medford

Construction workers, especially on a day like today, are typically too busy, too worn down by the heat/job to waste their time with the Lennay Kekua of the world.

I assume you get a reciept when you pruchase your daily tickets. That should be enough, in case the hand stamps wear off; doesn't hurt to contact guest relations, just to be safe, but the combo of the two should prove one way or another you paid your dues. Have fun

Haven't had a PB & J in a long time, must not have young kids.... which all of a sudden re-introduces you to food you ate in your youth, but have "grown" out of. As far as winterfest, if the zoo can make money, then certainly KI can. Sure the zoo has the animals as an attraction, but as I learned the 1 time I went, seeing the animals at night, isn't a very good plan. They can't turn up the lights, as to interfer both w/ the natural sleeping patterns of the animals and intrfer with the viewing of the "fesitval of lights", the lines for the elephants was so long, that it wasn't worth it. So what can KI do? Well they can have live entertainment, as mentioned. They can bring in a petting zoo. They can string up lots and lots of lights, they can open up some of their flats and most of Planet Snoopy (other than the 3 coasters, if you can ride a merry-go-round, you can ride most of the flats in Planet Snoopy, perhaps decorated to a winterfest theme). You can operate the train, you can offer games, perhaps even winter themed games. The biggest challenge, I would think, would be to string up enought lights b/w halloween and thanksgiving to make it worthwhile. So they can't offer up roller coasters (other than Flight of Fear, but imagine the wait time for that if it were the only coaster open?), don't make it about coasters. Close off all of Action Zone, save maybe some light displays that can only be seen from the tower (wouldn't that be kind of cool?), close down x-base. Close down most of coney mall, save a slice of pathway back to some sort of "christmas w/ the dinos" similar to what they do at halloween time (which is very well done in my opinion, and the only time we go see the dinos), couse all your attention to international street, international theater, festhaus, planet snoop and a slice of decorated/lighted pathways back to dino land. Serve up lots of hot cocco and there would be plenty there for a nice family gathering in the middle of shopping season. December weather is typically not that bad. yeah its too cold for coasters typically, but its not too cold for walking around outside. It may be too warm for ice skating, which was a problem in seasons past, so skip that aspect

I doubt Don gets to make the call on the ride's name.

I can't speak for all rides; I've never had the need for fast pass, and 99% of my visits right now are w/ a 1 year old and 5 year old...but here it goes... Beast, you get to enter near the back of the loading station. I assume if you want a front of The Beast seat, you have to wait in the additional line for the front, but they hold people back in the ques so as to not overload the station. Does Diamondback mix in near the start of the end of the que?? I can't recall where it mixes together, I didn't see anyone using fast pass there last year. Congo falls mixes you in at the end of the que, I'd imagine if you want front of the line, same rules as The Beast. boo blasters, gets you to the front of the line, where everything is front seat Woodstock express; I can't recall where you get in, I imagine thats not on your list for friday; can't say I've ever seen anyone use fast pass on that. Flying Ace Arial chase, same story as The Beastie Woodstock express. Eiffel Tower, you essentially get on the next elevator available; don't know if a line forms for the "last ride up" prior to fireworks which may incorporate a different set of rules than I've seen during earlier hours. Stunt coaster mixes you in at the end of the que, getting front of the line where you are assigned a seat, if you choose to take that assignment our go to the front is up to you, I've never seen anyone redirect someone wanting to wait an extra train or two for a front seat ride. I'll let others fill you in on the other rides. I'm guessing the rides I'm no the most are the rides you'll be skipping on friday, have fun. I'm going thursday, if my son finally crosses that 48" mark, which he's ever so close to, I can update friday morning on some of the coasters he'll finally be able to get on; I'm guessing the list will be complete by then however.

A "christmas in july" July 25th announcement would be pretty cool. Announce that along w/ season pass sales for 2014. Seems a shade early for the annuncement of season passes, but from a marketing standpoint, I think it would work.

Says who? A lot of people got into coasters well before those 4 were installed, heck I'm guessing more than 1 person got into roller coasters b/c of Intamin's earlier designs of Disaster Transport and Gemini Jr, and certainly there were people who fell in love with coasters because of the non intamin Racer and Beast. I'm not sure what your point is. Cedar Pointe would have continued to be Cedar Pointe, different coasters would have been installed, the park would have continued to be successful

not blaming you, blaming whomever came up with that idea (if true) or whoever is passing it along as a rumor. I can't see how that would be a good idea, but then again, I'm no marketing expert, maybe they're going to purchase Holiday World, in which case, a Dec 25th announcement would provide some marketing sense.

