pilotank

I have gotten from several sources that this is where they want to park the gambling boat, whether it is the Delta Queen or another boat. The news from Chattanooga is they don't want to give up the Delta Queen. Also, the old marina plans that were designed for CI have also surfaced. politank

I would say investing 175 million in 6 months is both substantial and eyeopening and would not have taken place if they are not moving forward. They are already cancelling this years summer racing to complete construction. pilotank

Pinnacle Entertainment is a Las Vegas-based casino operator with eight properties, including Belterra Casino Resort & Spa in Switzerland County, Ind. It acquired River Downs in 2011 and applied in July for an Ohio license to operate up to 2,500 video lottery terminals at the 82-year-old racetrack near the Coney Island amusement park and Riverbend. Pinnacle has spent 50 million on the license fee, and over 125 million in real esttate investments in the past six months. They are going to build a new grandstand, restaurants, hotels, a theater and a bowling alley. Meantime CI is maintaing staus quo and not being pro-active. I can see RD overtaking all of Coney. In addition, they are negotiating with Chattanooga to bring the Delta Queen back and park it here for use as a hotel and gambling site. There is plans to keep the region open when flooding occurs. They have unlimited resources. If CI stays open, the area probably will not be family friendly anymore. The regions aestethics will be changed forever . Will Coney survive? What say you? pilotank

Just got back from Magic Kingdom from over Thanksgiving. The new Fantasyland built on what use to be 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is now partially open! http://www.wdwmagic....e-map/17559.htm They hurried the construction and it opened two weeks early. Enchanted Tales with Belle, Under the Sea-Journey of the Little Mermaid, Aerial's Grotto and Be Our Guest Restaurant are all now open and spectacular. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is still under construction. If you haven't been in a while, it is well worth the trip! pilotank .

Like CoastersRZ stated, it is the gravel road that is located north of Lake Como. The worker said it was to upgrade the road. I took it as possibly asphalt. It use to be the same location as the turnpike. Could it be coming back????? pilotank

Yesterday, I actually stopped by and asked a worker, they said they were upgrading the road for heavier equipment. Hmmm....Couldn't comment on what about. Then I drove by River Downs and they were taking more core samples. Something BIG is going to happen at RD. pilotank

I agree that Coney has to improve or stagnation will rear it's ugly head. I was at the Firework Competition and I bet there was 30,000 people in attendance. CI has the ability to draw large crowds from southeast Oh and northern Ky. However, it is going to have to expand in a timely fashion or be taken over by River Downs. I don't think the current owner is interested in improving the park, but just to maintain the status quo, which is sad. CI has the potential to be so much more. pilotank

I feel their is a sleeping giant next door. River Downs has a new owner and they already have paid a $50 million license fee to the state for the right of video slot machines. Money is not an obstacle. Unfortunately, I see RD's buying CI after the death of the current owner Brenda Walker. I see a gambling boat parked by the river entrance and CI will be tailored to the promotion of casino style gambling. To offset this, CI needs to invest now and make it a popular attraction like it was in the 60's. It has to be CI choice to get busy expanding, but we can't even get a roller coaster . Ironically it would be very sad because Coney actually started and owned River Downs. Until a law was passed making it prohibitive for amusement parks to own and/or run a race track. pilotank

I was working the SweetMaize Kettle Corn, and we never ran out of popcorn before! It was definitely bigger than any of the BallonGlows! Did not see or hear anything about a new addition for CI next year. Also, did not see any construction underway:(. pilotank

Just got back from Coney today. It was nice, quiet and a good day for a stroll around the park. Unfortunately, I did not find anything of substance in new construction. I started by the west parking lot and circled the whole park. Not one single new concrete footer. There was some trees being removed by the basketball courts and Putt-Putt Golf, but nothing substantial. In addition, I worked Children's Hospital Day last Saturday and heard from a pretty good source the roller coaster might be nixed because it would come in over budget. I hope this is unfounded, but they have been right about The Twister, the floral clock and Zoom Flume. pilotank

Now if someone could find "Relive the Magic"! I've been searching for five years. WCET won't even respond:(. pilotank

One thing I noticed was how clean RD's is kept now. Also, they actually open it up for pedestrian traffic for conert goers who park in the RD's parking lot. One unsubstantiated rumor is that RD's want to buy part of CI to the west of the race track:(. Hope this is not true. pilotank

