CoastersRZ

Skywriter, you were a little late with that blog update. I posted that Don had updated the blog at 10:24 this morning. And technically, that orange thing is not a crane. Those are technically called telescopic booms, and are meant to transport workers to heights. In this case, it is likely ironworkers who are likely doing some final torquing on some of the bolts for the track or the supports.

Take note that there is no current mention on KI`s website about the pass holder night on the 17th. Take that for what its worth. Coney Island and Sunlite Pool do not officially open until Memorial Day weekend. However, in years past, the rides have operated for the Appalachian Festival at Coney. This year`s Appalachian Festival is the weekend of May 9 and 10th. Note however, that season passes to Coney may not be valid for admission that weekend!

Well, a drop is technically a hill. And they therefore count the hammerhead as a hill/drop.

The track rises in elevation up into the over bank turn and falls as the track proceeds from the hammer head turn. Technically, the hammer head turn is a hill. The park even considers it one of the ten hills on Diamondback.

And to be technical, that is the pullout of the fifth hill. Don has posted another blog entry. The trains will beginning arriving at the park soon in half train increments.

Well, GE Capital might be hurting as well, and looking for some cold hard cash. That might be one of the reasons why they haven`t reached terms with Great Wolf yet.

Relax. Patience is a virtue, my friend. Its the first week back after the holidays. I`m sure he has some catching up to do in the office to start off the new year and from the time that he was out of the office over the holidays. Besides, the weather the past two day has been rather crappy. Although, that certainly hasn`t stopped the construction crews from working!

And in this current economy, other than foreign investors, I`m not too certain who would be willing to step up to the plate and buy Six Flags. Heck, no one was interested in buying Hard Rock Park for the minimum bid of $35 million. Only time will tell what happens with Six Flags. Given their current stock price ($.33) something has to happen. Their last conference call was also suspicious, as if they were looking into possible ways to increase their stock price and/or raise capital to pay off some of their maturing debts. But things do not look very good at Six Flags right now.

Check out my post Racerrider, which I posted just a moment before yours.

They purchased Paramount Parks for $1.46 billion. They already had some existing debt from prior park purchased (like the purchase of Geauga Lake from Six Flags). I believe, and don`t quote me on this number, that at one point in time, they had close to $1.9 or $2 billion in debt right after the transaction of the Paramount Park sale closed. And it should be noted, that this year`s capital expenditure plan is slightly smaller than last years. It was going to be a little larger (but not at last years numbers) had Great America`s GCI coaster not been postponed a year. The funds that they saved from the decreased cap ex. projects were likely going to be used for debt reduction. At least that is what Cedar Fair indicated in their last quarterly conference call.

While that philosophy could greatly benefit parks like Kings Island, and other Cedar Fair parks located near large metropolitan areas. Cedar Point, which relies more on visitors from outside the Sandusky area for more of its visitors, could face a difficult year. Especially with no new major attractions headed into the Sandusky park and the continued troubles of the automakers in nearby Detroit.

Seems like just yesterday that Kentucky Kingdom was opening in March! They`re not even open for the spring break crowds like they used to be!

Uh, you mean the footing that they had disguised as a planter holder? Both of the footings that were on the midway on opening day (one right in front of the Antique Photo building, and the others by the Crypt lockers) were the ones that received the planters for most of the season (until some of them had to be relocated for closing weekend for support construction.

Again, why do people assume stuff. That operators booth is NOT done. It is merely clad in plywood sheathing. I`d imagine that they will be placing some sort of finished material over the plywood substrate. Additionally, it appears as if they will place windows into those openings which are not yet in. So to say that the operator booth has been completed would be an erroneous statement at this point in time.

That hammerhead turn looks awesome. What looks even more impressive, to me anyway, is the shear size of the supports for the final helix. It will definitely change the look and feel of the midway through there. Not to mention that the track will zip right over the cave entrance to the Crypt. UPDATE: If you check out the webcam, there is a crane installing the crest of the eighth hill. The eighth hill is the one that goes directly over the Crypt`s queue line. Its too foggy to be able to tell what, if any, progress is being made out by the mid course brake run.

Very true. Almost all of the municipally run water parks are developed with the notion that they will receive some subsidy from the government. But the reason why they appeal to municipalities and park districts, is that they can offer an amenity to the community which is not currently being offered. And depending on the success of the water park (some have been tremendously successful and attracted more visitors than expected), it can be a way for the city to earn some additional revenue, as opposed to trying to scrape enough money together to open the old and dilapidated city swimming pool.

