medford

Makes me think of the people I feel sorriest for at this point in time. The Tower elevator operators, at the end of their speal, they always ask "so does anyone have any questions?" I just looked at the girl one day and asked her how many times she's been asked what their building. She gave me the look as if to say "way too f'n much" but verbally offered up a very PC "just about every trip down"

Terpy keeps telling me that Mr Kinzel is the kind of guy who liked to collect his pennies.

considering that they've cleared out room both in front of and behind SOBs old footprint, they have the room to make this coaster pretty much however long or short they've got budgeted for it. Space is probably the least of the concerns for the designers.

I added the track descriptions just to give a reference for what I was seeing, the point was it may or may not be considered tresspassing, but CSF is certainly doing very little to discourage someone from entering their property and taking pictures, including having track visable from route 32.

dwight brought up the point of tresspassing on CSF's space to get this pictures. I linked his post to avoid confusion as to what I was answering; perhaps it could have been worded better.

I know they're not current. the yellow track in front of the bulding only shows up in the street view. If you do an arial view, you'll see some track supports sitting out front. At any rate, the color of the track or what was in front at the time that google's cars and satelites flew over is minutia in this conversation; I think most understand the pictures on googlemaps or bingmaps or whatever aren't current, often not even w/n the same calender year.

another note, if you look at the current google street view, I'm not even sure if you'd have to be on their property to get a good picture. You can currently see stacks of yellow B & M track on the current street view, again I'm not sure how old those pictures are.

I've never been by there myself, but am somewhat familar with the area. If you look at the google map overhead, there appears to be no fencing that would restrict access to their lot. On the current google map, there appears to be track supports sitting out in front of their building, right along route 32. Now, don't confuse route 32 with I-71, but its still a fairly busy road, so they're definently not trying to hide anything. With that said, legally speaking, it probably falls on the side of tresspassing, though if all your doing is taking pictures of an area that is unrestricted from general traffic, you might have a hard time getting a judge to listen to the case or a prosecuter to press charges. From a public perception standpoint, I doubt that B & M track is all that Clermont Steel Fabricator's is making, I'd have trouble envisioning them sustaining themselves soley on B & M construction. I'm sure they know people are coming on their lot soley to take pictures of the next rollercoaster, as long as they are doing nothing to damage said pieces of steel, its a nice PR hit for them, and gives them a little noteriaty; perhaps even some future business from a person looking for a steel fabricator and only knows them from their roller coaster work. In the end, I'm sure its a no harm, no foul policy on both ends. If B & M was instant on absolute security/privacy, there's plenty of room in the back of their facility where they could seal off access from the general public. the current google map shows some green B & M track laying on a hill side. I have no idea how old the image is, nor enough about all their rides that they've built track for to know what ride that track belonged to (or if was extra pieces that have sat there for years where an error in fabrication left them useless until a time they could be melted down and recycled.

59 pages into this thread, thought it was time for a recap of known facts/statements as they tend to get lost in the shuffle: KI has demolished Son of Beast, while selling off some of the parts as memorablia. What happened to the rest of it, we're not sure. KI has demolished the go kart track. KI has cleared a lot of land, extending back beyond SOB's footprint. KI has installed security fences around an area of construction Footers have been installed in the spot previously occupied by the go Kart track. Photos show additional work extending beyond this area. Mr. O has stated that B & M has been hired to construct another coaster for their chain. Mr. O has stated that no other parks in his chain will be getting a winged coaster next season. Track supports and track itself has been spotted and photographed at the Batavia plant that often makes parkts for B&M coasters. No other parks in the CF chain have reports of major construction activity at this point? (I question because I don't recall seeing any claims of construction activity, but could have missed a report, so please shout me down if I'm wrong on that regard)

Yes

Considering the weather, I'm guessing very few.

I doubt this, whatever it is, is the end of the Action Zone revamp. Put in a big coaster for 2014, wouldn't surprise me to see a couple of smaller flats added w/n that area in 2015.

Bingo, or perhaps the site work, both would be permitted seperatly.

It ain't over until testing is done and its open to the public, and then, its really not done until they tear it down to make way for KI project 2054 (and let me be the first to predict a 500 ft stand-up dive coaster with the new "trackless" option, allowing every ride to follow a truely unique route, oh and on board dip in dots, the ice cream of the future)

seeing that you're getting there at gate open and have a season pass, keep in mind that there are several rides both in Planet Snoopy and outside (like The Beast) that are available for early ride time to season pass holders. Since you're getting there that early, if your son is young enough to spend most of his time in Planet Snoopy, then I'm going to assume this is not an option, but late in the evening, around 9:00 or so, Planet Snoopy becomes a dead zone, you can sneak in a bunch of rides on woodstock express, flying ace arial chase, boo blasters or whatever fits his fancy. You won't get a great view of the fireworks (you'll see them b/w the trees, but its not like being up front) but you can get on a lot of rides in short order on a typical midweek evening.

