shark6495

Which makes sense but it sucks... It may be a light day when a kid conquers The Beast for the first time...

People have mentioned the young children and the long walk. I have a 2 year old and the walk from the drop off area to the front of the park is a long haul for him. It will still be a long haul for him when he is 5 or 6. My mom will be 60 soon. She goes to the park. She doesnt have a handicap sticker unless my dad goes with her. Thats a long haul for her on hot days or if we have to park farther out. Soon, she will have to either get a handicap sticker for herself (or borrow dad's) or stop coming to the park with us all of the time. The walk doesnt seem that bad when you are young and in shape. But as you age it becomes more of a problem. In the park, there are a few places to sit in the shade. In the parking lot, there is none. I do have hopes for a tram return though. Even though things have been repaved and re-lined there still appears to be enough room on the sidewalk and tram right of ways....

Took the words out of my mouth.. er fingers.... Would be nice but your have to add hills back in and remove a set of cars from each train. The Beast is way different than it used to be. Only used to be a buz bar with no padding and head rest and skid breaks. If you went on a day that it rained you used to get a wild ride. Today I don't see that happening. The Skid brakes were a wonderful time for coasters. I didnt know the track was oiled.... Now why did the cars go from soft foam to the hard foam... I just assumed it was age not on purpose..... (Shark, old enough to remember softer foam, skid brakes, and maybe no seat dividers on The Beast but never remembers a time without individual ratcheting lap bars (I think)...)

Conveniently you have two (yup two) Muskies on this board. And as Muskies we have been there as its a part of the great Muskie way... Yes I have been there. It is really a unique experience to drive through an animal preserve and to be sometimes very very close to the animals. The wife and I are planning a trip for the fall or next spring to do a night there in one of their cabins. Its amazing that this is located in the middle of Ohio....

As demonstrated, a very slight modification to the quote you heard applies to me as well. And going back to the Mantis discussion... I consider Rougarou to be the same coaster... Because the coaster itself is, physically speaking, the same track and structure, just with new trains (which, as it happens, make the experience different.). There are TOGO coasters in other countries that operate one sit-down and one standup train on the same track, it doesn't become a new coaster every time they dispatch a train. Steel Phantom, The (old) Texas Giant, Rattler, etc, are no longer around because they received substantial changes to the ride structure and layout. AND to the trains, actually (still sit-down trains, but I don't think anyone will argue that a relatively loose lapbar makes for a totally different ride than an Arrow OTSR). That said, it's just enthusiast squabbling at this point. No matter how you slice it, the changes that were made to Mantis make for a totally new EXPERIENCE whether you consider it to be the same coaster or not. And the experience is, in this writer's opinion, a dramatic improvement. Playing devil's advocate.... if a ride is cloned in a new space but has a different name but everything else is the same... is it the same coaster? Or if the ride moves?

The only thing I don't like is the 3-d aspect. I wear glasses. Sometimes 3-d glasses do no work very well with me. Not to mention that not all family members want to or can wear 3-d glasses.

Fixed your order... You must have had a mental slip...

Which makes me wonder are they rented or did they pay for them? If they are rented, I assume there is some sort of maintenance they have to perform to keep them in good shape.

That sounds like it would be really fun though..

If I'm not the target market(two four year olds), then who is? We as in the general we. We the coaster enthusiasts. We who are a bit older. In what you quoted I even said kids under 10 appear to be the target market

I think we may be missing the point here with DA. We are not really the target market. I take my son through there every time we go to the park. He absolutely loves it. Can't get enough of it. Moving or not. He roars at the Dinos. I see kids up to about 9/10 who just love it. Kids and Dinos are a perfect fit. Not sure why. As for the sensors, I think many are messed with by the sunlight or shade combo. As they are motion activated they rely on light bouncing back into the bulb. Plus with that area so far out of the way, it's not like it's keeping future growth from happening. However this year they did remove the paid photo booth area and replaced it with a dinosaur selfie area.

I really hope so. By July and August last year the clock was not as great as in years past, and I believe the calendar was way below par as well.

Not exactly, almost 10 years later and it seems like things happened slightly different than were feared... Still going strong.... TERP you either are a really really good guesser or you may know some people in the park business.... I love the new Coke Stand... Sadly or not, IJST lasted longer than both these posters... Under new management, charm and class may be retruning, sort of... Funny, that GL was destroyed because of this deal... Well the theming did get stripped... and then the ride did... So a decade later (and new management later) how we looking? I will say that the park still has some distance to go to recapture some of the charm it had years ago. The landscaping (personally) doesnt look as great as it once did. The Floral Clock and the Floral Calendar always disappoint me. At one point they were great, last year and so far this year, nothing photo worthy.... Then again, I look at the park through my son's experiences and its one of the greatest thing on this earth.

