KIfan1980

Kudos on the topic! My thoughts on the parks I went to this year: Kings Island - as my home park and one I visit pretty often, it will always be special to me, but this year more than any I can remember in a long time it earned it. Yes Diamondback was a big part of that, but there were all the other little things that made it an incredible year. Also, great kids area and rides. Disney World - enjoyed time at Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and a brief stop-in for a couple of rides at Disney's Hollywood Studios. While they lack the major league coasters, they more than make up for it with the overall experience and they have enough rides to keep it interesting. As for the the kids, there is nowhere better. Silver Dollar City - an awesome theme park with a few really good coasters including Powder Keg and Wildfire along with an Arrow Mine Train (Thunderation) that has a backward riding opportunity and is much better than AE in my opinion. Pretty good kids area, especially for the really little ones. Strickers Grove - a fun little place that I'm very glad I got to experience finally. The cliff on Tornado is awesome, Teddy Bear is neat, there are several other rides for the spinning fans, and the atmosphere is great. Would be good for the kids, although they weren't with me - even though it was technically "Family Day" That's it for parks this year, although I'm planning on some others next year based upon the input from others here and in Trip Reports: Dollywood (spring break trip scheduled), back to Cedar Point (finally), and Holiday World (to experience Voyage amongst others).

uh wow - did you totally ignore the title of the thread or just decide to be mean. As mom used to say, if you can't say anything nice ... In my opinion the areas you decided to grade have also done a good job this season. While you may have some complaints, this was not the thread for them.

Must have been an aberation. I rode today with my two boys and only got sprinkled by the pots. Boat was dry getting in, normal splashes in the front but nothing major.

Great thread hamoperator! I agree with your thoughts - this has been a fantastic season at Kings Island for my family and I and it couldn't be done without all the employees of Kings Island. While it is impossible to name all the different individuals (or roles) who have helped make it so special, I have to highlight a couple: - Diamondback Crew was awesome all season, especially with all the extra early and/or late hours. They were always energetic and fun and kept things moving. I could complain about the one time I was accidentally stapled by _____ - but won't - Nick U associates. They have to put up with kids that don't listen (and the parents as well) and somehow do it with a smile all day/season long - Show performers. I watched more shows this season than ever before and appreciate the energy and effort that goes into putting these on for us I hope they all have a great offseason and I look forward to seeing many again next season!

This is a good example of the equation that businesses (and government) must evaluate between Safety and Cost all the time. There are no easy answers, but don't expect things to stay the same. See Browntggr example above - people had been doing the task with just glasses for a while, but an incident caused a change. If we don't learn from history we are doomed to repeat it. On SOB incident, I bet the learnings were incorporated in 2007 before it reopened.

I have more than a few but will only list a couple: - Having the pleasure of meeting many KICers on park meetups, totally added to the fun. - Diamondback ERT. From waiting at the detectors to the fast walk to the rerides before the crowd showed up. - Walking up on opening day and being handed a SRL ticket. But without a doubt my two favorite were: - The night my then 5 year old got his 48" wristband and we got to ride Flight Deck, Racer, and BLSC together for the first time. I'll never forget his comment "daddy, I love riding roller coasters with you" on The Racer breakrun. - The first time my 3 year old decided to brave the FOC. It's now the first ride every trip!

It's trip reports like this that I'll miss in the off season Thanks for sharing another fun Giga/Tom#'s trip. Every time I read one, it causes me to increase my committment to visiting a certain park next year!

Good for you and Congratulations! I actually find it quite reasonable that you and others have reached this milestone. I stopped counting at 150 sometime during ERT a couple of weeks ago - this was mostly done by marathoning DB during weekend ERT once every couple of weeks along with a few nights at the park, because I don't ride DB very often when I go with the family during the days. While some may not understand the attraction of riding one coaster so much, I've really enjoyed it and the people I've met doing it and it hasn't stopped me from enjoying other rides at the park as well.

There are so many things we'll never know about that go into a case like this so I don't even want to speculate. The thing I found interesting is that the case asks for punitive damages. As I understand it, these are damages above an beyond the actual expenses (for medical bills, etc...) designed to punish the park financially for the alleged negligence. This is where I believe things have to be willful versus accidental which would likely be harder to prove.

