CoastersRZ

Yep. Kings Island is in its 36th year (which means that this is the 37th season they`ve been operating). However, the fact that it traces its roots back to Coney is a somewhat unique trait. The fact that Coney Island remains in operation today, is q remarkable feat in and of itself, living in the shadow of Kings Island. In fact, this marks the 122 birthday for Coney (that is the 123 season). You may notice that that takes you to a different date then what pilotank quoted above. He quoted 1867 as the date that Coney started. That is the date that James Parker purchased his apple orchard on the banks of the Ohio River. Coney did not receive its name until Parker sold the property for $17,500 to the Ohio Grove Corporation in 1886. It was that year that the park was renamed Ohio Grove: The Coney Island of the West. The following season, the Ohio Grove portion of the name was dropped, and the park was thenceforth known as Coney Island.

And the police are differentiated from the security guards with their uniforms. Security guards wear white shirts, while the Park Police wear black shirts.

Why exactly did you sit down? As I`ve said before, all structures have to sway some with lateral forces. As the saying goes, 'if it doesn`t shake, it will brake'. The taller building and structures are, the more they will deflect at the top. In fact, the lateral forces (and the resulting deflection) on some tall high rises becomes the primary design factor for loads, not the gravity loads of the tower itself. And some buildings have what is called a "tuned mass damper" at the top. This is essentially a large mass at the top of the tower (usually concrete or steel). It is tuned to counteract and reduce the lateral deflection of the building caused by the winds.

Believe me, Kings Island`s security is not just like the puny "mall security." They have those uniforms to make them look official, yes. But they also go through extensive training, and are trained how to handle situations that arise in amusement parks. Trust me, from working at Coney, you`d be surprised how often fights happen, especially after people have had a few too many expensive beers. They know how to diffuse testy situations. And if they can`t handle it themselves, Kings Island has its own Police force which has the ability to arrest people. And, since Kings Island falls under the jurisdiction of the city of Mason, you may often find Mason Police officers in the parking lot patrolling. Sometimes, they are even inside the park patrolling! And on the subject of breastfeeding, I believe that you can visit the Baby Care Center in Nickelodeon Universe (across from Chik-Fil-A, and they have places for you to breast feed in a more private environment.

Well, park rules are NO food or drink to be brought into the park (unless for a documented medical or religious reasons). If they were to catch you sneaking food in, they could confiscate that food. I know on opening day, I heard the security guards talking about "no food" to be admitted with any guests or in any bags. And come on, picking up someone elses discarded souvenir cup? I know drink and food prices at Kings Island may be high, but that is bordering on ludicrous!

At one point in time, there did use to be a separate entrance to the park for pass holders. That "tunnel" over by the Kings Island Theater, the Season Pass Processing Center and ticket booths used to be the season pass entrance. They used that entrance several years ago for the Gold Pass early ride times as well as special event entrance to the park.

They did have the coasters running yesterday in the rain. Our final ride on The Beast was in a fairly steady rain, which made for a rather painful ride. However, the three coasters I rode yesterday, Backlot Stunt Coaster, Beast, and Red Racer were all running with one train operation. Even with that, the lines were still walk on, even at Beast.

Nope, it was still there last year. Although it had clearly not been maintained as meticulously in the last few years as it once had been. It no longer offered much shade. Its ashame to see it go, but with all things, things must change.

And you should have been. Despite not arrive until around 5:40 (I didn`t get off work until 5pm), I still managed to get in five rides before the park closed at 7pm. And, my ride on the new and improved Crypt was just as good as my first ride on it last week!

As of right now, Jungle Jims will only operate one monorail train at a time. As Jungle Jims continues to expand and grow, they will add most track sections to the monorail, and likely at some point future stations. Once it becomes a complete circuit, they`ll be able to run more then one train. Also, don`t pass up a Coney relic inside the store. There are a couple old Coney Island bumper cars inside of the store, that are used as display stands. They are located near the singing Elvis, if my memory serves me right.

Yes it does. It looks quite sharp! And they must have been painted fairly recently, as you could still smell some lingering paint odors.

That area out behind Son of Beast is some what of a graveyard for old park relics. I believe that the parts from Scooby`s Ghoster Coaster, as well as the former Jetson`s Jet Orbiter (Chance helicopter ride, that used to reside right in front of Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle), parking trams, and various other objects are stored out there. Another boneyard at Kings Island is located over near the picnic groves. In that boneyard they have the cars that were removed from Phantom Theater when it became Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle (they removed every other car). They also have a lot of the former push carts that the park used to use out over in that boneyard area as well.

Yuck! I wouldn`t want to take a swim in the Ohio River, let alone a bath in there! And I certainly would not want to take a dip in Lake Como either. That water is not the cleanest, and a large amount of gas gets dumped into it every year from the bumper boats. I have, on accident, gotten one of my legs up to mid thigh drenched in Lake Como when working the bumper boats my first year. I smelled like lake water the rest of the shift.

I, unfortunately, have never been able to visit Kennywood before. I want to, but I just don`t have the time, or the money right now to do so. Yes, I have a co-op job, but all that money is going to pay for my final year of grad school at UC. Which, even though I have a pretty sizeable scholarship, tuition is still not cheap! Oh and did I mention that the tuition freeze that UC has in place for next year applies only to undergraduate tuition, and NOT graduate tuition?

And, a few years back, Jimmy Buffett made a live CF from his show at Riverbend. And in one of the songs, he mentions how the whole "thing started many moons ago, back at Kings Island." Having driven by Coney (I can`t recall having ever worked the day of a Jimmy Buffett concert), the day of a Buffett concert, I can guarantee you things still get crazy. I drove by at 5:15 in the afternoon, and you would have thought that everyone in Cincinnati was converging on Coney!

