Shaggy

I wish them the best of luck, and hope that the business takes off for them. However, when I was at the park this week I stopped by to give the place a try. I was flabbergasted that a very small package of chips cost near $3.00 and the larger size $6.00!!! I chose to get fries instead, for less. I am all for new experiences, and success for the small independant business man. But don't those prices seem a little ridiculous? Shaggy

Bavarian Beetle was scrapped. Shaggy

Hello all! PKI has “made us an offer we cannot refuse.†Fellow Paramount Kings Island fans are cordially invited for a special press announcement on Thursday August 12th. PKI is graciously inviting enthusiasts to share in this exciting event. This is a biggie folks. The park will be announcing their new product (new attraction) for the 2005 season! Trust me when I say you will not be disappointed with the news….. whatever it may be…. LOL! The announcement will take place promptly at 10:30am in the Paramount Theatre. It will be handled on a first-come-first-serve seating basis. If the theatre fills, then you will not be allowed in. Doors shut promptly at 10:30am so make sure you are there prior. FYI, this invite DOES NOT include free admission to the park. The press event is simply open to those who are able to attend the park on their own merit that day. The announcement, I am promised, will be a stellar presentation with lots of fun stuff to see and hear…. and plenty of details! The theatre presentation portion should last about 20 minutes, then there will be a short 10-15 minute follow-up outside the theatre elsewhere in the park. Hmmmmmm…… Hope to see you there….! Shaggy

Magic of the movies is, without a doubt, the low point of Paramount Park Entertainment. It is unmistakably awful. Now that is quite a statement considering I have seen previous bombs such as "Cheers: The Musical" and "ET Live." I have seen the show twice, on opening weekend, and then again last week. So I saw the original incarnation, and now the re-tooled one. I had heard that the show had been "improved" and decided to give it another try. Well, it was no better the second time around. I will not see the show again. I have NEVER filed a complaint at PKI, but this mess really deserves one. My problems with the show are: There is absolutely no content. There is absolutely no cast. It is just a bunch of bad, inappropriate jokes. It is poorly scripted. It is boring. It does not treat the ears and eyes. It serves as almost nothing more than a commercial for "Spongebob" the movie. Worst of all, and the reasoning for my complaint is... I find it lewd and inappropriate for families and children. There are jokes about passing gas, there is a clip of Kate Winslet undressing, there is a joke about the gal character in Titanic "getting a really big...... diamond." In addition to that, they feature two of the more questionable clips from movies that were originally rated for ages over 13 in the theatres. As a matter of fact, wasn't Sleepy Hollow "R" rated? I noticed at my second viewing that the park had to cut one scene in which the "comedic" emcee character got beheaded. Obviously this was done out of respect for the recent beheading in Iraq. In my opinion it should have not been there to begin with. I equate "Magic of the Movies" at the Paramount Theatre to a rotten easter egg.... It is all very nicely decorated on the outside and very esthetically pleasing. However once you get inside, the content stinks. I mean, one has to ask.... did the Spongbob commercial get inserted just so they could blow bubbles at the audience, or did they blow bubbles at the audience just to show a Spongebob commercial? Either way, it is pitiful. Also, what is up with the attempt at a rip on "Who Wants to be a Millionare?" Ok, delivered once the joke is just mediocre.... twice is a snooz... three times makes me want to get up and walk out. Millionare is an ABC property and the actual game is performed at Disney parks. Of course there is no comparison, but the show at PKI is just using the sucess of a competitor's property to lay a bad joke egg. Paramount Pictures is one of, if not the, most popular names in entertainment. They are leaders in their field. They should be mortified by the poor show and yank it immediately. It is an embarassment to a company that brought us classics like "Sunset Boulevard","Raiders of the Lost Ark","The Ten Commandments" etc etc etc. They would be much better suited to take the "effects" and place them in a demonstration hall... perhaps one of the empty shops on International Street.... and open it up for all general public to try. They should then create a musical revue to fit the Paramount Theatre that covers some of the better movies in Paramount's History.... hire a singing and dancing cast.... a large one... that does take offs of "Grease" and "Footloose" or "Flashdance" etc. These are proven time-honored classics that audiences always enjoy. It should be noted that Paramount Parks outsourced this show's production. It was not produced in-house. Frankly, the management of Paramount Parks should sue the production company for delivering them a load of crap. And hopefully they'll wise up and realize that today's audiences will not tolerate having their time wasted. The show also prooves that you should never rely on audience members to help "deliver" on stage. At both performances, the staff chose to involve teenagers in the on-stage demonstrations that really had no business being up there. They bottled up and froze on stage, not even being able to mutter their own names when asked. On top of that, they were so concerned with how they were being percieved by their friends in the audience that they wouldn't ham it up... which the show is desperately crying out for. One of the girls I saw got mad and threw the wig and glasses off during the Titanic demonstration at which the already dead show got it's final nail hammered into the coffin. If you are gonna involve the audience, choose little kids.... or adults that aren't shy. Offer them an incentive to go up there... like a prize or such so that the embarassment doesn't seem so great. I am amazed at how dumb the particpants are as well.... I wouldn't think that clip clopping coconuts together to make a horse sound would be such a difficult task... but apparently it is. Neither of the folks in the show I saw could understand that you needed to clap them on the countertop at different intervals. Rather they both clapped the halves together like clapping hands. Oy! As a side note, the Paramount Theatre is beautiful and I think that it's refurbishment was extremely well done. Kudos to the park for sinking much needed $ into the theatre. If it were me, I'd close the show and use the new high tech sound and projection system to show The Beast 25th Anniversary video a varying times during the day. It's is much more interesting and entertaining. Plus it enables those that do not have a wait at The Beast a chance to see it in it's entirety. Unless The Beast line is excruciatingly long..... like an hour... no one will ever see the whole Beast 25th movie. Shaggy

