CoastersRZ

Yep. In the state of Ohio, all ride operators must be 16 years of age or older.

Haunted Trail Co-Owner, you were a little late with that discovery on vertical construction for the station. And what are you talking about the front of the passes said "2008 Pass?" Both the Gold, Kings Island and Platinum passes this year did not specify a year on the front. However, on the back, the only form of a date was the copyright date. In fact, the only thing that was specified on the front of the pass was the name of the park it was processed at, and what type of pass it is (ie gold, platinum or regular KI). And this past years passes also had the phrasing about not including admission to KI`s Haunt/Fear Fest.

Not to mention that KI`s website is also advertising early rides on Diamondback everyday for gold pass holders.

Well, I can honestly say that Kings Island is NOT as important as school. That being said, the preview event will likely be held in the evening. In the past (and this was under old ownership) Friday night previews for pass holders have been from 5 to 10pm.

Yep, the structural steel has begun to be placed in its final position! And the entire building that house RedBeard`s Revenge is completely gone. And for those of you who have hopped over to visitkingsisland.com lately, you will notice that the park has announced the projected date for the Gold Pass sneak preview for Diamondback. The big day will be April 17th, 2009. Keep in mind that drawings and plans sometimes change from the original design intent...

RailRider, this is more than just an annual touch up of the paint in the high traffic areas. In fact, they painted the roof of the station a couple weeks ago (same color). And Hamoperator, you are in luck! You can buy your 2009 season pass to Kings Island now, and pay nothing until April of 2009! Visit the Kings Island season pass page for more information.

All the B&M coasters I`ve been on have utilized the same station for both unloading and loading. I believe Diamondback will be the same way. Besides, its not like the B&M hyper coaster trains feature complicated restraints like those found on Firehawk. Which is part of the reason why Diamondback will have such a high capacity.

Alright. Just making sure, since I didn`t see a source for his information. Including sources is of paramount importance to me since I`m in the midst of writing my thesis, and I currently have two pages (at 1.5 spacing) of bibliography!

They will likely have the security guards escort park guests back to the ride area, so as there is not a running of the bulls so to speak. But then again, I`m still surprised that Cedar Fair hasn`t moved the ropes in the morning to the top of International Street so that guests can buy Starbucks and Cinnabon before the park actually opens at ten. You`d think they could generate some revenue during that time.

Where is your source for that information Tombraiderty?

Yes, you could see the demolition of the former stage on the webcam. Ironically, that stage area was not always located in that location. It spent one season located approximately where Danny Phantom Flyers are currently located. I believe it was only there for a season in the mid-90s before being relocated to its most recent location. They only had shows there for two seasons before that venue went dark. All the shows in that venue were country shows.

Yep, welcome aboard. And you mentioned your dad was a fan of Coney Island back in the day. Be sure to check out ConeyIslandCentral.com, a subsite of KICentral which I maintain, for all sorts of historical information and current news about Coney Island.

If you rode The Vortex on closing weekend, you might have noticed that they are in the process of applying some fresh paint to the station.

But the "live band" at FearFest was just a series of bands that the park brought in. It was not a live band that performed in a scripted show week in and week out.

Well, for me it was hands down The Beast. I reached my one hundredth circuit on it today, and finished out the year with 102 rides on The Beast for the year. (Which is not the most I`ve ridden it in a year, I had a few more than that back a couple of years ago). Post #6,000!

Ah, The Beast will be taking a much needed rest over the winter break (and of course going through its annual winter rehab) so that we can once again be thrilled by it again in 2009, its 30th anniversary year! And it will likely still be the longest wooden roller coaster in the world, and the longest coaster in the United States of America, even after thirty years!

Its not really that bad. In fact, when Backlot Stunt Coaster was installed in 2005, most of its bolts looked similar to those bolts. Sometimes parks will paint the bolts. A good example of that is on the below image of Invertigo.

I was part of "Dane`s crew" that you saw exiting Flight of Feat. I had on the Disney shirt and had the glasses.

Can you save the PDF with the eTickets? If so, then you could save the PDF and take it to your parents house. Do you not have a printer to print them, or do you not have Adobe Acrobat Reader to read PDF files? You can download the Acrobat Reader free from Adobe`s site if that is the issue.

Believe me, all the ride foundations at Kings Island and for any building are generally designed by a licensed structural engineer. Before designing the foundations, they usually will do soil core testing. The soil core testing essentially involves a survey crew drilling and coring a sample of the soil on the site. This is then taken back to the lab and analyzed. A soils report is produced detailing the different types of soil in the area, its bearing capacity, depth to bedrock, what type of rock the bed rock is, how much load it can bear per square foot, etc. The structural engineers then use this information to properly design the foundations for the type of structure being built and the loads that it will have to endure. On larger sites, they will do multiple soil core locations so that they get a better understanding of how the soil varies within the site so that all the foundations are adequately designed. Because of the amount of research and design that goes into designing foundations, most of the rumors about rides or buildings sinking, are just that. Rumors. granted, there may be some differential settlement, when areas of a building may settle slightly due to the loads of the building. This only poses a problem (in the forms of cracked drywall, and doors getting stuck because the frame is out of plum, etc.) when the settlement occurs at different rates over the length of the building. Is that enough of a lesson on Halloween on foundation design?

Uh. No. Coney bought the River Runner from the failed Wild West World in Wichita, Kansas. The Scream Machine was bought brand new from the manufacturer, Moser`s Rides.

I actually got to see a hydrogen bus in person at the GreenBuild conference last November in Chicago. It is amazing how quite the hydrogen bus is when it is running. You can`t even tell that the motor is on!

I know that that was a perk last year for purchasing your season pass. However, I`m not certain if that will be a perk this year or not. Check out Coney`s season pass page here.

In spite of the cold? Have you heard the forecast for this weekend, or read my post above that stated the forecast for this weekend? High temps are expected to be in the mid to low 60s. Hardly what I would consider cold, like we`ve had the beginning part of this week.

Coney Island 2009 season passes will be available online beginning December 1st. Pass holders receive free parking all season long, free access to Sunlite Pool, the Cyclone, Pipeline Plunge, and the new Twister water slide. Additionally, season pass holders get free use of all of Coney`s classic rides (excluding the Eurobungy Dome), and have free use of the Famous Fairways mini-golf on weekdays (members are still subject to pay the $1 ball deposit). Bring-a-Guest-FREE days for Sunlite Pool and the Rides (excluding EuroBungy Dome) and FREE Coffee each morning from 10am - 11am at Sunlite Grill. For those interested in a Platinum Pass, there are even more perks. New for 2009 is seven day a week early access to Sunlite Pool, with members being able to enter the pool area at 9:30am, before the pool opens at 10am. Additionally, new for 2009, each Platinum pass holder will be able to bring one guest to experience Sunlite Pool and Coney`s class rides, for free, every Tuesday of the entire operating season! Upgrade costs $39.95 per pass. Exact pricing information will be available later. Remember that all pass holders receive special guest discounts on admission to the park. For more information on Coney Island Season Passes, visit their website, here. For the latest information on Coney`s new attraction in 2009, visit here.