The Interpreter

I never said anything of the kind. What'd you think? That they were going to buy the park and rename Reptar as Top Thrill Dragster (hey, if they did, at least ONE Top Thrill Dragster would be operating most of the summer)? Son of Beast as Millennium Force?

It's working fine here. Sites go up and down. Nothing is perfect! Try again!

The one thing I have learned about this business, and how, is to NEVER say never. No reasonable person right after Six Flags bought Sea World of Ohio ever thought that Cedar Point would, in effect, own Geauga Lake AND the former Sea World property. And not continue the animal park. And build a waterpark with non-union labor right in the middle of union country. And watch admissions fail miserably. No reasonable person thought a small real estate company in Oklahoma would ever own Six Flags. No reasonable person ever thought that Walt Disney would take on the entire amusement park industry. No reasonable person ever thought that Disney would build a pseudo-Six Flags park in its parking lot at Disneyland. No reasonable person ever thought that the shows at Kings Island would NOT improve under Paramount. Never but ever say never.

Amen. People seem to forget that the year Lindner sold was the last year that KECO was to manage the park, even absent the park. And it was Paramount who put the parks back together under one umbrella... If Paramount had not bought PKD, PCWi, PGA and KECO's interest in PCWo, then KI would have continued under Lindner. I have always said the Lindner years were not kind years for Kings Island. I still say that. That all being said, this transition year is also not a good thing. But things could be far, far worse...Story, Burke and Co. were not exactly the best thing that ever happened to the Six Flags parks. . .

Polls where respondents self-select themselves are notoriously unreliable...

At this point, no one knows if the Paramount themes will stay or go after any change of ownership. Like everything else in a sale, that's negotiable between the parties. What the buyer will want, what the seller wants for it, etc. It's far too early to say the Paramount theming will stay. Or go.

I remember Humble Pie!

Speaking of which, I miss Phantom Theater. Sigh.

The Wings at Carowinds does a land office business...the food is quite good, the prices reasonable (and the sodas self service!). Carowinds also has a nice sit down place that serves fried chicken, too. And the burgers at Outer Hanks are far, far better than those at Stuntman's....

Given what went on with Volcano the first year it was there, who knows?

On the other hand, PKD has NEVER said what is going to happen to their Flight of Fear. It may reopen, it may not. Time will tell.

a. Happy Birthday! b. Thanks for the pics!

Gaylord took great delight in closing the park. It was THEIR decision. The outlet thing was a total flop. I doubt they learned a thing from it, though. And running a park today is a very different proposition than it was when they did it.

Yeah, but the best restaurants at both parks are NOT included in that deal. Mythos, for example. Or the place in the Oak Tree! Or the Irish Pub place over at the Studio Park. All you can eat at Mel's. For me, that wouldn't be very much!

Gaylord? The people who walked away from Opryland? The people who, along with USAA, emasculated The Rattler at Fiesta Texas? The people who almost took country music off WSM--until the public raised Holy Hannah? Gaylord? Surely you jest.

Nor do I. Regardless of whether or not CBS has a 16 percent or so interest in Great Wolf Lodge. It doesn't make sense.

