RingMaster

You mean they went "Paramount" on us?

1) Phantom Theater: R.I.P. (Reconstruction in Progress) - taking the place of Rope Climb Game/4D Adventure thingy ....do I really even need to say anything about this one? 2) Nightmare under the Big Top - taking the place of Paramount Action FX Theater Take the Cat in the Hat ride at IOA and replace the quirky, cute Seussian characters wth dismal, dreary, and downright demented clowns who invite you to their own Big Top Freak Show after crashing their circus train into the middle of a park. 3) SpongeBob SquarePants: CRASH COURSE Boating School - taking the place of Nickelodeon Theater Um, yeah, this one's pretty obvious, but it utilizes Mack Rides's e-Motion coaster to give the sensation of being in an out-of-control boatmobile. 4) The Wild Thornberrys Treetop Terrace - in between Phantom Flyers & Timmy's Air Tours Tarzan's Treehouse at Disneyland. Except without Tarzan. Or Jane. And more monkeys. 5) NickToons Falls - retheme of River Adventure Splash Mountain with Nicktoons instead of Brer Bear, Fox, and Rabbit, and a Nicktoons version of Mt. Rushmore (Mt. SPLATmore, perhaps?) as the big mountain-thingy. 6) Devil's Bayou -where Adventure Express is, AE gets moved over to Rivertown Same setup as JAWS, but with a twist--you're in the middle of a Louisiana swamp, and there are more things to contend with than just a monstrous crocodile on the loose. Yeah, I know. My ideas are stupid. And they don't have the letters B&M in them. But that's what another post is for, duh.

Face/Off- FreQuency Congo Falls- WaveLength Drop Zone- FEARfall Top Gun- AmPlitude Italian Job: Stunt Track- Route 666 Flight of Fear- BioHaZard * Tomb Raider: The Ride- Curse of the Jade Snake * My idea here is to retheme FOF so that it becomes an even SCARIER attraction. New preshow, longer queue line, and a larger ride building housing an even bigger ride. The main thrill here is the launch, as the ride takes a cue from Islands of Adventure's HULK coaster by using an inclined launch and zero-g roll before the classic triple inversion into the darkness. Meanwhile, the queue lines and preshow will resemble going through a FearFest maze, minus the maze monsters....at least, until FearFest actually starts. Oh, BTW, Bubba Gump's Shrimp Shack is a separately owned restaurant, except it's actually entitled Shrimp Co. instead of Shack. There are a few over in California, particularly one in Universal Studios Hollywood and one at the Santa Monica Pier.

Yeah, we're trying to do our very best here in Ecology; so far, yesterday was our busiest day for Eco (peaked at 49,306, I believe). Trust me, working ALL DAY from 10am to 11pm in both the water park and Action Zone/Int. Street was not fun to say the least, especially when certain restricitions from upper management are beginning to screw a majority of us over. Cedar Fair had announced a while back to us that our Ecology Department was the best in the business, and I believe that we are the best in the business ever since I started in 2004. Unfortunately, big men on campus (not Cedar Fair execs, mind you) are now complaining about too many people going on break at the same time (regardless of the fact that the people that are going on break together are in different areas), restroom associates walking together (also regardless of the fact that only one may have a restroom key and everyone is sweeping up trash on their way to the next restroom), and supervisors not being in their area enough (again, regardless of the fact that they have to take care of other duties, such as checking trash cans in the parking lot, supervisor meetings, assigning breaks/zones/areas to swings and closer associates). Like the saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," we've had no problems whatsoever the past two years in Ecology (at least, not ones that I'm aware of). There's almost nothing that needs to be fixed with our department....aside from the occasional lazy workmate, but, then again, every department has to deal with those. But I can think of a few "other" things outside our department that need to be dealt with (*ahem* IJ:ST's onboard audio and headlights/tail lights, TR:TR's antechamber door and fog effects, some of FOF's lighting effects ). ....thanks, donnie, that makes me feel so much better.

