PKI 05/30 and 31

[307]

We first went to PKI for a couple of days. I gotta tell ya, that park really does absolutely nothing for me. For Paramount's "flagship park", there's just really nothing "stand-out" about it. THe layout is basic, the rides are mostly things you can find at any other park, and the coasters are nothing special.

Plus, practically everything was closed on Tuesday, which really, really came off as bush league bullsh-- to me. I understand being understaffed, but how hard is it to employ people on part-time contracts? In fact, I have firsthand experience with this, since I'm employed for weekdays between May and June at PCW, and will be let go when the high schoolers finish and can work. Is it REALLY that hard to staff for weekdays? This really ****ed me off and pretty much ruined the entire opinion of the park for me. Terrible.

Onto the coasters:

Son of Beast was a horribly painful experience. The first time, it was bearable, however when we went on the next day, it was absolutely terrible. Never will go on that again. THe lay-out is also not very imaginative, and nowhere near as good as The Beast.

Top Gun was a very good suspended, albeit WAAAY too short. The location could have been improved - ie: adding water, a bit more trees, however that was purely aesthetic and the ride still kicked ass. I prefer PCW's Vortex, however, since it's located over a lake and the swoops through a makeshift forest and the massive station fly-by are done a bit better.

Vortex looked huge from outside of the park, but looking at all of the space between the ride and the ground leaves me wishing for something more. THe mid-course brake was horribly overdone, even with the hangtime created on the corkscrews. Ride was good, though, with little roughness. I did cut my knee flying up in the air on that second hill, though, but I found that more rewarding than painful.

Outer Limits seemed like it could have been so much more. The layout didn't feel nearly twisted enough. I felt as though I should be upside down and thrown around a lot more than I was. Mid-course brake ruined this one, too, which was a running thing at the park.

The Racer was bumpy and a bit rough while sitting on wheels, however provided a lot of fun while sitting in the middle of the car. Both sides were enjoyable, and the forward side even provided a moment or two of floater air.

Face/Off was a waste of forty-five minutes. We thought it might be a nice experience, but no, same boomerangy crap.

Adventure Express was the gem of the trip, I think. I expected nothing and was pleasantly surprised, to say the least. From the pre-lift hill shenanigans to the teasing finale, and the rock 'em sock 'em statues.. the entire ride was just a lot of fun and provided great laughs and a new running gag.

Runaway Reptar was good for what it was, as was The Beastie. Ghoster Coaster was a way too long wait for something that I'm not even sure qualifies as a coaster. My girlfriend liked it, though, so it was worth it.

The Beast was certainly something to behold. The layout was amazing, and while the ride was rough as hell, it was still a lot of fun. For the first time riders, the layout really keeps you guessing. Even with the brakes on heavily, it still is a FAST ride through the forest, definately a good thing.

Italian Job is the same as the one at Wonderland, which is nothing special. A good family ride, but if you're in it for the thrills, this is probably not the best ride. I do like the launch into the helix and that drop, but otherwise, forgettable, even with the theming. I also hate the "Okay, let's get this in one shot!" thing for it. Same as Drop Zone - and still stupid as hell. Yes, let's drop from a tower and use it in a movie. No, I think not. Theming is one thing, but this.. isn't it.

We also went on Drop Zone [which was okay, nothing special], Delerium [which I love], and uh.. I think that's all the flats we experienced. Oh, and Eiffel Tower, which had a great view and a nice breeze.

Over-all, we really didn't get the "flagship" impression from the park. It just seemed like any other amusement park ever, with no real stand-out features to make it their own. The name of the park isn't even sprinkled all over the place like I've seen at other parks. The rides were mostly mediocre, and with the exception of Adventure Express, there were no "memories" to take with us from the trip, which is more of a reflection on the park and the atmosphere than anything else. All in all, not worth a return 8 hour drive.

Just one more note about PKI, if you're ever in the area, stay at the Homestead Suites in Blue Ash. They had GREAT rates [$58US per night, plus a $10 discount for signing up to their newsletter]. Really good rooms, well-kept. Do check it out if you're ever in the area.

[Skippy]

Too bad you didn't catch a ride on the Tomb Raider because IMO, besides The Beast, it is the gem of the park! FYI, it's not the crap you guys have but something worth riding that actually has something to do with the movie Also, I'm glad you enjoyed Adventure Express as it was my first coaster experience at PKI and to this day, remains one of my favorites

[307]

Too bad you didn't catch a ride on the Tomb Raider because IMO, besides The Beast, it is the gem of the park! FYI, it's not the crap you guys have but something worth riding that actually has something to do with the movie Also, I'm glad you enjoyed Adventure Express as it was my first coaster experience at PKI and to this day, remains one of my favorites

Yeah, Tomb Raider at PCW is a horrible piece of ****.

We were going to ride it on Monday, but the line was out of the entrance, so we decided to hold off until Tuesday - which was a terrible idea, since it was closed on Tuesday, which made us both even more ****ed at the terrible management of the park.

[Skippy]

Sorry to hear that I guess someone should have warned you that Tomb Raider isn't necessarily reliable (though more reliable that TTD and Kingda Ka, which eats all records, including down time). BTW, was this your first Paramount Park experience outside of PCW?

