On average, how much money does it cost for the park to run a ride (minus external factors such as maintance crew, ride ops, etc.). For example, how much does it cost to run one Diamondback train a full cycle? Or how about one turn on the Crypt?

you know, this isnt going to get very far. As interesting as it might be to know, i doubt Kings Island would want to tell anyone this information for many, many reasons. Plus, there are probably a huge amount of factors.... They probably dont even have a firm number, just an estimate...

There are way too many variables to come up with even a ballpark amount, especially since you have eliminated two of the largest factors.

Less than $10,000. Does that help?

Exactly. Maintenance costs and operational costs (as far as staffing goes) are some of the prime costs associated with running one ride for one cycle. Some parks have been known to only send out a train or run a ride when the entire ride is full, or when more than half of it is full, so as to maximize ridership, and lessen the wear and tear on the ride. But at smaller parks, Coney included, you may have to wait a while on certain rides to attain a full load.

And don`t forget that amusement parks in Ohio are also required to carry liability insurance for their rides. An additional cost that parks have to pay is an annual licensing fee that covers the Department of Agriculture- Ride Safety Division`s inspection of the rides each spring.

Not to mention there are fixed costs and variable costs. If Son of Beast had only run one cycle in its entire life, that cycle would theoretically cost the planning costs, construction costs, materials costs, design costs, insurance cost, labor costs, etc...all to be costed to that one cycle.

Put another way, I doubt any park does accounting in this fashion. Why would they?