shark6495

well to be truthful I doubt you would see a dramatic decline due to a ban on the nicotine sticks..... some people who smoke will not bring in their smokes because they dont want to crush them on a ride. Agreed with the sentiment, that if its banned in the park people will be less likely to bring the cigs in and will not smoke. You will have a few rebel rouses but overall it would be smoke free... the thing is though, which group of people deserve to have their rights infringed upon? Those who would like to smoke or those who would like to not have to breathe in second hand smoke.... a happy medium would be to have nicer smoker areas in parts of the park that are not near areas where the wind could cause the smoke to drift onto the midway....... plus just because you smoke does not mean you cant have a nice place to do so.... I like the patio idea and its not hard to have an outdoor air purifier, sucks in the smoke air.......

you are kidding right? You are comparing the disrespect and down right nastyness towards group of people based on skin color as the same as not being able to ride a roller coaster? Hank I thought you were smarter than that. Being black in america, especially during the 40s 50s and 60s and even up to today, meant you could not drink from the same fountains, sit on a bus, eat in a restaurant. It meant that the laws didnt apply to the man when he came to beat you or to throw you around a little bit. Comparing being slightly too tall or too big to ride a roller coaster to being black is not only stupid but its down right insulting, to everyone. It does not take a weight loss physician to tell someone how to begin to lose weight. Eat healthy, burn more calories than you take in. Thats the basics. If you want a nutritionist who can tailor a diet for you then yes call one. A lot of people across the glove are thin/healthy weight range. In America there is a think called the weight epidemic. America has an issue with kids and adults gaining excessive amounts of weight. This can be attributed to many issues but the biggest is eating empty calories then not doing anything to burn those calories. Sorry Hank, I had to chuckle a little about the boob comment , speaking of which Firehawk is definitely not female friendly . Anyway, I am not perfect-I'm not 5'7", 130 lbs, 36, 24, 26, etc-and I'm ok with that. I still fit in all the coasters, even though I have gained alot the last 3 years. I dont put anyone down for being big, but thats just me. I am ok with my size and others for who they are, and if no one else likes it, tough. Those that can't accept others for who they are, well, I have no use for that type of shallow viewpoint. I dont think anyone on here is judging anyone for not being the perfect size. But the general two sides of this argument seems to be : The seats are too small for me and the other side says lose weight. Look if you are too tall or too short to ride a ride, I am sorry, but there is not much that can be done. If you are too large to ride a roller coaster then well there is something to be done. If you want to ride the rides you will put the time in to make yourself fit. There are many people on these boards who have done that same thing. So it can be done. In men the weight is USUALLY lost the quickest in the lower torso area (stomach upper pelvic region) while on woman they lose weight USUALLY in the upper torso area (breasts back shoulders) first. After than the weight follows based on your body type (pear, round, skinny, etc). No one was saying if you are big you are a bad person. However one must only look online at many reputable and not so reputable sources to see that the average size of americans has not increased as drastically as some have stated on this board. In 1900 the average height of a weight American male was 5'7". In 2005 the average height was 5'9. Thats an increase of only 2 inches.... Google it yourself if you do not believe me. The same can not be said because of weight. LBs have been gaining at an alarming rate. Right now Americans on average weigh at least 17 pounds more than what the body should weigh. (Just for comparison I weigh a fit 230 but for my body type I should weigh 170, so I am 60 pounds heavier than I should be...). The reason can be traced again to a changing life style that has people moving from manual labor jobs to more sedimentary jobs. Food has gone from fresh to preserved with high salt contents (the more water you drink the more salt you can flush out and lose weight, fyi).... If anything I wrote you do not like because it does not fit into your life style I am sorry. If you cant fit in a ride whose fault is it? The manufacturer for making a ride who fits most people or you (again differing reasons). But if you want to ride a ride and can change your life style to do so, what is stopping you?

just trolling around the internet you will find the average height of americans in the last 100-200 years has increased............ 1.75 inches..... just one source would be wikipedia, check for human height... also google human height changes over time..... so the height thing is not a real issue.... the average american how ever has added many LBs to the average......

actually those ads are everywhere. Telling people to go to jenny craig, eat smarter, eat vegies and fruits, heck even fastfood joints offer healthy food. Their are the nutrisystem commercials, the commercials for places to work out. The commercials for being healthy are out there but no one takes heed....

well to be medically obese you only have to have have a BMI of over 30..... http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/

I found this part interesting Many on here have said that Cedar Fair was interested in "even distribution of awesome" (patent pending on that phrase ) between the parks but it looks like it wont be that way. It also seems you wont see any of the other parks come close..... what does that mean for our lil park down here? Im still saying not all is right in Denmark, or International Street.....

yea the ride doesnt look too fun.... I cant tell if the guy cursing on the video is doing it because its a reaction or because he is trying to make a presentation for his video, or it could be both.... but when a roller coaster makes clunking sounds going through different transitions.... yeah thats not good

thanks gator. I never knew that or how it worked. Very cool...

very cool thanks for the info but one dumb question i googled but didnt find a coherent answer for.... what is a parent swap? are you saying one adult rides then the other or you hand your child off to someone else? lol sorry if it seems dumb just interesting to me

you guys sound like a group of crazy conspirators..... If a company thinks that a trim is necessary to save on maintenance or to keep people safe, then guess what - the ride needs a trim. Its not to keep the "sissies" safe as you so elegantly put it giga. Everyone involved needs to step back and look at it like this, theres still a pretty kick but coaster that just opened up this year on the eastern sea board. Plus if anyone wants to complain about a ride great but it does not good, and complaining in line doesnt help either......