No, because last year they sent out new passes via good old Snail Mail to the address you have when getting your pass. Wrong ZIP code, pass never arrives, guest never visits. I meant at the gate. I wonder if the pass shows a zip code when you scan or if there is a way to manually override it/enter new a one? I still question if Hart is purposely doing this stuff to make a buck and then leave like an evil business person. Or is he just so misguided and surrounded himself with yes men that he no longer sees what he is doing in an objective light ...

I also wonder if there is much integrity to in state versus out of state. If a local were to buy a pass and they scanned, could they just type in an out of state zip code?

If its true... Maybe the land has some interested buyer... maybe the land has some interest for future development... maybe....

and this should be a lesson to businesses everywhere. If you are going to end something, end it. Permanently and quickly. Letting it bleed out only makes you look worse. Look the park was probably not bought to be destroyed. However, somewhere along the lines it was decided that it would be. You either destroy everything (yes even the gate and the Dipper) or find buyers. If there are no buyers to purchase the land or move the rides, you raze them too. Sell it as a redeveloped land as quickly as possible. Or something. By leaving it in its state, with demolished buildings but a gate. With no real sense of a part but with some rides still standing (sort of) it makes people angry. Angry people organize. What is an idea (man it would be nice if GL would reopen) now has an object to attach to (the gate or the Big Dipper). Now the organized mass has a rallying cry and something to point to to save. Its tangible. The company now has lost. It sold the ride, but cant move it (or willing to pay to do). They cant sell the land the ride is on because who would want to buy something they cant dispose of (or want to pay to dispose of). People in Northeast Ohio look at the park and are reminded of what could have been. Those that still visit the Water Park dream and remember the days of the full park. This stirs anger. Man oh Man.....

You are a 100% better man than I. I would have not stepped off the ride platform. Man oh Man..... Maybe Im in a fighting mood but...

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/FL/Airfields_FL_OrlandoSW.htm#disney A link to some information about the Walt Disney World Primary Airport. Also some interesting information about other airports in the area as well. Whats interesting is to read that as of the last 15 years the airport was not really open but was still used by corporate jets and a president.

YEt as in the last two years or yet as in ever?

I totally get what you are saying, but in the way its happening now, it just doesnt work. I have seen them send out half empty coasters with a full line. Its like they wont fill the que until the new coaster comes and parks and then we have to rush up to jump on the ride. Okay the fast laners and the general pop merge at the same point of seat assigning, then you better have a system. It really appears that the seat assigner, pulsar, separator just keeps the station empty. I dont claim to know how hard or how easy that job is, but the way you described it makes it seem fairly easy or easier than the way most at KI do it. If it was up to me and you keep the FL and general pop merging at the assignment station, then you should do it this way... Have an idea of the train you are filling. If a FP shows up that group goes onto your next train.... You did it in another park, which was probably much busier. How does KI manage to not have competent training for these people?

I dont get why the seperator only sends enough for 1 train either. You can have 2 trains ready to go (and really should) while 1 train is being loaded. And what value does a separator really add to the rides? I remember (old man thought) back in the day where you would just fill in all available rows. Some people really wanted front seats, and some wanted others, but most guests would want to get on as quickly as possible. We would negotiate with other people in line. How many people are with you, etc. You want to switch us we are trying to get our group together, etc. The separators really bug me. I honestly feel that the fast laners and the regular pop should be joined before the station. For example at The Beast, the lines should be joined right before you separate for Front/Back. On DB and Banshee, they should be joined before the stairs. Have a person there to let those people into the main flow of the line. As for Power Hours, I look at them similar to what we would do in Rowing. We were always competing to beat all other teams. But if our Driver noticed we needed some extra concentration or power he or she would call out a Power 30 (30 strokes per minute). Which meant we kept a quicker stronger pace for 10 strokes. It helped get our mindset back into it. Thats sort of what the Power Hour Should be for. But I feel that it may not always be that way. And I'll be honest. If my son would ever be hurt on a ride at KI or anywhere else during a "Power Hour" or any other reason because the workers didnt do their jobs. I would use every last penny to sue and sue and sue the parks. Not to make money as it wouldnt be worth the money, but to hurt them in a way that could be felt.....

Same way most other places make money with a picnic park. Pay to rent facilities. Have high profit experiences (boat rides?), offer unique experiences. Daily/monthly/yearly pass fee. Think the Hamilton County Parks. $4 for the day, $10 for the year. Costs $50 to rent a picnic house. to rent a paddle boat costs $5 per hour or something like that. I would imagine the cost to turn the park from blight to bright would cost a pretty penny, but Im sure if a company were to do that then it would be reflected in the overall value of the land...

The Cincinnati Zoo is not that bad though. Just take some normal precautions of putting yourself in a good spot at all times. My wife makes sure she doesnt have to stop at any gas stations down around the zoo. SHe parks inside their gates and walks across their walkway into the zoo.... I need to go to Kennywood. My wife said its a good park.

I'll never forget the empty train ride on Vortex right as fireworks went off. It was ... Amazing, beautiful, weird, serene,