BeeastFarmer

There are two neighbors who complained that were highlighted in the news. They live near Diamondback, and I remember reading in one of the stories how the grandfather of one of them sold part of his land to Taft and their house was built in 1960ish. I also remember hearing Adam House talking about the tunnel for Mystic Timbers being put in not so much as an element, but to satisfy the neighbors.

Eurythmics are the best!

Usually the media posts about things like this, ignoring standard safety protocols. (Riders stuck for 30 minutes after roller coaster breaks down and they had to be plucked out of their seats-when it was a normal safety sensor tripping). This was not a normal safety response. Nonetheless, it seems like this is something that only the coaster enthusiast community is discussing--and often blowing out of proportion. (A KD fan was saying that Orion trains "slammed" into each other). I'm just glad it was minor and no one was hurt. No piece of the ride came flying off to seriously injure someone.

I'm just curious...why do you continue to patronize a company and/or industry that seemingly do nothing to make you happy and does everything that makes your miserable?

Ohhhh.... @disco2000....my friend....and nemesis....this was....sooooooooo....entertaining....laugh-invoking....hilarious.....spot on.....

I almost passed out. At first, I counted SIX flags. Then I realized there are 7!

To the public, the park is just waking up. When I get up, I don't look my best and move a little slower. KI looks better than me by a mile.

They have pansies planted, which are very cold tolerant. After Mother's Day/Derby Day, they will replace them with the summer seasonal color.

That's what s/he said.

I was dismayed that they removed the trees in the AE plaza but understand why. The grass looks nice and the redbud trees will fill in nicely, but that was always a nice cool area to walk through.

Looks just like it did before.

Man, you just LOVE everything about Kings Island and Cedar Fair, don't you?

My guess is that they will do stucco repair, paint and put the 50th logo up for the season.

I don't know the financials of WF, but from casual observance and experience from myself, money leaves the bank much easier at this time of year. I have bought more merchandise and food in my visits, and since it's only 5 hours, I don't usually get 2 meals. Before WF, I remember a conversation here about extended seasons, open earlier for Spring Break like other parks do. WF was laughed off as something that would NEVER return. I was asked pointedly "What else do you expect them to do?" by a long time member here. I just see empty parks for months out of the year and think of money that could be made, which I think the company evaluates as you said. Have you seen Snowflake Lake? That is definately not low capacity! If there are 1k skaters in a night, that is 15k top line revenue in one night, with minimal expense. Have you seen how crowded SnowDay Buffet is? How the IR is usually busy? How many refillable hot beverage mugs, adult beverages and "treats" are sold?

I remember polka style music, Flight of the Bumlebee and violin music during the pre Paramount days. I would love to hear this on I Street:

You are more knowledgeable about the park than I am (or ever will be!), so your response raises more questions than it answers. My perspective: Kinzel buys Paramount Parks, taking on massive debt during a severe economic downturn that takes years to correct. Parks are turned generic and run cheaply. Kinzel leaves and is replaced by Ouimet who wants to restore "magic" to the entire chain. Positive changes take place. Ouimet retires as CEO and becomes board chairman. New CEO is former KI park president who oversaw removal of lots off Taft charm in favor of things like Scooby Doo dark ride, Delerium, Tomb Raider and Junkyard Coaster. KI's GM announces Mystic Timbers, a very highly themed coaster and the return of Winterfest. He gets promoted and Mike Koontz comes in and begins a massive overhaul to restore KI to a modern day "Taft" park, relying on lots of nostalgia. Corporate , at the same time, says be prepared for older, labor intensive rides that also cost money will leave. A year later, the parks will become more focused on experience and larger investements will be more spread out. Winterfest has puzzled me as to how it was deemed a failure under Paramount's one year staging. Seems to me that they put not just money but a lot of effort into it. That was carried into Grand Carnivale (Winterfest in the summer?)

Can you expound on this a little bit?

I never saw the appeal of spending double the amount of money for a bland sandwich in park than out of park. Same thing with Chic-Fil-A. I guess since they are familiar and have a fan base, but it doesn't make financial sense to me, especially when there are other choices. That's not to disparage Chic-Fil-A or Subway as I eat them outside the park from time to time.

How about no banner and a return of the international flagpoles/flags?

In the OP, why does the ET and Orion seem larger than life? I mean, I know about forced perspective, but neither one are THAT big or THAT close to the turnstile buidling.

I appreciate your insights as a show professional. It gives me a great perspective of that aspect. But the vast majority of folks don't dissect the story as much as I did, and even less than you do I give the park an A for effort and a B+ for results for the majority of guests.

If I recall from past conversations about the MT story line, the security footage and lift hill audio is from "current" time, not from when the MVLCo was abandoned. The greeter position is a current day security checkpoint to keep people out, but some urbex folks have gotten in and security is going thru the woods looking for them. The urbexers either see security or the mystic item, find an old truck, and jump in (this is the audio that plays when a train is dispatched). Then the audio plays on the lift hill giving them a final warning to leave and if they dont, whatever they do, don't go in the shed! I could be wrong about this, but this is my understanding.

Great commercial. One question, though. Since The Racer is being repainted this year, it has been brought up that the last paint job was in 1991, when it went to white structure with black track. The commercial is from 1977, but it doesn't look like the track is red, rather it looks black to me.

I don't know about anyone else, but when I am in line for Mystic Timbers, and I see random people floating silently near me in fiberglass logs, it seems kind of atmospheric!

The story from the park (Don Helbig), if I recall correctly, is that The Racer was returned forwards because of the ridership numbers and backwards had "run its course." (If I am incorrect, please don't crucify me). I have heard that in the other parks, the trains were returned to forwards running to bring them in line with other Cedar Fair parks.