XGatorHead 8904

^And that's why there's I've had to wait in line using FastPass at WDW, but that wait is a lot shorter than the regular line (plus it's available to all ticket holders).

Ah yes, the TR that will live in infamy. The sinking of the S.S. Gator! You can find that here: http://www.KICentral...ndpost&p=261306 Despite the bad experience we had there in 2008, they took care of us with comp tickets which we used during the summer of 2009, and we did make a return to their winter event last year (in large part because they got rid of the pedalboats). We went on New Year's Eve and had a wonderful time. They had a ball drop where the dropped a bunch of beach balls from a crane a few hours before midnight (so the kids didn't have to stay up past their bedtime), we skated, rode the toboggan slide several times, GatorGirl loved the petting zoo area and the pony rides, and we did the carriage ride. It's nowhere on the scale of Winterfest at KI, and I like Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo better, but it's a nice little event. We had been there in years past without incident, so I think I can say 2008 was a fluke. We might be going again on New Year's Eve this year, but we don't know for sure yet.

Nice video, I want to go now. Is it April 30th yet? I'm so glad I got to see it again last month. With as good as Babes in Toyland is, I wonder what they'll replace it with. Hopefully something even better!

I am sorry, but I just don't agree with this statement in the letter. I think reducing the debt is more important so you have a more stable company with better credit. To me this statement makes it sound like Q is mad they are not getting the distribution they want, and not thinking of the company's future. Lets say they pay more debt with less distribution this year, and then next year the company is a lot better off financially and are able to triple the distribution because of that. Would the investors be unhappy about getting 3 times more than they were expecting because of the decision Kinzel made? In that case they would be ahead. They could get what they are wishing for and have this scenario. New CEO who hands out a nice distribution, no money to pay off debt in time and the company has to file bankruptcy by the end of the year! Of course this is just my opinion... I've been thinking the same thing throughout this whole back and forth between Q and CF. To me it makes more sense to reduce the debt first to help make the company more stable in the long run. Seems to me that Q is short sighted and not thinking long term in their demands for distributions. I know in my personal finances the less debt I have the more stability there is. Does this not apply to corporations as well, Q? Yes and yes. Right. We've gone from crappy food at marginally high prices to crappy food at ridiculously high prices. But don't get me wrong, though. I love the fact that they sell roasted turkey legs at stands. I would actually happily pay seven dollars for one and munch on it for a good hour or two while people watching on Coney Mall. I just haven't bought one yet 'cause I keep forgetting to. .....we need some original, one-of-a-kind, homemade food items the park can call its own (that aren't LaRosa's or Skyline). A return of the bakery would be nice, along with the return of the Kettle Corn stand, and stands selling different varieties of popcorn like Tokyo DIsneyland has (such as Honey, Chocolate, Sea Salt, Caramel, Cream Soda, etc.). ....ooh, and fried pickles, like from Toot's. I LOOOOOVE fried pickles. I completely agree with you. When I go to different parks, I'm more likely to get something unique from them rather than your basic cheeseburger & fries... or Subway, Johnny Rockets, Papa John's and Panda Express (yes, I'll have a Dole Whip please!... oh, that's right, I'm not planning to go back to WDW until 2012 ). And many of you have seen me post in the past about the good ol' Bakery... my first summer as a KI employee was spent there (as well as a Winterfest), and I'd love to see that return. Very unlikely, but I'd love it.

I was reading an article by TV critic Matt Roush on tvguide.com (http://www.tvguide.com/News/Matts-TV-Week-1026632.aspx) and saw this:

You're probably right about that. But I forget which rides planning/announcement came first, SoB or MF? I seem to remember SoB announced first, but I could be wrong because of my closer ties to KI.

