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This seems appropriate:

First the two Flight of Fear incidents. Then the news article that wasn't news about Banshee stopping on the lift. And now this. It's at times like these that I do not envy Don's job.

a. A new multi-million dollar attraction has been installed in Mason. Attendance had best not be down. b. That being said, there sure has been quite a bit of apparently unplanned, last minute, dynamically low pricing (one day blow out on tickets sale, added BAFFL <Bring A Friend For Less> days, group pricing deal cutting, season or day long meal deals, soda deals, etc.). c. Much of this, however, has been part of chain-wide promotional pricing. Internal surveys probably show lower consumer confidence due to unemployment, underemployment, wage uncertainty, stagnant incomes, rising gas prices, and planned and actual reduced vacation time use. d. As always, weather is a factor...a huge one. e. At least in the northern parks, delayed seasonal school dismissal, due to snow days, has been a factor, affecting SIX and FUN. Many parents will take their kids out of school to go to a Disney park. Michigan's Adventure, Dorney Park or Kings Island? Not so much. There you go, a cornucopia of facts to ponder.

As I often say, KI was there first. People who bought a house around the park knew it was there when purchasing their home; and have no room to complain about noise.

At least he could ride something forceful, exhilarating and fun. Magnum XL-200. Maverick. Blue Streak. So many excellent choices. That thing? Meh.

Dunno why people keep count like this, or consider it a huge feat to get that many rides..Hey I got 10k rides on Millie, look at my cards and here have pins, lets celebrate that I ride a ride..That'd be like me celebrating how many times I drive down 675..Never understood any of that I go to parks, I enjoy the parks, and I enjoy the rides. Guess it takes a bit more of an enthusiast to count rides and ride rides 6k times, keep count, and keep enjoying it over and over all day Lastly..Why Millie? I don't even marathon that and I've had more of a chance than he has in the past honestly Also looks like the wife doesn't approve, hehe

http://www.sanduskyregister.com/article/cedar-point/5793421 I bet Fast Lane was a dream come true for this young man.

Yesterday with the power outage and staying open late then today is being a friend cheap day... What a weekend for all of the employees...

To Don, Kodo:

Be part of the solution. Tell Guest Relations. He should be rewarded. We can help make that happen. Tell Guest Relations whenever you see an employee go out of the way to create best days ever. Tell.

Simple, everyone (especially here in the U.S.A.) feels they are the only person on the planet and everything should be done to suit them.

I was speaking to a good friend of mine the other day and we started talking about theme parks. He said that when paramount had the park the original plan for that area of stunt track was going to be a highly themed coaster/ highly themed haunted house themed to and around the paramount Addams family movie. That would have been cool but then he went on and said paramount could NOT get the rights from the Addams family rights holders and so the paramount park exec's went on to the next concept, Italian job: stunt track and told me to go to Dollywood and ride Mystery Mine because that's what Addams would have been like. Dunno if it's true or not but it's interesting and wanted to ask...Is it true ? I personally would not be sad to see stunt track go and something new take it's place.I would like to see a Intamin mega lite coaster in that area. I know that's most likely not gonna happen.

We do not know here whether or not rides will be closed in the future as none of us are able to predict the future (at least I think). KIC is not an official Kings Island park entity so we cannot speak for Kings Island or any other Cedar Fair park. Rides are massive machines and can break down, however, no one can know when they will do so. The park does not know from this point what rides will be operating in the morning, let alone over a week away.

I would say it was about drawing attention to themselves. However, I ended up riding on Diamondback next to the guy who wears the customized t-shirt about his number of Diamondback rides, and I tried to smalltalk to him a little when we were waiting to enter the station after the ride. It definitely seemed he was disinterested in drawing attention to himself. To which I say, why the shirt? I guess it is possible I'm not the type of person whose attention he wants or something. I guess no matter what it is, there is going to be someone who wants to do it best, or most if "best" is undefinable. I can't even keep track of how many times I ride a coaster in a row when I keep going around from exit to entrance when lines are low. Trying to keep a lifetime tally would be nearly impossible without lots of work-like attention. I'm only looking for fun, not work.

I'm getting my hopes too far up, but wouldn't it be amazing if the building they may or may not be building was attached to The Crypt's building for a new crypt-themed Wonder Mountain's Guardian-esque ride that utilizes the existing Crypt queue?

