bkroz

Another thing I'd be interested in seeing would be the price for admission. Busch Garden Williamsburg event was extremely well attended in its inaugural season last year (to the extent that the rest of the park is opening up for its second year to accommodate more guests). Many of the "family" rides operated (the scrambler, yo-yo swings, pirate ship, etc). DarKastle (the indoor dark ride), the 3-D movies, and Griffon also operated (the latter was weather permitting, but still). The entertainment was top-notch. The food (as always) was incredible, and the park was decorated in ways that were literally awe-some. All of the shops were open, and many were expanded, with all of the Oktoberfest section being opened as a "marketplace" where local artisans came to display and sell their beautiful artwork and crafts. The problem is self-evident: Busch Gardens is a place where the 3-D movies, dark rides, shops, entertainment, and shows are the highlight of the park during the regular year. It wasn't a stretch for them to enhance and expand those departments for the Christmas spectacular. Kings Island is, first and foremost, a thrill park. For Kings Island to suddenly shift its attention to in-park decoration, entertainment, food, and shopping would be, to put it lightly, a stretch. Every single shop (with the exception of a few in Rivertown) sells nothing more than generic "Kings Island" merchandise. The food is typical fair fare, and the entertainment (while very good in its own way) is not up to Busch Gardens standards. It's the roller coasters that Kings Island prides itself upon, and when it cannot use them (see, Winterfest), it fails to find a niche that works well. At least, that's how I see it. Besides, as has been discussed, Winterfest was CBS's last ditch effort to make the parks look more marketable. "Look, we have a traditional, family-fun style Christmas event that looks incredible in a brochure!" And likely, those beautiful residual images of Winterfest 2005 did help sell the parks. The purchaser, though, didn't even bother pretending that the event would continue. And I don't think that starting a "tradition" was CBS's intention with Winterfest 2005, anyway.

This actually makes me wonder - how did Carowinds' Winterfest go in '05? I know it was a bad year weather-wise, but Carowinds is quite south compared to the rest of the Eastern Cedar Fair parks... I know my aunt and uncle live near Williamsburg in Virginia and claim that it rarely, rarely snows and usually temperatures stay in the 40s and 50s during the winter... Since Carowinds is even farther south than that, I imagine that they at least had a better Winterfest than us attendance-wise? Then again, Kings Island is the more well-attended of the two during the regular year. I honestly think that a low-budget event like Winterfest would work at Kings Dominion and Carowinds given their better temperature. Christmas has become a staple of amusement park events in the last few years especially, with Busch Gardens, Dollywood, & SeaWorld really amping up their winter festivities. Disney and Universal have been doing Christmas events for a few years, and even Six Flags has really gone out of their way to make Holiday in the Park happen. I would like to see Carowinds at least give it a try in the coming years, perhaps with just one or two operating roller coasters (the way that Busch Gardens Williamsburg does). Will it happen? Doubtlessly, no. But I feel like if it did, and the weather cooperated, it might actually work!

Double post.

But now I wonder...does EVERYONE cry after riding Son of Beast? (The lady from Premier Rides got tears in her eyes and so did a guy who's username is Ohio1221 on youtube who did a SOB POV) They're not necessarily crying... Their eyes are watering, the same as what might happen to folks on Top Thrill Dragster. Its just your eyes drying out and overcompensating for the extreme wind and force in your face. My eyes watered on Son of Beast every time I rode it, and my female friends often had streaks of mascara / eyeliner pulling back from their eyes when they got off. Many of my friends, too, seemed to lose the rest of their body control, laughing hysterically with slobber flying out of their mouths. It's just a very physically affective ride... Haha. As for a POV with the loop, the very first one that comes up on Youtube when searching "Son of Beast POV" is the official Discovery Channel one. The quality isn't spectacular, but the camera is mounted to the train, so it's a good video. It's funny - even though I'd ridden it a dozen times, I still don't know the layout that well. The part after the second helix, mostly... There are a few airtime hills and headchoppers and some banked turned! If only the rest of the ride could be like that. And this just reminds me - I don't know that I've ever seen a more beautiful or complex or intimidating moment on a roller coaster than on that second helix that's literally tucked into the lift hill... Such a great moment.

