CoastersRZ

But a main difference between that old model and this new model is that Halloween Haunt is included free with park admission and season passes. Unless that too has changed and Halloween Haunt is now an upcharge event, I see no reason why they would need to clear the park. Subject matter or not. I remember attending FearFest back in 2001 when it was an upcharge event, and exiting the park at closing time was a nightmare with all the Fear Fest crowds coming in. They even issued wristbands for those who paid for FearFest because they couldn`t effectively clear the park in an hour before they began letting in the Fear Fest crowd. It simply was a logistical nightmare. I fear that this could potentially happen again, regardless of the good intentions that the park has to ensure that young children are removed from the park by the time the monsters start to roam.

To add on what Terpy said. Why would you want to kick out your customers when they could continue to buy food and merchandise, adding to your revenues. Kicking them out of the park for an hour seems like a great way to make the paying customers mad (and in turn, a customer that wants to spend even less money), and add an un-needed inconvenience. I just see the whole exiting and re-entering being a potential bottle neck that will anger more guests than it will appease. I remember exiting the park back in 2001 when Fear Fest was a separate gated attraction. It was not fun exiting, because we were "hoarded" through the old season pass entrance, and the crowds were comparable to the thick crowds after a sold out Reds game. Granted, I realize this is their solution to try and keep parents from bringing their small kids into the haunts and ruining the experience for the people that really want a terrifying experience. But in years past, they had shut down Nick Universe at 5 or 6 anyway, which should have been enough to discourage most parents from keeping their kids in the park, let alone taking them through the haunts. I`m sure the park has had complaints from parents before (I know I`ve witnessed several upset parents in prior years). But that is the parents choice/fault. They had ample warning about when the scareacters begin to come out and the park transforms from family friendly fun to the darker haunts that come when darkness settles over the park.

Yep. There is a specific way in which we load the Wheel at Coney to keep it balanced. This method is partly the reason why it takes so long to load and unload. And yes, people do want to rock the cars, even though there are warning signs on the back of all the cars! I have yelled at almost as many people for spitting on the Ferris Wheel this year as I have rocking the seats though. When I see someone spit on the ride, I yell at them, and promptly kick them off the ride.

You would be amazed at how many people in general are petrified of Ferris Wheels, regardless if it is the new modern versions like at Cedar Point. I know I`ve had to let people off of the 45' high Eli Bridge ferris wheel at Coney because they simply can`t stand the ride. And I`m not just talking kids either. There are often adults that come off practically in tears because they hated the experience so much!

Yep. And sometimes height requirements do change. For example, Delirium used to be 54" to ride. Now its 52". Also, Coney had some height requirements actually lowered this year. (River Runner and Scream Machine).

I`d really like to go to the World of Coke! My room is somewhat themed to Coca-Cola. I even have a Coca-Cola train that encircles my room. (See below). In addition, both Coca-Cola and Coney Island were both founded in the same year (1886). And, incidentally, Coney used to serve Coca-Cola, as one of the early partners in the ownership was in control of the Coca-Cola bottling franchise in the Cincinnati area. Today, Coney is a Pepsi based park.

Has the city and Cedar Fair made any progress in these talks? It seems like the city keeps ignoring all the issues that Cedar Fair keeps bringing up. It appears as if the city would much rather see Cedar Fair and its amusement park shut down in favor of an NFL stadium for the 49ers. While a new stadium would bring in money on those select days that there is an NFL game, those in Cincinnati know how often the facility is used outside of NFL season. To me, it would seem to be a mistake on the part of the city to completely ignore the issues that Cedar Fair is raising. It is after all better to have two venues that can harmoniously survive as opposed to both venues surviving, one at the detriment of the other, or even worse, for only one venue to survive.

Well, as always, the operating calendar is subject to change.

Yep. http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Ci...rk/121898760525 I was supposed to work a double today, too!

Sunlite Pool, Coney Island and its classic rides are closed, Wednesday July 29th due to inclement weather. The Warped Tour concert at Riverbend is going on as scheduled.

Yep. Which was Coney`s 100th anniversary. And hence why I said "opening the 100th anniversary time capsule that is in front of Moonlite Gardens on the 125th birthday."

Well, to answer this in a non conventional manner, I turn to the years when I learned Spanish. Almost all nouns are either feminine or masculine, unlike in the English language. And the translation for Diamondback into Spanish is "espalda diamantada" or "Back Diamond." Since both words end in an a, they are both feminine. Hence, it would be appropriate to refer to Diamondback as a she if going by that standard. But to each their own I suppose.

