jzarley

Plans were announced yesterday for the redevelopment of the Scioto Peninsula on the West Bank of the river across from downtown Columbus. One of the most interesting things mentioned was a new indoor Columbus Zoo attraction which would be built near COSI. Here's the link to the Dispatch article: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/public/2013/08/13/scioto-peninsula-announcement.html

Very cool! Thanks for posting. I actually have the Haunted Mansion album with accompanying book that's shown in the video. I got it back as a child in the early-to-mid 70s. It's now in an album "picture" frame (from The Container Store) along with my albums of Bambi, Peter Pan, and the Mickey Mouse Club.

1650 passengers per hour would mean sending out 51.5625 full 32-passenger trains per hour, which is a full train about once every one minute and 10 seconds. Well, as I learned years ago from reading rec.roller-coaster (and most likely, from Dave Althoff's knowledgable posts) there's a big difference between *theoretical* ride capacity, and *actual* ride capacity :-)

Well, we may have had to wait 21 years, but this finally makes up for my disappointment that our Top Gun wasn't a B&M inverted like the others installed at the same time :-)

When I was on "Top Gun" (sorry, I refuse to refer to it by that generic rebrand) a few weeks ago I was thinking that CF would do well to go back to the original (rumored, anyway) name of that coaster when planned by KECO--"Swoop". I figured with the mature tree growth back in that area now, a bird theme would fit well. (Plus, the whole sort of failed attempt at fighter jet themeing just seems kind of sad now...) However, I really like the idea of renaming it as "The Bat" even better...such a great homage to KI's history. Plus, if "Attraction 2014" has a scary/haunted theme, the new "Bat" would fit in perfectly within the same area. Haven't a few parks done some sort of floorless train retrofit on their legacy Arrow suspendeds? I'm sure something like that wouldn't be in the CapEx budget for 2014 with the other new construction, but that's a pretty interesting idea...

I really like this premise...I've thought for a while that an FEC-type area outside of the main park would be a cool idea at KI. It would be similar to Challenge Park at CP, but could have a much longer operating season (due to Cincy's weather and larger metro area) than the regular park. Throw in a putt-putt course, restaurant, party facilities, some retail and a season pass sales/processing center and they could have a nice (nearly) year round revenue generator.

That actually sounds like a Cedar Fair ride name. Definitely something they might have picked during the "fire drill" rebranding at Geauga Lake! :-)

Jeffrey Siebert is a class act and letting him get away was one of the biggest mistakes KI made. And then there was David Mandt, Carolyn Boos, Bill Mefford and on and on (I didn't mention Barb Colnar did I? Imagine that...) Don's good at what he does, but many of the Paramount people were, too. Look at where many of them are today. And, while her tenure was pre-Paramount, of course the legendary Ruth Voss

Farthest for me is Port Aventura in Spain

Well, at least it's still a lot better than rec.roller-coaster used to be...that was the wild, wild west :-)

Airlines and hotels have been doing similar pricing strategies for years...it's called yield management. I wouldn't be surprised if Disney takes it a step further in the future...charging more for busier times of the year (Christmas, Spring Break), or even for certain days of the week. Did anyone see the panel discussion that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas did last week where they predicted a similar strategy change in movie ticket pricing? Where a big "tent pole" movie like "Man of Steel" or "The Avengers" would be priced differently than an art house-type film?

It's also not Summer...yet. ...or maybe, an announcement might not come during the day.

...especially if the timing of "Festival of the Lion King" and "Finding Nemo: The Musical" works out for you :-) I do have to question the appeal of CarsLand without Radiator Springs...yes, CarsLand at DCA is probably one of the best themed things I've ever seen done in a park, but without that big E-ticket attraction at the end of the street you don't have much more there than a food and shopping expansion. (Although, I was pleasantly surprised with Mater's Junkyard Jamboree...I think I rode it at least five times!) And while I agree that Test Track and Radiator Springs provide similar ride systems, the story and experience of the two are very different. (And, I think the same argument about similar ride systems could be made of Spiderman and Transformers at IOA and USF, or any one of the multiple "4D" movie experiences Disney repeats at each of their parks...)

Emphasis on EARLY :-)

The more I see/hear from Matt Ouimet the more I like him...

While technically accurate, "evacuated" seems an especially dramatic choice of words for the actual situation...

^ I'm not sure CP will ever beat Knott's in attendance (due to both their operating calendar and HUGE metro market they pull from...) I think your points might have some real validity if Kinzel was still in charge, but my gut-level is that Ouimet doesn't consider CP nearly the same "sacred cow" as the previous management...I think the strategy of the current management team is to maximize attendance/revenue at all/any parks--not to purposely position others in order to elevate CP (which may--or my not--have the intended impact anyway...) I do agree that putting in a duplicate coaster (i.e., Gatekeeper) at both parks would probably have a net/net impact on attendance between CP & KI in the opening season, since the thought process of the GP would probably be "it's just the same ride." I think the real business goal is to grow the attendance revenue of BOTH parks by encouraging visits to both (as is illustrated in another topic currently trending on this site...the addition of a combo KI/CP ticket on sale at Kroger...)

