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You guys might've read the article I wrote and posted in another thread about flubbed and failed attractions. The list included TOMB RAIDER: The Ride (naturally). I'm pleased to say that the article attracted the attention of Dave Cobb, a well-respected creative mind who's worked with movie studios, entertainment companies, and theme parks to develop some really cool rides. Mr. Cobb was the creative director and show writer for Universal's Men In Black: Alien Attack. Closer to home, he was the creative director and show producer for Italian Job: Stunt Track and Tomb Raider: FireFall. While not a formal interview or anything, I did have the chance to direct message with him on Twitter, and he's given me permission to share a few things about Tomb Raider: Firefall as it relates to our original Tomb Raider: The Ride. I said to him, "I wish KI would've just placed a clone of KD's in the show building. I don't know the logistics, but to have the running water, flames, music, etc. paired with the goddess, theatrical lighting, etc. Wow." To which he replied: "And I did a whole concept pass and budget analysis to do exactly what [you] described --- adding fire to the old one. Just a fire gag on the ceiling -- a ceiling burn like Backdraft -- but adding fire protection in the building was too expensive." I mentioned how Tomb Raider: Firefall is a "great compromise" between a typical Top Spin and the lavish and outrageous version Kings Island had. He continued: "Yeah and that's what it was intended to be: we loved the concept and the brand and PKD couldn't afford the building (or the Giant ride). The big thing we did better, IMHO, was "casting" the machine as an ancient "thing", used in ancient times for true believers to be strapped to in order to test their faith. Whereas the original never really made the machine anything other than the "emotion" of being Lara. We had a series of Lara's diary entries as signage planned for the queue, never happened." He also uploaded a video of FireFall I'd never seen. Such an impressive ride in so many ways. Just some cool thoughts from a guy on the inside. To be clear, in 2008 both TOMB RAIDER: The Ride at Kings Island and TOMB RAIDER: FireFall at Kings Dominion were renamed The Crypt. Obviously our Crypt closed. However, The Crypt continues to operate at Kings Dominion today, and (usually) features fire, water, synchronized music, and even replica film props from the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider film series, all of which Mr. Cobb oversaw. Check out his website for more.

CoasterMania 6/6/2014 Wow. I think Cedar Point exceeded all of my expectations. It was a great day. Perfect weather. I participated in The Mean Streak challenge. They were giving away 10 2015 Platinum passes. It would have been awesome to win. Katie and Zach rode one train. I went two trains behind them (I went to Millie first). The challenge was simple. Keep water in a cup. Ha! I can say it's likely the most fair way to do the challenge. They duct taped (from what I could tell) a cup holder to the side of the seat and put a cup in it. They filled the cup to the rim with water. I kept almost a full cup until we hit mid course. I think I lose most of my water on one swoop. I am sure you can see Katie in the pic below. Local high school band performing. Lunch time was sweet. Ribs, shrimp, smoked sausage in kraut, cupcakes and cookies and more. Swag! My coaster club membership has paid for itself. My beautiful friend Dee. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

As much as we would hope KI would/ could implement some of these ideas, if a thief wants to steal something, they will find a way to do it. Just think- banks get robbed all the time. Sorry to hear about your terrible day. It is also too bad you joined KIC under these circumstances. Hopefully we will hear about a more positive experience later.

Hmm... Maybe I'm thinking too big here, but one of my favorite of Universal's Halloween Horror Nights events was in 2002, when the event took over Universal's Islands of Adventure. Basically, as night fell, each Island became a "twisted" version of its daytime self. They embraced the park's daytime theme and flipped it. In Marvel Super Hero Island, dead heroes lay in the streets and the Marvel villains had won. In Jurassic Park, the dinosaurs were loose. In Toon Lagoon, the characters had been frightened away by "Treaks and Foons" who were disfigured, playful cartoon characters, etc. It would be kind of cool if each park's Halloween Haunt took advantage of the park's theming and stories. I mean, we've got a roller coaster called The Beast. Couldn't hurt to expand on that mythology and create a haunted house for it (though, at least PART of that haunted house would need to be in the woods, where you could hear the coaster roaring by...). It would be cool to have The Worksite back around Backlot with the police lights and traffic cones and cars, an Irish cemetery maze near / around Banshee, a dinosaur maze through part of Dinosaurs Alive, an "Adventure Express" style ancient tribal house in Oktoberfest, etc. In other words, embrace what the park already has an expand on it. Makes more sense than creating these unrelated haunted houses from scratch, right? Don't be surprised if I get myself hooked on this idea and start a new thread about it.

