Oldiesmann

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).

Yesterday on Beast, one of the ride ops said "Have a Beast-tastic day here at Kings Island", and over at Racer, Bryan had passed on some really bad jokes to one of the female ride ops, who was repeating them to the guests in the station. On a semi-related note, I happened to witness guests being evacuated from the final brake run of Firehawk yesterday, and was impressed with how quickly and calmly the situation was handled. One of the ride ops carried cups of ice water out to the stranded guests, and managers began manually releasing the restraints and helping guests off the ride once maintenance had apparently determined that they could not remedy the situation quickly. I estimate that stranded guests were evacuated within 15 minutes of the time the ride went down. It also looked like they were having guests fill out a form of some sort (guests were being given clipboards and being directed what to do by one of the ride ops), so they may have been reimbursing guests for their troubles (laying in that position in the bright sunlight for 15 minutes can't be fun).

Whoever was driving Flight of Fear on Tuesday evening was having some fun with the guests: "Get ready to scream... now!" <train launches> "Enjoy your ride in 5" <train launches>

How do we know that the map is correct? As I recall, there were quite a few mistakes with that map when the new site debuted earlier this year, and the site still doesn't even mention Action Theater (not under Shows, not under Thrill Rides, not under Family Rides, not even indicated with a marker on the park map...). We will just have to wait and see where they choose to put it.

Because it would probably be cheaper to use the existing platform and restore the old Flight Commander queue than to build a new platform and queue.

The map on the WindSeeker page on KI's website shows its placement near The Vortex exit, but that might not be accurate.

I am also surprised that they leave those walls up year round, considering that the exit hall used to house a small arcade. Apparently Kinzel hasn't learned that he's losing nickels that way.

No, the patent dispute relates to the design of the ride. See http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=HCLNAAAAEBAJ&dq=7666103&output=html_text for the patent on the Starflyer.

Americana, when I went there with my family for a CG&E (later Cinergy, now Duke Energy) company picnic when I was a kid. I don't remember when it was, nor do I recall much about the trip, but the park was a mess, and the rides didn't seem very safe.

Interesting. Not a bad deal if you're into that sort of thing I guess. I've never understood the point of wine tastings to be honest.

I'd spend the day in Coney Mall as it has one of the largest selections of rides in the park, and I love the classic flats.

Antique Cars and Les Taxis (counting this as one ride since it shared the same space and such) Flying Eagles Smurf ride (sorry Terpy, but this was a must-ride for us during our annual family trips to KI when I was a kid) Der Spinnin Keggers (dizzying flat rides are always fun) Halleys Comet

The problem with Firehawk is that they take too long to dispatch the trains. It is possible to send one train out before the other one returns, but it rarely happens. If they got the trains out faster, the capacity would be better and the wait would be shorter.

On Delirium yesterday, I heard a girl telling her friend that CP had the same ride, but it's bigger and holds 100 riders at a time.

I'm excited. It looks like a fun ride and should be a great addition to that section of the park. I will likely ride it opening day, though it depends on the weather. No, I wouldn't rather have a Screamin' Swing. We've already got Delirium and I think a Screamin' Swing would probably offer a somewhat similar ride experience. I also don't know where the park would put a Screamin' Swing.

Thanks for the info Terpy. It just seems odd seeing a large empty concrete pad in the middle of the park like that. Also, do you know if the Ferris Wheel is still operational? It wasn't going the day we were there, and the grass growing in the cracked pavement below the ride seemed to indicate that it hadn't operated in some time.

It's been in 3D both times I've ridden it recently (yesterday and in late July). The only unusual thing I've noticed is that when I rode it in July, they were handing out 3D glasses after everyone was seated in the theater. Yesterday though they were handing them out as people came through the line like usual. In all honesty though, I can't see Spongebob lasting much longer unless they replace the film. The film is quite grainy now, and will only get worse with time. It's beginning to detract from the ride experience. They recently replaced the sign at the beginning of the queue, but the same film has been shown over and over again for seven years now. I'm not sure how much longer it will last. The best solution would be to convert it to digital projection, but that would likely be quite expensive.

Link has been fixed. I forgot that the auto-link-parsing thing messes up links when you have it in HTML mode.

Fox 19 just said on the 10:00 news that they have "reliable information" that it will be either a Star Flyer or a Wind Seeker and that it will fly 100 feet higher than the Eiffel Tower. No clue where they got this, but we'll find out tomorrow if they're correct. They must be pretty confident that their source is correct or they wouldn't be airing it.

