Oldiesmann

Beech Bend still has gas-powered cars. Their layout is smaller than either of the ones at KI was, but if a small park can afford it, why not a larger one?

Some POV footage can be seen in this video:

I was listening to some of We As Human's songs on YT last night, and they're quite good too. If you like Skillet, RED or TFK, you'll probably like them as well.

Seeing all of the posts about Phantom Theater makes me wish I'd actually gotten a chance to ride it before it was "Scooby-fied". I was a kid when that was put in, and my parents don't like haunted houses and the like, so we didn't ride it. We were just disappointed that our beloved smurf boat ride had been replaced with a haunted house.

Now we need to get the word to the rides department to start using these for the carousel music - 5 albums will give them a much wider variety of music than whatever they're using now (and I was once told be someone that the organ playing on the recording they're using now is not the Wurlitzer 157).

Where on earth did you find that album? I didn't even know such a thing existed!

Looking over their website, it looks promising. They're keeping some of the "extras" the park previously had (the Tuesday night teen dance club, dive-in movies, the "dog day" in September), plus things seem reasonably priced. Will definitely consider making at least one trip up there this summer. I'm not surprised that they kept the "Come to the Beach" jingle - it's very familiar to people in this area, so why come up with something new when they can use something most people will remember?

I've only seen Stryper once, on their "Reborn" tour at Annie's on Kellogg in 2005, and it was a great show. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing them again. Of the bands at Spirit Song this year, I can definitely say I've seen Skillet, Matthew West, TobyMac, NewSong and David Crowder. I think I've also seen TFK and Newsboys, but I don't remember for sure. I haven't seen either Matthew West or NewSong in a long time. The last time I saw Matthew West was when he was at The Underground with Downhere and BarlowGirl years ago. I don't think I've seen NewSong since their "Christmas Shoes" tour at Landmark eons ago (that was before the song reached "obnoxious" status )

Much of the line-up for this year's Spirit Song festival has been released, and it seems this year is going to be one of the best yet! 6/27/13 Skillet Tenth Avenue North Matthew West Petra We As Human Speaker: Matthew West 6/28/13 TobyMac RED Building 429 NewSong The City Harmonic 6/29/13 Newsboys Lecrae David Crowder Thousand Foot Krutch Speaker: Nick Hall Emcee all three days will be comedian Bone Hampton. Tickets are on sale now. See http://www.spiritsongfest.com/tickets for complete details (too much info to post here). Their FB page also says more artists are going to be announced soon. These will likely be the smaller, lesser-known acts that play before or in between the main acts. I was really surprised to see Petra in that lineup. Apparently they're doing a 40th anniversary tour this year with Bob Hartman (guitar, 1972-1994; 2003-present), John Schlitt (vocals, 1986-present), Greg Bailey (bass, 2003-present) and Chistian Borneo (drums, just joined for this tour?). The ironic thing is, many people likely wouldn't recognize the band's early work, especially as they had a much different sound back then. (Go look up "Wake Up" on YouTube if you're curious). Now I seriously need to get a working record player again so I can break out This Means War!

Beech Bend has a petting zoo, but that's a bit different - Beech Bend is a much smaller park, things are more spread out, and the nearest zoo is an hour away in Nashville.

Not really a ride, but since others are talking about overhauling specific areas of the park... I would retheme Festhaus to play off Cincinnati's rich German heritage - German food, German beer, a restored clock and shows that reflect the general theme of the building and the original "Oktoberfest" area.

The one thing I really miss is Paramount's attention to detail, at least in the early days: Ride effects and theming were well-maintained, even if the ride wasn't the park's signature attraction Strictly-enforced dress codes (bikinis, bathing suits, etc. were absolutely not acceptable attire outside the water park) Area-specific music (kiddy music in HB/Nick, country/bluegrass music in Rivertown) Fourth of July festivities - patriotic decorations throughout the park, special entertainment, etc.

According to RCDB, it's still operating.

On a semi-related note, going back to the beginning of this topic and the complaints about the "visitkingsisland" domain... I just checked, and it appears there is no longer an active website at kingsisland.com. This means there's a possibility we could have the "good" domain name for KI's website in a couple of years. Let the rumors begin! (Disclaimer: There is absolutely no way to determine if this will ever happen - even if the domain expires next year, there's no guarantee that CF will want it or even that they will be able to get it before someone else does...)

I believe it was on a timer. As an employee in HB in 2005, I loved hearing unsuspecting guests scream as they got soaked after the bell rang.

I made 10 trips to KI this year, most of which were in the early part of the season (May-June) due mostly to the excessively hot weather we had this past summer.

I generally listen to Air1 (90.1) most of the time, though I also like WGRR (103.5) and WOFX (92.5) to some extent.

Considering that IPB Buddy isn't even available for Android, I have no plans of ever using it. The mobile theme on this site works just fine for me.

A while back (don't remember when), I had a dream where KI took my season pass from me because I was throwing rocks at people. Now, why I was throwing rocks at people is another story. I wish I could tell you, but that's all I remember of the dream - and the fact that I was thoroughly disappointed that my own stupidity had resulted in a loss of something that was so much fun to me.

It doesn't surprise me that he'd be "hopeful" that a deal could be reached. Re-opening the park means more jobs, another attraction to draw tourists to the state, more tax dollars and more money for the state since it sits on state-owned land.

It needs to be more dramatic, like the ending of "MacArthur Park" :

Full version of the article, with more pictures: http://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2012/11/keansburg_amusement_park_vows_to_rebuild_after_hurricane_sandy_destruction.html

I highly doubt someone displaying this level of "intelligence" (if you can call it that) can afford a section of coaster track:

According to a Southern California news site, Coast Rider is one of three new attractions debuting next year as Knotts expands its boardwalk: http://blog.pe.com/theme-parks/2012/11/01/knotts-berry-farm-park-announces-boardwalk-expansion-for-2013/

As is mentioned somewhere else on this forum, the pond at The Beast was actually removed when the exit was reworked to make it ADA compliant/handicapped accessible. The old exit is now (at least partly) the Fast Lane entrance and was an emergency exit for years prior to that. I don't know where it originally let out, but I'm sure others here can give info on that.