mullimann

I am totally down for Zoning.. In fact I am reading Mason's City Council Minutes. Now, just gotta make a trip to do a little building permit query, since Mason is in the last decade with no online permit system.

I FOUND THE Banshee! http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_23587736 7/3/13 SANTA CLARA -- It's a twister that guarantees riders give up more than just a few timid whoo-hoo's. But the blood-curdling screams are being silenced as Great America's latest attraction -- the Gold Striker roller coaster -- was shut down this week after the shrieks got a few decibels too loud for its not-so-amused neighbors. Now, the theme park is busy sound-proofing Northern California's fastest and tallest wooden coaster in time for the Fourth of July: They're building a new tunnel to muffle the sounds of the wheeled carts loaded with screaming Banshees. Time to start an awesome Rumor! Gold Striker is being moved to Kings Island because Prudential is threatening to sue Cedar Fair! Throw that sucker in sea-cans and get it here pronto! Honestly, I feel for our CGA friends.. This build stuff next to an amusement park and complain is driving me crazy. Similar issue in Sacramento - http://www.nbcnews.com/id/17988849 - Ride the Screamer! (But no shrieking please) Neighbors’ complaints spur amusement park to institute a no-noise rule Riders are being told if they scream they are kicked off the ride! - because a NEW development across an Interstate is complaining of the noise. Whats next Flight Deck closes at 8pm due to GWL complaints. Honestly I think that CF and these theme parks need to stand up for THEIR zoning rights... I'm not complaining that I hear planes in my back yard, because I live 1 mile from the airport. Because airports have plane noise. Theme parks have people screaming in fear/joy.. Back to the topic.. Construction crews dug holes and poured concrete somewhere in Warren County, OH today!

Its the biggest haunt ever! Were getting HHN size soundstages for awesometastic haunts. That or the park wants someone to eat crow! I'm just gonna camp out here, someone bring me cookie dough dippin dots, and stale popcorn. I'll even give ya $11 for 4 bottles of water. Also who says that Don is behind the signs or prop... Could be Greg or even Jeff wanting to have fun.

The footers could be for a new luminosity stage... Lol with large light stanchions on the triangular footers. The rest are for light poles for the new campground. Or not.

This is simple. The ADA REQUIRES that a company NOT discriminate against a disability. By having 1 and only 1 policy they comply. But if a immediate seating card is given to someone because they cannot wait in line, and the person with an amputated leg has to return 30 minutes later. The amputee was discriminated against. Why should he have to wait. This recent 1 rule for everyone was enforced at SIX last year. While FUN took 1 more year to make it policy. I understand the strife families with Autism deal with, i have family members affected. But much like any policy or law.. They are created because someone did something that caused the policy to be made. Theme parks have struggled with the ADA since enactment. How do you comply and not discriminate. AND make the guest have the best day ever. We have all seen in the past few weeks how these same type of passes, are abused and used. It used to be if you had a wheel chair or ECV you went to the exit, next train you were loaded. Yeah, we complied, they got to ride! But from my own experience working at Universal Orlando, families would get a wheel chair for mom or ECV for dad, and enjoy the wonderful perks. Well soon the wheel chairs and ECV's rented out every day! To only see mom have no problem walking or dad carrying Johnny on his shoulders while mom hops on the ECV. Abuse was rampant, so now you must register at guest services, get your card to enjoy not having to wait in line, of course with your physicians note. The youtube video, and several of the complaints were, we drove X hours to come to the park, to find out they changed the old policy, and didn't let anyone know of the change. Well policies change, they assumed it was the same. I have seen the ASD page on KI's website since 2012, and a usually quick call to the park or visit to the web page would have informed visitor of the change. The park doesn't have every persons e-mail or address who may have a disability, you have to call the NSA for that. I personally hope that FUN stays steadfast on this policy. I am sure Disney's legal eagles and consultants are all trying to determine how to handle the abuses of the old immediate boarding cards. Most likely, we will see Disney goto similar timed return policies, and fastpass+ is rumored to have such capabilities. SIX could require flashpass for guest needing timed boarding. And FUN possibly going to a similar virtual queue system that can be used to lessen the need to have a paper filled out.

Yes, it is a launched B&M, but the launch was custom designed by Universal Creative. The wheels are always checked and i believe are foam filled. If a wheel needs replaced it can be done in about 20-30 minutes. The launch tunnel has compressed air outlets for impact wrenches. They also use the air to help blow out the rubber dust too. The tunnel was part of the intial concept so protecting the tires is probably secondary. There are 3 B&M's at Universal Orlando, the dueling dragons count as 2 coasters. Central Florida has the most B&M coasters within 1 hour of each other, with 3 at UO, 2 at SWO, 3 at BGT. Source: was opening crew at IOA