I imagine some schools will still be in session on June 6th, or perhaps their first day out, so crowds shouldn't be as buys that day as they would the following thursday (assuming equal weather conditions which can and does drive attendance) How old is your son; how tall is he; how willing is he to ride the bigger rides, assuming he's tall enough. Check out the ride height guide on the parks web site to familiarize yourself w/ what he can and can not ride. As long as he's over 40", there are some great rides outside of Planet Snoopy for the under 48" crowd. Is your son a Reds fan? Might want to check out the new Reds hall of Fame grille for a combination of solid food and a great Reds atmosphere.

well, KICentral does have a calender feature, but I can't seem to get it to work.

we've also had a pretty bad winter, followed by a pretty wet spring, which may have delayed the construction schedule to this point compared to what was going on for Diamondback (I have no idea what that winter/spring was like)

With Mr O's comments about how gate keeper changed the front gate for CP for the better, I wonder if any thought has been given to updating KI's front gate. I hope any future front gate improvements wouldn't include a gate keeper (or any ride for that matter) as it would take away from the look of the tower walking up to the front gate. However, I would think to make a front gate revamp profitable, they'd have to do something w/ the restaurant; bringing it up to code so that it can be in operation every day at the park, rented out for holiday parties in the winter, used for business meetings in the mornings, etc.... In short, if they can get a reasonable ROI on The Reds Hall of Fame Grille, it may lead to an examination of KI's front gate and how a 2nd sit down, full service restaurant could be incorporated into (in my opinion) a long over due front enterance face lift. I'm happy to hear all the positive reports for the Grille at any rate, sounds like a good match b/w two local mainstays.

I would think if ki were to have a big announcement, or even a clue on the travel channel tonight, they'd be dropping hints for us to tune in.

They have never once made my son take off his shoes to get measured. Just one man's story, but I've never seen any child take their shoes off to get measured regardless of flip flops, shoes, etc..

correct, I doubt the footer issue was a B & M issue. It may have been a construction methods issue, could have just been a problem previously unforseen/unpredictable. If I'm in charge, knowing that I just tore down a 200+ foot tall problem, as well as an indoor flat ride, I'd want something that had a history of reliablity as well as providing some excitement. Build a 325 foot giant, perhaps stretch it out long enough to reclaim the title of world's longest rollercoaster for the park, and you can spend the next 6 seasons focusing in on improving the family aspect of the park. adding mid size flats to Action Zone, adding to the water park, improving the kids area, etc...Then you've got a good track record on the reliability of a ride like outlaw run, you're far enough removed from SOB that a nice mid size woodie w/ inversions is a solid, reliable addition.

For whatever its worth, one of my nieces (must be about 12, its my brother in laws step daughter, so I don't know here that well) is as skinny as can be, and safely rode Damondback several times when she was 10. Its hard to imagine me thinking a girl could get much skinnier than this girl, so your niece is most likely safe. With that said, just because your kid is the approriate height, using sound judgement is still wise. My son will likely hit the 48" mark by or around his 5th birthday, I'm waiting a couple of years for Vortex, just too much head rattling. The Beast, Racers, Adventure Express, etc.. will all suffice for this season.

My 4 year old is currently around 47" with shoes on (hard to tell exactly last time he was measured), so we've gone thru the paces the last 3 seasons, from getting on Woodstock express and Viking Fury (both 40") shortly before his 3rd birthday (late June birthday), to working his way up to Shake Rattle & Roll (42") to working his way up to 46" (congo falls, white water canyon, surf dog & Flying Ace Arial Chase). A couple of notes, he was awefully dissapointed when he missed the 48" mark on our first trip this year, he really wanted to get on The Beast, racer and the helicopter ride (Backlong stunt coaster; he mainly just wants to see the helicopter and fire flames as he loves looking at those from the tower). Its probably best not to build up the coaster too much if there is any questions that they won't make the 48" mark. The people who measure are generally pretty good at helping you get your kid to stand as tall as possible, feet all the way back and together, straight back, head up, etc... the measuring stick up front isn't always the same as the one in kiddie land. I had my son miss the 42" mark one day at the one up front (a mark he had hit prior on the same stick earlier in the season, wearing the exact same shoes) however, at the measuring stick in kiddie land, he made the mark with ease. They've moved the location of the one up front, have it under a protected area just past the fass pass lane (its kind of hard to see, so take note) however, the last 2 years, some times they'd have the stick in side the guest relations office, just after the ticket gate, and sometimes it would be out by the photo booth. So you may want to peek your head into guest relations when you first get into the park if you don't see the measuring stick out past the fass pass booth (to your left as you look at the tower) Even if your kid doesn't make the 48" mark, there is still a ton of options. As mentioned, shake rattle & roll, monster, scrambler, & viking fury all make a nice path from festhaust, thru coney mall as an alternate to Planet Snoopy. Inside of Planet Snoopy, surf dog and flying Ace arial chase are fun for both mys on and I (or mom), wood stock express, the bumper cars, boo blasters, etc.. are all still great options. Have fun.

Viking Fury. I'm excited this year, we used to ride it every trip 2 years ago when my son was 2/3 and his choice of "big" rides was limited to Viking Fury and Woodstock Express. Last season, when he turned 4, boo blasters became a must ride, plus he had a few more options w/ surf dog and FA,AC we only hit Viking Fury once. Now with Auntie Ann's over there, and our tradition of grabbing a pretzel when we first get to the park, I think Viking fury is going to become a regular again.