So, I have absolutely no idea what the new ride will be...nor do I possess the mechanical expertise to compare the layout and types of footers and make educated guesses about what is being constructed (but, I'm really impressed by those that have that ability!). However, as a KI (and parks in general) fan, I can say what I'd like most to see built: 1) A B&M invert (I'm still bitter that our Top Gun ended up being an Arrow suspended instead of the B&M invert that the other Paramount Parks got at the time...) Even though there's nothing revolutionary about the design any more, some of my fav coasters (Dueling Dragons, Raptor, Montu) are of this type. Maybe something "biggest & fastest" of this type? A new "Bat" would be particularly nostaligic :-) 2) A B&M Dive Machine. While I can agree with the argument these are somewhat of a "one trick pony", there's nothing else like it in the regional market. (And, I can honestly say that SheiKra was one of the only coasters I can remember in the past 15 years or so that actually made me feel a little nervous the first time riding it...) 3) A Maverick-type coaster with a custom layout (first seat is one of my best rides on anything). Maybe they could return Action Zone back to the jungle theming of the old WAH era and make it jungle themed (as opposed to Maverick's western theme...) 4) A B&M Giga The thing I want to see least is a wing rider/Gatekeeper clone. Not that I have any thing against Gatekeeper or wing riders, my feelings on this are purely selfish--I'd like some variety between the two parks I visit most frequently (CP & KI). If KI and CP puts in duplicate installations (WindSeeker, Delirium--granted that one was under two different owners, so I can't blame CF for that), it makes the variety that I can experience as a park-goer more limited. It will be interesting to see if CF *finally* does use the "Banshee" name for something...instead of just their most frequenly used "teaser" name. Again, just my thoughts...I'm far from an expert (I consider myself more of a "discerning consumer" :-))

Something tells me Terp doesn't know the hot dog dance song. That was the song my co-worker's daughter loved! "Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog" :-) Not great lyrics, but definitely catchy :-)

Some thoughts on the report... 1) Cars Land was definitely worth the investment--an almost 23% increase in year-on-year attendance (and, it only slightly cannabalized attendance at DLP...just a little over 1%). That means that the Disneyland Resort (already one of the most heavily visited in the world) saw a 20%+ net increase. That's amazing for a "mature" market... 2) I'm surprised at how close CP's Soak City's attendance is to Zoombezi Bay's at the Columbus Zoo...I would have thought Soak City would have been further ahead of Zoombezi Bay. (Which, I guess is an indication of how well Zoombezi Bay--and the Columbus Zoo overall--is doing.) 3) What's attributed to the increase at USH (+15%)? The only thing I can think of is the addition of "Transformers" Thanks TheCrypt for posting--I enjoying reading this every year. (Even if the numbers aren't officially sanctioned...)

It still never ceases to amaze me how EARLY kids become indoctrinated with Disney characters. My partner's great niece just turned ONE and she already recognizes Minnie Mouse (she even attempts to say something that sounds vaguely similar to "Minnie".) A former co-workers daughter could recongize Mickey at about the same age, and loved to watch (over and over and over again) some CGI Mickey and friends show on the Disney Channel. And, that's all without any significant (current) media presence--it's like its inborn or something... There's probably a lot of valid criticisms people can make about The Walt Disney Company, but you certainly can't fault them for the way they keep their intellectual property constantly promoted & relevant.

There was a good article in last week's Time Magazine about the economics of stored value payment systems: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2144099,00.html EDIT--sorry, I was already logged in to Time's site and didn't realize this would ask for a login/subscription with the link...

Are you still planning the day trip to the Grand Canyon? If you can, avoid the bus tour to the canyon from Vegas if at all possible...it's basically eight hours on the bus & 90 min at the canyon. If I had it to do all over again, I'd rent a car and drive it myself...I hate to have anyone else controlling my itinerary (probably why I've never had any desire to go on a cruise :-))

So, I can't speak for the accuracy of the comment, but someone posted on one of the other enthusiast sites that "Flaming Moes" were unlikely because apparently Florida's liquor laws prohibit flaming drinks! (Again...can't comment on the accuracy, but thought it was an interesting thought.)

"Inside the Magic" took the park provided concept art and enhanced it by creating a short video out of it: http://www.insidethemagic.net/2013/05/the-simpsons-theme-park-expansion-announced-for-universal-orlando-with-moes-tavern-krusty-burger-duff-beer/ I like how the park concept art actually looks like the Simpsons cartoon :-)