BoddaH1994

Robbie, can you confirm the Shooting Star deaths? I didn't know anyone had ever died on that ride.

I think that's one of those "kinda true" things. Having unattractive shows will allow people to get out of the heat, but they won't extend a patron's day at the park.

The Erlanger location was a dump... let's face it. Broken chairs, sticky floors, small theatre houses... it's been like that for about 10 years. I think what made it suffer was the fact that it was kind of hard to find if you hadn't been there before. From what I understand, Showcase had plans of opening a new theatre right at the corner of Houseton and Commonwealth, but I'm guessing that's been scratched.

Flying scooters aren't coming back. They're really popular at Carowinds.

Gambling pumps a LOT of money into the cities, counties, and states where it's legalized. Many people associate gambling with crime and prostitution and other social evils, but I think Lawrenceberg and other cities where gambling is allowed proves otherwise. For all of you people in the KY area: Did you know that the building in Covington that was once home to Jillian's was purchased by Columbia Sussex with the intention of turning it into a casino if it gets legalized?

I refuse to believe that those statistics state why each category ONLY goes to parks. More than likely the question was, what was the PRIMARY reason why people visit parks. At least, that's how most would interpret it. I mean, can you honestly say that 9% of people go to parks, play the midway games and then leave? I bet there are a few, but 9% is a BIG number for that. So in saying that, I'm referring to people who, for example, go for both the rides and the shows. Let's say that 51% of their reasoning for going to a park is for the rides and 49% is for the shows. Then technically they should have answered "rides" but clearly the shows would have a big influence on whether or not to go to a park. Just the simple fact that we can have this argument goes to show that the data given isn't sufficient to answer the questions at hand. If you take Cedar Point out ot the equation, you'll notice that a lot of successful parks rotate between different aspect in order to build their brand. Kings Island is a perfect example. Let's walk back in time through the past few years: 08 - New shows, family orientation, 07 Firehawk - Thrill, 06 - Nick U, Family, 05 - Italian Job, upper-tier family, 04 - Boomerang Bay, mix of family and thrill, 03 - Delirium/Scooby, thrill/family, 02 - Tomb Raider - Thrill, 01 - Nickelodeon Central, Family. The list goes on and on like that, at least under the Paramount moniker. Say what you want about Paramount, but they ran a VERY profitable park under their formula. Shows play a more important role than most people may think. One of the key components of companies, especially ones that are publicly held, is that they grow their business organically. Organic growth is, by the most simplified definition, making a business more profitable without expanding. Cedar Fair measures their organic growth in terms of per capita spending, or how much on average a person spends in their parks. For the past fiscal year, it was $40.70, for those of you keeping track at home. Paramount did things a little differently. Their gauge was how long people spent in the park. The last time it was publicly reported, the average person spent 6 hours in the park and they had set a goal of 8 hours. Where do shows tie in to all of this? They actually fit very well into both formulas. Obviously a patron is far more likely to spend more money in the park if they spend more time in the park. What's the most profitable unit to come into the park? The family unit. So, let's say the good 'ol American family comes to the park with their 2.2 kids. What happens around 1:00? The kids start getting hungry.. and vocal about it, at that. Now, they have a few options: they can eat at the park, leave the park entirely, or eat outside of the park. Oh wait... the kids want to see Dora's Sing-Along at 1:00. Looks like they'll be eating inside the park today. Same goes for the dinner rush between 5:00 and 7:00. You'll notice that a lot of the shows are clustered around the lunch and dinner hours for that reason. It is a good assumption that after watching a show, especially the ones in the air conditioning, the family unit would be rejuvinated and ready to spend a more lengthy time in the park. Cedar Fair actually got smart and pushed back a lot of the shows to later hours. This would attract people to stay in the park until later in the evening. Call it tradition, history, nastalgia or whatever, but that's the same reason they do the fireworks too... in the hopes that you stick around for just a few more hours to see them. I'm done rambling...

I believe this jump is going to surpass his fathers and according to Sceamscape is likely going to be Robbie's last. Although it says you can still book him for dates on his site. The jump will be longer than his fathers. I'm going to try to find out some info on what distance his father did and what he intends to do. Remember that Evel's jump was only a semi-success since he landed on the last Greyhound bus. Also, it is true that it will be his last MAJOR jump. He intends to do smaller jumps at things like county fairs, but he plans on this being his final big jump.

