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Everything posted by CoastersRZ
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The Beast still had skid brakes through the 2001 season. After a minor incident at the end of 2001, caused by rain in which a train softly bumped another train as the ride was in the process of being shut down, the brake system on The Beast was overhauled during the off season. In 2002, the ride opened with the new pneumatic brakes in the station, and the magnetic trims on the course. I remember riding the ride with the old skid brakes many times. They were really old technology. Essentially, they had been adapted from the old days when wooden handles were used to control those type of brakes. Except in The Beast`s case, pneumatics controlled the skid brakes. But as was the case in 2001, they were not quite as effective as the pinch brakes. It still boggles my mind that the rain policy on The Beast prevents more than one train from operating. One would think that with two lifts, and magnetic trim brakes that bleed off a lot of the speed in the final brake run (and are not impacted by wetness like the pneumatic pinch brakes or skid brakes) that a rain mode similar to Diamondback in which two trains could operate would be feasible. Even with light crowds, The Beast with one train operation is a nightmare, given its incredibly long ride time of four minutes and fifty seconds, thanks to its record breaking length and two lift hills.
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And, I don`t think that Flight of Fear at Kings Island ever had a six car per train operation. While similar rides at Six Flags parks do have six cars on each train, I`m fairly certain that Kings Islands only ever had five. The station is not really set up for a sixth car.
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SIX FLAGS: After bankruptcy, what now
CoastersRZ replied to BoddaH1994's topic in Other Amusement Parks & Industry News
http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2010/04/six-flags-bankruptcy-ride-over.html Check out some of those attorney fees that have racked up in settling this bankruptcy! -
Thanks PhantomTheater for posting the correct link. Not sure why the link I posted didn`t work. It worked when I tried it immediately after posting it. Here is a link to the SEC site, which contains the actual letter that Q issued to the Cedar Fair Board of Directors: http://www.sec.gov/A...arfair14a12.htm I`d say that Q worded parts of that letter very interestingly.
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And some flat rides at Kings Island that used to have turnstyles no longer do. I know that Shake Rattle and Roll had two at its exit. And rides like Scrambler, Monster and Dodgems all had turnstyles at the entrance to ride`s queue line. Unless I`m forgetting a ride, I believe the only ride at Kings Island that still has the turnstyles in place is the Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad.
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But on most rides, it is still up to the ride ops to keep track of empty seats/cars and input that information into the computer. And for reference, there is no such tracking used at Coney. Way back in the day, we would record how many ride tickets each ride had collected in a day, but that did not account for all the people that rode with wristbands or had passes. Coney last sold individual ride tickets back in 2003 I believe. It was either 03 or 02. Can`t remember which year. I do know that kiddie rides were two tickets, most other rides were three. Python was four I think. The tickets cost 50 cents a piece.
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I did not know that guests could purchased tickets at the "season pass" entrance to Boomerang Bay. I also didn`t know that non-pass holders could enter the park there. Really, it is a no brainer to allow ticketed guests to enter there as well. Makes it easier with all the swim gear and towels that people have.
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Shaggy, I would love if you could dig up that information that was once on the sign. Since I only started riding The Beast in the fall of 1995, I never rode The Beast when it had the old exit set up. And, I am of an age, that I certainly wouldn`t remember what the setup was like back in 1979, as that was six years before I was born.
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They went down the ramp. Immediately after crossing underneath the tracks, guests would turn left (the present day emergency exit). From there, they would turn right, and cross over a small bridge (visible from the very top of the queue ramp, where the queue turns to the left into the station proper). After the bridge, guests would be on the midway pavement, and would follow that back out to the main midway. That pavement is now blocked off at The Beast plaza by a tall wooden fence and gate. Does that make more sense?
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The exit ramp down to the Emergency Exit is original to the ride. It used to be, in the water/pond days, that you would exit via the emergency exit path of today, and onto the path that runs parallel to the queue ramp up to the station. (This path is now blocked by a gate in The Beast plaza. There was no right turn for the exit at the bottom of the ramp like there is today. Does that make sense?
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FF EKU dawg 4 life, You need to take a chill pill and not be so quick to jump on the offensive. Shaggy asked an honest question and expected an honest answer, which was provided, without someone jumping to conclusions and stating their opinion. Shaggy does not post often here, but when he does, it would serve you well to head what he has to say. He has been around a while, and generally offers quite insightful and well worded posts. I know I thoroughly enjoy reading his posts, and wish he would post more often. I agree, that this with the fireworks will certainly keep more families in the park later into the evenings. I know I can`t wait to see this thing. This is yet another family attraction as well, that can be enjoyed by all age groups, young and old alike.
