CoastersRZ

Is he a secret band organ collector?

For those curious, the Ohio Minimum wage is going from $7.30 to $7.40. I actually knew about the minimum wage jump back in September or October when I heard Coney`s admissions manager talking about the increase in minimum wage. When I started working at Coney in 2002, my first job, I was making $5.25 an hour, ten cents more than minimum wage at the time. The one nice thing was that there was also a bonus, based on the number of hours worked through the year. If you worked the entire season (and did not get any disciplinary points), you would get the bonus check in November. But when minimum wage went up (I believe it jumped first to $6.85, the bonus program was a casualty. This has had two negatives. People no longer have a reason to stick out the few weekends of post season, leaving us short staffed. And the other issue is that disciplinary points do not have much merit (there is no real difference between having two points or 10 points. The magic number is 12 points. When a worker reaches 12 points, they are terminated. Since the points used to cost people money, they had an incentive not to call in, or do anything that merits points. Now points are rather trivial. As is always the case, I`m sure seasonal parks, which have lots of workers making minimum wage, will try and pass the increased expense onto the customer in the form of higher admission prices...

Standards change over time. Just like building codes (or the Americans with Disabilities Act) change. In fact, there are new ADA design guidelines (from 2010). Compliance is required for all buildings taking occupancy as of March 2012. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, there was no ADA guidelines. Standards have changed. Some bathrooms that used to be accessible under old ADA guidelines may not necessarily be so under current guidelines. The same thing applies to steel and manufacturing. What is standard at the time, may not be the standards two or even three years down the road. And standards are different from country to country (or even state to state).

I wasn`t referring to religion. I was wondering why the state of Kentucky has balked at helping out Mr. Hart and Kentucky Kingdom, but is willing to give tax breaks to this park, which obviously has a much narrower target market than Kentucky Kingdom. And keep in mind that there is supposed to be separation of church and state. While they may not be blurring the lines, the fact that they are doing this for one organization that is associated with a religion, while not for another, can cause some tempers to start to flare (and likely lawsuits).

Fault lines or flag poles? Are are you referring to a certain company that is headed by a guy that got his start in the business at none other than Coney Island? Its amazing how small of a world it really is!

And yes, I meant known. Not none. They`d have a hard time getting the structure through permitting if they designed it like there was no fault line and there was in fact one in close proximity. Good to know there is a hole. And as Terpy said, hopefully it is a new hole, and not an old hole, lol. I`d imagine that the new ride is using piles with a pile cap, so the hole may not actually be that deep. (Drop Tower uses piles with a pile cap). Essentially both rides are really big flag poles.

But, wouldn`t they have done their due diligence on this BEFORE they made the announcement? Could they have encountered some costly design changes/unforseen circumstances to make the ride compliant with California seismic regulations? I would say cost would likely be a bigger factor than overcoming engineering challenges. As an aside, seismic loads on buildings are treated much like wind loads. They are lateral forces that act on buildings. The United States is divided into a map of seismic zones. These zones stipulate what loads you must account for when designing your structure to safely withstand these loads. These zones and design information are compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey. In most locations, with the exception of California, or areas where there is a none fault line, wind loads are the controlling lateral load. In short, in most locations, structures are designed for wind loads because these loads are higher than what would be anticipated from seismic loads. Enough of an architecture/structural engineering lesson.

Gotta love this quote from the article:

While I enjoyed Busch Gardens Tampa, I actually had as much, if not more fun at Sea World. Granted, Busch Gardens was fun, and they do have a lot of Coasters (SheiKra and Kumba are both awesome coasters) the one bad thing is that Tampa is an hour drive from Orlando, where the rest of the Florida themers are located. Cheetah Hunt does look like a fun ride. I don`t know when I`ll get down there to ride it though. I`d like to go on a great adventure to another kingly park first. A park that I have not been to in more than a decade.

