Delirium_Guy

And to reinstate what Interpreter said, neither are in a position to even *think* about buying a park or few. Cedar Fair can barely handle what they currently have. A-B is just trying maintain control of the company and are cutting back expenses HARDCORE.....including operations in the Parks. - Todd

I would agree that the food and the quality of the food is perhaps the best in the amusement industry. One of my favorite places to eat in any Park happens to be in SeaWorld Orlando at Voyagers. Amazing pasta and pizza there! The A-B parks have always been held to a higher standard, one that could be learned from by Six Flags and Cedar Fair. One of the cornerstones for all the Parks is QUALITY. They truly excel in that in all areas. Food, shows, attractions. Take a look at Dar Kastle at BGE....tell me where else other than Disney or Universal will you find a ride that is as immersive and themed as that? I've seen some concept art for the aquarium and lagoon area that Manta will encompass.....its breath taking. Very detailed and once again completely immerses the guests in the experience. The shows are a step above whats out there, however I'm hard pressed to find anyone who does entertainment better than Disney in terms of the Park experience. None of their night shows can be touched, period. :-) - Todd

Yeah, the DJ's and stuff are a bit out of the usual to find, but they seem to be getting more and more popular with the guests. Last night had a ton of people up on the Oyster Bridge dancing, I was very surprised. Mistify still utilizes the mist curtains, except they have 3 of them spread across the lagoon....allows more guests a better view. No lasers on this one, but lots of pyro and fire effects to dance along with the fountains in the center. As for Universal, its very aggravating that they have such early closes. Up until Memorial Day, both Parks were on a 6PM close. They switched to 8PM on Memorial Day, with Sea World switching to 10PM. Last weekend Universal bumped up to 9PM. 4th of July FINALLY brings them to a 10PM close, then again SeaWorld switches to an *11PM* close for the next 3 weeks! - Todd

I never got to see the old night show you are referring to, but the Mistify today is a completely different breed of show entirely. The show encompasses the entire lagoon in the Park. If you didn't stop to watch, you missed out on a great show! It starts slow, but the final 5 minutes or so of the show is gorgeous! I especially love the fireworks shooting off the top of Sky Tower. As for After Dark, I'm very impressed. SeaWorld has really taken great steps to encourage guests to spend their ENTIRE day in the Park and given them plenty of reasons to do so. From 7:30 on there are 4 completely different night shows to take in. They also have two random DJ booths set up at Oyster Secret and Wild Artic. They play a decent mix of music and do a lot to get the guests participating and dancing! We've been on 10PM closes since Memorial Day.....meanwhile Universal has been closing at 8. Even Aquatica has been on 10PM close.....and still has a fair amount of people there! Anyone surprised why year after year Universal's attendance continues to slip and SeaWorld gets a bigger piece of the pie? - Todd

One of my good friends knows the director of ops for the Park. They typically are only seeing 300-500 guests a day The same friend went to the Park and had nothing positive to say. Sad thing is, it looks like they did a nice job with it. Detailed and nicely themed. There just isn't anything to do there and whats there is mediocre at best. We may be taking a trip up in two weeks, I'll be sure to post a TR when I get back. - Todd

I agree 100%. Please see the Orlando parks. Everyone of them is doing well this year. SeaWorld, Discovery Cove & Aquatica are all 3 doing phenominal.....Aquatica hits capacity daily by 10:30-11:00am. Discovery Cove's Dolphin Tow is booked solid through the end of the year......thats the $300 package BTW. People are saving for one very special trip in the summer. With KI and CP easily charging more than Orlando parks for just about everything outside admission, I'd sure as hell skip over them.....and get a higher quality experience! I was glancing at CP's website..... bring a friend for $9.95 with a platinum pass? They may be running ticket promotions NOW to lure people in, however they are sticking it to them once they walk through the gate. I saw a picture that someone posted of Dorney Park.....$4.50 for a bottle of water?!? Please tell me the prices haven't become that extreme at KI this year? The same bottle of water is $2.50 at Disney or SeaWorld. Does anyone else not see this as a problem? - Todd

I think the Park has realized that it is lacking in attractions....check out the portable carni rides and coaster that were brought in. I don't believe its a lack of finances....they certainly spent a chunk of change to bring the Park to life. As a kid, we used to vacation in Myrtle Beach every year. It was nice. I went back several years ago, when Pavillion was to close down and was greatly disappointed in how run down the general area seemed to be now. While they do get a lot of tourism, I don't think its enough to give this place the success they are looking for. The park itself looks VERY nice though and attention to details are evident throughout. The intention is to build more Parks....but if the first one doesnt work I will be surprised if any more become reality. I'm just trying to figure out why they didn't try the concept out in someplace like Orlando? If done right and priced right, the place would have been almost a guaranteed success.....and they could offer a different alternative to the other big guys down here. Oh well, I wish them the best. - Todd

