CoastersRZ

The first thing I thought of when I read the headline is that Matt Ouimet was leaving Cedar Fair. He and his team seam to have done wonders for Cedar Fair financially. Zimmerman was promoted to Regional VP back in 2007. I believe at the time, he was placed in charge of several parks (the Eastern parks if my memory serves me correctly). I wonder if this will be true of Greg Scheid. He has been with KI since shortly after Cedar Fair took over. As an aside, several past GMs of Kings Island have moved onto bigger and better things as well. Craig Ross is now the President of the Dollywood Company, which is owned jointly by Herschend Family Entertainment and Dolly Parton. The Dollywood Company owns Dollywood, Dollywood`s Splash County, Dollywood Cabins and Dollywood`s DreamMore Resort. Jane Cooper started her career at Kings Island, and eventually became CEO of Paramount Parks. Today, she is President and COO of Herschend Family Entertainment. Al Weber was the GM of Kings Island from 1992-1997. He was Paramount Parks CEO from 2002-2006 (when the parks were sold to Cedar Fair). He had short stints as interim CEO of Six Flags, and Palace Entertainment. He is currently the CEO and President of Apex Parks Group, which owns Indiana Beach, among others (http://www.apexparksgroup.com/) That was probably way more information than most people wanted. But I like creating posts rich in content. It has been a while since I have been on here to do that. Life has been pretty busy for me lately.

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I believe that it is reverse. Disneyland has a train running that used to reside at Cedar Point. The Maud L as it was known at Cedar Point, is now known as the Ward Kimball at Disneyland. Source: http://www.cplerr.com/erMaudL.html

And with B&M you get reliability and a proven track record. Hypersonic XLC anyone?

I don`t know what "little lake" you are talking about. If you are talking about the reservoir/lake next to White Water Canyon, they drain that every off season. Additionally, they are placing some foundations in that area which necessitated it being drained. The station is not going in that area. The station is going about where the former Funnel Cake building once stood.

They were raising the second one into place right around 5pm today. I don`t know if they raised anymore after that, as I just got back to my computer now.

Is this event still a go? Fall O Ween is a fun time to visit Coney. There is a hay ride that takes you down by the river and is a fun little extra attraction. Also, there is a Trick Or Treat trail for youngsters.

My wife was excited when I told her about this, but she would be disappointed if they don`t have the Pep and Chee.

I will be there. But not to directly partake in the event. I will be managing the operators of the mechanical devices that people will be riding on.

.What you described is what Winterfest is all about. Look for it to come in November 2017.

Lets not forget that at one point in time, Invertigo (Face Off at the time) and Adventue Express used to have on ride photos as well.

Keep in mind, you can only tell so much from a webcam. They may have rigged it, and then noticed something needed to be adjusted or modified.

If the Avatar area is any where on par with Carsland at Disney`s California Adventure, it will have remarkable theming that totally immerses you. I personally have never even watched Avatar yet. However, I am still excited to experience this new land at Animal Kingdom. I am also looking forward to the new Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios and the much anticipated Star Wars Land, though I think we have a long time to wait on that one still.

I have been to Stich`s Great Escape once. That was enough for me. I am not saddened by the fact that this attraction will now be seasonal. It would be nice to receive a new attraction to replace it, but making it seasonal will save on labor costs on the many days that the attraction will be closed.

This is the fifth year for the International fireworks competition at Coney Island. Teams competing are from Greece, South Africa and the Phillipines. The grand finale presentation is provided by Rozzi`s Famous Fireworks. Gates open at 4pm, and Coney`s classic rides are in operation until the start of the fireworks. Find more information, including pricing, on Coney`s website here: http://coneyislandpark.com/fire-up-the-night I will be working that day, so if you swing by and see me, be sure to say hi!

But you still have to get power/data to the webcam.

Its a small world. I am an architect at a Cincinnati area architectural firm. It will be exciting to see them put more bents in place. However, once the lift and first drop are in place, the webcam will not offer much of a view of construction as the ride progresses across the WWC reservoir or back towards the train shed.

Back in the day, Paramount Parks had an online feedback system that guests could fill out their thoughts on the park (I forget the exact URL that they used, but it was something like parkfeedback). Parks use surveys and their own analytics to track what guests are doing and spending their money on. Why do you think that they offer a discount on food with your Gold or Platinum pass? They likely are using that to track how much you spend when you visit so that they know how to allocate everything from staffing to capital dollars.

Of the GCI coasters I have been on (Gwazi, Thunderhead, American Thunder at Six Flags St. Louis, Lightning Racer and Wildcat at Hershey, Prowler at Worlds of Fun, and Apocalypse, the Ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain), all the Millenium Flyers have been the same, except for thematic elements on the front of the trains. And from the pictures I have seen of Ghost Rider (which I rode last year on my honeymoon, pre-GCI renovation), Ghost Rider`s trains are the exact same as all the other Millenium Flyer trains.

This ride is not a prototype, so there should be no issues like what happened with Lightning Rod. Could there be unexpected delays for one reason or another? Sure, particularly weather related delays if we get a bad winter storm, or a period of extended rain. I am sure that they have built in some time for weather related days into their construction schedule.

I haven`t heard anything about next year yet. Stay tuned...

I can`t wait to hear it and see it next year after you have had a chance to do some more work on it!

Last time I went by the Carousel at the end of August, it was not playing. Much to my disappointment. There is just something magical about the sound of the organ playing on the ride. Reminds me of riding the ride as a small child.

Based on the footings that have been poured, yes, the train will cross the railroad tracks by the old funnel cake location. For reference, the footings that approached the train track were approximately twenty feet from the furn into the station (where the old White Water Canyon bridge used to reside). Also worth noting, is that the large concrete box that has been poured is likely for the lift motor. Also, they have moved some dirt into the reservoir area for White Water Canyon. So I wonder what way they will proceed with the footings.

Fright Lane, especially on Saturdays, can be worth it to avoid the line. You do gain access to the Skeleton Key rooms. I personally have not done it. Of course, I am not that big into the Haunts, and mainly go to experience the rides (and I worked rides two seasons during Haunt in 2013 and 2014 at Skyflyer). I imagine having the Skeleton Key rooms separate from a maze makes it easier operationally to get the Fright Lane people in. It also give a better thing to market the Fright Lane to the general public. "Buy Fright lane and you get to experience an exclusive haunt/skeleton key room exclusive to Fright Lane."