windshawne

Absolutely beautiful-safari was my favorite place. It was nice to get on the train after a hot day and cool off in the air conditioning. The park now just seems like a bunch of broken up areas, I agree it would be nice to have it back the way it was with the theming. I had a deck of cards from KI and we used them so much they literally fell apart.

We have insurance..it is being offered. It's a limited benefit plan which means doctors visits and minor accidents (such as breaking your leg on personal time) are covered. There are maximums, but for the cost its pretty darn good. The sad thing is, its' better insurance than what I have at my full time job, and I work for a health care company full time. I will use this for any doctor visits, and use my other plan for anything major such as cancer and such. The copays are extremely reasonable, and personally, I think Cedar Fair did great with this. For healthy teens and twenty somethings, its ideal.

Not a bad idea really-I should, but am just extra careful with keeping it safe.

Regardless of who owns the park in the future, it is going the same way as my full time job which is a Blackstone company. People who have been there 15 years and such were let go, and we are bare boned on our own staff. Management denies it, but when other locations across the country ask me if I am local or with a call center, you know something is up-and I am hearing from Indiana they are in the works right now to get rid of us and consolidate. Personally, I have been there almost 9 years, and there is a major push to clean up the books and get everything in order, to the point there are several conference calls and emails daily micromanaging us and "nagging" to get it done. I have tons of overtime right now as well. Point being, this whole deal smells like my full time job-you need employees for an amusement park, my job could technically be run overseas, which is their ultimate goal. Se la vie, they are losing customers right and left because of it. No matter what happens, I think KI will be ok, but its going to be really bumpy for a while. I long for the days of small time ownership-corporations stink, period. I am being told to be flexible at the park-at this point no one knows what is going to happen. On the other hand, flexibility will keep you employed.

I am going to have to check that out..its been years!!

Happy early birthday Sparky!!! I love go carts-the scar on my lip is from putting one in a fence when I was 5.....aw, fun times!!

At some point, I may try contacts again-my left is not correctable at this point-my readers are 2.75 for that eye, and not clear. Doc asked if I ever considered surgery, but I won't until I'm blind. I dont want anyone messing with my eyes, period. Besides, I would love to be able to wear those scary contacts during haunt

I am one of those folks who cannot wear contacts. I take mine off to go in the park-right now, its not an issue, I see well enough to get around, but to read print-forget it-and my vision changes a lot. I got my latest pair a few months ago, and am already having trouble with them. I really wish I could wear them, but at least I am not blind.

Did anything ever take the place of where Demon was?

