CoastersRZ

All parks have master plans. Sometime, however, those plans can be quite fluid, and what is spelled out in a master plan ends up not being what actually gets built. Technology, tastes, economics, marketing, the target market all have impacts on influencing what the finished product looks like. Would the original buildings of Kings Island could have imagined what the park would look like today? Probably not. There was no such thing as a hyper coaster when they were planning the park. Not to mention coasters powered by linear induction motors. Water parks were not very prevalent, and certainly didn`t have the range of water slides that they have today. The park is constantly changing and evolving. It will be a different place five years from now than what it is today. Enjoy the park today, remember the past, but don`t hold onto it as if the past is the end all. Memories often are seen through rose colored glasses at times. Times change. Would I love to see the Sky Ride back at Kings Island? Absolutely. Same goes for classic rides like the Whip, Flying Eagles and Tumble Bug. But those rides aren`t going to be coming back. I am positive that the park will look different in the future and that a whole new generation of people will fall in love with the place, just like we have.

Yes, there is a fine line between expanding and over expanding. And Coney will not ever be Kings Island or like it once was back in its hey day as America`s Finest Amusement park. That being said, I think that there are certain things that could be added to improve Coney and bring in customers. Hopefully something big comes. It has been quite a few years since they added an adult ride to the rides side of the park. They added River Runner (along with Eurobungy and Turtle Parade) back in 2008 and then installed the Twister in 2009. Those were the last major ride installs that Coney has done. Granted Twister did cost a lot of money (just shy of $2 million). But since those years, the park has added a kiddy swing ride, repainted some rides, renovated the picnic grove, and general sprucing up. Would I love to see a new roller coaster at Coney? Absolutely! Do I realistically expect to see a new coaster coming to Coney any time soon? Not really. I think part of it is a reluctance to put in a big ride like that because they don`t want to overstep their target market as a family friendly park. And a coaster is a big investment. But I also think that the park is a little tentative especially given the future of their neighbor to the East. I don`t think River Downs will swallow up Coney, but the relationship between the two certainly is evolving and could have some pretty interesting impacts on Coney. Only time will tell what will happen. But something is up at River Downs, that much I`m sure of. I`ll pass on anything that I hear about Coney for 2013 when I find out about it. Right now I have not heard anything.

And why exactly would they rename a ride that just opened this season? My hunch says it will be another ride. They surely must have a reason for renaming said ride.

International Street has been slowly changing and evolving the last few seasons. You may not have realized it. The park has removed some of the trees and planters and put in more tables and sitting areas. I still would like to see a nice new lighting package incorporated into the Royal Fountain, to play off the lighting for the Eiffel Tower. I would agree that the front entrance could use some sprucing up. Not necessarily a brand new entrance building, but a major renovation to the entrance would be nice to freshen it up a bit.

I wouldn`t look for a giga to come to KI anytime soon. I`m still a bit surprised that Canada`s Wonderland installed a Giga from B&M given the fact that they already had a hyper from B&M that wasn`t that old. Has anyone here ridden Leviathon? How does it compare to Behemoth? The one thing that seems odd about Leviathon is how high the brake run starts. It seems like they could have added several more hills. Its as if they ran out of monye for the ride making it so tall, and had to cut the ride short.

It is surreal to see this ride coming down. I remember watching avidly the ride get built the summer of 1999. To think it is coming down so quickly and ungracefully. Hopefully good things will be in store for that location in the coming years.

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Fireworks can be very expensive. And often with little or no return on investment, unless you make them special (like what Coney does with July 3rd and now the fireworks competition).

Like Gary said, many of these plands are way too grandiose for Coney. It is going after a slightly different target market than Kings Island. It is not going after the roller coaster, adrenaline junkies. It is going after a family crowd. Heck, the "it" in the slogan "Coney has it" is referring to affordable family fun. Not to mention Coney usually doesn`t have very long lines for the rides. I`m sure Coney will add new things in the future. They will help attract and drive new business to the park. Will Coney be different in 30 years? Absolutely. Who knows what it will look like. Even ten years from now, the park is going to look drastically different. Same thing applies for Kings Island.

Sunlite Pool is not my area of expertise. I work on the rides side and the differences between rides and pool is night and day. The pool make a lot more money than the rides do. They have been investing money in the park. Its just not on flashy new rides. Keep in mind that they did spend close to $2 million on the Twister water slide back in 2009, replacing the Zoom Flume that had been at Coney since 1977.

That is a tough thing to deduce. Why? Well the rides side is an open park, meaning there are no admissions gates. Grandparents can stroll the grounds of the ride side without paying admission (they must pay to enter the Sunlite Pool area). Only people that ride rides must have a wristband. The other reason that it is difficult to figure is what exactly constitutes attendance. Riverbend, located right next door utilizes Coney`s parking lot. Many of those concert goers will stroll through Coney`s property on their way to the concert (often stopping at LaRosa`s in the park, to buy some pre-concert food), and to use the restrooms. They technically aren`t visiting the park, but Coney still makes some money off of them. I`m choosing my words carefully here, but I`d say your numbers are on the low side of things for attendance (excluding the effects of Riverbend). I agree that Coney could use a signature ride. Heck even a good family ride like the Flying Eagles would be a good hit. Coney never will be a big amusement park like it was in its heyday (and even the Coney of the 1960s would be small compared to Kings Island today). The rides are primarily there to help sell season passes and group sales.

