Mikewhy

You know, all Kings Island needs to do is to learn how to create a smoke-free park from Holiday World. People there really do use the smoking sections, they are mostly away from the main walkways, and it is actually quite rare to see people smoking where they should not. First of all it is not all that clear to most what the smoking policy is at KI. Yes, they announce it over the speakers, but 90% of the time, you can not clearly hear this. I heard it, but it was often so low as to be easy to ignore. Secondly, signage is really not prevalent at Kings Island. Look aroound Holiday World... it has very tasteful and attractive banners everywhere reminding guests that the park is smoke-free. They use the positive term smoke-free rather than No smoking. There is NO WAY any guest can claim ignorance of the smoking policy there. Lastly, the smoking areas at Holiday World are large, comfortable, and very desirable (at least if you enjoy smoking...) By giving smokers such nice places to relax and smoke, they are made to feel more respected and therefore there is better compliance. So Holiday World has the best compliance I have seen with their frequently seen banners, nice smoking areas, and clear smoking policy on their maps. (On most of the Kings Island maps I have seen, the smoking policy is VERY hard to find.) I once had a Kings Island employee tell me that they can not stop the smoking when the park is crowded. I do not buy it, because I have been to Holiday World when the park was so crowded you could hardly walk, and still smoking was rarely seen outside of designated areas. Kings Island is not trying hard enough. If they were to follow the Holiday World model, I think things would be more pleasant for both smokers and non-smokers.

While I hate smoking, I think they should just remain non-smoking with areas for smokers. If you refuse to give smokers ANY areas to smoke, it will encourage even more people to break the rules and smoke anyway. I think remaining non-smoking except in designated smoking areas is the best compromise. Then again, the park has never really enforced the current ban...

My favorite place is International Street. There is no grander entrance to an amusement park, except maybe for the Castle at Magic Kingdom. When I come through the gate and see the fountains and Eiffel Tower, I go to my happy place. I also love Coney Mall and Rivertown, but not as much as I used to since they removed some flats from Coney and the Keelboats from Rivertown... And I also miss the arbor tunnel!

My understanding is that the Coke machines were removed so they can slightly remodel these Coke Cool Zones, or whatever they are called! Maureen also verified that the non-smoking policy from last year will remain the same this year and revealed that Cedar Point is also changing to a policy that allows smoking in designated areas only. She also said the metal detectors are remaining at Kings Island. As for the Gerstlauer trains, it all depends on whether they use the older style with the horrible U-shaped lap bar. If they use that one, your legs or thighs will not appreciate the turns on SOB.... If you ever rode The Boss at Six Flags St. Louis, you may get some idea of what the U-shaped lap bars would be like on SOB. I hope they use the newer kind without the U-shaped bars!

Having been there as well, I can say that Maureen said the trains would most likely be from Gerstlauer...

I agree completely that 2007 looks like a great year and it seems Kings Island is going in a good direction once again!

While we are dreaming: 1) I would like Coney Mall to add several nostalgic flat rides that would return that area to the feel of the old Coney Island. I know that flat rides are low capacity, but they do add flavor to a park and often still do not have the lines of the coasters. I would love to see some kind of whip, spinning tea cups, flying scooters (bring em back!) and a ferris wheel that together would return the feel of the old Coney to the area. (I know there could never be another Coney Island, but it would be nice to see such flats there...) 2) Separate out the area of Coney that has Flight of Fear and Firehawk and give it a theme more in character with those rides. 3) Like others I would like to see International Street made to feel more international in character, perhaps with some kind of sidewalk cafe with seating near the fountains. 4) In a few years, I would like to see a B&M hyper added, most likely in either the new area with Firehawk or in the Action Zone. Since Kings Island is a little more family friendly than CP, it seems to make sense to add that, since those B&M hypers do not go upside down and yet are really fun and can have incredible airtime like Goliath at SFOG. As Kennywood found out when they changed Steel Phantom to Phantom's Revenge, you can get more people to ride a coaster with no inversions, and still have something that is really thrilling. It also makes sense to add a B&M here because Cedar Fair always seems to save the big Intamins for Cedar Point... 5) Add back the antique cars somewhere, as well as other attractions to give people who are not into thrill rides more to do at the park. Of course, I would love to change the train so that is went all the way around the park. (That of course would cost a fortune and would never happen, but we are just dreaming big here!) 6) Return landscaping to the way the park looked in the old days.

