Kenban

Here is the exemption Its seems pretty clear that it would apply to the park, but it does allow for states to override this. The actual lawsuit might have more details but unless they have something more than not paying overtime for working more than 40 hours a week I do not see this having any chance of success.

If you are actually interested here is a list of companies working on a vaccine or drug treatment. https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/analysis/coronavirus-mers-cov-drugs/ There will be several different vaccines available, and they will go through clinical trials. Most are modified versions of existing vaccines so the companies are used to doing this. Do not expect them to be available until the fall at the earliest, and at first will not be widely available. Something to keep in mind, it is very likely the spread of the disease will slow or stop in North America, Asia, and Europe over the next two months. Traditionally even pandemics follow the normal cold and flu season and pause around May and do not start spreading again until September or October. If the outbreak continues and is growing in the US past May, then you need to really worry. Assuming it stops like other pandemics then the question is will it start back up in the fall?

Its too early to know how it will impact parks here in the US. But yesterday both Tokyo Disneyland, and Universal Studios Japan announced they are closed through March 15th, and both indicated that date is likely to change. At this point one third of the 25 most visited theme parks on the planet are closed due to the virus, possibly for several more weeks or months. If we see a major outbreak in the US, expect parks in effected regions to close. We could see major impacts on the amusement industry, or the spread could largely stop with warmer weather, and we wasted our time worrying about something we have little control over. I am planning my summer assuming everything will be fine, and will deal with any issues in the future when they happen.

Depends on exactly what you are looking for, but here is a piece from the website for D23 which briefly touches on when Disney started the wilderness preserve. They got the right to develop 550 acres of land in exchange for a 12,000 acre preserve. I do think it’s noteworthy that I keep seeing different numbers for both the size of the initial purchase and how much land they were allowed to develop. Considering the preserve is 11,500 according it’s own website and I believe 3,000 of that was added on because the airport is under similar restrictions. 2015 Orlando Sentinel the company purchasing another 3,000 acres for more land exchange and discusses that as of then about half of the land they were allowed to develop from the 1992 agreement has been used. According to the article it says Disney got 600 acres of development which contradicts what I linked above. Either way every single acre requires permission and usage rights, building a fifth park is not impossible, but Disney is going to have to really want it, both because the cost of building the park and the cost of offsetting the land use.

This might sound strange, but Disney World is out of usable space. Obviously they have a lot of unused land, but environmental regulations limit the percentage of land they are allowed to develop, and Disney has effectively hit that limit. They have worked out a deal with the regulators where they are purchasing land in Florida and setting it aside as wilderness preserve which they are then trading those development rights to use at Disney World. But its not 1 to 1 because the land they are purchasing also has limits on how much can be developed. Right now the Disney Wilderness Preserve is 11,500 acres, which is almost 18 square miles, and the park is basically out of development rights again.

T-Mobile using an iPhone XR here, it works 90% of the time, the signal is good almost everywhere in the park, but every once in a while I get little to no data. My guess is the tower gets overloaded from time to time. When it works I get plenty of speed able to stream HD videos without issue, just I remember having problems a handful of days last year.

At least one of the trains is on the track, it was visible on the webcam while it was still running yesterday. But it was just sitting on the transfer track, and there is no chance it will go up the lift hill anytime soon.

I am a big fan of Soarin and when the new film was announced I was looking forward to it, because I always felt that a version which covered the entire planet would be amazing. Then I saw the movie, the transitions are really over done, its fine a few times but frankly its better to just cut between the scenes instead of adding a bunch of CGI which gets thrown at the screen. I always thought the golf ball bit was the worst part of the original film, and they took that and expanded it to every 20-30 seconds. Even worse an entire sequence is CGI, they were not allowed to film at the Taj Mahal so the entire scene is CGI. Why fake it, just pick something else to include. The Eiffel Tower scene looks very bad off axis. If you are in the middle of the theater it looks straight but for half of the theater or more which is off to one side or the other it looks extremely curved due to the projection dome. Personally I wish they would cut out the scenes which look terrible, mostly the Taj Mahal, and the Eiffel Tower. Remove the more distracting CGI. Plus I would love to see them film more scenes and make the ride random. The projection system is totally digital, there is no reason why the movie needs to be the same every time you ride. For now though I kinda wish this change was permanent. The original really was the best.

