KIfan1980

Really enjoyed the video Brad - hope to join you in the fundraising and coasting for 2012!

Congrats and completing the half marathon - something that I don't believe I will ever do (for many reasons - but primarily that I have almost no interest), but recognize that it is an accomplishment! And thanks for sharing the PTR so far and know that there are those who are anticipating the rest - I always enjoy reading about others enjoying Disney with their family. And the smallest things (like dinner at Coronado) can bring up good memories of prior trips - my first trip to Disney with my wife we stayed at Coronado, it is definitely good value.

Agree and am not complaining about the $12 cost - as you say it is in line with industry pricing. Also agree that what you get at some of those places is a different level than at KI - at BGW this week, that $13 included multiple people directing you to your parking spot (even when I returned at 7pm), a well paved and signed lot, a tram ride to the entrance, along with the landscaping you'd expect at BG. My ongoing belief is that KI is out of line when it comes to quality for the cost in areas like parking and food (I could talk for a while about the value of my meal from Trappers Smokehouse at BGW). By the same token, I think they don't value the rides (admission price) highly enough - especially when it comes to Season Pass sales, online sales, and other special events.

I'm back from vacation and can finally look at your TR (photo's don't work too well on the mobile skin). Love this park and love the photographs you took - thanks for sharing. I went last year but need to get back to try out Cheetah Hunt, check out the new trains on Gwazi, and get back on Montu - one of my favorite coasters!

Nice memory Beatle It is interesting that "a price increase of any kind would negatively affect attendance and revenues, and could lead to park job losses." when discussing the proposed 3% admission and 5% parking taxes, yet this year there have been the following: 6% increase in admission prices - is anyone aware of when it moved from the $51.99 opening day price to the current $52.99 price? 20% increase in parking prices Note that I still disagree with Mason taxing admissions/parking, but the quote is a little ironic given this - must be the improving economy ...

Some of us would say that the park was awesome Long before Paramount, and remains so long afterward. Owners change - so long as they work to improve the park, I'm happy.

Today I visited Busch Gardens Williamsburg - waits were not too bad, but I decided to buy their 1-time Quick Queue. $20, and you get a single jump to the front ride on 8 rides (Griffon, Alpie, Apollo's Chariot, Europe in the Air, Darkastle, Pompeii, Flume, Rapids Ride) plus one bonus (any of the 8). They also offered a $40 unlimited version, but I decided to get 3 singles so the boys and I could ride some together and I could use their Griffon/Alpie turns for re-rides. I share thus because I think it is a good example of how this could be seen as value by the purchaser and silly by some guests. Average was a 10-15 minute wait, but the passes saved us well over an hour of lines. It also allowed me to duck away from the family and ride a 54" ride and meet back up within 5 minutes. Finally, it gave me the opportunity to have multiple re-rides at the end of the day as they were not too strict about crossing off rides (which made me glad I didn't spend the extra $20 for unlimited). Bottom line, good for the one time visitor and the park and likely minimal additional wait for regular guests - they blocked off one row on Alpie/AC, but let regular riders in if no QQ folks were waiting (about 5% capacity loss would be my estimate from BGW today).

You are right it is a stretch to say that a large number of people - because if you read my post I didn't. And to me, Kings Island is unlike visiting those places because at those places there is no reason why you cannot maintain personal control of your possessions. Look at history of parks, when the reputation begin to sour, it can b a long downward spiral with a difficult return. Again, I bet KI is concerned and working to stop this from happening.

I agree, don't worry about it because there is nothing you can do about it. Reality, if you want to test how the Fast Lane pass impacts your wait, you can count how many people enter that line and ride while you are in line. On Diamonback, if 96 people pass you, it cost you about 4 minutes (riders per train, dispatches per minute)

Individuals (guests) are responsible for their belongings. Individuals (thieves) are responsible for their actions. These two things coming together at Boomerang Bay can and does have an effect on Kings Island: - Thefts can have a negative effect on the parks reputation as a safe family entertainment destination. Potential guests may decide they don't want to risk being in that environment. I guarantee the park is worried about this. - Visiting guests who have heard about thefts may decide to leave money/wallet in the car. This has a tendency tondrive down in park spending.

This weeks Pulse Journal police blotter indicated a juvenile was arrested and charges with theft of a backpack/bag at BB. It also indicated a couple of similar events at The Beach. While not responsible, I'm sure KI doesn't like it and will continue to try and eliminate it.

So after a little reflection, here are my thoughts: - I'm not a fan of this type of line cutting system being introduced at KI as I believe it will at times increase my wait time for rides (if it is 3-5 minutes per ride, that could become an extra 30-45 minutes in line on a given day) - I understand KI implementing it, however, as they are competing in an environment where this type of system exists and think $50 is a fair cost for this type of perk I have used Q-bots and Fastpasses at other parks, but likely won't at my home park. As said, as a guest, I'm not a fan, but this is a selfish (and maybe hypocritical) response that may be more rooted in a dislike of a change and fear of impact that I don't understand yet, but would probably do something similar if I was in charge. I do hope that they test this, and adjust if necessary to make it good for the park and not impactful to regular guests.

I would guess that this decision was at least reviewed and signed off on by Mr Oiumet - if not an option developed in response to a request for "how quickly could we test this at one of our parks"

How do you explain Firehawk? I explain it as a really cool ride that we don't ride since it is a capacity nightmare In my opinion, it is ok for the park to add a ride with limited capacity, but they would get the biggest bang for their buck with a higher capacity ride - like they have with Diamondback and WindSeeker.

Man - if I'd procrastinated longer, I'd have myself some KI memorabilia. Of course that would also mean Avatar would have had $5 less in donations

Did you turn the heat up enough before you started stirring? For me, I'm not going to answer this question because I don't really like seeing any ride removed. Even the ones I'm not a fan of are a favorite for somebody else or are deeply missed by many when they are gone.

Seriously, are we arguing over this. At some point late this summer/fall or sometime between August and Ocober we'll find out: - whats going to be new/changed at Haunt this year - what's going to be new for 2012 The old thread covered both of these topics. This thread seems to be just an argument about nothing

I wonder what today's young thrill seekers would think of the "three of the most thrilling rides in the world" I only wish they had a chance to find out. Riding Bayern Kurve is one of my favorite memories of me and my parents growing up.

Actually, many people don't have a clue how expensive KI is. We took one of my sons friends yesterday - the amount of money his parents gave him for "lunch, snack, and maybe a game" almost got him a piece of pizza and a drink.

If you look at the above, it seems as though associates have been trained that bikini tops meet the dress code for Female guests. As I read the Attire and Behavior section of the park map, it says - Shirts, shorts/pants and shoes must be worn at all times while at Kings Island. I must be old school since I don't really consider a bikini top as a shirt.

Today I noticed that parking prices have increased to 12 regular and / 20 preferred This is the second change I've seen this season - they began at 10 and 20 - changed to 10 and 15 which was same as last year - now 12 and 20

Continuing to admit I'm ignorant on the subject - I'm wondering what the expected operational life of a lift chain is? And when it fails, is the whole chain replaced or is only portion replaced?

Hoping if someone knows, they are also willing/able to share - are lift hill chains common across a brand and or type of coaster? Do all Arrows use the same chain size or are at least the chain sizes for Arrow loopers of a similar generation to Vortex the same? Assuming that it is not totally unique, I'm surprised there wouldn't either be a spare length or used length available somewhere.

^^ I know - I've seen ride ops working up a serious sweat emptying garbage cans before

I recall Thunderation at SDC being a long hike - and even with empty rows you had to walk around. Although I think it was more the length of the queue that was the problem