User blog:RCTFan2002/What If? Episode 2: What if Six Flags Fiesta Texas was a Cedar Fair park?

(NOTE: This is all cross-posted from my blog on Theme Park Fanon Wiki. You can find this series on there as well under the same name)

Welcome to episode 2 of my “What If?” series. Today I am exploring the hypothetical scenario of Six Flags Fiesta Texas being owned by Cedar Fair park rather than Six Flags. I somewhat got the idea from Theme Park Predictions’ video “How Would Six Flags Great Adventure Look as a Cedar Fair Park?”, though all predictions stated below are based off my own speculation mixed with what Cedar Fair was adding to their parks at the time. Any similarities between this blog and the video are purely coincidental.

Again, please note that everything being said in this blog post is all purely fiction, based off of my ideas of what Cedar Fair could possibly do to the park if they owned it. Any and all feedback is highly appreciated.

Introduction
Six Flags Fiesta Texas opened in 1992 as just “Fiesta Texas”, owned and operated by Gaylord Entertainment (the same company that owned and operated Opryland in Nashville). In 1996, Gaylord Entertainment sold the park to Six Flags, who promptly renamed it “Six Flags Fiesta Texas” and has been taking care of it ever since. But what if things were different? What if Cedar Fair bought the park at some point and was running it as a CF-style park today? What new rides and coasters would be there? Find out right now in this blog post, which will go over Cedar Fair’s additions to the park over the last 20 years (2001-2021).

(PLEASE NOTE: For the sake of this scenario, Cedar Fair bought the park in 2001 meaning that all of Six Flags’ additions/removals to the park from that year on never happen in this version)

Year-by-year predictions
Real life park additions will be typed like this; Cedar Fair predictions will be typed like this

2001 - Eurobungy ride added, Screamin Skycoaster removed; Massive park rehaul and rebranding, Camp Snoopy Kids Area: Since Cedar Fair just bought the park this year in my version, I predict that they would’ve spent the whole year just trying to rehaul the park and make it look more like a typical Cedar Fair park, including a more family friendly atmosphere and rebranding some of the rides to better fit the Cedar Fair brand. The park’s name would be reverted back to just “Fiesta Texas”, and Joker’s Revenge, Superman: Krypton Coaster, and Roadrunner Express would all get renamed and rethemed to something much more generic (Head Spin, Dominator and Adventure Express?) Also, in typical Cedar Fair style, the park’s kids area would be rethemed and renamed to “Camp Snoopy”, with Rollschuhcoaster being renamed “Woodstock Express” and all the kiddie rides receiving new Peanuts names to them.

2002 - Scooby-Doo Ghostblasters dark ride added, Joker’s Revenge removed; Waterpark rebranding, Park Improvements: With Cedar Fair still being the park’s relatively new owners and having spent the entire last year rehauling it to fit CF standards, I think that this year, the company would’ve focused on turning it’s attention to the park’s waterpark, “Armadillo Beach”, next and doing pretty much the same thing. I predict that the waterpark would’ve been renamed to either “Soak City Texas” or “Wildwater Kingdom”, though I’d most likely go with the former. If needed, the waterslides and other attractions there would’ve been repainted and/or renamed to fit whatever names/themes Cedar Fair usually has at their waterparks (I can’t say for sure what they’d be renamed/rebranded as, as each Cedar Fair waterpark usually has its own unique ride names). Also I think that Cedar Fair would finally finish up on it’s overall park rehab by doing some final park improvements to the park itself, such as doing a general cleanup of the park and repainting some old buildings/rides.