Well the quote from the PR person is worded oddly. The ride is still being considered but it may be moved elsewhere? That seems really odd. Announce a new ride and then decide not to put it in where originally considered. Is the SkyCabin at Knott`s still open? Could they be trying to find a location that does not force the removal of that ride? And why may a decision be made after Kinzel visits? Aren`t these decisions dependent on more than just one person? I would certainly hope so. I think its safe to say the ride will end up at a Cedar Fair park somewhere in 2011. Although, it may not end up at Knott`s in 2011... Well, its clear that Knott`s WindSeeker will not be the first to open. And even though KI has a late opening day in 2011, if WindSeeker is ready at Kings Island, it looks as if KI`s will be the first one to open. Speaking of Kings Island`s have we seen any updates from Coney Mall/the site of the new ride recently? Have any parts of the ride started showing up yet? If the foundations for the ride aren`t under construction yet, I`d imagine they would be getting close to starting. Granted, this has been an exceptionally snowy December. We normally only get about 3.5 inches of snow, and we`ve had about 13" (with more potentially on the way for Friday).

And in the materials sent out to unit holders, the letter signed by Kinzel states that this proxy vote is a waste of company resources. This vote can`t honestly be costing the company as much money as what they had to pay to Apollo after that deal was scuttled. And the board was looking after the best interests of unit holders then too, right? That explains why the units closed today at $14.61, more than three dollars higher than the proposed deal with Apollo.

Excellent post Interpreter! It sums up my feelings pretty much as well.

And what exactly makes those statements lies? He said that he was an operations guy and not a finance guy. What is a lie about that? Or is he now trying to deny that he ever said such a thing? He certainly is not very wise when it comes to keeping his mouth shut, is he?

Well, I`d like to compare KI`s landscaping to those parks. But I have never been to Six Flags Over Georgia, and my lone visit to Kings Dominion was over ten years ago (way back in the year 2000). That was before I was even a licensed driver!

Seasonal parks also do not have the type of budgets to devote to landscaping that a park like Sea World has. On the other hand, Boomerang Bay, on my limited visits out there the last few years has had some nice landscaping as well. Not quite as extravagant as Sea World`s, but still nice. Even the landscaping in Planet Snoopy this past year was quite nice looking with all the blooming flowers. I just wish that Coney Mall could see some spruced up landscaping the way Coney Mall used to be landscaped in the early days, and the days of the mall at Coney Island.

I did have fun. It was nice to take a little "mini" vacation. Makes me miss the summer months even more around Cincinnati. I love going to amusement parks, lol. One of the things that I loved the most about Sea World was the lush landscaping throughout the park. Even though Manta was a brand new ride, it looked as if it had been there for twenty years because of the amount of lush landscaping surrounding the ride. It was simply amazing.

The other question that has to be asked, is why is Q intent on talking with Mr. Falfas now? While many people are making Q to be the bad guy in this special meeting, Cedar Fair is far from infallible. Their statements do not necessarily jive with their past actions. It still amazes me that they insist they have always had the unit holders interests in mind with all of their recent decisions. It is simply laughable.

While I agree 110% with the portion about the debt reduction verses distribution payout, I am left somewhat puzzled by the following sentence: Is this not the same board that recommend the sale of the company to a private equity firm for just $11.50 a unit? That certainly did not seem like the board was looking out for my interests as a unit holder then. Especially when certain people like Kinzel were reported to stay on with the new private company and get a partial ownership in the "new" company. Secondly, unless I am mistaken, Cedar Fair is spending LESS on capital investment this off season compared to previous ones. While they haven`t officially released their 2011 capital budget (unless I missed it along the way, which is possible), the fact that there four "prime" parks are getting the same exact ride with the same exact name speaks to the fact that they aren`t investing as heavily in capital budgets this coming season, in an attempt to pay down more of their debt. Thats not necessarily a bad thing, but less money spend on capital budgets can also mean a lack of new things to attract visitors to visit the parks. And, on the subject of the COO. Has Cedar Fair, until now, ever admitted that Falfas resigned? And even so, who is to say that his resignation was voluntary? He could have been given an ultimatum of resign or we will force you out. It still seems curious how he abruptly left, and how Cedar Fair never released an official statement about his departure. Even odder is that he really hasn`t been heard of since he left Cedar Fair. Kinzel`s time has definitely come and gone. He is out of touch with many things, among them food prices. It is crazy that parks like KI are charging $3.75 for soft drinks (the prices at Cedar Point at least were slightly cheaper by five nickles!) The lack of food quality, and exorbitantly high food prices do not encourage people to spending money in the parks. If they were to give pass holders a general discount on food, like 10 or 20 percent, they may find themselves making more money from their pass holders. As it is now, the majority of pass holders likely will not eat in the parks, causing in park spending to go down. And in park spending has been going down at the Cedar Fair parks now for several quarters. It should come to no surprise as to the reason why. But for some reason, Kinzel and co. think they can continue to raise prices and nickle and dime their customers, all while the quality has gone down. While I understand what Kinzel has done, and in whole, I think CF has been good for KI, I think it is time for new blood in the leadership position. Whether that is now or a year from now.

