coasterrz

Based on the way PKI`s tower looked at the end of this past season, I wouldn`t be surprised if it is painted for the 2005 season. I remember hearing that when they originally painted the tower back when they were building the park, that they had to call in a bee keeper to keep the bees away from the painters because they were attracted to the scent of the paint.

Are PKI employees still allowed/encouraged to take an occasional test ride when an empty seat is available on the coaster? I remember reading that at one time. True, riding the train would be a plus of being a conductor. Much like working the slide at Coney enables you to ride it to go down. At Coney we were not allowed ride the rides in uniform (except when going down the slide, because that is the only way to get down when there is a line, and when a bumper boat stalled in the middle of the boxed off area of lake.)

Yep, the river is one of the primary reasons why we have PKI today. Still, when a river floods, it leaves behind mud and debris, which has to be cleaned up. Luckily, it didn`t get to the level of the flood in 1997, when Lake Como was gone because it was part of the Ohio River. That year the rides office as well as virtually every ride and Sunlite were sumberged in water. If you visit Coney you can see signs of where the 1997 flood crested. Coney`s administration offices are located on the second floor of the admin building, so the water would have to get really high to reach them.

Yep, Beastie was called Scooby Doo, until it acquired the tunnel at the bottom of the first drop to mimick The Beast, and hence the name "Beastie." Top Cat`s Taxi Jam was referred to as Scooby Zoom from its opening in 1992-1997. When Hanna Barbera Land was renovated in 1998, they changed several of the attraction`s names, and Scooby Zoom was one of them, and was changed to Top Cat`s Taxi Jam.

On the original site that I click on from your link only shows the old PKI logo, and has a link to their prehistoric looking online season pass sales page. Wow, has their site improved in seven years!

derbeast, you got me thinking. Is the train considered a flat ride? Or is it a transportation ride? I guess it is kind of both, depending if you get off at BB or stay on for the round trip. I would imagine that operating the train would be relatively easy, since you don`t have any buttons to push (other than for the loud speaker systems),

No matter how many times I ride FoF, I still walk off of it a little dizzy. Especially since the lapbars were added and they turned off the midcourse brake. The second half of the ride the train is flying!

Slightly off topic as it deals with Coney instead of PKI, but the best ride to operate at Coney would probably be the Ferris Wheel, which is also one of the harder ride to run. The ride is hard to run simply because it is extremely sensitive to weight, and careful attention must be paid to keep it balanced, or it will start to go backwards, smoke or blow a fuse. However, once the ride is in motion you are able to sit down for a couple minutes. Another plus about the Ferris wheel is that there are always two operators at that ride, and the time really flies there because the show are next door, and on busy days when we are straight loading, it can take up to ten minutes to get a new set of riders on. I would imagine any of the rides at PKI that are inside in the AC are good rides to operate, especially when the summer sun heats up the heat index to near 100 or above,

My first coaster was The Beastie when i was two and a half years old. The coaster that got me hooked on coasters was The Beast when I rode it in the fall of 1995. My first looping coaster was Flight of Fear back in 1996. That same day I also tackled King Cobra. I would then get a season pass for the `98 season and have had one ever since.

I too thought I remember hearing that ride operators would have to be 18 or older at PKI this season. I forget where I read that at though. I have heard that CP`s ride operators have to be 18 or older and have for some time. I know that at Coney it is 16 and up and they can barely find enough of us in the peak season as it is. BTW, Coney`s picnic grounds and part of the picnic parking lot was under water Friday evening due to the high waters from the nearby Ohio. I don`t know if any rides were submerged, but I do know the waters hadn`t made it to Moonlite Gardens and Lake Como yet. Boy, I`m glad I don`t have to helpo clean up that mess.

They had the Smurf ride open, both carousels (the one behind the Eiffel Tower and the kiddie one in HBL), the Dodgems, and i also think that they had the train open. If they were to return Winterfest, I`d assume that they would have SDATHC open, as well as the Dodgems. They could also have TR_TR, FoF and the Paramount Action FX Theater open as they are heated, but I don`t know if they want to open up the whole park so guests can get to those rides. Also in a survey I took a while back, they asked if you would like to see the train, Delirium and The Beast open during Winterfest. That would be one frigid ride on The Beast!

That is because in the last couple of years PKI has been focusing on new flats, something that PCW has been doing for quite some time now.

Yes, I agree that the general park theming for FearFest was not grea this season. I think in part this is due because they made it free as well as "fright by night, fun by day." It seemed like they concentrated more on transforming the train ride into Pumpkin Patch Express and its theming than theming the park like they had done in past years. I missed the fog machines on the midway, as well as all the colored lights they had in Coney. I hop this season, they return some of the midway theming for FearFest`s fright portion. I also hope that they get at least one new or revamped haunt. Now on topic, I think it would be cool if they brough back Winterfest. Not only because there would be the chance to hop on Flight of Fear in the middle of December, but because it would a unique opportunity to visit the park in the winter, posssibly with snow on the ground. Also, if they brought it back similar to the way it was before, the park will have a different type of atmosphere than it has during the normal operating season. I think, if done and advertised right, Winterfest can be just as popular as FearFest appeared to be this season. Of course FearFest`s popularity this year was due to pass holders geeting free, unlimited access to it. I hope they do the same for Winterfest if they bring it back. I believe that they used to do that when they had Winterfest.

