A_Titanic_Mess

So if you admit that they ARE going through "crap" why is it whining to point it out? Isn't that how things get changed? I think there must be some truth to what is being said by some of the employees, and here is why: I only get to the park for about 4-5 visits a season, but even then I do remember certain employees that I see year to year. This year I didn't see a certain employee and asked another employee where she was, here is what I was told: "Oh, she quit". The employee went on to say that "Cedar Fair has lost a lot of their good employees this year because of how they are treating us". (The employee didn't sound bitter, just sad.) The employee that I asked about was not a kid, and was so good at their job that even I, as an out-of-state 4-5 times a year visitor noticed her. Everytime I read on here that a former Paramount employee has quit I wonder why. I attended a "going-away" party for a former KI employee this spring. At this party was about 40 to 50 current and former KI workers, about 90% who were or are full-time associates. Many had been "let go" when Cedar Fair took over, and many other quit after CF bought KI. I heard horrible reviews of the new CF management. What was really sad is that many of the people who were let go by CF had been with KI for 20 plus years. The new CF management is clearly a "good ol' boys" club, and female upper level management was hit hard when CF took over. In my 12 years with KI, we atteneded several amusement industry trade shows every year, and would see the CF people all the time. On many occassions they would join the KI/Paramount group for evening get togethers. We heard many times from them how tough it was to work for CF. They had very outdated systems for retail and food. Some of the employees called Cedar Point "Cedar Prison". It was quite eye-opening to hear from some of the upper management folks how bad thing were. Sounds like some of that has not changed, and has now made it's way to KI. As with any aquisition, not all employees will be happy. Just sounds to me like the KI transition has not gone well for many employees.

Found this old photo of us as kids getting ready to ride the Sombrero at the old Lesourdsville Lake. This photo is from the early 1980's. I remember this being a pretty fun flat ride.

The old Bayern Curve from KI ended up at Australia's Wonderland. Below is a link to a Wonderland History Site. The ride was named Wizard's Fury at Wonderland. http://wonderlandhistory.net/wf.php

Just a little trivia about the sign design (in case you don't already know), but the style of sign is designed to match the "entrance" to the Paramount Pictures studio in Hollywood. Below is a link to a photo of the studio gate/entrance. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davecobb/777530933/

RECAR...boy, that Barbie Colnar was a genius...uh huh uh huh

I also recall back in the 80's riding The Beast, and not hitting brakes before the 2nd drop. If they were there at the time, they were not used. I also don't recall the straight away brake run after the 2nd drop but before the tunnels as slowing you down as much as they do now. A real treat for us was when they would issue an all-call during park set-up to ride The Beast minus the brake run. I only rode it a couple times like this, and it was incredible. I think the best rides are still the night rides, unless of course they have lite the woods up like Fort Knox!

We visited the park in mid-July for a company picnic, and Tomb Raider was operating that that time. Took all three of my nephews on the ride for the first time. Was disappointed that some of the effects were not working, but still a great ride.

I have read the entire topic, and just as others on this website, I gave an opinion based on the info provided as well as my experience at the park. As I said earlier, kids have quite KI kicking and screaming for years, this is nothing new. Sounds like security overreacted in my opinion. I have no beef with security, but I have seen over the 12 years that I worked at the park how over-zealous security guards turn a minor situation into something it wasn't. And as far a the camera comment, there was a well publicized fight in the KI parking lot a few years ago where it was claimed that KI Security did little to stop the fight. Of course KI showed off their high-tech security camera system to calm the nerves of worried park guests, and then went on to say that the camera aimed at the area of the fight was not working the night of the fight. Just makes one wonder... Wow, just a million things wrong here. Not only is it wrong to assume this kid got what he deserved considering we dont know the whole story but you take blowing out the story to a whole new level! We dont know why the kid hit the E-stop, exactly what kind of scene he created as he was leaving, what happened in the interrogation room, theres no evidence to support he assualted the cops or security officers or to support that the cops were arrogant about the situation. Theres nothign saying the interegation room camera wasn't working. I love how you just tried to turn this in the complete other way. No one here knows what happened exactly, and how and if it was is being decided in a court of law, not by "know-it-all's" on the internet. None of us here know the situation, its not safe to assume the kid got what he desereved of ir he was abused. No official facts are present. Read the article at the beginning of the thread( http://www.western-star.com/n/content/oh/s...slandcops.html) the kid did hit the e stop, i never said you said he got what he deserved, i said the assumptions you made are based on nothing, just as the assumptions other posters made when they claimed "he got what he deserved". So before you want me to re-read your post, maybe you should've read mine a bit closer, as well as the entire topic. If you have a beef with PKI security, perhaps you care to elaborate on your experiences and put some backing behind your claims. Why pick sides when you dont know the whole story?