Well kind of. B&M before they went out on their own actually worked for Intamin I believe (feel free to correct me if I`m wrong). And some of the people from GCI worked at CCI as well. So while these new companies might not have had a track record, the people were experienced with their products and the industry. Now I`m not saying that this new company does not have people that have not been in the industry before. But what I am saying is there is a difference between designing a wooden coaster and designing a new type of wooden coaster. That extra element adds another level of complexity to the project which can dissuade parks from purchasing said product from an unproven company. Case in point, look at the issues that Intamin has had with their hydraulically launched coasters, a la Top Thrill Dragster. If Intamin was an unproven company that Cedar Fair had not done prior business with do you think they would have even approached Intamin for that ride? Or gone back to them for Maverick?

Going to. And I stand by my earlier statement. They do not have a long and proven track record. Its not like B&M, Intamin, or even GCI that have all been around for a while. Parks know that these companies offer excellent products and they have the track record and engineering expertise to stand behind their products and trouble shoot them if and when necessary.

I really do not see the appeal of a suspended coaster made out of wood. Not to mention the fact that the increased initial cost and ongoing maintenance costs would lend themselves to a park wanting to build one of these rides. Not to mention that that company does not have a very long track record. I mean, have they actually built and installed a ride at a park yet?

Well, its not like the reduced cash distribution is new news. They have previously announced the dollar per unit cash distribution, so this is no big surprise. What will be interesting to see is how attendance (and in park spending) has fared at the parks this summer when they have their teleconference early next month. They sure seem to be discounting the gate quite a bit (especially through online deals) at Kings Island and Cedar Point. Is this a move to get more people into the park spending large amounts of cash on overpriced food and merchandise?

Ah. Such wonderful architecture in the Windy City. Not a fan of the new name for the Sear Tower. But I like the new skydeck feature for the bundled tube structure. Sorry for the architecture terminology. Did you visit the Billy Goat Tavern? That is a must eat place (made famous by the SNL skit). Just don`t ask for fries or anything other than a "cheesborger."

Intiman? I`ve never heard of that company before. I have heard of the Intiman Theatre in Seattle, WA. Now I have heard of Intamin, the company that has made several rides at Kings Island (although none of them roller coasters). I just had to.

Well, to be technical the U.S. Playing Card Company site is not located in Cincinnati. It is located in the city of Norwood, immediately adjacent to Interstate 71. This was a purely theoretical project. I`m sure that if anything were to be redeveloped on this particular site once the U.S. Playing Card relocates to Northern Kentucky that it will not be on as large a scale as my project. Not to mention the surrounding residents would likely balk at the increased noise and traffic caused by such a development. Do I miss DAAP and working late nights and weekends? Did I mention that I actually paid UC to work late nights and weekends? No, I do not miss it. What I do miss though, is working in an architecture environment. I have been trying, unsuccessfully to find a full time job in an architectural office. Unfortunately, not many places are hiring right now given the current economy. Hopefully things will improve soon. I only have a little more than a month of work at Coney before I need to find something (at least until I can land a full time job related to my two college degrees).

But all those that had concert tickets had already purchased their tickets (most of them anyway) in advance. And riding rides and swimming is a little more dependent on dry weather (at least for some of the day) than is a concert that lasts for a few hours.

Thanks for the kind words about the project! KIFan1980, your comment about the history of the site was a comment that was brought up at my final review. They thought it would be awesome if part of the hotel paid homage to the actual processes that went on in the playing card factory. Ie, the printing room, etc. That is a very nice point and an angle that I did not really preserve in the design. I did include a space in the hotel for a playing card museum (the U.S. Playing Card Company used to have a museum that was open to the public, but they have since closed it). All of the designing for this project was done in AutoCAD 2008 (particularly the plans that can be seen in the brochure) and Google SketchUp Pro. All of the renderings were completed using Adobe Photoshop CS3. I also utilized Illustrator CS3 for the brochure, and InDesign to layout the actual written document. Some of the working rendering files were quite large and had dozens and dozens of layers and the actual files were quite large (100+ mb!!!). Now if only I could find a full time job in an architecture firm. I`ve been trying to find one for the last month and a half with no luck, unfortunately.

Well, if its like the walk last year, they will have a crane outside the front gate. The cable will be secured to the Eiffel Tower and the crane. I was able to witness Rick Wallenda`s walk last year and it was quite an awesome event, despite the rainy weather. I may just have to make a trip up to Kings Island that day.

Due to the inclement weather, Coney Island is closed Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009. Both Sunlite Pool and Coney`s classic rides are closed due to the weather.

262'??? Yikes. That is way up there. For example, the height you drop from on Drop Tower is 264', to put it in perspective. And the lower of the two observation decks at the top of the Eiffel Tower is at 265'. I may just have to request off from Coney to see this in person.

Yes. That tour of GWL you gave me was VERY instrumental in my design and the actual writing of my document. Thanks once again for that! I actually have had several people ask if this was a real project. I`d hate to see what the cost estimate would be for this. Likely over $250 million.