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Yeah, I already got my bid in for a house. I'm going to try to negotiate on the price a little. See if they can't bring it down a dozen hundred thousand dollars or so.

Observations are not necessarily complaints. 35,000 people opening weekend, but less than 600,000 for the season. Projections more than double that. Something is very much not right. The majority of those who decide whether there will be park visits and/or pay for them are light users of social media, if at all. Kentucky Kingdom doesn't seem to understand it. Seems they may be nearing a hard rock, I hear the same old freestyle music playing softly...for now. And were I a Kentucky taxpayer, you could bet your sweet bippy I'd be complaining. to my local representatives and In Frankfort. And voting and loudly campaigning next November.

Having a marketing strategy that is almost entirely based in Social Media is typically on effective for well established businesses or those that are very small and run on word of mouth advertising. Expecting to drive new guests through the gates by advertising season passes solely on social media will fail. Radio Spots, TV Spots and ad space on popular websites are the called action. Yet when you have zero budget for marketing you are basically hoping folks magically show up. Anyways they only have 36,000 likes on their Facebook page. Holiday World 344,000 likes Kings Island 513,000 Dollywood 416,000 Louisville Zoo 109,000 Kentucky Horse Park 113,000 Kentucky Speedway 71,000 Kentucky State Fair 48,000 Pretty pathetic following for their Facebook page if we are being honest.

You could think Action Park. Everything old is new again.

And for those wondering about opening day: Carowinds Amusement Park Thanks for the questions! While we haven't released our 2015 operating calendar yet, I can tell you that opening day 2015 will be Saturday, March 28. Hope to see you then! Like · 5 · November 13 at 8:19pm And as of right now, I don't have to work! Road trip! Whose with me? (Obviously via Carowinds Facebook page.)

Well, actually you did it before reading this... Terp, running for the door.

I was lucky enough to visit Universal Studios Orlando back in the late 90's to catch a glimpse of that building. Really glad I got to do it after reading this.

More track is in the progress of being installed on the first drop of the worlds' tallest giga coaster. The swarm is making a dive! This image was captured from the Carowinds Fury 325 Construction Cam

The park has been reasonably active on Facebook, pushing $60 season passes along with a couple posts from IAAPA. Oh, and this shot from Monday: (Source: Kentucky Kingdom on Facebook)

Nov. 28th-Jan. 11th, the Circle of Lights in downtown Indy. Nov. 28th- Jan. 4th, Christmas at the Zoo, also downtown. Dec. 21st - ??? Veals Ice Tree, Acton Indiana. It lasted until May 6th last year, though not much to see at that point, lol. Best viewing is usually mid January- late February IMO. I really don't go out much in the winter, cold is not my thing. Special events make me brave the cold, but for the most part, my winter thrills are spent beside the warm glow of my monitor, and TV. This is the time of year I wonder why I live in Indiana, then May comes, and I remember

A ride that operates longer than a decade.

This discussion is quite interesting to say the least. It seems the reasons people offer as to why Winterfest can't or won't come back all have to do with sucky Ohio weather. They say Cincinnati weather, in the winter, can be unpredictable and unforgiving. No one would come out in this type of weather so a winter event couldn't possibly survive here in this area. I might be wrong, but doesn't the Cincinnati Zoo have to deal with these same weather conditions? Even though extremely cold, don't people still come out of their houses for that? Isn't that event successful? I know, I know. We've been down this road before. The Festival of Lights is well established, they have lots to offer, etc, etc. That really isn't the argument though. The argument is weather. Crazy Cincinnati weather hasn't managed to destroy The Festival of Lights yet, so I feel there could still be hope for Winterfest. How many times could you actually go to The Festival of Lights in one season? We usually go just once. Then the other nights/weekends we're looking for other things to do. Things that are different. We like to experience different types of events during the holiday season as I'm sure many other families do. So re-establish Winterfest and people will come. If they're coming out in blistering cold temps to the zoo, then why would coming out to Winterfest in blistering cold temps be any different? As long as Winterfest had enough to offer, I don't think it would be any different. People would still come. We could basically go around and around in circles and discuss this til we're blue in the face (or blue in the fingertips if you're typing) and we'll pretty much get nowhere. Everyone has their own feelings and their own opinions about the event coming back. These feelings and opinions won't change unless we get an official announcement from the park that it's for sure coming back. Would I like to see it come back? Heck yes, but I'm not holding my breath. If it comes back, great, if not, well then I'll just stick to the list of things I mentioned in my other post. There are plenty of things to do around here for the holidays and for now, we'll just have to stick with those.

hope it works better than the last attempt at this.

