CoastersRZ

Really? I seem to recall there being an entire section dedicated to The Beast in the emporium earlier this year. And no, they don`t "own" Paramount. They have a license to use the Paramount name. But I don`t believe that Cedar Fair has ordered any new merchandise since they took over that has the Paramount name on it. In fact, several of the shops were offering sales of up to 60% off all merchandise with the Paramount name on them, because they likely want to move that merchandise out of their inventory as quickly as possible.

The Eiffel Tower at Kings Island is a one third scale replica and officially stands 315 feet tall. It used to have an antennae on top of it that made it stand 333' tall. Top Thrill Dragster stands 420 feet tall. For comparisons sake, the original Gustave incarnation of the tower in Paris stands 986 feet tall and was completed in 1889.

Early last year before they opened the main gates at 10am, when they had gold pass holder early ride times, the gold pass holders would have their passes scanned on hand scanners at the old season pass entrance and enter the park through that gate. Needless to say that when they started opening the gates prior to 10am again, the old season pass entrance became unused again. nn125, yes, the north tolls are the ones closest to the Great Wolf Lodge. And to answer your question about timing. The south tolls open at 8:45 on August 4th. Then, the timing of events is as follows below before the park opens: 9:00 - Pick up your lanyards at the table near Will Call. HAVE YOUR MEAL TICKET! 9:15 - Flight of Fear backstage tour. Meet with group at Will Call. 9:50 - First Ride on Firehawk! In the event that Firehawk does not open with the park, there will be a first ride on Flight of Fear instead. You MUST be at the Flight of Fear backstage tour in order to do the first ride on Firehawk. Otherwise you MUST enter with the general public at 10:00!

And like I said, that shirt design is at least a year old, if not more. Who knows, those shirts could be leftovers from several years ago!

Yes, those would be the metal detectors that lead to the main entrance on International Street. With regards to the question about the South Tolls. If you get off of 71 North at exit 24, the south tolls are the first parking toll booths you come to on Kings Island Drive. If you are coming from southbound 71 and get off at the Kings Mills Rd Exit 25, the South tolls will be the second parking toll booth that you come to on Kings Island Drive (past the large marquee sign).

Well, if people remember the construction tour at Winter Soar back in early March, Maureen did say that the park would be building another building to house a FearFest attraction. I think a FearFest attraction over in the Action Zone is much needed, as too many of the haunts were focused in Coney Mall (which had three haunts last year, not counting the "scare zones." Rivertown had two (Headless Hollow and Cowboy Carnage). Nick Universe had Circus of Horrors (which until last year, was staged in the Festhaus). The Festhaus is a place I can pretty much guarantee will never have a haunt inside of it again because they built the Panda Express on the side that used to house the Circus of Horrors.

Well, if that is at Kings Island, it is clearly an OLD shirt prior to the purchase of Kings Island by Cedar Fair. Because if you notice, there is a certain P word in front of Kings Island on that shirt.

The area the discussion centers on used to be one of the old graveyards that previously held the shells of the fourth Flight of Fear train. It is located immediately behind the lift towers for Xtreme Skyflyer and to the left of the Top Gun queue, before you go under the bridge.

Granted, some of Cedar Fair`s parks are not in major metropolitan areas, there are several that draw from large population pools. Kings Island in Cincinnati, Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Kings Dominion in Richmond, Carowinds in Charlotte, and even Canda`s Wonderland draws from a large city in Toronto. Kings Island tried the video approach to a live show several years ago. Remember how well the "Magic of the Movies" show was received in the renovated Paramount Theater? Guests thought it was rather absurd and a waster of their time.

There likely are not many tickets left for the event. If you haven`t ordered your tickets yet, you might want to as soon as possible before they`re gone!

Tilt A Whirls have horrible capacity. To the tune of seven cars holding at most three people, provides for only 21 people per cycle. If I had to take a wild guess, I`d say that park is going to either get a flat ride next year, a water attraction in Boomerang Bay or just general park improvements. I would only expect the park to receive one major new attraction, if the park is lucky enough to even get that.

That only solves half the problem. What do you do with guests once they leave the queue and are exiting the ride? Yes, most of the backstage areas and roads are considerably well hidden from public view. About the closest guests get to seeing them is seeing the backstage area for TR:TR from The Beast and seeing the buildings over by The Racer and Flight of Fear/Firehawk. Otherwise, most of the maintenance roads are pretty well tucked out of site from plain view of the public.

Well, the correct terminology is footings. (Four years in architecture school talking). And, I believe that "slipped off" appearance you are referring to is the fact that the footings appear to shift an inch or so about a foot or two from the ground. This is caused by the how they were formed. That was the point where the footings originally emerged from the ground and transitioned to circular form work.