So true. What started in 1999 as a great amount of anticipation has now ended with a great amount of disappointment. It is time to end the misery and move on... I feel ashamed of myself for joining on this board for this reason, but I am feeling disgruntled. You want to hear my opinion on SoB? Well, you can't, because I've never been on it. In fact, I've only been to Kings Island twice, even though I've lived in the Dayton area for over a decade (last summer and Halloween Haunt 2007, and even then I don't think SoB was operating). I've been to Cedar Point, Disney World, Universal Orlando, both Busch Gardens, SeaWorld... Anyway, back to SoB. First off, there is NO WAY the ride will ever reopen as is. To make the ride experience acceptable when it never was acceptable under officials' current definitions is impossible without further neutering the ride (hybridization like the Texas Giant, installing prefab track on top of existing supports, etc.). Now, for my rant. What happened with Son of Beast that caused this mega-closure? The answer is nothing. The ride was operating normally before the date of the "incident", on the day of the incident, and the 2+ weeks after the date of incident (since the rider reported it late). Nothing wrong happened with SoB! In fact, has anything gone really wrong with SoB without the loop (and with the lighter trains)? What made it worse was the fact that the decision to keep it closed for the rest of 2009 was the fact that they made it just days after the Firehawk "incident". Both rides had "incidents" that were results of riders having pre-existing conditions. Yet Firehawk reopens one day later and SoB is where its at now. And SoB was declared safe, even if it is painful. "Not Satisfied with the Ride Experience," huh? Well I wasn't satisfied with the Flight Deck experience (surprisingly rough and too short) nor was I satisfied with Backlot Stunt Coaster...being called Backlot Stunt Coaster. Should we close those down as well? Also, what else did Tavella (the burst blood vessel in brain victim) ride that day? I heard some comment say that she came from Firehawk. She could have been on any intense ride; it could have been Drop Tower for all I know that triggered the umm...stroke? Or it might have happened regardless of any ride. And today, there is another double whammy. Today, they said SoB won't open in 2010 whatsoever. Just yesterday, they said it may have a chance later in the season although it wouldn't open with the rest of the park in April. That's just mean to do something like that (mind rape?)! So Son of Beast is being treated like a murderer when it was functioning properly the whole (2009) time. At least that is how I feel. I should have been able to ride it last August. It's bad enough that I missed the chance to ride it with the loop...but now it is SBNO for even longer than the 2006 incident where the ride was responsible. This shouldn't be crammed down our throats. I agree that a solution to SoB's roughness should be dealt with, but not at the expense of riders who like the ride or have never been on it...like me... I would like to have my own opinion on SoB... Hey BrokenMind, Welcome to our community. You should not be ashamed of your post. I understand many of your points. What you have to understand is that Son of Beast was an unacceptable ride experience and the park tried everything, EVERYTHING to make the ride better. They have tried retracking countless times, new trains, reinforcing the structure and many other tweaks. You have to empathize with the fact that they can entertain as many options as they want during a given day, but every option is going to cost a whole lot of money. They hit a junction in which whatever was going to be done needed to be the right thing to do. It's impossible to justify spending millions upon millions of dollars to retry a fix that may or may not work. The park actually gained a point of respect with me today. My interpretation is that they ran out of time and options, and when the decision was made they disclosed the information quickly to myself and the members of the media. They knew it wouldn't necessarily be a popular decision, but they made it in the interest of the guests. The ride could have opened with the park, but they elected not to open it because they felt as though it was the right thing to do. It would only be with supreme arrogance that they simply reopen a ride that's not up to their standards and assume that people will quietly enjoy it. It's a shame that you never got to ride it. You still may be able to in the future. However, as the ride stands now, you're not missing much. It's big, tall and fast but the truth is that it's kind of uneventful. That, coupled with the fact that it was an uncomfortable (and commonly painful) experience, made it a ride that you would only want to ride once or so per season. Being the guy who runs Kings Island's fan site, I think I can credibly say that I'm about as loyal as it gets amongst the fans, but I haven't ridden it since early 2008. Kings Island offers such rides as The Beast, Diamondback, The Racer and Firehawk - all of which offer experiences that are exponentially better than Son of Beast ever offered. Maybe one day they'll figure out what needs to be done and it can sit in the same crowd as the rides mentioned above, but if that day never comes... it's really not that big of a deal. Ryan Well said Ryan. My last ride on Son was miserable, and regardless of whether it reopens again or not, I will not be on it. The only enjoyable part to me was leaving the station and the first drop-beyond that, its painful. It's a beautiful structure, but lets face it-its a horrid attraction.

I agree-that ride was great til the commercialized it. Nice leisurely ride through the woods, and a splash, where generally you got wet at the end. I hated the elephant because you got completely drenched. No thanks.

Oh, thank God!! I may actually get on it again

That is a private matter, and not for the public view-they should do like they did with Steve Irwin, and completely destroy the tapes.

Exactly-I have never seen a stoned employee, but several stoned guests-big difference there. Another sleaze in print..

Why should the owner be charged for a lack of common sense on the visitor? Hello......there was a time when common sense prevailed; its a shame that no longer applies. Once again, animals cannot be predictable, and her hand shouldn't have been in there, period.

Warm weather, pure and simple-here's to hoping it is sunnier this summer than last. Also looking forward to no more $200+ heating bills-and just maybe, a really good change in my life this year. I'm ready for it...