I am glad to hear someone else mention those pesky rocks left from the landscaping. I stepped on one at the Taz Typhoon on media day and boy did it smart! The theming of the area is fun and good, and they did a great job of improving the "look" of things. However if given the choice, I think I would: Add many more large trees to the area. Make a cut-through path from the Typhoon area back to the backside of the older area. Re-furb the old slides with new fiberglass. Add one more large raft/slide complex much like Zoombabwe at Holiday World. Add things to make the area seem more intimate. It still feels like a large, flat concrete area. I'd break up the concrete and add path that have bridges that cross small streams or ponds. Add large trees or a tall facade to the fencing around the borders of the waterpark to help disguise the fact that the parking lot is right there. Find a sponsor and give away free sunscreen at sunscreen stations. Finally, I would create an indoor seated resteraunt... and build it to look like the Sydney Opera House.

Psyclone at Wonderland was made by Mondial, not Intamin. It premiered 1 year prior to PKI's Delirium. It holds about 10 fewer people, I believe. It also has its seats arranged in more of an octagonal shape rather than a completely round ring like Delirium. Psyclone stands a few feet shorter, and takes longer to reach the ride's apex. From what I hear, the restraints are a bit more comfortable on Psyclone. Psyclone also has a far superior lighting package. Finally, Psyclone does not feature a "pie cut" flooring grid underneath it as does Delirium. Although they are essentially the same thing... I have always preferred PKI's "look" better. I always felt that Psyclone's carriage arm looks like a very large pencil. I also like Delirium's bold color scheme as opposed to the very muted grey color of Wonderland's. Shaggy

"Just because someone is differenet doesn't mean you should make fun of them. Yes I know its off topic but I find that post really disturbing." Get your heart off of your sleeve. I wasn't making fun of anyone. I was merely pointing out that obesity is the possibly the fastest growing disease right now. Those pictures simply prove how much of an epidemic it is. If I were making fun of people I would have called them names, which I do not do. Shaggy

Did you know that a national survey found that Ohio has a higher rate of obsesity than any other area in North America? It's true. For proof, simply look at the people in that waterpark. It's really a shame. Shaggy

I am sure that the fountain's water comes from the park's main water source just like Congo and the waterpark. They are simply tapped into Mason's water main. The fountains have a recirculating/filtering pump located in the room under the International Street Bandstand. The fountains are simply treated like a large swimming pool. How do I know all of this? Just little things I observe and have picked up over the years. None of it is really "insider" info, and all is pretty much observable when you spend a lot of time at the park. Shaggy

