RingMaster

Guess who gets to go to Kings Island tomorrow for a little "department training?" Unfortunately, I won't have my camera with me, as it is in the process of being used by a friend of mine, and I think I'll get in trouble for bringing it anyway. But hopefully we'll get a nice walk-around the entire area like they did last year and the year before that. EDIT: Come to think of it, I wonder if they'll let us ride Avatar during training! I remember we had the opportunity to ride Tomb Raider back in Training in 2004....except the ride broke down before we got a chance to ride it.

Nah, I love how they complain about carnival rides when they've been asking for more flat rides to go in Coney Mall. A carnival ride IS a flat ride. Like I said earlier, half the people here would be jumping for joy if the NU rides were a part of a CM expansion instead. I believe that people will get hooked on Avatar like they did with Delirium. .....oh, BTW, I finally got a chance to see the Avatar show on Nick, and, I must say, I'm impressed with it. Cool attack scenes, beautiful landscapes, and laugh-out-loud skits that rival Invader ZIM at times are aplenty within the series. The voice acting could be better (the voice of the Avatar gets annoying quick), but, other than that, I can understand why it's a popular show. I just don't think it's as popular as SpongeBob SquarePants.

Question: Who wants to tackle Plankton's Plunge on Opening Day and make a complete fool out of ourselves (12 grown men squealing on a kiddie ride...with NO kids on it)?

Two words..... ....Phantom.... ....Theater.

Or the ride broke down and you were caught upside down. See, this is why I like another concept, the Cantilevered Coaster, better than the Robocoaster. The CRC is all mechanical, meaning that it doesn't use complicated computer systems and stuff like that. Unfortunately, it's still in concept design, but some of its ideas are very promising: ^The CRC themed as a jungle safari ride in an indoor installation. The vehicle and its riders have just avoid being run down by a charging rhino by jumping the moat surrounding a ruined jungle temple.

You're probably thinking of that stationary Robocoaster at Legoland in California. That is a flat ride version. THIS version actually rides around on a roller coaster track.

...how much you wanna bet Six Flags is gonna eat this up and put it out in the middle of a parking lot with absolutely no theming whatsoever? (or probably have a Superman theme?)

Yeah, well, contrary to popular belief the theme song is played during the hallowed event of FearFest, as the PT crew invade the Action FX Theater in October. Booyah! Point for me!

It's the design of the skateboard in the fact that it's more suited for families and younger children than a regular Disko car. The seats face inwards on a Skater car, whereas the seats on a Disko car face outwards. Disko car and seats. Skater car and seats (hard to see).

And Jennifer's probably reading this going, "I ought to give him a new hard hat on Opening Day as compensation for the faulty one." ....sorry. Just had to say that. K, I'm done.

The same thing has happened with our version of Boomerang Bay-the Crocodile Dundee name reference has been completely taken off on the website. http://www1.paramountparks.com/kingsisland Just go to "Rides and Attractions" and you'll see what I mean when Crocodile Dundee has been taken out from the Boomerang Bay logo. Could this also mean some of the other attractions could be having parts of its name taken out? Bcause it would be really awkward at Canada's Wonderland to have both a Hollywood Stunt Spectacular AND a Hollywood Stunt Track.

Yeah, he should have.

The RingMaster's Itinerary: -First things first, say howdy to me fellow Ecology buddies and supervisors/managers at "The Cage." -Make a run for The Beast, then ride it. -Check to see if Tomb Raider has a line already (most likely it won't), then ride it. -Grab my Combat Stupendous camera-look-a-like and head to Nick Universe. -Get some stock footage of the new area, then race towards Avatar, and ride it. -Run back to Phantom Flyers, then ride it. -Stare at grown men screaming like babies on Plankton's Plunge. By then it should be 12:30, 1:00, so I'll head over to Oscar's and get a quick lunch. Then I'll go tackle Action Zone (Delirium first) and make my way to Coney Mall (Racer first). .....of course, this is IF I don't have to work Opening Day.

Ok, one question. That building over by Runaway Reptar and what appears to be Timmy's Airtours covered up in a tarp.....what exactly is that going to be?

In the words of the immortal me.... ...oh, SNAP!

I think where everyone was complaining about the overhyping of attractions was with the Stunt Track and Winterfest from last year. I remember every two minutes on the radio and on TV it was commercial after commercial for the Italian Job coaster. Then, about a month after it opens, it undergoes major down-time (not that it's really a bad thing; it's completely new technology that needs to be broken in). I think it was also because of the out-of-nowhere sucess that was School of Rock LIVE! in Concert, to where as it received little to no hype whatsoever. With Winterfest, yes, I know, they were finally bringing back an age-old event that everyone wanted to come back, but, in the end, they overcharged for an event that didn't really have much to offer for everyone (not that I didn't really care for, I just wanted to go because I had never been to an event such as Winterfest). Especially when they overhyped it over a more improved and much larger FearFest, which also received little to no hype at all (I believe another reason was for Canada's Wonderland's FearFest, where it received all the glory). Almost everyone who came on Opening Night for FearFest didn't even know there was a new scare zone until they passed through the gates.

