Kings Island's 5@5 Q&A Thread

[IndyGuy4KI]

Can we please get our Eagles back from Carowinds? That would be a perfect spot for them!

I don't think they are considered "Ours" any longer. Maybe a new set that snaps well!

[corn4ahead]

Hey anything is possible. You never know. Maybe we will trade SoB for our beloved Eagles.

On a side note, Indy, since when does 101 + 4 = 106?

[DaveStroem]

I despise Sponge Bob so much that I have never been to action theater since he showed up.

[chaddie]

I love SB. Who else lives in a pineapple under the sea? I watch it every time I visit the park. I am always rooting for him to get that pickle back from Plankton!

[IndyGuy4KI]

Hey anything is possible. You never know. Maybe we will trade SoB for our beloved Eagles.

On a side note, Indy, since when does 101 + 4 = 106?

Nice Catch! I will fix that, wishful thinking I guess!

[IndyGuy4KI]

I despise Sponge Bob so much that I have never been to action theater since he showed up.

I am in the same boat with you Dave. I refuse to let my child watch SB at my house. I have no issues with KI showing it for I know lots of kids love it, just not me!

[coaster_junky]

Answers for Monday's 5@5 Mailbag?

Austin Benton - Thanks for the details and everything but i still have a couple more...Cedar Point did something similar to that last year but it was cool cause it was like a tunnel of lights and they had the inflatables...will Kings Island be the same or similar..and will the lights be timed to music?

Cedar Point did a similar light show last year and it was very popular and something we thought would make a great addition here. There will be lots of lights just like they had but we have several unique aspects in our show that we are very excited about. You will be seeing and hearing more about this experience between now and its May 29 opening.

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Bret Shroats - Why did you guys decide to take down the Son of Beast box?

Once it was determined that the ride will not operate this year (which has not changed) we also chose remove the box and other items. Don’t take this the wrong way but this is probably the last time I’ll answer a Son of Beast question in this forum. Unless something changes.

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Brad Perdue - If a ride inspector calls in due to being sick, who inspects those rides? Do other inspectors get more rides to inspect to share the load or are there other people who can fill in? Thanks for answering all these for us, really enjoy it

This daily process must go on regardless. It’s just like most other positions, if someone can’t make it someone else must fill in. That may mean a person has to pick up more that day or another person is called in. There are crews that specialize in ride groups (steel, wood, etc) so there is a team to get it done. They have a really important job that not many recognize.

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Jerry Abston - What would be the chances of opening up the club blood building during the season and turning it into a haunted maze like the old haunted house mazes of long ago?

We’ve tinkered with the idea – especially as a way to promote a new maze or as a way to introduce the entire event in the early years. Now that Haunt is such a popular attraction that need doesn’t exist as much. Plus, there is something special about waiting for it. I like Christmas but only when it’s cold! We have been discussing 2010 Haunt a lot lately. It will be here before you know it and it takes a lot of planning to keep improving the event each year.

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Travis Nuss - what is the most popular ride?

Diamondback has been #1 each day so far this year followed by Beast, Vortex, Adventure Express and Delirium. Woodstock Express tops the list in Planet Snoopy and #8 overall. Racer still holds a commanding all-time lead. You can see a complete list of the ridership history on the site at: http://www.visitkingsisland.com/public/news/media/media_guide/ride_record_book.cfm

link

[LongliveKingsCobra]

I don't know about all of you, but I think these answers are so...robotic. I mean not more than a few weeks ago I remember them being funny, and kinda personable. I don't know, it might just be me..?

[ahank]

^I'm just glad that Kings Island has a program like this. To my knowledge (correct me if I'm wrong) no other theme park does this. So, whether the answers are robotic or not, I'm glad we get them.

[LongliveKingsCobra]

Yes, I realize that, and I am gratefull for it, don't get me wrong! I am very happy that they at least let us ask them questions that they respond to. (Mostly afte that rude comment about the responces they were getting)...

[DaveStroem]

I think these are done on their own time after work. If you had a hard day you might not always be able to give that sharp reply and stay with in what can be said. I think it is great that they are doing this too. Even with a few softball answers.

[Oldiesmann]

Answers for Monday's 5@5 Mailbag:

Austin Benton - Thanks for the details and everything but i still have a couple more...Cedar Point did something similar to that last year but it was cool cause it was like a tunnel of lights and they had the inflatables...will Kings Island be the same or similar..and will the lights be timed to music?

Cedar Point did a similar light show last year and it was very popular and something we thought would make a great addition here. There will be lots of lights just like they had but we have several unique aspects in our show that we are very excited about. You will be seeing and hearing more about this experience between now and its May 29 opening.