The "pond" that Congo Falls and Wild Thornberries are situated in are simply man-made concrete pools. The water that flows through the rides is pumped into the pools from a main water source just the same as the waterslides in the waterpark. There are no fish or living things in these pools simply because the water is chemically treated. WWC is supplied by a man-made pond next to it's pumphouse. This pond water is also treated. It would be unsanitary to operate the ride with regurgitated and un-treated water. However the overflow pond that WWC uses is not a concrete pool. It is literally a pond dug into the ground. That causes the water to be more stream-like and less pure as that in the other water attractions. The reason WWC has it's own resevior pond, is because it is not situated "over" a pool like the other rides. Instead it is a long downhill trough that ends much lower in the ground than the starting origin point. Because of this, a seperate water supply source was dug nearby to supply the water pumps with enough water to cycle through the ride. Did you know that WWC can drain within a minute or two should someone hit the E-stop button on the ride? It only takes whatever time for the water to completely run downhill in the trough. When the pumps shut off, all water in the trough flows to it's lowest point.... and back into the nearby pond. Shaggy

"They operated off and on for the 1999 season, but have been closed since then. " Are you positive about that Maestro? I was on Beast's crew in 1999, and distinctly recall on Dry Run day there was a lot of buzz about the Rivertown Side of 'Tiques being closed for good. The Rivertown side never opened on any of the days I worked that season, and the former crews were shuffled off to the other side or transferred to other attractions. I think it's final day of operation may have been the final day of park operation in 1998. Shaggy

Wow.... I really love caustic comments. It is on topic you know.... Shaggy

The voices come from various persons that have worked at/for KI through the years. The female "Ladies and Gentlemen, in just 15 minutes Paramount's Kings Island is proud to present..." voice is that of a professional voice-over artist contracted by Paramount Park's corporate office. She does many of entertainment's various show announcements for most Paramount Parks. As rides have been added through the years, various rides managers have been utilized to record automated speels. Such as Nate, who did record the "Welcome back Son of Beast Riders" speel. Prior to their dismantling, both Kenton's Cove Keelboat Canal and King Cobra utilized the same voice of a former Rides Manager for their lift speel... Beast still uses that same voice on lift #2. "Caution... " Jeff Siebert has been doing more and more recordings for the park over the years. His voice can be heard delivering the the no-smoking blurb on newer rides such as Delirium and Son of Beast, and other various rides in Action Zone like Top Gun. His voice also is heard delivering the warning speel on SOB "Son of Beast is a high speed, turbulent roller coaster....." Again, some rides and attractions in the park use professional voice overs for theming purposes. Tomb Raider is a great example. There are several pre-recorded messages used for the que or in case of a shut down. Those feature a female, Laura-Croft esqe voice. Other good examples are: Adventure Express which utilized a voice-over artist to record the themed speels such as "The Transcontinental Express...." Flight of Fear which utilized voice over artists to record the exterior hanger announcements. And who could forget Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle as well as Scooby Doo's Ghoster Coaster which utilize the voice talents of Scott Innes, who is one of the two current official voices of the Scooby Doo characters. As a matter of fact, many of the Nick and HB rides all use speels recorded by the varoius voice-over artists that supply the character's voices for the cartoons themselves. Shaggy

