Outdoor Man

I think this one will be different. If multiple waves keep occurring and a vaccine has been showing positive results they may fast track. I'm not medical or in Govt. so is purely my own opinion.

My fear on this is- probably a year after this situation is past tense- that we'll see that the Coronavirus was highly contagious but in the end, deadly, but not as deadly as reported (in the US anyway). I read a journal that states that the virus has been present and growing in the US since mid-December. They report that of the 180,000 cases confirmed in the US- only those with mild-severe symptoms are getting tested and only 20% of them test positive. They state, however, our actual numbers of those infected (currently and recovered) are unknown. "Easily double, without breaking a sweat. Probably more like 4 or 5 times the reported number and deaths early on were simply attributed to the flu or pneumonia before we really knew what was happening." They also estimate that the death toll is probably approx 500 higher because of this. So, my fear is that when all is said and done we look back and have an illness with a calculated mortality rate of <0.5%. using their numbers alone of 4000 deaths divided by 720,000 infections = 0.56% That is to say, we're not going to know completely for probably another 18 months.

I would still stress, we are less than a month into this. Less than 3 weeks ago I was in 4 airports in 2 days and didn't spend much time thinking about it. If that business trip had been a week later I may have reconsidered. Here in the US, we have barely completed one "incubation" cycle and lack data to make decisions on. I work as a consultant/contractor for one of the Orlando resorts and they have told me that they have only made their decisions to what the state of Florida and local authorities have allowed because simply... they don't know. There have been tremendous medical breakthroughs in the past 10 days. Keep in mind, we're really less than 21 into it. The next 10 should bring results from the past 10 days. NOW, that said- these breakthroughs involve treatments. Prevention will continue to be an issue for... who knows. Vaccines are already in development- less than 3 weeks- but it may be months before they are approved.

The news cycle on this changes every day. Just two weeks ago I passed through 4 airports in the span of two days, at which time everyone was mostly clueless about what was going on. Most in leadership were reacting to very, very limited data. The news cycle, and narrative are going to change literally daily. Remember, we're just over 2 weeks into this. The private sector and those 'evil' pharmaceutical companies (that are going to eventually solve the problem) really hadn't ratcheted their efforts up. In 10 days time the chloquine treatment had gone from an unknown to resolving cases in as little as 5 days. We're only a little over 2 weeks in. Social distancing suggestions may remain in effect for a while, but more positive news is coming. The American free market is the best place for innovation in the world. 2 and a half weeks in and the last week has yielded some great, positive developments. I'll revisit my comment on April 10.

this has probably been mentioned before, but I think they need to rename Orion... more hills and valleys, scarier than Haunt, unpredictable swings...

It's going to spike. Not necessarily because there are a ton of "new" cases- though that may be the case- but with all of the testing kits coming online, we're going to discover infections "already" present that weren't accounted for. The whole arc of human history has been marked with chaos: disease, famine, drought, floods, earth quakes, more disease, war, etc... This is our turn to go through it collectively. Looking at the stats and how this has emerged I'm kind of surprised that a certain level of sequester didn't occur during the Swine Flu pandemic a decade ago. I know, it's not apples-to-apples, but it was serious. When all is said and done... and this will be temporary, there is no other place I'd rather live in the "aftermath" than in the US.

Plus, my understanding is this reaches three weeks out. Things can change, but, KI is still, yet, a month out.

it's all good. I meant that as a light jab... on a computer screen it probably came across crass.

"Dude," I was making reference to the "state-side" Disney resorts, not necessarily about EuroDisney- meanwhile acknowledging that the Disney's Asian properties are closed at the moment.

Was just at the "house of Mouse" yesterday and spoke to a number of leadership individuals- not about this, but it did come up. With the international appeal of the resorts, i'm 99.9% certain that the Coronavirus has gone through the CA and FL resorts- though presently no cases have drawn lines through the resorts. All chemicals they use (and have used before corona became more than the name of a beer I don't drink) is a safeguard against that and most viruses. It's why, in the US, parks don't shut down when there is a flu epidemic- despite the fact that parks are mostly petri dishes of germs. That said, most of the concern is for spread to elderly. statistically, 98-99% of those under a certain age may/will get, deal with it for a week'ish and be done with it. BUT- most of us on here have elderly or aging parents. I'm not too terribly concerned... yet.- I was in Orlando yesterday, Raleigh today, Baltimore tonight, then back to Cincinnati- but if it gets a bit worse I'll have a moment of pause so as to not place my parents in harms way because I wasn't concerned... about me. and to the topic. Nothing has likely come from Kings Island yet because we're still a month away from opening day. This will look a ton different (better or worse) in 30 days. It was hardly a conversation 30 days ago. They will probably start preparing to release statements around 4/1.

restore the scar in the back of the park. New, creative, flats.

quick "political'ish" question. Assume for the sake of argument a successful vaccine originates from Israel. Given their odd rash of high-ranking officials coming down with it... does Iran acknowledge Israel long enough to acquire it???? Israel could get it to production quicker, since they aren't under the same guidelines and restrictions as the US developers are. It won't have as much testing... but will come to market quicker. I don't see this becoming a big issue in the US. With the international appeal, my guess is that virus carriers have been all through the US theme park system (in CA and FL) for months. the worldwide tally is 80,000+ infected and 3,000+ deaths. Though we'll never know how many infections were happening in China before it became grossly apparent. If not mistaken 90%+ of the 3,000 (I seem to recall a news article saying that 2,700) were in Wuhan China, which they quarantined and turned a city of 11 million into a giant petri dish. Take Wuhan out and you have less than a 1% mortality rate. Feel free to fact check me on that- but I think those were the numbers. Imagine the mass chaos that would ensue if we reported with bold headlines and breaking news every time someone passed from the flu. Remember the Swine Flu (H1N1) that never was???