One thing I'd like to comment on: walking into Carowinds when Fury 325 is complete and open is going to be epic and in-your-face, as you're going to be walking straight between a massive B&M Hyper and Giga located smack dab in the front of the park...meanwhile in the back of the park everything besides their observation tower and WindSeeker will look wimpy in comparison. Just imagine this picture (found via Google search) after Fury 325 is completed, for example, and you are in the parking lot...

Wow.......Carowinds has put some absolutely GREAT photos on their Facebook page from today of Fury325 construction. Carowinds Amusement Park on Facebook: "The first pieces of track are put into place that take riders racing toward the park's new front entrance." "Construction crews begin putting the track pieces in place for the first drop!" Photos : Carowinds Amusement Park via Facebook

Always when I'm away from a computer!

as a side note as mentioned above; by and large the weather near the end of the operating season this year was nothing short of putrid.

I want to get shot UP a water slide man. Don't really care about hitting my head and face loop-de-looping...

Is why I said "I think", instead of "we just got one of those".

I think we just got one of those.

Wow, talk about a thread bump! This was an epic thread bump 8 years in the making! Oh well, as long as we're here, classic Nickelodeon was, well, classic! I started watching Nickelodeon in the 80's and it seemed like they were still trying to discover who they were as a network. I remember shows like You Can't Do That On Television, Count Duckula, and a show called Out of Control hosted by a young Dave Coulier. There was also this show where kids reviewed movies. Not sure what it was called, but I do remember thinking that some of the movies they were reviewing were sort of inappropriate for kids to be watching. It was quite an interesting network in the 80s. Move on into the 90s and the network was legendary! So many great shows that I can't even list them all. All I know is that on the weekends when I was at my dad's house, Nickelodeon was the only station that was on the TV. Ok, I said I couldn't list all the show, but I'm going to try. Here it goes: Hey Dude Welcome Freshman Double Dare Guts Legends of the Hidden Temple Are You Afraid of the Dark Clarissa Explains it All Alex Mack Salute Your Shorts All That Keenan and Kel The Amanda Show Pete and Pete Rugrats Ren and Stimpy Rocko's Modern Life Doug (do do do do do do...) Ok, that's just off the top of my head and I'm sure there were WAY more that I used to watch. It was such a great channel with some unique programming (see Pete and Pete). Kids today sure as heck don't know what they're missing. Most of the stuff they have on that channel now is just crap (same as current Disney Channel). Oh what I wouldn't give to rewind time back to the 90s and early 2000s and relive some of that awesome programming. Until someone invents a time machine, I guess we'll just have to stick with DVD, YouTube, and the occasional Bit Torrent (you didn't see that). Here's to classic Nick!!!

I liked the design of the old Nickeldeon Studios at Universal Studios in Orlando it was more creative than the newer Nickelodeon Studios current today. The original was built in the 90s, everything Nickelodeon did in the 90s was great.

It was less dusty back then.

This thread brings back memories. (in particular the members who posted in here prior to today)

Scioto County? Shawnee State Park, Jim Dandy, all the Portsmouth excitements, and, back in the day, El Sombrero. How I did love that place.Yeah, I've been there. I've even slept in a tent under the N&W Railroad bridge that crosses into Kentucky (near the pipeline bridge) and swam across the Ohio River there. Of course, I was much younger then. Boy, i sure did enjoy El Sombrero when i was a kid. I still think about that place. Jim dandy was a tire shop for a while. I think some of the original owners relatives bought it, they changed it back. Busy little place. One of the lakes was drained out at SSP, and several of the walking paths were grown over (although the main paths were still in good shape). The murals are pretty cool, i've took my kids down there a few times. that ties in with my last post here. Our past is pretty celebrated, but there isn't a whole lot of looking into our future here. Just like the Sombrero, most everything we had, is now gone. On a related note........The Portsmouth Brewing Co. has the absolute best chicken wings you will eat anywhere. If you get back into this neck of the wood, and you haven't had them, I would HIGHLY recommend them.

GCI coaster or perhaps a Wonder Mountain's Guardian style ride inside the old Tomb Raider box.

^If you put one in Rivertown, you could go for a mine motif.

Mosley Erecting Company on Facebook: "Going up??" Photo : Mosley Erecting Company via Facebook

I'm sure they know. I'm also sure they don't care. It serves its purpose.

What, do you play for the Marlins?

Too bad the video doesn't exist

Wow, only $1.8 million? Well then, let me just cash the pay check I just got today and head on down there and purchase one.

"Hmm, you're looking for a $1.2 million discount? I think we can work with that a little." "Here's our counter. We came down by $500. You in?"

