KIfan1980

Bad news - on Race For your Life - the elephant has been replaced with a Spraying Snoopy.

Your likely to have more fans. Rotag is likely to have more snaf.

A couple of thoughts: - Wow, that coaster looks really long - Sad that the sky ride will be down for so long (I really enjoyed that on my trip) - While I wasn't a fan of the water portion of Rhino Rally, I was looking forward to taking my kids on it one day as I knew they'd love it

The sinking "rumor" was sometimes quoted as to why The Bat was down and removed.

Without fully understanding the situation- I have to admit that the statements that I emphasized strike a cord. Something doesn't seem right about the situation. I'd also guess however (and this may just be cynical), that the group that filed this motion isn't as altruistic as the filing makes it seem - after all, they are looking for their own jackpot.

Waiting for Jackson to show up in this topic and say he's waited 5 months, 17 days, 11 hours, etc. since Nov 1st

Awesome pictures - I had the pleasure of visiting BGT earlier this year and had a wonderful trip. The park is truly beautiful in landscaping, theme, and general atmosphere as your photos show incredibly well, and I love the way they have rides and animals intermixed so effectively. On your ride assessments, I guess that just goes to show why everyone needs to go ride them and make up their own minds as we all have different tastes and experiences.

I'm confused by the "exactly" comment. You seemed surprised that they thought a Super Bowl might come to the SF Bay Area. I was pointing out that there had already been one.

Really - seems that I read somewhere that even PROCESSED season passes didn't guarantee admission

The NFL has strict rules on the host stadium & city when it comes down to awarding Super Bowl sites. Capacity, hotel availability & weather all play large factors in that determination. The new stadium does seem just large enough, I am going to *assume* there are enough hotel rooms located within (I believe) 50 miles of the event site, but the weather could be the tipping point. Santa Clara, CA has an average hi/ low temperature in February of 62/ 45 (and don't forget the SB is in early February), and February is the 2nd worst month of precipitation (January is 1st). Those averages are not exactly a draw for most people. The NFL is contemplating having the SB at the new Meadowlands in NJ. The biggest drawback- the weather. The capacity is over 80,000, and New York city obviously has enough hotel rooms, NY is home to the NFL HQ, but the weather is the kicker. The Bay Area has previously hosted a Super Bowl - SBXIX in 1985. I'd be MUCH less concerned about the weather in Santa Clara than I would be New York.

Two quick comments: - it's scary that a newspaper ever edited out reader comments just because they were negative. I thought journalists prided themselves on upholding the right to free speech - it's nice to see that Cedar Fair leadership is worried about "fair and equitable" treatment of unit holders in the event of a takeover. At least now that the Management and Sons only friendly Apollo deal is dead. [\end sarcasm]

Yes Giga went to KD on April 2nd, Carowinds on April 3rd, SFOG on April 4th, and Dollywood on April 5th. She indicated that she would have a separate PTR for each park.

In today's high tech world, I'd be surprised if the engineers/designers/contractors debate you reference is occurring. I'd guess that the ride manufacturer has a pretty good idea of the speed and forces that riders are experiencing every foot along the track - what is much harder to model is the impact of these forces on the biggest unknown in coaster design - humans of many different shapes and sizes who react very differently to said speed and forces.

Nice report - love the pics and have to give Tom some kudos for having I305 as a milestone coaster. Really looking forward to April 3rd, 4th, and especially the 5th.

Thank you, Keith! Great question! As the parent of a child with a peanut allergy, this would be great. We appreciate the fact that Potato Works advertises on the building that they use peanut oil, and we know from outside the park that Chik-Fil-A does too. But having this information available on the website would help others with food allergies avoid any hazards! Sometimes you ask and they respond - thank you Kings Island for the effort to add a special diets page to the dining portion of the website!

Here you go. Quoted from: http://www.visitkingsisland.com/public/visit/today/index.cfm SEASON PASS PROCESSING This season, beat the rush! Don't wait until opening weekend to process your 2010 Season Pass. For your convenience, the Season Pass Processing Centre will open at the front gate through April 16 and we strongly encourage all guests to process their passes early, in order to beat the rush when the park is open! This is a great opportunity to purchase or pick up your Season Pass and get your photo taken before the park opens. Monday - Friday: 4pm - 8pm Saturdays & Sundays: 11am - 7pm

I seriously debated a null vote on this poll as I don't know how to answer the question. DB is a great ride in almost any row for different reasons. First ride of the day - row 1 wakes me up nice Looking for the best floater air - anywhere between row 4 and 12 Closing the day on a hot summer evening - a row 16 splashdown cool-off feels good Want to let my feet hang - go with the odd rows Want to reach into the turns - go with the odd rows But, if I've got to make a single choice, give me row 2 - typically a shorter wait than row 1, provides the same first drop sensations with the outer row benefits. Thank goodness I didn't have to make a choice on left or right side of the train

