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I think I should just stay off the internet today. Had a great start to the day finding out my kid scored a 780 Math on the SAT and it has been going downhill since.

The truth is that none of us know the truth. We only know what is spoon fed to us by politicians, media and social media. Only a few elite know the truth: did it come from bats in Wuhan? Did the Chinese engineer it in retaliation to the trade war? Did US soldiers "drop" the virus into Wuhan? None of us know. We may think we do, but we don't. Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Welcome to KICentral! I know you joined 17 days ago, but I still like welcoming new members.

A recently uploaded drone video shows that small metal covers have now been installed, it also shows banners / signs that have been installed in the barrier wall by the stairs.

That is cool. Do they have FreeStyle machines on those trains?

Did you see the pics from Chad?

Although I would advise against taking hydroxychloroquine just because some Joe Bob from online said it worked. It's never smart to just go trying drugs like that. A very dangerous path is listening to people on the internet who are suddenly experts in fields they have no knowledge in.

VR on a giga coaster would be kind of bad imo, half the thrill of a giga coaster is seeing how high up you are

Yes, around where Firehawk used to turn into the station.

Are we talking about the banners down in the concrete wall in the ditch near the entrance and exit of FH?

It is my opinion and a business perspective on how a company may go about this and their thought process. I am sure CF brass have at least discussed a date in which it doesn't make sense to open. You have to look at that aspect of the forecasting and weigh it against all other conflicting constraints like someone saying "they will never get my money again" and make a determination on the best course of action. I am trying to counter the too simplistic of an approach to say "it doesn't make any economic sense to not open the parks" that many people are using as their argument why they will re-open this year. We have no idea what "bailouts" are going to come from the federal government as they all haven't been developed yet. We have no idea if CF has some "catastrophic insurance policy" to cover the event of an entire season not opening because of some world crisis (and if they have such a policy it would only be applicable if they do not open). Plus there are tons of accounting and tax regulations and other situations that we are not privy to that a company will look to use to the best of their advantage. There is a reason so many corporations do not pay taxes... If one of the bailouts for example is that seasonal attractions that do not open in 2020 will have debt interest forgiven or delayed or a bailout to "make them whole", but if they re-open in 2020 then the payments begin and/or bailouts are significantly reduced, it might make economic sense for a park not to open this season...You don't think that will happen - well college students don't pay on government student loans and interest doesn't start until they leave college...I know it isn't quite the same, but we have no idea what bailouts are going to happen in these unprecedented times. Cedar Fair and other companies will be crunching the numbers as it stands right now and as new information becomes available. I am sure they have developed a date that says if the parks don't open by (insert date here), then financially the start up costs to get going will not exceed anticipated revenue. They may even have clauses in debt service payment related to making payments after every X number of days in operation so that could drive a decision... At a certain point it will simply be easier to remain closed and simply have season passes for 2020 valid in 2021. Any opening this year will inevitably create so many scenarios and requests for full refunds or pro-rated or whatever for those that already bought passes. Sometimes a simple sit it out and reboot next year makes the most sense... Orders and declarations passed because of this virus could allow the government to take over hotels and other areas for triage or other staging grounds to deal with the sick once hospitals are beyond capacity because people are defying orders to maintain separation...an amusement park parking lot would make an ideal location for one of these temporary centers...kinda hard to open a park when the parking lot is not available...Just yesterday during the Ohio Governor press conference they mentioned Ohio could see 8,000 new cases a day at its peak... Now golf courses in some states are being forced to close - those are way more spread out and less people than an amusement park. In these unprecedented times, things may not make sense based on looking at it from a simplistic, single sided approach, but when given all the information, companies will chart the best course they feel makes sense given all the variables and other items at their disposal, many of which we will never be privy to... Assume the park will not open, and then when it does, you can be pleasantly surprised and elated and happy and excited. There are more important issues right now than opening amusement parks... I too am to the point I have no desire to go to crowded area this year, so I am totally fine with 2020 passes being valid in 2021... Adding more days to next year sounds like a great idea!

