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From the KI website: RIDE RATING SYSTEM DEFINITIONS To better assist you in choosing attractions you may wish to experience, each of our rides has been rated according to the following system. Ratings are based on the intensity, speed, and directional changes of each individual ride. Please be aware of the recommendations and requirements for each ride. Category Description {1} Low Thrill Rides: Rides that are generally calm and gentle in nature. {2} Mild Thrill Rides: Rides that generally have low speeds with gentle motion braking. Rides have smooth transitions with some changes in elevation and speed. {3} Moderate Thrill Rides: Rides that generally have low to medium speeds and/or heights with moderate motion and braking. Riders may encounter unexpected changes in direction and/or speed during portions of the ride. {4} High Thrill Rides: Rides that generally have medium to high speeds and/or heights with moderate to rapid braking. Riders may encounter unexpected changes in speed, direction and/or elevation. {5} Aggressive Thrill Rides: Rides that generally have one or more of the following: high speeds and/or heights, aggressive and unexpected forces, and rapid directional or elevation change. Riders will encounter many unexpected rapid changes in speed, direction and/or elevation. http://www2.cedarfair.com/kingsisland/docs...ility_guide.pdf According to this, AE should be a {4}. But I would also think Vortex should be a {5}. Perhaps it has something to do with being able to see all of Vortex vs. AE which is difficult to see from the midway.

What ever happened to safety being the most important thing? So the park had to make a decision between being safe or losing the precious ACE Coaster Classic status. Whoopdeedoo. I would honestly tell ACE to keep their plaque. 90% of the people that are guests in the park have no idea what ACE is anyway.

Why should someone have to ask to sit in a seat that is next to yours? You don't own the seat. I would rather see a full train cycle than a train with single riders in multiple seats. If the ride operators do not attempt to fill all the seats, that only means longer waits for the people behind you. My wife and I are still using the parent swap program. We understand that chances are, we will not ride together. Most times, both of us will get multiple dirty looks from guests that do not understand the program. The last thing I would ever do is have another single rider wait an extra cycle because I am not willing to let them sit down unless they ask.

Sometimes ScreamScape gets the rumor correct, often not. They were the first to announce the name Millenium Force, as well as post information about Maverick. So they are not always full of doggie doo. But what the heck does "semi- comfirmed" mean? It sounds like a weather forcast. "Well today folks you will see an occaisional cloud, with heavy rain, and flurries give way to hot, hazy and humid conditions. High near 85 and lows in the lower 20's." I would rather see that it is just a rumor and leave it at that.

There are many opinions as to why SoB has been a failure to date. The finger pointing as to who is a fault will go on forever. Planning may have been one of them. My personal opinion was that Paramount wanted a world class coaster in 2000 to compete with MF, but not spend enough to get it right. Kind of like the old saying- you get what you pay for.

I happened to be on another site and read a rather intresting rumor. Apparently, this past weekend at CoasterMania, a question about SoB's status was directed to Mr. Kinzel. His response was something about the ride re-opening around the 4th of July. Was anybody at Coastermania that can confirm this?

This is from the CP website. I am going to assume (and we all know what that means) that the weather policy at KI is similar to CP. The KI site concerning weather was rather open ended, the CP site was much more detailed. I really don't see high wind being a major issue at KI the way it is at CP, but time will tell when it comes down to Firehawk. In my experiance at any park, if there is lightning in the area, everything gets shut down due to the possibility of a power outage. Adverse Weather Conditions/Rain Rides will close due to weather conditions, particularly rain, high winds and/or lightning. A specific answer as to which rides close or remain open is not possible because varying degrees of inclement weather cause different effects on different rides. Those rides affected the most are the roller coasters and the high rides. Cedar Point makes every effort to reopen the rides as quickly and safely as possible after the adverse weather conditions cease. Sorry, no rainchecks or refunds. Generally, the following weather conditions will affect the listed rides and attractions: High winds: Demon Drop, Gemini, Giant Wheel, Magnum XL-200, Mantis, maXair, Mean Streak, Millennium Force, Power Tower, Raptor, Skyhawk, Sky Ride, Space Spiral, Top Thrill Dragster, Snoopy Bounce (in Camp Snoopy), RipCord (in Challenge Park) and Zoom Flume (in Soak City). Light rain: Demon Drop, Giant Wheel, Top Thrill Dragster, Wildcat, Woodstock Express, 4 x 4s (in Kiddy Kingdom) and Challenge Raceway (in Challenge Park). Heavy rain: Calypso, Corkscrew, Demon Drop, Disaster Transport, Gemini, Giant Wheel, Iron Dragon, Magnum XL-200, Mantis, Matterhorn, Mean Streak, Ocean Motion, Raptor, Sky Ride, Snake River Falls, Top Thrill Dragster, WildCat, Woodstock Express, Snoopy Bounce (in Camp Snoopy), Junior Gemini, 4 x 4s (in Kiddy Kingdom) and Challenge Raceway (in Challenge Park). Lightning and Severe Thunderstorms will have varying affects on all rides and attractions. Please remember, it is not possible to specifically state which rides will be closed at a specific time because the varying degrees of inclement weather cause different effects on different rides.