2003 - No major capital, Chance Wipeout ride closes but remains SBNO; Wild Mouse coaster in Fiesta Bay Boardwalk area: Finally, two years after they buy the park, Cedar Fair decides to install it’s first new attraction at Fiesta Texas, and it’s…a Mack Wild Mouse coaster. Honestly, I don’t think this should come as a surprise at all, seeing that most Cedar Fair parks already have a Wild Mouse coaster in them, whether Cedar Fair added them at some point or they were already there when Cedar Fair bought said park (ex. Canada’s Wonderland). In this case, it’s the former. As other CF parks like Michigan’s Adventure and Dorney Park got this type of coaster around the same time, I think it’s safe to say that Fiesta Texas would get one as well. I predict it would be built in the very back of the Fiesta Bay Boardwalk area, past the “S.S. Overboard” ride and right next to the “Power Surge” splash boats ride. This could also give riders some great views of the nearby splashdown area. However, as a result, Power Surge’s queue would have to be rerouted entirely since the coaster would end up being built right over it, so this ride would most likely have to stay closed for the season, unfortunately. (Don’t worry, it’ll reopen just fine in 2004).

2004 - ProSlide Tornado added to waterpark; Upcharge S&S Screaming Swing: The S&S Screaming Swing is common in a few Cedar Fair parks such as Cedar Point, and formerly Dorney Park/Knott’s Berry Farm. Also, coincidentally, they were all added around the exact same time as each other. Because of that, I could totally see Fiesta Texas, which in this case is being treated as a medium-sized Cedar Fair park, getting one of these rides as well around this time. Instead of a bigger model like “Skyhawk” at Cedar Point though, I could see a much smaller 8-seater version of this ride, like the one at Dorney Park, being added instead, close to the front entrance of the park and right behind the Spassburg area Train Station. Also, like the one at Dorney Park (and Knott’s Berry Farm), this ride would be strictly an upcharge attraction.

2005 - No major capital, Chaos and Turbo Bungy removed; New Waterpark Capital, Joker’s Revenge removed: Since Six Flags never added it’s ProSlide Tornado to the waterpark in this world, that means it’s been a while since it received a new attraction - the last one being the “Lone Star Lagoon” wave pool in 1999. Since Cedar Fair has now owned the waterpark for 4-5 years and has done nothing much with it so far, I feel that this would be the year they finally throw the waterpark a bone and add a new water ride to it. I predict that this year, Cedar Fair would add to the waterpark a new four-slide complex, with two mostly-enclosed body slides and two partially-enclosed inner-tube slides, where Whirlpool and Big Bender currently stand. Also, this year I predict that we would finally see Joker’s Revenge aka Head Spin aka whatever be removed from the park, in order to open up some more space for a future boardwalk area expansion and to make room for…

2006 - Massive Waterpark Capital, Waterpark Renamed/Rebranded, Wipeout and Tempest Removed; Fiesta Bay Boardwalk Expansion, GCI Wooden Coaster: Since Cedar Fair already focused on their waterpark last year in this scenario, I predict that for this year Cedar Fair would expand the park’s Fiesta Bay Boardwalk area by building a new section of the area over Joker’s Revenge’s old footprint, using the bridge going over the go-karts to get there. This new area would also feature the park’s newest coaster, a moderate-sized but still thrilling GCI woodie. Since Cedar Fair was starting to add GCI woodies to some of their parks around this time, such as “Renegade” at Valleyfair in 2007, I think this would be the perfect time for Fiesta Texas to open one at their parks. The new woodie would feature a combination out-and-back/twisted layout, with many diving helixes and turns, and it’s station would be located near where Pandemonium’s turn-around is. The coaster’s track would run along the quarry wall and extend all the way to the employee parking lot near Poltergeist before it’s turn-around. This new coaster would provide the park a much needed more modern wooden coaster (given Rattler’s less than desirable reputation at the time) and attract a lot more thrill seekers to the park looking for an exciting and, well, thrilling new coaster to ride.

2007 - Tony Hawk’s Big Spin opens; Second Wave Pool added to Waterpark, Chaos removed: Again, I feel that this decision isn’t really that much of a surprise as it should be, as for whatever reason most Cedar Fair-owned waterparks often have two wave pools to them rather than one (ex. Dorney Park). So, since Fiesta Texas and it’s waterpark are now owned by Cedar Fair, I think it’s pretty obvious that it wouldn’t take too long for them to get another wave pool at the waterpark. I can see it being located where the “Texas Treehouse” slide complex and “Splashwater Springs” play area currently sit, taking up the space for both attractions. It’d still be rather small compared to “Lone Star Lagoon,” but I did the research on the area and due to the elevation of the land, I think that this spot would be the only one level enough for another wave pool to be built. So yeah, the new wave pool would be located here, and at the end of the season Chaos is suddenly removed from the park with little announcement, being scrapped with spare parts sent to Cedar Point for their own Chaos ride.

