erniebald57

They've gotten to number 15 as of this morning, and they only need to reach the top ten. Only 5 days left to vote, so vote daily!

I live in Chillicothe, Ohio, and the city installed red light cameras early last year. They are little more than a money grab, under the guise of making intersections more safe. The studies that show intersections are more safe and accident free are disputed by studies that show more rear end collisions and people slamming on their brakes. Second, if you want to go to "trial", it costs you $100, whether you are guilty or not. You don't appear in front of a judge, rather some random person that the city has empowered to handle the cases. The whole thing reeks of unconstitutional. A very large percentage of the money also goes not to the city, but to Redflex or whichever operator it is. The town leaders in Chillicothe voted to install them without consultation or acknowledgment of the opinion of its citizens. The citizens didn't like that too much, so we banded together and formed a very large petition to put the issue to the ballot. The mayor and council tried to sell us a bill of goods about being locked into a contract, but the contract has loopholes. After we spoke loud enough the issue was put to the ballot, and the citizens voted to get rid of them in a landslide. They were then taken down. The mayor was going to appeal the vote, but in the end he backed down. It's amazing what politicians can get done when they are scared to lose their job. If you want to know how to get rid or prevent the installation of red light cameras, Chillicothe is a good case study. Get enough people organized and the media on your side, and you can make something happen. It might be tougher in Columbus or some other large city, but I guarantee you that if you look long enough, you'll find more than enough people who either don't like them or want them down.

Hey guys Conneaut Lake Amusement park is up for a $50,000 Pepsi Restore Grant for it's 70 plus year old wooden coaster. Conneaut has fallen on hard times lately, and you can help by voting to restore the Blue Streak. You can cast your vote once a day. Here is the link. Rebuild the Blue Streak Coaster fans unite and help to reopen a classic!

I too have been on a few days where it seems that some attendees of the park are downright rude and inconsiderate. There are also some employees who should be downright fired. I'm a pretty forgiving guy, and I understand that it's a pain to put up with some customers who are never pleased and seem to do nothing but yell at their kids all day, but it doesn't excuse employees from doing their job and being nice to a good customer such as myself. It doesn't happen a whole lot, but it shouldn't be happening as much as it does. I don't have any problem at all confronting a line jumper, even if they do have a crew they are running with...I can defend myself just fine, and they are probably posers anyway. Not to say it's happened to me a lot, but when someone does cut in front, they usually leave. Perhaps it's the look of death that they receive. Getting rid of line jumping starts with the people in line, and I'm sure that you aren't the only one in the queue that is annoyed by line cutters. Let a few people know what happened, gather a few witnesses before you complain. A lot of times the line can police itself as long as people speak up. I do think that the park could use some more security, especially on high volume days. Cedar Point employs the Sandusky Police Dept to station a handful of officers among the regular security guards, and I've seen them doing their job (and doing it well). I don't see many problems with park guests when I'm at CP. Granted it's not as close to a metro area as KI is, but I've simply not seen as many issues at Cedar Point as I do at Kings Island. I would love to see a major crackdown on line smoking and line cutting. I'm fairly sure that ejecting people who practice those things would eliminate those and other problems as well. Start kicking some people out....visibly.

It's all about perception. Even I..a seasoned coaster rider (first ride in the front seat), was a little flipped by the trains the first time. I always trust their design but riding 200 ft in the air on a train that is little more than seats bolted to a piece of diamond plate sheet metal with no sides does create a little tension. Obviously the trains are safe, but they offer so much open air, and so much room in each individual row that some may get the feeling that they will fall out. These trains were designed to give as much freedom and open air to the rider as possible, and I have no doubt that the engineers addressed all angles of this train. Surely safety was the first priority, and they analyzed carefully whether or not a seatbelt is necessary. The clamshells have two mechanisms that lock the restraint in place. I understand some people's apprehension about the design of the train, because quite frankly it feels a little like there isn't a train under you at all. It's just part of the show.

I was there for media day today. They stopped the train going up the hill because they saw some dude with a little handheld camera. The ride op tied off, walked up the hill, and took the camera. As for the ride....it's off the chain. Totally amazing.

