TheLip2

See the video here: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000103372&play=1

Ride Mantis it's a decent coaster. Skip Iron Dragon. Skip Disaster Transport. Delirum is same as Max-Air except larger. Ride Cedar Fair Downs and Sky Hawk Ride Top Thrill Dragster in the front seat. Big difference, it's like all the speed and being able to see so much overloads your brain. It will freak you out in the front, but it will all be over before you can have a heart attack so don't worry. Call Maui Sands Hotel. You will be able to get a ridiculous good rate there for the type of room you will get. Get to the park for early ride time if you have a pass or stay at a resort. There is also late ride time on Tuesdays for platinum pass holders, they alternate weeks between Millenium and TTD. I power rode TTD 4x in a hour an hour. Ride Maverick EARLY in the morning first thing. Park in the resorts lot in the back, tell the parking attendant that you want to park back there. Raptor and Wicked Twister will have short lines in the late afternoon - avoid the front of the park in the morning. Go out to the beach. Eat at Pinks once.

Has The Beast always had four sets of brakes? First drop, second drop, thru the shed and after the last lift before the helix? I don't remember all of those brakes being there or at least I am pretty darn sure they weren't anywhere near as forceful.

I was at the park last Sunday evening and the Delirium was down. I was at the park this Sunday and Delirium was down. I was at the park on Monday and again Delirium was down.

They can cut grooves or put scatches into the fiberglass, which makes the formerly smooth surface not so smooth. Now the next guest goes down the now damaged slide and gets scratched or a rough and uncomfortable ride. This has already happened to the point where many of the slides are somewhat painfull to go down.

I spent portions of the last two days in Soak City. A few impressions and thoughts: 1) Love the big waves in the new wave pool. My first day I thought the tubes were a serious problem. Not as bad today, and I truly did see a few times where guest were in peril, although nowhere near drowning. Lots of feet to the head and face. I thought about the pros and cons of this situation long and hard and really can't think of a great solution. Volleyball courts and people using them. Good to see. 2) Love the new paint, everything looks sharp, clean and new. 3) New entrance. Nice 4) Band by the bar. Again, nice touch. 5) New path. Greatly needed and a great addition to the park, but WHY in God's creation did they WALL OFF THE OLD PATH? Couldn't they have just kept both paths intact? To me this was a boneheaded move. 6) Lazy river = action river. I see both sides of this argument and truly see the merits of both. I personally thought the old lazy river was nice, but needed a few more OPPORTUNITIES like the waterfall to get wet. The mandatory beating that you take in many sections is totally obnoxious though. Clearly a second river would have been a much better solution. As it is, I don't think any particular need is met. (ie. Not enough action or wetness for one crowd and very difficult to avoid it for the "lazy" crowd.) Many of the new water effects are already broken or have been disabled by the park, either way it reflects poorly on what was billed as a brand new attraction. Also, I believe that the original entrance should have been retained IN ADDITION TO the new one, as well as the original path as previously mentioned. Another boneheaded move in my opinion. 7) Changing rooms. I can't vouch for the womens, but I have an opinion on the Men's. The main changing room doesn't really have any private changing area. You have benches in a giant room and if you use that area people look at you like you are a pervert for being naked there. Other options are shower stalls and the most popular option of people changing in a toilet stall. I have two problems with this: 1) I don't want to change on a wet floor in front of a toilet in a men's room for what I hope are obvious reasons. 2) I actually needed to use a toilet on Sunday, but was unable to because the stalls were full of people changing their clothes instead of using the toilet. The changing stalls connected to the bathrooms by the new lockers closest to the new wave pool..... they are a fenced in, empty room with a FILTHY, STAINED concrete floor. PLEASE pressure wash this area! Would it be difficult or unreasonable to think there might be a bench or chair in that area? 8) Stairs going up the Pineapple Pipeline are extremely slippery and are desperately in need of a new coat of slip free surface. They appear to have some mildew on them obviously due to the proximity of the nearby trees which contributes/causes the problem.

I just wish Rivertown SOUNDED like Rivertown instead of Popville.