2008 - Goliath opens, Carousel relocated, Two kiddie rides removed; Flat Rides from Geauga Lake, Bugs’ White Water Rapids removed: If anyone remembers Geauga Lake, then they’ll know that when Cedar Fair shut down the park for good after 2007, they relocated a bunch of the rollercoasters and flat rides to various other Cedar Fair parks. Kings Island got Firehawk, Dorney Park got Possessed, California’s Great America got the park’s Top Spin ride, etc. If Cedar Fair owned Fiesta Texas at the time, then I think it’s pretty obvious that they would receive at least one or two of the old rides from Geauga Lake. While I can’t see a possible place for a relocated coaster, I can definitely see a bunch of flat rides from that park coming there. Based off of my research of what GL rides were relocated and which ones weren’t, I think Fiesta Texas could get the Time Warp double inverter, the Mack Matterhorn, and the Zamperla “Pirate’s Flight”, which is basically a Zamperla Samba Tower ride but with a pirate theme. Keep in mind this is a so-and-so possibility, but with Cedar Fair relocating many of the park’s old rides and coasters at the time to other CF parks, it makes a lot of sense - at least to me. Also, I predict that this season would see the removal of the Bugs’ White Water Rapids log flume ride, with the splashdown parts being filled in w/dirt and part of the ride’s former footprint later being used next year for the park’s newest addition…

2009 - Wiggles World opens; B&M hypercoaster: 3 years have already passed since the park’s last new coaster, so I predict this year Cedar Fair would finally open their newest coaster at the park. But it won’t just be a regular rollercoaster - I predict that this year Cedar Fair would open the park’s tallest and fastest coaster in the form of a B&M hypercoaster that is 220-ft tall, with a 210-ft drop and a top speed of 76-77 mph. This coaster’s station would be built right on top of Bugs’ White Water Rapids’ old turnaround near “Boomerang” and the imaginary S&S Screaming Swing, have the lift hill go diagonally up in-between the Spassburg train station and the “Sangerfest Halle Food Court” building. It’d have it’s first drop over the railroad track and the rest of it’s layout would basically take up the park’s picnic grove and the area where “Goliath” sits today. To get back to the station, I’d like to see it do an epic swooping turn in between the railroad track and the Zaragoza Theater, do a quick bunny hill and another epic swooping turn over the Texas State Square right in front of the entrance to the Screaming Swing. Then two more quick bunny hill over the railroad before finally entering the brake run and making a 180 to the left back into the station. The reason I’m predicting this park would get a hyper is because Cedar Fair at the time was adding a lot of tall and popular hyper coasters to their parks, such as Behemoth at Canada’s Wonderland and Diamondback at Kings Island. And since Fiesta Texas is already home to some major thrilling coasters like Superman: Krypton Coaster, Rattler, and the hypothetical GCI woodie, it’d be reasonable to assume that at some point CF could add a hypercoaster here like they did to their other popular parks. Plus with the added competition of Six Flags Over Texas and Seaworld San Antonio nearby, a huge ride like this would be greatly ideal in bringing more guests to the park.

2010 - No major capital; Camp Snoopy rebranded as Planet Snoopy: Not much to say here, other than the fact Cedar Fair was already converting some of their other parks’ kiddie areas to “Planet Snoopy” around this time as well, so it’d make sense that Fiesta Texas would do this as well. “Woodstock’s Express” would be renamed “Cosmic Coaster” and possibly get some new theming to it, but other than that I don’t think anything else would actually change.

