Kenban

It’s been a few years and I doubt I could find the interview if I tried but Cedar Fair executives have spoken before about what they want in this location. I want to say it was the old CEO who made the comment. But in short they wanted to give the area the feel of a classic beach boardwalk and put in an older style wooden coaster. I think it was around when Cedar Point added the path around the outside of the park on the beach. Pretty sure this was what started the Wicked Twister removal rumors a few years ago. The comments are a few years old but frankly I am expecting a boardwalk area with a modern wooden coaster that looks like it’s an older ride, my guess is GCI. Cedar Point tends to move flat rides around to help make room so if the layout needs it I would not be surprised to see other attractions move.

I would be shocked if this is moved to another Cedar Fair park. The chain is trying to get rid of expensive to maintain rides and part of doing that has been to remove problematic Intamin coasters. Also based on fillings by Dorney park last year before the Pandemic it appears that Possessed which is a very similar ride is also on the chopping block likely to be removed soon. I see basically 3 possibilities, sell the coaster, scrap it, or keep possessed and send the parts to Dorney to keep that operating.

Well it’s official Wicked Twister is getting removed. Last day is September 6th.

I rode The Beast a bunch of times earlier this season and the only really bad place I remember was right before the underground tunnel after the brake shed. I typically ride rows 14 and 17, so towards the back of the train but not over a wheel, although I have ridden in other rows including over wheels this season. Overall I think the ride is running rougher then previous seasons but not 100% certain, definitely rougher then I typically like. But based on rumors I heard earlier this year I suspect the ride downtime is due to the control system. I have heard the ride has had issues turning on some mornings this season and if the problems have continued or gotten worse I could see it having some unplanned downtime. If what I heard was accurate it sounds a lot more complicated then just a sensor or two not working.

I have heard that B&M dive coasters are really affordable. This layout looks designed for a small flat area and could likely be easily cloned. If this does well, which I suspect it will, we could easily see copies of this pop up at a few more Six Flags parks. It’s great seeing Six Flags move into bigger rides again. I am actually looking forward to seeing what else the chain announces.

Steel Vengeance is actually better about it’s opening time then it used to be. It is a very large and aggressive coaster with a wooden support structure. The ride needs a lot of inspections every morning and likely maintenance had not signed off on operations that morning.

The rumor that I have heard is the music in the shed will return. It sounded to me to be a pretty simple case of the part broke and the replacement is on back order and will take a little while to receive and install. Have not spoken with anyone regarding any other theming issues. That people who work on the rides may not realize there is an issue is likely what prevents these problems from being fixed. If no one realizes something is wrong and then does not reach out to the right party to fix it nothing is going to be done.

First this is likely just a start and the picnic structure next to it is likely to come down as well. Likely after haunt ends. I can think of several different projects this space could be used for. Executives have expressed a desire to build a harmony hall style restaurant theatre. I remember Jason McClure stating the biggest problem was having a place to build it. I actually hope this is not what it will be used for. I want the park to build something like this in a more central location. The park has also been discussing building a dark ride for a while as well. Finally as a space to move rides from somewhere else in the park to build a larger project somewhere else. The author of the article suggests it’s to make room around Wicked Twister. Which is where it has long been rumored a GCI would be located. I could see this, clean up this site. Relocate flat rides over the winter, and build the ride in 2022 for a 2023 opening. Even if it’s not flat rides coming from around Wicked Twister, I still feel this is the most likely answer. Moving rides to open up a hole to build a 2023 attraction.

