CoastersRZ

Yeah, I am looking forward to using the Xtreme Skyflyer passes I won from the site as a Christmas gift. Definantly support this site by cliking on the adds so that this site will remain around for years to come!

Didn`t Paramount`s Great America redo their entrance this past year making if feel like the entrance to the Paramount Studios in California? Coould PKI be doing a similar treatment?

I agree with your comments HauntGuy. However, The Beach seems to be doing a pretty good business attracting people to its Winter Celebration in Decemeber. I don`t think the park should scrap FearFest, or shorten it. I do think that if they forgo the extra weekend in November though, there will be no loss to FearFest. If done right, Winterfest can add even more guests and income for the park. The trick is making it so that people want to come to the park in the winter, and not just the diehard fans.

I wonder what exact changes they are doing to the parking lot and entrance area. New blacktop in the parking lot, in addition to the landscaping the park is adding?

But didn`t the park end up canceling all the extended play events last year because of problems, and remained open until midnight? I know I was at the park a Friday in July when it closed at midnight, and people left the park in droves after the fireworks went off at 11 and the park was still open for another hour!

Well, I honestly hope that there is some information about Winterfest in August (which is just the time when they start pushing sales for passes for the next year). Fear Fest did not occur the final weekend the park was open this year in November either. I hope that FearFest returns. It would be nice to get in at least a ride in the long winter months in Ohio!

Patience is a virtue. Assuming the tour started at 9 on time, it was probably about an hour, with half an hour to hour Q&A session, that puts the end at 11. Now, the site was muddy so there was probably some clean up involved before people could get into their cars to leave. Additionally, it would take a while to upload the pictures and format the html to support them. I`m sure the pictures will flood in in due time.

You bring up a very important point familyman. Since the park will probably enter into some sort of partnership with Great Wolf since it will be built on PKI`s land (the details if they will still own the land, sell it or lease are still being negotiated). PKI could enter into a partnership and earn revenue from the resort. They would then be earning revenue 12 months of the year instead of the 7 months in which the campground is open! More revenue could lead to bigger expansions and more roller coasters.

To my knowledge, the park has not commented on the future possibility of a new campground, behind the resort. While the current campground as it exists will no longer operate, they may plan a new campground (it was in the survey a while back about themes for a new campground.) The point of the resort is to provide people who are staying there, to have some entertainment after the park has closed at their hotel. A lot of people seem to be upset with the loss of the campground. Things change and people have to deal with change. I personally think that the new waterpark resort will be an added benefit to the park and the surrounding econonmy.

I imagine a lot of these issues are still being worked out between PKI and Great Wolf. Here is a longer article about the resort that appeared in today`s Local Section of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

As much as some are sad to see it go, I think that the new water park resort will help then park out more than the campground has. Plus, as with the Eagles and Tique`s things change for newer and better things. Out with the old in with the new. PKI and Great Wolfs are still negotiating terms of the deal, so who knows, they may end up building a new smaller campground behind the resort.

For your information, Winterfest used to have some rides open. The Carousel, Dodgems, Smurf ride, and the Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad were all open. The have finally placed the actual, correct 2005 calendar online (instead of just calling the 2004 calendar 2005!). It appears as if FearFest will be back and run the entire month of October, with the park now being open until 10 on Sundays, like in 2003, instead of 9, like last year. While they eliminated the weekend in November, they usually don`t list that this early anyway, so I`d guess thay Winterfest will not be occuring this year, unless shortening the season by one weekend allows for enough time to prepare for Winterfest. (They could always change the schedule later in the season.) One can always hope that Winterfest will return in 2005 right? One thing I found odd, is that Saturdays in July and August, the park is now open until midnight, and on Fridays in July and August (save for right before labor day), they are now open until 11! Do they have special event planned these days, or are they just anticipating longer crowds/more money from in park sales from being open later?

This article didn`t mention it, but I am assuming that Great Wolf is still the one building this lodge. Anyone know for sure? Also, how many rooms/square feet is the indoor water park of the Great Wolf in Sandusky? When I was at the Steak `N` Shake by it this summer, it didn`t seem as big as Castaway Bay (I stayed at the Radissen Inn that is now Castaway Bay.)

