medford

An article was posted on here somewhere recently, from the begining of the operating season (or perhaps a shade earlier than when KI opened up) that stated about Cedar Fair's goals, financial projections, etc... One of the pieces was how they planned to spend x% of projected revenue's each year to upgrade/refurbish their parks. Whatever the % was, it worked out to roughly 90 millon this year, so the person above who posted $85-$90 mil in total development was pretty much in the ballpark. what that means for KI (or Knott's Berry Farm) I don't know in relation to 2013, but it would seem fitting w/ so much put into CGA and the Pointe this season, a new big budget coaster for both Knott's and KI would be in the works for 2014.

Servatti does serve pretzels, so putting it in the corner pretzel place by the Festhaus would work well. The Cinn-a-bon location feels like it would be too small if they were serving sandwhiches as well, unless all those sandwhiches were pre-packaged. Plus Servatti has German roots, establishing itself in Cincinnati from a German immigrant who learned his trait at the foot of his father who was a pastry chef/baker with cafes in Germany. Really, if it went anywhere else, I think I'd be a bit dissapointed. Really looking forward to this addition, I only hope they accept funperks as I see myself stopping there regularly next season. A bunch of Graeter stores sell baked goods, even donuts, yet the one in KI sells ice cream only. I'd imagine whatever this Servatti's sells, it won't compete any more directly w/ cinn-a-bon than any other food vendor in the park. Cinn-a-bon is pretty limited, certainly Servatti's will be able to offer something of a different flavor. I appreciate how the park has (and continues) to provide a local flavor to the park. I'm not the biggest LaRossa's fan, and think the brand at KI is even worse, but it has local roots. Same with Skyline & Graeters. Now that Servatti's is going to be there, what else can they add? Montgomery Inn seems like it should be on the hit list (and would fill the muc needed sit down restaurant need w/n the park). Could you put in a Jeff Ruby inspired restaurant? Probably doesn't fit in the family style park, and would probably be above the desired price range for the typical family visiting the park for the day, but could a limited menu work? I can almost taste the Carlos & Johnny's Mac 'n Cheese. Perhaps a steak sandwhich. I wonder if a Buffalo Wings & Rings sports style bar/restaurant could work in the park.

"Big" to Cedar Fair, may not be "Big" to KI fanboys. It all depends upon the perspective.

I'm not convinced that is going to happen. In 10 years, the kids who were 10 when Potter first came out will be 25 and starting families of their own. They'll remember their memories of Potter as a child and want to share the memories of reading the books or watching the movies together w/ their own kids. They'll want to share the experience of an Orlando vacation with them, and Harry Potter will remain a destination. Some stories live with us a long time. It was like 30 years b/w when Roald Dahl wrote James and the Giant Peach and when it was released on film. Charlie and Chocolate Factory has similar shelf life. CS Lewis' works, Judy Blume's works, etc..all have similar shelf life. They had books that were enourmously popular with people when they were kids, that were then reread to their own children 20+ years later, who in turn passed it along to their own children. Harry Potter is likely one of those stories, stories that young parents look forward to reading to their children when they're old enough, movies they hope to watch together; they're stories that will not only be shared w/ their own children, but likely their grandchildren some day. Harry Potter will remain viable for much longer than 10 more years, much, much longer.

