malem

I'm wondering if there will be a loose change/items shield on the part of Banshee the goes over the Action Zone midway. Just noticed that you are almost at 1,000 posts malem. Congrats!! That would depend on the dynamics of the ride at that point. Unlike Diamondback, there's no floor for dropped articles to collect on before the next curve. It's hard to believe that I've posted here that many times. Now that you've brought up tallies, everyone's going to be expecting that milestone post to be something amazing. Thanks a lot. Just as long as I don't pull a Don Helbig and stop one short.

Very rare, but superb! I particularly enjoyed the halibut tacos and that dessert selection. I'd love more of those at the park, at (almost) any price. The food was internal to KI rather than from an outside caterer, according to the event staff. This gives me very high hopes for the future of FUN food. They definitely have some talent!

^ You do have a point. I was considering the risk of a ride system failing catastrophically. Though Diamondback does get inspected a lot more often than a park bench. And frankly, I'm more worried about loose articles when I'm standing near the Eiffel Tower. (They'd have a lot more momentum.)

What's the worse that can happen from sitting on a park bench at Kings Island? It could collapse. A scrape or a splinter could result in an infection. A tree could fall on top of it. The ground could collapse underneath it. All exceedingly unlikely, but risks nonetheless.

Safety-wise, I'm more worried about sitting on a park bench than I am about riding Diamondback. Had there been any problem with the restraint, the ride would not have reopened following the reported incident(s). Before worrying about multiple restraint failure on Diamondback, there are many more likely dangers to be concerned with. Like being struck by lightning while inside Kings Island Theater. (On a serious note, lightning is a very real danger outdoors. If the park announces severe weather, take cover!)

I'd prefer some unique food options in the Festhaus, perhaps matching the theme a bit better than "mall food court". If you can think of another place to stick Panda Express, it can stay in my quickly-thought-out version of the ten-year plan.

Ok, I'll bite. It's good that we aren't in charge of the park's 5-year plan. 2014: With the addition of Banshee, rename and refresh Action Zone. Rename Drop Tower and Flight Deck with more marketable names. 2015: Get rid of franchised food in the Festhaus; revamp all menus. Add a high-capacity, signature attraction to the waterpark. (Modern slide complex or water coaster) 2016: Add a second full-service restaurant. Introduce 3 classic flat rides. Completely re-theme the dark ride. (After 13 years, it's overdue.) 2017: Add a music/light show involving the Royal Fountains at 9:30pm, preceding fireworks. Cosmetic improvements to IS, fountains and Coney Mall. Introduce a large, thrilling flat ride. (Top Spin?) 2018: Replace 2-3 rides in the kids' area with new ones offering better capacity. Add a heavily-themed log flume to Rivertown. Cosmetic improvements in Rivertown. 2019: Add another large, thrilling roller coaster with a unique experience and excellent placement. (Let someone else figure out the manufacturer and model. But not YoungStud.) 2020: Move Backlot to a smaller park, replacing it with 1-3 family flat rides and an indoor/outdoor dining area near the tower. 2021: Install a heavily-themed, family-friendly roller coaster or dark ride to compliment Adventure Express and replace Backlot. Start work on cosmetic improvements for next season. 2022: For the anniversary season, add nothing new but make major refurbishments throughout the park. Paint jobs on major rides should be finished by this season. 2023: Either Invertigo or Firehawk should be near the end of its functional life by now, so remove it. Install another large, thrilling coaster to complement the park's lineup. (If 2019's was not made out of wood, this one should be.) By the way, everyone tearing down Vortex and/or Flight Deck should prepare for the combined verbal wrath of thedevariouseffect and homestar92 at the next KIC meet-up.

I think I met you in the Bier Gartens, then. Glad you decided to join!

Not only would you fail to add anything to the waterpark for ten years, but you'd shrink it? Coming from you, I'm shocked!

I was there twice in 2002, when it was SFWoA. I remember decently sized crowds throughout the park, so I was shocked when it was sold to Cedar Fair for pennies on the dollar just a couple years later. The layout was far from ideal, but I loved the atmosphere of the park and the unique collection of rides. The final closure wasn't a shock to me. After being overbuilt into a super-regional destination, it was suddenly positioned yet again as a local, family park. Unfortunately, Cedar Fair wasn't able to successfully market the downgraded park. It was not easy to convince people to pay significantly more to get into a much smaller park. In just a few weeks, the entire "wildlife" section was mothballed, headcount was trimmed significantly, Cleveland bus service was terminated, and all branding was removed. All marketing in Columbus (and presumably elsewhere outside of Cleveland) ceased immediately. They produced several bad commercials and made some major PR blunders upon reopening the park as Geauga Lake. To be fair, Cedar Fair made an honest attempt to turn the park around after their hurried initial season. A major investment was made in Wildwater Kingdom on the former SeaWorld/wildlife property, improvements were made to operations & cleanliness, and marketing fought to regain the (local) customers that SIX lost. Unfortunately, attendance was low and continued to slide. Continued downsizing of the overbuilt park was necessary, but it seemed to hurt attendance even more. The season was shortened, Halloween events were cancelled, and the new Wildwater Kingdom became by far the most popular area of the park. In 2006, even more shocking news came - Cedar Fair was taking out massive debt to pay cash for Paramount Parks. Immediately, the extremely conservative company had debt far exceeding its annual gross revenue. It had also added five successful parks, all in need of major investment. Closing GL presented an opportunity to sell under-performing assets, provide attractions for its new properties, and cut losses on a property that repeatedly failed to turn around.

