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Kings Island 2015 Discussion Thread


Nick_Plummer

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I am curious to see the transformation of Carowinds from local spot to national recognition. It's going to take some game-changing attractions to do so. Fury 325 was a start, but it's also easy to argue that it's just a taller version of what we've seen already. In my eyes, Carowinds needs something really special to breakout. Oh, it needs to be FUN too. If they're on the right track, that'll be coming soon.

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I am curious to see the transformation of Carowinds from local spot to national recognition. It's going to take some game-changing attractions to do so. Fury 325 was a start, but it's also easy to argue that it's just a taller version of what we've seen already. In my eyes, Carowinds needs something really special to breakout. Oh, it needs to be FUN too. If they're on the right track, that'll be coming soon.

I'm just curious about what made Carowinds stand out more to Cedar Fair in comparison to KD or KI. Any thoughts?

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That's right, and therefore CF seems to think it's time for Carowinds to step up and be a top tier park in the company, like CP, KI, CW, KBF, etc. Carowinds had been seen previously as a park that would get a certain amount of attendance and that was it. Now, CF believes that with the right new attractions, it can grow to be something more. It's got a lot of catching up to do to be seen as big as CW, KI, or CP but there's no reason it won't get there.

 

I wonder if with CF's lack of current financial woes though, if they'll be investing more in their parks all around. They're not struggling like they were 5 years ago. Obviously they won't invest just to invest, but this is definitely not the Kinzel era anymore.

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New to the forum but I love Kings Island and was there yesterday. I rode The Beast in the pouring rain and I enjoy The Beast but I would not consider it my favorite but I must say it was the best roller coaster ride I have ever been on in my entire life. I have been to KI, Kings Dominion, Cedar Point, Holiday world and like those coaster but man, nothing comes close to that experience. It was just once in a lifetime experience.

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Just wanted to give some love to the Diamondback crew working yesterday.  We had to wait through the last two switchbacks in the upper portion of the queue and only waited 15 minutes.  In the 10 dispatches I timed there was a stretch of five straight under 95 second dispatches.  The only slow dispatches were not their fault (2 guests of exceptional size and 1 person who tried to take off their flip flops shortly after the train dispatched).  They were easily the best crew I've seen there in weeks and it was a fun reminder as to how fast that line can move.  Great work! 

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You cannot please everyone. I'm glad he did some research before coming but that's a situation where I would have called. Obviously it's hard to tell until the person is in front of you whether or not they can ride before they're at the park, so I empathize with the writer and the park there.

 

But, to say that Six Flags uses manufacturers that have "better" policies is silly. They have a TON of B&M coasters for one, and two I'd be concerned that they wouldn't be following the manufacturer guidelines. I hope the writer understands that. Kings Island did not set out to make his day bad, it's just an unfortunate side effect of their emphasis on safety. It sounds like Guest Services could have handled it better by offering a refund but leap-frogging manufacturer's rules should not be on the list because that's a slippery slope they don't want to go down.

 

What if the rider removed their brace, rode Banshee and got off the ride more injured than before? Whose fault would that be?

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I'm sorry, but I'm going to be honest: if they did what he wished, and said, "Hey- we don't think it's safe for you to ride this ride." I sense there would have been a big argument that his rights were being violated- or something was being violate, he'd have to pull that rabbit out of the hat depending on which way the argument went.

 

On a side note, in the first few paragraphs, he notes that he's been stared at, jeered at, and comments made. Is there something strange about Ohio that we don't jeer and comment on disabilities? Because I've never seen that done around here, or anywhere, from what I recall.  I don't know about the staring, but I've definitely been remiss on the jeers and the comments. 

He seems to have more than half a wish for Kings Island to go under financially. Over not being able to ride one ride.

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I can sort of semi-relate.  My condition isn't visible to anyone, but it feels weird having to explain how it impacted me when those moments arise.  At times, I feel a bit behind where I think I should be for my age and how long I've been in school, and sometimes its a struggle to remind myself that people aren't judging me.  I tend to overthink social situations quite a bit, but in the end and more often than not, things work out for the better.  I'm simply playing life with the cards I've been dealt with.  However, I do quite a bit of research about things I can even fathom bothering my health, particularly anything involving food.  I wouldn't go to a restaurant and blame the staff about something random I might eat there that happened to bother me.  I find it so strange that people don't bother to do research about things when we have the vast knowledge base that is the internet (or heck, a simple phone call in some cases), especially in the case of those with medical conditions.  I feel a lot of people either don't know how to use the internet properly, have become too reliant on it, or are just downright lazy about doing basic digging around for information.  

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I'm sorry, but I'm going to be honest: if they did what he wished, and said, "Hey- we don't think it's safe for you to ride this ride." I sense there would have been a big argument that his rights were being violated- or something was being violate, he'd have to pull that rabbit out of the hat depending on which way the argument went.

On a side note, in the first few paragraphs, he notes that he's been stared at, jeered at, and comments made. Is there something strange about Ohio that we don't jeer and comment on disabilities? Because I've never seen that done around here, or anywhere, from what I recall. I don't know about the staring, but I've definitely been remiss on the jeers and the comments.

He seems to have more than half a wish for Kings Island to go under financially. Over not being able to ride one ride.

I love KI, because that's where I escape from the pain of my sickness. I have a "disability", and I know that when businesses can't provide a service due to my conditions, it's just a part of life. I don't however go onto a national newspaper and write a personal vendetta against the company because I couldn't get the full service.
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I hope my previous post on this didn't come off as cold but I just had a problem with the tone of the article. I sympathize with the guest with the disability and would never wish they are discriminated from things they are able to do as a result. I feel KI and other parks can be inconsistent with their policies. They can do better.

 

But the tone of the article is a bit ridiculous and pompous. Like they want KI to bend the rules just for them, without seeing why KI would have no interest in doing that. And if KI won't do it, then they deserve to lose business. 

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I'm sorry the guy was disappointed, and it's possible it could have been handled better by the park, but I think his complaints are a bit much. Accusing KI of passing the buck by saying the manufacturer doesn't allow it?

 

Also, it seems the biggest issue here is the difference in chain policies. The Disability & Accessibility Guide for Six Flags Great America (which would be his home park since he's from Chicago) says that guests must remove non-permanent braces, orthotics, etc. prior to riding some rides - including the Giant Drop (an Intamin Giant Drop - similar in some ways to Drop Tower but not the same ride), while CF is following manufacturer recommendations. It's possible that Illinois isn't as strict about such things as Ohio is, but it still doesn't make sense as to why a guest should be allowed to remove something like that if they can't wear it while riding. As others have said, what happens if the guest removes the brace and comes back more injured than before?

 

It is possible that this situation could have been handled better, but you can't just assume each chain/park will have the same policies and then get mad when the policy adversely affects you.

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They only painted King Cobra, They didn't retheme the whole ride.

Besides. The season is coming to a close, they're probably getting a head start on maintenance for the ride. 

That means no more slowing down on The Bat for the rest of the season most likely. 

And if the park was going to scrap it, they might've posted something by now stating the day of the last ride or something. The ride is still popular, the attendance is low because it's in the back of the park, but If they put a few rides over there, the line would be longer, and it wouldn't seem like a waste of time to ride The Bat which is all the way down a hill, and in a really secluded area of the park. 

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