Cory Butcher
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Posts posted by Cory Butcher
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JD as you know this stuff really fascinates me and I thank you much for your hard work and dedication to this project! Unfortunately with work being very busy and KIC taking a large backseat in my life for the past 2 years I do not check in here very often at all except to catch up with some friends thoughts.
Still I will check in when I can and see all these photos so please consider me good for a comment a day towards your goal even if I say nothing!
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^maybe you'll get 12" this time instead....
I really cannot wait to ride this new ride. I've had a dollywood season pass now for I think four years and I love going down for mainly the shows and the area but the park really was needing another special ride. They really have a great collection of rides now and the shows are top notch! And the food!!!!
I'll also be going down first weekend of December and can't wait for christmas in the smokies!
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Another ride, but a memory...
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^haha. TAER it down!
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Approximately 48 exotic animals believed to be roaming free in Zanesville. Crews from The Wilds and The Columbus Zoo have been dispatched to help contain the wild animals. This makes my stomach turn.
From the Associated Press: http://www.google.co...0c570aeec22b691
Exotic animals escape Ohio farm; owner found deadBy ANDY BROWNFIELD, Associated Press – 3 hours ago
ZANESVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Dozens of animals escaped Tuesday from a wild-animal preserve that houses bears, big cats and other beasts, and the owner later was found dead there, said police, who shot several of the animals and urged nearby residents to stay indoors.
The fences had been left unsecured at the Muskingum County Animal Farm in Zanesville, in east-central Ohio, and the animals' cages were open, police said. They wouldn't say what animals escaped but said the preserve had lions, wolves, tigers, giraffes, camels and bears. They said bears and wolves were among 25 animals that had been shot and killed and there were multiple sightings of exotic animals along a highway.
"These are wild animals that you would see on TV in Africa," Sheriff Matt Lutz warned at a press conference.
He called the escaped animals "mature, very big, aggressive" but said a caretaker told authorities the preserve's 48 animals had been fed on Monday. He said police were patrolling the 40-acre farm and the surrounding areas in cars, not on foot, and were concerned about big cats and bears hiding in the dark and in trees.
"This is a bad situation," Lutz said. "It's been a situation for a long time."
Lutz said his office started getting phone calls at about 5:30 p.m. that wild animals were loose just west of Zanesville on a road that runs under Interstate 70.
He said four deputies with assault rifles in a pickup truck went to the animal farm, where they found the farm's owner, Terry Thompson, dead and all the animal cage doors open. He didn't say how Thompson died.
The deputies, who saw many animals standing outside their cages and others that had escaped past the fencing surrounding the property, began shooting them. They said there had been no reports of injuries among the public.
Staffers from the Columbus Zoo went to the scene, hoping to tranquilize and capture the animals.
Lutz said people should stay indoors and he might ask for local schools to close Wednesday. He said his main concern was protecting the public.
"Any kind of cat species or bear species is what we are concerned about," Lutz said. "We don't know how much of a head start these animals have on us."
A spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which usually handles native wildlife, such as deer, said state Division of Wildlife officers were helping the sheriff's office cope with the exotic animals.
"This is, I would say, unique," spokeswoman Laura Jones said.
In the summer of 2010, an animal caretaker was killed by a bear at a property in Cleveland. The caretaker had opened the bear's cage at exotic-animal keeper Sam Mazzola's property for a routine feeding.
Though animal-rights activists had wanted Mazzola charged with reckless homicide, the caretaker's death was ruled a workplace accident. The bear was later destroyed.
This summer, Mazzola was found dead on a water bed, wearing a mask and with his arms and legs restrained, at his home in Columbia Township, about 15 miles southwest of Cleveland.
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Well....he is leaving real soon! Perhaps there is something to it? lol
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I am so sorry to hear of your father's passing. Thank you so much for sharing these pictures, they truly are great and capture the spirit of the era! Thanks again!
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For those of you who haven't ventured out to The Wilds, DO IT. It's an absolutely incredible experience... 10,000 acres or property, all the animal enclosures are over an acre in size. Its absolutely breathtaking.
This gentleman speaks the absolute truth! I love The Wilds, and hope to get back this summer!
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I agree with Ross, Terpie, Jzarley and many others who have posted here. This to me is absolutely great news. Really there are no better words to describe what this could do for the company. This is a life-breathing move in my opinion, and I think the market will soon react positively to the upside of Ouimet's impending tenure.
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What to make of the Cedar Fair Proxy response?
