malem

But it is the west, right? Rivertown at Kings Island isn't themed around the Old West. (Although Frontiertown at Cedar Point is.)

This is happening next week! We are meeting at Great Wolf Lodge (next to Kings Island in Mason, Ohio) on December 6-7, 2013 to have fun and celebrate with each other around the holidays. The highlight of the event is the huge indoor waterpark, featuring five major water slides (including a water coaster) and numerous other activities. We reserved a very good rate on a block of deluxe “Loft Fireplace” suites, and we're sharing the cost equally among those staying in the rooms. The final cost per person will be between $35 and $43 based on final occupancy. Three of our rooms are on the top floor with a large balcony overlooking Kings Island, including construction on Banshee and The Bat. (That price includes an overnight stay on December 6 and two days (Dec 6-7) of waterpark access. Even if you prefer to return home at night or to join us for only one day, your best value is still to share in the cost of the rooms.) As a reminder, if you haven't paid for your share of the room yet, please do so by this Friday. Contact me via phone or e-mail if there are any questions. For anyone who still wants to join us, there are still a few hotel beds and wristbands available. E-mail me if you're interested or want details: I'll be sending an e-mail to everyone within the next week with final documents and instructions. Make sure to bring the printed room confirmation (PDF) to show at the parking gate if asked. Rooms might not be available until after 4:00pm, so make sure to pack a small bag with your swimsuit if you’re arriving early. Google Doc with confirmed participants & arrival times: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArgvxwYrfA7sdGlKbE1FYzc1RTFidFVzdnpUTDVqd1E&usp=sharing#gid=0 (Add your ETA.) Itinerary, Friday, December 6: All day: Hotel check-in and wristband pick-up. (Arrange a meeting time in advance if you’re assigned to a shared room.) 12:00pm-1:00pm: Hotel lobby meetup (Get your wristband, say "Hi") 1:00pm: Waterpark access begins 4:00pm: Hotel rooms become available (Your wristband is your room key.) 8:00pm: Waterpark closes 8:30pm-??: Treats/party/etc (Some 21+ will be sharing a toast. ID enforced; virgin drinks available.) Itinerary, Saturday, December 7: All day: Pick up your wristband if you didn't get it on Friday. (Arrange a meeting time in advance.) 8:30am-9:30am: Breakfast (Hotel buffet and/or carpool to Frisch's) 9:30am: Hotel check-out (Everything must be removed from rooms) 9:30am-10:00am: Hotel lobby meetup (Get your wristband, say "Hi") 10:00am: Waterpark access begins 1:00pm: Group photo @ “Fort Mackenzie” play structure 1:45pm-3:00pm: Lunch/dinner at Cracker Barrel or Golden Corral as a grou 8:00pm: Waterpark closes

See also Thunder Canyon at CP. Neither shoes nor shirts are required by the park on that ride.

^ You're too late ; he renewed at KI on 10/27!

Says the person who had way too much fun manning the buckets on the bridge.

... when the construction thread just can't seem to get off the topic of toilets.

^ Water would be drained from the supply lines. The drain traps (i.e. in sinks and toilets) would be filled with antifreeze and sealed.

Maybe... if 32 people from here get in line at the same time. We won't know what will be happening regarding reserved seats, filming, etc. Park officials will be extremely busy with actual media that day, so I doubt that any park reps will be able to do anything with us. Enthusiasts aren't the focus of Media Day, and KICentral isn't a paid coaster club that will be recognized for the event.

Tipping one of those over is cruel and dangerous. Aside from the raw sewage, consider injuries potentially sustained in the fall and toxic chemicals used to treat the waste in the tank.

My guess is that the daily walk-up ticket price is $45 primarily to make season passes and discounted tickets seem like a better value. Considering discounted HW (~$36) and KI (~$29) ticket prices at KY Kroger stores, I'd expect discounted adult one-day tickets to be under $30. If KK is a success, it will be interesting to see how HW's new management and KI respond in future seasons. With the focus on the waterpark, Soak City's offerings will certainly look lackluster in comparison.

Wordpress was an interesting choice for their website. Even more interesting is that static pages don't seem to be cached. Twenty minutes in, and it's already throwing 503 errors. Good thing they soft launched it on a Saturday night.