"Well Winterfest was bacically a winter celebration started in '73 (a year after italianchef was born). PKI stated it to be a winter wonerland for years to come, but sadly Winterfest ended in '93 or '94. " Bzzzzzzzzzzt... wrong answer. Kings Island started Winterfest in 1982 and it ran for exactly 10 years until 1992. Winterfest premiered as part of the park's 10th anniversary. The year that the event began was also the same year that the Festhaus opened (as well as Timberwolf Amphitheater which premiered much earlier in the season.) The Festhaus construction was finished just in time for the first Winterfest. Festhaus took the place of the Bavarian Beetle (Schwarzkopf Galaxy coaster) and Rotor (spinning floor-drop ride) which were both former Cincinnati Coney Island rides. These opened with KI but were dismantled and scrapped early in the 1981 season for construction. 1992, the last year that the park operated without the Paramount name, was the final year of the event. When Paramount took over, the concept was deemed as unnecessary and the park felt it's novelty had worn off. Also, the event was not the draw it had once been, and was not a money maker by any means. Admission, if I am not mistaken, was only in the $5-7 range. I distinctly recall attending the last Winterfest simply because at the time Top Gun was under construction. (Well that and the fact that I have never been so cold in all of my life.) Of course you couldn't get anywhere near the coaster construction, however there were coaster parts in the parking lot and the intrigue about the new ride and the new "Paramount" name was quite great. Once Winterfest was discontinued, all props, decorations and even the ice rink refrigeration units were sold or donated to outside sources. Very few rides operated during Winterfest. The event was not about rides, rather it was a themed holiday festival heavy on shows, decorations and crafts. Some indoor rides, and tame rides near International Street did operate through the years. Those included: The Enchanted Voyage, Smurf's Enchanted Voyage, Phantom Theatre (final Winterfest only) Carousel, Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad, antique cars, and a few HB rides. The Eiffel Tower did not operate. The event did feature horse-drawn carriage and buggy rides though the park. One of the biggest highlights was the infamous "Scrooge's House" where unsuspecting guests were barraged with insults by a mean spirited scrooge puppet. Guests loved it, and it was one of the big draws of the event every year. Scrooge's house was situated just in front of the International Showplace. For Winterfest, KI only utilized International Street HB and a very small portion of Rivertown (train area only) and Octoberfest (Festhaus area only.) All other areas were blocked off from the public. The paths were simply cut off by rows of decorated trees and tall wooden fencing. A bit of trivia about Winterfest: A common misconception is that Kings Island "froze" the International Street Fountains and allowed ice skating on them. This is completely untrue. In all actuality, the fountains had steel scaffolding placed in them and the entire fountain area was covered with sturdy platforms. The ice rink was then constructed on top of the platforms. The platforms had cut out areas where each pedistal resides so skaters "skated around" them. Since the pedistals remained in place, many thought that the park had simply "fozen" the fountains. When in all actuality, the drained fountains lied a few feet below the rink. Also, the skating rink did not stretch the entire length of the fountain area, rather it only took up about 1/2 of the space. You entered the skate rental area at the front of International Street, and because the rink sat on platforms above the fountains, it was parallel with the midway, not sunken down. Another fun bit of trivia about the event... in preperation for Winterfest, PKI had their grounds crew spend day after day hand picking off each and every leaf from all the trees on International Street prior to stringing lights. Shaggy

It's all subjective. Personally, I count it as one... as does PKI. I decided to only count it as one based on the fact that it shares the same overall structure, follows essentially the same path on both sides, and most importantly the name of the ride is singular... not plural. Shaggy

But here's the real question.... is the retraction mechanism on the outside of the train? Beastie's has it's belts adhered to the side of the train and the belt goes through a slot in the side of the car over the passenger. This means that guests have a hard time reaching them, and if the belt retracts too much, it has to be re-threaded back through the slot. Tick tock... tick tock... tick tock.... Shaggy

I'll throw my two cents in.... I also think The Racer has great air! It is my favorite coaster there. as others mentioned... the seatbelts have been added to all Paramount Parks wooden coasters that run PTC trains. This was dictated by PTC and not PKI. Because PTC "strongly recommended" the addition of seatbelts to all parks that run their trains, Paramount was essentially required to do so (insurance.) I expect we will see them on many coasters within other chains as well. This is a direct result of the Holiday World Fatality last year. I personally am not concerned about affected ride, but also am concerned about affected dispatch times. This is another challenge for guests, who seemingly can't think for themselves when they enter a park. I am also hearing that they are retractable belts. Personally I think non-retractable slide belts are a much better option. Beastie's retractables have proven that they tend to jam or get stuck... making it an even bigger challenge to load. Shaggy

The new PKI sign will be unique to PKI. It will not look anything like the PGA, or PCW versions. Much better actually! Shaggy

Jeff worked at Americana then went to work for the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks. From there he was hired on at PKI. Shaggy

I would not expect to see the new sign in place until well into the new season. Late June (at the earliest) would be my prediction. Shaggy

