CoastersRZ

Well back in Coney Island`s days, before Taft became involved to build Kings Island, the theming in the children`s area was not tied to cartoons of any sort. The kiddy area was known as the "Land of Oz." Back then, there were no costumed characters that tied to popular television shows or movies. In fact, the characters that children sought out were Coney`s own mascots like Kellems the Klown. Granted, things have changed a lot since then. But the basic principle is the same. Heck, look at Looney Tunes in the Six Flags parks. Those shows aren`t even on basic television like they used to be. But the point is, whether its Spongebob, Bugs Bunny, Snoopy or some other character, kids will still have fun riding the kiddy rides in an amusement park. They will still make memories and have a good time. Things change over the years, sometimes not always for the best in some people`s opinions. But the root issue is that kids will still enjoy themselves regardless of what characters grace the rides they are enjoying.

Beginning Saturday, August 29th, 2010 season passes to Coney Island go on sale. The price per pass is just $69.95 now through October 11th. The price is valid for guests age 5 and up. For those who are 2-4 years old, a junior pass is available for only $29.95. But better hurry, because after October 11th, the price increases to $79.95 for regular passes. To find out more about 2010 Coney Island season passes, visit Coney`s website here: http://coneyislandpark.com/season_info.php

In a word, yes. If you have ridden the Python in the front row of the back car, you will know that the first drop is rather forceful.

Now I wonder who some of these personalities could be?

Now that is a very interesting and nice article!

After all, "Coney Has it." The Rock O Planes can give quite an intense ride experience if you get the cars spinning (or if you kindly ask the ride ops to give you a spin before starting the ride).

Yep. Those two other properties are very formidable competition for a target market whose discretionary income is already limited. While Kings Island does face competition from the parks mentioned above, it is not as difficult of a decision as it would be if you lived near KD. Just imagine for a second, that Frontier Worlds had been built in Northern Kentucky (the park that really spurred the development of Kings Island to begin with) and that KI was what it is today. There would be two large amusement parks competing in essentially the same market. Which park would you go to? Which park would attract the largest piece of the target market`s discretionary income? Coney Island would be like Double A competition compared to the big leagues between those two major players.

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.