Oldiesmann

If the trustees' lawyer is calling it a disaster and sees little hope for survival, you know things are bad...

Also notice that they are still the only TV station in town with a "chopper" more than a year after they got it.

Having read Terp's posts here over the past 10 years (yes, I've been here that long), the story is believable to me. He's got many many friends in the amusement industry (and apparently at least one enemy as well). Why anyone would basically throw out a paying guest to avoid a negative review is beyond me, but Hart has a track record of making poor decisions. Sent from my LG G3 using Tapatalk

Hopefully the park will be setting aside funds to upgrade the electric in that area in the coming years. I am wondering why this is just now becoming a problem though since both DT and FoF have been in the park together for over a decade. Sent from my LG G3 using Tapatalk

The fact that they don't have a backup option such as a "manual imprinter" machine is a bit surprising. Surely they have at least one somewhere in the park...

The fact that they're having so many problems on a slow opening day doesn't give me much hope for the rest of the season. KK had a lot more time to prepare than KI did (KI's off-season was barely 5 1/2 months, while KK's was closer to 7 due to not being open past mid-September) and yet they're having issues that shouldn't pop up at all. The station brakes issue I can understand as random glitches are prone to happen, but attempting to retry the same card when it's already failed to go through 3 times, then calling security when you tell them you want your parking fee refunded? If anything you'd think they would want to be more cautious on opening day until they get the routine down. I'm still debating whether a trip to KK is in order on the way back from Holiwood Nights next month. As much as I'd love to stop by (since we'll be going right by there on the way home anyway), I'm not sure I want to deal with the incompetence they've shown thus far.

Maybe CoastersRZ can give us some more insight when he gets back from his honeymoon

No you're not. That's sort of what the Cincinnati Zoo has done with their Cat Canyon exhibit: (Image from the Cat Canyon blog: http://blog.cincinnatizoo.org/2014/08/01/a-roaring-success/kids-with-tiger-crissi-lanier/) More info on the exhibit: http://cincinnatizoo.org/plan-your-visit/exhibits/cat-canyon/

I got the $1 soda at Ice Scream Zone next to Delirium. I asked for a large and was asked if I wanted the $1 size. Sent from my LG G3 using Tapatalk

They had $1 sodas tonight too, which I also didn't know about until I went to buy a Sprite before leaving the park. On a related note, I seriously hope they don't keep asking us if we want a souvenir cup every time we buy a drink or even ask for a water (yes, they were doing that tonight). I may or may not buy one. I like getting them filled with ice water, but I absolutely hate having to carry it around the park with me all day.

For those who are going tomorrow - keep in mind that Woodstock Gliders is on the ERT list this year. You might be able to use that to your advantage if you want a shirt.

Headline is slightly misleading but an interesting read either way: http://www.latimes.com/travel/themeparks/la-trb-cedar-fair-dark-rides-20150415-story.html

Fixing for you...

Sad news out of Florida tonight: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-richard-petty-fatality-20150412-story.html

It's getting national attention from many major news sources (Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, Huffington Post, etc.), so hopefully other parents will think twice before doing stupid things like this. I'm glad to see the zoo taking such a serious stance on this.

If you like water parks, Noah's Ark Waterpark in Wisconsin Dells should be worth checking out. It's got glowing reviews on TripAdvisor and regularly appears on various "top 10 waterparks" lists.

The article seems to be more of a "10 parks to visit because they're opening big new attractions this year" guide. With Holiday World also being on that list (and being mentioned in the intro to the article - alongside a picture of Kentucky Kingdom for some reason), it's not really "good company"... http://www.fodors.com/news/photos/10-best-amusement-parks-for-2015 The presentation was terrible as well - the screenshot of a website, "Thunder Run", the "I think we're coming up to the part here where we show you the new rides...". To be honest it's hard not to criticize the way things are being done. Ed Hart has done this before, yet watching things you'd think the people running the park had no clue what they were doing (Ed included).

I don't believe it does because it's a new pass (you're just paying less since you already bought a gold pass), but the park would be able to tell you for sure. Also note that this is the first year they've done such a preview night in the 7 seasons I've been a pass holder.

From the pictures it looks like either poor maintenance or inferior manufacturing. Either way, at least nobody was killed.

I've never been to California's Adventure, but have seen reports on various websites that Disney doesn't really care about you having cell phones or other recording devices on the rides. I'm not sure if that's actually the case or it's more a matter of "Hey! We're at a Disney park! We have to record ourselves on this ride!" and Disney not catching people doing it.

Here's a link to the app in the Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cedarfair.kingsisland If you visit that URL from your computer, just sign in with your Google account and click Install, and it will be downloaded to your phone and installed shortly thereafter

The problem with Twitter hashtag campaigns is that they're very unpredictable, and there are plenty of people out there who are looking for a chance to make a mockery of some company/group. McDonald's, NYPD, Florida State and even Hamas have all been victims of backfired Twitter hashtag campaigns. Calling out the trolls and bashing them on your official account will only draw more attention to the negative aspects those trolls are promoting, and most certainly won't help your case.

I am going to try to stop by KK on my way back from Holiwood Nights in May.

Seems they're trying to "fix" every possible problem without actually being aware of what the problem is. They should have started researching problems last year as soon as they got revenue/attendance numbers - not 5 months before this year's fair when you should be in the thick of planning things. I'm also laughing at the whole "maybe we should increase how much we charge vendors" idea. There is absolutely no way that is a good plan, especially if the fair board makes any money off food and beverage purchases. Increasing prices following a down year will either scare vendors away or cause them to pass the costs on to consumers, at which point we're back to the "fair food is too expensive" scenario.

I'm not a marketing expert at all, but I'm struggling to understand how increased discounts is going to help them, especially given that Kroger is pretty much as common in Louisville as they are here in Cincinnati (a Google search shows at least 3 of them within 10 minutes of the fairgrounds). Maybe they're trying to make discount tickets easier to get for those who live further from Louisville, but even then, how hard is it to stop at a Kroger store on your way to the fairgrounds and get tickets? Are they really going to get that many people who are only attending the fair because they happened to see discount tickets while shopping at their favorite store? Even so, these aren't typically the kind of people who are going to spend a lot of money at the fair. The $20-a-carload thing is a risky move. I can see how it might work to their advantage, but given the reputation of that neighborhood, I really don't think that's a good idea.