Hits: Racer, Beast, King Cobra, Vortex, Flight of Fear, Diamondback The Eiffel Tower - It, and by extension KD's version, is the best observation tower that I've been on in a park. Much better than the ones that take you up and rotate (CP's Space Spiral, Carowind's Carolina Skytower, Hersheypark's Kissing Tower) that limit your views and limit your time up top. The addition of the waterpark in 1989 - I would like to see something added there soon though Winterfest FearFest/Halloween Haunt CF's commitment to better the quality/lineup of shows Misses: The removal of a lot of great family rides: Antiques, Flying Eagles, Tumblebug, Der Spinnin' Keggers, Sunshine Turnpike, Witch's Cauldrons, the monorail, etc. The removal of the organ on the Grand Carousel Food pricing & quality over the past 15 or so years The discontinuation of Winterfest The placement of IJST/BLSC & TR:TR/Crypt, which leads me to... The loss of themed areas of the park Son of Beast - It had all the expectations and potential to be a great thing, but in hindsight... The decline of live shows during the CBS years - not really a KI miss, but was a PP Corporate miss that effected the park SoB very successfully drew visitors away from CP? How so? Just a quick Google search reveals that in 2000 CP had 3.43 million visitors (down 4% from 1999) while PKI had 3.2 million (also down 4% from the year before). The article (http://www.ultimater...010101_02.shtml) also goes on to say: Another article (http://www.enquirer....ngs_island.html) states: There's no clear cut way to say that SoB in and of itself was THE reason for any drop in attendance that CP may have seen that year. I think, as the first article surmises, that the weather they had that year and Six Flags Ohio (since 2000 was the first year GL operated under the SF banner... haha banner, get it?... and people were probably curious) were likely more responsible. Also, CP debuted Millennium Force the same year KI debuted SoB. MF is a VERY strong coaster in CP's arsenal, and is one that has seen more uptime than SoB ever has (wow... did I just say an Intamin had a lot of uptime? ) The Racer also now crosses over a midway and has for 14 years. (sorry, I just had too!)

I am signed up for the newsletter but never got this "Imagine Winterfest" one. Perhaps they know I would have reacted adversely to being teased like that so they didn't send it to me!

thekidd33 is correct, King Cobra was removed due to being built from inferior Japanese steel, and the water was removed from around The Beast station due to the bugs, in particular the mosquitoes that it attracted. While I mourn the loss of these things as well, these were good reasons for the removals, unlike moving The Flying Eagles hundreds of miles south to make room for a stupid basketball game... er, I mean "Italian Job's entrance".

Huh, I didn't get that email. I always enjoyed Winterfest. It was fun to skate in the fountain, and the Santa's Workshop show ranks as one of my all-time favorite shows from any park (to this day every time I hear "I'll Be Home for Christmas" I think of a little alien, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" I think of penguins, "Up on the Roof" I think of reindeer lit by a blacklight, "Racing With the Clock" I think of elves, etc.). The train ride/show they had in 2005 was good, I always liked riding the Grand Carousel in the cold, and stansing there watching Scrooge, hoping that he wouldn't single me out and pick on me (which he never did). And I can't think of Winterfest without thinking of the one season I worked it in 1991, in the Bakery, where most of my shifts I was decorating gingerbread men in the big window on the side of the building, with people standing outside watching me. As Spongebob would say, "Good times!"

At least we're not into the hype of Harry Potter. I do want to ride the ride because of its innovations and see the area because of it's detail, but getting a wand to choose us, tasting butterbeer and all that other stuff holds no interest to us. I do intend on watching the HP movies before we go (I've only seen about 15 minutes of one of them) so that I can appreciate what I see in the park, so my attitude towards Pottermania may change.

The ice skating was not in a pond, it was actually in the Royal Fountain.

^That's what's got me a little nervous about going there this coming summer like Mrs. Gator wants to (she wants to hold off going to WDW until the Fantasyland expansion is complete in 2012). She doesn't keep up on the industry news like I do, and I've seen the stories about Potterland and it's effect on attendance. However, this quote from the article: gives me a little hope that things won't be so bad... and I do know not to expect 5 to 10 minute waits in the summer!

^If they go to Hawaii, they need to beware of the tiki necklaces!

