bkroz

That all makes sense to me. Thanks.

At all the Cedar Fair parks with a free attached water park, you'll find them swamped most summer days. Some parks like Michigan's Adventure actively market the water park more than they do the dry park, as though it were a water park with a small family park attached. I'm not a big water park fan anyway, but Boomerang Bay at Kings Island was always way, way too full for me - blankets spread out on every hillside, people trying desperately to find a place to sit, 20 - 40 minute lines for water slides (water slides, mind you - 15 second long experience tops). I think it would benefit tremendously from being a separate gate, but with Gold Passes at rock bottom prices that wouldn't really help, either. And if they did manage to put in place some sort of program to limit water park attendance, who would pay for the unused locker space, the less highly-attended food outlets, etc.? Wildwater Kingdom in Aurora is hardly ever full to bursting, but there are only two slide complexes in the whole park, plus an action river, a wave pool, and a family water play set. As a local, I would go three or four times a year and just relax in the sun with the free Wifi. It's not a park that I'd travel for, necessarily, but if you're in the area it's a nice half-day reprieve.

Blame it on me being part of the "new" wave of young industry enthusiasts who aren't as concerned with sacred ground as their elders, but I never understood the fuss about the Big Dipper. It was, of course, a fun ride and has an important historical significance in the area. If the option were available, I'd gladly see it restored and an upscale outdoor shopping area built around it along the lake. That being said, I don't see the larger world-view significance of literally "saving" it. Any park would benefit from having "the" Big Dipper, but should each and every inch of lumber be meticulously deconstructed, labeled, and transported cross-country to rebuild what was a very standard family coaster that could easily be built from scratch? Let's say, for example, that Six Flags Great America in Illinois fell in love with it. Then why not just use the exact dimensions and build a "clone?" What is there to be gained from using the actual remnants of Ohio's ride instead of just recreating it? And I'm actually asking that question so someone can answer it. Is nostalgia the prime reason? Would it be cheaper in the long run to re-use the already-cut wood from Ohio? The process to "save" it would seem so intricately intense, I just can't imagine that there aren't better ways to spend time and money. Let Six Flags rebuild it from new material then spend the leftover time, effort, and money supporting a local food pantry for a week or two or more... I want to use the example: if Geauga Lake's Dominator had been abandoned, rusted, and left with physical and mechanical wear after years of Ohio winters, would it truly be "worth it" to take the time to restore it, take it apart, label it, and move it to Virginia instead of just building something new? but even that example doesn't stress the thousands of planks that compose the Big Dipper as opposed to the hundreds of Dominator, nor does it express the smaller, more cheaply recreated scale of the Big Dipper and the more damage doubtlessly done to the wood compared to steel. Again, it might be irreverent of me to even ask, but I don't see the significance of using the actual physical pieces necessarily.

Canada: A world away, across the bay! Er, lake... Windsor & Detroit, for example. Same climate, same media, same architecture, same commutes, different attitude.

Plus Cedar Point is constantly trying out dynamic pricing models: "Ride 'n' Slide 2-Day Ticket,' for example. A way to keep people in the area and reduce the crowding at one gate or another at one time or another... Not a bad idea, really... At Cedar Point, there is no Gold Pass. Only regular and Platinum. The trumpeted benefits of the Platinum Pass are Soak City, Parking, and exclusive ride nights, not visits to any and all Cedar Fair parks the way it's advertised elsewhere (why would you care to go anywhere else if you're already at the flagship park, after all?)

Very true. I imagine that's stressed by international airlines on affected flights. It should be in flashing red letters before you submit any information. Passport cards also use RFID, the grain-of-rice-sized radio transmitter that's perpetually tested at Walt Disney World, where visitors information can be stored on their card, paying for food and entering the parks with a wave of the wrist. In the government card case, the radio frequency connects to a "secure" government file of you. In Disney's case, it may allow the new talking Mickey Mouse to greet you by name next time you hug him with a ticket in your pocket... What a world!

A U.S. Passport Card is the new alternative. It's half the price of a passport but only allows entry back from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. http://travel.state...._card_3926.html I think the technicality behind the situation the Interpreter described is that for a long time, the U.S. and Canada did not require citizens traveling between them to display a passport - only a government ID. That is no longer mutual. You still don't technically need one to get into Canada, but you must have a passport to return home. As such, they won't let you into Canada unless you prove you have the proper documentation to get back into the U.S., so the de facto policy requires one to enter Canada. A Passport Card is the cheap alternative to a full passport meant to simplify that annoyance.