CoasterMania 6/6/2014 continued. One of my favorite things was the boat ride around the banks of Lake Erie. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So my mom and I are heading over for the rest of the night at the park! Thanks to platinum passes and a hotel 15 minutes away!

Waldameer We were getting ready to go to Cedar Point for a few hours when we heard Cedar Point was closed. Well, we (Zach, Katie and I) decide to go to Wildwater Kingdom. As we start driving there, he realizes we are not going to be too far away from Waldameer and Conneault Lake. None if us had been to either park, so we figured why not go. Sometimes it really stinks when plans go awry, but I had a great day regardless. First stop, Waldameer. The park has a couple of options. You can pay per ride or get an all day band to ride all you want. If you are a member of GOCC, you can get discounts, but you have to get the code from Jason. With not planning for this trip and limited funds, we bought enough so we could ride the coasters we wanted, then went back and bought more points for another ride on Ravine Flyer II. I have to say I love this park. It's small, it's quaint. An amazing woodie, two decent coasters and a great selection of flats. It's similar to Indiana Beach as far as offerings. Ravine Flyer II far exceeds any wooden coaster I've rode. (Will be doing Shivering Timbers very soon, I hear it might be better than Ravine Flyer II.) I found me a man while at Waldameer. I really don't understand clowns being in amusement parks. Every child I know is terrified of them. Perhaps it's because of Pennyworth? Love the statues around the park. Comet was a decent coaster. Very smooth. I really enjoyed Steel Dragon. I cannot wait to go back to this park. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm so sorry this happened. It takes quite a while to get over having stuff stolen, especially when you went to the park for a good time. It's very violating. It's not just recouping the cost of things, it's the feelings that come when you are robbed that take a while to get over. I wish there were more decent people in the world, but fact is, there are not. There are people that get a thrill over getting things for 'free', no matter the cost to another person.

Got to the park at almost 8:45, rode Banshee 3 times in a row with little to no wait! 1 word: AMAZING. Rode the back (incredible airtime on the first drop) and the front twice. It's so cool at night and just in the front in general. Then rode Diamondback in the back Missed The Beast by 2 minutes so that will wait until tomorrow. This was an awesome, last minute park visit! Can't wait for tomorrow!

I think some of Eisner's problems were compounded by the loss of Wells, who was to him what Roy was to Walt--the man who was tasked with putting the $ into the big ideas put forth by his boss. The ensuing internal turmoil that led to Katzenberg's departure (after being passed over for the job in favor of Ovitz) caused a lot of stress. Ovitz wasn't even remotely qualified for the job and soon found himself trying to make himself seem bigger than Eisner. Eisner was a forward thinker--he was the brainchild for SchoolHouse Rock at ABC--but like some houseguests, they wear out their welcome after a time. I was on the College Program at the height of Eisner's tenure and was lucky enough to meet the man during a Give Kids the World park event in 1993. Even though I was a lowly intern, he took several minutes to discuss with me what I liked/disliked about the resort and appreciated my feedback. I think Iger has the company on the right path and hope to see continued great things from him down the line.

Don't be so quick to poo poo Eisner. But for him, Disney would likely have been sold to a foreign consortium. Eisner was responsible for the installation of E-ticket attractions like Tower of Terror and Rock N Roller Coaster. He tried to improve the Studios and improved the park's cash flow. Not to mention ushering in the second Golden Age of Animation with Katzenberg as head of Animation. Yes, he was a brash, abrasive and often termpermental leader, but I think he did way more good than harm. You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.

From Eiffel Tower

Kings Island Thank you to Momofbeastie1980 and Beastie1980 for letting us stay at your house (again). It was a cloudy and at times a rainy day at Kings Island. By the time we got to the park, we were truly exhausted. I had (still have( massive blisters on my feet. So it's actually a welcomed change to have a relaxing day at Kings Island. Katie and Melissa both were doing the Coasting For Kids fundraiser. Lucas In the Festhaus two very sleepy KICers catch a snooze. I think it's awesome to see the friendships that have been made through this site. More pics to come... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Conneault Lake Conneault is about 45 minutes from Waldameer. It has very few rides and one coaster. Blue Streak was built in 1938. It is rickety, it is slow, it was still fun. He would not give us his name, very nice guy. I told him we will call him Carl and he said that is fine. Again, I don't understand clowns. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Around 48 hours from now I'll finally be getting my first night ride on The Beast!

