Shaggy

I personally find PKI is headed in the right direction, but if I were Management... didn't have to worry about a budget... didn't have to worry about marketing... didn't have to worry about guest draw... and was only concerned about making the park better suit how I think it should look/flow... I would: Basically gut Coney Mall and rebuild. It would still be themed to a turn-of-the-century park, but the buildings and rides would better reflect that. Some smaller flats would be peppered throughout. Such as a spinning teacups ride, Tilt-O-Whirl, a slide would return, as well as a giant ferris wheel. The buildings woudl be more victorian in theme, and older games like updated fascination and Skeeball would return. The Eiffel Tower would be re-painted a bronze color. Les Taxis would be re-located to the grassy/pond area behind International Showplace. The land vacated by it's being moved would be home to a new wooden twister coaster fitting the Coney Theme. A B&M Hyper would be added throughout the woodsy area around the train and WWC. The actual station would be accessed by extending the path between Beast and TR. The shooting gallery would return to Rivertown. The main entrance would be gutted and re-built with the admin offices housed upstairs and to the sides. The old admin buildings would be gutted and the Picnic shelter area would be relocated there. The vacated Picnic area would then be used for a Nick expansion. HB, would also get re-branded to Nick over time, however The Beastie area would keep a Mystery Inc theme (Mystery Inc was the gang's name in Scooby Doo.) Octoberfest themeing would go away and become more Action Zone oriented. Even Festhaus would be re-themed. The Action Theatre in Coney would get moved to the now vacant plot of land in Action Zone behind Delirium. Timberwolf would get re-branded the Action Zone Concert Amphitheatre. Congo Falls would be re-located to the Rivertown pond area. Shaggy

Craig Ross is now the General Manager of PKI, Tim Fisher left PKI during the 2002 season to become General Manager of PGA. Shaggy

Actually the water was drained because the exit was re-configured. The on-ride photo booth was added and the exit was re-directed to steer people in that direction. Because the new exit path was low, the water had to be drained. Many people do not realize that the area where the on-ride photo booth is located was originally another que house. Beast originally had 4 que houses. This was the first, and was removed for the new exit. Also the water was a breeding ground for mosquitoes and bugs. It was chemically treated, as well as circulated by a pump that still exists. However the cost and difficulty in keeping it maintained/clean helped promt it's drainage. Shaggy

"The restraints on Vortex hurt your collar bone because they aren't OTSRs at all. They're horsecollar restraints. " Last time I checked, they went over my shoulders IMO a horsecollar and OSTR is a "like" term... same thing. As far as the positive/negative g thing..... A positive g is the force pushing you down in your seat when the gravitational pull increases. Positive G = the gravitational pull on your body is increased. A negative g is the force pulling you up out of your seat when the gravitational pull is contradicted. Negative G = the gravitational pull on your body is decreased. On Delirium for instance, you will feel positive g's at the base of the swing. At the higher points of the swing you will feel negative g's. Negative g's are more commonly referred to in enthusiast circles as "airtime." However, rides that have inversions or make arc movements like Delirium or looping coasters also rely on another force.... centrifigal force. Centrifigal force is an intertia that contrasts the gravitational pull on an object. So as you swing in an arc, or manuever a loop it pulls outward from all directions. That is what holds you in your seat while going upside down or holds change in your pockets when going fast through a loop. Using the bucket full of water idea... as you swing it rapidly upside down, centrifigal force holds the water in. But if that motion is slowed or halted, then gravity becomes the stronger force and the water will spill out. Centrifical force relies on speed and heavy inertia to override gravity. This basic idea explains how some coasters loops really pull enough force to not need restraints, while others do not pull enough and rely on restraints to hold riders in. Think of The Vortex... the vertical loops pull enough centrifical force to keep you in your seat. However the corkscrew is much slower so gravity takes control and your body relies on the restraint to hold you in. Shaggy

Men In Black is at Universal and the Disney Imagineers were not involved. Never-the-less, Scooby will be terrific for PKI since it is a seasonal park. It will be the hit of 2003. Trying to compare a seasonal park like PKI to a year-round park like Universal is like comparing apples to oranges. Obviously Disney and Universal have the edge on detail, but that is to be expected with the crowds and money they rake in. Shaggy

