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mhuffva

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  1. It sounds like the rides had long lives while at GL. Were any of them already used rides when they were at Geauga Lake? Or, were all new?
  2. KD received the Spider, El Dorado, and the Americana Ferris Wheel from Geauga Lake. From what I heard in the park rumor grapevine, KD inspected each ride when they arrived. It was determined that the Spider was not in good shape and the park never installed the ride. El Dorado and Americana were added the same year. I am not sure if El Dorado was in the best shape either. KD kept that ride in operation for 3-4 seasons. It was removed when Wind Seeker was added to that spot. So, out of the original three rides, only Americana Ferris Wheel still operates at KD.
  3. The park has moved the season pass reservation link to the Home Page of KD's web site. They are using the same system that you use to purchase daily tickets. Just no charge. All Season Pass holders (Silver, Gold, Platinum) can go to this event with a reservation made. Yes, 2020 Silver passholders can go to this year's "Taste of the Season" event. Normally their passes expire Labor Day. I believe you can link up to 12-14 other season passes to one reservation. Only one reservation at a time. Once the initial reservation is used, you make another reservation for a future operating date. Even the operational days vary greatly between parks. Carowinds started this past weekend and it is currently scheduled to end the Sunday before Christmas. KD's will start the Saturday after Thanksgiving weekend,12/05. Theirs will run two weekends and then go daily from Friday, 12/18 through Wednesday, 12/23. Closed Christmas Eve & Day. The final day of operations will be Saturday & Sunday, 12/26 - 12/27. At this point, neither Kings Dominion nor Carowinds have any days scheduled for the week leading to New Years Day. I guess there could be a possibility that the event schedule might be extended if the parks come close to meeting their attendance numbers for the first couple of Weekends.
  4. Oh god... Please... no. I was expecting this reaction in every CF park forum who has hosted this Monster Jam event in 2019 and will be hosting it in 2020. To save on reaction redundancy, here are the parks: 2019 Cedar Point Kings Dominion Dorney Park 2020 Carowinds Valley Fair As others have stated, KD seems to want to stick to a "Jungle" theme, so I am not feeling the vibes for a "Monster Truck" coaster. Course, at this point in time, we don't know what is going in that area. Hang Tight.
  5. Well, I was certainly thrown off guard by the park`s announcement. But, this coaster has always been a capacity/maintenance nightmare, given the GP love of this unique ride. Seems the "one block" operational nature of this coaster with a launch system did not allow for capacity to improve. Maybe a split load/unload area with alternating sides might have allowed more throughput. Given that volcano was a prototype coaster, I know they underestimated the power needed to launch the train and make a full curcuit that 1st season (remember the 2 seats per car instead of having the designed 4 seats per car?). The whole electro-magnetic launch system technology was still in its infancy in the mid-late 90's. FOF was just 2 years before volcano. It does appear that LIM motors, used on volcano, are NOT used on current, new electro-magnetic launched coasters. Seems LSM motors are the equipment of choice now. I also thought volcano had structural issues with stress on certain areas of the ride; especially the apex portion where the trains exit the top of the volcano. Maybe the structural engineering of the ride was not robust enough for the stresses generated. I can see now where any combination of the reasons above would make CF/KD make the decision to send volcano to the trash bin. Given CF's new policy of ditching low capacity / high down-time / high-maintence attractions over the last 2-3 seasons, Volcano's end was in sight. Thanks for taking a chance KD on a very unique and fun ride that was volcano.
  6. According to the park, the trees were infested with some type of beetle/bug that bore into the wood. This, in turn, killed them. There was no treatment that could save them (not sure if that was because the damage was too far along to do anything about it or there was not an effective treatment to kill the beetle/bug). Anyway, someone stated the park had posted signs around the area stating the removal of the trees and the reason around Labor day weekend. The park stated new trees would be planted to replace them (I guess during the off-season).
  7. The last time KD did a seasonal attraction announcement in the theater was about 4 years ago. That was for the old kids area getting a Planet Snoopy makeover.
  8. That's approximately what I think. RMC Hurler, Mass Effect, Candy Apple Grove upgrades, and possibly that refurbished enterprise from Valleyfair. That's really asking for a lot. When I listed those other things Madmax, I was not expecting all the above to be done for 2017. Maybe one or two; in addition to the Hurler makeover. It was a list of possibilities.
