Outdoor Man

supplies and materials for NOF this year have probably already been purchased months ago. The Enquirer interview with a PKI rep already made mention of the NOF 4-day run. My question is.... will they be shooting pyrotechnics off the sides of the tower this year? My wife and I saw pictures of that on their ads from years past...... and waited and waited and waited for the "money shot".............. and it never came!

isn't the slide on the wrong side?

i still think the name "Fairly Odd" could have been better themed on a Wild Mouse Coaster..... not much odd about the "Beastie's" layout.

question... this may go on to another thread, so I'm sorry if it is terribly irrelevant for this one. But as for the whole NU concept, if Paramount proceeds to sell off each park individually as rumored they may end up doing if they don't all sell as a package, would that change the creative licensing agreements for the current NU ride personalities / other rides (ie- Top Gun, etc.)? I could see a license agreement going with a package, but if they were to go independently, would Paramount dish out licenses to five different parks/owners? Retaining creative use of all of the paramount themes seems very advantageous... but would it be allowable? just wondering.

they probably didn't allow filming... but then again I was in 8th grade at the time- so I didn't recall studying the copyright laws of the time. If I do have it filmed it would be the end of the ride where you entered the Smurfs winterland. I seem to recall seeing that on film. It was shot during Winterfest so I do know I have footage of the park during Christmas for that year. I said 1988... but I think it was 1987... not that it really matters. Will check to see about getting a 8mm camcorder to play it.

i think i have some video footage of the smurfs enhanted voyager from back in 1988 on a "super 8" video... i don't even have a "camcorder"... but if I can find one.... and figure out how to convert the video to digital... I'll post it if anyone cares to take a gander.

what's wrong with The Bat??>#@$@> err, I mean SOB? still re-tracking?

thank you Interpreter.... you truly are an "interpreter." that's exactly what I meant. it wasn't typed real clear.... but no one would dispute the sheer size and length of SOB. and I agree. been to Busch Gardens - Williamsburg and it is one of the best landscaped and manicured parks anywhere.

Paramount's ownership has brought in some good all-around rides. honestly. my few gripes would be: 1. they've confused the theming of the park 2. and i don't feel that necessarily all rides need to have a Hollywood reference. lets take top gun for instance. this movie is good, but not yet on the classic reel and was out on VHS (& Beta... if anyone knows what that is) before some of you were born. 3. Festhaus shows. Most flat rides live up to billing. coasters are good but stop short of being great. TG... too short, FOF.... too short, FO.... too short, SOB.... IJST... too short. In somewhat of Paramount's defense on the theming/maintenance... if i'm not mistaken, that's a local thing. Suits in California aren't making trips to Cincinnati to fix theming elements. That's why there's local management. If a speaker is not working on IJST or a light bulb is out on an attraction, that's not California's problem.... that's local.

if you were to watch the scenes where they were trying to get the blue prints to their dad, assuming they were running a straight line to the location, KI should have been the length of the state of ohio.

had to pull this thread out of the archives. Season 5 featuring the Kings Island episode comes out Tuesday, March 7.... wonder if there will be special features? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CCBCH...&v=glance&n=130 i don't think that link will work. but check amazon.com for brady bunch season 5

i agree... most of paramount's moves have been to erase the "Theme Park" feel for that of a "Thrill Park." But some of the instances you mention I don't think are Paramount's fault, so-to-speak. King Cobra coming out was a maintenance issue more than anything... plus there was never a line for it anymore. Maintenance + lack of interest = removal. That will happen to any of the coasters once they reach that milestone. Now, i am one for calling December 25 exactly what it is... but even in the first run, I'm not sure that Winterfest ever actually claimed to celebrate "Christmas." I'm not a huge Nick fan.... but Hanna Barbera's days have long since been over. Scooby Doo is the only recognizeable HB character left... Not many kids under 10 know what Elroy Jetson is or Yogi, for that matter... and a lot less know who Scrappy is, so the NU is a great concept to go on... if the new owners keep the licensing. (though I hate the concept of rebadging Beatie to Fairly Odd.) I do agree, though that although Paramount is an entertainment company, the shows have drastically trailed off in recent years. There are a handful of good shows, but not like there used to be... but I'll be honest- unless it's raining or 20 degrees (winterfest)- i'm not even interested in going to the shows. From a marketing design standpoint, some of their moves didn't make sense. Action Zone prior to NU was the only section that seemed to be developed with a plan in mind to follow a set pattern. Coney Mall all of a sudden gets a FOF roller coaster (doesn't fit the Coney theme)... Tomb Raider in Rivertown (doesn't follow a theme). IJST in Coney (no theme relation). Seems that they should have massively expanded Action Zone to accomodate all of the movie-related attractions... and mobilized other things to keep with the themes of the other sections... or remodel/remove them completely. my 2-cents.