Never said that PKI doesn't listen to their guests, I said just the opposite as a matter of fact. But, a survey taken in 2003 does not necessarily mean that the results will be felt in 2004 or 2005 or even 2006 for that matter. It all depends on how it fits into the grander scheme of things, like budget and marketability. I still say that 2005 will be a big year with significant additions, but I am not counting on a large steel coaster that year. It woudl be nice, and a welcome addition, but I am not banking on it at all. The market and industry is dictating otherwise. Shaggy

No, the renderings do not... but the survey never said that the outcome would decide the 2005, 2006 or 2007 ride. PKI, as I understand it, begins preperations and deliberations for new product 3 years in advance. Please note that they surveyed guests in 2002 about a spinning wild-mouse type coaster. That does seem to be an appropriate conveyance device for a ride like the type shown in the renderings. Shaggy

PKI folks did visit Hersheypark this past December. But it wasn't to check out "Stormrunner," the Intamin Rocket coaster..... As far as PKI "wanting to bring the total number of Huss rides to 7", well sorry, but parks... at least not Paramount Parks, do not think that way. They do not look at their rides like a "gotta have this many" collection, rather they add new product based upon guest surveys and interest. They may eventually get another Huss ride, who knows? But it will not be because they want to obtain a certain number of rides from a certain manufacturer. It will be because it fits the direction into which they wish move the park, and fits guest desires. At this point, I firmly believe that 2005 will NOT bring a major coaster addition. Major ride(s), yes, but not major coaster. Now, I am not saying a coaster will not appear. Rather I don't think it will be the big behemouth hyper, giga, rocket ultra coaster enthusiasts have been imagining. I think it will be much more unique than that. If you look at all the pieces of the puzzle, it is not hard to figure out. Let's survey some of the facts.... -PKI has been visiting parks during typical off season months... parks that remain open during the months of November and December. -PKI is entirely re-theming and revamping one of the neediest areas of the park. That comes on the heels of revamping Adventure Village into Action Zone, Nickelodeon Splat City into Nick Central, and a Rivertown facelift. See a trend???? - Including the additions for 2004, PKI has invested tons of capitol $ into HEAVILY THEMED attractions. - PKI is currently surveying passholders/guests about a commercial that is striving to intermingle thoughts of the park with the Paramount Movie Experience. - PKI is branding many of it's attractions with not only movie theming, but theming from other Viacom (parent company) entities as well. Take a look at PKD this year and a major restaraunt change may reveal a bit of the possible future at PKI... PKI is not limited to Paramount Movies alone... CBS shows, TV Land Shows, MTV and VH1 shows are all open game. - PKI surveyed guests/passholder with two renderings of heavily themed attractions recently. Both unique in nature, and idea, but both based on typical rides but immersed in Paramount property theming. Need I say more? Those are just a few of the facts.... now just read between the lines ;-) Shaggy

Well, when I worked at PKI I was trained/worked on... Eiffel Tower King Cobra Adventure Express Viking Fury Racer Vortex Flight of Fear Action Theatre Beast Kenton's Cove Keelboat Canal Train King's Mill Log Flume Beastie Scooby's Ghoster Coaster Phantom Theatre White Water Canyon Hand Carts Boo Boo's Baggage Claim etc, etc, etc. I was a permanent crew member of FOF in 98 and Beast in 99. But I was fortunate enough to get transferred around as needed. The best times I had were while working Kings Mill Log Flume and White Water Canyon. IMO the best job at PKI, is tower 3 on WWC. It allows you to vent your frustrations ;-) But the downside to WWC is walking the turntable in the sun. Shaggy

G'day mates! On Friday January 16th, Paramount's Kings Island will host a construction tour for all interested enthusiasts. The tour will take you through what will become the park's Aussie-themed Waterpark, "Boomerang Bay." Many of the slides and buildings are going up at a rapid rate, and this will be a great chance to see the park not only during construction, but during it's winter hibernation as well! Dress warmly, because although it's summer in Australia, it's still winter in Cincy. Interested blokes and sheilas should arrive prior to 10am at Security Post #3. If you are unfamiliar... this is the security booth close to the employee parking lot, next to the Administrative area. Please enter PKI through the employee parking entrance, as the main parking lot entrances will most likely be closed. The tour will begin promptly at 10, so hop to it! John K. Shaggy