Oldiesmann

You're quite welcome Terpy. It amazes me that he was working there at such an old age, as that has to be one of the most difficult jobs in the park. It's great to see people staying active well past retirement age though, and I'm glad he got to live the latter part of his life doing something he enjoyed.

Saw this in the Enquirer today and thought it was worth posting here. For those who get the paper, it appears in the Local Life section on Page C7. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20100924/NEWS0104/9250328/10

The mobile site came up automatically for me on Android and I'm really enjoying it. I don't particularly care for the "Loading" thing though.

An edit by someone who apparently doesn't have very good math skills. This is one of the issues with having a site that anyone can edit. I went ahead and removed that

Let's not forget increased insurance premiums once the insurance company realizes what's going on...

I will definitely be keeping an eye out for that book. That series is always very well done (my family owns several other Images of America books), and it will be great to see the park in its heyday.

I will definitely enjoy the mobile version. Glad to see that's here now. I'm not sure I like the new theme either. While it is nice to have something other than the default theme, this one is a bit too plain in my opinion, and I like the lighter background of the default theme. Any chances of getting an updated version of the old KIC theme that was here a couple of updates ago?

The antique cars were a lot of fun. It wasn't a high-speed thrill ride. It was good for what it was - a leisurely ride through the woods that was perfect for every guest, regardless of age, disability, fondness for high-speed rides, etc. There were also two sides - a regular side and "Les Taxis", which was basically the same except the cars had "taxi" signs on the roofs. You can get a good idea of why there were so liked at http://www.KICentral.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=99 As far as the placement, my theory is simply that it's a lot more visible there than it would be in the back corner of Action Zone, being along a highly-traveled path between two of the park's most popular coasters (Vortex and Beast). That pathway also has other advantages - it's a prime viewing spot for Vortex, it's right next to the only set of restrooms in that section of the park, and it's right near the bulk of the park's family rides, which made it possible to market IJST as a new family ride. Putting it in the back corner of Action Zone would have made it less visible. Sure, they could have found a way to quickly get guests back there, but then they have three heavily-promoted coasters crammed into one area, with a fourth not far away, plus they lose a not-very-popular overpriced car ride. This way, they get to keep whatever revenue they might make off whatever the race car ride is called now, and they get to make a bunch more money off the merchandising related to their newest coaster.

The Mason police should have a lot of fun with this as well. They might want to start billing KI for every call they have to respond to at the park because of drunken idiots attempting to impale each other after seeing the show.

CF also needs to learn that an increase in season pass sales should lead to an increase in per-caps, as season pass holders don't have the expenses of park admission and (in most cases) parking. A typical family of four will be out over $100 just by the time they walk through the turnstiles. They're not going to want to spend a lot in the park as they can't afford it. A season pass holder on the other hand has more money to spend without the cost of admission and (in most cases) parking. Kinzel also needs to learn the meaning of competitive pricing. With so many fast food places near KI competing for guests' money, food prices are an important factor - much more so than they would be at a more rural park where guests need to drive 30-45 minutes to find a decent fast food joint. Of course, KI was once a rural park, but that is no longer the case.

Interesting note about the domain. I was doing some research to find out who owned the various "kingsisland" domains, and it turns out that Paramount Parks bought kingsisland.us. It's not really any better than visitkingsisland.com though. It would help if they could make arrangements with the Toronto-based company that owns kingsisland.com to have something pointing people looking for the amusement park to the correct site though.

The best one I've heard is "no longer with the company". When all else fails, state the obvious and don't go into detail.

To clarify, what idiot thought that hand gestures alone would be a good idea? The hand gestures used on coasters at KI are used in conjunction with appropriate verbal gestures. From the description given in that article, it sounds like hand gestures were the only form of communication. I am surprised that this park has any visitors following this ordeal, especially since it has been publicly stated that the ride op at fault is still employed by the park, just not at various rides (and even then it sounds like they're doing that only because the judge said he couldn't work at certain rides).

Hand signals? What idiot came up with that idea? Also, how do you not notice that the cage isn't all the way at the top - especially when you have plenty of experience running that ride?

Assuming the zoning change is approved, and they find an architectural firm to handle it, can they go ahead with their plans despite CF's lawsuit? If so, CF may have lost the battle here...

This is just further proof that "consistency" isn't in Cedar Fair's vocabulary. A great example would be the difference in websites between KI and Canada's Wonderland. Canada's Wonderland, despite having a market that includes the largest metro area in Canada, still has an old Paramount-style website. KI's website was at one time consistent with that of CP and most other CF parks, and still is for the most part. You can purchase or renew platinum passes through CW's website, but not through KI's.

Which blue train are you referring to - The Racer or the actual train?

A platinum pass does include gold pass perks at all CF parks. Whether or not it actually works as far as granting you admission to the park of your choice is another story entirely...

Wonder what they'd think of Gary Coleman, who is past 3500 rides on Diamondback as of last Tuesday...

You're probably thinking of the theme from The Exorcist, which is from "Tubular Bells" by Mike Oldfield. http://www.youtube.c...h?v=O5YQmUIIjvs Thanks for the response! I had actually meant to put in my previous post that it is not "Tubular Bells". However, that is my favorite Halloween theme song! Note that the movie theme is only a small part of "Tubular Bells". The piece is actually about 50 minutes long and came out long before the movie.

That's why they should use Facebook to point people to the blog on their site. Why KI and CP have yet to figure out that the best option is to use social media to point people to their site is beyond me.

You're probably thinking of the theme from The Exorcist, which is from "Tubular Bells" by Mike Oldfield. http://www.youtube.com/index?watch?v=O5YQmUIIjvs

My favorite Halloween-themed song is the theme from the 1959 horror flick The Blob. The movie appears quite tame by today's standards, but apparently was quite scary back then. I also like that song they played during the Great Pumpkin scene of Snoopy Rocks On Ice, but I have yet to figure out what the name of that song is or who performed it.

I only live 30 minutes from the park, but my response would be about the same as Terpy's. I would find plenty of other things to ride, then stand around and see how people handled the situation. Afterwards I'd likely post my thoughts about how things were handled, guest reactions, etc. on KIC

Interesting... Gold pass prices are different than what they'll be for KI, and there's the "Silver" pass (absolutely no perks except the requisite free admission to the park - and that's only during the regular operating season).