CoastersRZ

They essentially thought they could save more money with the economies of scale than they actually did. They believed that there was a lot of fat that could be cut out of the Paramount Parks operation, when in reality, they were already a fairly lean machine. Of course, a Six Flags Cedar Fair merger would be subject to anti-trust review. It would definitely seem to be a monopoly for most seasonal parks. But there are several new players recently that have been expanding their portfolio of properties including Herschend (when they bought Wild Adventures a few years back), and Merlin, a division of Blackstone. And remember, that most amusement parks, Kings Island included, are not necessarily competing against one another in the broad scheme of things. Instead, they are competing against other attractions in the area for the limited discretionary income of residents. Things such as the Cincinnati Zoo, Cincinnati Reds, movies, video games, Riverbend Music Center, and even Coney Island all are also big competition to Kings Island, even though only Coney is the only real amusement park competitor in the Cincinnati area.

Consider us lucky. Glad to see the new site. For those of you curious, under the rides section, they also detail how many people have ridden certain rides. For example, 2001 was the year that Drop Tower has had its highest ridership since it opened, with 623,905 rides that year. Since it opened it has given 5,787,377 rides, which is 31st most in park history!

The next question that needs bearing in mind, is that since the merger is now off, are the debt covenants close to being violated?

And have they appeased Cedar Fair`s concern`s yet? Of course, there may very well be different people in control of Cedar Fair after Thursday.

I know on Delirium they take the ring of seats off of the arm and inspect the seat and bar locking mechanisms.

And the puns just keep on coming. oliday World is a nice little park. I`ve been a couple of times, but the last time I visited was back in 2006, shortly after The Voyage opened. Its not that bad of a drive from the Cincinnati area. It will be interesting to see how those new Timberliners ride on The Voyage this year.

Talk about a ride that looks to be vomit inducing! Not to mention it holds you upside down a long time. Although I don`t know if it goes quite 75 miles per hour.

Very true. He could just as easily have bought booze outside of the gates and been tipsy before even entering the park. Such things have been known to happen. In fact, some parks have been known to have issues with people going out to the parking lot to drink at their cars before re-entering the park. Such parks have taken steps to try and prevent that from happening.

Not to mention that the more advance that you book your room, generally the cheaper the rate you can secure. And I know that at least some Holiday Inn Expresses have a fridge and microwave in the room. At least the one I stayed in down in Charlotte while at Carowinds had that amenity.

Beastrider97, the day of record breaking coasters being built is essentially over. There simply is not a big enough return on investment to continue building them. Yes, Intimidator 305 is one of the tallest coasters built in the country, and it just opened. But Kings Dominion is in the same general market as Busch Gardens Europe, so they had to differentiate the ride somewhat from Apollo`s Chariot. Look at Diamondback. Its not a record breaking ride, but most would agree it is an excellent ride, and exactly the type of ride that Kings Island needed.

Well, remember that the Camp-O-Ree at Kings Island last year was held on a weekend in the middle of summer. And, it is different than the Boy Scout Jamboree that I presume is being held at Kings Dominion. Several years ago, Coney used to be home to the Cincinnati Boy Scout Jamboree (and the rides were open for that day). But Coney hasn`t hosted that event in several years now.

I do am an architecture fan. Comes with the territory of the degree I received I suppose. I also am fascinated by roads. If you you haven`t checked out Cincinnati Transit.net, I highly reccomend that you do, as it offers an interesting history on Cincinnati`s bridges and free ways. While the site hasn`t been updated in a while, its still a nice read, with lots of pictures.

That must be some carousel if it "goes up to speeds of 120 kilometers per hour." As that is approximately 75 miles per hour!

I hope to make it out to Kings Dominion this year. Last time I was out there was 2000, so its been a while for me. I really enjoyed Volcano when I was there last, and also liked Avalanche and the Grizzly. With Dominator and Intimidator, I really hope to get out there this year. And the fact that Busch Gardens is so close, is also very tempting, considering I`ve never been there either. Alas, a lot depends on my job situation and when I could spare more than a two day weekend. It stinks not knowing if my current "real" job will last past April 30th, or whether or not it will actually turn into a real job. So much is still in limbo, nearly a year after I graduated with my Masters degree.

