robintodd

I can't be certain but I remember about 2 years after The Bat was built I was at Kings Island and randomly selected to choose from a couple of options for next years attraction and was taken back into the admin buildings. I'm pretty sure the model pictured above (the one with the yellow track) was there. At the time it would have been the first looping inverted coaster (of course I voted for it ). I am very curious if this is the same model some 20 years later. Todd

Not really a surprise, no news at all. First Drop magaizine had this back in November of 2007 (reported by screamscape). Seems the 3 turns could be mistaken as "loops" but other than that fits the article nicely. http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/4884/ki9745wb8.jpg Todd

I believe it is the car from Waynes World. It was located in the old Paramount Story area in front of the waterfall.

Any idea of the show times for 80's? I didn't see anything on KI's website.

Thanks Interpreter. It's been about 5 years since I was there. They still have T2 (inverted coaster)?

Decent park. I like it. Chang is awesome, and the sisters are fantastic. Never really seen a "huge" crowd there. Quite a bit of walking (especially to get to the "main park") you have to go over a bridge that goes over the highway. But all in all worth a trip. Todd

Ok, so every year me, my wife and my son go to Cedar Point on the last weekend, unfortunately because of a scheduling conflict we had to go the second-to-last. Friday we checked into Breakers around 10pm. My wife (and I) love Breakers. The hotel is decorated to the max along with music. It really has a Halloween feel to it (plus it's 100+ years old). My son decided to take a nap (typical 14 year old) so my wife and I headed into the park. Blue streak was a walk on so we did that, afterward we did Millennium Force and waited 15 minutes. While walking we went through the Fright Zone and Carn-Evil. I love the walk thru "scare zones". They are my favorite. No wait, lots of scare and the ability to see others get scared (I saw one actor have two girls on the ground in a fetal position screaming just by standing over them!) Saturday, as has been stated previously was ridiculous! We went straight to Maverick at opening and waited an hour and a half (it impresses me that Cedar Point takes the time to make sure the ride wait signs are as correct as can be). Front seat only had 3 groups waiting so the wife and I headed there, the son miss counted (did I mention he's 14 ) and went 1 ride ahead of us. Awesome ride. By that time it was about 1:30 and the park was PACKED. We took in the magic show just across from Maverick. Very nice, audience participation, kid-oriented but an appeal from adults as well. We walked around for a bit and went to Friday's in Breakers to watch the OSU game (go BUCKS). Afterward my wife and son went up to the room to take a nap. During that time I went to go see Monsters of Rock. This show is AWESOME! It puts ANYTHING I have seen at KI in the past 15 years to shame. You can catch pieces of it up on you tube. The show is simple a four piece band (drums, bass, lead & rhythm/keyboards) with 3 female singers and 4 male singers. It is in the small saloon just past Millennium force. The venue was PACKED. Standing room only. They started just playing and did a FANTASTIC set. Mostly 80's rock. Guns & Roses, Poision, AC/DC with a new song or two mixed in. The voices were spot on and blended very well. The musicians were perfect. When my wife and son got up I told them we had to go see the show. Before that show a gentleman stated he was video taping the performance because the show was up for an award. It deserves to win. The second show was better than the first. It really grows on you quick. The finale is Kickstart my Heart and really drives. I saw kids there head-banging! The audience ranged in age and everyone seemed very pleased. If you have ANY chance to see this show next weekend DO IT. I could have sat through all the performances that night (while drinking beer!) and I would have had a great time. After the show, we walked through Fright Zone, CarnEvil and FearFaire. Fear Faire is my favorite. The have an animatronic dragon that was amazing. I could easily just sit in the zones and watch other people get scared and be entertained. Sunday we got up and headed in to ride Top Thrill Dragster. The lines were much more manageable, 1 hour wait. After that we rode Magnum (30 minutes) and then headed home. All-in-all although I won't go until the last weekend next year, the Monsters of Rock show saved the Saturday. After seeing that show in a venue that could hold maybe 100 max I am very disappointed in Dead Awakening at KI. Monsters of Rock would EASILY fill International Showplace with people standing outside just to hear it. The singers are done in make up (even a vampire with red-eye contacts) but the groove of the show is awesome. The do "what about love" by Heart and the 3 girls sang their butts off. One word describes the show ENERGY. Tons of it. Cedar Fair should take that show and put it at every one of it's parks. For those of you who are going to ask yes, it is 10 times better than school of rock. Again it's the energy, variety and the talent that sets this show apart from anything I've seen in a long time. I hope this show wins, they deserve it. Finally I wish to say that Cedar Point had NO LINES for scare zones. Why do WE???? Even packed the monsters still scare, it's easier for them to blend in! The park looked beautiful as always. I hope the start to pull more of that feel to KI. Todd

