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My wife's boss watched him give a speech. Made the comment about how companies can be like hippos. Big and powerful but with tiny ears. Meaning that you are not listneing to your employees or customers. He said the goal is that you need to listen to your employees and customers.

New interview with Matt! http://silivingmag.com/building-on-a-legacy-holiday-worlds-new-president-and-ceo/

In case someone would like to know just how well Give Kids The World rates as a charity: http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3753

Here we go with the "Let's blame Cedar Fair for closing Geauga Lake" comments again. I'm getting pretty annoyed reading that every time the media interviews Mr. Ouimet. He had nothing to do with the park's closure, that was under Kinzel's watch to begin with.

Thanks for the video, I didn't know it was snapping. I always called it "Driving my cousin crazy".

People Eating Tasty Animals.

Did anyone else read the title as "Tasers"? How about a roller coaster made out of.... wait for it... chocolate! Just don't ride it in the summer... "Welcome to the county court office ma'am. what can I help you with?" "I was riding on some chocolate and it must of been to hot because the chocolate began to melt and the ride feel apart. I went to the hospital and found out I popped a blood vessel! So I would like to sue Kings Island!" (lady at the desk) "Oh my gosh! That's terrible! (picks up phone and dials a number) Hello? Ah yes I need you to come and take this lady to a insane asylum... (hangs up) Have a great day!"

Hoping to steer back to the original happy discussion originally on this thread... So hey, place sure looks different 41 years later, doesn't it?

Cedar Point has released their 2013 live entertainment offerings. Looks like they added a new Broadway show and Luminosity has been reduced to 25 minutes and is no longer performed on Tuesdays. http://www.cedarpoint.com/things-to-do/live-entertainment

Also posted in the FUN continues thread. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDIQqAIoADAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cleveland.com%2Fbusiness%2Findex.ssf%2F2013%2F02%2Fcedar_fair_entertainment_cos_new_chief_executive_officer_matt_ouimet_believes_inspiring_guests_and_employees_is_good_for_the_bottom_line.html&ei=kgMqUZC0D-fg0gG9lYCYBQ&usg=AFQjCNGvzbZVDDXwP7SMuJquIa-TIrojQw Excellent interview with Matt Ouimet. At least a couple of minor errors (last year Luminousity was Powered by Pepsi, for example). Don't miss the comments.

Speaking of Columbus Zoo, do they get mad if you snap them? I'd be impressed if you could snap those things.

Six Flags Great America is a decent park but I find it really is a "regional" park in the sense that, while no coaster is necessarily bad, there isn't anything particularly noteworthy either. It does have the advantage of being near Chicago (which is a city I very much enjoyed visiting), but if this is solely a coaster trip I'd say go to Cedar Point. However, if you were asking between Cedar Point and Great Adventure, then I'd have a much harder time deciding between the two...

Luminosity is powered by North Coaster Container...

I go to Cedar Point every year and in my experience I found the park to be crowded (60min+waits for rides) pretty much any time other than Sundays in late Sept and Oct. I have also been to SFGAM and thought the park was okay but its no Cedar Point.

Early on in the Season like May or June, Sunday-Tuesdays are generally lighter compared to the remainder of the week at Cedar Point.

Cedar Point. By far. It handles large crowds better, has more variety, will be cheaper if you use Platinum Passes, and is truly one of the nation's best amusement parks. Avoid Fridays and Saturdays if at ALL possible.

Nice article. I hope to meet Mr. Q. someday.

I am surprised Wildwater Kingdom hasn't followed suit or expanded.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDIQqAIoADAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cleveland.com%2Fbusiness%2Findex.ssf%2F2013%2F02%2Fcedar_fair_entertainment_cos_new_chief_executive_officer_matt_ouimet_believes_inspiring_guests_and_employees_is_good_for_the_bottom_line.html&ei=kgMqUZC0D-fg0gG9lYCYBQ&usg=AFQjCNGvzbZVDDXwP7SMuJquIa-TIrojQw Excellent interview with Matt Ouimet. At least a couple of minor errors (last year Luminousity was Powered by Pepsi, for example). Don't miss the comments.

A campground or hotel/lodge could be real nice:

They needed those on the Carnival Triumph.

While I can't find the specific photos to back me up, something to note of Sonny's Valley: The former loop stood at 118 feet tall at "ground level" (the bottom of the valley). On the midway right by the bathrooms and Thunder Alley, you could just barely see the top of the loop through the lift hill structure. Also, the station (where the Haunt attraction, Wolf Pack, resides now) rests a good 60-70 feet off the ground from the Valley, even though it sits at just above eye level from the Action Zone midway. Lastly, Adventure Express's lowest point - the dip before the turn into the final tunnel, I believe - is still maybe 10-20 feet higher than what Sonny's lowest point was at the bottom of the 214-foot drop. Most of this conjecture is speculative; I'm only basing this from memory riding Sonny and Adventure Express numerous times and just looking at the surroundings.

Just came across this photoshop I did awhile back. Freaky.

