[carowindsman6654]

It's irrelevant anyway. The park wouldn't just want to use that name; if they were going to use it they would obviously want to theme and promote it around Earnhardt, so they would have to negotiate the licensing if they took that route.

Am I the only one that DOESN'T want a Nascar/Earnhardt coaster? Yuck.

Heck no. I don't want a NASCAR coaster either. I can't stand that thing people call a sport. A bunch of cars going in circles. Whoopie doo. The only thing worse would be a coaster themed to Miley Cyrus with her music playing while waiting in line. Yikes.

[b&mcoaster1095]

^I would laugh hysterically

^^I agree.. I honestly don't want an Earnhardt/Nascar Coaster either.

^^^Our coaster?!

[RollerBee]

It's irrelevant anyway. The park wouldn't just want to use that name; if they were going to use it they would obviously want to theme and promote it around Earnhardt, so they would have to negotiate the licensing if they took that route.

Am I the only one that DOESN'T want a Nascar/Earnhardt coaster? Yuck.

Chances are it going to happen, Cedar Fair is in over a billion dollar debt. The amount of money involved in theming a coaster around Dale Earnhardt would be really high, as for NASCAR, attendance and ratings for NASCAR is going down. Why theme a ride around a sport that is slowly dying out from what I heard from people who do watch ALL the races.

Anyways, they can call the coaster "Roller Coaster 15", and I will still ride. The name ain't going to change the ride, and everyone knows Cedar Fair doesn't do much theming.

[CarolinaCaniac]

Hey guys...long time lurker, first time poster here. First, I wanted to say that I love the board and don't know how I'd get along each day without everyone's updates and discussion on the impending hyper arrival at our beloved park. That said, I wanted to briefly comment on the trademark surrounding the use of "Intimidator" for a new coaster.

Without getting into too many specifics, the name "Intimidator" might not need to be trademarked by anyone for the Earnhardt family (re: Teresa) to have enforceable/injunctive rights to it. Certainly, having a valid trademark creates an incredibly strong presumption that enforceable rights exist. However, depending on the way that the ride is themed, there are a number of factors that could prevent it from being called anything like Intimidator. For example, though UPS hasn't trademarked the color brown, they do have a federally-recognized and protected trademark in delivery trucks that are brown in color. It all has to do with a fairly complicated theory in trademark law called dilution by blurring. Thus, if the ride is black and silver in color and called Intimidator, it is more likely to be seen by a court as an attempt at blurring, and, in some ways, a potential endorsement by the Earnhardts. If not an endorsement, the Earnhardts would likely argue that the coaster was attempting to free load off of Dale Sr.'s goodwill and reputation to make a quick buck. Thus, Earnhardt's family would have a claim for wrongful appropriation of Dale's likeness/persona.

In short, there are numerous ways that this could present a headache for the park if they play up the relationship too obviously. Luckily for us, the track seems to be red in color, so that's one factor in the park's favor

Wow...that was a little long. Someone's been studying for the NC Bar a little too long today...

[b&mcoaster1095]

It's irrelevant anyway. The park wouldn't just want to use that name; if they were going to use it they would obviously want to theme and promote it around Earnhardt, so they would have to negotiate the licensing if they took that route.

Am I the only one that DOESN'T want a Nascar/Earnhardt coaster? Yuck.

Chances are it going to happen, Cedar Fair is in over a billion dollar debt. The amount of money involved in theming a coaster around Dale Earnhardt would be really high, as for NASCAR, attendance and ratings for NASCAR is going down. Why theme a ride around a sport that is slowly dying out from what I heard from people who do watch ALL the races.

Question: IF Cedar Fair is over 1 billion dollars in debt, then why aren't they pulling a "Six Flags" and restructuring before adding numerous multi-million dollar coasters... Isn't this just going to put them down the same path?

[Jonathan]

Yeah, I was about to point out, the debt part doesn't hold much water when they are building what appears to be anywhere from 2 to 5 large new coasters next year.

[CarolinaCaniac]

Moreover, merely having debt is not in and of itself a bad thing. For example, most folks that own their homes did so by taking on a large amount of debt (e.g. a mortgage). The real issue in determining the financial health of a company is not the debt that it has. Rather, it is the way that the debt is structured (e.g. the payment schedule) and the revenue stream that determines whether the debt is sustainable. Thus, if Cedar Fair has a $1 billion in debt, that isn't really such a bad thing if revenues are able to keep pace with payments on the debt. Furthermore, I'd imagine that $1 billion in debt and the accompanying interest payments on the debt produces one heck of a tax deduction for the company at the end of the year!

[Jonathan]

You have no idea how happy I am that at least 1 of the 50 new users that signed up in the last week is able to contribute something of value to the boards.

[b&mcoaster1095]

^Did you pull that "members only" thing to get more people to sign up because of the huge upsurge in the publicity of this site, or was there actually a problem?

[Mr.Nitro]

It's irrelevant anyway. The park wouldn't just want to use that name; if they were going to use it they would obviously want to theme and promote it around Earnhardt, so they would have to negotiate the licensing if they took that route.

Am I the only one that DOESN'T want a Nascar/Earnhardt coaster? Yuck.

Heck no. I don't want a NASCAR coaster either. I can't stand that thing people call a sport. A bunch of cars going in circles. Whoopie doo. The only thing worse would be a coaster themed to Miley Cyrus with her music playing while waiting in line. Yikes.

Completely agreed.

[CarolinaCaniac]

You have no idea how happy I am that at least 1 of the 50 new users that signed up in the last week is able to contribute something of value to the boards.

If you're referring to me, thanks! I really appreciate the kind words. Alas, I have even less insight into what the park is doing these days than the Dip 'n Dots guy...but hopefully I can make contributions in other ways.

[carowinds4ever]

Maybe they are building so much due to the slumpy economy, and the cost of steel being way down.

One more thing to add, I do not think they will name the ride to much around nascar. Reason being by saying that is CF could have themed top thrill dragster around John Force, and NHRA but they didn't. I know we are in (Shrugs) nascar country but I don't think CF will pay more money for naming rights and everything else.

Wormy, jay, and bgw keep up the good work on the photos.

[Jay]

Am I the only one that DOESN'T want a Nascar/Earnhardt coaster? Yuck.

Heck no. I don't want a NASCAR coaster either. I can't stand that thing people call a sport. A bunch of cars going in circles. Whoopie doo. The only thing worse would be a coaster themed to Miley Cyrus with her music playing while waiting in line. Yikes.

Hah. I dare you to attempt to have this conversation with any one of the millions of fans in rural or suburban North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia etc, where Nascar is religion. And there is more to this sport (yes sport) than just going around in circles, but I am not going to go down that road.

That said if they could do it and do it well i would be all for it. I don't think it will matter in the long run though.

[Jonathan]

^Did you pull that "members only" thing to get more people to sign up because of the huge upsurge in the publicity of this site, or was there actually a problem?

No, it was for another reason that I'm not going to get into, but that was an interesting and somewhat unexpected side effect. 40 people signed up in the less than 24 hours this forum was set to private.

[charlotteguy02]

Wormy, jay, and bgw keep up the good work on the photos.

So apparently my pictures must suck...I see how it is! We'll see if I get an update tomorrow!

Actually, with all the rain the past two days I don't think very much work has been going on, so I will probably wait until either this weekend or the beginning of next week to get some photos up here. If anyone is going this weekend feel free to snap a couple shots as well!