Oldiesmann

Sad news from northern Ohio tonight. For those unfamiliar, this is about 5 miles northwest of downtown Sandusky (across the bay) and about 10-15 minutes east of Port Clinton. https://www.13abc.com/content/news/Ottawa-Co-Sheriff-Fire-at-African-Wildlife-Safari-animals-trapped-565588662.html I visited in 2017 and it was definitely a cool experience.

They already have at least one of those installed - Clockworkz at Luna Park in Coney Island, NY. Looks like a lot of fun.

They already had a bargain on passes under original ownership (prior to their initial closure) - towards the end of the season they had a BOGO sale on season passes which also included unlimited access for the remainder of the current season, plus Holiday Fest. This includes the year that Paramount brought Winterfest back but still required passholders to pay. I think with some updates and better marketing they could have succeeded longer.

Keep in mind that the closure of the rides was announced suddenly. It may be more that KI/CF didn't have time to plan the acquisition of any former Coney rides. They'd have to account for it budget-wise and also figure out where they were going to put the rides, and that assumes they don't need major maintenance. I believe the Flying Bobs was a portable model anyway, which wouldn't fit well at KI. Not sure about Tilt-a-Whirl.

I worked at The Beach as the main Dippin' Dots guy in 2006 and later at their donut shop during Holiday Fest. It was a fun place and definitely unique compared to KI's water park (real sand, lots more trees, a bit more variety, etc.), though I never did make it back there following the 2006 season except for a visit for Beach Mountain with several other KICers several years ago. I was a bit surprised to hear of their financial troubles but hoped that the new ownership in 2012 would take care of the park. It seems they completely forgot about it as well.

According to RCDB, Python was relocated to Coney Island from Splash Zone Waterpark in Wildwood, New Jersey. It only started there in 1996 though so who knows what history it has beyond that.

In light of Six Flags Great Adventure's "Polar Coaster Challenge" (ride Nitro in shorts and a short-sleeve shirt, optionally with hats and gloves, in December), FYE Coasters is doing a similar event with Mystic Timbers on December 13th... https://www.facebook.com/events/968790716839078/ (Note that, unlike the one at SFGAdv, this is not sanctioned or sponsored by the park in any way). Paging @malem...

Skyline. No contest.

Apparently Dollywood has been using the classic Peanuts song "Christmas Time is Here" in a Christmas show for several years without proper licensing... Lee Mendelson, who co-wrote the song, has had enough. https://www.tmz.com/2019/10/09/dollywood-sued-peanuts-charlie-brown-christmas-time-is-here/

I would imagine Disney is trying to do damage control and downplay the severity of this incident given the buzz that's been surrounding this attraction, but it's definitely far more serious than they're trying to say.

This photo has been floating around various articles/FB as well. I'm not sure where it originated.

Multiple sources are reporting that Disney World's fancy new Skyliner gondola ride has been closed following a crash at one of the stations. The fire department is currently working to evacuate riders: https://blogmickey.com/2019/10/apparent-disney-skyliner-crash-shuts-down-system-evacuations-underway/

Even so, as I said above, that basic pass is only $30 less than a KI Gold Pass.

The comments on Coney's FB page in regards to season pass prices are not kind at all for the most part. I have a feeling Coney won't be around much longer unless they start making smarter decisions. $80 for the regular pass when an additional $30 will get you a Gold Pass to KI is ridiculous.

I'm still wondering why they're listing Turtle Parade and the Rockets for sale when it's pretty much been confirmed that Cincinnati Circus Company bought those. They're even listed on that company's website (Rides & Rentals -> Mechanical Rides)

I don't see Summerfair going anywhere. That's been at Coney for most of its existence according to their website (started at Eden Park in 1968, moved to Coney in 1977, moved downtown to the riverfront from 1979-1984 then back to Coney in 1985 where it's been ever since).

I'm not buying the whole "guest research" thing either - especially given the feedback they've received about this decision. As far as the coolers go, I believe they used to allow all pass holders to bring a cooler into the pool. This year you could only do that if you were a platinum pass holder. There has to be more to this than they're letting on - cancelling the popular fall festival, suddenly deciding to remove rides, still no season pass sales and we're almost to October... On a more positive note, at least my visit last night allowed me to finally add something Coney Island related to my wardrobe - I scored a $37 zip-up hooded sweatshirt for $13.85 with tax (65% off).

Coney's rides are now up for sale at Rides 4-U. Current prices: Euro-Bungy: $10,000 Meltdown (the inflatable thingy under the tent near the swings): $10,000 Wipe-Out: $79,000 Top Spin: $349,000 Tilt-a-Whirl: $19,000 Tempest: $29,000 Scream Machine: $29,000 Rock-o-Plane: $19,000 River Runner: $179,000 Python: $129,000 Flying Bobs: $69,000 Scrambler: $29,000 Giant Slide: $29,000 Ferris Wheel: $29,000 Dodgems: $69,000 Carousel: $149,000 Turtle Parade: $12,500 (though supposedly already purchased by Cincinnati Circus Company) Swing-A-Round: $20,000 Rockets: $12,500 (also supposedly purchased by Cincinnati Circus Company) Fender Benders: $69,000 Frog Hopper: $29,000 Trains and Boats: $9500 Airplane: $19,000

I personally would like to see more trees in Planet Snoopy. The "Camp Snoopy" area at Carowinds is fantastic, and even Planet Snoopy at Kings Dominion has a lot more shade (though neither park has as many rides in their Snoopy area as KI does)

I'm surprised they'd do free beer, simply because that could lead to issues with guests drinking too much. If these things are anything like CFC (Cincinnati Financial) day was when I worked at The Beach in 2006, they keep track of the cost of the "free" food and bill the company for it. That's what we did (we gave out well over $1000 worth of Dippin' Dots that day as I recall - pretty much a non-stop line from open til close)

Looks like fun but we really don't need any more low-capacity coasters at KI (and I'm guessing the capacity is one reason only 4 of those exist)

Tell them about Stricker's Grove.

It will be interesting to see what they do, but I still think they're going to end up regretting this decision in the long run.

Not sure if the Cincinnati Zoo would be interested in any additional rides. Their carousel and train are pretty popular though.

The only Coney rides I could see working well at KI (besides possibly one of the kiddie rides) are Flying Bobs and Tilt-a-Whirl. The company that makes Scrambler is still in business so KI wouldn't need to strip the one at Coney for parts. The bumper cars and ship at KI are completely different than the ones at Coney so those wouldn't do very well for parts either.