BeeastFarmer

...is something they were lacking.

"The addition of many new plantings in an ongoing horticulture effort throughout the park. More than 100 species of perennials and ornamental grasses, along with many annuals and specimen of trees all have been labeled. Each label has a barcode that can be scanned with a smart phone. Visitors can then be linked to a website, where they will find photos of the plant and information about it. They then have the information to buy the plant at a retailer."-- http://www.courier-j...-2016/83638128/ This makes me very happy. My first visit eleven months ago, I was very impressed with the effort the park has taken with the landscape design and plant tags. Glad to see that is continuing and the barcode was added so I will be able to have more information about plants I don't have a knowledge of. Glad to see the park is doing a good thing for us plantaholics.

New wooden coaster: Rattling Timber. Wooden, same snake family, and falling trees. --I do not know and did type.

You know what would make me happy? If they removed and relocated the junkyard coaster and gave it a new theme to Rivertown and restored the area with Antique Cars/Les Taxis and lush landscaping. This is not speculation, just a wish.

What do I know? Not much. But...I don't think a giga coaster would fit well on this side of the park. What if they relocated Drop Tower and the Skycoaster to Rivertown, rethemed them to a more rustic theme (kudos for THAT on the new funnel cake building!), removed Congo Falls, and put a giga coaster in Action Zone? That makes sense to my mind.

Taking from the Kentucky Kingdom Facebook page, I would conjecture Storm Chaser has been cleared to operate for the general public. The post was about the Education in Motion day and the first family to ride Storm Chaser. Congratulations to Kentucky Kingdom!

The Interpreter, I look forward to our day at Kentucky Kingdom. Any idea of a time I should plan for? Weekends are out since I work, except for mid June vacation, but I will be back east on my epic park tour for 19 days.

I know how difficult it can be to fill positions. I've had to do it before. I've also had to choose to terminate unmotivated employees. That put me in a very short term bind, but it improved quickly when the "bad apples" were eliminated. Morale went up, not down, and other employees took note and improved. (I'm thinking about the guys who were leaning on their elbows at the Skyline Chili location last August, in the area formerly known as Coney Mall.) Now, I am also looking toward the customer. Last Friday, I was at The Chicken Shack and the line was being held up by two ladies who were ordering for their entire family (who were seated). The family was not the problem, their food was simple. But the ladies wanted a salad with this, no that, more of this, less of that, that strip doesn't have enough breading etc. And they seemed proud to have the attention from the frustrated line. Another suggestion for KI to improve: Listen to your customers. I looked at the Facebook page this morning, and it is like a minefield. Not a word from the park. With all the issues Kentucky Kingdom has, it responds to people on Facebook, as does Carowinds. Speaking of Carowinds, food service speed was good. Employees had the same lost look though. Quality and quantity was great, but the Chicken Steak sandwich at Chickie and Petes was not good.

I love the meal plan. I hope it never goes away. However, maybe there could be a process where meal plan holders could use the plan imbedded into the pass to speed things up. I'd love to see the refill cups go away. Ideally, I'd like to see many more refill stations in the park and a higher pass price with drinks included. Or regular sized cups for cold water at each service location.

I have family in Louisville, and the places I have been seem tame. But recently, while visiting my uncle in the hospital, I have seen freeway signs littered with graffiti, trash, and neglect on main freeways. (The Hibachi grill right off I-64 past Blankenbaker is closed and neglected). I shouldn't gloat too much--a teenager just shot and killed another teenager in cold blood last week in a barn just a few miles from my farm. The world gets stranger by the minute.

I was there, after dark, last year during state fair. I felt perfectly safe. In my visits last season, I never felt threatened, intimidated or ill at ease.

What does IIRC mean?

I was dismayed that they didn't try to remove the human grease stains on Diamondback's seatbacks/restraints this year.

What happens when someone cuts a tree down? They yell "Timber!" What is a variety of a rattlesnake? A timber rattler. What is another variety of a rattlesnake? A Diamondback. Finally, what can happen in nature to cause trees to fall? Storms? Lightning with Thunder? Sounds terrible x3. I'm gonna roller skate to bed now. It was a Beast of a day.

Got all the rides I wanted/planned to do. Very satisfied with ride ops. Food service is still sorely lacking, but the server gave me enough food to feed a small army. Time to turn in, gotta be up in five hours for work. Ya'll have a great opening day!

Wow, I never really noticed how the K looks like a Kroger K.

I'm calling it. They are moving Congo Falls out of Action Zone into Rivertown. This goes with the river theme, gets all three water rides closer together, and opens up room in Action Zone. Of course I jest, but it would be nice to have them close so you can get really wet, then dry off and resume your day rather than transversing the park in wet clothes.

Well now, that brings up a point. I upgraded from gold to platinum well before the deadline, and have used the pass at Carowinds. Does this count as a renewal or is it a new sale? I dont want to drive all the way up yonder and not get in...

When I went to Carowinds two weeks ago, the Best Western almost literally across the street from the entrance was a great hotel and was in the $70 range. Probably more expensive in the summer though. I'd recommend Kentucky Kingdom, too! Storm Chaser looks like a great coaster and the other 4 are lots of fun, too. Can't say anything about the water park, as I avoid water parks. I've got a platinum pass, too, and I can't wait to visit so many new to me parks!

Seems they learned a few things from last year, but are repeating some mistakes. In looking at CP and CW's events, more features are available. Meals, ERT etc. There is a good cause in the end, but I will give the equivalent to another charity. Since it's on a weekend, I can't go anyway, even if I wanted to.

Looks like they are releasing info earlier about the event this year, maybe it will be a better attended event: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/events/things-to-do/events-and-promotions/Coaster-Campout-7-28-15-45

I went for a night during the State Fair, as my last visit of the season, and to see what the park was like after dark. No lines, one train ops, and about the same dispatch time as normal KK operations. I set my expectations low when i went to KK and was pleased and actually impressed with what they have done. They have come a long way and have a long way to go, but the coasters are fun, the employees are average to good (and of course there are those that fall outside the curve, on both ends) and the food was good and not expensive.

Night POV of Storm Chaser. Don't know if the darkness was planned, or if just the way it is, but it looks like it is very dark in some great places. Too bad it will be state fair time until it can be ridden in the dark, with their early close times. Wish they stayed open later. Edit: Source is www.youtube.com. Direct link places actual POV in the dialog box. Edit #2: Just a comment on my commentary: On rereading my post, it sounds strange. Of course, since it is a nighttime POV, the darkness was planned. What I was trying to say was the placement of lights and the lack of lights other places. I had worked too many hours, and my writing was not very clear.

A little bit of a cross thread here, but after leaving Louisville, we went to eat at Bob Evans in Simpsoville. We had a server who couldn't have been 16 years old. He looked like Bobby Brady in the Brandy Bunch episode where Bobby was the hall monitor, went to rescue a cat in a vacant house, dirtied his suit, tried to wash it and filled the Brady house with suds. Anyway, he was an awesome server! This is what the food service department needs at our dear Kings Island.

I took my folks to Louisville today and we visited my uncle in the hospital (he's waiting for a heart transplant). Drove by Storm Chaser afterwards...unfortunately, they were not testing. On the Crittenden Dr. side, the landscaping that was done was ornamental grass with pine straw mulch. Looking good!