marlfox_21

thanks for viewing. It's just nice to find a clean website, with nice people, and fun topics. Keep viewing. I'll have more after Thanksgiving. I plan to attend the Thanksgiving Celebration Parade at Disney.

To start our day out, we went to Ponderosa Steakhouse next to Disney's Animal Kingdom, Sea World, etc. I had not ate at one of these restaurants in years, so I thought that I would give it a chance. And it turned out to be good, so from there, I went to Animal Kingdom, and took the ( secret entrance ) to avoid the crowds. Me and my fiance rode the Safari Tour, and we rode Expedition Everest a couple of times, both front seat with the time saving tool of the "Fast Pass". We also chose to watch "The Lion King" and "A Bugs Life" in the "Tree of Life". This as well as walking around and simply getting a chance to take in the sights is really all that we accomplished at Disney's Animal Kingdom. We went to this park for only half a day. Then our journey took us from this park to SeaWorld Adventure Park. Upon arriving at Sea World, we first met up with students from a college course in Gainesville Florida majoring in "Zoo Animal Technology" (ZooBiology) This program is incredible for students considering that students get placement in Zoological Facilities all over the country following graduation. Disney's Animal Kingdom employs 20% of it's staff from this program, and SeaWorld has a fair number of graduates working for them too! In fact their is a museum outside of Charlotte, North Carolina that is making a new design of .5 Natural History, and .5 Zoological Park that employs its keepers exclusively from this college program. In case you have not guessed, I am also a graduate of this program. Anywho, after meeting up with the college seniors, and their Teaching Zoo's Director/Professor, we made our way (QUICKLY) into the heart of "SeaWorld Adventure Park". Upon our arrival, the park was closed to the public, so it was a very quiet and somewhat creepy experience. ( Theme and Amusement parks always seem to have an overwhelming feeling of lonliness when they are empty. ) But when we met up with one of the Curators of SeaWorld for an after hours ( behind the scenes ) tour, it became quite lively. We got to walk behind the scenes and on a very slim walkway over a shark tank. ( One small shark was actually trained, and we all got to pet this animal. ) Otherwise, it was a very overwhelming experience to walk just about a foot over sharks swimming around directly under your feet. Following the shark encounter, we were all treated to pizza. Then we were taken to their "Penguin" exhibit, where we were all taken ( a few at a time ) actually INTO the exhibit and were given the priveledge to pet a King Penguin. This was just incredible to me. I absolutely love penguins, and as a side note, it really made me want to go and see the movie "Happy Feet". Then we were taken to "Dolphin Cove", where the dolphins went completely crazy with squeaks, and flippers. As these animals are not use to having people around them after hours, they were very excited, and more than willing to be petted, even without fish! It was totally amazing! All of the dolphins came to one corner of the pool to us to be petted. One baby actually grabbed hold of one of the students hands, and simply would not let go. It was more funny than anything, because it was not big enought to hurt, and they do this simply due to the fact that when they are young, ( in captivity ) they tend to think that everything that has to due with a human is a fish. ( kind of a dolphin maturity issue, to make an anthropomorphic comment out of it. ) After our time on the outside of dolphin cove, it was time to pull out our sleeping bags, as we were allowed to sleep in the bottom viewing area of dolphin cove. Which if you have never been there, is about the size of a classroom. I placed my sleeping bag right next to the glass window, where I could hear the dolphins squeak all night. At about 5 in the morning they really go crazy with singing. And at that point they were so loud that it was impossible to sleep. But it was alright. The animals were simply amazing and beautiful. The next day, when everybody was up, one of the dolphin trainers ( another graduate from the program ) presented us all with fish, so that we could be the very first people that the dolphins got fed from for the day. This like everything else, was simply incredible. During this day, we went behind the scenes with a big Walrus, and with the Sea Lions. We got to go backstage for the whale and dolphin show, and we got to watch this show from the stands as well. On top of all of this, we also saw the new Shamu show "BELIEVE". After a long 2 days of walking and eating free pizza, we were exhausted, and made our way home. But trust me, these are experiences that I will cherish and remember for the rest of my life!