I'm not an expert on marketing, so take what I'm about to say w/ a grain of salt, but announcing something, anything on Dec 25th seems about the worst day you could possibly announce a major new addition. there will be no one at the park, many, if not most people that would be interested in such a thing are tied up with their families that day, you've just missed the biggest shopping event of the year, meaning families that would get excited and purchase new season passes will have already just dropped a bundle on christmas/chaunakah (sorry for the misspelling, which I'm sure I butchered) presents, and are still trying to pay off the balance on their credit cards. On top of that, how many news outlets will want to break away from their family gatherings to cover an announcement at KI.

that may be true, but last night, a rather busy thursday evening with great weather, congo falls was completely dead. And by dead, I mean my 5 year old and I were the only 2 people in the que when we walked up, and when out boat left, the only other people on the boat were people that were re-riding the ride from their previous trip (and perhaps several befor it). I forgot how much air time you get on that ride, I'm hoping ridership gets propped up there as well by this attraction, I'm sure flight deck will see a significant bump in ridership next season.

Based upon the work to date, and where they appear to be placing footers, I'd be surprised if this doesn't extend back to SOBs rose bowl, and perhaps beyond in some form or fashion.

Not all rollercoasters can be as long as Diamondback or The Beast; variety is the spice of life, I'm guessing you're going to utimately enjoy whatever ends up being built. Next season's 2 hour wait will be 2019's 30 min wait as everyone lines up for KI attraction 2019. Personally, looking at all the footers in place currently, knowing what it replaced, knowing what the importance of this coaster means to not only the park in general, but that specific section of the park which has been "dead" for several years now that we're all mostly going to be happy with the announcement. If they hit a solid homer (not neccessarily a grand slam) this ride will breath new life into flight deck, congo falls, drop zone, etc... I'm guessing this isn't the only thing we see new in Action Zone over the next 5-10 years. I believe this is the start to redefining your experience at the park. Instead of entering the park and turning right towards The Beast or Diamondback, or perhaps going straight back to avoid Firehawk and Flight of Fear's long lines, you're now going to debate turning left toward the 2014 attraction, flight deck and rides coming down the road. I have no inside information; but my gut tells me this is going to be transformative. I also think its why all signs point to it being a B & M, the need something reliable and trust worthy. To continue the baseball analogy from above, it doesn't have to be a grand slam, but something the general public is going to look forward to riding each trip to the park. Diamondback wasn't a grand slam, the 200' mark had long been past, its a similar style ride that many enthusiast had been on before, but it was exactly what the park needed to breath new life into the park. It was a solid homer and remains so today.

Or a Brady Bunch theme.... Come to think of it, if it were a Brady Bunch themed coaster, and we named the three trains after the Brady girls then we could all ride......never mind. Can I claim dibs on Marsha..... oh wait, never mind.

At some point, if they plan to keep on expanding, w/o ripping out still useful rides along the way, I imagine they'll purchase another plot of land (like perhaps the airport) to handle the parking, install a shuttle system and building into the curent parking lot. If they could expand out into the parking lot, there would be a TON of room.

stupid question, but figured this was a good place to ask. When talking about how long a coaster is, does the backwards launch add to the length (even though you travel over that portion of the track 3 times total) or not? Or to ask it more simply, for a ride like the great pumpkin coaster at Planet Snoopy, lets say 1 lap of the ride is 50' (I'm making that up, I don't know that actual length of track) does the fact that the ride goes thru 2 cycles make it 100' in total length??? Reason i ask, at some point, you've got to assume somebody will challenge Steel Dragoon for longest coaster in the world. Using LIMs seems like the logical choice, you don't need a 300'+ tall lift hill when you can do multiple launches. If a coaster can cover the same track multiple times, it would make the cost of obtaining the mark even cheaper.

I was there as well last night. My son grew into the 46" height this year (actually end of last season) and is ever so close to hitting 48", skims across his hair, but doesn't hit his head, so its coming soon. When the season began, I was hoping he'd hit 48" quickly, he really wants to ride the blue racer, The Beast, Stunt Lot coaster, etc...however sitting in the 46" range so far this season has re-introduced me to rides I haven't ridden in 20 some years, rides I probably wouldn't have got on if he started out the year at 48". We rode White Water Canyon about a month ago, I barely got wet at all, so when we went on it a couple of weeks ago, I wasn't expecting the full drenching that each of us recieved. Last night, I wasn't in the mood to get on WWC, but my son had not been on Congo Falls yet, so we made that our first ride after dinner. Couple of thoughts: I wonder if rides like that have a fast pass line just so the park can advertise a higher number of attractions for the fast pass. there was literally no line, in fact when we got in the cue, they had just launched an empty boat. The one that came in had some kids on it; they stayed on the boat for the next ride, meaning the ride wasn't getting much turnover in ridership. I forget who mentions it on here, but someone I've heard mention more than once that Congo Falls provides the best air time in the park. After last night, that person is indeed correct, sadly I can't see this ride lasting all that much longer if ridership remains that low (and last night was fairly busy as far as a thursday goes). After last night's ride, I'm ready to bring it back into the regular rotation. However, I wish they'd get rid of the water canyons at the end. Like I said, I didn't want to get drenched, so we purposely sat in the back of the boat. We made it down the drop, getting a little wet, but nothing terrible. Then as we turn the bend, all 3 canyons got us directly. Kind of annoying; I guess its a water ride, shouldn't complain.... Another thought on fast pass... I can't believe they have one for Eiffel Tower as well. I'm only up there a few times a year, so I didn't notice anyone using it last season or the 1 other time I was up there this year, but I'm not sure what the point was. That was the first time I had to wait for more than 1 elevator, but still, the people in the fast pass line, got 0 advantage over anyone else if they would have got in the same line when they showed up. I could see that being a different story at 9:15ish if people start lining up to get up there to watch the fireworks.

