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How do you know there was no donation? Do you have access to the master list?

If he had a point that was worth making on this issue, he'd not need to explain himself over and over. Sorry, Devan; on this you are coming across as a whiny pest.

If and when RMC converts Racer or Beast, but they are steel there, I'm gonna portion out some of the blame to the RMC fanbois on this board. SFGAm's Goliath is great fun. It is by no means a wood coaster. It doesn't look like one, it doesn't sound like one, it doesn't ride like one, and, most importantly to Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, it doesn't require the maintenance of one. Wood coaster my foot.

What's wrong with employees donating their money, anyway? As someone who knows a person who lost their life to ALS, I can tell you that the disease is not completely understood and research is terribly under funded. He spent the last 5 years of his life not knowing exactly what the next stage of the "progress" of the condition was going to be. It was very scary and sad time.I challenge you to come up with a viral campaign that's half as effective or raises half of the money that this has. Then you can criticize.

Cedar Point accepted Kings Island's challenge in a rather unique location:

The crowd that thinks they are wood should also enjoy that grand old wood coaster, Adventure Express!

How anybody could find wrong with this, is beyond me. Donations.....+X amount that has ever been raised. Awareness....heard more about ALS in the last few weeks then I have the last 40 years. Education......I don't need to know, that's why I donate to those that do.

Yeah, but if they think that new RMC stuff is wood, they may as well...Gemini, two.

^Exactly! What makes it even worse is that RT wasn't even replaced with anything yet! It's just a big area of vacant land, where there should be a classic, family wooden coaster sitting. Sigh.

The World needs more GCI coasters........ Maybe I'll make that my signature.

So would you like a full in-depth description of the disease instead of doing the ice bucket challenge? Because I can tell you both exist, but guess which one is getting more attention. (Even if for a short time)

And thereafter, in Ohio, each day is only guaranteed at the end of a shift. Ohio is an "at will" state, meaning that either the employer or employer can end the relationship for no reason or for almost any reason without notice. Posting here, especially about terms of employment, has ended the jobs of quite a few at Cedar Fair parks (not even just Kings Island). A word to the wise....

During my small "lecture" on wooden coasters, I was mainly directing the focus to Kings Island, but now that you brought up the wooden coaster situation at NJFTP.... Sadness. It is sad to see, sad to hear, and sad to think about where SIX is with their (lack of) wooden coasters at the moment. Looking into the future, its sad to think about what future generations will come to know as a "wooden roller coaster", steel coasters such as Goliath at SFGA will become known as wooden roller coasters while REAL wooden coasters (the remaining ones) will be looked at as "the old ones". NJFTP lost A WHOLE LOT when making the decision to remove Rolling Thunder. Not necesarily money, but a wooden coaster variety of some sort, is what was lost. In general, SIX is helping to diminish a majority of the wooden roller coaster population in the US and fill it with RMC creations. Letting RMC Steel the glory of wooden roller coasters will only last for so long. I believe and hope that an end will come to the "wooden coaster" madness that is taking place currently within the SIX chain. If they are to "give the people what they want", then eventually the people are going to want a wooden roller coaster, a real one........ ....Or maybe I'm being too hopeful...... That was very well said Terp, I couldn't agree more.

TheBEASTunchained: And what wood coaster variety is there at Great Advencha? There's El Toro and ... Terp, who will NOT get over it.

I appreciate every bit of awareness given to ALS, my grandfather died from it and it wasn't a quick thing, just slowly fading away from reality. Even if the awareness is temporary (possibly?) it serves a good purpose.

All I'm saying is that you sound quite pessimistic about something that does nothing but good.

^ Good coaster, yes indeed. Very much so. Wooden? No, (at least in my eyes) it still rides like steel. 1980's-style Arrow steel with some uneven transitions but steel nonetheless.

