PKIMaureen

Too late - I have a date with my handsome husband!!!! Beers and bowling, baby! I hope it's fun without me!! But how could it be??!!

Happy birthday, Ryan!! I hope it's a wonderful day! Do you have big plans?? Maureen

I am 32 years old and if any of my friends or family members dragged me to something like that, I would be beside myself with anger and fear. I'm not a wus, I just don't like that kind of thing at all. I've tried it and to me, it sucks. Now I know that plenty of folks love it, hence the popularity of the Haunt!! If the child was small, it's just plain wrong. I'm all for facing your fears but that is rediculous!!!!!!!! Enjoying my post-Halloween, non-scary time of year, PKImaureen

The fact we now have a full pictorial containing Swiper, my favorite Dora character, and a giant pizza wheel is a little scary. haha

HAHAHAHA!!!!! I display that award proudly on our mantle. Of course, it may have been meant for Bill Mefford. I should probably look at the fine print.

My favorite new award is for Best Seaside Park. For some reason, that cracks me up. I do agree that the same parks seem to win over and over. However, it is also well deserved. KI DOES have the best kids' area. Holiday World IS very clean. It would be interesting to hear a detailed explanation of how the votes are tallied - and who gets to vote. Gary Slade from Amusement Today has a great overview - perhaps he could send it to KIC.

I, of course, am already terrified at the prospect of the Haunt. We all know the reason I planned my wedding for Oct. 6 was to miss a weekend of the Halloween event. haha Even with the lights on, it sounds horrific. Nice job, KI!!

There are a LOT of former KI associates working at Hard Rock now. Several of the FT merchandise folks are there, as is a FT food service manager (mentioned in an earlier post) and KI's former head of IT. It's like KI south!!

I was so happy that Ryan and Josh invited me to this event. Although Tim and I could only stay for a few hours, it was so awesome to be back at the park. I really miss the Island and all of you!!! Tim was very disappointed that we had to miss The Beast tour (Our family was coming over at 5 p.m. for our church festival.) - In my 5 years of working at the park, he never joined us for a backstage tour. Silly boy! Next time for sure! The Beast was FANTASTIC - so smooth and so darn fast. It was probably the best ride I've ever had. Kudos to Team Ties - Josh, Don, Ryan and Dane. Awesome work, guys!!!!

Although I haven't ridden Firehawk at KI, I did ride X-flight at Geauga Lake. I am 5'10, average weight, and felt very secure. Of course, you do slide around a little which adds to the thrill. To me, the most thrilling part of the ride was when you turned over to face the ground. Feeling my entire weight pressed against the restraint scared me to death. In a good way. Have fun!

Friends, Please relax. The height requirements in Boomerang Bay will stay the same in 2007. There were concerns that they would go up when we had the map printed, so we changed them to error on the side of caution. Turns out they will not be changing. Get your suits ready. BB will open May 26.

Greetings from the Island. I wanted to let you know that I am, in fact, leaving Kings Island. I submitted my resignation last week, and it was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. I love Kings Island. I love the people I work with, and I love hanging out with all of you. Unfortunately, as a department of one I am on call 24/7, and I made a very hard choice to move to a job that offers more flexibility. You have made my life at KI so fun. I have learned so much over the last four years, and your friendship and support means the world to me. Thank you for everything!! Keep on riding!!! Happy days, Maureen

Hello! T-five days until we open for the season!! Woohoo! Who can stand it?! We will offer the ACE walkback in 2007. Please meet at Guest Relations by 9:30 a.m. We will leave GR at 9:45 a.m. As mentioned earlier, we will walk under the ropes, not backstage. The walkback is designed to take guests to The Beast; however many of you know that The Beast is not always awake when we want him to be, so we may hit another coaster instead. Our GR supervisors will let you know what the ride is for that day. Please bring your ACE card with you when you come to Guest Relations. Happy riding!

Greetings from the Island. The previous poster is accurate. The new ride will take the majority of the $10 million dollar investment. Have a great day!

Hey there!! You're right..... We are using video from Stealth/BORG. The reasoning behind that is simple. We did not have enough time to have video made for Firehawk, and my friends to the north didn't have anything we could use. Soooo.....this provides an idea of what the ride will be like to those who are not enthusiasts or have not ridden the ride before. Like any video we've had (IJ, Boomerang Bay, etc) there is room for change but the general idea will be the same! Get excited!!

Just had to pop in and confirm that we will reopen Son of Beast in 2007. The State has concluded its inspection of the ride and determined the cause to be a single event failure. Basically, that means that one single piece of wood split, causing a chain reaction of several other pieces. This happened at or just before the train went across the tracks. It would not have been detectible by our daily maintenance inspections. With that said, there WILL be changes to the ride when you board in 2007. We will strengthen the ride in several places, providing a more comfortable experience for the guest. In addition, there will be other changes as several of the previous posters have mentioned. You know that I'll give PKIC the heads up immediately when I receive clearance to do so. Hang tight!! We're making good progress on the ride and really taking our time to do everything right. Happy Tuesday!! PKImaureen

Hey there, guys. I would definitely advise coming to FearFest on a Friday night. Saturday night can average 25,000++, while Fridays are a fraction of that total. In addition, the tickets are much less expensive. Online they are $19.99. If you prefer to buy at the gate, stop at Taco Bell first and pick up a $19.99 coupon. See you there!! Spookily yours, PKI Maureen

Guys, Guest Relations does not do height measurements. Each ride does this individually. However, you can request a wristband at the first ride you get to, provided your child is tall enough to ride it. This works really well! See you soon. PKI Maureen

Is it clear yet what caused the timber to break? was it stress from the weight and speed of the trains or was the wood there just weak? It's not yet clear what caused the timber to break; however, we should know more about that when the full Department of Agriculture report is released within the next few weeks or so. Happy Friday!

