully grow a park. The park GM is so passionate and engages with the coaster enthusiast community constantly. He really loves what he does and it shows in the park. SFFT has all kinds of cool events such as the cliffside laser and firework show, and they have made many improvements such as a new indoor queue line and theming for one of their older roller coasters. Details matter, and they really add up in the theme park experience. Not to mention they have added several major rides in recent years even before this new roller coaster. The new coaster itself actually isn't huge or all that much to write home about, but anything made by B&M is nice, and the added angle to the drop could add some thrill to what is actually a pretty lackluster coaster style.

I don't know when FC's ship will finally come in, but there's no indication that it will be anytime soon. Heck, even SFOT in Dallas is languishing. Their new ride for 2020 won't open until 2022, but at least it's a big cool ride. They don't get many large attractions down there despite it being one of the largest SF parks. FC is considered a feeder for that park, so we are third in line at least.

[soonerj2015]

You are right on whales. FC is due a major attraction

[HOT ROD]

What's SFFT?

I know FC is Frontier City or Six Flags Frontier City (SFFC) and SFOT is Six Flags Over Texas. But you went into SFFT all of sudden without an explanation or at least i didn't follow.