International Restaurant

[adam47303]

Do you think that International Restaurant shoud be reopened to public in the near future?

[WooferBearATL]

Never thought it should have closed.

[Vortex]

Do you think that International Restaurant shoud be reopened to public in the near future?

No it would take alot of money to get the Restaurant updated and back in shape for the public. I just don't see Paramount putting the money out their to reopen this place to eat.

[CoastersRZ]

One of its biggest obstacles, and perhaps the reason it eventually closed, is size. Quite simply, there was not a large enough seating area to allow enough guests through to turn a profit. That and guests would take their time eating and drinking as they enjoyed the view and the air conditioning. Not enough throughput hurt the profits of the restaurant, which ultimately led to its closure as a restaurant.

It would be nice if they opened it up in the offseason, as a place to visit the park and be able to get a glimpse of the activity in the park during the off season while grabbing a meal. But that will never happen. Heck, look at the Machine Room Grille at Great American Ball Park that was supposed to be open year round. That is now, and has been, closed in the baseball offseason.

[Jasper]

Was it even that good of a place to eat when it was open?

[KIfan73]

^Yes, it was. Good food, good service, really cool view.

[TheRickster]

The view of the park is amazing. The international restauraunt is my favorite place in the park.

[CoastersRZ]

Really? I wonder what they will be serving in there. I would like to go up there, simply for the view of International Street. I have never had the opportunity to go up in the restaurant.

[Losantiville]

I would love to see it return. I never got to eat up there. I have been up there for other events and it is a wonderful place. I think that the Restaurant would do very well there. It would do extremely well doring Winterfest!

[lostgirl]

It wouldn't take hardly any money to re-open again. They never let everything get in bad condition. They host stuff up there sometimes. I've seen people up there eating with their Kings Island, kings dominion, and carowinds shirts on. We used to go in there to get water for our waterbottles for fear fest and we practice up there for winterfest sometimes and everything still looks new and it's sooo clean. So it wouldn't take like any money other then buying more food to re open.

[WooferBearATL]

Probably just some minor equipment upgrades to reopen the restaurant.

It's probably down the road as far as opening it again for full service.

At the least, they could set it up as a buffet.

[CoastersRZ]

Yes, they occasionally have special groups that eat meals up thee. I believe that there have been several coast enthusiast events held up there before (BeastBuzz was one of them).

[adam47303]

Yes, they occasionally have special groups that eat meals up thee. I believe that there have been several coast enthusiast events held up there before (BeastBuzz was one of them).

I would like to see the restaurant open full time during peak season. I ate up inside the restarant one time the food was great the service was great, and the view was great it was stupid to take the International Restarant away from the patrons in 1997.

[CoastersRZ]

I believe the restaurant was closed before 1997. Although I am not sure of the exact dat it ceased normal operations. Part of the clean look of the restaurant is due to the fact that it hasn`t seen all the wear and tear from the public like other places in the park have seen that are in constant contact with the general public in the peak seasons.

[TheKlockster]

I think ACE may be having its offseason thing there this year. It was at Wonderpark last year. I heard they had a train on Boa Squeeze overloaded so much that even with the lift off, it overshot the station and went halfway up the lift again.

[CoastersRZ]

Yes, I do believe that the Southern Ohio Region of ACE will be holding an event in the International Restaurant in February.

[spngbob]

Its still veyr nice up there and last time I went up there (liek two weeks ago) they were fixin skyline noodles and taking them down to its new location.. There was other people int ehre making stuff but Im not exactly sure what all goes on up there..

[Shaggy]

"Probably just some minor equipment upgrades to reopen the restaurant."

Not only minor kitchen upgrades would be required. Major kitchen updates would be required. There are specific spacial problems that do not meet health/safety codes.

In addition, as far as I know there's no public elevator. Thus it's not handicapped accessible. That's a major no-no in today's world.

Shaggy

[loganrun]

It should reopen with an elevator and great food beats all the pki fanatics going to all the restraunts outside the gate: I can only imagine with it reopened during winterfest Pki is ready to reopen it !

[Gulliversrubadub]

"Probably just some minor equipment upgrades to reopen the restaurant."

Not only minor kitchen upgrades would be required. Major kitchen updates would be required. There are specific spacial problems that do not meet health/safety codes.

In addition, as far as I know there's no public elevator. Thus it's not handicapped accessible. That's a major no-no in today's world.

Shaggy

Having an elevator has nothing to do with it. It was never advertised as being "Handicap Accessible" therefore no codes are being violated. As far as health codes IR only need to do minor upgrades to reopen. It will not happen as PKI does not want to spend the money.

[WooferBearATL]

Well, anything is possble down the road.

If the park does sell, I'm certain something will be done with the space. It simply is the most valuable unused space in the park.

[A_Titanic_Mess]

The IR is pretty much in working order. It has been all along. The kitchen has been used for years, even after it was closed to the public. There are several meeting rooms and offices that are used by PKI staff. We regularly met in the IR for department meetings. Our annual holiday dinner was held there as well, although I do remember it being held in the Festhaus also. The IR really just needs some cosmetic work. It is very dated, has that 70's look.