Sign shop Maintenance Computer room on a B&M Greenhouses

Having seen video of the overturned boat and interviews with the parents, I feel like I need to say something. I am not concerned about how the boat ended up upside down. I am also pretty much ready to not blame the manufacturer. Frankly while something went wrong this is a free floating raft ride no matter how well maintained or designed the ride is there is always a chance something could go wrong, what happens next, how the park figures out something has gone wrong, and how the park responds is what I am concerned with. Also what can a guest do when the worst occurs. As far as I can tell the park had no monitoring of the course beyond the station. When the raft overturned the ride was not shut down, and I do not believe the park had any idea something had happened until the next raft with guests on it returned to the station which happened to have a guest filming the ride which is how we have video of the overturned raft. When someone is trapped underwater seconds matter. These rides have a huge pool of water at the end of the ride which is the lowest point, so most of the ride rapidly drains when the pumps are turned off. This incident appears to have occurred at a point which would have drained without the pumps operating. The shacks throughout the path of the ride on White Water Canyon at Kings Island are there to monitor for accidents so that something can be done if something does happen. Because there is always that chance of something happening I really have an issue with locking restraints on rides like this. I have no idea what type of restraints this specific ride has. I have never been to the park. This is more of a general complaint. I am fine with Velcro but think that anything which is difficult to release in an emergency on a raft ride is a mistake. The parents made it out, and I have heard guests from other rafts jumped into the water to assist in the rescue so obviously it could not have been too difficult to release. But thinking clearly enough when something has gone horribly wrong to release a seat belt is difficult.

In previous years how fun pix worked was you presented the event barcode to one of the photo booth attendants. Which they scan and give you one of the fun pix lanyards and you scan that for your photos.

I have no idea what did happen, but whatever they think they saw did not occur. Could have been a water dummy or even more than one, a typical way to empty the dummies on the rigid versions at least. Is to just remove the plug and run the coaster and let the water spray out throughout the ride. But one thing I can guarantee is no seats went flying off the coaster.

Before I answer the questions, these rides were built in the early 80s, and have basically proven themselves to be safe after more then 30 years of service. Whatever went wrong is unlikely to be a design flaw. Same manufacturer and to my knowledge same raft. Intamin made the raft in several sizes, but they are both six seat rafts. Layouts are pretty much unique to the location since they wanted to take advantage of the terrain, and there is no point to duplicating the designs. I am reminded of an incident that occurred on a similar ride in Australia around five years ago. One of the pumps was not working which caused the water level to be too low to operate safely. This allowed a raft to get underneath another raft at a conveyer belt which caused one of the rafts to flip over and killed several people. I have no idea if the incidents are similar, but that’s what I immediately thought of after I heard of this occurring.

Park closed at 7 all weekend. Management likely decided we have two choices do nothing or have fireworks during the day and they ended up with what your looking at.

For me at least ERT is the least important part of the weekend. I like listening to the speakers, and having a chance to ask them questions. Meeting up and speaking with other enthusiasts, discussing rumors is always more fun in person. Opportunities to get access to locations and experiences I typically cannot access. Sure I love riding the coasters with little wait, but more than anything I want something unique I cannot get any other day of the season. Kings Island is my home park, but even when I visit events at other parks this typically holds true. I like the schedule this year and how it has an emphasis on the rest of the day. My biggest wish for the event would be for us to access other areas of the park which the general public never sees. But then I am also one of those people who enjoys Winter chill out more then Coastermania. Getting access to maintenance, warehouses, costuming, etc, and talking with the staff is always interesting. I would love to see an off season open house event sometime in the future.

Officially the parade does not start for two more days. Pretty sure the park took advantage of the days they were closed to the public due to staffing issues and had a full dress rehearsal during the day. It’s not just the rides not operating the other side of the midway is empty. The parade once it starts is scheduled for 8:45 PM.

If there would be Haunt this year was a question brought up at CoasterMania. Jason McClure who is now the regional Vice President over KI, CP, Carowinds, etc, stated the decision has not been made yet. He flat out stated the chain is worried about being able to staff the parks and the event. With the troubles the parks are having getting employees I do not think we will see a full standard Haunt at either Cedar Point or Kings Island. I am expecting a food festival, decorations, trick or treating for children, and maybe some fog machines, lighting and walk through areas but no houses. I would love to be proven wrong and would like the event to be back to normal but I doubt it.

For people not familiar with the Sharonville Convention Center. You grabbed the convention center and the directly connected hotel next door.

