CoastersRZ

Well, if there is a rollback on FoF, I don`t think the ride ops would be pushing the train back into the station. I would imagin maintenance would be called out. On IJST, there are also brakes right outside the station in case of a roll back. They also do not send the train in from the unload station until the train has cleared a sensor on the hill after the parking garage (in case of a rollback, the train might roll all the way back into the load station.

And never fear, I`m sure our friends at this site are cooking up an end of season video to celebrate PKI`s 2005 season!

Yes, all Jeff Siebert mentioned was that the new coaster would be "SIMILAR" to the post on Coasterbuzz mentioning the Zamperla Disk-O. If you``ve donne any research on that coaster, you will know that its height requirement of 48" (per the manufacturer) is a little steep to install at PKI in their children`s area. I`m assuming there will be some sort of modifications made to the design to lower the height restriction so that it is at least in line with Runaway Reptar (44"). Also, I hope for capacities sake, they make it a continuous circuit model, so that one train is loading while the other is on the course. But anyway, the new "coaster" will be pretty much gauranteed to have a higher capacity than SGC.

But did PKI buy it? They might have just rented/leased it for the year from an outside vendor. As Boodah1994 said, it is probably headed to a carnival, fair or park down south that will be open the winter months. (Some what off topic, but I heard on a commerical on the radio that Columbus, Ohio will have a Ferris Wheel running downtown, next to their ice skating rink. If only Coney would set up an ice skating rink and run their Ferris Wheel, LOL. Remember the ice skating rink in downtown Cincinnati will be at Sawyer Point this year because Fountain Square and the garage below it are being renovated.)

Well on the last day of the season, it looked like they were taking down the giant squirt game. Not sure if they were taking it down just for the offseason, or if it is gone for good. I still think that the old Flight Commander site (home of the Eurobungees this year would make an excellent location for a flat ride. That side of the midway is a little dead and needs something to attract people to it other than a glorified trampoline that costs $7 per person.

I was wondering that too. I believe it was there at the beginning of the season this year. i think it dissapeared around the beginning of August. It probably was falling apart, and the park did not feel like it was necessary to repair it.

Well, I`ll be going to Winterfest. I hope to skate on the fountain. I don`t recall if I have ever skated before. Yes, $14.99 for one meal is a bit pricey. As Klockster said, I will probably stop by a fast food joint on my way to or from Winterfest where I can get a meal for around $4 (although it might not be as good as the meal at Winterfest). I love the Christmas season. I spent the entire weekend putting up Christmas lights on my house. Who can beat this nice weather with temperatures in the 60`s in the middle of Novemeber. I have a feeling that December we will be paying for this nice weather now!

Didn`t they have a live nativity scene at the original Winterfest, in the Paramount Story/ Tower Gardens, by the waterfall? Yes, it is Winterfest. Not Christmasfest. As the days go by, I am looking forward to Winterfest more and more!

Yeah. There have actually been pedal boats that have sunk in Lake Como, from people jumping on them, or parking out by the fountain and letting water fill up the foot wells. I haven`t had to help pull the sunken boat out of the water, but it takes about six people to pull out a boat after it sinks. Hopefully, the park will be able to open back up next season. I`ve never been there before. Too bad Coney`s parent company (Park River Corporation) sold Americana.

Actually, back in 1991 there was a funnel cloud over the parking lot by WaterWorks. The National Weather Service had several reports from Warren County of spotted funnel clouds. There was no major damage, a temporary tent was blown over, and several chairs in the water park were blown over. I also seem to remember a couple of the parking row signs being blown off of their poles. No major damage, and the park had already shut down and cleared out the water park before the storm hit. The park reopened later that day after the storms had passed.

Well, I doubt they will have it around here. They seem to have it in warmer areas, like Atlanta and Orlando. IAAPA is not just about the trade show either. Many of the theme parks around the country are involved in the organization. For example, this coming year, Vic Nolting, (Coney Island`s general manager) as well as Will Koch from Holiday World will be on the board of IAAPA. I don`t think PKI or Paramount will release anything at IAAPA that has not already been made public. I would assume PKI will officially unviell all the details of Nick Univers in January, as they have stated before. They will then have renderings of what the new area will look like. Although, it will be interesting to see what Zamperla has set up in their booth, as many of the new rides rumored to be coming to PKI are apparantely coming from them.

While the Thunder Bumpers at Holiday World water may be nasty, it pales in comparison to Lake Como Water. On some hot humid days, you can smell the water. Unfortunately, people have fallen in Lake Como before (it is only three to four feet deep all the way across). Talk about gross. Is LeSourdsville Lake rumored to open up next year? Hopefully, they can get this park running again. It would be ashame to loose another classic park with a classic coaster!

