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It will be most telling if Pat doesn't appear in HW commercials this year. She's been mum on all of this... completely. I cannot imagine how broken her heart must be... losing her son, then losing the park she's known her whole life. IMO, Pat IS Holiday World. I gather than Lori didn't seem concerned about the legacy of having her kids run the park when she thought she was being bought out at the higher rate. It appears to me that for her, it's more about money than legacy. I believe Dan's intents to keep it within the family ARE about the legacy. The entire reason the brothers bought their sisters shares, rather than make them public, was obviously to keep the park in the direct control of the bloodline and under the Koch name. A lot can change with Lori - specifically her last name. I see the concern from the Koch side... there's too many variables under her ownership... (i.e. if she were to re-marry, or if her interests changed, or if the kids decided they don't want to run it...) thus opening the chance for a sell-off. Under Dan's leadership, the appropriate time could be "bought" to establish the legacy. Giving both his, and Will's kids the opportunity to mature, grow and learn into adult businesspeople who could then be entrusted to continue the legacy.

Add to this the additional distraction of trying to run Bluegrass Boardwalk. That would have seriously hurt the Santa Claus park, at best.... I also like how both sides say this is really about whose kids will inherit the park. It's always about....the children.

You'll need to imagine a powder blue convertible Bel Air in that crowd. My dad was there with his date and future wife. It's funny that Midwestern lives often revolve around a man made phenomena, amusement parks, unlike the lives on the coast, that revolve around beaches. I love the ocean, don't get me wrong, but the love of amusement parks and growing up with them is something I love about Ohio.

I'd rather they have that than be put on a chain..... Why not put linejumpers on a chain...unless they're living life in the Fast Lane? Plus, they'll bark less!

Yesterday, my dad’s friend invited us over for a ride around the Tri-State on his club’s plane. It was a really nice day, pretty odd considering there’s going to be snow today. But that’s Ohio weather. Setting up and checking to make sure the plane was ready seemed complicated. I really didn’t understand much of it. The takeoff was a lot of fun, kind of like a long Flight of Fear launch. First, we passed over my house, my school, and some of the baseball fields I play on. There were a lot of baseball fields. Next we flied towards Kings Island. First thing I noticed is how much space Son of Beast took up. (These are all screenshots from a video) Thunder Alley is just a dirt oval now. The water tower is also clearly gone, but the paint that was under it still remains. After that, we took a quick fly to downtown Cincinnati. Then we headed back to the airport. I admit I got a bit motion sick towards the end, but I felt better after we landed. Hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading!

No, actually its a Lose, Lose.. And both the loses go to John and Jane Parkgoer who cant afford it. Once again, the WhinePass is the Stupidest, greediest and Most ridiculous idea that Cedar Fair has ever come up with...Period... Wow - I just couldn't disagree more. I can afford it, but choose not to pay for these things. If it's unpopular it'll be dropped, but lots of things in life are easier for those with wealth and harder for those without. That's why I took the college prep classes when I would have preferred shop class, and why my folks sacrificed to send me to school when my Dad lost his job and Mom went to school. After that investment, I have a little coin to spare after what I donate to charity and the 'contribution' I make to government. Tomorrow through a stroke of fate, I could be far more poor than I am today, so I weigh every purchase. At the end, these additional revenues, paid by folks willing to shell out the extra dough, pay for new rides, improved park experience, etc. - it has little to do with 'greed' and far more to do with the business bottom-line. I drive 40 miles each way, each time I bring my boys and I to the park, and it's STILL a great buy.