I seriously doubt you would ever see KI "RMC" Beast or Racer...There is absolutely no need to. They are not problematic and or poorly maintained. SOB would have been a far more likely candidate and we saw what happened there. When I say I would like to see an RMC at KI I am talking about a built from scratch new ride, which is what I thought we were discussing. I don't care if you call it wood or steel, as long as it is fun. As far as a traditional woodies are concerned, I would love a GCI twister like Thunderhead. I love that ride. For steel how about Chance? A bigger/longer version of Lightning Run would be epic, especially if you could work in some of KI's hilly terrain (ok maybe something like that already exists in Pittsburgh, but that is a long drive).

^^That will happen if Intamin gets their head out of their ass...trust me I'd love to see a Blitz @ KI, but I doubt we'll ever see it happen

Our biggest job is education. You are right Dev. But if raising awareness leads to people asking us in the field about it, isnt that a good thing? Its much easier to give information to people asking what a disease is versus trying to teach people who dont want to know.

Compare SeaWorld's reactive moves to this summer's publicity at Kentucky Kingdom (or the lack thereof during the fair). Quite frankly, the similarities are there. Meanwhile, I wish I could say I find the proposed litigation utterly without merit, but even I was stunned at both the admission that Blackfish is hurting SEAS... more so with its timing. Companies must disclose material factors that could affect regulated securities valuation as soon as it is known the potential exists. See Cedar Fair's long, intricate disclosures in forward looking statements. Terp, who is not engaged in the private practice of law in Florida, Virginia, California, Texas, the District of Columbia or any United State. He is not a dealer in securities nor an investment advisor, registered or otherwise, within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1934, as amended, and subsequent legislation and regulations. There is no legal or investment advice meant for any particular client or situation contained herein. There are uncertainties in litigation and in finical markets, whose outcomes cannot be predicted with certainty, nor guaranteed. Consult a competent legal, accounting, securities and/or financial advisor for advice. This lengthy disclaimer is unfortunately required of the author herein. Have a great day. Results not guaranteed nor reasonably foreseeable.

I love how in KI's Ice Bucket challenge, Don said "That messed up my hair!" Kings Island Ice Bucket challenge

I was part of KI's Ice Bucket Challenge today at work ( ) and to be honest, I didn't know much about ALS before the challenge. At that point, the only thing I knew was that it is also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease (because of a baseball computer game I played when I was younger) and that I thought it caused paralysis (which upon further research, it turns out I was correct). I saw some family members and Facebook friends taking the Ice Bucket Challenge and checked out a video my aunt shared about the man who started this challenge. His name is Pete Frates and was diagnosed with ALS in March 2012. Check out this video for more info: http://nesn.com/2014/08/pete-frates-fight-against-als-that-inspired-viral-movement-featured-on-sportscenter-video/. EDIT: Also, this site explains what ALS is: http://www.alsa.org/about-als/what-is-als.html

Agreed, ALS never really crossed my mind as a majorly known disease since we get breast cancer and other random mass scare disease of the years (Ebola, MERS, etc.) showed on mainstream media constantly. This is just like all the other trends that started that are good things (pink ribbons turning into a color ribbon for everything, yellow wristbands turning into a color wristband for everything, etc.). How anyone can say this is a bad thing, I don't know, but I do appreciate the effort people are putting into the effort. Every post on Facebook I have seen for this has had "ALS" in the description of the post they are making, and every time ALS is on your screen, that equals awareness, even if it's subconscious.

Huh? When had you last heard of ALS before this? Not raise awareness? That's silly.

I just a season pass to the Newport Aquarmium for $40.00 and found out they off 50% admission tickets to Dollywood and a few other parks. I had no idea and I'm now making my first visit to Dollywood. Can't wait. We will save $30.00 on admission to Dollywood. Well worth the purchase price of $40.00 Save 50% At other Herschend Family Entertainment Properties: Dollywood (Pigeon Forge, TN) Silver Dollar City (Branson, MO) Stone Mountain Park (Atlanta, GA) Wild Adventures (Valdosta, GA Adventure Aquarium (Camden, NJ) Darien Lake (Buffalo, NY) http://www.newportaquarium.com/Aquarium-admission/Annual-Passes/Benefits.aspx

And the hole is dug. Deeper and deeper. Does not SeaWorld have any securities lawyers? If it does, why does it not listen to them? If it does, perhaps it should consider engaging competent counsel. My head hurts.

