bkroz

Because people badly want to place some moral judgement (that Fast Lane and/or the people who use it are inherently "right" or "wrong") on a business practice. I can only afford an average car with nonexistent shocks and broken air conditioning. My friend the CEO has twelve cars, each newer and nicer than the one before. He effortlessly accelerates past me on the highway and gets to our mutual destination first only because he purchased a nicer car. Meanwhile, some people don't have a car to get to our destination at all. There is no morality assumed in that situation - no one is "right" and no one is doing anything "wrong." That is just the nature of capitalist stratification. If we get stuck in a traffic jam and my CEO friend is two miles ahead of me and nimbly (but safely) makes his way from lane to lane and is able to stay well ahead of me in his sporty, smooth car with plentiful cool air, he's still not doing anything that deserves a moral judgement. And somewhere, there are still the people who can't afford the car at all, which makes his ease of commute no more right, nor more wrong. So many here DESPERATELY want to label Fast Lane as a service that is intrinsically wrong. I'd wager that most of the same people, if they only had one day at Universal's Islands of Adventure, would get the Universal Express pass.

There's no question that people misunderstand "Paramount" as an owner of Kings Island. In two name changes, the park has had, what, a half dozen owners? I was a fan of the additions made under the Paramount banner (Tomb Raider, Italian Job, Action Zone, Drop Zone, Son of Beast, FACE/OFF) but now as an older, wiser person less affected by hindsight, I can see the negatives of the way the park was operated under Paramount, Viacom, and then CBS. Every operator has positives and negatives. One day when / if Cedar Fair is gone, many will remember them fondly! And if CBS came back with a new vision and decided they wanted to operate a park and renamed Diamondback into Iron Man: The Ride, people would insist "It's Diamondback, and it always will be" just as many of us will always consider the rides Drop Zone, Top Gun, etc.

A quick review for the 15 most recent people to sign up for an account here (and anyone who comes after), according to my own opinions on the topics and the terms of use for this site: You have to have to be able to name a source if you claim inside information or claim to know the future plans of a publicly traded company... But even then, be aware that ride workers, concession workers, and your friend's friends probably don't know anything about the multi-million dollar plans for the park / company. Only a select few people are actually aware of what choices the company has yet to announce, and those select view value their jobs and positions of prestige enough to not say more than they should. You can't have a post with just one word - it adds nothing to the discussion. The "Edit" button in the lower right-hand corner of your post allows you to go back and add any new comments you think of, which is why "double posting" isn't supposed to happen. Just click edit, add what you need to, and then move on! Bolding things unnecessarily, leaving the caps lock on, avoiding capitalization and punctuation, etc. are not ways to present your opinions or to gain respect. It's against the terms of use that we all agreed to when we signed up to "shout," which, electronically, means obnoxious bolding or capitalization. If you read it on the park's Facebook or heard it from a friend of a friend whose dad built Diamondback, it's best to not repeat it here, because it's probably not true and it only serves to get everyone worked up. Same goes for hearing it from "the suits" or through an electronic communication with the park that you refuse to post here. No decision has been made concerning the fate of Son of Beast, unless you believe one has that they're not ready to share. Either way, cool it?! Just trying to make my experience and yours better! Together we can have an informed community with respect and knowledge-backed opinions aplenty!

They do this at Alton Towers, too. The Haunted House was already renamed DUEL: The Haunted House Strikes Back (and equipped with laser guns), but for Halloween, the guns turn off, live actors in the building interact with riders and a whole new story overlay is added about zombies coming to life from the house's basement laboratory, transforming the family-friendly interactive dark ride into a separate, stand-alone haunt. But back when the Boo Blasters building was inhabited by Phantom Theater, they tried to put in live actors (and "scarier" animatronic heads) for Halloween once... It didn't last...