Canada's Wonderland is supposedly the crown jewel of the Cedar Fair / Paramount Parks, though I've never been. That should be well within your area even if it doesn't sound like it. Their new Leviathan roller coaster is supposed to be quite impressive, essentially adding 100 feet to Diamondback. In Virginia, Cedar Fair's Kings Dominion is a really spectacular park - many, many similarities to Kings Island, but some spectacular differences. Intimidator 305 is their newest coaster, and the first sister ride to Cedar Point's famous Millennium Force. Busch Gardens Williamsburg about ninety minutes southeast of Kings Dominion is absolutely incredible - quality over quantity. It has five adult coasters, but I'd ride any one of them over all of Cedar Point's sixteen. Busch Gardens also has the astounding Curse of DarKastle dark ride, which uses the technology popularized by Universal's Spider-Man and Transformers rides. Really impressive, especially for a regional park. Cedar Point would be a real treat if you haven't been in nearly a decade, and might be a good place to start since it's closer and you can branch out from there. But plan wisely! It's a destination, and a Saturday in June or July would almost certainly need Fast Lane front-of-the-line passes if you plan to really experience it all in one day.

Thoughts from a local: SeaWorld Ohio and Geauga Lake operated for decades across the lake from one another as family parks that drew locals for generations. Combining them formed a fantastic theoretical partnership that made a lot of sense to people who had gone to one or the other over the years: I grew up at SeaWorld looking across the lake at the roller coasters and wondering why two parks would build so close to one another. As we know now, combining them created far too large a park for a local audience, and trying to bolster the park above a local experience stressed the infrastructure. Two parking lots, some 600 acres, and a location billed as "Cleveland" while in reality being anything but... As a "mega-park," Six Flags Worlds of Adventure was doomed. Six Flags had (perhaps necessarily) focused on expanding the offerings to re-debut the park without considering increased visitorship, food sales, restroom use, etc. Transportation between the two sides of the lake shifted every year as they found the most useful way to combine the parks, and confusion ensued. Cedar Fair was at least right in hoping to dial the park back to a small, local, family park. The first thing that required, in all fairness, was reducing the land size. All that land with two massive parking lots, separate ticket booths, separate entrances, two "main" gift shops, etc. was way too much for a family park. What people didn't like was the removal of the animals, because (be it under SeaWorld or Six Flags) they had grown up with dolphins, whales, sharks, etc. as part of their family amusements. Cedar Fair's move toward "WildWater Kingdom" was not recieved well up here with many people writing it off as relocating the rides from Six Flags' Hurricane Harbor to the ruins of SeaWorld just to fill up the space and get people to forget it. Phase II of the waterpark was announced for 2007 and never happened. Imagine the frustration when our radio ads the last few years have trumpeted the "new family fun beach." Of course, it's not really a beach - it's a corner of the park with a giant checkers board and a three-point shot game (which costs extra). That's literally it. No sand, either. It's on concrete. This replacing the "Happy Harbor" climbing nets common in all SeaWorld parks. I can't imagine why they elected to tear that out, much less the tiny family flat rides like yo-yo swings, 4-D theater, and pharaoh's fury that were in it, now walled off mere inches from the current border of the park... Especially as I grow up, it's so odd to think that two parks (much less a mega-park) were so close to home. A SeaWorld and a family thrill park right here in northeast Ohio... It's a shame that my kids will do without, and it's a shame that so much history has been shuffled and reduced to a waterpark that's offered no love.

There are elements of Kings Island that are far, far superior than the same elements in Paramount's Kings Island and vice versa. But in two name changes the park has seen no less than a half dozen separate owners who brought with them their own goals, preferences, rules, atmospheres, and agendas. Under Paramount, Viacom, and CBS, the parks were one branch of a multi-billion dollar corporation whose various arms had different levels of interest in maintaining them. Cedar Fair is in the business of parks and budgets accordingly. They know the industry better than early Paramount, who bought the KECO parks on what feels like a whim. It's not as simple as one or the other; "movies" vs. not movies; thrill rides vs. themed rides. It goes way beyond that. We don't know what Kings Island would be or if it would exist at all had Paramount not purchased it from Lindler. We don't know what Kings Island would be or if it would exist at all had Cedar Fair not then purchased it from then. There's evidence to suggest that if those transactions hadn't occurred, Kings Island may no longer be a park to visit...

