Kenban

No actual news. But it is not that hard to reopen a coaster after it valleys. Typically they disconnect the cars, remove the up-stop wheels and just lift the cars off the track one at a time using a fork lift. Once the train is off the track and are confident it will not happen again they could test it with another train almost immediately. Since it is most frequently weather they just wait for conditions to change. Since the weather report looks slightly warmer and not as windy I would assume it will be running.

I guess with my season pass I never noticed.

I grew up going to Geauga Lake and Sea World of Ohio several times a year. I remember going the year that Raging Wolf Bobs opened and being a child who was barely tall enough to ride it, I was so scared of it I do not remember actually riding it that year. By the time the park became a Six Flags my trips were very infrequent only occurring every few years. Looking back it is obvious the mistakes which caused the park to close. Six Flags tried to do too much in a very short amount of time. Adding four coasters in one year is just crazy. Then when Six Flags sold the park, Cedar Fair removing the animals was just insane and compounded the problems. I went one last time in 2006. At the time it was a Saturday in July and as I remember it the park was just dead. I posted a trip report here on KIC but even with google I have not been able to find it. I do think Cedar Fair made a mistake not opening for one last season. When parks announce something is closing the attendance typically spikes. One last year would have likely been pretty profitable. It is interesting how little changes over the years. I found this old thread searching for my old trip report. It is from almost ten years ago in 2006 discussing if X-Flight was going to move to Kings Island which obviously it did and ended up being called Firehawk. The thread has several current discussion topics. Everything from the people arguing about footers, that there is not enough time left to build a coaster (Land Clearing for Firehawk started in November and they were pouring concrete in March), and that we are not getting a coaster next year. Which technically footers is the wrong term, and Firehawk did not open until the end of May. So what does that mean for today? Nothing except we are doomed to repeat the past, and ten years from now people will still argue that they are not called footers.

The current ticket does expire 14 days after first use. But you can wait 22 years for that first use. The ticket in question did not need a no expire option. It used to be that all tickets never expired. The no expire option has been removed and later came back. Disney tickets keep changing and the only constant is they seem to always keep getting more expensive.

That is just strange to me. I would expect Fast Lane and admission to vary based on estimated attendance. But it feels weird to me that the price of parking would change. I do not know of another park which modifies the price of parking like that.

I have but I still do not see the issue with what I stated. Construction of one coaster is totally different from another. The space required for construction is determined by the space required for the ride, equipment required to construct the ride, and ability to get parts to the location. Since a wooden coaster like The Beast would not require a large crane you do not need the space for one.

Tell that to what lurks on the other side of DB. It takes different forms on different attractions. But wooden coasters traditionally have a walking path directly next to the track, and The Beast is no exception. The majority of The Beast also has a maintenance road next to the ride, you just rarely see it unless you take a behind the scenes tour or look at a satellite view.