That was awesome!!! I laughed my butt off

It helps for sure, but I do wish the trams still ran. I understand due to gas prices why they don't, but after standing for 10 hours a day and then having to walk to your car-especially a night shift and it happens to be at the Bay-that really sucks.

That in itself is a big plus for me.

I've been trying to figure that out. There's nothing about it either way that I can find. Anyone have any idea how this actually works? (I also like how they say to enter through the "specified entrance" when visiting the park as a guest, but they never say what the "specified entrance" is) I dont know of any special perks, I have never tried to do anything like that with my ID. I am going to guess employees are not part of the gold pass plan. I do know I was able to get into Cedar Point with my ID, and Im thinking it is good at all Cedar Fair parks, but dont quote me on that. Does anyone know if its good for Wonderland? I dont know why they are calling it a specified entrance, other than there was a time we had to be verified through guest relations for a few weeks in 2008, but that has passed. Just don't call off and show up at the park, you will get canned. I think that is what started the GR check in.

I suspect the vet knew, I just didn't admit to it, and he never asked. The last one didnt, the first one asked me what he was since she suspected something was "off" the first time he was there as a puppy. I think she was afraid of him. The second vet was much better-and you have to realize the liability if you go around bragging about it and something happens. I discovered a cave here locally-I knew it was there all these years, but this past summer I just ventured up to it-and saw bats hanging in it. That was cool. I will not disclose the location, because there are some who would go up there and try to kill them. Thanks for the link-I love all of that kind of stuff. I plan to visit deer park next time I go to sandusky.

I admit I haven't read all the posts on this thread, but I have an opinion on this whole tragedy-and I'm gonna get flamed for it. I don't believe any animal-especially a wolf or a whale or anything-should be in captivity for the entertainment of the public. If you want to get involved with them, get involved by protecting them in their natural habitat-the wolves in yellowstone for example. I have experienced a slight few animals in their natural habitat and in captivity, and even though the captive ones are generally well cared for, to me they don't appear happy. Sometimes its better to let nature run its course, even if it sucks sometimes. I never took my hybrid out for "educational" purposes, nor did I even let people know what he was-only my closest circle knew when he was alive. My vet didn't even know until after he had been euthanized and we were still in the room. He was a companion to me, nothing else. I learned plenty from him-and my very first vet wanted me to put him in puppy classes which I did, and he was miserable. Trying to get a wolf to do tricks just isn't natural. In Virginia I was shoulder to shoulder with a bald eagle, and even though that particular being couldn't go back to the wild, it was sad to me for him to have to be chained to his trainer at pow wows-although he did try to jump on my arm which was the biggest thrill of my life I dont truly like circuses either.

I'll take my chances with an animal any day-I think people are much more unpredictable. An animal doesn't premeditate like people do-heck, people I am in contact with every day are just as unpredictable and maybe more so. Yes, we are animals too with the ability to attack when threatened-thats a whole new can of worms thats up for debate-sometimes I wonder how many "animals" are in jail doing what nature hard wired into our brains....

I had a wolf hybrid a few years ago, and let me tell ya they are very intelligent animals and would do things that were out of the ability of a normal dog. We had ground rules, such as leaving him alone while eating because of the natural instinct of fighting over food. I had him at the vet once, and he was grumpy and nipping at me, yet a child came up smacked him on the nose, and he kissed her. The child giggled and walked away. It's as if he knew this little child didn't know any better so he showed restraint-and that was one of the surprising incidents I witnessed over the years. At the age of 9 he became unpredictable with what I believed was dementia, since I could roll over in bed and he would snap and growl at me-it became apparent he was a liability so I had him put down. He also had some sort of skin disease that last year and would whine sometimes for no reason. Point of all this-animals are animals and you can never tell what they are going to do. I have heard two different stories of hybrids dragging babies to safety and turning around and biting adults. Go figure-I still wonder what makes them tick.