PREMiERdrum

Was this constructed when Arrow still welded segments together? The cuts look a bit too clean to be welded, but a bit too chewed up to be bolted. Either way, it's sad to see a landmark coaster like this go... It still had some years left in it.

I like the little logos for each area of the park (leaves for Adventure Village, Cotton Candy for Coney Mall, paw print for HB land), but why would they pick french fries to represent Rivertown?

Who has speed cameras? I haven't heard such a thing yet. The City of Heath (Licking County) had speed cameras for nearly a year. They were set up in a few places along State Route 79, and all were placed just after a transitional speed zone (posted 55mph, then 45mph, finally 35mph). They were calibrated to ticket at +6 over the posted limit within the zone. Businesses saw a significant drop in customer traffic because people were using alternate routes. A petition drive got the issue put to ballot and voters decided overwhelmingly to have them removed.

It has been speculated, and makes sense. The elephant can't rationalize that his mass is multiple times greater than yours, to him it's just playing. If the elephant were trying to kill him, he would have. If you ever get a chance to, visit a traveling circus that comes thru your town. Head to the lot while they're setting up and politely initiate conversation with the elephant handler. I've never gone to a show where I wasn't hospitably welcomed to the lot, and I've gotten some great insight from the men and women who work this these magnificent creatures. Each one has their own personality, their own temperament, and their own "buttons". If you're going to surround yourself with these animals, you'd better know them pretty well. Sidebar, but somewhat related. Some of you may have seen the picture I posted here last Friday of myself holding a 2 month old Snow Leopard cub that the Columbus Zoo brought to the station for our noon newscast. The cub has been living in the home of the Zoo's main PR person, as it was rejected from its mother at another zoo (I didn't catch which one). The zoo is well known for it's surrogacy programs with abandoned/rejected babies. Anyways, it was funny to see Suzi interact with the cub. As you may know, snow leopards have long, bushy tails. Mac's tail was bare skin at the tip, no fur for the last 4" or so. He had been sucking on it (like a pacifier) as a soothing method. He tried to do it a couple times while he was with us, and she pulled it out of his mouth and put her finger on the top of his nose. He made a little growl and snipped at her a bit, but each time she leaned her head into his and he cuddled it and purred. He knew that she was in charge, but he also had every opportunity to bite at her or paw at her. He didn't. The people that work with these animals need to know them inside and out, and stick to their protocols exactly as they're written. They're written that way for a reason. Here's the pic:

Thanks for the addition! I was trying to add a more recent story as well, but my browser kept crashing. The Toledo handler is lucky that he survived. It's easy to take safety for granted from a spectator / visitor point of view, but these animals are incredibly mighty and can critically injure or kill a human without even realizing it. If you look into incidents from circuses and zoos, however, you'll see most of the time people are injured when they don't follow protocol. These animals are incredibly smart and know when something isn't "right."

From the AP, July 7th: LINK Now, video of the attack has been released, and Columbus Zoo's head Pachyderm keeper Harry Peachey offered insight into the attack in an interview with Columbus' WBNS TV.

The program was pretty tame, and until tonight, I didn't realize that it was a hydraulic drive unit. Dave (Althoff Jr, that is) explained that the hydraulic unit is over near the Coral Courtyard and transfers power to the drive unit under the ship. It may make more sense for them to buy a newer, electric drive unit and place it within the new development that all that comes with moving the old one. As Dave explained it:

http://www.bankrate.com/financing/cars/reading-the-gas-price-tea-leaves-with-the-new-ford-explorer/ So, before Mr. Kinzel claimed high gasoline prices would boost attendance at Cedar Fair parks (and attendance fell). What will happen if the economy improves but gas goes to $4+ a gallon? What say ye? $4/gallon gas seems like a downright bargain compared to the mere 32oz of soda you get for the same amount of money at your neighborhood Cedar Fair park .

I wonder what could be happening at Worlds of Fun, then?

Get a ride on Ocean Motion while you're there... it may be your last chance!

Well, ITAL Intl has used pictures of CP's rides before (Chaos, for one) when the CP model wasn't the one for sale. However, this locks it down for me: These years all match up with what has been done to CP's ride. I certainly hope that they have plans to install something similar in the future, as a ride like Ocean Motion has lots of life left in it, and could easily have been relocated to somewhere else in the park. And this: That is interesting! I wonder if we'll see Ocean Motion closed before the end of the season?