What about Giovanni's Pizza? I saw several of those on the way.

Pictures are up http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldiesmann/sets/72157624789767912/ Also, here's a video I took of the Hot Cats ride: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obJPwQMR0f8?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obJPwQMR0f8?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obJPwQMR0f8?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> I've never heard of WaWa either. I just find it funny that there's a big billboard near the park for Sheetz, and it doesn't seem all that impressive to me.

The problem is the exit isn't marked Washington Avenue. It's simply marked US 60. Therefore, I thought I was supposed to stay on 52 and of course didn't realize that I had made a mistake until we were on 64. Fortunately it only took us 15 minutes or so to get off and find our way back using the GPS on our phones. Also, what's so special about Sheetz? It looks like nothing more than a typical gas station and convenience store to me (though we didn't stop there).

Great to see that they raised so much from that event. Hopefully they'll do it again next year! It's amazing that they managed to sell that many ducks. Even if everyone just bought one duck, we're talking 37,000 ducks.

My sister and I made our first trip to Camden Park yesterday and had a great time, despite the long drive (we drove out and back the same day - 3 hours each way excluding stops). The employees seemed friendly, and while there was assorted litter scattered around the park, I didn't think the park was that dirty. The main pathways were clear, as were the areas around most of the rides. The rides themselves were quite enjoyable for the most part. Their train ride was ridiculously slow. It gives you a nice tour of the park, but it would be nice if it would move just a tad bit faster. The bumper cars were a lot of fun. Surprisingly, those cars are made by the same folks who made the ones that KI uses. I only wish KI's would move that fast. Their "monster" ride, while smaller than KI's, was quite intense - possibly due to the longer ride cycle. The whip was a lot of fun. It was great to finally be able to ride one. Rocking Tug was as enjoyable as it could be for someone who's used to Surf Dog. I skipped the Zamperla ride, having ridden Linus Launcher. Hot Cats was a lot of fun. Reminded me of Flying Bobs at Coney. It was great to see a park that knows how to theme their roundup. I still don't understand why Stricker's likes to leave the colored panels for Electric Rainbow sitting in a neat pile under the ride. Scrambler was extremely enjoyable and seemed faster than the one at KI. The most intense Scrambler I've ridden so far (still need to ride the one at Coney). Tilt-a-Whirl was enjoyable as always. The sky ride was great for taking pictures of the park and everything. The Haunted House was a lot of fun. I had fun watching the guy operate the levers controlling the brakes on Big Dipper. It makes me wonder why KI doesn't leave them that way (though I'm sure there are plenty of reasons - safety, inconvenience to ride ops, time, size of the rides, possibly state regulations/manufacturers' recommendations...) The Pronto Pup was quite tasty, as was the $0.99 regular soda (though I don't understand how they can charge $3 for the sodas at the vending machines) Didn't get a chance to try the funnel cake. I skipped the Log Flume as well (it wasn't all that warm and I didn't want to walk around soaked the rest of the day), but I love their "this is a water ride. You will get wet" sign. Overall it was a very enjoyable trip despite the heavy rain, the long drive and our brief tour of part of I-64 in western Huntington (Google's directions said to take the exit towards Huntington then take the Washington Street exit, but didn't specify that this was off of US-60 and not I-64, so we got turned around a bit, but the GPS on our phones got us back there pretty quickly). We are now planning to go back to Camden Park again next year if possible. I will post pictures later.

Another possible location would be Harvest Home Park in Cheviot (for those who don't know the significance of this place, see http://www.harvesthomefair.com/). The only issues with moving it would be: 1. What do you do with the existing fairgrounds? I'm sure the Carthage location was rural when the fairgrounds were built, but it's not a great neighborhood now, and definitely not the easiest place to find for those not familiar with that part of the city. 2. Where would you hold the demolition derby, tractor pulls and other "spectator sports"? If it moved to Coney, would River Downs be able to handle those sorts of things? The location is probably the biggest problem - it's not a great neighborhood and there's limited parking. The other problem though is the time of year when fairs are typically held. August is not known for being a cool month in Cincinnati, so maybe they need to look into the possibility of providing more shade for fair visitors. I haven't been to the Hamilton County Fair in years, but as I recall, there weren't a lot of shade trees on the property, at least not to the extent that there are in Butler County.