Shows are a nice addition (cough, cough)... but I, for one, would not base my decision to visit from far away just because Kings Island has new shows. If I wanted shows, I would travel elsewhere. Granted the shows are good for the non thrill seekers, but *most* people visit theme/amusement parks for more than shows. (cough) It's called a balance. (cough, cough) Please show your statistics that "most" people visit theme/amusement parks for thrill rides, alone. (cough) I will gladly you show some statistics. According to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, the number one reason people visit and revisit amusement and theme parks is the rides. 49% of adult visitors come to the parks for the rides (granted not as high as I thought it would be), 15% come for the shows, 12% prefer the special events and festivals, 6% seek the characters, and 6% come for the midway games, (IAAPA, 2004). (Cough, cough, and yes I know these stats are from 2004) 2008 is the year to appease those 15%. With that said, I do think that the entertainment had suffered during the CBS years, and the live shows are a great place to relax. All I am saying, this is the first year in a long time that Kings Island has not had a new product. For those people that live far away, I am afraid that many will skip their visit this year and hold off until next season. Time will certainly tell. Those statistics seem pretty accurate, but I think the error is in the cross tabulation. While 49% of the people surveyed primarily go for the rides, it doesn't necessarily mean that 49% of park partrons go primiarly for the rides. More less, you make not mention of whether the survey is a accurate representation of the population. Additionally, it doesn't reflect those who primarily go for the rides, but shows are a close second. Also, what about those who go to amusement parks for the overall environment? Certainly there are people who like rides exactly as much as those who like shows, games, etc. Plus, the question must arise as to who IAAPA surveyed. Things such as the Gold Ticket Awards panel are made up of experienced park goers, as well as a high representation of groups such as the American Coaster Enthusiasts, who would certainly prefer rides over anything else.

Although parking will be affected, it won't be as bad as you think. Mr. Knievel will be jumping in the Premier Parking lot and his jump will be towards the Great Wolf Lodge. As a result of that, Premier Parking will not be available that day but it should not affect the other parking lots very much. That is possible but not likely. That will be a huge event but I hope its ok. Yep.. get there early. I can imagine this will be one of those days when they are parking people in the grass. I was specifically referring to the fact that the Knievel jump won't cut out a large portion of the parking.

Mark your calendars because Kings Island is now open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in May! The park will be open from 10am until 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 10am until 8pm on Sundays. Get there early and grab a roll from the new Cinnabon before being one of the first to ride the new again Red Racer and The Crypt! Click here to see Kings Island's 2008 operating schedule! It was nearly 33 years ago that Evil Knievel made his legendary jump over 14 Greyhound busses in the parking lot at Kings Island. Evil Knievel may not be with us anymore, but his son, Robbie Knievel, will take the reigns and surpassing his father’s jump by jumping 24 Coke Zero trucks! In what will certainly be one of the most talked about events of the year, ‘Kaptain’ Robbie Knievel will do what is expected to be the last big jump of his career while attempting to outdo his father in Kings Island’s parking lot on May 24th, 2008 at 7:00pm. This event is FREE with park admission! Something else old has become new again at Kings Island. Rather than being reverted back to the way it was, the ride formerly known as Tomb Raider: The Ride has become an all new dark ride experience known as The Crypt! Guests enter the freshly opened chamber and follow a path surrounded by cobwebs, ancient artifacts, and an assortment of decaying human remains. Of course, the fun doesn’t stop there. Guests are then warned not to enter by the shrill and demonic howls of a large bat-like creature. Not long after that, the willing victims are locked into their seats where they encounter a ride experience that is completely unique to anything they’ve ever seen at Kings Island. What once was a gentle dark ride experience is now an all new intensive ride which is certain to make even the most experienced thrill seekers scream in terror! The Crypt features numerous and repetitive flips, quick drops, and many other extremely disorienting maneuvers. Riders should be advised that although the ride is the same physical ride as Tomb Raider: The Ride was, this offers a new program with a much more intense and thrilling program. Please take this into consideration when choosing to ride The Crypt! The mystery construction continues over Swan Lake. Recently more earth has been moved and more footers have been installed. Many have speculated about what exactly this project is going to be but no matter what it is, the park assures us that it will be spectacular! Click here to see photos of The Crypt, a Robbie Knievel display that is currently featured at Kings Island and Swan Lake construction! Time's ticking away! Purchase a Gold Season Pass now and get FREE parking throughout the entire 2008 season! Hurry now, this special deal ends May 25th! Visit VisitKingsIsland.com for details! Kings Island is proud to salute our active members of the military with a new military discount program! Active members of the US military can receive up to six tickets at a special reduced rate at Kings Island's front gate when presenting an active military photo ID. Check out VisitKingsIsland.com for details! Do you want the latest information sent directly to your cell phone? Sign up for KICentral's official mobile club and receive text alerts with the latest news and information about Kings Island! Signing up is fast and free! Click here for more information about KICentral's official mobile club! You still don't have your 2008 Kings Island season pass? What are you waiting for! Purchase a 2008 season pass and get an entire summer of fun for one low price. If that's not enough, you can upgrade to a Gold Season Pass and get an exclusive parking area, special meal deals, double rides on some of your favorite attractions and much more. Still not enough? Purchase a Platinum Pass and get FREE admission and FREE parking to all Cedar Fair parks, such as Kings Island, Cedar Point, Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom, Knott's Berry Farm and more! Click here for more information and to purchase a Kings Island, Kings Island Gold, or Cedar Fair Platinum Season Pass! Is a season pass not right for you? Avoid the long lines and pay only a fraction of the regular gate admission buy purchasing your single day admission tickets on the park's official web site, VisitKingsIsland.com. Remember these deals are ONLY available through the web site, so purchase online and print at home for the best value and fastest way to experience Kings Island! Are you an avid Kings Island fan or do you casually visit once a year? It doesn't matter! KICentral.com is the site for you. Why not register on the forums of KICentral and tell us about your thoughts and experiences involving Kings Island! Registration is fast, FREE, and easy. Don't forget to keep checking KICentral.com for the latest news, rumors and information about Kings Island amusement park! Regards, Ryan