Look at 2008 as a prefect example of Kings Island not getting any new rides. Granted, we did receive some new shows, and had a major ride under construction for the following season. Look at Herschend Entertainment. They postponed the capital project that was to go into Dollywood in 2009 in light of the economy!

But what that article failed to mention is that Sandusky already has what some might consider a critical mass of indoor water park resorts. While that may be successful in a touristy area like the Wisconsin Dells, how many people are going to want to visit Sandusky in the dead of winter with the threat of lake effect snow? Sandusky is already home to Cedar Fair owned and operated Castaway Bay. In addition, there is a first generation Great Wolf Lodge, and the Kalahari Resort. The Kalahari (after its addition opened last January) is now the largest indoor water park in America with over 170,000 square feet of space all under roof! For a city the size of Sandusky to have that many water parks was impressive. Granted, the population of Sanduky balloons in the summer months, but in the winter months, the population is only near 60,000. The Maui Sands might have been more successful if it was in a market that wasn`t so over exposed. Additionally, I it would have helped if all the construction work had been completed before the resort tried to open. In summation, there are many reasons why the Maui Sands development failed. Is it risky for municipalities to develop their own water parks? Yes, it is. But, there are several municipalities that have developed their own water parks to replace municipal swimming pools. In almost all cases, the municipally run water parks not only attracted more visitors than the older pools, but also attracted visitors from surrounding communities. There are some municipal water parks that one would be hard pressed to tell are not privately funded.

That could be a step toward trying to separate the Busch brand from the parks, in an attempt to prove to prospective buyers that the parks are not reliant on the Busch brand to be successful.

Plain and simple this was a cost cutting move. Its a shame that they felt the need to curtail that perk, but with the current state of the economy, it is understandable. Remember that InBev had originally wanted to get rid of all non-core assets such as Busch Entertainment. They likely could not find a buyer in the current economy willing to pay what they thought that division was worth.

Wow! Now that is an AWESOME picture! Thanks for sharing it with us! Keep in mind that the path way that connects to Coney Mall was not built until Shake Rattle and Roll opened in 1975. And that Kenton`s Cove Keelboat Canal was not built until 1973.

Kings Island`s was very similar to that set. Not sure what the fate was of that set at Kings Island. I know that Santa`s Toy Factory at Kings Island was a wonderful production! I ended up seeing it three times on my four visits to Winterfest. Its a shame that Cedar Fair chose not to fine tune Winterfest. Had it operated how it did at the end of the early 90`s, it could have provided some additional revenue for Cedar Fair in the slow December months. But, the final weekend the park was open in 2005 was slightly awkward, as all the Haunt (FearFest at the time) stuff was up, and most of the Christmas decorations were also up as well. After visiting Dollywood last week for the first time ever, and experiencing Smoky Mountain Christmas, these December park events can be quite wonderful and attract people to the parks. These events are not all about the coasters and rides, but rather the holiday atmosphere. The amount of lights that Dollywood has is simply amazing!

And yes, Firehawkboy is correct, they have not placed any track yet on the decent for the fifth hill. What appears to be the accent is actually the rise up into the third drop. They will likely work on the decent of the fifth hill tomorrow. Based on the current rate of progress, I`d say that the ride steel will be in place if not be the end of this week, then sometime next week.

Well, to quote the show Lost, "never say never." Highly unlikely, yes. All the lounge chairs at the pool are placed in trailers at the end of the season. That way if a spring flood threatens the park, all they have to do is attach a rig to the trailers and haul them to higher ground. And, all the smaller rides have their electrical panels removed during the off season, to protect them from any floods. The last time that Coney flooded was in 2005. However, this past March, it came close to flooding. The deep end of the pool was flooded with river water, as was part of the parking lot near River Downs. Had it gone a few feet higher, the rest of the park would have been under water.

I would wait a couple more weeks before booking that reservation, especially if you would be out some money if you had to cancel. Better to be safe than sorry. I have no idea what the status is of the season pass preview night. I do know that the park will be open to the general public and pass holders on Saturday, April 18th from 10am until 10pm. But take note that the park will NOT be open that Sunday, April 19th. The park will open again on Friday, April 24th from 5-10pm.