Could maybe help, but if someone walks up to the keypad, enters the correct code, opens a locker, and leaves with its contents, why would an employee being there stop them? How would an employee have any indication that the person getting into the locker is or is not the original owner?

Jaws on July 4th? Somebody has a dark sense of humor.

Banshee draws more people to the park. More people in park with same or less Diamondback capacity means longer lines for Diamondback, too. If x people rode on a given day last year and this year 1.2x try to, the lines will be typically longer and it will take longer.

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I think, in general, a Top Spin is just a classic flat ride that strengthens any park's lineup. I still have this incredibly dumb optimism that one will return to Kings Island, and that it'll be impeccably themed when it does. An outdoor clone of Kings Dominion's Crypt would be absolutely fine. I'd applaud it, if it came with the rocks, fountains, waterfalls, flames, etc. Seems like it would be an inexpensive and unique addition. My absolutely ideal would be that same clone of Kings Dominion's Crypt (including waterfalls, torches, fountains, etc) placed inside of our existing Crypt building. I know it wouldn't reach to the height of the building and that it wouldn't necessarily "sync" with the goddess or anything, but it makes too much sense. Why waste that incredible building? By plopping down a clone of KD's Crypt you'd have the thrill, the music, the water, and a STELLAR flat ride, and you'd ALSO have our goddess, theatrical lighting, mystery, suspense, and themed queue. It's just ripe for an out-of-this-world flat ride in an unbeatable location. Mr. Cobb himself said that converting the building to being safe for fire effects was deemed too expensive, but this is a new era. Buy a standard suspended HUSS top spin, build it out with pools and fountains, etc., and fireproof the building. What an incredible dark ride / thrill ride we'd have, and I'm CERTAIN it would still cost significantly less than even a family coaster. The foundation is all there for it. Seems so ridiculous to waste a well-themed building built to Disney-esque standards... We need a flat ride anyway!

Cirque Imagine I saw all three shows on Sunday. KICers Because I know some have not seen the show I won't post a ton of pics. Looks like Beastie1980 is Stretch Armstrong. First time he has ever been asked for a selfie. CFK some of the participants. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Drive by Wildwater Kingdom and Geauga Lake I did not take pics of the entrance of Wildwater Kingdom (it was closed before we arrived). It made me really miss SeaWorld just driving by the park though. Geauga Lake we took pics from Speedway across the street. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think the "we are not responsible for your items" thing should go out the window when you're paying for a locker.

With the cost of a one day ticket at $96, I'm sure a "free" locker is included in that cost.

I have a lot of pics so I started a new thread. This will take some time to do all the report because a lot happened in the span of four days. Katie and I left around 12:15 on Thursday, June 5 to head to Cedar Point. The trip was pretty uneventful in part to Rick (NoChicken) warned us of police presence along a stretch of the trip. We arrived around 4:45 to the hotel. Thank you Dee (MrsNoChicken) and Rick for letting us stay with you even though it was Rick's birthday. We headed to the park to process our Platinum Passes that we were finally able to upgrade. This was the fastest, most pain free processing I have ever experienced in my life. I think we walked in and out within 5 minutes. (We had paid online.) This was our second trip to Cedar Point and Dee and Rick's first trip. Thank you Zach for leading us around. We ran into Scott almost immediately (IBEWSparky). I tried to keep track of the rides and the order, however, aside from the kiddie coasters, the only coaster I did not get to ride was TTD. so bummed. I will say I love Millie. I rode in row one Friday morning and loved it. Thursday night I rode towards the back and was not disappointed. More to come for CoasterMania after I get home from work tonight. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

^^ Surprise shark in the wave pool too?

Everyone has a lanyard, so it's easy to get together with other attendees if you want to. There should be a number of frequent KIC posters in attendance.

