Browntggrr

When The Beast was built in 1979, it was the state of the art coaster. No other coaster had 3 tunnels, 2 major lift hills, the 360 degree helix, or had a footprint that was completly closed off to the public. These are the traits that made The Beast one of the best ever. The Beast is a terrain coaster, so the effect of "airtime" is not present. To give another example: Just because it is a steel coaster, does not mean there are inversions- it is built for speed. It is disappointing that the new, so called "enthusiasts", do not appreciate something that was made 26 years ago. It is almost like saying that it is a disappointment that the Ford Mustangs of 30 years ago are not as fast as the ones being produced today.

They don't have the option of having a parking lot coaster...

Considering that SF is selling the property that SFA sits on after the 2005 season because the property is valuable, I highly doubt it. http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/kho...d.4f6d3367.html

I guess I should have been more specific, $ 1 mill per train.

The ride has been retracked, but like PKIBeast stated, the cost of the cars is a large amount. On the other hand, spending $2 million to save a ride that had a price tag of almost $20 million is not that expensive. Considering how much the origional price was and the additional money that has been spent to make SoB a more enjoyable ride and less like an S.O.B Only time will tell.

SF "may" (Given the price tags of rides such as MF, WT, and TTD it is hard to believe that SF signature park, Magic Mountain, spends close to that) spend more to build rides, it is too bad that they don't spend more on maintaining their rides.

Just remember: "Paramounts Kings Island is a family park, and the much anticipated addition for 2006 is a Nickelodeon area expansion that will please all our guests." ... hold me back from racing to get my '06 season pass. I am not trying to be a fanboy for CP, but after CP won the Golden Ticket again this year, many wondered how they could, even though CP did not have the traditional 1- 5% increase in attendance. SF is not building a "record breaking" coaster, but a style of coaster that has a successful track record from a successful company. If PKI would build a coaster like the new one at SFoG, they could quite possibly win the Golden Ticket for best park. Being the park that FINALLY beat out CP would be quite an accomplishment. Some questions are easily answered...

Geez, I wonder why.... Breaking records is fun to do, but not necessary. CP is known worldwide for it's coasters and the records they break (PKI was also known worldwide in the early 80's w/ the additions of: Beast, Bat then Vortex, and KK), but when CP does not add a coaster every year, it is a disappointment to the general public. Some coasters are just made to break a record (i.e. TTD, SoB, Mean Streak) and SoB is a really BAD coaster that broke two records. MF at CP and SoB both came out in 2000; MF was $25 million- SoB was pushing $20, but MF still has a good wait on any given day, whereas SoB has a very minimal wait even on a Saturday. I would have loved to see Intamin build SoB and I just hope that SF is building a great coaster, not just another record breaker.

Those are a great find. I particularly enjoyed the web cam in the 2000 link. I would have thought that PKI would have fixed it by now. Oh well.

It's not that CP is having a bad financial year, but there is not the traditional 2% to 5% increase in attendance as in years past. 2005 has seen a decrease of up to 4% from the last 2 years, but what is not being accounted for is the % increase from 2000 to 2003 when CP added rides like Millenium and TTD. Investors often have short-sightedness and will only compare to the previous year, not for the last 10 years. And the economy has alot to do with it as well. With gas prices being at an all time high, it is not a surprise that CP has dropped a few % in attendence. Detroit and Cleveland are the largest cities near CP and each is 115 and 65 miles away respectivly. Parks have to plan for rides/ coasters 2 to 3 years in advance, so "if" CP were to be having $$ problems that led to rides w/o a higher bill, the effect will not be felt till 2008. Look for CP to have something big for Kinzel's retirement year in 2007.

I am not sure which is a worse decision: PKI considering removing one of the all-time great rides; or deciding to have this poll. The Beast is what made PKI what it is today. It is because of The Beast that PKI is the flagship park for Paramount. After being at PKD a couple of times and hating it, the biggest difference is no signature ride. The Beast put KI (at that time) on the map, something that the powers that be at Paramount should look at for future rides.

The Beast is a classic ride. Racer is a classic ride, and there has been significant changes to both rides. FoF is a cookie-cutter that other parks have, therefor not a classic.

I would not mind if was re-themed, but, what does bother me is that themeing costs some big bucks, and PKI lets the themeing of rides go into the toilet. If they want to make the decision and not keep up with the themeing, ok, but stop paying $$ for it in the first place and use the extra cash for other improvments to the park, or, give the guests a price break on the tickets. (Yes, I know THAT will never happen.)

I was promoted to head of the department on day shift. Great hours, but, there are more meetings, big-wigs, and less time to enjoy PKI Central.

http://www.mapquest.com/directions/main.ad...sburg&2s=VA&2z= BGW is worth the trip. Make it a 4 day trip, and if you have a PKI season pass, PKD is free. And the trip from Cincy is 9.5 hrs.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg (VA)- about 1 hour south of Kings Dominion.