A man or smurf can dream I guess.

^ I have. They're fun but very dizzying. The one I rode had a somewhat short ride cycle, and I was glad.

Couldn't agree more. I was sorta surprised its being attempted again, to be honest.

Unfortunately, not everything is rosy. "Ways Son of Beast Could Come Back." We could start a whole thread offering ideas on ways to successfully bring it back and ask for others to give their ideas, too. Absolutely! That's what the site is for. We can talk about it if you want to look at it in a blue-sky way and ignore reality for the sake of discussion. That's fine. But you can't fault people who say, "It's not in the cards right now; here's why." As is written here over and over and over again, Winterfest came back - in large part - for a very particular reason. It succeeded in that regard. Now, current management deems that it's no longer worthwhile or necessary. In essence, they've traded it for the very lucrative Halloween season, which was never emphasized so entirely in the past. They rake it in during Halloween, and you can say that September and October contend with cool weather too, but tonight's forecast calls for 20-degree weather with freezing rain. That's not something Halloween events contend with. If Winterfest were open this season, would you go to Kings Island in 20-degree weather with freezing rain? 4 or 5 inches of snow and slush? Blisteringly cold wind chills of 10-degrees or less? Maybe you would! But would enough people go to finance the lights and employee shifts needed to run the place, front-of-house and back? Yes, people have lovely memories. Yes, it would be a lovely event if it was done right. Yes, it would be financially successful if the weather cooperated, it was priced perfectly, interest was high, and activities were thoughtfully prepared. Sure. But there are some wise folks in this thread providing worthwhile stories, reasons, memories, and information that should help to inform your opinion about Winterfest and the role it played. They shouldn't be brushed off as pessimistic, bothersome trolls. Is it worth trying again? Kings Island has done their due diligence (as we would hope and expect) and has determined: not this year. Not last year either. Or the year before. If they were staring at an obvious profit center, their own research would inform them of that. Maybe it has and they're just purposefully turning down money. But for now, the answer is no. And hopefully reading this post will help you see why!

I think the X-base would be best for a new dark ride as it could be themed around aliens or some other sort of strange creature(s). Or if AZ gets re-themed more around The Bat and Banshee then their probably wouldn't be a bad spot for a new dark ride. As anywhere else, I feel the ride would be out of place... Another idea would be a family dark ride themed around Peanuts and the gang. Would be ideal for with the Peanuts movie coming out at Christmas time 2015. Continue to give this part of the park attention for the 2016 season. This may really spark kids to love the Peanut gang (the movie and/or the dark ride)!

@KingsIslandPR on Twitter: "On this day two years ago (Nov. 20, 2012) demolition of Son of Beast neared completion when the lift hill came down." Photo : Don Helbig / Kings Island via Twitter

Can't argue with you there. I've been on two. Face/Off (Invertigo?) and Head Spin (Geauga Lake) (Carolina Cobra?). Head Spin was ok for the wait because at GL under CF, there was no wait. F/O was too long except for the one time where my brother and I got a pass to cut the line because we got stuck on the lift hill of Top Gun. We were evacuated and given a pass each to cut the line on any major coaster. All we had to do was go up the exit ramp. Wow, I had forgotten that even happened until now. It was such a non-event, unlike how it's sensationalized in the media.

We could all buy out a whole block and have a KIC neighborhood in WDW!

Cough .. Simpsons.. Cough

The Ghosts name is Paul

Have you ever read the books "The Beast" and "The Beast II" by R.L. Stine. You better believe that we're going to go back to Firelight Park this Year!!! (For those of you that have not read The Beast by R.L Stine, the idea in the book is that several kids take a ride on The Beast and go back in time to "Firelight Park" the park that was supposidly where Kings Island was before Kings Island. Kinda goofy but an interesting read)

Last day at Orlando, March 30: http://www.universalorlando.com/usf_attr_bttf.html

I was saddened by the fact they were pulling the plug on the ride. Thought The Simpsons stuff would be terrible, but honestly I like what they did with the area and theming it around The Simpsons TV series! When/if they change it again from Simpsons, I'm sure this process will start all over again.

Scioto County? Shawnee State Park, Jim Dandy, all the Portsmouth excitements, and, back in the day, El Sombrero. How I did love that place. Yeah, I've been there. I've even slept in a tent under the N&W Railroad bridge that crosses into Kentucky (near the pipeline bridge) and swam across the Ohio River there. Of course, I was much younger then.

Really? You don't appreciate what you have until you leave it.

I once rode The Beast in one of those...in Seattle.