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Seeing that image makes me think of Winterfest, given the cool colors used on those particular trees.
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Beach Waterpark Interactive Map
CoastersRZ replied to Coney Islander's topic in Other Amusement Parks & Industry News
That is a very good question. I`ll have to do some digging to find the answer to when the other KECO water parks opened. I want to say that Kings Island`s was among the first in the chain, but as I stated, I need to do some digging. If I remember I`ll do that tomorrow after work. -
Beach Waterpark Interactive Map
CoastersRZ replied to Coney Islander's topic in Other Amusement Parks & Industry News
Aztec Adventure is newer than 1985. (I seem to recall the mid 1990s this slide being advertised as new). An interesting item of note, this is The Beach`s 25th anniversary season. It first opened in 1985, four years before Kings Island opened Water Works (now Boomerang Bay). -
OFFICIAL! Son of Beast Will NOT Operate in 2010
CoastersRZ replied to BoddaH1994's topic in Kings Island
Well, calling SoB an engineering marvel is a bit of an oxymoron, considering that it has had design defects which contributed to the original accident. And it wouldn`t be in the situation it is presently in if it was an engineering marvel. -
OFFICIAL! Son of Beast Will NOT Operate in 2010
CoastersRZ replied to BoddaH1994's topic in Kings Island
Excellent post Shaggy! I too was at the Discovery Channel shoot on Son of Beast many many years ago. I concur that Son of Beast never had the same public support that rides like The Beast has. Heck, look at Diamondback. That ride has become an instant hit and has a huge following. I also agree with many of your comments from a business stand point. The park could attempt to "rebuild" the engine on the ride one more time, but there is no guarantee how long the fix would work. And as you stated, the marketability of the ride is pretty much non-existant now. Not to mention that the rides` reputation would prevent some people from even trying the ride if it was fixed. Personally, I think its days of running in the park are over. Save for a major rebuild of half the ride, I think its site will eventually be used for future development. At this point in time, if KI wants another wooden coaster, I`d say instead of trying to rectify the SoB situation, just go to the B&M of wood coasters, GCI, and get a brand new creation. -
True. Kings Island`s Starlight Spectacular is on paths that are somewhat out of the way and not heavily traveled. Case in point: I was at Kings Island on Sunday from 9:30 to 5pm and made several circuits across the park. Not once did I walk on the paths behind the Eiffel Tower.
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Right. But when I was at Cedar Point last August, I saw several sets that were out completely.
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So far from what I have seen of the show at Kings Island, it does not look that tacky during the day. Most of the lights blend in fairly well. Granted, I haven`t seen any of the lights on the tower yet. I`m really excited to see this light show this year. I think it will be a wonderful family friendly addition to the park. Speaking from experience though working with Christmas lights, maintenance will be key to this remaining successful. It doesn`t take much for strands to burn out and entire sections to go dark, which over time would ruin the effect.
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2009 Attendence at Major Parks
CoastersRZ replied to PhantomTheater's topic in Other Amusement Parks & Industry News
Attendance numbers like that are based on estimates and guesses based on industry trends. It is widely known that those numbers can be way off at time, and are not a very accurate way to say one park has better attendance than another regional park. At one point in time, when Kings Island was owned by Taft and later KECO, they would report the attendance figures, right down to the single digit level (ie: in 1986, Kings Island had 3,190,165 visitors. Of that number, 320,496 visits came during Winterfest that year). Too bad Cedar Fair doesn`t break out attendance figures like that in their releases! -
Scripps sells rights to Snoopy and friends
CoastersRZ replied to Oldiesmann's topic in Other Amusement Parks & Industry News
Already discussed here: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=21310&st=0&p=374906&fromsearch=1entry374906 -
Much more information here: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-27/peanuts-comic-strip-rights-to-be-sold-to-iconix-schulz-family.html And according to the article I just posted, the Schulz` family previously had no direct interest in the Peanuts. They, along with Iconix are purchasing the rights from current owners Scripps and United Feature Syndicate. Note that the WCPO article states United Media Licensing, when in fact it is United Featured Syndicate. And the WCPO article makes no mention of the Shulz` involvement in the deal. An interesting thing to note in the article I posted is that there are more than 1,200 licensing agreements in more than 40 countries for the Peanuts!
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I was not even aware that Scripps had owned United Media Licensing. Let alone, I did not know that they were shopping the brand. As stated above, the new company will likely keep the license agrements in place. Especially sinc the Peanuts brand generates nearly $2 billion annually.