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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/10/2017 in all areas

  1. The current state of the glockenspiel should be considered a crime. Edit: I'll be constructive instead of just complaining. I think the following could bring a much need facelift for Oktoberfest. 1. The Festhaus- Rip out the crappy, overpriced cafeteria food and replace it edible, overpriced German style cuisine. Have you ever been to the Hofbrauhaus in Newport, KY on a weekend? The place is packed and it's wonderful. A very entertaining and different experience featuring good beer, delicious food, and live German music. This could be the seemingly absent sit down restaurant in Kings Island's food lineup. This would require serious management and training in order for it to be successful. But with the current state of things... Eh. Who knows. Also, as noted above, give the building some TLC and restore the glockenspiel. Sheesh. Show a little pride. 2. Hanks Burrito Hack (err... Shack.)- One of the great mysteries of the universe is why Kings Island seems hell bent on dropping restaurants in Oktoberfest that have nothing to do with Oktoberfest. I mean you have Chinese, Mexican, and so forth. But no German food. It's like walking around the World Showcase at Epcot and except it's not because it's horrible. This would be a prime location for a nice German style bakery that could sell baked goods and pretzels that weren't warmed in a microwave earlier in the week and left in one of those spiny glass cases. 3. The *whoever sponsors it* Beir Garden- This wouldn't need too much of a change. Just keep a nice rotation of beers going with a nice menu of shareable German inspired appetizers and items from the above mentioned bakery. 4. Flat Ride Expansion - Time to say bye to the Slingshot and hello to a big ol' Ferris Wheel with an awe inspiring lighting package. On the chopping block next would be the ladder game. Replace that with a mild to medium, family friendly flat ride with a festive German theme. If this would requires sacrificing the Coney Mall Basketball Challenge, I won't lose sleep. 5. Adventure Express - I think AE is the most underrated coaster in the park. It deserves some love. As much as I enjoy the original ride concept (purely due to nostalgia) I'd be fine if the ride was re-themed and updated because it really needs it. It could be as simple as, "Black Forest Adventure Express." The existing architecture could be updated to reflect a more German/Barvarian feel as well as the tunnel theming. I don't think you'd have to go to crazy to make it work. It would just be nice to see the ride get some TLC and reflect its former glory. 6. Music and Atmosphere - Simple. German music and cool light packages, Maybe have some kind of interactive light show with the pond, fountain, and the (hypothetical) Ferris Wheel. Thats all, Folks!
    10 points
  2. Wish KI restored theirs... http://www.restaurantnews.com/bavarian-inns-iconic-glockenspiel-rings-in-50-years/
    6 points
  3. The Great Pumpkin Coaster is on the list of rides to open, so there's that...
    5 points
  4. Vortex has a Brain? I thought it was consuming ours with all the head banging. JK. Actually, Vortex’s PLC is the most complex due to the fact the initial stop on the transfer track doesn’t make the entire car sit on the transfer section.
    5 points
  5. Bring back the glockenspiel! The music alone would be great. Heck I’d like to see theme area costuming return to the park.
    4 points
  6. I assume they will have seating/ skate adjustment/ etc area within the greater fountain area. I really can't imagine they would say "sorry if you have to sit, you can't go back."
    3 points
  7. Yeah, the old glockenspiel needs to make a comeback. As a kid, I always thought it was really cool. Still think KI could add a Tilt-A-Whirl somewhere in the park. Not sure if it could be placed anywhere in Planet Snoopy, but it would fit in there.
    3 points
  8. If they were to connect x-base to Oktoberfest/the entry of Coney Mall, something along the lines of this photo from Dorney Park on @Ride On_17 's blog post would be a lovely way to keep AE separated from the x-base expansion.
    3 points
  9. I wonder what they mean by can’t leave the ice and return during your session? As I recall skate fitting is very finicky and frequently needs adjusting. To tight and your feet are in misery, to loose and you are unstable. Most people are not going to be experts at This and I sure would be mad after paying $15 if I couldn’t sit down to adjust my kids skates or use the restroom.
    3 points
  10. @chugh43 I created two Idea #1 This one utilizes more of the existing buildings that could be used as a restroom or a food area which would require less demolition and more potential to expand between Racer and Flight of Fear. This also wouldn't compromise the other maintenance buildings. Idea #2 This idea requires more construction and in tern more demolition. The area here would be more flat so some thrill rides could definitely fit. This idea would be good if the park utilized the existing maintenance buildings as gift shops or haunt attractions which could be painted a different color like green or grey to make it like a government facility. This could also expand Xbase to the now defunct Dinosaurs Alive area. I personally like the second idea the best.
