WooferBearATL Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 and to the post above (MikeWhy), it would be intersting to note that Roy Disney (I think that was his name) consulted on the development of Kings Island.... which explains the heavy influence of the original HB characters during the 70's. (and I don't remember where I heard that from). From someone that didn't know what they were talking about. It's been mentioned before and remains true that the HB connection was as a result of the involvment of Taft Broadcasting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 The thing that most influence PKI fro Roy Disney is he told the executives at Taft to figure out how much land they thought they would need. Then buy five times that much. DisneyLand was landlocked and until California Adventure opened, that property could not expand. That led Taft to buy 1,600 acres on both sides of I-71. Originally, the Kings Island Golf Course, the Tennis stadium and the Kings Island Resort were all part of Kings Island`s property. Sales of the land has shrunk the land that PKI owns down to the current 752 acres. An interesting note, is that when Walt Disney was designing DisneyLand, he paid a visit to Coney Island, at the time one of the finest amusement parks in the country. After his visit, he gave the park a $1 check for professional services rendered. The park still has the check to this day. (You can see a picture of it in Charles Jacques Jr.`s book on Coney Island). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooferBearATL Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 The thing that most influence PKI fro Roy Disney is he told the executives at Taft to figure out how much land they thought they would need. Then buy five times that much. DisneyLand was landlocked and until California Adventure opened, that property could not expand. That led Taft to buy 1,600 acres on both sides of I-71. Originally, the Kings Island Golf Course, the Tennis stadium and the Kings Island Resort were all part of Kings Island`s property. Sales of the land has shrunk the land that PKI owns down to the current 752 acres. An interesting note, is that when Walt Disney was designing DisneyLand, he paid a visit to Coney Island, at the time one of the finest amusement parks in the country. After his visit, he gave the park a $1 check for professional services rendered. The park still has the check to this day. (You can see a picture of it in Charles Jacques Jr.`s book on Coney Island). Ahhh, the Jack Nicholas Golf Center. <G> I once fooled around with a guy on one of the greens there. <G> Maybe that should be a thread. Have you ever fooled around with someone in the park and where. I once walked in on my morning person from WAH Karts fooling around with the Morning person at Kafe Killamonjaro in Kafe K's Refrigerator. <G> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 ^What actions are considered "fooling around"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooferBearATL Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 ^What actions are considered "fooling around"? Well the two morning people were FULL On Going At It. They were both embarassed as all get out. By the way, I didn't write them up - fire them or even mention that it happened again. My little trist at the golf course was pretty on but I'm not gonna go into details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outdoor Man Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 wooferbear.... did you have the "right-hand of sarcasm" waving on that comment? the comment that I heard 'bout Roy Disney and the consultation was about the land, but also about the characters. about promoting cartoon characters in the park to pull the families. I wish I knew where I heard/saw that... it was on TV within the last year. I don't remember where it was, but I didn't just pull that out of no where. Anyway, what was the original thread about anyway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 Well, that is part of the reason why Taft Broadcasting wanted to build a new park around the rights that they owned to the Hanna Barbera Characters. They had seen what Disney did at his park with his characters. They hoped to have the same success with their new park and their HB characters. And they were successful. While Kings Island is not a Disney Land or World, it was the first non-Disney theme park to break the 2 million guests in a season threshold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outdoor Man Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 wasn't it only the second park to promote cartoon characters after Disney? Warner Brother's characters and Snoopy didn't show up until later didn't they? Kings Island did a he## of a job with HB back in the day. You're right, they weren't Disney by a long shot, but you look at th eself promotion the park did in the 70's and early 80's... they really rode the Flintstone, Scooby Doo, Smurf popularity to a "T".... even maybe more so then Disney. I remember as a kid, Disney wasn't on many Saturday morning cartoons.... oh, that takes me back... being pasted to the TV 8-12 on Saturday mornings... ABC SchoolHouse Rock (there should be a thread on that)... HB Characters were ALL OVER the Saturday morning cartoons. Too bad Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble have been out of work so long that they have sold out and are doing "muffler" commercials now. so which ownership had the edge? the original KI had a GREAT VISION and they excelled tremendously at it. PKI ownership has capitalized on thrill rides. Honestly I don't think you can compare the ownerships against each other. Their leading had different styles, and they are (and have both been) great! The original built the legacy and put them on the map... The Beast (record holder), The Bat (first of it's kind), Vortex (former record holder)... and PKI has continued the tradition: SOB (a terrible ride, but still a record holder on several fronts and a heavy investment), Drop Zone, FOF (first of it's kind)... and they successfully pull in 3 million annually. The original KI ownership started a great thing... and PKI has kept it rolling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooferBearATL Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 You forgot King Kobra and Scremon Demon as well. KI did a pretty good job at