BeeastFarmer

Mr. Gramke is the Manager of Facilities, Engineering, and Construction at KI. He would be involved in just about any construction project I'd say.

Sorry, I had a typo. I meant to say no ice skating at Busch. I've edited [emoji3063] Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

From the comments I read, there are more upcharges at KD. One person was griping about the ice skating, cookie decorating etc. Someone else pointed out that there was no ice skating at Busch. I've never been to Christmas Town, so I don't have a frame of reference. But I will say that if KD's WinterFest is anything like KI's, it will give Christmas Town a run for the money. The only thing that I saw (somewhere) was that KD was getting 2.5 million lights vs KI's 5 million. But then again, I heard (somewhere) that KI was supposed to get close to 7 million lights this year with Tinsel Town opening but we have been told via the website it is "more than 5 million." Edit: to change the park name from KD to Busch.

Fast forward: Facing competition, the newly acquired park in Virginia is merged with Six Flags America and renamed Six Flags Worlds of Gardens over Virginia. Not to be outdone, Cedar Fair buys the new creation, moves all of Kings Dominion attractions to this new property except for Soak City. This venture fails because the park is too big to fail. Rides and attractions are relocated across the chain. Carowinds gets the Eifel Tower. Kings Island gets Batwing.

I don't think that would have a tantamount change to the overall operation of the park. I wouldn't think KI would change their hours up much but you never know. For reference (and this is just simplified math with non-specific numbers, each park has different numbers of course and different parks have different employment numbers, this is simply averaged with 9 parks and each park having 100 operating days): 350,000 hours/9 parks=38,888 hours per park 38,888 hours/100 days= 388.88 hours per day to cut 388.88 hours/1000 employees=.388 hours cut per employee If someone here who knows much more detailed information across parks could plug in numbers and add in for out of park operations, I think the number would be much smaller. I would guess the company would be quicker to close parks for weather/small attendance days and perks like end of season ERT and possibly eliminate duplicate positions.

Unfortunately, I don't see the park adding temporary padding to the train seats. Even if they were properly secured, people tend to not respect property and they would get destroyed. A cheap investment, yes but not worth it since people can be jerks.

I really wish they would add some cushions to the seats on the train for Winterfest. Of course, it was very cold when I rode, LOL.

@kingsislandfan1972, Great family memories. Looks like you had a great time with your folks. Since you asked for thoughts, I offer two suggestions: 1. Try and avoid jerky movements with the camera and avoid pointing it at the ground when you walk. 2. Maybe make videos in shorter segments instead of one long video. You did a great job showcasing your experience in the park, which is unique to all of us. I appreciated seeing it from your perspective. I enjoyed listening to your narrative of the experience and look forward to seeing more videos in the future!

I was there with my niece...and even she thought it was bad. From my adult perspective--not enough staff, very overpriced for what you get. The rooms were loud (not insulated well at all for sound), dated, in poor repair. They maximized space, which is a good thing, but the delivery of the experience was sub-par. I'm not a water park person, so I can't comment on that except to say that my niece was disappointed. Especially at Sandusky, the waterpark portion seems to be too small for the size of the resort. The staff were surly and overworked. The whole experience seemed more like a cattle herding experiment than a guest immersion experience. Granted, my experiences are very limited and it's possible that they did not represent the total GWL experience. I just left both places feeling like I had paid Westin prices but got a Knights Inn experience.

I've had the misfortune of staying at GWL in Mason and Sandusky. I'd venture a guess that a stay at the Bates Motel would be more enjoyable.

The witch and the monkey were there all three days. But I only saw one at a time, never together. Might be a troll move, might be a tease or it might just be a witch and a monkey. The only possible reference I could see is that Coney Island used to have a Land of Oz, and another CF park (WOF?) has some costumed Oz characters. Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

