CoastersRZ

While it is basic, it is amazing how much you are able to do with the basic software. As Interpreter said, it would have costs thousands of dollars to do that decades ago. Just think, that editing a video like that even fifteen years ago would have required expensive software, and hours upon hours of editing, and even then, would likely not have yielded such a high quality video as what we have here!

What video editing software did you use to make that? It is a really nice video! Great job!

Gary, I had not known that KI discontinued the practice of only one lap on the lazy river a few seasons back. The last time I went to KI`s water park to swim, was the season pass preview weekend for Boomerang Bay, back in 2004! I definitely will be hitting it up this year though!

I wouldn`t look much into the fence around the water park. Kings Island has said that Soak City would be included free with park admission this year. It also looks like the entrance to the "action river" will be on that new pathway connecting back from Snowy River Rampage. It will be interesting to see if they continue the practice of making everyone in the action river only get one lap before having to exit. Also, a nice little tidbit I found on the new website, is they have the list of KI Hall of Fame inductees. Check it out here: http://www.visitkingsisland.com/online-fun/ki-hall-of-fame

I`d have to say, given the fact that they have been tested at Holiday World, and given the amount of work being done to Voyage, they will eventually run. After all, the Timberliners have run on two separate coasters this past season.

For those of you who hit the report button over the last several days, thank you! I believe I have quelched all the spammers` posts, topics and suspended the offending accounts. On the behalf of myself and the rest of the KIC staff, I do apologize for the large amount of spam over this past weekend. Again, if you see a post that is spam, simply hit the report button and do NOT reply to it, as it makes cleaning up the forums more challenging.

Those stars are just part of Snoopy`s Starlight Spectacular. They have nothing to do with the 40th anniversary. If past is any indication, the park won`t do much to celebrate. I don`t believe that they did anything special in 2007 for the parks 35th anniversary.

I believe the webcam is mounted on the Coolangatta Racer slide tower. I`m not sure what the new name of it will be once Soak City opens in May.

Does the track configuration look like Diamondback track? Aka, B&M track. Remember that Clermont Steel (located in Batavia) makes all B&M track.

Not to mention that some of those injury settlement costs likely were paid out by the insurance company, not the park itself.

PKIVortex, you are correct, that the yellow paint on the front and rear cars didn`t show up until sometime in July. And remember, that until around July, once the ride reopened in mid-May it ran with only one train for quite some time.

Hmmm. It does not seem to be working for me right now either.

Thanks for sharing, John! I remember being at that Friday evening opening and was among the first handfuls of trains that left the station that night. Its hard to believe that was twelve years ago already!

Coney will not be getting anything new of any significance in 2012. However, the former Pipeline Plunge will be getting some TLC, after not operating in 2011. It will be renamed, and instead of using inner tubes to slide down, riders will slide down head first on mats, similar to the racing slide at Kings Island`s water park. Hopefully, bigger things will come to Coney in 2013!

And technically, the B&M track plant is not in Cincinnati, but in Batavia. And for the record, the manufacturer is Clermont Steel Fabricators. It certainly looks like Leviathon track. Any clue how close they are to wrapping up constructing the physical ride up there?

Gotcha. Although, I`d argue that anymore, the four flagship parks are Cedar Point, Knott`s Berry Farm, Canada`s Wonderland, and Kings Island, in no particular order. This fact is based on past conference calls, and the fact that all four of those parks were the first ones to get WindSeekers.

Could Oiumet be planning on moving the corporate offices out of the state of Ohio? Certainly sounds that way. Why else would this meeting be held in New York. I know the corporate offices in Sandusky are relatively new (and located on the Cedar Point peninsula). But I have to wonder how convenient the airport is in Sandusky for the company to conduct its business. Why mention the Amusement Today award for Cedar Point? Seems a little odd for an article detailing a corporate event.

It was a big success from everything I`ve heard. The original Winterfest ran from 1982 (predating the Cincinnati Zoo`s Festival of Lights by one year) through the 1992 season. It was discontinued because Paramount wanted to extend the season through October, and thus would not have proper time to set up for Winterfest. Part of the reason it flopped so bad in 2005, as I have mentioned before, is they way over charged for the event. It was a quality event, just not worth the price. As Interpreter has stated, the prime objective of the 2005 Winterfest was to add another selling point to the park to any prospective buyers.

Apollo was attempting to do a leveraged buyout of Cedar Fair. They offered $11.50 per unit of Cedar Fair. Many unitholders balked at that low price, and Q Funding came in and championed against the Apollo take over. Needless to say, that the $11.50 price now seems really low, given that the units have been trading around $22 to $23 recently.

Did you go to the Winterfest in 2005? Santa`s Workshop was one of the best live shows that I`ve seen at Kings Island in a while. The focus was on entertainment and not rides. In fact, only the train, the dark ride and about two other kiddie rides were even open for Winterfest. It was all about live shows and entertainment. And isn`t the point of Winterfest to attract families and not necessarily the thrill seekers or those who come to ride the rides. What I`m saying is that a winter event is not that far off from the clientele that Ouimet wants to attract to the park. I`m not saying the even is going to return, just that the target market aligns with who Ouiment wants to dry and draw to the park, based on that article.

Yes, it is sure the park would be a different place today. I still find it interesting that Cedar Fair almost purchased Kings Island in 2000. How different the park would have been had that happened. Hopefully, one day a winter themed event will return to Kings Island. (I can hope anyway). I have fond childhood memories of the original Winterfest. And besides, Busch Gardens and Hershey each do Christmas events. We have strayed pretty far from the subject at hand, discussing Ouimet and the article. Of which I take some responsibility for the tangent subject.

How are they financing the stock repurchase plan?

Is that really what Shoot the Rapids is like? I guess I`m fortunate to have never been on it then!

Right. I know that CBS had no intentions to make the event financially viable. In fact, I think they tried to recoup some of the capital costs for Winterfest with the price of admission that first season, instead of building a long term sucessful event. I think if done right, that a winter event at Kings Island and other parks could be a financial success for the company. I mean, the original Winterfest did run from 1982 through 1992.

I still have yet to ride the new Shoot the Rapids ride at Cedar Point. I still miss the old White Water Landing flume ride they had at the back of the park.