I hope that if the parks don't open this year maybe they would be able to open slightly earlier next year. Maybe for Kings Island open mid March or Carowinds could open end of February.

Quite the opposite and this was inline with your thinking but from a different approach or angle....I was making the argument that the longer this goes on the more money they will lose by opening this year as they already have pass holders money...and people should prepare for the reality they may not open and passes for 2020 will be good for 2021... Let me try another way - if the park remains closed all year is of an abundance of safety and precaution with this still unknown virus and it happens to save them money too, well that is a byproduct of their decision. A lot of people think the park will open as soon as possible and I am suggesting that there is a date in which it doesn't make sense to open this year... people may think not opening means they lose money and that may not be the case this year...

Can we get a link for the video? (Not Embedded)

There are still people saying that.

As the old saying goes advice is worth what you pay for it.

Don't take any drugs unless it's been prescribed to you.

But the problem with that lies in the fact that you are concentrating people in limited areas. You know, if I didn't have classes to worry about, I'd love to work during the week at ki. (My full time gig is every Saturday And Sunday). I'd love to come work every Tuesday and Wednesday, for example. Those extra days they are discussing adding, sign me up. But I doubt theyd have flexibility about the weekends off. [emoji23] Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

I'm sorry, but basic medical microbiology teaches you that the reason virus spreads more easier in cold weather is because people are staying inside in close proximity to each other . Warm weather has nothing to do with "killing" the virus. In a sense, all the isolation *may* cause this to linger, which is the flattering of the curve. Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Now that I think about it, there could be multiple banners all over The Area 72/ FOF and Orion area listing the height of each hill and drop then just random code text on the bottom

True, I just think it's interesting how they left it open at the bottom of the Firehawk ramp. The way they have it paved makes it look like they will use those steps to direct foot traffic down the other way towards the new path that will go under Orion sometime in future.

I believe that ramp is actually left over from the former Firehawk exit ramp but yet I agree that they can easily expand area 72 (and they likely will)

Anyone notice on Flying High Dronez flyover of Area 72 that they have paved the area at the bottom of the small set of stairs angled towards maintenance area to look like walkway will eventually go under Orion for possible future Area 72 expansion? Very interesting.

I don't think we'll see VR on this coaster. That would slow down operations significantly. I believe CF stopped doing VR on Iron Dragon.

The banners just say a number (199 I believe) and some jumbled numbers and letters, I can’t make out what it means.

Yes, they also worked on Mystic Timbers thematic elements (along with Holovis)

Kings Island Orion test run, and other Coasters Mavic 2 Zoom, it was posted march 25th Edit: I found the right video. And I also wonder what those banners are.

Not trying to sound rude but are any of you actual doctors or nurses? I'm wondering where some of you are getting your facts from when it comes to this virus

What banners? I can't find them anywhere in the video.

-Hmm. I think chain-link would've been a better call for the queue walls. I get they may want to hide the open space, but as a military base theme.. it kinda works to not be quite as polished IMO. And once again, most of the queue is mostly left vulnerable to the Sun's heat.. -Glad to see what looks like a vent on the show building; I'm assuming it's for a fan to blow the collected hot air out of there; keep the air circulating. Curious what's on those blue.. banners? that are hanging on the concrete-wall where FH used to turn into the station.

Search Orion Kings Island on Youtube.

That's likely because they don't have anything before that set in stone yet. I'll wait until they come out with an announcement.

If parks do open people will be spaced out on trains with an empty row between each other, horrible staffing, etc. It will be a mess. I rather just get credit for my platinum/meal/fun pix for the following season.

What he is saying is his opinion. Even the people "in the know" (park and corporate leaders) don't know right now. It's a moment by moment process. None of us know. It's concerning to me that a mainstream media outlet would print that as a FACT (with a very small disclaimer) that Knott's is loosing 500k per day in profit each day they are closed. Their source? YouTubers! The YouTubers source? TEAS. Those numbers are guestimates at best. But they present it as fact. And they fail to notice that even if correct, that is not profit. If average spending per visit is xx.xx$, that does not equal profit. There are costs involved is that xx.xx$. Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Sounds like they watch a certain news channel.

