CoastersRZ

They have been airing teasers for this on the radio several times today. Including the quote of "You are never going to look at amusement rides again." Definitely seems like a piece of sensationalism. Don`t get me wrong, what happened at the Ohio State Fair was a tragedy, one that changed a families lives forever. But that does not mean that all amusement park rides in the state of Ohio are unsafe, which is what the promo piece is suggesting. Having worked in operations at an amusement park now going on seventeen seasons, I can assure you that the rides are safe and inspected (at least at Coney). The operators of these places can`t afford the negative PR that comes with an accident such as what happened at the State Fair. It will be interesting to see what angle this story takes. Have their been some accidents that occur (even at Coney)? Absolutely. Are they serious in nature? Not usually. More often than not they are cuts or pinches from people slamming their hands in the Scramber car, or tripping entering the ride area.

Working at an amusement park is certainly a fun job. I am entering my seventeenth season working at Coney Island. I never thought when I first took the job before my senior year of high school that I would still be doing it in 2018, even with a full time job. Yes the days can be long, guests can and will test your patience, but it is a fun place to work, (and sure beats working food service) and you will get to make wonderful friends. Granted, I have been a seasonal manager at Coney in charge of the rides department for the better part of the last eight years, I still can honestly say that I always look forward to going into work at Coney. I also spent a couple seasons at Kings Island (2013 and 2014), working during October as part of the Skyflyer crew. It was definitely a fun experience. I would highly recommend the job to anyone considering it.

Not to mention over the last several years, they have removed what once was the tram ways to the front gate and replaced it with a raised sidewalk. The front entrance area is a lot nicer now then it used to be. Remember, that at one point in time, there were ticket booths about twenty to thirty feet in front of the front gate. Those have been gone since around the early 2000s.

My wife and I hit up Canada`s Wonderland several years ago (2014). We visited in May, before Wonder Mountain`s Guardian was open. We found it to be a fun park. We got our pass ports for the trip, but we also hit up Niagara Falls on the way (as well as Waldameer). The park has a lot of charm and theming still. The flat rides are fun (and they have added new ones since our visit). We will definitely be going back, once our son is older. He is one year old, so this year our trips are going to be limited to Kings Island and Coney Island.

My suggestion would be to call or send the park a note. They should be able to help you out.

They occasionally have had some construction tours in the off season. But those were many many years ago (Boomerang Bay expansion, and Backlot Stunt Coaster in 2004 and 2005 respectively). We did have a KIC event in the winter when Diamondback was being built in early 2009. But nothing officially sponsored by the park like Winter Chill Out at Cedar Point to my knowledge.

That is not carved on a tree. That was a poor photo shop image. The Son of Beast logo on the crate next to Flight of Fear? I don`t think there was ever such a thing. They had a crate that shook in 1999 by the entrance to the Kings Island Theater, and then had the Son of Beast logo in it by the entrance to Son of Beast. I don`t think there was anything related to Son of Beast by Flight of Fear.

Nothing to report yet. There is a countdown to Coney`s official opening day (Memorial Day weekend) on their website though. http://coneyislandpark.com/event/openingday/ Remember though, that Coney`s rides will be open for the Appalachian Festival, as well as for the Coney Season Pass holder weekend, the weekend before Memorial Day Weekend.

That is not a bad sketch! The architect in me approves it!

I think he was referring to Coney Island. That would be amazing if that did end up happening. I don`t foresee that happening anytime soon though, however. We can keep hoping though.

Holy topic bump! This post is from eleven and a half years ago. I do not think that we will see anything from The Gravity Group at Kings Island any time soon. Especially with us getting a GCI in 2017.

This is something that we have been talking about for the last several months. All I can say is stay tuned...

https://www.carowinds.com/blog/2018/the-carowinds-carousel-moving-history The ride is being moved to near the Vortex and restored. Looks like they are taking the time to truly celebrate this treasured ride. Hopefully, the Flying Scooter at Carowinds is relocated within the park as well. I believe they removed it as part of their new Camp Snoopy additions.

I am actually amazed at how well the Flight of Fear theming has been kept up. The ride is 22 years old this year! Yes, there have been a couple people that have helped preserve and even enhance the theming over the last several years. Heck, even Backlot still has the fire effect working most of the time, which is amazing considering the park has to pay for the propane to run the flame. And Backlot itself is 12 years old this year!

