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With so many legal gray areas, ambiguities, diverse interpretations, loose ends and loopholes, if I were in PR, I'd be pulling my hai.... nevermind.

These stories always amaze me - and same family would probably be first to file a lawsuit if the kid flew off the ride. http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/attorney-kings-island-may-have-violated-federal-law-by-barring-boy-with-disabilities-from-rides I am all for ADA, etc., but sometimes you just cannot design for every scenario. I love the quote from the attorney: “The fact that this child has been able to perform an activity in the past without incident is strong evidence that he could continue to do so again in the future, safely.” So if I drive my vehicle on I-71 past KI doing 120mph without incident is that strong evidence I could continue to do so again in the future safely? (I have not done this and do not endorse speeding, just making a point)! And this quote: “They don't get to decide based on their view that he's not able to have control over his body,” she said. “People with disabilities can do things that everyone else does… and if Logan and his mom say he is able to maintain a position or control that’s necessary to ride those rides, that really should be the end of the story.” Will they then sign a legal form that says they will hold park harmless? I think not, and if they did and said boy was injured or killed, then they would claim they didn't know what they were signing. The industry is in a lose-lose situation when these events happen. And if parks were truly in violation of Federal Law, every ride and park as we know it would cease to exist.

You'd think that WCPO would know that it's not "King's Island" by now.

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Sean Flaharty posted a video on August 28th that makes me so nostalgic for Tomb Raider: The Ride that I could just about cry: I've wanted to see video of Tomb Raider's media day forEVER, and that music and the video of the queue and that MUSIC and the fact that you can see the door to the preshow open with music and lights and THAT MUSIC. GAH. This video doesn't do the original ride justice, but it's the closest dang thing I've ever found (apart from a full queue walkthrough video I found several years ago that I've since lost and never recovered.) I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did.

In other news, Vortex is sinking & Flight Deck is on the chopping block.

You have to wonder if those in power at Cedar Fair even understand. Yes, maintenance suffered (as most rides did during CBS's years). Yes, Tomb Raider was already more complex than any of the chain's other attractions at a time when maintenance suffered. Yes, it was an intense ride to keep in shape, I'm sure. Yes, the ride system was a piece of junk. But you really do have to wonder if today's Cedar Fair management thinks of the ride only as The Crypt, or if they realize that Tomb Raider truly met and exceeded Universal or Disney quality in terms of ride experience. Seriously! I mean, it was fantastic. Videos like this remind us that it was NOT rose colored glasses. The ride truly was so outstanding and miles away from anything else at a seasonal park. The next great revolutionary attempt at a dark ride in a seasonal park would be DarKastle. Arguably, Tomb Raider was more impressive.

Maybe it's just my phone, but the picture of him looks like it has been altered. I have a friend whose daughter has her legs amputated above the knees and her arms are not formed properly. This young lady is amazing. She blows my mind with the things she is capable of doing. Her mom and dad took her to Kings Island last year and Kings Island provided her with a list of rides her daughter could ride. The list was minimal. They did not get upset over it, however with having limitations that prevent her daughter to ride, they have just not gone back. They are more concerned about her daughter's safety than putting her potentially in harms way. They choose to go to other activities that will permit her daughter to do more. As a mom, I cannot understand why a parent would be upset over trying to keep my children safe.

Amusement park employees enforce long-standing safety requirements. Affected guest receives good customer service. More at 11. Only on WCPO. (We all feel bad for the kid, but this story is hardly news.)

We do not know the facts with certainty whether it was a policy change or a policy being more strictly enforced, but policy change or not, it doesn't matter whether someone rode it in the past or not and now is being told they cannot ride. Just because someone has visual evidence that they rode the ride doesn't mean they should have been allowed to in the first place and should thus be allowed this time - they could have been able to sneak on. I have seen parents at Woodstock Express get mad when an employee tells them their child is too small to ride and have watched said parent then pull out their cell phone showing photo proof that their little child had rode it - the employee still will not let them ride. That kid was unfortunately able to be overlooked last time and rode in error and like I said before, parent should just be glad that nothing happened to their kid (and KI should be as well if such child was hurt and was found to be below the height requirement we know the parent would file a lawsuit). The height requirement for that coaster hasn't changed since before such kid was even born (if the height requirement has even changed since its existence), so it isn't like it was a change in policy that doesn't allow them to now not ride. If you get pulled over on I-71 for speeding and tell the police officer "Well I speed everyday on this stretch of highway and here is a selfie proof of my speedometer" that doesn't make it right and doesn't mean the speed limit policy changed the day you got pulled over. You simply got caught. And if you said that to a police officer, you are probably getting a ticket instead of a warning! I don't know... That's another can of worms. If the rider was ejected from the ride or even had a heart attack during the course of the ride then they would have been, "checked out and deemed healthy or in good enough shape to ride" by the park's medical staff. That's just waiting for a legal or PR nightmare. Somewhat related - I have even seen attentive employees question a child's height, although they had a height bracelet indicating they are tall enough, and do a measurement in the station and if the kid isn't tall enough, they did not ride, even with the bracelet. Parent was ticked, but how does the employee not know that it wasn't a bracelet from an older sibling. If they didn't measure tall enough in the station, they do not ride. Simple. And the ride op should be given that authority as it is part of their responsibility anyway.

