CoastersRZ

And to site the article that Terpy linked to, Knott`s hopes to open their WindSeeker sometime between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. From everything I`ve heard, KI`s is slated to open with the park on April 30th, which means KI`s will be the first one to actually open of the four. And with the new location of the ride at Knott`s, they are having to relocate a support for Silver Bullet. Which I imagine is not a cheap endeavor in its own right. Likely means they had to do some work with B&M.

Well, while it may be warmer in sunny California, it still typically takes about 28 days for concrete to gain most of its strength. AND, they just started site work on Knott`s WindSeeker. And they have an open park to work around as well. That in and of itself can restrict the hours in which they can work. And since they were originally supposed to start construction, I`d imagine that the ride is going to open later out there than originally planned. And to site the article that Terpy linked to, Knott`s hopes to open their WindSeeker sometime between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

Yes. I saw that. But, like I also said, actual vertical construction won`t begin for quite some time (early March). This is typical because it allows the concrete in the foundations to properly cure. It will be cool to see pieces starting to arrive in the parking lot in a couple of weeks though.

Can we have Ride Warrior Weekend back at Kings Island please? Those are some pretty crazy times for exclusive ride time. Ending at 1am, and then beginning again four hours later? Talk about a lot of sleep deprived people!

So which Wind Seeker will be the first one to open? KI`s or Knott`s? Assuming that none of them have any unforeseen technical issues (they are prototypes after all).

Well, I believe that all the concrete pouring for the ride foundation concluded with yesterday`s pour. Now, all the remaining concrete work is likely finish work; ie concrete walks and curbs.

And from yesterday`s blog post, a short description of the foundation for the ride. As I predicted sometime ago, the foundation is comprised of a series of concrete piles, with a concrete pile cap above the piles. In the case of WindSeeker, the pile cap is 6' of concrete! Here is the segment about the foundation: And here is the blog entry: http://www.visitkingsisland.com/public/fun/blog/2011/1/5/WindSeeker_construction_update.cfm

I agree. I too am a pass holder to Dollywood this year (second time I`ve had a pass there. And while I`m at it, there season pass renewal process is quite simple. My first pass there was in 2009 (bought in December of 2008). I went down there again this December, and renewed my pass online. All I had to do was enter my pass # when renewing, and as easy as that, I have a 2011 Dollywood pass). However, I`m ashamed to admit I have never eaten anything inside of Dollywood so far. I think it would be fair to say that most families that visit KI are going to go ahead and pay the premium on the food, simply so that they do not have to deal with leaving the park. Your local pass holder family that will visit the park for a few hours here and there would be more apt to picnic in the parking lot, or simply grab food before or after their visit to the park. And of course, group sales were up. These people typically are not paying for admission, (at least not all of it), and so they are more apt to spend money on food and games once inside the park. I still think Cedar Fair would be wise to introduce an across the board discount on food for season pass holders. Say a 10% discount. While the discounted prices would still be high, it may be just enough to entice more pass holders to buy food while in the park as opposed to picnicing in their cars in the parking lot.

How could they have overlooked an error as large as that was with regards to the guest per capita spending? In park per capita spending has been going down for a while now. Yet attendance seems to be rebounding. Clearly, something is not working once guests get inside the parks, otherwise the in park spending would be going up not down. Is it merely the fact that they are discounting admission, or are the food price to quality ratio way out of whack? I seem to think that it is the the latter. But Cedar Fair will never admit that. At least current leadership won`t.

I`m not sure who determines food pricing at the Cedar Fair parks. But I know that as of September, Cedar Point had LOWER prices on 20 ounce soft drinks than what Kings Island had. Granted, both parks have different soft drink companies (I wonder how long until we see either Pepsi or Coke take over the entire chain?) so that may have an impact on the pricing of soft drinks. But it still seems odd. Especially since fast food establishments seem to be within closer proximity of Kings Island`s parking lot compared to Cedar Points. As an aside, Cedar Fair`s unit price has nudge up considerably since this press release was issued (up 3% today). As of this writing, the price has gone up .49 cents to 16.72. The 52 week high for Cedar Fair units was set earlier this morning at $17 a unit. And yesterday, the units closed up 4.17%!

