medford

If they would just make it so that all the guns worked properly, I'd be happy with the ride as is. Its not perfect, but its a must ride for my 4 year old each trip to the park (sometimes a 3 or 4 trip ride if the lines are short) The theme could definently be improved, but the shooting style ride thru AC is a solid idea.

Not sure your age, but with a kid who recently turned 4 (as well as a newborn) I find Planet Snoopy's collection of coasters to be almost perfect, and well spaced out in terms of height requirements (not sure if it was planned that way or they just fell into it) Nevermind that if you removed any of the 3 coasters in Planet Snoopy you wouldn't net much space to anything else with other than another kids ride. The Great Pumpkin coaster was great when he was 2 and not quite tall enough to get on Woodstock Express. By the time he turned 3, he sprouted up to 40" and loves every ride on Woodstock express. Sure its small and meant for little kids, but it still packs in a great ride for even an adult. He just turned 4 and is now tall enought ride Flying arial chase. Previously I had never been on Flying Ace before until he hit the 44" mark earlier this summer, but you definently get the feeling that you're moving faster than what you'd guess it to feel like when watching it on the ground. You get a good starter coaster intended for small kids, you get a nice classic woodie with some air time, especially for little kids working their way up, then you get an inverted ride with your legs swinging free to give them that big kid feel. Get ride of Snoopy Junction and install an nice indoor wild mouse style coaster and you'd have a near peferct lineup of coasters for kids of all ages to progress thru as they work up to The Racers or The Beast. Next year he should be tall enough to progress up to the 48" coasters.

Was there fuel in the lighter? That would make a huge difference.

Anyone have a clue how the lines at Dinosaur's Alive are doing this year, compared to last year. It can only be assumed it was a solid money maker for the park last season due to the expansion into other parks. We only went once last year, on a saturday during the Halloween Haunt. The day was fairly crowded to begin with, and Dinosaur's alive was pretty busy. We mainly go on tuesday or wednesday evenings, and I can't remember what the lines looked like last year on our visits. This year however, there has never been a line to get into dinosaur's alive, in fact the handful of times we've gone by it (we have a 4 year old that loves dino's so he likes to look at the dino's sitting outside the attraction) it appeared to be empty. Now obviously you can't see back into the trail, so I'm mainly judging by the people (or lack there of) in the tent/shop area, as well as the trail leading into the attraction by the dinosaur's on the exterior. It may have been equaly dead on tuesday or wednesday evenings last year, which kind of makes sense as most families with young kids that this attraction would cater to are hitting dinner or heading for home and likely would have visited earlier. I've always been under the impression that DA was something that wouldn't/couldn't last for long as a paid attraction due to the likely maintenance cost due to the weathering of the dinosaur's plus it doesn't strike me as something people are going to pay an upcharge to see several times a season for several seasons in a row. However, if it remains popular, they're not going to get rid of it. I'm neither rooting for nor against Dinosaur's Alive, its a neat concept, at least for 1 or 2 visits, I'm just interested how long it can remain in the park and perhaps if the Dinos can be incorporated into a future attraction down the line.

Not sure where to put this, but it kind of struck me as a bit odd. Driving home the other day, I was flipping around stations and stopped at K99.1, a country station out of Dayton that can be heard from the 275 loop up to somewhere north of dayton. Anyways, it was a Planet Snoopy commercial talking about all the attractions for kids, etc.... then finished up with a Planet Snoopy, only at Cedar Pointe. Seems that if they're going to advertise for Cedar Pointe in Kings Island's (practically) back yard on a radio station that can be heard from Kings Island's water park, they might want to check the wording of the ad. To make it even more ironic, the very next commercial was for some new store opening up in Mason.

Delirium still down last night, Invertigo was going thru some test runs when I got there around 6:00 pm, and had riders by the end of the night. Zephyr (? the large circular swing by The Racer) was down and being repaired in the evening, and finally Vortex was shut down for repair prior to closing. the seems to be having more maintance issues this season than last, or perhaps I'm just noticing them more often.