Significant details concerning CF's two proposed alternative measures for the Special Unitholders Meeting are not spelled out, such as:
- Will a staggered Board exist in the future? If so, Unitholder attempts to reform the Board are stymied, and it could take three years to effect change sufficient to result in new direction.
- Will Unitholders be able to nominate, and elect, Directors utilizing the proposed CF procedure for the next Annual Unitholders Meeting this summer? If not, CF simply will have stonewalled Unitholders and prevented significant changes in the Board of Directors for an additional year.
- Will the practice of allowing a Director candidate to be elected with as little as one affirmative vote continue? If so, CF could simply block Unitholder candidates by restricting the ballot to "qualifying candidates."
- Will Board of Director seats be contested elections where by the highest vote getter(s) gain the seat?
- Will the Board define "qualified nominee" as, amongst other criteria, a candidate nominated by the board?
- What qualifications and information about proposed nominees will CF demand?
- Why is CF willing to make such a radical structural change? Did the actions of activist investors drive these changes?
These are the issues which came quickly to mind upon reading the Cedar Fair filing. The devil will be in the fleshed out details. Unitholders should proceed with caution to avoid getting painted into a corner by Kinzel and Company.
Just remember Leland,
Q did not propose answers to those questions that you just asked. So be careful how much blame you place to Cedar Fair in not immediately laying out these procedures. Q gave NO direction either, you need to remember that!
And as for your first question, I personally feel that the insiders of the company have more information on the internal and external environment than us other stakeholders in the company. For that reason I think that roughly three years can be an appropriate amount of time to create a "new direction". In some cases management/BOD does have better answers than the stakeholders, and I think unit holders should be careful to undermine that or you may see the board of directors and upper management become a carousel with lots of inefficient turnover!
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Days of Thunder is my favorite movie to ever grace the Action Theater Screen! I loved that ride, it was my favorite ride at Kings Island for a very long time!
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I often forget about the Viking Ship, I always try to ride it when at the park, but I forget it's there!
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I would raise gate admission to match that of Dollywood, Cedar Point or SFGA.
I would bring more shows to the park, utilizing the talent of local performing arts groups. And there IS talent out there. There are singers and dancers and groups in my area specifically who never know anything about Kings Island auditions (That's a major problem). Additionally, the higher gate price could bring in some professional groups on the fringe.
I would bring back a more robust summer concert lineup. (Something that could have really helped Hard Rock Park, and one of the ONLY things that kept Cypress Gardens afloat as long as it was)
I would bring in a sit down restaurant similar to Gameday Grill, with an entrance to the exterior of the park open during offseason hours as well as in-season hours. This would be an experience on par with Bdubs, or Frickers etc. with gameday parties during March Madness, and football season.
Also, I would add some teacups, and some landscaping to the area next to IS theater behind the lighted stars and characters.
Finally, that pavement in Action Zone would come up, and the landscaping there would be reworked with emphasis on photo spots, and strategic shade opportunities.
Last but not least I would like to add some more family rides, not rides for a kid and his/her parent(s), but a ride that grandma and grandpa can ride together, something thematic, original, and adventurous.
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I have worked with the park, I know alot of the precautions and rules!!!
Blue Icecream.... ?
I about died laughing at this Paul!
I was thinking Dippin' Dots though?
If only PizzaBaby027 knew as much about grammar and sentence structure as he/she claims to know about park rules.
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Let me simply state,
First, you find people who like you.
Second, you woo them, and you become one of them.
Third, You learn their weaknesses and you exploit them.
Fourth, you stay consistent, keeping the pressure on and aggravate as much as you can.
Fifth, with the wind at your back, the people on your side, and a perceived injustice to fight, you claim what you wish,
Yeah, OK, so that's a little dramatic, but if you don't see "The Art of War" in this whole drama, you are looking too close. We may not know what Q's motives are, but I think it is becoming plain to see what they want.
And what I described? You might as well find it in a novel called, "The Art of the Takeover" by Anonymous Private Equity Group.
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I'm not looking at $11 million of investment in blind awe and agin don't fault the zoo for taking a government subsidy.
But using your 10% rate of return, that same $11 million in an endowment could be returning $1.1 million each year for other improvements over the next 40 years. This is what makes it such a poor financial investment - compare $140,000 to $1,100,000, which would you take?
Well, if the zoo is not spending a penny according to the one article, then the $11 million is not theirs to spend anyways. The savings on electricity however, would be theirs to spend how they see fit within certain legal obligations.
But, obviously you are right on the math, that money just isn't directly theirs! And this project will help fulfill the mission of a non-profit zoological facility such as the zoo, which in many cases is more important than the financial sense of a particular investment.