Here are some topics like this, in chronological order: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/69-what-if-you-owned-kings-island/ http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/1598-if-you-were-boss/ http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/1877-what-if-you-were-kingqueen-of-pki-for-a-week/ http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/7280-if-we-owned-the-park/ http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/8078-if-you-were-cedar-fair-what-would-you-do/ http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/23581-if-you-owned-cf-how-would-you-operate-it/ http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/25981-what-would-you-do/ Interesting, perhaps, to see how answers to this question have evolved.

^^^ The spin-the-wheel game in front of Vortex has worked out to $3 per ride on average, considering that each ticket is good for two riders. That's about one ride's fraction of a Fast Lane pass, so I consider that very reasonable. The problem with casinos is that they're a spectacularly bad deal that most players can't afford. On average, each dollar you win costs much more than a dollar. There are some spectacularly "bad" deals at amusement parks too - the guessing game, CP plinko, and many others. Of course, those games have intangible payouts as well. A good age/weight guesser can provide a group with a lot of entertainment for that $5, for example. As long as you're happy with what you get for your money, and you can afford it, there's nothing inherently wrong with taking a chance.

Tapatalk signatures are appended to the comment itself, so they don't disappear. With the desktop theme, you see both signatures. The energy in that crowd was amazing. Cedar Point's plinko at Gatekeeper and Millennium Force is $5, and your chance of winning a front-of-the-line pass is less than 20%. Furthermore, the front-of-the-line pass is only good for the attraction featured on the game. Hopefully things are better here.

^ Ha. The freefall actually caught me by surprise, as I wasn't paying attention to that slide's layout. Someone else in line told me to do the middle one when I said it was my first time.

Intamin aquatrax? You and your Intamins. No, he means something like a ProSlide Rocket/Mammoth or a Master Blaster. Really, a water slide powered over uphill sections.

Political pundits start talking about the next presidential election before a newly-elected president is inaugurated. When we finally learn what the future holds, it's only natural to wonder, "and then what?". Banshee reflects a direction for the park and for the company. It's not too early to wonder where this might lead us, even though it's certainly premature to restart the debate on coaster models and manufacturers. Soak City needs another signature attraction to compliment the ProSlide Tornado. Probably with support for Fast Lane. (See Worlds of Fun.) My only problem with a water coaster would be that Soak City would probably close for weather whenever I'd try to go over there to marathon it.

If you don't like water up your nose, don't ride the middle slide of the "Pineapple Pipeline" complex. It's listed as a "moderate thrill (3/5)" according to visitkingsisland.com. It's not. Water up my nose is one of the few things about water attractions that genuinely scare me. Anything in that water has a direct path into my body at that point.

The few times I've ridden the mat slide, I've lied down in the tube and forced myself (slowly) forward. Less risk of abrasion, flipping, or ending up on the mat in a bad position that way, though I doubt BB1 or jcgoble3 would approve. It sort of defeats the whole "racing" thing. My only bad experience was when I had the mat too far in front of me. That caused me to lift my legs to avoid hurting my knees, which evidently was not a good riding position. Thankfully, the mild back pain subsided in a minute or two. Usually, I avoid Soak City entirely. A couple tens of seconds of thrill usually isn't worth the wait, the soaking with water containing way too much urine & sunscreen, or the climb.

A discussion about "what's next" happens after every major announcement, but this thread started on a rather bad note. Perhaps we could continue in another thread?

I really hope you're joking. That is the last name anyone would put on a Drop Tower, especially in this market!

Your enthusiasm really shows in your trip reports. Excellent, with amazing pictures, as usual! Thanks a lot for writing this! I've never seen someone so happy about a ride going down.

In addition to being the longest, it will be the fastest non-launched inverted coaster, with an elevation change of over 200 feet. Is that not sufficient to call it the "invert king"? (rather, "invert queen", in this case) More importantly, would going 5mph faster, just to break Wicked Twister's record, even matter for the ride experience? As Don mentioned in the construction thread, a great ride experience is more important than the statistics. By the way, pictures and renderings don't do justice to the area that Banshee will cover. Dropping into that valley for the second half of the ride is going to be incredible.

Yesterday's Tweetup prize was the best ever. Just saying.

The ride looks incredible, and that announcement was amazing. Standing on the site looking down into the valley was particularly impressive. It's going to use the terrain extremely well. I'd definitely recommend going on the KICentral construction tour, if and when one is announced. I'm pretty sure that Cedar Point fans are going to be jealous. Yeah, winning those badges was really nice. (Thanks again, Don!) I didn't know I was that recognizable on here.

There had been very little rain here at the park.