If anyone who has read this thread and goes to the park tomorrow or otherwise has some input on the crowd size in the early evening tomorrow please update this thread, Thanks, Scott

I was just wondering what everyone's opinions of July 4th crowds might be like. I was considering going up tomorrow night after I get off work at 5p and was trying to decide if it would be worth it to drag the girlfriend and my little bro from Big Brother Big Sister program up to see the expanded fireworks and catch a few rides if it isn't packed. Opinions? I was thinking it might not be that bad since the heat has been keeping crowds down and a lot of people seem to be traveling for the 4th, but how many are traveling to KI for the 4th. Lol

Great deal at a place called Maui Sands right now. They were open 4-5 years ago with an indoor waterpark. Place went bankrupt and say for 2 years empty. Now the place has been bought again and reopened, but without the waterpark operating. The rooms are very nice. Some of them have bunk beds for 4 kids. I stayed 2 nights in a King room with 4 bunk beds, fridge, microwave. Total $100 bucks and change. They have a minimal breakfast and a nice bar that will probably not be open. Check them out on trip advisor.com the reviews are pretty dead on except the ones posted by people with Indian names from the Baltimore, MD or VA area. Those are the owners and friends or the owners. Call them directly and ask for a better rate than the one on the internet and they will likely comply.

Yes, you did say when Diamondback would be operational again, and lord behold, you were correct. Good job, would you like a pat on the back? Now on to Son of Beast, you don't know what is going to happen to him. It has been stated time and time again, very few people, if anyone actually know what is going to happen in the long run. Son of Beast has been sitting SBNO going on 4 years now. The Texas Giant makeover is a really good possibility. It worked for Texas Giant, didn't it? I'd imagine that Cedar Fair wouldn't like to just throw away a giant investment like Son of Beast. The Texas Giant makeover is a big possibility, but so is being torn down. So on that note, your source must be pretty high up in the Cedar Fair chain of command. If this is true, and he did in fact share this information with you, he's taking a big risk on his job. Cedar Fair doesn't like it when their secrets get out. Hell, they don't like it when an employee tells a guest why a ride is down. Trust me, I know first hand. So, if all of this is true, he'd probably tell you to keep your mouth shut because I know he doesn't want to loose his job; someone that high up must bring home a pretty penny. I know if it was me, I'd make sure you kept your mouth shut by not telling you in the first place. So, Jr for Birdy, Zach now waiting to see what happens next.. I disagree with almost everything you have said here, so basically you lose credibility. The Son of Beast will not reopen and while those exact words were not used, it was very clear that the ride is done and it came from the second highest source. (The CEO - the highest source GOD made has made no comment on the matter.)

I totally forgot two other things that he said. He asked what my favorite park was and I told him that I really liked Kings Dominion. He then went on to tell me how great the GM Pat Jones is down there. When he was asking me about visits to Cedar Point and discussing that park he said something like, "Be honest with me, are you mad at me?" I said, "Mad at you for what?" He said, "For taking out Wildcat." I replied that I did not even know that they were taking out Wildcat. He then asked if I ever got to ride it and I said that I had. That was pretty much the end of that part.

There were five guys in the group total. Don was not even around.... Logically, I do not see them announcing the demise of SOB until they can make it part of a story that is positive. (ie. What you are getting . . . not what they are taking away.) He knew he could tell because anything he told me would only be considered rumor. They aren't going to take it "public" to the media until they can USE the media. I think that you will find during the season that you will get more reports of guests saying the same thing. Mr. Ouimet clearly doesn't consider it a "state secret" like his predecessors. You should also note that Mr. Ouimet walked away from the group to talk to me. No one from the group followed him or came over to listen to what he was talking about. When I walked away I did not look back, but as I noted, Greg Scheid then caught up with me after I had walked 100-150 feet away from the original conversation. He also came alone and told me that Mr. Ouimet told him about us. So, apparently he went back to the group and was telling his GM about our conversation to some extent. I would like to know if Matt told Greg that he should invite us or if it was Greg's idea after Matt told him of our conversation. Personally I think he was TRAINING his GM. I have never seen Greg out in the park before and I have frequently seen Don in the park, but on this day Don was not present. Infer what you will, but CHANGE is happening. There is a new sheriff in town and his name is Ouimet.

