CoastersRZ

Well, it was a Bring a Friend Free day, so you knew it was going to be packed beyond belief! I fixed the topic title as well.

No way that could happen, for the reason that you said. Rides will go down and come back up with little or no notice. Now, obviousely some ride will close early towards FearFest season, most notably White Water Canyon and the Scrambler.

What? Are we talking July 25th or June 25th? As in today or a month ago? Because if it was a month ago, it is a little late to begin talking about something insignificant as a power failure. That happens sometimes at amusement parks.

You have to love the quote by the attorny in the article. "The reason we are filing this early is to find out what was going on with this ride." Isn`t that kind of a mute point since the Ohio Department of Agriculture is conducting a thorough investigation and will release a report of what went wrong when their investigation wraps up? I know they released a report after they investigated the Flight Commander incident. It was that report that said the restraints were improperly designed to hold in single riders in the capsules. As a result, the ride manufacturer changed the restraint system on the ride before it was allowed to reopen.

You`d be surprised how many times lawsuits are brought against the park, and never made public because the parties involved settle out of court. (Even at Coney Island, people try and sue the park for what little money it has for various things that they believe they deserve money for).

The thing that gets me is that the parking lot pavement is falling apart in many areas (especially up by the south exit onto Kings Island Drive. You would think with parking fees being what they are they could at least keep the parking lot free of crater sized potholes.

Well, it is kind of premature to determine if the ride was not properly maintained, considering the investigation has yet to be concluded. But the fact that it would not have been noticed during the morning inspection also means that there was no way they could have known that particular member was going to fail. Kings Island knows how to maintain their wooden coasters. The thing with Son of Beast is probably not maintenance of the ride, but the design of it.

Do you mean the north exit? Down by Top Gun? That is where they always park the trams. And they removed the tram circle up by the front gate last season. The new tram pick-up/drop off area was right where the two side of the parking lot and the main road through the parking lot meet. (Between where the main sign and front gate are located).

Yes, they worded the release very carefly IMO to only state that the event was cancelled in 2006. While they gave no indication it will continue in coming seasons, I would imagine any changes that they plan on instituting at Kings Island will be done in the off season, and they want to focus their full attention on that, and not on any side distractions such as WinterFest. I have heard that there have already been some upper management shake ups at KI, with several new vice presidents. Also, there is apparantely a new GM in place replacing Tim Fisher who was the acting GM after Craig Ross went down to Charlotte earlier this year. Tim Fisher was acting GM until the parks were sold and the new owners brought in a new GM.

It sported the blue color until it was repainted purple for the renovation of Hanna Barbera Land in 1998.

It is kind of ironic that they canned WinterFest almost a year to the day that they announced that it would return. They announced it on July 25, 2005. They canceled it on July 24, 2006. I`m really not surprised by the decision to cancel it. After last year`s attendance it is not shocking that they probably did not make much money on it.

Well, it all comes down to money. Afterall, Cedar Fair is a business and they won`t hold an event if it wasn`t making money. But I am slightly surprised they didn`t give it a second chance with reduced prices to see if the attendance situation would be rectified. As the article mentions, there is no chance that FearFest will be discontinued. FearFest has been a huge hit and makes the park a lot of money.

I do believe I have seen the trams running this year a couple of times, on more busy days. Also, the ACE walkback A frame sign is now located immediately inside the normal gates, over between Guest Relations and the souvenir shop. (At least it was there when I visited two weeks ago).

Sure enough! Nice find! I imagine they made that change shortly after or at the time that Bonfante Gardens and Star Trek the Experience showed up on the Cedar Fair homepage map. I wouldn`t expect too many more changes to the website until after the regular season. In the off season, they will likely rebuild all five of the Paramount Parks websites.

I know it would technically be a third shot. But I was referring to the fact that it would be the second shot for the latest incarnation of WinterFest that originated under Paramount/CBS, and not the original one instituted under Taft.

Yeah, I definantely agree that it deserves another shot. Whether Cedar Fair will ever give it a second shot is the question.

Well, those may be factors, but I heard that the reason it is likely going to be cancelled is lack of money from the event. Which primarily was a result of them overpricing admission into it last year. A thing that they were rectifying with the admission tickets for only $9.99.

I heard that they have indeed cancelled it this year as well due to a lack of making money. I guess we will find out soon enough. It`s ashame they aren`t giving it another go, with lower pricing. I think that one of the biggest mistakes they made was not including it with the season pass. People were reluctant to pay close to $20 a person and then spend more money on food. If they included it with the season pass like they now do with FearFest, they might have had more in park spending and made more money.

Well, one problem with the above article, is that Dennis Spiegel, to my knowledge anyway is not affilitated with this so called Amusement Industry Consultant. He does however own and run International Theme Park Services in Cincinnati, which is a consultant firm. He is often quoted in articles in reference to amusement parks throughout the country, not just at Kings Island.

Well, the fact that Togo was no longer in existance and replacement parts were harder to get for it is not true. Premier Rides, with whom Paramount Parks has worked with extensively over the years, is responsible for Togo`s North American parts division. The problem with King Cobra was that the park was constantly having to get replacement parts and the ride was becoming less and less reliable. It got to a point where the park decided that it was better to remove it than deal with all the problems. Much like an old car. At a certain point you will get tired of always fixing it and it still breaking down. You will then go out an buy a new car. And for PKI that new "car" was Delirium.

Well, the images are a little outdates, but there are some construction pictures on their website here.

Well, back in 2001 after they removed the OTSRs, they were actually running FoF at Kings Island without the midcourse brakes. Personally, I like the ride better when the brakes are on, as it makes the ride a little longer (and the turn out of the brakes is a lot more fun when you are leaning on the side of the car). Not to mention that you still enter the slow down brakes with a great deal of speed.

Well, it will most likely be busy simply because it is the last weekend of the "summer" season. The season pass issue is one that will become more evident in the coming months. Paramount has traditionally offered the following season`s season passes beginning towards the middle of August. Cedar Fair has not offered passes until the offseason.

The thing I find interesting with the Cedar Fair site is that while the map on the main page has been updated, they still have yet to update the Cedar Fair Properties page. That page is still pre-Paramount Parks. Which might be because the fact that they haven`t developed new logos without the Paramount moniker, assuming that they will be dropping them next season.

I believe that the park won the lawsuit, but has yet to receive any money from the lawsuit. I`m sure that they hope to receive the money soon, especially if they need to make repairs after the investigation is concluded.