Apparently thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people seem to disagree with you. Enough so that the rumor is that the show will be back this year... and at more parks too. There are many things that are hurtful and inappropriate that are popular. Many people watch terrorists decapitate innocents and it always receives many internet hits. So should we pick someone from the guest pool and execute them each night? Or should we just take the web films and put them up in the park? I agree with you. I mean, look at shows like Viva La Bam in which the whole show is based off Bam torturing his parents and his uncle. At the same time, many things from Haunt could be viewed that way: murder, execution, Satanic rituals, etc. The list goes on and on and on. I took my good friend Jackie to see the show and warned her about the scene when Hobbs hangs himself. She and I had lost a friend to suicide in that manner a few months earlier. She kind of jumped when it came and admitted that she wished they hadn't included it, but still admitted that she really liked the show. I guess it all comes down to Haunt being for some people and not for others. If anyone would have been upset by the scene, it would have been her, but she was ok with it... and some people have had no brush with the issue and are mortified by it. Woofer, I really encourage you to see the show if it comes back this year. I think you'll see that the show doesn't necessarily glorify all of its content. Rather, it portrays it. Even in the scene at the end where Natalie Gibson is murdered, they even scripted in a tag at the end where Hobbs kind of gives a "what have I done??" look before being pulled off stage.

Although parking will be affected, it won't be as bad as you think. Mr. Knievel will be jumping in the Premier Parking lot and his jump will be towards the Great Wolf Lodge. As a result of that, Premier Parking will not be available that day but it should not affect the other parking lots very much.

Apparently thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people seem to disagree with you. Enough so that the rumor is that the show will be back this year... and at more parks too.

So, lay them out on the table... many of you got to ride The Crypt today, so which do you prefer: Tomb Raider or The Crypt?

Funny part is, I came up to the park today just to drop some stuff off. When I heard that the Crypt might run, I stuck around for a little while until I got to ride it. Now I hear from all of these people who happened to be at the park today. Kinda wish I had thought to call some of you. ha ha

I don't think the techno is fully synced with the ride like Tomb Raider's show was. Personally I would have gone for gothic music to better fit the theme, but the techno fits the ride experience itself.

The ride flips numerous times. Six, I think is the exact number. The experience is very interesting and very intense!

Yep, and they weren't seating people in about four seats on each side. I don't know why.

I saw The Crypt break down twice today, and if you were there after 4:00, that'd be a third. I hope this is just first day stuff and not that the ride is having serious problems.

So that was the inspiration for Halloween Haunt? Now, I get it. Sigh. We're all guilty of it... walking through an adult bookstore and then WHAM! You get an epiphany. You think to yourself, "Man, you know what would be a GREAT idea for a haunted atttraction at a theme park?"

The ride features two tripple topspins. I don't know if CoastersRZ felt the same way or not, but with all those forces on my body... I thought I saw God. :-)

It has nothing to do with Cedar Fair hating themeing. In fact, this is themed more than they had originally planned. You people could love or hate Tomb Raider, but the fact of the matter is, it had more than its fair share of downtime. Accordingly, Cedar Fair wasn't ready to dump millions upon millions of dollars into themeing a device which has already had extensive work done to it, and could potentially disprove itself from being a regularly operational ride. By the way, much of the black supports and things of that nature that you are seeing aren't visiible when you're in the queue. I used the flash on my camera so it illuminated a lot more than a person can see while waiting in line. I encourage everyone to ride The Crypt. I think you'll be overall pleased with your experience.

