5@5 MAILBAG: Saturday, Mar 13, 2010Share Yesterday at 8:28pm

Some good questions today. Keep them coming!

Q: Ryan Suhr - Since the UC football team had an unfortunate coaching change this year, will they still be invited to meet fans at Kings Island this year?

A: Ryan, the annual UC football team visit will again be held at the park in August. This event is a great opportunity for our guests to meet the players and coaches, get an autograph or have the players pose for photographs. In addition to football, the UC men's and women's basketball and soccer teams will also be making appearances this year at the park.

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Q: Ryan Suhr - Will the Flying Eagles ever make a return from Carowinds?

A: Unfortunately, I don't think so. The ride, now known as Woodstock Gliders, has become a guest favorite at Carowinds just like it had been at Kings Island and before 1972 for more than 35 years at Coney Island.

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Q: Paul Bonifield - Was it difficult to remove the giant "Reptar" infront of the coaster and how so was it done.

A: Paul, the giant "Reptar" was removed by crane several weeks ago. It was in an area of the park that wasn't too difficult to get a crane in place for its removal.

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Q: Ryan Suhr - Will the "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" show at Kings Island be the same one that has been at Cedar Point in the past?

A: Ryan, we're excited to have "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" as one of our six lives shows this year. It was a very popular show at Cedar Point. The show you see this year at Kings Island will be similar to the show you saw at Cedar Point, but not the exact same show. The show you'll see this summer at the park will be a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Motown and the music it inspired.

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Q: Aaron Martin - Will there be any Peanuts DVDs for sale as part of the merchandising for Planet Snoopy?

A: Aaron, there's a lot of really cool PEANUTS merchandise that has arrived at the park over the past several weeks, but I haven't seen DVD's yet. Is there a particular PEANUTS special that interests you the most?

http://www.facebook....id=155893938367

Three of the questions were asked by the same person! And mine never get answered.

Three of the questions were asked by the same person! And mine never get answered.

i think that person is a good friend of the person doing the answering

And has some sort of relationship with this site!

As in BoddaH1994...

Who wants to bet that the Reptar will be totally visible from the Eiffel Tower wherever they're keeping it?

I'd rather have it on top of the tower.

That would be...odd. Kinda cool...maybe.

I'd rather have it on top of the tower.

now your just crossin movie titles; allizdog/gnok gnik

Um... I think this page is messed up. Everything's bolded.

i like question two but am sadden'd by the answer; its nice to see motown makin a comeback.

sorry for the double post

5@5 MAILBAG: Sunday, Mar 14, 2010Share Yesterday at 4:49pm

Below are Sunday's Top 5@5.

Q: Austin Benton - Ive heard that the land Kings Island owns is hilly and hard to develop..is this true?

A: Some parts of the property are hilly, such as the area where the second drop on Diamondback is and the trestle the Kings Island & Miami Valley Railroad crosses, along with much of the 35 acres The Beast covers. It presented some challenges when building Diamondback, especially in the area where the second drop is. Most of The Beast is built relatively close to the ground so there weren't as many challenges in building that ride.

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Q: Jackson Thurnquist - Back in the 2009 season, for a majority of the year Diamondback ran fairly quiet for a B&M rollercoaster. Then, halfway through the season it got a B&M Roar like most do, really loud and proud sounding when it ran it's course. Then it got quiet again after a few months. My question is, what caused the sudden change in sound, was it the wheels, the track, the train? And also, will it be Roaring come April 17? Thanks.

A: Good observation, Jackson! Because it's made of steel, the ride will sound different in July and August when the temps are consistently in the upper 80s and 90s than it will in the spring and fall when temps can be in the 40s and 50s.

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Q: Kyle Joyce - Will the Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle's retheme be drastically different?

A: Kyle, it will be a new dark ride experience for our guests.

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Q: Austin Benton - I was reading the carowinds blog and they said that they were tearing up some of the asphalt and replacing it with paver...or the small bricks you see in the historic downtown roads...they mentioned that it would help keep the midway cooler..can we expect anything like this at Kings Island?

