CoastersRZ

And the end of the article demonstrates exactly how other parks (even the smaller family run parks) are benefiting from Kentucky Kingdom`s closure.

How exactly does that happen mid-ride?

I believe the park he is referring to has some past ties to Kings Island. And yes, there are drinking fountains available at Coney.

Wow. Simply amazing. She looks great for being 88 too! I hope I`m in that good of shape when I`m that old (or still living for that matter).

And while on the subject of flat rides, one would be unsound if they did not mention the Turtle ride at Kennywood. One of the last remaining rides of its type, and a true classic. Not to mention that the Turtles at Kennywood do NOT have buzzers like Turtle Parade at Coney does (the sole ride I have never operated at Coney).

Well, even I haven`t hit #100 on the coaster count yet. I`m at 84 right now, and have only added two new coasters this year (and those were added all the way back in March!) Additionally, I have never been to Kennywood. I heard its a great historic park. Hope you have fun. As I`ve said in another thread, I hope to someday visit Kennywood if I make an architecture trek out to NYC one day.

That type of thing depends on the park and the ride. Operating systems do vary. I think it is safe to say that most rides will have a "Lift Start" and a "Lift Stop" buttons. I know that Coney`s Python has those. The panel also has lights for the five block sections on the ride. Python can actually be operated by not even touching the main control panel though. There is a dispatch button at the front of the loading station, and three buttons at the unload station ("Advance to Unload", "Advance to Load" and the BIG RED button). The BIG RED button is found on almost every ride at Coney (and most other park`s rides for that matter. It is more commonly referred to as the "E-Stop button" or Emergency Stop.

I have not been to the Columbus Zoo yet. I have some relatives that recently moved to Dayton (my cousin-in-law is stationed at Wright Patt right now), and they recently bought a family membership to the Columbus Zoo. On the subject of 90 degree days, I believe that last July we had something crazy like only one day the entire month where the temperature hit 90 degrees. It might not even had hit 90 once the entire month. Compare that to 2007, where the month of August had something like 7 days where the mercury topped 100!

I often get asked questions when I head to the park after work. Working in an architecture firm, I normally am dressed in business casual with nice dress shoes on, long khaki pants and a nice collared shirt. (When I went to the Reds game a few weeks back, the person taking my ticket thought I was a Reds employee since I was wearing a solid red shirt!) Alas, on the weekends, I do work at Coney and can share my knowledge of that fine park with the guests at Coney.

Update: If you are a member of triple A, today and tomorrow (July 16th and 17th), you get a special discount. AAA members can show thier membership card and get a Buy-One-Get-One-FREE Pool & Rides Combo Ticket, plus save 20% on food & beverage and select merchandise! Not a bad deal. Note that this deal is only good for today and tomorrow though.

I was at the park today. And I kid you not, but I swear I saw more free cups of ice water than I did actual soft drink cups. The ratio was probably 5 to 1. Granted, it is better to drink water on a hot day like today than to drink soft drinks. But that also hurts in park spending. (Don`t let KI or CF catch wind that Coney actually charges their customers for ice water).

Before 4pm it is $21.95 for a pool and rides ticket. Individually, they are each $11.95 (5 & up). After 4pm prices are $11.95 for both, and $7.95 for each. To save some money, you can buy your tickets online and save $2 off the combo ticket, or $1 off either the pool or rides. If you buy online, take your voucher to either the pool ticket booths or the rides ticket booth to exchange them for pool tickets/rides wristbands. Parking is $7. And if you go on a weekend, make sure to say hello to me. I`ll likely be at the Ferris Wheel or Rock O Planes.

Well, that assumes that the carousel is in fact playing carousel music. When maintenance checks the carousel at Coney in the early morning hours, it has been known to be blaring some classic rock tunes. But it NEVER plays that type of thing during the day. And the Carousel at Coney has something else unique. Occasionally, there are wedding receptions at the adjacent Moonlite Gardens. It is now uncommon for the wedding party to come over to the Carousel and take it for a spin/take pictures on it.

I have reported this in other threads I`ve made. Sometimes, the deals offered are pretty good. I know in the past, they have included rides admission for $5 off, or jut $6.95 a person! A pretty good deal.