Let's assume that KI did have a very bad year last year (which I don't think to be the case). So, to make up for it now, they cut costs by cutting back on guest opportunties to spend money? * No off season season-pass processing (the time the guest stands in line DURING THE SEASON is time that guest could have been inside the park spending money...during the off season, the guest would have spent a little bit of time that she could have been spending money, but that time and money would otherwise have gone to Macy's or something...not the park...and not much of that in any event). * By not letting guests in the park before 10, up to another hour of time the guest could have been spending (ever hear of per caps?) is also forfeited. Also, the hour or so that many guests spend cooling their heels waiting for the park to open (and, in many cases, looking for a restroom they can get to) causes at least some guests to reconsider the next time they think of going to KI. * By not opening shops until noon, yet up to two more hours of spending time is gone...and many season passholders, in particular, leave the park by noon. * Closed food stands, games and merchandise locations further deprive the park of income making opportunities. * If large numbers of rides are closed (perhaps due in part to reduced maintenance, reduced manitenance staffing, lack of a dry run day or other factors), some guests will leave the park earlier than usual and with them goes any spending they would otherwise have done the remainder of the day. * Greatly increased drink prices, the unpairing of combos (fries no longer come with that, sir), increased food prices and what appears to be less staffing of the restaurants (and/or slow service as seen at Skyline on International Street) will drive more guests out of the park to eat (we have seen several posts by people here admitting that) or to coolers, again depriving the park of some per cap spending. * Earlier closing times in summer also cuts back on per cap spending in two ways. First the guest is in the park fewer hours (though whether or not the guests in the park would spend more than the cost to keep the park open is questionable) and earlier closes may keep some guests from coming at all (it's too late to go now, they close in two hours and I am not going to take you to Kings Island when we would just turn around and have to leave right after we got there). It's the lost visits where this really hurts, if it does at all. * To the extent all of the above frustrates at least some guests into not returning, yet more income is lost. Just in park income if the non-returner or less frequent returner is a season pass holder, but also admissions and parking revenue if the people who otherwise would have returned did not have passes but would have bought daily tickets. Yes, in each of these cases, the park shows less expense. But, in my humble opinion, the revenue they give up far exceeds what they "saved." And guests who are frustrated by all this may not just keep this in mind this year. These types of things may enter into their decisions of whether to go to KI in future years. And guests do tell other prospective guests of their experiences...more so the negative ones than the positive ones, actually. Think per caps aren't important? Why do you think the parks have "Bring A Friend Free" Days? I can't see anything afoot here but an attempt to show lower costs to operate the parks. By the way, I saw the same reduced staffing at PKD that I did at PKI. I did not observe this situation as being that way at Carowinds. Perhaps buyers are ushered to Carowinds to observe the parks in operation. And perhaps once the buyers have bitten and agreed to sign the deal, the situation at PKI and PKD will improve and/or the situation at Carowinds will worsen until the deal is executed. It is only my supposition, but I see a park chain that is getting out of the business and doing everything it can to make 2oo6 look to be a relatively low expense year for the parks.

Yeah. In 2oo4. In 2oo5, PKI attendance declined, and PCWo became the world's most attended seasonal theme park, with PKI having that same status for the USA... AB's attendance figures are estimates. There are many in and around the industry, including me, that doubt some of those estimates...but they are the best, non-biased source out there.

That is, of course, making an assumption that the deal isn't already done. An assumption that I doubt if anyone on this board knows is a true one or not...

It's at the front gate...and the usual gate music. Ironically, in the rest of the park, in many areas, the music on opening weekend seemed to be absent. But not the country in Rivertown. It was there, louder than usual!

There are also very few characters walking around at the park so far. Well, that's if you exclude those of us who post here!

There is more to an open than you might think. The stuff I am talking about is more back end stuff that the general public is not privy to. I was not trying to be a jerk or anything, but Carowinds open was not a happy one on all accounts. I do talk with a one of the VP's down there on occassion and one of the GM's down there. In the grand scheme of things, it reallly doesn't matter how hard the opening was to pull off for the staff. What matters is what the public--the paying visitors--perceived. If the staff had a grand time and things seemed just fine, but the public saw a park where many of the rides and stands were closed, the park had a great backup of people trying to get in for at least an hour, etc., they will tell others and many won't come back. If, on the other hand, all major rides were functional, the landscaping was grand, the restrooms spotless---then, regardless of all the headaches the staff had pulling this off---the public will, for the most part, be well pleased and also tell others. Sadly, people who have bad experiences are far more likely to tell their friends than people who have good ones, but that's the way it is.

Uh, PCWi is Carowinds. In the Carolinas (both of them, actually). PCWo isn't even open yet.

Same here. PCWi was truly wonderful opening day. The park was spotlessly clean, all major rides operated, the food was grand, the place was a showplace of wonderfulness. We were there...so how do you argue with that?

I understand it will be back, and with some great improvements. Stay tuned!