A: We did the same thing last year in the Rivertown area of the park that Carowinds is doing, replacing asphalt with paver in the area by Diamondback and Rivertown Junction. It's in the 80s and 90s for most of the season at Carowinds, unlike here where the weather is comfortable for the most part in the spring and fall.

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Q: Travis Nuss - can you put a "phantom theater" video up on you tube?

A: Perhaps at a later date. Right now we're busy going through and editing the video that we have of our existing rides.

http://www.facebook....id=155893938367

EDIT: i had a few good questions that got overlooked for simple easy answers

Hey, they answered my question! Interesting answer, too.

"Editing Video for our existing rides". Sounds like content for our new site!

The same answer is always answered about Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle....

"A new dark ride experience will be coming soon"

That wasn't even the question!

They need to answer more then just five questions. I've seen a lot of good questions that were not even answered.

Uh...they are picking the questions they want to answer, and may have problems even finding five of those! *

If you ever worked in PR, you'd definitely understand...there are many things that just cannot be talked about yet, if ever...

*Note that the other day THREE of the questions were from Ryan....

I think that would be the hardest part of working in PR. You know there are questions that they would love to answer but cannot for one reason or another. I am sure that would be the hardest part of the job; being asked a question, knowing the answer, knowing they can't say the answer, and coming up with something to say to answer the question enough that the person asking "goes away". I don't evy them at all at times. At least with the internet questions, they can pick and choose which ones to answer.

Um... I think this page is messed up. Everything's bolded.

Mine too, there must be a tag open somewhere....

Uh...they are picking the questions they want to answer, and may have problems even finding five of those! *

If you ever worked in PR, you'd definitely understand...there are many things that just cannot be talked about yet, if ever...

*Note that the other day THREE of the questions were from Ryan....

I totally agree with this. It isn't an easy job to promote something, be completely on-board with the new projects, and honestly answer questions from the public at the same time. It must be equally frustrating having the same kind of questions launched at you about SoB and Scooby. Being vague or skipping questions all together can become a necessity when your job is on the line.

On that note, we should start brainstorming some fun questions about the park that they are likely to answer instead of the Hardball stuff. At the least, it will be interesting to find out some quirky park details.

They need to answer more then just five questions. I've seen a lot of good questions that were not even answered.

Please tell me you are kidding.

5 questions is more than enough, especially when people are asking things like "Is Vortex sinking?"

And for the "good" questions that were not answered, chances are those questions have already been answered a previous day. People just need to do a little leg work and read through them.

I think that would be the hardest part of working in PR. You know there are questions that they would love to answer but cannot for one reason or another. I am sure that would be the hardest part of the job; being asked a question, knowing the answer, knowing they can't say the answer, and coming up with something to say to answer the question enough that the person asking "goes away". I don't evy them at all at times. At least with the internet questions, they can pick and choose which ones to answer.

It not as hard as it looks, not saying PR is easy, not at all. You have to be creative and smart, very smart

Um... I think this page is messed up. Everything's bolded.

Mine too, there must be a tag open somewhere....

Uh...they are picking the questions they want to answer, and may have problems even finding five of those! *

If you ever worked in PR, you'd definitely understand...there are many things that just cannot be talked about yet, if ever...

*Note that the other day THREE of the questions were from Ryan....

I totally agree with this. It isn't an easy job to promote something, be completely on-board with the new projects, and honestly answer questions from the public at the same time. It must be equally frustrating having the same kind of questions launched at you about SoB and Scooby. Being vague or skipping questions all together can become a necessity when your job is on the line.

On that note, we should start brainstorming some fun questions about the park that they are likely to answer instead of the Hardball stuff. At the least, it will be interesting to find out some quirky park details.

Sad part is that my questions didn't even partain to SoB/SBNO or Scooby. I thought I could @ least get a simple yes/no answer for them. I tried for the next days questions, if they aint answered, ill try latter (like in a few weeks.

