XGatorHead 8904

^It shouldn't be too bad. Most people will have returned to work that day.

That sucks. I know I've been helped before on FoF, Racer & Beast (that infamous "I just need to get one more click" from the ride op), even as recently as this past Sunday. Not sure why Vortex would be any different, besides it possibly being because of the OTSR's.

I just watched the WindSeeker at night video. Wow, there are some trippy lighting sequences on that thing! I love it! I can't wait to see it on KI's in person. Thanks for posting that, frisbeefan!

I'm surprised no one as posted this on here yet! Despicable Me will be replacing Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast, which will be closing on August 18th. http://www.insidethemagic.net/2011/05/despicable-me-announced-to-replace-jimmy-neutron-ride-at-universal-orlando-spider-man-to-get-hd-upgrade/ More on this here: http://articles.lati...ble-me-05201119 I was excited to hear about these new changes, but then I got to worrying that Jimmy Neutron & Spider-Man wouldn't be open when I go in July. But thankfully they both will. I haven't been there since 1999, so I've never ridden Jimmy Neutron (plus GatorGirl, being 6 years old, would like it), and Spidey is my favorite dark ride.

Of course, when I read the title of this topic this instantly popped into my mind:

Terpy - Good luck on whatever path ends up being taken, even if it is one less traveled by! On topic: I was afraid of that! I figured it wouldn't be likely that they'd have the celebration on a Tuesday. I have a previous engagement June 18th so I won't be able to make it to Coney. I was hoping if it was on a Saturday it would be the following weekend since I don't have anything going on then. Oh well, I'll still be there on June 21st anyway! And here's hoping I can make it to the 150th!

Cedar Fair sues the company they initially hired to make and install the fake rocks for Shoot the Rapids: http://www.sanduskyr...suit051711tjxml

Due to the heavy rain this spring, this Friday's sold out Jason Aldean at Riverbend has been postponed until August 19th. http://www.wxix.com/story/14669732/jason-aldean-concert-at-riverbend-postponed http://www.riverbend.org/show_detail.php?id=235

It is a joke. Derf Magazine is a satire site, similar to The Onion. If you're not familiar with the site, a big clue would be that Katie Helkle and David Van Horn are not the names of the park's spokesman & CEO, as well as taking a look at some of the other headlines that appear on the page.

The park did close early several times during the Paramount era due to low attendance/inclement weather. Whether any of those occasions were in 2003, I can't remember specifically. But I do remember closing early because we had our Admissions associates out at the turnstiles giving tickets to the guests as they exited so they could come back another day.

I've already been to 4 parks this year, with more to go. Of course I'll be going to KI quite a bit (most visits not planned yet so the KI trips listed below aren't complete), and hopefully will restart my every-other-Thursday trips there with Stalkerchick and whoever else joins us. I also plan on going to Stricker's on one of their public days, but I'm not sure which one yet. We may also go to The Beach at some point, and possibly one of the parks in Pennsylvania around Mrs. Gator's family reunion this summer. April 22 - HersheyPark April 23 - Six Flags Great Adventure April 30 - Kings Island - Opening Day May 6 - Holiday World - Bert the Conqueror filming May 7 - Holiday World - Opening Day May 22 - Kings Island June 3 - Holiday World - Holiwood Nights June 4 - Holiday World - Holiwood Nights June 12 - Kings Island June 20 - Holiday World June 21 - Coney Island - 125th Anniversary June 22 - Kings Island July 16 - Epcot(?) July 17 - Magic Kingdom July 18 - Universal Studios July 19 - Islands of Adventure Sept 16 - Cedar Point - HalloWeekends Sept 17 - Cedar Point - HalloWeekends Sept or Oct - Coney Island - Fall-O-Ween Oct 30 - Kings Island - Closing Day Nov - Dollywood - Christmas in the Smokies

Mean Streak is the only coaster I've sworn never to ride again. I broke that vow once when I went with a friend who had never ridden it, and he wanted to. That vow was quickly reinstated. But you aren't the first person to come back from CP this weekend and rave about MS. I might have to give it another try.

^It's this Sunday, May 22nd. See here for more details: http://www.visitkingsisland.com/akidagainrun/

I really like that commercial, especially the way the dinos interact with the rides, and DB becoming a dino. Although regarding ToT, I do have to agree with Lord Vader's "NOOOO!!!" Maybe ToT will find a new home, but I don't know where...

^^ I agree, some of us are having an intelligent conversation, others... and we know who they are... are not. I just read those posts for their entertainment value and ignore them in every other aspect!