Yes, a couple of classic flat rides could do PKI good. Although, a Tilt-A-Hurl, as we call it at Coney, doesn`t have the highest capacity. But if they were to install several of this type of ride, then it would actually increase the overall park capacity. I do not, however, see PKI adding any of these classic carnival type rides in the near future.

Would make sense that it was Congo since that was a Paramount film. (The movie that Congo Falls recieved its name from after being renamed from Amazon Falls in 1999).

Well, for starters, it would have to be a pretty wide tornado to wipe out the entire park. Secondly, I would imagine that they would rebuild. But it would take time. Why would they just abandon their flagship park and the highest attended seasonal theme park in the country? Yes, the park would be closed for a while while they rebuilt. I think they would probably rebuild the wood coasters as they were. Some of the older rides might be lost. But I would imagine they would rebuild it close to the way it was before hand. Look at the sign. It has a new look, but is still the same general size and shape as the previous sign before the winds took it down a couple years ago.

I don`t recall a Kong walk through in recent seasons. I remember the Titanic exhibit, and I think a Stare Trek exhibit, both housed in a big bubble to the right of the main entrance, to the left of volunteer and human resources offices.

Algae perhaps? Well, Lake Como at Coney is pretty gross. Keep in mind that it is full of essentially Ohio River water! Every time the Ohio floods, Lake Como is part of the Ohio. Not to mention Lake Como gets a lot of gas dumped into it when the Bumper Boats are refueled!

Don`t get your hopes up for new props and sountrack for the Christmas Caper. While there will most definantly be decorations of some sort, the only other change might be them adding in some Christmas music in the background of the soundtrack. Other than that, expect the same ride experience.

Yes, it is a small space. But a nice sized flat ride could fit in there. In addition to the other areas where flat rides once resided in Coney Mall. It is definantly too small for a coaster, with the exception of maybe a wildmouse (and even that would be a tight fit).

Yes, I wasn`t referring to a retheme. Instead I was referring to some decorations scattered about the actual ride itself. A couple strands of lights and garland here and there, maybe some santa hats and such on some of the cut outs. A little extra eye candy in addition to the normal SDatHC.

Well, lightning is nature. Man has tried numerous times to try and control nature, lightning rods being a key example. Even with the best preventative measures, lightning can still do strange and odd things! It is nature and electricity afterall, both of which can be unpredictable.

Yes, I believe that most of the construction in HBL will be out of site. However, Animation Station will be used to house Santa, so you will be able to get deep into HBL. I would imagine any construction will still be out of site for the most part from guests vantage points. As for Scooby Doo, I belive that there may be a little bit more than just decorations at the entrance and festively dressed ride operators. Only time will tell.

DaleFan, there is no magic llightning rod that will attract lightning away from the park. NOw there are several rides at PKI that do this. Lightning has a tendency to strike tall objects. (The shortest path from the sky to the ground). The Eiffel Tower and Drop Zone are among the first to close, as they are huge lightning rods and have been struck before. Also, Delirium has a lightning rod on top of it. The supports on Face Off have lightning cables connecting them to the ground in case the ride were struck by electricity. Rides like The Racer, Son of Beast and the platforms on the water slides in Boomerang Bay all have lightning rods as well. In the event of severe weather the park has a plan to evacuate people into safe areas. They as has been mentioned before shut down the rides well in advance of the weather arriving. They will also play announcements over the QTVs and sound system warning guests that severe weather is in the area and that the park reccommends people take shelter.

Why would you say it would be a Vekoma? Vekoma is no longer engineering new designs. Instead, they are focusing on selling their existing line of products and providing service and parts to their existing rides. If PKI were to get a hyper (they already have one in Son of Beast, and I honestly do not see them getting a steel hyper in the near or distant future) I`m sure it would be by either B&M or Intamin as they are the only manufacturers currently producing reliable and fun hyper coasters. (Although Intamin`s rocket coasters haven`t exactly been reliable.)

Yes, I remember hearing when I was at the park a couple years ago, that they shut down most rides if there is lighting within five miles of the park. At Coney, we have a less sophisticated way. If one of the rides employees sees lightning, we have to call it in to one of our managers. They then have to see a bolt of lightning before they order all the tall rides (and those on Lake Como) to close. Now occasionally, The president or VP of operations will order the rides closed, based on the radar images that they can see in the Admin building.