CoastersRZ

I was really surprised that the train was not open all weekend. I cannot remember the last time that I have visited KI and the train was not open on a normal operating day.

I maybe seeing things but look closely at the two legs of Delirium closest to Banshee. Notice what is missing on the bottom of those two legs?

I did not realize that KI passes were selling for that much right now. Still, $100 for Kentucky Kingdom seems a little high. Especially with parking not included. I renewed my Dollywood pass back in December (I know that it was their "early season special," for I think $93 or so, and that pass did not include parking. But Dollywood is arguably a lot nicer park then Kentucky Kingdom. Just look at all the live shows and special events that Dollywood has.

Is riding the biggest investment in Kings Island history not enough for you?

Yeah. It may look nice, but the park has stiff competition from KI, HW, and as the article mentions, the ghosts of the past. Not to mention $100 for a pass that does not include parking is really pricey. How much is a pass to KI or Holiday World?

Coney also upgraded their main marquee on Kellogg with a colored LED message board.

I understand the heightened sense of safety restraints. Just wonder why they weren`t able to implement such a solution earlier so that it could have been included as part of the off season maintenance on the trains, if this rumor is indeed true.

If Intimidator 305 opened this past weekend without seat belts, it would seem odd to add them now after the park has opened. Not to mention, that KI installed seat belts on the ride formerly known as Flight Deck, then ended up removing them last season or the season before. I do not know of any B&M hyper coaster that has a seat belt on it. I have not heard such a rumor about Diamondback getting seat belts.

Yes. They cut the expansion joints in the concrete area that will form the queue. They likely won`t install the queue rails until next week once the concrete has cured some.

Some parks have been known to close ride lines before the closing hour to ensure that the last train of the night will coincide with the posted closing time. I believe Holiday World has posted signs describing such a practice.

I did not notice the flexible vests on Wild Eagle. On my first of two rides on Wild Eagle, the vest tightened throughout the ride. However, on the second ride, that did not happen.

The ride is a very fun ride. I got back from Dollywood a few hours ago. Spent most of the day yesterday at the park. I was not part of the Coaster Crew/ Great Ohio Coaster Club even, but ran into several familiar faces from on here. Some who no longer frequently post too. It was kind of nice that they recognized me, which shows what a great community that KIC is. My fiance was amazed at how many people recognized me. The ride is fun, but it is certainly geared towards the younger set. Still a fun ride, but it is not high on the thrills. Going backwards was definitely a unique experience the way it launches backwards. The new entrance plaza with the new Dollywood sign looks really nice. The only real hiccup that we encountered all day, was the several times we tried to ride Blazing Fury (at least twice), the ride broke down when we were in the queue, and they kicked us out of the queue. Seemed very disorganized way of doing it. (We were not allowed to wait in the queue). We also got a big surprise when we watched the Africa show in the Celebration Theater. At the end of the show, Dolly Parton made a cameo on stage, and spent a few minutes welcoming everyone to Dollywood and Festival of Nations. Definitely a real treat, and totally unexpected! All the rides were generally short waits despite the crowds. We waited about ten to fifteen minutes for Wild Eagle around 5 or 5:30, and about ten minutes for Thunderhead after our Wild Eagle ride Only exception was Dollywood Express. Full trains, and they had changed the time of the 4:15 train, unexpectedly, and we barely were able to get on the 4pm train. We had checked the sign on the train station at 3pm and saw the 4:15 departure time, but we were able to make it on, so were not concerned about it. The longest line we encountered was for the trams to the parking lot. (The park was so crowded that they were parking people in the Splash Country lot today!)

They are in a "contained" area of the lake which has a center divider. Think of them more like a set of bumper cars that has a center divider. The individual boats are free to move around in the area. But boat bumping is not allowed.

Wow! I like that retro paint on Rebel Yell. Hopefully Kings Island will get some of the same nostalgia treatment in the coming seasons that Kings Dominion has gotten this year.

That trailer looks amazing. As others have said, I think it is the perfect style for the Peanuts crew. Hopefully the movie will do well when it is released next year.

Thanks for posting that Josh. Truly a remarkable piece of history you just posted.

