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I agree with you about that past old traditional golden era feeling. As one who has been going to Kings Island since it opened I truly miss those simple times. Coney Island is still there as well as several other parks in the area that have held on to that simpler time gone by and I applied them. But lets remember Kings Island was created from Coney Island, because they saw a market that demanded more in the amusement park offerings, so Kings Island was created to give the public a place where the amusements would be current and room to expand well into the future. So yes I would like to preserve some of the past at Kings Island but cheer wildly with every new addition the park makes as I know that is what the founders had in mind. My family went to Coney Island over the 4th of July and loved the traditional feel it had. I’m glad Cincinnati has both parks and I would never want them to have the same feel to them.

Yes; Walt Disney did make that quote and Dick Kinzel says he remindeds himself often of that quote, to keep him focused. Things have changed since then, but in some ways they have remained the same. I do feel like Walt would have like to adjust that statement if he was still around with his parks. Because WDW now fulfills dreams and imaginations of the very young and Walt would have loved to seen that. I think in today’s amusement environments that if one wants to survive in the business they better understand that guest have more choices and that a dressed up carnival better be dressed. Side note; I have heard that Disneyland California has close to a million annual pass holders.

Cutting edge, world's only 4-person "HydroMagnetic Rocket Booster". Well if anybody would like to see a 3-person "HydroMagnetic Rocket Booster" in action. They only need to go to the Great Wolf Lodges Waterpark and see there cutting-edge water coaster because it’s the same type of water coaster (minus 1 passenger).

They will announce 1:00PM Today on DisneyParks.com for those who want to know where and when. There are so many things they can announce and do on a almost Dailey basis so it will be interesting to see what they come up with. Some possible rumors "Toy Story Mania' "Carland," themed to Cars (for DCA?) "Pirate Land" (supposedly for Hong Kong) New nighttime water show 20th century bus service technology And most interesting of all, new park!!!! http://corporate.disney.go.com/investors/a...6/int/dint.html

Probably another wish coming true!!

Expanding the kids area to insure a more diverse family experience. I feel that with Nickelodeon Universe the park has ensured itself future out of state guests visits, that will translate to continued loyalty visits when Jr. gets older and on his own.

Wow. Finally some clarification about the parking and pass benefits. Sound like they are just repeating the same benefits as last year. That great we really like the speed lane perk.