Ballon Glow was an outstanding success! I worked selling Kettle Korn by the administration Building. It seemed everybody enjoyed themselves. The crowds were not as large as last year. This may have been caused by BG being on a Tuesday (work day) or that the temperature was extrememly hot. Close to 100. Kudo's to all CI employees. They went above and beyond. Many rides lasted way past the 11:00 closing time. The parking lots were clear by 11:30. The consensus is the new attraction will be a roller coaster! Many people suggested it may not be a new one though. I guess we'll have to wait and see! pilotank

Actually there are enough original buildings left that you can identify exactly where all the previous rides were located. First locate the Moonlight Gardens. From there you can distinguish the Midway as it runs past the old Beer Gardens past the building that housed the Dodgems and Whip. Next you will see some Ginko trees that were cut to look like push-up ice cream. Follow it right past the current LaRosa's building. You can compare this to aerial photographs and by visiting www.cincinnativiews.net. pilotank

I was right about the floaral clock. My sources point toward some type of coaster. Hope they are right!

I hope it is similar to the original one: The original was located by the fountain that is still there. Are they doing anything with the fountain? pilotank

Terpey, I agree, it would all depends on where they place it. If it's north, possibly the same elevation as The Twister, only backwater seems to get that high. The last major flood was 97 when even the Sunlite Pool buildings were underwater.

What would be great would be a hybrid roller coaster, built from steel with a wooden platform. That would eliminate any damage from major flooding:

Lord willing and the creek don't rise....so to speak. Here is an oldie but goodie! pilotank

I wish the TAPS team would have investigated Coney Island as well. I believe CI is more haunted than KI. It would have made a great double header! Here is the CI thread: Paranormal Activity @ CI http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=12947 On July 25th, 1935, Amusement Park Chief George F. Schott died unexpectedly while attending business at Moonlite Gardens. In the summer of 1966, William Bomkamp, an 18 YOA UC student, fell to his death from the last run of the night on the Shooting Star. In 1947, Josephine Rosenfeld, of Westwood, died when she fell from a Merry Go round horse. In May of that same year, Lucille Clemons died when she fell off the Shooting Star. Ironically that same year. the Island Queen blew up in Pittsburg, PA killing 19 crew members. My now deceased next door neighbor used to work security at Coney back in the heyday of the park. He often talked of ghostly sightings around the park, specifically ghostly aberrations in and around Moonlite Gardens. I was wondering with the popularity of ghost hunters, if anyone else has experienced or heard of any parasnormal activity. It was actually written in a book: Cincinnati Haunted Handbook America's Haunted Road Trip Morris/Moris http://www.clerisypr...productid=16948 It lists both Coney Island and Kings Island. Specific to Coney Island, the book goes way back 1500 years when the Hopewell Indians frequented the land. The book also lists the merry-go round, Sunlite Pool and definitely talks about Moonlight Gardens. A great read for all you paranormal enthusiasts! pilotank

Members 18 posts Posted Today, 02:30 PM My Grandpa was a hydrologist and predicted river levels and would've loved this. Coney Island used to call him up to ask if there was going to be any problems. They'd offer him free tickets for his service, but he'd always turn them down since he worked for the government and technically wasn't supposed to receive gifts. My mom and my aunts and uncles would get pretty upset at that. From what I've been told, a flood like this would be hard to happen again with the dams and what not. It wouldn't take much, though, to cause Coney extensive damage. Here's some pictures I took from the flood at Coney last year. Thanks for the photo's! I was actually down at CI about the same time. One of the maintenance workers caught a 25lbs. catfish in a back-hoe right by the car entrance! pilotank