In my grade school, 69% was failing. In high school, I believe it was 64%. Of course, the letter associated with any given percentage isn't really even of any real significance unless you're talking about GPA (which is somewhat inconsequential in grade school & high school).

Nope, have not been there. Yes, I have heard about the re routing of Beast, but that was a coaster that had the flexability. This is a flat ride that requires a certain size footprint and has no flexability. The only thing that could be different is if it was placed where trees were not alreaady there. At least that is all I can think of on a location. The point you're missing is that yes, trees must be removed. And yes, they can be re-introduced once construction is complete. All too often, under Paramount, Cedar Fair, Six Flags, Universal, Disney, Merlin, et al, they are not. That's a shame.

But only if a strange small, round, rock-like object is placed into the dirt (gross, I know) and cared for. That's the only problem I have. Diamondback's splashdown has made Rivertown into an open plaza with a concrete pool in the center. Now, if they had planted dozens of pine trees and birches and maples around the lagoon, I wouldn't mind. But there are like, five or six dogwoods. Twenty years from now, that will still be nothing more than an open plaza with a few little trees around it, whereas planting just a few more trees of various types a year ago would guarantee that it would one day return to its dense forested feel. Cedar Fair has improved markedly from its former feelings towards atmosphere and landscaping, but there's still quite a ways to go... They're going in the right direction. But if they buy 100 baby oak trees and plant them around Diamondback, The Crypt, Planet Snoopy, and most importantly Boomerang Bay and Action Zone, the park will look beautiful 10 - 15 years down the road. That sort of foresight and care would mean a lot!

Well gee, that $11.50 is just looking like it would've been a great selling price, isn't it? GYK, literally disgusted at the thought of what some people think [and genuinely, despicably hope] they can get away with... Stealing is legal in this country, and we almost witnessed a prime example of it firsthand.

While I agree that it would be a good idea to utilize some of that space, I think there are also a few reasons why they don't. For all intents and purposes, I would guess that once Boomerang Bay's season is over and it's cleaned & covered, it is "dead" for the year, and the operating costs for that part of the park are reduced greatly - no electricity, no food service, no bathrooms, etc. If the main part of Kings Island can support the Haunt crowds (which, granted, some allege that it cannot), then why open up a whole other part of the park that will require more electricity, more water, more food, more employees, etc. Probably another reason is that for the most part, there's very little cover in which to place the haunts, and little protection from the elements. Mazes like CornStalkers or Tombstone Terrortory can be outside because a lot of the props they use are weather resistant and sparse. As a whole, I think that the indoor mazes are held in higher regard because they have much more attention to detail, much more elaborate props and settings and designs etc. simply because they're protected. They're a bit warmer and protected and they can use more intricate lighting... Just the impression I get is that the indoor haunts are generally "better," and there isn't much room for indoor haunts in Boomerang Bay. And the slanted floor of the wave pool would probably not work in practice, simply because it would amount to people falling into walls (and knocking them over), losing their footing, and being generally tired after trudging up and down that incline, back and forth, for the duration of the maze. EDIT: And Marketing Express makes a very very very valid point about the rain and such. Probably the most notable reason is that Boomerang Bay is so far removed from the park, it would be a chore to get people there (especially with the train already being occupied as its own haunted house). Essentially, they'd have to erect a pathway through (the closed) Planet Snoopy, down past the Picnic Grove, across the train tracks, and through Boomerang Bay's main entrance just to access one or two houses. Even if the train was reconfigured to serve as transportation, that's a wait for the train, a ride on the train, a walk through Boomerang Bay, and then a line for a haunted house. It would probably cause a lot of confusion. I think it would be cool, and I bet they could alleviate some of the crowds and make a nice outdoor maze or two, but I don't know that the benefits outweigh the costs...

