KIfan1980

If you look at it, the highest/fastest which is really the granddaddy of the records is on hiatus if not gone industry wide. It jumped from 300' to 400' feet so rapidly and in a fashion that wasn't considered successful for the parks - so unless there is a new approach to 400' out there, I'm doubtful we'll see it pushed. Why push much higher than 300 even (see I-305, Leviathan). Beyond that, records can be considers either relevant or irrelevant to enthusiasts, marketers, and GP so that is what you get in today's world. What I'd assume is more relevant is a ride type master plan for a park that looks at the desired customer base (families, thrill seekers, and likely a bunch of other categories), and evaluates the different ride experiences (terrain, twisters, loopers, family fun, high G, airtime,betc...) currently available in both flats and coasters. From here - pick what makes sense for the next 1-3 additions and go look for options - if one of those options happens to be a potential record breaker, then it becomes part of the analysis at that point.

Ok, so the theme doesn't fit together and fully work any more. What's the point of getting rid of it - what would you even truely get rid of?

Edit - oops 30 min delayed double post. That's a new one for me.

I beleive that KI PR has indicated in prior threads and on Facebook that announcements regarding pass renewal and Halloween Events this fall would be made around Labor Day. There is nothing scheduled for anything "what's new for 2013". That will come "later".

Did you mean that you can't imagine a park without Coke products or a park without cola products. Noting that Pepsi-cola and even RC-cola are cola products - whereas some restaurants have moved away from them entirely (going to the all natural drink options) which I agree, I can't see a park doing.

I've seen a skunk under the walkway to Viking Fury. Made for an interesting entrance to the ride as everyone ran overhead and around the corner. I've seen them shut down the kids track cars because of an animal in the vicinity. I thought I saw a snake, my in laws swear it was a skunk.

One of my Facebook friends linked to the following article earlier today. Some may also say its not the NFL's place to get get involved in this issue either, but if there are campaigns out there that companies can support in this fashion then I say good for them. http://blog.sfgate.com/49ers/2012/08/24/49ers-are-the-first-nfl-team-to-create-a-it-gets-better-video/ Maybe that is the approach the OP could encourage with KI. Is there an active community program that the KI and peanuts gang could support (ok - I understand KI for license reasons probably couldn't use Peanuts), but you could get 3-4 faces of KI (Enthusiast Dude, Don/Greg, Ride Ops, Lifeguards, etc...) to produce a video pretty easily that might help a little.

Kind of like those delays for mechanical issues when flying - nah, let's not wait for maintenance to check it out I'd rather try and get there ontime. It does amaze me that we let things we have NO control over allow us to cause so much stress.

You could also argue that The Beast passes through 6 tunnels - first drop underground, second underground, wooden connector, third underground, 1st helix, 2nd helix. I tend to give folks a break on this as it isn't a simple issue.

Thanks for the TR - I had the pleasure of riding Zippin Pippin in GB last summer and really enjoyed that pop of ejector airtime, and also found the whole ride enjoyable. I'm assuming you guys are talking about snapping the cables (at least that's what we always called it I think). On certain types of scooters, it is possible to get your motion going to where you create a slack in the cables inbfront of or behind your eagle and it will snap loudly as the ride helps catch it back up to speed and out to full extension.

I don't like to criticize others for the choices that they make in identifying a top ten as it is by definition subjective and personal. To demonstrate, at KI my top 10 is broken down as follows: - Top 3: Beast, Diamondback, Vortex - 4-7: Firehawk, Racer, Flight Deck, BLSC - 8-10: Woodstock Express, Flying Ace, FOF - 11-14: AE, Invertigo, Pumpkin, Surf Dog (mainly cuz I think of it as a flat) Bottom line, I can see a top ten without AE and FOF pretty low on the list I will, however, criticize a lack of journalistic research and sloppy reporting if necessary.

And pay close attention, once Subway up sold you to a footling, the number of $5 footings on the menu reduced significantly - with the exception of during Februany and Anytober.

I would imagine that control panels for coasters all have some things in common: - the types of tasks that are performed after all are very similar no matter the coaster (unlock, lock, dispatch, e-stop) - they likely all have switches, pushbuttons, keys for some items How these tasks are done I'd guess is somewhat dependent upon the coaster (age, manufacturer, type) with some newer coasters using the panelview screens to control some items that older coasters used a switch for: - think about locking/unlocking restraints. On The Beast, this feels like it is done with one button/switch for the whole train, while on Diamondback it seems like each row can be controlled independently or as a whole train with each seat displaying a lock confirmation independently on the panelview. - I also remember someone posting a picture once of the block system display on beast (it was basically an array of LED's). I'd also imagine that this is much different on Diamondback where I'd guess there is a much more detailed graphical display to minimize confusion. Please note, however, that this is all a guess as like some other posters in this thread, I haven't actually used one. Seriously though thanks for the picture - if anyone else has some they can share without violating any terms of employement, I'd love to see them. Thanks.

The park is offering a passholders bring a friend deal for $19.99 on labor day weekend unless I'm misremembering something. This likely indicates that crowds are expected to be lower than they have been. This time of year KI starts to fight its reputation as a seasonal park and people start to have other obligations.