BoddaH1994

Ummm... because Fearfest is a weekend Halloween event and Halloween's today...

For the past year or so, we've been tossing around the idea of changing the look of the front page. Not necessarily to make a new version of the site but rather to enhance your experience on PKIC with what we currently have. The idea that I've always wanted to do was that, on the front page, there be three front page articles set up kind of like how a newspaper would be set up. That would mean having the main article as is, as well as two sub-articles side-by-side under it in sort of a newspaper column style. Here's the kicker. Our articles are generally long. We rarely put anything on the front page without giving you full and detailed information. Therefore the best possible solution would be to have article blurbs with a link saying "read more" which would redirect you to the rest of the article in the forums. The question I pose is, would having three articles on the front page result in enough benefit to deal with the inconvenience of having to click a link to read whole articles? One of the biggest problems with running a site like ours is never really knowing when to bump something off of the main site in favor of other news. Recreating the front page in such a manor would allow the users to tripple the amount of information that can be seen simply by going to our home URL. This will allow the staff to communicate important information to the users without having to bump an important thread and also not risking loosing important topics by having them buried in the forums. It always would allow for newsworthy but less prominent information to be relayed to you without being the center of attention. For example this past weekend could be a main article of, "Final Rides on The Beast Sunday at 7pm" while a subarticle could have been "End of season candy sale in the emporium - $1 per quarter pound". Obviously the candy wasn't important enough to have on the main page, but it certainly was information that PKIC users may be interested in. This correlates with PKIC's motto of "What's to do at King's Island?" in which we try to express to both loyal PKI fans as well as a regular family of four which might stumble over the site that there's a lot to do a Kings Island... not just ride rides. Although rides are a fundamental part of the news we bring you, we would like to also expand into more information on entertainment, foods, games, special events, etc and help bring them into the limelight. Please feel free to ask any questions or give any feedback. Best regards, Ryan

That is pretty cool I love that feature. The only thing I really dont like is the skin I think it looks like one of those free ones. It is one of the free ones, but don't worry... we're not finished yet.

Here are a couple of changes with the forums which will be good for both sides: 1 - Moderation options are a little more liberal and allow the mods to have more control over the forums, thus helping us to improve your experience here on PKIC. 2 - You may or may not have noticed that there's a bar at the bottom of the forums telling you who's reading the topic. If the name is italicized, it means the user is currently responding. So if you are interested in a topic, you can see if people are just reading, or responding to your thoughts and ideas. 3 - The lower right-hand area of the screen sports a drop down menu allowing you to more quickly and easily navigate from forum to forum. 4 - Enhanced security features greatly reduces the risk of the security of the forums been penitrated ever again. If they are, Invision runs their own investigation on the problem and helps bring those responsible to justice.

It's always a sad time of year. The leaves are falling, school is in full swing and the thrills of PKI have been laid to rest for another offseason. Today was the day when we had to say goodbye to Paramount's Kings Island for the 2006 year. But as the clock works, this isn't about the end of the 2006 season, but rather think of it as looking forward to the 2007 season. If you look back at the past six months, I don't think anyone can argue that this has been quite a historic year for the park... maybe one of the most historic years that the park has ever had. From the park being sold to Cedar Fair to the almost total removal of Hanna Barbera from the grounds, it's hard to look back and think about how, for us loyal enthusiasts, our world was slowly changed forever. I'm remember back in April on opening day eating breakfast with the characters. Had someone approached me that day and told me that all of my employee friends would be calling Dick Kinzel 'boss' in six months, I would have thought they were crazy. Of course, it's the end of October and here we are: a changed park, a changed community, and changed people. I have had the opportunity to meet several of the Cedar Fair officials and they strike me as nice people. Of course actions speak louder than words, so they met my approval when they insisted that I-Street open up before 10 because that's what's best for the guests, or even adding trash cans and insisting that the midways be cleaner because they believe in a safer and more sanitary environment for the guests. Cedar Fair, in the eyes of the every day enthusiast, will always been walking a thin line between what we consider tradition and what they consider progress and in that situation they will almost always fail, as per one group's standards or another. So I ask you to look back at the past season and realize that if a group can make such a positive impact on the park in just a few months, there's no telling what's in store for the future of our little park. Now comes the hard part... waiting... anticipating... waiting... waiting out the cold months of the year until we are finally welcomed back into our home away from home. I can't tell you how many days are left between now and April 21st, opening day. However I can tell you that to this humble person, it's certainly always going to be one day too many. Also, and I can't stress this enough: It's not over. There are still a lot of things up both the sleeves of both PKI and PKIC. I can assure you that we have an annoucement which will be made within the next couple weeks that will be shocking, fun, exciting, and well-overdue. I don't want to take any wind away from the park, however. Keep checking the site -- you never know what kind of news will be flying in from the marketing staff of PKI. May your path always rise to meet you, and a coaster always be in your horizon. Regards, Ryan PKICentral.com - Please stand up, please stand up, please stand up

I've heard that Winter SOAR will be held at the GWL this year. We'll just have to wait and see!

I know this kind of fell through the filter for a while due to some technical difficulties but don't forget that PKIC's anual End of Season Meetup Day is tomorrow! Meetup times are 11am and 2pm under the Eiffel Tower. Make sure you come along so you can see some old friends or at least put some names to faces! Ryan

If I recall correctly, I think this web site is run by a group that tries to sell their products and/or services to the parks, and if they refuse they smear them on there. Then again, if this is the same site that we were talking about a year ago, one of the major 'complaints' about AE is the run down themeing... give it up for safety.

Ronny has been working very hard on this for several months now. I have not seen any of the footage yet, but I'm sure it's going to be top notch.