Seriously? Get over it already. Uh, get over it? I wasn't griping or complaining about a single thing. I was pointing out that The Crypt's queue is pitch black 24/7, and that I can imagine much more grotesque things happening in that darkness than in Flight of Fear's short intermittent bursts of darkness... My point was that that line was originally designed to have the flickering torch lights to illuminate the way, which kept it pretty well lit. With only the red flood lights on the floor, it's much darker than I'm sure it was ever meant to be, and thus if any line should have inappropriate things happening in it, I can imagine it being in The Crypt much moreso than in 5 seconds of darkness in Flight of Fear. "Get over it already?" What a loving, accepting, welcoming community! Why is it we can't seem to keep any new members, and why is it that the "veteran" posters who are the most wise of us all are dropping like flies? GYK, stumped.

For the most part, I think the problem with Wikipedia in this setting (on a message board where one particular, specific place is the topic of most conversation) is that we encounter time and time and time again the same rumors being reborn based on Wikipedia articles. For example, I assume the instance that you're talking about is the Son of Beast SBNO [until 2011]. Another example is the Planet Snoopy names being announced multiple times via Wikipedia (and being incorrect each time). It's just bothersome to have a new topic started every few weeks about something that someone put on Wikipedia. Wikipedia is absolutely useful and fun! It's a great place to learn about movies, music, and a good place to start research for school projects (given, as you said, it's concise and well-organized format). However, that does not make it scholarly. It truly does amount to listening to your father (or, many, many thousands upon thousands of fathers and grandmothers and teenagers) recount their memories about, say, the history of Tupperware. Most of it may be correct, but opinions and inaccuracies will covertly sneak their way in. Unfortunately, the very notion that those inaccuracies might exist makes the entire site inappropriate for scholarly research. What if someone wrote that Son of Beast was the world's largest steel roller coaster? Sure, most people would immediately sense that something was amiss. But what if it said Son of Beast was built using birch trees instead of pine? Most wouldn't notice... Maybe that incorrect fact would make its way to a research report or two... Perhaps it would be spread a bit among friends, who would discuss it briefly in line and others would overhear... It's not that Wikipedia is evil. Just that, ultimately, it doesn't end up being much more credible or reliable than oral tradition or history. It can be slightly skewed, so it alone cannot be fully trusted.

And then there's the queue line for our Giant Top Spin, which (without its original "flame torch" lights) is so dark that you find yourself feeling around for the handrails. How that is better than 5 - 10 seconds of darkness in Flight of Fear's line, I do not know.

^ Ugh, too true.

Meanwhile, I once had a meal in Kings Island's Festhaus. Amid the spectacular, authentic German setting (complete with giant claw machine), I had $12.00 sweet and sour Asian chicken with one (count 'em, one) microwaved egg roll while tapping my feet along to the vocal stylings of "Down Home Country!" Yeehaw! It was an experience that attacked my cultural senses from most every level (or, three continents, at the very least).

Length isn't on Top Thrill Dragster's side, either. And Maverick is certainly lacking in height... And the world-renowned Space Mountain caps off at an earth-shattering 27 miles per hour. Millennium Force doesn't have even a single inversion. And the "best amusement park in the world" for the last thirteen years didn't earn the distinction of having the best landscaping, best employees, best food, best entertainment, best cleanliness, or best roller coaster... I guess you don't always need a whole lot of everything to be a winner; just a little bit of the important stuff... Crazy, huh?