Its a safe bet, that if they had to bring in a whole new power line for Wicked Twister, they also put in some extra conduits to handle additional power in the future as the park expanded its need for electricity. when is it deemed that a ride needs its own power supply? Likely when that ride's electrical requirements push the park's current electrical grid above its capacity. Cedar Pointe has a definable amount of power available to the park that is limited by the number of wires brought into the park, the size of those wires, and the size of the transformers and circuit breakers inside the park. Think about your house and the circuit breaker you have. There is nothing that prevents you from plugging in a hairdryer into every outlet, turn on the dryer and AC all while watching TV and leaving the fridge open. However, the electrical system in most houses is not capable of handling all that load at once, which will cause a spike in demand of current and trip the circuit breaker. The circuit breaker is simply nothing more than a safety device that prevents too much power from coming into the house or any one circruit so that the lines w/n the circruit and/or house don't exceed their capacity and start a fire. Now if you wanted to run all that stuff at once, you could certainly hire an electrician to bring a new line to your house, run new wires in the walls to different parts of the building which will then allow you to run everything at once. That is essentially what Cedar Point did, they're grid was likely reaching peak capacity and Wicked Twister was going to push it over the edge, or close enough that fear of a power shut down from too many operations going on at the same time was a possibility. In order to increase their capacity, they went and brought a new line which gave them additional capacity for the park. Perhaps that line was sized specifically for Wicked Twister, perhaps that line had extra capacity for more park expansion in the future. I'd imagine the location of a new attraction is a factor, though it may be a small factor. Keep in mind, not all new rides need a ton of power in relation to the rest of the park. I'm sure the motors on Diamondback have a pretty high hP rating, but its likely a small fraction of the amount of power needed to cool down a space like Flight of Fear and all the AC that building uses as well as the power needed to run the ride. Dinosaurs Alive likely uses very little power in relation to other rides. the current infrastructure of a park likely pays a role in a ride's location. Its not overly difficult to run new electrical lines and conduit, but if you're going far off the beaten path that means you've got to dig trenches, perhaps saw cut concrete, patch up any concrete, etc.... Like any other business, they're looking to save money wherever they can. In most cases, the cost of installing new conduit for new electric lines w/n the park is probably a small cost compared to the cost of the actual ride itself. I'd also imagine all parks have a special arrangement w/ the local electric supplier. Kings Island might be the biggest user of power in warren county (I don't know that, I just can't think of anyone else that would come close). I'm sure they get a break in pricing, I'm sure Duke Energy is aware of their future expansion possibilities, etc... I'm sure King's Island already has expansion in mind the last time they updated their lines coming into the park. If they're starting to run out of power, they will consider expansion the next time they bring more power into the park.

As I said, I've never seen the Luminosity stage, nor how "open" it feels. The only problem w/ putting luminosity back in Timberwolf is that it takes it to one of the more secluded part of the parks, an area that would be easy to skip on your way home. Perhaps that is the design of Luminosity at CP, I envision that its kind of like the KI firworks show at the end of the night, where you get large groups of people around the entrance to watch the firworks, listen to the music. I imagine the biggest problem w/ KI's current setup, is that so many gather right near the exits, so once the show ends, its out the door and gone. Moving the main "end of night performance area" to Action Zone (or timberwolf) would force all those who view the show to walk past shops and food stands. Gives everyone one more chance to spend their money before hitting the doors.

With enough planning, it would be pretty easy to make take a stage for luminsity and turn it seperately ticket event for spirit song (or any other act). I haven't been up to CP this year, so I have no idea if they have seating, and how that factors in, but lets say you place the luminosity stage near the middle/front of the curent thunder alley space. Then you redo the entrance into Adventure Express so that the exit and entrance are closer to each other. that would open up space to provide a path that would take you back behind luminosity and to the SOB/flight deck area. You take the new path extending from the current Adventure Express entrance, behind Sling Shot and delirum and towards the back end of the current thunder alley space and you cut another path heading back into Action Zone. You could then use the space directly behind Delirium for some sort of flat. Move the entrance to eXtreme Skyflyer closer to drop zone, and now you've got a decent area behind the new luminosity area, whatever takes SOB's place, flight deck and perhaps another new flat. finally, on the current paths b/s thunder alley and the water tower, and the new path from Adventure Express towards SOB are shut down in areas so that you can't see the stage if there is a ticketed event like Spirit song. On days that luminosity is open, these paths would remain open as paths to see the stage. W/n Action Zone, create temporary fencing from "On location" to the water tower to "Ice Scream Zone" that would seal off the back areas of viewing for spirit song. Bring in temporary HS stadium style seating so that the view is blocked from non-paying customers and gives those that want to attend spirit song a chance for an elevated view. When events aren't going on, it would all be very open with easy access to the luminosity stage from multiple areas in the park. Meanwhile, you can start the deconstruction of timbewolf and plan on using that area for something new down the road. Flat, indoor family style ride, small coaster, etc... there are a lot of potential for an area that appears (from google maps anyways) like it would hold 4 Invertigos.

thanks.