Big Bad Wolf at BGW is easily the best suspended coaster built that still operates today. My family was at KI every year of The Bat, and every year it was down. It would be nice to see someone build The Bat again, just with banked track and overhead breaks.

My biggest beef with PKI is how it is today vs. how the park was before Paramount took over. KI was the cleanest park. It had state-of-the-art rides (i.e. Beast, Bat- then Vortex, KK, Flight Commander etc.) The themeing always looked well kept. International Restaurant was still an option. Now PKI vs. PKD is a different story. You can certainly tell that PKI is the flagship park for Paramount. I am not really sure how else to put this, but PKD just plain stinks. I would like to see PKI take a page from BGW. To truely be a theme park- keep up with the themeing. BGW has only 4 coasters, yet the atmosphere is thrilling. The amount of time and care that the powers-that-be at BGW is easily seen. KI was there at one time, I would like to see PKI regain that quality. I understand that it may be difficult for some to hear PKI insulted, bashed, or just put down, but everyone is entitled to their opinion. Some have made the arguement that "if you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all". I am not a firm believer in this theory. For any business to keep continuously improving, they need to hear the negative side of things. It's just that some people use more tact than others.

PKD & PKI's FoF are exatly the same. As far as the themeing goes, PKD's is lacking more than PKI's, but PKI's is in terrible shape as well. I made my second trip to PKD on June 29th, and I was again disappointed. The park just seems like it was thrown together. It is dirty- and I am comparing it to Hershey Park & BGW, I went to all 3 parks on the same trip. I am a die-hard park fan, and PKD is the only park that my wife and I have left early (6:00pm) by our own choice. We actually went back to BGW since we had free tickets. The Rockin' Rollercoaster at Disney-MGM is also like FoF.

Not that I disagree with what you said, but, if your reservation is for 12pm, but the ride is not fixed/ operating until 4pm does that mean you have lost your reservation for the day? This scenario could happen and even though you had: entered the park early & had a reservation, have been excited all day for 12pm, and the ride has finally been fixed, there is absolutly no way you can get on it on this particular day due to the reservation system. I would rather make my own choice to stand in line for 4+ hours than to have someone make it for me. I have waited for other rides like : Beast, SoB, FoF, TTD, and MF, and I really didn't care about the wait, just the fact that I was able to get on and enjoy the experiance.

IMO this is a bad idea. What if you do not get to the park early in the day? You don't ride? What happens when weather shuts the ride down- is your reservation lost? I often times will go to the park later in the evening, or bring some friends for the starlight passes, but if I don't have the chance of riding IJ, there is a less chance that I would take the effort of going to the park (I live in Erie, PA). There just seems to be many holes with this system- many more questions need to be asked/ answered. Reclaimer said: really needs to grow the hell up. I seriously considered not getting a gold pass this year simply because of the ass holes that make up a large portion of that group. They think they are "special" and "god-given" members of the park or something? Well some people did pay extra money to be treated different, and according to PKI, they are treated different because they did pay.

Kings Island built The Beast. RCCA started to build SoB, and Paramount's Kings Island finished the job, hardly the same company, or situation, under which The Beast was built. Not to mention that The Beast was being built in 1978, SoB was in 1999. I hardly doubt that the same group of people built both coasters.

1. Cedar Point 2. Disney/ MGM 3. BGW 4. PKI 5. MK 6.KennyWood 7. IoA 8. BGT 9. PKD 10. Waldameer

Actually, it has been the corporation executives that have made Halloween evil. The traditional Halloween marked the day before All Saints Day, where the saints would disguise themselves as dead saints. Now this would be the Catholic twist to it, or at least what I could remember from school. Here is a link for another aspect of Halloween:Celtic version It has just taken a different turn for the sake of $$. Just like St. Valentines Day (give a overpriced gift of love to that someone special), St. Patrick's Day (let's get drunk on green beer), Easter (color eggs, get fat on chocolate), Sweetest Day (reasons already given), and unfortunately Christmas (buy gifts for everyone you know). Each holiday had one meaning at one time, and each holiday now means something completly different. It may not be right, but in some cases, it has made it fun, and expensive, for most. Halloween is evil if you want it to be. I kind of have the same feelings dealing with Christmas. Dec. 25th is supposed to be a celebration of the birth of Christ if you are a Roman Catholic, but for those who have chosen a different religion, it means Santa Claus, Jingle Bells etc. etc., which is not wrong, it is just how one wants to celebrate holidays different. ...maybe those years of Catholic School paid off!

Yes, Halloween is a holiday. Being a father of a 3 and 2 year old, the only holiday that is more meaningful than Christmas is Halloween. (You just can't beat Santa) My wife and I split time taking our kids trick-or-treating this year. It is sheer joy watching your kids going to neighbors' homes and walk back to the sidewalk with the largest grin because they asked for a $.03 piece of candy, and someone gave it to them. Just because it is not a paid holiday, does not mean that it is not a holiday. If you want to argue about the holiday issue, let's talk about Sweetest Day. Now that is completly a made up holiday by Hallmark and FTD.