CoastersNSich

As someone who thinks that the government should do more things, such as better public transportation, and doesn't think everything should be run like a business.... I think what Kings Island and Cedar Fair is doing here is a good idea. Offer guests on a busy day the chance to ride the rides without waiting for a nominal fee, and let them get more out of their day. Lately, I've been critical of capitalism... but as a private business, I think KI is playing by the rules and as a business that provides entertainment, it's giving more options while enhancing revenue, something the company needs to do to pay off debt. Many of us know when to go to the park, and can go when crowds are less busy. And in the case of "being fair," the park only offers the program for 7 hours in the day, so in the mornings and evenings, there's no "paid cutting." Quite frankly, the SRL was a clusterf**k. Many of those who used it were groups, and even though staff would periodically close that line due to length, people would still hop into that line from the main queue thinking their wait was shorter.

Probably not my ONLY thing to change, but hasn't been put out there as much, is to really "open up" the Royal Fountain to International Street. It looks kind of "hidden" by the trees, so I suggest "shifting" the trees towards the buildings, placing the pathway closer to the fountain - somewhat like it originally was from 1972 til the early 80s - and then re-designing the fountain, to have choreographed water/light shows throughout the day.

I've been to a couple Riverbend concerts in the past, and been able to park for free. I don't know if this is still true, but if you've got your concert ticket(s) with you, you could show them to the parking attendant, and they should let you into the lot for free.

I live less than half-hour away, and I've been putting off my mid-week visit til Wednesday... and I might hold off til Thursday or even Friday. I might like low crowds, but it has to be somewhat comfortable. Constant rain and below 50° temps aren't comfortable, especially for May.

I'm quite honestly surprised that Kings Island didn't get this new style of map until this year. This style, which Cedar Fair uses for most of their parks, is quite honestly pretty cool, especially with the distortion of the coaster lift hills and tower rides. I do like the 1998-2010 style maps, which are done by Citigraph, but this is a move I surely saw coming to unify things for synergy through CF.

I hear you... wild attractions hosted but a redneck guy who giggles about pooping in the display toilets at Lowe's.

I'll give Cedar Fair the edge over Paramount in this debate. It seems like there is a clearer focus now, although they're not just focused on thrill rides and coasters. The investment throughout the park has also improved: Firehawk and Diamondback, a good job converting the kids' area to Planet Snoopy, more shows (compared to the later Paramount days), and now the Coney Mall improvements, like WindSeeker. The appearance standards also seem higher on the employees. I will agree with some, though, that operations and staffing under Paramount was more relaxed, laid back, while still maintaining professionalism- that's not to say the Paramount folks were lax on park and ride safety.

While disappointed, I felt that the PTCs that Voyage got are an improvement over older ones, especially the hollow seat divider and the individual car lap bar release mechanisms. It's been a few years since I've ridden it, so whatever trains are running on Voyage, I'm still hungry for some rides!!

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=55643&start=1720#p1013669

If I were them, I think Bud Light's most recent slogan "Here We Go" sounds better. But I guess with the new WindSeeker, "What's Up," may be better fitting.

I think that per the 1979 brochure, there was a $1 charge to ride the monorail. Park admission I think was $9.95 that year. In 1972, besides the park admission being $6, I think a parking fee actually was assessed; it was either 25¢ or 50¢. That, and there was only a north parking entrance, as the Western Row/KI Drive exit to south I-71 did not exist til a little later...

I've also had the feeling that the 'Ride On!' slogan also has limited marketability... does it best say what Cedar Point and other parks has to offer? Yes, it's the primary offering, but "The Fun and Only" is broader.

When (not so much if) the gas prices skyrocket to levels mentioned in the topic title, then we'll see what transportation projects are a waste of money. People have been fast to slam light rail/streetcar projects, yet road building/widening of up to a billion in greater Cincinnati has taken place without any voting or protesting.

Ended with 131. My last ride was at Pride Night, I never made it back down after my move back up to Columbus for school. But I'll try to head back down in April!

Yes, because there's a trial that's going on, and WLWT is doing its best to sweep that under the rug. (of course, I was sarcastic here)

Mentioned earlier on page 8, I think that the music heard in Boomerang Bay in 2009 was a vast improvement compared to some years past. When the water park got its 'down under' retheme, it had one of the shortest audio loops around. I'm all for the same stuff as last year coming back next. I could pass on the kitschy summer/beach music.

It was a wonderful time last night. Meeting many good friends, who are either KIC members or just fans of the park like I am - as well as some of the familiars working there too. I even made new friends with some great people... yes I've been doing that a lot with other KIC members throughout the season, you know who you are - but doing so at Pride Night was pretty special. I definitely recommend going to Pride Night in the future, regardless of your sexual orientation.

I have broken the tie! Whether or not Nick is part of the park's future, Snoopy belongs at Kings Island!

It was not unusual to see ride ops/attendants texting on the phone rather than watching the rides, at the carnival that was at Cincinnati Mall in Forest Park a few weeks ago. This is generally a small part why I don't care for fair/carnival rides - and trust my safety to permanent amusement parks.