And continuing on with the trip report. We arrived at Universal around 5:10 in the evening. I had to purchase a two day ticket to get in. Jesse had a season pass, so I was able to receive a discount on admission. This is where we encountered some troubles. They had ONE, yes ONE ticket window open. There were maybe ten or fifteen people ahead of us in line. A supervisor eventually took people out of line who had etickets, but the line simply did not move. It was made worse by the fact that this one window was also selling season passes. The real root of the problem was one family (who had like two people in line), seems to grow to about eight different groups buying passes when they actually got to the window. I understand about it being in the evening, a few hours from closing, but this was ridiculous. Especially since we wanted to get into the park to see the parade and the Mannheim Steam Roller concert. To make a long story short, it took us nearly thirty five minutes to get my one ticket! Not cool at all, which is part of the reason why in hindsight we should have not went to Universal that evening. Once in the park, we watched the parade. We then proceeded to the concert area, where the concert was supposed to begin at 6. The park closed at 7. By 6:25, I had grown antsy since the concert had yet to start. Jesse waited to watch the concert, when I went off on my own for a little bit. I ended up getting in the single rider line for Revenge of the Mummy. Talk about a very awesome ride. I love the section where the train travels backwards. I also like all the use of real fire inside of the building. Definitely two thumbs up for that ride. By the time I was off the ride, it was 7. I caught a little bit of the Mannheim Steamroller concert. Then Jesse and I left the park after a very brief visit. We ended up grabbing some Whoppers at the Burger King Whopper Bar at Citywalk. I`m not really certain what made this a Whopper bar compared to normal Burger King restaurants. Day two at Universal started bright and early at Island`s of Adventure. Now I had previously been to Islands of Adventure back in the summer of 2004, so I had already been on all the roller coasters in the park. The reason for returning, however, was a little area known as the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We got in line for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. There was no line perse, but people were stopping to take pictures of the line. Why wouldn`t they? Talk about an intricately themed line! From talking picture frames, to seeing Dumbledore, to the talking sorting hat. The ride itself is awesome. It is a clever combination of projections and animatronic/special effects that blend seamlessly. The ride is very well done, and I`d recommend a visit to Islands of Adventure to experience this ride. After our ride on it, we got back in line to a somewhat longer line, but it was still about ten minutes. The ride had a minor hiccup and was down for about ten minutes, extending our wait to twenty minutes. Still, an awesome ride, and worth the wait. After our two rides on Harry Potter, we grabbed some frozen butterbeer. Tasty stuff. From there, we went about conquering the rest of the park. While crowds were light, this was made easier by the complementary Express pass we had been given the night before because of our horrendous wait at the ticket booth. We rode Dragon Challenge (both sides), proceeded to the Jurrasic Park River adventure, Dudley Do RIght`s Rip Saw Falls, Spiderman, Dr Doom`s drop ride, and then finished up at the Incredible Hulk. By this time our, good weather for the day (finally sunny, and a little warm), took a turn for the south as dark clouds rolled in. We hit up the Cat in the Hat ride (I had not done that on my previous trip to the park. It is a fun little ride. By the time we exited the ride, it had begun to rain. So we opted to head over to the Studios park. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit was currently down, so we ended up hitting the Beetlejuice Graveyard review show. A very well done show, with some good jokes sprinkled in. We grabbed a ride on Mummy, then headed off to tackle some classic Universal rides such as Jaws, Men in Black: Alien Attack, and the new Simpsons ride. From there, we spotted that Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit was open. So we ventured off to that to get in line. The wait wasn`t that bad. Maybe fifteen minutes (the Express passes were not valid at this ride). The ride was alright. Nothing to write home about. And while the onboard audio was cool, somehow, it just kind of ruins the experience of riding a coaster. You can`t hear the screams of other riders, or the roar of the train. Fun ride, but I`d much rather ride Manta or Diamondback. We then grabbed lunch at Mel`s Diner, a 50`s styled diner. From there, we proceeded to Disaster, then hit up Twister. From there, we grabbed a few more rides on the Mummy. By this time, it was time to catch the parade, again. It was cool to see all the balloons that were used in the parade. After the parade, it was time to head back to the airport to catch the flight back to Indianapolis, where it was reportedly snowing. Once we landed in Indianapolis shortly before 11pm, we were greeted by several inches of snow on the ground. And I had the unfortunate task of driving back to Cincinnati that night! It was slow going on the highway, but I finally made it home around 3am! Overall it was a fun trip. I`m definitely glad I went. Besides not doing Busch Gardens and then going to Universal in the evening, I would have not done anything different. I definitely recommend Busch Gardens Tampa and Sea World to anyone who hasn`t visited those parks. While they are not Disney, they are still fun parks. It did feel weird to be in Florida and not be visiting Disney. Maybe next time though. With all the coasters I rode on the trip, I`m now up to 95 coasters on my track record. Still pales in comparison to many, but it is nothing to be sneezed at either. I hope you enjoyed reading my trip report!