I just wonder how they'll fit an Intamin strata-coaster, a giga-coaster by an unnamed manufacturer, and a B&M coaster in the area around Son of Beast (since of course, we also know thanks to inside sources that Son of Beast will be torn down / burned while simultaneously being re-done in Iron Horse track)... It'll be especially hard with Congo Falls being expanded into a full, Jungle-Cruise-esque ride (we heard that one, didn't we?) and Flight Deck getting extra track so it'll be longer. And the sources of information range from construction workers in hard-hats walking the track to men in suits; guys in black polos to food cart workers. Everyone knows it all, and we're getting one of everything! Huzzah! Thanks, Oprah! And thanks to all these informed people passing on information for us.

One other point I've tried to make is that if the park were to suddenly install a program on the scale of Disney's Fastpass (with computers, return time displays, distribution machines, etc), the price of a ticket to Kings Island would have to raise accordingly. Disney's "free" system requires computer maintenance, extra employees, extra signage, machine maintenance, tickets, ink, etc., and that is all doubtlessly factored into the price of a ticket. So on a Saturday in July, we might think it was worth it to pay $65 for a one-day ticket to Kings Island since we could all use that free Fastpass system. But what about on a Wednesday in May, when the park is nearly empty, but the machines, tickets, ink, etc must still be paid for, and tickets prices must stay high? Few people would use the system, but they'd still be paying for it. Of the cheaper "priority access systems," I can only think of SeaWorld Parks' (which closely resembles Cedar Fair's, but offers once-per-ride and unlimited options). Depending on where you see it, the Q-bot system can get expensive pretty quickly, and protecting the costly little pocket devices is tricky... They want my ID as collateral? Then I guess I won't buy that $7.00 beer... Whose loss is that? I guess I'm saying, there's a balance to be struck when it comes to these systems not just in the way they handle guests, but on how they're integrated into the park. Technology isn't always better. And Cedar Fair is making a killing on Fast Lane, I'm sure, since their only expense was some new signage and blank wristbands...

I did, too, in the post above yours. In my most recent, though, I was talking about changes we'll see on a daily basis in response to jzarley. Basic operations will need to change often to meet the varying strengths and needs of the system. Grand overhauls may or may not occur, but this is still the first year of the chain-wide implementation, and bugs are sure to spring up.

And it'll change day to day - on lightly attended days, you might see only a few people with the wristbands. On heavy traffic days, you may see 50% of a ride's capacity dedicated specifically to Fast Lane users. You're right that there's no system for even distribution of "return times" and no virtual queueing that ensures that everyone waits, just maybe not in line. Changes can happen at any time, and the Fast Lane system almost requires that to be true.

In Indiana Jones Adventure (can you believe it?), the adventurous score from the films ends abruptly and is replaced by haunting, chanting choirs when you first see the "big room" that the ride takes place in. The whole Jeep bucks forward, offering each row in the transport a "stadium-seating" style view of the 60 foot tall face of Mara with the "Forbidden Eye" half corroded away. The jeep then slams down a set of stairs just before a green beam from Mara's eye shoots at you. Ahhh... The best!

But to be fair, were you there during the inaugural year of those programs at any of the other parks? Have you ever been to a park where it's done without computers, scanners, gadgets, timers, etc? Have you ever been to a park where the "unlimited" front of the line pass is the only pass? I haven't... Test and adjust isn't just for new rides!

Sort of silly that Rowling would insist on this hyper-realistic atmosphere that makes it difficult to shop, eat, etc for the sake of authenticity, but then allows Dueling Dragons to remain a very bright steel coaster sitting in a field with a 2-D dark green backdrop... The equivalent of putting Raptor in a Disney Park.

At Six Flags, I've seen them announce that two or three full cycles of a Drop Tower would be devoted only to Flash Pass users while "stand-by" users were instructed to wait. But when people pay for priority boarding and the line reaches 30 or 40 people deep, putting 4 or 5 on each cycle just won't do...

Sonic Spinball, Alton Towers?

Maybe not! (Profile check).

People like their beverages, but it's the sound of popping can, fizzling pour, and clinking ice cubes that seals the deal. You'd be hard pressed to find a fast food menu that doesn't show a sandwich paired with a frosty, perspiring soft-drink in a glass printed with the drink's name (or when they advertise their healthy options, a tall bottle of Dasani instead of a little cup of fountain water)...