An interesting note about the IR, the park considered re-opening it a just a few years back. One of the plans going around was to renovate the IR and turn it into the First-Class Dining Room from the Titanic. This of course was during the Titanic frenzy. The royalties for Titanic were pretty high though, and the capital needed for the project was so large that it never happened.

All of this speculation may be moot though, as the park has had in the plans for the past few seasons a total remodel of the front gate. The plan called for the demolition of the front gate and the IR. A new front gate was to be built with an expanded gift shop that guests would exit through on their way out. Very similar to the ride gift shops at IOA. While I don't think this plan has been nixed, it does appear to be on the shelf as nothing has happened. This was supposed to happen for the 2003 season.

[Gordon Bombay]

^Theming IR to the first class dining room would be really cool, that would really bring that magic of the movies thing to PKI, it would be like dining in an actual movie set, darn Paramount and their cheap pockets.

[SkootersFan]

Demolish the front gate and IR??

Worst. Idea. Evah.

[A_Titanic_Mess]

Theming IR to the first class dining room would be really cool, that would really bring that magic of the movies thing to PKI

I agree that it was a really good idea. The other strong idea was a Star Trek themed IR. While the Vegas property is still viable, the parks were moving away from Star Trek. It had lost the appeal that the parks needed. Interesting though that Stealth was re-themed as BORG Assimilator at PC. Maybe there is some life left in Star Trek!

On a side note, I heard from marketing that Stealth was originally to be named Mission Impossible, after the Tom Cruise movie. Word was that because PGA was to open the ride before the movie premiere, Paramount Pictures nixed the idea. They did not want the ride to premiere before the movie.

[Gordon Bombay]

^yeah it kind of stinks theres not any more plans for star trek movies any other really interesting nixed ideas you wanna tell us about? I know a few but id love to hear more.

[Outdoor Man]

i am not a "code" guru by any means, but have had some experience in the last year working with State Health Codes as it refers to handicap accessible, food, etc... And any smarter chimp than I can correct me if I'm wrong. But as far as no elevator for handicap accessibility, I believe that would not matter as long as the following are not encroached:

- change in the original use of the facility

- a particular dollar amount had been passed in renovation and upgrades.

otherwise, I believe that the old codes could be "grandfathered" over.

Now, that is but a nutshell- but I believe that since it is open sporadically now, it could be open anytime if they chose.

[CoastersRZ]

Yes, seeing as how my major is in architecutre, I have gone over the OBC some what. (I`m only beginning my third year, and wrapping up my second and final co-op at K4 Architecture in downtown Cincinnati). I do not know the codes thouroughly though. There is a chapter in the OBC (Ohio Building Code) for amusement parks, mainly dealing with egress from lines and stations. On topic, yes the International Restaurant is "grandfathered" in as the codes back then were not as stringent as they were then. If they were to remodel the building, they would have to bring it up to the current codes. Below is the ADA code stipulating this from section 36.402. All the ADA (American`s with Disabilities Act) codes can be found online here.

If existing elements, spaces, or common areas are altered, then each such altered element, space, feature, or area shall comply with the applicable provisions of 4.1.1 to 4.1.3 Minimum Requirements (for New Construction).

And technically, they could alter the IR, and still not have to install an elevator, provided the floor area of the modification does not exceed 3,000 square feet since it is not a shopping center, a shopping mall, the professional office of a health care provider, a terminal, depot, or other station used for specified public transportation, or an airport passenger terminal. That is per section 36.404 of the ADA code.

Incidentally, I believe this is why they increased the number of handicapped parking spaces this year. With the upgrades to the parking lot, they probably had to bring up the number of spaces to align with the current ADA standards. By the code, there needs to be 20 ADA spots for the first 1,000 spots, plus one additional ADA spot, for every additional 100 spots in the parking lot. You do the math, PKI has between 10,000 and 11,00 parking spaces.

I think I provided way more information than any one really wanted to know!

[italianchef]

Perhaps the International Street Restaurant can be re-opened as a casual lounge all year around. By lounge I mean a bar with appetizers and maybe sandwiches. That would make it cheaper and more profitable to maintain.

What do y'all think?

Merry Christmas!

Italian Chef

[Gordon Bombay]

"Probably just some minor equipment upgrades to reopen the restaurant."

Not only minor kitchen upgrades would be required.  Major kitchen updates would be required.  There are specific spacial problems that do not meet health/safety codes. 

In addition, as far as I know there's no public elevator.  Thus it's not handicapped accessible.  That's a major no-no in today's world.

Shaggy

Having an elevator has nothing to do with it. It was never advertised as being "Handicap Accessible" therefore no codes are being violated. As far as health codes IR only need to do minor upgrades to reopen. It will not happen as PKI does not want to spend the money.

and your source?