My wife and son went to the park tonight after the football game. We got there at 10:45. The park looked FANTASTIC. We rode The Beast and from the hill you could see the fog hanging over the park creating about a 25 foot ceiling! We went through the Cemetary, very nice addition. Afterward we went to Work site which impressed me as I never got to go through it last year. Cornstalkers had a line. I miss the "scare zones" They are usually my favorite part of the trip to Cedar Point and I wondered why the did away with them this year. We then rode The Beast, went through Death Row and then Massacre Manor. We grabbed a cup of coffee and noticed the Dead Awakening (sp?) show was starting at 12:30. I should preface this next piece by saying I was involved in theatre and dance from age 5 till 20 (including 2 years in Blue Jacket as a fronters man/soilder/white captive). My favorite theme park show of all time was Celebration at KI. The show ran for 2 years and they even pressed an album of the show (yes, vinyl ok, so I'm 37 ). My view on the Dead show is very mixed. The cast is FABULOUS. Great dancing and very good voices. The lights, OUTSTANDING. The soundtrack is VERY WELL DONE, probably the best soundtrack I've heard in the park in 10 years. My problem, the continuity of the show. It was hard to "follow". Alot of new music, but nothing that would bring people back for more. I expected some more "fun". Some older classics (if you consider Rob Zombie or Marilyn Manson old). They did do evernesance (sp?) and did it well. I'm not saying the show was bad, I just believe it could have been better. The Taft's spoiled me in the 80's. Their shows were very top notch. I also noticed a continutiy problem in the ice show this year. If you saw it you know what I was talking about. I just missed some of the obvious hallowen songs even of current time. Dragula would have been awesome. The Beautiful People would have played very well when sung by a bunch of ghouls. Also, there is a song by a group called Book of Love, the song is a remake of "Tubular Bells" from the Exorsist, very nice beat. I hope I'm making sense but those are classic halloween songs. Not that all the songs were bad in the show, just maybe a more cohesive story line that was more obvious than the one presented. Yes, there is one that you catch onto about two-thirds of the way thorugh the show (I won't give it away here). All-in-all Haloween Haunt is AWESOME. Very impressed with everyone involved, especially with the cast of the Dead show. My dissapointment is in the show, not the execution. I hope I don't come off as mean and you understand where I'm coming from. I know how hard it is to execute a show and am happy to see the addition of one. Hopefully some of the song suggestions will make it into next year...... Todd

I saw Weird Al at the Fraze in Kettering. I have seen him live over 15 times through the years. At the Fraze he started Amish Paradise and about 1/3 of the way through the song must have forgotten the words!! He said "You don't want to hear that song anyway" and screamed "Radio, Radio" and covered that song instead. Only time I've ever seen it happen. He is an absolute riot and an outstanding musician in every right. I love his originals the most, but White and Nerdy just doesn't come across well live. Other than that it is a fantastic show and I'm looking forward to it. Todd

The event was fantastic. I thought everything went well, great value, good time and it was nice to see everyone from KICentral. Thanks for putting it on I'll be looking forward to the next one!

Received my tickets yesterday. Me and my son will be there. Looking forward to it.

Ok, just to add to the rumor mill. A fellow guest (who sells houses and knows some people in the front office) said they were putting in a hyper next year. However, they also stated that they were going to demolish the Amplitheatre and Congo Falls to make room for it. (Reason was so it could be seen from the highway.). I quickly responded to him that if you put a 300ft roller coaster ANYWHERE on the property you could see it from the highway. From the bobcats and the clearing of land it is possible that this is what they could be doing. We'll have to wait, see and keep our ears open. Todd

