The Interpreter

And just how do you know there has been no contract signed or that there will be no campground next year or even that if there has been no contract signed it is too late to do so now? Please, give Cedar Fair and CBS some credit. It is not necessarily the case that there will be no campground next year. . .

Wrong. I have been with families on several occasions in the past five years when GR did in fact put the wrist bands on their kids. It may not have been policy, but it happened. Never means never (not even a single time). You cannot possibly say never unless you were in GR every moment it was open for the past five seasons! On the other hand, anyone who DID have it happen can say never is NOT the case! And indeed, in this instance never isn't the case. Perhaps it wasn't policy, but it did happen. Further, in at least one of those instances, the kid getting the wrist band was a smaller version of a current poster on this board! (And no, heavens, not me!) The height stand was right inside the door to the left of the GR window inside the gate, the door between the GR window and the shop. And the first time it happened was in 2001. I thought it was a very nice thing that they were doing. I suppose that this type of customer service became too much of a hassle, or more likely, there was a security problem with having the guests inside that little room all the time.

And Bonfonte Gardens just announced a tremendous starlight reduced admission price. Somehow, I suspect Cedar Fair had some involvement in that, though perhaps not:.

Oh whose staff? I think you answered your own question.

It isn't in Coney Mall where I find it most annoying. It's more over toward Rivertown, on the strip towards The Beast... And there is hawking and using mikes (like at Cedar Point), and there is having the mike one half inch from your face, waiting til the distracted guest is right near your speaker, and then blasting into the mike. Especially when the victim is some poor old guy like me who is about as much a prospect for the game as I am for an Estee Lauder makeover. Sorry, but I find the mikes VERY annoying. Not as annoying as the basketballs, but annoying. I, for one, hope Cedar Fair either lowers the volume and teaches people how to use them (as they HAVE at Cedar Point), or gets rid of them.

First of all, parks are actually further apart out West than they are in the East, except in the LA area. Interestingly, Mr. Shapiro not too long back put out a Don't Touch parks list, of the best Six Flags, those that should be held up as models for the chain: Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Six Flags over Texas, Six Flags over Georgia, Six Flags Great America, Six Flags New England and The Great Escape. You will note this list is far from focused on the East Coast. Great Adventure isn't even on it, for example. The Great Escape is relatively far inland, and not exactly high profile to the rest of the country. And Six Flags New England is a relatively lesser known park, except among enthusiasts. Second, Cedar Fair just went on a huge buying spree. The debt level is almost exactly the same as Six Flags. Some of the smaller Cedar Fair parks are not a whole lot different than some of the smaller Six Flags parks were at the time of acquisition (Valleyfair and Great America come immediately to mind). How the Cedar Fair acquisition plays out is yet to be seen. There is great opportunity for Cedar Fair here. And great risk. And the entire industry is on far shakier ground right now than it has been for many, many years.

http://www.wcpo.com/news/2006/local/07/20/sonofbeast.html Reported by: 9News Web produced by: Matthew Daniels Photographed by: 9News First posted: 7/20/2006 6:07:50 PM A structural engineer hired by the Ohio Department of Agriculture is now looking into what went wrong on Kings Island's Son of Beast roller coaster. State inspectors say cracked and splintered wood may have caused the accident that hurt 31 people on the ride earlier in July. The engineer will examine the entire structure, but its not known how long it will take. The roller coaster remains closed.

Well, Paramount didn't SELL Kings Island or the Paramount Park assets. CBS did. And I, for one, am glad they didn't keep them. It was quite obvious what a masterful job CBS was going to do in ruining the parks.

Is there such a thing as actual, unbiased reporting? Fair and balanced? No such thing. There is only deliberately biased and and those who attempt to keep their biases out of things. No one can be totally objective. No one at all. Take everything you read, regardless of source, with at least some grain of salt.

I beg to differ. On days like today, I bet many of the rich and new rich who stay in those places would rather lounge in air conditioned comfort than in Boomerang Bay or at The Beach.

I, for one, would gladly pay more for admission and/or for a season pass to any park that banned basketballs and didn't allow game hawkers to use microphones. I strongly suspect those #%)%#& basketballs BOUNCE BOUNCE BOUNCING all day annoy a lot more people into not coming back or not coming as often as they otherwise would than they make profit for park.

I doubt seriously that is true. TTD is down quite a bit, even now. Do you mean more down time since it was built? Or more downtime this season? If the latter, it could very well be true. Especially since Son of Beast opened late due to the rehabbing that wasn't over until May.

