CoastersRZ

Thosecut outs in the footings are to allow for steel from the support column to be sunk below the top of the footing. When they pour the expansive grout between the top of the footing and the base plate of the support, all the gaps between this steel insert and the footing cut out are filled in. This steel insert helps make the footing and steel support act monolithically and transfer the forces from the support to the footing and into the ground. Above are two images of Firehawk supports in KI`s parking lot showing this steel insert.

Sorry Ronny, but you were a couple clicks too slow with this one. Head on over to this thread for more on this topic: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14232

Those VAT tests (Vigilance Awareness Tests) are part of Ellis and Associates certification process. The parks that use Ellis and Associates to train and certify their lifeguards are required to do a certain amount of VAT tests a week. Besides Kings Island, Cedar Point, Coney Island and Disney all use Ellis and Associates to train and certify their lifeguards.

The latest pictures from Kings Island: July 23rd

Yep. I was referring to the new bunch, the minds behind a "little" ride over at Holiday World.

How do you explain, the wooden support structure for the Zoom Flume then? Granted, that ride was constructed in 1977, but it has survived some major floods, including the flood of 1997. How would that be any different then a wooden coaster? And keep in mind that a certain coaster company that is based in Cincinnati has built all of their wooden coasters with a steel structure.

As always, excellent aerial photos Gabriel!

Look at Canada`s Wonderland and Behemoth. Granted the Canadian winters can be a little bit harsher, they also didn`t have the challenge of working around a main park midway to construct their new coaster. Keep in mind that track started showing up around this time at Wonderland. Maybe KI is trying to have the ride completed ahead of schedule so that they can open the ride before Memorial Day weekend.

And need I remind you that the first KIC day event featured NO exclusive ride times whatsoever. This year, you get two hours of ERT. Yes, they may not be on star attractions, but you can ride the more popular rides during the day and wait in line for those, and be able to experience Racer and Invertigo before/after the park is open. And you will be able to go on the Son of Beast backstage tour, and get unlimited softdrinks the entire day. To me, that is well worth the increase price for the event. And that doesn`t even include Q&A with a KI full time employee!

Yep. 2005 was the last year that a flood covered a good portion of the park. Waters came extremely close this March to flooding the park yet again, but the river crested a couple of feet below the point which a majority of Coney floods. (The deep end of the pool and the pump house did, however, flood this past spring, as did the far east end of the East parking lot). Case in point, see the image below from this past March.

Not going to happen. At least not next year. Could it happen? Sure. Do I think it will ever happen? No. By this time, as much as I hate to say it, it would require quite a bit of work (and money) to get the Eagle back up and running in good condition (both in its current location or if it were moved elsewhere).

The last few years that the Antique Cars were around, they were sponsored by the now defunct John Nolan Ford. And the last few years under Paramount, the Paramount Theater was sponsored by Toyota. Corporate sponsorships could be good business from Cedar Fair`s point of view as they could potentially receive money from these corporate sponsorship deals, which could help add to their balance sheet.

I actually saw three military helicopters flying fairly close to each other yesterday. They flew right over Lake Como and the Ferris Wheel (the ride I was working at). They obviously came from Lunken Airport, but it is odd that I saw them on the same day as the Air show up in Dayton. And as always, excellent photos Ronny!

Coney Island has added two person canoes to Lake Como, in addition to the pedal boats and bumper boats that currently reside in Lake Como. These two person canoes are included with the classic rides wristbands. All riders in the canoes MUST wear a life jacket, regardless of height.

Sorry. You`ll just have to wait and see what 2009 has in store for Coney. There are still lots of days left this year to experience Sunlite Pool, and all of Coney`s classic rides, including the new River Runner, Turtle Parade, and the new upcharge attraction, Eurobungy Dome. In fact, just this week Coney has added two person canoes to Lake Como in addition to the pedal boats. All riders in the canoes MUST wear life jackets, regardless of height.

Lol. If you want to bring up music, I get to listen to Coney`s live shows every time I work at the Ferris Wheel or Eurobungee. I hear each show about two times on a shift, every time I work at those rides. Talk about songs getting old!

Well, if you leave your wallet and valuables in plain sight in your car when you go off to play in the park for several hours, it sure can tempt thieves. If you must leave those items in your car, you should at least hide them, so it appears as if there is nothing of value in the car (at least as far as the wallet and jewelry go, its a little harder to hide the car`s stereo system). That being said, Carowinds has had a lot of negative publicity in the last week or so with regards to security, or the apparent lack thereof.

Yes, Drop Tower has two towers that drop down and "bounce" back up, while two towers launch up and then "bounce". And I am in the minority when I say that I actually like the name Flight Deck.

Well, they could have renamed Drop Tower to be in line with the names of the drop rides at the legacy Cedar Fair parks. Power Tower at Cedar Point is a far better name, in my opinion, then the plain "Drop Tower".

Keep in mind that August 30, 31st and September 1st is the Saturday, Sunday, and Monday of Labor Day weekend.

And Kroger day is not typically the biggest company picnic that Coney has.

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?...cb-8601e51d2ab1 The world`s largest indoor train display is opening right here in West Chester. And you might recognize the name of the General Manager of Entertainment Junction. He used to work at Kings Island, prior to the purchase of the park from Cedar Fair.

I believe that the road on the left in the picture in question is where KI/Great Wolf`s property meet each other. Just because there is a fence between the crates and the greenhouses, does not necessarily mean that that area of land is not KI`s.

Afterburn is by far one of the best inverted coasters I`ve been on! It ranks up there among the best steel coasters I`ve ridden! It is definitely a fun ride. And you can`t go wrong with the pacing of the ride, as there is no mid course block brake, so it is nonstop thrills from the lift to the end of the ride! Did you get to ride the very fun and interactive Flying Super Saturator? I haven`t visited Carowinds since 2003, and that was before they installed Nighthawk.

Today, Thursday July 17th is the annual Jimmy Buffett concert at Riverbend Music Center. This year marks the 20th anniversary of his first show at Riverbend, which occurred in 1988. This year`s show sold out in just ten minutes, making it Buffett`s 41st consecutive sell out at Riverbend. Prior to performing at Riverbend, Buffett had shows at Kings Island in Timberwolf Ampitheater from 1984-1987. All six of the shows that he did at Kings Island also sold out! And it was the 1985 show at Timberwolf where Timothy B. Schmidt, a current member of the Eagles, coined the term "parrotheads." So if you are one of the ones lucky enough to see Buffett at Riverbend, have fun! Otherwise, be forewarned that the tailgating along Kellogg Avenue outside of Riverbend and Coney starts fairly early, and can snarl traffic.