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Kings Island 2015 Discussion Thread


Nick_Plummer

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regarding no loose items....

 

See Universal Studios and their queue line metal detectors and free use timed lockers.

 

This is the product of someone losing an eye to a loose coin on Dueling Dragons...

 

It works really well...no complaints from me.

 

I don't have the best sight in the world, but I would like to keep it, and since you can't force someone to secure their ignorant phones, they can be forced to put them in a free locker or not ride at all.

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Are sunglasses a loose item?  I think they are, but apparently not because folks wear them all the time on everything.  I put mine in my pocket.  Which doesn't always work out great for the glasses, but at least I know there is zero chance they will fly off and drill someone behind me.

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The day Kings Island forces me to completely empty my fully secure, zippered pockets and pay for a non-secure locker every single time I want to ride a coaster is the day I stop going to Kings Island for good.

I get that.  So many things regarding safety can be taken to the nth degree.  You're more likely to run into trouble on the highway leading to the park.  The park and the rides---and dare I say the people at the park---are awfully safe compared to the real world outside the gates.  

 

Speaking of random things that can go wrong on a ride, I found this:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/29/lightwater-valley-roller-coaster-accident_n_5904058.html

 

Probably been covered on here before maybe, but wow!  First time I read it.

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At least on a lot of Disney rides there is a little zipper pocket or mesh pocket in the ride car...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Wasn't there something similar to this on TR:TR?

 

Yes, there was a little zipper pouch in front of your seat in which to stow loose articles.

 

See also the Dark Knight Coaster at SFGAm (and presumably on the other clones as well.)

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Diamondback still stacking habitually and some sluggish operations with barely passing interval. Got a bit of video to look over and examine/show everyone.

Second issue, why does the park not open food stands until 11. I could have gone for a "breakfast" meal, however, not a darn thing was opened. I've also been in the line since food "opened" at 11, still no service. They're still getting ready. Only one employee serving in the line that has 13 people waiting to place an order.

"Got a bit of video to look over and examine/show everyone"

What are you, an auditor?

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"Got a bit of video to look over and examine/show everyone"

What are you, an auditor?

 

 

That's a fair question.  It's also fair to question why Diamondback is dispatching at nearly 2-minute intervals.  It's also fair to question why Diamondback often has the longest non-X Base lines when it has the second- or third-best capacity in the park.  I and several others have outlined the issues that Diamondback is currently experiencing so there's no need to re-state them.  As I mentioned in an earlier post I think that the slow operations at Diamondback the last two seasons are really put in perspective because Banshee is at the park now.  Banshee is crushing Diamondback right now as far as capacity. 

 

I was at the park around 8 on Friday, July 24 on what I would consider a moderate day.  Banshee had a five-minute wait.  We then went over to Diamondback where it was sporting a 45-minute wait (upper portion of the queue was full) and we decided to pass.  It's been rare that I've seen that kind of discrepancy with the wait times between the two, but Diamondback's queue on a moderate or busier day has typically been a minimum of 15-20 minutes longer than Banshee's.  Banshee is also giving more rides, to the tune of nearly 25% more last season.  Diamondback ridership was off by 250,000 riders in 2014 from the previous year.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that something is off here.

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What opened in 2014 that could have taken 250,000 riders away from DB?

Also, to be honest, the Banshee is a bit easier to get in and out of that DB (and that has nothing to do with seat belts)...

Most likely it's the loose items (I would think). Same reason Bat has a quick dispatch and line movement. On Bat you can carry your backpack into your car. On Banshee you can't have anything in line. On DB you have 30 people or so crossing the track putting things away, then getting back into their seats.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Are sunglasses a loose item?  I think they are, but apparently not because folks wear them all the time on everything.  I put mine in my pocket.  Which doesn't always work out great for the glasses, but at least I know there is zero chance they will fly off and drill someone behind me.

My cheap sunglasses are so tight, I think I could safely wear them on any ride in the park.

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I hope they get rid of the bins next season. Every once in a while I see an employee ask people if they need their stuff taken to a bin for them before the ride starts. Doesn't really have an impact on the dispatch time though. I've ridden it where the employee takes things to the bin but then having a minute of just silence apart from the guests talking. 

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But, food service wasn't like that two years ago.

I blame the meal plans and their heavy demand.

I disagree.  Several years ago, I had to wait almost 30 minutes for a Coca-Cola *bottled* drink on one of the carts.  And the worker couldn't count change.  I posted a constructive comment on the Facebook page, it was deleted and now I can no longer comment on the page.

 

I know the feeling of being deleted from their Facebook page. It was back when they announced they were demolishing SOB. Someone was upset because they were tearing SOB down and there was a couple of replies about it. So I chimed in with that SOB had a horrible rep and that it was time for it to go. I also said with all of the money they spent they could've had two major and reliable installations in the park.  Well apparently that was negative enough for them to block me from posting ever again. They really don't take any negative criticism well on it at all. I get that they don't want to be bombarded with crude and mean spirited posts. But they truly delete anything that could be even deemed remotely negative from their page and ban the poster as well. I understand you want to protect the brand but KI takes it to a whole different level. 

 

In regards to the cell phones on rides policy, KI or Cedar Fair will not care until someone gets struck in the face and suffers permanent damage to make a change to their policy. They are not serious at all. I witnessed a man pull out a phone right when the train on Drop Tower at Kings Dominion lifted off. The ride op asked him over the speaker multiple times to put the phone away. The rider kept it out and filmed the entire ride. He walked off the ride and the ride op just said put the phone away next time and the rider walked away with his phone. Worst case scenario with that is the guy drops his phone and it smashes on the ground (or person waiting in line) right in front of a person and the pieces shattered and injured someones face or eye permanently. I also rode with a person on Cedar Creek Mine Ride at Cedar Point that had his phone out during the ride. They stopped the ride on the lift and took his phone away but still gave it to the guy after we got off the ride. I have seen it happen way too many times and there is no penalty whatsoever. I again think its going to take someone getting seriously hurt before they start getting serious about banning phones on rides. I think a simple policy could be anyone that is seen with a phone out during a ride should be banned from the park. You are never going to catch everyone doing it but if employees see someone take a phone out they should kick them out of the park. If they are a pass holder ban their pass for a year if not longer. People will change their ways if the parks get serious about the dangers of phones on rides.

