Oldiesmann

As far as Flight of Fear - I'd love to see that ride returned to its original glory (minus the OTS restraints that gave your ears a nice beating...). The one thing that annoys me the most about that ride now is the "bring the train to a complete standstill" brake on the MCBR. I realize that they need to slow the train down some, but why is it necessary to slow it down that much?

Did a little research on it... The ride was known as a Top Star Tour and was made by a company called Soriani and Moser, which was bought by Zamperla. Zamperla apparently made two sizes of the ride, but it's not listed on their website, so I assume it isn't made anymore. There was apparently an installation of the smaller version in the Myrtle Beach area at one time, but that park (Myrtle Beach Grand Prix) closed in 2006.

It would normally cost more than that (when I was there a few weeks ago, it was $8.19 for two slices of pizza and a large soda), but yes, it would be nice if KI's food prices were as cheap as Coney's food prices.

Found this on Youtube... See http://www.cetconnect.org/Television/Cincinnati_Reflections.aspx for more info on this series (I'm guessing this was originally a 3-part series, but the uploader had to split it up due to Youtube's limit on video run time). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmhVzQYtGOA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDpKzEboYL4

I swung by Coney after work yesterday (I had to work from 9-4, so I missed the opening of the time capsule), and really enjoyed the festivities. I got a free hot dog and two pieces of free cake (I got some around 5, then came back a few hours later and they were still setting out pieces, so I helped myself again). There were longer lines for the rides (at times, the line for the bumper cars was back to the soda machines), but I still got to ride everything, even doing three straight rides on Tempest (I love that ride). The $1.25 deals were especially fun - during a rain shower, I ducked into Larosas and picked up two slices of pizza and a 16oz Mountain Dew for $3.99 with tax. The nostalgic photos and other memorabilia in Lakeside Pavilion really made me wish I could have visited Coney in its heyday - the Dip the Dips coaster/log flume looked like a lot of fun. I was also surprised to see that there were plans to build a 3rd Island Queen.

I was in line for The Beast during the fireworks so I missed this. I did see it on the ground though and it looked beautiful. Some of the ride operators were doing practice with opening and closing the harnesses, they said they were hoping to open it up within the next week. I also got an upclose look at the testing dummies, and they said B@M on them so I'm assuming these are the same ones used on DB. I commented on that not long ago. If you see them more closely, "B&M" is crossed out with permanent ink marker and "Carowinds" is written below that (also with permanent-ink marker).

Adventure Express - fix the squeaky tiki guys and the ones that aren't working properly. I'd also like to restore the original effects on that ride (as I recall, the ride originally had fog/mist, but I can't find any videos from that time).

Apparently Platinum passes from Michgan's Adventure and Worlds of Fun don't work at KI either. I had to go to Guest Relations yesterday to get my gold pass straightened out (it had been voided when I reported it stolen along with the other items in my backpack a couple weeks ago), and GR had to print off vouchers for guests who had MA and WoF platinum passes. I find it odd that they're still having problems with passes 5 years after CF purchased the former Paramount parks...

Anyone else notice the new menu item at Coney Skyline?

It is also available through Blockbuster - purchase it for $16 (not sure if they charge for shipping or not), rent it for 7 days for $5, or rent it as part of your monthly subscription... http://www.blockbuster.com/browse/catalog/movieDetails/340094

Unfortunately, not everyone here has HDTV. Will check and see if it's available in regular definition though.

It might be pretty crowded, because most (if not all) fireworks shows in the area are on the 3rd, and, as with Memorial Day weekend, military personnel will get free admission that weekend (with $30 tickets for the rest of their family). However, the park is open until midnight that night, so you'll have an additional two hours to spend riding things if you decide to stay for the entire day. The only nearby festivities I could find for that day are up at The Beach Waterpark - a concert from classic rock group Denim Road from 2-3pm, Despicable Me showing in the wave pool at 8:30 (part of their "Dive-In Movies" series) and fireworks after the movie.

That video I posted is from 2010. The cars are faster and of a different design than those at KI. Interestingly enough, Wikipedia indicates that they did add a concrete island to that ride in 2005 (see the article on Six Flags Great America - the ride at California's Great America is apparently a copy of the one at the Six Flags park of the same name). I'm guessing that isn't a coincidence.

I hope not. The bumper cars at Great America appear to be much faster than those at KI, and they're a completely different design as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EqDgAANU_Y&feature=related

It looks like the local police had their hands full due to Phish... http://nky.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20110606/NEWS010703/306060075/Phish-fans-arrested-Covington-hotel http://nky.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20110606/NEWS010701/306060028/Seven-arrested-Phish-concert

It would have been a lot of fun to visit Coney back then, as it seems like the park was a lot bigger at the time. I realize that the 15 acres of land now occupied by Riverbend and PNC Pavilion were once owned by Coney, but the park has changed so much in the 40 years since it originally closed that it's difficult to picture where all of these rides and attractions were.

