CoastersRZ

Well, as a slight aside, I have been at Coney Island when the entire park has lost power before. This was way back in like 2007. It was around 4:15pm on a busy Saturday. I was working the Ferris Wheel, and we had a full load and were in the process of loading a car when our ramp went dead. We had no power to power the ramp, and had to rely on people power to keep the cars from rotating, and good old fashioned gravity and the brake to unload the rest of the ride after about ten minutes from the point of power loss. The power came back on about an hour and a half later that day.

And of course at Coney, we have "pickle cards." In case you don`t know about "Give `Em the Pickle," check out this video:

I know that one of the Flight of Fear saying was "Attention all base personnel: The time traveling committee will be last Tuesday. That is all."

I would imagine that there is ALWAYS a security presence at KI, 365/24/7. I know that there is always a security presence at Coney. If you recall, back in the spring this year, three people were caught trespassing on Coney`s property in the overnight hours. They were caught and charged with trespassing on Coney property. I would imagine that things are very similar at KI.

I agree. I mean the Crypt for most beautiful structure? The building it is in is simply a metal box, with insignificant architectural features. The ride itself certainly does not have a very impressive structure either...

That is troublesome, as it was an awesome effect. Hopefully, it returns soon. I was totally not expecting to see that when I rode the version of Boo Blasters down at Carowinds on their opening day. I haven`t been on KI`s Boo Blasters since early May I believe, so I can`t confirm or deny this effect is present or not.

Precisely my thoughts. The fountain had worked fine up until a few visits ago. Hopefully, it is just a pump that needs replacing. Hopefully the fountains don`t go the way of the band organ on the carousel...

I too have noticed that the large vertical fountains have not been on. Only the fountains on the pedestals and the circular spray fountains not on the pedestals have been working. I wonder whats wrong. The fountains don`t seem as majestic without them. One good thing is that I have noticed the fountains that are working are going through a rotation like the fountains used to. It seems like the last few years the fountains were "stagnant" ie, the fountains never changed between the different nozzles. For example, if you notice right now, the vertical nozzles on the pedestals will be on, while the circular nozzles in the main fountain will be off. And then they will change after a few minutes. I miss this animation and action in the fountains. Hopefully, the large vertical nozzles will be running again soon.

And it is a fine ride indeed, continuing to thrill riders down at Carowinds. A little tidbit that I learned is that Coney tried to get the flyers from LeSourdsville Lake back in 2006. Unfortunately, they were outbid. The park was successful in placing the winning bid for the Rock O Planes, which actually arrived on Coney property in mid-summer 2006, before being repainted and erected in its current location for the 2007 season.

Remember, that it is not always about getting the coolest new ride. If there is no ROI there, then it doesn`t make much business sense to get that cool new ride. A very simplified example follows. Why spend $10,000 buying a new arcade game that generates only $100 in revenue, when you could buy a game for $1,000 that generates $300 in revenue. Now, clearly by example is grossly oversimplified, but it illustrates the point of deciding on the best capital investment that produces the best ROI. And on the subject of GCI and GG. Its kind of hard to compare the two, as they offer somewhat different wooden coasters. Great Coasters is like the B&M of wooden coasters. They are arguably the top of the line in terms of designs, comfort and from what I`ve heard, maintenance. On the other hand, Gravity Group rides are usually cheaper, and thus more parks can afford them. Because they are generally cheaper, maintenance may tend to be more on an ongoing basis. Each company has its own perks. I absolutely LOVE the Voyage, and I also adore Thunderhead.

And the last rides installed back in 2008 included River Runner, which is not a typical carnival ride. And don`t forget that a multi-million water slide was added to Sunlite Pool last year. Will we see another ride added to Coney at some point? Sure. When or what is anyone`s guess at this point in time.

Or tickets if you are the only one who is working that knows how to run that...

Those multi-color flood lights were first installed for Winterfest in 2005. I agree that it is ashame they are not using those this year. The front side of the Eiffel Tower looks awful compared to the back, or how it used to look in past years with those floods on. And as others have said, there really isn`t that much bleed through visible on the front side of the tower from the LED lights in the back. I wish that either they would turn on the old floods or get LED lights to light up the front of the tower as well (they have lights in the bushes on the front side of the tower). With the amount of people that watch the fireworks from the base of the Royal Fountain inside the park gates, the Eiffel Tower doesn`t look quite as majestic as it once did when the front was illuminated at night like in years past.

And in addition to the ride not having a secondary drop down bar, there were no seat belts. In fact, when I first started running the Ferris Wheel back in 2003 there were no seat belts on it either. Those were added in 2007 or 2008 I believe.

Notice that the Ferris Wheel pictures there is a sixteen seat model, and the current one at Coney is a twelve seat model. We often get asked at the Ferris Wheel if it is the same one that used to be at Coney back in the day. Also, note the lack of fencing around the ride. And note that the cars do not have the hair guards around the edges. One similarity between the two rides, is that they are both cable driven wheels, and hence, Coney`s Ferris Wheel operates almost in the same manner as the one in that picture, some 55 years later!

I don`t recall ever hearing Coney attracted 3 million visitors in its final season. Keep in mind, that not even Kings Island broke the 3 million mark its final year. It did, however break the 2 million visitor mark in its first season. And as with moth parks, exact attendance figures are no longer announced. There was a point in time, when Taft owned the parks, that exact attendance figures were released, right down to the single digits.

Well, I will be there ALL day on the 3rd and the 4th. By the way, a little birdie has told me that the rides at Coney will be open until 11pm and Sunlite Pool will remain open until 9:30 on the 3rd. The fireworks will still launch at 10pm though.

I actually rode the Tempest this past Thursday with some co-workers. It can definitely be one intense ride!

Don`t forget that today is the first day that the Wallenda Family Thrill Show takes place at Coney`s Sunlite Pool. Come on down and check out the show, as well as Coney`s classic rides. The rides are open today until 10pm, and Sunlite Pool is open until 8pm.

And in some cases, the trim brakes are part of the block system that was designed by the manufacturer. It may help the timing of the ride, and hence capacity, to slow down the trains in certain areas.

And the Millenium Flyer trains actually have leather and cushions, as opposed to the polyurethane. The difference is like sitting on a concrete bench versus sitting on a nice leather sofa. Which would you rather ride a ride with?

True. However, when was the last time that a ride that was inspected by the state did not get its license right away. (Excluding any incidents due to accidents).

Hey, I have the book "Cincinnati`s Coney Island: America`s Finest Amusement Park" by Charles Jacques, Jr. I believe that when it originally came out, it retailed for around $35. Any book that chronicles the history of a park is well worth it in my opinion. Then again, I love the history of the industry and parks.

I also like how there are three people seated in the front row in the picture! Westcoaster, were you at Coney this past Sunday? I was there working the Ferris Wheel until around 3:45, and then was briefly at Round Up, Rock O Planes and Ferris Wheel between 5 and 6:30.

Well, as Raven Maven (Paula Werne) stated over on Coasterbuzz, Holiday World underwent a management reorganization a few years ago. As I understand it, Will was not directly involved in the day to day operations of the park anymore. Instead, he was more of the visionary working on the future growth of the park and the business side of things, leaving the daily operations to the two GMs, as noted in the end of the video.