I took two trips on the train over the weekend. Everything I can see near White Water Canyon appears to be for the new entrance to the ride. It looks like they are replacing the entire path with concrete. If some of this work is not for White Water Canyon I cannot figure out where the line to separate the two is. There are a lot more stakes near the train shed. Something is going on back here, the question is how does this relate to the other work. The stakes are in my view the most logical location for the first drop after the lift hill if the park were to be building a large coaster. Does this mean Giga? It makes the most sense for a new coaster but frankly the location bothers me. Coasters are not typically built over other rides or buildings. But this also does not appear to relate in anyway to White Water Canyon. I did not see anything which I would identify as out of the ordinary or could link to any construction for most of the ride until the train was coming back and passing White Water Canyon again. There are stakes in the woods near the wall next to RFYLCB and the old Funnel Cake stand. I take this to be the logical entrance or exit or even both to a new attraction. There is a lot of space between RFYLCB and the train. If it is the entrance you can build a pretty good sized line next to RFYLCB before needing to pass over the train tracks to the actual attraction. Pretty sure we will see a gift shop for the new attraction where the old funnel cake building used to be. This work does not appear to rule anything out or point towards anything specific. On the other side of the train tracks there is a LOT of work around the water's edge. Many of the stakes have something written on them but I was never able to figure out what they say. I tried taking pictures of them but at least with my cell phone it was always too blurry to read. I will say if you look at a satellite view this work appears to line up directly with the stakes next to the train shed. This is a very long straight line. But I have no idea what that means if anything. The problem is trying to put this all together. What is going on? I cannot rule out a coaster but I also cannot say it is a coaster. One issue is that I can largely rule out most types and layouts of coasters. The reason is that you have to take into consideration the normal coaster design constraints. Rides need space around them for construction, maintenance, evacuation, etc. To be a coaster it has to either be very small or very large. On the small side a Mack spinning ride like Sierra Sidewinder at Knott's could fit and I think would fit the theme of the area. But this does not explain the stakes near the train shed, That is too far away and too straight of a line to be part of this type of ride. On the large side a giga can fit and the stakes would outline the lift hill and first drop of the ride. Beyond that for safety and other reasons it makes the most sense to turn towards the back of the park and head towards Diamondback and The Beast. Assuming this happens I am not certain where the return is. I have had several ideas but I do not see any work which would point towards the path back or any path beyond lift hill and drop. Unless the return is almost under the lift hill. If it is a large coaster the prep work just needs to be done by the end of August so time should not be an issue. It is also possible we are not looking at one large ride at all. It feels like a fantastic place to put Camp Snoopy. I am pretty convinced Dinosaurs Alive will fit here as well and I have several ideas on layout. Flat rides make no sense in my opinion. It could only fit two or three flat rides and there is just as much space between stunt coaster and Diamondback. I also cannot see a dark ride being built here, there is enough room but suddenly most of the space is taken up by one large building. The park seems to be spending too much time on appearance here to suddenly build a large ugly building. But none of these possibilities explain the markings near the train shed. It feels like we should start seeing more clearing soon. I suspect the park is trying to get White Water Canyon done before they start the rest of this work.

If you like chicken tenders try RHOFG I have found they are a lot better then the chicken shack typically. You can pay $2 extra and get potato wedges and if you are looking for filling it is big enough I cannot finish it. Panda Express is also very filling.

From what I understand Arrow wanted Vekoma to be their European distributor. Not wanting to ship track from the US to Europe they sent personal to Europe who spent several months training Vekoma how to build Arrow track. After Arrow had spent considerable money and time training Vekoma, they basically decided that they could handle the design of the coasters themselves and went into competition with Arrow.

I am pretty confident that the log flume is safe. Nothing I have seen in my opinion points towards its removal.

Most big parks have some way of you turning around after the gate to leave. Dollywood has you go left through a turn around to the exit. Universal puts a piece of paper under your wiper which shows security to direct you to the exit. The park just needs a drive which allows you to make a left turn into the exit.

For the last several years if you had a pass you would get the quantity discounted price even if you only purchased a single souvenir cup. Charging a passholder more than $10.99 would would actually be a change in policy from last year.

That is per a person. You are required to purchase a minimum of two tickets. So minimum is $400. I would like to do this tour but I would most likely be doing this solo so unless I can find someone else who wants to do the tour I doubt I will get a chance unless they change the minimum ticket purchase.

There was an ejection on New Texas Giant and Lightning Rod at Dollywood is having delays in opening. I have a hard time blaming RMC for what happened on the New Texas Giant, the train was built by Gerstlauer. Who were instructed by Six Flags to not install seat belts in the train.

http://www.cpsc.gov/PageFiles/108559/amus2005.pdf The Last time the CPSC released an injury report was 2005. The report lists the total number of injuries. Fixed site includes anything from small parks like Coney Island all the way up to Kings Island, Disney, and Universal. Total attendance at these parks was over 300 million a year back in 2005 and now is almost 400 million. Last time I saw numbers for the estimated number of mobile site attendees it is around 100-150 million. Either way an amusement ride is still one of the safest activities you can perform often safer then driving to the attraction.

This was from Sandor Kernacs, Intamin's U.S. President http://articles.courant.com/2004-05-04/news/0405040040_1_roller-coaster-lap-bars-or-seat-superman-roller It's been discussed here before, wanted to add while on the subject. In a deposition in a lawsuit caused by an ejection from an INTAMIN roller coaster. Ejection--of which INTAMIN has had a number. B&M? None. At all. Worst part is that was from 2004 and they seem to have not gotten any better. One killed in Spain in 2014, one in Brazil in 2012, and one in Maryland in 2011. Skip to about 25 seconds into the video. But this ride was built in 2007 and the Restraint Broke in 2012. I have NEVER seen a restraint snap on any roller coaster and yet somehow this one broke in only 5 years.