Sometimes I take things too seriously I am afraid. Thanks for the comments. I do really enjoy it here!

If that is the case, then I am certainly willing to listen. I did not mean to be negative, but the Wikipedia and "brain surgery" comments directed toward me were certainly that and I had to reply. P.S. I have been sticking around here since the summer of 2003 when I was just a lurker!

1) While I agree that general dictionaries are not good with technical terms, I only pointed that out that American Heritage dictonary definition because others were using the same general dictionary.com web page to prove THEIR point. Interestingly, no one pointed out at that time the limitations of said dictionaries, only now. 2) Wikipedia and a published dictionary are NOT the same thing and you know it. Wikipedia allows anyone to edit it, while the standards for published dictionaries are higher. 3) One could also clearly say that it would be foolish to trust as a source comments from people on an online forum unless you knew them personally and knew they were trained in such technical terminology. I have no way of knowing that. So to put it sarcastically (since another poster did with the "brain surgery" comment), why is pkicentral.com anymore "reliable" for me than dictionary.com or Wikipedia?

If footer is indeed wrong, someone needs to tell the American Heritage dictionary then. On that FOOTING page here: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/footing If you look toward the bottom, they have the definition of Footing from the American Heritage Dictonary, and it says under #4: Architecture The supporting base or groundwork of a structure, as for a monument or wall. Also called footer. So either the American Heritage dictionary is wrong, is accepting the fact that footer is used as slang, or perhaps both terms really are fine. Just had to comment since no one else seemed to see it.

I would not expect much from Cedar Fair when it comes to theming. They may do some interesting things in terms of ride signs, colors, and naming, but it rarely goes beyond that. The reason is simple. Dick Kinzel, who runs Cedar Fair, once said in an interview a few years ago (I can not find it today if it is still online) that he does not believe a seasonal park can pull off effective theming because it is too expensive. He used Disaster Transport at Cedar Point as an example. He claimed they went all out for that ride in terms of theming and it was still a dud with the public, and therefore it taught him a lesson about theming. I always found this to be odd, because I never did think the theming on Disaster Transport was all that great and even if it was, the ride itself was likely the thing people found underwhelming, not the theming. Still, he clearly stated that he did not believe in theming all that much. So I would not expect much there, unless he has changed his mind.

To clarify, I do not think the improvements to Raging Wolf Bobs have made it a great coaster. What they have done is remove most of the roughness from the ride, making it more tolerable to ride. The difference from 2004 to 2006 is very striking, and the ride is not painful now and I do enjoy it. But these improvement did not make it a great coaster. But it did address the worse problems of the ride. That being said, I also hate the Gerstlauer trains and will be appalled if they are used on the newly improved Son of Beast.

Actually, I say it has gotten a LOT better. They actually spent two years refurbishing Raging Wolf Bobs, during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. I rode it for the first time in 2005 when the revamp was about half done, and there was one really rough spot left on it. Then I rode it in 2006 once the refurbishment was complete, and the difference was amazing. The curving area of track that was so rough and unpleasant was gone, and the ride overall was no longer unpleasant. In fact , there was no part of the ride left that felt rough to me. Now I will admit that the coaster is still not an airtime machine or anything like that, but the refurbishment has made a HUGE difference in the coaster from the way it was in 2004 and before. During the coaster EXT event last year when we had a Q & A with the manager, several people thanked him for the refurbishment, agreeing with me that the ride was much better. Just the difference between 2005 and 2006 was enough to convince me to ride it frequently again.

