Cold Weather

[shadowscare]

Planning to make a trip to the Haunt this Friday night, and the weather forecast calls for COLD. Not a big deal, I'll just bundle up. But I was wondering... is there a point where they stop running the coasters? Right now I saw on Accuweather a forecast of 54/36.

[The Interpreter]

In the old Paramount days, if the temperature fell below 50, most of the steel coasters closed (though Flight of Fear usually stayed open). Below 40, the wood coasters usually also closed (though I have ridden Beast in the snow, so...).

[IndyGuy4KI]

In the old Paramount days, if the temperature fell below 50, most of the steel coasters closed (though Flight of Fear usually stayed open). Below 40, the wood coasters usually also closed (though I have ridden Beast in the snow, so...).

I think it would be cool (HA!) to ride The Beast in the snow! Was there accumulated snow on the ground Terpy or was it just flurries?

[The Interpreter]

There was no accumulation, and a forecaster would call it flurries, but it was coming down pretty furiously. Just after that, the park closed for the day...at about 2!

I have also ridden The Georgia Cyclone during driving sleet, but that was during an IAAPA convention in Atlanta, and Gary Story was going to run his park for the attendees regardless of almost anything else! That was quite an experience, one I will never forget. There were fewer than a trainload of the attendees riding the Cyclone. I wonder why!

[Dvo]

It was definitely below 50 degrees last night, and as far as I could tell most of the rides were still running. But there was virtually no one in the park.

[Jasper]

Ah, you gotta love this October weather. Nothing bets a night at Kings Island where you can bundle up, go through a maze, get a good scare, then go and ride some world class coasters. I love October.

[shadowscare]

Ah, you gotta love this October weather. Nothing bets a night at Kings Island where you can bundle up, go through a maze, get a good scare, then go and ride some world class coasters. I love October.

Yeah, I just wonder if the coasters be open all night. With overnight lows in the mid-30's, will they'll still be operating from 11pm on?

[teenageninja]

I wouldn't be too concerned about the forecast just yet. It's 5 days away, the temperature might go up or down for that matter.

[faeriewench]

Yesterday wasn't the temp that got me. I ended up not being able to work cause the moment I began breathing in the fog it was off to first aid I went. I been sick all week, and appearently the fog was just agrivating all that making me ridiculously hack up my lungs x.x

[Jasper]

I would think the rides would operate in cold weather as long as there is no harsh elements, like high wind, snow, or rain. It also might depend on how much ridership they are receiving that night.

[TopThrill]

Well I was there last night, the temps were around 45 to 50 degrees. I did that math, at the bottom of Diamondbacks first drop at 80mph, the wind chill was 30 degrees. It was just down right cold!

[Jasper]

A true KI enthusiast right there, calculating the wind chill at the bottom of a coaster's first drop. Very nice TopThrill very nice.

[shadowscare]

So in the end I went straight to the source. Called KI, "will the roller coasters close if it gets below a certain temperature?" The answer was a polite but swift "no." She explained they won't close any roller coasters due to temperature.

So let's just hope the rain is out of here by Friday night! Heck, I would imagine thanks to the cold the crowds may be lighter than usual.

[The Interpreter]

If you called the same call center last Thursday morning and asked if the park would open that night, you'd have politely but quickly been told yes, I bet.

Terpy, just sayin'

[TopThrill]

Thanks, Jasper

If I remember, there is a start up temperature. The three wooden coaster are around 35, the steel coaster were around 45 to 50. But that could have changed.

[shadowscare]

Thanks, Jasper

If I remember, there is a start up temperature. The three wooden coaster are around 35, the steel coaster were around 45 to 50. But that could have changed.

Interesting. Well if that's the case it shouldn't be a problem; forecast highs are above all those numbers. Of course we are still a few days out, so anything could happen. In the meantime I'm counting the days until Friday night!