GREAT TRIP REPORT, AVATAR! I like the respect you have given to Disney's Animal Kingdom in your report. And I will agree with other statements in saying that I really enjoyed your slide show as well. It's a shame I did not know you were coming. You being a great fan of my beloved former park, Kings Island. I could have given you some behind the scenes views. ( However Disney would have my neck, not to mention my job if any picture taking was done behind the scenes. ) I am going to attend the park tomorrow on the 14th just for a day of enjoyment. Afterwards, I am going to SEAWORLD, with a group Zoo Students, and we are going to spend the night in the viewing area of DOLPHIN COVE. I can't wait for that!! We are going to be the 1st people that the dolphins see on Wednesday morning, and they are supposed to be extremely excited when they get fed in the morning. Not to mention that we will have the park to ourselves Tuesday night, after they close to the public. Anyway, enough about me. I'm really glad that you had a great day at Disney. And I have to agree with you on EXPEDITION EVEREST. It is a ride that is truly a MUST.

Whats the deal with Cedar Fair's desire for Western Themes all of a sudden. With "MAVERICK" at Cedar Point, and "RENEGADE" at ValleyFair, it seems like Kings Island would get something along the line of this as well. No facts related to Kings Island to back this up. Just a thought, really. Renegade looks like a pretty fun ride though.

In reality, Kings Islands schedule truly runs around college students. Not High School. In the early months of the year, students are still taking classes, but are only requested to put in a few hours here and there to prepare the park for its opening weekend. This works out as a kind of a compromise because the students need more time for study than for work. And when the park opens for weekends, just the same occurs. College students will not be taking classes on Saturdays and Sundays, and come the summertime, well most people do not take college courses during the summer. And when it comes time for the college students to move back to their college towns, or begin taking classes locally again, the park goes back to weekends only. This is when you will usually see High School students ( minors ) become promoted to supervisors, in which they will hold the title until the end of the operating season. After the college students complete their work time for the season. Most often, when they return the following year with the position already achieved, they have either turned 18 by that point, or they soon will. Following this operating season, if they return, most likely they will be in the college boat, and the cycle starts all over again. This is what I have witnessed in the years that I was working at Kings Island. mf

If they were going to tear down all wooden coasters, then they would not have been willing to fix the "Son of Beast" Otherwise, it could have been the 1st official ( unofficial ) board(s) to begin the demolition process. I still say that if it were up to me, I would bring in the wrecking ball. And have all of the oompa loompas clean up the mess. lol

" The tribe will speak in 2007" Well, it sure does sound an awful lot like Cedar Fair's marketing/advertising strategy. Only advertise at the actual location. And don't give out a name......after all "Y'all up for some serious sidewindin"?

DEPARAMOUNTIZE??...Is that (REALLY) in the dictionary????? lol anyways, this is really off topic, but has anyone looked at the recently added 3rd quarter sales on the Cedar Fair web site. The word "Paramount" has been dropped from all of the parks here. Not that it necessarily means anything. But I just thought that I would mention it.