It is totally up to the state. There is no federal oversight on fixed amusement parks. There is some level on mobile operators but I am not sure how much beyond compiling statistics the oversight goes. Last time I saw statistics on mobile vs fixed rides the numbers were very comparable. Around the same number of injuries occurred at mobile sites as fixed. But everything I have seen says that the attendance annually is much higher for fixed sites. So on average you have a higher chance of being injured at a mobile site.

There is likely no need for the contract to be renewed to continue past the original expiration. Most contracts include a clause which will allow them to continue based on some periodic length of time. For example a building lease can go from a 3 year guarantee period to month by month. The 5 year contract was likely a required minimum and now the park can decide if they want to keep it or remove it as they wish. The reason I was wondering if the park marketed Dinosaurs Alive as part of the Annual Pass was I just suddenly realized I wonder if they originally planned on removing it. Assuming it is true I doubt the idea would be to move the dino's to earn money directly from admissions to the attraction. I suspect the idea would be just to keep a popular family attraction.

Does anyone remember if Dinosaurs Alive was marketed as part of the 2016 Annual pass last fall? There has been speculation for a while now that the contract for Dinosaurs Alive was supposed to last 5 years. It opened in May of 2011. Which means by the end of this month we will be in the 6th year.

In my view the land that Dinosaurs Alive occupies represents the most logical expansion location in the park. Moving DA to Rivertown would place it next to the kids area in a space which is otherwise difficult to utilize. You could cram a coaster here but it would require compromises. Two flat rides could fit but why rip out so many trees in an area which is supposed to have trees due to the theme. If DA has been renewed moving it for long term expansion options makes sense. Moving would likely include refurbishment which will fix the appearance and movement issues. I will also add I suspect this would almost confirm a coaster is coming soon. Because it would take something big to justify moving DA.

At first I was thinking that if they did this most of the Dinosaurs would just have to be scrapped. But I started looking at the satellite view of the park more and suddenly realized this could work and an advantage of doing it this way. Entrance, ticketing, etc would be where the old funnel cake stand was. I took a screenshot from Bing Maps and really quickly threw this together. Would allow the park to use the back end of the picnic grove for Birthday parties etc next to the Dinosaurs and they would easily be able to have a second entrance which would be private just for people who are there for the party. If this were to be done I would move the maintenance and storage buildings which are currently next to The Racer down where they have been moving the dirt around behind Banshee. Opens up the entire corner of the park for expansion and allows a path to be built from X-Base over to where the current entrance to Dino's Alive is.

Yes, specialty potato wedges are still an available menu upgrade for $1.99 at RHoFG. I can't for the life of me figure out how to upload a photo to this post, otherwise I'd share the note from the menu, which is listed under the entrees section. Sorry I know it is still on the menu and that you can order then with a meal. What I mean is can I get the potato wedges with the meal plan, I am even willing to pay the extra $2 if needed. That was where everyone suddenly had an issue when I asked. Last year you could get the wedges but you would be charged the extra $2 although you still got the annual pass discount which worked for the entire original meal price so the cost was pretty minor.

I am positive the chicken is the same. But the breading is either different or applied differently. Also RHOFG they are either fresher or cooked by someone who knows what they are doing. I have eaten at both frequently and 90% of the time it is a better at RHOFG. Although I do like the Chipotle sauce at the chicken shack. Crazy question about RHOFG this year. Last year you could pay the extra two dollars and get the potato wedges instead of the chips. Is this still an option? No one at the restaurant had a clue when I asked about it.

One option is to join ACE it takes a short time to get approved and while you will likely not have your plastic card once you are approved you can print a temporary one off the ACE website. Also if you are an ACE member and you have a chance to visit a Six Flags park they have been offering some great deals. Right now there is a coupon for a free ticket to the Six Flags park of your choice, and another coupon for 50% off tickets good for up to 4 people. I suspect GOCC can get you a card quickly enough.