Someone telegraph Terpy and tell him that what works in Busch parks doesn't necessarily work at Kings Island. You know, the Hussler store sells adult DVDs and they don't sell them at Kings Island. Does this mean that Kings Island is loosing big money by not selling those products too? Probably not. If you read my post, you would see that when I was talking about the "failboat" I was specifically talking about German food in the Festhaus at Kings Island. I wasn't talking about a restaurant in Newport, a Busch Gardens or Disney park, a random hotdog stand on a street corner in Brooklyn, etc. The food went away and was replaced, and as far as public knowedge is concerned, no one has ever tried to bring German food back to the Festhaus. Therefore there is SOME good reason for that. Maybe the operating costs were too high... maybe German food sales dipped after the first couple of years... maybe they couldn't make it fast enough to meet the demand. We simply don't know. The fact of the matter is, it clearly didn't work.

-No special effects in the actual ride chamber. -All themeing has beem removed from the ride chamber except for the back rock wall and the lava pit are there, but not lit up or used. -They played techno during the ride sequence. -It is VERY intense. Plus you keep thinking you're going to hit the building's walls.

Something else old has become new again at Kings Island. Rather than being reverted back to the way it was, the ride formerly known as Tomb Raider: The Ride has become an all new dark ride experience known as The Crypt! Guests enter the freshly opened chamber and follow a path surrounded by cobwebs, ancient artifacts, and an assortment of decaying human remains. Of course, the fun doesn’t stop there. Guests are then warned not to enter by the shrill and demonic howls of a large bat-like creature. Not long after that, the willing victims are locked into their seats where they encounter a ride experience that is completely unique to anything they’ve ever seen at Kings Island. What once was a gentle dark ride experience is now an all new intensive ride which is certain to make even the most experienced thrill seekers scream in terror! The Crypt features numerous and repetitive flips, quick drops, and many other extremely disorienting maneuvers. Riders should be advised that although the ride is the same physical ride as Tomb Raider: The Ride was, this offers a new program with a much more intense and thrilling program. Please take this into consideration when choosing to ride The Crypt! The mystery construction continues over Swan Lake. Recently more earth has been moved and more footers have been installed. Many have speculated about what exactly this project is going to be but no matter what it is, the park assures us that it will be spectacular! It was nearly 33 years ago that Evil Knievel made his legendary jump over 14 Greyhound busses in the parking lot at Kings Island. Evil Knievel may not be with us anymore, but his son, Robbie Knievel, will take the reigns and surpassing his father’s jump by jumping 24 Coke Zero trucks! In what will certainly be one of the most talked about events of the year, ‘Kaptain’ Robbie Knievel will do what is expected to be the last big jump of his career while attempting to outdo his father in Kings Island’s parking lot on May 24th, 2008 at 7:00pm. This event is FREE with park admission! Click here to see photos of The Crypt, a Robbie Knievel display that is currently featured at Kings Island and Swan Lake construction! Kings Island is proud to salute our active members of the military with a new military discount program! Active members of the US military can receive up to six tickets at a special reduced rate at Kings Island's front gate when presenting an active military photo ID. Check out VisitKingsIsland.com for details! Do you want the latest information sent directly to your cell phone? Sign up for KICentral's official mobile club and receive text alerts with the latest news and information about Kings Island! Signing up is fast and free! Click here for more information about KICentral's official mobile club! You still don't have your 2008 Kings Island season pass? What are you waiting for! Purchase a 2008 season pass and get an entire summer of fun for one low price. If that's not enough, you can upgrade to a Gold Season Pass and get an exclusive parking area, special meal deals, double rides on some of your favorite attractions and much more. Still not enough? Purchase a Platinum Pass and get FREE admission and FREE parking to all Cedar Fair parks, such as Kings Island, Cedar Point, Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom, Knott's Berry Farm and more! Click here for more information and to purchase a Kings Island, Kings Island Gold, or Cedar Fair Platinum Season Pass! Is a season pass not right for you? Avoid the long lines and pay only a fraction of the regular gate admission buy purchasing your single day admission tickets on the park's official web site, VisitKingsIsland.com. Remember these deals are ONLY available through the web site, so purchase online and print at home for the best value and fastest way to experience Kings Island! Are you an avid Kings Island fan or do you casually visit once a year? It doesn't matter! KICentral.com is the site for you. Why not register on the forums of KICentral and tell us about your thoughts and experiences involving Kings Island! Registration is fast, FREE, and easy. Don't forget to keep checking KICentral.com for the latest news, rumors and information about Kings Island amusement park! Regards, Ryan