Tanna

I was told once that it was dairy run off from one of the food vendors, it goes down a drain close to AE. At first I was offended, but now I think I just accept it as the Curse of the Tikis. It's part of the ride. One time there was the added bonus of that smell, and skunk. Someday I'll ride it and it'll smell sweet, then I'll be confused.

Used to be thirty minutes, now it's forty five in a VW Beetle.

Fried sweet, chlorine from the fountains, and that hot oil/engine smell of the rides.

I really doubt that things will be worth anything in the future. I just dont see a market for old roller coaster pieces soon. I said that once about a set of lithographs. I'm glad I got them when I did. Will Eisner's autograph still means something to collectors.

Even though it would be against my benefit, perhaps it's time to think of charging for Haunt beyond what's covered in the pass. As a pass holder, I enjoy the Haunt as lagniappe to a great season, but one person's dessert is another person's bar brawl. Maybe because it's a 'free' event to some pass holders, and many of the attractions are in the dark, where people's true natures can shine, for better or worse, these incidents are occurring. Charging extra for the event might keep parent' from dropping off their little darlings to raise havoc, or better yet, some parents might join in the event. To make it an "adults only" event wouldn't solve the problem. Some adults are twice as bad, and some well behaved teens would lose out. Besides, in today' world, too many people have confused 'adult' for x-rated.

Long underwear is nice if you are going to ride the snake. Hoodie that you can bunch around your face is good. Sport glasses so your eyes don't freeze. I attack the park with a vengeance, sometime.

Part of the value is the rarity of it. That's why there are numbers at the bottom of the plaque. To make more defeats the "limited edition" angle.

Limited quantity, posted on FB and Twitter, being shared and retweeted like all get out. How many want to bet on how quickly these get sold out?

http://twitpic.com/b2doj3 For those wanting a piece of SOB, there it is. And no slivers or cops chasing you as you sneak into the demolition site. I think for a 100.00, it's a really great presentation. It's better than a sliver in a test tube. Everyone's painin' that they wanted a peice of the ride, well, there it is. I think the price is well worth the presentation they put into it. Come to my studio with a hunk of old track, see how much you get charged to make it pretty. "Everyone wants art, they just don't want to pay for it."

I like the Dinos at Coney. Coney, to me, has a fairground quality to it, and the Dinos feel like a sideshow to me. Coney is the first place a kid has free reign after Planet Snoopy. Coney's a little corny, like a Tennessee fireworks stand. Anyone who's been to Gatlinberg has to notice the fluorescent TRex and Ferris wheel on the highway.

I didn't like KI so much when it was owned by Paramount as I like it now. The way it is now, and what it's becoming is not only more like KI when I was a kid, but more like Disneyland when I was a kid, and that's a compliment. It's more special now, not just some little park that happens to be nearby. At first I thought the Peanuts characters were too few in number, and that the theme would be redundant, but now, I see Snoopy and think of KI. I've grown to like the characters more because of it. The kid's park is better because of it, it has a more unified theme and is not as junky looking as when Paramount owned it. Let's face it, Nickelodeon was cute at the time, but all that artistic gloppiness didn't age well. Paramount had a lot of grey sparseness due to the movies at the time, and Tom Cruise reminders around every corner, creeping me out.

What is cool, I've found out, is that if you are with a person who has honestly reached their limit, you can yell "Don't scare." As you go, and it's accepted for the most part- if they can hear you. I went through the "Work Crew" Haunt with a brother and sister we were grouped with, and he had enough halfway through. He was only about 12. If he were burrowed any more into the back of my jacket, he would have burst though my sternum like "Alien".

I can't stop thinking big. I'm envisioning a second midway almost parallel to Coney Island, an XBase-Action Zone. Goodbye, creepy rotten wood, hello Funtime.

Sparky, I can see your point of view. It would be great if you were allowed to walk through during the light just to see the theming. At least you are aware of your natural reactions to surprises to not risk it. I crunch down, then skitter away in a Haunt. Sometimes I run. Most of the scares are couched in a sense of fun, at least to me. Every time a monster has made contact with me, it was unintentional- we're both moving, after all. It seem that Ringo is describing a poor sport that just wanted to sucker punch an actor beause he felt he could get way with it. What a crummy life that guy must have if that's his idea of fun.