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I just would like to point out as well:
That quoted $140,000 could very well go into an endowment (if donations to the zoo can be found allowing such usage) which will return interest and build to a much larger sum.
Over 40 years, in long term holdings at an average of 10% growth per year, the zoo would have around $6.3 million in a fund that further covers the operating costs of the zoo (from just the first year of savings alone!).
The implications of this investment go much beyond covered spaces, clean energy, and the monetary ROI of the project. The savings can be used for other projects that may yield more donations, more research monies, or greater animal care.
Don't just stare at this $11 million investment in blind awe. The savings I am sure will be used in other areas that have a multiplier effect for the zoo's economy and prestige.
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I really have to wonder what transpired to cause Falfas to leave the way he did (either by termination or resignation). It's not unusual to hear of #1s & #2s who have stormy relationships, but for Kinzel to completely throw out the organization's entire succession planning strategy (especially at a time when the future of the company was in so much turmoil) in one 90 second phone call, it really challenges the imagination about exactly *what* could have led to that...
My guess would be that successor was ready to succeed...
Or that the leader just wanted to lead...
Regardless of the actual logic behind Jack Falfas leaving, one has to wonder how a decision could be made by someone (CEO), so quickly when their relief from their post is supposedly imminent?
The clouds roll in before the storm hits, and we are left wondering what was in those clouds...
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Does not Disney do most of their work "in house"? I seem to recall that the WEDway people mover was designed and built by Disney.
Now, as far as a company submitting a bid for $9 million to re-do an existing track system, maybe it is a legit price for SOB - the first re-do (Texas Giant) always has a higher cost. After a method is tried, and is deemed a success, the next attempt shouldn't cost as much as all the needed machines to create parts and such have already been designed and are in use.
It's just my thoughts on the matter.
Hank, Expedition Everest was engineered and built by Vekoma!
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INTERPRETER! Noooooo!
How dare you post this! Way to throw a match on a puddle of gasoline.
This is gonna pass the Diamondback thread. Just watch
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There is no way proper LOTO was followed....
Unless another worker cut off the victim's lock, it is actually his fault for not locking out the power source prior to entering the ride area.
Are we sure there was power to the ride when this happened however? Could have been a situation where a train needed to be manually moved and came free...
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Yeah, Browntggr,
It would have to use those cool safari ride vehicles posted earlier in this thread.
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Just a thought, Maybe you won't walk through it, maybe drive through it?
http://gouldmanufacturing.com/jeep.htm
They are out of Canada, and that would make the goose clue make sense.
That would actually be really cool, and would offset some of the loss of the 'Tiques. I actually really like this idea.
The ideas offered up recently are much more easy to read, and dream about!
I for one would love to see the new AT movie, and the entrance to AT changed some, and then have this big ride through in the jeep. That would make for one amazing area!
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Any word on the gravy buffet?
For immediate realese:
American Coaster Enthusiasts recognizes Something big announced 3-18-11 as an ACE Landmark, a designation reserved for attractions of historical significance.Officially announced on March 18th. 2011 as the world's tallest, longest, and fastest thread, the KI Central department began planning the new thread on March 9th, 2011, led by resident comedian Don Helbig and assisted by KIC members, famed poster The Interpreter (age unknown) acted as consultant, providing the engineering formulas for design. The extensive project was constructed under the direction of Kings Island Marketing department, while engineer Shaggy assisted with the support structure of the thread.
Built in the middle of a long off-season, with only Don's hints visible from the park, Something big announced 3-18-11 features speculation ranging from an SoB re-design to a 600 ft. jumping coaster. The thread that has traveled along a world record of 1000+ posts of nonsense has seen: numerous flaming- mostly of the noobs, and a handful of bad jokes offered by Browntggrr. This thread has seen as many ups and downs as seen in the early days of TTD, or the entire lifespan of SoB.
Millions of readers have braved this unique, 30+ pages of useless crap, making it one of the most notable attractions in the history of KIC. Something big announced 3-18-11 remains an integral part of KIC's impressive threads relating to Kings Island.
Presented by the American Coaster Enthusiasts
During the off-season
March 2011
Post of the year! Kudos to you, on the press release. That was good for a nice laugh!
Doug Apple, head supervisor at BLSC, has passed away
in Kings Island
Posted
Doug apple was one of the kindest, and most respected people I have ever met. He was my supervisor for many years at KI and will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him. I am so happy to have been able to call Doug a friend. I will greatly miss seeing Doug on Thursday nights and at the park. Rest in peace my friend!