CoastersRZ

Well, I distinctly remember looking at the 2005 operating calendar a couple weeks ago and seeing the first weekend in November listed on the schedule. Also, in October they were only open on Saturdays and Sundays. If you check the operating calendar on PKI`s website, they are not currently slated to be open in Novemeber (although they always seem to claim that the park is open for an extra weekend in August when they officially say they will be open the first weekend in November). Also, as mentioned earlier, FearFest will indeed make its triumphant return to Friday nights. The park is open from 6pm to midnight on Fridays in October.

There are already discussions about this in other threads. But I think that it might be a go for Decemeber 2005 Winterfest, the first Winterfest in 13 years.

So is Graeter`s moving into the park this season? I could are less about Cinnabon and Starbucks in PKI.

Isn`t Paramount Parks Design and Entertainment still involved with the development of new rides at the Paramount Parks, but no longer involved with the park shows?

Yes, I have heard numerous reports that Winterfest is returning in 2005. Hopefully it will be fun, and a huge success for the park that they will continue for years to come like they have done with Fear Fest. I for one would be excited if they returned FearFest on Friday nights this season. It seems like they could capitalize on being open those extra evenings. Also, I think FearFest will remain free with park admission and to season pass holders like it has been the past two seasons, simply because they have had a good turn out the past two years. (For shorter lines though, paying $18 was some what nice.) But I like unlimited use of FearFest with my season pass better. Now if Winterfest is returning, will the park still be open in the first weekend of November?

While most of your post is old news PKIWorker 19, you did offer some new news. I was not aware that PKI would be selling Graeter`s Ice Cream this season. In the past they have sold UDF Ice Cream on International Street. Graeter`s will be another Cincinnati brand that has had national attention that will enter the park. (I believe Oprah? has mentioned that one of her favorite ice creams is Graeters). Also, I had not heard about Chick-Fil-A opening at PKI. I wouldn`t be surprised if a Starbuck`s opened since PKD is getting one this season as well. Also, PKD is getting a Cinnabon, so PKI might be gettting one of those too.

Well Paramount Parks Design and Entertainment used to do the shows. But they quite doing live shows a couple seasons ago, and I believe it was up to the parks to come up with their own shows. Someone who works in the Entertainment department at PKI might be able to shed more light on this than me.

Well it certainly seems like all signs are pointing to the return of Winterfest in 2005. Now the question becomes what happens to FearFest? A shorter FearFest perhaps? I for one will be glad if they bring back Winterfest!

I just don`t see PKI spending the money to build a mountain in the park. Plus, it just wouldn`t fit in with the atmosphere of the park IMO. They do have a rather large rock wall with a waterfall on it in The Paramount Story next to the Eiffel Tower.

Invertigo at Paramount`s Great America is blue and yellow and it too is a Vekoma Invertigo.

It will reach a point when parks simply can`t afford to go higher and faster. They could go higher, but it would cost more money than the ride would bring in and thus not be economically feasible to the park.

If they do implement a smoking ban in the park, it will most likely be similar to what they did in Boomerang Bay (also similar to what Holiday World did last season). Over in Boomerang Bay, they have a patio, off the main path by about ten feet where smokers can go smoke. At Holiday World they built decks off of the main midways for smokers to go and smoke if they feel the need to. That way they can still smoke, and are not bothering people in lines or in restaurants. If the park does go smoke free I am sure they will implement similar areas in the park.

Yes, the mountains were original to those parks and are related to when Taft built the parks in 1975 and the 1980s. That is the same reason why both PKI and PKD have an Eiffel Tower.

They will be the same colors that they were last season, although since it is a fresh coat of paint, they will appear brighter because the paint that was on them had faded due to exposre to the sun.

As the joker8688 said, expanding beyong the current boundaries would result in also adding the infrastructure to support new midways. That and with the exception of some of the land by Flight of Fear, and back by Tomb Raider and WWC, most of PKI`s remaining land is very hilly/ravines and creek beds. Those locations can not easily make paths that are ADA accessibl and are not cheap to level out.

Its not as big of a transformation as what the websites underwent about this time last year. Now if only they can get that webcam back up and running...

I believe that Carowinds introduced the Platinum Pass last season, essentially a renamed gold season pass. I think Kings Dominion had a gold Season Pass last year. PKI introduced their Gold Season passes back in the 2001 season. Yes, the site does look nice. My only problem with the site and all Paramount sites is the link to two free tickets in the lower left hand corner that pops up when you click on it. Since I have a Mac and use Safari, the whole area where that box appears is blank and never loads, even if I don`t click on it.

Very interesting information! It certainly sounds like Winterfest may make its triumphant return in 2005! I personally hope they do bring it back. I think that the success The Beach has had with Holiday Fest over the past couple of seasons could be part of the reason they may bring it back. To try and capitalize on money in the month of Decemeber that would not normally be earmarked for KI but other holiday attractions like Festival of Lights and Holiday Fest. I also hope that they keep FearFest in some manner in October. Only time will tell if they are indeed bringing Winterfest back for sure in 2005.

I don`t know if the park expects to see double digit growth because of IJST opening, but I do think they expect to see some sort of increase in attendance.

Well, they are pretty much like PKI`s. Blacktop with lines painted on it for the cars to park in. Of the Paramount Parks I`ve been to, Carowinds and Kings Dominion, they were all pretty much the same. Carowinds was a little different because the entrance road actually winds you to one side of the lot. And Carowinds has a north entrance into the park and a south entrance to the park.

I realistically don`t see any seasonal theme or amusement park building a parking garage any time soon. Why? Cost. Parking garages cost a lot more per space than simply leveling the land and paving asphalt. The parks would most likely raise their parking fees to cover the cost of the structure, which would result in even more enormous parking fees. While it would solve space problems at certain parks, traffic circulation through garages at peak times can be a little hectic, not to mention that parking structures are ugly unless they spend to make them more aesthetically pleasing. Unless a park is desperate and really wants to shell out the big buck to create more land for attractions, I think the seasonal parks will stick with traditional parking lots.

Well if you want to ride rides and not do any haunts, then the lines are not too terribly bad, unless you go on an exceptionally busy day. Most people are in lines for the various haunts, especially the ones that open at 8!

The link to that article was posted in another thread when that article came out last Friday.

Yes, while it was originally designed to run three trains (in fact the park owns all three trains) there is no benefit in capacity to having three trains on. Also, if they don`t clear the station on time then a triain will be stuck all the way out at the mid course break run, quite a far distance from the station.

Yes. I`m not sure how old the motors were when it was at Kings Island, but the ride dates to 1935 at Coney Island. I would assume that the motors that were on it at KI were most likely installed in 1972 when it was moved to KI. Obviosly, there have been a lot of technological advances between now and back in 1972. Although the motors could have and probably were replaced sometime since 1972.