The first time Glee mentioned KI, I did a little research on Google Maps, which I've now done again. Glee is set in Lima OH. If you ask for driving directions from Lima OH to KI, the fastest route is 108 miles, or 2 hours and 6 minutes drive. From Lima to Cedar Point, it's 111 miles, or 2 hours and 13 minutes drive. Therefore, KI has a slight advantage and is clearly the Gleeks home park!

Very nice TR so far, can't wait to see more. One of my life goals is to visit every US National Park, and I have yet to make it to Yosemite. I was just looking through a photo slideshow on the ABC News website about hotel holiday displays, and there was a picture of Tanaya Lodge's display. Here is the link to the slideshow, and the Tanaya Lodge picture is # "14 of 32": http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/slideshow/spectacular-holiday-hotel-displays-9206647

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing them!

Thanks Gordon for the idea. I'm usually up for a good food challenge. Mrs. Gator hates that and in fact said to me just last week, "You don't work for the Travel Channel!" (a reference to the wonderful show Man v. Food for those of you who didn't catch it). Gator, who once was challenged to see how many full plates of shrimp he could eat compared to his friend. The friend ate 10 plates of shrimp, and I ate 12... I just couldn't beat him by only 1. And then there was the time I was dared to see how many Pixie Stix I could fit in my mouth at once. It was somewhere in the 42-48 range... very hard to swallow with that much sugar in your mouth. Wow... look at how how far off-topic we've gotten. Oh well. 'Tis the (off)season.

^The Crypt doesn't have to be a space, it could be referenced on a Community Chest card: "You have been assessed for repairs on The Crypt: Pay $20,000"

Oh yeah? Well I had a great deal of input in the development of Gate Central, in the user interface aspects of the program. So there! Gator, trying to compensate for the fact that I can in no way beat resetting equipment in the Netherlands with my cell phone in the US, or designing parts for rides at WDW! (however some of my ideas are used at parks around the country with Gate Central )

Sorry pkiboy, I disagree with you. In my tenure at the park I've told plenty of guests "no". Requests such as "I've used my season pass four times but I'm moving out of state, can I get a refund?" and "But my friend said I could use her pass because nobody looks at the pictures! Can't you just let me in this one time?" deserve a "no" answer. Sure, there are a multitude of situations that a compromise can and should be reached, but to make a blanket statement like "NEVER EVER tell a Park guest NO" is not entirely a good policy. There are just as many situations where "no" is the correct response as working something out is the correct response.

Well, I guess 34 years as the world's longest wooden coaster was a pretty good run. Maybe the funding for this new park will fall through like so many others. OK, that was my mean side coming out. Actually, I see the addition of new parks/coasters as a good thing. I'll still enjoy my rides on The Beast (especially at night) whether it's the longest or not.

^Then in that case... Mods, please delete this entire topic!

I don't see a need for it to stay open until 3:00. Like flightoffear1996 said, a lot of times the crowds diminished after 12:00. As a scareactor, while I wouldn't mind the extra money, I'd definitely be worn out. Working Haunt's a lot of fun, but it is exhausting. I start my day job at 8:15 am, on Fridays I would leave that job and go straight to KI to work Haunt until 1:00... and that's just the time the attraction closed. That doesn't count the time we're there after getting out of costume and everything. So working 8:15am to 3:30am sounds tiring to me. When Slaughter House started opening at 5:00 on Saturdays this year, two hours earlier than originally planned, I and a lot of the other scareactors there really felt it. But then again, we looked at it as two more hours to have fun scaring people! The first year of FearFest when I was in management in Admissions, there were nights when we didn't get out of there until 4:30am because of all that we had to do afterwards. And then sometimes we had to be back at 8:00am depending on how our shifts fell. On those nights I was very grateful I only lived 10 minutes away!

One thing I just noticed: The press release I quoted above says it doesn't open until 4/22, but the Ovo website says it opens on 4/21, and tickets are currently on sale to Cirque Club members for that date.