The finals are here. The Beast didn't make it unfortunately, but Millennium Force did. It's Millennium Force vs. Universals Mummy. Cast your vote! www.themeparkinsider.com

For those still interested, it's Maverick vs. Universal Studio's Mummy today. Cast your vote!

Beast vs. Maverick has begun. Website decided to do a morning and evening matchup today...perhaps to curb Cedar Point from hyperlinking. Cast your vote! Beast is down big right now.

Keep your eye out for The Beast matchup coming soon.

Maverick vs. Beast. I like them both, and will be happy no matter the outcome. I'll probably vote for Beast when the time comes...I would like to see it go forward. Cedar Point's official blog has now linked up to this tournament, which caused an almost 500% increase in votership. KI and Beast supporters....The Beast needs your support. go cast your vote when the time comes

I love it...Cedar Point fans have mobilized, and Maverick is currently laying a beating on last year's winner, Tower of Terror. While that one isn't nearly over, the cage is officially rattled folks. There was a huge Disney bias during the last tournament, and now that the vote has turned democratic, Disney fans don't like it. The Beast likely has it in the bag, but if you haven't voted, go cast.... Go Maverick.

Round 2 starts tomorrow. Matchups will get tougher and the number of voters has really started to pick up. Don't forget to show your support. The Beast, along with some Cedar Point machines, remain from the Cedar Fair family amongst a sea of Disney and Universal attractions in the tournament.

The Beast could be a she...now that I think of it.

If The Beast wins, then don't forget to vote for him again when his next matchup arrives. The vote count is still low, so it's not over yet. If you haven't voted, do so.

There's a NCAA style best ride tournament going on at Themeparkinsider.com. It pits rides from different parks against each other until there is a winner. The voting for each matchup lasts one day. One of today's matchups is The Beast vs. Dinosaur from Disney. The problem with this tournament is that the Disney fanboy army comes out to blindly vote for Disney rides. The Beast needs your support.

Not quite tall enough I guess... The more I think about the whole Hard Rock Debacle and how fantastically it failed, the more frustrated I become. I've been going to Myrtle Beach since about 1985. I've been there during all times of the year and have seen the town grow astronomically. Ever since the Pavilion closed, it's been more than ripe for a good, large scale theme or amusement park. 300,000 residents live in the metro area and 15 million tourists...mostly families...come to MB every year to spend their hard earned time and money. The weather is nice and the competition is pretty much zero. The market is tailor made for such an operation, and these guys totally screwed the pooch. I'll admit it...I'm being a bit of a hater. I do so because it's a dream of mine to own and operate my own park, and to see such an oppurtunity go up in smoke pains me, especially when it was riddled with issues that could have been prevented or fixed. The fact that the major park companies and so called experts fail to see the potential in Hard Rock blows my mind...pure and simple. Nobody wanted to pony up the 3 million dollar down payment needed to reopen the park (a brand new one nonetheless) for this year, a figure that is far less than many new ride budgets and most operating budgets. Unless someone is really taking their chances with the bankruptcy auction, those with the money are missing out on a golden oppurtunity. If I had such money...or access to it, Hard Rock would open in 2009, and it's critics would be silenced. Oh well...there's always the mega millions.

True...however, being that PARC just bought a couple of little guys (NASCAR fun park, Myrtle Waves Water Park) in MB, it makes sense that they would look to buy HRP too. Quite honestly, they may be the only hope the park has of not being being stripped and sold piece by piece. Chapter 7 has already happened, but the park as a whole could still be purchased. As far as the old Hard Rock management/marketing goes, anybody with a mind for business can see that it was amateur night....big time. I was hoping that Herschend (Dollywood, Silver Dollar City) would give it a shot, but nobody wants to spend money, banks don't want to loan, and investors are afraid to invest. How I wish I had the money or connections to reopen.