^ With the huge interest in Banshee and The Bat this off-season, construction tours for enthusiast groups are very likely. Beyond that, it's too early to say. There is a cost for the December 6-7 Holiday Party since it's at Great Wolf Lodge, but we're keeping it as inexpensive as we possibly can. Each person's share will be between $35 and $42 based on occupancy, and this includes waterpark access for two days and an (optional) overnight stay. A party, a "white elephant" gift exchange, and other fun activities are being planned as well. Reservations for the holiday party have already been made, and our block of shared rooms is mostly filled. There's currently space for a maximum of 6 more people, and those spots are first-come, first-served. (You can also book your own room with the hotel, albeit at a higher cost.)

Mine was most likely the Scooby Zoom. (The Great Pumpkin Coaster) Which slide at Blizzard Beach did you ride first?

Sales tax was almost certainly charged in this case. I believe that AAA includes any sales or admission tax in their listed prices for attraction tickets as a convenience for their customers. Sales tax would generally apply based on where the ticket is exchanged for something of value (admission at Dollywood's front gate), not based on where the ticket is physically purchased (AAA store in Ohio, where admission is not taxed). The same thing happens if you buy a gift card in one state and redeem it for merchandise in another.

Don told us to keep our calendars open the weekend before the Super Bowl. This would be January 25-26, 2014. In any case, some form of event after the holidays appears likely. Right now, we're still thinking about the holiday party at Great Wolf Lodge. See the threads in the meetups forum for information on that: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/28551-kic-holiday-party-itinerary/ http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/28564-kic-holiday-party-reservations-35-42person-126-127/ The holiday party will not include a KI construction tour, but we're hoping to have some form of activity outside of the waterpark. We should have good views of Banshee and The Bat from some of our top-floor suites.

Like Great Wolf Lodge?

^ It's an enthusiast event at Cedar Point. See https://www.cedarpoint.com/rides/Calendar-of-Events/CoasterMania

See this topic with 9 pages of KI dreams: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/16173-kings-island-dreams

^^ Cedar Fair signed a very lucrative, multi-year contract after their financial success with Accesso in 2012. The previous in-house system was remarkably bad, and Accesso improved online sales figures significantly. Accesso's backend system is actually rather solid, and it integrates well with many different ticketing systems. The problems most experience are with the Flash-based front-end. Most notably, the choice of flash completely excludes mobile devices from accessing the fully functional ticket store. Accesso's mobile site leaves a lot to be desired, but it has improved significantly since they launched it. The core problem is that it's a secondary website that receives less attention than the main desktop website.

^^ A website that is efficient for desktop users is often inconvenient for mobile users, and vice versa. Desktop sites are usually too wide for mobile devices and have targets (links, buttons, etc) that are too small. Mobile sites present a smaller amount of information at once, and they are specifically designed to respond to mobile gestures. In 2013, a website should be designed to function properly on both desktops and mobile devices, presenting appropriate style and behavior for each case. Cedar Fair's websites redirect to an entirely separate mobile site created by ticketing vendor Accesso. A major problem with the implementation of this approach is that the mobile site lacks much of the content and functionality of the main desktop site. Don told us at the September KIC event that the (Accesso) mobile site is a top priority going forward, and it has improved a lot (in 2013) from where it was in 2012 when it launched. I would expect things to be even better next season, even if they don't get to full parity.

^ Oops. I checked visitkingsisland.com before posting that, but I neglected to search elsewhere. The only tally I had seen was Diamondback's record-breaking number.

^ With iOS, you can use another (Safari-based) browser from the App Store to view the site in desktop mode. But, you're right, treating mobile websites as second-class citizens is completely unacceptable in 2013. Here are the numbers from the blog post: Kings Island's 2013 rider counts have yet to be released, but here's last year's for comparison. CP's numbers are probably much more accurate than KI's, considering that CP uses turnstiles at nearly every ride. (Though some people do spin those for fun.)

Last night, I had a dream that I was at a KICentral meetup at some amusement park. (I wonder what prompted that.) Somehow, there was a ride that looked like a 300' tall version of Flight Commander, which everyone rode. The ride dispatched before I was restrained or even seated properly, but I managed to sit down and fasten the restraint mid-cycle. Then I woke up suddenly, meaning that I could actually recall the dream. I suppose this is what I get for staying up until 1:30am sending messages about the holiday party, looking at LoraX's old KI photos, and reading another article about the 'Vortex' incident in NC.

This is very good news. They have a great team, and it's clear with this announcement that food improvements will continue to be a high priority. Enjoyable meals are certainly part of many guests' "best day of the year". Anyone lucky enough to be invited to Banshee's VIP reception will certainly be in for a treat.

The site is again fast for me, after being incredibly slow for the past ~2 hours. EDIT: what Terp said