CoastersRZ

Hmm. I wonder where exactly on International Street this is going? Any one have any insights on what shop this is replacing?

I believe that there will NOT be early entry before Haunt on this Saturday since the park is closed during the daylight hours for a private company outing. As always, go to the source and call Kings Island for confirmation on this. There is no early entry on Friday nights, but thee is on typical Saturdays and Sundays.

I agree. Thunderhead is one awesome ride, that doesn`t let up until you hit the brakes at the very end of the ride. It is amazing how much those PTC trains have been modified from their original incarnations. I would love to eventually see a Great Coasters International ride at Kings Island. I don`t think that will happen any time soon though. I think we will see a new steel coaster at Kings Island before we see a wooden coaster built there.

If he was so interested in that park, he should have never sold off his interests in the park back in the 90`s. I don`t see how Kentucky Kingdom can re-open as an amusement park. The options surrounding the Louisville area are just too numerous, as you mentioned. There are three parks just an hour or two away from that area. That is pretty steep competition to be going up against. Especially without actually owning the land tha the park sits on and being free to run the park without the oversight of the fairboard (or the large payments that they want). As an aside, we haven`t heard much out of the folks at Holiday World since they called off Bluegrass Boardwalk. I wonder if they are planning on adding anything new to Holiday World in 2013. They normally start teasing about new things this time of year. Although, they are busy finishing the final touches on their new Halloween event.

I echo Ronny`s sentiments. Thanks for sharing those pictures! I always love seeing construction pictures of the park, especially ones like that which show the history of the park and how things have changed over the years. The Ferris Wheel in that pictures is an Eli Bridge model. I know all about those types of rides!

Yep. Look at parks like Holiday World, they introduced and proved that adding just rides that don`t break records can still bring in people in record numbers. A ride does not have to have all the superlatives to bring in guests and help on that ROI. And families bring in money for parks because they are the ones that will likely spend all or most of the day at the park, and buy the food in the park (not to mention paying for admission, playing a couple games, buying a couple souvenirs, etc).

Yes. Many on here fail to realize that the park has many target markets they are trying to cater too. The target market that attracts people to Thunder Alley likely isn`t the same one that attracts people to do Dinosaurs Alive. They both exist to cater to their target markets so that the park can capture as much revenue as possible. Just because you would never pay the money to do something, doesn`t mean that 1,000 other people would be willing to pay the money to do that. Slingshot and Skyflyer are perfect examples of that. Some would never want to pay to do that, others are more than willing to fork over the cash and experience those attractions.

Yes they can. There have been a couple times that I have been to Cedar Point for HalloWeekends in past years, and the park has been PACKED. I didn`t even both with the lines for the Haunts, knowing that they would be crazy. I`d much rather ride the rides when at Cedar Point anyway than the Haunts.

While it may not have been all that great, it has brought in extra revenue for the park. And the park is a business after all whose primary intent is to make money.

Yes, there is quite a bit of walking involved when visiting amusement parks. Keep in mind that walking is a good form of exercise, and with the ever increasing obesity problem in the US, its a good thing when parents and their kids are out and about and walking and not just sitting at home watching TV or playing video games or on the computer. These day time Halloween events are big business too, just like the Fright by night portion is big business. Completely different demographics that they are pulling from. Look at Holiday World and the fact that they are introducing a family friendly Halloween event this season (and extending their season). Halloween means big bucks for amusement parks. Too bad the winter weather in Southwest Ohio is so unpredictable. I think a Christmas themed event could still make parks like Kings Island a lot of extra income if priced right and had the right attraction mix.

It doesn`t matter how much stock you own in P&G. Admission is granted to P&G day at Kings Island to Proctor & Gamble employees and their families. Shareholders do not gain admission to this event. You MUST have a ticket to gain admission to this event. All others, including pass holders will be denied admission.

The pool is already drained! And the pool was open this past Sunday...

The interesting thing is that it says the new Pass Book functions more like a rewards/loyalty card holde. You can`t directly pay for things with this program (and that thought just seems a little scary). I wonder if they are going to be rolling out FunPerks to all their parks next season, and utilizing this software as a way to redeem the perks? Certainly food for thought. I think we will see FunPerks continue at Kings Island and expand. Hopefully, they will make the system chain wide, so things purchased at other Cedar Fair parks count towards your FunPerks total. Especially since I know I`m going to make a visit or two to Cedar Point next summer, and hopefully a visit to Kings Dominion.