After I read your response I was like, oh no that was not the intention. So I am glad we are good, and yes the only reason its fresh in my mind because those classes Child and Language Development, and Psych courses are only a semester or so old (if not newer.) What do you do with an infant at an amusement park? Being only 24, I have no children yet, and I dont remember being an infant, what do parks offer for families that young? What does KI offer for the little ones-or families of the little ones? Gator what happened on your trip to WDW? I would assume WDW would have a plan set up for families with the way youngin?

well he was positive about a few rides by not actually rating them but just saying "These rides were great and the employees kept the lines moving while keeping excellent communication with park guests" for a the rides. I cant tell if Selective is a troll (when the paramount killing people thing came about I assumed he was) or just not a good social typer... either way.... nice trip report, but again sometimes your facts are not facts....

I have never been to Dollywood but have been down to Gatlinburg many many many times. The go cart track that was mentioned with the helixes is a great one. Check it out, I too have forgotten the name but its on the main drag. Also check out Hillbilly Golf, http://www.gatlinburg-attractions.com/hillbilly_golf_.html, its a great way to relax in the evening. You ride a lift to the top and play mini golf down the side of the mountain/hill. Its always an enjoyable time, but just dont hit your ball out of bounds or you will literally be stuck on the hill with nothing to do. Any trail in the Smokey Mountains, as terp said, is great. Pack a picnic and plan to spend a wonderful day in the woods. Also, sounds like a dumb thing if you are in the mountains, but bring an extra pair of sandles/water shoes, socks, shorts/swimsuit, shirt, and a towel. A few of the trails have creeks near by that you can climb in, walk in. Awesome, time and have a blast

oh please dont take my statements as a slam against you or anyone else who is taking their children to wonderful places. 74gibson, thats what I meant more, if its an this year or next, I say way till next year. But gatorhead you have good points about burning the trip to dvd and yes one day she will look back and laugh at how young "mom and dad are" along with the wonderful moments you all had together.... And yes I know if you wait till they "remember it" you may be waiting a long time, but through personal experience my parents took me to KI since I was just a wee one (pictures date back to my dad holding me) but to be truthful I dont remember much of it, if any. Memories have a weird way of merging together. As a family we waited till I was 6 and my sis was 5 (perks of being close in age) for our first family vacation. WDW was the trip after that and I was 7. Since then family vacations yearly (even at 24 I still have time to go on a trip with the family)..... but in closing no matter what age you take your kid to KI, WDW, or just a county fair take too many pictures and buy a video camera. The memories may fade over time but pictures and video help refresh those colors....

Welcome to KIC.... 4 years old is a good age to start but truth be told most (I said most not all) memories do not begin to be formed and kept "forever" till around the age of 5 or 6. Even at that age usually big emotional moments are the ones that are formed.... So the question is are you taking your child for he/she to enjoy it or are you taking them there so you can enjoy your child being at the park. While I do agree that taking a 1.5 year old to WDW may be a bit young, the child will enjoy themselves at any age. But if you are looking for something that the child will remember for years to come, it may be best to wait an extra year or so. Sorry to rain on the excitement parade

thanks Dave for the headsup.... Yea I let my AAA membership slip... I was thinking of re-upping this year..... Plus this will be my first trip to Kennywood..... so I am excited

very cool... makes me excited as it looks like kennywood will be the only park i visit this summer.....

well KI is in a unique position where we have not yet hit the land lock phase. There is expansion available around the park. Terrain and hills have no porblems for amusement parks, look at Busch gardens as they have been able to use the land as natural dividers for parts of the park.... so with that being said minus a ride being a maintenance risk or a complete and utter failure many of the big rides will not be leaving for a good time, IMHO. Now if a ride does break down often or has lower ridership thats a different story, but KI does have some more land to expand into. But who knows maybe KI wont be around in 2050 and we will be mourning the loss of the park....

so retrofitting these boats means? if they are too long you would have to shorten them, but wouldnt that mean ruining the integrity of the boat?

agreed, i couldnt care less what the trains look like if my options were "sponsored rides or closed park"

i think one of the nicer things about this park is its free for people with special needs, and only 5 bucks for people accompanying anyone who is special needs.... what an awesome little park....

what a very awesome idea. Learning about children with special needs, its a very touching sentiment and an awesome idea. Parks like KI are "wheel chair accessible" but sometimes we forget how some of the wheel chair bound can not enjoy a ride as simple as the eagles or even the kiddie rides. Wow just a great park idea. I hope it does great.

i read that and was like what the........ so the two parks that were for sale last year.... Geuaga lake? and the other one?

thats probably why. they want the numbers to jump at the home park..... maybe im just paranoid, but I wouldnt be keeping it real with out at least wondering what the motives are behind the advancement into Indiana for one park in particular....

if they truly are trying to expand CPs marketability while decreasing KIs I do not see good things coming from this at all. Mark my words, but if it comes down to having to sell off some parks I see KI being the first to go but we may be losing somethings..... maybe Im just pessimistic....