Does anyone know, can you take the $20 funperks reward on a 2013 season pass and apply it to an online purchase? The certificate I just printed out says it has to be presented at the front gate ticket office. I still plan 1 more visit during the haunt, but would rather take care of the renewal online if possible. Thanks.

The question I've had, and haven't seen answered other than my own observation, is how popular is DA in 2012 @ Kings Island? Its always struck me as a "see it once, no need to see it again" type attraction. If it paid itself off in the 1st year, well that's great b/c my regular mid week trips in the evening never saw much activity in the DA area or gift shop. Granted, an evening Mid-week might not be the best example, so if saturday afternoons DA is as hoping this season as it was last year, I'd love to see it. If it can pay itself off in 1 year, then provide a small profit in year 2, 3, etc... until their lease is up, then its a win/win for the park. It doesn't take a ton of development, they'll get a decent splash for families w/ young children and then turn it around for something else. And that may well indeed be the exact idea they're aiming for. A new B&M coaster is suppossed to last the park 20+ years, so the payback can be longer. Perhaps the DA are truely only meant to last until the lease expires (2018 is what I heard, don't know if that's true) then allow them to make a different bang in same area w/ minimal amount of deconstruction costs.

I remember that place as a kid, I always wondered what happened to it as I was pretty sure that the 2 new waterparks weren't just expansions, the pictures I've seen of them just didn't fit in w/ my memories of River County as a kid. That and Thunder Mountain are my 2 strongest memories of my visit to Disney World as a child.

the 2 month part I agree with, or something on the shorter side, however snowflakes have fallen in october in season's past, this year may be no acceptions, so Son of Beast may be like Freddie the Leaf and live just long enough to experience 1 more snow flake.

The 1st question is, how much is that structure worth in scrap? Often, Demolition companies will write the value of their contract on the premise that they have all rights to the srapped material. For instance, when Riverfront (cinergy) field was demo'd a decade ago, the company doing the work had several sales at their warehouse by Lunkin Field. As such you can find old stadium seats overlooking the pond and 18th green at a local golf course, some people have them in their backyard or babershop. You could get old signs, etc... There's also a salvage cost for the recycled concrete, metal, etc... Its possible (probably not likely, but possible) that the salvage cost of SOB may be worth significantly more than the cost of tearing the structure down, meaning a company could come in and pay Cedar Fair for to take out the ride in order to make a profit selling or recylcing pieces of the ride.

Showing your youth. To some of us of a certain age (or older) we'll always remember his as the lovable Woody from cheers who successfully proved that some white men can indeed jump before taking on a conterversial role in Natural Born Killers amongst a lot of other popular work. He's also one of the main faces of the "legalize weed" movement and isn't shy about letting his veiw point on that subject known. could play a role in his exclusion from the KI Hall of fame, or perhaps its something else, or perhaps he has no interest in coming back to the park for a day to accept the award so KI doesn't feel the need to hand it out???

What was mentioned above about the rope ladder is pretty good. I sat outside the exit for Adventure Express one day while my Nieces rode it like 3x in a row or something, so I was just watching an employee climb the ladder to starve off bordem. What was described above was pretty much spot on to how this employee was successfully climbing the ladder and hitting the bell. I don't know that he had his hands on the ropes only, but he definently never had any 2 limbs on the same rung at the same time.