Cedar Fair does not seem to be into dark rides. There are none at Cedar Point (No, Disaster Transport does not count!), and their other parks like Worlds Of Fun, Dorney and Michigan's Adventure really do not have one either. My worry is that they may at some point remove the dark ride from Kings Island entirely... I really hope they do not. It just seems that their current management does not value dark rides very much.

Oh I agee that Villain's problems are not caused by the trains. I was just using it as an example of Gerstlauer trains. As you say, Gerstlauer trains lack padding, and they would be terrible on a coaster as fast as SOB. Your legs tend to rub against the lap bar on both sides, and it can be brutal on a rough wooden coaster. I have experienced this on The Boss at Six Flags St. Louis.

It has me a little concerned that the trains will not be from PTC and now others seem to think they will not be from GCI. You do not think they would actually put Gerstlauer trains on SOB do you? I think that would be a huge mistake. Anyone who has ridden Villain at Geagua Lake would know what I am talking about. I would prefer they keep the Premier trains. Whatever they do, PRAY it is not to use the dreaded Gerstlauer trains...

I actually visited Kings Dominion for the first time last year. There were some things I liked better than Kings Island and others I did not. The things I liked better were the things that made me think of the Kings Island of old. The park is much shadier in many places than Kings Island, especially the kids section. They still have a log flume that has not been converted to the kids section, and they still have their Antique cars and flying eagles. They even still have an arbor tunnel that you walk through. Just some observations.

They look like the fountains at Kings Dominion to me!

Thank you, I understand now!

You said as long as it has not been used at Kings Island. I did use it once last October when I came back one more time before the end of the season. (I purchased the Max Pass in early October and used it once in late October 2006.) Does that mean it will not work at Carowinds now? I intend to call Carowinds GR office before I go to inquire just to be safe. Thanks everyone for your help!

I have a season pass question... I bought the Cedar Fair Max pass at Kings Island last October. I plan to go to Carowinds this year on April 14th. However, Kings Island opening day is on April 21st. Will my temporary Max Pass card get me into Carowinds on April 14th? I know I have to get my permanent card at Kings Island this Spring. But will my temp card (which does have a bar code on it) get me in Carowinds BEFORE I get the permanent card, or will I have some trouble getting in Carowinds? Does anyone know? Thanks!

The ride itself is usually smooth and exciting. It is a good coaster, especially for a Vekoma! However, I do not like the restraints. I find them rather uncomfortable. When you are lying on your back, the metal behind you is not too comfortable. When you are flying, I sometimes feel like I am not secure in my restraints, but that is obviously an illusion because I was fine at the end of the ride. But you do not feel as secure as with the B&M restraints, which I find really comfortable and reassuring. (Some will no doubt love the less than secure feeling of the restraints. I just do not.) It does not always feel overly speedy, but there are some good forces on the ride and the layout is really good. It is quite a rush when you reach the top of the hill and are flipped over and see the ground below... My girlfriend says that the restraints are not comfortable on her ankles. That does not happen with me, but may happen if you are a smaller person like she is... I find that in general some of the Vekoma flyers (Batwing and Borg) have some shaking and vibration while flying, but I did not experience that with X-Flight. Hopefully it will remain that smooth after it is installed at Kings Island.

I do think that Canada`s Wonderland needs some kind of new coaster. Their collection is rather dated except for Italian Job....

I agree with your general comment, however, I noticed dramatic improvement with SFKK this year under its new manager. (It is my home park and I went about 6 times in 2006.) The park was run better, and I found even some of the employees to be professional and efficient. I think things ARE changing there. although they have a way to go... As for SFKK being more of a waterpark, I know they are expanding it in 2007 to make it 10% larger and the waterpark will be renamed Splashwater Kingdom. But they DO have plans to update the ride part of the park in later years. I heard that from their manager directly at the end of the season. 2007 = waterpark expansion 2008=something new elsewhere in the park.