Anyone had a chance to make it down yet? People are absolutely ripping the place to shreds on several of the message boards I've been reading. I had a buddy that made the trip up from Orlando last week and to say the least.....he wasn't impressed. $50 admission price, which does include concerts when they have them. Aside from that, we are talking a handful of small rides.....several of which are having serious bouts of downtime. Led Zepplin, the signature ride, has been described as mediocre at best. The onboard audio featured on both it and Eagles: Life in the Fast Lane are said to be broken 90% of the time. My friend was there last Saturday night, they had roughly 1,000 people in the Park and have had days where they've had as few as 200. Granted the busy season for MB hasn't kicked in yet, but I have serious concerns about the success of the place. I still confused as to why Myrtle Beach was picked to launch this new brand of Parks. - Todd

The ride was finally officially announced today. It is going to be a great addition to the Park and certainly change the skyline and feel of the Park as guests enter. Keeping up with recent trends in the other BEC Parks......animal interaction mixed in with the actual attraction. Even for those choosing not to ride will be able to have the same animal experience as those queueing up. I haven't been really taking any pics of the construction site, but heavy construction work is now underway. I plan to document the construction in some form, I'll be sure to post some pics from time to time. http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/business_...ls-on-mant.html - Todd

Great TR! I've always found KD to be the superior park in terms of landscaping and such.....I *much* prefer their I-Street. Also, you are not alone in your opinion of IJ. The theming has always functioned on my rides, already giving it the edge to KI's PLUS the final booster out of the billboard IS stronger and more effective than the KI version. - Todd

Didn't see this posted yet, however this ran in the Orlando Sentinel today. http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/business_...eaworld-or.html While they didn't disclose many details, the rumors floating around the internet for months now say a B&M Flyer....the gliding comment certainly lends itself to that. Its a sizeable plot of land they are working with, actually. In any event, I'm sure this will be a wonderful addition to the Park! - Todd, who is now quite happily employeed for Sea World Orlando

You are correct. I don't remember where it was posted, but someone was able to pull up where Universal had applied for all of the permits for the ride and Maurer Sohne was listed as the provider for the attraction. Construction is rumored to be starting as soon as Mardi Gras winds down in April, I did notice some markings on the midways already at this point though. - Todd

Ugh. I certainly hope NOT. Of all the B and M hypers I have ridden, Apollo is by far my least favorite. To me, it's like a giant simulator ride with high speed fans. Raging Bull is a close second to last.... Also, note that you cannot judge a ride by its test runs. After the ride begins to break in, it may also begin to brake in. Or not. We will see. Amen. None of the B&M hypers have proven to be an "exceptional" experience for me, other than Goliath at SFoG. For us, that one has been the only major intensity. Raging Bull is a bore, its so controlled that any airtime is killed by the trim brakes. Apollo gets props for its location and setting, but still fails to deliver for me and Nitro has never done it for me either. Goliath has more pronounced airtime than any of the other B&M Speed Coasters and has that wicked helix mid-ride. It still pails in comparison to an El Toro or a Superman, but its still fun! Behemoth has potential to be a great ride, it will all vary in how those trims are used on the three return hills. Something tells me that if this ride were going into KI, we well know how those trims would be used :-( - Todd

Aside from all those things Interp, you forgot to mention to oh so awesome Dr. Frankenstein's Castle! What an awesome walk through attraction, full of lots of surprises along the way. He's right, do NOT miss the Sky Room, the food was outstanding and super cheap! I totally agree about Cornball too, it certainly packs a punch despite its small size. - Todd

I agree about the adjustment of the brakes. Since the magnetic brakes have been added, the rides have been very consistent. Prior to that, it did seem to vary by the day and weather conditions. Of course, that was the very nature of the skid brakes. I don't think anyone is going to argue that the ride *can* hit 70MPH.....but no way in hell does it do that now with the braking that takes place. I am not doubting what anyone has seen, I believe you. Again, I just have very little faith in how accurate that screen actually is. When Jeff Siebert was still around, he even mentioned on more than one occasion that the ride maxed out at about 57MPH in the quick dip. While I certainly agree that rides pick up some speed during the course of the day as they warm up, an extra 13MPH seems to be a bit on the extreme side. - Todd

Wow. Beast must be able to defy the laws of physics then. It takes poor little old Magnum to drop 200 feet to hit its 72MPH top speed and Beast manages to do it at the bottom of it's 141 foot first drop.....and thats complete with trim brakes! Not doubting what you saw, I just don't have much faith in the accuracy. - Todd

