bkroz

So, gray it is!

Me either. The ride would have to be then BEST ON EARTH to get me anywhere near the place. So a regular old above-average B&M inverted roller coaster wouldn't lure you in?

Eh, my point remains the same. Haha.

Right. You can't get more of a "niche" park than a religion creationism "theme park" (which may amount to being not much more than The Holy Land Experience, and almost surely won't be as intricately themed) in Southern Ohio... I doubt that many high schoolers will find Creationland to be the new, cool hangout during the summer...

And then there's Flight of Fear, which doubtlessly has not been painted since it was built (of course, it's also not exposed to the elements)... Or so I'd assume. And for an example of Premier's steel fabrication, take a look at the Italian Job's former splashdown track...

^ It's the theater that shows Spongebob 3D in Canada's Wonderland. We have a similar structure at Kings Island.

Yes, but that's the 2010 map. They simply marked the future location of WindSeeker on it. And they did that the day that WindSeeker was announced. That won't be the map they used next year.

You know, I have NO IDEA how to spell Cincinnati. Every time, I just let Spell Check correct it. I live in Northeast Ohio, and never have any use to spell out Cincinnati haha. When I do, I know there's double letters somewhere... Cincinnati? Cinncinati? Cincinnatti? Cincinatti? The more I look at it, the more it doesn't seem like a word, anyway...

I would say that that's proof enough that it won't be returning in the same form next year... They don't just get bored around November and decide to remove a single ride from the website in every form that it was present in. Likely, it'll either be closed, or a different film is coming and the height requirement has yet to be decided. I expect that the former is true, unfortunately. But come on... Removing it from the site, from the rider guide, from the height guide, etc. doesn't mean anything? EDIT: For what it's worth, Carowinds' website is the only one that still mentions an Action Theater, and it still denotes it as being closed for 2010 to prepare for Haunt (in other words, their website has not been updated since the season ended).

And how would one know this since the park has not even been announced, and no plans for rides and attractions been released? I won't get my hopes up. This is a very difficult time to maintain an amusement park, and an even worse time to construct one. Look at the numerous faltering, halted, or suspended plans from around this country and the world when it comes to smaller, independent-style theme parks... Many are announced, and practically none come to fruition. And it's true that any small park that opens in the area won't cause a threat to Kings Island. The fact of the matter is, Kings Island has teens, Halloween, and in many ways, kids on lock. But this certainly has the ability to affect pricing in certain ways...

And ironically, by posting it here, each of us is exponentially less likely to win! Haha!

Don't worry, I'm sure we'll be seeing Speedhawk sooner rather than later. GYK, still mesmerized by the snake train's lips?

The Random Roller Coaster I happened upon when I visited RCDB today had me a little taken aback! Turns out, a Vekoma coaster in Germany that's been called Wirbelwind since 1982 got some new Vekoma trains and new name for 2010! Yep! You won't hear a complaint out of me... As long as their ride is called Speed Snake, ours can't be... Reptile Cage is still an option though! http://www.rcdb.com/1004.htm Try denying that one, Fort Fun.

^ That's just a primer. So far. Not to say they won't put more silver / white / grey on top of it. But personally, I'm rooting for Afterburn's colors (and name). The dark blue supports with silver track. It's striking, it's not obnoxious, and it's not red. What other qualifications do we really need in order to be happy?

They like us! They really, really like us! What ever color will it be?!

No question in my mind, Mr. Kinzel has done a WHOLE lot of good in creating and maintaing Cedar Fair as a fantastic operator of seasonal amusement parks. He's literally built the company, and truly created a successful business in his years at the helm. I think the problem is that his decision making has deteriorated in the past few years. And really, look at his decisions and it's hard to disagree. It would seem that even his dedicated, hand-groomed #2 man found fault in something he had done - enough to leave an all-but-guaranteed position as a CEO of a multi-million dollar company in the wake. Indeed, it would seem that a man who once held the good of the company (and its unit-holders) as a number one priority tried not even a year ago to quite literally make a run for it, offering $11.50 per unit and guaranteeing himself millions at the least... This for selling a company that was only so desperate as to require being sold because of his own decisions! It was literally like a legal form of thievery; a hit and run of sorts. "Sorry about making the choices that led us here - here's a few bucks for your trouble, now I'm grabbing the only parachute on board and I'll see you all on the ground... maybe."

And that view that he very may well have - one of "I know you don't want me here, but for God's sake, I'm almost done so let me ride it out" - would be an extraordinarily dangerous, volatile, and counterproductive stance for a CEO and a chairman to have, wouldn't it?

Right, I know. I was using it to show how much of the first drop has trim brakes.

