CoastersRZ

Well, the Cincinnati area has been having terrible luck as of late with concerts being cancelled. First the concert at Kentucky Speedway that was canceled and now this one at Timberwolf. At least a reason of scheduling conflicts was given for the concert at PKI. At Kentucky Speedway, they didn`t comment on why it was cancelled.

Yeah, it probably was. But if your in the Cincinnati area, Coney is not a bad park to visit at least once. It is especially nice because it isn`t as big as Kings Island and as such doesn`t have quite as many long lines as Kings Island. Although there are days when there are more than 15,000 people at Coney (ie Balloon glow, Kroger Day, 5/3 day and the AFL-CIO day on Labor Day) which makes Coney look like Kings Island on a Bring a Friend Free Day.

Well, I`ll return working there on weekends starting August 26. Personally, I love working there, and look forward to going in for each shift even though I`ve been there for five years! Being able to interact with guests and see children having fun is a blast! My brother is addicted to working there. He just finished a 60+ hour week. At Coney, you normally don`t work more than 40 hours unless you express interest in doing so.

Bumped the thread. Topgun 1993, did you and your Dad ever make it to Coney Island? If so, I`d like to hear how your trip went.

And why do they spend that much money at those parks? Because they feel as if there money is going to something worthwhile. They are getting a value that they feel is rightfully just for their money. At parks that charge an arm and a leg for parking, like Kings Island, that have severly limited their tram service equates in the general public mind that the park is cutting costs and not giving the guests the same value for their buck.

No, Fuji Film never sponspored Photo Spots at Kings Island, at least not after Kodak stopped being a sponsor of the park.

Yeah, that is part of the state`s investigation into what went wrong. Pending the outcome of the inspection, it could result in new things for mechanics to look at when they are doing their morning inspections of the rides.

But see, the State of Ohio does make unannounced spot checks throughout the season. They are not as involved as the preopening checklists, but they still show up at the mark to monitor things.

I don`t see another attraction going into Nick Universe for next season. My hunch is on some sort of new ride in Coney Mall. I think that we will likely know what the park is getting before the end of the season in October.

You mean like reflectors for photo eyes? These are just another form of sensors that the ride computer (PLC) uses to check the location of the trains. When the train passes by the reflector, the train interupts the "beam" sent from the photo eye and it thus is not reflected. This lets the PLC knowm the train is passing that particular sensor.

Are we talking about the green lines next to the air gates in The Vortex station that employees must be behind when a train pulls into the station? Those aren`t new, they have been there for a while. Even Son of Beast has them in the station if I recall correctly.

It is a joint venture. The LV Hilton owns the building in which ST:TE is in, but Cedar Fair owns all the actual equipment used in the ST:TE.

Well, I don`t know if they will use the entire park. But hopefully they have more of a scarezone in Coney Mall or Rivertown. The one by Paradise Island treats was really well done! The one that they added after the first weekend over by Slingshot was not as effective, simply because the lighting levels are much brighter in that area of the park.

What corporation "craps" all over an amusement park? I sense a little hostility about the way Paramount ran the park. True, the parks weren`t quite as clean as they were under previous ownerships, nothing was grossly disgusting or screwed up by Paramount (excluding the poor choice of site for IJST).

I do believe that the first couple of years, they were open during the week up to and including Halloween night. But then they stopped doing that. Also, when they made FearFest free for pass holders in 2003, I believe that they had the haunts open the first weekend that the park was open in November as well!

That`s part of the reason why they kept stressing how they are minimizing costs. Yes, they have a hard road ahead of them. But when they pull it off, the rewards will far outweigh the costs.

My guess, and it is only that, is that while they agreed to terms for the licensing agreements, they are ironing out the specifics. Such as what happens if they want to drop the Paramount licenses after only a year. Also, they are probably discussing how Cedar Fair would go about renewing the Nickelodeon license after its current four year agreement runs out. That is of course assuming that they will want to renew the Nickelodeon license (I think they would be smart if they did renew it).

-As has been stated before, they do not intend to change the operations or marketing strategy for the Paramount Parks in the 2006 season. Jack Falfus and the operations team have been evaluating each park for its customer service and capital needs for not only 2007, but long term. Cedar Fair is not going to make any snap decisions with the new parks. Any decision will be based on the long term benefit to the company. -An important thing to note, is that announcements for capital expenditure plans for 2007 at each of the parks will be made in the beginning of the fall. -They have also split the parks up into specific regions. The Northern region: Cedar Point, Kings Island, Canada`s Wonderland, Geauga Lake, Dorney Park, Valleyfair and Michigan`s Adventure. The Southern region includes Kings Dominion, Carowinds, and Worlds of Fun. The Western region includes Knott`s Berry, Farm, Great America, and the Soak City water parks. In future press releases and conference calls, they will refer to those regions. -At or near the end of 2006, Cedar Fair will raise approximately $250 million in offering additional units of Cedar Fair. -Cedar Fair is presently in negotiations with Paramount and Nickelodeon in regards to the licensing agreements. They hope to have those finalized in the next six to eight weeks. -Key personal are in place at the Paramount Parks. It is a mixture of both Cedar Fair personel as well as Paramount personel.

Wow! Awesome video. Amazing how much the park has changed in just under fifteen years. Even on The Beast, the trees are taller and closer to the tracks!

That`s just it though. I do not believe that they will offer the monetary incentive to lure those 18+ workers. But if they can`t find the workers, they will either adjust the pay system or alter the requirements.

Yep. That there is the problem. They have a hard enough time staffing the rides throughout the entire season using minors. Let alone if they restricted it to 18. A while back, there was a rather brief discussion of mandating that all ride operators in the state be 18 or older. This would have killed Coney. Being 21, I am one of the handful of operators at Coney that are 18 or over (you can literally count them on two hands). Coney (moreso even than Kings Island) doesn`t offer the pay to entice the workers to work there. As in my case, you have to really love to work there for the pay that you get. It will also be interesting to see if anything comes from the latest push to raise minimum wage. I heard some reports that people in Ohio want to raise minimum wage to $6.85 an hour, which is considerably more than what first year ride operators make at both Kings Island and Coney.

A very very well written article! Sums up essentially what has been happening the last few years with regards to the media. It all comes down to what newschannels can use to get ratings.

Yes, I believe at Cedar Point, all ride operators must be 18. If they were to institute that at Kings Island, they would have an even harder time finding the staffing to keep everything running.

Yes, it is. Keep in mind that Coney`s rides are open daily through the 27th of August. However, the week of August 21-25th, the rides are open from 2-8 pm. The reason behind that is a lot of schools are in session and we have a hard time getting staffing. In past years, we have has only about ten operators for an entire day. I remember back in 2004 working that week on both the Python and Bobs, switching back and forth every ten or so minutes to allow the guests to ride each ride. The people that gave us our breaks on that day were two VP of park operations!

They have used two trains at FearFest the past few years for Pumpkin Patch Express and then again last year for Headless Hollow. Yes, he was referring to the waterpark opening in 1989. And from what I heard, those animatronic figures were literally falling apart the last couple of years. There is still the "Bear" in the woods right before the Boomerang Bay station.