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Wild Animal Habitat


marlfox_21
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If in the event a mass competitor such as Cedar Fair (Cedar Point) were to purchase the respectable P.K.I. They should come with the concept of reintroducing the zoological facility, WILD ANIMAL HABITAT. A previous successful breeding program, and display for the public. One that regretably had to be removed due to insurance reasons. As a result of a few rediculous occurances.

What they should consider however (to avoid such problems of the past) is create a park of splendor and have it be endorsed by the AZA. Which has procedures which should diminish any possibility of a repeat of the original. As a former associate of Paramount's Kings Island. And a student in Zoology. I would be willing to return to the park for work for just such an opening. I have discussed this topic with several other Zoo students, and graduates. Some of which have also worked for the park, and some of which DO work for the park, who would be willing to make a reintroduced ANIMAL HABITAT into their careers. What could happen is to take the facility of old, reintroduce it, and add onto it as well. Make a full size zoo out of it. Bring back the animal shows. Bring back the joys that were a part of Kings Island before it was ever Paramount's Kings Island. If P.K.I. was willing to work out and reform a bigger WinterFest.......Imagine a Newer, and Better, and Bigger...

WILD ANIMAL HABITAT.....

G.R.

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I have been told by some that work at parks with animals and they say that if they was to get rid of a animal they can't bring them back. It has something to do with law changes over the years. The ones in place are allowed but new ones can't be started. This was the case with Six Flags Ohio when they removed the animals. It would not be easy or may not be possible to bring them back now that they have been removed.

A student in Zoology would know more about this than me. I don't know it's just what I heard.

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Considering how quickly CF has ran away from animal exhibits in the past, I certainly wouldn't see that happening if they somehow end up as the new owners. (What was Kinzel's comment after acquiring SFWOA..."we're not in the zoo business.") I imagine it would be pretty unlikely regardless of who ends up buying the parks...

Was the reason the WAH closed due to insurance reasons, or just that there were better uses for an ROI on the acres it occupied?

Has anyone heard anymore about the project the Cincinnati Zoo announced last year about building the research "safari park" out near PKI?

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Well,

I was Superviosor at WAH Carts the year that Amazon Falls opened up. I can tell ya that it was certainly busy in that area as a result of the new attraction. Top that off, Timberwolf had two to three concerts a week at that time and that brought about 10K folk into that area every evening.

Anyway, I digress. WAH was a very nice area to have in the park. The work that they did with the Cincinnati Zoo was very important. There were lots of studies completed on animal health and endangered animals. I remember when they were doing invitro work and KI could claim a couple firsts in that are.

You saw the change to Action Zone as a result of Paramount. They simply did not want to go in that direction.

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While I don't see the Animal Habitat coming back, if Busch Gardens would accidently end up being the new owners I could see a Clydedale area being built and maybe a redue of say - Rivertown into a Jungle type area with some smaller animal exibits around a ancient city. They did this with the old castle ruins at Busch Gardens Williamsburg with the Wolfs and birds. If Universal, Cedar Fair or a investment firm buys the parks animals are probably not on the agenda, although I would love see it.

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Worker got out of their truck in one of the controlled areas.

No injuries every happened to a guest.

I would like to apologize immediately for any confusion that I may have caused when starting this topic. The Wild Animal Habitat ( to the best of my knowledge ) was never responsible for harming a guest. However due to the poor decision making process of One individual. A final mishap had occurred. Due to the reality of confidential information, this is the only statement that I am willing to make.

The point of my original statement was to see if people are truly interested in the ( idea ) of a Zoological Facility returning to Paramount's Kings Island. The idea is to take a poll. Get your opinion. State your supporting statements. And feel free to state your complaints. Who knows, if enough people visit and show interest, and the right mind becomes aware of that. Maybe....Just maybe...It could happen.

After all if someone were to ask me just a couple of years ago what I miss the most about Kings Island. Or what I would most like to see come to Kings Island. My 1st answer at that time, without any second thought, would have been

WINTERFEST. And it happened. After years of rumors it happened. My #2 answer at that time and my 1st response NOW is the reintroduction of the WILD ANIMAL HABITAT.

So go ahead, and voice your opinion. The more opinions, both for and against, the better. I'm not expecting that it will happen for certain. I'm not saying that I am expecting for it to happen overnight. It would probably take years to contract such an occurance. But it would be an incredible result. One that could benefit with educational field trips, education for society, and another attraction to the Cincinnati area to advertise as a vacation spot, and make a profit off of. The benefits could be nameless and countless. This is the main point behind my topic. THANKS................G.R.

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I just don't think there would be that big a market for it. Yes - it would be cool. Yes people would go see it. But people would go to PKI just for PKI - without the animal habitat. So why spend the extra money - and it would be ALOT - for an attraction that you would do just as well without? I mean back in the day - it was probably a bouns for the park to have. But these days - it would cost extra money and wouldn't bring in any extra revenue.