I don't know if this will be moved to the 'Violence' thread, but I recall two fellows getting frogmarched past the incoming patrons in Cornstalkers. The only thing I would have changed about the situation was having a light shown on their faces. They wanted attention, and they got it. I recall at Cut Throat Cove, The Door Pirate pointing out someone who had just left. A drink was thrown at an actor inside. Why would someone intentionally rare back and slug a worker? Especially if he basically paid her to frighten him? If they can't handle the excitement of a night of fun, perhaps it's best they cower back to mama's basement. (As a beer server, I had one patron tell his friends that he was going to call me over to the fence, and then drag me over it, to beat me up. It was an iron wrought spiked fence in Covington, Kentucky. I quietly stood ready, looked him square in the eye, and cracked my wrists like Bruce Lee. He left rather quickly. It takes a very small man, if you know what I mean, to become violent over trivialities.)

Good to hear, Nemo. Last year it seemed to get more crowded as the night went on. I got there as soon as it opened, and got a few good haunts in, many rides, then BAM! the park became slow as molasses. I suspect I'll have to deviate a bit this year, and see the Wax Museum first, but I hope to get to the Slaughterhouse when it's still light outside. The good Haunts are still good even when it's light out. I'll save the lesser Haunts for the night.

I'm so sorry about this. It's strange, but I feel really bad about the juvenile in the car, and the trooper's family, especially.

And reasonably, there's no other way to even out the crowds, it's a case of "build it, and they will come." You can't add more days or hours. September is too early, and full of special events, plus, they need to build all the Halloween theming. More hours per Haunt doesn't balance out crowds, it adds. Many of the monsters have other jobs and/or school, so no Sundays. You can't cut into Howl-o-ween, especially as they've added so much, it's a big event. When I was younger, and they didn't have passes, we dealt with crowds because that was life. The Halloween crowds are up there with the big vacation crowds when I was a kid. I should be used to it.

How's the crowd forecast for Oct. 19th? I've decided on going there for my birthday. I can't commandeer the Dinosaur Birthday Booth, but I can have a funnel cake with a match stuck in the middle for a candle.

We are going tomorrow, so add two more to that total. It is bound to be crowded, but this is the one Saturday I can squeeze in. Tomorrow I'll probably focus on the Haunts and mazes, because crowds mean more energy from the monsters. Being a scaractor at KI, I think, is almost a form of vampirism. When the park is dead, the monsters aren't as lively as when there's more lifeforce from visitors. I'm looking at a glass half full; I'm bound to go through the haunts with someone who's fun to scare, and the creatures will be jumping. I'll go on a Friday night later on to utilize the foggy rides.

The least they could do is make it more friendly, parents take their tired kids and baby strollers there for a rest. Move the ashtrays to one or two benches way over in an alcove and put running water and fish in the ponds, maybe alter the security fences around the water and bridge to something not so gothic.

With or without SS rumors, I'm curious as to what's going to happen to that area of the park. Seeing SOB go down so quickly, it's only making me wonder more. Look at how quickly the park has changed for the better in such a short time, with pavers and menus and morale and more; It leads me to think they have something unique and spectacular in mind for the future.

That's why it is good to scream, to quell the instinct to punch. As I'd written earlier, my scream was different with last year's Urgent Scare, not a frightened scream, but an aggressive scream, like a roar. I scared the one guy behind me, but the scaracters were more than safe. If one knows that one's fear turns to aggression, for God's sake, scream. It'll only add to the party. Punching someone ruins it for everyone. Two mummers escorted a guy from Cornstalkers last year for unwarranted aggression. I'd hate to think that there would have to be bodyguards in place for such occasions, or people hired to scare would have to serve as security.

If it was up to me, I'd burn the thing down. That ride affected many employees in ways that some of you fanboys will never understand. Is there a way to explain without opening a can of worms?

Thanks for the pics. They are taking it down pretty quickly. I thought it was going to be a board by board process.