CoastersRZ

Oh, wait.... And speaking of similarities between the two parks. Kings Island is getting a giant swing ride this year, while Coney is getting a more mellow swing ride this year, just for the little tikes:

Yep. And speaking of the flood cleanup, WLWT Channel 5 has a video and a story up on their website right now. http://www.wlwt.com/entertainment/27954736/detail.html The person vacuuming the pool out, as well as the person at the very end on the golf cart just happens to be my brother, who is one of the pool managers this year.

I know I can`t wait to check out Dinosaurs Alive! And hopefully that shiny new ride right next door is ready for visitors soon too!

The reason The Beast was down to one train was because of the rain. Cedar Fair is ultra conservative with rain, and typically will only run the coasters with one train in the rain. The exception to the rule is Diamondback, which has a "rain mode" that allows it to operate with two trains by keeping an extra set of blocks between the trains. One would think that they could adopt The Beast to have a similar "rain mode" since it has TWO lifts and is such a long ride time. There are ample blocks to keep the required spacing of an extra set of block brakes between trains. One train operation on The Beast is just ridiculous. I`m all for safety on rides, but I still think that rain rule is a little extreme. Especially considering that The Beast uses magnetic brakes to slow the trains down considerably. The old pneumatic brakes do not do the majority of the braking work. The magnetic brakes work the same regardless of how wet it is, so they are still going to slow the train down to the same speed. (Same thing goes for Backlot Stunt Coaster, which also has magnetic brakes).

I`d say that the commercial will definitely pull in people wanting to experience Dinosaurs Alive. I think it is a very well put together commercial, and kind of reminds me of other classic Kings Island commercials (Phantom Theater, and Beast come to mind).

Well, why do they advertise Marathon at Kings Island (the sponsor of the nightly fireworks show)? There are no gas stations at Kings Island....

I'd say that too if I worked at Coney. Well, I certainly don`t think my life stinks for working down at Coney. I actually enjoy going into work every day I go in down there. I`m just glad it wasn`t my job to clean out Sunlite Pool of all the dead fish after the flood waters receded. Talk about smelling fishy!

First things first. I by no means am thrilled as a season pass holder about losing the Action FX Theater as a regular attraction. Did I ride it last year? I don`t believe I did, and I`m sure it has suffered from low ridership over the last few seasons. So it is not really a loss that I am all that upset about. But replacing it with an upcharge movie is what gets me a little upset. Because I essentially "loose" a free ride, and it is replaced with an upcharge. That being said, I agree with many others` who have pointed out that to watch a movie in 3D in the theaters normally adds an extra $2.50 to the experience per person, so $2 seems reasonable. Secondly, like Dave said, I think had the movie been free with park admission, it might have enticed more people to shell out the money to experience the animatronics. I definitely agree that charging for the movie and the attraction seems like a cash grab (as if paying $4 for a Coca-Cola isn`t enough of a cash grab). Kings Island is definitely spending some money on Dinosaurs Alive! Paving the area with concrete (more expensive than asphalt) and spending the time (which equates to money) to stamp the concrete proves that this will likely not just be a one or two season event. I`d also be surprised if the company that is supplying the animatronics is also not retained to care and maintain the animatronics, since they are the once who built them. So part of their deal maybe to get a cut of the receipts from the attraction, which is why it is an upcharge. I can totally understand that. And as a business, which all amusement parks are, whether or not us enthusiasts want to accept that, it makes economic sense to have some up charge attractions. Another point is that installing Dinosaurs Alive is the worst decision in park history is a rather opinionated point, don`t you think? I can certainly name several other decisions that have been made over the years (moving the Flying Eagles to Carowinds, cancelling the original Winterfest anyone?) that are far worse than installing an upcharge dinosaur attraction. Remember, Kings Island is a business and they install and spend money on things that they think can bring them extra income. Clearly they felt that they can make money on this attraction for several years. And as other posters have pointed out, even COSI up in Columbus is having a dinosaur exhibit this summer. Dinosaurs always are popular with kids. As such, as has been stated before, the prime target market of this attraction is generally NOT going to be thrill seekers, teenagers hanging out with friends, or enthusiasts. The target market for this experience is going to be FAMILIES. Families are generally the ones who come to the park and spend money. They are typically the ones that will splurge on things like this, for the chance to create some memories. And $5 isn`t really all that much, considering that at peak times in the summer they charge $15 or $20 to do Skyflyer or Slingshot! Just look at Disney, with some of the enhanced visitor experiences they offer, all for a price. By not charging those extra few dollars for some services (such as the VIP packages that most parks now offer) the parks are leaving potential money on the table, and missing out on possible sources of additional revenue. If you are unhappy with the direction the park has taken this year, as it seems you are fairly adamant about it, then that is fine. One less person ahead of me in line complaining about every little thing the park does wrong that is not in his best interests or what he thinks the park should do. And how has one person ruined your summer? (I doubt the person you cited even had any impact on the decision to bring said attraction to the park.) And if you are going to let a simple thing like an addition to a park ruin your summer or your day, then you clearly are not a very happy person. In fact, having just watched a customer service video (Pike Place fish market in Seattle) to train all of the new employee`s at Coney, there are some very good messages in the video. "Choose your attitude." You can wake up in the morning and say that your life stinks and that the addition to Kings Island is not what you wanted to see. Or you can say life is great, and while I don`t particularly care for the addition that KI has added this year, it will help them as a business to move forward and install future rides and attractions that I might enjoy.