Right. When I go to the park, I have very little use for "four pizzas for the price of three" or "a half-off buffet when you get five adult ones!" It's a gimmick at best, and seems more of an afterthought than a true benefit. Besides that, I often visit the park with friends, all of whom have their own passes. The last thing on our minds is to have one person pay for four and a half buffets, then have everyone trying to find cash to divide the total price by five and pay that person back and then have I.O.U.s floating around forever and such... Even if we did, half off one buffet? That would save everyone about $1.00... And even if they did invent a semi-convenient dining system (like Disney, 10% off across the board with one pass, 15% with another), there's no denying that, for young, mobile, hungry teens, it would still be more convenient to walk to the car, pig out at Wendy's for $7.00, and then drive back. Unless there's a real deal that makes the in-park food at least comparable to that outside of the park, why would those who have the means to leave chose to stay? Kings Island is highly season-pass driven. It is not a destination park for everyone. At Cedar Point, people may plan for months and move the family across state lines to visit - they anticipate and expect to buy park food. At Kings Island, that's not as realistic, and they should know that.

It's probably a near-clone of Oblivion, just with a taller lift and an Immelman instead of an over-banked turned. Certainly, it's a "primitive" model - dive, loop, done. Still, I would kill to have it at Kings Island, or anywhere in Ohio for that matter.

Right, that's what I'm sayin'! Not claiming to have crunched any numbers or anything, but I swear that if the food cost half as much, three times as many people would buy it... How that wouldn't end up as at least a little more income, I do not know. We're not talking about gourmet food, here... It's hamburgers, hot dogs, and soft drinks. If the price of a soft drink dropped from $4.00 to $2.25, they'd sell at least twice as much, right? And how could that not be straight income, considering it's the same soft drink that McDonalds can sell for $1.00? It seems so elementary to me, but what do I know of finances? Terp makes a good point with the $5.25 and the $4.50... But if the theoretical price drop were to happen, we're talking 1000(meals sold) x $5.25, or 2000 (meals sold) x $4.50... Even 1500 x 4.50 is a significantly greater income. That's under the assumption that lower prices would incite more people to buy the food, which I truly think it would.

Supposedly, Krake will dive into a hole in the ground not unlike Alton Tower's Oblivion. The hole in this case, though, will be made to look like a circular mouth of The Beast shown in the logo. I can't help but imagine smoke and otherworldly sounds coming from the mouth as you dangle over it... It will definitely be a very daunting ride!

I don't know that I'd want to rub anything on that... Splinters. Ouch!

Today I checked the Kings Island wikipedia page and it said we were getting Wiggles World in 2011. In other words, never, ever, ever trust Wikipedia. It can be (and is) edited by anyone and everyone. Nothing you read on there should be considered fact. Much of the website is well maintained, but opinions, rumors, and straight up lies make their way in. I could have edited the Son of Beast page myself to say it was the world's largest cucumber. It may not have lasted long, but I'm sure a few people would see it. The danger is when the editing sounds like it may be true. No one would believe Son of Beast was a cucumber, but if someone said it was made out of birch trees instead of fir trees, someone somewhere might write it on a report as such, or tell their friends that, and before you know it, it's what everyone thinks. The same can be said of the many, many times that someone on Wikipedia has decided Son of Beast is reopening. As of this very second, based on the information we have publicly available, there are no plans to reopen it. Some folks out there may know otherwise. But, those who say don't know, and those who know don't say - their jobs & networks depend on it. Also, welcome to KIC! :]

I feel that, with Paramount, effects stopped working and were never fixed. But to simply remove signs and structures that have been there for over a decade simply because? It strikes me as odd.

And what big new rides have been announced?

As with most of the de-themeing we've seen, the long and short of it is, "Why?" We'll never know. I just think it's funny that if pretty much anyone else were to buy the park, be it Universal, Merlin, Parques, even Six Flags, I feel like the little things like the radio tower, the "government" sign, etc. would probably be among the first things to return. And given a personable, fun marketing team, we'd probably get a few tweets like, "Uh, why was this removed in the first place? The NEW Kings Island: If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Perhaps that's why Disneyland's 50th Anniversary Celebration lasted for the better part of two years... Covering all the bases: both the 50th season, the 50th birthday, the 50th year, etc.