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BeeastFarmer

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Posts posted by BeeastFarmer

  1. 19 minutes ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

    When I was little (like 2007 I think) there was a YouTube video of Kings Island and the song played in the video was "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen. Ever since then, I have always associated that song with Kings Island and I loved that it was part of the park playlist last season. Also for those who don't know, ever since 2021 the park has picked a song for the season that plays for associates when they arrive in the morning to get them ready for the day. In 2021 it was "High Hopes", 2022 it was "Celebration" and 2023 it was some song that I don't know the name of that River City and a few other KI performers actually recorded a cover of. Mike Koontz talked about it at Coasterstock last season. 

    I wonder how many of the hard working performers and staff have been downsized because of the budget cuts?  The live entertainment has been decimated. 

  2. 38 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

    Let's prepare for Grand Carnivale and the parade of nations...

    Es ist ebenso bezaubernd wie vorhersehbar

    And then let's play a game of telephone so someone take this German and translate to a different language and at the end take the last one and translate it back to English :P

    adoragarria da aurreikusten den bezala.

    • Like 1
  3. 22 minutes ago, johnjniehaus said:

    Gotcha. Well I'll start. One thing I was surprised about is now seemingly affordable the event is given everything it includes. I mean out of town guests obviously have to get hotels but for locals such as myself this event is very affordable and is very exciting...

    I have always wanted to see some of the behind the scenes tours and I'm really excited about the Flight of Fear peek inside the bowl. The sign shop I've heard is pretty cool as well. 

    I'm sorry you (apparently) never got to experience Coasterstock.  This is essentially a plussed version of the Coasterstock blueprint.  While it's more expensive than Coasterstock, I still think it's a good value and I'm excited because I've never been to a national Ace event. The bts of sign shop and bat and AE are things I've never done.  I was hoping for more guest speakers (Denny, I could listen to all day as well as gravity group) but they are Coasterstock regulars.

    I think more non locals will gain a better appreciation for Kings Island with this event, which frankly, I hope is contagious to the local enthusiasts.  In spite of budget cuts and corporate politics, we have a true gem here, and familiarity breeds contempt.  I'm hoping that acers who dont get to ki frequently will reignite the energy of 2022.

    Fof Btw is great!  Whatever you do, don't miss The Beast bts.  That's worth the event price in and if itself. 

    • Like 2
  4. Thank you for documenting this for posterity.  I've only been to Coney Island once, and that was a walk through to get to Riverbend, so I don't have the sentiment you do.  But , I do hold the property in due respect since it went through labor pains to birth Kings Island.

    • Like 1
  5. I think in my own experience...KI was the places of places back in the day. When I was a small child, I have more fond memories of KI than WDW.  After college, I moved on. This also happened to be the paramount years, and during that time, it went from being a once or twice a year thing to a three times in 15 years thing because the experience was stripped.  When Cedar Fair took over the reigns, I became a passholder for two years simply because the park dropped the "paramount" name, the park was clean again, etc. Then it got degraded again for short term gain/ corporate survival.  From 2014-2022 was a great run for the park. Now we are back in cheap mode, and many are noticing.  But the problem this time is...those negative words and reviews spread much quicker today vs even 2011 or 2010  because social media is almost omnipresent.  

    The good news is that this industry is cyclical. When the times come again, and they will, they will have more data under the hood   

  6. While I hate to loose history, everything comes down to money. As I understand it, Coney got a large portion, if not all of the parking revenue from Riverbend concerts.  If memy control that, it makes them more money.

    26k people signed a petition.  How many people are in the Coney Island MSA? Those are the people that would keep it in business.  For simple math, if the MSA is one million, that's like .26 people to keep it afloat. If these 26k people were to somehow convince memy to sell them the twoish acres, how in the world could they float it?  The parking rates would not go to Coney Island, they would go to memy. Insurance, payroll, upkeep, utilities, all the COGSS would likely far outweigh any revenue. The 26k are vocal, but a drop in the bucket of the majority.  

  7. According to the WSJ, Apollo Global Management is offering to buy Paramount for 11 billion.

    They were the entity that dick kinzel was trying to sell Cedar Fair to, correct?

