BoddaH1994

Rumors have been spreading about a Firehawk test flight during the late hours of last week at the newly christened Ft. Kinzel at Kings Island. Such speculation has been not been officially confirmed; however the Firehawk train is on the tracks loaded with weight dummies. Final touches are being made to the K-Base before Firehawk’s grand opening on Memorial Day weekend. Click here to see the latest photos of Ft. Kinzel and the Firehawk construction process. Also don't forget to keep checking back to KICentral.com for the latest news, rumors, photos and information about Kings Island amusement park! Regards, Ryan KICentral.com

At least it's not like the old commercial where it blatantly says, "At Kings Island, you get this" and shows an inverted ship which you don't get at Kings Island. haha

That was quite a long time ago but if I remember correctly it was non-movie related symphony style music.

Any pass purchased before the deadline is upgraded to gold. You're fine.

Who knows? $5 mill to fix the ride and $15 mill in damages is possible for the incident.

The darnedest thing just happened. A birdy just flew down and told me that Firehawk made a full circuit cycle last night!

I'm actually pleasantly surprised with how well people are reacting to the Maverick situation. I'm sure CP would love to have it open this Saturday, but they also have to do what they've gotta do. I think Firehawk will go well. Don't forget that it's a moved ride, so a lot of the previous kinks may have been worked out.

I thought Disaster Transport was what Cedar Point is famous for.

It's kind of strategically planned because apparently crowds are at an absolute minimum during the week in May.

So I've never been to Cedar Point and I'm making my first trip on Monday. I must admit that I cringe at the thought of riding TTD and this just confirms it all. haha

Insurance is a big problem for parks. I know that the main reason why Fantasy Farm shut down was because premiums were so high.

I was looking at the concept art for Bakuli and I think that drop into the bowl looks pretty amazing. What are your thoughts and opinions on Holiday World's soon-to-be new attraction? Bakuli Ryan

^ Actually Turkey Whirl and Plymouth Rock Cafe were both supposed to open last year, but aren't until this year.

I don't think you're understanding the situation. It was just the enthusiast community that wasn't happy with the decision, they got a lot of flack about it from the general public too.

I've got you beat.... At the Taco Bell here in northern KY if you go there any time after midnight (they're open until 2am) they ALWAYS tell you that they're out of whatever you want. They usually say that due to what they're out of, you can only get drinks. This is a consistent thing at least on weekends. My guess is that they close up shop after the 11 o'clock rush and don't want to make any more food after that.

source: http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stori...&thispage=1 It's obivious to me at least that unfortunately, SOB had design flaws. To much ride and to little engineering. I wonder if it could be re-engineered to operate at the speed it was supposed to? Werner Stengel (I hope I spelled thatv right) did the design and I know there was some kind of law suit regarding it's design or construction. The Beast was designed in house. I don't know if the same people worked for KI at the time SOB was proposed. It's a shame someone like Curits Summers couldn't have designed SOB. He designed some great woodies including one at CP. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems CF is trying to make the best of a bad situation. Sounds like it Son of Beast wont be a son, maybe a distant uncle you only see at Xmas? Ha. Curtis Summers. While some great designs back in the day, I'd hardly label Mean Streak at CP a successful one. Every huge wood coaster that he and Charlie Dinn worked together on quickly turned to crap.....Texas Giant, Hercules, Mean Streak and so on. I don't think the design on SOB is to blame at all. Does anyone NOT remember the fact that Paramount Parks ended up taking on the feat of being the general contractors for SOB? I put most, if not ALL the blame on PP. For starters taking on such a massive project that was far beyond what they were capable of handling was stupid. Isn't it ironic that in the lawsuit the ONE party that wasn't a part of it was Premier Rides? The trains weren't to blame for any of the problems the ride had then, however in 2007 they suddenly ARE the problem? Honestly, call it like it is. SOB is a wash and should have never seen the light of day. Hands down the worse investment in any park, anywhere. Followed closely by the likes of Top Thrill Dragster and Kingda Ka of course. At least Dragster can somewhat run reliably now..... - Todd, Todd, you need to calm down and drink some warm milk. Curtis Summers is a WELL respected coaster designer. AND, if you check the records, you will see he had a BIG hand in desiging The Beast. That's I guess another coaster that turned to crap. So, as you say Todd, I will call like it is, you are perfectly welcome to express your opininons BUT, you don't have opinions, you are just not well informed. It wasn't constructed properly, but it wasn't designed properly either. Paramount blew it, that's what I said in the first place. Of the Curtis Summer rollercoasters you named, how many of them did you ride? Knowing Todd, probably all of them...

Doesn't this eyewitness account pretty much squash the real or photoshopped arguement? ^ And another eyewitness account. I think you mean, "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?"

Look at it from this perspective: Paramount Parks model: Season passes = more visits to the park = more opportunities to purchase. Walk up tickets = one visit to the park = one opportunity to purchase. Cedar Fair model: Season passes = one admission paid to the park = multiple visits, which are under utilized Walk up tickets = one (smaller) admission payment + guaranteed food purchases + guaranteed retail purchase(s).

I'm not sure about that, but I know I'll spend alot of money IN the park this year. They may not get my money on the ticket, but they'll get me on the food and souvenirs and games. I'm not doubting that, but I'm willing to say your the exception rather than the rule. As a season pass holder, you get certain perks that aren't listed on the Gold Pass media release. These include the basics... you can stop by KI for an hour on your way home from work, you can come and go from KI to get meals, and you have the luxury of showing up for just the last few hours of operation. All the while there is a hit or miss as the whether you'll spend any money at all. On the other hand a walk up ticket buyer is guarenteed for a fifty dollar admissions ticket, up to two meals, and likely a souvineer. FAR less likely to leave the park to eat (time is money).

You're lucky to have the speedlanes anyway. As stated in the conference call, walk up ticket holders are more profitable than season pass holders, and they're basically rewarding you for having a season pass and thus ****ing off a lot of walk ups.

Well... there were 1,000 bobbleheads, so I'm guessing somewhere around 1,000.

^ I may have actually eaten at that same one in Daytona. lol And I'll say that the Steak 'n Shake in Florence, KY really isn't bad at all. The service is usually great even in the wee hours of the night. Ryan

I know this idea has been tossed around but I'd make a bigger and better Phantom Theatre. It'd be difficult to top that.

I highly highly doubt it'll change any time soon.

Let's not forget that Top Gun was sign, sealed, and delivered by the Linder administration. Paramount just rethemed it before it ever opened.