------------------------------

Bret Shroats - Why did you guys decide to take down the Son of Beast box?

Once it was determined that the ride will not operate this year (which has not changed) we also chose remove the box and other items. Don’t take this the wrong way but this is probably the last time I’ll answer a Son of Beast question in this forum. Unless something changes.

------------------------------

Brad Perdue - If a ride inspector calls in due to being sick, who inspects those rides? Do other inspectors get more rides to inspect to share the load or are there other people who can fill in? Thanks for answering all these for us, really enjoy it

This daily process must go on regardless. It’s just like most other positions, if someone can’t make it someone else must fill in. That may mean a person has to pick up more that day or another person is called in. There are crews that specialize in ride groups (steel, wood, etc) so there is a team to get it done. They have a really important job that not many recognize.

------------------------------

Jerry Abston - What would be the chances of opening up the club blood building during the season and turning it into a haunted maze like the old haunted house mazes of long ago?

We’ve tinkered with the idea – especially as a way to promote a new maze or as a way to introduce the entire event in the early years. Now that Haunt is such a popular attraction that need doesn’t exist as much. Plus, there is something special about waiting for it. I like Christmas but only when it’s cold! We have been discussing 2010 Haunt a lot lately. It will be here before you know it and it takes a lot of planning to keep improving the event each year.

----------------------------

Travis Nuss - what is the most popular ride?

Diamondback has been #1 each day so far this year followed by Beast, Vortex, Adventure Express and Delirium. Woodstock Express tops the list in Planet Snoopy and #8 overall. Racer still holds a commanding all-time lead. You can see a complete list of the ridership history on the site at: http://www.visitkingsisland.com/public/news/media/media_guide/ride_record_book.cfm

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=387655381948

[coaster_junky]

^look at post #1117 (just 5 post before yours)

[Oldiesmann]

Whoops! Could have sworn that wasn't there when I posted. Oh well.

[bkroz]

I apologize for the delay. Working late tonight on some upcoming events. Below are the answers to Tuesday’s 5@5 Mailbag:

Brian Reigelsperger – I always loved Winterfest. Is there any chance of this event returning in future seasons?

Brian, at least for the foreseeable future you won’t see an event like Winterfest at the park. One of the issues with having a winter event at the park is the unpredictable weather in December. One day it can be in the 40’s and the next day it might be 18 degrees. There’s no consistency. During our core season, which is the spring, summer and fall, we pretty much know what the weather will be like during those months.

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Paul Bonifield – Are lift hill chains ever replaced? For example is the Flight Deck chain the same one, as it opened in 1993?

Paul, at times the chain will be replaced but for the most part one of the links might just need to be replaced.

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Brian Krosnick – Any follow-up on information that whole Kings Dominion Crypt music thing? I know it’s been suggested, and never acted upon. Rather than just holding my breath for it for the rest of time, it would be fantastic to know if it’s even a possibility. I don’t want to be forever waiting for it if it’s just plain not going to happen. If the reason is private, so be it. I’d just like to know if I should stop waiting.

Brian, your suggestion was a very good one, and we shared it with some folks in our rides department. But there are a lot of other projects going on in the park right now. Take a deep breath, sit back and relax. Soon we’ll be able to tell you if your dream of having the music from KD being played in the Crypt here has a chance of becoming a reality.

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Austin Benton – Really excited for Snoopy’s Starlight Spectacular…can’t wait to see the Eiffel Tower lit up…but my question is that takes a lot of power. Where is it coming from…like are you steeling from rides or what?

Austin, we’re excited about it too! There is no reason for concern about the amount of power the light show will use. It’s not going to be a Clark Griswold situation where we turn on the lights and everyone’s power in the area goes out. We’re using a diverse mixture of low energy and high efficiency LED lighting. Each of the different sections of the show is only going to be pulling about 15 amps.

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Luke Sharrock – In Diamondback’s line there is a tub of phones that fell off the ride. How long did it take to collect these? Were they easy to find. Do you add to the bin?

It didn’t take long to collect quite a few of them last year. It is important to secure all loose articles before riding Diamondback as well as other rides in the park. It depends on where a guest lost their cell phone as to whether they’re easy to find. We do add to the bin, but the good news is we’re not adding as much to it as we did during the early part of last year.

By removing all the smilies and the "haha"s in my question, it makes it look as if I was being rude and impatient...! Hahha. But I was not, and I want everyone who doesn't believe me to check the note's comments to see that that's not how I asked the question.

[Jason B]

^ Thanks for posting there 5&5 for Tuesday tonight. I had already climed in bed and cannot get pull that sectio of facebook up on my phone.

