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Don told us on closing day that they have a special tool that can simply grip the exposed portion of the footing, twist it, and yank it right out. So, they have dentists on site now?

Soon, they will have a big blue B&M. Terp, just sayin'

Cedar Fair is publicly owned as you define it. (Complicated by the fact it is an LP and the unit holders have little say in management). Paramount Parks was part of CBS, before that VIACOM. A publicly traded corporation somewhat run with an iron hand by Sumner Redstone. Great American Financial (Carl Lindner) was publicly traded, I think. KECO was private, a leveraged buy-out. Taft Broadcasting, I think, was publicly traded.

That's a 'Fair question. I'm sure folks will have a lot of FUN with this topic.

Considering Son of Beast was built primarily out of wood, I don't think so.Happy 2000th!

Gravity Group coaster is my vote (not that anyone asked) I took my first trip to Holiday World this past summer. The Voyage is totally amazing. Kings Island need to get them on board for an amazing ride experience.

i shouldn't touch that comment with a 1000 foot pole. Shouldn't matter what the nationality of the employee is- if someone else signs your paycheck you should work just as hard for them as anyone should. If you throw $10/hour to a chinese, japanese, hispanic, etc... person and they outpace the caucasian.... then that says something about the work ethic. I don't think your comment is offensive to Chinese, Japanese, etc... but it "should" be offensive enough to cause the lazy person to want to change the perception.

http://old.nationalreview.com/comment/wood200312230101.asp I like the pine tree tradition... "The tree is the key symbol and it is not, as many might suppose, a holiday touch. In the high-steel trade, it announces that the construction has reached the sky without loss of life or serious injury. And it is meant to auger well for the future inhabitants of the building."

Didn't a wise man once say Cedar Point had a big blue B&M. Even the wisest of men make mistakes

I guess? Depend on the footings? I have no experience with removing concrete, but why would you need a 230'+ crane to do so?

I'm completely sorry for that post, I will change it now. I was not trying to starotype. I've just seen plenty of videos online of how quick those guys build. Ounce again I am sorry. I hope I didn't offend no one either. Note: I have nothing against any races.

How will Coney do anyting different with a new River Downs Casino/ Track: Most I see maybe a parking deck, flood control. Unless Coney sold out for the land. The inevitable flood will still be the problem.

^ Yes, it was at the top of the Eiffel Tower for Winterfest 2005.

Construction seems to be going smoothly and quickly

You know, since only criminals and deadbeats go to legal gambleing sites.

This weekend and next, The Children's Theatre of Cincinnati is showing Santa's Toy Factory at the Taft Theater. After reading the description of the show on their website (http://www.thechildrenstheatre.com/onstage/) and especially after reading the synopsis on page 2 of their study guide (http://www.thechildrenstheatre.com/pdfs/2013_santa_sg.pdf), I thought it sounded very similar to the Santa's Toy Factory show that KI did back in the days of Winterfest. I emailed their public relations person and asked if it was. She was kind enough to respond very quickly and confirmed my suspicions: it is the same show, which "has been adapted and expanded" with a few additional scenes. After reading her response, that's all I needed to know that I would definitely be going! This show is one of my favorites that Kings Island ever staged. From the opening number with Santa's elves rushing around to "Racing With the Clock" and "Hard Knock Life", Santa's reindeer singing "Up on the Roof", the homesick alien singing "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and the penguins singing "The Twelve Days of Christmas" with a Cincinnati twist, this show still stands as one of my favorite Christmas shows ever (right along with Dollywood's Babes in Toyland, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and Christmas in the Smokies). Show times are: Friday 12/7 at 7:30 PM Saturday 12/8 at 2 PM and 5 PM Sunday 12/9 at 2 PM Saturday 12/15 at 2 PM and 5 PM Tickets are $20, $18 and $7 (plus additional fees if purchased through Ticketmaster). There are a few videos of the KI productions on YouTube. There's one with parts of the 1991 production: There's also one of the 2006 production (which I couldn't get to play on my work computer, but you may have better luck. Individual results may vary): GatorGirl and I are going tonight (although she doesn't know it yet). I'm so glad that I get the chance to share one of my fondest Winterfest memories with my daughter.

My ballot has been submitted!

Looks like CoasterBuzz is interested again. From their Twitter account: And KingsIslandPR's reply: We should start thinking about dates and logistics for our own meet-up(s) next year.

I always worry when dogs get close to trees.

(Edit) RingMaster was quicker with the dentist reference, so I'll instead say that sounds like a cool tool.

Don told us on closing day that they have a special tool that can simply grip the exposed portion of the footing, twist it, and yank it right out.

Just some food for thought: The crane they used to get workers up to SOB during deconstruction is still there... And it moves to different spots every day I pass by... Note its been almost 20 days since the last pieces of SOB were brought down...

Thanks for the clarification folks. I knew it looked familar!

Just because you say "not being racist" doesn't make your comment any more acceptable. It's still racist.

Smooth. Pardon the one word post, but then again, nevermind.

New management of CF, return of WinterFest 2013? Never have got the chance to go to WF would love to though! Hopefully one day I can.

Did anyone notice the Santa snoopy next to the tree?

What aspect(s) in particular?

i miss Winterfest very much.