Wow. You are 17? I had you pegged for far older! You show much wisdom in your posts. And know that you are NOT hated by every member here. No way. I will join you and add something else. It's not just CP that has added to the criticism of wood coasters as being rough. It's a coaster company by the name of B and M. Most who have grown up on B and M's wonders (and they are, especially the earlier ones), expect wood to be glass smooth. When it isn't, they are upset. I often wonder what most people who post here would think of the Coney Island Cyclone, for example. I bet that they would consider it rough and in serious need of being made glass smooth like every B and M. Somehow, I don't see Cedar Fair keeping up even the minimal levels of theming in the Paramount Parks over time. I hope I am wrong, but I guess time will tell.

So you have to sit in a particular seat to enjoy Son of Beast? Why, then, do the other seats exist? And how would someone who hasn't ridden it or doesn't know much about coasters know to wait for those particular seats? And if everyone did wait for those seats, would the park send it out with those other, so-called bad seats empty?

Given what you say about not cloning coasters, why should they put in a mouse, swings or more water tube slides? All those things already exist at other parks. That should be enough, right? If it isn't, perhaps clone coasters succeed for the same reason that a mouse, swing or more water tube slides would at Kings Island. Just something to think about.

Nowhere has any article said that Son of Beast WILL run again this season. Several articles have said it could be closed a month, but those cite a state ride inspector for that opinion. Other articles have quoted industry experts who believe the ride will reopen this season. Again, the investigation as to what happened isn't even complete. As for Son of Beast being down affecting attendance from out of state visitors, I doubt that 0.05% of out of state visitors come to Kings Island primarily to ride Son of Beast.

They are NOT necessarily selling those six parks. They are considering selling those six parks. And the Canadian and Mexican parks are very profitable. This is a business. The parks exist to make money, not just to please us. If they don't do both, they won't be around for long. Having been to each of the dry parks that is on that list, I understand full well why they are. The state of the company is such that if drastic action isn't taken, ALL the parks, including the ones you like, will not be around, at least not under the current, new management.

The article did NOT say it WOULD reopen this season. It said industry experts believe it could reopen this season. There is a world of difference. To begin with, the investigation as to what happened and how to keep it from happening again isn't even complete. NO ONE knows what is going to happen to Son of Beast. First of all, it almost certainly hasn't been decided yet. Second, when it is, the park will announce what is going to happen when they are ready to do that. At least until then, no one can state with certainty what is going to happen.

Yep. Flight of Fear was unpopular because there is one like it in Virginia. Racer same story, as Rebel Yell and Thunder Road are too similar. Vortex is not all that different than Great American Scream Machine at Great Adventure or, for that matter, than was Shockwave at Great America in Chicago. Hurler has problems, as there are two of them--one in Virginia and one in North Carolina, and yet another very similar coaster in Louisville, Kentucky. Reptar? There are identical installations at Paramount and even Six Flags parks. Fairly Odd Coaster has near clones in more places than most can count, but most of them haven't been modified several times since they were built. The mice at KD and CWi are only barely different from each other, and this has resulted in the public being bored with both. Over on the old Cedar Fair side of the house, Steel Force, Mamba and Wild Thing have big problems, since all are very similar Morgan hypercoasters. OBVIOUSLY, the fact that a coaster may exist in the same or near same form at another park is not a factor to all but a very small part of a park's audience. MOST people, the ones who are by far the biggest part of the theme park business's customers, don't know or care whether a coaster is a clone. But worry not....I don't see many coaster installations at Kings Island or anywhere else after next year for quite some time at Cedar Fair or Six Flags. The chains are moving their focus elsewhere for a bit, but coasters WILL come back. The late nineties, early 2000's era was unique, though. Probably won't see coaster building like that again for a long, long time.

Yep, that's what makes us all different! I was bored to tears on that same dive machine you adored...and couldn't wait to get off it and go ride my beloved Kumba! And that's just fine! I'm glad you liked it, and I am sure August Busch is too!

What floorless coaster did you ride? They are NOT all the same. Thinking they are is like thinking Beast gives a comparable ride to Thunder Run which is about the same as the Coney Island Cyclone which is about the same as the Georgia Cyclone which is not unlike Cornball Express. Which isn't true at all.

Where and what did the media "blow up" in that article?

I posted a thread on this recently. Cedar Fair told The Toledo Blade that they chose not to buy CBS's stake in the Great Wolf Lodge... They are a competitor at Sandusky, and Cedar Fair was already stretching things to buy the five Paramount Parks and ST:TE and the management contract at Bonfonte.

Even if the state were to clear the ride, that does not necessarily mean that either Cedar Fair, Paramount's Kings Island or any insurance company(ies) would. . . I am sure the ride will not run again unless and until everyone concerned is happy enough with it they would let their own kids ride. At Cedar Fair, safety is paramount.

a. It's been updated and re-released just prior to the beginning of the showing of the reels at the Paramount Parks. This wasn't available on the web again until recently. b. It doesn't mention CBS or Paramount Parks at the end either. No matter how you slice it, it's just strange.