I went to Universal Studios Orlando this past Sunday with my fiance, and some friends that I work with. And to be honest, I was not really sure what to expect out of this park. To start, I will say that City Walk was awesome. Aside from all of the lights, and clubs, shops, the theatre, etc. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, which was great. And later we settled down at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. Need I say more about citywalk? I got to ride everything that I wanted to ride, with the longest wait being for Jurassic Park, which was about 25 minutes. I waited for the Hulk coaster for about 5 minutes, rode both Fire and Ice Dueling Dragons in about 15 minutes, and rode the Revenge of the Mummy in about 10, and the same for Jaws. Granted that some of these rides are in Islands of Adventure, the day as a whole was great, especially for it being late in the year and going to the park on a non-peak night. HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS was AMAZING!!!!! I could go on about it forever. This is where I really was not too sure of what to expect. I've been to 5 of the FearFest seasons in Ohio. Including working there in 2003 as the Cannibal in the Torture Chamber in the haunted house. So I was really interested in seeing Halloween Horror Nights. They have some great mazes, with a whole lot of visuals. Including my favorite at this event, which was "People Under the Stairs" It is a really cool walkthrough. And unlike my experience during the day, this attraction took about an hour and a half to get into. But it was really worth it. Other great attractions included the show " Bill and Teds Excellent Halloween Adventure" It was great. Oh, and the parks decorations were astounding. They really do go all out for halloween at Universal Studios. They had an entire block decorated with fog, sound effects, motorcycles driving up and down the streets, barrels of fire, with what were susposed to be gang members warming themselves by it. And they would stalk you. Zombies with chainsaws, and a downed light post, and "WAR ZONE" with an army jeep, a tank, military men, sounds of bombs going off, and all. Even a guy telling you that it is a restricted area that is dangerous, and not to go in. On another block they had Death, demon chicks wearing virtually nothing, and all kinds of creepers walking about, as well as more Zombies with chainsaws, and fog that was so thick, you really could not see where you were going. The scarecrows were cool, and they brought back 4 of there past mascots to represent the event which is now in its 16th year. I really like the "Sweet 16" slogan, and purchased a t-shirt with the same. Oh and in comparison to Kings Island, which would be selling Coke and glow necklaces to the people in lines for the halloween mazes. Universal Studios has people walking around screaming "Get your vodka jello molds, or your push pops with the equivalent of 2 shots of vodka!" GREAT TIME, just possibly not for the kids, because unlike what I have seen at Kings Islands FearFest, people were leaving these houses, and walking through the park, crying.

Our merch maint. office used to be in the back of the Rock Shop. I hope that they change that entire store around. It had the most corrupted (non-family) merchandise in the entire park. m.f.

When I drove back to Ohio from Florida, I went to the park 1 time. I would go again this year for WinterFest when I return to Ohio again for Christmas, but it looks like I will be going to The Beach Waterpark's "HolidayFest" instead. Since the plug on WinterFest was pulled. Not that there is anything wrong with that. "HolidayFest" is really nice to go to. I will probably go to the Cincinnati Zoo's "Festival of Lights" and the Columbus Zoo's "LightFest" during my time in Ohio as well. ( Depending on road conditions.)

Son of Beast isn't even that fun of a ride. I don't see why people are so obsessive over it. Personally, I don't care if the ride stays or goes. If it stays, I might ride it if I am in the park, bored, and everything else has too long of a line. And if it goes...."OH WELL", I will get over it. Oh wait, I'm already over not being able to ride it. So much for that. mf

Its great that they are not going to allow smoking inside of the park anymore. It's not good for bystanders. Especially the children and the animals. And the freeroaming Pea****s and Peahens eat the cigarette butts. So cigarettes really aren't good for them. Its great that they are doing this. Hopefully other zoos and Kings Island will follow suit. Here's a thought. Bring back the Wild Animal Habitat to K.I. and make it smoke free too.

YES, the cancer that is Paramount or in this case, that WAS Paramount

We are getting a coaster that starts off as a woodie, and gets launched straight into a massive helix that goes into an underground tunnel, that goes up a lift hill and comes down this hill and turns into a steel framed coaster and then it goes through a grand series of vertical loops, but this is before the coaster connects with an above track and momentarily has a track both above and below it, but after a few moments the track below disappears and it is only suspended, and then it goes up another lifthill and plummets straight down like "SHIEKRA" at Busch Gardens, and the train holds 10 rows of 4 people and the two seats in the middle just keep spinning around while the 2 outer seats rotate like "THE X" and the thing just keeps spinning around and around like a GIANT "CORKSCREW" and then it goes up a 450 foot lifthill, which is pulled by an elevator lift and plummets to the earth only to go into an enclosed tunnel which goes underwater in a clear pool full of different species of sharks, only to come out of the other side of this tunnel and hit a jolt which gently shoots the ride up another (smaller) lifthill which comes to an end after going through a couple of verticle loops and helixes followed by a smooth curve to a stop. L.O.L. Who cares what Kings Island is getting next year. What they are not getting are any more Paramount born ideas. And that is good enough for me!!!!!