The Wild Animal Safari Monerail was not closed because someone got mauled. The ride existed at PKI from 1974 through 1993. In the early 1980's a lion trainer was mauled by a lion. The animal was then put to sleep. However the ride remained open for well over 10 years afterward. Guests were never in danger. There were several "ponds" along the monerail, one where the drum to FOF now exists, but a much larger one farthur back in the property nearer to the Little Miami. In the picture of Flight Commander, several maintenance sheds are shown. The largest of which was demolished for Flight of Fear in 1995. If you look at the picture in question it is the building that is farthest to the left and nearest to the bottom behind The Racer's lift. Only that one maintenance building was removed. I believe that the former storage shed for the Monerail (in what is now Action Zone) was used once that building was demolished. Shaggy

The fatality was not the reasoning for the ride's removal. It certainly contributed to it, but it actually existed for several seasons after the death. Flight Commander was removed because interest among guests wained... they found it "boring." Shaggy

Zodiac was removed from Coney Mall for a few reasons. It was added in 1975, when Coney Mall was expanded. It was removed prior to 1990 when Flight Commander was added in it's spot. Zodiac was an Intamin double-armed ferris wheel. It was costly to maintain, and held very little interest for guests. The ride was relocated to PKI's sister park Wonderland Sydney where it still operates today. The que for the ride was located in front of it just off of the midway. The que someone mentioned seeing near the laser tag building is actually the former que for the Cinema 180 attraction that was once located in that building. The Zodiac's que was removed when Flight Commander was added. Flight Comammder is a story in itself, but obviously is not longer at the park. It was an Intamin Sky Pilot ride. It had a unique loading platform that required riders to walk up a spiral staircase from an "underground" que area. The underground que for Flight Commander still exists, although the center spiral staircase entrance has been sealed. The loading platform now houses the Euro Bungee attraction. That is why the Euro Bungees are so high off the midway, the loading platform (from the former Flight Commander attraction) on which they sit actually has a que house underneath it. In 1996, a season after Flight Commander had been removed, a sign was placed in the empty ride location for about a month. The sign said "Look for a new ride dropping in next season." That spot was originally supposed to house a much smaller Intamin Drop Tower called.... what else?....Drop Zone. But the attraction was cancelled and installed at another Paramount Park instead. The park decided to expand the waterpark the next season and held off installing a drop ride until 1999. I am glad they did, because in the in-between time, Intamin developed the Gyro Drop... which is what PKI's Drop Zone is. Much bigger and much grander than what PKI would have initially installed. But, if the original location and concept of Drop Zone had come true, then it would have meant that 3 different Intamin flat rides would have occupied the same spot at KI. Shaggy

The only reason the costs of the Slingshot and Skyflyer are exhorbitant is because people are willing to pay it, it has nothing to do with how much replacement parts cost. Manufacturers, when selling an upcharge attraction to a park, fill the heads of park folk about how lucrative the attraction can be. That gives the park merchandise execs (At PKI upcharge attractions are staffed by Operations, but fall under the Merchandise department... that should tell you something right there...) a base in which to establish the "upcharge" to guests who wish to experience it. The Skyflyer and Sling Shot, and Climbing Wall, and Euro Bungees, and Go Carts, and Laser Tag and blah blah blah..... will all reamain at PKI until guests are either no longer interested in them, or willing to pay the cost. One of my few complaints about PKI is the absurdity of the amount of pay-extra attractions they have installed. It is a slap to the face of their less fortunate guests that scrimp and save to attend the park, only to find many of the attractions cost extra. $50 for a Sling Shot ride, c'mon PKI. That's ludicrous. Shaggy

The sunscreen netting over TR:TR's que is actually the second covering. There was one in place when the ride opened on media day, but it was removed shortly therafter. The original held water, and so the park replaced it. The second one was added a few weeks later. In the time in-between the removal of #1 and the installation of #2, the queue was not covered, but it was always intended to be. SOB's que is one of the more poorly planned ques in the park. Actually it was a last minute decision made more by park maintenance rather than parks execs. Originally the intention was that SOB was to have perhaps the highest capacity rate of any coaster in the park. (Adventure Express has the highest throughput) So the thought was that the que would be temporary in that area. However, once the park decided two trains would run on SOB, that kept the line long enough to warrant PKI keeping the queue as is. I agree though, it is terrible and needs some sun shelter and TLC. Shaggy