Yes, the current Scrambler is the one that opened in 1969 at Coney, as Dave Althoff has confirmed through the serial number plate. All Eli Bridge rides have a serial number plate that end in a - followed by the year of production. In this case it is -69. I believe that I got the information on the 1957 addition from the Charles Jacques Jr. book on Coney Island. I`m not sure if that is accurate as the history section on Coney`s website does not indicate when the original Scrambler was installed in the park. So if there was a replacement Scrambler installed, I do not know why. Eli Bridge first introduced the Scrambler in 1955. Wow, 2001. I was just 16 at the time. And used to post on Coasterbuzz. I can`t remember the last time that I posted on there. I still check out their forums and news section a lot though. It is amazing how quickly time flies. I had lunch just the other day with a good friend from this site, and we were mentioning and discussing the same thing with how time flies. Its hard to believe that Diamondback is now five years old already! Time flies when you are having fun!

That is most certainly interesting news. I guess Dan is no longer active with his legal career. I wonder if they will keep this park mostly a water park, or attempt to add some amusement park attractions to it in the coming years.

I doubt it is another attraction for this season. That being said, I would love it if the park did add the Flying Eagles back to the park. My guess is that they announce either the live shows for 2014, or officially announce the return of the band organ on the carousel. Although the second part is not really something "new" since it previously used to operate on the Carousel.

I know that this is a bit of a topic bump, but the Cincinnati Parks created a video highlighting how Carousel Works in Mansfield, Ohio crafts their hand carved wooden horses. See the video link below. The carousel is slated to open next spring at the Smale Riverfront Park, which is located adjacent to Great American Ball Park. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paNkA1A62kI

It will be interesting to see what the big production is in the KI Theater. Hopefully it is something unique. And hopefully they fixed the leak in the roof. I was in there one day when it was raining outside during Haunt, and they had a pretty substantial leak on one side of the theater that was leaking onto some of the seats (which they had roped off).

Yep. It will be interesting to see how well they do this season. As others have stated, I think the big draw will be the water park. They are trying to reopen in a market that is already pretty saturated with Splashin Safari` and Soak City. The amusement park enthusiast in me hopes that they can make it work, but they have had issues making it work before. Granted there were other circumstances involved then. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Technically, I am not an architect yet. I need to pass five more tests before I can call myself that. I am taking one more of those exams on Monday, so I will be one step closer to being an architect. My current job title is architectural designer. Ask and you shall receive. See below, and try and enjoy reading it. Some zoning codes can be rather tedious to read. However, I will offer up some information on it. Kings Island is in the City of Mason. The City of Mason website is here: http://www.imaginemason.org/city-government/legislation/codified-ordinances.cfm Their zoning code can be found here: http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/Ohio/mason_oh/cityofmasonohiocodeofordinances?f=templates$fn=default.htm$3.0$vid=amlegal:mason_oh You will need to navigate to Part 11: Planning and Zoning, and then to Title 5: Zoning Districts. From there, you must navigate to B-4 Commercial Recreation Districts, which includes mechanical rides and attractions as one of its permitted uses. In this section it states that It also states that all signs within 200 feet of the right of way must conform to Chapter 1187: Sign Regulations. It states the following requirements: Elsewhere in the code, it states the prohibited signs include: Those were the only types of prohibited signs that I saw that were applicable. However, as with all zoning regulations, the property owners can go for a variance in order to get something approved that the zoning code says is not allowed. We are going through this process right now for one of the projects I am working on in another municipality. I know I started off saying I wasn`t go into details, but I got on a roll and just couldn`t help myself. Not to mention, some of the stuff on my ARE test on Monday involves zoning codes. So this in a way is a little bit of studying for me. I hope I totally didn`t more people to death.

Zoning regulations do not need lawyers to understand. Just as long as architects (and those studying for the Architect Registration Exam), and those that need to understand them, can comprehend the requirements. And yes, zoning requirements do regulate the square footage of signage allowed. Sometimes they even regulate it to the square inch!

I think they might be painting it a dark gray/black color. I think the white/light color we see them painting might be a primer coat. Originally, the left tower of the winch tower was painted white, and now only the base is. The towers were previously exposed galvanized steel with no paint, so the primer was probably a necessity in order for the finish coat of paint to stick to the structure. I am excited to see all the fresh paint and ride the shiny new B&M that KI is getting. Just over a month more of waiting to go!