CoastersRZ

Thanks for the trip report! I always enjoy reading PTRs from people. And I am already starting to plan my Christmas light display for this year.

Well I know that on one of my recent visits, I noticed some rotting wood on one of the facades of the buildings. It was the building right next to the I-Street Skyline. At one point in time it was the Coasters gift shop. Not sure what they have in there now. Count me in as the many who wish that the classical music would make a return to I-Street. I have heard that tree removal for quite some time as well. I`d be fine with select removal, but not a total removal. There is a lot of shaded eating areas on I-Street. The other area that could use an upgrade is Tower Gardens. This is (rather was) a very nice relaxing area of the park. It is now a large designated smoking area, which is a shame. The once flowing fountains in that area of the park look pathetic and as if they have not been cared for or touched in five to ten years. I could see that area getting a sprucing up as well. Heck, while we are at it, why not add a flat ride in back on the area that used to hold part of Salt Water Circus, where the Stars from Snoopy`s Starlight Spectacular used to reside. That stretch of the park always seems so empty,

Yes he was. I saw him briefly. It was more towards the late morning when I saw him.

Yep. And that third train that is not on the tracks can actually undergo its offseason maintenance in the normal season, which is actually the down time for the rides maintenance mechanics. Then when the off season arrives, they only have to do off season maintenance on one train, as they already rebuilt the third train.

I believe that the animatronics for Phantom Theater were created by R&R Creative Amusement Designs. They were also responsible for the theming/animatronics on Adventure Express. http://www.randrdesign.com/styled-5/index.html

I was really looking forward to this when the park posted that they were working on it during the off season. I was disappointed when the band organ was no where to be found when I rode the carousel earlier in the year. I am so excited to see and hear this in action. It is a wonderful bit of nostalgia. I am so glad that Cedar Fair and Kings Island have taken time to restore this wonderful piece of work, which is actually older than the Carousel itself! It actually dates back to 1918. The Carousel dates to 1926 and operated at Cincinnati`s Coney Island. I am so excited to get up to Kings Island and check it out! I can`t wait.

Just as long as the automatic spiels are not as monotone and boring sounding as the spiel we have on River Runner down at Coney.

Yeah. We typically only have two ops at WipeOut on weekends, just to speed along the process of loading and unloading (when the park is typically busier).

Yeah. The auto spiel on River Runner is very mono-tone, and not very enthusiastic. But it is what it is. On Wipeout, our operators have typically been doing spiels about loose articles, and not to touch the restraints as they will come down automatically. But the set up of the ride makes it difficult to spiel with riders on the ride, without a microphone and speaker. Especially if only one op is running it.

It was by far one of the biggest crowds I have ever seen at Coney in my 13 seasons there! Just trying to walk from one side of the park to another was difficult because of how many people were there.

I like it too. It is an intense ride. Surprisingly, I thought it would make me feel sick, but it doesn`t really do that. We actually have had very few protein spills on it so far. (We have had more on Ferris Wheel than on Wipeout).

Financing from the state? I think you might mean incentives, in the likely form of tax breaks, etc. in exchange for investment in the park.

I hope you guys had a fun visit! Yesterday was my first weekend day off since the start of the season down at Coney. What were your thoughts on Wipeout?

LaRosa`s Balloon Glow at Coney Island will be this Thursday. Sunlite Pool will be open until 9:30, and the rides will stay open until 11pm. The main highlight is of course the glowing hot air balloons on the Coney Mall. They go up at 8pm and glow until 10pm, when Rozzi`s Famous Fireworks launches a pyrotechnic display over the banks of Lake Como that will delight young and old. Be sure to check out Wipeout, Coney`s new ride this season. The park also recently added some historical pictures in two places in the park. Some of them are located right by the restrooms on the side of the administration building. Included in these items is a copy of the check that Walt Disney sent to Coney back in the 1950s for the consultation work that Coney provided when he was developing Disneyland. The other historical pictures are located over by the arcade, near the Skeeball games and Swing a Round ride. Definitely worth checking out if you are down there. I will be working all day that day, so if you see me, make sure to say hi.

I do not know what ever happened to him. He was a Covington, KY resident, and was responsible for the redesigning of the Land of Oz. According to the "Cincinnati`s Coney Island" book by Charles J. Jacques, Jr., Gary Wachs discovered him decorating a window for Pogue`s department store. He was also responsible for the design of the Haunted House that opened in 1968, and the 1969 restoration of the Grand Carousel. I do not know where he went (or if he transferred to Kings Island) when it opened in 1972. One interesting fact, although not directly related to Mr. Harsley, is that Darrel Daniels designed many of the buildings at Coney in the 1960s. He designed several of the original buildings at Kings Island as well. He went to my alma mater, UC and studied architecture there.