nice. then again, Jacques was famous for "diving", obviously we're getting the first dive coaster to submerge in water. The loading time to get on scuba gear is going to make Firehawk look quick.

Promoters these days don't see Timberwolf as a viable option--outdated facility, limited capacity, set in an amusement park, etc. smaller shows that play Cincy are more apt to go to PNC Pavillion, Taft, US Bank or even the new Horseshoe before Timberwolf. It works for something like Spirit Song, which is geared toward kids who would like to be at Ki anyway, but not for much else. Thanks, confirms my belief that Timberwolf can't be long for the park. How much money can spirit song bring in? Enough to justify the upkeep on the facility in leiu of the ROI they could get by putting something more useful in that area?

I assume it sees no more rain than any other outdoor venue in the area. Riverbend has its seating area covered, but the lawn is exposed. Fraze Pavalion is completely exposed. I doubt weather is the issue why its used so little. I've always wondered the reason why this isn't used more, as well as wondering how much longer they plan to keep it around for (1) 3-night event a year.

then I guess the next question is, why don't they make use of Timberwolf more? I'll assume they can't challenge a place like Riverbend for bands in their prime, capable of filling a venue of that size, but there's got to be room for a steve miller type. I saw America peform in Kettering at the Fraze Pavallion, I'm guessing that might be a little smaller than Timberwolf, but not sure b/c of the lawn seating there. America sold the place out. Fraze has the Guess Who, Brian Wilson, Steely Dan, Alabama (whish I would have known that earlier, would love to catch that show, they do a great job, and I've only got 1 CD and rarely listen to country music), Steve Martin with Eddie Brickell, Gordon Lightfoot, Ted Nugent, Josh Grobon and Tony Bennet remaining on the calander this year. I assume the obvious answer is that having a show provides little revenue to the park, but they continue to have spirit fest or whatever its called, so they've got to make something off a show. Makes me wonder how long before Timber World is brought down and something else goes in its place.

I wonder if they could fill up the stands if he played a concert there? I doubt it at this point, thought it would be kind of cool to have acts like this, past their prime playing shows at the theater behind Eiffel Tower, where you could seel limited tickets for the stands, but the music would funnel out to the general park population.

I'm gonna fly like an eagle to the sea. cool, longest winged coaster ever, from Mason Ohio, to the atlantic Ocean, via Kings Dominion and carowinds. No wonder they started costruction so early. Or it could be the next line: Let my spirit carry me in reference to a Banshee. or perhaps even the next line: Oh lord, thru the revolution, meaning they're getting a clone of Revolution at Six Flags 1 tweet, so much to decode. Fun job he must have.

I still type in www.pki.com, much quicker than www.visitinkingsisland.com I'm happy that it still works.

they appear to have ovals cut into them (this was first noticed awhile ago, when it wasn't quite so "wet") similar to other B&M footers used in other projects. Is that a new footer in pict 4 & 5, all the way to the left, by the fire hydrant and light pole??? If what I'm envisioning is correct, it appears that would be as far "into the current Action Zone" that this ride will extend and those hoping/thinking it will extend to where they took the water tower out will be dissapointed (I'm one who was/is hoping that this ride does extend out to the water tower area offering a little "walk under" section). I could be way off, but it seems like the layout is really taking shape, I'm thinking all the footers behind Sling Shot are for the final portion of the ride, with the lift hill extending out to SOBs space, obviously hard to tell what is going on out there at the moment.

LaRosa's makes my favorite sauce (at least my favorite sauce that you can buy inside my local krogers). Its the only sauce I'll use for my lasagna. different strokes, different folks. However, their pizza, IMHO, is kind of average; less than average inside KI. If I could get a pie inside the park that was of the same quality as the stores outside of the park, I'd be very happy.