CoastersRZ

And, as you can see in the above picture, the train has been lifted up on jacks. The trains are fired by liquid propane, which is denser than air. Because of that, having a traditional maintenance pit could be lethal for those working on the trains. So instead, they will jack the train up off its wheels to do the necessary maintenance.

I tend to agree that the Peanuts show in the KI theater is less than stellar. All in all I love the entertainment at Winterfest, I have yet to see the Peanuts show in the KI theater this season. The park already has another Peanuts show in Planet Snoopy. It would be amazing if there was something along the lines of Dollywood`s Smoky Mountain Christmas in the KI Theater. It just feels like the venue is under utilized with a Peanuts show with relatively simple sets. I love the amount of characters the park has roaming the midways and all the spontaneous photo ops/live entertainment options. It would be nice if some of that transferred over to the summer month. KI Clown band? We took my in laws with us last night, and my son LOVED the Four Drummers drumming show and loved seeing Santa in Tinker`s Toy Factory. Judging by the amount of people that came out last night, Winterfest is here to stay and will only get bigger and better. I have been three times so far, and keep wanting to go back. It is simply a magical experience and very well done. I would like to check out the events at the other Cedar Fair parks to see how they compare.

As has been stated in the past, there is no early ride times for Winterfest at Kings Island. International Street and some of the shops on I Street do open thirty minutes before park opening. 4:30 on Fridays and Saturdays and 3:30 on Sundays. The park opens at 4 on Saturdays and 5 on Fridays and Sunday

I wouldn`t necessarily call Invertigo an eyesore. It did, however, replace a picnic grove that was just outside the park gates that guests could use for packed lunches if they so desired.

I would love to know too. It could be as simple as they didn`t want to commit the funds to tear it down at the time. Although, building the "fort walls" around it surely was more expensive then demolition would have been.

Not to mention, since it is the new attraction for next year, it requires people to spend extra money to be able to use Fast Lane to get on the new attraction. Thus making more money for the park.

GCI? GG? I have heard nothing but good things about the Gravity Group junior coasters like Oscar`s Wacky Taxi, Roar A Saurs, and Wooden Warrior. And I thoroughly enjoy Mystic Timbers. KI is set on wooden coasters for a while anyway.

Wow. Looking at those "old" photos of Coney. Place has changed over the years that I have been working there.

I do not think that Cedar Fair will be using Intamin any time soon. They have not had much success with their more recent installs. Re: Intimidator 305, Shoot the Rapids (heck even Maverick had to be redesigned to remove the hearline roll).

I do not believe that Kings Island (or Cedar Fair) have commented on how much Mystic Timbers cost. I believe that is a corporate wide strategy to not reveal how much rides cost, as they now consider that information to be proprietary.

Thanks for sharing the graphic! It is great seeing them side by side like that.

Well, rest assured, if it is like your chapters on other park trains, it will be spectacular.

Yes. International Street looks amazing with all the lights that they have added. And as we saw with The Greatest Show this summer, the enhancements they have added for Winterfest have helped the experience in the regular season as well.

Maybe if they lit the actual tower with the uplights the actual strands of lights might not have shown up? It would be cool to use it in some way though.

I too wish the star was a little brighter. Either make the border thicker/wider or fill in the entire thing. Obviously, it would utilize LED bulbs and not incandescent C7s.

Well, in the warmer months, they are not worried about the train not clearing the hill so they are not needed. For Winterfest, when the temperatures are colder and they are concerned about a train not making it back, so they add the anti-roll backs. Just like Ryan stated, they do something similar with The Racer.

They never had a wooden fence set up for this construction area. They had the temporary chain link fences set up during Haunt (just like they do for Winterfest), and if it wasn`t an issue for Haunt, I doubt that it will be an issue during Winterfest.

As Winterfest is more about the experience of the lights and entertainment, I do not believe that there is any early ride time during Winterfest. Just as there are no Fastlane passes sold during Winterfest. (The Fast Lane line for Mystic Timbers is once again a Single Ride Line during Winterfest).

The debt load of Six Flags is one of the main reasons I have heard that this deal will not happen.

Others can chime in, but I believe that once a week they do more thorough inspections. I am not sure if they clime the entire length of the track, or not. I would imagine that they would do something more than just a walk from the ground. Obviously they will inspect the lift and the sensors on the lifts every day.

I really enjoy Thunderbird. The launch is fun, and it has a nice short layout. I almost would say that I prefer Thunderbird over Gatekeeper and Wild Eagle. Although the setting for Wild Eagle is pretty good too.

You have to admit, that few other coasters take up as much land as what The Beast sits on. Especially in most of the modern theme parks. 35 acres is a lot of land. Definitely makes it unique. This adds to its wonderful night rides. I like both Mystic Timbers and The Beast. They are both fun rides and worth waiting in line for. I try and ride The Beast every visits to KI that I can. In part because it was my first ride on it back in October of 1995 that sparked my (some may say extreme) interest in roller coasters and amusement parks. I am still visiting new parks today, and just love learning more about the industry.

It should be noted that in order to read that full article, one must pay to gain access. You must have a paid account to the San Antonio Business Journal to read the full article.

Good to hear that they have intentions of restoring it. For those that didn`t know, Tweetsie does a lot of work on the Crown locomotives these days. The tooling and machines that were used for the Crown engines had been located at Castle Ridge Productions after Crown shut down in 1989. Castle Ridge Productions donated the equipment to Tweetsie in 2004. That company was run by the Bert Williams, who is the son of Ken Williams. Ken Williams was the person who ran Crown Metal Products.

I am sure you will answer this in your next chapter, but do you know if are there any intentions to get that engine operating again?