Man I was hoping for the campground to re-open.. Improve Cedar Points facilities, but not rebuild a campground at KI.. Here is Ouimet talking about how he wants multiple day visits. Campers could stay at KI, truck up to CP stay there.. Multiple-day stays Ouimet wants Cedar Point fans to spend more time at the park, over multiple days in what he refers to as "fun-cations." It's his take on the term "staycations," referring to the trend of more people staying closer to home, even as the economy is improving. "The world is too complicated. You just want the best day of summer here," Ouimet said. "That's the goal we should have. We want to be the entertainment of choice." To help attract even more visitors, Cedar Fair has invested $130 million in Ohio in the last five years and plans to spend as much as $100 million more on new capital investments in the next three years. About $60 million will be spent on the company's three hotels and dormitories in the next three years, starting with initiatives like adding Wi-Fi capabilities at dormitories for employees and renovating the 100-year-old Breakers Hotel. "You have to honor the legacy," he said of the 800-room property. "But you can't revere it. If there were no changes, we wouldn't be here. . . . We're toying with the idea of adding a kids' club facility." Marcia Pledger, The Plain Dealer The Plain Dealeron February 23, 2013 I'm hoping for a 2 fold project, a new coaster.. Wish it was a GCII woodie, and rebuilt campgrounds. KI is one of the only major properties that has lost its on site company owned lodging. Yes we have GWL, but that is no longer jointly owned by KI/CF. CP, CW,KD & KB all have company owned lodging of some type. And HONESTLY.. When hasn't Don played games with the enthusiast?? Its likely the 1 joy he gets is reading our forums and thinking, Diversion worked!

There is no 10% or any percentage off for food or park merchandise. They have reverted back to the same discounts that were active in 2011, and somewhat in 2012. The listing of all discounts is posted here, it is subject to change. https://www.visitkingsisland.com/images/uploads/file/2013%20Gold%20and%20Platinum%20Season%20Pass%20Benefits(1).pdf Looks as though its mainly the park vendors (Kamen, Photoguys) that have discounts.

Really anyplace in the park that you can see WindSeeker is a good position. Areas like Planet Snoopy and White Water Canyon are probably the only places that may have obscured viewing. The fireworks are launched just past the red racers turn-around.

There are a few areas that a haunt could go. A large tent or zone in the Timberwolf area. Expand urgent scare with a 2nd level, use the upper entrance, while it would not be ada, if ramps were built it could be. A live haunt on the log flume during haunt hours. Similar to knotts. Use 1 picnic shelter for a haunt. I know the main issue for haunt is staffing, so anything new or bigger is harder to fill those positions. When i worked at universal HHN usually it wasn't hard to staff, since most staff was full time, but if KI added a 3rd season to the park, some people could live with the 2-3 month downtime in jan/feb. Maybe with the new management excited about lodging, KI could re build the campgrounds, a lot of places hire seasonal employees who migrate with campers, cheap rent, older mature adults, win for all.

Mine and kids passes scanned fine with the renewal, but the wifes would not come up with her pic, or scan, while it did at the tolls. The gate employee typed her pass and could see it was renewed and active, but never did show picture. I'm sure we'll be at guest services in the next visit or so. I wonder if each park has their server on site, or if its cloud based. Has anyone tried to use thier iphone passport for the pass? Will they accept it?

I hope that the new owners have given the beach some tlc, last time i went it was definitely looking worn down. Most rides gel coat was so faded or worn off. Its likely i may goto the beach once this year, but with season passes i will be at Soak City more. I agree that Soak City is spread out, but the high tension lines restrict anything below them. Most of Soak City was re-painted or updated last spring. I would love to see a master blaster ride in the front wedge between the parking lot and the new wave pool, or behind splash landing and toward zoom flume. I would also be cool if they would convert thunder falls into a tube chute that let you just float into the action river, like those at GWL. Possibly put a different tube ride that did the same. Schlitterbahn has mastered that and it makes it nicer to be able to float over to an exit near your spot.

We got there at 4:30, a last minute decision to take in some rides. Delirium was running about 75 minute wait. Flight deck, longest q I've seen in years, with 20 minutes saw Gary (XGatorHead 8904) in line in front of me. Surf dog went down as kids were in line. Boo Blasters was running about 45 minutes. White water canyon & congo falls were both walk on. Most people were just cycling over and over. At 8:45 line for Diamondback was 2 hours, so went to Beast was a 75 minute post, but got caught by fireworks, so turned into a almost 2 hour wait. Saw malem, Beastie1980, Original, Muppetfan, firebeastoffear in line a little bit behind us, but didnt get to say hey.

Looks like all we have so far is concrete pilings for a footer. It is odd to see the footer almost at grade, leaving more forming above grade. If there is to be a coaster structure then in the next few weeks bolt alignment rings will be attached to those rebar, and formed to accept the supports. Honestly with the close alignment and proximity to the "midway" this could be a station structure. Also with the 3 different groupings it could be different rides. Or maybe they are making a cool cart track with multiple levels and twisty turns.. New upcharge!