2011 -  Tony Hawk’s Big Spin renamed Big Spin, Wiggles World renamed Kidzopolis, Wagon Wheel removed; Mondial WindSeeker added, Skycoaster closes: Since the Mondial WindSeekers started making their appearances in CF parks this year, I think Fiesta Texas, now being almost on par with CF’s more popular parks like Kings Island and Canada’s Wonderland in terms of rides and popularity, would be one of the first parks to receive such a ride. The 300-ft tall swing ride would fit perfectly in Chaos’ long vacant old plot, and treat riders at the same time to the thrilling sight of the nearby Superman: Krypton Coaster’s massive cobra roll. Not to mention the great views the ride would bring, as it’d tower even over the quarry the park is located in. I predict that this ride would easily become the most popular flat ride at the park at the time of it’s opening, with the hypercoaster being the most popular coaster. Also this year, I predict that the park’s 16-year-old Skycoaster will finally close, in order to make room for one of next year’s attractions.

2012 - SkyScreamer opens, Rattler closes; Dinosaurs Alive, New On-Site Park Hotel, Second Waterpark Entrance Built: Yet again going with what Cedar Fair added to their parks around this time, I predict that this year the park would receive their own version of the extremely popular and beloved Dinosaurs Alive walkthrough attraction. It would be located on the new mini section of Fiesta Bay Boardwalk, with the entrance, exit and gift shop being located right next to the GCI woodie coaster - almost exactly like the one that was located next to Grizzly at Kings Dominion. It’d be located right on top of the old Skycoaster attraction (at least according to my research of the ride’s location, please correct me if I’m wrong) and the park would plant some trees around it so it doesn’t feel entirely exposed. Also new this year, I predict that Cedar Fair would make the big move of turning its park into a multi-day resort with the addition of a new 300 room on-site hotel right next to the waterpark. It would be built right next to the parking lot, on the slight incline between the lot and the nearby golf course. It’d also feature restaurants, some possible live entertainment, and most importantly a walking path straight to the waterpark - more specifically, the new entrance that will be built right next to the new wave pool added in 2007. This would save guests staying overnight a lot of walking to the main entrance but still provide them with easy access from the hotel to the waterpark and in turn, the theme park. This addition would greatly increase the amount of guests that come into the park each day and provide much more revenue for the park as a result.

2013 - Iron Rattler and Texas Gunslinger slingshot open; New Waterpark Capital: Since it’s been 6 years since the waterpark’s last addition (the new entrance built last year doesn’t really count as a new attraction), I think that this year Cedar Fair would focus on the waterpark again and possibly add a new water play area for kids, since I know most CF-owned waterparks like to focus on family-oriented attractions. I think it would open in either one of two spots: the first spot is on the small island in the middle of the park’s lazy river, right next to Typhoon Twister’s exit. The second spot is right next to “Lone Star Lagoon” where the “Thunder Rapids Water Coaster” currently resides today. Although both seem small enough to put a kids play area in, I think it’s more likely they’d put it by the wave pool since it’s bigger of a space than the island, meaning a bigger kids play area could be built. It’s also right next to the parking lot so families and kids will be able to see the attraction before they even get to the park entrance.

2014 - New Waterpark Capital, Motorama Turnpike removed; B&M custom inverted coaster: Inspired by Kings Island’s addition of “Banshee” this year and how some other moderate to large-size Cedar Fair parks already have a good B&M invert in them (Talon, Silver Bullet and Patriot anyone?), I predict that Fiesta Texas would be next in getting a good inverted coaster added. The ride, located on the edge of Spassburg, would have its queue located where SkyScreamer currently stands, and the station would be built over the small lake right next door, next to the railroad bridge. The coaster itself would instantly make a 180 turn (to the right) right out of the station and go up a 160-ft tall lift hill before doing a massive swerving 155-ft helix down to the right. The rest of the ride would run right along the edge of the quarry wall, providing some serious close-miss turns and inversions, and go right over the “Gully Washer” river rapids ride, providing some guests of said ride some seriously exciting sights of the coaster soaring over them. It would have 5 inversions - a vertical loop, a barrel roll, a cobra roll near Rattler’s diving turn off the cliff and a corkscrew at the very end. This new coaster would certainly give Fiesta Texas the inverted coaster that it’s lacking in this world, and attract a lot more guests who are coaster enthusiasts and thrill-seekers to the park.

