CoastersRZ

I actually see Heinz in a lot of restaurants. Steak `N Shake comes immediately to mind. I don`t know if I`ve ever actually seen Red gold in a container at a restaurant. All I`ve seen is Red Gold in the packets. And I think it is worth mentioning that Coney has been serving up Red Gold for as long as I`ve worked there, and that dates back to the 2002 season.

Coney Island Rocks, I would say there are more than just the two options you noted. There is the total removal of the ride, the potential conversion of the ride to a steel track/prefab. And the third option is a major redesign of the ride, although keeping the wooden track. Needless to say, there is money involved either direction the park turns. They have to evaluate if the expense would be able to justify the return on investment they would expect to receive. Also, if they opt to keep the ride, they likely will want to be 120% sure that the fix will deal with all of the issues that this ride has had. They would not want to invest this money, only to have to come back later and fix the ride again. I think from a marketing stand point, the Son of Beast name is dead. If the ride does in fact reopen at some point in the future, I think it would be safe to say that the ride will very likely be considerably different than it was when it last operated. And as such, a new name would be appropriate. (And if it does reopen, then the debate would rage on about whether to count it as a new credit). But that is purely hypothetical at this point. For now, the 2010 season is still in its infancy. Lets enjoy Diamondback in its second season, and eagerly await the arrival of the new entertainment options this summer as well as the all but officially confirmed by the park light show.

Well, I must say, after seeing those larger pictures, that they do in fact look like roller coaster track. And the second picture, the blue pieces in front of the yellow pieces even look like coaster supports. And the colors do seem like a perfect match for Chang. Adam, while 100% of the coaster could have been on site in January, it is now mid-April. And with the state of Kentucky getting involved in the ownership battle of who exactly owns what rides, they could very well have moved some of the track to a new location. It appears that this is the case anyway. I`m not sure of any other B&M coaster in the US with that color scheme that has recently been dismanteled.

Yes, if you have a voucher (with blank spaces for your name, address and email address) that likely is for the name of the person who will use the pass. As Hamoperator said, to be safe, I`d either call the park, or ask them when you go to get your pass processed. The people in the season pass building should be able to give you some direction on what you need to do.

Yes, those pictures are a little small (they were not posted when I made my original post in this thread). Its tough to tell without having better quality pictures or more information.

So I wonder what other IT projects the park is working on. Yes, I was the one that asked the WiFi question. It is amazing how much wifi technology has changed the way things are done. As part of my graduate assistant assignment in spring of last year, I was working with CERHAS, the Center for the Electronic Reconstruction of Historical and Archeological Sites, which is run out of DAAP (the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning). The projects we were working on is developing software (or apps) that allows users to interact at historical sites. Based on the location of the handheld device, certain historical or informational information would be displayed on the device if the user had the app installed. If anyone has heard of geocaching, it is based on a similar concept. Essentially, if the users entered the area where a dwelling used to stand, a page would pop up detailing the structure that used to reside there. If in another area there was a burial ground, when they walked over to that area, different information would appear on their device. One of the projects we were looking at was Serpent Mound, and many of the other native American earth works that are scattered about South West Ohio, including in Mariemont and Newotn. The applications of such a technology being applied to amusement parks could offer amazing possibilities. Besides the kid tracker device that was mentioned in the 5@5 blog, I`m sure there are other possibilities, such as show times, menus, ride wait times, ride information, historical information, etc. Pretty cool stuff.

Down Home Country hasn`t started yet. I think you meant Way Too Much TV.

That webcam is the one that WCPO originally installed. It has been there since at least the fall of 2005, because you could see the Tower lit up for Winterfest that year through that webcam. Glad to see it made its way onto the site. I wonder how long it will be before the International Street webcam will go live. You could see the webcam in place above the front gate on opening day.

Are you sure that they are pieces of roller coaster track and not pieces of a crane (since they were sitting in a crane yard afterall).

http://toledoblade.com/article/20100422/BUSINESS03/4220353/-1/BUSINESS A very interesting read. It will be interesting to see if anything develops in the coming weeks, and if they comment on any of this on their upcoming conference call.

