BoddaH1994

Yep, but you can't deny Kings Island's very unique past.

Has anyone noticed that the back row is a far more intense ride than the front? I rode it for the first time last Saturday in the back row and thought it was amazing. Then I rode it in the front row yesterday and thought they had dumbed down the program only to be blown away twice in the back row laster that day.

I know this isn't exactly late breaking news or anything, but I thought I'd mention that the front gate area surrounding the turnstyles has been painted with a fresh new coat of blue paint. That's a welcomed change from that old greenish color we've seen for years. It looks really nice.

Now, they will hold the large plush animals if you win them at the locker rental area near the front gate for a small fee. I'm not certain if they'll hold other things, but I'm guessing they would.

Nope, Crypt opened around 5:00.

You don't. He is talking hypothetically.

I think they have days where friends get discounts, but I'm not entirely certain about that.

You need to change the battery on your watch, sir. That was me who rode The Crypt... and we got off about 10 minutes before the park closed and rode The Beast. Should have joined us.

Aside from Kings Island, Kennywood's my favorite park.

I can honestly say that I've ridden many rides late into the night with some of the enthusiast events and I've ridden them WAY too early doing TV filmings. However, I've never actually spent the night in the park. That'd be a heck of a camp out. lol

I always thought this was a stretch when Six Flags did it, but they talk about it like it's successful.

Explain to me how the "Parot Head" thing was coined at Timberwolf. I wasn't aware of that. BTW - I've seen two shows at the Timberwolf. I saw an educational bird show there many years ago when my class took at trip to KI to do the monorail and all that jazz. I also went to Weird Al last year, just so I could say that I saw a concert there but ended up having a really good time, I must admit.

Gotta admit... I kinda expected something more out of the video. lol

According to who? According to their Q4 conference call, year end conference call, I think Tony's blog mentioned it and so on and so on and so on. They made it no secret.

Ha... maybe it's best if you don't ride some of those rides... you seem to bring bad luck with you.

I really just don't think Cedar Fair is as arrogant as people like to say they are. They do what works. To be honest, I thought the Halloweekends was really weak at Cedar Point last year, but hey... it drew record crowds. I think people expect more out of Kings Island so they get more. I also don't think that saying that the Haunt is "thrown together" is a fair analysis of the event. Granted, sometimes you can recognize some of their props from local Halloween stores, but it would be very difficult to get covering that much area with that many decorations in such a short amount of time down to a science that's both cost effective, timely, and of mind-blowing quality. I think a lot of it has to do with the "fun by day" portion of it as well. Things such as the electric chair guy had to be covered up, while comical things like skeletons playing cornhole were acceptable for anyone.

This has been mentioned in another thread. We believe that they are simply moving dirt from behind SOB to the Swan Lake area.

Tell that to a certain family in Louisville.... As true as that statement is Terp, this is a fill story. 9 on Your Side is full of them: Just something to fill in the gaps between major stories. Thus, called a "fluff" story. Its also a moral booster to KI (probably done because KI asked) to reassure visitors, and to get as many who faced concerns about safety back to the park. It's not a fluff story. A fluff story would be like an, "oh god, we have an empty 5 minute segment that we need to fill!" thing. Channel 9 made very special arrangements with both Kings Island and the state of Ohio to do this story long in advance. They also spent many many hours in the park to get the shots they wanted. They wouldn't do that for a quick shoot.

Yeah, but at that point we'd be less worried about the Eiffel Tower and more worried about how the Seventh Seal was broken and 1/3 of all the oceans boiled and 1/3 of all of the ships in the oceans were destroyed.

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...