    If the FUN/SIX merger goes through, I wonder if Apollo would come sniffing around?  I think both companies are in a vulnerable spot, and the combination will eventually exacerbate this, so future FUN shareholders ( no longer unit holders post merger) may see value in cashing in if an offer is made 

    Or not.

  8. I'd venture to say that they'd  there is more tax revenue potential from memy than a dying pool .

    What they wouldn't likely say is that they can dole out taxpayer funds to make themselves look good to keep in office, knowing full well funds usually are terribly spent. 

  9. 2 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

    Same. Or long-time platinum holders that downgraded to a KI gold pass this year and skipped the all park add-on and put that savings towards Dollywood of KK pass.

    I suspect we will see/hear more of that happen.  The question is will it be enough of a bump that CF takes notice and makes changes, or will they continue to devalue the offering?

    The pass CF offers is a tremendous value.  And the KI experience is generally second to none in the peer group--rides, associates, atmosphere etc.  But the very things that elevate KI are the things that corporate seems to chip away at.  Prestige Pass ambiguity which leads to mistrust.  Cut staffing in ride operations so that 3 people do the work of 5 (which is noticeable, and the ops were still great, but overworked, eventually their passion will fade).  Don't wash the midways daily, so now they look grimy...trash cans can overflow longer, less flowers can be planted...It seems as if they are degrading from Target to Dollar General and bypassing Wal-Mart altogether!

    The impression I get is that this is not Kings Island's choice, and it was foisted.

    • Like 3
  10. But Cincinnati is no Charlotte. The soon to be Six Flags is continuing to pour money into Carowinds to try to elevate it to elite status. I don't know that this is possible or probable.

    Kings Island, on the other hand, would have to sink substantial money into Timberwolf, but they would still not be able to attract "top shelf" entertainment in the market. 

    Timberwolf most likely will continue to perhaps host Spirit Song, cheerleaders, and high school bands...and store Winterfest decorations, until the money spent to demo it can be justified. Maybe I will be proven wrong.  But I suspect it's going to remain a relic from days gone by. 

  11. 1 hour ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

    Honestly I think Grand Carnivale makes most sense at KI, KD, and CGA as they mainly fit the theme of the parks well. CGA has Orleans Place which works with Carnivale at Orleans Place and Grand Carnivale at KI and KD work with International Street. In fact, I believe Mike Koontz said at Coasterstock last year that Carnivale started as an International Food Festival specfically for KI and it developed into Grand Carnivale. 

    Worlds of Fun has entered the chat:  "Bon après-midi! Je crois que je correspond très bien au thème ! L'événement m'a été volé!" 中國說:“我也是!而且冬季節也被拿走了!”

  12. I think KK is more of a local park, but then again, KI has become that with the season pass model. 

    One season in the last ten, I think it was 2016 or 2017, KK pulled in 800k.  Doesn't sound impressive. But, with the equivalent acreage model, if they had 300 acres like ki and no height restrictions, that would have equated to 4m guests, which probably would top KI admissions. The park has plenty of untapped potential, and if the fair board is reasonable, and this redesign gets rid of the road and gives the park a new parking lot and entrance...watch out. 

    Or not.

  13. It's interesting to read these comments about KK.  Ten years ago, many were saying it would not reopen. It did.

    Next, people said KI/CF laughs at the thought of KK being a competitor.

    Then, people started to notice when they opened Storm Chaser and made a splash with calling out the guy who had his cell phone out 

    COVID happened and literally detailed the raptor.  Things were bleak.  The park was saved again, this time by HFE.

    People were expecting Dollywood North, quickly.  That didn't happen.

    However, HFE has begun to implement their formula in a calculated way. They seem to have fostered a good relationship with the fair board. They spend while Cedar Fair retreats.  Some here now are admitting that they take a dent out of KI.

    I haven't been this excited about KK since about 2016.  It will never be a Kings Island, but it is making an impact. They said they had 500k guests last year, but if you figure land area size, 60 acres=500k; 300acres= 3 million.  If KK was 300 acres and had no height restrictions, they could pull in 2.5 million.  Not an accurate postulation, but food for thought. 

    And how many of the 500k would have went to KI if KK didn't exist?  How many hundreds of thousands of dollars would have gone to Cedar Fair instead?

    • Like 2
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