I am a LONG TIME KI'er. If memory serves me correctly the Wild Animal Habitat was removed BEFORE Paramount took over. The Vortex is on the "to kill" list because mostly of the time it was made. To repair/revamp the coaster would cost more than to just put in a new one. As for the brakes in the middle of The Beast, yes, they always are on to some extent. I'm sure they are watched more closesly with all the media attention to theme park accidents as of late. They have been adding so much for safety. Almost every coaster now has a seat belt. I would look at the industries safety standards more than I would blame this on park management. Last summer the park did make the decision to gear itself to more of a family park feel. With this change you would be seeing less coasters and more "experiences". They are looking more toward Universal than Cedar Point. Mostly because of all the competition in the area. When Six Flags bought Geauga Lake they added 3 coasters in one year just to try to compete with CP. PKI decided to go into a new direction instead of getting into the coaster wars with CP, Geauga Lake (now owned by Cedar Fair), Kentucky Kingdom and Holiday World. Not a bad move if they do it effectively. I'm all for coasters to and I'm sure one is coming in 2007. Most people are resistant to change. I HATED the smurfs talking over the Enchanted Voyage. They are selling alcohol in the park again (something they have tried to kill in the past) and the food is quite acceptable. Could Paramount have done a better job? Probably but the BIGGEST change I have noticed since the purchase is the shows. Taft had FANTASTIC shows. Celebration ran for two seasons and they made the soundtrack available on a record (way back, huh?). After that they did Gotta Dance which was also great. Now they have School of Rock, Nice show but they could do it outside just as effectively. They have a FANTASTIC theatre and don't use it to it's fullest extent. All in all I'd have to give Paramount a B. At least they didn't run it into the ground before trying to sell it. Todd

On the Evil front. There are only 2 jumps his son has not re-created. The snake river canyon and the jump at PKI.

Oops. LOSE not LOOSE (proof reading is IMPORTANT).

Mr. Fudd (love your opera ) is exactly the kind of person I was talking about. I can surely think of better things to do with my wife for $100 (stop the snickering ). I think the longer KI stays with this price structure the better chance the event has to FAIL. (Is that their intention all along?) In order to make money, you must spend it. With this kind of event (just like fearfest) you can expect to LOOSE money the first couple of years. It's like opening a new park. It takes time for word of mouth to spread and get the excitement about the attraction. That being said I too will be going to Winterfest. In the past I can't ever remember it being that "Busy". I think that if the marketing department of PKI is ever expecting a "sellout" in the first year of operation they will be sorely dissapointed. As a season pass holder, I believe they should raise the price of season passes 20 - 30 bucks and include winterfest for pass holders. If I go down and it's "too crowded" I'll just leave and come back another time if I don't have to pay to get in. (just like I do now in the summer). But on low attendance days the park will have more people in it (watching beginner ice skaters is pretty entertaining ) and would give that park a "busy" feel. With so little attractions a half hour wait for scooby doo would probably help burn time. I'm extremely hopeful that KI will do the right thing. Christmas is a season of giving and as I always saw Winterfest in the past, it was a way of the park saying "thanks" for a wonderful summer season. Happy Holidays, Todd

Well, I have not been to Winterfest yet this year, but I was at the original Winterfest. From what I've been reading I think that they will HAVE to drop prices to get people into the park. It is a matter of what else people could do in the area. The Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo cost $9. True there is no skating, but that is upcharged at KI. The Zoo has shows also and 2,000 animals to feed to boot. Which would you take your family of 5 to? KI, like many amusement parks makes it's money on Food and Beverage. If people don't come in the door, there will be no food & beverage sales. It's a delacate balance. I am very disheartened to hear the same feel isn't there anymore. The original Winterfest had lights EVERYWHERE. Horse drawn carriages were a real nice touch, they surely could have had that this year. They will work out the kinks. I would suspect they will offer a deeper discounted admission for season pass holders the last 2 weeks of the year (during Mon - Thur). What they need is word of mouth from experience. They need a bigger buzz about what is going on. And I also remember no parking fee for winterfest, but I could be wrong. Here's hoping they work the kinks out. Todd

There is still a section if it (I believe) behind the busytown grill.

I think the easiest roller coaster to turn around would be The Beastie. Everytime I've been this year I've only notice one train on the ride. Maybe they are retro fitting one of the other trains. That or they will run the Rivertown train backwords. Maybe that's it. If they are having ghouls and ghosts come at you it would be scarier when most of the seats are facing backward. This would also be so simple to do. Just my thought.