I bet when something has reached the end of its life at KI Jeff Gramke has Jungle Jim on his cellphone contacts. For the pathway, I doubt they will make one, thats challenging land, there is a ravine that seperates the old Animal Habitat from the park. Parts were culverted over for SOB. If Firehawk wasn't a relocate they could have left the terrain alone, but they had to have a level pad to get the supports the same elevations. Now just think 5 years ago this month we got our first pictures of the "mystery swan lake construction"

Most of the coaster is inspected daily by visual track and vehicle inspection, but there are tell tail signs of issues with the track that is inaccessable from catwalk. Typically abnormal wear on the track, bolt witness mark movement. The tracks will also have a full inspection in the off season via crane or man lift to get to every inch of the track. They will look for any weld issues, also check each witness mark on every bolt. Due to new guidelines they also typically keep those same inspection lifts / cranes near the coaster for evac purposes. If a track needs more inspection they can use a track ball, that will self propel on the track. These are costly, so often companies like Cedar Fair may have 1-2 around the country that can be moved via truck if needed. When I worked at IOA we had 1 that could be used on all 3 B&M coasters. It was stored in the Dragons shop since Hulk had no room due to location and the motor generators. Most steel coaster maintance employees know the sound of the rides by heart, heck most full time employees do too. You hear a rattle here, bang here somethings not right, could be the vehicle could be track. The main point of maintance on the steel coasters is the vehicles, they are subject to so much wear and tear. Between guest riding them, and ride cycles they see plenty of damage. If you want to know what happens daily here is a link to the National Association of Amusement Ride Safety Officials Recent Education session on Steel Coaster Inspections - http://www.naarso.com/Mass%20School%20Handouts/SteelCoasterInspectionMA_2013.pdf

A better while not complete map is available on the KI Site - https://www.visitkingsisland.com/images/uploads/file/CMP%205k%20Course.pdf

Opening day is always a bit slower than the rest of the season, The added crowd of the 5K will cause the early crowd to be heavy since many will be there prior to park open. The Ride ops will need to get their flow, even seasoned ops will be out of the groove for a couple weeks. Early rain will probably just cause more delays, like Jr said a good afternoon storm will send people home. The runners will be sore and tired, and historicly an afternoon storm will thin out crowds. There is also possibilities some rides will not be operating opening day, which causes others to have longer lines, Last year it seemed like Drop Zone was 2-3 weeks late to open, Unless we hear different WindSeeker will be closed since Knotts and KD have yet to re-open their versions. And any water rides will not be open, so that automaticly takes 4 rides down for day 1.

I hope they have something planned for this year. I liked the idea of fun perks. I deffinately spent more $ in the park with it. Yes there were hiccups with associates not knowing how to apply or use it, but for the most part I never had problems. The cost of a few free sodas and pretzels is minimum due to the cost of staffing/food cost is covered by the markup on regular priced items. I imagine the cost of setting that up last year with the POS system, website, and signage cost them quite a bit, but to scrap it after 1 year seems like corporate wasn't happy with the ROI. I ate in the parks more last year than ever, bought souvineers that normally I would never because of the knowledge that I would get benefit from that. On the last confrence call they sounded like the program was doing well, but the bottom line must have been the deciding factor (which I am sure they wrote off). I will be interisted in what they plan on to keep season pass holders $ in the park. Because if its just the 10-20% discount I will probably be back to eating in the parking lot.

The one plus, the crew from china is here for the new additions, so repairs should be able to be done quickly.

I would love a bunch of trees in the Diamondback area, as long as the man lift can get over them from the access road I don't see why they can't add some fast growing pines in there. The Racer like EVERY other PTC will likely never return to backwards mode unless a new car is designed for that function. Like Terp said PTC no longer recomends backwards operation, and if there is a technical bulliten from PTC that states that, then Six Flags and Cedar Fair's liability insurance carriers could drop them for operating equipment outside of manufactures spec. As well as the states have cracked down on the same. The states hold some liability as well, as the municipal inspector, if they approve it and someone were to be injured they can be sued as well. I bet if there was 1 person who would love The Racer backwards more than any it would be Don. So maybe its time for GCII or TGG to build a backwards train. I imagine if they tested well they could get quite a few orders with all the existing racing coasters, which could lead to both forward and backward train orders! And while the TGG boys from Cincy would be a great fit, they have only had 1 adoption of their Timberliner train in the 4 years of development/testing. While the Millenium flyers have over a dozen in production.

I would love to see more interactivity in the park, Disney's NextGen is going to change the theme park industry. But If they had things like Qtv and put Interactive triva that you could win something, be it a free drink, 1 fastpass ride. All it would take would be a text responder. Even could do like the Cincinnati Reds and have Twitter DJ. Pick a song to hear in the park. I personally like the Q-bot technology, but the newer version Q-smart uses smart phones to replace the bot devices. The advantage, is Riders cannot just keep getting right back into line like the wristbands. UNLESS they want to pay for premium service.

Like Most, I miss that rides/queues were themed. CF is typically pretty plain jane with ride themeing. Paramount was trying to keep up with Universal/Disney in ride themes. If you look at CF's history with rides, they are pretty much the same. Not even Knotts gets $ to compete with their market. They also build copies of rides, IE WindSeeker, Linus Launcher. Taft and Keco were known to duplicate, but always kept themeing up.

That Brad McCombs class? Looks good.

Don and Greg have really been great providing all of this for us! Now my 1 suggestion for Don is if that last section is a pull down, put a gopro cam on the top or inside a 55 gal half barrel in the fall zone catching it falling on top of it.