teenageninja

I find it hard to believe that your log went end over end and no one was seriously hurt. I also don't understand how that would have happened.

Could be a factor of a lot of different things. Improperly treated material, improperly selected material, etc. Also, the maintenance budget for a park like Kings Island is significantly higher than the company who owns these attractions.

Does the article mention the specific issues that it had? I highly doubt any problems it had were related to the failure of the material.

I had a hunch that this wasn't an operator or a set up issue. Appears to be a catastrophic failure of the ride. Probably impossible to detect. More information is needed though.

I didn't even think the first drop was all that thrilling, no stomach in your chest feeling. Just like going down a steep hill in a car. The ride was not very good. I rode it opening night. I waited 4.5 hours. That was my first experience with anticipointment. I rode the ride dozens of other times in its original configuration and a handfull after. Unfortunately a bit disappointing.

I don't see any reason that any sort of needle injected medication would be classified as a weapon. You can contact the park for further clarification.

I'm going to assume, probably wrongfully so, that it has to do with Winterfest.

It would require a total re-installation of seats, most of which were probably shipped to other parks for parts. The hydraulic cylinders in the seats went bad fairly often. (Source: I worked at Action Theater in 2004). They would likely require a projector conversion to digital, as the films aren't as prevalent anymore. If they had to replace the seats with new ones, they would likely require a new controller and terminal to control everything. Basically what I am hinting at, it would be expensive.

Allegedly it has been completely gutted of seats.

My wife and I went to Carowinds last summer and had a great time. Honestly it is worth the trip just for Fury 325. Intimidator is very similar to Diamondback, but a good ride on it's own. Flight Deck is solid. We went on a Saturday in July and the lines weren't too bad until the afternoon, but the waterpark (pre-expansion) was PACKED because it was hot. Also, Charlotte is a great town to spend a night in as well.

It's funny. I could ride Wicked Twister when I was 18, but now I can't get it over my chest/shoulders, so I don't even bother.

Are you sure it's due to the fear or due to not fitting? Intamin coasters are notriously tough for people to fit compared to B&Ms. A few years ago, I fit on Millennium Force without much concern. Waited in line for TTD and did not fit. I should have done the test seat, but assumed they were the same.

Seat 7-1 or bust.

I think overall KI has better guest relation skills, but CP has better teams on some of their coasters. I've been on flats at CP where it seemed like no one spoke English.

I think that is overstating. If the park wanted to move them, they would.

I believe at some of the bars they are hired as Bartenders, so that changes things a bit. I'm not 100% sure on this.

If you liked Big Thunder Mountain and Mummy you would enjoy Mystic Timbers, I would think.

If you are going either way, I absolutely would pay for the upgrade to Fast Lane Plus. This will be one of the busiest Saturday's of the summer, especially with the more mild temperatures.

I think you'd be hard pressed to see the park remove Vortex unless it developed a serious structural issue, or part prices escalating. It is one of the higher capacity rides in the park.

The last time I rode Mystic Timbers, the ride op said "Thank you for riding Mean Streak".

Boredom doesn't necessitate doing a bad job does it?

Consider the bridge built. I am still wondering why you think talking on a microphone and saying "Enjoy your day at Cedar Point, America's Rock N Rollercoast" is a detriment to your safety. If you don't like it, wear ear plugs.

I never said anything about lack of paying attention. I was merely saying that it helps to motivate to work quicker, not to the point of being unsafe. Have you ever worked at the park? A lot of these kids are working 50+ hours a week, so yes something as stupid as joking around on the microphone can improve the quality of their day. I've seen a lot of posts complaining about how slow certain crews have been, so it is a double edged sword. Do you want them to work at the pace of snails or do you want them to work at an appropriate pace? I assume you would complain if they appear to be working "slow".

I think you guys are taking this stuff a little too seriously. The job that the ride ops do is very tedious and repetitive. It isn't easy by any stretch of the imagination. Having the opportunity to spiel and say things as a joke was one of the bright spots of the job. If the ride ops are happy, capacity goes up and your wait goes down. If you beat them into boring submission, they have very little incentive to push to get capacity up. It's a double edged sword.

Always hard to predict, but the Spirit Song days are some of the busiest the park has throughout the year.