If that's any sort of reference to what I've been saying, allow me to clarify. Not opening this year would be putting people before profit...this is good. Not suspending payment plans is putting profit before people...this is bad No company that shows itself to put profit before people during this crisis will ever again see one cent of my money. Gamestop and Lowe's have made this list. I will continue to make a little bit of noise here in the short term in hope that someone "above" sees and does the right thing. Once I'm convinced that isn't happening I'll move on to the platforms where there will be a more massive mainstream reach.

There are also still people out there calling it a "hoax" and a "scam."

Well, it does lead towards the slippery slope called welfare... There are tons of people out there making a very good living on welfare. How many on this site make more than $29/hour? Well if you lived in Hawaii, that would be your hourly rate equivalent on welfare. In Pennsylvania it is almost $14/hr. Many states pay you more per kid, so it encourages one to have more kids. More kids = mo' money... Once you get on that train, it is hard to find motivation to get off of it. To a lot of people, that is more than they would make working. What incentive is there to take a minimum wage job if you can get more on government assistance. Plus you get drug tested for work, but you are not subject to drug testing to get government benefits (although some states are now able to get legislation passed to make that a requirement)... For those that would break even, why work if you you can instead go to amusement parks all summer and not have to work? I know people on that train...and they have learned how to play the system. Welfare is supposed to be limited to 5 years, but there are so many loopholes and exceptions that it can be a career for some people. SNAP benefits are not time limited. Lot's of other programs fall somewhere in between...

Been taking this time away from life and working on a new knex model with my son. Brings back great memories and making new ones.

A good friend of mine lost both of his grandparents about 2 years ago. He said he said he was kinda grateful they weren't around for this because their immune systems were basically shot while they were still alive. People with low immune systems are the main reason we're all so concerned about this virus. It drove me nuts when college kids still decided to go on spring break not acknowledging that they could infect their grandparents or someone else with a weak immune system.

KI opening day June 1st as of the current calendar. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hanesbrands in Winston-Salem, NC has converted atleast one of the factories from underwear and socks to N95 masks. So yes some industries are stepping up to the plate to help 3M or other companies. https://www.wfmynews2.com/mobile/article/news/local/hanesbrands-producing-face-masks/83-d0d46c7b-31e8-4903-914a-c8d991cafd55

So in 3 days, USA now leads the number of confirmed cases. Strive to be #1 Country Population #Confirmed Cases USA 330 Million 85, 268 China 1.4 Billion 81,340 Japan 127 Million 1,292 Japan has dropped to 29th on the list, even with a recent uptick in cases. Meanwhile Ohio (population 11.5 million) is only 425 cases away from surpassing Japan...

I want some good news in this world. No baseball and no roller coaster news lately.

^^^^ I love the chugging sounds the trains make. Sometimes just relaxing on the railroad is way better than waiting and standing in line for a coaster!

Vaccine won't likely be available for 12-18 months. It won't magically go away. I say parks will open when it gets under control, but it'll be an opening process. Not just reopening.

If things reopen, the number is going to spike again. Its not like the virus will magically go away after a month. Until there's a vaccine produced soon I don't see any amusement park opening for a while

I would be all for making the height of the last building a little smaller. It doesn't need to be that tall anymore since the crypt isn't in the building anymore. I know it would cost extra money to do that, but you would be able to see more of Diamondback going thru the course instead of a big giant eyesore building.

When looking at a drone video of Orion, I can see that there seems to be a wall on the stairs that separates the Fast Lane and regular line. I don't know if they are going to build a tunnel on the stairs or what. But I find that interesting.

Coincidentally, the King Island History page on Twitter posted a photo of it earlier today. I miss the original tunnel. It was so much grander in scale and a great place to find some shade or to hide from the rain. It included some benches and since it was not part of a ride's entrance, you can spend as much time as you wanted in there. The newer tunnel is tiny by comparison. I'm fairly certain you can fit two or three of them inside the older iteration. Would anyone be willing to elaborate on why the original tunnel was removed?