It was a last minute trip. An invite from Jesse (Avatar), and much antagonizing on my part, I asked for the days off from work, and I was set for a long weekend and a trip to three parks down in sunny Florida that I had never visited and one I last visited six years ago. So on Friday, December 10th, I departed my house shortly before 4am. I swung by Jesse`s house and we headed for the Indianapolis airport. I was shocked how much smaller the airport was compared to the one in Cincinnati. I do NOT like to fly, and the last time I flew was back in September of 2008. Before that it was back in the summer of 1999! I just hate flying. The flight, fortunately was uneventful. From the Orlando airport, we continued onto Discovery Cove for a quick meet up and brief tour of the park from Todd (Delirium_Guy). The weather was a little cool down in Florida, so the park seemed a little slow. From there, we proceeded across the street to Sea World Orlando. This was my first visit to a Sea World Parks and Entertainment park. Immediately, I spotted Manta. The ride simply dominates the entrance to the park. I simply love this effect. To our delight, when we saw this train, there were empty rows! So we proceeded to ride this ride. The queue line is amazing and I love the way they made the aquarium part of the queue. First ride on Manta was in the back row. The g forces in the back during the pretzel loop are quite intense. The B&M flyers load a lot better than the Vekoma flyers. It is also nice to go up the lift hill facing the ground as opposed to on your back staring into the sun. After having no line for Manta, we rode it again. Two thumbs up. After that, we went to the dolphin show. The show was very well choreographed, and I liked that they also introduced birds flying above the stands. After the dolphin show, we proceeded to Kraken. This is where we encountered our first real line of the day. About thirty minutes, as posted on the sign. The reason? They were only running ONE train on this floorless coaster from B&M. That makes for a line that seems to NEVER move. The ride was decent. I loved the loop that was set down in the trench, and especially loved the tunnel element. After our ride on it, they announced they were shutting the ride down temporarily to add a second train. From there, we proceeded to ride Journey to Atlantis. A fun little ride, and great combination of log flume with coaster elements. From there, we decided to hit up Manta again. I simply love that ride. After that, they were opening up their Christmas area of the park, so we ventured over there. While over there, we opted to go on the Polar Express experience. I had never done it at Dollywood, and Jesse said he had, but was disappointed by it at Dollywood. But we gave it a try anyway. Once inside, the preshow waiting areas are incredibly themed to look like the side of Polar express cars. The ride experience is what you would expect from a standard simulator ride. After the ride, it dumps you into the arctic animal exhibit. Very nice tie in. After that, we met up with Todd, who had gotten off work. We rode Manta, grabbed some pizza (very good pizza I might add), and then headed off to the Sky Tower. The lake looked amazing with all the trees out in it, all synchronized to music. From the Sky Tower, we headed off to the sea lion show. A VERY entertaining show. And the cast did some quick thinking on their feet through some microphone troubles and an AFR from one of the animals. Very nice show. From there, the live entertainment continued at Shamu Stadium. While the show started at 9:30, they had some pre-entertainment before show time. We got seats right up close. The seats were not marked as splash zone seats (more on that later), but we figured we were safe since the shallow display area was located right in front of us, preventing the whales from being able to splash us. The whales did lots of tricks, and for most of the show, were splashing the stands to the left and right of us, but not center stage. It seemed as if our plan had worked. Until... The very end of the show. I was seated on the end, and the people in front of us ducked. My pants were SOAKED. And while we were in Florida, the temperature had fallen, and it likely was around 50 or so by the time the show ended. Made for a cold evening. From there, we had one more live show to catch, the ice skating show. The show was VERY well done, and featured a LOT of skaters. I think that guy in the front, was in one of Kings Island`s ice skating shows a few years back. He looks familiar... After the ice skating show, Sea World had a nice fireworks show over the lake. A great way to cap off a nice visit to a very nice park. Overall, it was a fun park. It would have been nice if there was another ride or two, but overall, the place is about the sea life. The landscaping in this park was impeccable as well. And hopefully, they will be able to continue to build up their Christmas event. It seems like they are off to a great start. Day two was to be spent at Busch Gardens Tampa. Again, this was the first Busch Gardens park I had ever been to. The drive down from Orlando to Tampa on I-4 was shrouded in fog most of the way. (The forecast had called for 71 and sunny). Upon arriving in the park, we waited a few minutes for the ropes to drop, then were off. The first ride we hit was Gwazi. They were only running one side (the yellow side). The ride wasn`t that bad (we rode in the front row), but the ride would have been better had the ride had Millennium Flyers instead of PTC trains. Also, the seat belts were a little awkward to buckle. One end was very short, and when you were seated in the car, it was practically on your hip, and you couldn`t extend it. It made buckling difficult as you had to contend with the lap bar, and the side of the car. From there, we had some time to kill until the back side of the park opened. So we checked out the kangaroo area. It was cool how some of them were on the pathway! Our next ride we tackled was SheiKra. I snapped this picture on our way to the ride. The fog that morning made for some excellent shots, as well as some eerie rides! I loved SheiKra. The front row on the ends is the best, as there is literally nothing below your feet. And the hold at the top of the drop is amazing. The fog added an extra fun element, as we could not even see the rest of the park when we were riding. We rode the ride like three times right off The Bat. Why? Because it was a fun ride, and there were NO lines. In fact, one time, Jesse and I were the only two on an entire train! I was on one end of the front row, and he was on the other. No one else was on the train! I wouldn`t mind if KI eventually gets one of these rides. As you can tell, the park was pretty empty in the morning after just opening. The next ride we conquered was Kumba, which means "Roar" in the Congo language. And this B&M roar`s. This is perhaps the loudest B&M coaster I have ever heard. Its so loud that the operators in the station actually were wearing ear plugs! It is a really fun ride, with nice pacing too. I love the loop through the lift hill too. The next ride we conquered was Scorpion. This was a fun little ride (a ride that seemingly would fit perfectly at Coney, and be an instant upgrade over the Python at Coney). Two train operation would have been nice as there was a little bit of a lineup for this ride, but the second train wasn`t on the transfer track. Not sure if this ride ever runs two trains at all or not. Our next ride before lunch was Montu. Unfortunately, this was where we ran into another frustration. Montu was only running ONE train. And to make matters worse, the crew was not moving fast, and they were not very efficient with how they handled the speed pass riders either (often letting them sit in rows other than the row that was blocked off on the loading side of the station, causing disruptions with guests who were trying to match up with multiple rows to be on the same train. Overall, Montu was a fun ride, but I prefer Afterburn at Carowinds over Montu. By this time, we were getting hungry. So Jesse said that the Interpreter had suggested the Crown Colony Restaurant. Before entering the restaurant, the walk up to it provided some general overview shots of Cheetah Hunt. The Crown Colony restaurant is a full service restaurant with waiter service. I ordered a turkey sandwich. They provided us with rolls before our meal came out. The sandwich cost around $10.25. It came with a side of french fries. When the sandwich came out, it was a HUGE serving. It was mounded with lots of turkey and freshly baked bread. It was well worth the cost of the sandwich. In fact, there was so much food, that I couldn`t even finish all the french fries, and I hadn`t even eaten breakfast before heading to the park. I give it two thumbs up. The turkey sandwich was delicious and would recommend the Crown Colony restaurant. From there, we opted to ride the Serengheti Express. This train, also made by Crown Medal Products, which manufactured KI`s train, goes through an animal habitat, not unlike safari ride at Disney`s Animal Kingdom. When we rode it, the giraffes were coming right up to the tracks, and the train actually had to slow down to ensure the giraffes moved out of the way. After the train reached the first station, Jesse, disembarked to purchase a souvenir, and have it shipped home. Meanwhile, I stayed on board the train, to complete the round trip (there are three stations on the train). The round trip took about forty minutes! We also rode Cheetah Chase, but had a little bit of a wait for it. We also rode Rhino Rally. Its too bad that the ride got shortened so much for construction of Cheetah Hunt. Hopefully, its course gets lengthened some once construction on Cheetah Hunt is completed. Overall, my first visit to a Busch Gardens park was fun. The crowds had begun to filter in by mid afternoon, and after re-rides on SheiKra and Kumba, we opted to make the one hour drive back to Orlando and swing by Universal. A decision, that in hindsight, we now regret doing. But hindsight is 20/20 as they say. I will post the Universal portion of the trip report shortly. I hope you enjoy it so far!