2015 - Batman: The Ride opens, S.S. Overboard, Little Castaways and Frisbee are removed; New Planet Snoopy Expansion, Wipeout and Rattler are removed: It’s been years since the park’s kids area has seen any new rides being built, so I predict that this year Cedar Fair would finally add some new kiddie rides to the Planet Snoopy kids area. These new rides would be part of a kids area expansion that’d be built over the former spot of one of Bugs’ White Water Rapids’ turnarounds, with the entrance being built over what is some sort of theater/building across from “Up, Up & Away” in real life. This would definitely revive the park’s kids area that has been neglected for quite a while, and attract a lot more families and kids to the park. Also, this year I predict that the park would finally get rid of Rattler, as it’s reputation at this point IRL has gotten quite…awful. And unfortunately, since Cedar Fair will not work with RMC for another 2-3 years or so, there is no “Iron Rattler” this time around, meaning the coaster is demolished a la “Hercules” and “Son of Beast”. Also removed this year is the Chance Wipeout ride, which has been running for 22 years at this point and has pretty much reached the end of its service life.

2016 - Fiesta Bay Boardwalk refurbishment, Flat ride package; Flying Skooters ride added to Fiesta Bay Boardwalk, Campground Resort Added: No new coaster this year to replace “Rattler”, since the park’s last coaster just opened 2 years ago, but as for the Chance Wipeout, I predict that, in true Cedar Fair style, the park will replace the ride with a Larson Flying Skooters ride. This ride is pretty much common in all CF parks so obviously Fiesta Texas should be getting one too. I know this may seem like a small addition, but this is because I think Cedar Fair would invest a lot more of their money into adding a new, yet somewhat small luxury campground resort right next to the park’s hotel, as part of their plan to turn the park into a true multi-day resort. Inspired by KI’s new campgrounds, I think it would feature several dozen luxury cottages and a small RV park with plumbing and wifi, and several outdoor activities including an outdoor pool. It’d be rather small given the space that I’m thinking it’d be put on, not to mention a bit steep (remember, it’d be on that slight incline right next to the parking lot, with the RV park being on level ground at the bottom of course), but I still think this addition would be a good idea because it’d be a great way to bring in a lot more park guests and it’d definitely help bring in more revenue for the park and the company.

2017 - Thunder Rapids water coaster opens, Parkwide improvements, Power Surge and Scooby-Doo Ghostblasters close; B&M giga coaster: Originally I was planning on having the park get a B&M dive coaster, like the one that would come later on in real life, but I changed it last minute after realizing that this would work better for a Cedar Fair-style park. This is because most of CF’s major parks at this point, sans a few like Knott’s Berry Farm, already have a B&M giga coaster in them (or Intamin giga in Kings Dominion’s case), and since in this scenario Fiesta Texas at this point has become pretty much a major/popular CF park, I predict that this place would eventually be next to receive a giga coaster. It would be the official replacement for “Rattler” and it’s station would be built on the same spot as Rattler’s old station, but diagonally as to face the quarry wall. The coaster would have a 310-ft tall lift hill along the side of the quarry wall and feature a 300-ft drop right next to “Gully Washer” before heading back up over the wall and going into several airtime hills and swooping turns. These would be seen right next to the road leading into the nearby shopping center (the one that Superman: Krypton Coaster’s first drop can be seen from). Then the coaster would eventually drop back down over the quarry wall in one of the ride’s tallest drops and go over Gully Washer’s station, before going into several airtime hills over Crackaxle Canyon and into an inclined brake run (like the one on Intimidator 305), then turning back into the station. This new coaster would undoubtedly bring plenty of new guests into the park that are looking for something exciting and thrilling to ride, including coaster enthusiasts from around the country. It would firmly put Fiesta Texas on the map as one of Cedar Fair’s more popular parks and definitely separate the park apart from SFOT and Seaworld San Antonio as the only Texan park with a giga coaster.

