johnnyisland Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 I always thought Kings Island should embrace the Little Miami Bike trail and river. If they built a bike/pedestrian bridge over the river next to a new pedestrian entrance, it would open up a new world of Kings Island customers. They could build a giant bike rack area while making money off bike trail users through concessions and new pass holders that come from anywhere on the trail. They could also add a scenic river area and expand the train so that it runs all the way around the park through a bunch of the Kings Island woods and to this new entrance and along the river. A back woods trail that lets users walk by some of the hidden Beast track could be appealing as well. I'm sure there are some environmentalists out there that would complain, but I bet their concerns could be accomodated. There is a map of my vision at the link below: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&...898465ca6cae6b5 Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIfan73 Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Would I like something like this? Yes. Do I think it would ever happen? No. Sadly, I think a place like Kings Island has to have, at least these days, only "controlled activities". What I mean by that is that the customer really doesn't have any control of what's going on. They strap in, ride the ride, and are released. I think something like this could have happened when Kings Island opened, but not in today's society where you have to worry about so many liabilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooferBearATL Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Cost Prohibitive. The train expansion alone would be a phenomenal cost alone. There once was a wilderness trail over by The Beast. It was very hard to maintain and next to impossible to provide security for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 I can just imagine the responses to environmental reviews.... Doable? Possibly. Something Cedar Fair or any corporate owner would want to do? Well, let's see. Carowinds had two gates...one in each state. The south gate is now almost never used. . .only on the busiest of Saturdays. Six Flags Over Georgia had two gates....the one back by Mindbender has been closed. Kings Island has two toll plazas for parking. How often do you see the north one used? Anything that results in duplication of labor without MAJOR revenue is a no-no these days. I just do not see this happening, no matter how wonderful it might be to a few. Not to mention that some train guests would get off at the exit, leave the park, and be confused/furious when they couldn't find their automobiles/SUV's/bus, etc. As for expanding the train, the current park management sees it primarily as transportation to/from the waterpark, and a prop for Halloween festivities. Nothing more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooferBearATL Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 I can just imagine the responses to environmental reviews.... Doable? Possibly. Something Cedar Fair or any corporate owner would want to do? Well, let's see. Carowinds had two gates...one in each state. The south gate is now almost never used. . .only on the busiest of Saturdays. Six Flags Over Georgia had two gates....the one back by Mindbender has been closed. Kings Island has two toll plazas for parking. How often do you see the north one used? Anything that results in duplication of labor without MAJOR revenue is a no-no these days. I just do not see this happening, no matter how wonderful it might be to a few. Not to mention that some train guests would get off at the exit, leave the park, and be confused/furious when they couldn't find their automobiles/SUV's/bus, etc. As for expanding the train, the current park management sees it primarily as transportation to/from the waterpark, and a prop for Halloween festivities. Nothing more. Interp, you learned me something. I did not know SF Georgia had a second gate. All the times I've ridden Mindbender and did not know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monroe Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 ^It must have "Bent Your Mind" so far that you did not see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Yep, it was down by where Deja Vu was..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooferBearATL Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Yep, it was down by where Deja Vu was..... Ahhh, OK! The back section of the parking lot. And as Deja Vu was not my uhhhhh favorite ride. ..... and the fact that it rarely opened all day. <G> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyisland Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 According to Wikipedia, the bike trail gets 175,000 - 200.000 peole annually. I'm not sure how many would go to KI from the trail, but I would assume bike trail population would increase with a KI entrance. If it increased by 50,000, and 10% of the bike trail users went to the new KI bike trail entrance, then we would be talking about 22,500 to 25,000 guests annually going through the KI Little Miami Bike Trail entrance. If you throw in train riders going to and from Great Wolf Lodge (maybe 500 per day), Boomerang Bay, and just riding the train for fun in addition to the 1.3 million that currently ride the train annually, I could see 2 to 3 million riders on that train in the future with about 50,000 of those being new KI customers due to the Little Miami trail and Great Wolf Lodge connections. Estimating excavation and construction costs is much more compliacated, but 50,000 customers at $85/ pass could be $4.25 million, but many of the non-KI pass holders that go on the trail (175,000-200,000) annually will just stop by the Little Miami entrance for concessions which could also be factored in. Here are some references: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loveland_Bike_Trail http://www2.paramountparks.com/kingsisland...l.cfm?ai_id=151 