The building most likely to LEAVE Paramount's Kings Island is actually already gone. The Chinese Food building "Panda Express" which was located in-between the French Bakery on International Street and the entrace to HB Land was demolished/removed over the off season. The restaraunt will remain at PKI, but in a different area of the park. Now you stipulated LEAVE, not change... or get gutted... or remodeled... or re-themed... so that rules out a few buildings getting an overhaul this year. But I think that in future seasons we will see (a) building(s) on Coney Mall possibly demolished and (a)new one(s) built. Complete speculation on my part. Shaggy

Many forget an obvious choice. The carousel. Shaggy

What was not mentioned is besides B&M, there have been other MAJOR steel coaster designers/fabricators visiting PKI over the past year.... Shaggy

The PKI tie-in to Survivor is Viacom. Viacom owns both Paramount Properties as well as CBS. Hence the promotional opportunities at PKI. I still doubt we will ever see a Survivor finale filmed at PKI. Shaggy

While a good promotional opportunity, I cannot see Mark Burnett, the mastermind behind the show and one of the most savvy tv producers to date, allowing his hit show to have it's most important episode filmed next to a rollercoaster in an amusement park in a city that has absolutely no tie-in with the show. But stranger things have happened. Shaggy

What would I like to see? Well, I am pretty pessimistic about the shows at PKI. Amusement Park Entertainment is extremely lackluster and does not entertain me. Although I see it's value, I really have no distinct opinions on what shows they add. The shows are always pretty bad, so it's hard to differentiate what type of bad show I would like to see. ;-) Shaggy

It takes up about half the footprint of King Cobra. The building you see is not only the operators booth, but also is a queue house of sorts. The line will have a normal queue outdoors, but just before reaching the ride load area, the queue line will go through this building. The que enters under the swing on the side nearest to Festhaus, It then heads right towards the Sling Shot. There will be wrap-around queues in the space between the Sling Shot and the ride itself. As I said a second ago, the line then wraps through the house and up to the load platform. Shaggy

The Paramount Theatre will house a new magic show this season, there will be a country show, karoke (sp??) is back as well as a new Nick show. Not sure about the showplace, but I am sure something will appear. Shaggy

When you enter the area of "Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle" you will first see a gated entrance with the ride sign overhead. This entrance is farthur to the left that the former Phantom Theatre entrance gate. You will cross the bridge, then go down that curving staircase and then enter the building where the queue line will reside. The midway in front of Phantom Theatre/Scooby is higher than the level at which you enter the queue building. For PT, you walked a short path that gradually descended down to the building entrance. For Scooby you will walk down that curving staircase. There is no longer an oustide path like Phantom Theatre. Shaggy

PKI.com has updated it's Scooby and Delirium constructions updates. Enjoy! http://www.pki.com/ Shaggy

There is an employee cut-through that goes from the gated area next to the main entrance of WWC in Rivertown (under Thornberrys) then cuts through the Thornberries area, down the train tracks and up to the WWC pump house. Ride ops then cross the bridge over the WWC lift to the turntable. That is one of the reasons that the train blows it's horn when rounding the WWC /Thornberrys area. To warn any employees that may be potentially crossing the tracks. Shaggy

"I doubt they would build an adult haunted house, a lot of people don't like being scared..." That doesn't explain the success of Fearfest though ;-) "The Ferris Wheel used to sit somewhere around where the Festhaus is." It sat in the over-grown spot of land next in between the Festhaus and what is now a "Guess Your Weight and Age" game. Rides that I would like to see at PKI? Flat rides: Spinning Teacups ride - I would love to see one of these on Coney Mall Huss Jump 2 - I would love to see one of these in Rivertown Mondial Top Scan - I would love to see this in place of the Euro Bungees Rugrats Pike like PKD - I would love to see a version of this in the Nick Central area. Coasters: B&M Hyper/Speedcoaster in the Rivertown area Indoor Spinning Wild Mouse in the the HB or Coney area Water rides: A setpoint swing thing coaster in the waterpark Possibly one of the new "spinning" rapids rides in Rivertown or the Octoberfest area. Shaggy

"Speaking for myself and I am unanimous in this, " Somebody is a fellow AYBS fan. ;-) Shaggy - "I'm Freeeeee!"

There are also a few more exterior shots of "Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle" on the site as well. http://www.pki.com/attractions_scooby_photos.jsp Shaggy

PKI has updated their site with more Delirium shots. Shaggy http://www.pki.com/attractions_Delirium_photos.jsp