It depends...which major investor is starting these new ventures. The death of the park wasn't because of it's quality or design, it was because of it's management. I was there on the last day it was open (thankfully). The park was a ghost town, yet they had a full staff. People from Charleston, just an hour or so south of MB, had no idea that a theme park was opening in Myrtle Beach. There was no real mass marketing campaign to the states containing the 15 million tourists that visit every year, nor was there much of one to the immediate 200 mile radius. It was a colossal management failure. They obviously had no contingency plan, no sense of money management, and they simply gambled a 500 million dollar investment on the whims of beachgoing families who saw one of the dozens of billboard advertisements driving into town. The sad thing is that I enjoyed the park. It did have room to grow, but the design and entertainment value was good, the market was ripe, and the potential was limitless. People talk about sports teams choking, and I call this the great choke of the theme park industry. I really hope a deal is struck by a company like PARC at the midnight hour, because there is huge money to be made here. The price to acquire and reopen the park is chicken feed. Any investors out there?

"A malfunction that caused the Cyclone to drop too fast" Hasn't the Cyclone pretty much been dropping the same way for 80 years now?

I think that there are a lot of factors swirling around here 1) Myrtle Beach is still the place for the family traveling on a budget 2) Money is likely a little tighter for those families traveling due to high gas prices, increase in food, etc... 3) The hotels may not be as full as they usually are this year. 4) Hard Rock isn't cheap. The economy hasn't been any park's friend this year, and a new park that hasn't found it's place yet is going to have the same problems. Myrtle Beach brings in millions of tourists a year, so the potential is there for some huge numbers. I think that the price point was too high when the park opened, and I've also heard tell that food/gifts are spendy too. While MB has been working hard to bring more affluent tourists to the area, the fact remains that most of the families traveling there are still blue collar, lower to middle class families with a limited budget. Not that any of those monikers are bad, but when tickets are 50 bucks a piece, a family of 5 can make for an expensive day. I come from such a background, and I can say this. These families come to Myrtle Beach to go to the beach and go out to eat. Sometimes they go out to shop and play putt-putt, but for some reason, going out to eat is some kind of unconscious, ingrained vacation activity. Hard Rock isn't in competition with other parks, it's in competition with hundreds of low cost family activities that are scattered around the town. I know that the park is new and they've spent a lot of money building it, but people are looking for a bargain right now, and unfortunately, it doesn't seem that a bargain can be found at Hard Rock at this time. I know that they have shifted pricing a little bit, but it looks like there are still some things to be worked out. Getting aggressive with hotel room/condo packages, heavily marketing special holiday events, coupons for goods inside the park, attracting company events, and getting that "spending per guest" number up is key. I also think that a well planned concert series with the right bands would go a long way. If you ask me, I think the customer base is not a family with lots of young kids, it's the family with teenagers, adults age 20 to 45, couples, and older folks that are young at heart. Becoming a real nightlife hub may be a good thing...kind of like the Universal Citywalk or Downtown Disney in Orlando. The Hard Rock Park experience is probably a good one, but it's one that people either don't know about, or are willing to cut from their to do list because of the cost at this time. Attract the right customers, and give the customers a bargain, or at least an implied one, and they will come.

Yeah....they thought attendance was down last year... I still think that completely trashing the amusement park side was a big mistake. The water park is cheaper to run (I guess), but is so much more dependent on the right weather, the wet guests whipping out their money to buy stuff...etc. I think I recall a recent interview with Mr. Kinzel himself about the difficulties of making money in the water park. I suspect that they will have these difficulties. The last I heard, many Geauga Lake fans still aren't too happy about this whole thing. save the dipper.

preserve the villian??? gimme a break. Dipper needs to find a new home. One of the oldest coasters operating in the world, and still a good ride. It would be a shame if the Dipper doesn't make it. Cedar Fair should ship it to one of their parks and give it new life. The economics of it aren't that bad considering the historical value of the ride.

Today's the day. The Beast vs. Pirates of the Carribean. The Beast hasn't a chance on TPI, the Disney superfan haven, unless KI fans show up and vote for it.

there is a bracket, but it hasn't been posted on the site yet for some reason. There have been 8 days with 4 matchups each and today was the last day of round 1. Round 2 starts tomorrow.