Oldiesmann

Early last season, I had a lot of problems getting connected to the internet on days when the park was crowded - I'd be outside with a full signal and I'd either have a very slow internet connection, or I would get some sort of an error. I switched to Sprint back in late June or early July and didn't have any problems after that.

I am wondering why Q is pushing for these dividends so much. Sure, everyone wants to make more money, but what's more important here - making unitholders richer or paying off debt and staying out of bankruptcy? I also love the name of one of those general partners - "Star Spangled Sprockets, LP". It looks like they're all a bunch of dummy companies that serve little purpose except to fulfill requirements in regards to the Limited Partnership setup.

The same thing happened at Beastie in 2001. It was not a fun time.

I love their jab at The Beach (currently picture 4): "Real dirt. Real sand. Real fun." (The Beach's motto "Real sand. Real surf. Real fun.")

This makes me wonder just how fast the guy was going... The article also says that CP claims he caused "considerable damage" to their property.

You might be a KI addict if you just bought a new digital camera and are already dreaming of how you'll use the fun shooting modes at KI this coming season

Another airport that could be a factor is Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport - it's only 17 miles from KI and is almost directly north of there (though slightly further east).

Thanks. Glad you like them

There are dozens of airports within 20 miles of KI (counting both public and private ones, as well as "airfields" such as the one near Waynesville)

The Last two pictures are of a 157, do you know where this one is? Note the last sentence before the pictures: "These pictures were taken in a shop on Madison Rd" A quick Google search turns up the following business: Player Piano Shop 2025 Madison Road Cincinnati, Ohio 45208 This is in the O'Bryonville area (between East Walnut Hills and Hyde Park).

And, for those of us who can't make 8-hour-round-trip custard runs, there's Culver's (which is just plain good no matter what you get - I only wish there were more of them around here).

I ended up choosing "Other" because I think a KI could use a good Wild Mouse coaster. They're compact, very flexible and look like a lot of fun (sadly, I've never had the opportunity to ride one).

Do they still have that observation tower thing in the woods up there? It'll be interesting to see how this turns out.

How is this Kalahari's fault? It's a water park. There's bound to be water on the ground. And suing the insurance company for coverage of all medical bills? It's common knowledge that insurance usually doesn't cover everything.

It could be worse. Minneapolis is shut down due to blizzard conditions... At the other end of the weather spectrum, LA and other parts of the southwestern US are seeing near record-high temperatures: http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/42878/los-angeles-phoenix-warmth-to.asp

For those who didn't watch the entire episode: Sure, it's likely not enough to reopen the park, but every little bit helps, and getting exposure on a popular TV show like that could help them as well.

When the park has decided what they want to do with it, they will say something. Until then, all we can do is remain hopeful that it will reopen. I personally loved that ride in its original form. Sure, it was rough, but that was part of the fun in my opinion. It's unfortunate that they were not able to leave it that way. I did ride it once in its second form (in 2009, a month or two before it was closed), and didn't like it nearly as much. It wasn't that the loop was gone - it just wasn't the same ride with those trains. If they can get lightweight trains that actually fit the track well, it would probably work out quite nicely. A lot depends on how many nickels it will take to get the ride to a state that the park management likes well enough to reopen it (and, possibly, whether or not Kinzel's successor likes hoarding nickels as much as he does...)

I'm watching the latest episode of American Pickers on History Channel right now, and this particular episode features the guys doing their thing at Bushkill Park in Easton, PA. The park has a long history but was hit by a severe flood from Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and saw more trouble after it briefly reopened in 2006 (see the Wikipedia article on Historic Bushkill Park for more info). Apparently one of the owners wants to reopen the park, but needs to clear some things out to make room for new rides and to clean things up. You can watch the episode online at http://www.history.com/shows/american-pickers/videos/american-pickers-a-banner-pick Really interesting look at history. I'm surprised I've never heard of this place before.

It wouldn't be that difficult to make a more up to date KI-"opoly" game... Most of the "opoly" games, at least in this area, are produced by a local company known as Late For The Sky Productions. For $30, you can buy Photo-Opoly and plaster your own photos around the board for whatever you want...

Back to the songs... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQAfkYJdbrM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpJMOb4TZGc Second one might be a bit of a stretch since it's mostly instrumental, but it's an awesome tune nonetheless

If it's not broken then CF needs to find the $ to maintain it so they can put it back...

I have no idea how much of this (if any) is true, but I did some research on it earlier in the year. According to YouTube user Wurlitzer157, an organ expert who has posted a few short videos of the band organ from 2005, at one time there was a dedicated park employee whose sole job was to maintain/repair the organ as needed. At some point, it was decided to contract this out to Stinson, and the organ was repaired yearly (or possibly even monthly). In 2006, with the park up for sale, Paramount decided not to spend the money to have the organ repaired. Supposedly the "guts" of the organ are stored in Flight of Fear's bowl and it would cost around $3,000 just to repair it (but even more to fully restore it). I did ask about this back in May when the park was doing the 5@5 thing on Facebook, but the people handling that didn't get a chance to research it before the feature was abruptly ended. Regardless of what the actual status of the organ is, it is indeed cheaper to just play a CD than to restore the organ and keep it maintained. However, I don't think the cause is hopeless. During my research on the issue (yes, I had a bit too much time on my hands...), I found out about the National Carousel Association, which actually offers grants to help cover the cost of preserving and restoring carousels. So, basically we need to do two things: 1. Convince the park and/or CF to apply for a grant (I'm sure the project would qualify, especially given the carousel's historical significance) 2. Convince CF to spend the money necessary to continue maintaining the carousel. The second part would be the most difficult. We all know that Kinzel is a cheapskate, and of course CF does have quite a bit of debt to pay off, but it's at least something to think about.

I'm glad to hear it will be making a return as well. It was a lot of fun!

Same, I'd love to see The Racer go back to it's original Red, White and Blue paint scheme. It would does wonders with a Coney mall revamp. I asked them about that when they were doing the 5@5 thing, and they basically said it would be too expensive to do that. Too bad we can't convince Kinzel to donate a few thousand nickels towards the cause

While the Planet Snoopy rides may not be the hardest to actually operate, I'm guessing that having to deal with the kids (and parents) may make them one of the hardest places to be a ride op. You're right in that area, though the parents could be worse than the kids at times.