XGatorHead 8904

Yes! They could call it "Kings Island Epic Scooby"! Or I guess it would have to be "Epic Snoopy" now...

^At least it doesn't sound like Son of Beast going up the lift hill! Or Flight Deck for that matter...

Yes, you should be ashamed to admit that! Dollywood's food is wonderful!

^I was just about to add "EDIT: I just now saw Terpy's post about CF correcting the press release in the other topic" at the end of my previous post.

^I think the Toledo Blade needs to do a little proof reading/fact checking. From the Toledo Blade article linked to above (emphasis added by me): From CF's recent press release (again, emphasis added by me):

http://www.dollywood...n_Schedule.aspx

^You are correct, KI usually opens early to mid April. This year is the latest opening that many of us can remember. I just found out earlier this week that Mrs. Gator & GatorGirl will be taking their annual trip to FL to visit NanaGator April 21 - 25. Since I have a 3-day weekend then (I have Friday off), I feel a roadtrip coming on!

^Of course we can! You have a wider range of knowledge on a greater variety of parks than I do. I tend to specialize in a select few.

^Well, close to German for forbidden (which is actually "verboten"). That's why I like it.

Out of those four, I like Verbolten the best too.

Thanks for posting those links, it's interesting reading. I love learning about old parks. For my birthday last month I got Idora Park: The Last Ride of Summer by Rick Shale and Charles Jacques, and for Christmas I got Cincinnati's Coney Island by Charles Jacques (I've wanted this book for years). I think next year I'll be asking for this on Disneyland: http://www.amazon.com/Walt-Disney-Treasures-Disneyland-USA/dp/B00005KARE/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1294160202&sr=1-1 There are so many defunct parks I'd love to visit back in their heyday. If I ever get the flux capacitor working in my Impala, I'm up for a roadtrip. Who's with me?

I'm glad no one got hurt. It sounds like the ride crew responded quickly to get everyone off the ride and the proper people notified. Now they have six months to get it ready for me!

So let me get this straight... 2009 we had high gas prices. Then in 2010, when we have the worst oil spill in the history of the world, we have low gas prices. They cap that off, then in 2011 & 2012 we're projected to have even higher prices? The complexities of gas pricing are far beyond me...

Ewwww.... I think we sat in car two on Coney's closing day!

The other day I was at BDub's and saw a kid wearing a jersey that said "Bayern München" on the back, and immediately thought of KI... Bayern Kurve and München Tower (the old name of the tiny food stand on International Street that became a pretzel stand this past season).

^Exactly. Holding auditions in different regions helps get the talent in. There may be people going to school in northern Ohio that are from southwest Ohio that will be spending their summer here, and the Sandusky auditions are more logistically possible for them. Or there are those that may want a change of scenery from where they've been.

The park also typically has local auditions in the fall. From KI's website (http://www.visitking...e_auditions.cfm): Kings Dominion has local auditions in February (http://www.kingsdomi...cfm?emp_id=1665) and Worlds of Fun's are also in February (http://www.worldsoff...tertainment.cfm).

A major part of why we decided to go to Universal instead of WDW in 2011 is because of the Fantasyland expansion at MK. Because of the construction going on, we wanted to wait until it was done before we go again. Plus, we haven't been to Universal since '99 (so we're long overdue), and we've gotten GatorGirl excited about E.T. and Seuss Landing. So this news, while good for Universal, has me a little worried about our trip. I don't like dealing with crowded parks. We'll go to Potterland once, but avoid it the rest of the time. So far I'm planning on getting 3 day tickets so we can go to Studios one day, IoA another, then the third day split between the two for anything we might have missed or want to do again. My dad and stepmom might be accompanying us on our IoA day because they love HP, and based on our visit to DHS a few years ago with them, they don't have the stamina that we do when visiting parks so we would need the extra time the 3rd day on our own. I was also trying to get Mrs. Gator to consider Sea World too, but she wasn't too keen on that. She's only been to SW Ohio, I've only been to SW Orlando and the last time was about 1981. I tried to convince her that SW Orlando today is very little like the SW Ohio that she's been remembers, but so far it's not working too well. But then a wrench was thrown into our plans on Christmas Day... We watched the Disney Parks Christmas Parade and Mrs. Gator and I realized that we really, really, really miss WDW and it's been far too long since we've gone (plus my playing Epic Mickey and guiding Mickey through a twisted version of Disneyland doesn't help either!). Mrs. Gator suggested that we go to AK in addition to Universal (AK is the only WDW park we haven't visited), and I said it just wouldn't feel right to go to WDW and NOT visit MK. So now it looks like we'll be going to US, IoA, MK and possibly AK. Orlando just has too many options!

^Great article, thanks for posting it! I love to see that WDW is being proactive like this. ONLY 9 RIDES?!?!? Either I've gotten extremely lucky every time I've been there or I really know how to plan my time there to work to my advantage. Probably a little of both!

Monroe mentioned that in his previous post and discounted it as a reason for a height restriction:

Let's be realistic. Webcams, especially at this time of year, are very low priority. I would venture that a vast majority of the park going public is not thinking about KI this time of year, as they are not obsessed like most of us here. So no, I don't see the webcams going up "some time on new years or shortly after", possibly not even in March. Yes, I'd like to have them so I can peek in, but it's not gonna happen. Having worked in the park in the offseason, I can tell you that December is typically a slow period in terms of activity, except for construction that may be going on, and winter maintenance on the rides. Things do pick up in the next couple of months, and come spring they may have time to get around to the webcams. Like it or not, webcams are not essential to the operation of the park, and there are much more important things to focus on first. Just be patient.

^Go back and read TombRaiderTy's post. Future World closes earlier than World Showcase. The opening time listed for the park, which for December is 9:00 am, is the opening time for Future World (while World Showcase opens a few hours later) and the closing time listed, which for December is 9:30 pm, is the closing time for World Showcase (while most attractions in Future World close a few hours earlier). The two sections have different operating hours. If I remember correctly, the two different sets of operating hours are posted at the gate as well as in the park guides they give out. Why they don't make the distinction online, I don't know.

While I'm aware of Epcot's practice of having different operating hours for the different sections, to be fair to CedarPointer, if one were to look at Epcot's schedule online, it's not broken down by Future World and World Showcase. See here http://disneyworld.d...om/parks/epcot/ and click on "Calendar" on the left hand side of the screen.

I was wondering if this attraction was still there since I didn't see it on their website. I think GatorGirl would like it (I know I did when I went to IoA back in June '99), so hopefully this will be open when we go this summer. The animatronic is quite impressive.

Wow. A lot to digest in this topic over the last few days. In point of fact, the attached letter indicates it is Mr. Falfas' position he was terminated without cause.... Why do I get the feeling that that letter from Falfas' attorney was not meant to be seen by the public? I wonder if Q released it with Falfas' knowledge/blessing, and if not, how do he and his attorney feel about it being released openly? Would this help or hinder anything they were trying to accomplish? I think I'll need a seat with an OTSR for this ride! It must have been some of that leftover Star Trek "Borg" theming from Paramount The Borg theme continues! From page 19 of the presentation (emphasis added by me): It's futile for me to resist Seven of Nine! What a great idea! I'll be sure to pack an extra sandwich for him since the Gator family partakes in quite a few parking lot picnics at KI throughout the season.