I Apologize for my post about the WhinePass but thats just how I feel about it. I know Cedar Fair is just a Corporation and the #1 Priority is Making Money, No Matter what they may say. It just infuriates me. I Always Use Disney as a Perfect example of How a system like this should have been Implemented. Use your park Ticket/Season Pass, swipe it, and return at the time printed on your ticket. No Extra Charge and a big service to its Guests. All FastLane does is Reward people for having the ability to pay extra Money to Cut in front of everyone and spit on the ones who couldnt afford it. And dont spout the whole, "If ya cant afford one, dont buy it" garbage. This does nothing more than Increase the wait times for the ones who are already in line. I will NEVER Buy one of these things... Once again, Sorry for the Rant, Just voicing my opinion. Im generally a Go with the flow kinda person, but this just gets me..It's funny you call Fast Lane the "WhinePass" becauseA. Your label fits Disney's line jumping system more than it does Kings Island's and B. You're the person whining. Cedar Fair's number one priority is guest safety, not money. Businesses that think otherwise typically do not last long in the market. And the whole "it's making me wait longer!" bit everyone complains about? Any type of virtual queuing system will make you wait longer than you want. Disney's Fast Pass makes standby users wait longer to allow Fast Pass users to board any ride. You don't notice the difference because to you, it's always been this way. Just to clear things up, benred, Fast Pass is included with Disney Parks admission. It is not "free." In fact, getting admission and Fast Lane is cheaper than going to Disney.

No park can implement a Disney-like virtual queuing system (assigned return times) without paying hefty royalties to Disney, as they were granted a patent on the concept.

I wonder how many people would complain about KI's ticket cost mimicking Disney's just so KI could also mimic the front of the line system Disney uses so that it is then free for all walks of life that visit KI.

That's funny! My family and I spent a lot of time there in the late 80s/early 90s. I just remember there were a bunch of interesting characters there, both employees and guests. By a certain time it definitely seemed like a questionable operation. Some of the rides did scare me a bit, but I think that was part of the fun of the place. I think the last time I was there was the summer of 99. I went in for a day just to ride a few things. It was very evident that the park was going down hill.

My father took my mom and her friends to a special, summertime event there in the late 50's or early 60's, to see Dick Clark, who was travelling that year with the American Idol of the day, one Edd "Kookie" Byrnes from a television show called "77 Sunset Strip." I can only imagine a parking lot full of DeSotos, Chevies and Studebakers packed onto that parking lot as throngs of beehived teen girls in bling-encrusted, horn-rimmed glasses gleefully descend upon that storied park during its hayday. It's just as much an echo as any 1980s trip I can remember. Long live Lesordsville!~

What did Hart expect, the park would be in better condition than last he saw it?

Well, the kids do. The plaintiff married in.

I love Kings Island the way it is,even the things i might complain about,i dont work for the park so i dont know the ins and outs of what needs done,but at the end of the day i respect what they need to do.The truth is i love the feeling of riding a coaster,for one moment i forget all my problems in my world and feel the freedom to relax and live in the moment! I love the first drop on DB, its my favorite time to just let my mind go!

I hope our fellow KIC member "CoasterBob62" does his annual video this year for Opening Day 2013 at Kings Island.

Six Flags has had exactly nothing to do with the property since early 2010. If you want to blame someone for the deterioration since the park was last open, look no further than Ye Olde Fair Board. As for Kentucky Kingdom competing against Holiday World, Kings Island, Beech Bend, etc., remember those parks not only don't get substantial tax incentives, they PAY real property taxes to their respective states, counties, etc.

Well...We finally have new news!!! http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20130325/NEWS01/303250084/Kentucky-Kingdom-rehab-will-cost-more-than-first-thought

Gandalf, the White? Seriously, though, I was away during the years Lesourdsville/Americana faded away. I remember two trips back in the 80s, when they had "Hercules, the World's Largest Pinball Game" in the arcade, and riding the Electric Rainbow many, many times. When I hear the Queen song "It's a Kind of Magic," which was a big hit that summer, it takes me back to that park and its very-much alive self. There were radio commercials that sang ♫The Rage of the Summer is Raging Thunder at America-naaaaa!♫ for the fun little log flume they acquired that year (1986). I might have said this already on here a few hundred posts ago...I dunno. but still, it's sad to see it gone.

Does anyone remember the Country Bears show that used to be at Americana? It was in the building by the train loading station. It was an animatronic show that was kind of a rip off of the Bear Country Jubilee at Disney World. I can't remember much about it except that I loved that show! However, it was closed the majority of the time cause it never worked. I guess they were constantly having problems with the animatronic characters. I'd give anything to see a video of this show or something!