Lord knows i miss this ride....... so much....

Not to mention, a stronger Kentucky Kingdom also necessitates a stronger Holiday World, Dollywood, and Beech Bend, All of which in turn serve yet again to force Kings Island to keep up. Plus, an operating Kentucky Kingdom means I can ride coasters in the two weeks between the end of KI's summer season and the start of Haunt, which I have already taken advantage of once, and may again this weekend!

Life, liberty and the pursuit...? Not the Constitution. That's the Declaration of Independence. Sigh.

It's sad that KI even has to deal with this. As stated, this is for the safety of the guest and others first and foremost. I think someone else said it best earlier- if something were to happen, they'd likely sue also. I think parks in general do as much as they can to reasonably accommodate people with disabilities- but you can't compromise safety in that accommodation. Extreme case: under this scenario- since I have the occasional digestive issue but still enjoy WindSeeker, I am going to present a law suit for them to install restrooms at the top of the tower in the event nature calls while I'm 300' in the air. Or, I have back issues- so I can enjoy The Beast like everyone else- they need to install Lazy-Boy like seats to coddle my stack of ruptured discs... or I could take my safety into my realm of responsibility- and just stay off the rides that may cause the trouble. Breaking the law.... our constitution gets sooooo abused and convoluted that it is almost comical. There are laws to protect those with disability from being able to earn a living or attain certain rights. Riding Roller Coasters is not a right. The constitution allows for each citizen of this kindergarten called the United States "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"... not life, liberty, and happiness.... it is the pursuit of. No where does it guarantee that you will always be happy.

I don't know... That's another can of worms. If the rider was ejected from the ride or even had a heart attack during the course of the ride then they would have been, "checked out and deemed healthy or in good enough shape to ride" by the park's medical staff. That's just waiting for a legal or PR nightmare.

I remember that day well. I was working as a "media ambassador", basically acting as a liason between a member of the media and the park, making sure they had everything they needed to complete their story about the ride. I was assigned Mike Terwilliger, who was the weatherman for one of the Dayton stations at the time, I want to say channel 22. One of the "explorers" in the khaki shirts and hats happened to be an aquaintance of mine from college who I hadn't seen since we graduated seven years earlier. I still have the media ambassador shirt I wore that day, a nice black long-sleeve t-shirt with the TR:TR logo in gold shiny print. Thanks for letting us know about that video! It brought back some nice memories of a wonderful event and a great, immersive queue and ride experience. It was also nice to see some familiar faces including Mr. Jeffrey Siebert, several other former co-workers, and a clean-shaven KIC member who looked a little less shaggy without the beard he now has.

I worked Pride Night a few times and it seemed like everyone had a great time. All nights I worked were mostly issue free and I definitely saw no issues of "hate." I hope that all that decide to attend have a great time!

Yeah, a total of 3 in about 24 hours...

I know they are from two different documents, Terpy... I actually wrote that the constitution allows for... not written therein. Declaration of Independence doesn't detail our rights; the constitution does. But I digress.

What's a Flight Deck? I mean, there's The Bat and Firehawk, but I don't see a Flight Deck. Wait, do you mean Flight of Fear? No, they couldn't!

Kings Island next week is going to be awesome, a lot of Facebook pictures will be uploaded. I can't wait, why can't time just speed up?

You know, I usually keep my mouth shut on these matters, but in this case I simply cannot. I read far too many comments like the ones posted above and I just need to say something. There is no "gay" life style. I do not drink "gay" coffee. I do not eat "gay" food. I do not take a "gay" shower. I do not go to "gay" work. Etc Etc I just wish people would stop saying "gay lifestyle". I don't do anything differently than anyone else when it comes to living my life. I do everything like anyone else as far as trying to live my life and survive in this world, which isn't done in some special "gay" manner as many like to think. Life is life, save "style" for clothes and hair please. Also, even though you may not hate anyone, you going out of your way to say you don't hate the LGBT community makes you come off sounding entitled. My love is not a sin. I am in a committed relationship of almost four years now and have been faithful to her and I truly LOVE her. I didn't wake up and decide to be a lesbian. Just like you didn't wake up and decide to be straight. I just made the choice to be happy and be myself...because you're right...life is too short to hate anyone or give them grief for who they love. It's this exact mentality of saying "love the sinner, hate the sin"...that perpetuates the religious community as better than anyone who so happens to seem different than themselves. And the only time one ever seems to hear that overused quote is toward the LGBT community. Anyways, that is all. No one has to agree with me and I'm not asking for pats on the back.