I am giving this too much credence, but I can tell you that my girlfriend heard most of the conversation. She may have missed the very beginning. I am a 43 year old man with a house, friends, good job, nice car. I don't need any extra attention in my life, so there is no motive. My girlfriend is a 34 year old school teacher and a single mother of 3 children. I have plenty of drama with my job, just saying, i meet and deal with more people (difficult) in a day than most of you will in a month. I don't need a computer to socialize or hide behind. Socializing is my job.

Strangely enough I expected it. I told Kristin (girlfriend) that when I told her I thought I should post that info here. I should also note that I told him that I was an enthusiast and that I like to keep up with the parks and that I go online and read at the forums, etc. He knew exactly what he was doing when he said what he said. This man is extremely intelligent. When he finished making the remark about the SOB I asked if that was why he had came down and was in the park today. He said something to the effect of , "that and a few other things." The way he said it to me made it sound like the "other things" were more important than the SOB and I would also note that when he made that remark it was the only time I felt like he was holding back or being intentionally vague or secretive.

Suspended LMI

This is the second time I essentially have been called a liar here. I will think long and hard before posting here again. All I can tell you is that Matt Ouimet's body language, facial expression and words clearly were saying that the Son of Beast is gone. Believe me, don't believe me, it really doesn't matter. Yes, I even found it strange he would tell me that, especially since I never really asked any questions about the park or the future other than when I asked him about a Luminocity type show and that was only because he brought that show up to begin with. I would also not that Greg said that taking guests up into the International Restaurant would be a regular occurence. He stated that they would be asking about 20 guests to go up there on any given night. I would also note that he did not say exactly how frequently. He used the word "regularly" so infer what you will. If anyone would like to go on the record and wager a friendly adult beverage with me (To be consumed at Hank's) regarding the future of SOB please feel free to state so below and I will do my best to hold you to your word. Lol I will also stress that Matt was very charming, gracious and easy to talk with. More than anything he was asking a lot of questions about where I lived, favorite park, how often I came, whether I had a pass, etc. I did bring up the fact that I never eat in the park and that I appreciated what appeared to be an effort to improve the quality of the food this year. He stated that the prices were out of line with the quality and that the quality had to improve or the price had to be lower. He seemed to be saying that they would be striving for better food at roughly the same price points. He also said that he thought that the season passes provided exceptional value. It seemed that he might be indicating that those prices might be higher in the future. I have a been a casino dealer/supervisor for the last 16 years so I might be fairly adept at reading body language and communicating with people and being able to read between the lines a little based on body language, facial expressions, etc. - lol Mr. Ouimet appeared to be VERY SINCERE, extremely energetic and eager to learn from the guests. Believe what you want.

I just wanted to share a brief story of my experience at the park yesterday. Me and my girlfriend went to KI yesterday and arrived around 11:30a. The park was starting to get very crowded and since we both have passes (Platinum for me and gold for her.) we only weren't going to stick around the park long with the longer lines. We decided to ride The Racer and then we were walking down coney mall and I saw some suits. I didn't recognize them and I was trying to get a look at their name tags. One guy was named Mike. I continued walking and then realized that there were a few more suits just ahead of the other two gentleman. I stopped and was talking to my girlfriend and then I looked back at the suits and I immediatley recognized Mr. Ouimet. (I saw the video from Cedar Point a few days ago that someone linked here.) I told my girlfriend and then I started to approach him and I said, "Mr. Ouimet?" He approaced me with his hand extended and greeted me. He asked me a few questions about the park, where I lived, did I have a pass, etc. We made some small talk about the park and I told him I was a shareholder of FUN, etc.He discussed Luminocity briefly and he was VERY excited about that. I asked if the show was a hit would be seeing something similar here in the future and without saying yes he intimated that we would. Without my asking he also said, (I will not quote because I cannot remember for certain EXACTLY what he said) We need to do something for you guys down here to replace Son of Beast because there just isn't anything we can do with it. I thanked for for his time and somewhat starstuck and amazed at the man walked away with my girlfriend. We got about 150 feet away when Greg Scheid comes up and says that Mr. Ouimet said that we were loyal fans of the park, he then asks if we are going to be staying all day and I remark that I don't think so. He continues on and remarks that that was too bad because he wanted to invite us up into the International Restaurant at park closing to view the fireworks and for free soda and pizza. I was thinking to myself what a fantastic gesture! We did leave the park and we did not return which I feel like is a decision that I will be regret for a long time. I also kicked myself in the a$$ for not getting my picture with Mr. Ouimet. (I am not normally a guy that cares about famous people or moviestars - I don't care if I see them or I don't, but Mr. Ouimet is in charge of a corporation and chain of parks that I am emotionally invested in. Lol) Anyway, that is my short story. I hope you enjoyed.

