CoastersRZ

Well, for some reason, I doubt they would continue to operate the ride if it was spewing hydraulic fluid. That is usually not a good sign. As far as The Beast station thing. When I was at the park this past Monday for Labor day, they were not doing anything special with the line. They had the normal greeter down by the pop machines but that was it. I do know that when they had walk on weekends, they would manage how many people were on the loading platform, simply because that is where the standby line and Gold pass line merged. Originally, when The Beast opened, they used to manage how many people were on the load platform, and that is the reason for the raised platform right where the line enters the station platform area. Great to hear you had fun at GE day. I will be at the park next weekend for P&G day.

Well, if you want to be technical, the P has not yet been dropped from PKI. Yeah, they are no longer owned by Paramount, but Cedar Fair has not said whether or not they intend to drop the Paramount moniker after this season. I believe that they will. The only indication that Cedar Fair has given is that they are considering renewing the Nick license agreement and are considering not utilizing the full ten year agreement with Paramount. So while they might make the name simply KI again next year, I doubt we see much in changes in renaming/retheming rides that are already Paramount related.

Well, I certainly don`t see them turning that area into a history of the roller coaster section. But a couple nice flat rides could certainly work there. There are also a couple other large spots where flat rides could go, ie the former spot of the Salt Water Circus as well as the current spot of the EuroBungee.

Cedar Fair might remove the movie References in the Paramount Story, but I`d venture to say that they will keep that area pretty much the way it is. Remember, before Paramount bought the park that area was called "Tower Gardens."

Well, they did say that the Paramount Parks have performed strongly since the acquisition closed on June 30. Hopefully, the transition goes well. I`m sure there will be a flurry of activity at the Paramount Parks in the offseason.

Yeah. But as I said in my post, it doesn`t make much sense to have the greeter/height check stand so far into the line. Like on Son of Beast and Flight of Fear, they are stationed at the beginning of the line. Which makes sense if there is someone too short to ride, they are told by a worker they are too short before waiting in a line.

Yeah, I agree about the loss of some priveleges. I bought my 2006 season pass last September for about $70. And it included admission to four other Paramount Parks. Now, for this year if I renew I do not get admission to those parks unless I buy the Maxx pass at $125. Needless to say, I will most likely only be buying a KI only pass. The reason for the difference in prices is the proximity to nearby Cedar Fair parks. Carowinds, like Valleyfair, is not close to other Cedar Fair parks. While Kings Island is close to Cedar Fair and Geauga Lake. I do not totally agree with the steep price of the Maxx pass as my KI pass that used to get me free admission into other parks no longer does, but yet it costs the same. But if you think about it, a Maxx pass is cheaper than what a season pass to both Kings Island and Cedar Fair cost for this season. I don`t know what they are doing with the parking passes. I just know that renewing Kings Island pass holders get free parking for next season. They had originally announced a price for parking passes for next season, but I believe that they are not currently selling parking passes to new pass holders.

Well, originally, the area underneath the station had a height check station. This was staffed by a member of the ride crew. The height check station was rather pointless since it was so far into the line. Needless to say, it was decided to not staff that height check area and hence the area underneath the station was closed off to guests. I don`t know the exact year, but I want to say around 1997 or 1998.

It sounds like the park is increasing the live entertainment offerings outside the haunts and the Fear Zones, which is a good thing. Having gone to Winterfest where there were roaming performers throughout the park and live entertainment almost every where you looked, hopefully they are bringing some of those ideas to FearFest. If so, this year`s FearFest could be one of the best that Kings Island has ever had.

I don`t have a clue about the FearFEAST. The Curse of the Crypt was not held last year, because they dispersed many of the props that were used in that attraction throughout the park as well as sticking them in some of the other haunts.

Well, the speakers on the train were added last year for WinterFest. Just one of the many leftover benefits that will remain in the park after WinterFest was cancelled. The other being the new sound system on International Street as well as the lights on the buildings again.

Well, I think if done right, a rethemed Scrooge`s house could prove to be a big hit at FearFest. Also, hopefully they do have some sort of live show in the Paramount Theater. Although I doubt it will be as elaborate as what Graveyard shift was.

I do not know the answer to that one. Try calling the park, I`m sure they will likely have an answer for you, or be able to find out an answer for you.

I don`t think that they ever seriously considered using the 50 foot platform for the Asylum simply because the only way to get up there is by stairs. That doesn`t work too well for accessibility issues.

It seems mostly right. Except that in 2005, the Rivertown Scarezone was CornStalkers. Essentially, from the way I understand it there are no new "haunts" but we did not loose any either. Fear Street has been renamed Massacre Manor. The former Maze of Madness has been renamed The Asylum and according to the KI website, will be located under the Eifferl Tower (although I have heard it will still be in its typical location). I`m assuming Headless Hollow will still utilize the train and WWC exit. Cowboy Carnage is utilizing the props from the last year`s Massacre Manor that was held in the white tent near Paradise Island Treats. Not sure of the location of the Fear Zones, but could one of them be an expanded one that appeared a week into FearFest last year over by Slingshot?

They are giving paper vouchers that will get you into the park for the rest of this year. Then, next spring, you will be able to redeem your voucher for your photo ID. At this time, they have not announced any plans for pass holder perks. (Although they had orginally released that there would be some perks like Early Ride times, Walk on Weekends, and Bring a Friend Free Days) I`m assuming they are reevaluating these perks. Hopefully some of them stick around for next year.

Yeah, they have some work to do on their website. A lot of the links that you click just open a smaller frame of the main webpage instead of bringing up additional information on the subject that you clicked on. But all in all, with two scarezones in addition to Cornstalkers, it sounds like this year`s FearFest will be better than last years!

Well, probably not very long because there is only a limited amount of real estate up there. I didn`t attend the inaugural FearFest, so I wouldn`t know.

Well, if you bought your 2006 season pass after the season started this year, your picture does not appear on the pass. Probably one of the reason why they are not issuing the photo IDs yet, is that they may not be certain on whether or not they are going to drop the Paramount name from the park.

Now that is a very good question! As you stated it should. But will it actually work that way?

Well, there are some over in the park history photo galleries, which are found here. There are some on the second page of the Park Photos section.

It goes back to the marketing slogan they had for Fear Fest. "Fun by day. Fright by night."

Who says Nick isn`t staying? I think Cedar Fair would be wise to keep Nick around for as long as possible, and even maybe branch it out to other parks. Unless the license deal would be ripping off Cedar Fair. Cedar Fair doesn`t exactly have the cash to mess around with right now, but I think that if it is feasible, they will likely want the Nick license.

FearFest 2002 wasn`t bad, as that was the last one that had a seperate admission charge. However, 2003 was absolutely aweful. They stripped away most of the in park theming besides in the haunts, had virtually no roaming scaractors, and no fog on the midways. This was done because they thought that the park should remain more "family friendly" even during the evening hours, with all the scary stuff reserved for the houses. Needless to say, in 2004, they began to remedy that. By last year, FearFest was a significant improvement over 2003. I personally never attended FearFest in 2000.

That seems a little "cheap" to me. I mean what happens if you go on a water ride such as Congo Falls and your wallet gets drenched?