This is year one. Not year two nor three, year one, the test year. Kentucky Kingdom was one of the very first parks in the country to offer a halloween event. I see this event coming back in the near future. The park has already announced via email that parks hours will increase on weekdays and the park will be open more days next season.

Terp, If you want to play with the new forums software version you can here: http://zend.ipsdevserver.com/ips4/

I don't believe that ride ops determine disability. I am pretty sure that a guest with disabilities goes to Guest Services or speaks with a supervisor who then provides said guest with the sheet documenting which rides are safe for that guest to enjoy. The ride ops just look to see if the ride the guest is waiting for is approved on the ride sheet.

As I told Interpreter, we are gonna make another server change. I'm just waiting till the offseason to do it.

Alls that went through my head "Mmmmmmmm theming". Such an amazing ride, I didn't get to ride it until The Crypt was around, which I despised it due to being small and lack of theme probably. Hey look, on ride photos! Limos! Thanks for posting, indeed a nostalgic attraction.

Another thing nobody is thinking about - the park giving out a refund opens a potentially dangerous door. Now the park has made a judgment call that THIS disability deserves a refund even though they've never given them out in the past. The park has established a precedent of giving a refund because of being unable to ride most of the rides. Now they will be forced to make judgment calls as to which situations that bar a guest from riding are refund-worthy and which aren't. Even if they give out no more refunds ever again, that in itself is a judgment call that Logan deserved a refund, but a future angry guest does not. It's a lot safer to just not give any out ever or to always give one to anyone who asks. Obviously the latter would not be good for business.

I really hope KI's next ride is a dark ride. But then comes the question of how well will they maintain it? KI, has gotten a little better it seems in the past year or two on keeping theming up. I think we could use something competently new, dark ride experience to the park. Something that takes a page out of Universal's, Amazing Spider-Man ride. Something that requires a min height of 40-42in (since the park doesn't have much in the way of that height range), also it could be a fairly intense of a ride.

The first ride anticipation was intense. I kind of figured by the layout in the construction area, the concrete structure that could be viewed from the train the year before opening and some of the promotion pictures after announcement that it might have been a Top Spin....but the ride really exceeded all my expectations. I never rode the ride after the Kinzel makeover...just didn't seem worth my time.

The similarities are stunning. And at least in my social circle, Apple Watch has been met with the same kinds of reactions: "Were people asking for this? Was this really needed? Isn't it redundant?" Did you catch, by the way, that an Apple Watch is practically useless unless you have an iPhone? And not just have it... have it on your person. Basically, wearable tech is a weird industry. Seems to impose more limits and nuances than groundbreaking universal usefulness. That's fine, and things like the MagicBand or Apple Watch are cool and trendy and fun, but they're not really MEANT for enormous audiences or universal use.

I hate when folks pull the "but he/she rode it last time", whether it be this type of situation or a kid that is denied a ride in Planet Snoopy because he isn't tall enough and the parent claims they rode it earlier in the day - if that truly happened then count yourself lucky that the employee missed the kid that time around AND that the kid returned safely. I saw a mom in line in front of me once and I could hear her trying to talk her son up that he would like the ride and it would be fun and other such things that I could tell that little kid had never been on the coaster before. I could tell he was too short and knew the employee would have him get out of the coaster for a measurement. Guess what, employee asks to measure the child and the mom pulls that "he just rode it" spiel - kid missed the measurement guide by 2 inches. She was flat out lying using the "he just rode it" spiel! Just because you rode it last time doesn't make it right or acceptable this time. Policies change and|or are more strictly enforced based on an incident, etc. Same goes with lots of things - I remember when folks could smoke in a shopping mall and grocery store; newborns would leave the hospital in a vehicle on the mom's lap; speed limit was 70mph; minimum drinking age was 19; etc. None of which is now legal in Ohio. On stretches of Ohio highway the speedlimit is 70 again... But the rest of what you are saying is spot on.

Magic Wrist band......Apple IWatch with IPay.....didn't see that coming.

This DOES bring up a good point though. Who at the park is the one giving an individual the ole up-down and determining, "Nope. Can't ride." SOME rider safety descriptions are specific: "must have two fully functioning arms." "Those with amputations below the knee cannot ride." But the rider must be able to "brace himself?" Hmmm...