[cedarAfairs]

With AE's newly fixed effects, one can hope, that someday, some year, that The Crypt's effects will get some TLC too.

[bkroz]

Answers for Wednesday's 5@5 mailbag below:

Ben Kendrick - with the licensing for the peanuts being sold, does that affect king's island?

Ben (and Ryan), I had the same question but was told this should have no impact on our current PEANUTS affiliation.

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Chris Hughes - How did the park come to the decision to bring the Euro Bubbles to the park?

We are constantly looking for new things. This concept was pitched to us and we decided to give it a go not really knowing what to expect. The response the first day was great. It really does look like fun and I’ve only heard positives. My question is not how "did it come to the park" but who thinks of this? Hamster ball + water + free time = ???? Oh well. It works.

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Brad Perdue - How are ride counts maintained? Does the ride op count the people in each train every dispatch and write it down? Is it automated somehow? Thanks!

Yes. Ride ops manually count and track the riders. This information is used to monitor hourly and daily capacity. Then those numbers are compared to the previous year and shared internally. It’s a good process that keeps everyone focused. For me it’s an interesting read with my morning coffee.

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Brian Krosnick - Can people still get into Boomerang Bay via the parking lot entrance? I'm planning to set aside a half day for Boomerang Bay next time I visit, and wasn't sure if that entrance was still used? Also, is there early entry to Boomerang Bay for pass holders?

A long time ago we built a temporary (or test) entrance to Boomerang Bay from the parking lot as a Gold Season Pass perk. It was very popular so it’s become more of a permanent entrance. As a guest service we quickly stopped turning away non-passholders at this gate. Now you can enter and even purchase tickets at this entrance without going into the main park no matter what kind of ticket/pass you have. Perfect for that half day you’re planning but my guess is you will stay longer than you planned!

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Zach Clapper - I think the starlight show is going to be sweet. My only concern is during the day the E. Tower is going to look tacky with all the lights on it. Is it going to be noticeable?

You’re right. Snoopy’s Starlight Spectacular will be a great show. We took some pictures last night and can see some of the ideas coming to life. Don’t worry, the Tower will not look bad during the day. I doubt many would ever notice unless you pointed it out. You will be able to see things in the areas behind the tower during the day that may look odd during the day but I wouldn’t call it tacky by any means.

[CoastersRZ]

I did not know that guests could purchased tickets at the "season pass" entrance to Boomerang Bay. I also didn`t know that non-pass holders could enter the park there. Really, it is a no brainer to allow ticketed guests to enter there as well. Makes it easier with all the swim gear and towels that people have.

[buckeyemaniac]

Brad Perdue - How are ride counts maintained? Does the ride op count the people in each train every dispatch and write it down? Is it automated somehow? Thanks!

Yes. Ride ops manually count and track the riders. This information is used to monitor hourly and daily capacity. Then those numbers are compared to the previous year and shared internally. It’s a good process that keeps everyone focused. For me it’s an interesting read with my morning coffee.

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That is not entirely correct. Most of the rides have automated counts, we just write down what the computer says after each hour. There are several rides that are counted using manual counters, but most are automated.

[CoastersRZ]

But on most rides, it is still up to the ride ops to keep track of empty seats/cars and input that information into the computer.

And for reference, there is no such tracking used at Coney. Way back in the day, we would record how many ride tickets each ride had collected in a day, but that did not account for all the people that rode with wristbands or had passes. Coney last sold individual ride tickets back in 2003 I believe. It was either 03 or 02. Can`t remember which year. I do know that kiddie rides were two tickets, most other rides were three. Python was four I think. The tickets cost 50 cents a piece.

[PhantomTheater]

The system KI has makes more sense then CP's, where the guest go through turnstiles. For that reason is why CP does not allow rerides because it "messes up the ride count." However, you see people mess with the turnstiles all the time, thus messing up the ride count, the CP system is flawed.

[buckeyemaniac]

But on most rides, it is still up to the ride ops to keep track of empty seats/cars and input that information into the computer.

That is true, all of the rides require the operator to either press a button or click a clicker to count the riders, but it's not a tally as the question suggests.

[Browntggrr]

The system KI has makes more sense then CP's, where the guest go through turnstiles. For that reason is why CP does not allow rerides because it "messes up the ride count." However, you see people mess with the turnstiles all the time, thus messing up the ride count, the CP system is flawed.

From an exact numbers standpoint, you are correct, CP's system is flawed.

But they are not looking for exact numbers. They are looking for approximations and trends and use the information concerning ridership (time of day, what days are busier etc.), maintenance, and staffing.