With regards to the aerial picture showing the train ride and the turnpike cars. The Ferris Wheel today resides about where the station building is for the Turnpike Cars. The current Lakeside Pavilion would be just off the top left of the image, and the current site of the River Runer would be off the top right center portion of the image. The old "tunnels" that the train ride passed through to get underneath the parking lot and to get to the Indian scenes still exist out by the employee parking lot and the overflow runoff for Lake Como by Gate 1. The coaster next to the log flume is the Shooting Star. The Log Flume was built at Coney for the 1968 season, and operated at Coney for four seasons before being relocated to Kings Island.

And back then, Kings Island was a little bit more like Disney in the sense that worker uniforms were unique to the ride/area. I`ve always thought it would be fun to work for Disney. (Of course, I have spent nine years working as a ride operator at Coney, even though I have a full time job now and am at Coney only on the weekends. I just find it to be a really fun job.)

And put this in comparison. Coney`s rides department has about 130 people in it. This year, there are about 100 returning employees who were in the department last year. That leaves only 30 or so new hires this year in the department! That doesn`t leave a lot of room for people wanting a job in rides at Coney (I`ve been told there is a waiting list for rides).

But for how much longer will Q be content to let current management run things? Particularly since Kinzel seems to think they have time to wait and see how the economy improves with regard to their debt that comes due in 2012.

The last time I saw Jeff Siebert was LAST year, and it wasn`t at Kings Island... He was visiting some friends and former coworkers at a park that has many full timers that used to work at this now closed park. You will often see Vic Nolting, the president of Coney out and about with a pan and broom in hand. Ironically, while the owner of Coney, Brenda Walker has been in the park numerous times when I have been working, I do not know what she looks like, and therefore would not recognize her if she said hello to me! She is typically a hands off owner, and lets Coney`s full time staff run and operate the park.

Two slices of cheese pizza and a regular Coke from Kings Island is actually a little bit cheaper than the same thing at a Reds game (at the Reds it costs $10 even) and at KI, it costs $9 and change. The difference? At the Reds games, the slices are EXTREMELY large. And you are only at the baseball game for two to three hours, not all day like at an amusement park. And I did compare prices to Coney and the discount that Coney offers their pass holders to entice them to spend money on food. I don`t know what the actual food prices are at Coney compared to KI, as whenever I eat at Coney, its in the employee cafe, where soft drinks can be had for ten nickles.

He was referring to zero depth entry. Ie, the edge of the pool goes from nothing and slowly deepens. This is a big deal for smaller kids, as well as those with disabilities. And for the record, Kings Island`s wave pool holds 600,000 gallons of water. By comparison, the 200 foot by 401 foot Sunlite Pool holds over 3 million gallons of water. And the above statement about Sunlite Pool being more than an acre is indeed correct. Given the dimensions of the pool, it has an area of 80,200 square feet. One acre contains 43,560 square feet. So Sunlite Pool occupies 1.84 acres!

Well, I certainly hope that maintenance guy wasn`t on the drop while the ride was testing! I believe I read in a Cincinnati Enquirer article that steel coaster track is not walked every day like wood coaster track. Rather, they "walk" the track from the ground once a week, and inspect the areas that they can from up close daily (the areas with catwalks, and moving parts, ie brake runs).

Well, this is Coney`s 125 operating season. Although, it will celebrate its 125th anniversary next June 21st, when the park officially turns 125 years old (when it is in its 126 operating season). The marketing campaign by the park this year has been focusing on Coney`s history (even going so far as to call Coney Island "Cincinnati`s Historical Amusement Park").

Thats better than me. I haven`t been to Kings Dominion since the year 2000!

And the thing is that all those season pass holders that are eating in the parking lot is a MISSED revenue opportunity. Give pass holders a blanket discount on food items that entices them to actually eat in the park. (Coney Island gives pass holders a 10% discount on food and Platinum Pass holders a 20% discount). Make it so that the prices are reasonable, and they will likely generate more revenue from some of their most loyal customers, which will positively impact the in park spending levels. I know when I went down to Disney World in the fall of 2008, I didn`t think twice about buying 20 oz. soft drinks. Why? Because they were $2.50 a piece. That was far cheaper than the $3.50 that KI was charging for the same item. Yes, Disney is a destination park, but I can`t remember the last time I bought a 20oz. soft drink at KI. I almost always will have a cooler in my car with soft drinks for the drive home. Minimum wage is currently $7.30. Most amusement parks make only minimum wage, so if they were to buy a meal in the park, it would take them nearly two hours of work just to pay for THEIR portion of a meal, not to mention if they were buying for others!