BavarianBeatle

Rode SOB today. There was no braking before the former loop. My kids went nuts and the rest of the ride was much faster and better without the braking. You should have seen the look on the ride attendant's face when a 7-year old asked him if they took out the "Mid-course braking".... He said it was "turned off" for that ride. (Hmm?) I think that, without the loop, it isn't needed and it should be turned off permanently. The second half of the ride was faster and MUCH better.

And, speaking of cranes, I saw a piece of maintenance equipment parked next to Firehawk today. Watch the Rumors department on that one........ Should be interesting......

I was Three when the park opened, but I went that first year and I still remember that, so I literally grew up (or old) with King's Island. I, too, remember The Beast being built. Back to the topic, I browsed through this thread and I was surprised that noone mentioned that the old lake, on certain days, reeked of vomit. It wasn't pleasnant in the second set of switchbacks. Does anyone else remember that?

I have discussed the SOB accident many times with my sister and some of my friends from college (all of whom have advanced degrees in Engineering), who are of the opinion that it was too much lateral (side to side) movement of the trains that caused the failure of the supports. According to them, picture it like a paper clip, if you press straight down on the end of the wire on a paper clip, its going to stick your finger, but if you wiggle it back and forth, it will break in two. The supports on SOB were designed for absorbing the force of the trains being exerted in a manner similar to pressing straight down on the end of a paper clip, but the shaking of the trains caused wiggling in the supports which, like wiggling the paper clip, caused it to break....... I'm not an engineer, I'm only repeating what I'm told...so don't criticize me too badly for this post if I'm wrong:)

Whch, after all these years, is something that makes this ride very, very special......

The weather's supposed to be nice again this Sunday. 80 and sunny.... I can't remember the last time I could wear shorts on October 21st.... I WILL be there.....

We're going on Sunday, its supposed to be another nice day. I'm sure the kids will love the Cylones event.

Sunday was awesome!!! Walk ons all day and great weather. What more needs to be said?

Paris Hilton that is......

I have always kind of felt sorry for her because of that...... Kind of tells you what her parents have always thought of her, no?

I agree with your line jumping observation. There is virtually no punishment, which REALLY p***es me off, especially when I'm trying to teach my children to respect the rules and they have to see people doing that. I'm a smoker and I always use the designated areas and never jump the lines and tell my kids not to unbuckle their seatbelts before the ride "comes to a complete and final stop." They've caught me undoing my seatbelt early though and always give me a hard time about it........ ("We were still moving, DAD!!!!"...LOL!!!) My point is that, in the original posts in this thread it said that people were kicked out for making mistakes about the location of smoking areas, which is much different that : 1) smoking in queue lines; 2) giving park workers problems if they point out your mistake about a smoking area; and 3) line jumping ....... an honest mistake shouldn't warrant getting kicked out, but an intentional violation should!!

I'm a widowed single parent, so I will try to spend time with my sons similar to the time we spent at KI. When there's no tv, no video games, etc........ just ......US!! But with school and homework and cooking and laundry and my job....it's hard to do in the winter. This was the first year they reached 48 inches and could ride the "big rides." This is a season I will always cherish VERY deeply!! Now that it's the end of the season, I truely appreciate the time I spent with them and I almost feel like, in a way, I've lost my 2 best friends. And I know that the time will come when it won't be cool to hang out with Dad anymore, which makes me appreciate it even more.......

Last year, they kept playing "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell (with the video from the 80's)...... My exgirlfriend and I were laughing every time it came on. Not a scary song at all, but laughing about it with her is still a great memory......

Now you are assuming that people wil actually open the map. But if you gave guests an individual notice about the smoking policy, then they have no excuse, and should be escorted out (if that is the park's policy). If you limit their options for excuses and misunderstandings/ miscommunications, you can certainly limit the incidents. For instance, in NY and OH you cannot find an ashtray in a tavern. So when you go to the bartender and ask for an ashtray, you are then informed of the state's smoking policies. Now if you find or *make* (empty can/ bottle) your own ashtray, there is no excuse. But this is where SF took it to the next level; in a bar, you will not be thrown out for a first warning. How many people actually get tossed from the park for their first offense of the day for line jumping? How many people get kicked out for their first line jumping offense? Hopefully, ALL OF THEM!!!!!

So rednecks don't have to walk all the way into the Center to find their kids....LOL!!!!!!!!!!!

I rode the zodiac many times. I remember my mother being afraid of heights and holding on to the bars for dear life:). I loved the views of the park from that location.

The Son of Beast accident didn't bother me when I saw the cars, but I still think last year's display of the King Cobra cars in that location looked much better.

Flying Carpets/Scrappy's Slide is sitting in the old Lesordesville (Sp?) Lake park near Monroe Ohio. As we all know, Flying Eagles is at Carowinds, and, the old monorails from the Lion Counry Safari are at Jungle Jim's in Fairfield, Ohio. Unfortunately, the location of my namesake is presently unknown....LOL!!!!!

I can see that as crossing the line. But it is also a prop that you can see at every other halloween event. The accident on Black Sunday had nothing to do with a boat, and skeletons are used all the time for these types of functions. And quite honsetly, chances are the park did not even think about the accident at all. There really is nothing that the prop is using that uses any type of reference to the accident. If I would have seen it, I would not have even thought about the accident until someone brought it to my attention. I agree with you. I'm certain that the park did not think about the accident at all when they placed those props, but for some reason, that was the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw it....

I think that the Nickelodeon license will be renewed because it makes sense from a business standpoint. Unlike older movies like Top Gun, The Italian Job, et al., Nick is on ongoing business for Paramount that is competing with other networks for viewers and ratings. Having its name on the area provides not only income from the licensing agreement without the expense associated with running a theme park, but also advertising for its television programs and the merchandise (dvd's, lunch boxes, book bags, etc. not just the stuff sold at the parks), that goes along with viewership. In essence CF is paying Paramount to advertise Paramount's products, and IMO it would be unwise for Paramount to discontinue this relationship.

I understand the humor in the displays, and why some people find certain things to be in poor taste. I feel that if you choose to be a celebrity and place yourself in the public eye, you should be expected to take criticism and jokes along with the fame and the money...... Personally, the only thing I found to be in poor taste was the boat with two skeletons in it floating in the lake where the two men were electrocuted several years ago.....

Absolutely. If you like rides, go on Sunday. Last Sunday was the perfect combination of nice weather and walk on lines. SWEET!!!

Just out of curiosity, where are they planning on putting these coasters and rides at CP? My understanding is that CP already uses all of the land it owns. Wow. I have seen some people that can't pick up sarcasm, but this takes the cake. My response was meant to be sarcastic as well.... We all know that the only insects around the top of the Eiffel Tower right now are hundreds of wasps.... Sorry, should have put a wink icon with that one.....

Kicking people out!? You have GOT to be KIDDING!!!! The single most ridiculous policy in theme park history!!!!!!! How much money would those people have spent at their park that day? And where are they going to go the next time they have money to spend at a park? And what are they going to tell their friends and family? And what are those people going to tell their friends and family and so on and so on....... And when all of those people have money to spend, are they going to deal with the SF Nazis or spend their money elsewhere? JUST STUPID!!!!!!!!

Just out of curiosity, where are they planning on putting these coasters and rides at CP? My understanding is that CP already uses all of the land it owns.