I have included some mood setting music that may be listened to while reading this Trip Report. Also note that it may take a couple clicks to get the music and video players to start. Indianapolis Children’s Museum - January 20, 2007 My daughter asked a school friend to come over to spend Saturday and night with us earlier in the week, and with her parents permission we decided to also include a trip to the World’s Largest Children’s Museum here in Indianapolis. When we arrived we noticed that it seemed as if half the city had the same idea for their family entertainment as we did. I made a remark about the attendance levels at the ticket widow and the guest service person said that they opened a new exhibit earlier in the day called “Adventures with Clifford the Red Dog” and also that several schools singing groups where there to sing, also that each student was allowed to bring 10 guest at no charge and that was the reason for the larger crowds for that day. We purchased our admissions tickets which were priced at $12.50 for adults and $7.50 for children. I decided to take a couple pictures of the entrance main lobby that was decked out in large snow flakes and some Colts pride messages. After entering the museum portion of the building we came to a large square ramp that led 360 degrees all the way around, up three floors and down one floor, for a total of 5 total floors. In the middle of this large ramp is Fireworks of Glass display that started at the top of the building glass ceiling. It continued all the way down to the Lower Lobby’s display room. We ventured down to the Fireworks of Glass room were they showed various styles of glass making and told the story about creators workings with the exhibit. They offer the kids several hands on exhibits so that they can make their own Glass masterpiece display. We decided to let the 2 girls tell us where they wanted to go and to lead the way. They decided together that they wanted to go straight to the top and work themselves down. On Level Four they decided to go to Science Works to try their hand with endless hands on exhibits that used a lot of nature. I also noticed that there was an underlying them of “Cause and Effect Theories” at play here. Including a huge water play area. Construction work site and a rock climbing attraction. They spent about 45 minutes in this area before they wanted to go to the next section. I made a simple suggestion to the girls that the other area of the forth floor was really too busy at the moment and that we should come back to this area at the end of the day. They debated my suggestion, but decided that would work for them. So down to the third floor, one side was a dedicated play area for children 5 and under so then they lead us to the "Passport to the World". Which encompasses two floors of exhibits with numerous hands on exhibits to help the kids learn about all the cultures in the world. They had a young volunteer to lead the children in a drum ceremony featuring around 30 different drums from around the world. The girls liked to put their faces in a opening that they could then look at themselves in a mirror, to see how they would look if they lived in another culture. I was very pleased to see an exhibit that showed various family members represented if the form of masks. When I took the picture below, I was hoping that the name plates would come out that showed which family members name went with which mask. So if you recognize a mask and know who it represents, let me know please. After seeing and touching everything at the Passport to the World area and exiting on the second floor, the girls lead us to the newly opened Adventures of Clifford. When we walked into this area it was absolute chaos, the area was so packed with guest that you literally could not move without dumping into kids trying to play on all the attractions in that area. The girls told us after a couple minutes that they wanted to move on. At this point we had been at the museum for about 2 1/2 hours and I thought it would be best if we took a break and to grab a quick lunch before we moved on. The Food Court offered 5 different styles of restaurant’s to accommodate everyone’s tastes. When we left the Food Court area there is a hallway right outside the doors that lead us to the Dinosphere area in the lower lobby. I must admit as this was my first time to see the dinosaurs exhibits that I was super impressed with heavy amount of theme as well as the quality of the Dinosaurs that they had on display. When we were leaving the dinosaur area I did notice a small display that I thought everyone would enjoy seeing!! Also in the lower lobby area, just past the dinosaurs they have a huge area dedicated to trains of all sizes, from a real old steam train to a miniature toy trains running on tracks. We only had about 1 hour left to before the museum closed for the day. So the girls excitedly lead the way back up to the forth floor as Lisa and I labored our way slowly back to the top. The fourth floor has a must do area for everyone who visits the Children’s Museum; it’s called Carousel Wishes & Dreams. It houses an old refurbished carousel, and numerous play houses designed for the kids to pretend and are wonderfully themed to cater to both boys and girls. The Carousel was built back in 1904 and was moved around as the times dictated, until 1953 when it was worn-out from the weather and the Shelter house that covered it collapsed on it. It was left that way for a couple years until they decided to tear it down and save what they could in an old barn. It stayed there until 1976 when the Children’s Museum decided to restore it to its full original glory. In my opinion I have never seen a better display of an historic treasure as I think that they did with this Grand Animal Carousel. I was pleased to see the energetic carousel operators wearing various carnival outfits. They also interacted with the kids while the carousel was in operation one of the workers would juggle some balls to give that old time feeling. I was also instantly taken back in time watching and hearing the old Instrument Music Box that they have playing while the ride is in operation. I took a picture of the back so that everyone can see that this Music box was an original and fully operational using the old scrolls to play the music. Right next to the carousel is another great attraction that the kids just love and can spend a lot of time doing, called the Mirror House Maze. They have every kind of mirrors that you can think of, from funny allusion type of mirrors. To a walk through dark house that had so many types of mirrors hung in so many angles that it’s impossible to describe. I did manage to take a short video of the girls acting like 6 year old girls should in a house like that. At closing they ask all the guest in the museum to gather at the forth floor ramp to have a closing for the day parade. A dinosaur character leads the kids down the ramp waving flags that were given to them to carry down. They hype the kids up with cheers and told them to chant “GO Colts” all the way down the ramp and back into the Main Lobby area. Conclusion; We had a wonderfully fun filled day at the Children’s Museum and would suggest to any family no matter what the ages are of their children to go. Our family had no problem spending the whole day at the museum without the feeling that there was not enough to do, in fact we did not get to do a couple of the exhibits such as the Lilly Theater shows. The Food Court was clean and had a lot of great choices for us. I really liked letting the girls be in charge of where we went and when. Lisa and I were very tired at the end of the day from being drug around from floor to floor. We worried about trying to entertain the girls later in the evening, so we where very thrilled that 1 hour after coming home the girls asked for a video to watch and then subsequently fell asleep for the rest of the evening. A great ending to a wonderful day! Jesse A few more various scrolling pictures. http://www.linkchaos.com'>

Yes; because while you are there, there is so much to do for a family at the lodge that a family would not need to leave for a couple days for anything. So it would not matter if you traveled several hours to arrive or if you just crossed the street to get there, because the experience is on the inside of the lodge and not necessarily where it’s located geographically. Basically it’s a true get away from the rest of the world, once inside. Also if we lived in the area we would come to the lodge just to have dinner or to have the breakfast buffet on the weekends, it’s really that good.

