While I'm not complaining... why would they spend so much money if Wonderland is already amongst the most attended theme parks in the world?
I really hope they're planning on expanding the size of the park to meet the demand for this coaster. The lineups are already huge on most days and with more people being attracted to the park after this announcement, I can see all the excess people ending up in lines on the other popular rides.
A bigger park with more must see rides is probably the best solution short of closing the park on certain days for pass holders only.
I would expect that the opposite will occur. Go to other amusement parks where a flagship ride has been built, and the lines for older rides shrivel down to almost nothing. In fact, don't even go to another amusement park - just head over to Dragon Fire. Being old can crappy
by comparison, the line is minutes even on the busiest of days while at the same time, you could wait an hour for other rides.
In the past, all visitors went on
all rides. Now, all visitors will go on
some rides because after riding Behemoth, certain rides will be skippable. I wouldn't be surprised if the wait on the new ride will approach 3 hours on many days, while other rides will experience a net drop in ridership.
Edit: did some research. Cedar Point's webpage lists ridership on all roller coasters since 1996. Between 1996 and 2003, total ridership on all roller coasters increased by 13%. However, ridership on those rides that existed prior to 1996 actually dropped by 8% between 1996 and 2003. Because people are drawn to new rides, existing rides will have shorter lines even if more people are at the park. Unfortunately, that means that new rides have ridiculous waiting times.
Once done I'll enjoy the rest of the parks new shorter lines.