Powered by RC Cola Aside from the christian faith concert (Spirit Song?) are there any other concerts scheduled for Timberwolf? What is the capacity of Timberwolf, what is the capacity of the stands for the stage behind the tower? My thought has been to get ride of Timberwolf as it doesn't see much use. For things like Spirit Song or the Freedom Concerts that they used to have or any other concert, use the stage behind the Eiffel Tower. Sell tickets to get down into the seating, perhaps setup roping where you could sell standing room only seats around the perimeter, then allow the concerts to filter out into the general area so anyone could sit outside of Starbucks and take in whatever performer was on stage. I'd then attempt at getting more acts in to perform on this stage, obviously you couldn't get big name acts, and any act would have to be family friendly, but it would open up another avenue to keep people around the park later into the evenings. Let the concerts flow into starlight spectacular (which I'll assume will transform into luminosity next season) to give people a solid 2 hours in the evening to just take things in (and of course purchase food/drink) It would also free up a large area of Action Zone for future development. If such a thing were to happen, I wonder how often they could schedule acts to appear. once a week? twice a week?

I appreciate where you're coming from, but its an apples/oranges scenerio (for most of us anyways) A car (to most) is mearly a means of transportation from one place to another. I make no money directly off my car. I could drive a $20,000 toyota, a $10,000 kia, or a $250,000 Bentley and it won't make me any more money (though the bently is obviously going to cost me some). It doesn't matter how much I sink into it, or how much I spend up front, the only thing it does for me is get me from point A to point B Perhaps a better comparision that some could relate to is the cost of a lawnmower and summer mowing job. Lets say you've got 15 lawns in your neighborhood and you've got your old handme down lawnmower you inherited from your father. It gets the job done, but every month you've got to perform some kind of maintence on the mower that costs you both time and money, and limits your ability to add the new neighbors that just move in down the street to your client lists. However, if you went out and spent $500 on a new reliable mower, perhaps you could take on 2-3 more additional lawns over the next couple of summers. Would those 2-3 additional lawns make up for the cost of tnew lawn mower, minus the reduced costs in maitenance? As a company, Kings Island will(should) only build new rides/attractions if it helps them retain and/or establish new customers and increased attendence thru their park. While they do have to deal with the debt load that you mention, it would be a wise decision if the cost of tearing down SOB and putting up something in its place or simply rehabing the ride to a point of satisfaction meant they revenue generated by the park more than offset the additional debt load.

browntggrr made perhaps the most insightful post on the old SOB thread that I read. He made mention that the last thing the park wants to do is to get all that heavy machinery back there to demolish the ride, then bring it all back a few years later to rebuild something else. Until they know what they're going to replace it with (if that is the plan) its wasting money to bring it down any sooner. In the meantime, perhaps a reasonable, cost effective fix hits the market that has worked elsewhere. Cedar Fair probably doesn't want SOB to be the test track for a new design approach that might fix the ride experience. They've already attempted to fix it once, without success, why dump a good amount of money unless you know its going to work. Is the Texas Giant treatment something that would work? Perhaps, I'm sure they'd like a couple of seasons to know for sure. In either case, the smart decision is to wait until you know exactly what the future holds.

1) The Racer I'm not one to pay much attention to the asthestics (Did I spell that right?) of a ride; pay more attention to the ride itself. The Racer still is an enjoyable ride with lots of air time each time I'm on it. A paint job would be nice, not sure how the new lead paint laws affect the cost of such a paint job, but it wouldn't approve the ride itself, just the apparence of the ride. While that matters to many, to me its just spending money to spend money. Still wish one ran backwards. 2) Adventure Express, I haven't been on this one yet this year, but rode it many times last year while my wife was taking our 2 year old on the scrambler and/or monster (spinny rides don't agree with me). I found a great appreciation for the ride last year. I wish the theming was still intact, but that and The Racer became my 2 staple rides last year when our son was on the rides I wouldn't do. Can't speak to this season, but last year the ride was very smooth with tight quick turns. I take a detour from my normal thinking about the asthetics of a ride in this case, since the final lift hill is just that, the end of the ride, so the theming here is more noticable then most rides for me. Still overall, it is what it should be, a nice family coaster that is a bridge b/w kiddie land and riding The Beast or The Racer. 3) The line back to Flight Deck worked well when it opened as top Gun and had a lot of theming tied in. It still worked when SOB was opened, now its just a long line back to the outskirts of the park with few other attractions around it, which include a ride that excludes those who don't want to get wet, 2 rides that excludes those who refuse to pay for "upcharge" type thrills, and a ride for those that get nervous over heights (I'll ride Diamondback no problem, 1 ride of drop zone was enough for me) On top of that, you can't really see the ride from anywhere inside the park, so it gets forgotten about pretty quickly. If something is done about SOB and that part of the park becomes more enticing for the average park attendee, ridership will pick up on Flight Deck. They just did a pretty solid paint job on the final break last season, so its not like its gone on w/o some love from Cedar Fair. As for the ride ops, while we'd all love for them to move lickety-split, its probably human nature that if there are few people in line, you're going to take your time as there is no need to rush everyone thru.