Well, on most rides, you will be required to take all valuables with you on the ride. The park will refuse to let you leave valuable articles such as phones and purses in the ride station. Well, unless you want to purchase some towels at Boomerang Bay, you should bring your own towels.

But of course with that comes the issue of securing the rights to use those novels. And with securing those rights, inevitably comes paying money for the right to use those intellectual rights, which costs money. Money that Cedar Fair doesn`t really have.

Well, for starters, no one has said that they are going to be redoing Tomb Raider the Ride during the off season. Secondly, if the ride is working, albeit with some of the effects mia, there is no point to close down the ride. I understand from an experience point of view, but if the soundtrack is working, and at least part of the effects are working, they should keep it open. If they were to close it down for the rest of the year, that would be one less ride for guests to ride. That means that they will go to other rides and wait in longer lines. Longer lines means that they are spending more times in those lines and less time out on the midways spending money. That in turn translates to Cedar Fair making less money (however the actual impact of shutting the ride down is likely miniscule to the park`s bottom line). The biggest reason I can see Kings Island for not keeping up with the theming on TRTR (other than cost), is because it is branded after a Paramount movie. Lets face it. With the exception of the rides that are named/based on Paramount movies, almost all other traces of the Paramount logo (save for the large sign in the parking lot) have disappeared from the park. I`m sure that if Cedar Fair is considering doing anything with TR:TR they certainly don`t want to throw money at it now, while it still bears the name of a license they don`t own.

Except for the fact that they would likely have to engineer a fresh foundation for the ride. They would likely have to end up tearing up a good portion of the concrete that they used to fill in the old stairs up to the old Flight Commander ride area. I agree though, that that location is a prime real estate and would do well with a new attraction. It would certainly liven up that side of the midway, and that area of the park. Dinosaurs on the train? Why? And PKIMike, Your suggestions for 2008 seem rather unreasonable for one reason. Cost. Removing an attraction, adding a medium sized flat ride, a sit down restaurant and stuff over at the water park is not cheap. And Cedar Fair is rather tight on money these days. And keep in mind that Cedar Fair did just spend $10 million on capital projects at the park for this season.

I`m not quite certain what you are referring to. I know that the ride operators at Kings Island have been wearing the old blue Paramount Parks shirts. But those simply say Paramount Parks on them. I am not aware of any specific uniforms that contain the park`s name on them. Several departments received new uniforms this season, including but not limited to, games and ecology.

Yes, there is no scavenger hunt planned for the event on August 4th.

How very true. After the refurbished track has had trains thundering over it for weeks and the track loosens up some, it very well may be a much less enjoyable ride (if you can even call it that when it reopened this year) than when it reopened after having gone through extensive rehab.

Back in Coney`s hey day in the `50s and `60s, it was quite well known for its exquisite landscaping.

The Holiday Inn that was located off of Kings Mills Road north of the park used to. But to my knowledge, that hotel is no longer even under the Holiday Inn brand anymore, and I think their shuttle service has also been discontinued.

Yes, capacity has a lot to do with how long a line for a particular ride is. Take for example Monster and Shake Rattle and Roll on a light to moderately busy day. Shake Rattle and Roll will appear to have no line, while the Monster will have a line. If one were to say that the Monster was the more popular ride based on the line, that is only telling half the story. Shake Rattle and Roll has a higher capacity, because the Monster can only load two of its six arms at any given time.

Well, they removed it because they felt like removing it, based presumably on maintenance issues (cost and downtime) as well as the rides popularity. If the ride is not attracting enough guests to it to justify the maintenance costs for it, then there is no reason the park should continue to maintain the ride. (A fate which I`m afraid will eventually catch up to another ride located in that same area of the park). As much as it pains people to hear this, steel coaster (and other rides as well) have life expectancies. Even the best maintenance programs can`t keep a ride running for ever. Eventually, the steel will become fatigued to the point where they would essentially have to replace the entire ride. And in turn, as a ride ages, usually its maintenance costs will also in turn go up. Yes, I miss King Cobra. But, Delirium is an incredibly fun ride. The location that Kings Island chose for it could not have been much better. It sits in a very prominent position at the entrance to the Action Zone, which provides great views of the ride to those who aren`t brave enough to ride it.

Wow! Wish I could share your sentiments with the ride. I thought it was only marginally better when I rode it several weeks ago. That one ride on it was enough rides on SoB for me for the rest of the year. As much as it pains me to say it, Son of Beast is simply one ride that whenever I get off of it, I find myself asking me why I rode it and saying to myself I`ll never ride it again.