CoastersRZ

No, there are quite a few people that are leaving the park during this offseason. Best of luck to them in their future endeavers. And best of luck to those attempting to fill the shows of their predecessors! (They`re going to need it as there are some pretty big shoes to fill!)

I wasn`t insinuating they should open more rides. (I even think that they should have decorated Scooby Doo to give it a Christmas theme.) The point is to not visit the normal Kings Island, but to visit WinterFest, a winter wonderland. I understand that most rides shouldn`t be open. However, a family friendly ride like the Dodgems could be opened up. They did, afterall have it open for the final WinterFest in 1992. Just be glad that they brought it back, and have a couple of rides open. For the park`s sake, I hope they deem this year`s WinterFest a success and decide to continue it in the years to come.

But WinterFest is not about the thrill rides. It is about family attractions and the magic of the holidays. Boomerang Bay, no matter how much they decorated it, would not evoke the same magic as what the current park can evoke. Perhaps it is the lack of mature trees over by the wavepool, and the large expanse of concrete.

But what about the ice skating on International Stree? And the Eiffel Tower? And the classic Carousel? And Holiday Illuminations? Not going to happen. Incidentally, the Pedal boats that they use in their Lazy Miami River come from Coney Island. Coney removed their boats from Lake Como for the winter (and in case of a flood from the mighty Ohio). They then send some of the boats up to the Beach for their use during Holiday Fest.

While it may be fun, I doubt it. They would have to open up a lot of the park to get guests back there. And it just seems like it would be too far of a walk to get guests out there. Not to mention all the necessary preparations they would have to make to the slide. I would rather see them open up an indoor ride that they have, such as TR:TR or even the Dodgems. Something other than the Carousels and Scooby (besides the White Christmas Express). Maybe next year.

But is it really any surprise that they outsourced the ice rink? No. They outsourced Emporium to local crafters to sell their goods instead of the normal merchandise. And don`t forget the fact that PKI has used outside vendors to sell food in the foodstands for years. How is this any different? Granted, they could have bought their own ice making equipment. However, they might not have wanted to be concerned with making ice at above freezing temperature and instead focus on the rest of WinterFest. You bring up a good point about the Great Wolf Lodge. Next year, they will be able to promote the lodge and WinterFest together. Also, don`t forget the rumor a while back that claimed Great Wolf wanted Kings Island to have an annual holiday event to bring in business to the resort during the off season. While that could be all rumor, it does make for a valid marketing point.

Vortex, yes I have been on launch coasters at other parks. I have ridden Volcano: The Blast Coaster at PKD (as well as their FoF), Hulk at IoA, Rock `N` Roller Coaster at Disney MGM, the former Superman at former SFWoA (now Geauga Lake), and Wicked Twister and Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point.

Ok. News to me. I had never heard of Fllight of Fear having LSMs. (You learn something new everyday!)

Vortex, technically Flight of Fear did not get new trains. The old trains were just modified to have the old restraints removed and the new lap and ankle bars installed. And I don`t consider IJST to be lame. Yes, it is not tall or long or very fast. But its launch out of the station is still quite intense for the size that it is, and that helix is also a fun little element that isn`t found on most coasters. While it isn`t high on thrills, and may not be your cup of tea, I don`t consider it a "lame" coaster.

Right on! You put it very well Klockster! But, Jeff Siebert also added fuel to the fire when he said that it was similar to the Zamperla coaster that had been mentioned on CoasterBuzz. Only time will tell what exactly PKI has in store for 2006 and beyond. And until that time, we should enjoy the time because time is a very precious thing that always seems to fly by! It seems like just yesterday that IJST was opening in May!

But, Flight of Fear uses LIMs and LIMs only. And FoF has no kicker wheels like on IJST so its LIM`s accelerate the train from rest. Most of the Intamin inverted shuttle coasters like Wicked Twister use LSMs, while the Premier launched coasters use LIMs.

PKI will spill the beans in January after all. Which is only a little more than a month away!

Actually, I heard that Paramount Parks just has a license to use the HB chracters and that the license expires at the end of the 2009 season. That would be the real reason behind the change over to Nick, besides the obvious fact that kids know Nick shows more than they know HB shows these days.

It sounds to me like that park simply ran out of time when they were preparing for WinterFest. I would assume that next year, the park will close after the final weekend in October and begin preparations immediately. I think the first weekend they were opened in November cost them valuable time. I believe the lack of lights on the trees on International Street are also a result of lack of time. Interesting that they still plan on retheming it.

