CoastersRZ

Rules and policies can and do change from time to time. Obviously, they changed since they printed up the current batch of Platinum Passes. The Platinum Pass perks will be valid at all parks if you have a Platinum Pass. And Halloween Haunt at Kings Island will be included with your Platinum Pass.

The fishtailing effect is still on the trains. (It at least was at Bare Bones night last year. ZosoBeast and myself got some rare walk on rides to Backlot Stunt Coaster on Bare Bones Nights! In fact we got back to back rides where we were the only two people in the train!) The fishtailing effect is hard to pick up. It is usually most noticable right before the 90 degree turn near the Dodgems.

Not to mention the season pass processing lines can be pretty hefty on opening day as well. And the early ride times (at least last year) went from 9:30 to 10am. And they were on select days. I seem to recall Action Zone being open on Saturdays in June and July with Invertigo, Drop Tower and Delirium as the selected rides open. They also had a day in Nick Universe with selected attractions open for early ride time, and one in Coney Mall. I`m sure we`ll hear more about the early ride times as we get closer to daily operation in May.

To my knowledge, the bring a friend free days are a thing of the past. I`ve heard that Gold and Platinum pass holders MAY get discounted tickets to bring friends on select days this year, but I`m not aware of the exact dates. (I`m not sure if the park has released them yet). Additionally, while there will be early ride times for some rides on specific dates, opening day is NOT likely one of those days. Again, the park has not released the calendar of early ride times yet. Additionally, try using the search feature next time, as there have been a couple threads asking similar questions. No sense in having duplicate conversations going on, especially when the original thread likely has some or all of the answers to the questions you asked above.

Yes, many here remember Phantom Theater, as it was only removed six years ago (in 2002). It will not be returning in 2009, or any time soon for that matter. It was removed for a reason, primarily a decrease in ridership from when it first opened. When the park installed Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle, kids lines up for that ride every day of the year. That ride still gets long lines and a full queue. Yes, Phantom Theater was a unique dark ride, and far superior an experience to Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle. Animatronic figures in Phantom Theater versus primarily cardboard cutouts for Scooby Doo makes the most recent incarnation in that building seem not as engaging as its predecessor.

Well, when I went in there at the end of the 2006 season (the only time I have eaten there when it was a buffet), they did not have Montgomery Inn Ribs. The day I ate there was the last day of the 2006 season, and I was very unimpressed with the food in there. There wasn`t much selection, and it seemed as if some of the food had been sitting out too long (some of the buns for the burgers were hard). I certainly wouldn`t eat there again. But I am also a poor college student and don`t have $15 to spend on a meal! If I want an all you can eat buffet, I`d rather go to Golden Corral, where they at least have more options for food. I believe that the Montgomery Inn ribs left when the restaurant went from a standard food stand like Festhaus to Wings at the end of the 2006 season.

And what is with the reference to Outer Limits in the black box that you can only read if you highlight it? And as the Interpreter mentioned, I also have no idea what you mean by indoor parlor. Are you talking about a restaurant at KI? The only indoor restaurants at KI with tables inside are Skyline on I-Street, Graeters, Starbucks, Festhaus, and Wings. Of those, the only ones that have decent sizes seating areas are the Festhaus, Skyline and Wings. And of those, the last one has been dishing up some porr quality food.

What does your response, Beast1979 offer to the discussion at hand? Please stay on topic and offer some valid insights to the discussion.

I find the last paragraph comical. The part about reduced park prices. While general admission prices might be $1 or $2 less then they were several years ago, that difference is more then made up for with much higher food prices! A one day trip for a family to Cedar Point will cost considerably more this year then it did back in 2005, due to the much higher food prices. The same thing applies for Kings Island as far as the food pricing goes.

No. I can guarantee that painting is MUCH easier then taking a wall panels off a building and recladding it. Not to mention that in the process of removing the painted panels and reinstalling them, the graffiti would like suffer some scratches and chips, making the whole point of removing the panels null and void.

RCfreak339, and you know that taking wall panels on a building down can be done easily and cheaply how? I can guarantee you that it would be easier for the park to paint over the graffiti and had new graffiti painted in September then it would be to remove panels of the metal frame building and replace them with new panels.

By comment with the Reds was not so much about length of stay. I agree that people will tend to stay longer at an amusement park then a baseball game. My point was that both venues typically offer inflated food prices. The difference (at least last year) was that Kings Island food service offered lousy service, and sometimes unsatisfactory food quality. While at a Reds game, the food service and food were of a decent quality, so the higher price was more justifiable. The fact that Kings Island was charging an inflated price for cold pizza, and with lousy customer service from the food service employees makes the high price seem like highway robbery. Not exactly a way to make a good impression on park guests and encourage them to a) make repeat visits to the park, and tell their friends and family about the wonderful experience they had at the park thus promoting future business for the park.