One day, The Beast will no longer be a ride at Kings Island. Really! I guarantee it!

I think they fluctuate which rides offer it. For at least a full season, a tarp was drawn over Flight of Fear's photo station and photos just weren't offered. Same with Vortex for a while. The only rides that I've always seen with the photo shop open are Diamondback (due to the nature of the shop, it would be difficult to close it) and The Beast.

There was one at COSI in Columbus until very recently.

They drained it because it was a stagnant pool with no filtration or cycling system. The water just sat without moving day in and day out. It then became more of a swamp than a lake, drawing bugs and even worse, trash.

If it's gone for good, that's a real shame. It was a beautiful ride and was perfectly placed in the park. It added a lot to the kinetic energy of Frontier Town and looked fantastic at night. Let's also hope that classic Wave Swingers aren't going to now be considered "obsolete," expendable wastes of prime real estate at parks where WindSeekers have moved in...

I really, really like Great America. I'd highly recommend it, and I wouldn't say that for all Six Flags parks.

Hop in, head northeast, and hold your breath!

That Facebook guy is now celebrating his nuptials, and thus might only be the "five hundred million-aire guy!"

So you were the one who inconvenienced all the people on here who have miserable trip reports saying that they waited twice as long as normal for every single ride this past Saturday! .. Oh, wait... Glad you had fun! Happy birthday to your son!

I could be wrong, but I don't think they do this anymore. That was the case when the island first opened just to throttle the number of people who would all flock to the island first thing in the morning. They certainly don't do it during the off-season, but I don't know. I could be wrong. This is true to an extent, but the thing I find hard about that is what I mentioned earlier - because each park only has a few "key" attractions, it makes it difficult to choose one or the other. For example, I want to recommend that first-timers visit Magic Kingdom, but there really isn't much there for people who prefer massively themed rides or thrill rides. Epcot is a nice park for exploration, but Test Track is closed till the fall leaving (literally) only Soarin' and Mission: Space as a "main" attractions. So let's say we said to focus on those two parks... Then what about Tower of Terror or Star Tours? Could we really in good conscience tell a person to go to Disney World and consciously skip those rides? Animal Kingdom may not have a whole lot, but what about Everest and Dinosaur? In other words, there's no easy way to eliminate one park, much less two, since each park has just a few really great, big attractions. Poseidon's Fury is really fantastic. Many people overlook it as a show, but it's so much more. They might as well have invented the word "attraction" to describe Poseidon's Fury. Not a ride, but totally up there. It, too, is rumored to be on the chopping block since it, Mythos, and a 13-year-old Sinbad stunt show are the only remnants of the Lost Continent area that Potter absorbed.

I don't think they do. Last season I saw the cart with the flashing toys, but I never saw anyone buy one, nor did I see anyone carrying one later. Consumers are getting smarter?

To me, Internet fees and "processing fees" are a low blow and absolutely a way to nickel and dime visitors. The worst instance of I've ever seen of that was the folks selling 3D glasses in line for Disaster Transport. Truly criminal. I also think it's awful to sell them on Boo Blasters (when rides with actual, impressive, high-definition 3D effects do not), but it was deceptive to sell them in line for Disaster Transport. That's worse than an Internet fee, but not by much. Either way you look at it, it could be worse. People at Disneyland would be ecstatic if their unlimited-visit, free-parking pass only went up $14. Theirs went up $150.