LOL; I would love to see one of those parking attendants trying to reason with biker that has a custom bike why he is attempting to put a decal on his bike or see Dick Kinzal trying to do that with a straight face. ROFLMAO just thinking about that scenario. PKIfan73 just to make it clear nobody is technically receiving free parking. Guest are either paying for a season long parking privilege or as a incentive perk KI will entice their guest with season long parking privileges as part of their renewal Fall Season Pass purchase. I do know what you meant but just wanted to make sure other members realize that the technically KI does not offer free parking to guests. If a new Season Pass holder bought his pass in the Fall he gets to use his pass for the post season as a incentive, that then makes the new season pass holder to have a better deal. So to compensate the fall renewals, the Season Long Parking Pass is part of the purchase. I know I would rather not spend several hundred dollars for next years passes eight months early if there was no incentive to entice me to do so. So they better offer me something to use my money for eight months.

^So what time is this pizza party starting at your house tonight!!!!

Thanks Dane I will post very shortly in the Multimedia form to show one of the endless possibilities that the members can create in their posts. Thanks again!!! P.S. I will transfer all my videos to the HTML for easier use and viewing.

They would have never ran that story if it wasn’t coming news organizations have better things to do with their valuable airtime than speculate on moving coaster rumors. That right there was the long awaited announcement as to is GL X-Flight coming to Kings Island. Now when Kings Island decides to get around to it they can give us the more intricate details about it s arrival and name. But that was the pre announcement to perk interest with the general public, but never the less it was an announcement, for those who can read between the lines.

Yes, During our stay at Typhoon Lagoon Waterpark the chameleons liked my sandals so I got a picture of one of them. It was nice walking through the sand to get to different water attractions there. No need for water park shoes there.

I rarely ever wear athletic shoes, so in the cooler months I wear a very comfortable walking work shoe. In the hotter months I wear my Clarks walking sandals then gladly trade them in at Boomerang Bay for a pair of light weight shower shoes to keep my feet from suffering excruciating pain from walking on all the rough concrete at the Waterpark.

A very well thought out opinion, I for one hope that that was just an isolated park problem and not a problem for all the Cedar Fair troubled parks. I do haft to point out the season Pass problem last fall and haft to hope that the problems in the future are more easily remedied.

I know that during the off season is when most changes are made and I would like to see if it would be at all possible to turn the HTML settings to Yes in the Trip Reports and maybe the Multimedia and Games forums. Thanks in advance for your consideration of enabling this great feature. I have included at cheat sheet if needed but like always you guys are way ahead of us and probably don’t need it. Admin CP - Management - Settings (of the desired forum) - Enable HTML Postings (to yes) - Edit Forum (Save).

Nothing like freedom of the press and telling it like it is!!! I just hope that Cedar Fair sees their positive node from them and figures out that families don’t always spend a lot of money the last few hours but they do look at those hours as part of their overall experience. In fact my family usually will make our purchases earlier in the day so that we may enjoy the lights from the midway after dark. We already have felt that part of our experience has been taken away from the shortend morning hours at Kings Island.

Interprerter; I am so glad that you weighed in on this topic as you have made some great legal analogies. Just want to point out that Keith has yet to this day been able to present his evidence or accounts of what happened in the court of law. He has not even been found not guilty of the charges. The only thing that we do know is that the Mason Municipal Court has deemed the case not prosecutable because the of lack of Probable Cause, which you must have first and it is the easiest thing to get in any case. They don’t even haft to prove it, but just state that there is a probability of an unlawful act that has been committed.

I’m glad to hear a few members take this approach of giving all parties involved their day in court to present there evidence in a federal court. I would like to know were any of the park police officers disciplined in any way from this incident, because Kings Island could say that the officers were acting out of the scope of their duties. That may be way the lawsuit was issued in the manner that it was. Also just a note from other Civil Rights and police brutality cases; Often when a major egregious act was committed by a Police Force, the judicial side will drop all charges immediately. As you all in Cincinnati have seen in the past with other cases. So I wonder if that was the motive for dismissing the charges so quick. One more thought that I had about the amount of time between the incident and the federal filing of the lawsuit is that maybe Keith and his attorney tried to work with Kings Island to settle they’re differences before they felt it necessary to go publicly forward with a federal lawsuit.