I can agree with gburn on the fact that Universal is a tad bit disappointing compared to Disney, even though we completely skipped Animal Kingdom and Epcot when we went a few years back. But as for thrill rides, I'd take Universal and Disney's lot over Cedar Point just because I'm more interested in the story and theming of rides. Don't get me wrong; I love Millenium Force, Raptor, and Top Thrill Dragster as much as the next guy does. I just don't like waiting in a boring, basic queue line in the hot summer heat that leads to some ordinary ride station. That's why Flight of Fear is my favorite coaster of the lot here at Kings Island; they managed to add a whole story (as cheesy as it sounds) and neat extensive theming as well, even if some of the effects don't work. The exception outside Kings Island is Dueling Dragons. Sure, the actual ride portion isn't extensively themed as, say, Nemesis or Black Mamba, but it has loads of trees and even a series of lakes in and around the track, instead of just being in a "parking lot". The station and queue are very well done, too, as you traverse a run-down castle charred and frozen from recent attacks by the Fire and Ice Dragons. Even if it wasn't a Dueling B&M Invert, I'd still ride that over Raptor any day. I just think there are better coasters than what Cedar Point has to offer that aren't record breakers (exception being Dueling Dragons, of course), such as those found in Europe--Nemesis, Oblivion, Rita, Air, Corkscrew, Black Mamba Dragon Khan, Stampeda--and even the ones here in the US--Kumba, Montu, SheikRA, Gwazi, Alpengheist, Big Bad Wolf, Loch Ness, HULK. To me, CP's just spoiled these "coaster enthusiasts" enough to where there are really good coasters outside the park get no love and respect (the fact that CP is the winner for Best Amusment Park sickens me more), especially the wooden coasters. It's always, "let's take out Son of Beast and put a big steel coaster in its place" this, and, "we need another steel coaster bad because Vortex is the tallest steelie we've got" that here at Kings Island. Yet I've rarely heard anything come from people's mouths about The Raven, The Legend, The Voyage, Thunderhead, Hades, El Toro, Wildcat (Hersheypark), Lightning Racers, and any other wooden coaster. Again, it's always, "Son of Beast is too rough" this, and, "Mean Streak's way too rough of a ride" that. Okay, I'm done, even though I just did a HUGE tangent there. Now I'm going to be hated by every member here on the forums. *side note: I'm also 17 (getting rady to be 18 in less than a month), but I prefer slow-moving themed rides and themed roller coasters than your standard run-of-the-mill Cedar Point/Six Flags variety.*

Yeah, the theming on Nemesis is second to none, although I think the new Black Mamba looks pretty astounding as well. If Cedar Fair and KI were smart enough to combine Nemesis and Black Mamba's theming with the intensity and thrills of Dueling Dragons and make another Dueling Inverted series, all hell would break loose. Quick question, though: Anyone else see some kind of construction going on between Italian Job and Happy Days Diner? They had yellow tape sectioning off a medium-sized area, and there was a bulldozer and metal scaffolding all over the place. Can someone explain what the [system Edit] is going on?

I can't confirm any of this, but my guess is that Action Zone is the next area to get zombified for FearFest this year. Last year marked the debut of PCW's FearFest: Haunted Theme Park, where every area (minus the kiddie areas) was a part of the mayhem. There were a total of three scare zones--MTV Rockin Scare, Back Lot Bloodbath, and Curse of Sleepy Hollow. Now, so far, PKI has two scare zones, Coney Maul and Sleepy Hollow. So chances are that we'll get a third scare zone due to the sucess of PCW's Haunted Theme Park. The problem is that Action Zone has very few places to put mazes at. The only two that I can think of are Timberwolf's entrance (utilizing both Face-Off and Drop Zone entrances) and Top Gun/SOB's exit. Obviously, they're going to bring back the little Gauntlet area by Sling Shot since that was a tremendous sucess last year, but I'm just assuming that Action Zone will just be filled with creepers running around and maybe a cornSTALKERS-type midway in TimberWolf. ....unless they decide to make a return to using the Paramount Theater for a maze, harking back to 2000's Pirate Jack and the Legend of Halloween (or something like that). Naturally, of course, I have some ideas of my own, if you dare to ask to hear what they are...