Mr. Kinzel didn't send word from on high that the trains ought to be turned to amorphous blobs, and to send anti-theming Vikings out to pillage special effects. Contracts expired, rights were lost, and the park had to react. Sure there was a budget that was consciously diverted elsewhere, but that wasn't some malevolent anti-theming tirade. And what's the storyline of Adventure Express? It's really just a series of vignettes, isn't it? Backlot Stunt Coaster doesn't rely on some cohesive story (even though there is one) and it certainly doesn't require you to be familiar with The Italian Job. You're a stunt car driver in a film racing around a set encountering scenes with police, enemy helicopters, and tunnels. The name tells us that much. What more do you need to know? A better question: how would replacing the midcourse brake and helicopter encounter with a dark tunnel given the average rider any better idea "what the hell is going on" or provide a better experience? At best, you'd cut 15 seconds off an already minuscule ride time and remove the one noteworthy moment on the ride. Already happened two years ago. We were all stunned when the ride's fire effects returned full force, along with LED lights, new helicopter motion, new helicopter noises, and a new soundtrack. It seemed impossible! Apparently, that's already rusted away? Though I still don't understand the damage level here. Has the fire just not worked for a few days? Or are we back to a Canada's Wonderland state where you stop at the silent midcourse brake and nothing happens? EDIT: As for the splashdown, I wouldn't count on it. Paramount seemed overambitious with including water effects on rides, and didn't learn the lesson despite failures on Adventure Express, Top Gun, TOMB RAIDER: The Ride, and Italian Job: Stunt Track. That being said, Kings Dominion's has had half of the splashdown working the last few times I've been there. It splashes only on the side facing the midway. Though to be fair, almost none of their other effects work at all, so perhaps it was a question of "this or that?" and they chose that.

Exactly..hopefully they get a good pat on the back for all this hard work. Many this was probably their first experience with a downed ride and evacs if they helped

Props to all the KI employees for keeping the guests safeand sound throughout the whole ordeal.

Do not be afraid to try the test seat outside the rides. The test seat is much more helpful than people think. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agreed..one of the best in the park..wish there were more like him

Ah, Kyle.... "You have battled The Beast and most of you made it back alive, so I ask you.... HOW WAS IT?!?!?" I've said it before and I'll say it again: spieling is intended for a bunch of 18 year old kids to discover that they like the sound of their own voices over the microphone. If you think you're good at it then you're part of the problem. That kid is the exception.

Throw a covered wagon in one of the center flower beds. Problem solved. Joking. (Kind of)

I went with my 2 sons last night. This was my first time and I would guess the weather held some back from attending. It was a decent crowd but definitely not packed. We had hung out at the waterpark most of the day. The rest of the waterpark closed at 8pm. My boys decided they wanted to watch the movie instead of dry rides. We walked over to the wavepool about 8ish. They made an announcement to line up on left side of pool if we wanted a raft. They provided 2 park hosts walking around with microphones asking trivia such as "What is your favorite part of the movie? and "What is the snowman's name?" It was just for fun, no prizes or anything. Then, there was LOTS of singing into the mike by the kids. As to be expected, lots of "Let it Go!" was sung lol! Pool was still closed off at this time. I didn't have a watch but probably around 9ish (maybe a little before), they let us get the floats and enter a roped over section of pool. They let people in the pool in small groups and this seemed to take awhile. It was very organized. We were one of the first groups in and it seemed like people kept coming in. Not sure if they ever ran out of floats. Many people around us ditched their floats and just swam and splashed. Not sure if they still allow that in high capacity. I had heard once tubes ran out, it was the waiting game until someone got out. We never got out so I can't confirm:) Movie didn't start until around 9:40. They played some trivia on the screens and promos for upcoming events. My 3 year old wasn't too impressed. My 7 year old wants to now attend EVERY advertised event haha! It was fun and we would do it again. I might not go right at 8pm though. It was a long wait, but it was a nice evening. Packed capacity crowds (and not being near front of tube line) might have changed my tune though. My kids want to go back Friday for Toy Story!

If I remember correctly, Opening Day 2014 was the busiest weekend in the parks history. I may be wrong, if so please correct me.

Thanks for the suggestions. I had a wonderful time. I was at Beech Bend Thursday, Holiday World and Kings Island on Friday (and KI today). KY Rumbler was great. Zero G, that was a rough stop. I popped up out of my seat and my shoulders hit the restraints. Pretty sure that wasn't a proper ending. Moby Dick was great, as was the mouse coaster. I really REALLY went for a spin at the end. Unfortunately, I could only last 2 hours at BB. It was so hot, I was getting ill. I made a huge mistake and got on Starship thinking it would be cooler in there. Nope. Holiday World went above my expectations. So much so, I am taking my kids in a few weeks Voyage is FANTASTIC. I rode twice. The second time, we were stuck in the safety stop area for 20 minutes. The maintenance people were great to us. Raven and Legend ...wow. Liberty Launch is an awesome ride. That little ride really packs a punch. I was suprised with Sparkler too. KI, of course, that's my happy place. Great time there yesterday. Today was a bit more crowded than I like, but, I took the opportunity to people watch. This turned into a trip report. Oops. P.S. If anyone knows Kyle from Beast..tell him thanks again. I managed to get a night ride on Beast, last train. Workers rode with me. It was great and he hopped in with me

In an effort to maintain my good reputation on this site, I will not go into my multi-paragraph dissertation about why Diamondback is placed very well exactly where it is, lest people start to think of me as a troll. Regardless of any of that, however, just look at the darn thing. I think one look at Diamondback and its complete domination of the skyline makes it abundantly clear that it isn't part of Planet Snoopy. You want a ride that teeters on the edge of the two sections? Look at our Arrow Flume. It has even moved between the two sections without physically moving.