For those unaware Annual Passes purchased or renewed through Knotts Berry Farm are being extended into 2022 for the number of days the park is closed this year. Passes from Canada’s Wonderland have already been extended through Labor Day 2022. Nothing is perfect, it would be nice to see all US platinum passes work at Canada’s Winderland and Knott’s during these extension periods but frankly it’s likely difficult. They may still do something for Platinum pass holders, everything keeps changing. But acting like nothing has been done for the individuals at these parks is wrong. Cedar Point needs to use their reservation system to limit park capacity to something which will allow guests a reasonable experience. If one or two rides are creating extremely long uncontrollable lines then have a ride reservation system. I hope Cedar Point finds the employees to be able to operate the park with a reasonable level of service. But they have been having problems during weekend operations at the start and end of the season for years. It just sounds worse then normal.

They said it, but I do not believe them. They are exactly the kind of guest Cedar Point wants as well, visits annually, does not live near a Cedar Fair park so no annual pass, and stays at Breakers.

Fast Lane and similar systems have totally changed how I visit amusement parks and how much money I spend at them. I travel a lot, 50+ nights a year in hotels was normal for me until last year. While I do travel just for amusement parks, I also travel for other reasons as well and it’s not that uncommon for me to try to add on a park to another trip. The ability to basically guarantee I will be able to ride the attractions is huge. If I am paying for a hotel, transportation, tickets, etc while the cost of a front of the line pass is still significant it’s cheaper then another day at the park. I check for line skip add ons and their availability actually changes how I schedule my trips, and makes it more likely I will go out of my way to visit the park. I never want to have a big trip where I only get a handful of rides in, if I am that worried about crowds at a park and there is no way for me to skip the line, I might just skip the park completely. I had a friend who traveled to Cedar Point last fall a trip they have made annually for some time. They were at the park from open to close and rode 4 coasters the entire day. After having to fly to Ohio they felt the entire trip was a waste of time and money. Also it gets me out of the lines and into the arcades, stores, and restaurants. I spend more money at Kings Island and other parks due to front of the line passes then I would otherwise. An argument could be made the source of the issue is the season pass and ticket pricing, that their are just too many guests at times. Raise ticket prices when the park is expected to be crowed, and maybe even tiered annual passes, some with blackout dates.

You can disagree all you want. Here is a press release from Kroger. All of the contactless forms of payment, Samsung, Apple, Google, work on the same technology. Traditionally once the work is in place to support one you can support all of them and most retailers do. It is possible to prevent a single companies contactless payment system and some retailers do.

This is more of a training issue and the fact that contactless forms of payment are not chainwide and they have been slowly rolling it out. But the Kroger stores which take Samsung pay or Google pay also take Apple Pay.

https://www.hfecorp.com/whats-new/ The deal is done and has been formally announced by Herschend. Craig Ross the former GM of Dollywood is taking over as interim GM of Kentucky Kingdom. Personally I am expecting more shows, live entertainment, festivals, and likely a new indoor theater. They are already talking about extending the season so a fall harvest festival and maybe even a Christmas event seem likely.

FYI SeaWorld San Antonio has the lowest price passes in the chain. You can pickup a chain wide platinum pass pretty cheaply. When they run sales around holidays it’s not uncommon to see them for around $130-140 although the last time I really watched the price was almost 2 years ago. If you have any plans to visit Busch Gardens, Orlando or just other Seas parks in the next year it’s nice having a pass and can save you some money. I do have a Platinum pass and my “home park” is San Antonio. I have not had a chance to visit but you might also want to run over to ZDT’s Amusement Park when you are in the San Antonio area because I have heard nothing but good things about Switchback. It only has the one coaster but it sounds like it is worth it. If Fiesta Texas is doing their nighttime show when you visit make sure to stick around and try to find a good viewing area. I have been to all of those parks and just buy the flash pass or quick queue typically, so have always been able to get them done to my satisfaction in a single day. If you have extra time I would spend it in the San Antonio area.