To the best of my knowledge, book bags are not banned. However, the park reccomends you leave all unecessary belongings in your car. Your bookbag will probably be searched upon entering the park when passing through the security check point and metal detectors. The park recommends keeping items like this in your car because they slow down the line when security has to inspect you bag. I do know that if you have food or drink in your book bag, that they will not let you take it into the park as no food or drink may be brought into the park. Otherwise, I believe that you can in fact bring in a book bag.

The last Winterfest that they held was in 1993 I believe. They started Winterfest back in 1982.

Am I imagining things or did Shake Rattle and Roll used to also be paired with the Eagles and Beast?

From what I`ve heard it works for ride crews. For example, the Zephyr and Flight ofFear have the same crew, and thus they share the flags. Similarly, The Beast shares its flags with the Eagles and Shake Rattle and Roll becuase they are (if I remember correctly) staffed by the same crew of employees. So some rides might not have flags because the crew could also work at another ride, which most likely has the flag(s) that the crew has earned.

A little off topic, but wasn`t (isn`t?) there supposed to be another editorial about working at PKI?

Did I just imagine this or had I heard that PKI was thinking about switching its rule and making all ride operators be 18 or older? Also, you can still run a major flat or coaster if you are under 18 and 16 or 17 correct? You just have to be 18 or older to be in charge of the ride. I know at Coney, any operator that has been trained to operate the Coaster and Ferris Wheel, the two hardest rides to operate at Coney, especially the Ferris Wheel, you don`t have to be 18 or older to run them. The thing that I find odd deals with the volunteer program and food service. You can be 16 and work in food service, but if you wish to volunteer in food services, you must be 18 or older. I guess there is some sort of legal reason for that one, but it doesn`t make much sense to me.

A season pass to PKI may cost more, and provide more value since it includes the rides as well as all the water attractions. However, from what i understand The Beach has some unique and fun rides, and can sometimes have less crowds which means more time spent riding rides, and less time spent waiting in lines, thus producing more value for its pass holders. I`ve only visited The Beach once, from some tickets my relatives gave me when they were up there and it rained. (Hard to believe that a park gave out a rain check to come back!) I only remember two attractions, The Pearl which is a heated pool/hot tub, that is surrounded by lush trees and plant. I also remember the tube attraction back in the back corner. The ride was modified at one point in time. The first part is like Sidewinder at PKI, then it turns into almost a lazy river type attraction, before you plunge down in a cave and splash down in the splash down pool. I thought that ride was very fun, mayb e becuase it was similar to The Beast and off in the woods by itself, except for the loading tower, which could be seen from I-71. I think that BB will be an excellent addition to PKI and compliment The Beach very nicely.

Solid Snake, do you mean coasters DON`T have much re-ride value? I think that is what you mean since you said that coasters get tired quick.

I don`t know what to tell you about that one. You might be able to find a newspaper article on it if you go to the library and look on newsreels. I don`t know of any other place in which you could look.

Yeah, WINTERfest would be cold since it is in the winter. When they used to have it, they did not have any coasters open. They had rides like the Carousel, the old smurf ride, the train ride, the Dodgems, and I believe the antique cars and a kiddie ride or two. In the survey a couple of months ago, some of the rides that they asked about opening included The Beast and Delirium. However, if the weather during Winterfest is as cold as it was today I definantly woould not want to ride either of those rides, and I probably wouldn`t want to ride anything else either and I bet most other people would agree. Just walking across campus today, my face started turning numb. Now if the weather was like it was on Saturday, the place would be swamped, probably.

True, it could be an Intamin giga coaster, I misread his post since he said a B&M hyper coaster or giga coaster, I assumed that he also meant a B&M giga. My bad. If you don`t like water parks, then be glad that PKI is adding BB because it will probably attract more people out of the main park, especially on really hot days, creating shorter lines in the main park, and insanely long lines in BB.

First of all, if a ride had a long line, that usually means it is popular and would not be a wise attraction to pull. While it would be neat to combine the two antique car tracks, I don`t know if that is possible without having to do a lot of work. Secondly, if they relocate the ride, they would have to make a new track so the combining of the used and unused track would be pointless. Now, they could still put a steel coaster back by the lake. They could have the station on the former site of Saltwater Circus, the lift hill toward TRTR or LaRosas and then have the track over the pond, back by Wings, and toward Oscar`s the employee cafeteria by International Showplace. If there isn`t enough room there, I`m sure there is roomby Adventure Express, and Flight of Fear. They could build a ride with a station in the triangle between those two rides and The Racer, and then have the track go over AE and out toward SoB. But none of PKI`s coaster corss over each other, so they`ll probably put it on the other side of The Racer back by the FX theater. I also remember hearing a rumor about putting in a coaster back by White Water Canyon, with the station in the woods, and the track heading out towards the clearing by TRTR and the woods back there by the train tracks. The rumor I hear was that the line for the new coaster would share at least part of WWC`s queue line. Of course, there are probably other places the park could develope a coaster. But they might not even be adding a coaster in 2005 so my entire essay I just typed in my post might be a waist of my time!