Outdoor Man

if i'm not mistaken there is a pretty LARGE (and steep) raveen in between Kings Island and the Great Miami.... anyone who has been on the bike path along the river will notice a "slight" altitude change there and the park.

the last time I was in one of those "settings" was last year (2006). But a friend who is a hold over from the PKI casting dept say that this year is no better or worse than years past, but that this year was the first time they've had problems with employees text messaging while on the job.... and other. And that the area supervisors this year tended to have been slightly more qualified than in years past. he said that it is a general expectation problem. PKI management had low expectations from associates.... which is why they had to stack 10 people in a job that could have been done by 3-4... becuase it usually took all 10 to get it done (I'm being a little dramatic, but you get the point). They had low expectations, and most fell short of that. CF has tried to raise the bar... but as many have said on this site- it's going to take some time. Don't quit. the summer is unfortunately almost over (from an operating season perspective). Guests will be jerks, but as you get older and into the professional scene... that doesn't change- try working with people's money... that's when the "good" attitudes come out. As far as co-workers... "do not let anybody put you down because you are young, but be an example."

but Mat, I'll agree with you from that perspective. Guests can be major pains in the, uh.... you get the point. But I hope you understand from my post that- texting and listening to personal entertainment devices does not figure into your experience.

i was at KI about 3 weeks ago and it wasn't so much bad attitudes/disrespect.... i saw employees texting and listening to mp3 players. That's unacceptable. You wouldn't even get by with that working at McDonalds. And it's that particular attitude that is going to earn KI lawsuits from negligence. I've been on the Volunteer staff's before (a program I think they have discontinued) and have been specifically "placed" at certain locations and the problem I've seen from the last few years have been supervisors (those are the ones in the ties this year, right?) that were too concerned with being a "fun" boss- than being a responsible supervisor.

sigh.

Oh, come on PKIVortex.... ignore it and it will go away eventually.

settle down mikey. "Experience Venting" is present on this board quite a bit. But honestly, I agree with Boddha- if the employees were that bad, you should have reported it right away. Anytime the majority of your staff is 18 and under that is going to happen. I don't know if CF has done this, but hopefully they have done away with the Paramount philosophy of giving Supervisor positions to minors.

and they're going to "p"ki... where's that at? I thought Paramount left the building.

GREAT POST "jondrewfoo"-- we must have went at the same time/had the same thought.

if you can plan on the fly and want to maximize your riding experience- the BEST time to go is days before a known hurricane is to hit. I know it sounds stupid... but if the NWS is predicting a hurricane to make landfall in florida... usually you can get those notices 10 days out. and you can slip into Orlando and our 2 days before landfall... the few days before then the parks are EMPTY! We did that a few years ago when those 4 hurricanes hit Florida back-to-back-to-back-to-back. We went in between 2 and 3. The hurricane was to hit on a Wednesday afternoon and we left Tuesday mid afternoon.... the 3 days previous to that the longest wait we had for virtually anything was 15 minutes. And to drum up business they tend to run insane specials.... especially on "time-sensitive" food. If I am in the place where I can do some last minute planning again.... I shall keep my eyes on the skies.

opinion. If the 1984 version of The Bat were operating today same flaws, etc... WOuld it be worked with and fixed until corrected or would it still be scrapped? I would say that it would be fixed.

I'm guessing SOB will make an appearance at a future FearFest on a Memorial stone, does that count?

We are nearing the Autumn season. Anyone know where I can find some good, dried, structural timber firewood?

it's regarding the KIC special event- i think that's a good time for the KIC community to mention/talk about this with the Kings Island Representatives who may be present. BoddaH owns the site and he responded on this thread... if he wants to move it, so move it shall.

i think you need to take it to them. I think CF would have an open ear. They don't have a museum of sorts, but the do have a well-documented history of Cedar Point available. Kings Island has a very long history dating back to Coney Island in the early 20th century... and what do you know- you've started a Coney Island site as well. There are a TON of things on this site that many museums don't have. You've had great communication with Jeff, then Maureen, and I assume you will with the new guy in there.

BoddaH- you and Dane have considerable "pull" with the marketing function for your age. The marketing tends to listen or at least entertain your input... I know spousees of a handful of people on the inside and have heard your names in conversation (positive, mind you) about different events happening... plus Cox Publishing features this site in their papers all over Ohio. You were probably aware of this, but management-types out of state were crawling all over the message boards the minute Winterfest in 2005 to see what the opinions were. Suggestion- You KIC site has probably more material (pictures, memorabilia, and just plain raw information) for a "museum" of sorts than most museums ever have in a lifetime. As an entrepreneur you need to bump heads with Kings Island marketing management and "business plan" a "Kings Island history museum." I would pay an upcharge to go through it.

fans of SOB are probably very lucky that Cedar Fair has a penchant for record breaking rides... coasters in particular, otherwise under Paramount Parks management- the life support plug might have been pulled after last summer. Either way- read it however you want- from this point SOB will likely be on a pretty short leash. CF is looking for private equity buyers... buyers who probably wouldn't been too impressed by funneling $$'s down a bottomless hole... and the popularity / ridership of a problem prone coaster- known to cause injury will not rebound easily let alone with repeated down time. I will place my bets on an eventual Gravestone at FearFest someday with the acronym "S.O.B." on it. Maybe not this year, maybe not next.... but soon it will join the likes of "The Bat," and "King Cobra." I think it's pretty catchy... perhaps some marketing potential: RIP-SOB.

you guys are way off. i heard that they are going to clear the rest of the land where the Safari was, call it Geauga- and load that whole place on a flat bed and move it to Cincinnati.

yes. it would get attention for a few weeks. then only the people who actually know who John Miller is/was would fill the lines.

ugh. I hate this site. I had work to do and instead spent an hour on the history pictures. What "big" announcement are you all speaking of?

that was in the Cincy Enquirer about a year ago (or so) when he (Couch) announced the park would never reopen- that the coaster, carousel, and flume would stay..... - why, I'm not sure. I'm certain that wood for the coaster has not been kept up as it should (it' been closed for 3 years). My thought is Kings Island (Cedar Fair) would have little interest in a coaster like that, even for nostalgia purposes. Spend a few million on a new coaster that within weeks would have a shorter walk up line than The Racer's.

information located, no further posting needed.

i knew the community of this board wouldn't fail me. I told our group that I knew "exactly" where to find what we were looking for.

actually you can get historically archived pages from the internet from as far back as 1996. I can't remember the website- i always access it from going to Google and typing "internet archive." Whatever Surf Cincinnati's website was likely has been archived.

uh... website address, not physical address. We already had that.