KDogg

Got a couple of questions and wasn't sure where else to look... I've been to the park website under employment but found no listing for jobs other than the seasonal positions. I'm sure I could apply online and specify my interests, but I was wondering what to put for the off-season maintenance crew? Do they just hire contractors to come in and do the cleanup and repainting, or do they hire their own crews as well? Also, I see a lot of mentioning and pictures of backstage and off-season tours. How do you go about getting in one of these? Do you guys post about upcoming events, or do you have to have season passes and all that before you can get in on them?

Trips to KI: 1 Scooby's Haunted Castle: 2 Fairly Odd Coaster: 3 Avatar: 1 Azul: 1 Reptar: 1 MVKIRR: 1 The Beast: 2 Vortex: 2 Scrambler: 2 Adventure Express: 1 Top Gun: 1 Face/Off: 1 Cups of Ice Water: Many Souvenir cup: 1 Refills: 2 La Rosa's Pizza: 1 whole Buick: 2 (had to get there, had to get home...)

This sounds fun... I'd suggest finding out who is really interested in going on the trip, then select a park most central to everyone for the initial meeting place and go from there. I'd also suggest putting someone in charge of travel arrangements and park admissions. Then give everyone the option of 'pre-registering', where they send in a certain amount to reserve group-rate tickets at the parks as well as motels along the way. The registration fee would be non-refundable, of course. Another cool idea would be to have some t-shirts made up with whatever new PKI.... err, KICentral logo, complete with the member's avatar and screenname. The cost of these would be included in the aforementioned registration. Just some ideas from the 'Dogg hosue...

That's awesome. My son, also 4, likes to get on my lap and watch POV movies and Roller Coaster Tycoon clips. If he sees a coaster on the screen he drops everything to come and watch. I actually think that helped out alleviating any fears about getting on the real coasters when we got to KI. Of course, he couldn't ride the big ones, but he was allowed on the Fairly Odd Coaster - and he loved every minute of it!

A Beast Bear is just a little stuffed bear. It's black and says "The Beast" on the front of it. I got it at one of the souvenir shops, thinking it would appease my daughter who was upset about not seeing the actual "Beast" out in the woods. And I was right - she and her sister were asleep by the time we hit I-71.

First of all, YES IT WAS HOT!!! But, that turned out to be a good thing becuase the longest line I stood in was for the Scooby Haunted Castle ride. Personally, I'd say it was for the air conditioning... This was a family trip, and my kids' first visit to Kings Island. My son is 4 and my two daughters are 6, so I really wasn't expecting a whole lot out of this trip. Was I ever fooled! Due to the long road trip in the heat (the A/C in the car is out) and the kids' love of Scooby, we hit the Haunted Castle first. Then it was off to Nickelodeon Universe for the kiddie rides. They took a spin on the swings before hitting the Fairly Odd Coaster. They weren't too thrilled off that first hill but by the time the ride was over they wanted to ride more. My son was too little to ride Avatar so he went with my nephew for a couple other kiddie rides while me, my wife, and the two girls rode it. That thing is bigger than I thought it would be for a family ride but we all enjoyed it nonetheless. After that, the girls hit a couple of the kiddie rides too, Azul's train and Swiper's whip ride. Then they wanted a piece of The Beast. They weren't scared, but I was scared for them because I wasn't sure how they'd handle it. Well, they made a fool outta me! One rode with me, the other rode with mommy. Again, our son was too little for this one so he sat in his stroller waiting on us... quite upset, by the way. We then went for The Vortex but two rides before us the thing broke down. So, off to see what else we could find. We hit the Scrambler, which must have had new bearings installed and greased up because I believe that's the fastest Scrambler I've ever been on. Next was Top Gun. They didn't like it too well, especially when it would go sideways. But, as usual, I enjoyed the ride, albeit short. After a La Rosa's pizza for dinner I just had to try out Face/Off. That's the first coaster like that I've been on but it certainly won't be the last! Back to Nickelodeon Universe and more kiddie rides, including another spin in the Haunted Castle to cool off. After that was another ride on the FOC, then the girls wanted a shot at Reptar. That thing might be little, but from a kid's point of view it packs quite a wallop. After that was a ride on the MVKIRR for the train freaks in the family... basically all of us, that is. Vortex was up and running again so we tried another shot at it. Wifey didn't want to ride so I took one girl at a time since I wasn't sure how they'd react to it. Well, needless to say, they've inherited my love for that machine. One even got mad because she had to get off; I guess I'll be buying her a gold pass next year lol. I certainly hope they get the bugs worked out of it though, I'd hate to see it go the way of unmaintained coasters. Another trip or two around the park and a few more rides here and there ultimately led us back to The Beast, mainly at the begging of my daughters. Again, mommy didn't wanna ride so I took them myself, putting them together in one seat and me directly behind them. I was joined by a Ride Attendant, whom I suppose was off work and wanted to take spin before going home. I had to get after him for holding on, though... The girls done great on the ride, although the youngest one got mad because she didn't see "The Beast" lurking in the woods. She wanted to hug him, so she says. She got off the ride crying and one of the attendants immediately came over to make sure nothing was wrong, for which I commend him (I failed to catch his name while attending to the crying kid). All in all, it was a good (did I mention HOT?) day. I didn't get to ride everything, but I had conceded that this was a family day before we even got in the car to make the trip. Nearly every ride was either walk-on or a very short wait. The park wasn't crowded at all. We didn't splurge on stuff but the park did get a good chunk of my monthly budget; we walked out of there with four on-ride pictures, a souvenir cup, a couple of Beast Bears, and a couple of oddities won from games. But the best part for me is now I never have to worry about not having somebody to ride coasters with!