And its an even longer off season for KI this year because of their late opening. But some people on here have visited other parks recently. In fact, I spent last weekend down in Florida visiting Sea World, Busch Gardens and Universal. Great times at those parks, and a PTR will hopefully be coming this weekend. (And I maybe going down to Dollywood after Christmas too).

Oh, but how it is not the most wonderful time of the year right now. Kings Island is not open (and neither is Coney). Hurry up end of April! You can`t come fast enough. I`ve had enough of the snow already!

And.... "cement footers." Technically that is concrete footings. Cement is the glue that chemically reacts with the water in a process called hydrolysis. So when people refer to concrete as drying, that is also incorrect, as the water is not evaporating, but going through a chemical reaction, which gives off heat (they had to install cooling pipes in the Hoover Dam when it was under construction because of all the heat that was generated from the curing concrete. I don`t really want to get on a long explanation of concrete, and the proper water to cement ratio, or the various admixtures that can be added to concrete to increase strength, work time, decrease work time, increase fluidity, etc. That is another subject for another day.

The Montu crew was not that enthusiastic when we were there. I didn`t find Gwazi to be that bad. I did wish that it had Millenium Flyers instead of PTCs as I think it would make the ride experience better. And unfortunately, Montu was the only B&M coaster we encountered with one train operations. The first ride we took on Kraken, they were also operating with one train. Although, immediately after we returned to the station after our first ride on it, they added a second train. (It was about a thirty minute wait with one train). Manta was walk on the entire time we were at Sea World! Now that is one FUN ride. That pretzel loop features some serious g forces. Especially in the back row.

And does KI keep track of how many people leave the park and re-enter during a typical summer day? What about how many cars re-enter the parking lot? I`d venture to say that if they do keep track of that, it would tell them something. I know that I rarely eat at Kings Island. If I must, I will leave the park and grab some fast food outside of the park. What I would like to see is a nice sit down restaurant. The one that I ate at while at Busch Gardens was fantastic. The Crown Colony Cafe offered an incredible view (of both the wild animals, as well as Cheetah Hunt). And I opted to get a turkey sandwich. The sandwich cost around $10.25. Pricey, yes. But for the price, you also were served dinner rolls before the meal came out, and the sandwich came out with tons of turkey on it, on warm bread. It also came with french fries. There was lots of food, and the quality of the sandwich was really good. It was well worth the price. There was so much food, that I could not even finish all the food for lunch, and I hadn`t even eaten breakfast that day. I could NOT get the same food experience at KI. (I don`t even know if they offer a cold cut turkey sandwich outside of the Subway. And there, they will charge you just about as much as my sandwich just to get a drink and 6" sub, with less quality.