For those of you who are laughing at the reaction - think hard about the products you use on a daily basis and I bet you'll find a few you wouldn't trade for a "lower quality" brand, store brand, or generic. For many of us, it's a good thing that people are loyal users of a specific shampoo, deodorant, paper towel, bottled water, peanut butter, beer, potato chip, toothpaste, detergent, etc... (including ketchup). You can also add in things like car manufacturers, gas stations, grocery/home improvement stores, clothing/shoes, and even websites. I, for one, and very glad to see that Brand loyalty is alive and well

Wow - just wow. I could look at some of those pics for a long time! Thanks for sharing Dave - although I have to admit to missing the accompanying stories.

This post is not an attempt to defend the company leadership in Sandusky - my opinion is that they have made some very poor decisions that have put their company and unit holders in a very bad financial situation. I hope that whoever is in charge of the company/parks going forward is able to manage a turnaround and future growth that will allow me to ride with my grandkids at KI in the (distant) future! That said, pricing (of everything - from tickets/season passes to games, concessions, and everything) has to be one of the more complex and difficult strategic decisions that the Individual Parks and Cedar Fair has to make (if you ever watched "The Apprentice" you know the value Donald Trump placed on pricing right). It is also a decision that has to take into account what has been paid in the past and what people expect to pay for a certain item (ever known anyone who will only buy 2-liters when they are on sale for $0.99 at grocery stores, yet will pick up a 20oz soda at the gas station for $1.39?). I believe that Kings Island admissions pricing is a good value (especially for Gold Passes) and I would probably pay more, but where is the break point? Add in some other factors: If Gold Pass price is high enough, I might upgrade to Platinum, but others might drop to a single admission only. Is a go-once guest more likely to spend more on food/merchandise versus a season pass holder. Food pricing on the other hand seems too high to me - I can't tell you the last time I bought a $3.50 bottle of water at KI (I think that was the price last year), but I purchased several $2.50 bottles at Dollywood on Monday - of course was I more likely to spend because it was a one time vacation trip versus a weekly trip to my "home park"? I also wonder, who is the decision maker when it comes to admissions pricing at the park - Is that a corporate decision or a local responsibility? (and I know I set myself up for a Terpy "yes" response with that question, but will ask anyway)

I'm not 100% sure (it's been a loooooong time since I've been there), but I don't think the lasers on Scooby at Canada's Wonderland showed the red dots. There were no red dots on Boo Blasters at Carowinds.But they were present on Kings Dominion's Boo Blasters. The following question was answered a few days ago on this topic Quote below from the KI Facebook April 2nd 5@% "Kyle Joyce - In the final couple years of Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle, the guns hardly worked anymore, and even from the beginning of the ride,when it opened in 2003, it seemed like a lot of targets you couldn't even hit, like in the "living room" scene. Will any of these problems be fixed for Boo Blasters? Sometimes it’s the guns. Most times it’s the targets. I asked this same question to the workers in there this week. They said you’d see a great improvement in the ability to hit the targets. This makes your score better and the entire ride much more fun since it’s the targets that activate a lot of the scenes. People have been working in this building many hours in the past weeks to make this a better attraction."

Seriously, 7 pages of over-reaction? Do I like the change? No Will my 6 year old be upset as he loves the "Mini Cooper Coaster" (as be calls it)? We'll see But CF is not tring to ruin the park, is not pulling another GL, etc... Everyone is entitled to there opinion on what this looks like and how that might impact their enjoyment of the ride, but let's try and maintain some perspective. Spending is going to be minimized because CF is in financial trouble. And don't think that anyone who takes over CF won't be looking at further cost cuts also.

They never really worried about the little imperfections on the old one - hopefully they are more diligent on the new one. Sprite is also caffeine free and widely available - as is the fruit punch if you don't mind the sugar high. Try imagining having to spend all the extra effort looking for food with wheat, soy or other allergens (especially at a park like Kings Island where the information is not readily available) - being a vegetarian is at least a choice. And for those that want to critique the OP for writing this up - I'm sure there are many others who are quite happy that it was done so that they can enjoy a day at the park without having to do all the research themselves. As an aside, do vegetarians worry about cross-cooking? For example, are fries that are fried in the same oil as chicken nuggets typically considered ok?

according to a facebook friend, KD added seatbelts.

Sounds like a ride I want to try! One thing I noticed - if you look at this photo from the article. It looks like the front decoration is not aligned with the train. Whereas, the following photo (looks to be the same group, but I'm guessing earlier in the ride). The front looks to be positioned normally. If it can do that to the train, I'm guessing it has to be intense - and I bet the POV from the camera taped there is probably a little shaky too.