Secondly, I highly doubt it will be like Breaker`s at Cedar Point. I doubt it will have a seperate gate to enter the park from the Action Zone. More likely, the resort guests will be bussed over to the main gate by one of the parking lot trams or the former campground shuttle.

Yeah, I was wandering about that one myself.

I believe the theming and animatronic figures left the KI and Miami Valley Railroad sometime in the early 90`s, because they were falling apart.

Yep, just caught that myself. Here is a link to the articel as quoted above in the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Coney Flooded Here is an image from Channel Cincinnati. The ride in the center is one of the waterslides. The blue light tower in the middle of all the water is actually a light tower which resides in the middle of Sunlite pool. In the very top right of the picture, is the main parking entrance off of Kellogg, accross from Sutton road. Lake Como would be just beyond those trees on the top of the picture. The Pepsi Python would be to the left of the edge of the picture. Coney floods fairly easily. On Saturday, the main parking gat was under about a foot of water, and the flood waters had overcome Lake Como. In the flood of 1997, the waters reached about 9 feet onto the admin building, and Moonlite Gardens. There are signs around the park that denote the 1997 flood crest. The entire rides office was underwater. However, that was before they had the Python. Yes, they will have a big cleanup job in about a week once the waters recede. Just goes to show why PKI was built up north.

Hopefyully my first visit to HW, and possibly a return visit to SFKK, was last there back in 1996, and did not ride Chang or T2.

For thos planning on going on Friday, dress warm. There is supposed to be a major cold front coming through on Thursday, changing the heavy rain into snow Friday morning. The high on Wednesday will be aroun 68, with rain (there is another flood watch out as between tomorrow and Friday Cincinnati could pick up another couple inches of rain). Thursday, heavy rain and winds as the cold front moves through, and the high on Friday is expected to be 23. So it will definantly be a cold day, with a very sloppy construction site! Have fun, despite the weather! I wish I could go, but I will check this site later in the day or on Saturday to see the pictures from the warmth of my house!

Yes, it does appear that PKI is not as far on their ride as PCW is on theirs. But when was the last construction picture taken? In Mid-December. A lot can go on in a couple weeks time. So far, this Winter has been mild, and as predicted, extremly wet. (Coney Island is flooded under water right now, and Lake Como and Sunlite Pool are currently part of the Ohio River). I`m sure PKI wants to get IJST opened as soon as possible. The wet weather might also be delaying them some. The ride will open when the park has it ready to be opened, be it in April, May or June. Even if it isn`t ready on opening day, we will still be able to enjoy the park, and anticipate the debut of PKI`s newest roller coaster. Better to take time and have an A+ product than rush and end up with a C- product.

Perhaps, I should clarify my statement. I read on one park train website that PKI rebuilds one of the two engines every 2 years. Since there are four engines, that means each engine would be rebuilt every four years. Yes, I thought, they rebuilt an engine each off season so that each engine was rebuilt every two years. Regardless, of 2 or 4 years, the engines are rebuilt. I just hope the KI&MVRR stays around for a LONG time, as not too many theme parks still have their steam trains! Yes, I believe that PKI does, or is at least supposed to, do a tear down of every coaster train during the off season. (The offseason picture of The Racer train still on the track with covers on it sort of surprised me. I would have thought that they would at least have removed it from the track and put it under some sort of shelter (picnic groves or shed by wood coaster maintenance) to protect it from the elements.)

I believe it might be. But than again, the park calendar they have on their website is just the 2004 one, only they are calling it the 2005 calendar.

Well, according to channel 9, there could be another storm developing that will dump another couple of inches on Cincinnati in the middle of next week! It feel`s like a monsoon outside!

They don`t check every part on every single ride everyday. For example, on the coasters, they inspect the footers for the rides once a week. Most of the stuff that they check weekly like that will not go bad all of a sudden, but will gradually occur. Another thing the park does is routine maintenance. For example, they rebuild the pumps on White Water Canyon every five years. They also rebuild one train engine on the KI&MVRR every other year. (Every train is rebuilt every fourth year.)