Interesting that the only two parks mentioned directly when talking about attendance were Cedar Point and Canada`s Wonderland. Also interesting that the northern region saw the smallest percentage increase of the three regions. And they realized a 1% increase in in-park per capita spending. In other words, don`t look for Kings Island to hold the line or even reduce prices on food inside the park anytime soon. (Even if it means they may make more money on a reduced profit margin per item sold). It still amazes me that the big themers down in Florida (and even Dollywood) charge less for soft drinks then what Kings Island does. Just imagine how well a place that serves $1 hot dogs and soft drinks would do at KI? I know at the Reds games I went to this year, the $1 concession stand on the main concourse had among the longest lines of all the food venues!

Add Coney Island to the list of parks that opens on May 7th for the Appalachian Festival. The pool and park officially open for the 125th anniversary season on Memorial Day Weekend.

What recourse do the unit holders have if Cedar Fair ignores the vote? I imagine that some people, particularly Q, will be highly upset if the vote is ignored.

Finally, Q brings up the one point I like to mention. Cedar Fair keeps saying the units are up. Yes, they are up over their low point, but are still WAY down over what they were four years ago. Cedar Fair fails to realize that some people bought in and have seen the value of their positions, as Q notes, plummet, not increase as Cedar Fair states. As I said a while back, this is going to be a bumpy ride. A ride that may not even end at the conclusion of the vote next week.

Exactly. And that event is being held at the prime time for spring floods. And in an area at Coney that is among the first to flood... And Coney is due for a flood. The last flood that reached 52 feet at Coney was six years ago in the spring of 2005!

Indeed it is. I`m sure that there is not much contingency built in if we get say, a lot of snow costing construction days. But at least KI isn`t holding an event that could be completely canceled if the mighty Ohio strikes in the spring...

Well what kind of rating is neutral if it isn`t buy, sell or hold? Seems rather non-committal if you ask me.

Wow. Is that all? KI uploaded another construction picture as well. It essentially shows them forming the rebar cage for the pile cap. You can also see two wide flange beams that are being used to hold the rig that has all the bolts that will be used to attach the first tower segment to the foundation. Hopefully, the forecast for light snow towards the end of the week won` t delay the pour. After the poor, don`t look for any vertical construction to occur for about a month, as the concrete will need time to cure.

While that is impressive, check back in when you have accumulated more than 8,800 posts, or Terpy`s more than 29,000 posts!

Yeah. And unfortunately, in my tenure at Coney that has happened two times. Both times, it has happened on that ride! Not sure what it is about that ride (or how the specific thing manages to end up on the seat of the ride in the first place...

Yeah. At Coney, we use a product called Chlor-Retain on it to sterilize it. But we often do not get hoses at most rides. Have to pan and broom it off, which doesn`t always work. Rock O Planes and River Runner sometimes have hoses, at those rides are more susceptible to protein spills. Believe it or not, but one of the last days of the season we actually had a "code brown" at Tilt A Whirl. I was the manager that answered that radio call. In that situation, we also had to use bleach on the car. I`ll never ride in car two on that ride...

Please, I`d rather not think about that. That brings back memories of the unpleasant variety form this past summer. Yes, I had "warm rain" fall on my arm while training a person to work Coney`s Ferris Wheel on a slow Sunday. Needless to say, we had to shut down for a bit so I could clean up. The mother of the person that caused the warm rain felt absolutely terrible!

Well, I wouldn't want to put something on my car Tatar adheres to the paint. It could damage the paint if I ever tried to rake it off.

Well, 270 feet is quite a distance to skid. And if he hit ten guideposts, there most have been some damage.

Well why is it not a magnet? Seems kind of stupid to me, and if it is not a magnet but sticks to the paint, I will NOT be buying one!