I saw the original parade. It was pretty enjoyable. But nowhere near Disney calibur. So why bother. I think that this is a sign that the nick characters might not live long past their contract. Of course, that is just a hunch. But School of Rock being one of their best shows ever? I seriously would have to contend with that. The shows that were put on before the cancer of Paramount graced the stand were far better. I truly hope that Cedar Fair finally hires some truly talented people to perform good shows instead of the usual people who think that they are talented, but we'll use them because nobody else will do it crowd, and have them perform an already bad show. Adding some moral values to the purpose of the shows would not hurt either. M.F.

I have a feeling that Cedar Fair knows all too well what they are doing. When I came to visit the park last week for the first and due to WinterFest's cancellation ( now my only time ) this season, I could not help but to notice an all too familiar site. The Son of Beast stuck up on a lifthill. I've got pictures of this thing being stuck up there before. And despite the fact that Cedar Fair knows better than most, my opinion still differs from their current actions taken. Let's assume that this ride IS actually fixed in the immediate area involving the incident with the ride this year. If the coasters history says anything, it is very simply put "history repeats itself" The ride will faulter again. Maybe not in the same area. But next year, by this point in the year, the ride will most likely ( for some reason or another ) be sitting on that lifthill, AGAIN, like it has a long sad history of doing each and every year. I hate deforestation. After all, I am a naturalist. And I know that this is virtually impossible, but tear the thing down, and use the salvagable wood to construct a slightly smaller ( but more dependable ) wooden coaster that would not necessarily be shooting for records, but be aiming instead at being both safe and fun. Or more realistically, just tear the thing down, and let it join beetle, bat, scooby's ghoster coaster, King Cobra, and demon in the parks hall of shame.

WinterFest was contracted for 4 years too. Look what happened there.........

Honestly, have any of you EVER been to the scrapyard..... It's amazing, and it's onsite. And it's OUT of SIGHT..... Old Signs from the parks history. A lot of the Hanna Barbera Stuff Old PopCorn carts Old Lemon Chill Carts If you could spend just One Hour walking through this place, you would be obsessed with the concept of being able to salvage just One Item of your choice. And it's a lot closer than you think.......

Yea, I loved WinterFest too. I loved WinterFest growing up, and when I flew home to Ohio last year for Christmas, WinterFest was on my TO DO list. I was hoping for it this year too. It's really sad. It was a great event. And I am very grateful now to have gotten to go to this event last year. ( I am also very grateful to have had a miniD.V.D. recorder to capture the event. ) I've got a great d.v.d. of the Eiffel Tower Being Lit along with the Fountain!!!!! I kinda wish that I had purchased more souvenirs now. It's sad to me, because I always put in a word for WinterFest every year when the park requested associate opinions towards the end of the operating season as to ( what you think could make the park better ) I always listed a reborn WinterFest....... And in whatever ways possible, I will continue to do this in the future. We should start a forum that people should ONLY enter if they desire to bring WinterFest back. A form of a web Petition. Click on the yes, I want WinterFest brought back, followed by signing your true name. Then have the petition sent forth to Cedar Fair. Only this should be a protected site. Just a thought.

When my sister worked for Kings Island in 1992, she had a very strict Dress Code. She always had to have her hair a certain way, and her shirt had to be tucked in, and NO jewelry. When I first started to work at Kings Island, it was the same. No facial hair. Long hair had to be back. No jewelry. No cell phones. No Hair Dye. The shirt still had to be tucked in, and they were a lot more strict about giving days off, and your schedules flexibility. And the talking amongst associates in view of the parks guests was completely intolerable. Associates were 100% required to walk behind the scenes whenever possible to get from place to place. And a major rule back then, was.......NO IMPROPER LANGUAGE. And associates were never supposed to ride any ride or purchase any food or merchandise while in uniform. Now, the park is not strict on hair dye. And they are certainly not strict about language, at least not behind the scenes. They are no longer anal about jewelry or long hair. You see associates talking amongst themselves all of the time now , and associates very rarely only use behind the scenes ( associate only ) walkways. Cell phones are a constant now. I see associates riding rides and purchasing merchandise all of the time now in uniform. ( although I think that they are still not supposed to do this ) And I don't think that the facial hair rule has changed at all. And one good thing, the park is much more cooperative about allowing days off for associates than it used to be. vacation/days/hours off, etc. The park even advertised new benefits and dress codes at one point, in an attempt to gain more associates. ( Not that it is a bad thing or anything ) These are just some changes that I have noticed. M.F.