Ok Coasterville I can see some of your point. But we are talking about a family attraction. Having free ice skating (unless you rent the skates) doesn't answer to Grandma with the artificial hip. Inflation you say should be double plus some. Fine, 17.99 would be fair AT THE GATE. Not 24.99. Specific day tickets should be 10.99 and you take your chances on a "snow out". You forget parking used to be free. Now it's $5. Just seems steep. The park makes more money once you're inside the park. As far as charging more to "get the train back on the tracks" with that mentality if you open a new theme park next year you should charge everyone $250 to get in (since you had to buy all new stuff). You make the money in the long hall. It costs money to make money. They amortize the decorations and such out to as many as 5-10 years when they do something like this. That way you aren't putting a burden on the current year's budget. With all the money the park makes it always seemed like Winterfest was the "deal" it used to be as kind of a thank you for a successful year. They used some of the budget to "give back" to the people who visited most often; the season pass holders. You don't get many people coming from across the country to go to Winterfest like you do in the summer for KI. Just my thoughts, for what they are worth.

You can find the brocure at http://www.themeparkbrochures.com. They also did horse drawn buggy rides back then. And yes the zoo charges 20 but the still have the ANIMALS. It's a ZOO. They are were open in winter before they started the Christmas light thing. Animals need to be feed year round. Cincinatti Zoo has the festival of lights and if you had to spend 25 a person would you do it for 4 hours a PKI or all day at the zoo? Put on your marketing cap. First you create the demand, then you can charge more for your supplies. Either way it will be interesting to see the turnout. I just want it to be a success so they keep doing it for years to come.

Just did a quick check to verify my memory. In 1991 they had the dodgem cars and les taxis open in addition to what they are offering this year. Parking was free. Children under 3 free. 6.95 per person otherwise. Hours were 4-10 most days and 2-10(ish) on the weekends. Just some food for thought. Todd

I'm happy Winterfest will be back. I'm not totally thrilled with what they are presenting. Being in my mid-30's I remember what Winterfest was and although they are trying to give more to the mix I'm disheartened with the admission price. 17.99 for specific day tickets, 24.99 at the door (unless they are sold out). I inquired how many people would be considered a "sell-out" and no one could tell me. Back when Winterfest used to be around it was relatively cheap to get in. There was a fee for renting skates and the usual expensive food fair found at any park. I can never remember a time when it was "extremely" crowded and that's when season pass holders got in for free. (parking was never charged for, couldn't find an employee to to sit at the front gate in freezing weather maybe? ). I'm a bit fearful that they are setting up Winterfest to fail. In the summer choices are pretty limited for theme parks (except for Kentuky Kingdom) but in the winter there is alot more competition. You could almost go to a football game for the same price as Winterfest. They are renting skates as well this year so that will be on top of the price of admission. Like $3 for hot chocolate isn't enough? I guess I would have liked to see them charge less and if they indeed have "sell-outs" then they could raise the price next year. Paramount is an unknown entity in the winter market. I would be better to have it more affordable so they could re-establish themselves in the area than to ask people to pay money to take a risk. I'm planning on attending this year and will be interested in how many people they get in the park. The public wanted Winterfest back. The one they knew. Affordable and an added value to your season pass. They will be open 4 hours max (6 - 10 even on the weekends?) The carousel, Scooby's Haunted Mansion and the train will be operating and for that they think even 17.99 is reasonable? (plus $5 to park). Just seems a bit greedy to start out in a already crowded holiday attraction market where they actually have competition for family's pre-christmas dollars. I don't mean to be a scrouge and expensive winterfest is better than none at all. But are they just doing this so next year they can not do it and blame low attendance at this years event???? What happened to the season of giving and how many will be giving to PKI this season. Todd

Ok, as far as movies to theme rides after how about....War Of The Worlds. (would probalby make a FANTASTIC dark ride though). Also as far as a hyper theme Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow would be a good candidate. Also the Core or possibly Mission Impossible (3 is in the works). I would love to see a hyper and it's about time they made up for SOB. Just my thoughts... Todd

I rode the Raptor at CP in the snow. AWESOME! Plus I always look forward to an early/late season BEAST ride when the temperature is down as are the crowds!