Just thought this was some interesting news. As of yesterday, the prices for all Disneyland Resort tickets increased, probably in preparation for the opening of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street. That's not unusual and typically does happen in May or June each year. What is unusual is that the increase this time around is much, much more than anyone anticipated. Prices increased by twenty dollars (from $105 to $125) for a one day ticket with the Park Hopper option, and that pattern continued through the other daily ticket options, as well. The big surprise was the change to annual passes. Rumors had been circulating for a long time that Disneyland management was considering eliminating Park Hopper privileges from annual passes or at least making it an expensive "add-on" for the lower level passes (which are only available to Southern California residents) keeping in mind that without a doubt, a majority of Disneyland visitors on any given day are annual pass holders, with the number cresting 1,000,000 last month. (The expansion to the "Disneyland Resort" and second gate were a move to make the regional park an international draw like Walt Disney World... It still hasn't become that quite yet). Instead of eliminating Park Hopping, the pass prices increased drastically across the board. The very, very basic So Cal Select pass (which doesn't allow weekend visits and is blocked out through the whole summer) went from $199 to $269 (an increase of $70). The regular So Cal pass (still blocked most of the summer, but less restrictive on weekends the rest of the year) went from $269 to $329 (an increase of $50). The Deluxe Pass (which is good 315 days a year, blocking out Saturdays in the summer and around holidays periods) went from $379 to $469 (an increase of $90). The Premium Pass has no block out dates and includes parking and increased from $499 to $649, which absolutely positively has infuriated much of the fan community for that resort who have loyally gotten that pass for years (an increase of $150). The elite Premier Pass (good at all six domestic theme parks, the two water parks in Florida, and DisneyQuest) went from $749 to $849 (an increase of $100). Obviously it's a move to eliminate the heavy visitorship from annual pass holders now that the resort is essentially reopening and being rebranded. But I hope that we can all appreciate an $80 Gold Pass with no blackout dates and free parking now!

I'm always astounded by Kings Dominion. Their International Street area is, to me, ten times above ours. It has much of the detail you expect from Disney - well-kept upper balconies, lanterns in windows, beautiful signs, textured walls, crawling ivy along most facades... It's true of the whole park that the enormous, towering trees are almost indescribably beautiful and may make you feel like you're in Kings Island of 100 years from now where the forest has begun to take over. Their Congo area is without a doubt the best themed area I've encountered at any Cedar Fair / Paramount Park and the area is truly electric at night: torches, the water and flames of The Crypt, the fire from Volcano, and the soundtrack to the film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (really!). Instead of Rivertown, they have Old Virginia (which is much better at conveying the forested feel) and they replace Coney Mall with The Grove. The layouts of the park are oddly similar and yet oddly different. I wouldn't skip even the rides that are duplicates / sisters of Ohio rides: you'll find differences in Backlot Stunt Coaster, Flight of Fear, Drop Zone, Vortex/Anaconda, Rebel Yell/Racer, Boo Blasters, etc. and will almost certainly prefer one over the other in all cases. One thing I like to look for: The Trails End Grille in the Congo is the exact same shape as the Stunt Crew Grill in our Action Zone, harkening to the fact that our Action Zone used to have a similar safari / jungle theme. I never recognized just how "jungley" Stunt Crew Grill would look with thatched roofs until I saw Trails End Grille. Advice to stop at Busch Gardens is right. That park will teach you a tremendous lesson about "quality over quantity." I'd sooner ride any one of their five adult coasters over all fourteen of Kings Dominion's any day of the week. Their dark ride, Curse of DarKastle, is also astounding, and it's the most beautiful theme park I've ever been to.

The parks at Walt Disney World are really very, very, very nice parks. But after seeing their "best" rides represented in a "best of" format at Disneyland, it's odd to see them so spread out. You can do Disney World in 2 or 3 days (or less!) if rides are what you're after, and I don't doubt you'd leave with fantastic memories as a result. But if you wanted a vacation, and a chance to take in the details and see the "best kept secrets" of the parks, you'd want more. Disney officials would have you believe that half of the fun of Disney world is in Downtown Disney, water parks, shopping, dining, etc. I bet it's true, if you had the time and energy to do it all. Universal packs a lot into its two parks and does so with more charm than people may give it credit for (Seuss Landing is really just incomparable, in my opinion). If you haven't been there in a decade, you may as well not have been there. More than any other park I've experienced, Universal has no qualms about replacing classic attractions with whatever the newest, hottest title is (which has been good and bad in the past). As was said, they've got Spider-Man, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Dueling Dragons Challenge, Hulk, Cat in the Hat, Revenge of the Mummy, Men In Black: Alien Attack, Disaster, and the oddly fun E.T. Islands of Adventure is on-par with and even excels beyond any of Disney's domestic parks in terms of theme and detail. There's a lot to think about! I'm happy to help if you have questions.