The incident at Adventureland was entirely preventable. The board was in plain sight and known to be a hazzard when found during pre-ride inspections; all maintenance had to do was pick it up. On the Son of Beast, the incident is entirely different. The support post that broke here was probably not visible from the track. I'm sure if it had been and the guys seen it, SoB wouldn't have opened that day. Of course there's the possibility that the post could be seen from trackside; however, it might not have showed any signs of stress at that point, so they might not have seen it anyway. See the difference in the cases? Adventureland would be a case of gross negligence because the crew saw the danger and failed to correct the problem. But if the people settle with the insurance company, chances are they'll have to sign a waiver and release the park of any future responsibility, therefore they won't be able to sue later on. As for the Son of Beast, I doubt the park will be found to be negligent, at least not in terms of gross negligence.

"THE" KITT wasn't at Kings Island, but it was a mock-up car complete with the dash, steering wheel, etc. that was set up so people could sit in it. The last time I seen the car there it had some of that diamond plating in the floorboard.

If I remember correctly, KITT wasn't far from the Wayne's World machine. When was that one removed from the park? I was there in either late 03 or 04 and I recall looking at KITT and, being a Knight Rider fan, being disappointed in its appearance. It's possible it was removed prior to the MerthMobile, and quite conceivable given its appearance. If it's just sitting in a back lot somewhere I'll come and get it...

I like that idea of renaming Top Gun to The Bat. I'd add some new twists and turns to it, possibly some resembling the original layout. Paint it black, resurrect the old Bat logo on the front of the trains, and promote it as The Bat Returns or Bat II. Here's some other ideas I posted over in the Rumors section, with additions <Add>. Top Gun: I like the layout of the queue where it looks like you're boarding an aircraft carrier. Possibly they wouldn't have to rename the ride at all, being that Top Gun is really a Navy Flight School and the movie was simply named from that which it represented. Just remove all the movie-related stuff and you're set to go. Oh, and I might add to the track a little, this ride is just too short! Adventure Express: I never cared much for its theming in the first place, so I'd go with a mining theme of some sort, say Mine Explosion. <Add> If possible, but this thing in a ride-length tunnel with the inside resembling a mine shaft, complete with limited lighting. On the lift where the statues are pounding or whatever, change the motif to dedications to all those who've lost their lives in mine disasters. Face/Off: Whatever, just change it. I haven't ridden this thing yet but I've never liked the name of it. Somebody mentioned Yellow Screamer, how about we just keep the Screamer part since that's what everybody would refer to it as anyway? Days of Thunder: I didn't even know that thing was still there. But since it is, with the popularity of NASCAR, instead of tearing the ride down let's retheme it with NASCAR-related material. While NASCAR isn't scripted like the movie was, there's enough stuff that goes on in a race that could make for a good storyline for the ride. Tomb Raider: I have no idea what to do with this one. The queue was cool, the ride was ok, but what I get from recent posts is half the thing doesn't work right nowadays. To me, that's a sign to start replacing things. I don't know, maybe give it a space theme or something. <Add> Somebody replied to the other post not to give it a space theme. I don't mean something like the Disaster Transport (which I've never been on) but something more realistic and resembling a shuttle mission to the space station. Italian Job Stunt Track: Another whatever. Drop the Italian Job part, lose the movie references, and just call it Stunt Track. The Train: Ok, so it has no theme at all, movie or otherwise. Time to change that. Make it feel like you're actually going somewhere. Make the stations welcoming you to Kings Island or Boomerang Bay, then paint or build motifs along the way. <Add> An afterthought to the original post was this: Between the stations from Point A to Point B, tell the story of Kings Island. Start from the beginning with murals of the old days, then a representation of the Paramount Era, and a white section resembling a blank canvas with an artist painting the section to resemble current events, as if he's painting history as it happens. Then, between the stations from Point B back to Point A, have murals of previous rides no longer there. I know there's a few others but I think that's enough for now. The new guy done went and wrote a book... again. KDogg