The biggest issue that the Fast Lane system has is that most Fast Lane users tend to congregate at the newest and most popular rides. The fact that some Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks have decided to charge extra to cut the lines on some select rides is enough evidence that many people utilize the skip-the-line systems to maximize utility on a couple of popular rides and perhaps give a cursory ride to the other rides "just because". Six Flags frequently limits quick queueing new coasters in their debut year to Platinum Flash Pass holders only (Dare Devil Dive at SFOG, X-Flight at Great America and Goliath at SFNE) or by requiring an upgrade fee just for one ride (X2 and Lex Luthor: DOD at Magic Mountain). Kings Dominion had to limit Volcano Fast Lane access for much of the season last year. Millennium Force and Maverick Fast Lane queues frequently backed up last year. Cedar Fair simply took a page out of the Six Flags book by instituting a "Plus" version to help deal with that issue. If I remember correctly the limit of Fast Lane passes that could be sold on any given day is up to 20% of the forecasted attendance that day. Six Flags sells out of the Flash Pass much more frequently at their larger parks than Cedar Fair parks do with Fast Lane passes. Selling lots of Fast Lane passes is far less problematic IMO because the longer Fast Lane waits on busier days at the popular rides help self-regulate the amount of Fast Lane users running through lines assuming a proper balance is maintained. The overlooked thing with the number of Fast Lane passes sold isn't actually the number of passes sold but the proportion of Fast Lane users they let in a ride line at a time. If the park is keeping the 25% Fast Lane user/75% non-Fast Lane user mix most rides seem to be using then the park can sell as many Fast Lane bracelets as they want, but adjusting that mix towards the Fast Lane users when Fast Lane lines start to get long is a recipe for snails pace standby lines. I would argue that this is the largest determining factor as far as how quickly standby lines move. The park should always make sure that only a reasonable percentage of Fast Lane users are let in to a station at a time. I think the Fast Lane Plus option is one of the more balanced systems out there. I don't anticipate too much change in the pricing of Fast Lane but I wouldn't be surprised if additional tweaks are made to both the pricing and the rides on the Plus version, particularly at Cedar Point. When I saw that Canada's Wonderland would limit Fast Lane access on Behemoth and Leviathan to Fast Lane Plus only it actually made me more willing to spend the cash because I know that fewer people will be clogging the Fast Lane line for those coasters now, and the same will likely be happening at TTD and Gatekeeper at Cedar Point. It's a step in the right direction.

That's not what Fast Lane is. Fast Lane is the equivalent of you buying a seat for a Bengals game, showing up for the game, and having an usher remove you from the seat, giving that seat to someone else, and telling you, "That guy slipped my a $50 for your seat, try again next week." But at KI it's a revolving seat. It comes around again. When I see Fastlane wristbands, I see pavers, I see ride improvements, new restaurants, cleaner walkways. Look at how much the park has improved, and some of that money is coming from Fastlane. For me, waiting in line is the same as it always was, except sometimes I get moved up the line to fill two seats in a car.

Even if closing GL was their vast conspiracy plan the whole time (which, if so, why did they even bother rebranding and operating it for a few years? Wouldn't a diabolical plot dictate that they'd just close it down when they bought it?), your argument doesn't hold up regarding Kings Island. Crypt was a mechanical and operational nightmare that operated infrequently ever since Paramount installed the darn thing. Both PP and CF tried solutions, eventually CF cut their losses. The ride was providing no benefit. Flight Deck, Vortex and AE being on their last legs? How would you know that? Give me a freaking break, cause you rode them and they're as rough and bumpy as other Arrow coasters from their time periods? Also, comparing Racer to Raging Wolf Bobs is a joke, right? RWB suffered a derailment accident prior to GL's closing while The Racer has continued with good operating in recent years and receives substantial upkeep and vigilant safety oversight. You simply have no idea what you're talking about. If CF wanted to eliminate a competitor, they wouldn't do it at the expense of sacrificing guest safety and hurting their own brand image.

I can't tell if you are trolling or if you really think that they are trying to eliminate Kings Island... Why would they add Diamondback for $20+ million dollars if they were just going to make it into one big water park?

