PilotDude

You could always get a pilots license, fly over and take legal pictures with out breaking any rules.

You also have to take into account the height of things surrounding it. If you have a 200' tall coaster, but trees near it on a hill at 150', the coaster is considered 50' above surrounding terrain. The tower is tall enough to "cover" most of the stuff around it.

I guess different strokes for different folks. From a marketing standpoint the camera is well worth the cost. Spend $200 bucks on the set up and sell two passes and you would break even. They advertised they had a webcam and made a big deal about them on social media, then they go away. It isn't a good look for the park at all and they are throwing money away IMHO but I can see how your view as well.

Well the webcams are still down, just in time for the big finish on the lift. The sad part is for very little money the park could of put up another feed. A hotspot with unlimited data, cheap webcam on Flight of Fears building and we could of had a view. It wouldn't even have to be live video, do something like the weather bug camera if you had to for bandwidth.

Okay, Drone laws are super complicated and ever changing. First we have two different class of drones. One is considered a "model aircraft", this is the consumer grade/sized drones. The second requires a part 107 drone license. Both require a line of site from the pilot to the drone at all times. Now the funny part is a drone can be in both categories depending on what it is being used for and who is flying it. This depends on if you are flying it for compensation, what airspace it is in, among other things. So you both are right and both are wrong. Although a plane or drone can't trespass, but they can get you on a slew of other things. But if a drone was harassing you and was within reach you can defend yourself with say a broom. The most important thing is local police have no jurisdiction over anything that goes in the air. Only the FAA has this authority. So if you flew a drone over Kings Island or a random persons house, and were standing in either public property or a place you can legally be, no one can legally make you stop. They can report you to the FAA though and I would rather deal with local police. Kings Island could trespass you off the property and ban you for life, but can't charge you with anything. As for the drone policy, KI has a policy of outlawing drones. This forum has decided since KI says drones are against their rules, this site has an outlaw on posting pictures of them in the ToS. The ToS is silent on pictures from manned aircraft. But aircraft is an entire different beast on laws but the jist is a helicopter could legally hover over the park live streaming a video if someone wanted to spend the $$. It would be a ton of $$ though. And KIC if they wanted too could go through the process of updating the rules to outlaw the posting of media gained from aircraft if they wanted too.

They really only have one more day of work on the lift. They are near the point one crane will hold most of it while the rest gets locked in. This could, and my guess is, will be done by Monday evening. Then take down the two big crawler cranes, save the boom pieces for the new crawler that will be used elsewhere and off and running on the rest.

I paid for two drink plans to be shared between my wife, kids and I. By the end of the year we had 9 drink plans active on our passes. No one knew why, they just keep showing up. I suspect is was each time they asked paper or souvenir, that they never finished the transaction and somehow it keep adding new plans.

Can you show me a single official source mentioning the webcams going down? I am not talking a so and so talked to so and so, I am talking a press release, social media, email, anything that the park itself has put out. People are frustrated that we got second hand info about well it is this, no wait it is this (when the obvious evidence doesn't support the whole power story as Mystic Timbers webcam isn't on the tower), the park is acting like webcams don't exist. Silence. If they would just come out and say "Sorry, we didn't mean for the webcams to go down. But here is a couple new pictures of the construction" this wouldn't of even been an issue.