Technically, it never was a calliope. Calliopes use steam to produce their music. The Kings Island Carousel (PTC Carousel #79) used to have a Wurlitzer Duplex Orchestral Band Organ Style #157. It was removed sometime around 2005 or 2006. It is sadly missed! The Carousel just isn`t the same without it. They should at least install a sound system where you can actually hear the band organ music when you are riding the ride! An interesting thing about the band organ that used to reside on KI`s carousel (the front facing of the organ still remains on the ride, while the inner working have been removed, and I`m not certain of what happened to them), but there were only twenty Wurlitzer #157 band organs ever built. The band organ at KI dated back to 1918, which had it still been around for this season, would have made it 90 years old!

Some people believe that wooden coasters that have a steel support structure (such as The Voyage, Hoosier Hurricane at Indiana Beach, and even the Cyclone at Astroland at Coney Island New York) are not wooden coasters. Heck, when Son of Beast had its loop, people would say that it wasn`t a "complete wooden" ride, because the loop was steel. Never mind the fact that the steel in the loop was supporting the wooden track, just like on the above mentioned rides. The Intamin wooden coasters are more of a hybrid coaster then the steel supported wooden coasters. The Intamin rides do not use metal wheels like GCI, G and PTC wooden coaster trains do. Instead, they utilize polyurethane wheels, similar to most steel coasters. Not to confuse the issue even more, but there are also those steel mine train coasters that feature steel track supported by heavy timber. Such rides as Cedar Creek Mine Ride, Adventure Express, and Gemini are all steel coasters, although often times the general public will refer to them as "wooden coasters".

There are more then just space issues with locating a Fridays in the former International Restaurant space. Primarily, access to the space via the stairs and elevator access to the space. The International Restaurant space was built in 1973, long before the Americans with Disabilites Act (more commonly referred to as ADA) was enacted. Any new restaurant in that space would require significant modifications to bring the building up to current ADA codes. And I doubt that KI brings in a restaurant that will be open year round. There would need to be something that draws people year round. And since Winterfest is no more, there is nothing to entice people to visit a year round restaurant at KI outside of the normal park operating season. Now if Cedar Fair were to decide to build a hotel on site, and throw in an indoor water park, similar to Castaway Bay at Cedar Point, then a TGI Fridays in the hotel would make some sense. However, I don`t see Cedar Fair plunking down major capital to build a hotel and indoor water park at Kings Island. At least not at this point in time with their still sizeable debt load.

I believe that service is not currently offered at Kings Island. However, it used to be offered at the park. I know they offered this service at the original WinterFest. When you purchased items, you could leave your name with the purchased merchandise. Then when you were ready to leave the park for the day, you could pick up your purchased merchandise on the way out of the park.

And with the new National City Pavilion opening down at Riverbend and Coney in a couple of weeks, the likelihood that more major concerts will ever return to Timberwolf certainly does not look very good.

Well. She has a right to wear her hair as she sees fit. However, once hired to work at Canada`s Wonderland, you have to abide by their grooming and dress standards. The park has a certain image they are trying to convey to the general public. While she may not think dreadlocks are extreme, the park obviously does. If she needed the job that badly, she would have adjusted her appearance to conform with the park`s policy. She can`t expect the park to may an exception to their rules for her, because then where would they draw the line with exceptions? Most amusement parks have grooming and dress codes. Even Coney has a grooming policy that all employees are expected to follow, in terms of length of hair, style, color (ie, not hair that is dyed radical colors), and facial hair.

Well, there is no vertical loop in Flight of Fear. There is a "cobra roll", a "half cobra roll" and a corkscrew on Flight of Fear for a total of four inversions. Also, you are not supposed to carry on loose articles to any roller coaster as Kings Island. Doing so could be dangerous to yourself and to the other riders. Not to mention that the park could potentially eject you from the park for doing so, and technically, you are breaking Ohio law, as riders are expected to follow all posted and verbalized rules with regards to amusement park attractions. Failure to abide by the rules and ride in a safe manner is, as I said above, a violation of law, which you could be found guilty of a misdemeanor.

If that park becomes a reality, I may just have to make a sojourn out to the Phoenix area and swing by that park in 2012. (I have cousins and two aunts who live in Phoenix). And one of my cousins is coming into town this year for the first time since 2004, and his favorite amusement park? Kings Island of course! It would be odd to go out and visit them and go to an amusement park!

Yes, I can confirm the deaths on the Shooting Star. In Charles Jacques Jr.`s book "Cincinnati`s Coney Island", he describes Lucille Clemons and William Bromkamp`s deaths. Lucile Clemons died in 1947, the first year that the Shooting Star was open. Reported alleged that she attempted to stand up to reach for her hat. However, her husband (who was seated beside her during the ride) claimed she never wore hats. Coney determined the ride was in good working condition. The accident that killed Mr. Bromkamp occurred on the last train of the day. He was seated in the back row. When the train returned to the station, he was not in his seat, and the lapbar was still in the closed position. He was found at the base of a short dip a short distance from the station. And the death that occurred on the Carousel, was a result of a dizzy spell. 68 year old Josephine Rosenfeld became dizzy and fell off her horse. She struck her head on the way down and she was rushed to Christ Hospital, where she died 90 minutes later of a skull fracture.

I know that R.L. Stine used to write those "Choose your own Adventure books." But to my knowledge, he never wrote any of those types of books about Kings Island or The Beast. He did, however, write The Beast and its sequel The Beast 2 in the mid 90s.