Oldiesmann

I saw the 5:00 show today and thoroughly enjoyed it. I've been looking forward to this one as ESOI was my favorite show last summer (though I never saw Marty's Party). I've seen several of the Peanuts specials, the Snoopy Come Home movie and have read the strip for years, so I recognized all of the themes they touched on. The skaters were quite talented (like usual), and I thought they did a great job with the music selection. This year the music covers several decades, unlike last year's show which mostly stuck to 70s music. And of course they keep finding new ways to get guests to shell out nickels - now they have vendors selling cotton candy and flash toys/necklaces before the show.

When I rode Zephyr earlier, the ride op said something like "Enjoy your ride on Zephyr, which goes up and around, then underwater 6 times. Smile for the camera!". Back on topic: Guest, talking to his friends, while waiting in the SRL at Diamondback: "This is how I rode this 5 times in 5 minutes!"

I was 6, on Beastie.

So does Firefox...

Just for clarification, the NWS does not set the sirens off. A county EMA worker or other local official does. (It varies depending on the location and how things are hooked up).

Not necessarily. Watches and warnings can be (and often are) issued only for parts of a county. The reasons that the sirens are set off for the entire county can vary - sometimes it's because of the possibility that the danger could spread to other areas, and other times it's just due to lack of training (those responsible only know how to set off all the sirens in the county).

Impressive! Did you do that through the telescope or does your camera have really powerful zoom on it?

I'm hoping it's just that they're really busy at the moment (Starlight Spectacular, the ASA thing last weekend, Rock Band Live starting tomorrow, going "full time" next week [beginning Friday, the park will be open til 10pm or later every day until late August]), but I may email Don later to see if we can get a definite answer. Even if they chose to end it, I wouldn't expect them to just leave us hanging like this.

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