Okay, just because BGW has fewer rides doesn't mean that those rides aren't good. Heck, Universal Studios Florida only has seven actual sit-down attractions (Mummy, Twister, BTTF, ET Adventure, Earthquake, T2:3D, MIB, Jaws), but they're each meticulously designed and are truly state-of-the-art. BGW has five coasters (Big Bad Wolf, Alpengheist, Loch Ness, Apollo's Chariot, somethin else) that really are amazing ride experiences that kick some ass up and down a few of PKI's coasters. *cough*ItalianJob:StuntTrack*cough* Not to mention they have a few dark rides that are state-of-the-art, particularly Escape from Pompeii and DarKastle. I'd much rather have six or seven really amazing/groundbreaking thrill rides within gorgeous scenery than 20-30 average/cheap thrill rides in a parking lot.

Yeah, it still doesn't make sense that, as popular as SpongeBob is, it's been shoved back to make way for a ride based on a show not that many people actually enjoy. I, personally, have a small enjoyment for the show (namely the protagonist's attraction to penguins), but I doubt I'd like it up to the point that I would want to have a ride based off of it. They probably should have themed the Skater/Disko coaster to SpongeBob SquarePants to actually make his neighborhood interesting. They could even name the ride Crash Course Boating School, because the Skater car could resemble a boatmobile, and it's spinning out of control along the track. Otherwise, calling a water maze re-theme and a mini Frog Hopper a neighborhood certainly does not make any sense. ....oh, well. I'm more excited in counting down the days until we find out who has bought the parks from CBS Corp. Even though I'm betting that Paramount has a strict guideline and a master plan that they want the new owners to follow, telling them what attractions to put in so that Paramount and CBS don't have to do it themselves.

Come on, you KNOW you wanna say it.......

Ooh, ooh, me next on the rant list with common sense sprinkled in! Ok, if I'm not mistaken, how many people here wanted some new flat rides to go in PKI, like a Jump2 or a Topple Tower? Well, didn't we just get a fresh new batch of flat rides included with Nick Universe? ....ok, Plankton's Plunge doesn't count, but we still got a Kite Flyer (very popular, I hear) and a re-designed Skater (it being the world's first AND only) as flat rides. I bet that if these were part of a Coney Mall expansion instead of a kiddie land expansion, half of you would jump for joy. But, instead, you take it out on Paramount for getting rid of the Hanna-Barbera liscense (and also completely forget that a very excellent HB-themed movie ride is coming this summer) and up and say that they're a terrible company. Yes, there are things that they've screwed up on (the over and under-hyping of attractions, poor maintenance on heavily themed attractions, etc.), but there are tons more things that they've done great that need to be recognized: Delirium-The world's first Giant Frisbee Italian Job: Stunt Track-I think everyone forgot about what the cars can do and worried more about its downtime last year (including me). The cars can fishtail, provide a neat stair step effect (they have yet to put that in, though), rumble like a real car, have working head and tail lights, and have on-board audio. Not to mention car doors that open and close. Tomb Raider: The Ride-This has to be the most hevily themed attraction I've ever seen outside of Florida/California. That, and the fact that it's the world's ONLY indoor Giant Top Spin Crocodile Dundee's Boomerang Bay-Coolangatta Run is the world's first slide of its kind (now that someone else is getting the exact same ride), and Tasmanian Typhoon is the world's longest funnel ride of its kind. Face/Off-One of the nation's first face-to-face inverted suspended coasters. Drop Zone-Remains the world's tallest gyro drop at 316 feet. Son of Beast-Retains the title of the world's tallest, fastest, ONLY looping wooden coaster six years running. Flight of Fear-The world's first LIM-launched (Linear Induction Motor) coaster....that's indoors, too. FearFest-Its opening season in 2000 made it the Midwest's scariest haunted event. School of Rock LIVE! in Concert-This was the underdog of 2005. While IJ:ST got all the glory, this show proves that Paramount can cook up a good show. Nickelodeon Celebration Parade-Finally, someone beat Disney at their own game. Again, this was the underdog of 2004, with Boomerang Bay getting all the glory, but it won an IAAPA award last year. the talent of Jeff Siebert (sp?) and Maureen Kaiser-No one can forget the wonderful talents of Jeff. Let's hope Schlitterbahn is getting some good laughs right now. Meanwhile, it seems as if Maureen has some troubles of her own, dealing with a few "please-do-not-sit-in-the-Vortex-cars-during-Winter-Rehab" delinquents. Yeah, you know who you are.

Yeah, you are so not black. Question: Are there even any new episodes of Little Bill out?

I noticed when I went back up to the park to get my I.D. earlier today that they've begun re-painting some of the buildings in NU. It was hard to tell which building it was (because I saw construction through a wire fence in the car ), but I think it was the Animation Station building, as it had a bright green color to it. Other than that, things look like they're moving pretty fast in construction. One question, though. If there is anyone in Ecology here, when is the department training?

I think that's the base of Plankton's Plunge. I honestly don't know, but that's what I'm guessing. It's been in the parking lot for almost a month now.

It looked more blueish than greenish to me. Not only do they have the track pieces for Avatar there, they also have pieces for the Phantom Flyers and Plantkon's Plunge with it as well. I only say this because I was up at the park yesterday to fill out some last-minute paperwork and get my picture taken, and I was only a couple yards away from the track pieces.

The only thing I can hope that they do is provide some shade in the newly renovated area of NU. If anyone can remember, they had bulldozed over a nice forested area where Ghoster Coaster used to be. Artificial or natural, I want some shade, gosh dang it!