Unfortunately, I doubt the park will take this into consideration. As of late, they seem to be taking the attitude of "once we get them in, lets try and rob them of all the money we can" attitude by having ridiculously priced food items. Not to mention that the quality of said items and the service at the stands serving these items (at least last year), was subpar with what average consumers would expect from comparable establishments outside the park. Heck, even at Reds games, where the prices may be similarly expensive, one has to think that for the most part, you will get decent food and service there. (I haven`t been to a Reds game yet this year). Cedar Fair can only raise in park food prices so much to increase their per cap spending before people stop buying food and drinks inside the park altogether. When that happens, their per cap spending will fall, and probably fall hard. And with the rising cost of gas and groceries currently, if CF has raised their food prices much over what they were last year, they may be asking for trouble. With the increase in the prices of these items, some families will have less discretionary income to spend, with some opting to forgo their trip to the park because of the higher prices. Those that do choose to spend it at Kings Island (and other CF parks), might not be willing to pay the outrageous food prices and opt to leave the park to find cheaper food prices outside of the park, and return to the park after a swing by the nearby food establishments that actually have reasonable service, quality and pricing.

No, it is not a kiddie version of the tumblebug ride. The ride is manufactured by Zamperla, under the name Turtle Parade. Here is the Turtle Parade page on Coney Island Central, which has some images that may give you a better idea of exactly what type of ride the Turtle Parade is.

Just an update from Coney Island. I was at the flower show today, helping setup. The Turtle Parade ride has now been completely assembled on the former site of the Kiddie Freeway. Additionally, Frog Hopper is now standing in its new location next to Boats and Trains. Work continues to progress on River Runner, although there are still no platforms actually up to the boat yet. The Giant Slide is still underneath one of the picnic shelters receiving some work. The Cincinnati Flower Show opens next Saturday (April 19) and runs through Sunday, April 27th. Please note that, unlike the last five years that the show has been at Coney, there will NOT be any rides operating at the flower show this year. It is a very impressive display to see though. Advanced discounted tickets are available at all area Kroger and National City locations.

It should be noted that Canada`s Wonderland is in fact having a season pass holder only day this year. The season pass preview day is on Friday April 25th from 5-10pm. That is the first day pass holders can experience Behemoth. The park officially opens to the public on Saturday, May 4th.

Over the Rhine to play 'OHIO' at Pavilion. Cincinnati.com reports that hometown music group Over the Rhine will officially open the new National City Pavilion on Saturday, May 24 at 8pm. Tickets go on sale at 10am on Saturday, April 19th.

Usually, Coney will have Cincinnati Cops directing traffic out of gate one (closes to the Kellogg Avenue exit of 275, and Hamilton County Sheriffs deputies directing traffic out of gate three (closest to Riverdowns). Most people probably try and go west to get onto 275 at Kellogg when leaving concerts. However, Kellogg is a four lane road all the way down to 52, which then joins up with 275. It may not be perfect now, but I can guarantee that the situation is much better now then when Riverbend opened in 1984.

Well, there really is not much Coney can do. Their parking entrances have been pretty well established. They do, unlike Kings Island, provide staff to direct people to parking spots, in attempts to speed up the entry process into the parking lot. Giving Coney rights to the parking is only fair, since Riverbend patrons park on Coney`s property. Not to mention that both the original pavilion and the new pavilion are built on land that once belonged to Coney, which they "donated" to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. If Riverbend did not utilize Coney`s parking lots, there would simply be no where for concert patrons to park, save for the relatively small Riverdowns parking lots.

I should rephrase my statement from above. The link to the article that Avatar posted in his second post (not the first post in this thread) is the article I am referring to with the suspect date.

I`m not sure if the major acts are bypassing Riverbend or not this year, but it seem to me that a fair portion are still hitting Cincinnati. In fact Maroon 5 and Counting Crows just announced today that they are coming to Riverbend on August 30th. With the new Pavilion, the slate of concerts at Riverbend this year is up dramatically over last year. Coney benefits from increase concerts at Riverbend, because a portion of each concert ticket sold actually goes to Coney for parking revenue. Not to mention that Coney also operates the concession stands at Riverbend.

Reader beware. Notice when that article that Avatar was posted. The date renders the information contained in said article suspect.

Well, you`ll just have to return later in the year, when ALL the rides are open, including the three new attractions. I`m sure that River Runner is going to be a huge hit this year.

Topic bump. The decision has been made NOT to open any rides at the Cincinnati Flower Show at Coney Island this year. The first weekend that the rides will operate will be May 10th and 11th. Sunlite Pool will open for the year on May 24th.

No. Both venues will NOT be used at the same time, typically. The overall capacity of Riverbend is not increasing, but will remain the same. Coney`s parking lots are used for Riverbend parking, and have not increased in size. As you mentioned, the noise could compete between the two venues. However, there might be some exceptions to this, like for the Warped Tour that has smaller acts. They would utilize both Pavilions. However, the overall capacity for such concerts would remain the same. The overall capacity is 20,000 visitors. So the total crowd that would be split between both venues would be 20,000.