BoddaH1994

ahh...FoF 3 times in a row... now that was a great day, wasn't it Chef?

I totally agree. They could do it Fountain Square style and just put water in a spot and wait for it to freeze.

Yeah, but the moist ground will begin to errode away. I'm assuming that this isn't a problem that just happened in the past few years, but started slowly and got out of hand. When I said it would flood International Street, I didn't mean that we'd be walking through 6 feet of water (although that would be fun), but I mean more like all of the grass and stuff around it would be extremely moist and marshy. Remember that all water has to do is hit clay or bedrock and it'll start traveling up again under most conditions. Judging by the foundations that they've laid for the more recent rides, it's not that far down to the bedrock. Anyway, it seems like we're more or less batting around the same points. It seems like we argue science on here more than we talk about PKI.

Was it really only 20 mins long? I remember it being longer, but of course, this was 14 years ago, and I was only 6.

I doubt it was leaking thousands of gallons of water per day. That would flood I-Street in no time. It would at least make the ground under it unstable and cause it to get pot holes everywhere. Now, a thousand gallons a month, that would make more sense... I'm sure freezing it had partial responsiblity for it cracking, but I would guess the main reason would be simply that it was a 30 year old slab of concrete. At that, it was covered by a foot of water for half of the year. Since we live in an extremely diverse climate, that causes a lot of cracking as well. But yeah, freezing it didn't help one bit.

What exactly do you mean by that?

Maybe for a weekend in January or so... of course they'd have to bring in the ride inspectors for any ride they're going to operate. I'm sure that's expensive. They could operate any indoor ride. I'm sure they're not heated, but being indoors makes a big difference. As far as rollercoasters and flats go though, it's unlikely. Keep in mind that they have lubricants and stuff within the mechanisms which would have a different texture below zero. According to Arrow's web page, the main reasons why rollercoasters valley is because the park changes the compound that makes up their polyurithane (sp?) wheels, and incorrect lubrication of the wheels. I'm sure running a train with the wheels frozen and the oil thicker than usual isn't the smartest thing to do. So in conclusion. If they opened the park for a weekend in the winter, would I go? Heck yeah, I'd go. I'm sure most of you would be there with me too. Could they do it? Yeah, they've done it before (Winterfest). Would the park operate like it does in the summer? Probably not.

lol...you guys are going to think I'm nuts One time I dreamt that I jumped off the Eiffel Tower head first. I remember flying toward the ground thinking that I was going to die, but when I hit the ground, I was able to get up and it didn't really hurt at all. I suppose I should seak counceling.

why? do you know something that we don't?

Not too much information by any means. Great post! Yes, Top Gun was in its planning stages between Kings Island and Arrow when Paramount bought the park. So reguardless, it would have been there. It was supposed to have a different name obviously, but I don't remember what it was of off the top of my head. Does anyone know?

Chef, I just thought of something. Since you quoted your own book, you were legally allowed to say what you did without a bibliography. Anyway, if Taft wasn't defunct and had the money that Paramount did, it would be arguable as to what would be better. A lot of you like themeing, which seems to be what Paramount is shooting for within the next few years. Of course, some of you would prefer a traditional admusement park, which is what Taft was going for. It's really a matter of what you want.

^ yep. My money is still on a Huss flat ride.

That is incorrect. We do sit over a major fault line. It's simply underground as of now. Yes, this area has small earthquakes just like any other area near a fault line, we just haven't had a major one yet. Equating the fact that we have not had a major earthquake in a long time, and the idea that it's not going to happen is totally inaccurate as well. The earthquakes releive a major amount of stress on the techtonic plates which the smaller quakes can't handle.

Nah, I'm sure Paramount has poured more money in than Taft ever could.

Those pics are great! You can also clearly see them in the episode of the Brady Bunch filmed at PKI. I can't help but notice that no one cares about the monorail and only comment on the sky chairs. The poll says most of you disagree with them taking it out (as of right now). I wonder what's up with that.

Yeah, Americana had theirs as of last year. It was dumb though, it only went over the lake and came back. So the ones at KI went from where AE is to HB Land?

98, 99, skipped 00, 01, and 02 (sorry guys), but didn't make the mistake this season and never will again!

Actually, I have vague memories of being able to see the beginning of the cobra roll looking down the tunnel around 96.

I'd say have the station somewhere in Coney mall where they can have a little more traffic. It would also be cool if they had it so you could get off on either end. Just have each station on elevated platforms. It would be nice if it went from AZ to RT. Of course, I'm sure there are a million safety delimas involved with an idea like that. Perhaps they could have it on a constant turntable, like an Arrow log flume...

Speaking of which, what happened to the glass blower? I haven't seen that guy in years. If he still works in the park, is his shop where it normally is?

I totally agree. Once the "big one" hits, the park is soo done for. Even the rides left standing would have cracked footers and foundations. Definately not a safe situation.

For those of you who have been to the park for many years, I was wondering if you think taking out the monorail and the zoo was worth the expansion. Do you think they could have put the new rides elsewhere and kept it? Feel free to also post any memories you have of it. I rode it a long time ago when I was about 6. I remember that the main reason we rode it was because my aunt has bad knees and needs to sit down a lot, plus we didn't mind the air conditioning. The only distinct thing that I remember about it is that our train had to stop for several minutes because some sort of animal was on the track.

I haven't ridden either, but from what I hear nothing beats the feeling that you're not going to stop going up when you launch on slingshot and it is seconded by the feeling that you're going to hit the ground upon your return.

Maybe they took a vacation. The restaurant is not managed nor staffed by PKI, but ny outside vendors. The owner is from Singapore. Even if they shut it down for health code violations, the government would be riding their a$$es so much now that it would be the safest place to eat at in the park. If you want to hear some stores, people have told me some interesting stuff about the LaRosa's in the Festhaus. (I was an employee for LaRosa's in Edgewood for 3 1/2 years)

As a firefighter myself, I can more or less back up everything that fyrfyter has said. Fire is a serious danger to all objects, even the steel coasters. For example, if the woods around The Vortex caught fire, it could drive up the heat to the point where the welds on the ride begin to crack. Keep in mind that it doesn't have to melt to destroy it or do serious damage. Objects expand and contract with heat, and there's no telling what extreme heat could do to parts of the ride under stress. Would the close the park? Depends. If the park was leveled, they obviously would. I'm willing to say that if SOB were taken out, they'd close that whole part of AZ. I suppose they wouldn't want pictures of their mangled ride all over the internet. Unless there was some sort of hazard I'd say that they'd keep the park open. Fyrfyter was right about them using thick wood. It is harder to ignite, but when you get that sucker cookin' it goes... I know they treat the wood to slow down the festering process, but I don't know what they do to make it flame retardant. You may notice going up the second lift hill of The Beast that there is a fire extinguisher about every 10 feet. I think they alternate between being class A and ABC. Class A being made for things like trash fires (it's basically a water canister) and ABC being a normal extinguisher which can put out anything but a metallic fire.