Just to be clear, I never said the kid got what he deserved...read my post again...I am on the side of the kid, not KI. You are right, none of us where there. I love how you assume that he hit the E-stop, and created some kind of scene. Do you know for sure he did either...no, just like I don't know exactly what happened. I was simply giving an opinion based on the info made available on this website, as well as my own experiences with KI security. Wow, just a million things wrong here. Not only is it wrong to assume this kid got what he deserved considering we dont know the whole story but you take blowing out the story to a whole new level! We dont know why the kid hit the E-stop, exactly what kind of scene he created as he was leaving, what happened in the interrogation room, theres no evidence to support he assualted the cops or security officers or to support that the cops were arrogant about the situation. Theres nothign saying the interegation room camera wasn't working. I love how you just tried to turn this in the complete other way. No one here knows what happened exactly, and how and if it was is being decided in a court of law, not by "know-it-all's" on the internet. None of us here know the situation, its not safe to assume the kid got what he desereved of ir he was abused. No official facts are present.

Woofer, I used to work in the Entertainment Industry with a traveling show, and you reminded me of an old saying that I used to hear... "There are three types of show people....professionals, circus people, and carnies....you sir are a carny!!! I always wanted to get this on a t-shirt! OK, help me with that logic and how is it that you know about the carnies showering habits. Inquiring minds simply want to know.

Regardless who was in the wrong, this is a PR nightmare for PKI. Imagine all of the parents out there of minors that work at the park now wondering if their child will be the next to be taken to the ground and pepper-sprayed for having an arguement with management. This is ridiculous...kids have quit their jobs at Kings Island for years, shouting obscenities left and right as they were escorted out. Sounds like KI security over-reacted in the "interrogation room". The kid wanted to quit....just walk him out and be done with it. Of course the keystone cops that run around KI wanted to show how big their weiners are, so they took this kid to the ground and sprayed him. They must have had hard-ons for the rest of the night. Even if this kid screwed-up and did forgot to check a restraint, thank god he stopped the ride before someone was seriously hurt. If he has done this multiple times, then yes, maybe he does need written-up or terminated. Sounds to me like the ride manager probably said something to him that probably should have been said in the office with another manager present. Why would you confront an employee about possible discipline out at the location instead of in the office with a witness? All of this should easily be clear-up though, the security department and interrogations rooms are all monitored by video, unless the camera was "not working" at the time....hmmm....

Gullivar's Travels and of course, the original Enchanted Voyage....a classic that should have never been removed!!!

Just a couple comments... The turnstiles/switchbacks/queue lines for SOB were all in use on Sautrday, July 21st. We were there for a special event, and rode Top Gun. All of the queues for SOB were in use. I ran into a former coworker while there who told me that 7/21 was KI's busiest day of the year so far. Top Gun merchandise does not use a license. The park pays a royalty based on the revenue generated by Top Gun souvenirs. The park could continue with Top Gun merchandise indefinitly as long as they are willing to pay the royalty. I recall as far back as 2001 that there was no open-to-buy for Top Gun merchandise, so no new was purchased. The corporate office did a small refresh of Top Gun product in 2002, but the sales did not justify buying/developing new inventory. I don't recall the exact amount, but the royalty paid on Top Gun merchandise was pretty low, maybe 2% of gross sales. Not sure what contract (if any) is in place for the actual attraction.

The jackets were pretty nice when first purchased, but keep in mind if these are part of the original purchase, they are over 5 years old (they were expensive, so I can't imagine the park did a reorder after the initial purchase). They were purchased in limited quantites to really be used as gifts for the Paramount Studio executives for the opening of TRTR. We gave several away at the TRTR press event to studio guys, TRTR ride manufacturer, and Paramount Park executives. The rest were for sale in the leather shop across from TRTR.

Skylab was never quite the same after the "accident". The wheel used to go almost vertical before the accident, but after, it never seemed to get to the vertical position again. I seem to remember it SBNO for a while. Once it was disassembled, it sat in the bone yard for many years. We had a fixture trailer in the bone yard, and were up there several times a week. I recall the day they were loading the skylab cars onto a flat bed, going to where I do not know. Does anyone know if another park bought it? Looked to still be in decent shape, but pretty dirty from years of sitting in storage.

Flight Commander was one of the scariest rides in the park. Those pods rotated kind of slowly, so you always had the feeling you were going to fall out. Of course after the accident, it had even more of a scare factor when riding. darn noisy ride though. You could hear that thing all the way down Coney Mall.

