Outdoor Man

good reply scott. i think most people are under the impression that this means that the Commonwealth of KY is going to issue a $40 million blank check. That's not how tax incentives work. The tax incentives apply to the corporate side of the park only. The state stands to make much more money from them to approve this: FICA taxes, sales tax, etc... Its not like this tax break would be channeled into something else if if weren't approved- that money currently doesn't exist. its money that upon operation the state says we'll give you a "Free Parking" (shout out to Monopoly) card for a set amount of time, after which the taxes will begin to accrue. if the park does not operate, there's no money. Church and state have nothing to do with this, its a cash flowing business looking for tax breaks that any company would look and apply for when looking to build; and as usual, because it is Christian in nature people can't get past it. And, i hear they can get those top spins pretty cheap.

as an adult, as a father, as a home owner with a dishwasher.... the souvenir cups this year stink. they are literally a hand-wash only item since they are about as tall as the Eiffel Tower.

good pictures it will be interesting to see how this develops. It would be nice if this were a precursor to a broader themed area development for #40 next year. Two other observations: Racer is really starting to resemble Top Gun, or whatever its called... in DIRE need of a decent paint job. It looks like they've painted it with a "flat-white-primer" #2- they have never really found a decent use for the old Flight Commander pad. They just need to go in with a number of jack-hammers and grade that whole area.

even if that isn't it- when my family and I were there Saturday night they had the "water" dummies on the seats hoisted about 15 feet off the ground... so they're going to be testing soon, if not already.

Off-Season Day Count: ONE (1)!

What year did they take out all the trees? i'm thinking they're still present.... just much larger and older.

So, Nemo, did you see a tornado?

someone needs to scale the Eiffel Tower and turn that thing in the correct direction.

so... when opening day hits- does that mean the end of the great array of vintage pictures from yesteryear?

There's another storm right now. I am really afraid for WindSeeker! not sure there's anything to be afraid of for it... it will likely be nailed by lightning many times over the course of an operating season.

after just waking up from a long night- I can say, now THAT was a storm! (at least where I was)- question, do you suspect that WS has been baptized into being stuck by lightning yet?

or maybe Thunder Road at Carowinds.

i'm thinking it's "Rebel Yell" from Kings Dominion... not a KI photo.

not "ascerting" but asking. Tax Incentives are a little different than funding aren't they? The Kentucky Kingdom project is requesting quite a bit of public funds to back the project; meanwhile the Ark Encounter is being backed mostly by private funds. I could be wrong, but that may be a key difference in the two. I would think that both would receive consideration for tax incentives, because both would be chipping funds back into the public tax fund through sales and employer taxes.

harsh, but I agree with everything but the state ownership. A waterpark would have a fraction of the cost, a large area to expand with, and have virtually the same operating season. You need to go spread some of that reality to some of the clowns waiting on Geauga Lake to reopen on the "ride-side."

i guess if I'm a tax payer in KY (which I'm not)- I would want my elected leaders to do something decisive. Sell, reopen, etc... definitely not "rot"

i knew the land was. i guess i'm surprised that the rides didn't belong to SF. Didn't they remove a few rides?

it's a gas fireplace with explicit instructions to not burn actual wood. I don't follow directions all the time- but I tend to honor those that deal with fire.

two Q (maybe more). are the rides the property of Kentucky- or just the land they sit will be on? I thought the lease was for the land but all the contents were that of SF. If KK can be profitable, then the tax abatement and bonds should be viewed as an investment that returned in the form of sales tax, FICA, etc... revenue. The fact that no one seems to want to touch it leads me to think that its future profitability is in question. I imagine that if an agreement cannot be reached then we'll see the rides sold/scattered. After sitting idle for 2 years, maintenance may reach a point where you cannot easily bring them back to running properly without significant expense. It is so land-locked that I'm not sure that a long and sustaining venture could work without reaching a plateau. I think the metro-Louisville area could support a park... but not in that location (close by, but not not unless some serious growth barriers were removed).

OK- since we are on the subject.... this goes for all. "Clean Up" your facebook pages. pictures of teens (obviously underage) consuming alcohol and excessive partying would disqualify you from earning an interview with my group. granted, Kings Island- with thousands of applications probably do not go that far (maybe they do)- but we can contact hundreds of personal character references listed on someone's application, but I would rather let their own actions speak. i find that to be more reliable. In 20 applications I've reviewed for positions since January 1, I've not contacted 13 based on what they felt was appropriate to broadcast publicly on Facebook. Next month I get to review Scholarship Applications. that will be fun.

I've been on delerium rather consistently and do not notice any bad operations to it. I agree with BrownTGR (i think i got that right)- it was installed as a new concept.... 2-years of tweaks and improvements came before Kinzel visited KI prior to the installation of MaxxAir (anyone remember that visit? Who knew?) I continue to be "befuddled" as to why all of the theming was ripped out of TR / Crypt. if the theming is extraordinary- people will excuse a lame ride if the effects are there. Now if has neither. The cost of the building likely exceeds the benefit received from having the ride. I don't know if I see KI removing the ride- though they would likely tear the building down first.... i think the ride would be much more thrilling as an open air ride to a building with no effects. SOB- I can't believe that they haven't established a plan for it yet ("Reopening in 2012" or "Cheap Firewood for Sale"). NOW- Dinosaur Alive.... can you imagine the "new" attraction that will most likely be rolled out in that area for Haunt this year. You better shine your "Fast Pass" for that by early May. Of all the attractions they have for Haunt, I could imagine what "could" come from this would scare the &^$(*Q$#@ out of anyone.

now... what if they replaced the chairs for WS with the rotating seats of Flight Commander..... NOW THAT would be a thrill ride worth waiting 4 hours for. That line starts behind me.

WOW!! Now for the first time in my life someone has posted something on this board that made me "feel" old! i will second that. As far as "supressing" goes, I don't remember completely, but on several occasions a few years back I remember people trying to get it started and the ride ops trying to quiet everyone from saying it.

i remember that after a while the ride ops started to "supress" those chants.... anyone have an idea why?

I'm sorry, I could have swore you said lets talk about something important. hey, you stand in line for our new 300' tall swing set having to go BAD and have to walk 5 minutes to the next restroom and tell me that's not important.