This is the KIC faux version of Mike Baxter, Man, writing to you today about that awkward phase all of us experience called, childhood. If you’re a boy of a certain age, you have memories of going to the local K-Mart, Hills, Jamesway, or the Sears Christmas Catalog (Z’ers… look them up) to find a plastic die-cast model car. My favorite was the 1985 Pontiac Fiero (look that one up too). The wheels didn’t operate too well and you couldn’t really play with them- but WOW did they look good from afar on a shelf with other similar toys. But as you aged from single digits and onto teen years you stopped building and figured it was time to start destroying, or in my case- demolition derbies and a random imitation M80 I could find in July. But you never forget the memories of building it with a dad or friends and comparing them with friends. We resonate with images, sounds, and excitement of the past… then for some reason unknown we like to watch their demise. The Sanders Hall implosion on the UC campus was televised all throughout Ohio. The Sands Casino implosion in Las Vegas was literally a tourist attraction (not that I ever went there). A big part of my childhood into adulthood was memories made at Riverfront Stadium watching the Wire-to-Wire Reds. I was there when one batter in, John McSherry collapsed and passed away. Barry Larkin’s 30/30 season. The 1999 season. Ken Griffey Jr.’s first game as a Red. The last game in Sept. 2002 where they lost to the Phil’s… and the next night to see Pete Rose dive into the Riverfront 3rd base for the first time in 15 years. Not to mention to see the remnants of the Big Red Machine gather at the Stadium one last time before it closed. Riverfront Stadium was 1 year younger than Vortex when it closed. In those rickety hollow Arrow tubes held the memories of riding the once tallest and loopiest coaster. Driving past on I-71 during the winter when it was the only thing other than the tower you could see until 1999 (Drop Zone/Tower). As trivial as a coaster can be- I’ll forever recall the sounds of the trains hitting the lift hill. No other coaster sounded like that… the rattle of the steel as it came over the LaRosas in Rivertown. Not to mention once assuring my girlfriend at the time that I had been on it many times before and that she would love it. Problem- I had never been on it- or any other coaster of significance up to that time. Boy, was that an awkward hour afterwards. With that- I can’t help but be somewhat disappointed that Cedar Fair had such a lock-down on The Vortex deconstruction. A common phrase I’ve heard is that with Orion- they want people to be looking to the future rather than the past. The Reds began advertising the implosion of Riverfront Stadium a year before it fell- and it was a tourist and media spectacle giving way to a new Reds era at Great American Ballpark. But it went out in “public” fashion for any/all to see. They have their reasons and it’s their company and their money- they certainly don’t need my opinion. I just disagree. Baxter, out.

I'll say it depends on how soon "next" gets underway. My guess is that strategically they are underway- but visual execution could be an unknown. They've known that Vortex's days were numbered for a while (it was 30+ years old and beyond the average life expectancy of peer coasters)- so they knew that sooner or later they were going to have a vacant ravine. My own opinion, with nothing to base it on, is that closing it in October 2019 was earlier than expected- but maybe by a year, maybe two. If next will be rolled out for 2021 I expect to see a fence this year. If beyond... it may be an open field- though it may depend on the level of debris leftover come opening day. All that said, it will be the largest large piece of empty (prime) real estate that one would walk past in a park. One that I don't expect to be vacant for long. Maybe not 2021- but I'd put a few chips in on 2022.

I think Disney's interest in an operation like Cedar Fair (.... or Six Flags, etc...)- is pretty far left of negative numbers. "IF" Disney was interested at all in the Cedar Fair markets they would rather start from scratch and build to their specs rather than attempt to upgrade CF's mismatched attempts at theming.

According to the WeatherBug camera there is a crane behind the lift hill as of 9:00a.. no doubt up to some nefarious activity.

I am no engineer, but run on the assumption that track being pulled down from a train running below receives more stress than track that runs under a train. I think I said that right...

what will be interesting is that "The Bat" is only six years "younger" than Vortex is was. The track receives a lot more stress from the trains hanging instead of sitting. My guess is that service life timeline conversation is nearing as well.

hopefully theming involves.... a restroom!

The corkscrew, or parts of it, may have had to come down first.

first loop was a shade taller.

me thinks both loops are down now.

Anthony worked as Chief Creative Officer/SVP Guest Experiences for Herschend under their CEO at the time, Joel Manby. When Manby was offered the CEO position at SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment- Anthony accepted a lateral move to join him in Orlando. Unfortunately, Anthony became part of the (one of) many executive expunges SW has participated in recent years.

maybe O'Rourke will release images of the demo later a la Son of Beast.

The sections to come down are the tallest and most complicated. Much like the Son of Beast i could see sections of the lift hill sectioned and brought down separately.