Thanks to all who have commented to this thread.

Don't like it all. Think it is absolutely the dumbest a$$ thing I have ever witnessed.

To answer your first question..... Yes Welcome to KIC Well, I guess I am stupid for assuming that IF a member knew that they would actually tell me. I also know how to spell P&G, but it's late and I made a mistake. (hell . . . I even own stock) I thought someone could tell me about the past and maybe someone would know about the current year AND be willing to share that information here.

Can anyone tell me how much a season pass (Gold and Platinum) cost at the park during the PG private day? Also, if one were to attend one of these days can they buy passes for people who aren't physically in the park that day? (ie. Other family members or for gifts)

If you ask them for a location they almost always accomodate you. It stops the bottleknecks and trains are fuller. What is the problem? I applaud the change and I never sit on the wheels. If you want to complain lets get into excessive trim breaking out the wazzoo.

Call me crazy, but I would not have bought the park with those terms. I can understand Paramount protecting their licensed themes, etc. I can also understand FUN not wanting to fork over a bunch of dough paying for licensed rides, but SOMEONE should have looked at that ride, which was an AWESOME signature attraction for the park and realized that you couldn't remove all those elements and keep the ride quality. In light of those facts it would have been reasonable to either ask Paramount to remove SOME of the restrictions OR pay the licensing fee to Paramount. One could even have argued to Paramount that a top signature attraction would become next to useless without the theming and negotiated a reduced licensing fee based on that argument. How did Kings Dominion keep their fire effects? I think thdy could add some natural gas fire effects in the existing building with a little work. Short burts of some flames as seen at many concerts indoors. Trans Siberian Orchestra even comes to mind. It could be themed Crypt, but fire would resemble hell.

I want to promise you something. I am a 42 year old man with a lot better things to do than make up stories for whatever reason people make up stories. If I erred in any way it was in using quotations since I am pretty sure those weren't the EXACT words exchanged. It did happen and I wasn't really even watching the Fast Lane stuff during the day or anything. I simply saw the signs and was looking at how some of it was configured, but overall wasn't paying a lot of attention to how many people were utilizing it or anything else. If i would have been alone I might have found some people who had them and asked questions or watched more closely, but I was shepherding a 9 and 12 year old and it was really hot. Again, I was caught off guard by the whole thing. Started to walk to the boat and was stopped by the loading attendant. The attendant that unloads the boats was talking to the people in the boat for an inordinate amount of time. I was watching this trying to see "what was going on." That is when I had the short conversation with the loading attendant. (the one that asks how many in your party) My first instinct was that something had happened negatively for them and they were being aloud to reride. If anyone wonders more about me since I have been accused of possible making the story up I will give you a quick bio: 42 year old male. Graduated Lawrenceburg High School. Attended Purdue University for MET. (Did not graduate) Worked in the machine tool industry for over 6 years in the engineering dept of US Drillhead as a detail draftsmen and CAD designer/detailer. Currently employed by Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg as a dual rate Dealer / Floor Supervisor I have been working in that capacity for 15 years in a very stressful, competitive and customer service oriented environment. I own my own house / car. Sorry for going off topic. The moderator asked for suggestions for Kings Island: Utilize a Disney type virtual queau system. I understand all your points about cost and staffing and seasonal operations. They could only use it during crowded or peak days. I believe it could be implemented cost effectively. You do not. That is fine.I just believe that companies are run by bean counters who can prove how much money they save by cutting and controlling costs. It is very difficult for anyone to prove that the cuts and cheapness and reduced customer service have COST the company money. They are intangible items. The beancounter says, "The economy is down." Blames everything on the economy when in fact he is in part at fault for losing customers and revenue.