Serious question: Doesn't: Kind of defeat the purpose of a rumors section? I mean take all the rumors here with a grain of salt, but how many people are going to be willing to post specific information they've learned about while divulging their source? Otherwise it might as well be called a speculation forum so we can post our hopes, wishes and best guesses at what developments in the park are going to be. I appreciate the effort to clean things up a bit, but sometimes I find the claims of inside knowledge to be kind of fun, even if I don't believe them.

Yeah, Mr. Bombay is going come down on you from his high throne he sits on, you better revel your sources or retract your statement. The thing is, true or not, he didn't really say anything. I have little doubt, that somewhere along the lines there have been discussions about what to do with the Action Zone. Amongst those plans, talks of Congo Falls, Timberwolf, Son of Beast, the race track and/or Flight Deck have probably been brought up at one time or another, perhaps even penciled into a master Action Zone "10-year" plan. He may or may not have friends w/n management at KI, I have no idea, but to say Congo Falls "might" be removed isn't very revealing. I'd love to know all the possible plans they have for that area, no matter if its a 1% chance something could happen or a 99% chance things could happen, the overall planning of how managements wants to develop KI into the future is something that interests me very much. However, I suspect its like many 10 year campus developments at any university. They tell incoming students this is the latest 10 year plan and what we plan to have in place before you graduate, only to see 4 years go by and nothing develops. Time changes opinions, costs and the ability to do many things we thought possible or even likely just a few years prior.

Sometimes an unpainted sign is a sign of things to come; sometimes an unpainted sign is just an unpainted sign. Those that know are not speaking, those that are speaking are just guessing; or are they?

Depends on when you go in June (although I doubt we'll see a June day temp wise like he saw yesterday). It was up in the 90s when we went early in the season, May perhaps, and down in the 50s/low 60s for 2 seperate trips in June this season. Can't predict the weather anytime out, so I doubt the fast pass lanes cut wait time much, however getting in/out quickly and back into the AC probably made for a nicer day overall than even waiting 10 minutes out in that heat.

I'm not sure when the train gets up there (could be at the end of the night following the last ride, could be early in the morning following daily testing) but I often (though perhaps not always, though I'm not always looking) see a train parked anywhere from 1/2 way up to 2/3 of the way up the lift hill in the mornings around 7:30 as I'm driving south on I-71

yes, can't say I understand why it switches timeframes, sets of pictures. For instance, I was viewing SOB w/ the looop. I panned down a bit to where Great Wolf Lodge stands (not sure if that was built yet when SOB had its loop, I want to say no, but not sure), and you see the delay and picture changes. Panned back up and there is SOB again w/o the loop. I didn't zoom in or out, nor did I rotate the view, so its pretty fickle in what pictures it presents. Diamonback has always amused me as well, turn one way and its not there, turn it another and all of a sudden its in the middle of construction or even fully completed.

Not sure if it will work, it took me a couple of minutes of zooming in, moving around, etc... to get a birdseye view with the loop intact: http://www.bing.com/maps/#JnE9LmtpbmdzJTJiaXNsYW5kJTdlc3N0LjAlN2VwZy4xJmJiPTUyLjgyODg3NjIyNzQyNDclN2UtNDIuNDExNTUyNDI4NSU3ZTIxLjgyMDAyNDU5MjA2MzIlN2UtMTI2Ljg3NDQ0MzA1MzU= Its pretty fickel, 99% of the pictures in this setting will show it w/o the loop, seems like in the past you've been able to get a SOB shot w/ loop intact much easier, but it still possible if you keep rotating, moving around zooming in. Seems like I've always needed to be zoomed in to the 2nd to last closest zoom to get a shot w/ the loop intact.

Not sure if you're responding to me, but if you are, in the bird's eye view (again at the right angle as they obviously have 2 different time frames on birds eye view of King's Island) you'll see the loop fully intact on SOB. Turn the arrow to look at it from a different directin, and the loop dissapears. Us the ariel view and there is no sign of the loop to speak of, neither now, nor on the ariel pictures they had prior to the latest update of this area.

