CoastersRZ

Part of the issue that is taking so long, is that they are having to make modifications. These modifications involve re-engineering parts of the ride, which is not a quick process. Especially since they have to rebuild the track and structure where the loop once was. Then add in the fact that they are going to be getting new trains, which will require some engineering on the part of the train manufacturer to match the track guage of SoB. Then they have to fabricate the trains. Once all of that is taken care of, they then need to thoroughly test the ride. Both for their insurance company, and for the State of Ohio. So there are a lot of puzzle pieces that need to fall into place before they can consider opening the ride.

Well, I don`t know exactly how many steps there are in the Eiffel Tower at Kings Island. But, lets assume that each riser height is 7" (which is the maximum riser height allowed by the 2005 Ohio Building Code). The top platform on the Eiffel Tower is 275'. So, by using simple arithmetic, we can come up with a ballpark figure of 471 steps. But that is assuming that each step has a riser height of 7" Granted, the building code was considerably different back in 1972 when the Tower opened, and the fact that those stairs are there primarily as service stairs could mean that they actually have a larger riser height than 7"

Interesting that they are putting Steel Venom in storage. I think that this ride may reopen at another Cedar Fair park in 2008, possibly Dorney Park? It was rumored that Dorney was getting a new power line installed, be that as it may.

They certainly have a LOT of work to get done between now and the end of May. I really like the red color that they are painting the track. I think that the entire track piece will be painted red, much like it was green as X-Flight. Yes, those guys had to be freezing today! And it is so cold out, that even with admixtures, I doubt they can pour much concrete right now! But, they have a lot of rebar work that they can get started on. I`m still trying to figure out what portion of the ride will be located by that retaining wall in the last picture.

Doh! My bad. It was in the wee hours of the morning when I read the article. I still wasn`t fully awake, and I had just braved the single digit temperatures to get the paper.

Yep, congrats Ryan. Although I thought it was slightly odd that they didn`t have any quotes from Maureen in the version that appeared in the paper this morning (they did have a quote from her online).

Missing your graduation to work at the park? That seems like a little extreme. Don`t you want to celebrate the major accomplishment of your life? It is an experience that you will only get to live once (if it is from high school). Yes, I graduated from Anderson back in 2003 (my how time flies), and will be graduating from UC this June, and I won`t be missing my graduation at UC. Especially with all the hard work I`ve put in at DAAP! The bummer for me is that I will proceed immediately into grad school at UC with only one week off.

It hasn`t changed in exactly ten year intervals. It was the Enchanted Voyage from 1972-1983. It then was the Smurf`s Enchanted Voyage from 1984-1991. It then became Phantom Theater from 1992-2002. And it has been Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle from 2003 through the present.

Try RollerCoasterFreak.com. They have quite a few images of the dismanteling of X-Flight at Geauga Lake.

Sally Dark Rides are the makers of Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle. They also made Gobbler Getaway at Holiday World. Kings Island has rights to use Scooby Doo through Sally when they bought the ride from them. I`d imagine, and this is just my guess, that Cedar Fair would want to try and extend their license with Viacom for the Nickelodeon properties. Nick is just more popular amongst kids these days as opposed to the Peanuts gang.

Yes, once Cedar Fair took control, they opened the gates before ten, but you were pretty much limited to the area at the base of the Royal Fountain. Or, on busier days, to the top of the Royal Fountain. It used to be though, that the ropes were stretched all the way to almost by the floral clock behind the Eiffel Tower.

Yeah. Last year Kings Island opened at eleven in October (excluding the first weekend). This year the park is opening at 12.

Two things. One, the fountains are painted at KI. The second thing is that they just refurbished the fountains a couple of years ago. (I want to say 2004). They put in an all new concrete lining as the old one was apparantely leaking.

No, I don`t know what time they will announce it at. But something tells me that you won`t have to sit around waiting all day for the news.

Well, I believe that it was also stated at No Coaster Con that they won`t make a decision on what replaces the loop area until after they select a train manufacturer. That being said, I think the most logical choice, as explained above, would be to simply connect the drop with the ascent into the helix.

Well, I`m not sure about merchandise, but I know that food service warehouse is located on site back behind all the general offices at the front of the park. I know that some of the games storage is back over in the Coney Mall area, in part of the Games buildings along Coney Mall.

Well, the stage and lights are still present in the Enchanted Theater space. Now if only we could get the "Kings of Komedy" back. That is what the park officially called the Kings Island Clown Band.

Actually, Son of Beast reopened in late May of last year, not in early June. And did any one actually expect that the ride would be ready to roll on opening day? Well, if the Premier rolling stock is on the track, I HIGHLY doubt it will be the same configuration as it was last year.

Something tells me that the ice skating show at Kings Island will not feature a dog in it. But it looks like it wiill be an exciting year as far as entertainment at the park goes. Even with the Nick Parade not coming back this year.

The one down side to paddle boats, and this comes from experience at Coney, is they are not a high capacity attraction. It is easy for the pedal boats at Coney to get a half hour line on busy weekends. Also, there is a high capacity for guest stupidity on the pedal boats, Ie rocking the boat, jumping to another boat, etc. While it is a nice idea in theory, I just don`t see a park the size of Kings Island adding a ride like that. I too think that a sky ride could be a popular attraction. Just imagine if they put in a skyride from say next to the Days of Thunder go Karts, that extends down into the end of Coney Mall by the Action Theater. However, I doubt that we will see KI add a sky ride anytime soon. Part of the reason the first sky ride was removed was low ridership.

Well, that is no real surprise to me that they have accessibility issues with the International Restaurant space. Hopefully, they will find a successful solution to a sit down restaurant in the future. Heck, they could return Wings to a sit down restaurant.

Now, if they were to put a show on the train like that had for WinterFest in 2005, then the train would be truly an entertaining ride! But I don`t see them doing that, as it is primarily used as a conveyance devise to get to Boomerang Bay.

Well, that it kind of a bummer that only Carowinds gets the parade, but still, KI is getting some new shows. Hopefully, Cedar Fair will decide in future years to move the parade either to the other parks, or to install new parades at each park permanently. It is sort of ironic that the first ice skating show at Kings Island debuted in 1987 in the Festhaus, 20 years ago, and this year we are getting an ice skating show for the first time in more than ten years.

Actually, according to that map, Carowind`s Paramount Theater was referred to as Midway Music Hall. The Paramount Theater, presumably now the Carolina Theater, is located in Carolina Showplace.

I noticed that the press release says that the "Carowinds Endless Summer on Ice" will take place in the Carowinds Theater. I have to ask, is this the new name of Carowinds` Paramount Theater?