Its complicated, because it is not a 5 year design period, its 5 years from the start of planning. For instance last I heard B&M has a 5 year waiting list for a custom coaster. Cedar Fair likely has a standing order of one ride a year, and corporate likely decides about 3 years out which park is getting that coaster, and what it will be, or possibly even just get skipped, and not order a B&M that year, since the waiting list is not a firm commitment. Its also possible the waiting list is a little shorter now its been a few years since I heard about the 5 year wait. At the same time corporate does have a 5 year plan for every park, which lists when they want to do major projects, the details are worked out closer to the date. But up until the order is placed, and maybe even after, plans can and do change. Its possible to start planning a few months out from attractions opening if there is the will and the resources. One of the main purposes of the 5 year plans is long term financial planning, and 5 years out it will be pretty vague. Has this coaster been in the works for 5 years? It likely depends on your perspective, since corporate likely had a coaster on the schedule for 2020 at Kings Island 5 years ago. But 3 years ago there was likely more then one option for what it would be, or where it would be located. Having said all of that, a lot of work is done by corporate, and frankly no one at the park even Mike Koontz is told when the process starts. Nothing is set in stone until the design is finished and the ride is ordered, and the dates given by Mike Koontz are likely accurate from the parks perspective. But I suspect if you were to speak with the right people at corporate and they are willing to talk, you would get different answers.

The ACE email states that the media event will be April 9th, so looks like our speculation was correct.

As far as I know nothing has been officially announced but I suspect it will be the 9th of April.

Don was asked during the Q&A session at the ACE Ohio Holiday Party in December about coaster club media day invites. His response was basically no decision had been made yet, but it would be extremely limited because they want to keep it exclusive and to give more value to the first rider auction. Obviously a decision has been made, but based on Don's comments I am not expecting many or possibly any more clubs to get an invite. It would also not surprise me if the number of guests from ACE will be capped. The event is for the media, not enthusiasts, the park just needs people to fill seats, and provide interviews. If you are looking for ERT I recommend you purchase a ticket to the charity event.

Maybe it is just the picture but it looks damaged. The rails bend way too sharply at the end, maybe it was dropped or something hit it. It has likely been there for a while and will continue to be until they arrange for a semi to take it to get recycled. Reminds me that a piece of Yukon Striker was dropped during construction and I am pretty sure that piece was sent back to Clermont, I doubt that is the piece of track we are looking at though.

I have always hated how this coaster is called 415' tall. The problem is that it is the exact opposite of how Orion is built. Orion used the terrain to be taller then the distance from the ground to the top of the lift hill, with a 300' drop but only 287' tall. Superman has the station built on the top of a hill, then the track goes out over the downward slope but curves upward. If it had been built on level ground it would only be around 330' feet tall. The drop from the top of the tower is 328.1 feet. Even worse the ride no longer is going anywhere near fast enough to get to the top anymore, the 50 to 100+ feet of unused track at the top means the trains are realistically only going around 200-250 feet upwards (in relation to the height of the station, not from the ground under the spike).

Intamin is willing to build them still, the model is listed on their website and in marketing information. But no one is willing to buy one, the problem is that the existing rides cost too much money to maintain. The very ride people are praising was almost scrapped back in I think it was 2016, before the park decided to spend the money to re-track the entire ride at a cost of more then 12 million Euros, which is crazy for a coaster which only opened in 2001.

Typically the park does not close lines early. So I would expect it to close at 7 with the park. If you want to be certain I would be there early and just hang out near the end of the line.

Roller coasters are inspected regularly, and the inspections are used not only to find existing problems which need corrected but also potential issues, parts which are still in spec but not by much. Basiclly it is safe to operate for right now but will need replaced or refurbished in the near future. When the track reaches that point, it is rarely worth the expense to fix. Which is what has happened to several Arrow coasters. From what I remember sections of the rails on Vortex have been cut off the ride and had replacements welded in place.