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What opened in 2014 that could have taken 250,000 riders away from DB?

Also, to be honest, the Banshee is a bit easier to get in and out of that DB (and that has nothing to do with seat belts)...

 

Banshee being there certainly diverts some people away from Diamondback, so I'm not arguing that.  What I'm saying is that there are still people that are riding Diamondback whether Banshee is there or not.  Diamondback is still giving rides to other riders even if Banshee is operational, right?  The only way you could make an argument that Banshee is technically causing Diamondback to give less rides during a season is if those riding Banshee are directly causing Diamondback to send out a seat that otherwise would have been occupied but is now sitting there vacant.  That's clearly not happening, as there's a line for Diamondback on all but the lightest of days.  I'd almost be tempted to make the case the other way - that those people stuck in the Diamondback line for longer periods of time now are causing the line over at Banshee to be shorter!

 

I think where most people agree on the Diamondback load times is in regards to the bins.  I said earlier that I'd like to see them removed ASAP, but that's really not feasible unless they were to build a locker station someplace close to the ride entrance/exit.  Could you imagine some of the quick dispatch times if all riders can do it sit down and strap in?  There'd literally be no excuses for slow dispatches except in fringe cases (guest of exceptional size, disabled guest, etc.).

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Past Diamondback crews (like between 2009 and 2012-ish) were able to hit intervals even with the bins.  They load the trains pretty quickly, but for whatever reason, they wait (even with a loaded train sitting for 10's of seconds) until the train is at or past the splash before dispatching.  It has 0 to do with the seatbelts or bins, at least from my observations.

 

It makes me wonder if its an operations thing they're doing purposefully, whether its to sell more Fast Lane tickets or something mechanically with the ride (maybe a block issue with the MCBR?).  

 

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"Got a bit of video to look over and examine/show everyone"

What are you, an auditor?

What does it matter to you what my profession is. It could be free time or employment based. Fact of the matter, operations on Diamondback suck. Which was the whole point of that article.

Instead of personally attacking me for whatever reason you choose to do, how about focus on the subject matter at hand.

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Diamondback still stacking habitually and some sluggish operations with barely passing interval. Got a bit of video to look over and examine/show everyone.

Second issue, why does the park not open food stands until 11. I could have gone for a "breakfast" meal, however, not a darn thing was opened. I've also been in the line since food "opened" at 11, still no service. They're still getting ready. Only one employee serving in the line that has 13 people waiting to place an order.

"Got a bit of video to look over and examine/show everyone"

What are you, an auditor?

 

 

Does it include the dude yesterday (8/5) in the back row throwing his shoes into the bin WHILE THEY WERE ANNOUNCING shoes must be worn?  And the subsequent wait while the ride op went to the bin to get his shoes and the fool struggled to put them on while in the restraint?

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Every now and then people will be dumb, those instances I won't count against them ever, that's not fair. However when you have ops being sluggish, asking if one or the other checked the gates, or having to check in a certain order things get ridiculous. I'll try to have it uploaded by weeks end, but right now I have to focus on getting other reports done.

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Every now and then people will be dumb, those instances I won't count against them ever, that's not fair. However when you have ops being sluggish, asking if one or the other checked the gates, or having to check in a certain order things get ridiculous. I'll try to have it uploaded by weeks end, but right now I have to focus on getting other reports done.

 

Yeah, I don't hold stupid actions of guests again ride ops. At least, not entirely. They should be trained to deal with the most common moronic actions (shoes on DB, for example), if by no other means than they've been doing it day in day out for 2/3 of the season - it should be old hat. It will cause delays, regardless, but they should be able to minimize the delay, if not mitigate it entirely.

 

I guess I'd prefer to see 'justice' and the ride held up another 60sec for the troublemakers to be removed from the ride. Sure, it would impact capacity for that hour/day/whatever, but I wonder what the long-term impact would be? I really think it would end up as a positive. That person would either not ride again, or if they did be more likely to follow the rules. Plus, word spreads as riders make small talk in lines for other rides. "Did you see the guy get kicked off of Diamondback for not wearing his shoes?" Sure, hearing something like that tends to get polar reactions. Either people will wear their shoes or they'll try to be defiant. I think the latter is the less common reaction, and would become even less common if enforcement was kept strict.

 

Another one I saw yesterday, again on DB, was someone using their phone as the train was leaving the station. While the train was climbing the hill, the ride op in the booth announced over the PA to put it away (rather passively, not calling out a specific person) and then she and another op looked at each other, they each shrugged, and went about handling the next train. Pretty much disregarding their own rules with a "we told'em, what else are we supposed to do?" demeanor.

 

I've not seen as much of this sort of thing as many on these forums, but enough to wonder. Are the ride ops in a job where they have accountability for safety, but not the authority to effectively enforce rules and assure safety. Or, do they just not care enough (for whatever reason)?

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I hope to head out to Kings Island sometime before school starts again. I have not really kept up with Kings Island lately, so what do you guys think KI will be getting next year?

A successful season.

Which certainly cannot be predicted with certainty for at least two Kentucky parks, nor any owned (at present) by SeaWorld Entertainment.

Serious Terp

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