Went to KI with my 3 year old on Saturday. My thoughts and opinions: - Howl-O-Fest was awesome for the little one. He loved the mazes, tractor town, candy stops (Taffy in addition to Starburst), pumpkin patch, and kids size corn-hole. He didn't want to do the petting zoo, art projects, or dance party. - We stayed away from the pay-per-games. (Notes: I don't have a problem with them charging, appreciated the heads up in this thread, didn't go last year so wasn't too concerned) - We also had fun riding rides in his costume although he was very dissapointed that the Eiffel Tower and Viking Fury were closed He wanted to take his brother back on Sunday, so I guess that says it all.

I was under the impression that "no re-entry" for Haunt meant that no handstamps would be given out as you left during haunt hours, but that you could still use a handstamp from earlier in the day for haunt entry. Has anyone done this?

And if you really want to get some rides in - remember that Gold Pass ERT still exists on Saturday (1hr) and Sunday (1/2 hour) mornings. I didn't leave the Red Train for the entire time this morning, then walked over to a station wait at Firehawk.

On any coaster I haven't ridden (or an Intamin that I haven't ridden in a while - Millie), I fear the test seat. I haven't failed one yet, but I know that I will someday.

I can think of a few potential reasons - They really didn't like their finance folks that much and wanted to make them work really hard and fast to finalize the 2nd quarter books - The seller (who seemed to have the upper hand in the deal) wanted the parks off their books in the second quarter - The most likely option in my mind. July 1st was a Saturday, Friday June 30th became the best option since many things were closed July 3rd and 4th for Independence Day.

What exactly do machete's made of paper have to do with the Spongebob action theater?

Quote from the article: Cleveland's City Council gave a boost Monday to efforts to bring an indoor aquarium to the west bank of the Flats. Really, did they have to tell you that the aquarium would be indoor? It's going to be in Cleveland after all. Actually I also would hope that they do this right - which for me would mean don't make it so big and so expensive that people don't go to it. Smaller and Cheaper is better sometimes.

I hear you Terpy - which is why I both qualified my statement and shared my bias. Until proven otherwise, I'm sticking with HOPE!

Why the change in tone - because Shaggy posted the following statements and Many of us, we are still holding out hope as Tomkatt just posted. I personally believe (and it is only my opinion and that may be tainted by the above hope) that the fate of Son of Beast is not yet sealed and that the testing that occurred on mid September weekdays was about determining if there were options to improve the ride experience on Son of Beast and at what cost because the one undeniable truth about this is that a big part of the decision will be a financial decision. Which choice is the best for the park financially.

Just a note for those looking to renew. I arrived at the park at about 8pm. Lines out front were very long, line at Nick Store were reaching toward the Snake Pit. I went and rode DB several times and Beast several times and walked back over to Nick Store at ~10pm and was renewed within 5 minutes (one person wait). As I left the park at 11pm, there was no line out front either. Don't get in line right as you show up.

Wildfire - Silver Dollar City, MO. Sweet B&M Looper.

Glad you had a good time (except for the stomach issue) this weekend. Its too bad (for me) that I didn't run into y'all on Friday night as you'd probably have convinced me to try a Haunt. I did see Adam and Jackson at Diamondback - they were in line for row 16, when I was boarding row 1. I was planning to wait for them at the exit, but Gary (1200+ rides at the time) flagged me down for a re-ride as he had an empty seat in his row - which was too good an opportunity to turn down!

Wow - thanks for the heads up. Looks like my kids will just be riding Fairly Odd Coaster in their Halloween outfits and looking at the decorations in Nick U when we go.

There is also another danger to this strategy - it's called consumer expectations and they are ofter very hard to change. Once you've set a precedent with pricing integrity (or lack thereof), you will often find it very hard to entice consumers without the offering the same deal. A couple of examples to illustrate the point: - At some point in time the US auto manufacturers decided to offer 0.0% financing for the first time. Once they had, it set a new benchmark and consumers began to wait for 0.0% again because 1.9% no longer seemed like the best possible deal - Grocery Stores sales of 2-liters of pop is directly related to pricing. Consumers know that it will go on sale for 99 cents or as part of a 5 for $5 type sale. This is when they stock up - they are often not willing to pay $1.39 or $1.59 or even 4 for $5 "sale" prices Not to say that Disney doesn't have some pricing power, but how many people do you know nowadays who only go to Disney when they offer the free meal plan discount.

Thanks for the sharing these wonderful photo's. I'm left a little sad as I remember some rides that were so much a part of my youth. And I have to admit that I'm fighting the feeling of nostalgia by remember that the park today still has some things that I'm sure I'll look at 20 years from now with great memories.

This is good to hear as my kids really enjoy it and would like to see it around and growing for years to come.