Coney Island will be hosting an international Fireworks competition on Saturday, September 22nd. Teams from the US, Canada and Mexico will be competing in the competition. The competitiors in the competition will be Alonzo Fireworks (Albany, New York, USA), Sirius Pyrotechnics (Montreal, Canada), and Lux Pirotecnia (Mexico City, Mexico). After those three compete (at 9:00pm, 9:20pm and 9:40pm), Rozzi`s Famous Fireworks will provide the grand finale at 10pm. Plus, enjoy Coney`s classic rides all night long. The gates open at 5pm. There will also be a Yuengling Party in the pool. Sunlite Pool will be EMPTY so you can party IN THE POOL and enjoy... ‘Sunburners' Steel Drum Party Band 5:00-9:00 Craft Beer Tasting from 5:00-7:00 Incendium Arts Fire Troupe - World-Class Fire Spinning Dancing - on Sunlite Pool Island at 7:45 & 8:45 The event is sponsored by Dr. Pepper. Pricing is $20 per car load, and includes admission to Coney`s classic rides. Coney Island season pass holders can get admission for $15 per car. No coolers or picnic baskets are permitted for this event, and pricing applied to normal passenger vehicles only. (Excludes RVs, buses, and large capacity vans). I look forward to seeing some of you there that night! I will be working that day, likely as a rides manager, but maybe jumping in to help run rides as staffing levels dictate. See you at Coney on September 22nd for Fire Up the Night

Not to mention when Animal Kingdom opened back in 1998. It had a serious lack of a signautre E-ticket attraction. That changed with the addition of the Finding Nemo musical and obviously the addition of Expedition Everest. I think we will eventually see another park added to the mix. But I wouldn`t look for that to happen anytime soon. Remember, building a new theme park is an expensive proposition, and a big gamble. One has to hope that people are willing to pay and show up to experience the park. Additionally, the new park would have to offer something that guests can`t get at any of the four existing Disney theme parks and two water parks down in Florida.

I am deeply saddened to hear this news. My thoughts and prayers are with his family. I too remember getting stuck on the Blue Racer, or him asking me on here about things related to Coney. I remember him at that bowling party. He always had so much enthusiasm for Kings Island and amusement parks. He was a great guy and always seemed to have fun bringing his kids to the park to share in his enjoyment of the place. Its unfortunate, how early his life ended. I`m sure he`s up there in that big amusement park in the sky looking down on us. Rest in peace Keith. You will certainly be missed by the KICentral community. Robbie

And so far, only Cedar Point and California`s Great America have officially announced what they are adding in 2013 as far as the Cedar Fair parks are concerned. I know that Kings Dominion has hinted at what is coming. With the price tage of Gatekeeper ($30 million) and the cost of Great America`s new ride, that will roughly account for approximately half of what Cedar Fair has traditionally spend on cap ex projects in recent years. I also wouldn`t look for Canada`s Wonderland to be adding anything big with Leviathon opening this season. Knott`s is rumored to be getting something with the removal of Perilous Plunge. It will be an interesting ride in the coming weeks, and months.

And who is to say if it was nixed, that it was in fact in the 11th hour? Any new attraction is a big investment by a park. They are going to do their due dilligence. If something comes up that causes them to think that their investment will cost more, or that the cost of the investment will not provide the necessary return on investment, then the smart decision would be to not install said investment. Then again, a park must invest money in order to lure in group sales and new customers, as well as to keep existing customers coming back. Fresh paint and new kiddy rides alone will not keep people coming back.

No news on anything new for next season at Coney. I do know that plans can and do change from time to time...

Adam, I knew that he was waiting in the wings, so to speak to take over at Dollywood. Most people around here may not have remembered him being around at KI.

And for those of you unaware, his replacement is Craig Ross. That name might sound familiar to some of you who have been around here for a while. Craig Ross at one point was employed by Paramount Parks and served as the General Manager of Kings Island for a few seasons.

I`d say that lift has nothing to do with Son of Beast. Rather, I`d say that it is used to assist in inspecting the track for Flight Deck.

Nice find PKI Vortex! The hours of 7pm to 1am have been around since they made Haunt free back in 2003. When Haunt was an upcharge event, the hours on Friday nights were 8pm to 1am. It makes sense, given how crowded Halloween Haunt is, and how much money it seems to bring in for the park.

I thoroughly enjoyed Wild Eagle at Dollywood. The only issue I see with this type of ride is that because the entrance and exit platforms for each side of the train are on the same side, it can hurt capacity as you essentially have to hold opening the gates until the people exiting the train have made their way away from the seats. Other than that, I really enjoyed Wild Eage, which is a great addition to Dollywood. Gate Keeper looks to be an awesome new attraction for Cedar Point, which hasn`t added a new coaster since Maverick in 2007!

I don`t know if there will be remnants, save for maybe some footings left by opening day 2013. A lot will depend on what, if anything they have planned to occupy that space in the future and what kind of time frame they have on that project (if any).