CEO: "We should have done more to fight Blackfish" http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/os-seaworld-ceo-jim-atchison-20140819,0,373725.story?utm_content=bufferc5111&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Season pass renewals and Carowinds announcement at 11am, tomorrow is going to be a great day

Watch the whole video, NSFW language but it shows why we are raising money and awareness for this.

^^^ True- RMC's coasters are very, very unique. I guess I can see SOME wooden coasters getting this treatment- woodies that, in spite of constant overhauls and attempts at tradtional upkeep just can't seem to be "fixed" due to a design problem or something. Texas Giant and Rattler, in this case, made sense. Those rides were going to be insanely expensive to run long-term, and were according to many becoming painfully rough. In cases like that, RMC gives parks an option to revive rides that were otherwise un-saveable. Now, doing this to a "normal" wooden coaster just for the sake of saving a bit on upkeep...not cool. Or demolishing the woodie as whole (RIP Rolling Thunder)- even worse. Now, a brand-new RMC, like Outlaw Run, Golitah, or Wildfire (coming to Europe in 2015)? I have zero problem with those at all- they (usually) aren't destroying anything in order to be built. (Though Six Flags Great America did remove Iron Wolf to build Goliath...though Iron Wolf does still live on as Apocalypse). Though wether they are wood or steel is still up in the air.

...often destroying wooden coasters at Six Flags parks whilst doing so.

I look at RMC stuff as a hybrid doing their own thing. And what they are doing is producing big thrills that are unique to their style.

The ones that could care less we should cherish, as they DO care SOME.

^ On the SIX Wooden Coaster topic, I have to agree 100%- they need to slow down and reconsider their "war on wood", if it's RMC remakes or pure destruction...the classic wooden coaster, aka no prefab stuff or topper track, has its place among traditional amusement parks. When I think of an amusement park in vague, a traditional wooden coaster is one of the first things that pops in my head, and if I were actually hired to build and run my own park building a signature wooden coaster (or possibly more) would be near the top of my to-do list during park construction. What I fear further fuels SIX's desire to remove many of its wooden coasters is that there seems to be a growing trend of park-goers who could care less or would even WANT their parks to remove their older wooden coasters. One such case of this: I was Facebook once, and a Cedar Point post was in my feed. They had just posted a new POV of Blue Streak, and I just had to read the comments, and then one of them shocked me...it was along the lines of "Stupid Wooden Coaster. It needs torn down 'cuz its rough and boring." This was not Mean Streak, mind you, it was Blue Streak- a coaster generally considered by most a hidden gem and usually rated well by enthusiasts. Of course, to my relief, at least a few people responded in Blue Streak's defense but the mere fact that such people exist scares me because if they are or become the norm- the ones who are constantly visiting parks like Cedar Point, Kings Island, Six Flags etc.- the parks will just go where the money is and will just remove these rides if there is no demand for them. As a fan of classic wooden coasters, this scares me. The modern wooden stuff like RMC's and Intamin Prefabs? I have nothing against them, or steel coasters in general- in fact I also enjoy them a lot- but those should exist alongside the classic-style wooden coasters, not replace them. Adds more variety to a park that way too.