No, actually its a Lose, Lose.. And both the loses go to John and Jane Parkgoer who cant afford it. Once again, the WhinePass is the Stupidest, greediest and Most ridiculous idea that Cedar Fair has ever come up with...Period... I think it's hilarious that you are calling it a WhinePass because it brings the chain more money for Capital Improvements yet, you're calling it ridiculous, greedy, stupid and are saying the general park goer's can't afford it. Those who actually use Fast Lane, I can guarantee aren't whining about it. The fact of the matter is, it's staying. Park Chains have a fast pass system across the country, they aren't going away. If you don't like the price for one, don't buy it. If you don't like the fact that you'll have to wait an extra train because someone decided to buy it to enhance their experience, then plan to go to the park on a generally known slow day (Monday-Thursdays generally). I'm sorry, but it's time for a lot of people to pull up their big enthusiast panties and deal with it. As it's been mentioned before, numerous parks have a fast pass system of sorts. Many of them you have to pay extra for. Fast Lane is obviously a success for Cedar Fair and they are bringing it back for another season. I doubt it'll go anywhere for a while. They way I look at it, you either deal with it or you just don't go to the park if it's such a big deal to you. Complaining on KIC about Fast Lane is not going to get you anywhere especially when the complaining is about how rediculous, stupid, greedy, amoung various other things about something you do not have to participate in and generally have the ability to avoid "the heavy waits added due to" Fast Lane.

Many object to the "gentle correction" those systems deliver. I've often wished it worked on park linejumpers!

I'm not upset at you or anything like that - I'm just so tired of everything costing a buck when my income hasn't gone up in years! And I may get to the park if we have a meet-up. Can't ride any coasters, but that carousel is looking mighty fine! Or the train, that is a fun ride. I like trains (Which can be said about many on KIC, and on the Youtube)

I assume that by fanboys who blindly regurgitate the park's talking points you are talking about me, since I've inserted them into my posts sarcastically. So if you assume that anything and everything the park wants people to spend money on is a rip-off, do you go to the park at all then? If you don't spend one red cent inside the park because of the "nickel and dime approach" then where will the money come for more attractions later on? Yeah, I know soda shouldn't be $4 for a 20 oz drink, a slice of pizza shouldn't be $5 or whatever it is, but the inflation of the price on everything goes toward new attractions. Fast Lane and Fast Lane Plus are a little to no cost thing to do, but a way to make money for capital improvements. I shake my head so much to the people (not saying you BavarianBeatle) who complain about this and that costing so much and that the park shouldn't find different ways to make money, then they complain because the park hasn't gotten anything new in the past year or so other than Dinosaurs or small stuff. If people want to have new attractions, new restaurants, new shows, those take money. Capital Improvements take money and if "fanboys" and enthusiasts want more things for the parks they can't "boycott" purchasing things in the park. -End Rant-

The fact that all of the poor people on here are able to go to KI in the first place makes me realize how reasonable KI's prices are. My last NFL experience was a hoot. All of these rich people out spent me and got to sit close to the field, as well as having their food and drink brought to them. Meanwhile, I had to stand in a mile long line for a $8 brew. They also paid more for parking,while us poor people had to walk a mile, up hill, both ways, to our car. But ya know what? Thats life babe, and I hated it so much that come next September,Im gonna do it again...even though the Bucs suck and are qb should be shown the door. Hey,did I ever tell you about the time at the airport where I had to wait for the first class people to be seated first?

I love all the people complaining. At the end of the day, you're still going to go to Kings Island and the people who purchased Fast Lane or Fast Lane Plus are going to skip ahead of you. Get over it, strap in, and enjoy the ride.

I guess no family is perfect... http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20130324/NEWS02/303240105/1025/rsslink?gcheck=1

Only 1 shelter is used (the one for catered group picnics), the others remain open for normal use. Well, technically two as Club Blood was originally a pavilion that is now permanently set up as a house.

Nope. Previous poster dare-to-fly had mentioned it as an incredible name, perhaps the best ever. I'm pointing out other great names it has had.