I went to Haunt this past weekend. In my opinion, the even has lost the edge is used to have. It seems much more "family friendly" than it used to. I saw many young children and an abundance of "No Boo" necklaces both nights. The music selection in most areas sounded like a backdrop to Applebees instead of promoting a spooky atmosphere. That being said, I was very impressed with the park and the effort put into the event. Coney Maul was very well done. I wouldn't mind seeing the lights and flags up all year. The music was good too. Pumpkin Eater was very nice, but I never saw the animatronic figure. IS was nice, it was great seeing the skeletons on the second floor (although the Spanish building should have Spaniards, not Central American skeletons). Maybe they can put flags of the appropriate nations next year on each building. The mazes were good, was very impressed with Chaos. Friday night, especially, the fog was great. It was very strange riding in the back of D-back and not seeing the top of the lift. Maybe the fact that it was misty both nights and the scareactors did not populate the scare zones as much as they would during dry weather made it less edgy, but I don't think so. I'm not complaining, I had a great time and got to experience everything I wanted to. I just think it has been toned down quite a bit.

I'm with you, @sixohdieselrage! I get about 7-8 down and 1 up. But I can stream ok most of the time with it. I have Philo and enjoy it. I use it on my Roku, but if there is no Philo app available on your platform, you can always download the channel you want and sign into it using your Philo credentials.

I was at the park all three days of the weekend. The smoked turkey at CB was very good. Saturday was a busy day, but I didn't have to wait very long on that day, or any of the other times I used my plan. I did notice a couple of times that dining staff had on a non-CF uniform, but I did not recognize the logo. Maybe they had agency help? Finally, the food was good. Mac Bar was very good, but I wish they had the heat on at the Biergarten patio. Mac and cheese with toppings tend to cool down very quickly. LOL

Yeah, it's a great day to be here! Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

I'd like to see the park do what KD did for the 40th--they renamed/themed The Grove (I think that is what it was called) back to Candy Apple Grove and (I think) The Congo back to Safari Village. Not sure if IS had retained its charm, but it was very charming. KI could do this with Action Zone (back to Adventure Village) and Rivertown. (No name change, but bring back more themed items to the area.)

^I haven't been to the State Fair in years, but when I've been on backstage tours at KK, the expansion area has been called overflow parking. I have no idea what the height restriction is, but I would love to see the park expand in the "concert area" of the map above (of course, excluding the cemetery) and not the area they are allowed.

Sorry for the double post, but I am going to throw in a link that a local talk radio show did with Mr. Hart this afternoon: https://whas.iheart.com/featured/terry-meiners/content/2018-10-17-kentucky-kingdom-is-getting-a-new-coaster/

The lawsuit was filed in July. The lawsuit is regarding alleged violations of the lease with the Fair Board and parking arrangements. KK is likely to win and the Fair Board was trying to intimidate the park with the delay of construction...to get the park to drop the suit. This is my understanding from watching the press conference. The suit has nothing to do with the coaster. Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

I knew there was a plan all along. Ironic that this is released the same day Carowinds releases details about Mountain Gliders.

^I guess that will be determined in the lawsuit. The lease says, as I understand it from what Mr. Hart said at the press conference, is that KK gets first come, first served access with the fee it pays for passholder parking. (I assume this is always the case with daily admission except when parking is blocked off). I also infer that the Fair Board is blocking the access off. I've been there a few times and the lots closest to the park were being used for Ag exhibits, car shows etc. I think that is where the beef is.

That's a good one. They remind me of Boss Hogg, Roscoe Coltrane, Cletus, and Enus. I was going to include Cooter, but I think he was a good guy.

I'm not sure about the agreement with SIX, but it seems as if I recollect that the negotiations with Mr. Hart et al were pretty specific. Any improvements to the land (buidlings, rides, etc) are to be paid for by the operator, but the Fair Board retains ownership. So--Lightning Run, Storm Chaser etc are actually owned by the Fair Board. This new coaster that the operators of the park are trying to build is being thwarted by the group that will own it. Brilliant.

It sounds like they provided that to the people at the Fair Board, or at least that is how I interpret what Ed said at the press conference. Granted, I don't know what he means by technicality.

I can see that perspective, but on the other hand, the lawsuit has nothing to do with the coaster--until now. Sounds to me like the Fair Board is being petty. They have made the expansion land available and the park wants to use about 1 of the 20 acres. This Fair Board has been corrupt for decades and I think that public opinion is on the side of the park, even if they assumed vs. crossing the t and dotting the i.