CoastersRZ

It still some what boggles my mind that Paramount (and later Viacom and CBS), never put much value on the marketing potential of the former Paramount Parks. Now Paramount Pictures wants to build new parks overseas? While those could be growing markets, I still think they really missed out on their chance to market to millions of Americans with their former parks. They really did not exploit the synergies of being owned by a media company like Disney has done with its parks.

I`m fairly certain that Cedar Fair installed speakers in Firehawk`s queue to play music. And many of the queue TVs have begun to disappear.

Well, for parks like the Great Wolf Lodge, I can some what understand that practice. January and February are typically slow times for the tourism industry in certain areas like Cincinnati. As a result, room bookings are likely way down at that time of year. And since Great Wolf Lodge only lets guests that are staying in their hotel rooms access their indoor water park, why keep it open if there are only a handful of guests staying in the hotel on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in January and February?

I`ll throw in some information on the Ferrari theme park. For one of my classes, I had a guest lecturer from Jack Rouse Associates, the Cincinnati firm that is designing many of the elements for the Ferrari World theme park. That article mentions the park will open next year. However, at the lecture, they mentioned it will in fact probably open in February of 2010. (The building it is housed in, is already under construction). Another interesting tidbit, is that the park will feature a drop ride. They had to install the drop ride first, and then build the building around it. Additionally, almost the entire park will be inside for climate control. The actual drop ride, and the coasters (a dueling/racing coaster with LIM launches, and another roller coaster will be located outside. And did I mention that the park is in a flight path for an airport runway approach?

Well, the Voyage cost $6.5 million, not exactly a cheap ride, but not extremely expensive like the $22 million Diamondback.

Well, to be technical about it, construction of Twister actually started back in September when demolition began on the Zoom Flume. Construction will likely begin in the spring.

I was a little shocked to hear about this article. Seems kind of odd that they fined both Kings Island and Coney on the same day. As far as the number of hours worked by minors according the Fair Labor Standards Act, the hourly stipulation only applies to 14 and 15 year old workers. 16 and 17 year old workers, per the FLSA, do not have set requirements for the maximum hours they can work. However, certain states do have requirements for hours that can be worked by minors. For example, in the state of Ohio, minor workers must receive a thirty minute rest period after five consecutive hours of work. See the U.S. Department of Labor`s, Fact Sheet #43 on Youth Employment Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Ohio`s Department of Commerce, Division of Labor and Worker Safety Minor Labor Laws fact sheet. Any idea what service the vendor Midwest Beverage Co. provides at Kings Island?

And for those of you following along to the many pages of this thread, I answered one of the questions which Don answered in the blog today (about the wide flange beams that are mounted to the bottom of the support acting as a shear key). Beast1979, what you thought was line gates is actually just temporary fencing that was installed where the station platform meets the edge of the track for fall protection for the workers. Additionally, the corrugated steel that is comprises the bottom "form" work for the concrete is shiny and corrugated, which can appear like lines. I`d look for the exit to be on the right side, with the load side of the station being on the left. The queue rails, and automatic gates are installed AFTER the concrete floor has been installed, and are generally among the last things to be installed, in part because I believe that the park installs some of the queue rails themselves, and does not utilize the general contractor building the stations for such services.

Gee, I have class here at UC up until 5pm on Wednesday! At least my Wednesday evening class was canceled and I commute so I don`t have far to go to get home. And besides, with yesterday being mostly washed out with the rain, that only leaves today and tomorrow for the work week, not a lot of time to get anything substantial done.

To answer your second question, I believe that you must process your Platinum Pass at the park at which you purchased your Platinum Pass.

Sure looks like Manta track for Sea World Orlando. Manta

That wide flange beam that is mounted to the bottom of the flange which fits into the pocket of the footing, help to tie the steel support beam into the footing. Doing so ensures that the support and footing act as one structural piece, successfully transferring all of the gravitational forces to the ground.

Besides the lift hill, I`d look for at least some lights in the mid-course break area. Those lights, just like the lights on the lift hill are there for safety reasons in the event the ride shuts down due to mechanical reasons and guests need to be evacuated.