When was PPD&E disbanded? I knew they were disbanded, but I seem to remember them having a role in Tomb Raider: The Ride as well as The Wild Thornberrys River Adventure. PKI must be doing something right as far as entertainments goes, because in general, I felt the live entertainment at WinterFest (and the past year at the park as well) has been very good. I am glad to see that PKI has been putting on more and more parades as they seem to be crowd pleasers with young and old alike.

Yes, I was surprised not to see lights on the trees on International Street. In the renderings of International Street, they show the trees lit with lights. So either they ran out of time to decorate them, becuase they were open that first weekend in November. Or they cut that from the list of things to do for whatever reason. Budget perhaps? Yes, there are no horse drawn carriage rides at WinterFest. At least not this season. On the topic of prices. From what I have heard, they had quite a lot of people buying advanced tickets in the summer, and a lot of companies buying tickets for their employees. I would not be surprised if they do have a couple sell outs this season. I also would not be surprised if they offer some steep discounts after Christmas. Especially since Santa will not be gracing Santa`s Christmas Town after Christmas as he will be back at the North Pole.

Well when is a wooden coaster at PKI not in the middle of a retracking program? It seems like every year a section of each wooden coaster at PKI (with the exception of The Beastie).

I cannot verify this. However, I did a quick search over on the Business Courier website, and found no results matching the article you describe within the last year. It could be happening, but I have no way to confirm or deny what you have heard. I do remember hearing a while back (at least I thought I remember hearing something about it) that Kings Island had settled the lawsuit, but did not hear any details of the settlement. 60% of the entire ride? Well, they claimed they shut it down early so they could start the retracking program early because they would have less time to work on the ride due to WinterFest. So, I`m thinking that this is likely not true, but I have heard stranger things that turn out to be true.

The chief reason that they are charging pass holders, is so that the park is not overwhelmed with guests. PKI has a large amoount of season pass holders. PKI did not want the event to be swamped with people, so they decided to charge for the event to thin out some of the season pass holders that would not be willing to pay to attend the event, thus reducing the crowds at the park with the limited number of attractions that would be open. As a side benefit, the park would make a little extra cash.

Jack Rouse Associates, the Cincinnati firm that deals with master planning, museums, entertainment as well as attraction design and development partnered with Paramount`s Kings Island to bring to life many of the attractions at WinterFest. From the company responsible for Bubba Gump Shrimp Shack and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum comes several of the star WinterFest attractions. Jack Rouse provided Kings Island with masterplanning for this event. They also designed and produced the theme and scenic elements for the White Christmas Express. They also designed and produced the Holiday Illuminations show on Swan Lake, as well as Santa`s Christmas Town and the WinterFesthaus. Additionally, they provided theming and scenic elements for Scrooge`s House on International Street. You can read the full news release on the Jack Rouse Associates website here.

I don`t necessarily think that they should abandon FearFest, as I find the haunts to be quite fun. I think that their decision to open the park the first weekend in November might not have been the best decision as it allowed them less time to transform the park from spooky chills to a winter wonderland.

But the amount of free tickets they offered probably brought an increase in food and merchandise sales. Although, I think they had some complaints about the disorder the park was in that weekend with FearFest stuff half taken down and the WinterFest preparations well under way. It definantely wasn`t the park`s best showing, but they had done a lot of work, and still had a lot to do to get the park ready for WinterFest.

CoasterKrazy, when I originally posted that link, it was directed toward the Feshaus image. When ZosoBeast and I added more images from opening night, that link was then changed to a different image. I have fixed the link, and it now links to the image of the round stage in the Festhaus.

No, the Trabant at Coney is not the same one that was formerly the Wheel of Fortune at Kings Island. The Wheel of Fortune at Kings Island was in fact the relocated Cloud Nine from Coney Island. After Kings Island removed Wheel of Fortune, they sold it to Fantasy Farm. When Fantasy Farm closed in 1992, its rides were auctioned off. Coney Island purchased the Tilt-A-Whirl from Fantasy Farm and the now defunct Sky Fighters. I`m not sure where the Kings Island Trabant was sent to.

Ok. On PC`s website, they were not stating that the "magic returns", so I thought that WinterFest was debuting there this season. I had known that they used to deck out their observation tower in much the same manner as what PKI did with their Eiffel Tower.