Which is why I would LOVE to see a Kumba clone come to KI. Although it's hard to decide if Kumba is better than the HULK. But hands down, Dueling Dragons over Montu. I'd be extremely happy to see dueling inverted Beemers at Kings Island rampaging through the forest, dipping above and below the treeline, coming inches away from opposing trains numerous times. Although a Nemesis, Oblivion, and Air clone at the park would be even better (the three best coasters at Alton Towers in the UK).

Except I'd rather like to see a neat Downtown Disney-esque shopping district behind Great Wolf Lodge than see half a forest go and a 300-foot B&M stick out like a sore thumb. It would help to start expanding outside the park because, other than PKI and The Beach, there's pretty much NOTHING else to do (except drive another 10-15 miles to go to the Rave theater). Might I suggest transforming Kings Mills Rd. into a mini-Strip filled with quirky attractions (Challenge Park, Mini-Golf, possibly a small midway amusement park a'la Santa Monica Pier), neat restaurants (Rainforest Cafe', Red Lobster) and other stuff? Oh yeah, and Top Gun doesn't need to DIE. Maybe Face-Off, but then that would be a brutal maiming. But Top Gun is too fun to be taken out. ....unless they make it longer and have cooler-looking trains, or design an intuitive Floorless beast shorter than 125 feet.

I guess I'm one of the very, very few who wants the Paramount name to stay, and it's not because I grew up in the Viacom/Paramount/CBS era. I'd rather ride a coaster with ties to a popular film or television show than a generic coaster out in the middle of concrete. Every ride based off of a show/film has had some form of theming added to it to make it stand out and be unique. Regular, themeless rides just blend in as generic amusement park rides and lack any extra wow factor (other than what the ride has to offer for thrills). Yeah, I know Paramount has problems with upkeeping the theming on certain attractions, but think of it this way--would you rather ride Tomb Raider and the Italian Job as themeless, out in the open, no shaded thrill rides? Cedar Fair's got a wonderful opportunity to use a movie license to their advantage and invest in it wisely (no butchering licenses like Six Flags and the numerous Superman/Batman/Goliath coasters), and not resort to cheap, generic titles for their B&M coasters you people adore so much. I can think of several Beemers that can tie in well with Paramount flicks, regardless of if the movie was good or not, such as The Core, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Paycheck, Mission: Impossible, Aeon Flux, and a few others. What I don't want to see is for Kings Island to transform into another Cedar Point with 200-300 foot coasters every 10 feet, and no new rides the whole family can enjoy. Because the people who want the park to be restored to its original fame and glory are the same folks who want a 300 foot B&M or Intamin resting in its own parking lot and the end of these so-called "no-thrills family rides." Which is why I was rooting for Busch to buy at least Kings Island. PKI seems to fit in more with BGE and BGA than with Cedar Point and Knott's Berry Farm. Yes, they have Beemers (not sure about Intamins, though), but they are well-themed, top-notch thrill rides. For God's sakes, they even threw in a Spiderman clone!! If they had the money to do THAT, surely they had the money to buy at least one or two Paramount Parks. I'd MUCH rather have a Spiderman clone with a cool theme than a generic Beemer in a parking lot as a new 2007 attraction. I'm probably going to be hated on the boards for not liking Cedar Fair, but I honestly don't like them. And I'd rather root for Paramount to stay. Better to be facing stalactites in a dark, air-conditioned building than flipping around outside in the hot summer sun with nothing to look at but steel in concrete.

Honestly, I think the show was a dud. Of course, it doesn't surprise me that it was considering it was made alongside CBS's brilliant "cost-cutting" scheme. The set looked very nice and well-put together, but the story sucked (as well as the acting, eww!) and there were very little fighting sequences. Also, a vast majority of the action was too far away from the crowd (unlike both Waterworld and 2003's Tomb Raider stunt show), and a lot of the set wasn't used. It was, to say the least, just a bunch of running up and down stairs. The fire effects were pretty cool, though. NOTE: Already saw the show on both Google Video and YouTube.

Umm, the people that believe the helicopter attack sequence is the best part of the ride. That, and the launch.

...so coming face-to-face with icicles and a raging volcano is considered a "bad storyline?" And if you're complaining about the ride not spinning enough, go ride Kings Dominion's Tomb Raider: FIREFALL. That thing spins you upside down 7 times, with guests tumbling head over heels up to four times IN A ROW. And THAT'S not even a Giant Top Spin (more of a Suspended Top Spin with back-to-back seating).