I can still remember vividly seeing FC operating on my first visit to Kings Island in July of '92. I remember thinking that there was no way I was getting on that. Looked really intimidating. I had no idea of the very sad situation that happened on it the year earlier. I didn't know anything about that until I learned it on here just a few years ago. Thanks for sharing all those details. July '92:

Well you are 5'11" - same height as my dad and he's 210. He fits on every ride perfectly. If you were say, 5'4" it would be a different story... well im 6-2 270 some rides i can ride some i cant i think Kings Island should redo all there rides so us big ppl should be able ride they better But what if they redid all the rides and excluded little people (5'2" 100 lbs.)? That would be like my saying to retrofit all the rides with big huge comfort soft pillows so I don't get buffeted. That would be an expensive wish, and besides, I literally get more bang for the buck than bigger people with every ride. It doesn't have to be an either/or proposition, though - like I said, Disney designs so that everyone can ride. I am sure that the costs are WAY higher to do this, but it is possible. Now to retrofit things? That would probably be impossible.

Safety investigation demonstrating the inadequate design:

Latest update with Antarctica. May 24th Grand Opening date. Made a loop around the park last week for Bands, Brews and BBQ...it's looks VERY good over there. Quite a transformation from the very dated Penguin Plaza we were all used to! http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/seaworld/os-dewayne-bevil-seaworld-antarctica-20130221,0,7506320.column Check out the pictures, incredible detail going into the rockwork! - Todd

I just want to say as a new member to this forum, going through these pictures have brought back great memories and provided me a little peek at history as well. Keep up the awesome work!

The people who were not drunk didn't seem to have a problem with the ride. Did they?

I saw some snow on the grounds of KI. Could it mean Winterfest be returning?

PETA is gonna be so maaaaaaaaaaaad!

but cheaper than paying $57 to get into Dollywood and you couldn't find a significant discount with a search warrant

People gotta park... not sure whether to ,, or I really wonder how much of my money has made it to Kinzel's coffer and what he blew such "earnings" on.

Having worked in Admissions for 10 years during the Paramount era, I gave up a long time ago on making sense of pricing. Back then the price generally increased $1-2 per year, and the season passes increased in small increments as well. I agree that $50 is a big mental barrier... we were worried when we surpassed the $40 mark, but that went rather smoothly considering. Back in the Paramount years, the number of people who actually paid full price for a ticket was very miniscule, as there were (and still are) many discounts available. I won't say the actual precentage because it's not public knowledge, but suffice it to say it was pretty small, as I suspect it still is today. The Pay Once Visit Twice (or P1V2 as we called it) first appeared in the early 2000's and I still think it's a pretty good deal if you're only planning to visit twice. That beats the $17 I paid at SFGAdv this past Saturday... $15 plus $2 tax, credit cards only... no cash accepted at the toll plaza. We did split the cost between the three of us though (KIRuler, Beast Man and myself). [ Then you are obviously not out in the parking lot at the right times. Every time my family and I go out to eat from our car, we are far from the only ones doing it! I say it's worth it. I went for my first time on Saturday. My day didn't start off well, but it turned into a great day. Every single employee was friendly, and I found out I really love the speed of Kingda Ka! (Oh Dragster, why can you not have the same restraints that are on Ka so I'm able to finally ride you? You're a lot closer to home than Ka is!)

$20?! Talk about a deal-breaker... And I honestly think it is. Perhaps their thinking is, "When they get here, they gotta park." ("They gotta eat," claimed the CEO of a rival company, whose per-caps are anything but spectacular). I'd offer that maybe the thought process will not be "Well we already spent $20.00 to get here, we may as well spend another $20.00 to park." In fact, I imagine it might be "Well we wasted $20.00 to get here, we're not wasting another $20.00 to park." To have spent that much money without gaining access to a single ride or having a soft drink or meal to show for it is... Wow... Ludicrous. There are no words (except to point out Walt Disney World's parking price, which is 70% of Six Flags Great America's, and Cedar Point's, whose is 50%...). Great Adventure's parking price is $17.00 (still prohibitive, and makes me re-consider my trip there this year) and a season-long parking pass is $50.00, compared to Great America's $20 and $70, respectively... The very idea of money is that you're bartering, just with pieces of paper that are socially understood to represent an otherwise arbitrary value. We trade those pieces of paper for goods and services based on the confidence that that same paper will carry its worth when you look to use it later. So apparently, parking at Six Flags Great America is somehow worth more than parking at Great Adventure... Pricing integrity at its finest, right? Sigh.

It's not about the money, money, money We don't need your money, money, money We just wanna make the world dance, Forget about the Price Tag.

For season passholders, this definitely the truth. It pays for itself in a few visits, there's no parking fee per visit, and there's perks on top of it. However, I don't see how 51.99 for one visit is getting your money's worth at all, especially considering that you have to pay 12 dollar parking on top of it. We're enthusiast on here, and most of us have a season pass. However, the average family looking for something to do on Saturday may just look at the advertised price of $51.99 and say "No thanks, we'll take the kids to the park and the movies." Let's not forget 5 more bucks a head if you want to see some old school reptiles!