FWIW, I posted in another thread that Bing Maps seems to have a new overhead of Kings Island on their page w/n the last month or so. It shows the construction of the Soak City expansion, but Invertigo is still pink/yellow. The birdseye view is still old, and if you rotate it the right way, you can still see the loop in SOB in some of the angles, while it dissapears if you move the birdseye camera around. At any rate, if there is indeed clearing going on there that is visiable, bing maps would offer a good comparision from the ariel setting on what the area behind SOB looked like this winter. There has always been some clearing back there, even if you look at the birds eye view of SOB that still has the loop you see the clearing. I imagnie that tram graveyard clearing has been there for a very long time, if that is the clearing some are claiming.

pulling up bingmaps (scientific I know) it appears that snoopy junction would take up about half of the track area of Thunder alley, FWIW. It also appears that bing has an updated KI picture up that shows the construction of Soak City, though Invertigo is still pink/yellow. I didn't notice these changes (and I believe I looked) last time I used bing maps around this area a month or so back.

Love the idea, I think that would work very well in that area as part of an Action Zone revamp. Perhaps then 10 years later, after DA has run its course, turn the DA area into a theme area with a 3rd dino themed kids area. TTD, I'm not sure what you mean by children's train, would the existing snoopy junction in Planet Snoopy work?

36" with an adult http://www.visitkingsisland.com/plan-a-visit/rider-height-requirements

I know my son is pretty tall for his age, but he was on the Monster, Scrambler, Grand Carousel and Viking Fury before his 3rd birthday, then shake rattle & role (42") later in the summer after he turned 3 last season. I feel like King's Island does a good job of keeping a large majority (with a nice variety) of kids rides in 1 area, with a few ridable by smaller kids spread thru the park. There is also the sandpit/dig area of Dinosaurs Alive and a ride along on thunder alley available for an upcharge (we did DA once, might use a funreward to do a thunder alley ride along this season), not to mention the train which is a must ride most every trip to the park as well as Eiffel Tower which we go up a few times a year. Race for your life charlie brown (the flume log ride) is kind of in Planet Snoopy, kind of in rivertown as well. The nice thing about Planet Snoopy (and the reason most parks concentrate their kids rides in 1 area) is that kids tire out quickly, if you have to go anywhere far, its a hope into the stroller and a sizable walk across the park. While I'd appreciate a 2nd kids area (at least for the next handful of years anyways) I wouldn't want them to seperate out too much. If part of an Action Zone refurb was to put a group of 3-4 family and/or kid style rids in, that could serve the park well. However if you just plopped 1 kid's ride over there, I think it would spend a good chunk of the middle of each family's day pretty much ignored (you'd hit it either on the way in or the way out) As far as Planet Snoopy vs Nick, I'm not sure it matters much. It was H-B land when I was a kid, but I think my son would enjoy the rides just the same no matter how they were themed. We don't let him watch Nick yet, just some early morning cartoons on Disney, so the theming issue wouldn't hit him (though he is aware of Sponge Bob) however, anytime we're out and he sees a Peanuts reference, like snoopy painted on the side of a car wash or on a blimp parked at a local airport, he immediatley says "hey dad, Kings Island" He knows the Peanuts as a Kings Island thing and occasionally a cartoon during the holidays, he doesn't recognize it as bunch of TV shows in the morning with Kings Island as a secondary attachment. Peanuts gives a nice blend of nostalgia for parents and grandparents, as well as occasionaly viewing for kids while still allowing kids to associate any Peanuts ad with the place they go to ride all those rides.

$36 is a lot of money to essentially people watch, see a magic show, perhaps a british invastion show and expensive food that isn't as good as the cheaper options around the park. However, if by not riding rides, you mean only the really big ones, then yes its possible. Depends on what their fears of the big rides are, there is all the stuff listed above, plus white water canyon, small flats, the water park, etc.... Its all dependent upon what they will or won't ride. For instance, if you limited me to just the roller coasters I'd be fine. If you told me I could only ride shake, rattle & roll, the scrambler & monster, I'd stay home while my wife would love it (and is essentially all she rode last year outside of kiddie land as those and Viking Fury were the only rides outside of Planet Snoopy that our 3 year old was tall enough to ride) I get sick on a ride like the scrambler, but it always amused me to watch our son spin around next to my wife and watching the smile on his face as the scrambler whirled him around. In the end (or I suppose in the begining) you need to find out what they like and what specifically they won't try, and why. If its a fear thing, there is a chance you might be able to work them up to a ride on The Racers or The Beast. If its a medical condition, then you know what your stuck to and know what your true limits are going to be.

The only reason for an additional north enterance, would be if they were to build up another area beyond SOB. I'm not sure how much of that land is reasonally usuably due to elevation terrain in regards to moving people around, but if things were to stay as are, there would be no need for it.