They park is in desperate need of a flat thrill ride. This is where the park lacks. There's not much 'in-between' rides (other than Delirium). Tomb Raider: The Ride was a great addition and really did help fill that void. For me, TRTR was a 'goto' ride, meaning, it was a ride I would not skip as a pass holder. Like Banshee, DB, and Beast, it was a ride I never passed by. Even when it was the crypt (first version), it got rave reviews and the general public seemed to absolutely love it. I think it is because it was an experience that no other ride in the park could replicate and it appealed to the masses because it was a ride that was in-between a small less thrilling ride and a large roller coaster. Also, it was hidden away inside a building which made it mysterious. Most people tend to enjoy the idea of not having any idea of what they are getting themselves into. Personally when KI decided to take out the vertical door to the ride area showed lack of responsibility to upkeep the most simple of things like a rising door. Same when they made the choice to stop using the antichamber door in 2006. As a former TRTR worker, let me say that room was very much needed to help in separating guests. in 2006, only having one associate to separate over 50 people into 3 rows and have them stay in that row, make the 1 minutes announcement, collect large items, and still start the preshow video on time, and return large items at the rendezvous point while still having to load in the next guests into preshow... well, it was exhausting and almost impossible if you were not an expert. Yikes, there I go again on a tangent. Sorry, I just really miss this ride and everything about it.

They may be right - if their average wait was only one or two minutes before I get your point though, it's not quite that dramatic. The stopwatch on my phone isn't lying. I've timed the dispatches on most of my visits there and on average they are 15 seconds slower this year than they have been in the past. The one area I will agree with you here is that while it does feel like you're waiting a lot longer the numbers aren't that dramatic over a short duration. However, I'd much rather wait 25 minutes than 30. If I ride 12 times in a season that's an extra hour I can do other things with other than waiting in line. I do consider that significant. The bins have always been there since the ride opened. Fast Lane has been around for a couple of years now and even then the presence of Fast Lane alone doesn't affect dispatch intervals. The only thing I'm aware of that's really changed from last year to this year is the staff and the seat belts so it has to come from one of those two things.

I actually have that video on my HD. It is an amazing ride experience and one I believe KI really needs to bring back. Both KI and KD version were very different from one another and comparing them is like apples and oranges, they just can't. I'm happy KD still has theirs but still very unhappy about the turnout with ours.

The clowns both look soooo tired in those after-show shots. I feel bad for them. I guess that's what 19 shows a week (plus rehearsals I'm sure) will do to a person.

^ Not sure how you came up with that scenario(s) but that is not even close to what I meant, hence the bank reference you conveniently left out in the quote. Adding security measures may help prevent theft (i.e. the electronic combinations already used, the cameras already in place, or park security already in place), but in no way can it be eliminated. As far as making it more work to prevent theft, take a look on how hard car manufacturers have combated auto theft or credit card companies have tried to prevent fraud or even how casinos using facial recognition. KI could spend huge amounts of money and still have these thefts take place only to still look back in hindsight: "Why didn't KI do this: (insert idea here)." Aside from my obvious statements, it is sad that we have to even discuss this. In a perfect World, we go to KI to get a break from everyday life, but the truth is we cannot expect any park to eliminate the realities of today's society. Example of theft from locker at Universal: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g34515-d102432-r151566624-Universal_Studios_Florida-Orlando_Florida.html

I was there with an old school friend and we actually managed to ride Monster in the thunder and lightning and Flight of Fear before having to leave. I was soaked but we got in 3 on Banshee, one on Diamondback, one on Vortex, and one on The Bat as the rain started so overall a fun evening.

Purchased the Season Long Dining Plan. Oh my gosh! Such a budget/life saver. By yesterday evening, the plan had paid itself off. It is worth it!!

I'm not going to focus on the negative of whatever allegedly happened (I honestly only saw two people wearing last year's shirt (PKIVortex and his partner) and they were given permission to attend at KI since CP's event got cancelled/rescheduled.) I had a great time at the event! Thankfully I got to registration early on, because the line for registration was moving a little bit slow. Diamondback ERT/Marathon was great! 8 rides to wake me up! Afterwards, Gator, Princess Sparkles, beastie1980, jlopez and a few others hit up The Beast right afterwards. It was a great front row ride! Gator and I then headed to Backlot before heading over to The Racer. That ride was probably my most favorite on Backlot. Then it was time for Racer marathoning! As often as we could, we avoided wheel seats! Just before noon, it started to rain slightly. Wasn't too bad of a ride with the rain. Lunch time was good. The food was great again. The macaroni salad was probably the best I've ever tasted. Soon after lunch, we went back to The Racer. Tons of marathoning. I finally felt like I had enough and ended my marathon with 33 total rides. Relaxed for a bit then ate Hanks for dinner. The rest of the evening was pretty relaxed with a stop to see Cirque Imagine. The event ended with Banshee night time ERT. I determined my first ride after dark had to be in the front row! HOLY COW! What a great experience! I had about 8 rides on it that evening. I was quite surprised of how each ride was different in all the different seats that I sat in. 1-4, 8-1 and 8-4 were probably my favorite. The day was extremely exhausting but quite fun! I was happy to meet some people finally from this site on Saturday and Sunday!