    3 points
  11. Tilt-a-whirl in the old Flight Commander location. No ground work needed and fits perfect in Coney ride lineup!
    3 points
  12. Oh I could see KI adding one... Cedar Point did. IMO, if KI were to "re-invent" Octoberfest, Adventure Express would be ripe for a total re-theme. It could very easily be altered to a Bavarian theme - which it should have been back in 1991. I'm not sure what will become of Octoberfest. I hope for a huge re-do eventually. For years, the signs have pointed to it going away completely - yet it manages to cling to life season after season. It has always been the most neglected area of the park - long before Cedar Fair, Paramount or even KECO. Fact is, when the park opened Lion Country Safari (now Action Zone) in 1974, it completely land-locked Octoberfest. For 43 years it's been sandwiched between two large, and more interesting areas - that limitation greatly affected how it's stagnated for so long. I personally love Bavarian theming - so I hope it remains and becomes a more viable themed area in the future.
    3 points
  13. I'm going to agree with another member. I'd love to see a Scream n Swing in X-Base. I'd love to see anything in X-Base... Especially a restroom! The entrance of X-Base is great, but the coaster enthusiast in me hates to see that great entrance dead end into a Vakoma, and an LIM launch coaster. we need something else.
    2 points
  14. The sensors also can cause ghost trains in the rain. This is why you sometimes only see one train running on The Bat because if they run a second the sensors will start to think there is a 3rd train on the track.
    2 points
  15. The POS system is micros. It comes in two variations throughout the park. Touchscreen and keypad. Most food and photo stands run on the keypad variation which is a lot more clunky and harder to learn for most people. The touchscreen ones are the ones you will find in most merchandise shops and have a screen that will dynamically change based on the buttons the operator touches.
    2 points
  16. I will state my observation again, when it comes to CF IT: it amazes me that they have a POS system that seems bulky and complicated to the user (I'm looking at you, food service); yet they can report chainwide results just a few days after a quarter/season ends.
    2 points
  17. Thanks for posting, Chris. If I were me, I'd choose the last slot as you can just collapse in your car afterwards (as you'll spend the most energy on the rink, more than, say, walking the park). Also, since you can't leave the ice and come back, I feel like this would be the best time as there is not a lot else going on (the shows will likely be wrapping up towards the end of the session anyway). So, in summery, I feel like the last session makes the most sense as everything is winding down and by not choosing the first session, you wouldn't be blowing all your energy right from the start. Does this make sense? I'm sure there are good arguments for any timeslot.
    2 points
  18. I tested it out by adding a buffet ticket to my cart. The processing fee is only $0.99.
    2 points
  19. I haven't been through a drive-through lights display in years. As a kid we always went to the one at Sharon Woods, and one year we went to the one at Pyramid Hill in Hamilton. Will have to try and make it out to Coney's this year.
    2 points
  20. X-Base seems almost abandoned and uninviting. The FOF and FH photo booths haven't been used in years and there is a ton of space to work with. Something like a flat, an established food stand, and some restrooms should be a given. As well as this
    2 points
  21. That Eiffel Tower reminds me of something down south... Hmm... Yes! Here it is!
    2 points
  22. Add a 4d free fly coaster and name it Bavarian Beetle!
    2 points
  23. I agree with @Shaggy on the re-theme of Adventure Express 100%. I love going to Oktoberfest but I feel put off when I hear Mexican music playing at the burrito shack. A small flat would be a step in the right direction, a re-theme of AE, and possibly a new coaster in the future. I always thought that the area between AE and the Coke building would make a great ride pavilion and a coaster could fit in the land that's surrounded by FOF, Racer, and AE.
    2 points
  24. I would like to see the German couple find their way back to the top of the Festhaus' entrance.
    2 points
  25. Well, I was going to say bring more rides and theming, but Bavarian treats definitely works!
    2 points
  26. Honestly I didn't know Adventure Express was apart of Octoberfest. I think a shop or bakery of Bavarian treats would be neat!
    2 points
  27. I don't really remember the Keggers but why were they taken out? Were they not that popular or it was it maintenance related. I would love to see Oktoberfest get more flats though.
    2 points
  28. 2 points
  29. Bathrooms in X-base... currently it's x-bathroomless.
    2 points
  30. I like that location. It would be perfect for a ride like that. Another good location to add a flat ride would be behind the Eiffel Tower, where the old Salt Water Circus ride used to be, as well, as a flat ride back in X-Base, so those that can`t ride Flight of Fear or Firehawk have something to back there when waiting on their older siblings.
    2 points
  31. 1999 with the Camp Snoopy expansion.
