Beast1979

Mass transit and renewable energy are both two things that would make everything so much better. The problem is, both require sizable initial investments, which no one seems to be willing to make.

Thanks for the figures, KIfan. If you take 100 by 100 miles of solar energy (A conservative number if you figure there will be many large fields across the country), you get 52800 feet by 528000 feet, or 2.78 x 10^11 square feet. Divided by 4,666 square feet required to power a Chevy Volt, and you get enough to power 59,747,964 (Or nearly 60 million) Chevy Volts for 100 miles. According to this site I found: http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndsu/klemen/Perfect_Turbine.htm, good turbines can produce about 14 watts per square foot in 20 mph winds, which I'll admit is a bit more optimistic. If we take 2.78 x 10^11 square feet of wind turbines, that produces 3.89 x 10^12 watts, divided by 70,000 watts necessary, you get 55,600,000 (About 55 million) Volts for 100 miles. So with 200 square miles of solar and wind energy, or 4 square miles per state, we can power nearly 115 million Chevy Volts for 100 miles, which according to http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_01_11.html is a little under one half of all the cars in America. Given future advances in solar, wind and battery technology and other sources of energy for electricity, I'd say that right now it looks pretty good and in the near future it could look very good. Now all we need to do is get people to start buying electric cars.

Compared to the cost of continuing to search for, pump, develop, refine and purchase oil, it pays for itself in a matter of a few decades, if that. Not only would we have solar panels and wind farms in several locations across the country (So there's always some place with wind or sun), but also technology is close enough to the point where they will be able to capture enough energy during sunlight or wind to store it for when there isn't. And, if that fails, we can always just use it in addition to things like geothermal or hydroelectric, which run constantly. Oil is not only is incredibly harmful to the environment to pump, refine, and burn in cars; but also poses much more of an environmental risk if an accident were to occur (ala, the BP Oil Spill from two years ago). Compared to that, I think I'll take my chances with wind turbines, which are noisy and just stop spinning if they break. Not only could you simply convert the hundreds of square miles of oil grasshoppers and refineries to panel fields, but also panels are relatively easy put on things like the roofs of cars and buildings. They're even developing right now photovaultaic cells that could be incorporated into paint, so you could 'paint on' solar panels. Not to mention that all of these resources will always be available here in the United States, unlike coal and oil and natural gas.

If we got our energy from solar panels in Arizona or wind farms in Indiana, we would never have to worry about gas prices, or probably the inconsistencies of any energy price, ever again. Just sayin'.

They are, however, updating it, as this was posted a short bit ago: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150799888078368&set=a.226729858367.174830.155893938367&type=1&theater I do say, I like the light blue/red combo that it has at the moment, it reminds me of Serial Thriller and is very striking. I'm sure the light blue on dark blue will look much more calm.

Highway To the Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins and Use Somebody by Kings of Leon, simply because they were played over and over in the queues of Top gun and Diamondback, respectively. I'm starting to see a reoccurring theme here with songs and queuing / airplay at the park.

Amazing how the actions of a middle east dictator on the other side of the planet can affect Kings Island's attendance and earnings. Talk about a global economy. It seems like the worst time for all this to happen - if Iran continues to restrict oil exports during a time when gas prices already go up due to the change in seasons, also happening right around when parks start to open back up in March and April. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, and we can all only hope that the issues over there are solved peacefully and we don't see the high prices they have been predicting. We do want KI to afford that 500 foot tall looping inverted launched hyper Son of Beast overhaul, after all.

My goodness, was a paint job ever just a paint job? Honestly, how on earth do you link a new coat of paint to a new coaster? Just stand back and examine how stupid that is.

I hope they give Action Zone more love in general. I like the new paint job - even though it seems to be the paint of the year here for Cedar Fair, it's still much better than faded yellow and pink. It and the rest of AZ need a lot more attention, Action Zone seems like a flat sprawl of concrete with some neglected, under themed rides at random points along it's concrete radius. Boomerang Bay has been having similar underthemed and overpaved issues lately, I hope the Soak City overhaul fixes that.

On the subject of how it will affect parks, I agree with Terpy's point. Most amusement park visitors are families with an allocated budget they can spend on vacations or staycations. When gas prices rise to a certain point, enough is taken from the vacation budget to gas budget to make amusement parks more feisable than long distance trips. However, if prices rise too much, neither will become feisable anymore. The question is, where is that point, and when will we reach it? It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the future, and how parks will react.

In the wake of the infamous accident on Ride of Steel, I think the park made the correct decision here. If it's in the manufacturers requirements, it's best to abide by those rules and not take a risk. If this case becomes loud enough, they might re examine their requirements and determine that it's unnecessary. Until then, it's best to be safe rather than sorry. I sympathize with her cause however, because having ridden Kraken and multiple coasters like it, it's quite clear that you do not need hands to ride that ride. She missed a wonderful experience.

I do not see how facial hair results in unprofessional appearance. The "I didn't shave this morning" stubble, maybe. But a fully grown and groomed mustache or beard or goatee? Hardly, I can't think of anything more inconsequential. If I walked up to an employee and asked him where Space Mountain was, I wouldn't think any different of him no matter how he wore his hair, so long as he was polite and friendly. That's professionalism - attitude towards guests.

All I can see looking at that picture is two going down at the same time and colliding in the bowl....