You're right - there has been a lot of conflicting information in the media, and over the last two days I have been working to correct that. You may have noticed that the Enquirer posted a correction today on the front page of the Local section. I was so thankful for that. Channel 5 has done something similar. I think the main issue is that I am not the only person providing comment. Of course, I can not speak for the guests who were on the train - only they can do that. The train did not stop on the tracks, but it may have felt like it did on the final brake right before they entered the station. If you already feel bad, that final brake would be overwhelmingly strong. Does that make sense? Yes, the train completed a full cycle, but to guests on the train, it may have been something completely different. I will continue to pursue the truth with everyone I speak with. Please help me to do that if you are asked for comment. I remain consistant with our messaging and will do so every single day. Have a great night. We'll all be back tomorrow. Happy Wednesday.

I have a few suggestions on how to improve the SOB cars: - Increased legroom, of course. - Cupholders to accomodate our cocktails from Walkabout Pub. - Fold down trays to accomodate our LaRosa's pizza. - LCD screens so that we don't miss any QTV. Well, thanks a lot, beastisbest. Now my IT guys are about to report me because I sprayed pop all over my computer screen. Excuse me while I catch my breath from laughing. My thoughts on this: 1. Increased legroom - see above. 2. Cupholders - a given IF we allowed stuff like cocktails on the ride which, as a reminder, we don't. 3. Fold-down trays - I love the LaRosa's, don't get me wrong. However, when I flew to GERMANY in March there was no meal. Don't expect one on a three-minute ride. 4. LCD screens to watch QTV - Remember when your parents told you to turn off the TV and go outside? Well, I'm saying it now. The best views at PKI are on the Eiffel Tower, Drop Zone and Son of Beast. QTV can be seen anywhere. This view is priceless. Thanks for the levity. You rock!

How many people are doing the inspection and are they safe? I don't know how many people are inspecting the ride at this point, but I do know we have ODA, CF and PKI folks out there. They are definitely safe. We would never jepordize the safety of anyone at PKI. I am 5'7 and Son of Beast seats are not comfortable with my legs at all. I rode this year thinking it was fixed. Will the seats get fixed in the future? I am 5'10 and my three brothers are 6'4+. Some rides are simply more comfortable for people of different body types. I often get questions about weight restrictions on rides - there are no restrictions, per se, but you may fit more comfortably in some rides and not others. It depends on how you carry your weight and how you fit into the designed restraint. The same is true for height. My brothers and I are mostly legs. This makes the design of the Son of Beast cars a little more challenging for us. If we were longer in the torso, this would be a different experience. Does this make sense? As a guest, you know your personal restrictions better than we do. Your safety and comfort are our top concern, but we ask you to use your best judgement on what you can handle as a rider. Will the seats and cars get bigger? I honestly doubt it.

Is there any speculation that PKI/Cedar Fair will tear down Son of Beast in the coming seasons? There is a great deal of online speculation, as you all know. When it comes to the roller coaster Son of Beast, we are currently focused only on the ongoing inspection. Will anything be done to make the ride smoother and more accomadating to park guest? Our maintenance team did a great deal of work in the off season to prepare for 2006. Their changes/additions to the ride were to improve the comfort of the ride for our guests. In 2003, we modified the restraint system to make the seats more comfortable, specifically for those who carry additional weight in the hips and legs.

Thanks for the kind comments!! Will this incident effect the operations/daily inspections of the other wooden coasters in the park? We will continue to fully inspect each of our wooden coasters every morning. As I mentioned, there is an extensive maintenance process that each wooden coaster undergoes daily. This will not change. At this time, is everyone who was on that ride in good condition now? Two guests were admitted to the hospital on Sunday. Unfortunately, we don't have information on their condition due to privacy laws associated with medical facilities. How does the risk on coasters compare to the risk associated with other activities? The US Consumer Product Safety Commission concluded in a study and determined that a visitor has a one in 1.5 BILLION chance of being fatally injured on a roller coaster. In fact, the injury rates for children's wagons, gum chewing, golf and folding lawn chairs are higher than for ANY amusement ride. In fact, driving to an amusement park has a higher risk of injury than riding the rides at an amusement park. What is the rate of risk at PKI? .0004% of our guests have sustained injuries of any kind over the 35 seasons at PKI. This includes slipping on pavement, pinching a finger between the chair and table at LaRosas and tripping over untied shoelaces.

Greetings from the PR desk of Paramount's Kings Island. It was The Beast that was closed and inspected on Sunday. Here's the scoop: Two guests reported that they smelled smoke while on the ride. The associates did the absolute right thing and shut down the ride at approximately 4:30 p.m. Fire and Safety called Mason Fire Department as a precaution, and they inspected the ride thoroughly. No fire was found, and the ride was reopened by 5:35 p.m. The ride still stands! SOB still stands! The park is now open daily! (hehe.....that is the PR girl in me talking) Have a great day!! PKImaureen