Find? Our original poster not only found the article, he knows the author well and meets with him on a daily basis....

Hmmm.Ask the Coastermania people how much they liked their Top Thrill Dragster rides yesterday. Wee...

A very similar ride to Intimidator 305, but made by B&M. This would prevent trains being stuck on lift hills for extended periods of time.

I'm not a fan because it's the only ride that really truly gets my heart rate up. My wife says that should make it my favorite but I disagree.

Any food stand. I suggest going to I-Street Pizza Sent from the electronic piece of equipment known as the iPad using Tapatalk

Shhh, don't tell the park that!

If I were to guess, the uncharacteristic lack of a Marvel logo or the mention of Marvel on Disney's exclusive sneak preview poster would be thanks to the contract's Part IV: Exclusivity > B. Other Theme Parks > a. > iii But I don't have a clue. Legal agreements. Leave those to the professionals. EDIT: IV.B.a.1.i also looks important: Makes you wonder what we'd do without the Mississippi, don't it?

If I had to guess: well over half.

Something actually realistic?! Nah, I want a nine-minute wing-rider in X-base. razmataz, who just had to

When it comes to things legal, the devil is in the details. Learned counsel is of high value.

Guardians of the Galaxy will get a "sneak preview" video at Walt Disney World, which baffled many fans who were sure Marvel could never be in any Walt Disney World park in any way whatsoever. http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2014/06/guardians-of-the-galaxy-sneak-peek-landing-in-disney-parks-july-4/ Notice what's said and not said in the Disney blog post. "From the studio that brought you “The Avengers” comes a new team..." and a particular logo is missing from the movie poster... With the Marvel / Disney thing, it's more of which particular things CAN'T be shown than the idea that Marvel can't even be mentioned on Walt Disney World property.

The park closed tonight at 8:15. Not sure that was said on here. This rain is flooding everything!

I believe the Marvel wrapped monorail only ran only on the resort route, thus never technically entering one of the parks. I read in the Orlando Sentinel at the time that was Disney's way of honoring the letter of the Universal agreement (if not the spirit...) The article on themeparkinsider where the agreement was linked was actually about how WDW is promoting "Guardians of the Galaxy" in the parks on the premise that that particular "family" was not used at Universal, therefore that IP is not covered by the contract: http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201406/4061/ I sincerely doubt Disney has the ability to "terminate the agreement" at its will whenever it pleases...while any signed agreement can be undone, it usually takes copious amounts of cash to do so if the other party is not in agreement. And it's true that the agreement didn't specifically mention the possibility of the sale or dissolution of Marvel, it didn't specifically NOT not mention it either...so, if that was the only legal argument I think that one would be contestible (for that matter, Universal has changed hands three times since the agreement was written...from MCA to Seagrams to Vivendi to Comcast...) If Disney was so motivated (financially and otherwise) I'm sure they could find a way to terminate the agreement, but I don't agree with the assertion they can just wave a (magic <g>) wand to do so. Otherwise, on a related note, why pay Paramount to buy back the film distribution rights to their own film property (Indiana Jones)? Why not just unilaterally decide to terminate the contract on their own? (That would have certainly been the cheaper option :-) I do agree with you that Disney probably doesn't see a compelling reason to force the Marvel issue right now...after all, Universal is helping cross promote a Disney owned franchise, and Disney didn't even have to pay to build the attractions...a pretty good deal all things considered :-)

Sorry to hear about this. Hope you retrieve everything. I would also ask your carrier to search for the ping to locate the phones, then notify authorities. Now, I believe these lockers should be fingerprint activated, rather than code activated....can't steal or duplicate a finger print.

Or if you are able, wear cargo shorts/pants so that way you do not have to worry about a bag at all or locker situations with certain rides ( such as above mentioned, Banshee and Firehawk ). If you are unable to wear cargo shorts/pants, your bag should be fine as above poster mentioned.