I wasn't sure where to put this topic but it seems to fit in here since we're talking about renaming rides and all that. Anyway, my question is what is Cedar Fair going to do with the static displays relating to Paramount? It's been a couple of years since I've been to KI but if I remember correctly I recall seeing a Knight Rider car and a Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures vehicle. Being static displays I doubt they're even operational (although they could be, I've never looked under the hoods lol). If they're going to scrap such displays I wouldn't mind having that KITT car and I'd be more than happy to come and get it...

I think the ten-year licensing clause was included in the contract for the very reasons we're discussing here: The renaming of the parks and rides and the complication/confusion of doing so. If it were one park in question it probably wouldn't be that big of a deal, but CF bought five Paramount-themed parks. Having to change everything at once would far outweigh the benefits of having bought the parks in the first place. And I don't think Cedar Fair bought the parks to "eliminate the competition". What they saw was an opportunity and they jumped on it. Somebody posted earlier on likening this transaction to the WWE's purchase of its top competitor, WCW. That wasn't really as expensive a deal as most believe; WWE bought WCW for a mere $6 million. Surely there were other costs involved, such as wrestlers who chose to ride out their contracts and get paid for doing nothing (Goldberg and Sting come to mind, along with others). But the benefits of the transaction - re: no competition and all the merchandising, licensing, and video rights as well as the vast video libraries held by WCW - far outweighed having to pay off a few lazy bums. But this isn't wrestling... I see Cedar Fair making gradual progress in the renaming and retheming areas, probably starting mostly with the little, less expensive things and maybe tackling one major attraction at one or two parks at a time. As for what to call them, I have no idea what they're gonna do but here's a few of my ideas. They're Kings Island only because 1) That's what this board is, and 2) I've never been to any of the other parks... yet. Top Gun: I like the layout of the queue where it looks like you're boarding an aircraft carrier. Possibly they wouldn't have to rename the ride at all, being that Top Gun is really a Navy Flight School and the movie was simply named from that which it represented. Just remove all the movie-related stuff and you're set to go. Oh, and I might add to the track a little, this ride is just too short! Adventure Express: I never cared much for its theming in the first place, so I'd go with a mining theme of some sort, say Mine Explosion. Face/Off: Whatever, just change it. I haven't ridden this thing yet but I've never liked the name of it. Somebody mentioned Yellow Screamer, how about we just keep the Screamer part since that's what everybody would refer to it as anyway? Days of Thunder: I didn't even know that thing was still there. But since it is, with the popularity of NASCAR, instead of tearing the ride down let's retheme it with NASCAR-related material. While NASCAR isn't scripted like the movie was, there's enough stuff that goes on in a race that could make for a good storyline for the ride. Tomb Raider: I have no idea what to do with this one. The queue was cool, the ride was ok, but what I get from recent posts is half the thing doesn't work right nowadays. To me, that's a sign to start replacing things. I don't know, maybe give it a space theme or something. Italian Job Stunt Track: Another whatever. Drop the Italian Job part, lose the movie references, and just call it Stunt Track. The Train: Ok, so it has no theme at all, movie or otherwise. Time to change that. Make it feel like you're actually going somewhere. Make the stations welcoming you to Kings Island or Boomerang Bay, then paint or build motifs along the way. I know there's a few others but I think that's enough for now. The new guy done went and wrote a book lol. KDogg