If true, I applaud this move. The seats have looked rather disgusting the last few years. I would appreciate the switch. Although, it will definitely look different. Over time, we will get used to it, I am sure. Keep in mind that when Drop Tower first opened, it didn`t have the black seats that it has now.

The Eagles that KI has now, while nice, pales in comparison to the original set that were at KI. The original set (which is now at Carowinds), had 10 tubs, versus the 8 that are on the one in Planet Snoopy. Not to mention, the ride originally opened at Coney Island in 1940! And it is far better than the three point challenge that now exists on the site the Scooters used to occupy.

Yeah. Don`t ruin the Coney Mall midway like that. Not to mention you are removing the Coney Mall Skyline! And removing some trees by the Carousel. And where did the Scrambleer go in that drawing??

I wonder on any given day what the percentage mix is between pass holders, general public and group sales. We likely will never know that break down, however.

Remember, CP only has platinum and regular passes. If you get a regular pass, you do not have access to any of the ERT, etc that comes with a Platinum pass.

http://www.fox19.com/story/37228216/dolly-partons-stampede-show-is-losing-its-dixie I can understand why they are doing this. But I think given its location in the south, and how long this venue has been open, they should keep the name Dixie Stampede. For those of you who have never visited this venue, the food is amazing, and the show and entertainment are top notch. Definitely worth a visit. I have only been to the one in Pigeon Forge and not the one in Branson. At one point in time there was one in Myrtle Beach as well, but they rebranded that show into Pirate`s Voyage. The article mentions these shows being operated by World Choice Investments. I believe that is actually a wholly owned subsidiary of Herschend Family Entertainment which owns these venues, as listed on the HFC website here: http://www.hfecorp.com/our-businesses/ Herschend also owns and operates Newport Aquarium in the Cincinnati area.

I too was thinking that the former location of the KI resort was going to be townhomes/apartments. There hasn`t been much movement on the site lately, from what I can tell. Keep in mind also, that the ownership stake in GWL was in the range of 24%. At the time, GWL was a publicly traded company. It has since been taken private by Apollo, shortly after their failed attempt to purchase Cedar Fair. The KI Resort land was not owned by Cedar Fair. From what I can tell, it hasn`t directly been associated with the entity that owned Kings Island since the mid 1980s. The plans to build were announced way back in 2014. See this article: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/plans-emerge-redevelop-kings-island-resort-with-housing/HEQBvCglNZepSsBKCFc9SI/

Originally, the now defunct Kings Island Inn, the golf course across 71 and even the Lindner Family Tennis Center across 71 were all a part of the Kings Island complex. They originally owned 1,600 acres. Today, I believe the number owned by Kings Island is closer to 700.

I have thought that the area you shaded as an expansion would make sense for a family friendly flat ride and restrooms. It would give those that are too short something to do when other people in the party are riding Firehawk and Flight of Fear, which both have 54" height requirements. I don`t know if they would build a full midway like that though. Especially since the X-Base is already a dead end midway. Action Zone is a dead end, and until they reconfigured the entrance when Banshee opened, there was often a logjam of guests trying to get into the area.

And how do you know that attendance is up and ridership is down on that attraction? I will note that both Carowinds and Kings Dominion have both removed their Intamin chute the chutes rides. Does that mean anything for Congo Falls? I don`t have the slightest idea.

Actually, I would argue that coaster installs have slowed down in the recent years. Parks aren’t installing as many as they were around the year 2000. Not to mention the arms race for tallest, fastest, longest coaster has slowed down a bit, in my opinion. I don’t think Disney is releasing Star Wars movies too quickly. And obviously other people feel the same way as The Last Jedi was the highest grossing film of 2017. Cedar Point isn’t exactly adding coasters every year. Gatekeeper opened in 2013. Rougaro was just a refresh of an existing coaster. Valravn opened in 2016. And now they are adding Steel Vengeance in 2018. In between, they have added some new family rides, and new additions to the water park. I would say that Cedar Point is relatively well rounded. They certainly have more flat rides than what KI has. As Brad said, Cedar Fair is certainly doing something right.