    2 points
  32. So if you look back at KI over the past decade or so, in 2009 Diamondback was an excuse to renovate Rivertown, 2011's WindSeeker was an excuse to renovate Coney Mall, 2014's Banshee allowed them to renovate Action Zone, last year they renovated part of Planet Snoopy. As of lately, they went back to Rivertown for Mystic Timbers. Oktoberfest is really the only major section of the park that's been skipped over, and not much has been done for it as of recently. This leads me to think that it will be the next section of the park to receive a major, major facelift. Some things they could do include... Move Slingshot to X-Base (completely unrelated, it would fit in with the theme so well over there and there's certainly space by those maintenance sheds) to open the area up to expansion. Bring back Der Spinning Keggers, not necessarily in their original form but a similar ride type. A Tilt-A-Whirl would be wonderful. String lights a la KBF Boardwalk or CP's Gemini Midway Proper area signage (maybe a giant May Pole at that little Intl Street-Action Zone-Coney T intersection?) Updated Festhaus Facade, either fix the glockenspiel or get rid of it entirely. Lighting packages. Lighting packages everywhere. And definitely the most demanded and most prominent... Adventure Express theming facelift. This could almost be a whole season of a 2-year project in this. Fix and add to Adventure Express's theming, maybe up to Mystic Timbers level. Restore the ride to its former glory so that it no longer feels neglected. Thoughts?
    1 point
  33. For info about ride controls and such, get in touch with the folks from Irvine Ondrey Engineering (http://www.irvineondrey.com and https://www.facebook.com/IrvineOndreyEngineering). Their website even says that "your questions about attractions controls are more than welcome" on their FB page. I don't know how much they do in the way of controls for flat rides but they do a lot with coasters, including Mystic Timbers.
    1 point
  34. 1 point
  35. Yep! The ride operators control every movement on the ride (except the individual pods spinning). We have to have a minimum of 8 hours training to drive it, as opposed to 2 hours for a coaster. It's quite the machine.
    1 point
  36. The buffet is 19.99 for pass holders, if you buy online, not sure if that price will be different at the park. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
    1 point
  37. I️ doubt they’ll give specific proprietary information, but many POS systems are relatively generic for off the shelf hardware. It’s the OS that seems to be customized as needed.
    1 point
  38. I️ noticed that the last time we rode it. The operator actually has to manually feather the hydraulic controls to make the ride move to load it.
    1 point
  39. AFAIK, Monster is the only ride that doesn't use a PLC. That would be because it's the last manually-driven ride in the park.
    1 point
  40. I skated a lot when I was a kid but never had enough stability on figure or hockey skates so stuck to racers. Ryan went to a birthday party about 7 years ago at a skating rink and they had assists that essentially look like granny walkers, hopefully they have something similar. I wouldn’t mind learning again but not sure KI is the place to do it, would rather be closer to home for an ER visit. For all those prone to blisters. Wear wool socks if you have them and also wear a thin (silk or poly) dress sock as a base layer. This will help to greatly reduce friction. If you do feel a hot spot STOP immediately and apply some moleskin (not made from moles) before a blister starts. Alternatively duct tape applied directly to the skin works very well. In Scouts we always wrap our nalgene water bottles with 6 or 7 turns of duct tape so it is handy. Can do the same with a disposable.
    1 point
  41. You wouldn’t need to tear up maintenance buildings, military bases have them too. They would just need a face lift to match the X-Base themeing. Therefor integrating them with the theme as if it apart of the x base theme but in actuality hiding ride maintence in plain site. Just a thought.
    1 point
  42. Here's two pictures of the Eiffel Tower I just took (all taken in legal locations). Seems the lights on the back of the tower are the only ones on as of now. They also have some lights on the poles leading up to the entrance. Also saw reindeer on the top of the entrance building.
    1 point
  43. Sally's Sea Plane is fun for the whole family.
    1 point
  44. I'm not even exaggerating when I say that them doing that will cause me to go out of my way to shop there more. I want to like Christmas, but I can't stand that the advertising starts earlier and earlier. Combine that with people mauling each other to buy gifts, and I'm out. I get more excited about New Years'.
    1 point
  45. I vaguely remember an announcement that would repeat in various queues in the Paramount days... "Line jumping is not a sporting event at Paramount's Kings Island...."
    1 point
  46. The actual price of All Season Fast Lane is $387.93 with the exchange rate. (for Canada's Wonderland)
    1 point
  47. They do Haunt, but it's a separately ticketed event... Season/Platinum passes get you a $5 dollar discount for Haunt admission (which is about $45)...
    1 point
  48. I noticed that it says that it does not include Haunt. Do they even do Haunt at CW? I also find it odd that they bring it out now. Gotta think attendance / spending is down
    1 point
  49. I don't know much about Carowinds but I do know this- Thunder Road wasn't as popular with guests as Racer is. The way Thunder Road was placed really restricted a lot of expansion opportunities for the park. The Racer doesn't really restrict anything. Plus The Racer is still one of the most historical rides in the industry and still has the park record of over 100 million rides given. I think the days of removing original attractions are done. There's still a huge chunk of individuals who want the antique cars to come back. Racer still gets really good ridership every year so there's no reason for it to be removed.
    1 point
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