I gotta respectfully disagree with ya Gordon. I can't think of ONE ride on Racer last season where those trim brakes were actually turned off. More often than NOT, they are very much in use. Regarding Beast though, Gordon is absolutely right in that the magnetic trims are not adjusted throughout the day....not sure where anyone could even remotely think that. They would need to physically go out and remove them to make any adjustments. For me personally, Beast is a rather dull ride overall. I love the helix and consider it to be one of the best endings for a coaster out there, but the rest of the ride simply lacks intensity. I'm sorry, for whoever posted it, there is no way The Beast has hit 70MPH since they did the retrofit to the magnetic brakes. Even the Park itself has since downgraded the top speed of the ride. Back in the days of the skid brakes, sure, it booked it around the course. These days, the train bounces and putters its way to the second lift.....with the last car barely making it all the way on the lift before the chain engages. Just my personal opinion. - Todd

I agree completely, which is why I have *****ed so much in the past about the state of KI's theming. It's unreal to compare Dar Kastle at BGE to Tomb Raider at KI. Hell, for that matter compare KD's Italian Job to KI's. As of 2007, EVERYTHING functioned on KD's....head lights, tail lights, fog, on-board audio (which was actually loud enough to hear). Amazing. I believe Paramount gave KI plenty enough in a budget, KI has just always spent it poorly.....please see that gigantic wooden mess in Action Zone. On a side note though.....BGE isnt quite the same as Disney but they sure as hell give it their all! - Todd

Thats about when I was told as well. Again, thats why I find it incredibly hard to believe it when someone posts that the names are still being tossed around and decided on. Maybe on a few smaller things, but the rides needed to be decided quite some time ago from a merchandise point of view. Considering that the Merch. Dept goes back to work in February and begins the process of setting up all over again, one might imagine that the new product will be rolling in soon. - Todd

Did anyone honestly expect a lot of creativity with Cedar Fair? Just take a look back at the name changes that took place at Geauga Lake, that should have been your first clue :-) None the less, guess we'll see what happens when the *official* word comes out. - Todd

Hey guys, not sure if this has already been posted....I couldn't find it at least. Anywho, here are the names for Tomb Raider and IJ at Kings Dominion.....The Crypt and Backlot Stunt Coaster. Despite that some say the names are still being finalized for the rides at Kings Island, I find that HIGHLY unlikely. Simply because the merchandise orders for these new names were already being placed in late October. I'd be very surprised if our attractions did NOT bear the same names as KD's. All that remains is Top Gun, which from everything I've been told is to be renamed Flight Deck. http://www.kdconnection.com/forums/index.p...0entry539 <--- please see for new logos of attractions - Todd

Craig is now at Wild Adventures. Oddly enough, we did spot him running around Dollywood a few weeks back as well. - Todd

They are adding a new carousel to the 4th of July section called Star Spangled Carousel. They are also adding 30 foot junior tower ride called Reindeer Games. Its the relocated Moser Spring Ride from Wild West World. They will also be adding a new bathroom & Pepsi oasis to Splashin' Safari located near Bakuli. Tram service will be extended over to the Legend Parking Lot. Finally, clocks will be added all over the Park to help guest coordinate their meeting times, since most of Indiana is on Eastern time and HW is on Central. All good additions, especially the Carousel. Now, if they'd just add a steel coaster...... - Todd

Yeah, yeah, yeah :-) I actually enjoyed Dragon Mountain a lot. I, too, had watched it on America's Greatest Coasters.....I thought it looked rather uninspired (which it wouldn't have been, had they finished the theming plans). In any event, I ended up really liking the ride. The lift is super long, climbing up the mountain. There are actually 2 lift chains, which switch sides mid-way up the hill. The ride itself is a typical Arrow....fun first drop, two loops which caused me to actually grey out a bit. The next 1/3 of the ride is kinda slow paced, winding around in a big 360 degree helix and a tunnel before it pops up to the block brake. The best part of the ride is what follows the block. Its a crazy long tunnel that dives down inside the mountain, the train continues to pick up speed until it then drops out of the tunnel and right into the bowtie element. Its actually a hell of a finish. I'd definitely make the trip to Marineland again for a few spins if I'm ever in the area. Oh, yeah, the station is fun too :-) - Todd

Yes, they are....however that doesn't mean you treat your associates like crap though. I have many friends who worked at the Park this season. One of those has been at the Park for 12 years, was full time in Resale Loss Prevention. The other has only been there for 4 years and is a Seasonal Ops manager in Merch. Both echoed similiar stories to guy1115. Probably explains why staffing levels were at an all time LOW this season. KI lost SO many GOOD people this year, thanks to Cedar Fair and the ****ty attitude they bring to the employees. Many of these people had been with the Park upwards of 20 years. Truly sad. - Todd