If I am not too busy, I will swing by and check it out. We are making final preparations for July 3rd now!

I haven`t heard any rumors yet about 2015 at Coney....

Don`t most of these rides have some sort of emergency generator to at least allow the ride to move to a place where guests can be evacuated? At least for power failures. I understand that is not possible if there is a mechanical issue, preventing such thing.

You did walk under the monorail. The monorail crossed above the queue and exit immediately before you walk under the maintenance bridge in the queue line.

Ryan, To answer your question about pile caps. There is a concrete base, which maybe visible sticking out of the ground, and is made of concrete and essentially ties all the piles together. Think of a pile cap as sort of a beam sitting on top of lots of columns, which are the piles. The piles do not necessarily have to go down to bedrock (which would be end bearing piles). They just have to go down to strata of soil that has sufficient bearing capacity. Sometimes friction piles are used when bedrock is too far below grade. Friction piles working by transferring the load from the pile cap into the soil through friction along the length of the pile. There are other factors involved with using piles as a foundation system. Sometimes there is a week layer of soil close to the surface, and then there is good bearing soil some 20-30 below grade. In this instance, the piles are used to essentially support the building on the good soil, while not putting any load on the bad soil. Clay, for example, is a bad soil to put foundations on, since it expands when wet. In this area of the country, there is a lot of clay in the soil. Before the structural engineer determines which type of foundation to use, they will look at the soil cores which are taken at various locations on the site. These soil cores will determine the soil bearing capacity as well as the conditions on the site. With this information, the engineer can decide with the project owner what foundation is most cost effective. Soil cores are usually taken long before any active construction is done, since these are needed to design and produce the drawings from which the building/ride will be built. I hope that makes sense.

If a footer for Top Gun was 70' in the ground, how deep might the footer(s) be for the Eiffel Tower or Drop Tower? What is the deepest footer at KI? They are technically footings. And the depth and size of footings depends on many factors. The forces of the ride, the bearing capacity of the soil, the soil conditions, how far below grade their is firm bearing soil, etc. I believe that The Bat`s deepest footing is around 50' deep. I do not know how deeps the Eiffel Tower`s footing is. But it doesn`t necessarily have to be deeper than The Bat`s footings. It is likely larger in terms of area, so that it can disperse the point loads over a larger soil area. Footings do not always need to bear on bedrock either. Sometimes bedrock can be so far below grade that it is cost prohibitive to do so. I know that both Drop Tower and Wind seeker use piles and a pile cap for their foundations. Not sure if the Eiffel Tower uses a similar foundation system. Think of it like this. If The Bat has a load of 10.000 pounds coming down on a footing, and the bearing capacity of the soil is 200 pounds per square foot, then it would need a footing equal to 50 square feet to obtain the 10,000 pound force that is being exerted by the ride. (which is just over 7 feet square). If the Eiffel Tower has a load of 30,000 pounds coming down on a footing with the same bearing capacity, then its footing would need to be 150 square feet to be able to handle the loads. However, if the soil conditions were such that there was only 150 pounds of bearing capacity at the Eiffel Tower location instead of 200, then it would need a footing that is 200 square feet in area. Does that make sense? Obviously, the above example is a simplified demonstration, and there are many other factors involved. All the numbers I used above were created just for the demonstration and do not reflect actual design loads for either ride. Actual ride foundations are designed by licensed structural engineers in conjunction with a soils report for the site conditions. I hope this lengthy post sheds some light on the subject. I know it was a bit technical in nature. Sorry that I have not been posting as much lately. With three jobs and still getting stuff set up in my new house, I do not have much time these days to hop on here.

Because they want to try and keep the customer that paid for the souvenir cup happy. (And to keep them buying those refills all season and visiting the park often and spending money in the park). They do have to pay off a shiny new ride that the park this year, and the customers are what lets the park be able to do that.

And I believe that it was this incident that resulted in the increased security measures at KI yesterday outside the front gate.

Which sadly is the truth. I speaking from experience with hiring and scheduling employees at Coney Island. Especially for post season once schools start back up, it is hard to schedule and get enough staffing to keep things open. Any extra bodies you can get in to help out, no matter how unenthusiastic, are welcome.

You will have to find me and say hi. I will likely be working all day that day. I love working that day. It is busy, but the crowds and energy is something truly amazing.