CoastersRZ

Very interesting news. I did knew that Paramount Parks was in a long term lease for the land PGA sits on with the city of Santa Clara. I did not know how much Paramount Parks was paying each year for the use of the land. Glad to see that the city is not going to be holding up the deal, which should close by the end of the day today, if everything goes according to plans.

The ride warning signs that are posted at PKI are required by the state of Ohio. In fact, any permanent amusement park must display the rules and guidelines of the ride at the entrance. Additionally, the Department of Agriculture plaque must be placed in a spot readily visible to the general public. Very sad news indeed. It seems Disney World is having some terrible luck as of late.

Yeah, I`d like to know where people are seeing/hearing that the park will close any later than ten. It is no secret that the schedule has stated 10pm closes on the entire Fourth of July weekend since the schedule came out.

But, sprinkled in there were two flat rides, and Wicked Twister. I don`t think we will be seeing too much new paint and concrete. Because other than Coney Mall and Octoberfest, most of the other areas have been updated recently with those ammenities. Yes, I certainly don`t think a B&M is in the future of KI for the next two seasons. However, hopefully KI will get a B&M coaster eventually. I think that a B&M coaster would be an excellent fit for a park like KI and would please park guests. And even the smaller parks like Dorney, and Worlds of Fun have a B&M coaster. While Michigan`s Adventure doesn`t quite yet, the size of that park is not to the size of what PKI is.

Uh, what PKI calendar states the park will be open until midnight during the Nights of Fire event? The online version anyway is still stating 10pm close on the entire 4th weekend. Personally, I think they would be wise to keep some of the attractions open until after 10. The parking lot will be a mess immediately after the fireworks! Heck, when BeastBuzz occured a couple weeks back, while riding Drop Zone at about 10:40, there were still lines of cars waiting to get out of the parking lot. And that was with cops sitting at the exits directing traffic. And the Fourth weekend will be even more crowded than that day.

Well, Kings Island will be one of their four parks that has attendance of more than 3 million. I don`t think that KI will be neglected.

Well, technically once Cedar Fair closes the deal, the parks will switch ownership. That is when the deal becomes offiicial and the Paramount Parks become official members of the Cedar Fair family. However, changes won`t likely start to be really notices until after the end of the season. Ie, all the Paramount Parks will still be called Paramount Parks for the rest of this year with little or no significant changes to the day to day operations this season.

Well, you will find a spot. Its called the grass beyond the deep south parking lot, LOL.

The Federal Trade Commission has given Cedar Fair, L.P. antitrust clearance in its acquisition of Paramount Parks from CBS. Read more here This news combined with the news about the financing of the debt makes it sound like the closing of the deal is very imminent. One of the bigger obstacles was getting approval of the deal from the FTC. It will be interesting to see if the deal is closed by the end of the weel (month).

And just so you know, PKI`s entertainment department has had some IAAPA award winners over the years. The Nickelodeon Celebration Parade has won awards for "Best Parade Performance" I believe. Also, back when they had a magic show in the Paramount Theater (can`t remember which one it was exactly, I think Forbidden Magic), it won the award for "Best Production" in its price range.

Well if you don`t work at the park, chances are you did not know the exact reason for why the ride was down due to mechanical reasons. While they may have had a train on the transfer track and were taking some wheels off does not mean that a wheel fell off or prevented the train from moving. If you don`t know something with any certainty, do not act like you know it with certainty.

Why are you bringing the highlights of the conference call back up? They have been discussed in other threads extensively.

This is relatively old news. Considering it is two weeks old.

Well, it is no secret that Cedar Fair is not certain (or at least they weren`t during the initial teleconference) about the fate of WinterFest. They were not sure if it was going to occur THIS season. They said they would know if it was a go or no go by Labor Day weekend, after discussing it with current management at PPI and PKI. I have to think though that it will be a go, since they have been selling tickets for $9.99 since the start of the season. And I personally hope it continues under Cedar Fair stewardship!

I agree that the Paramount moniker will dissapear AFTER this season. However, I think it would be totally premature to think that the Paramount logo and name will dissapear from the parks midseason. Most of the operations of Paramount`s Kings Island, and that includes the formal name of the park, will remain as is through the end of the season in October.

I highly doubt that the name will change and the park will get a new logo next month. The parks will, for the most part operate without any changes the rest of the year. Any changes as to name and new logo will occur for next season. And I do believe that there will be a new logo without the Paramount moniker. As for the Coke deal. It all depends how the contract with Coke is set up. Since they signed the seven year deal this year (when the parks were on the market) there might be some sort of a clause in the contract. For example, there might be a clause in there that says Coke products must be served in those parks, regardless of any future or pending sales throughout the life of the contract. If thats the case, then Coke will be in the park until 2013. It will be interesting to see if the sale of PP to Cedar Fair makes the Coke deal null and void.

Actually, I`ve warned that guy before about spelling mistakes and grammar in his posts. Look like he still hasn`t learned the lesson from his temporary ban...

Um, Klockster used to be on The Vortex crew, so I`m sure he knows what he is talking about. Besides, why should someone trust a post like yours which is full of grammar and spelling errors?

Having operated the Eli Bridge Ferris Wheel for many years at Coney I can offer some insights on the way Coney runs their wheel (Which was manufactured in 1947). If a kid is under 48 inches, they must ride with a chaperone. At Coney, a chaperone is considered anyone sixteen years of age or older. I have refused to let kids on because the person they were going to ride with was only twelve. Also, I have kicked people off of the ride for rocking the cars after repeatedly telling them to not rock. (Its also plastered on the back of all the cars, so they have to see it when they ride it). They are technically breaking Ohio law by disobeying all verbal and posted instructions.

Its actually what they do on Italian Job. Although they do that to maximize capacity on that ride. Placing singles and groups of three together. It is very rare that you see a train with an empty seat on that ride.

Then, there is also the whole other issue of the many perks that Paramount has offered thier passholders over the years. The gold pass perks such as early ride times, an exclusive parking area, meal discounts often have enticed people to not only buy a pass, but to spend money in the parks. Will the gold pass and all its perks be a thing of the past after this season? It will be interesting to see what happens. Cedar Fair will have to make decisions soon. As PKI has typically started selling next year`s passes in August.

Precisely. They control the line at the top of the stairs. They do that on most of their more popular roller coasters, if my memory serves me correct. It is not too different from what PKI does currently on Delirium.

It works similar to what Cedar Point does it. Allowing a certain number of people on the loading platform at a time. That way, the platform isn`t packed with people filling in every open space like a can of sardines.

Well, that is part of the walk on weekends operations of The Beast. Essentially, they regulate how many people are on the loading platform. They do this so that the gold pass holders who have a walk on weekend ticket can get on. They only have people there controlling the station on Saturdays and Sundays when Walk on Weekends is occuring. When I was there today, (in the morning when there wasn`t much of a line) they were letting a bunch of people at a time up to the loading area, and didn`t assign seats. Although, if there were empty rows, they might have assigned people to fill in those rows. Back when The Beast first opened, they would have people about where they were today regulating the number of people on the loading platform (at least thats what my Dad says).

Great trip report, Italianchef. I also was at the park today for a couple of hours. Taking advantage of the Walk on Weekends tickets on IJST and Drop Zone. I didn`t need one for The Beast as it was walk on or a five minute wait even at 12 in the afternoon. I left the park because I got a splitting headache (coincidence?). It could have been from my five rides on The Beast, LOL. The one bad thing was that upon leaving there was a line to get out of the park, because they only had one poor guy stamping hands and letting people back in who had their hands stamped already.