Chet and Matt's Pizza cannot be endorsed highly enough! Yum! Recently, though, we have been eating a late lunch in the park, then hitting the Denny's at I-71 and 250 on the way home to Columbus. It's open 24 hrs, the food is good (if you're into that sort of thing), and you can sit as long as you want and drink coffee to get you the rest of the way home.

Kinzel? Are you listening???

In several communities, the cameras are "free". The company installs them at no cost, and then takes a percentage of the ticket revenue.

There was an episode of Made in America with John Ratzenberger that featured Carousel Works... If you ever see it on your program guide (it's on the Travel channel) try to catch it. It was really cool.

Since we're discussing the zoo... Suzi Rapp and the Zoo's PR team do something with our station every Friday on our noon show. Usually we send a crew up there and do something live, but this week they came to us, and brought a 52-day old Snow Leopard cub! (I apologize for the poor picture quality, it was taken on my cell phone)

I really don't understand the criticism (although I've heard it from enthusiasts as well)... the park has a good attraction lineup, decent food, it's very well designed, the look is great... it has so much going for it. The only real complaint I have is that, in the newer section of the park, the landscaping is still pretty immature. I would rather have seen them move at least a few mature trees from elsewhere on the property. That's not to say there isn't shade, though, as they have several large shade structures scattered throughout the park. And, since we're discussing the zoo... Suzi Rapp and the Zoo's PR team do something with our station every Friday on our noon show. Usually we send a crew up there and do something live, but this week they came to us, and brought a 52-day old Snow Leopard cub! (I apologize for the poor picture quality, it was taken on my cell phone)

We've had them in Columbus for a few years now... the red light cameras are bad, but the ones that cause a big stink around here are the speed cameras. Columbus hasn't adopted them but they've made their way into a few of the suburbs, although most that brought them in have already stopped using them. From what I've seen, they do little to improve safety, and are extremely difficult to fight (example: if you're issued a red light camera citation in Columbus, you have to pay the citation, then go to court and argue your case, then wait 2-4 months for a refund). This is surely another instance of a municipality sticking their hand in the pocket of those who help pay their bills. An interesting side note, the city only gets a portion of the fine, as the company who sells and installs the cameras gets a cut of each ticket issued.

I think that 2 days would be good to cover the Zoo, Zoombezi Bay, and Jungle Jacks Landing. If you're really into photography or sketching, the third day could be great to sit and study the animals (the zoo's viewing opportunities are some of the best I've ever seen, allowing extremely close viewing without iron bars or wide moats). If you're planning a 3 day trip, I would strongly recommend spending two days in Columbus (one full day at the Zoo, and one full day at Zoombezi Bay / JJL), and then heading east to The Wilds (which is a separate, non-profit entity which is a sister park of the Zoo). The experience you get at the Wilds is unlike anything else I've seen in our country. It's a 10,000 acrehabitat of African hoofstock, with a huge Rhinoceros center and Carnivore center that specializes in Cheetah reproduction. They have several different tours available, but you must go on their vehicles (this is NOT your standard drive-thru Sarafi Park). The acreage is split into a few huge paddocks, and species are intermingled. You can take photos that will convince your friends were taken in Africa. From The Wilds (which is in Cumberland, OH, outside Zanesville), it's only a 3 hour drive back to Cincinnati. http://www.thewilds.org/ I lost my photos from my most recent trip there (computer crash), but here's some of what Google Images shows for The Wilds:

While nobody wants to see facesucking and heavy petting all over the park, there's nothing wrong with a simple, tasteful kiss. Parks can be some of the most romantic places if you really think about it. International Street after dark; with the fountains, music, popcorn lights around the buildings... The hub of the Magic Kingdom, right under Cinderella Castle during the nightly Fireworks... CP's Frontier Trail after dark with the Starlight Experience show going... These are already such unique experiences, there's nothing wrong with a little romance here!

It was a joke... The was implied.

It's hard to kiss when you're choking on the smoke!

Fireworks... fountains... the white lights outlining the buildings... International Street is the most romantic spot in the park, especially after dark, right before closing.

LINK - Columbus Dispatch For those of you who haven't been to the Columbus Zoo and Zoombezi Bay, here is my Photo Trip Report from last month: LINK - PREMiERdrum's Columbus Zoo PTR

BGW is getting the drop ride... BGT is getting a new coaster, possibly named Cheetaka, and is thought to be a launched Intamin, possibly using the WingRider style trains.