2018 - Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster opens, Park Improvements, The Twister removed; Park improvements and new park festivals, Boomerang and Screaming Swing removed: After all of the new recent additions to the park such as the giga coaster, new campground resort, kids area expansion, and B&M invert, I predict that this year Cedar Fair will decide to kick back for a bit and spend the season just focusing mainly on park improvements and adding some new festivals to the park, such as “Winterfest” (like the one later on at Canada’s Wonderland). They would repaint and refurbish all the old buildings and restaurants in the park, add some new restaurants/food stands, and even maybe repaint and refurbish some of the older rides in the park. The idea of new park festivals would sort of be their way of making up for the lack of a new attraction, as it would allow the park to stay open longer, for more guests to come into the park each season, and for the company to make more money. Also, this year I think Cedar Fair will remove the park’s “Boomerang” coaster as well as the S&S Screaming Swing from 2004, in order to make room for 2019’s new addition -

2019 - The Joker Carnival of Chaos and Pirates of the Deep Sea dark ride open, year-round operations begin; Gerstlauer Infinity coaster, Waterpark Rebranding: After spending all of last year focusing solely on park improvements, I think this year Cedar Fair will add another new coaster to the park, this time replacing “Boomerang” AND the nearby S&S Screaming Swing. I predict that Cedar Fair will add a small to medium-sized Gerstlauer Infinity coaster with a compact yet intense layout that’ll fully take up the spot of both rides. The coaster would be 155-ft tall with a 97-degree drop and have four inversions, including the first vertical loop ever on a Gerstlauer Infinity coaster. This type of coaster has already been proven to be well-received by coaster enthusiasts as shown at KBF so I think that adding one to Fiesta Texas just two years after their giga will definitely help attract a near record breaking number of guests into the park.

2020/21 - Park ride refurbishments; New Waterpark Capital, Waterpark Rebranding, The Twister closes: The reason this is dated 2020/21 is because this would’ve been the park’s new addition for 2020, but due to COVID-19 it was pushed back to 2021 instead. Around this time it seems like Cedar Fair is investing in their waterparks yet again, as evidenced by Kings Dominion and Carowinds’ new waterpark additions. I predict that for this year(s), Cedar Fair would completely rebrand their “Soak City Texas” waterpark under a new name and a new regional theme, just like what “Carolina Harbor” and “Cedar Point Shores” did around this time. I personally like the name “Texan Shores”, though if you prefer something else that’s fine with me. Also, I predict that, like “Cedar Point Shores” did during their rebranding of the waterpark, Cedar Fair would add some new attractions to the waterpark such as a 6-lane mat racing slide, a 4-slide trapdoor complex, and maybe even possibly another kids play area. I think that “Typhoon Twister” would be removed for the trapdoor slides to be added and the mat racing slide would be put where “Bamboo Chutes” currently stands today. These two rides would definitely improve the waterpark’s overall ride capacity and provide a modern day, more exciting edge to the waterpark to bring more guests there as well as the regular park. However, this year would also see the park’s top spin ride, The Twister, be finally removed as these types of ride are notoriously known for being removed from certain Cedar Fair parks that have them.

2022 - Dr. Diabolical’s Cliffhanger opens; S&S 4D Free Spin Coaster: Based off Kings Dominion’s new coaster coming this year, I predict that Fiesta Texas could also possibly see a 4D Free Spin coaster coming to the park this year (the fact it has one in real life also helps). I know Cedar Fair usually doesn’t mass produce coasters, but if you look at “Steel Force” at Dorney Park and compare it to “Wild Thing” and “Mamba” at Valleyfair and Worlds of Fun respectively, you’ll realize that it can still occasionally happen to a CF park. Besides, what I like about these coasters is how compact of a footprint they have, so you can put it in any small spot of the park. I predict it’d be built right over where “The Twister” was, right between Superman: Krypton Coaster’s brake run and the spot of the Wave Swinger, which in this case would be relocated closed to “Motorama Turnpike” to make more room for the ride.

Conclusion
In conclusion, I think that this is what Six Flags Fiesta Texas would’ve looked like if it was owned by Cedar Fair instead of Six Flags for the past 20 years. Do you agree with my predictions? If not, then why? What are some of your possible predictions for this type of park scenario? Please leave me your answers in the comments below.