http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_6157079?nclick_check=1 This will be a rather intresting contest. Who do you pi$$ off? The 1.8 million visitors to GA as well as the $5.6 million/ year from CF, or, the SF 49ers who are looking for $160 million from taxpayers in the Santa Clara area. Usually, the NFL has done rather well in looking out for their best intrests and getting their way. But now you are taking on families that pay to enjoy a park that maybe inconvenienced by construction of a stadium that they are also partially paying for through taxes and will never see the insides of. I can only see this getting ugly for the 49ers.

I would be really surprised if FearFest went back to being an upcharge attraction. CF would really have to change everything that has been done for years now to make it a "new" draw, or why would people be willing to pay an upcharge price to see the same thing that was free in the past? The costs alone for those kind of changes may not be worthwhile for the park. And if CF was worried about paying off their debt, I'm not sure if biting off the hand that feeds you is the best solution. FearFest is already popular. I don't think upsetting all the guests and passholders by having an upcharge for an event that has not been an upchrge for many years now would bring in the type of revenue that would make a major impact that CF needs to take a chunk out of their debt. There is a risk/ reward factor that may not make it worthwhile for the park.

Is there some sort of fuzzy math that the schools are teaching today? ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION IS NOT ALWAYS A SOLUTION! (whew! ) I will never say that it won't happen, but the chances are of TG being torn down are very slim. Why? Well, it is a great starter coaster for the families that KI has been targeting for years now. Those kids who have graduated from Nick Universe need to ride something before Beast, Vortex, and FoF. When the park is understaffed and the ride does not open frequently, then the rumors can fly, but for what some people consider to be low ridership is not a reason. Welche: CF will not put in any ride called Banshee. That was to be to name for what is now called Mantis and was changed due to not being politically correct in CF's eyes. http://www.rcdb.com/id7.htm

Well, if CP was a regional park, your theory of questionable weather has a chance, but it is not. Obviously, most of CP's guests come from either Detroit, Cleveland or Akron/ Canton. The trips from those cities is not a quick trip (about 1 hour from Cleveland area, 1.5 hrs. from Detroit) people and/ or families normally take off work to attend a day at the Point. Weather is not going to stop them just due to taking a day of vacation that they had planned for weeks or months in advance. Also, CP is on the shores of Lake Erie, not the shores of Florida. Rain & thunderstorms can last for more than a few hours. Don't always count on poor weather blowing by quickly.

Is this the one? http://www.KICentral.com/photos/displayima...m=91&pos=15

^ It is now SBNO. I was used for people that would not go on SoB, but wanted to have the same SoB feeling. They would eat a bunch of candy, jump up and down, and then fling themselves from the balcony to the ground. (Ok, you got me. I have no idea if this was ever used) I am just incredibly bored at work right now. Stupid things just jump into my head.

^ Well for how fast it took investigators to have a suspect in custody (8 hours), I would have to safely assume that this lone incident would not be the determining factor for the installation of detectors. I would think it is the incidents we don't hear about that would influence the park in installing detectors.

http://www.sanduskyregister.com/articles/2...ront/311125.txt Well, another sign of intelligent life on Earth.... I wonder if he got out of working that day?

No we don't know if it will reopen. They put the work in to remove the loop as one of the last ditch efforts to try and make it a ride that everyone will enjoy. What is the lesser of two evils: removing the loop and trying with different cars or not trying at all and TAER it down? I'll give CF credit, they are making an attempt at it, even if it does fail.