First a parking garage is just not happening. Last I heard costs start around $10,000 per a parking space. Outside of Disney/Universal amusement parks rarely can afford parking garages. Spending $50 million on a 5,000 space parking garage, or two new coasters, and frankly management is going to build the new coasters until parking becomes a problem more then 4 or 5 times a year. The causeway is not the problem, when traffic is backed up its an issue at either the park, or the surface streets in the city, but its a lack of ability for the cars in front of you to go not the width of the causeway. I am not sure how easy it would be to work with the EPA to get permission to expand the road, and due to the costs involved I just cannot see it happening. A new parking plaza is possible, and I could see it being more automated like the one at Kings Island, not sure how much help it will be though. If anything I could see a new off site parking lot with a bus transportation system. But I think that management is going to need to see a greater need then just a handful of days a year, maybe if they plan to expand onto portions of the lot, or build a new hotel, etc. Likely there will always be parking out at the park, it just might end up being premium, handicap, resort, etc parking with the main lot off site.

The way magnetic brakes work is they oppose movement based on speed, the faster you are going the more noticeable they are. The slower you are going the less they do, which is why you never see them used to stop a train because they cannot. To my knowledge all of the magnetic brakes on The Beast are a kind that cannot be turned on or off, maintenance has to go out and physically remove the brakes, you can sometimes just see them sitting off to the side of the track, typically in the spring and fall when it is cooler. Likely you were just unable to feel the brakes because the train was not moving fast enough for them to grab hard enough for you to notice. There is no such thing as a trim less ride on The Beast for any members of the public.

The rumor was that there were major issues with the rides supports. I have heard everything from having to completely remake the supports to it being redesigned at the last minute before fabrication. Not exactly sure but everything I have heard suggests support problems, which with the first pieces not showing up until February there was likely an issue with fabrication. I remember joking a few months ago that Six Flags would announce the 2020 attractions before it opened, which did turn out to be true. At this point I believe it will be 2020 before it opens, and if the claim by Kings Island that they will have the track done in January, and will try to cycle Orion by February holds, there is a decent chance construction will be done before it opens.

I have to point out there is a $79.95 pass called the Splash Pass, it includes parking, admission, and all of the important parts if all you want to do is go to the water park. The pass everyone keeps complaining about just adds the ability to bring a cooler, a free game of skill every week, paddleboats, mini golf, and extra bring a friend tickets. If these items do not matter then there is no need to pay the extra $50 dollars. Without the rides the Adventure pass really does not make much sense for most guests.

Cedar Fair was unhappy about a football stadium which was being built next to the park, which would have a serious affect on the parks parking, and the ability to operate the park between construction and then games and events which would occur, my understanding is that the park is not very profitable so that likely factored into the decision but I do not remember this being announced as a reason. So they agreed to sell the park to a local company, the sale ended up falling apart and an agreement was reached with the 49ers to limit impacts to the park. This was long ago enough that it was when Dick Kinzel was CEO. To the best of my knowledge Cedar Fair has not indicated any willingness to sell any parks recently, and has stated in several interviews they wish to acquire more parks. They have been trying to buy the land for years so that they could stop leasing it and actually own the land under the park. The city was going to sell the land to a developer but the park had a lease which gave them right of first refusal. Which means in the event the city plans to sell the land the park can refuse to allow the sale and purchase it for the same price as the original buyer. Cedar Fair executed this provision and purchased the land. If they had not done so the park would have had to close at some point in the future. The purchase had nothing to do with a future sale of the park, and had more to do with preserving the ability for it to be a park.

I remember when this happened and thought nothing of it at the time, but does anyone have a link to the thread, I am having trouble finding it.

The Bat, and Screaming Demon are before my time, but at the same time all of those coasters were removed before sites like this existed, so getting a real feel for how fans of the park felt would be difficult. I am really not sure that there is that much outrage over this decision, the 14 page thread about the removal seems to have more opinions on what should replace it then people really complaining. Last year when Firehawk was announced, most people seemed to be expecting Vortex, I know there are people who really are mad, but at the same time I believe it to be overall a minority of enthusiasts. From what I can tell not many in the general public are that bothered by this decision. The only ride on your list that I do remember was King Cobra, and frankly, no one that I knew at the time seemed to be that bothered. I am sure it had its fans, but mostly people seemed to be fine with its removal. As I remember the log flume was originally supposed to be removed but outrage caused the park to overhaul the ride instead. There are a LOT of people who are angry about the eagles and many still are.

Neither, the pumps are there to remove the water after the splash. The track is below the water line of the surrounding pool, it is filled by opening gates and just letting the water rush in. Six Flags over Texas is getting one for next year, I have heard Six Flags went cheap and is not getting the rotating load platform so it will operate with only a single boat.