^ Ready for my guess about the fire? I'm guessing they ran out of propane and didn't think it was reasonable to fill up the tanks with just a few days left in the operating season.

Shapiro certainly has a lot on his plate for the coming years. You can't expect him to turn the whole chain around in one year, can you?

I've been to Fearfest twice and had a wonderful experience both times. The only bummer that I saw was that they didn't use the Phantom Theatre characters for Elvira this year. Did anyone else notice that?

Just remember, nothing's impossible just improbable... I imagine the "stoppers" for Face/Off, Avatar, and Plankton's Plunge aren't really to stop the car from going off the track. Simply put, it's not designed to go that high or that far. Therefore, if there did happen to be a system glitch or some sort of physical problem in which the train or car did go higher than usual it would prevent it from grazing the end of the track and causing damage.

Here is the flyer: http://www.aceonline.org/flyers/BeastBash2006.pdf

For those of you attending Beast Bash this Saturday, here's the agenda: The agenda is as follows: 9:30 a.m. - ERT on Flight of Fear: Meet at Season Pass entrance near Will Call. 10:30 a.m. - Behind-the-scenes tour of the backstage area: Meet at blue gates near the front gate restrooms. 11:30 a.m. - Game time! Meet at International Showplace. 12:30 p.m. - Behind-the-scenes tour of Cowboy Carnage: Meet at Cowboy Carnage in Rivertown. 1:30 p.m. - Paramount Theatre make-up presentation: Exclusive seating for magic show in Theatre. Meet at Paramount Theatre by 1:15 p.m. for show. 2:30 p.m. - Lunch in Picnic Grove 6 p.m. - Behind-the-scenes tour of The Beast: Meet at The Beast sign. 11 p.m. - Exclusive seating at Monster Bash: Meet outside Paramount Theatre by 10:40 p.m. 11:30 p.m. - Awards and mayhem in the Paramount Theatre 12 a.m. - ERT on The Beast If not at Paramount Theatre, meet at The Beast sign.

My goes goes with Klocke on this one. It's probably treated somehow/someway before returning to the earth. I do highly doubt it and CDBB use the same water every year, though.

I, too, attended the preview night on Thursday. I'll agree that some things have improved vastly, but I will also hold my position that NOTHING has came even remotely close to what it was the FIRST season. As some have mentioned, I think my favorite thing was the host at the entrance of the Park. Very nice touch, very Universalish. The fog around the gate area was awesome, unfortunately it didn't trail very far down International Street. Once again, for me, fog is the biggest complaint.....or lack thereof I should say. Cowboy Carnage was a surprise. It had a lot going on. There really weren't any dull moments. Nicely done! Personally, I thought the scare zones were lame with the exception of Corn Stalkers. The Worksite was a joke. Perhaps some fog or something MAY spruce it up a bit, but in general its a waste. I'm still out on Holiday Horror. Upon initial thought, tackiest attraction ever! I'll give them props for not wasting the Winterfest garb and as Uncle Henry mentioned, Santa was a riot. While I think the setting still lacks a lot at FearFest, it is vastly improved over the past few years! I think this has been the best year yet for the scareactors. Everyone seemed to be genuinely into their roles, I was very pleased! Come on PKI, crank up the fog! - Todd I must adit that it wasn't all there for Media Night, however I went on Saturday and it was a whole different experience. The fog was so think in places that it was almost dangerous. I rode The Racer (backwards) and upon hitting the first bunny hill at the end, I could see a very clear cloud around it. Very cool. Corn Stalkers really came together by then too. The "corn people" or whatever were literally scaring the hell out of people. One teenage girl was so scared that upon seeing a corn stalker getting in front of her, she ran BACK into the scare zone. I like the Work Site. They really did some neat stuff on Thursday. For example, the 'foreman' noticed a guy not working and picked him up and started to run with him, with the guy screaming like mad. It was neat. Kind of lost the touch on Saturday with so many people going through it, though. LOVED Holiday Horror. If you give it a chance, you'll understand. The guy who plays Santa is excellent and really lives the part. The elves are really oustanding too. The best part was the Christmas music playing backwards... it was messed up.

I'll get a good shot of you next time I go.

That may have been us. I yelled out, "Well if it isn't Sheriff Haunt Guy!" and you responded, "Hey looks like the Central is here!" Did this happen more than once? lol

I was looking forward to seeing Monster Bash today but noticed that they were off. Does anyone have an ETA on when the show should go on? For all of you in the entertainment department -- we've seen when you can do... we're expecting big things for you! Ryan

I do appreciate that you guys are looking out for the well being of the forums, but correcting peoples' posts, quoting TOS, asking mods to close topics, etc is just clutter on the forums. Please use the 'Report' feature and that will email all of the mods, but please be detailed in why you are reporting a post. As far as spelling and grammar goes, as long is it isn't a blatant intent to disrespect the people of the forums then why even mention it? If the post is really that hard to read then report it. We're here to have fun, not sit in English class.

I have taken more photos of Fearfest including additional props added since Thursday, Phantom Theatre and King Cobra cars which are now on display, the live band, the 'evil' Eiffel Tower, etc. Click here to see the Fearfest 06 gallery starting with the last uploaded.

I have taken more photos of Fearfest including additional props added since Thursday, Phantom Theatre and King Cobra cars which are now on display, the live band, the 'evil' Eiffel Tower, etc. Click here to see the Fearfest 06 gallery starting with the last uploaded.

Actually it started the 2nd Golden Age of roller coasters. The first died with the Great Depression. I do however agree. The Racers are very historic objects and should not been looked down upon. ...plus it still packs quite a punch in its old age.

Did you run into anyone else? I had met you on media night and that was SOB_Tom with me.