Haha, thanks for the shoutout. I think Universal Orlando's parks and both Busch Gardens do it right. The Busch Parks, especially, DO have massive, 180+ foot coasters (SheiKra, Griffon, Apollo's Chariot, Alpengeist, Montu, etc) and massive thrill rides (Kumba, Loch Ness Monster) while also having great themed attractions (Verbolten, DarKastle), shows, and family attractions (Jungala, Forest of Fun, Safari of Fun, family coasters, entertainment, etc). Just a great all around mix that maintains a "world class" themed atmosphere AND enormous thrill rides, but can bill itself as more than the competition.

That is rather conservative.... Imagine all the: "terrible decision, I'm never going to KI again" on their FB page. If they announce that Son of Beast will never operate again, the park's Facebook would be FLOODED with people saying they'd never visit Kings Island again... The same people who have been visiting for the past three years, even knowing that it would not run on their visits... That's the kind of people we're dealing with.

There are ONLY THREE things we can say about Son of Beast for sure: 1) The general manager of Kings Island is displeased with the ride experience. 2) The public relations manager speaking on behalf of the park's management says that no decision has been made about the future of the ride. 3) Firms had been contacted to consider what to do with the ride, and at least one was returned as "unsatisfactory" as of a year or more ago. Those are the ONLY THREE THINGS we can say for certain about Son of Beast at this moment, PERIOD. ANYTHING ELSE is pure speculation, hearsay, misunderstandings, and / or imagination. From my very, very limited exposure to that group, it is about as informed as the rest of the park's Facebook fans - they provide rumors and misinformation back and forth, serving only to further confuse each other. Many of that group's members have been banned from commenting on the park's official Facebook page, and the few that have found their way here are pretty quickly shot down and / or banned for trying to spread the same garbage "facts" and trying to insist on what their friend-of-a-friend who works at the park overheard from a coworker who heard it personally from Mr. Island himself. That is to say: anything said on that Facebook group page that extends beyond the three points listed above is NOT true, NOT verifiable, and NOT official. End of story for now. I don't even understand this. What news have you heard about Son of Beast from that group that has turned out to be truthful? The ride is still standing but not operating and has been since 2009. No visible work has been done on it for better or worse, the trains have remained on the ground under the station, and the park continues to remind us that no decision has been made. What have you "heard" that has ended up "being truthful" when absolutely nothing has been done to the ride in three years?

That's only if it were to be Togo, B&M still has the Stand-Up line going but they just aren't being built lately. B&M does not still have a stand-up line going. The last new opened in 1999. The ones that opened in 2011 and 2012 were relocations of old stand-up coasters. B&M would likely build a new one for the right price, but no one seems to want them. As was mentioned, they were a "fad" from a certain era and are no longer sought after...

And the same one that's made (as I recall it) multiple accounts here that only added to the spam. Luckily, we've since gotten rid of members claiming to have the ins with "the suits" and the people who claim that presidents, managers, and CEOs have personally and candidly shared multi-million dollar hints with them... Right?

The ride itself was removed before the season started.

Dragons were always meant to be part of Animal Kingdom's Beastly Kingdom. But Disney Parks and Resorts has a lot of trouble getting a project greenlit unless an intellectual property is attached... Too bad. The concept art makes me think that Beastly Kingdom was going in the direction of Harry Potter's island or Cars Land - mega-immersive and totally grand-scale impressive.

The article makes mention that it might be part of a show. I certainly don't think they'd strap park patrons to a real airplane with fake dragon wings and fly them around, so perhaps it's just meant to be an expensive prop to sail around the area through the day. Or maybe it's just to drum up attention and isn't much of anything at all.

http://www.rpmusic.c...PMusic.com.html From what I can find, no Kings Island video or audio files remain on the site. You'll find Dollywood audio clips and Disney audio clips, though.

Doubtful. The only stand-up roller coasters I've been on are Kings Dominion's Shockwave, Cedar Point's Mantis, and Great America's Iron Wolf. Of the three, Iron Wolf is most deserving of its new name.