No, I was not contesting the terminology of footing as you implied there TG1993. As Jesse and Bill can both account for I was offering quite a bit of information on the construction process throughout the tour. In the picture above I was explaining how the steel bearing plate of the support is held a couple of inches above the top of the footing, and then they come back later and pour in expansive grout to monolithically tie the steel from the support into the concrete of the footing to more evenly transfer the forces that the ride creates. If I were you, I would wise up a bit and not poke fun like that. After all, I have been known to spread my knowledge on architecture and construction on these boards fairly often. If you notice however, I have not brought up the whole footing thing in quite some time, and have not made a point anymore to call people out on using the slang term "footer." That is just another one of the many reasons why KICentral is THE site for Kings Island fans. I can offer some insights into the technical side of constructing rides that can`t be found on most other sites. And KICentral has wonderful users like Avatar. They take time and create wonderful trip reports like this one. Not only does he write his trip reports well, but he selects thoughtful images and movies to accompany them. Furthermore, his trip reports come from the viewpoint of a father who is not only experiencing the joy of Kings Island for himself, but able to see his own daughter experience the same magic that he has whenever he visits the park. Add to that the fact that he lives a couple hours from the park, and his trip reports are always a must read and a true work of art. While us staff members keep the site running, it is users like Avatar posting excellent trip reports as these that help keep KICentral the tremendous site that it is today. Keep up the nice work Jesse!

No worries. During that Diamondback tour, I was sharing my construction knowledge with everyone, as seen in that picture.

You forgot to mention me in your thank you to KIC staff! All kidding aside, this is another one of your excellent photo trip reports Jesse!

It almost looks like its protective plastic to protect the track in the station area when they pour the concrete for the station floor. It actually looks they may have already poured the concrete for the station floor. Its hard to tell with the resolution of the webcam though. EDIT: With the sun now out, you can clearly tell that they have not poured the concrete for the station floor yet. (You can see the corrugated sheet metal reflecting the sunlight when the sun is out. That being said, they probably aren`t that far off from pouring the concrete for the station slab.

Yep. The River Runner had only operated for a brief two months at Wild West World, before that park was closed, and its rides sold off. The future of that park is still undetermined. (As is the fate of another park that seems to have opened in one of the worst possible years).

Not to mention the fact that the Busch Parks include the Sea World parks which include animals. Something Cedar Fair has shied away from. Plus, they have too much debt right now to realistically be able to make an attempt at acquiring the Busch parks. On a tangential note, it would be interesting to see if they are going to make a bid on the Hard Rock park. Especially since there are rumors of a bidder that is only interested in relocated the assets of the Hard Rock Park. Could this be Cedar Fair looking to buy some new attractions on the cheap for use in their parks in future years, similar to what they have done with the former GL rides?

Those were some wickedly bad puns Interpreter! And from the looks of the images on the webcam, work is progressing nicely on the station. Maybe not at a lightning pace, but it is progressing nevertheless.

Very interesting article. A little surprising that Disney would be embarking on a new park in Shanghai. But if they get the right financial package, I suppose they could see significant growth and revenues from that area of the world. Especially if they launch a Chinese version of the Disney Channel.

Well, keep in mind that we got Firehawk in 2007. While not as big of an investment as what Maverick was at Cedar Point it still was a sizeable investment at Kings Island. However, Cedar Point received a renovated children`s area for this season while Kings Island received no new rides. We did however receive new shows and had a fantastic line up of special events all season long.

Yeah. I found that a little quizzical. I mean, third degree burns are pretty serious, and he had to be in some discomfort or pain! I mean, third degree burns are when the skin is actually peeling off, and surely is not a nice sensation!

Where did you get the number $75 million worth of wood for Son of Beast? That is a gross exaggeration for the cost of Son of Beast. While the park never officially released a cost for Son of Beast, I heard numbers reported that the original construction for the ride cost around $17 million.

All discussions related to Diamondback should be carried out in this thread. Topic closed.