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If you came from California and/or have guests with you who want to experience Kings Island and are going back to England tomorrow or even if you live across the county, have the money and don't want to wait, Fast Lane is there. Not everyone has the luxury or even wants to come back another day. Doing so is sometimes not an option, more expensive than Fast Lane, or simply more trouble than it's worth.

Photo #31

That memory came from a very deep place in my brain. Wierd how something can turn on a light somewhere that has not seen the light of day in decades.

I'm going to say some things that people are not going to like about this story.... the easily offended, skip this post. First off, the rules to ride are NOT set by the parks, they are set by the ride manufacturers, who determine what type of forces the rider undergoes, and what needs to be done in order for someone to ride. The parks are there to enforce those rules, and if they do not enforce those rules, they take on the liability of an injured rider, not the manufacturer. No park wants to take that risk, so they do the smart thing and follow the manufacturers guidelines. Secondly, the rules are not that she has to be able to "hold" onto the restraint, it is "grip." Why the difference? Holding onto something mean you can loosely wrap a hand, arm, whatever, around something, and you are holding it. Gripping something is when you can apply force to something, in this case, apply force to a restraint to help brace yourself for sudden changes of force; left, right, forward, backward, up, and down. So the fact is that to help brace yourself against these forces, someone must be able to grip the restraint, and she could not. Thirdly, a big BRAVO to the ride ops who enforced the rules. Is it a touchy subject? Absolutely, but lets go over the situation here. Lets say that HP would have broken down, and she was required to evac. I do not know the evac procedures over there (and I'm 99.9% I'm wrong here,) but what if the procedure was to grip a rope/handrail/ect in order to cross over a very narrow platform safely, or she had to wear a harness, which she would have to put on herself? Because of her disability, she would not be able to do that. The ops acted properly in this situation and did not put her in a potentially dangerous situation. I personally liked that whover wrote this article pointed out all the things she can do and I applaud her for taking her disability and turning it into a positive (admit it, how many would just sit around all day and mope if you were missing your hands?) but those things they listed, you don't need to grip anything. Equestrian, AKA horse riding, she can do while holding reigns, and I believe rock climbing was in there? Again, you can use your lower body to push yourself up, and use your arms for balance. None of that is gripping, so the person writing the article was trying to point out oranges when we were looking for apples. Finally, every park has ride requirements, and every ride has the ride requirements posted out in front of the ride. In both cases that she brings up, she did not stop to read the requirements, ask an operator, or inquire before they bought the tickets if there would be any issues. The parks down here are more than happy to give out that information if you go and ask, because it elimates the issues that you get while on the actual ride, and elimates the dangers that she may face if she cannot grip the restraints. She is pushing blame on an industry that does everything in their power to educate the public, minus walking up to her while she is buying the tickets and saying, "Hey you can't ride this/this/this because of your disability" (which if you have ever had to deal with a situation like this, is completely the wrong way to do it.) Those are my thoughts, coming from years and years of experience in the industry. While the parents did the correct thing and held their lawsuit, I dont see how the DoJ can do anything about this, except say "sorry 'bout your luck." Go ahead and blast me, I feel it coming on.

It's 2012 and just under four more months until Kings Island opens its doors for its 40th season. Like last year's topic, each day I will try my best to post a "vintage" Kings Island photo from my massive collection of media I've gathered over the years through personal collections and online discoveries. You're likely to see some of your photos, so don't be surprised. Anything goes. http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23316&hl=%2Bflashback+%2Bopening&fromsearch=1'>http://www.KICentral...ng&fromsearch=1 2011 Flashback Till Opening Topic^^

If this has been discussed please delete. I ran a search and yielded nothing, so I went ahead and posted. Saw the trailer and they mentioned their hunt would take place at a Mason, Ohio amusement park...hmmm http://www.examiner.com/tv-ghost-hunters-in-national/ghost-hunters-season-8-premiere ~Josh

It's not too exciting...but it is something to look at during the off season. "...unusual women's apparel". Unfortunately with a description like that, in today's lower class/morals age, people would be expecting something completely different than they did back then. I miss the sail. "Lay down your voice to the music tracks of today's top tunes, and keep a cassette". (Mommy, what's a cassette?!) I never thought that I would have to tolerate The Smurfs a second time around! Rivertown sounds so much better back then. So which statement is the least believable..."mouth-watering food", "reasonably priced" or "best view of the park"? I like that shot of Amazon Falls. Have a great weekend!

I'll miss that Aussie voice giving us instructions in the water slides' ques.

PR and marketing are not the same thing, although they are very hand-in-hand. "Public Relations" typically accounts for things such as charitable events, although many companies use that term to refer to media relations - which involves talking to the media, pitching story ideas, etc. Without trying to put a definition on Marketing Director, the influence you see from that position is more along the lines of "Buy Now, Pay Later," Gold Pass Benefits, pricing strategies, etc. It's more in tune with adding value and giving a reason to come to the park, while PR (or media relations) is more about spreading the word through outside avenues. Is Outmet behind this? Probably. It's not uncommon for a new CEO to shake things up a bit when they come into power. I do not know if Robin is still with the company or not, at the time of this writing, but regardless I wish him the best.

Hi, I'm new, I have a question. At the emporium shop, they have a pair of sunglasses that they sell, they are Silver maybe Gray? with blue lenses, I bought them last May, May 24th 2011 to be exact. Anyway, My friend told me that they were a different type of aviators, they don't look like them, an ex friend said I looked like I had bug eyes with them on, they have a chrome silver metal logo with metal flames, could anyone tell me what brand of sunglasses these are? I still have mine but I have to know! Thank you! John

Photo #29 - Entrance

The issue here is not necessarily discrimination. The major issue is reasonable accommodation. Has the park/industry/manufacturer taken the required measures to reasonably accommodate the differently abled? Many of the posts here seem to put the burden of accepting that there are activities/devices/accommodations that cannot reasonably accommodate every patron on the patron. Disability advocates would strenuously argue otherwise. As for any argument that while on ride the rider must take physical preventive measures to protect herself from injuries the ride may otherwise cause a passive rider, any lawyer would have a field day with that one. Rides cannot in this day and age require such rider actions. And they ARE tested to be certain this is not the case. Not just water dummies or even bags of corn are used. Very sophisticated measuring equipment is used to ascertain every ride force, much of it even as the rides are designed. And changes are made before rides open (a northern Ohio funpark's relatively recent major coaster installation comes to mind) or even after opening (several publicly known changes at a major central Virginia funpark to its relatively recent major coaster installation) or even many years later (two Pennsylvania parks drastically altered major coasters in recent years, one many, many times until it was removed for other reasons). This is an area where good intentions and common sense are not necessarily a good defense. And there will be major changes seen at many parks this year due to regulatory changes in this arena.

Let's see! As a 20+ year 2 pack a day reformed smoker (5 years ciggie free, Yay air!) I'm really fine with the smoking sections in the park if people would just use them, but what drives me nuts are the people who feel entitled to share their bad habit with everyone else in the ride lines. As Steve Martin once said, "Someone asked me, Mind if I smoke?.... I said, I don't know, do you mind if I fart?" I now return you to your regularly scheduled topic.

Photo #2 Beast

Taking KCKC out was an absolute crime-same as the antique cars. I'm with you-I would rather be standing in '74 as well.

Indeed. But: See the tree how big it's grown.... Terp waxing melodiously for the past, and the present.

It's nice to see your work getting recognized standbyme Nothing like spreading the King Island love around to more eyes.