Oh, I enjoy the forums. I just have to question people who act as though people getting hurt on an amusement parks major attraction is no big deal. Almost-KEY WORD THERE- ALMOST...all of the forums are comments that I agree with. But when an individual questions someones rights after they are hurt, honestly, surely you get my point. I'm not attacking you here. But standards should be placed higher in some cases.

Well, yea it's Cedar Fair. They own it. But P.K.I. management taking the initiative. I don't know. Sounds more like people trying desperately to keep their jobs to me. Now don't get me wrong. I am not saying that all are this way. I know that P.K.I. has great management. But you've got to admit. I am sure that it is happening somewhere.

I feel that this is probably to make necessary changes of the park during the off season. After all, it is a lot of work to set up for FearFest, tear down FearFest, and then set up for WinterFest and then Tear Down WinterFest, followed by pre-season set up. THAT'S A WHOLE LOT OF WORK!!!!! Chances are that the park is going to use the available down time, post-season to make the transformation into what will hopefully be known as simply..... Kings Island And after all, they did not announce that WinterFest would be cancelled permanently. The way that Paramount did back in 1992. It is kinda sad though. This was the 1st move Paramount made when they bought out the park. They were the original Grinch to steal Christmas. Had they kept the tradition going, most people would have more fond memories of attending this event every year. And the event would have diehard fans that would most certainly attend every year. ( I think that they accomplished this last year ) I do hope that Cedar Fair brings it back in 2007. Or surprises us all with something else in 2006! Either way, if they bring it back in the future, I will most certainly attend the park for the event. And I will Attend the Cincinnati Zoo's "Festival of Lights" and The Beach Waterparks "HolidayFest"

It is the due responsibility of the park to be responsible for individuals safety. I am so sick and tired of reading childish comments like " I can't wait for the ride to open. I want to ride this ride. Etc... "LET ME CRY YOU A F'n River!" The reality is this. Paramount parks is under investigation. PEOPLE GOT HURT. The possibility of people getting hurt again is there!!!!! THE PARK SHOULD NOT RE-OPEN THIS RIDE UNTIL THE STATE AND THE NEW OWNERS ARE COMPLETELY SATISFIED THAT THIS LIABILITY IS KNOCKED DOWN TO THE LOWEST POSSIBLE PERCENTAGE AS CAN POSSIBLY BE EXPECTED FOR ANY RIDE. And if this is a conclusion that cannot be reached easily. Then the ride should be shut down for as long as necessary in order for this demand to become a reality. ( NOT BASED ON A GROUP OF SELFISH INDIVIDUALS MOANING AND WHINING ABOUT WANTING TO BE ABLE TO RIDE IT ) If not, then the ride should be dismantled. This should be common sense folks. The park is not going to simply reopen the ride for local fans. Safety is the number 1 priority at any business operating in the United States. And in this case, of course it could go to court. PEOPLE WERE HURT! It is not like it is some secret blowing in the wind. This is a hard drawn fact. It happened. There is no speculation about anyone simply making up some accident and claiming false injury. It is all over the media. The information is available to anyone. And I would not be surprised to see other lawsuits follow. And in response to those lawsuits, I wouldn't be surprised to see Cedar Fair follow Suit with C.B.S. for the rides condition of sale, and what they expected for it to be. You people need to realize that this is happening, and that these lawsuits are probably going to take place. And yes, for those of you sucking your thumbs, Whining about not being able to ride the ride, a lawsuit would most likely postpone the re-opening of the ride even longer. I love Kings Island. But some things are simply more important than being able to ride some attraction. ANY INDIVIDUALS WELL BEING IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN A RIDE REMAINING OPEN FOR OTHERS. IT IS WRONG WHEN JUST ONE PERSON GETS HURT. AND THEY HAVE EVERY LEGAL RIGHT IN THE WORLD TO DESIRE TO FOLLOW THROUGH WITH A LAW SUIT. M.F.