I might make this my last KI trip for the season as well. I'd be moving back up to OSU and Columbus for the fall shortly after. If I had to spend some money for a final '09 KI trip, I might as well do it for a good cause and be around decent people. Plus, I'm not too big on Haunt, either.

Heard at the Guitar Hero place next to Adventure Express: Heart - Barracuda Enya - Orinoco Flow (Sail Away) Percy Faith & His Orchestra - Theme from "A Summer Place" a Paramount favorite! Stevie Wonder - "I Just Called To Say I Love You" Dionne Warwick - Do You Know The Way to San Jose Fleetwood Mac - Dreams (unsure)

Having visited KI over the past week, it's hard not coming across a member of the general public who is curious about Son of Beast. They're wondering how to get to it, what it's called (when they see it from another ride or from pathways in the distance) - and I get to hear their disappointment when I tell them that not only is it closed that day, but for the rest of the season, and who knows beyond that? Part of the disappointment is that there's something that the park obviously invested greatly in building, and that the average guest can't enjoy it. Then again, of course, there are the guests who think they would enjoy it, and in finality, some of them don't enjoy it - which explains why said huge wooden structure of great investment is off limits to them.

I should add that I am going, as well as PKIBoy (Adam). I sent in our regristration. I'll also make this post like a "bump" to see who else is going, even though they didn't put their names here previously.

With summer beginning to wind down, that meant opportunities to visit my home park, I decided to make my way there on Monday, being Reds day. I was hoping to make the Gold Pass ERT, but was a bit sluggish getting up, and didn’t make it into the park until 9:55. Because I hadn’t ridden Firehawk at all this year, I decided I’d head there first, but wanted to get a jump start on the general public… the area in front of the Gold Pass checkpoint was clogged with peeps… why can’t they clear a path?! I decided to wait around the Eiffel Tower until the playing of the national anthem, where access to the whole park was finally granted. I make my way to X-Base at Fort Kinzel, but Firehawk isn’t quite ready, so I decide to hit Flight of Fear first. One train wait, but if you have any loose articles: you must either take them with you, or give them to a non-rider, or put them in a locker – the operators no longer will put your stuff in the bins for you. After my ride on FOF, I decide to wait for Firehawk to open, and within minutes and some testing, it does, and I’m the first person to enter the queue, despite the greeters discouraging people from waiting out front. I get on the yellow train, front row, and just after the train is placed in the lay-down position – it won’t dispatch, so I wait for a bit to get released from the train, still in the station – and I try to wait for the breakdown to get resolved. But after a little while, I give up and decide to head to Action Zone, in pursuit of my first ’09 ride on Invertigo, but the line seems a bit lengthy, so I pass, and do Congo Falls (first ’09) instead… nice way to cool of quickly. Then, it’s a 2-cycle wait for Drop Tower, and 2-3 cycle wait for Delirium (first time this year also). Then it’s off to Adventure Express, a walk-on in 3-2, and a couple walk-on rides on Red and Blue Racer. I head back to Firehawk to get my bag out of the locker, and notice that it has a 90 minute wait. No, thanks – I need to head to International Showplace to see the focus of the day – the Cincinnati Reds Q&A at 1 PM. After a lttle wait, the Reds Rally Pack takes the stage getting the audience pumped up, tossing shirts their way. Then the Reds PA announcer Joe Zerhusen takes the stage and introduces the 4 participants – Nick Masset, Chris Dickerson, Paul Janish, and Jay Bruce. Bruce, albeit out for the season and in a cast, was the fan favorite. The premise of the session was for kids to line up and ask the players questions, such as their favorites – food, music, player growing up, ballpark, opponent, team growing up, KI ride, etc. A fun time to be had for a full hour, and got to run into KIC’s very own Dane Thomas. I hadn’t been on Diamondback yet today, and midday I expected the line to be fairly short – no more than 20 minutes, but for my first ride I decide upon the single rider line, which wasn’t too bad. I am placed around row 10, but just before boarding, I notice some of the players being escorted through the back – including Jay Bruce and Paul Janish, who ride in the front seat. After their ride, I waited a bit, where the players go down the exit ramp, and Dickerson, gives me a quick hand slap on the way out. My next ride, I decide to get into the regular queue, and request the last row, which was granted – exceptional! My third and final ride of the day was through SRL, row 6 and this put me at 70 rides on DB so far. The 3:00 Q&A session is soon getting started, so I head there. The players this time are Carlos Fisher, Adam Rosales, Lance Nix, and the star, Brandon Phillips. A very entertaining session, just like the first one, especially with some of the answers from Phillips – but unlike the first one, I decided to leave this one early, because of possible rain headed our way – as well as my serious hunger. I headed out of the park for a bite to eat from the “golden arches.” I made my way back to the park, but to be specific, Boomerang Bay, and park at the passholder lot/entrance. I noticed some of the attractions had shut down briefly because of possible storms, but by the time I got changed and situated, stuff reopened – though not everything was open. Some of the slides, either in part, or whole, were closed for the day. Not too much to write about, but I am happy about the music selection to be heard at Boomerang Bay and the park in general – gone is the short loop of Australian/water park music, replaced with a much larger selection of classic rock and pop hits. After about 90 minutes in Boomerang Bay, I decided to call it a day – a wacky but good one.