Now that is an awesome picture. I have never seen that view before. It also illustrates how the exit for the ride is now the emergency exit today. When the ride had the water, the exit was not between the turn out of the station and the first queue house. (At one point in time what is the first queue house today was actually the second queue house, as there was another queue house located where the photo booth is today.)

That is very true. For some reason, I`ve been all messed up with the days this week. Yesterday, I kept thinking it was Wednesday, when it was in fact Tuesday! I must be excited for the weekend to get here to get back to Kings Island! This week seems to be dragging by.

What a wonderful trip report! Hopefully the weather will hold out this weekend. I`m planning on meeting some fellow Coney employees at KI on Friday night. Of course, the first major rain event in April has to be predicted to hit on all three days that Kings Island is open this weekend!

Well, they posted that they are soliciting questions. They have not, however, posted any answers as of yet.

Well, obviously the number swells during the summer months. I do know that Coney has a rather unique situation with Riverbend Music Center. Riverbend has its own security staff, that patrol`s Riverbend`s property (primarily the actual ampitheater and its concession stands). But since most concert goers park on Coney parking lots, Coney security keeps an eye on the concert crowd from the time they leave their car to the time they cross into Riverbend`s property, and vice versa.

Wow! Thanks for sharing that. I really enjoyed seeing that rare footage.

What many people fail to realize is that most amusement parks have security on property 24 hours a day, year round.

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/3-Arrested-After-Alleged-Coney-Island-Break-In/3I9cgEByS0K2RtMz39NZSg.cspx All three are now facing criminal trespassing charges.

I`d be hard pressed to pass up a trip to Orlando in favor of a visit to Kings Island. Before visiting Orlando, I would have thought that I`d rather visit Kings Island than make a trip to Orlando. Having made two trips to Disney World, I would gladly go on a third trip if the price was right. I`ve had a blast at Disney World both times I`ve gone. And the last time I went it was on my own dime, and as part of "research" for my thesis project. Yes, many of my class mates were jealous when I told them I went to Disney World for research. My uncle thinks I`m crazy because I spent all day on opening day at Kings Island. Or the fact that I visited Kings Island 33 times last year. Or that I`ve been there 298 times since the start of 2000. I think that would be enough to consider me a little bit of a KI addict! And those 33 visits to Kings Island last year don`t include the scores of days that I was working at another Cincinnati amusement park!

For those of you interested in more Disney planning information, I suggest you get in contact with Jesse (Avatar) here on the forums. He makes annual trips to Walt Disney World and knows many of the ins and outs of the place.

Hello Brad. How has DAAP been treating you? Are you almost done? Its hard to believe that I`ve been done almost a full year now with DAAP!

DBFan, I think that the kids area will be Snoopy for a while, barring any major shakeups in ownership of Kings Island. I would be happy with a sit down restaurant at KI and a new flat ride. Particularly if Kings Island some how was able to bring back the Flying Eagles ride!

I wouldn`t go that far to say that the program they are running is the only one that is safe to run the ride. The other programs were safe too. Its just that the other programs resulted in a LOT of downtime. And I wouldn`t anticipate Cedar Fair or any other amusement park buying a Giant Top Spin in the near future. Some things just don`t work as good when they are built bigger. I`ve heard that Kings Dominion`s Top Spin, which is not a Giant version, has operated with minimal down time since it opened, and its running the more intense program that the Crypt briefly had. I also have heard that Kings Dominion`s ride still fetures its original music.

Yes, I have witnessed some very slow days at Coney. Usually, I talk with the fellow ride op that I am working with. The worst is at Coney when there is lightning in the area, and we have to remain at our ride, even though there is no one in line. That can get a bit dicy when it actually start to rain, as there isn`t much cover at most of Coney`s rides. As stated above, the numbe one question is when will the ride reopen.

I can`t comment as I`ve never been to Six Flags Great Adventure or Six Flags Over Georgia. In fact, the only Six Flags park`s I`ve been to (one was pre Six Flags) are no longer even amusement parks. (Kentucky Kingdom prior to it becoming Six Flags, and Six Flags Worlds of Adventure, prior to it becoming Geauga Lake).