...so why does this news suddenly change your opinion of the park? I never said this changes my opinion of the park as a whole. KI is still someplace that I love to visit with family & friends, and I will continue to do so. What gets me though, as I said before, is taking a free attraction and replacing it with a lesser upcharged attraction. Sure, I only went to that free attraction twice last year, but my god, it's been there for 8(?) years! I don't watch any 8 year old movie that much, even with motion seats. And before someone brings up the fact that there are much older attractions in the park, do I not ride those?, I do. I love Monster, SR&R, Racer, etc. But they are not the same as SBSP3D because the main aspect of that is a movie, which gets old after a while. Is it nice that the park has something new to offer? Yes. There may be plenty of people who will choose to pay to see the movie. I am equally entitled to choose not to pay to see it. It's all about the perceived dollar value. A 10 minute movie does not, in my mind, warrant spending $6 (or $12) for the family. When a regular movie comes out in the theater in both 2D and 3D, I normally choose the 2D because the upcharge is usually not worth it to me for the "3D Experience". There are exceptions to that, of course. When Avatar and Tron Legacy came out, I did choose 3D for those... Avatar because I heard the 3D effects were amazing (but I ended up not really caring for the movie) and Tron Legacy because, well, I've always liked Tron. The $5 upcharge for the DA walkthrough is more worth the money in my mind, so I don't really have a problem paying that... once (ok, maybe twice, but if there is a second time it will probably be a month or two after the first time). Had the movie still had the motion seats and/or been longer than 10 minutes like, say, it's full running time of 40 minutes, I would be more inclined to pay for that too. Or I can go to Amazon and for a few dollars more than I would spend at the park, get the full length 3D BluRay for my family to watch multiple times. My house doesn't have motion seats either, so the experience would be the same in that respect (albeit on a much smaller screen). You do realize that Don most likely had nothing to do with this decision. He is the park spokesman and does not make every decision regarding the day to day or long term operation of the park. He is simply a messenger, and as the old saying goes, "Don't shoot the messenger!" Very well said! Thanks for pointing that out. When this discussion started the other day, the $4 upcharge was not listed on KI's website (only the combo price), even as recently as yesterday morning. So this information is new, thank you for finding it for us! But we have lost something... a motion seated theater. There is no mention on KI's site that SBSP3D will be returning (or any motion seated movie for that matter), so I don't see how we still have both sides, especially with Urgent Scare presumably still set up in the right side. You and many others on here know me personally, and you know that I'm generally not a negative person. We know many of the same people who have said that they don't post on here anymore because of the negativity and naivete of some of the posters. To some extent I agree with them, but the way I see it, everything is cyclical. That's why I'm still around. Annoying members come and annoying members go. Some annoying members even stick around long enough to become valued members, once they listen and learn from others here. We are a King Island fan site, but we are not solely cheerleaders for the park. If the park does something we don't like, we can express those opinions. Sure, there's a lot of negativity concerning this topic, but in general I find far more negativity in people's responses to the park's posts on Facebook. So much that I don't even bother reading the responses people have posted there. Agreed. As long as we have intelligent conversation on here, I see no problem in expressing differing opinions.

I say rip away!

^Looking back at my ride count from last year, I rode Spongebob two times last year, which is exactly two more times than I will pay to see this new movie.

I don't agree with either option. I say keep the motion seats and put a new movie in there. I completely agree with standbyme that I never wish for an attraction to close, even if I don't particularly care for it. Heck, if they still had the motion seats with the new movie, I'd be more willing to pay that extra $6 for my family to see it. But to take away a huge aspect of the attraction and then make it an upcharge on top of that? Unacceptable.

Yes, there will be a combo and regular ticket. Combo is for the DA Park and movie. Regular tickets will be for DA and movie. The email newsletter (http://www.visitking...ex.cfm?item=174) says nothing about a separate ticket for just the movie. Only the $5 DA attraction tickets and the $7 combo tickets are listed. I could not find mention of the movie anywhere else on the park's website, so there is no mention of a separate movie-only ticket anywhere else either.

I'm very disappointed with KI/CF management's decision on this. Spongebob was past it's prime, but there are plenty of other motion films that could have gone in it's place. Unless there was a major problem with the motion seats, I would have liked to have seen a new motion movie in there, FREE with park admission. Dino Island would have been the obvious choice. They took away an attraction to put in a lesser upcharge attraction. And yes, I am quite comfortable calling it a lesser attraction because it has one less element... the motion seats. Usually I reserve judgement until I experience something for myself, but that will be highly unlikely in this instance because I will not be paying to see the movie. I WILL be spending the $15 to take my family to see DA since it's a unique experience (at least to us, since we haven't done anything like it before) but we WILL NOT be paying the additional $6 to watch a non-motion 10 minute movie.

I thought it was a very good show. I saw it twice on Saturday, once with KIC'ers, once with the family. Mrs. Gator told the performers afterwards that it's the only show at KI that's ever made her cry.

^ Yet I did hear a couple people complaining in Planet Snoopy on Saturday about DA's upcharge. Most memorable quote: "We paid them all this money for a season pass and they're going to charge us more for that?!?" Ah yes, the wonderful mindset of a typical season pass holder, who feels a right of entitlement to everything in the park!

Holy Freefall, Batman! I just watched the Sky Jump video on Stratosphere's website. Some of you know that one of my greatest fears is "unsupported" heights, and that's why I consider SkyFlyer to be the scariest ride in the park... but I love doing it anyway! Sky Jump would be much worse than that! I think I would still do it, but I would have to think long and hard about it and try not to chicken out at the top. I agree with others though, the price tag is more than I would spend... unless I won big at the casinos! Don't see that happening though since I'm not a big gambler. I set a limit to spend there and stick to it. If I don't win in that amount of money, oh well...

According to the article, she did communicate with the park first, and even got a response: I completely agree that the restrictions are readily available if you know where to look, and if you have a medical condition that may possibly prevent you from riding, I would think that you would know how, or at least figure out how, to access it.