CoastersRZ

Unless you contend that the remains of King Cobra have been cannabolized for parts to prolonge the life of the other two Togo stand ups...

Well even if Cedar Fair didn`t buy Paramount Parks, did you honestly expect PKI to get back into the coaster`s armrace? Afterall, look at Holiday World. They have become reputable for rides that aren`t the biggest or tallest but just plain fun. PKI could benefit from some new mega steel coaster that is just plain fun, like any one of the B&M coasters that have been installed at the Cedar Fair parks recently.

And technically it is just Kings Island, not King`s Island with an apostrophe. That is because of its reference to Kings Mills, the location the park was built at. Although now it is a part of the city of Mason.

Why? Why would they move Demon Drop to PKI? Makes no sense to me. I honestly don`t think any rides will be moved from Cedar Point to PKI. All five Paramount Parks will get the attractions that were planned prior to the purchase of the parks from Cedar Fair, as was mentioned in the press release.

I`ve had people take their shoes off before getting on the Ferris Wheel at Coney. They seem to think that they will fall off? At Coney, the problem ride is the Scream Machine, when you get people purposefully kicking their shoes off. Sometimes they kick them out of the ride area. That`s just asking for trouble.

They will probably just remove the actual "Paramount`s Kings Island" sign and replace it with the new logo and sign. The old sign, before it blew down, was the original one and was transformed after Paramount renamed the park in 1993 with its moniker in front of the name.

Well, I`d venture to say that the Paramount name will be dropped from all five parks next season. Beyond that is anybodys guess. Cedar Fair probably has not made a decision on that matter, and might not until sometime in the post season (if even by then).

Actually shoes and shirt are require on all rides in any amusement park in Ohio, per the Ohio Revised Code. In fact, just yesterday my brother informed me that one of the managers was enforcing this rule at Coney. If they had a swimsuit top on they had to put a shirt on over it. However, in years past Coney has been somewhat lax on that rule. Needless to say, they ended up allowing riders yesterday who had on just a swimsuit top. However, if you have no shoes, then you will not be permitted to ride.

Well, Cedar Fair has still added some major rides in their parks. Every park except Michigan`s Adventure has a B&M now, with Worlds of Fun getting one this year. Hopefully, that means that PKI will finally get that B&M creation! But, PKI will be one of their four parks that have attendance of more than 3 million. So I doubt that KI will be completely neglected.

Oddly enough, the same type of atmosphere still occurs down at Coney the day of the Buffet concert. It isn`t uncommon for workers to dawn some plastic leighs to get into the tropical mood.

At Coney we have a similar policy, but it pertains to rides. Under no circumstances, are we to ride any of the rides while in uniform. There are obviously some exceptions to that rule though. Sometimes at Bumper Boats or Pedal boats, you have to get out in a boat to offer some assistance. Additionally, on Slide after it has rained, the quickest way to dry it off is to slide down it. Also, on busy days, the only way to get down when you go on break is to slide down. The people coming up the stairs make it impossible to walk down the stairs. And I have been told by maintenance several times in the past years to ride the coaster before we opened in the morning.

Well, most of the big name acts go to Riverbend, because that facility, is much nicer than Timberwolf is. Although parking can be at a premium. They will fill up both the normal Coney lot, the picnic lot, and park cars on the grass between Lake Como and Kelogg Avenue, where the Flower show is held each April.

Well, I rode The Beast yesterday around 1. I smelled smoke, but I thought it was just from someone smoking in line. (That and the fact that the operator came on declaring that smoking was not permitted in any ride line at Kings Island). The reason The Beast was closed was probably not because of that though.

I haven`t heard of any. I did hear an interesting bit of trivia today about Timberwolf. Back in 1985, Jimmey Buffett had a concert up at Kings Island`s Timberwolf. Band member Timothy B. Schmidt looked out and said, "You guys are all a bunch of parrot-heads." The rest, as they say is history. Jimmy Buffett will play at Riverbend Music Center this Thursday for all those parrot heads. As is usual, the annual concert sold out within minutes of the tickets going on sale.