When it comes to what the real Beast looks like, it has two furry claws. And personally, I'm glad that that's all we know. If by some chance the park did release an "image" of The Beast, some people would have to be disappointed. Does it walk on two legs, or four? Is it humanoid, or more like a lion/bear? No image they could release would be "scary" enough to satisfy most. The mystery of what The Beast is is the whole point of The Beast. I imagine that the animatronic they put on the ride for Halloween was intended to be The Beast. I didn't see it, and I'm glad I didn't. To me, The Beast should never be more than two furry claws and yellow eyes in the forest.

Photo credit. Yes, they moved the ones from the airtime hill to the drop... And I wager a few extra feet of brakes were moved from the manufacturing plant to the drop, as well. The trims on the drop appear to cover a good third of the hill, at least. Just eyeballing it, that would have to be around 100 feet worth of trims - enough to change the top speed from 93 to 78. That's about a fifteen mile per hour decrease (pretty substantial) so just thinking aloud, if the trims were only moved (and none added) from the airtime hill, then that airtime hill would've seen a speed decrease of fifteen miles per hour. That doesn't seem to have been the case... I could be wrong, and I don't have any idea how valid my point may be. But it seems to me that there was a relocation and an addition, because that fifteen miles per hour is noticeable on the first drop, so it would've been really apparent on that airtime hill (which, according to many sources, it was not).

Let's put it this way - we don't even know if the darn things will make it off the ground at all. I'm keeping it in the back of his mind that there are zero (count 'em, zero) Mondial WindSeekers on this planet, and probably none on any others either. Come next spring, there will suddenly be four. And if even one experiences some sort of difficulty or delay, I bet the rest will, too! If you ask me, if they make it an up-charge, it definitely won't make it off the ground! No reason to run it if there's no one on it, after all!

But one of the major things Cedar Fair has always been criticized for is its technology being in the dark ages, both in the park, and at home. Our website was all but obsolete until last spring, and many of our sister parks still are. The technology has hindered many here from accessing parks that they have paid to gain access to. Parking is handled by a haywire system that required me to pay to park at a certain Cedar Fair park, take my receipt to customer service, wait in line, get verified, and get my money back. While most every other chain has fingerprint readers, Cedar Fair park-goers get to sign tickets with a pen. But the issue is that that continues out of the parks and into the home market. As we saw with 5@5, Cedar Fair does not see the internet as a way of connecting to or maintaining a fan base. We are as much a nuisance as anything else, with our con-flabbit in-depth, critical questioning. While most every other chain has fun videos of top-ranking park officials dropping hints about new rides with fun animation (see, Cheetah Hunt) or promotes their park to fans with in-park scavenger hunts and giveaways and concerts (Six Flags), Cedar Fair refuses to participate. And when they do get personal, or make a joke, or say something "off the record," it's immediately retracted. And yes, it's coming from the insecurity at the top. So the top needs to change. Doubt many would disagree.

Yes, Terpy, reading your post again, I see that you were talking about if demolition is the thing which needs to be done... If so, it's true that there isn't a reason to announce anything. But people are not stupid, and I think one of the main problems I personally have with Cedar Fair (and granted, they've done a lot of good) is this veil they put over everything they do - the customer; the park guest; the investor, is always the last to know. Look at Intimidator 305. Something is happening to it. And not even a gesture on Twitter, or Facebook, or Youtube, where Busch Gardens or Disney or Six Flags would already be hinting at changes to come, and poking fun at the issues of last season in anticipation of something greater. The same can be said of the dead silence around Geauga Lake, or Son of Beast, or 5@5... How quickly do they think we forget about these things? How oblivious do they think we are? Rides simply disappearing from maps, track disassembled in the off-season, out-of-the-blue deletion of the 5@5 without so much as a reason, early-season closures, and not a single word, official or otherwise, spoken from the park. Not asking for a press-release or a big to-do. Just an update for those who care that "Yeah, we know this ride has sat motionless for two years... We don't have much news to share, but we're working on it." An admission that they recognize the ride's existence would calm many of us, no matter which side of the battle you're on. Even a Twitter joke like "Things are gonna be a little less bumpy in 2012!" or "The son is setting early after that time change!" It's something Six Flags, Disney, and Universal do frequently (along with in-park scavenger hunts, giveaways, prizes, and viral marketing). Cedar Fair, in comparison, comes across as a bureaucracy that doesn't need, want, or care about connecting with visitors on a personal level. And maybe it is.

Depends on what "needs" to be done. The new, steel-tracked, inverting Son of Beast: Reborn provides for a marketing extravaganza. It would be insanity to re-track, re-profile, and re-outfit the track in steel, get new trains, re-break world records, and then simply open it as if nothing were different. Now, if there's just a little structural work and new trains (under which circumstances, I doubt that the ride would re-open), then sure, just open it as if nothing's different. But the more noticeable change that goes into it, the more marketing can (and arguably should) be done.

And consider, what if the option is: Son of Beast made of steel? Or nothing?