I couldn't agree more @sixohdieselrage, the issues isn't the webcams have gone down. Look **** happens. I once had a website crash minutes into showing the client the final product. Spent weeks checking and double checking but yet the server went offline outside my control. What I didn't do was give ever changing reasons to the client and stop all communication. I swallowed my pride, apologized and kept the client in the loop on getting it fixed. They were beyond pleased in the end and thanked me for the updates. @silver2005 How do you know the park is documenting this? You don't have anymore knowledge of this then anyone does about how the tower electric is run. You have made a simple assumption just like others have with how the tower is powered. What makes you correct and everyone else wrong? Like you have said unless someone has first hand knowledge from the park, which it is assumed must people on here don't, and those who do wont say anyways, no one knows for sure. I get you are tired of people talking about the webcams, and that is okay. The solution is to stop reading this thread. It has been split off the construction thread, you don't have to see it anymore, you are choosing too. IMHO this all boils down to how we view ourselves and the parks relationship. Does the park owe us something or do we owe the park something? My view is the park owes us as we are the clients. They want our money so that puts us in the drivers seat. As enthusiast we can vote that we are unhappy and take our money elsewhere, the park doesn't have that option, so we are the ones that get to decide if we are happy with the relationship or not. We are the client that they need to make happy to keep making $$$. Please don't think I am advocating for us to boycott the park over this, I have my pass in hand for next year, but they have the duty to us not the other way around. Let's be honest, I can hop in the plane and day trip any park this side of the Mississippi, but my heart lives in KI. I just wish KI would have the same view. This webcam fiasco shows the park doesn't value us and that is why we are all frustrated. We are tired of the secrecy, we are tired of the smoke and mirrors, just tell us the truth. KI would reap the rewards of having PR come out and say, sorry guys, we mucked up. Our timing on this was horrid and we apologize. I would be thrilled and the hard feelings would be gone. But that has yet to happen as they can't swallow their pride and admit they might be wrong. If they really wanted to rebuild the relationship they have with enthusiast they would offer a tour of the site in the spring, but that would be way above and beyond, but maybe that is what the park needs to do anyways.

Fun fact, in WWII Hitler moved vital production into mines and caves. The Messerschmitt Me 262 was one of the most famous things built in these caves. Maybe you just need a new cave because it certainly can be done. Welcome to the internet where the points are made up and none of it matter anyways. Fun fact- Al Gore invented pants. Source: the internet

Don't worry, KI will have an awesome time lapse with behind the scenes footage about how the ride was made in all the gift shops for sale! (I just made this up, but wouldn't be surprised, please don't take this as the truth)

I have talked about season passes. Also have friends who live up on the lake who decided to buy platinum this year based off the webcam and how cool Orion looked. Showed them the POV and it was cool, showed them the webcam and it was "wow, that is way bigger then it looks"

Some even say the power has been on the entire time evidenced by the elevators going up and down the entire time. It's a mystery. What!?!!? While they are doing the most important park of the most important construction in the history of Kings Island. Nah, just refresh your browser or something. It was just an update a week ago, must be your side that is broken.

The ToS clearly state drone pictures even taken legally are not allowed. This was a direct ask from the park and the admins have decided to enforce it. The park has even asked for pictures taken legally from an airplane to be deleted and user punished up to an including a ban. For some reason the park has decided secrecy is more important then people seeing what is going on and this site is choosing to go along with it. If you have pictures or video you can always post it some place else, but wouldn't it be a shame if that drove people away from this site?

You would think that. Only one way to find out.

I am just being facetious don't mind me.

Oh spicy!!! Side not Dollywood dumped a ton of money into their new kids area. Have yet to see it in person but it looks like it blows Planet Snoopy out of the water. As for the rest I think you make some very valid points.

Hopefully not Chopper 9 or else it wont be allowed to be shared on here.

New plans are out!!!!!! No wonder Kings Island doesn't want us to see on the webcam. Guys this things is going to be killer!!!!!

Guess them chores aint getting done.

It's almost like we take two steps forward, three steps back. Speaking of steps, what is the best guess on how many steps to the top of Orion's lift hill. My guess is 401.

Aviation flashy light thing is good enough. Better be careful flying by, don't want to upset anyone over being in the airspace above them. Next thing you know we will end up like Disney having to tell ATC on the radio we are buzzing the tower/castle. I've been a little argumentative at times. Sorry y'all I will try to get my passion under control. Eh it was way more spicy the other day.

I gave him a blue and white heart, does that count? /s

Great idea, good thing we don't have to go all the way to 300. /s

IMHO I am not sure they know how to handle this. Having some PR background silence is the worst thing they could do. This is prime time to sell passes for next year. They should be wanting to hype this coaster up, but instead its silence. They have one of their most loyal groups upset, the people who spend all day watching webcams and looking at blue prints are the same people who tell their friends and family about this awesome new coaster. "Hey look how big this coaster is! It even drops into a ravine and follows the terrain just like Beast!" Instead it is "Yeah they are building something new, but I can't show you it since it all has to be done in secret. But check out this awesome video from another park of how they built there new giga." "Yeah I know it is weird all the other parks had webcams and didn't suffer the same blackout, but it might be an "update" or maybe just a power outage, don't know cause the story keeps changing" Which one is going to do more to build hype and sell passes?