I hate when folks pull the "but he/she rode it last time", whether it be this type of situation or a kid that is denied a ride in Planet Snoopy because he isn't tall enough and the parent claims they rode it earlier in the day - if that truly happened then count yourself lucky that the employee missed the kid that time around AND that the kid returned safely. I saw a mom in line in front of me once and I could hear her trying to talk her son up that he would like the ride and it would be fun and other such things that I could tell that little kid had never been on the coaster before. I could tell he was too short and knew the employee would have him get out of the coaster for a measurement. Guess what, employee asks to measure the child and the mom pulls that "he just rode it" spiel - kid missed the measurement guide by 2 inches. She was flat out lying using the "he just rode it" spiel! Just because you rode it last time doesn't make it right or acceptable this time. Policies change and|or are more strictly enforced based on an incident, etc. Same goes with lots of things - I remember when folks could smoke in a shopping mall and grocery store; newborns would leave the hospital in a vehicle on the mom's lap; speed limit was 70mph; minimum drinking age was 19; etc. None of which is now legal in Ohio.

My only question is, if that list of hers was forged, then where would you get such a list from? Create it? Doesn't look like a simple forged document. Not only that, she has pictures of him on The Beast. That right there is enough evidence that this boy had been to KI and rode The Beast. Plus, the picture should have a date as to when that was taken. However, if policy changed, then that's a different issue. I would err on the side of caution as well because of previous incidents at other amusement parks. The SFDL incident comes to mind. Not surprisingly, we are not hearing the entire story.

I miss this one so much. It was amazing when it originally opened with all the theming adn teh ride itself was fun too. Once it got gutted ti wasn't even half of what it was. This adn Phantom Theatre top my most missed attractions at the park. TR:TR was in my top 3 rides there when it was fully working.

Just imagine how different the park looks to those of us who were there the first public day. Life goes on. Some things are better, some are not, some are not as good. Such is life.

Uh... way to make me sad

I presume neighborhood safety issues or the perception thereof are one of the drivers for the hours. See also Six Flags Over Georgia and Six Flags America. Both draw from "sketchy" neighborhoods.

If last weekend was any indication of how things are going, Thunder Run was literally a walk-on all day. On a Saturday. With beautiful temperatures and crystal-clear skies. On a coaster that runs one train. Every single time I went to ride it, there was at least one row in the station with nobody in line for it. So, in what should be ideal circumstances for drawing a crowd, they couldn't reliably get 24 people in line for one of their flagship rides within any given two minute period. And, this was with their only other (non-kiddie) coaster down for well over half the day. Things aren't looking so hot in the Hartland.

They could use the money budgeted for September water park operation. I bet anything they lose their shirts on the water park in September...

I miss the DJs as well. Although I absolutely despise the song "Love Shack," now because of Cedar Point.

You mean they couldn't care less. I miss the dee-jays. They made Cedar Point and Great Adventure special. Then again, hard to upsell line skipping systems if people are actually having FUN in lines.

The presentation of that ride is a shell of it's former self. IMO, that was the last attraction where CF really dove into the overall experience of the ride. From the time you entered the line to the time you left the exit it was a full blown assault on all your senses. Unfortunately, it seems like they could care less about this aspect of their rides now which is a shame because that's what made CF rides stick out more than the others and ultimately, a cut above their competitors.

Those are cool! It looks like Cemetery Drive is still on International Street. Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

Regarding the keeping secrets blog post, kudos to the enthusiast that found the trademark and kept it a secret, letting the park - and all the park fans - have their fun.

I for one, am glad it will return. Hopefully, next season, Trey will be big enough to enjoy some of the bigger rides at KI. Although he's never been, so there's lots to do for him even if he doesn't reach 48" by next summer. After going to their web site, I see he is already big enough for SR&R. He's already 44" and growing fast.

The value of ones character is not defined by ones sexuality.

DJSkyFoxx You took the words out of my mouth. What bothers me is that the Screaming_Chicken had underlined two words: Have and Hate. Whether intentional or not, it sends the wrong message. This whole thing brings me to a weird point because I'm a practicing Christian and I'm gay. No where in the Bible has God said "you HAVE to love the person and HATE the sin." This phrase has been used numerous times and it's just not biblical. It's a man made phrase that people use to feel better about how they treat those who may not go through life like some Christians believe they should. The Huffington Post in 2013 published an entry that summed the whole phrase up: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/micah-j-murray/why-i-cant-say-love-the-sinner-hate-the-sin-anymore_b_4521519.html The fact of the matter is, those of us in the LGBTQ community don't really need anyone's approval to be who we are, we don't need anyone to say hey I love you but I hate your lifestyle, etc. We just need to be treated like we're just as Human as everyone else. /Rant I am so upset that I can't attend this event. I unfortunately have to work very early the next morning. To those going, have a ton of fun, take pictures and please ride Banshee for me