thrills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outdoor Man Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 no didn't forget... there are actually too many to name. Midwest Theme Park concept.... WinterFest.... Innovative thinking (out-of-the-box) was one of their strong points. They were the innovators in the industry... and I guess to some extent, they eased up and let other entities catch up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooferBearATL Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 no didn't forget... there are actually too many to name. Midwest Theme Park concept.... WinterFest.... Innovative thinking (out-of-the-box) was one of their strong points. They were the innovators in the industry... and I guess to some extent, they eased up and let other entities catch up. I have to say that I learned more in working at Kings Island than I did at college. I remember argueing with my Accounting professor about how businesses create budgets and handle their money. I would tell her that all she was teaching was great theory but simply not what I was experiencing. Not only was it not great business experience but also helped teach great interpersonal skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outdoor Man Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 wooferbear... question. your opinion, do you think the requirements of employees back when you worked for KI were more rigid than they are today? I have been "on staff" at PKI through their Volunteer program (which, by the way is one of the BEST programs for fund raisers)... but there seems to be a very wide gap between those employees who are great and do a tremendous job. Then there are those who the aforementioned have to cover for. Teenage help, of course will be "teenage" help regardless of the year, but I was just curious if the requirements have changed in your opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooferBearATL Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 I really can't speak very well for what the requirements were of today. I remember beign on a suprvisor's trip to Canada's Wonderland, though, one year and the Food Service Operations manager was told, "I don't know how you're able to handle all managers in their late teens/early 20's." She told the person that made the comments that they would not be able to be so successful without managers in their late teens or early 20's. I can tell you that training was primary when I worked at the park. You would be called in for an orientation and initial training prior to a dry run day. There would be a dry run day and then full staff on opening day for further training. The park also had a variety of other trainings that were based upon amount of years that were spent at the park. The highest one was Service Excellence training in which you completed and received a Gold Name Tag. I can tell you that the park hired for a certain "look." Everyone hired had to have the "All American" look. Guys could have no ear rings. Only facial hair allowed was a mustache. No hair touching your collar. Gals had to have their hair pulled back away from their faces if it touched their shoulders and no hanging ear rings. You were responsible for wearing all parts of your uniform for your certain section and only walking through the employee walk ways to not disturb the continuity of themeing in each different section. A lot was demanded of the employees that worked at the park and no one worked less than 40 hours. Your park family became very much of your family and that is what created such a strong environment in which everyone wanted to do their best. I can tell you that someone that gave less than 100% would in no way be able to make it through the year with out being terminated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outdoor Man Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 That actually speaks volumes. In some areas I think the park is way over-staffed (and maybe under in some). But for the most part... someone had a post on here last week about the employees seemed like it was August more than Opening Weekend- I don't know for certain what they meant by that, but can just about assume what they were getting at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooferBearATL Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 That actually speaks volumes. In some areas I think the park is way over-staffed (and maybe under in some). But for the most part... someone had a post on here last week about the employees seemed like it was August more than Opening Weekend- I don't know for certain what they meant by that, but can just about assume what they were getting at. I'm not sure what the August comment meant. September weekends were always rough when schools started back and people could get their bonuses for being more than 100 miles from the park. That is the only time that we could get by with not opening all Food Operations, Merch Shops and Karts along with all games. I can tell you that at Kings Island, there never would be a stand that was closed on a Saturday or a Sunday. (It just would never happen.) I think that very much it's just a different focus and though. When the park obtained it's Skyline franchise, they made sure that the costs were comparable to what was being charged at the closest free standing skyline. I remember that all of the food prices and merchandise prices were compared to what could be purchased outside the park. The people in Resale did not want people leaving the park to go eat as that was lost revenue and the potential loss of further sales. I think that's something that those in marketing with PKI need to look at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterking123456 Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 They only took King Kobra down because the didn't make the parts for it anymore so if the broke a a restraint on it they wouldn't be able to replace and plus all it did was go down a hill into a loop througha heelix and up a couple bunny hills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gburn07 Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 Wow man you know everything about K. K ... I guess you designed the ride and such. Dont make assumptions about why they took down a ride if you dont know as the average Joe such as ourselves DOES NOT know why they tore it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 King Kobra was at Kings Dominion. King Cobra was at Kings Island. And two similar rides to King Cobra operate to this day at Kings Dominion and Canada's Wonderland. So it WAS not an issue of parts availability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 Unless you contend that the remains of King Cobra have been cannabolized for parts to prolonge the life of the other two Togo stand ups... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 Which it hasn't....at least by all accounts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browntggrr Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 According to this site, KC was taken out due to cost of maintenance. I also believe that the Cincy Enquirer had a story about the removal of KC and it was due to lack of parts from Togo. The remaining parts at PKI were sent to PKD. Now parts can be custom made at a tool shop, but that is costly and time consuming since most shops are not going to keep parts on the shelf the way the manufacturor would. Paramount just made the decision to shut down the PKI coaster and keep the others open probably due to popularity at PKI vs. the other parks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_Island Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzarley Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 I was always a big fan of the Togo Standup... They were short and not very thrilling by today's B&M standup standards, but still...I miss KC a lot. The front "seat" on KC was great, since you were right up at the edge of the train...you looked down and saw the track right in front of you. On the B&M version there's the little "leader car" (not sure of its technical name), so there's quite a distance between the first row of riders and the track. To be honest, I probably preferred the riding experience more on the Togo...on an average two-day trip to CP where I ride Magnum, Raptor, and MF 5+ times, I'll only ride Mantis once. I always tried to ride KC multiple times on a trip to KI. (Depending on crowds...that line was a SLOW mover!!) Did any North American parks besides KECO ever install a Togo standup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king_cobra_27 Posted July 12, 2006 Author Share Posted July 12, 2006 Well, in light of the Son of Beasts accident, and other speculation now occuring. I feel that this is kind of an open topic.....AGAIN..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaggy Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 "Did any North American parks besides KECO ever install a Togo standup?" Yes, as someone mentioned earlier, Kings Dominion has Shockwave and Canada's Wonderland has Skyrider.. both Togo standups installed following King's Island's installation of KC. Skyrider is an exact clone, while Shockwave has an altered 2nd half. Both of those are still operating at those parks. The supply of parts for King Cobra was not the reason for it's demise. Actually, Premier Rides is the North American supplier for Togo rides and attraction parts. The coaster was removed because the cost of operating and maintaining it outweighed the ride's marketablity. In simple terms.... the parts were available, but were too costly for continued investment. Also, the park refers to the ground that aging rides exist on as "prime real estate." Meaning the land is deemed more valuable as a potential future attraction site, than it is as home to an aged one. KC was due to bite the dust when Action Zone was built. However it was slavaged at the last minute. It's final demise came after several seasons of fate debate. People simply cannot fathom that rides age, and deteriorate over time. The are nothing more than machines, no different than a car. When you own a 1984 Dodge for 15 years and run it daily... no matter how much you "baby" it... the engine and body is obviously going to wear out over time. When you discover the car is costing you more to keep and operate than a brand new shiny make/model would... then you chuck it. KC was no different than a 1984 Dodge. Shaggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Then there are entire parks that are "prime real estate." Six Flags hopes that is the case with Magic Mountain. They could use the money...to put it mildly.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzarley Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 "Did any North American parks besides KECO ever install a Togo standup?" Yes, as someone mentioned earlier, Kings Dominion has Shockwave and Canada's Wonderland has Skyrider.. both Togo standups installed following King's Island's installation of KC. Skyrider is an exact clone, while Shockwave has an altered 2nd half. Both of those are still operating at those parks. Thanks...actually, I was counting those as being considered KECO parks. That may have been an incorrect assumption in the case of Wonderland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIBeast Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 King Kobra was at Kings Dominion. King Cobra was at Kings Island. And two similar rides to King Cobra operate to this day at Kings Dominion and Canada's Wonderland. So it WAS not an issue of parts availability. No, Shockwave is at King's Dominion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 ^Huh? The King Kobra at Kings Dominion was an old launched Schwarkopf shuttle looper. It operated from 1977-1986 and was located approximately where the lift for Anaconda resides today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Exactly. NO relationship between King Cobra and King Kobra except the names... I never said King Kobra was a Togo. I said two similar rides to King Cobra were still operational today...and they are... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjam1197 Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 I remember Kings Island as a kid and i remember the giant slide they had, why did they ever take that one down? I agree Paramount has done alot of changes, some I do not agree to but like someelse said atleast Paramount didnt run it into the ground like what happened to fantasy farm and the other one next to fantasy farm. I was glad to see the antique cars go because they smelled so bad. I always got sick to my stomach smelling all those fumes from that ride. Thats my 2 cents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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