Care to elaborate on the developments? Cedar Fair units have risen quite dramatically the last few days (it is now trading at over $22) on heavy volume (more than twice the typical volume). Something is definitely up. And the relative absence of comments from Q is a little odd too. Now when do they plan on announcing their new CEO?

When I was at the park Friday evening, Flight of Fear`s line was out of the building. Since other lines were walk ons, I didn`t want to wait in the line for Flight of Fear, even with the indoor queues not open. I opted to get in rides on other rides that I was unable to ride on opening day due to the crowds. Glad to hear you had a fun time at the park!

Stretching the cables out generally comes over time. It is not a near instantaneous process, but a gradual one. Just like Niagara Falls is slowing retreating every year because of erosion. (It erodes about a foot per year, although certain changes to the river, including hydroelectric, are slowing that down to a rate of one foot per ten years.

Already brought up and discussed here: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23087&st=320

And I also recommend a visit towards the end of the year to check out Dollywood's Smoky Mountain Christmas. It is a wonderful event!

They no longer shoot fireworks off of the Eiffel Tower. They did that in the early 2000`s as part of the Nights of Fire events that they had for the Fourth of July. The park usually is pretty crowded on the 4th of July. The fireworks, while not on as big of a scale as the old Nights of Fire, will likely be a little bigger than the typical nightly fireworks spectacular. I believe that the fireworks will still go off at 10pm, even though the park is open until midnight. Someone who has actually gone to the park when it is open until midnight on a Saturday could probably verify if that is indeed correct or not. And its not just KI where July 4th is big. Coney has its Balloon Glow on July 3rd, and that is typically the BUSIEST day of the entire season. (They keep Sunlite Pool open until 9:30, and the rides open to 11pm that day, with the fireworks being launched across Lake Como. Its usually a pretty good fireworks show. Although, traffic can be a bit chaotic leaving after the fireworks. They actually shut down Kellogg Avenue for the fireworks!

I believe the music that is now playing on lift one at The Beast is from the show Lost. It certainly sounds similar. (It used to be music from Independence Day). Not sure about lift two (there was no audio on lift two when i was there Friday night).

Yes, very wise words Avatar! Excellent post, and a perfect example of why you`ll do just fine helping to moderate these forums!

Just like Shoot the Rapids was supposed to be open by Memorial Day, right? I know when I got to Kings Island tonight after work, and finally made it over to WindSeeker, there was a crew of people still working, many of them up in the ride gondola. And this was probably around 7pm or so. Hopefully, they can get the ride up soon! I know I can`t wait to ride it. It really looks impressive when riding the Red Raver in the pre dusk hours too, even with just the tower lights on and the lights on the actual gondola off!

And as always, the ride selection list on the park`s website is still subject to change. Mechanical or weather reasons can force the cancellation of early ride times on some attractions.

Thanks Jesse! You`ll do fine with the added responsibilities, I`m sure of that! See you on the midways!

Experiencing that today at Coney is one of the reasons why I enjoy working at Coney so much. It has a history and a nostalgia to it, that Kings Island simply doesn`t have. In part that is because Coney is over three times as old as Kings Island. And Coney generally has a more laid back atmosphere compared to KI. Don`t get me wrong, I still LOVE that park up in Mason. And I even enjoy riding rides there that used to run at Coney. Of course one now has to go down to Charlotte to ride one ride that originally opened at Coney...

I was down at Coney today (doing some more interviews). Crews were busy painting Moonlite Gardens. On the way out, I ran into two ladies who had stopped by to take pictures of the park. They were reminiscing about visiting Coney in its heyday. (I even took a picture of them in front of Moonlite Gardens.) I don`t know how much infrastructure remains from the "old" Coney today. 40 years is a long time! (Remember, Coney "closed" on September 6, 1971.)

From one moderator to another, welcome aboard Jesse!

Well I wonder who they are considering for CEO then. Hopefully they aren`t just looking for an "operations guy" as the next CEO. Memorial Day will be here before we know it! Which is kind of scary. It seems like just yesterday it was January! I can`t wait for Decoration Day to kick off the summer season again. Hopefully WindSeeker opens before Memorial Day weekend though!

I think I would do Sky Jump, if someone offered to pay my way for me. I definitely wouldn`t spend $100 to do it though. I`m too tight with my money to drop that much on an experience that wouldn`t only last a couple of seconds.

What about the Sky Jump off of the Stratosphere? By the way, the price tag on that experience is NOT on the cheap side...