Well think about it, Nickelodeon is pretty much the in brand for children television shows. And since the parks were no longer under the same umbrella there were not synergies to be had by licensing the Nickelodeon content to the parks. So Nickelodeon could request a pretty hefty fee. And as Interpreter said, it likely was cheaper for the parks to rebrand their kids areas to Planet Snoopy. And as I`ve said before, when it comes down to it, most kids will not really notice much of a difference.

Of course I would love to see additional images! And I`m sure others would love to see additional images as well! Well, the only bridge that is being replaced/studied for upgrades currently is the Brent Spence bridge which carries Interstate 71/75. And that bridge was built long after the Island Queen was lost in Pittsburgh. The bridge was built in 1963.

Yep. Certainly makes you wonder what the final tally of votes will be in favor of the "merger." I wonder if we will actually ever know the results beyond whether or not the merger was approved/rejected. I mean, will be be given percentages of the amount of votes for the merger? I still stand by earlier statements that it certainly does not look likely that the unit holders will grant approval for this deal. Especially given, as you noted Ryan, the unit price remains above the offer price.

They did NOT re-fiberglass the trains as you mentioned. The actual train bodies on Flight of Fear remain the same, and the same colors in fact. They just re-attached them in a different configuration than in past years. The doors and windshields being removed were likely done when the trains were being refurbished over the winter. And the decals likely aren`t that hard to remove, when given the proper tools. I wouldn`t say the park has forgotten about Flight Deck. Yes, it could use a paint job, but they did make modifications to its queue line last fall so that Flight Deck could remain open for the Halloween Haunt, when in 2008, it was closed for Haunt so that part of its line could be used for Club Blood.

Except, the Intimidator licensing agreements are through Dale Earnhardt Inc. and not NASCAR. Additionally, both Richmond and Charlotte are home to Sprint Cup races. So the appeal of NASCAR in those cities is slightly higher than what it is in the Cincinnati area. I wouldn`t look for them to retheme Backlot at Kings Island anytime soon.

Check out a new history feature on Coney Island Central detailing the history of the Island Queen. River travel used to be an integral part of Coney Island. Check out the history of the main steamer and see some unique pictures of the fine vessel. Read more here. Also, several new historical images including many of the Island Queen, and a few showcasing items that once resided at Coney being relocated to Kings Island have been added to the historical photo gallery. See the new images here. As always, if anyone has any historical pictures from Coney Island that they are willing to share, please let me know! 2010 season passes are now on sale for only $99.95 (ages 5 and up) now through April 1st. Junior passes (2-4 years old) are available for only $29.95. For more information on 2010 passes, and to purchase season passes, visit Coney`s season pass page here: http://www.coneyisla...fo_purchase.php And for those of you who have not checked out Coney Island Central`s content, I recommend you do so. The site has lots of information and great historical pictures on it.

But are those deals any better than the online deal? And really, the online price isn`t that bad of a deal, considering that the price at the gate is $49.99. Or at least it was. I`m not sure what exactly it is this year. Regardless, you would stand to save about $15 a ticket by buying online. I`d check about a week before you go to see if there are any other deals going on.

Wow. Until you mentioned that, I hadn`t even thought about that type of situation before. I guess thats where the ultra violet ink really would come in handy.

True enough. Again, we may never know the outcome if the two parties settle out of court.

Which again flies in the face of good customer service. I wish they would use the good black light ink that they used to use. That way you don`t have to worry about the ink washing off if you wash your hands, unlike the ink that they currently use. I guess they figure there is some cost savings with the ink that they use now. Even still, they could find a more permanent ink than what they used last year. How much longer before they try and incorporate the "No re-entry rule" all day and throughout the entire season, and not just after 7pm during Haunt? They would truly have a captive audience then to buy their ridiculously priced food items. But they would surely tick off a lot of customers if they did that. But anymore, I think Cedar Fair is more concerned with trying to make a nickel or two than how they treat their customers/the customer experience. Even if that means they make a nickle now at the expense of dozens of nickels down the road. That is just bad business any way you dice it!

I still have to wonder how they were able to operate that ride without pulling the necessary permits and having liability insurance. In Ohio, which has one of the more thorough ride inspection programs in the country, operators must file proof of insurance every year, and a ride inspector from the Department of Agriculture`s Rides Safety Division must issue a new license every season a ride operates. Hopefully this kid makes a full recovery. In any event, it would seem that the family stands a good chance of winning their suit if in fact the entertainment center didn`t have insurance or license the ride.