A_Titanic_Mess

Attendance is way off what it was 15 to 20 years ago. It was not unusual to have 45,000 to 50,000 or more in the park on a Saturday. Weekday attendance was in the high 20's to mid 30's. Fast forward to the present, and attendance for a Saturday is in the high 20's, maybe low 30's on a very good day. Weekday attendance hovers in the low to mid teens. AB magazine presented a study in the early 90's that showed theme parks in the US had pretty much peaked. Attendance would be flat or decline in the years to come. KI recognized this, so they worked to get the most revenue out of the guests that were coming, which is now why you see soft drinks that cost $3.50 each (and everything else is outrageously priced). I don't think KI will ever return to the heyday of the late 1980's through the early 1990's.

Oh no...not the buffet...for the love of god...not the buffet!!!

Are they bringing Winterfest back for one last try???

Cedar Fair is most likely paying a royalty to the studio for at least the remainder of 2007, so I can't imagine why they would not run the attraction with full effects. Of course the cost to maintain the full effects could be a factor. Perhaps Cedair Fair just does not want to spend the capital needed to fix/maintain the special effects. Really is a shame as the effects are most definitly a major part of the Tomb Raider attraction. It will be interesting to see how long the TR license will last at KI. I seem to recall the royalty for Tomb Raider was one of the highest paid to the studio of all of the Paramount themed attractions.

First task as the new talking head of KI....explain to the thousands of folks who showed up on July 4th why the fireworks spectacular took place a day early on July 3rd! I am sure GR was not a fun place to be working last night! While on the surface, the hiring of Don Helbig does sound like a dream fulfilled, I think in the end, he will be disappointed. Once you go to work for King Island and see the "ugly underbelly" of what really goes on behind the scenes, it will be a definite eyeopener. Of course with his previous experience in PR, maybe this will not be much of a suprise to him. I still feel bad for his predecessors, MK especially. I think the final insult to her was PKI making her say what a success the new Winterfest was. How she kept a straight face while speaking of the "success" of that event, I will never know. At any rate, goodluck Don! (now let the flames begin!!!)

Girl Injured on Teacup Ride DANIA BEACH, Fla. - A 13-year-old girl was hospitalized after hitting her head while on a spinning teacup ride at an amusement park. Natashia West was injured Thursday on the Magic Teacup ride at Boomers, just south of Fort Lauderdale. She remained sedated in intensive care Monday with head injuries. “All I want is for her to be the same little girl she was,” said Donnie Jackson, her father. The ride carries passengers inside round cups. At the center of each cup is a wheel riders can turn to control how fast it spins. It was not clear how Natashia hit her head or what part of the ride she hit it on. State officials inspected the ride Friday and found no mechanical problems, agency spokesman Terence McElroy said. The department has not concluded its investigation but expects to release a report later this week. The ride was cleared by the department to open but remained closed Monday, McElroy said. A routine inspection by the department in April also found the ride to have no mechanical problems.

The food at Wings is just horrible. Don't waste your money. This place has gone down hill ever since they stopped smoking the chicken in the smoke house right next to Wings. Best place to eat back in the day when it was Columbia Palace. Now, it is just awful.

TRTR has never worked the way it was intended. About 30 seconds was cut from the ride cycle right from the start. The ride was supposed to do three full rolls at the end of the cycle while the gondola spun also. Not enough power could be generated to complete the cycle. Some of you may have noticed that the ride seems to end abruptly...this is why. Fun ride though. I hope KI will keep the special effects in working order.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070529/ap_on_...BcDow_aIYVvzwcF Five visitors to Walt Disney World and an employee suffered minor injuries Tuesday while evacuating a water ride that had malfunctioned, authorities said. The injured guests were a family of four and a teenager, said Bo Jones, Reedy Creek's deputy fire chief. They suffered neck and back pain and other bumps and bruises, but no serious injuries. A sensor on the Kali River Rapids ride tripped, stopping it and forcing riders to evacuate, said Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Polak. The injuries happened while people were moving from floats to a walkway, she said, but she did not give details on exactly how they occurred. Disney determined the problem was a faulty exit platform. The park removed the platform and reopened the ride Tuesday. The ride simulates a river rapids trip through a rain forest in the Animal Kingdom part of Disney World. "Nothing like this has ever happened," Polak said.

How awful. That same meal at a Panda Express outside of the park would cost about half of what Kings Island is charging. The park may have new owners, but somethings apparently will never change!

There is a full second floor in the Spanish Building, which is where the candy shop is. The upper level at one time was used for area manager office space, but was then turned into storage. Before it was cleaned out a few years back, it was a treasure trove of old park memorabilia. Old photos, signs, programs, props were all stored up there. The plan was to use if for office space again, but it was not up to fire code, so it was not used. Not sure what it is used for now. There is also an upper level area in the front of the Festhaus, where the clock is, but there is not a lot of space for storage. Pretty cool though to climb up inside.

