Oldiesmann

One place to start: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19385 That topic is the initial rumor that PS was coming and discussion of that idea.

Speaking of fountains, I am pleased to see that the old drinking fountain in Oktoberfest still works. I am a bit surprised that it's even there anymore since it's off the beaten path (in a corner between a caricature stand and Greaters on the edge of Oktoberfest).

An embarrassing story from when I worked at the park back in 2005. It was early in the season, and I was working at Yogi's Sky Tours. Suddenly, one of the helicopters decided to stop on the track. My coworker and I both panicked and instead of remembering our training, I called dispatch to tell them that the ride was down with people on it. This sent ride managers, maintenance and someone from the KI fire department rushing to the ride. Before all the managers, maintenance, etc. got there, I had remembered to try resetting the ride, which remedied the situation. At this point we went back to normal operation, right about the time that everyone arrived to see what was going on. I felt like such an idiot - I'd sent managers, maintenance, etc. rushing to the ride for a possibly serious situation (there are no stairs or trackside walkways on that ride), only to have them arrive to find the ride operating normally.

The palm trees are safe - it's used as a greenhouse for the trees in the winter (since palm trees prefer tropical climates). I didn't even notice the post count, so thanks

I didn't realize that the carriage was that old. Glad to hear that nobody was hurt.

And, as with Boo Blasters, Kinzel is making lots of extra nickels on those 3D glasses which supposedly "enhance" the experience.

That's what the guy selling the flashy toys (light wands, glow necklaces, etc.) at the front of the park said as well. Considering that they didn't even play the "rides and attractions are now closing" message until almost 10:30, I'm inclined to believe that reason, especially since the fireworks went off at 10 on Sunday.

Just to avoid any confusion, this offer appears to be open to anyone, not just those who subscribe to the newsletter.

Lift hill speed doesn't play much of a role in how fast the ride actually goes does it? I wouldn't think that would do anything except make the trains get to the top of the hill faster.

And they couldn't announce that decision to the media prior to Memorial Day? They just didn't want to deal with the possibility that a huge fight would take place there, which is understandable, but the solution to that would have been to hire extra security instead of closing altogether.

They conveniently omit the part that says police acted only after park security was unable to handle the "rowdy" crowd. And how is it that a single officer managed to pepper spray 15 people? Did he just hold it up and spray it in the general direction of the crowd?

Something like that. Firehawk opened in 2007, and I believe the helicopter ride was gone for at least one season before that.

I'm guessing that the "Under Construction" has something to do with the two slides they bought from Wyandot Lake (see this post for more details).

This whole thing is one big PR disaster. The park wasn't prepared, yet they can't admit it and instead blame everyone else. Security should have been able to break up the fight. How can they be expected to protect park guests in an emergency if they can't break up a fight? Surely someone knew that fans could rush the stage. Why weren't they prepared for this? Why did the police need to use pepper spray? They're trained to handle people who are far more dangerous than wild teenagers. Assuming the band is telling the truth about the aftermath, the park only made things worse - telling the band that they're no longer welcome, while telling the fans that the band canceled the show? That just sends a message to other bands that they should not book concerts at the park. I feel sorry for SF's PR department. It's going to take them a while to recover from this mess...

The topic description says "... a good idea that turned out as a failure", so I would say the former.

There are still a few minor issues with the tiki guys at the end (the right arm of one of the guys on the left side isn't working, and at least one of them is still squeaking), but it is a major improvement from previous seasons. Hard to believe that ride is almost 20 years old now (it opened in 1991 according to RCDB).

I must make a mental note to watch out for Terpies lurking in the bushes

Thus why you should watch others play the game before you shell out your nickels and try it yourself

Thanks! That was a lucky shot - I wanted to get a good picture of the bird because it isn't seen very often, but it was getting dark, so it was hard to get a good shot of it without the flash bouncing off of something in the foreground. I did take two other photos of it as well: <a href=" title="Heron #1 by oldiesmann, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4020/4657059908_e1ef6cd589.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Heron #1" /></a> <a href=" title="Heron #2 by oldiesmann, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/4656439253_fe7de4a0d6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Heron #2" /></a> Both were taken by setting my camera to "night snapshot" mode and using one of the wooden rope posts as a tripod. Unfortunately, the post I set the camera on for the first photo was crooked, so the photo looks a bit odd (though I can probably straighten it with Paint .NET).

Please take the time to pay attention to the date of things before commenting. The original post in this topic is from July of 2008. The tour occurred in June of 2008 (as mentioned in the last sentence of the 2nd paragraph in the article that is linked to in that post). The monorail is complete now, however it is not used as a general parking shuttle as originally planned. It is used to shuttle guests from the parking lot to the Oscar Event Center. There was a post about this on their Facebook page about this several months ago, but as I recall, the original plan to use it as a shuttle for all guests (not just those attending an event) ended up being a logistical nightmare, so that's why they chose to just use it for their event center. If I can find that post, I'll quote it here (unfortunately it was posted on their wall, so there's no easy way to link directly to it).

The showers are in the locker room, but as I recall, there are not individual stalls - just a long row of showers.

Here are some of the photos I took this past weekend... <a href=" title="Diamondback by oldiesmann, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/4657058612_371921cffe.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Diamondback" /></a> Diamondback, as seen from the WWC exit area (back by the canons) <a href=" title="Diamondback Splashdown by oldiesmann, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4657052922_7e30255966.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Diamondback Splashdown" /></a> DB splashdown, as seen from the Eiffel Tower <a href=" title="Heron #3 by oldiesmann, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4656439681_f9c8e3ec19.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Heron #3" /></a> Great blue heron at the Outer Hanks lake <a href=" title="Train #2 by oldiesmann, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4018/4657059198_52a08cea6e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Train #2" /></a> Train, from the WWC exit

I'm surprised nobody has brought that up again since they said the lights were supposed to be off. The lights at the end of the first tunnel have been on every time I've ridden it lately, regardless of the time of day.

That path reopened last weekend.

Being a holiday, it likely will be busy, though the threat of rain may scare some people away.