Sometimes companies will maintain the number of employees that they have. But they will pass the increased cost of labor onto the customer, in the form of higher prices. Have you seen how high those 3 ways at Skyline cost you now? It is north of $5.

Topic closed. Please keep things around here civil.

Really? Where would the return on investment in that be? The money would better be spent on adding a new ride, or fixing up some of the existing infrastructure. Given the cost of licensing, it simply isn`t worthwile for the return. Not to say Coney is cheap, but for a smaller park, licensing is just out of the question in most circumstances. And this past weekend, they had Curios George and the Cat in the Hat having lunch, and then walking around the park. They also had "Big Boy" from Frisch`s there this past weekend walking around.

Paul stated it best. Some enthusiasts can put a "black eye" on the perception of enthusiasts. A few bad apples can spoil it for the bunch. There are some enthusiasts who think they are entitled things when they go to the parks. This is a select minority, but they tend to stand out. Then there are those of us who have spent 11 seasons working in the industry and still are enthralled by it. I don`t care how many times I have ridden a certain coaster, I just enjoy going to the parks for the sake of enjoying the parks.

Wait. You did ALL of those rides in 30 minutes!? That is empty! I wish the park would have been that empty on my visits to the Point this year.

Yes, some coaster clubs are obsolete, because the main function they served was to publish news via a newsletter about the amusement industry. In today`s world, those newsletters are obsolete by the time they even hit the printing press. It also doesn`t help that the economy is not as prosperous as it once was. People have less disctretionary income. I have made several good friends from this site (back when we used to have KIC days), and from other groups. That is the main focus of these enthusiast groups, is building friendships with fellow people who are equally obsessed about this industry, while most people will look at us like we are crazy. And you see it on thise site too. Sometimes people`s interests and priorities change. Life happens. Many members who used to post here frequently are seldom, if ever heard from. I too, no longer post as much as I once did. I`m technically working three jobs, have a girlfriend, and am trying to study for the Architect Registration Exam. That leaves little time to check in on and post on KICentral or other sites. I still try to check in here and catch up on the news every now and then. And I still follow the industry very closely. So in a long winded, round about way, I would say that the coaster enthusiast population is not dwindling. And thanks to parks offering early rides times, I`d say quite the contrary. Although, there maybe less actual members enrolled in coaster clubs.

Sure, lots of things could "quite happen" at Coney. I haven`t heard anything recently talked about. The interesting thing to watch will be what happens with River Downs next door since they apparently are going to be installing some video slots at some point. I`ve heard rumors that they maybe doing something this winter construction wise. (I did see some survey crews in River Downs parking lot and some soil cores being done back in the summer months. Not sure what impact that will have on Coney, but for sold out Riverbend concerts, cars do park in Riverbends lots...

Well for only having worked on the demolition for about a week, they are certainly moving pretty quickly. At this rate, the entire first rose bowl will be going in a matter of weeks. I doubt that they start demolition on the main lift hill before the end of the season. It is just too close to Adventure Express and Wolf Pack.

I agree. What is up with the "real" coasters clarification? I think my first big coaster was probably Adventure Express, back when the height requirment was 36" or 42" Heck, back in the day, even Racer had a height requirement of 42" I believe. I remember being terrified of riding The Racer. But once I rode it a couple of times, The Beastie, as it was called then, seemed like a walk in the park.

Holy old thread, batman! I wonder where our good friend Beast1979 has been lately. Haven`t seen him around this site much lately.

I`m not sure if anyone made it out to Fire Up the Night on Saturday. The fireworks displays were awesome. Canada actually won out of the three countries. The park was PACKED. It was actualyl the busiest I have EVER seen the rides side in my eleven seasons working at Coney. There were huge lines for not only the rides, but restauarants (with reports of them running out of food throughout the night) and lines for both the mens and womens restrooms! I think it is safe to say that this event will be returning to Coney Island next fall.

I can confirm that Kings Island`s WindSeeker was closed today at Haunt. I didn`t even see the ride crew anywhere near the ride.

Send in the cranes, there ought to be cranes! How many remember that saying?

And just because they said that they would announce the rest of its capital expenditures does not mean that they are going to reveal all. How so? They may say that at park X we are going to add a new water slide complex. They may not go into details on what said complex is or how much they are spending on it, and any details related to it. Just a hunch, but I wouldn`t expect Kings Island to get much for next season. Cedar Fair did just spend $10 million on Soak City this season at Kings Island. If something big was coming, we would likely have seen something by now in the park.