CoastersRZ

No way should The Beast get the RMC treatment. The ride is fine the way it is. Remember, that back when you exited by Slaughterhouse there was actually a fourth queue house. (The station, middle one and the lower one are all that remain today). It used to reside where the fence and ride photo is today. Also back around 2009 or so they removed the center divider queue rail on the ramp. You used to have to decide front or back of the train at the bottom of the ramp up into the station.

Which I have always found funny. How do analysts come up with these numbers sometime? Then when the company doesn`t meet the analysts projections (they do not work for the company after all) the stock price suffers.

Yes, the company missed what analysts had predicted for growth. They still notched 2% growth. The articles I have read said that the profit margins at the five park`s where the acquired the leases wasn`t as high as they had hoped, which cut into their profit margins. It will be interesting to see how Cedar Fair does when they release their Q3 numbers.

https://kicentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/KIC-Podcast-Firehawk-Removal-Episode-3.mp3 If you wish to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, you can do so at this link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/kings-island-central-podcast/id1342475078 Show Notes: Join host Robbie Zerhusen (CoastersRZ) and Brad Perdue (IndyGuy4KI) as they are joined by KICentral forum member Sonofbaconator. They discuss the recent announcement that Firehawk would be leaving KI at the end of October, 2018. They talk a little bit about the ride`s history, its location in X-Base, the ride experience and why it is being remove. They discuss what they would like to see replace Firehawk in the future (who doesn`t love a giga coaster)? They end by talking about Kings Island`s 2019 addition, the Kings Mills Antique Autos.

The next several episodes we will have guests on the podcast. I would like to know what other people think as their dream guest for the podcast.

https://www.foxnews.com/travel/couple-visits-disney-world-disneyland-on-same-day-it-was-incredible That is 6 parks in one day, on both coasts! Very impressive. Though I wonder if they actually had time to ride any rides.

There is a reason they call it theoretical hourly capacity. It all depends how many times they have to upbar certain rows for riders with unusual body positions that can`t get the belt to buckle, loading people through the accesibility entrance, etc. all play factors in not hitting the marks.

I know that it has been a while since Episode 2 came out. Okay, over six months. But I have been busy. Working sixty hours a week on average between my day job and my side hustle as a rides manager at Coney, since Coney opened back in May for the season. But this upcoming weekend is Coney`s last of the year, so I will have more time to devote to this. Hopefully people still want to listen to the podcast and future episodes. We will be releasing another episode soon! With another one following that in the not to far off future after episode 3. I also have content ideas for two additional episodes. If you would like to be a featured guest speaker on an upcoming podcast, let us know. Also let us know what subject area you would want to discuss. After all, part of what makes KICentral a great fan site, is the community of people that love going to and enjoying Kings Island.

I would say without a doubt that Phantom Theater is the ride I miss the most. It was a great ride, and had a unique theme, and was similar in concept to the Haunted Mansion. It even had the Pepper`s Ghost effect that is used at the Haunted Mansion at the Disney parks.

I too voted for Copperhead Strike. Looks like a well rounded fun coaster. Granted, I also love going to Carowinds. I haven`t been there since Fury 325 was put in though. I am hoping to change that for next year. Yukon Striker looks like a fun coaster to. Canada`s Wonderland is also a very nice park. If you are in the area, I highly recommend you visit there.

Cross threading a bit here. Carowinds announced today that the Flying Scooter ride that once resided at Coney Island, Cincinnati, and then at Kings Island, will be returning next year at Carowinds as Mountain Gliders. https://www.carowinds.com/blog/2018/blue-ridge-junction

Cool to see the full plans as well.

Pretty cool to see the layout. I like that TRA logo too. http://tra-design.net/team/robbie-zerhusen/

The park has said that the ride will be 1/4 mile in length. A quarter mile is 1,320 ft.

I wonder if the Fair Board continues to balk at granting the action of Kentucky Kingdom would truly cancel the coaster, or have the Gravity Group attempt to redesign the turn around, shifting it closer to the lazy river. I know that the Gravity Group would likely have to charge more engineering fees to do that, but that would be better than not having any coaster. Kind of surprised they haven`t been able to do a soil bearing test yet. That is fairly important to the design of the ride foundations.

The "sway" is a structural term known as deflection. Yes, wood can deflect more than steel can. But all structures, even buildings made of concrete will deflect some. Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower on a windy day and you will be able to feel it moving due to the lateral load applied by the wind.

Holiday World does do a Halloween event. It is called Happy Halloween Weekends. Find out more information on their website here: https://www.holidayworld.com/ They do not do a winter event. At least not yet.

Hersheypark is a park I would love to get back to sometime soon. I went there shortly before I started dating my wife, and she has never been there. It is definitely a fun place to visit (as is Dorney).

I rode The Voyage back on Labor Day weekend this year, and it was incredibly rough. Maybe it was because it was so hot when I visited, but it was a one and done for me. It is a fun park to visit, but they haven`t really added anything of late that will cause me to want to visit. Granted, I will take my son when is older and tall enough to ride their rides. Thunderbird is still an amazing coaster.

I am sure the park will be holding onto the pavers that were removed. Both for when they are wrapping up the project in the spring to fill in any that were damaged, and to have stock to replace any that are damaged in future years down the road.

They could still be trying to select a contractor, etc. If it is like the old Antique cars, all they will have is a load station which is nothing more than a covered porch. The old ones also had a bridge. Beyond that, the actual track is nothing more than a concrete slab on grade. Not much to any of the above buildings. Keep in mind that we are about six months out from opening day in 2019. Still lots of time to get stuff done. Now if they wait until the spring to start pouring stuff, we maybe talking about a May opening versus opening with the park. I doubt that they will do that though.

The ride is looking good so far. I hope I can get down there next year to ride the thing!

But clearly, if those parks needed a new addition to drive attendance, then Cedar Fair would have installed something. The way I understand it, is Michigan`s Adventure hasn`t added much, because they simply haven`t needed to. The park brings in a lot of people and from what I have heard, has one of the higher margins of the parks in the chain. Ie, they don`t need to sink a lot of money into the park for what they make there.

Looks like a well deserved paint job. A lot brighter than the old paint job. Here is a picture I took of the train at Worlds of Fun when I visited back in 2015.

They seem to be adding a lot of properties lately. Even if they are only lease/operating agreements. Kind of surprised we haven`t seen Cedar Fair do anything similar. It has been twelve years since the purchase of Paramount Parks from CBS (they are still paying down debt from that purchase).