Keep in mind that what I said in my first post was just an example of what could have taken place. Also keep in mind that he may halved filled a separate civil lawsuit towards the young ladies. When lawsuits are filled they are regularly filled on every one employees and the work force ect. The courts then will establish which one or ones should go forward. Something that I noticed is that Keith had his children with him at the time that this all happened, usually sexual predators don’t have their own children with them. I also noticed that nowhere in Keith’s lawsuit does he deny the charges but only goes after the Probable Cause issue. Which means that he could have done this but realizes that no Probable Cause was established which then gives him the right to file suit for civil rights violations, false and unlawful arrest, assault and battery, and malicious prosecution. Most sexual predators will not make issues about the events other than trying to wish it away. Keith is acting like a citizen who is not guilty and wants to clear his name. I also hope that Kings Island is exonerated in this case, but I believe that compensation would come from Paramount as they where the current owners when this incident happened.

Every state has different times that a law suit must be filed by after the initial incident and this one is a Federal Lawsuit which I believe he has seven years to do so. It may have taken several months for all the legal actions to have been resolved towards Keith, so they may had to wait till those were resolved. The Dollar figure is almost always established and encouraged from the legal team. They will base it off of what the current amount awarded to those with similar claims were awarded. They then take that amount and double it as a common practice and leave it to a jury to decide the final amount to be awarded. Also most legal teams will work pro bono for their clients and only accept compensation after they win an award and it is usually half of the award. I truly don’t know who is right or wrong here but I have got to say that if you were falsely accused of an sexual assault. You will have lost your reputation, your job and the community trust. Your kids friends may not be allowed to play with your kids any longer out of fear from other parents, Plus many more thing that I can’t think of. What is fair I don’t know but 10 million would not in any way be enough to compensate me for losing a lifetime of trust in the community, when I had done nothing wrong.

Everybody be careful here. If Keith Bays is in fact innocent and falsely accused, then roughed up by an Police force. Then he is well within his rights to file a Federal law suite to show evidence of his claims and possibly be compensated for his losses. Don’t get me wrong here I am not defending him, for no other reason than I have not heard or seen any evidence from either side that would allow me to come to any conclusions. Just so that everyone understands that anybody can make an allegation towards you to the police and you can find yourself trying to prove your innocents from a made up allegation. Example of this could have been the young ladies cut in front of Keith at the line of Worlds Greatest Funnel Cakes. Then Keith verbally confronted them, several verbal exchanges where exchanged from both parties until it escalated to the point where security was called out. At this point the young ladies make an allegation that Keith inappropriately touched them. Park Police then hears this and forcibly takes action and then Keith finds himself in a county jail charged with a crime. So with this example; it should warrant that Keith should be able to clear his name or to be compensated for his losses, then at minimum he should be allowed to be heard and to show evidence of his victimization. I noticed that the Mason County Court dismissed the charges filed against Keith Bays for lack of Probable Cause. That is the big Issue here "Probable Cause", the Police or Prosecutors must have that before they can make an arrests or file charges against a citizen. If no Probable Cause was present at the above mentioned case, then Keith was falsely arrested and charged with a crime. I must mention here that Probable Cause is extremely easy to obtain and takes virtually little to no evidence to establish. Having Probable Cause protects the police and prosecutors from being accused of falsely arrest/charging citizens of the community and gives them the just cause to do so if they have it. So before I can make any judgments about what happened at Paramount Kings Island on May 28, 2006 between Keith Bays, the two young ladies and Park Police. I must have more information in the form of evidence to make that call just like we will ask a jury to listen to the evidence in an impartial manor to judge for us to make a final conclusion to what happened that day. I am sure that all the above mentioned parties could find character witness to back them up. By the way if you don’t think that false allegations are regularly made and innocent citizens are then charged with a crime and then arrested. Then you need to open your eyes a little wider and look around and not be so naïve because that’s what false accusers are counting on.

I can not confirm this yet, but I believe SOB_TOM has been looking for some extra work in he off season and has agreed to replace the sound system during the off season. for KI.

Kings Island must have not wanted anybody to see these cars leaving the area if they had that truck going 115-130 MPH!!! plus what was you doing going that fast? I guess that makes you a coaster fanboy too.