Frontier City Developments

shavethewhales · August 22, 2011, 07:21:59 PM

Man, I've got to say, judging by the photos FC posts to its Facebook, the park is having a banner year this year with all their concerts. I've never seen so many people at the park in some of those photos, and they've had a number of highly-attended events this year. The Halloween season is right around the corner too, and that's always their most attended time of the year.

It's definitely showing that there are people in this town willing to come out to the park if there actually is something to draw them. I'm hoping this prods Burke and Co. into putting some major investments into the park for next year.

okiebluegrass · August 23, 2011, 05:15:37 PM

They could do so much in developing the theme better. I personally would bring in some street performers and local musicians (Ok, admittedly, I'd love either one of these gigs)

shavethewhales · October 27, 2011, 05:18:40 PM

Sounds like some things could be stirring at Frontier City. People have reported markers around the back of the park, though the park says they are just for general surveying, and the go-kart track has been boarded up again.

The go-kart track is a perfect place for a new ride, and as I said before, I can certainly see the new management wanting to put in a new ride for next year to keep their momentum going. The go kart area is the perfect size for a splash battle, or really any kind of big flat. I could see a Frisbee or top scan style ride doing wonders for the park as well. Of course, a new coaster would be the best, and if the markers mean anything, they apparently extend all the way from the go karts to the other side of the Wildcat...

And again, I'm still hearing lots of good news about the park's crowd levels this year. Lots of people have actually been complaining about lines! Seems like the Halloween season has been crazy good for them, save for one weekend that they were rained out and shut down early.

sanddunerider · October 27, 2011, 06:28:03 PM

well, good for them! sounds like a positive year, and a positive start for next year IF indeed they justify the expense for a new attraction..

cowboy · November 10, 2011, 02:57:22 PM

I drove by Frontier City yesterday and tried my best to see any activity that might be developing. I did see some survey markers (stakes) and utility flagging around the parking lot of the offices. Unfortunately, I don't think this really has anything to do with the park, but looked to be possible roadway improvements for Coltrane Road. The stakes extended from where Coltrane Road intersects with the I-35 service roadway back to the first drop of Wildcat (where they stopped).

I really couldn't see anything in the park, but the go cart track still looks intact with the cars lined up in the station.

Jay

shavethewhales · December 06, 2011, 10:47:50 AM

Frontier city just posted this on their facebook: http://www.facebook.com/frontiercitythemepark

QuoteThe holidays are just around the corner and a little elf just told me that Frontier City is getting something big under the tree for next year. Hmm.... wonder what it could be??

We'll have something new to watch in this region after all! I'll take anything they've got planned, but I fully expect we'll get a thrill ride of some sort, if not some sort of water attraction.

They'll need to replace their decrepit log flume with a new water attraction at some point, but I doubt they can get it done this offseason. A splash battle to replace the go karts would be nice too, but they just finally got the go karts running again last season.

cowboy · December 08, 2011, 03:00:21 PM

Drove by Frontier City today. I couldn't find any evidence of work occurring inside the park (go cart, or maintenance area) nor at the proposed parking lot expansion.

But I did find a Standard Testing bore truck in the employee lot by the offices. The truck was up close to the fence and "in line" with the lift hill for the Wildcat. Not sure what it would mean, but it was very close to the fence line to the park and right next to the coaster....do you think they might be doing a re-design of the Wildcat?

What we do know now, is they are testing the soil to determine its bearing capacity, and we know the location of those tests.

I have attached a photo for you to see what I'm talking about, also in that photo you will see a wooden stake that is close to the roadway. I'm still not sure why that would be there unless there was going to be some kind of road modification.

shavethewhales · December 08, 2011, 04:08:35 PM

Awesome! Thanks so much for the photo and the details about the Standard Testing truck.

It's times like this I really wish I were farther along in my civil eng. curriculum to know the full implications of what they're doing, but it certainly seems like they're about to do some construction in this area.

