CoastersRZ

As the old saying goes, those who know don`t talk and those who talk don`t know. A new coaster next year? I don`t think so. The rides department has seen numerous additions the last few years. 2007 saw the introduction of the Rock O Plane from Americana. This year saw the introduction of the River Runner, Turtle Parade, Eurobungy Dome, as well as new locations for the Frog Hopper and Giant Slide. The last new addition added at the pool was in 2006 when they added the Cyclone slide to Sunlite. Logic would point to the pool area getting some upgrades next year. Especially with the removal of the thirty one year old Zoom Flume.

Yes, I meant the 7th of September. And yes, the Zoom Flume is in its final days of operation at Coney Island. Coney will have plenty of new things to wet guests appetite in 2009.

Sunlite Pool will be open from 12-4 exclusively for 2008 season pass holders on Sunday, September 7th. This is the last time that pass holders will be able to ride the Zoom Flume.

Its still early on a Sunday morning, and I`m still recovering from a long stressful day at Coney (due primarily to the fact that we were severely understafffed)!

That was an alright article except for one erroneous statement. I believe that the author was taking some liberties to explain how some of Cedar Point`s rides are squeezed in when he said this, but it simply isn`t a true statement.

If I didn`t have to work all next week, I would definitely hit up The Beach. I`ve only visited once to ride their water rides, and that was in the mid-90s.

So the Hilton owns the space, CBS owns the movie sets and Cedar Fair owns the actual ride equipment right? Any chance that this equipment could be relocated to another park, sans the Star Trek theming (we know Cedar Fair isn`t exactly likely to jump at bringing Star Trek along after how quickly they have removed any reference to Paramount movies).

Nah. Behemoth`s station is mostly steel and modern looking. I think KI will want Diamondbacks station to blend in more with Rivertown. I`d look for at least part of the station to feature some wood.

Uh, there is NO way they can finish the ride by November 3rd. The last footings by The Beast entrance plaza aren`t even going to be poured until after the park closes in November. And keep in mind that Behemoth did not open until mid-May. Kings Island is saying that Diamondback is going to open in April. Which means that they only have about eight months to finish building the ride and complete testing. It will not be like Firehawk which opened on Memorial day weekend last year.

The webcam has several different angles that rotate about every thirty seconds. One focuses on the station/transfer area, one focuses on the splashdown area, and one point out past The Crypt.

I headed up to Kings Island after work today for one of the last days of daily operation. They were still working on Diamondback when I left a few minutes before the park closed at 8! They have begun to place the track for the turn into the station area after the transfer track area. See the photos here.

I don`t know of any picnics this weekend (there are likely some though). Labor Day is going to be busy with the AFL-CIO annual picnic. Usually the Sunday before Labor day isn`t too crowded. A lot of people head down town that day for the Cincinnati Bell WEBN fireworks. I will likely be working doubles every single day both weekends.

Yes they did miss out. That Q&A session was, for me, the best part of the event! Although the ERT on The Racer was a close second!

Daily operation is winding down at Coney Island. Below are the final operating hours for Coney`s 2008 season. If you haven`t made a trip out to Coney yet this year, you don`t have much time to waste! Sunlite Pool is open 10am-8pm now through September 1st except for the following dates. August 25th through August 29th the pool is open 11am to 6pm. The final public operating day for Sunlight Pool is Labor Day, September 1st. Coney`s Classic rides are open 1-8pm through this Friday, August 22. August 23 and 24 the rides are open 11am-9pm. Saturday August 29 the rides are open 11am-9pm. Sunday August 30th, the rides are open 11am-8pm and Labor Day, September 1st, the rides are open 11am-6pm. Additionally, the rides will be open 12pm-6pm for the Fall-O-Ween Festival on September 20, 21, 27, and 28th. Admission is $9 for adults, and $6 for kids 12 and under. Discounted adult tickets can be purchased at area Kroger stores with a Kroger Plus Card beginning September 1st for $6. Parking for the event is $5 per car. (Kings Island is closed to the general public and pass holders on Sunday, September 21st which means it would be a great day to visit Coney Island!)

And I`d like to add that technically bringing that cup onto the ride was against posted park rules, which also means that it was technically against Ohio state law. Unfortunately that group photo only reflects roughly fifty to sixty percent of the people that attended KIC day at the park.

As always Ronny, excellent pictures! It was definitely a fun filled day at the park!

Angrybeaver, at the Q&A on KIC day, Jeff Gramke said that most of the track work should be completed by the end of the year. Some of the footings (the ones by The Beast entrance) won`t be poured until after the park closes for the season on November 2nd. Once those are poured, it will be about a month before they put any steel on those footings (so that the concrete can properly cure and develop enough strength).

I hear you with the whole tiredness thing! I`m still exhausted, and I unfortunately have to head into Coney in an hour and a half!

Well, the batch of photos I took at yesterday`s event are now up here. Ronny will have more pictures, including from the Q&A session with the cast of Flashback 80`s, the Q&A session with Tony Caravillano and Jeff Gramke, pictures from the raffle, as well as from the ERT aboard The Racer at night. And for Bill, the below photo is also in that gallery.

Do you want me to share that picture then Bill?

Don`t forget to mention our other staff member Bill. It was a fun filled event and day at the park, even though the park was very crowded! Pictures from the event from both Ronny and myself will be forthcoming shortly. Again, thanks to Don, Kate, and Evan from KI`s PR department for making this event possible as well as Tony Carovillano and Jeff Gramke for partaking in the Q&A session, as well as the entire cast from Flashback: Totally 80s, Kings Island in general, and Cedar Fair for making this event all possible. But, most importantly of all, thanks to all the users of KIC who showed up to the event to make it possible to. We all share a passion about Kings Island, and it was nice to take a slightly different approach to a visit to the park, and be able to go behind the scenes on some things, and get some insights into the inner workings of the park.

This upcoming week is the last week for regular daily operations of the entire park. The rides will operate from 1-8pm this week, with normal pool hours of 10am-8pm. The following week, August 25-29th, the rides will be closed and the pool will be open 11am-6pm. Labor Day weekend, the pool will be open 10am-8pm all three days, while the rides will be open 11am-9pm on Saturday, August 29, 11am-8pm on Sunday, August 30th, and 11am-6pm on Labor Day, September 1st. The rides will also be in operation for the final two weekends in September (20, 21, 27, 28) with the rides operating from 12pm through 6pm each day. I hope that helps. Hopefully, you`ll get a chance to visit Coney this year. It is definitely worth the trip!

I honestly do not know. Your best guess would be to call the Kings Island Resort and ask them directly.

Yep. There are other honorable ways the park can honor the ride. Will they do any of those? We`ll just have to wait and see what 2009 holds in store!

I for one, would NOT want the park to make any changes like you suggested. That would just ruin the ride in my opinion. However, it will be interesting to see if they make any changes to the entrance plaza of The Beast, as the final helix for Diamondback will be right where the long gone Beast sign used to reside back in the late 90`s, like the 20th anniversary sign back in 1999.