Not trying to be a party-pooper, but WinterFest is not coming back. The last attempt at WinterFest was a huge failure. We could debate the reasons why probably for weeks, but bottom line was it didn't work. No guests equals no revenue. The original WinterFest ended mainly due to lack of crowds as each year it was held, the attendance dropped. There were also staffing and weather issue to deal with. PKI studied the new WinterFest for several years before brining it back. The numbers never worked on paper, but it was pushed through in an effort to increase attendance for the year. It was ill-conceived, and the results were not good. RIP WinterFest!

Not trying to be rude, but perhaps you missed the news, Cedar Fair bought Paramount Parks, so they indeed own the jackets. Why they decided to ditribute them from Cedar Point to the city of Sandusky, I do not know.

Where did you find this??? I received an e-mail about it today from a former co-worker still at the park. here is the message... Kings Island ICE SKATER AUDITIONS Thursday, February 22nd 10:00am to Noon SPORTS PLUS ICE RINKS 10765 Reading Road Cincinnati, Ohio 45241 Looking for Cincinnati-based ice figure skaters, eighteen years and older, with a high degree of skating proficiency: preferably with extensive professional ice show experience, though new talent is welcome. Looking for male and female ensemble skaters capable of all double jumps, combination spins, jazz and hip hop dance background and great theatrical presentation. Also casting for male and female solo and pair/adagio positions. If you are unable to attend the audition, please send skating video/DVD resume along with all contact information, no later than March 16, 2007 to either of the following: Karen Kresge-Director/Choreographer Kevin Brunck- Kings Island Entertainment Dept. 29 Toledo Way 6300 Kings Island Drive San Francisco, CA 94123 Kings Island, Ohio 45034 We are bringing back a summer ice show in the Paramount Theatre. If you have any questions about the auditions, please email me or call me, and I will be happy to assist. Thank you! Removed some private information.

In the e-mail sent out by the Entertainment Ops Manager, they are still calling it Paramount Theater. However, the heading on the e-mail lists the park just as "Kings Island". Guess they are still going through the transition phase!

Starting in 2007, the ice show will return to the Paramount Theater. Several of the Cedar Fair parks have had ice shows for many years. Cedar Point has the "Snoopy on Ice" show, but no word if the Kings Island show will be the same. Kings Island is holding auditions for figure skaters here in Cincinnati on February 22nd.

PKI Merchandise Department has always had a policy of not liquidating old product with park name on it. With the cancellation of Winterfest, I would guess that the merchandise dept will try to sell some WF product at a discount through the rest of this season. Whatever is left will be donated to charity, and the department will take a write-off. PKI regularly donates old merchandise to charity.

Our budgets for Resale were based upon park sell-outs of 64,000, which included the main park and the waterpark. I agree that 49,000 is a lot, but back in the late 80's through mid 90's, a 50,000+ Friday or Saturday was the norm, not the exception as it seems to be now.

A news story that I located regarding no charges would be filed on the PGA accident. Cooper, who was CEO at the time would have faced the charge had it been filed.

Absolutly not. The CEO is responsible for the parks. The maintenance worker would be fired, but the CEO would be held responsible. An owner of a business would be held responsible, but since stockholders 'own' these companies, the CEO's are the ones responsible.

RingMaster, two-thirds of the way through the season, and the park has not broke 50,000 in a single day yet? Thats not good news this far into the season. You know, attendance, IMO, has been declining in recent years. Does the park even still have the super 50 bonus? Years ago they eliminated the 'power hour' from International Street. And we used to pretty much have a soft close every night of the week years ago. Now the stores and food stands are closed quickly. International Street used to be hopping that extra hour of the night. Guess PKI raised the prices so much that people are broke by the end of the day. Good way to save on labor though. Take their money early so they won't stay late, and send your associates home early! Anyhow, you know I have a love/hate relationship with PKI, but it I am disappointed to hear that they have not had a 50,000 day yet, especially since the park is designed to hold 12,000 to 15,000 more above that number. Maybe the Cedar Fair folks with bring the guests back to the park.

And don't forget that the CEO of Cedar Fair could be charged with criminal negligence if the cause of the issue with SOB is determined to be negligence by the park. Do you remember when the boy fell from the Drop Zone at PGA a few years back? Jane Cooper was the CEO at the time, and there was a good possibility that she would have been charged with criminal negligence had it been determined that the accident was caused due to negligence. Things were very tense at Paramount for a couple of months during the investigation. As we all know, Paramount was not found to have been negligent, and the boys death was ruled accidental. While the SOB accident was not as serious as the death at PGA, I am sure it has many at Paramount and Cedar Fair a bit worried until the final reason is revealed from the investigation.

CombatStupendous89, I think you raise some valid points. especially the one assuming that those who attended in the past would come back. I also agree that the advertising for the event was underwhelming. IMO, I just think there was a lack of planning, and probably a push to get it open before it was ready. I hope they put that capital towards improvements to the park for the summer season.

Vortexlover2, love the messy meter! I would give this place a 10, pushing towards 11. It certainly has seen better days!

Absolutely CoastersRZ, you are right! You would think some of the revenue from tolls could be used to repair the lot where needed.