It just seems like a weird area to build in, unless this is going to be a large tracked attraction. The Wildcat infield and the area around it is one of the last open pieces of ground in the park, but it seems like it would be hard to get to from the park and there are a few other places to put an attraction before using it. I personally expected them to knock down the old rotor and put in a new flat there. It's been rotting away for the past couple of seasons. There's also open area just north of the old Nightmare Mine building, and they could build on their current maintenance area (they have plenty of room to move maintenance across the street), and on the go kart tracks.

The fact that they're marking up the parking lot actually does make me think we *could* be looking at a coaster here. Remember, this is Burke and Story we're talking about now - people famous for building up parks with coaster additions. It's definitely a little late in the season, but if it is a coaster it's bound to be something fairly small and compact. My money would be on a basic euro-fighter 420 model - they can be set up in just a few days once the groundwork is in place.

shavethewhales · December 12, 2011, 02:07:09 PM

FC's facebook says they will begin teasing soon.

Another possibility is the big fun model from GCII. It was rumored that they had already sold one for this year, and it would fit the land easily. The only thing is that it would be weird to have two "family" sized wooden coasters right next to each other in a park with as many coasters as FC has. I would think they would want to diversify a little more, but perhaps this could end up being a replacement for the Wildcat so they can build a bigger coaster there in the future.

The only problem with the big fun is that it is only designed for one train and has a relatively low pph, but that's no different than they park's current wooden coaster. However, they do get some pretty big lines occasionally.

shavethewhales · December 17, 2011, 08:38:29 PM

Another update:

I drove by the park today to see if anything major had started moving. Nothing noticeable was happening, but I did see a huge number of markers in the parking lot and along both Coltrane and the road in front of the park. There were orange utility flags, stakes with orange and pink tape, stakes with white tape that said "locate" on them right next to the road, orange spray paint on the lot itself, and probably a few other kinds of flags around the main utility area. There were also some strange looking rods with something yellow on them sticking up in rows outside of the fence surrounding wildcat on Coltrane road.

I didn't see any kind of pattern to the flags at all. Honestly, with the land shaped the way it is I think they would have needed to start earth work before now if they were putting in an out-of-the box coaster like a G-fighter model or a GCII big fun. Some people were saying it could be some sort of water attraction. That would make sense with the construction progress as it would not need to open until closer to the summer. Plus the park could really use a good water attraction.

Hopefully they'll break ground soon. I might stop by again on my way through in mid January if I hear that construction has started.

shavethewhales · December 31, 2011, 11:23:40 PM

Hmm, two weeks later and just about into the new year and no hints about what Frontier City may or may not have gotten for Christmas have shown up. In fact, the park is suddenly quite about the whole thing, which makes me wonder if there's been a problem with the ride such as a bad soil test or a delay in shipping or manufacturing.

I'm going to drive by in a couple of weeks on my way through the area. I hope there's some serious construction happening on whatever it is by then, otherwise they may be getting to the point where it becomes 2013's new addition instead.

shavethewhales · January 03, 2012, 05:16:19 PM

Another update for those of you still watching: FC's facebook says to check out the Wildcat for a clue as to what's happening in 2012. Does this mean they've hung a banner, or are they actually working on the coaster itself? I could see them doing a major refurbishment of the ride, it could sure use it. Hopefully they'll actually adjust the course some to make it a little more fulfilling. The return portion has always been just completely messed up due to the way they had to adjust it to fit the park.

shavethewhales · January 15, 2012, 12:42:50 AM

Might as well update here in case anyone's watching this park. I drove by again today. There's a construction dumpster on site now, but nothing else. Place is still marked up for a project, but NOTHING is going on. I looked pretty hard to see if I could spot something being set up behind the fence, or new ride pieces, or anything, but it looks the same as it always does. I'm starting to doubt they'll add anything more than a few misters in time for the 2012 season at this point. Their teaser sign is gone from the wildcat, I don't know if that means anything.

I got some photos this time: http://imgur.com/a/eh7xA

Junior · January 15, 2012, 01:34:46 AM

Thanks for the photos, and please keep us posted.

sanddunerider · January 15, 2012, 04:42:00 PM

Looks kinda naked out there.. thanks for the shots shave.