CoastersNSich

I may be wrong, it's just that when I've gone this season (20 times!), I haven't seen them. Maybe I haven't been on the busiest days, except for 6/22 for BeastBuzz, and I still don't think I saw any.

Kings Island always use to direct people where to park. The lack of direction (like everything else) is a paramount thing. They did parking just like everything else, with the half a$$ed paramount charm. -adam12 OH NO! I can assure you that when the Paramount Folk took over they were full and complete asses. Honestly, I hope that the CF Folk are a little more respectful and cooperative with the former Paramount people than how the Paramount people treated the KECO Folk. Out of fairness, there used to be a lot of security people directing drivers where to park, up until around 2000. Also, a good amount of tram service was provided until the mid to late 1990s - you could ride to some of the closer sections and even the Passenger Pick-Up! It was reduced in the past few years, and as of this year, no trams have operated at all. The mass cost-cutting did not start right in 1993 when Paramount officially took over - it took some time.

All the existing Cedar Fair parks have their own waterparks, though Cedar Point's, Worlds of Fun's and Knott's are separately gated. The only two parks that are branded directly WITH the waterpark in its logo/name are Geauga Lake and Dorney Park. For GL and DP, they generate more of their guests with their waterparks than their ride parks do - because for the most part, there are virtually no lines in the middle of the day on the coasters, or even in the post and pre seasons. Of course I, like many others, am assuming (and hoping) the 5 parks go to their Paramount-less names here. I would be surprised if they were to, at least before September or October, altogether rid the parks of the Paramount name, replaced with new logos. Now, if employees simply say "Enjoy the rest of your day at Kings Island" as soon as tomorrow, that's not too surprising. As of now, the park's main website is stil www.pki.com, and www.kingsisland.com is a generic "redirect" site that nobody really owns, at this time. Some operational changes may be easier to pull off: longer hours (to accomodate Saturday and other big crowds), more staffing (to improve the capacity of rides, and better, faster service at food stands). I'd even like to see a non-security staff dedicated to parking/traffic control, like CP and GL have.

I bid 12:15 p.m. Friday! C'mon, hurry up!

Anybody ever have the urge to have a BM after riding a B&M?

Right now, www.kingsisland.com redirects to some generic redirect site...

I bid 12:15 p.m. Friday!

I hope you're sarcastic, but odds are, you aren't, so I must counter... I would argue that the opposite is true. Did you visit PKI or any other Paramount park this year? The staff cutbacks and the unbridled bring-a-friend-free days (including past years) don't make a guest's experience fun. Besides, why did prices at Cedar Point go down this season, for admission, food, and drink? Keep in mind that we are a capitalist economy. It's OK to make money - why run a park that loses money? Even Holiday World needs to turn a profit, even if it is a small one. Hell, Six Flags has LOST money! Some companies practice crass (excessive) capitalism: see oil companies, Viacom, CBS... Try to add up all of those empty seats that accumulate. Envision that they all add up to sending one empty train, how happy would you be? I know that some rides try to accomodate seat requests, but they can't have too many waiting for the front seat. Odds are, most guests only visit one or two parks a year. They aren't going to care that Geauga Lake's water park has the same name as Dorney Park's. Or that one's shot ride is another's Vekoma SLC of the same name. Maybe it's a reasonable way to cut costs while not necessarily hurting the guest experience.. With your (IMO low) standards, I hope you don't come back. Not to mention having to read pitiful punctuation and grammar...

http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/shows/index.cfm

The front page of PKICentral.com. Click on the word "home."

Cincinnati is a logical place to move their headquarters. A large, major international airport, and close proximity to one of their (and America's) most popular parks. Not to mention, it's just about centrally located in the U.S. But for the next couple years or so, I bet they're staying in Sandusky. As long as Dick Kinzel is CEO. The office space in Charlotte is going vacant.

Remember the Action Zone stunt show back in 1999? At the end of the shows, fire would shoot out of the water tower... and you could feel it. As an employee at Drop Zone and Congo Falls, I REALLY felt it on those HOT, busy days.

Kings Island sells Coke proucts right now, but expect it to be all Pepsi in 2007... You may see the name change and new logo as early as next month (July). It's going to be hard to phase out everything that's "PKI" and "Paramount Parks" and "Paramount's Kings Island" in a short period of time... There will most definitely be a new ride at KI in 2007, but I'd be surprised if it's any more than a large flat ride.