Disney & Cedar Fair run different business models. Disney Parks cater mainly to people that make a once or twice in a lifetime visit with their young children. Trips that are often planned out and budget months, if not years in advance. Cedar Fair mainly caters to people that attend every year, often more than once a season. If you ran a Cedar Fair style upgraded flash pass at Disney, I suspect you'd get many people to factor in the upgraded fast pass into their "cost of vacation" such that the fast pass would serve little use. I visited Kings Island about once a week last year, fast pass was in effect all season long, I never noticed any fast pass user spitting on anyone as they moved to the front of the line. In fact, most of the time, there was little to no line in the fast pass line. One thing I've learned, is to never say never. I may likely never purchase a fast pass at King's Island; if the line for The Beast is too long this week for repeat rides, well there is always next week, however if I were to visit Cedar Pointe, I may consider a fast pass option to get as much bang for my buck for a park I haven't visited in about 8 years. Fast pass does more than "reward people for having extra money" it gives the park goer an option to upgrade their experience. I'm willing to BET there was more than 1 person who cut something out of their weekly budget for a couple of months in order to purchase the fast pass at King's Island for their once a year family visit. I never purchased one last year, but IIRC the cost of a fast pass was roughly the cost of a family diner out to a mid level restaurant (like a chili's or friday's or something), so that if the family of 4 cut out a trip to some local establishement once a month from march thru june, they fit the purchase of 4 fast passes into their once a year trip to King's Island at the end of the July.

The Indy Star published an expanded version of this article: http://www.indystar.com/article/20130323/BUSINESS/303230063/Holiday-World-family-feud-leaves-control-amusement-park-uncertain Some highlights:

Uh, what about the coaster that was moved?

GL parent company Funtime Parks put itself up for sale in 1995, at which time the two highest bidders were believed to be Premier Parks and Kennywood Entertainment. CF was believed to be not interested at that time for a major expansion. Premier Parks got the company and then got greedy, by acquiring Six Flags in 1998. Then went on a buying and expansion binge everywhere, including at GL by adding 5 coasters and buying Sea World Ohio in a 2 year span. Soon Six needed cash and sold off anything that had a potential buyer, which lead CF to buy GL.

All sports players are overpaid. A reduced salary from $15 million/ year to $13 million/ year should not be praised. Now if all the players & owners reduced their salaries by 50% so that the average Joe could afford the games, I would praise that. Idiots, like myself, pay a premium to watch them both in person & at home.

I dont agree with the over-priced players either,they should actually make a bit more considering the revenue.

As a long time Heat fan I have to disagree that the plays are overpaid. LBJ, D.Wade, C.Bosh and a few others all took reduced salaries so they could win multiple titles. Just look at all the money they bring into the NBA and areas near thier games. Most NBA tickets sell out when the Hear are in town which generates food and hotel sales for the cities.

What about John and Jane NotParkgoer who cannot even afford visiting the park? How is the price of admission fair to them? More money you have to spend, more you're able to do. That's how amusement parks work, airlines work, that's how life works.

2011, mid-July to be more precise.

I'm not upset at you or anything like that - I'm just so tired of everything costing a buck when my income hasn't gone up in years! And I may get to the park if we have a meet-up. Can't ride any coasters, but that carousel is looking mighty fine!

I'm sorry for your health issues, Hank. I hope you do make it to the park this summer for some fun.

Yes, they are.

Ever hear of the VIP experience?

A short side trip to Kentucky Kingdom? Terp, who just HAD to.

A nice sunny 75 degree day with light crowds and short lines.

I always laugh at the claim of, "The line will be longer if we have to wait on those who get in front of us using Fast Lane." If those people were to get in front of you in the regular line, your wait would be longer as well. Everytime that I've been "skipped" by someone using Fast Lane, the ride attendants/hosts only let a certain amount of guests using Fast Lane board the ride then, they let the non-Fast Lane guests go through, then the repeat the process. I thnk a lot of people are making a bigger deal out of this than it should be.

The best way to deal with this new plus option is to not buy it. If the demand for this option is not what they think it would had been, they will soon modify it or do away with it. As for the Fast Lane itself, if I have a season pass for the entire season, I have plenty of time during the season to ride the coasters and I can use what I would had spent on the Fast Lane on other things.

We would like to give a shutout and a big welcome to Jennifer Lopez for joining the KICentral Ta Ta Team to help find a cure.