August 10 visit to KI

[Outdoor Man]

Took wife and daughter to KI tonight, and I must say from the parking lot it looked pretty full. I was surprised at how "not full" it was.

tonight was the first time my daughter went totally nuts for the park. She turned 2 just days ago and from the time she saw the tower, she was in rare form. Usually when we have taken her to the park, it was the train ride, the helicopters, and both merry-go-rounds. tonight she went ballistic over all sorts of new NU rides to add to her roster. We even tried to take her to the ice show... but had to leave early- great show, but some of the music was a bit "dark" for her... thank goodness we tried that- because of how well she did on the other rides, we thought it was time for SDATHM.... thank goodness- that would not have been pretty. then to cap off the night, she got to see her favorite, "boom-booms" (fireworks to the lay person).

On some of these forums I like to throw in sarcastic remarks and the occassional point to an argument I don't for a second believe- but in all seriousness those of you who work at the park or love the park.... need to see it from the eyes of a parent watching their little one thoroughly enjoy the park. To my little girl it makes no difference if it is KECO, Paramount, Cedar Fair, CBS, whatever- what matters to me is the 15 or so employees we came into contact with.... or more accurately my daughter came into contact with. EVERYONE in the NU part of the park were OUTSTANDING!!!! this was the first time that my wife and I have had to sit helplessly on the sidelines and watch someone care for the safety of our child. the park employees we observed tonight were professionals and really put us at ease to the point where we just enjoyed the show of our daughter having the day of her life!

It is instances like those that have us hooked and assured that we will return again sometime in the near future.

Thank you KI staff, you made our little girls night- and in the process made ours!

[CoastersRZ]

Glad to hear you had such a good time. That is part of what I enjoy about running rides at Coney. Even in my sixth year there, I will occasionally work a kiddie ride for a little bit. (Last weekend it was the helicopters for thirty minutes). Explaining to the kids how to make their copter go up in the air, and then seeing their smiles and waves to their parents once I start the ride is an awesome thing to see. That is part of the reason why I have so much fun at Coney. Having worked at Coney for so long, I now have the understanding of how an amusement park works from the operations and employee point of view, rather than strictly a guests point of view.