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AintNutinElse2Do Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 On average with good terrain it costs 1 million per mile to put in train track. Throw in bad terrain and your looking at possibly 3-5 million per mile. I only know this because my dad is an engineer with one of the big railroads and this is what he told me many years ago so I would expect those numbers are higher now. Though this was price per mile for big freight trains I would guess KI's might be slightly less but not much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Not to mention, although Google maps and aerial views may make it seem that way, I can account that the land back there is not always flat and is home to some very daunting terrain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooferBearATL Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Not to mention, although Google maps and aerial views may make it seem that way, I can account that the land back there is not always flat and is home to some very daunting terrain. Did you really use the word daunting? <G> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeLorean Rider Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 NEW FOR 2008! CANOE PARKING! Come on down stream to our brand new entrance on the Littlie Miami River! Just $8 for Canoes, $9 for Row Boats, $7 for Kayaks and $10 for small sailboats. All those with boats larger may park convinently at our new landing dock for the price of $16. Dont miss River front access for 2008! New Marina Thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 On the topic of topography. Most trains have a limit to the grade change they can handle. I believe I read somewhere that the maximum they can handle is about 5-6%. I know for a fact that some of the topography around the park is steeper than that. Particularly back by Top Gun, Son of Beast and The Beast. As others have said, the cost coupled with the return on investment is why this would never happen. Not to mention the fact that the Little Miami River is a State and National Scenic River, which imposes some limitations on what can be done on and around the banks of the river. I have seen the North parking tolls open this past season. Especially on busy Saturdays when traffic at the south tolls is so bad that Kings Island Drive starts backing up onto North 71. As an fyi, the whole intersection at Kings Island Drive and Western Row Road is being studied to alleviate congestion. While construction is years away as they are still studying a variety of options, one option calls for relocating the exit and Kings Island drive to the east, to form a larger intersection with Columbia Road. That is opposed to how it is now set up with two traffic lights on Western Row Road, one for Kings Island Drive and the expressway offramp, and the other light for Columbia Road and the Kings Island employee parking lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dare-to-fly Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 As an fyi, the whole intersection at Kings Island Drive and Western Row Road is being studied to alleviate congestion. While construction is years away as they are still studying a variety of options, one option calls for relocating the exit and Kings Island drive to the east, to form a larger intersection with Columbia Road. That is opposed to how it is now set up with two traffic lights on Western Row Road, one for Kings Island Drive and the expressway offramp, and the other light for Columbia Road and the Kings Island employee parking lot. This makes me want to scream! Ahhhhh! I can't help it. I have trouble taking change. The intersection probably only gets backed up every once in a while, right? So we have to have construction to make a royal mess, no doubt in the middle of the busiest part of the season, and this construction will have to last four or five years just like the mess on I-275. Ahhhh! It makes me nausious just thinking about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 Relax. Yes, the whole intersection does get highly congested when Kings Island has very busy days, which are a lot of the weekends in the summer. But any construction in this area is still years away. The Ohio Department of Transportation is still studying about four different proposals in this area (including makings the Western Row Rd exit a complete interstate interchange, instead of just a partial one). Once the final solution is selected, there are still months and years of engineering before any construction would begin on the project. With the rate that Warren County and the city of Mason are growing, this will be a needed change to alleviate congestion. Yes, getting to the park could be quite difficult once construction starts. But rest assured, they will likely try to coordinate the construction as much as possible to alleviate potential impacts on peak traffic flow times. For example, since some of the peak times of traffic occur on weekends, there isn`t much of an issue there as most road construction crews do not work on weekends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyisland Posted January 10, 2008 Author Share Posted January 10, 2008 Ok, I like the marina idea, but agree the depth of the river would limit everyone to canoes. A bridge across the river can still gets the bikers, runners, and roller bladers there. Because train excavation costs could be prohibitive, the train could just be made so that it gets as close as possible without severe excavation costs, then a trail could take people to the train at the top of the hill or into River town. In parallel to this, a ski lift could get users up and down this hill very easy while also adding another Little Miami view, another ride, and another reason for people to go to this end of the park. Maybe I should just buy that amusement park game and do it myself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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