Wow... would you like to make some jokes about Superman Tower of Power next? Yes I would, but woofer beat me too it.

This is the site of the former Flight Commander attraction a.k.a. the Pitch-A-B_tch...

Worst thing is the trashy guests....Kings Island has become so ghetto. Food prices are a close second.

This is not the first time the ride has done this. I recall a similar situation with the cables during the 1st or 2nd season. This is not a major problem. I seem to remember it was corrected fairly quickly. Sparky, you know I love you. By the way, the official word for the park is that the cables are fine. Drop Zone is down for some maintanance, however the cable system for the ride is working correctly.

OMG...I can't believe that Darlene was stealing money! This is too much. Wonder how much time she is going to do? She spent years locked in the KI cage, now it sounds like she might be facing some time in the Warren County cage! I am just shocked by all of this. She is one of the last people I would have ever suspected doing something like this.

Mikey Pop, to many of the folks on this website, Kings Island can do no wrong. Not all of us though view Kings Island through rose-colored glasses. I appreciate your candid comments about your trip to KI. I do agree however with several of the other posts about this topic...Kings Island's decline began when Paramount bought the parks. Paramount Pictures wanted a multi-dimensional outlet for their movies, much like Universal and Disney did with their parks in Florida. However Paramount quickly realized that the capital required to create these environments was not in the cards for them. So, they half-@ssed pretty much everything they did. Really a shame as they had great opportunity to make some magic happen. I think for those of us that were working there, we pretty knew when VRG closed their doors, that the studio was no longer intereseted in backing the theme parks. Now KI is a year or so in with new ownership, and I can't say I have high hopes. Many of the fulltime staff that had been with KI for 15 or 20 years left or were fired when Cedar Fair took over, and you can see the results of that staff change in the park. Only time will tell how things will turn out for KI. I truely feel that the heyday of KI was back in the late 1980's. I don't think they will ever return to times like those. On a side note, I was also at the park this past Saturday. I will say that I too felt some of the ride crews lacked some discipline. The crew at The Beast was excellent, as was those at White Water Canyon. However at The Racer, Delirium, and Adventure Express there was way too much playing around happening. Also, they could all use a lesson on how to speak into a microphone for the PA system. Hope you continue to be a part of the discussions at KI Central.

The space was never used as a restaurant. It was used for area managers offices several years back, but due to fire codes, had to be abandoned as a work area. It was used for storage for years after. Again, due to fire code regualtions, it had to be cleared, the last I heard was that a merch concession (maybe Kamans) was using it to store supplies. The office is pretty much the full length of the candy shop. The entrance hallway inside is very narrow though, which is a big part of the fire code problem. There are 3 rooms, and 2 access ladders that go to the top exterior of the building.

News story from WLWT... 2 Kings Island Rides Remain Grounded ChannelCincinnati.com 5:09 p.m. EDT July 18, 2007 MASON, Ohio - Kings Island has some disappointing news for thrill seekers: Two of the amusement park's most popular rides are shut down. The Drop Zone has been shut down for about a month for an upgrade. The ride is manufactured by the same company that built the Superman ride in Louisville, which malfunctioned and led to a girl's feet being severed. The incident caused amusement parks across the country to shut down similar rides as a precaution. "I'm glad they're doing something safe," said park visitor Danielle Abney. Kings Island released a statement assuring the public that the Drop Zone has always been licensed to operate, but the ride's manufacturer recommended an upgrade as a precaution. Park officials noted that a part would be replaced on the ride to "enhance ride performance." Meanwhile, the Son of Beast closed again last week, after it had already been closed for a year following an accident that injured 27 people. Workers removed a loop from the ride and installed lighter trains, and park officials said that the reason for this latest shutdown is general maintenance. "I didn't know anything was going on with the Son of Beast, but I guess we can't ride it," said park visitor Daniel Keeling. "Any preventative maintenance they can do is definitely better for the people who come here." Kings Island officials said both rides should open in a matter of days.

Very tragic story. I agree with teenageninja that it appears as though careful inspection of cables are not happening. This reminds me of an accident at PKI back in the 90's. When the ice show was still in the Festhaus, one of the skaters who "flew" in the space number fell to the ice from about 25' up when the cable snapped that was suspending her. She broke both legs. It was discovered that the cable was rusted from the inside. Closer and more frequent inspection would have caught the problem. The flying portion of the ice show was removed for the remainder of the season. The skater did recover from her injuries. PKI and Willy Bietak paid out an undisclosed amount in settlement. All were lucky that the injures from the accident were not more serious.