About the ride wait times. The only parks that have come close to perfecting that concept, IMO are the Disney parks. They send cards with guests through the line that are scanned when they are given to the guests, and then again when they board the ride to determine the exact wait time. The problem is, the ride may experience a delay, such loading a handicapped person, which may cause the wait to increase. Secondly, at a park like Kings Island, various displays showing the wait time, while they could be beneficial during some days and situation, are almost assuredly more expensive than the justification to put such a system in.

Well, I know when I visited PKD in 2000, you could feel the heat from the flame off the top of Volcano from down on the midways around the ride. Very interesting to hear about this false alarm. At least the park took the proper precautions and called in the fire department to investigate.

TRTRGuy, the link to the photo you provided, in case anyone was wondering, was taken sometime between 1990 (the year Flight Commander opened) and 1994 (the year the Action FX Theater opened).

Well, are you planning on doing Boomerang Bay? Also, are you planning on visiting during a weekend? If you are visiting during a weekend, and doing Boomerang Bay, you might need two full days so you don`t feel rushed. Lines are usually longest on the weekends. If you are skipping the water park, then you should be fine with one full day and 5pm to close the day before. Same also applies if you are doing the water park, but visiting on a weekday. As far as hotels go, there are a lot one exit south on I-71 at the Fields Ertel Rd exit. However, as there is nearly every restaurant imaginable off that exit, traffic can be a little tedious. There are a couple of hotels one exit north of the park, on Kings Mills Rd. (There used to be a Holiday Inn, but it was recently reflagged, I think to a Best Western perhaps?). Kings Mills road hasn`t seen the rapid expansion that the Fields Ertel Rd area has seen so there would be less traffic congestion there (although that will soon change with the planned building of a Super Target next to The Beach Waterpark).

Well, wasn`t he supposed to retire at the end of 2007 anyway? Not really news there. But if he postpones his retirement, than that is news. I think overall that would be a good thing. He seems to be a very hands on CEO that takes pride in having well run parks.

While that seems great on the surface, it has some problems. For starters, Cedar Fair is very hands on management. They like to increase the per capita spending at all their parks. I`m sure that they would want to have some control over the parks, which is evident by the fact that WinterFest at KI may not even occur this year. Secondly, I would imagine that Cedar Fair would have to pay CBS/Viacom for use of the Nick and Paramount libraries, ie licensing fees. Why would CBS/Viacom pay Cedar Fair to use their property? It is similar to how Fox Sports Net pays the Reds an affiliation fee to air the Reds games on cable. Cedar Fair must pay Viacom a license fee to use their intellectual property. I just don`t see Cedar Fair keeping the Paramount themes around, or keeping Paramount Parks around as a subsidiary company of Cedar Fair (kind of like how Paramount Parks was a subsidiary of CBS and Viacom). Additionally, I think that Paramount Parks CEO Al Webber may be out of a job (as well as most of the other GM and Executive Vice Presidents at the parks (Tim Fischer at PKI)) once the transaction is complete. I did find it odd that in one article, David Mandt, the official Paramount Parks corporate spokesperson, referred all questions related to PP`s history of theming rides to a Cedar Fair spokesperson. Interesting...

I`m assuming that once the sale is finalized in the third quarter, that Paramount Parks won`t be noticable to people outside of the accounting offices at Cedar Fair. Of course, it will take them a while to phase out Paramount Parks. But I would imagine that next season all the former Paramount Parks will have the mountain logo removed and will be called by their original names. Ie, PKI will be known officially as Kings Island again. PKD will be simply Kings Dominion again.

Yeah, but if you click on the calendar from the page I linked to, it at least shows the days the perks are available. But I agree, the website is rather confusing when deciphering when the perks are offered!

Another excellent update! Looks like School of Rock will be having a very successful second season!

Actually, Thrill Seeker Thursdays has ERT in the Action Zone from 9:30-10. From next Thursday, all the way through August 10th. Gold Pass Perks

I find that hard to believe. I never really heard that discussed on the day they announced the acquisition. Yeah, that one slide makes it look that way. But Cedar Fair will be controlling Paramount Parks, and the two will be one company. Part of the advantage that Cedar Fair saw in the purchase of Paramount Parks was the ability to save some money on the corporate level, as well as having more leveraged buying power in terms of merchandise, food and maintenance. Sure seems like they will be operated as one company to me. Especially since the unit holders of Cedar Fair will be the ones to reap the benefits of the deal once things stabilize.