it's likely that if there is a coaster coming in 2007.... the company who is designing / building already has PKI's name on a contract to do it. so i'd say if we are to get jipped in a year, it will be 2008. My opinion is to just flat out spend good investment dollars on a ride that people will talk about over and over. IJST is intriguing, but I'd never wait hours to ride it again. Now, The Beast. major investment... i'd ride it over and over. Reseach and develop a ride like Spiderman at Universal Florida.... a water coaster.... something that raises an eye brow. SOB did that. In PKI's defense, it's not their fault (directly) that it fell short on so many expectations. (and a tunnel would be interesting... but your bones already get re-aligned on that ride... let people keep their hearing..... that would be deafening). - why hasn't there been a ride placed where Flight Commander was? It's a prime location with a line que already installed (I heard originally Drop Zone was to go there). - We can snag a flyers ride just up the road at the former Americana. Don't they have one? I hear not much goes on there these days. Out of curiousity... let's say Universal buys (long-shot, but let's go there anyway). Would Paramount's licensing agreement for ride theming follow it to a "competitor" of sorts.... would Universal even want it... (IJST becomes the Fast and the Furious.... any spongebob attraction given a "Chucky" theme... that'll be good for the kids. sorry, I got way off topic....

I skimmed through a few of the responses and didn't see this... and it's not a confidential item, as a matter of fact it was plastered all over the news when it happened.... but a WAH employee was mauled and fatally injured by a lion were they not? I'm not trying to arrogantly state that as fact... just asking- if memory serves me correctly, and it doesn't always- i think that's what happened.

you could be right, but I would assume it would be big news in the local media if it had. So are we to guess that "Paramount" is going to be dropped from the name... the press release said that their intent is to "go as Paramount" through opening day.... Do you think that they'll just go back to plain "Kings Island"... that would probably happen if Cedar Fair bought it; it would be odd as "NBC Universal Kings Island." And do all the "Nick-Themed" attractions go with the sale? When Cedar Fair bought Gauega Lake (SFO)... they re-themed everything away from WB.... maybe there were no naming rights and they had to, don't know.

hmmm... you know, if I had a profitable park system with over a billion dollars I would somehow find a way to incorporate that into my corporate strategy.

yea, but if they change the name people will still come. Besides Kings Island is an old name that was popular in the 70's, 80's, and 90's. They should go with something that reaches out to the population of today.... something Nick related.... I'm thinking along the lines of the Fairly Odd Amusement Park.

i doubt the name "studios" will be attached to the park unless someone intends to add an expensive backlot and soundstage to the grounds.

jungle jims took all of them?

picture #15.... do I spot some monorail trains in the middle of the picture?

just to clear something up.... when I made the post regarding Knotts Berry farm... I really have no idea where PGA is. And as I recall (and I may be wrong, but isn't Knotts near LA? they could very well be 400 miles apart... i don't know... but I thought they were more like 40 miles apart.

Cedar Fair already has a park in PGA territory don't they? Knott's Berry Farm?

actually that's interesting. I'm sure that whoever buys the parks would get a naming rights deal for at least a few years. that seems kind of odd that CBS would want to divest a money making arm of their business.

i hear carl lindner has a few million laying around now waiting on investment.

first off... don't think anything is wrong with Vortex. new lap bars would completely change the ride though and make it seem "new" even though nothing has changed. And I'm not joking with this (in regards to my multiple new Beastie names posts)- but they could put new trains, new color scheme, new name, new feel for minimal investment and place more people in the lines for a while. The Vortex wait has been at the 15-30 minute mark for YEARS.... usually never more or less.... and I have never been there a time where it has been broke down. Anyone with knowlege on the subject... how much would new trains cost?... are we talking 10's of thousands as opposed to millions for a new?