Last time I was at KI, I asked for (3) waters. This was at the fry place outside of the train station. They gave them to me in 20 oz cups. I don't know if that person was just generous, if they didn't give a flip as it was at the end of the day or if it was new part of KIs policy on distributing water. From a cost standpoint, I would think giving away the 20oz waters could save them money. the cost difference b/w the 20 oz paper cup and the 8 oz plastic cup can't be much per cup, if anything. Top that off, that even w/ the 20oz paper cup filled with water, you're still capable of slapping a Coke (or Pepsi) logo on the side that you don't get w/ the 8oz plastic cup. How many people go up and order 2 waters for each person in their group? I know I often do, but would get 1 if it was in a 20oz container. So if the paper cups costs a bit more, how much of that is offset by people going thru 2 plastic cups of water each time when they might have asked for 1 20oz paper cup? Finally, the hidden costs of using multiple sizes of cups. You have to have a back of store place to store extra inventory of each, you have to have a front of store place to store extra inventory of each, you have to have workers pause to think about which cup to grab, you have to keep track of all that inventory, place seperate orders for each amount needed, etc.... Having 1 size cup for both pop and the free water handout becomes much a much easier task to handle than having 2 different sizes, not to mention the larger sized cup for the large pop.

Whatever animals are native to southwest OH are likely to have been in and/or around the park. Coyotes, Foxes, Skunks, Oppossums, Deer, Snake, Chipmunks, Squirrels, cats, stray dogs, lions, tigers and bears, oh my. There is a nesting pair (perhaps more than one nesting pair) of Bald Eagles along the little miami river that I've seen as far north as the Route 48 exit area off 71 in Lebanon and as far south as Milford. With the River running not far behind the park, I'll assume they've rested on a tree somewhere in or around the KI area.

^^^^ Perhaps, but I've also moved relatively quickly thru level 3 despite spending little. I've made 2 visits to the park, bought a small popcorn ($3.50ish) on one trip, bought a large icee on my other trip ($3.50ish) and I'm at 64.xx% to level 4. I think you move pretty quickly thru the level 3 status based upon my 14% move and having spent little during that time. Probably won't be back until the fall, hopefully once w/ the kid and once w/o the kids and we'll see if we can get to 4 star status before then.

FWIW, my wife has made 8 visits, no money spent on her card, she's at 50%. My son has made 9 visits, no money spent, he's at 50%. I noticed that when i went from 2 to 3, I did it on a day I used a free drink wrist band, and spent roughly $3.70ish the couple of hours I was in the park before the rain came. I went from level 2 to level 3, 50% of my way towards level 4. Seemingly, 50% is just a starting point so people feel that they're pretty close at the start of the next level to moving up.

I posted an article over in the "other amusement par news" section. Based upon psychology, the article stated it would be a poor idea to say the wait time was 15 minutes, only to have it turn to 20 (even if its not the parks fault for the extra 5 minute delay). Basically, people tend to get more upset when they have to wait longer for something than they were originally told. Its far better to say its a 30 minute wait, then let the customer be happy when they get thru the line in 15 minutes. You see this at restaurants all the time. How often is a 20-30 minute wait really 15-20 minutes?

