Pagoda Gift Shop

Intamin is probably the only company crazy enough to try a loop. I don't think GCI or Gravity Group would even think about it.

Yup. That's what I was thinking of. I also remember it ending with the "Welcome" which was kind of weird the first time you heard it. When I was at the park last week, I tried to get some pictures of the station, but you really can't see if from anywhere on the midway due to trees, etc. I liked that the station was so high up and that the train would disappear down the drop once it left.

Yeah, I had no idea about the moving costs. Dorney is probably getting 5-10 million then. California is a long way from Pennsylvania.

Now that Carowinds is on the board, here is the updated scoreboard: Canada's Wonderland: 28 Carowinds: 6.5 Cedar Point: 1 Dorney: <1

How about a Robbie Knievel ice motorcycle jump?

Cedar Fair is 0-2 regarding leaks on announcements.

There is no rumored project for 2013, other than anything you can make up on the spot, but that doesn't count.

I've never heard that CF wanted to keep the competition down. Well, I've heard it, but only from Geauga Lake conspiracy theory folks. Most of the reports I've heard is that CF knew the Paramount Parks were for sale and looked into it. Supposedly KI was the "crown jewel" that Kinzel wanted to get. I'm not surprised; Kings Island does a huge amount of seasonal operations and is in a great market/location. If anything, KI is why CF overpaid for the parks because Kinzel had to have it.

I don't think that's the one I'm thinking of. I was thinking of the spiel on the loading platform that was something like: "Oncoming riders, please secure all loose articles. Welcome to the Son of Beast. etc. etc."

Yeah I don't think they can stay silent on this issue much longer. I mean, how many years can you just let that thing sit there? We're approaching 3 years now. On a similar note, does anyone have the audio from SOB's station that played while boarding?

Remember this is just experimentation too. Holiday World is trying something new, so I'm sure they will be tinkering with the prices, etc. Personally, I think the CF passes and tickets are much too low. It's all about perceived value, and I would much rather pay more to get in the park and have all the food prices drop by $2-3. Seeing a sign for $6 fries ticks me off.

How many years has KI done the ice show now? I just realized that next season will mark 10 years for Cedar Point. Too bad I preferred the IMAX theater.

I would think that is just for a contest or some sort of deal for Labor Day. Doesn't sound like 2012 news, but it still might be something cool. Hehe, maybe Fast Lane Backyard BBQ?

I saw the show last week for the first time. It was great. Was the show last year the exact same I assume?

I rode Diamondback last week for the first time in 2 years. It was as smooth as I remember it being during my many rides in 2009.

Great photos. You might want to fix your spelling of millennium if you can edit that.

Yeah, if you have visited the Halloweekends Terror Island outdoor maze, you'll know that Millennium Island is about half the size of the current land where Dinosaurs Alive is at KI. It will be some work to get everything to fit I think. As for KI, I'm at a total loss. I'm stunned that CP could be so completely boring with their improvements. I don't think they have ever gotten a "cloned" attraction from another park, especially one in the same state! I have no clue what they will announce for KI, but as stated above, it doesn't look good. Hopefully they will get a replacement for the largest dino that burned in May. I can't believe they still have it listed in the park map, but it is missing from the attraction!

Well, so far the score is: Canada's Wonderland: 28 Cedar Point: 1 Hopefully Kings Island will get on the board before the end of the month. Dorney has said they are announcing soon.

I don't have a problem with using a cup from the same year at a different park. I would imagine CF wouldn't either. Consider a cheap refill as a benefit for visiting multiple CF parks in a year. However, the old cups and non-CF cups are definitely wrong.

I would imagine they can control the lift speed. Most of their hypers could probably go faster up the lift, but don't due to blocking and intervals.

Well, CW gets 28 million. I'd say KI will be lucky to get 8.

Yup that was pretty much the case yesterday when I was there. The associate was pretty much just monitoring the flow of people.

I'm of the opinion that the park does not have to do something for their 40th anniversary, but doing nothing much is a waste of marketing potential. Being only 40 years old, there are lots of people in the market of KI that went there as kids when it opened in the 70's. These are the same people who now have families and can decide to go to KI or somewhere else. By the time the park is 50 or 60 years old, many of those original season folks will not longer be a part of KI's target audience.

The Eiffel Tower is usually a great place to get any kind of pictures you would want.

You might be right. I have thought of several jokes that I have resisted from posting hehe. I'm going to the park again next week. I have not been there since The Beast seat assignment began. I'll be very interested to see what things look like next week, especially since the crowds will likely be reduced along with the operating hours.