CoastersRZ

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.

I`ve noticed the same thing with recent articles still mentioning the refinancing. Seems odd.

No, those pins are a relatively new addition, as noted on the site you linked to. On a side note, the Monster was painted for this season.

Yes, it is good to have a plan for your first visit to America`s Roller Coast. However, one must be careful if you have visited it many times and have no plan at all. To quote Yogi Berra: "You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going, because you might not get there."

And the funny thing is, I heard someone using the ride warrior name at Coney the other day. There was a dad riding the Ferris Wheel, and his kid was afraid to ride the Ferris Wheel. The Dad kept telling the kid while he was on the ride that he was not a true ride warrior since he was afraid to ride the Ferris Wheel!

Well, I have seen several bill boards for Coney (I haven`t heard any commercials for them yet). All the bill boards and print advertising I`ve see for Coney do not mention "Coney Has it!" Rather they mention "Modern Families, Good old fashioned fun. 124 years of amusement." And "Cincinnati`s historical amusement park."

Which is really kind of ironic for a company that seems to obsess so much about capacity. And if it is raining, you will only see ONE train running on The Beast. That makes for a horrendous line, regardless of the crowds in the park. I understand they do if for safety issues, but The Beast is a big enough ride that I would think they could develop a system to run at least two trains when it is raining.

I agree. Holiday World has been a family run business for years, and I think it is safe to say that it will remain that way for quite some time.

Or was Mr. Falfas her former supervisor, and they are not going to fill his position so she now has a new boss by default?

My question will be will he continue to be a partner at the law firm down in Florida? Needless to say, he has some pretty big shoes to fill. I`d say eventually Will`s kids may take control of the park, but again that is a ways down the road still. And that is if they even want to run the park (although it is probably in their blood).

Today, June 21st marks Coney Island`s 124th birthday. The park officially opened on June 21st, 1886 as Ohio Grove: The Coney Island of the West. The following year, the Ohio Grove name was dropped and the park was simply known as Coney Island. For a brief period of time (1976-1984), the park was renamed "Old Coney" so as not to confuse people with Kings Island. The park has been owned by its current owners since 1991. Next year, the park will turn 125 (and the time capsule that was put in place in front of Moonlite Gardens on the 100th birthday will be opened). Happy birthday Coney Island!

Why oh why are there no longer flat rides (for adults) like the Whip? And the picture with the "Old Coney" sign is located along Kellogg Avenue, in the approximate location of the current Coney marquee. Notice, on the side of the now demolished portion of the bath house is the quote I like to throw around (and there is still a sign on the filter room/bath house to this day with this quote on it "You don`t stop playing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop playing."

Need I remind you that this was a show, and they edited it for entertainment value, not to accurately depict the park and its midways. (Remember how many time the Brady Bunch circled the park trying to return to the front of the park with the set of missing plans?) Incidentally, the late Jim Knippenberg did a challenge at KI back around 2002 or 2004, in which he and three other people went to Kings Island on a Saturday in the middle of the summer. Their challenge was to ride EVERY adult ride in the park in one day. They succeeded and Jim wrote a nice article about it. Over the years, Mr. Knippenberg wrote several nice coaster articles, some of which included visits to every amusement park in the states of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.

The park played a video for The Beast`s 25th anniversary. It ran on the QTVs in The Beast`s line and featured information on the construction of the ride. It also included one of the first commercials that was aired on local tv promoting the new ride. The park played the video for several seasons (its first season was 2004 when The Beast turned 25). Now, there are practically no QTVs left in the park (save for Flight of Fear`s). And the tvs that do remain are located in The Beast`s station, have no audio and have been airing ESPN this season.

I`ve said it before and I`ll say it again, the Rock O Planes at Coney is one intense ride. And don`t count out Coney`s Scrambler either. Many people that I`ve talked to prefer it over Kings Island`s Scrambler (which used to run at Coney) and say that Coney`s is a more intense ride experience.

And for those that frequent Coney Island, the building in the background of the picture with the Monster still stands. It is now Moonlite Pavilion (although at the time the picture was taken, it was home to rides, such as the Dodgems and Cuddle Up. Seen behind the covered building is a white building, which is Coney`s administration building. Today, Round Up resides on the approximate site of this picture!

Then I guess that in itself disproves the Screamscape line of thought that all of the Skycoasters are leased and not actually sold to the parks then, doesn`t it?

I`m not sure if there is any truth to this, but Screamscape reported that Skycoaster (the manufacturer), may actually not sell their rides to the parks, but instead lease them to the parks. I`m not sure if there is any truth to that business arrangement, but if there is truth to it, it would logically make sense that they would want their hardware removed. It appears as if Six Flags did lease the one at Kentucky Kingdom. Anyone know if other parks lease their skycoasters or actually own them? Back in the early days at Coney, many of the rides (including the coasters) were operated as concessions. An outside vendor would have a ride that they would build on park property. The park would received a fee from the concessionaire and also receive a cut of the profits.

I`m just thankful that Coney no longer requires the ride ops to dress with long pants and a button up shirt and bow tie in the summer, like they did in the early days of Coney. Now that would be incredibly hot on a weekend like the one coming up!

Unfortunately, I never was able to visit Coney in its final years (when the park used the slogan "America`s Finest Amusement Park") since I was born in 1985. While the park is not what it was at the end of the 60s, the fact that is still around and entertaining families to this day is a truly amazing story (even more so considering it co-exists with Kings Island to the north). I still can`t believe that I am in my ninth year of employment at Coney. My how times flies.

I can`t say that I`ve ever noticed security following me around.

I often feel over dressed when I visit KI after a day at the office (wearing business casual with nice pants and dress shoes on).

Simply amazing photographs! I love the history of Coney Island, and am one of the few seasonal ride ops at Coney that truly understands all the history behind the amusement park. Speaking of history, if you have seen any advertisements for Coney this summer, you probably have noticed that they are using their history in marketing this summer. Better than "Coney Has It!", in my opinion. And on another note, this coming Sunday, June 20th, is Coney`s 124th birthday!

Except, I wouldn`t necessarily attribute the band organ to a rust spot. (And even rust spots left untreated can cause serious issues eventually). Instead, I`d attribute it more to something like windshield wipers. You don`t realize how critical they are to the overall experience, until the wipers start to wear out. You can live with the worn out wipers for a while, but eventually it is time to replace the wipers. KI seems to think that piping in the organ music is better/more cost effective than having the band organ working. Riding the carousel without the band organ playing is just not the same experience as it used to be.

And Frisch`s Big Boy restaurants also serve genuine Cherry and Vanilla Coke.