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My mother told me about the tour and said that the monorail ride was pretty boring because you barely saw the animals and it cost money to ride. She said it was pretty much just a way to cool down because it was air conditioned. Personally I doubt an animal exhibit would come back because Cincinnati already has a first class zoo and I doubt people would come to the park to see animals. On the other hand a mini aquarium would be nice for the sponge bob area of NU. It could be like a mini learning center for kids about marine life. It could have one of those tanks that hold starfish and the kids could hold them and see the real life versions of there favorite cartoon character. People would be more inclined to come because the aquarium is in Newport, and it holds weird hours and is pretty expensive. That would be much better than the dolphin show they had too. Just a thought.

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I skimmed through a few of the responses and didn't see this... and it's not a confidential item, as a matter of fact it was plastered all over the news when it happened.... but a WAH employee was mauled and fatally injured by a lion were they not? I'm not trying to arrogantly state that as fact... just asking- if memory serves me correctly, and it doesn't always- i think that's what happened.

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Would I like to see Wild Animal Habitat or some other wildlife attraction brought back to Kings Island? Absolutely. In fact, I thought the Wild Animal Habitat area, which later became Adventure Village, was one of the better areas of the park because of its theming. Paramount Action Zone, while loaded with great rides, has the atmosphere of Fields Ertel Rd. or Colerain Ave, when compared to the previous safari theme and architecture.

What was great about Wild Animal Habitat is that it was something guests of all ages and abilities could do. This was overlooked when Paramount was focusing more on large thrill rides in its earlier years of ownership - but now that their focus is on 'family attractions,' such an attraction wouldn't hurt - they could have even themed it to a movie. One of my mom's complaints about PKI over 10 years ago was that it was doing away with gentler rides and attractions such as the Safari.

The most likely way to see such a concept brought back to the park would be if Anheuser-Busch bought Kings Island (possibly along with the other four parks). In fact, I thought Kings Island rivaled the Busch Gardens parks in the early 90s, prior to the Paramount takeover.

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I skimmed through a few of the responses and didn't see this... and it's not a confidential item, as a matter of fact it was plastered all over the news when it happened.... but a WAH employee was mauled and fatally injured by a lion were they not? I'm not trying to arrogantly state that as fact... just asking- if memory serves me correctly, and it doesn't always- i think that's what happened.

Yeah,

There was nothing confidential about it. It actually happend about the same time that the handler at Cincinnati Zoo was attacked by a polar bear. It was all just an unfortunate situation.

The accident had nothing to do with the closing of WAH.

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To my knowledge, the Busch Seaworld parks and Busch Gardens Tampa, Six Flags Marineworld and Six Flags Great Adventure are the only major parks with large wildlife attractions. Hersheypark has Zooamerica. I just don't see an investor group going this direction. I doubt I see ANY acquirer other than Busch going down that road. And, looking at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, a case can be made that even Busch would not.

For the record, the safari at Six Flags Great Adventure is VERY successful. It also is an additional charge attraction, though it is now included with season passes (until somewhat recently, it was not). Much of its business comes from schools and colleges, though. And there isn't a competing zoo five or so miles to the south.

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Would I like to see Wild Animal Habitat or some other wildlife attraction brought back to Kings Island? Absolutely. In fact, I thought the Wild Animal Habitat area, which later became Adventure Village, was one of the better areas of the park because of its theming. Paramount Action Zone, while loaded with great rides, has the atmosphere of Fields Ertel Rd. or Colerain Ave, when compared to the previous safari theme and architecture.

What was great about Wild Animal Habitat is that it was something guests of all ages and abilities could do. This was overlooked when Paramount was focusing more on large thrill rides in its earlier years of ownership - but now that their focus is on 'family attractions,' such an attraction wouldn't hurt - they could have even themed it to a movie. One of my mom's complaints about PKI over 10 years ago was that it was doing away with gentler rides and attractions such as the Safari.

The most likely way to see such a concept brought back to the park would be if Anheuser-Busch bought Kings Island (possibly along with the other four parks). In fact, I thought Kings Island rivaled the Busch Gardens parks in the early 90s, prior to the Paramount takeover.

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I would love to see the WAH come back to Kings Island. Everyone is saying that a monorail would not work. But I did'nt read anything that insisted on a monorail being a part of it. I think it could be great for a park like Kings Island to look for species that are endangered or critically endangered for a breeding program.

Think about it. A park with animals that you cannot see at the Cincinnati Zoo or at the Columbus Zoo. It would be a real treat. For kids and adults alike. And it would certainly fit the Family Park Mood.

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The story I was told, was that someone left a gate open, letting different packs of Lions mix in with each other. It was apparently the associate's last day and he was going to say goodbye to the Lions that he had raised. Unfortunately he ended up with Lions that were unfriendly to him and thus caused his demise.

Also, The same source (Current higher up at KI), told me that they closed WAH for financial reasons. In the begininning it was free to ride the monorail, but they weren't making enough money off of the attraction, so they began charging for it and the rideship declined still leaving it unprofitable.

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