[Jason B]

There is not a turnstile system out there that is 100% accurate. I work in an industry that must report patron counts every day to the state. I have used the old beater bars, electronic beams and now overhead thermals. None of them have never matched the good old manual head count and all are flawed.

[Reclaimer]

The system KI has makes more sense then CP's, where the guest go through turnstiles. For that reason is why CP does not allow rerides because it "messes up the ride count." However, you see people mess with the turnstiles all the time, thus messing up the ride count, the CP system is flawed.

Sorry, but if you're looking for flaws, look in KI's direction and doing head counts of each train. Guesstimates aplenty I would expect. Sure people play with turnstiles but at least you're sure you're getting some sort of a count rather than depending on someone to say "that train looked pretty full." As for rerides, if there is nobody in line, many people will let you reride. Both seasons of my working at Wicked Twister we would allow rerides if it was dead and nobody else was waiting...you just have to ask nicely and not act like you're entitled to a reride. They don't always happen, but a little friendliness goes a long way. Heck, even at Space Mountain (where the load and unload areas were in two completely different areas of the building) we would allow rerides sometimes as a courtesy.

[Shaggy]

When I was on Beast crew many, many moons ago... there was a button to the right of the drivers panel. As the train was released out of the station, the person driving looked down out of the side window of the booth checking lap bars and pressing the button for every empty seat. The computer monitoring system then deducted the number of times the button was pressed from each hourly capacity. The crew head kept a paper log of the hourly capacity totals which was turned into the Ride Operations Dept that evening.

When on the FOF crew, there was a manual hand clicker the driver used to keep counts each hour.

Many of the flat ride simply relied on turnstyles.

I could go on and on... but basically, at that time, there was a virtually a different procedure for keeping capacities on almost every ride in the park.

Shaggy

[XGatorHead 8904]

Brian Krosnick - Can people still get into Boomerang Bay via the parking lot entrance? I'm planning to set aside a half day for Boomerang Bay next time I visit, and wasn't sure if that entrance was still used? Also, is there early entry to Boomerang Bay for pass holders?

A long time ago we built a temporary (or test) entrance to Boomerang Bay from the parking lot as a Gold Season Pass perk. It was very popular so it’s become more of a permanent entrance. As a guest service we quickly stopped turning away non-passholders at this gate. Now you can enter and even purchase tickets at this entrance without going into the main park no matter what kind of ticket/pass you have. Perfect for that half day you’re planning but my guess is you will stay longer than you planned!

I did not know that guests could purchased tickets at the "season pass" entrance to Boomerang Bay. I also didn`t know that non-pass holders could enter the park there. Really, it is a no brainer to allow ticketed guests to enter there as well. Makes it easier with all the swim gear and towels that people have.

I didn't know that it was now a gate for everyone either. The gate was added in 2004 with the re-theme of the waterpark to Crocodile Dundee's Boomerang Bay. At the time it was a Gold Pass only gate, and was marketed as a Gold Pass perk.

I wouldn't necessarily say that we "quickly" stopped turning away non-passholders at that gate. For that entire first year, we were fairly strict about allowing only Gold Pass holders through that gate since it was a perk. We did have the ability to sell tickets there in the event an exception was made, but that was pretty rare. What happened after 2004 I can't say since that was my last year in Admissions, so they may have started to let non-pass holders in the BB gate in 2005.

[tycoonrebel7188]

When I was on Beast crew many, many moons ago... there was a button to the right of the drivers panel. As the train was released out of the station, the person driving looked down out of the side window of the booth checking lap bars and pressing the button for every empty seat. The computer monitoring system then deducted the number of times the button was pressed from each hourly capacity. The crew head kept a paper log of the hourly capacity totals which was turned into the Ride Operations Dept that evening.

When on the FOF crew, there was a manual hand clicker the driver used to keep counts each hour.

Many of the flat ride simply relied on turnstyles.

I could go on and on... but basically, at that time, there was a virtually a different procedure for keeping capacities on almost every ride in the park.

Shaggy

Shaggy, you are completely right about how Beast keeps capacity. That button is still used to deduct the number of empty seats. On a side note for everyone else, Beast's computer system automatically adds 1 train and 36 riders to the hourly count every time a train crests the top of the first lift hill. By pressing the Empty Seat Counter button on the side of the panel, it subtracts the number of empty seats from the 36 that were automatically added to the count.

[CoastersRZ]

And some flat rides at Kings Island that used to have turnstyles no longer do. I know that Shake Rattle and Roll had two at its exit. And rides like Scrambler, Monster and Dodgems all had turnstyles at the entrance to ride`s queue line. Unless I`m forgetting a ride, I believe the only ride at Kings Island that still has the turnstyles in place is the Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad.