bear295

Sounds to me like something that woudl be seen on "Jack-Ass". We have shows like that on the air and in theaters and then wonder why stunts like that are done? I'm far from a purist, but I really think that show took things TOO far.

Last ride of my life.... last ride of the night on Beast on an early autumn night. W O W!!! The cool air, the smell of trees beginning to turn, the roar of the train in the dark. What a thrill!!

It looks and sounds to me like CF is just picking up where Paramount left off from the sale. It you read the reference in Post #1, Paramount instituted the lawsuit. Cedar Fair had nothing to do with it. Can you point to the reference of Kinzel stating Memorial Day for the reopening? I watched the video of his interview witht the Cleveland Plain Dealer. I don't recall any reference to an opening date for SOB. He DID say that Firehawk would open Memorial Day. I would just like to know the source for your information PKI. The Assistant Manager, I believe that is what the article said, is the one that said "sometime in June". Not Kinzel.

I dunno, but maybe my math is all out in left field. Everyone talks about profit vs cost of the park. I was just playing with some numbers earlier. I find them quite interesting. Just based on gate income. Let alone gifts and meals. I don't remember where I got the number, but I seem to recall that KI had close to 3 million guests over the 06 season. Let's just play with that number for a bit. It's probably pretty close. They have 130 operating days. If the park only drew 35,000 people a day for the 130 days it would mean 4.5million visitors. So, let's play with 3 million for the season. Now, let's say that 1/3 of that number payed admission at the gate. I have no way to verify that number, but for the sake of argument let's use it. 3,000,000 x .33 = 990,000 people at $38.00 per person = $37,620,000 gate cash for the season 50,000 people bought season passes at $85 per person = $4,250,000 which surely is invested money since it starts coming in during the winter and early spring. Total $41,870,000 in gate sales alone. Now you can add beverages, gifts, souvenirs, parking, and food on top of that. Somehow, I just can't see payroll being more than $2 - 2.5 million a year. That still leaves $39,370,000 from gate sales alone. That's a lot of money for electric, insurance, supplies, and maintenance. The food prices are usually intended to cover the cost of the food and labor at that food location, so doubtful that any gate money goes to food and beverage. I'm sure that I have missed a lot of outlay monies, but $39.5 million gate money can cover a huge amount of expenses. Making money? I THINK SO!!

I would have to put my two cents in that the image has been doctored. If you really start blowing up the picture and look closely at Kinzel it does not have the same digital patterning around the letters that the rest of the sign shows. It shows more digital pattern around the top of the letters in Kinzel than Fort does. Also, the z e l does not stay in a straight line. The word Fort is pretty well a straight line across the bottom of the letters. Kinzel starts moving downward with each letter around the letter z. That same slant appears slightly in the other lettering but it is not as pronounced as Kinzel is. I'm not claiming to be an expert, but the above observations were made using Adobe Photoshop with about 5x enlargement. 1024x768 screen settings with ATI 128M video on a LCD screen. Bear295

Are you talking about the Flight of Fear and not Vortex? The restraints of Flight of Fear have been at the waist for at least 2, maybe 3 yrs now. There are no restraints above your waist. It used to have OverTheShoulderRestraints (serious ear and head bangers) but those have been removed for some time. The restraints are almost exactly like the SOB restraints. Thick pad that locks over your waist. They also added some air filled plastic drums to hold your feet to the floor.

What a terrible thing to happen. The FOX news article said that an axle broke. Didn't the same thing happen to King Cobra in it's first or second year? I seem to recall something like that. The rumor/story that I got was that they had to remove all of the axles on KC and replace them with stronger better hardened axles. Wonder if there is any similarity? Of course, at my age, my memory could be all askew!

I TURLY DON'T KNOW, but I'd be willing to bet that the free soft drinks and sunscreen is essentially free to the park. I know that if I was a major soft drink vendor in an area with a park like HW, I would gladly supply the syrup, cups and fountain. The park has the expense of the water, electric, manpower to clean and restock the 6 drink stations and maybe even provide the CO2. Think about it. It costs about 3¢ for the syrup in a 12 oz drink. You have say, 20,000 people a day in the park. What is the advertising of your product name being seen everywhere worth? A heck of a lot more than what it costs Pepsi or Coppertone to provide the product. It's an advertising tax write off. And I say, a pretty good one at that! By the way, if you haven't seen it yet... HW has a FACT on their website that they went through 600 gallons of sunscreen last year. Cost, minimal. Advertising worth, WOW!! Just basing this on working in convenience stores with fountain drinks and 20 years in retail. Probably way out in left field, but food for thought.

I seem to remember in the past that the flowers aren't put there until they are ready for 7 day operation. Actually, makes sense from a monetary and work load standpoint. The manpower required to keep a minimal view area could be used more efficiently getting other seasonal displays ready.

Then you obviously haven't been to Holiday World! They offer almost the exact same food as other parks and charge about 25% less. They even have FREE Pepsi products all over the park. They also include FREE sunscreen in the water park. Here is a link showing food and prices at Holiday World. Holiday World Foods and Prices

I am probably dead wrong, but I seem to recall that the area now sporting Firehawk used to be the landing pad for the helicopter ride. If I'm correct, there wouldn't have been any trees there to begin with due to clearance requirements for the pad. I'm not a gardener, but it would seem to me that if you wanted to add trees, shrubs, grass, or flowers you wouldn't want to do that until the construction was totally complete!!

Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday KI and Jeff... Happy Birthday to you. AND [/size]MANYMORE!!!!

Why do they have to remove anything? There are acres and acres and acres of land still undeveloped. Vortex has great ridership. SOB is no slouch in that department either. Why even think about removing either of them? The cost of a new steelie added to the cost of demolition of an old ride makes the whole thing astronomical. Cutting down rides is not cheap! Once they get those horribly heavy trains off the layout and the lighter trains running, I think SOB will be okay. It was known from day 1, according to a PR person, that the trains were way too heavy for the layout. Give the poor Son a chance. Don't condemn it before the revamp is made and operated for a while.

I agree with the others. Steel - front seat or very back. Only problem I have with Arrow trains is that the back seat of a "car" doesn't have very good knee room. I always find my knee caps wedged against the back of the seat in front. Don't really find that true of woodie trains. Bear295

Sad days are coming! No more Maureen to take care of PR and doing the things she does so well for fans and customers. It is hoped that her new endeavor will reward her as richly as I think KI has probably done. [/size]GOOD LUCK MAUREEN!!

CP suspended is Iron Dragon. It goes out over a "lagoon" that used to have fog coming up under the train. Don't recall seeing it that last time I was there. Iron Dragon (ID) is slower than TG. According to RCDB, Iron Dragon lists at 40mph and TG lists at 51mph. ID didn't appear to have a lot of ridership when I was at CP last May. Circa 1987, it's usefulness may be about at an end. TG though, I find still a blast. Good to excellent ridership. I agree and HOPE that it is not going anywhere except to get new paint. Bear295

I went to KI on opening day, 1972. I used to drive up to the park in 1971 and watch the construction from outside the fence. I was a big fan of Coney Island, especially the Shooting Star. I have always wished that KI would build a duplicate of that coaster. It was terrific. I loved the park. (I read or heard somewhere that Mighty Canadian Minebuster is listed as a mirror image of Shooting Star.) The Racer was brand new and was really RACED and not treated as two separate side-by-side coasters as it mostly is run today. I was also at KI with ACE for the ERT on The Bat the morning of the grand opening. It was a GREAT ride. I for one was sad to see it go.

I likewise would not want to see TG removed. It is such a fun ride. Myself, I like the constant changes in intensity of the ride. As far as I am concerned, it is a VERY viable ride that needs MUCH maintenance attention. Such as painting, cleaning up the station area and revamping the whole queue area. I was out of the area when it was first put in, so I didn't see the original themeing. I have seen several photos. It looked great. Something similar, or reinstituting that theme, would be a great improvement. Whoever decided to paint the entire structure that gray/silver-gray should have been shot. The original red and light flat gray (only seen from photos) looked fabulous. I would bet that the single color scheme was a cost saving move. The whole thing really does need extensive refurbishing though. NOT REMOVAL!!

Yes. The one at Carowinds is Borg: Assimilator. I've ridden it. Loads of fun. Unbelievable feeling hanging by your chest under that train. For me, the shin supports were a tad uncomfortable. It is almost identical to X-Flight/Firehawk. I believe that Borg:Assimilator is 574ft shorter. It only has a single corkscrew near the end where Firhawk will have a double corkscrew. Everything else is the same. Did I vote in the poll? No. I have not ridden X-Flight but have ridden a shorter version. It is great though. Rode it the year that it opened in Carowinds. Loved it. The extra corkscrew may not make that much difference. I wonder why KI is not opting for the 3 train operation. They could certainly use the extra capacity.

That is a good question. I know that CP doesn't. I'm not sure what the CF policy is. Will be watching with interest to see what the responses are on that.

You are absolutely correct. There was an animal park, featuring mostly African animals. The monorail actually is still in use. It is at Jungle Jim Supermarket in Fairfield. They bought the whole thing. It sat for quite a few years before it was assembled and put into operation. STOP racking your brain. It is in tact and your memory is correct. There was an additional charge for the monorail/animal park. I don't remember what it cost. I know that it was quite reasonable.

Most missed ride for me: The Bat I was fortunate enough to get to ride The Bat on its opening day with an ERT pass as an ACE member. Really hated to see it go!! But what a learning experience it was for Arrow. Look how many suspended coasters were built after The Bat. Was a fun ride!!

I likewise seem to recall that it was right about where Festhaus is now. If my memory serves me correctly, there was also a Ferris Wheel very close to it.

The case was transferred from Hamilton County Common Pleas to Warren County Common Pleas. According to the online Clerk of Courts for Warren County: "Disposition: DISMISSED PRIOR TO TRIAL/SETTLED". If it was settled, there is no way of finding out what the settlement was unless someone knows Shawn Perkins and he is willing to divulge. Usually though, settlements bind that neither party can divulge the terms of the settlement. My guess is, KI settled for an out-of-court amount to avoid legal fees and bad publicity.

DUH!!! Where? I don't ever recall a Chick-Fil-A in the park. Care to locate it for us?