As KI gold season pass holders, we both get the perks of using this new system, and we get the headaches that as they adjust and monitor its effectiveness prior to rolling it out across all cedarfair perks. Customer Service is not likely to have all the answers to all the questions, because most of the questions are still new. As time marches on, they'll have a manual to just about every issue that has arisen and an answer said question. You may very well have been the first person to call the park with this issue. A two week wait for a question that has never been asked? I can see where that would happen as the question gets pushed thru the system and to the back of the next person in basket. Its also quite possible that the answer to your question 3 weeks ago could be very different than the answer to your question today as they are adjusting and monitoring our funperks use. I look at it this way, when I purchased by gold card, funperks was not in place. IIRC funperks wasn't in place on opening day either. Therefor, everything associated with funperks this season is indeed just that, a perk that I wasn't expecting for doing something I would have done anyways (like purchase dinner in the park). Next season, and certainly in the future should funperks continue, then part of my purchasing of a gold pass would be tied into the value I perceive in the funperks system. Its hard for me to get upset over any failings in funperks this season. In your situation its certainly understandable that you'd be fustrated that you've been given no answer, however it doesn't sound like you purchased the fastlane tickets strictly to boost your funperks status, rather you were buying the fastlane tickets and were expected an boost in funperks status as a side benefit. Meanwhile, i'm sure there are season pass holders up at Cedar Pointe that would love an opportunity to get a discount on next season's pass simply for spending the money they already spend in the park this season.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/opinion/sunday/why-waiting-in-line-is-torture.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1 There is a mention of disney, though its not specifically an amusement park wait, mostly the thought process behind waiting.

awesome pic, thanks.

I can't add much that is new. No one mentioned Expedition Everest at Wild Kingdom. Definently worth a fastpass when you first get there. Not the most thrilling coaster in the world, but terrifically themed and a couple of surprises in the course. A lot of fun. The Bugs Life show in the Tree of life was a solid 4d show. I'm not sure what's going on w/ that w/ the avatar land stuff I've read about. Overall, animal kingdom was just OK. Everest was a ton of fun, the safari ride was ok, but mostly just riding around watching animals sit in place. It was pretty cool seeing lions, tigers, hippos, etc... 20 years ago, now you can catch them on TV any day, kind of losses its charm. I didn't make hollywood studios. I know you've mentioned your budget in the past. If you can catch the Cirque show in Downtown Disney, its one of the better ones I've seen and full of the acrobatics that make Cirque shows famous. IIRC its not exactly cheap, but its not overly expensive either compared to the prices I've paid for some of the touring shows or Cirque shows out in Vegas. Depending on your mother's appetite for rides and what not, it may be a more enjoyable evening chilling around downtown disney and catching that show. Take everyone's advice on the fast passes, its a terrific way to squeeze stuff in. Get them for the things you want to ride for sure, then squeeze in the secondary stuff b/w wait times. At Epcot, I was kind of limited due to it just being my wife and 1 year old (at the time) child. We all went on the norwegian area log flume type ride. Can't remember the name, but its pretty fun, even got my son to throw his hands up on one of the hills. Enjoy your trip. Remember its not so much about doing everything, but making sure that each thing you do is well remembered. Don't rush thru things just to experience everything the park has to offer, nor should you grind yourself to much by missing out on sleep. Catch a few well timed naps while the florida sun is beating you down.

It all depends on the construction schedule/staging. Priority goes to the items that take the longest and those that use the heaviest pieces of equipment. Typically a roller coaster is going to be using much heavier equipment to build than any building that King's Island will construct Flight of Fear being an exception as they likely used the same equipment to put the track in place as they did to lift the structural steel supports for the roof of the building in place. A gift shop sitting outside the exit of a ride can be built pretty quickly. prior to construction of that building, they could use the site the future gift shop will sit on as a staging area for a crane to lift track pieces into place. However, what if the staging areas for cranes are on the other side of the track? The concrete footers will need some time to cure before the heavy pieces of steel can be put into place. The could use that cure time to start building support buildings in areas to fill in the construction schedule. They could build the gift shop early in that case and use it as a construction tailor to hold job meetings, store tools and drawings, etc.. so in other words, there is no sure way to know if they'll build a ride or a support building in that area first, it all depends on how its staged. I doubt the concrete walkways will be built first though. They likely clear a path, but the walkways will go in quick and easy. The last thing you want is to build the walkways, then start having construction equipment going by it, or exposing it to weather long before the public will first be able to utilize it. Next time you see a new building going up in an empty field, watch how much of the building is built before the parking lot is ever paved. They'll get the parking lot island and drive isle curbs in place, but blacktop won't be seen until the building is prett well recognizable.