The biggest reason there are many complaints is because walking into the hotel, it is very nice. Nice carpeting, lots of room, renovated, and some of the newer sections of the hotel are the most frequently traveled so they are easily seen (the area around the indoor pool & TGI Fridays). The Bon-Aire section is the older part of the hotel, and well, it looks old. It is not like some of the newer hotels that you have stayed in. People are comparing the Bon-Aire section to the renovated sections of Breakers as well as other hotels. What many people forget is- you get what you pay for. The Bon-Aire section of Breakers are the cheapest rooms on the Point- and they are that way for a reason. If you want a nicer, bigger room. Pay for it. If you want a cheaper room, but have the privlege of staying on the Point, the Bon-Aire is acceptable. When I have stayed there, I have not noticed a smell. I also turn the A/C up full blast to get the humidity out of the room, which dries it out. If it smells, talk to the front desk. If nothing happens, talk to a manager. In my past dealings with CP, they have always tried to rectify things in the easiest way possible (they basically took money off my bill). If I had a choice of staying on Point- but in the Bon Aire section, or staying off Point; I will choose the Bon Aire everyday. Have a great vacation!

How long ago was this announced? Shouldn't this press release have been released sometime ago? But, hey, it's great for the park. This is great publicity.

Ummm, Padfoot. Take a look here: http://www.mcall.com/business/local/all-do...sinesslocal-hed And I quote from the article: Cedar Fair officials have confirmed Steel Venom is leaving Geauga Lake for another park. They have not said where it will go or when it will reopen. You don't happen to know RumorSmasher, do you?

Karen Are you trying to tell me that KI is not going to allow a family driving hunderds of miles to bring a cooler into the parking lot? I can see the headlines now: "Family booted from Kings Island for eating PB&J in the parking lot" "That man took my animal crackers!" said 4 year-old Jessica from Erie, PA pointing to the security guard that was escorting the family from the parking lot. That is the headline any park needs to create the family atmosphere they desire. Heck, we just found out why there have been so many line jumpers & people smoking out of the designated smoking areas! Security is in the parking lot doing trunk checks for coolers! On the serious side. My family has been taking a cooler to parks since I was too small to ride Gemini. We have never had a problem. And as was mentioned earlier, KI has a picnic area for families with coolers, as does CP. They are both located outside the gates. This is not an issue the park is concerned about (except the pigs that don't clean up their litter). And if the park was concerned about it, the food & drink prices would not be as inflated as they are.

^ http://www.xtremecoastin.com/videos/misc_v...dstuck_2005.htm

^ Yeah, your point is very clear. There was an unfortunate incident at HW. You defended that by trying to bring up an incident at Disney where a guest tried making a very minor event into a media issue, your quote being "mind you Tigger beating some kid up" which was clearly not the case. Attempting to justify the actions of an employee at one particlular park by over- sensitizing an event at another park is wrong. It gives others the false sense that it is ok for one park to do it because another park has had problems as well. We all know that a park cannot have perfect employees, or for that matter, a park cannot control if an employee that is having a bad day. But it just seems that recently, there have been more incidents at HW than usual, and people are talking about it. If HW is going to claim to have the best employees for an amusement park, well enthusiasts are going to hold them to that standard. Just like with CP claiming to be the best park running for the last 9 years. Enthusiasts are going to hold them to that standard and be more critical when they don't see it. I do that with CP as well as KI. It just seems that HW is happy with status-quo and not striving to be a better park. The e-mail response certainly gave that feeling. Even though they claim to have handled the situation, the comment questioning if someone loves the park or not is uncalled for. Just because I love a park does not mean I will always have a perfect time there or turn a blind eye to an obvious situation that is not right. Sorry I'm not that type of fanboy that HW is expecting.

It may not have been the lone incident at Disney, it was the one you mentioned. Just like the lone incident at HW that you do not want others to judge.

Are you referring to the incident where the boy was grabbing Tigger's tail and Tigger swung around to stop the kid from doing it? Here is a video of it: http://www.local6.com/news/10685989/detail.html It looks to me that Tigger was losing his balance and turned around. Obviously not many other people thought it to be that bad of an issue since the charges were dropped: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,252387,00.html

^ I was thinking about the same thing about Detroit. The only rational thing that I can come up with is even though many from the Detroit area are guests at CP, CP is in Sandusky, not near Detroit. If CP was 20 miles from the city, there would probably be detectors. I guess being 115 miles from Detroit makes the CF officials feel that is a long enough distance for the violent element not to show up at the park. I kind of felt that way when I traveled to Detroit for robot training. Auburn Hills was far enough away from the city where I did not feel threatened- at least the part that I was in. But when I went downtown to one of the casinos, to put it mildly, I did not feel like I was in Kanas anymore.