I'm inclined to agree since this is also my stance- with Son of Beast gone, Kings Island does IMO need a new, modern wooden coaster. And my view on the companies that could do it... Intamin: I'd like them to do it the most, but it's the least likely to happen. An El Toro type wooden coaster would be incredible and add some serious thrills to the coaster selection at Kings Island, and could be built very large and thus with its wooden structure have a profound impact on the park's skyline. And, with Intamin's Prefabs being uber-smooth, you would not get the "it's rough!" complaints at all. The problem and why it likely would not happen is simple- Cedar Fair and Intamin are not really anywhere near on the same page right now, especially since nearly every Intamin installed in the last few years has had some sort of issues. GCI: The most likely choice, since Cedar Fair does go to them whenever they have wanted a wooden coaster in recent years and rides like Prowler & Gold Striker have been met with solid reviews. And GCI seems to be suggesting they may be willing to start building larger (150+ foot tall) wooden coasters, which would be right up the alley of a larger park like Kings Island as it could be built to run 3 trains then instead of GCI's "normal" two. They have also worked with Kings Island in the past, but not on any coasters. They also specialize in "Twister" type woodies, which would compliment Beast (terrain) & Racer (out-and-back+racing) well. RMC: A 3rd option, more likely than Intamin but less than GCI. Though this would really be a steel coaster in disguise, just looking somewhat like a woodie. And if it is like Goliath @ SFGam it wouldn't even do that. But there is a slim chance Cedar Fair could actually talk RMC into doing a real woodie...but I have no idea how that would turn out. Gravity Group: Option #4, and one of the more unlikely ones. While many of their rides are top-rated, the larger designs like Hades & Voyage have shown to need insane amounts of TLC to continue to run well and Kings Island may not be willing to put up with that- especially with 3 other woodies and numerous steel coasters to take care of as well. One thing that has been brought up in the past- and I'll say it again here as well- it also that the park will likely not want to do another wooden coaster until the memories of Son of Beast are very, very faded at least. That ride left a negative mark on the park's wooden coaster reputation and it will likely be a while before the GP is ready to accept a new wooden coaster (though many- especially on here- would know immediatley this new woodie would have nothing to do with SOB and be excited for it I assume). So the park's next major coaster will likely be steel. What type, I am not sure- B&M would be very likely due to how well their rides have been recieved here, but if the park does want some variety they could go with Mack or something...

Im really anxious to hear the details of this ride! How tall (the drop), how fast, how long, what are the trains gonna look like? Theming? Oh and don't forget...... the tunnel...... (Dun dun duuuuuuuuun) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

RMC please.

Not just Intamin. I am just tired of seeing the same stuff go in. I love Banshee but I still would like a variety. Several manufacturers are making incredible coasters right now. Branch out, try something new.

No awareness campaign really teaches, such as the pink ribbons don't teach, they encourage you to seek out information on the disease. Unfortunately most people aren't going to sit through an in-depth spiel about ALS even with the ice buckets. It's expected of a large company like Kings Island to put out good information, but just some random kid in his backyard with a bucket of ice water, good luck getting him to go through the whole spiel.

It's so hot and awful out, you might as well do it just to be refreshed.

You hope! No employment is guaranteed until you fill out the paperwork (and even then there's a small chance it won't be guaranteed)

^ Exactly. If anything, we're seeing a trend toward a single ticket covering both parks. I would be thoroughly surprised to see them go the other way.

Don I would just like to say thank you for this. I know this isn't all you, but I would like to thank everyone who works at KI. You guy really don't hear that enough.

I think for something to go viral, it has to be unique. If donations drop again next year for ALS, that would unfortunate, but one good year can really help promote research to last a few years. I have many friends participating in this. Many who I know never knew or even thought of ALS before this challenge.

I would be a little surprised if they don't end up making the Fast Lane Plus perk good for any Sunday, including the 2015 season. I think it would make the most sense for them to spread it out, monetarily. As for me, I'm good either way. My Gold Pass renewal is already guaranteed, regardless of additional perks (but they are always appreciated!). Being able to come and go at the park at my whim for an entire season is way more than worth the price of a pass. I'm even strongly considering adding the meal plan this year.

According to Darren Rovell: "The national chapter of the ALS Association raised $23.5M in 2013. The Bucket Challenge in 22 DAYS has raised $22.9 million." https://twitter.com/darrenrovell/status/501716895733936128

I found the culprit! #jonathan did it before he skipped town. Sly noodle. Via Google Earth Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is about giving our renewing season passholders what they've been asking for: something for renewing since there is not a price break in the fall between new and renewal. We're also going to be giving our guests that renew their season pass before November 2 something else they've been asking for with an exclusive preview night before the park opens for the 2015 season.