7th Portal, the awesome 3D movie ride at the FX Theater before they decided to get rid of it and replace it with SpongeBob 3D. That, and the Phantom Theater. Oh yeah, and Curse of the Crypt from 2004's FearFest, for......sentmental reasons.

So you'd also say that you would rather ride Flight of Fear out in the open in broad daylight then inside a near pitch-black building, even though some effects don't work? And from what I can remember, Cedar Point doesn't do to well with theming, either. *eyes Disaster Transport* Name ONE coaster at a Cedar Fair park that runs through NATURAL trees instead of a "concrete parking lot." Now you can understand why I wanted Busch Gardens to buy us instead of Cedar Fair.

Why don't you just go up to Cedar Point and marvel at Magnum, Top Thrill, Millenium Force, and any other ride over 200 feet as you pull up to the park? Besides, I thought Face/Off did a good kob of wowing people as they pulled up to the park?

1) Honestly, I think Flight of Fear and the Italian Job are the two smoothest coasters in the park (along with Top Gun, even though that's an Arrow coaster). 2) Which is why the most recent wooden coaster built, The Voyage, uses a combination of wood and steel. 3) Because it looks cool and people get a kick out of it every time they go through the loop. -Hey, I like the helixes! We just need more airtime hills. And tunnels. In fact, I'd rather Son of Beast, if possible, to be transformed into one hell of a terrain coaster like its father. There is a TON of forested area for SOB to strecth its legs and REALLY terrorize fellow park guests. Heck, they shouldn't even be scared to break The Beast's record for the longest coaster (I was under the assumption that the son would be much longer than the father). *of course, tubaman had to beat me to it. * -Or at least get PTC trains like the ones on the Thunderhead at Dollywood and the Lightning Racers at Hersheypark. See, I wouldn't mind if Son of Beast's lift hill was cut a hundred feet short, what I would like to see is some ingenuity and creativity in the design and track layout of the coaster (perfect examples: Thunderhead's fly-by in the station, The Legend's twisted layout in and out of itself more than 7 times, The Raven's lovely terrain layout through the woods). If they could pull THAT off, then there would be no need to have a 108-foot loop.

Hence why the execs at Cedar Fair agreed that the Ecology Department at Kings Island was the best in the business. No joke. So what you're saying is that you'd want to ride Tomb Raider out in the open with absolutely NO shade, lighting effects, and killer soundtrack, and with just cheap, half-assed water fountains below guests' feet?

I don't know which is worse, working I-Street on 4th of July Weekend filled with messy adults, or having to deal with smelly, noisy children and unbearable pop music on 4th of July Weekend. Also, TopThrill, isn't your supervisor Kristy? Or is it Katie? Or have I said too much?

I got dibs on 3:45p on Friday or 6:15p on Thursday.

I had always assumed that the on-ride photo spot was under the icicle wall. Right after the first big scene with the Durma mural, the lights go off and you zoom upward as you're about to perform a backflip, when a wall comes down and there's like three windows that appear in front of the vehicle for a split second.

I would be ****ED if Cedar Fair decides to do that. The whole point of the ride is to feel like you're trapped in the middle of a tomb flipping over and dodging stalactites and boiling lava, NOT to be waiting outside in the hot sun (even though technically, you do wait outside on a long day) for a generic Top Spin. Anyways, here's my list: Face/Off: Phobia Drop Zone: FearFall Top Gun: JetStream Italian Job Stunt Track: Route 666 Tomb Raider: Curse of the Jade Snake

So you're saying that guests get to listen to the theme song to Mission: Impossible one minute, and the next they're listening to Hillary Duff and Lindsay Lohan?

Not to mention I Street plays the theme song to JAWS, which is a Universal film. How the [system Edit] did that happen?!

First, the European Six Flags parks go under, then WoA gets bought by Cedar Fair (now Geauga Lake), now they threaten to get rid of its most popular park, Magic Mountain. This is a very stupid move for SF, considering they just now poured so much money into Tatsu, the "world's longest, tallest, fastest flying roller coaster" for their 35th anniversary.