Oldiesmann

Also heard at the park yesterday... Guest, while in line for Viking Fury: "What's this ride called?"

The processing center is always open when the park is open to the public, but you can call the park to confirm this and to get the hours of operation (since its hours may vary from that of the park). The processing building is directly to the left of the ticket windows, near the picnic tables.

If they do get new trains (again), I hope they get trains that actually fit the track. The GCI trains just don't work in my opinion.

Heard a couple of funny things while in line for Racer yesterday: Guest, pointing to Adventure Express: "Is that The Beast?" Guest's friend: "Yeah" Another guest was on her cell phone, apparently trying to direct her friend to Racer, and referred to Adventure Express as "the Adventure thingy"...

The biggest reason for the crowds yesterday is that it was the final day for Music In The Parks, so there were a lot of school groups there (middle school, junior high and high school). I was surprised at how many people were there considering the weather, but still had a great time, even though I ended up leaving at 5 (I picked up an extra shift at work last night). The best part of the day: 10 rides on DB during ERT, despite it opening 13 minutes late and only running two trains (technical problems with the red train).

That's exactly what it is. I don't really see a problem with that - they're opening most of the major rides. Keep in mind that a large percentage of KI employees still have school this time of year, and therefore cannot work in the morning. They will likely open other rides later in the day as employee availability permits...

Maybe John Denver, but Simon and Garfunkel wouldn't fit, as much as I like their music. Some other artists who might work: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (particularly some of their stuff from the 1970s, especially the Will The Circle Be Unbroken album) Ricky Skaggs Any artists from the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack

I know the park would need permission to use those clips, but I figure it can't be that much more than what they're paying to air those music videos there. If it's too expensive, they could just show clips of DB instead, interspersed with facts, trivia, etc. relating to the ride.

Rivertown needs a mix of bluegrass and classic country, sort of like it used to have. I specifically recall hearing "Out Behind The Barn" by Little Jimmy Dickens in that section of the park back in 2005, and wouldn't mind hearing "Cincinnati, Ohio" by Connie Smith either. Anything to bring it back to that "old western town" feel that it used to have pre-Diamondback (and yes, that even means playing the country/bluegrass in the Diamondback queue - maybe show clips from the Grand Ole Opry on the TVs or something...).

Interesting... I never knew Janeen Coyle worked at KI, despite having listened to her on the radio quite a bit in high school (for those who don't live in the Cincinnati area, she's the morning show co-anchor on WGRR [103.5]).

I did ask them about the sign recently. They said they still have it, but they don't have any plans to put it back up

1982. And some of us were far less than amused at the time... That would explain why I don't remember it - that's the same year I was born My family wasn't too thrilled with the Smurfs being replaced either - suddenly you go from a fun family-friendly ride to a haunted house that definitely isn't family friendly (I never rode it as PT, but I've seen videos of it).

When was it converted from Enchanted Voyage to Smurfs? The only version I remember is Smurfs, and I don't have a clear memory of that as I was quite young then.

Racer is only down by 1 vote now, behind Lightning Racer.

Didn't realize that they had mentioned anything about painting Racer recently. I'm glad they answered my question though. Hopefully they'll find the funds and other things necessary to repaint that ride in the future.

Two of the things that really stood out to me were the BankAmericard Service Center and the NorthAmerican Van Lines storage center. When you shopped at KI, you could have your purchases sent to the front of the park, free of charge, and pick them up on the way out of the park. The storage center offered a place for you to check items that you brought with you but didn't want to carry around with you all day (coats, sweaters, umbrellas, etc.). Both were provided free of charge.

After reading over the 1972 Park Guide last week, I thought this would be an interesting discussion. Do you think that the KI of 1972, with its attention to detail, themed areas, etc., would survive in 2010? I haven't really decided yet. I would love to visit a park with all the charm that KI had in 1972, but at the same time, some things obviously wouldn't survive.

If you liked those photos, I highly recommend digging up a copy of the 1972 book Goodbye, Coney Island, Goodbye by Paul Ilynski, which is sort of a tribute to the park. It has some nicely done black-and-white and sepia-toned photos and reminiscent text of the days gone by. My dad has a copy of it and I never get tired of looking at it. Although the book is out of print, it's still fairly easy to find on the web.

Updated poll stats: KI's Racer is now in 2nd place, 11 votes behind Hersheypark's Lightning Racer.

Thanks for the link. I voted. Racer at KI is currently winning by 9 votes over The Racer at Kennywood

Not sure why nobody posted these yet, but here are Sunday's...

It would definitely be interesting to ride The Beast the way it originally was. I can at least say that I rode it when it had skid breaks, though I don't remember what it was like then (I didn't have a pass back then so I was lucky if I got to KI more than once a year at that point).

That's the way it was when I worked there back in 2005 - only select rides and sections of the park participated in M&S Day. The other areas were blocked off entirely, and opened at 5pm. At the time though I don't even think the park was open to those not participating in M&S Day until 5pm.

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=388599016948

You might be a KI addict if you... Hang out on KI's Facebook page for hours waiting for the latest 5 @ 5 questions to be posted so you can be the first to post them here and talk about them