Doesn't it say in the terms of service that any information stated as fact needs its source listed? I'd be very interested in hearing yours, what with this "assured" stuff.

I can feel the bars hit my shoulders just looking at that picture....very nice shot!

Look at all the people voting giga. In my opinion, once you have a hyper coaster like Diamondback, a giga coaster becomes kind of superfluous. Not to say I wouldn't like one, but the Eagles would have a much better place at Kings Island. They and the antique cars were great, and I would trade them back for Backlot any day.

I think you'll find that you should always be open to things, given new information or perspectives. Otherwise, having a discussion becomes difficult.

Here is the media used during the presentation: http://cf.wddnsweb2.wddonline.net/_upload/pressreleases/final%20funforward%20presentation%20-%20with%20ebitda%20reconciliation.pdf Page 19 includes pie charts with revenue divided by park. Cedar Point takes #1 with a firm lead, Knotts Berry Farm a sizable second, Kings Island and Canada's Wonderland about tied for third, Kings Dominion and Carowinds in fourth and fifth, and Dorney, Valleyfair, Worlds of Fun and Great America about tied for last. Page 28 lists us as one of four parks at the top with over 3 million guests per year, with Knotts, Cedar Point and Canada's Wonderland. Page 39 says that total attendance across the chain was 23.4 million people, and average in-park spending is about $40, up 2% from past years. Page 40 has a pie chart with attendance by group....Season Pass holders and front gate / advance ticket sales are about even with a bit over a third each. Business group is a smaller third. Don't know how much of this we'd known before, just some interesting highlights.

I'm fairly certain that the though the right might in actually be 4:10, Kings Island has been in the habit of saying 4:50. In fact I'd say I remember quite specifically the spiel saying 4:50.

Yeah, and none of them talk about the ride operating now or in the future. Please, until further notice, consider Son of Beast to be decorative and nothing more. Or, better yet, do as Kings Island would want you and pretend it does not exist.

Aww snap, just when I was getting used to the new/now old website. Some thoughts here: The new site is a great improvement on the old one. Aside from the general feel and look of the website (which was also vastly improved), the navigation and ease of use is also much better. It looks like they went with a similar design to Kings Dominion's, but I'm glad they took the time to make it their own. The faded images on the home screen in the background are great. It's good to see Kings Island acknowledging the landmark that is 2012. We were wondering whether they would even mention it, and it looks like that question has been answered. From the sound of it, it seems like they're talking vaguely of some sort of celebration. I don't know to what they're referring there, we'll see. Three new shows in one year. While granted, the shows are little more than generic costumes and singing along to famous songs, it's good to see the park is keeping up and changing things so as to not let the shows get old and tired, as Paramount did. The new wave pool's URL is not "NEW-wave-pool" as all the other Soak City items are, instead, it's "Shoot-The-Rapids". Perhaps we have a name for the pool. Backlot Stunt Coaster is now a thrill rating 1. That's right folks, it's lower than Zephyr (3), Dodgem (4), Eiffel Tower (2), and Thunder Ally (4). As everyone else has pointed out, The Crypt is void of any mention on the site, anywhere. It's still featured on the map, but you can't tell if it's listed as an attraction there. My guess is is that The Crypt is either SBNO or removed, while the box remains. It looks like Kings Island may have finally given up on it. (Or, on the contrary, perhaps they're spending this year to renovate the whole thing...who knows?) Kings Island opens again on the last Saturday of April. Who has any idea why they have pushed it back two weeks? Also, it looks like they've officially given up on Thursdays and Sundays for Haunt. Not much to say about the new map. I like that they added grass, and Dinosaurs Alive looks cute. Still not much perspective on how the new Soak City entrance will work. It looks like there might be a path connecting the back area near Snowy River Rampage (Or whatever they're calling it now) and the front end of the park, near the entrance to the Action river. Overall, I'm please with the new site. Good job Kings Island!

Am I the only one who noticed that all but 2 of them were Disney or other destination parks?

Kings Island and Cedar Fair in general have a lot of other things to worry about besides Son of Beast. Notice that in the period Son of Beast has been closed, Kings Island alone has gotten an overhaul of the childrens area, an overhaul of Coney Mall, a 300 foot tower ride, a walkthrough attraction and now an overhaul of the waterpark. It's rather clear that the fate of Son of Beast is not as urgent a priority as other things. I believe that when the time comes that a lack of action begins to hurt finances or guest and employee morale more than they can afford, it will become a higher priority than new additions. Someone along the way must have figured that the new additions can better serve those three groups than action on Son of Beast would, hense why we have seen no activity there for two and a half years. The question remains is that when does inactivity become harmful? I can't pretend to know any type of information like that, but I would like to think that management either in Mason or Sandusky has at least a general idea. Maybe a decision has been made and they are waiting to act. Maybe no decision has been made since it's not a high enough priority yet. Time will tell. In the mean time, I look forward to seeing all else that Kings Island and our new CEO has to offer. And it will be interesting to look back and see how, if at all, new management has affected this multi-million dollar decision.

In the financial situation Cedar Fair's in right now, greed, for lack of a better word, is good. When the company is on solid financial ground, then they can start putting satisfaction over profit.

2005, based totally on the fountains and the guess that they're doing Winterfest prep.