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LOL. At least the Enquirer article had a quote from Mr. Helbig. Check out this piece of journalistic amazement. http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/kings-island-shuts-down-popular-roller-coaster-1206598.html?cxtype=rss_local-news

Oh I'm glad he is visiting, and you are right, now is the best time to visit to get a good "feel" for the park. I just find some of the earlier posts about The Crypt and SOB humorous. If I'm KI, I would take him to see the newly renovated Coney Mall, as well as the wildly popular Dinosaurs Alive attraction. I would show him The Crypt on his 3rd or 4th visit to the park. Remember that KI is competing with the other parks in the chain for funding for capital improvements, etc. First impressions are important, right? I certainly hope that Mr. Ouimet falls in love with KI. I wonder if the Peanuts area of the park will get emphasis considering it has won so many awards and is a big draw for families.

Yeah, that is true that he is "officially" in the position right now. I guess I just assumed that he won't get to make any real decisions/progress until Mr. Kinzel is gone in January. To do so any earlier would seem a little rash as well. That sounds like very Kinzelish thinking. Mr. Ouimet should care more about the front office staff than he should about anything in the park. They are the ones who run the park daily and they are the ones who should have the ideas for how to make it better. I'm sure Mr. Ouimet wants to learn all about Kings Island, and he should learn it from the people who are in control of it everyday. Obviously, some things are better learned by taking a tour, but if I'm a CEO, I want my managers to be making the decisions. For too long the CEO of Cedar Fair has been way too involved in daily operations. It is rumored that Mr. Kinzel used to demand yesterday's attendance figures for Cedar Point on his desk every morning. That level of detail is WAY too low for the CEO of a company to be spending time on. I'm not saying that he should be staring at the stock price all day; he certainly needs to know about atmosphere, what people think, etc. But, the CEO of a company should not be concerned with how many hot dogs have been sold today at hot dog stand 1.

You guys are crazy. You do realize he is probably going just to meet the front office staff, right? I would be surprised if he spent more than 15 minutes walking around. I mean, he doesn't start until January.

I was never a big fan of Winterfest. Mostly because the Ohio weather is so unpredictable. However, if you meant a full service restaurant named "Winter Feast". I think that sounds like a pretty creative idea.

Just one change? That makes it harder. I think I would add a full service restaurant. Change the one near Diamondback to be a regular Montgomery Inn with wait staff and everything. Personally, I think the park could use about 3 full service restaurants (one with barbeque, one with italian, and maybe a buffet or something). Runner Ups: - A new B&M invert. - A wild mouse coaster. - Some Octoberfest love of some sort.

I like the current trains. I just have to make sure to sit in the front of the car so my knees don't smash.

Yep, that is exactly right. It tends to have no line between 4-6pm before people start to leave.

Really? Raptor is worse than Mine Ride...and Disaster Transport...and Corkscrew...and Wildcat...and Wicked Twister? I think you are in the super minority.

What if you are a big Jeebus fan?

"conked" is such a funny verb to use. "Vortex is currently conked out due to mechanical reasons. We are not sure when it will reopen."

Since when has Vortex been a girl?!? I'm not sure dark blue and orange suits a girl.

Yeah I think that was just a coincidence.

See, I knew it was pretty early on. hehe

Ok, the word "trim" as used above means "added brakes". This is much more common than actually changing the profile of a drop by raising the bottom. The only coaster at KI with a trimmed first drop is Beast. It was added shortly after it opened IIRC. I believe it was added to remove some of the train's speed before the hard left turn into the second hill. This is most likely to save on track wear and tear. Another example would be Mean Streak at Cedar Point which also has a trim on the first drop. Again, this saves on maintenance costs because the train does not damage the track as a fast due to lower speeds. The Crypt is a flawed ride. It is the only Huss Giant Top Spin for a reason.

A good move by the park. Diamondback should be perma-ERT until they build something else designed by Intamin o B&M.

I think they just need to change the name to reflect the ride's intensity. Here are my suggestions: Crypt-Go-Round Ferris-Crypt Rainbow Raider Cave Excursions Adventure Express: Cave Journey Spelunking Tours or my favorite.... Boxed Nerfed Top Spin

I agree that you can't expect perfection, but it's hard not to after a year of B&M ERT. Diamondback is going to be the most popular ride for a while. I don't get why you wouldn't use the most popular and reliable coaster for ERT.

They must be planning a nice walking garden area. I bet they are jealous of the former Paramount Story area and want one of their own.

What if there were no loop to throw?

Yeah the newer lighter trains did not go as fast as the original trains. If you hunt around on YouTube for POVs, you can see a noticeable difference in overall speed between the new and old trains.

Oh good. I don't have to change my avatar for a while.

That's a good point. The Eiffel Tower is at about the same height. So that is a good test if you want to see why it is closed.

I know that from Cedar Point discussions Sky Ride can operate in winds up to 20 mph. Also, Dragster will not operate if there are sustained winds over 35 mph at 420 feet. I would say WindSeeker probably falls somewhere in between those to values. I can't imagine the wind is less than 10 mph at 300 feet very often.

I think it's no big deal if SOB just sits there while they add another coaster. They haven't been in a rush to make a decision, and I don't think they will until something reasonable is proposed. I'm not a wood coaster expert, but I don't think the cost to make SOB operational again is going to be that different if it sits there for another year or two.