It not as hard as it looks, not saying PR is easy, not at all. You have to be creative and smart, very smart

It is indeed harder than it looks. It's even harder than putting contractions in one's public statements and periods at the end of sentences!

Seriously, as one who has spent much of my professional life not answering questions that cannot be answered, have no answers or have very uncomfortable answers, it is far from easy. If it is easy for you in real life (not just as a student), then you have a knack, a gift and you should be glad you have it. I am told I have such a gift, but I do not find it easy. I find it challenging, rewarding, even fun and yet still taxing. My employer has often selected me and/or my job often requires me to be the one to deliver the uncomfortable no answers, or that there are no answers. It is both a privilege and a burden, but one that has to be done.

Perhaps the hardest of all is telling people you do not know or that no decision has been made yet when that is truly the case...and having virtually no one believe you. How may times has the park said no decision has been made about Son of Beast yet? And yet the same question gets asked again and again, often by the same people.

Worse still is working in an environment when you do not know for whom you will even be working in a matter of weeks or months. The people at Kings Island have been in this environment to some extent or another for five years now....

Q: Ty Mullins - Beyond Snoopy, what other characters will be greeting guests at the park entrance and in Planet Snoopy?

A: Ty, you'll see PEANUTS characters such as Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy and Woodstock in the park, along with Snoopy, greeting guests at the front gate and in Planet Snoopy.

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Q: Austin Benton - Why was an Eiffel Tower replica built at Kings Island...like at canada world it was a mountain...why not something else?

A: Austin, the Eiffel Tower was originally planned for Coney Island. It was going to go in the location where the Lost River was before the owners of the park, the Wachs family, began plans to build a new park. Gary Wachs, the first GM in Kings Island history, had been to France and that's where the concept for International Street and the Tower was born.

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Q: Emily Jones - will there be any new rides coming soon? or is the only new thing going to be Planet Snoopy?

A: New for 2010 is Planet Snoopy. In addition to Planet Snoopy, there will also be a new dark ride experience that we're excited about. You'll be hearing more about that soon.

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Q: Rain Ranken - Can home schooled children take part in the Math & Science days offered this year at Kings Island?

A: Rain, absolutely home schooled children can take part in Math & Science days. They're fun but also very educational for the students that participate in the program.

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Q: Paul Bonifield - Besides Racer and Beast what other rides do you have high numbers on?

A: Paul, the Kings Island & Miami Valley Railroad has given the second most rides in park history with 46,925,428, with The Racer first (93,708,749) and Beast third (44,035,096). The Vortex, Eiffel Tower, Adventure Express, Dodgem, Viking Fury and While Water Canyon are other attractions that have each given more than 25 million rides.

These questions and answers can be found here.

Q: Paul Bonifield - Besides Racer and Beast what other rides do you have high numbers on?

A: Paul, the Kings Island & Miami Valley Railroad has given the second most rides in park history with 46,925,428, with The Racer first (93,708,749) and Beast third (44,035,096). The Vortex, Eiffel Tower, Adventure Express, Dodgem, Viking Fury and While Water Canyon are other attractions that have each given more than 25 million rides.

These questions and answers can be found here.

right there is an answer to many questions. sign says "Vortex", map says "The Vortex", & now a park official has stated "The Vortex".

Who cares?

The Vortex?

^

I don't think it really matters? People call it both, and both would be correct I guess.

Who cares?

obviously i do, otherwise i wouldn't have said it.

^

I don't think it really matters? People call it both, and both would be correct I guess.

Why, just last season I was asked if I wanted to ride Adventure Express or Flight of Fear. When I said "both," I had no idea that meant Vortex!

lol Interpreter you got me there!

Let me rephrase that. People call Vortex, "The Vortex" and just "Vortex". Both names, "Vortex" and "The Vortex" would be considered correct

You need to be specific and literal with the Terpy! (And yes, I said "THE Terpy") Any controversy?