71' Vega

^If only you knew how big my smile was when I saw those! EDIT: 800th post

Drachen Fire wasn't aluminum. More likely it ended up as recycled steel. The Pittsburgh area used to use steel beverage cans, but that's been many, many years ago.

Well, it was a good show, but I think I might have liked it a little better if I wasn't familiar with the Kings Island version. Don't get me wrong, it was very well done. But a lot of the stuff that I really liked about the show was missing from this production. I was waiting during the opening scene for GatorGirl's eyes to light up when they started singing "Hard Knock Life". And then they didn't. When it was time for the reindeer scene, I leaned over to GatorGirl and said "I like this part". But instead of the giant blacklight puppets that KI had, they had people in reindeer outfits singing "Up on the Roof", and she asked me "Why do you like this part?", so I had to explain to her what KI had. There were not 12 penguins singing "The Twelve Days of Christmas" with a Cincinnati twist. There were 3 penguins who sang "This Christmas" (which happens to be one of my least favorite Christmas songs). There was also no homesick alien singing "I'll Be Home for Christmas". With that said, some positives are that the main character, Wendell, was played by local 2012 American Idol contestant Eban Franckewitz, who GatorGirl is very familiar with. Also, the new parts of Heat Miser and Snow Miser were played by Bob Herzog and John Gumm, respectively, both from Channel 12 news. Overall, I do recommend the show, as it is still very good. It's a fun story, good songs and the kids enjoyed it. I'm just a cranky old guy who remembers the old version a little too well.

Back when I was in high school, I left home with a friend of mine, headed for KI. We left on a beautiful fall morning from just SE of Indy. Somewhere around Batesville IN, we ran into a HUGE thunderstorm. My 1968 Mustang, with bald L-60 tires hydroplaned in a most terrifying fashion for the next 30 miles(took 60 mins). We finally arrive at the park, to find out it was one of the "private event" days. No internet back then to check schedule.

Wrong. Try reading my return on investment posts in Other Parks in the Ouimet thread. You could not possibly be more incorrect from a park strategy standpoint. As just one example, the dinosaurs bring educational, incremental guests to the park.

Things to remember, keep photos current and your own. (and no KIExtreme photos!) Hard: Beast Mine Shaft Easy: Beast Water Mill (Penny Mill) Post both and I give you a point (there's really no points)

They most certainly played a major role in this and also footed the bill for a large portion of it. Recent WDW "refurbishments" have seen the projects value engineered to death (please see Space Mountain), however Test Track went the opposite direction. This was not a cheap re-do. Quite honestly, I was very surprised when I rode Test Track last night for the first time. I purposely avoided watching videos so I would be surprised and boy was I. Gone is the tacky and loud queue with the annoying sound track, crashing sounds, etc. It's now very sleek and modern, it's beautiful really. The design aspect was something that didn't appeal to me at first, but it is actually kinda cool and it is neat to see your design sync up to the ride itself as you experience the attraction. Also gone are the three pre-show rooms and the god awful bottle neck in the queue when they dumped out. Such an improvement. Instead the 3 design rooms are now at ground level and dump out onto the ramp that the former stand by line utilized as it lead up to the old pre-show loading. Fast Pass skips the design studios but has a small modified section near the end of its queue where people have a few minutes to design a car. Single Rider skips the design phase all together. As far as the ride itself, it is visually stunning now on the inside. In some places theme elements and screens extend from floor to ceiling. The way that it is lit and the placement of all the new elements give it a more intimate feeling on the inside, as opposed to the old Test Track where you could clearly see the wasted space left over in the building from World of Motion. The testing chambers, I'll admit, I missed what two of them even were. The former "cold room" is now the aerodynamics testing room. It utilizes the same mirror trick used in Radiator Springs Racers (which was an amazing attraction, btw) where you see an air current appear to flow over the shape of your car as it moves through the chamber. I think the biggest piece for me, as others have mentioned, is that this new theme better aligns with what EPCOT truly is. I couldn't be happier with how this project turned out and I'm happy to have Track open again...EPCOT has certainly been quiet the past 7 months with out it - Todd

If only. I really do love the queue and entry doors to the attraction. It fits in really well and some what resembles the Mission:Space queue. But that canopy is just awful and cookie cutter. I'd expect it from Cedar Fair, but not Disney. Other than that and the untouched 'power' circle, Well done Disney General Motors. Well Done. Fixed that for you. Seriously, though (and I'm one of GM's biggest critics), they get the credit here. They provided the concept, design guidance, and even fabricated most of the set pieces in Warren, MI, before shipping them down to Lake Buena Vista. Even the WDI show producer who was over this project is an outside contractor. Imagineers handled things like ride programming and effects, GM handled the rest. You are mistaken. I can assure you that GM had absolutely nothing to do with this Test Track refurb, and had very little to do with the original design. All they did was write a check so that their name was on it and so that they could have a show room in the exit. Also just FYI it's no longer GM Test Track, its "Test Track presented by Chevrolet"

I'm hoping for a Gravity Group wooden roller coaster. Something similar to Voyage, but this time bring back the loop.

I didn't want to bring that up.

Insert obligatory Interpreter reference to a big blue B&M at the Point. Which pretty much is true now, anyway.

What a positive up-beat topic

Part of the new scavenger hunt is to see if you can find Son of Beast.