I had a lot of fun. I did find Rock-O-Planes to be rather painful though (not sure if it was just that particular ride or if it's the way it's designed, but the lap bar stapled me into my seat). The food prices were quite reasonable, and I was impressed with the selection (one wouldn't expect such a wide variety of food and snack choices at a smaller park like Coney). I only wish I'd seen the Montgomery Inn place before I settled on Larosas for dinner. It also took me a bit to get used to the steering on Coney's bumper cars. Despite the ride area at Coney being much smaller than the one at KI, I like Coney's bumper cars better - they seem to be faster and are much more maneuverable than the ones at KI.

Before Paramount, the park shared the local 398 prefix. 754 came along a few years after Paramount bought the park. So before the 754 prefix, it was the other Mason prefix 573. However, I do believe when I first started at the park in 1989 the phone number started with 398 so I'm going to say I'm still right and that you just expanded on what I said before! It was indeed 398 at one time: http://www.themeparkbrochures.net/1991/pki1991_4.html

On a related note, the test dummies that they're using on WS were originally from B&M but are now property of Carowinds... On the back of them, "Property of B&M" is printed in large blue lettering (possibly spray-painted on there with a stencil), but someone with a permanent ink marker crossed out "B&M" and wrote "Carowinds" under it. The B&M part makes me wonder if these are the same dummies that they use for testing Diamondback in the pre-season.

I saw it when I rode Flight Deck earlier. Looks nice!

A few more new things: Fake smoke during the "Red Baron" scene in Snoopy Rocks on Ice Delirium and Drop Zone now have their own "theme music" of sorts... During the ride cycle on Delirium, they play "Song 2" by Blur, and on Drop Tower, it's "Right Now" by Van Halen. The dramatic opening of "Right Now" as you're going up on Drop Tower really adds a lot to the ride in my opinion and the "Woohoo!" parts of "Song 2" make Delirium more fun

I saw Way Too Much TV tonight when I ducked into Festhaus around 6pm to dodge the upcoming storms and really enjoyed it. I didn't pay much attention to it last year, but I will probably go back and see it again more this season.

I've never been to HW either, but will definitely try to make it out there this season. Maybe I'll skip Camden and go to HW this year instead (since it's only 3 hours from here as well). I'll have to see what my finances look like in a couple months.

Very nice! That 1996 media footage video brings back fond memories... The rainbow leading to HB Land, King Cobra, the original name of the water park... Can't wait to see what else you've got!

Those of you who are my friend on Facebook have likely already read about this, but I wanted to post this as a reminder for everyone. Never leave anything valuable unattended in Boomerang Bay, even if it's in a backpack in an area with lots of other towels and such. This past Saturday I had quite a scare. Being a hot day, I went on all the water rides, then promptly took a train ride to Boomerang Bay to cool off some more. I didn't even think to leave my shorts (with my wallet, cell phone and keys) in a locker at WWC until after I got to BB. I couldn't bring myself to shell out whatever the asking price is for lockers in Boomerang Bay now, and didn't want to take a train all the way back to WWC to get a locker, so I just found a shady spot on a hillside near a food cart where many others had laid their towels, set my stuff down, put on sunscreen and headed off to the very crowded wave pool. After a dip in the pool, I walked back past my bag to make sure it was still there and also to make sure I remembered where I left it. It was still there, so I headed off to wait in line for Tazmanian Typhoon. Being such a hot day, there was quite a long line. I'm estimating an hour passed between the time I got in line and the time I got off the ride. By that time, I was tired of the crowds (and didn't feel like waiting an hour for anything else or dodging the crowds in the wave pool), so I decided to gather up my stuff and head back to the main park for another round or two on White Water Canyon. I went back to where I'd left my stuff to find that my backpack was gone (my towel and sandals were still there). This included my shorts with my wallet, keys and cell phone, my shirt, my glasses, my sunscreen and a hair brush. I headed off to the BB entrance (the parking lot entrance) and informed a security guard, who promptly called for a police officer. The KI police officer who handled the situation did a great job - explaining the situation, arranging a place for my parents to meet me (out at the passenger pickup, since neither one of them has a gold pass), letting me sit in First Aid to cool off and get water, and ensuring I got a ride out to the passenger pickup. He gave me his card with the case number and told me I could take that to the ticket window to get a free replacement gold pass. He also suggested that I call Lost and Found on the off chance that my stuff turned up there. When I got home, I had to call the bank and cancel my bank card (a new one is on the way), call Sprint to temporarily suspend my service and dig up an old pair of glasses (I can see without them, but distant objects are somewhat blurry), and I was particularly unhappy about how much this was going to cost me (mainly new glasses + cost of eye doctor appointment). I called Lost and Found on Saturday before the park closed and left them a message. I got a call back on Sunday during church and returned their call that afternoon when I got home, again getting their answering machine. A short time later, they called back asking for a better description of the backpack that I'd lost. After a short time, they returned and said that they had my backpack and gave me a confirmation number that I could use to get it at the park. Much to my relief, the only thing missing was the $2-$3 in cash that I had in my wallet. I am very fortunate that I was able to get everything back (don't care too much about the cash, as that's peanuts compared to the value of everything I could have lost), and very grateful to KI security, police and the BB first aid staff for helping me in this situation (the first aid staff truly care about guests), but I want to remind everyone not to do what I did. Lockers are expensive, but not nearly as expensive as it would have been for me to replace all the stuff I had in my backpack.