This is the 75th Anniversary of the historic 1937 Ohio River Flood. This flood devestad Coney Island. The Cincinnati Museum is having a lecture this Thursday: Click here to view the online version of this email Join us Thursday, January 19 at 7:30 p.m. for a lecture by Rick Bell on The Great Ohio Valley Flood of 1937 On January 5, 1937, water levels began to rise as heavy rains poured down. Nearly two weeks later, numerous homes were flooded as the Ohio River started to overflow its banks. On this day in 1937, a lot of Ohioans were rendered homeless. Our lecturer, Rick Bell, has done extensive research on the floods. He will discuss how the waters reached as far as Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky as we honor the 75th anniversary of this event in Cincinnati's history. Haven't had the opportunity to learn much about the flood? Click here to watch a video. Our curator of photographs from the Cincinnati History Library and Archives shows images of the flood from our collection. Cincinnati Museum Center | 1301 Western Avenue | Cincinnati OH 45203 Unsubscribe | Forward to a Friend . Also, the Anderson Twp. Historical Society also has a lecture and display: The Anderson Township Historical Society offers a special exhibit at the History Room “Remembering the 1937 Flood,” drawn from scrapbooks and photographs kept by Township families. Come visit the History Room during its open hours: Sunday and Wednesday afternoons, 1 to 4 p.m., and Tuesday evenings, 6 to 9 p.m. History Room, Anderson Center, 7850 Five Mile Road, Lower Level, 231-2114. This year is the 75th anniversary of the Great 1937 Ohio River Flood. The Ohio River reached its highest point in recorded history with a crest at 79.99 feet in Cincinnati on Tuesday, January 26, 1937. The Ohio and tributaries such as the Little Miami River climbed out of their banks, flooding about one-sixth of Hamilton County. More than 100,000 people were driven from their homes in Greater Cincinnati. Property damage was estimated in excess of $25 million dollars. Anderson Township was cut off from the rest of Hamilton County as the waters rose and closed all the connecting bridges over the Little Miami River. On January 21, 1937, water poured over the Beechmont Levee closing the main highway connection, uprooting the telegraph and telephone poles, breaking the gas main and carrying away the electrical wire standards. Low areas in Newtown and around California were completely submerged. Residents were evacuated. Many buildings in these areas were torn from their foundations and swept away. Local flood refugees were housed at the Mt. Washington School, Anderson School and the American Legion Hall on Clough Pike (now Clough Crossings Restaurant). After the Cincinnati waterworks and power plants were inundated, all electric power and water were turned off except for limited periods for almost two weeks. Anderson School was closed from January 25 to February 8. During the height of the flood, Coney Island was covered. Nothing like it had ever happened before or after. AND REMEMBER the monthly meeting - Invite your friends. FEBRUARY 1, 2012 ATHS Meeting at Anderson Center 7:30 p.m. “Remembering the 1937 Flood” Mr. Neil Jeffries, a speaker from the Cincinnati Museum Center, will be in the Lower Atrium to talk about Ohio River Floods and in particular - the devastating flood of 1937, which brought great fear and destruction to Cincinnati and outlying regions. You may remember (some of us do) that Newtown was under water for a time and Mt. Washington was "cut-off" due to the flooding, making travel impossible. Photos of rowboats on Cincinnati streets became a common sight. Remember with us this momentous time in our history! We'll look forward to seeing YOU on February 1st! pilotank

The new floral clock and upgrade to the fountain has a pretty hefty price tag of over 30K. Doesn't sound like a go . pilotank

In 1984, Steve Hill researched the history of Coney and wrote a script. WCET produced and aired a historic documentary called Relive the Magic. I have struck out trying to get a copy. If anyone knows of this film, maybe they could put it on youtube.com so everyone can enjoy it like the other Coney films. It is an excellent documentary. This may have been on another thread, but I was unable to locate it. pilotank

The Spook was added in 1960 according to CCI, along with four other rides. It was designed by Arrow Development Company which manufactured many of Disneylands attractions. Another tie-in to Walt Disney! http://www.mv-voice....history726.html They made their name with roller coasters. Here are some of their milestones according to Wikipedia: 1959: The world's first tubular steel track coaster, Matterhorn Bobsleds, at Disneyland. [1] 1966: The world's first mine train roller coaster, featuring the world's first underwater tunnel, the Runaway Mine Train at Six Flags Over Texas.[2] 1975: The world's first modern inverting coaster, Corkscrew, at Knott's Berry Farm. [3] 1976: The world's first coaster with 3 inversions, Corkscrew at Cedar Point. 1977: The world's first coaster with consecutive vertical loops, Double Loop, at Geauga Lake. [4] 1978: The world's first interlocking loops, Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. 1980: The world's first coaster with 4 inversions, Carolina Cyclone at Carowinds. 1981: The world's first modern suspended coaster, The Bat, at Kings Island. [5] 1982: The world's first coaster with 5 inversions, Viper at Darien Lake. 1984: The world's first successful suspended coaster, XLR-8 at Six Flags Astroworld and Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens Williamsburg 1987: The world's first coaster with 6 inversions, The Vortex at Kings Island. 1988: The world's first coaster with 7 inversions, Shockwave at Six Flags Great America. 1989: The world's first Hypercoaster, Magnum XL-200, at Cedar Point. [6]. 1994: The world's tallest, steepest and fastest coaster, Pepsi Max Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in Great Britain. 2002: The world's first 4th dimension coaster, X, at Six Flags Magic Mountain. [7] According to CCI, riders were rapidly transported in four-seater cars that replicated old time automobiles through a series of scary and comical stunts before ending in daylight. pilotank