[Ryan]

Too bad you didn't get to visit Boomerang Bay. Also oo bad alot of stuff was closed, you should try again in midseason or the end of the season on a weekend when everything's up. As for you being so dissapointed with PKI, I say don't come back for another 10 years, based on their continuous expansions by that time we should have a whole bunch of amazing attractions(not that we don't already, I'm just saying, haha). I personally liked the detail that they put into IJST and Drop Zone though with the recorded voices. To each his own.

[Oldiesmann]

The reason so much was closed on Tuesday is that many of the associates are students and had school. Most of the area high schools and colleges let out for the summer sometime during the first two weeks of June, so if you come back during the week later on during the summer, you should find more open. I hope you come back to PKI some time soon.

[307]

The reason so much was closed on Tuesday is that many of the associates are students and had school. Most of the area high schools and colleges let out for the summer sometime during the first two weeks of June, so if you come back during the week later on during the summer, you should find more open. I hope you come back to PKI some time soon.

Yup, I was aware of this, I made the connection after about an hour and seeing that everything was closed.

TR:TR was closed due to this, not a mechanical failure.

And I work at PCW, which, like many many other major parks, has the same issues as PKI, with the amount of high school kids not yet out for the year. However, most parks remedy this by either hiring temps or emplying more full-timers. However, PKI's failure to do so left quite the sour impression, as you can tell. I'm not sure if other parks do this [i assume PKI isn't the only one], but again, it just reeks of bush league crap.

And I've also been to King's Dominion, but that was in 1998. I am, however, going back there this summer. So maybe the experience will be different or the same as PKI.

[HabloRM]

You can't satisfy everyone.

[BoddaH1994]

It's a shame that you visited on one of these limited operation days that we've been having. I went last Tuesday and was a little disappointed with the amount of rides and attractions open myself.

I can assure you that you saw the worst of the park. When it's booming, it's seriously a great place to be. We're pretty much to the point now when the park is on the verge of being at 100% and the real season is about to kick off.

I hope that you give the park another chance sometime soon.

Ryan

[jzarley]

I'm sure limited operations days suck! And, I agree--if you're going to be open, be open. CP and other parks certainly find a way to do it. It's really too bad that colored your experience.

That being said...I do think perhaps that maybe your opinion of PKI is schewed by your loyalty to your home park (that, and the whole "limited operation" BS). I wasn't wild about PKD either, and it's pretty much a carbon copy of PKI... I have no doubt that when I visit Wonderland, I'd probably find it suffering in comparison to PKI as well, mostly because I'd be comparing it against a park where I've been going since I was five years old, and thus have a whole range of positive experiences to compare it against... That's kind of the whole point of having a "home park" I guess.

I also responded to your post over on Coasterbuzz, but I'll agree that the layout of Kings Island is basic--obviously copied off of the "hub & spoke" model of Disneyland. (Of course, that design worked so well for Taft/KECO that they copied it on "rip offs" of Kings Island...Kings Dominion and Wonderland(s).

I will give PKI credit that something good must be going on there...you're not the #1 seasonal park (or #2, or #3 in some years) without a good reason. And, that's against some parks in much larger MSAs (NYC, Chicago, DFW, Toronto, Atlanta, San Francisco, etc.) And, justified or not--it IS Paramount Parks' "flagship"--and they definitely treat it as such.

So, I hope you'll be able to visit PKI again on much better circumstances. I also hope that my planned visit to Wonderland in August will work out better than your first visit to PKI. (If it means anything...my first visit to MK was awful!! )

Anyway, take care...and hope you'll try PKI again

Joel

[elitescr3]

...next time you come, be sure to come to the water park, it is very well done...

[Pirate of PKI]

On the topic of limited operation days, the Sunday of Memorial Weekend (5/29) would certainly fit in that category. Italian Job: Stunt Track was closed at least half of the day, Son of Beast for a couple of hours near the beginning of the day, Face/Off was closed down most of the time SOB was and maybe more, and apparently Adventure Express was suffering technical problems (as mentioned in my 5/29 TR by another member.) It's no wonder Top Gun had a long line that day with F/O and SOB. Days like these are usually rare, but apparently lately the beginning of the season excedes that rule.

[jzarley]

Were those closings due to mechanical problems, or due to staffing?

Mechanical problems are forgiveable...things just don't always work as expected with complicated electronics. (Especially early in the season.) And, while it sucks for the guest--that's just the way it goes sometimes...

However, not opening major attractions (TR:TR and SOB) due to staffing is inexcusable! Close some f&b or merchandise stands if you need to (or, even better, don't schedule any of the annoying photographers at the front gate), but make sure you can staff the major rides people are coming and PAYING to ride. If that was the case, I'll agree with the Canadian guy on this one--that's just bad operations management.

Joel

[HelixSpiral]

Not staffing merch stands, food stands, and photographers in order to staff rides sounds good in theory, but is very difficult in practice. None of those people have been through any sort of rides training which is quite different than their own departmental training. You have to learn a lot of general information, then get trained on individual rides. All of that takes time. You can't skip any of that training, or you end up with unsafe operators.

Like 307 said, the solutions are either: hire more temps or more full-timers or not open during the week that early in the season. Neither is probably going to happen.

[coastergirl]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion so if they didn't like it, they didn't like it. I guess that there will be one less person standing in front of me in line! I personally think that PKI has some of the best coasters ever and I have a new appreciation for them after visiting other parks. Our coasters ROCK!