I would love to live next to Kings Island.

It is like being on a giant swingset. Seriously, think of that gut-thrill from early swingsets, only extend the experience out to about a sustained 4-5 seconds of it. The lateral motion (spinning) is experienced mostly as a constant change of scenery (which is incredibly scenic!). It's a great, big producer of that "tickle" you might have experienced going down a hilly country back road. Fun, not scary.

When I was a kid, I would take much better care of the toys I bought more than the ones I was given as hand-me-downs. I hope Cedar Fair has these same feelings with their big expensive toys. Ever the optimist I guess. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Italian Job: Stunt Track was built under CBS. I doubt many opportunities to cut costs were missed.

For those people that are sick of hearing about Frozen just "Let It Go". (Sorry, it had to be done) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So you just want us to.. Let it go?

The park will be super busy this weekend due to SpiritSong. The last 3 times I been to the park this year on a Saturday or Sunday have been busy. Haunt weekends will be busy if it doesn't rain.

Remember a few years ago when we all felt oddly rejuvenated and excited because they'd completely fixed the flame effects, added new LEDs, and were playing new music on purpose? What a difference... Hopefully this is just an oversight and something that'll get fixed up soon. Honestly given Cedar Fair's recent direction, I tend to have more hope than despair, and that's a big change. I hope they prove me right!

I don't think that showing 'Jurassic Park' to your kids necessarily makes you or anyone a bad parent. You know your kid better than anyone. You know what's appropriate for them and what's not.

A dark ride, maybe some new theme for white water canyon, and general fix it up!

Even though it is "officially" part of Planet Snoopy now, I still consider RFYLCB equally at home in Rivertown. So, as far as that goes, it is a good transition, a little of each. The majority of Diamondback being located firmly in Rivertown helps too. Really, I think the biggest obstacle is that the outside of RHoFG doesn't fit into the Rivertown theming, so Diamondback's queue and station feel cut off. That's something that would be fairly easily changed (back).

See Geauga Lake...

Staying open past 10 often generates noise complaints from the now nearby residents. The park can't win, it seems.

Paramount, Paramount Parks, Italian Job and other related marks are registered trademarks. As such, they are always capitalized here.

Kings Island said they will stay open past 10 tonight due to the power outage, pretty cool for those that stuck around. Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

Torture Tower had the standard "man being shocked in an electric chair" gag, extremely limited capacity, and employees banging loudly on the tower floor with metal clubs and crowbars. The tower floor, too, was widely rumored to have been damaged.

Its still fun. I miss the effects too.

I love BLSC. I wish it had its effects back.

Not sure I can blame CF for this one as they did not own KI when the ride was built.Many of the effects on BLSC did not operate under the Paramount name nor did many effects on other "themed" rides. CF may have the reputation of letting the small things go, but I can give them a pass on the theming under the previous ownership. If Paramount built things on the cheap side, the cost of repairs may be too great.

Banshee is fantastic from up top, quite a site to see having it all there underneath you. Plus free fall rides are still fantastic, it's something that never gets old to me

If typical, what will Banshee look like five years from now?

One issue, I think is the mixed message of Rivertown. Is it the old west? Or... something else? I think technically it's supposed to represent an early Ohio settlement along the river, right? Nothing wrong with that in Kings Island's early days (when you visited for the atmosphere, dining, shopping, and food as much as for the attractions), and the log flume and the keelboats fit that setting... issue is, not of whole lot of EXCITING stuff can be tied to an early Ohio river settlement. The Beast fits in a unique and clever way... sort of a local legend about a creature in the woods. Obviously additions thereafter have deviated, using Rivertown as a "Frontierland" or... I don't know, Southeast Asia. For a while, that early Ohio settlement had a Western coaster diving over an Asian temple with a demonic bat inside and a Beast out in the woods behind. Today it's a hodge-podge, but no more than any of the park's other "lands." (Lest we forget, Adventure Express and the Burrito Shack are in Oktoberfest, Banshee is in a vaguely-themed studio backlot, Flight of Fear technically remains in Coney Mall since the park doesn't acknowledge X-Base as a land, etc). I continue to think that an off-season of re-defining / re-naming / re-theming ALL of the parks "lands" would be a great thing to see, but I continue to understand that the average guest probably wouldn't notice. Then again, Kings Dominion made a whole year's celebration about two lands coming back to life, so who knows.

I just look at the park as a whole, Kings Island, and enjoy everything it has to offer and not worry about what name a space has on the map

Ok, I think Firehawk has to go. It is clearly an arsonist.