True, it has never said "Paramount's Kings Island" on the front of The Beast trains. From 1979-92, the Kings Island logo was placed above The Beast logo. It was removed for the 1993 season, and no new PKI logo was put on it. In 1999, for the 20th Anniversary, some art was added to the front around the logo... Then around 2000 or 01, they placed the oval around The Beast logo, with "Kings Island" on the top of the oval. No "P" word - what you see now.

I'd want a hyper: there are no B&M hypers in Ohio, and currently, Cedar Fair has no such installation by the duo. I don't really like the flying model that much, though I wouldn't mind a flyer as a second or other future B&M installation at KI. Plus, Raging Bull and Apollo's Chariot are two of my favorite steel coasters, and I appreciate their excellent capacity and relaiblity (especially compared to Intamin and some other coaster makes).

It's a good question when 2007 passes for KI (with other CF parks or just itself) will begin to be sold - this wouldn't happen until at least when Cedar Fair officially owns the 5 parks, in August or September. Another good question is when 2007 passes will be valid. Generally with Cedar Fair parks like Cedar Point, passes weren't valid until the proper season began, even though you could purchase them the fall of the year before. Processing wasn't available until winter (which could be done through the mail via renewal for existing passholders). Then again, don't be surprised if "Paramount things" are kept - but I would like to see the mail renewal brought to KI, keeping the previous photo on file.

Minus the "set" bring-a-friend free days. As evidenced with Geauga Lake in 2004 vs. the previous SFWOA - Cedar Fair didn't give away the gate... Many people I know would rather pay $30 for a fully staffed, reasonably crowded park than get in for free to see the place packed and some rides either shut down or not at full capacity.

What if it eventually becomes "The Angry Beavers Mine Ride" because of Cedar Fair getting the Nickelodeon license from the Paramount Parks deal?

15 stranded when roller coaster stops DOSWELL, Va. Parkgoers at Paramount's Kings Dominion got an unexpected thrill when a roller coaster stopped shortly after leaving its platform. Two people was injured when last night on the Volcano: The Blast Coaster. It took park workers and members of the Hanover County Fire Department more than two hours to remove everyone. WAVY-TV

Another reason for these wide, concrete pathways? Crowds. The narrow pathways may have character, but on busy days, they can create problems - especially for staff that need to respond to an incident, such as a ride that is down, a fight, an ill/injured guest, etc. Last Saturday, during BeastBuzz at KI, you could hardly move on portions of International Street, especially in front of LaRosa's. While the current layout of I-street affords tree-lined seating, the old layout from 1972-82 was much more open, like that of an actual street (albeit with asphalt).

Wow, is Cedar Fair the last "competent" large park chain left? I see Elitch Gardens and Darien Lake being let go as a whole. Magic Mountain? More like the park shrinking, in number of rides/coasters and land.

Speed Lane is available Saturdays and Sundays only, now (June) through mid-August. They expect Saturdays (and sometimes, Sundays) to be the busiest days, obviously. I got my Speed Lane tickets last Saturday, though they were redundant because of the light crowds due to the light rain and cool temps.

After doing a fair amount of iTunes research (I remember hearing it once, before) The song you are looking for may be: "Spybreak!" by Propellerheads. iTunes Music Store link

Not every ride has great demand, for one. You can get on Top Gun, Adventure Express, Racer (uh, maybe) and Vortex relatively quickly because of good capacitty - especially on busy days. Also, only those select rides had special entrances and/or lanes created for this purpose - because of their popularity and/or slightly lower capacity. If the new Cedar Fair owners decide to ditch the "Speed Lane" or any reservation system, I would be OK with that: as long as they do their best to send trains/vehicles quickly, and fill every available seat. Having a single rider line on the Stunt Track, Delirium, Drop Zone (maybe others too) would be great.

If you decide to do The Beast first thing, whether you are part of the 'ACE Wakback' or not, you may want to head for Flight of Fear after riding Beast, because it tends to hold a good line practically all day - even when the park is relatively empty due to lower capacity. Skipping Vortex and/or Italian Job wouldn't hurt - Vortex is more an 'anytime' ride as well. Tomb Raider, if you want to hit it, should also be done earlier. They don't load all the seats, and often takes a LONG time to load! Then again, if you want Action Zone rides, definitely do Face/Off first, then Drop Zone. Top Gun is one you could practically do anytime, reasonable capacity and since it is a bit of a hike from the midway, isn't the most popular either (but STILL worth doing!). Everything else, I'd probably take my time and go from ride to ride. If you're walking from Action Zone to head to Vortex, you'd might as well do Adventure Express and Racer on the way.