  9. Well, construction logistics would dictate that a new, from scratch, major steel coaster is probably not the 2017 attraction for Kings Dominion. I305 construction started with land clearing and grading in early June. I don't see that happening for next year. Plus, if a major coaster was to replace Hurler in 2017, don't you think the existing ride would have been torn down by now? It seems more reasonable to focus on Hurler getting a makeover. Who does the work and to what extent, remains to be seen. I would fathom that most of everyone's questions will be answered this Saturday. My best guess is a Hurler makeover for 2017 as the main draw. There could be some secondary stuff thrown in for 2017. Finish PTC Carousel restoration (maybe band organ restored and playing). 100th anniversary of this ride [1917-2017]. West end of Candy Apple Grove gets makeover. Finish replacing asphalt with brick pavers / new landscaping. Maybe a addition of an golden oldie flat ride or two. Action Theater gets something like what CGA or Carowinds received this year (Mass Effect or Plants vs. Zombies)
  10. I think there is a high chance of seeing at least another flat ride being placed in that area. The land directly to the right of Delirium (as you face the sign / ride) has room for another medium to large flat to go there. There is space for maybe 1-2 more small to medium flat rides as well (one closest to the Carousel and another between the Peanut Showplace amphitheater and the eastern arcade building). The park shared part of the master plan for that area late last year on another park fan site. On that plan was a proposed building to go to the right of Delirium. That building was not built; so, not sure if Cedar Fair/KD changed their minds concerning that building and left the land open for something else instead. If Kings Dominion gets a flat ride package in the next 2-3 years, I could see one or two more flat rides going in Shockwave's old site.
  11. Another thought to keep in mind with coaster height restrictions, is that height restrictions have gone up for older rides over time. I assume this is due to insurance reasons and/or corporate policy/[paranoia]. I worked at Kings Dominion from 1979-1983 in the rides department. Most of the time at the Rebel Yell. The height restriction back then was 42 inches to ride (3 1/2 feet tall). It was the same height restriction for the Grizzly. Course, during the Taft/KECO years of park ownership, 1975-1992, we did not have any attraction that required a 54 inch minimum height limit. The steel coasters installed during this period, [King Kobra, Shockwave, Avalanche, and Anaconda], never had a height limit above 48 inches. I don't remember the height limitation for the King Kobra shuttle loop. Anaconda's height restriction was between 44-48 inches. Shockwave was unusual in that you had to be able to straddle the seat, at its lowest position, with both feet flat on the floor. Avalanche was 42 inches tall to ride alone. I did go to BGW frequently during those years as well. I thought the 2 small steel coasters (Glissade and Wildekat) were 42 inches. Nessie and BBW were 42 inches to ride as well. Unless a kiddy coaster, most average sized coasters today have a 46-48 minimum height limit now; with the massive ones at 52-54 inches to ride.
  12. I just reviewed the Kings Dominion web site for the 2016 Season Pass + Dining information. There is no restriction on Meals during Haunt for 2016. (Gold & Platinum SP + Dining |with and without the Souvenir Drink Bottle offer). My guess is that, whoever manages the Cedar Fair park chain web sites, either got the parks mixed up or the info was miss-communicated. The wording I saw was that All Season Dining was not valid for admission for Haunt. In any case, it has been corrected for Kings Dominion on their web site. I assume that, if there is any restriction for the 2016 all season dining offer, it is directed to those Cedar Fair parks who have a separate admission for their fall Haunt event. Right now, that includes Carowinds, Knott's Berry Farm, and Canada's Wonderland. Given that KD Gold and Platinum Season Pass holders get admission to Haunt for 2016, I feel that the event is not going to be a separate admission for Kings Dominion.
  13. I copied my response to a person asking the same thing on Kings Dominion's Facebook timeline. This pertains to Kings Dominion only. If your focus is on experiencing Haunt, I strongly suggest going on Friday night. The park is open 7:00 pm till midnight. The crowds are MUCH lower than on Saturday's. Plus, if you are not a season pass holder, the ticket prices are lower as well. I'll give some tips, based on what I have experienced in Haunt in years past. Friday Evenings | 7 pm - Midnight: No where near the crowds on Saturdays! If you arrive before 7 pm, do not freak out if you see long lines at the entrance gate. The park starts letting folks through the turnstiles about 10-15 minutes before 7. Based on my past experiences on Friday evenings, the crowds are like night and day when compared to Saturdays. I think I did all 9 mazes and walked through all scare-zones within 2 hours. Had time to see a couple shows, ride some rides, and go back through a few of my favorite Haunt mazes a second time. Keep in mind that the park is open only during Haunt hours. The kids area, Planet Snoopy, is NOT open and NO day-time activities for young kids on Friday evenings. Saturdays | 10:30 am - Midnight Best only if Friday evenings and Sundays don't work for you. I would suggest to go EARLY during the fall Haunt event. Usually, the first 2 weekends are not too bad crowd wise. The last 3 Saturdays of Haunt, in my opinion, are crazy! If you have young children and just want to do the kids Halloween stuff during the day, it is not bad through early afternoon. Crowds start to increase after 3 pm as the Haunt hours grow near. Keep in mind that about half of the Haunt mazes open at 6 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. The rest of the mazes and all the scare-zones open at 7 pm. Sundays | 10:30 am - 10:00 pm Crowds are no where near the levels of those on Saturdays. You have the same children's daytime Halloween activities. Like on Saturdays, about 1/2 the mazes open at 6 pm with the rest of the mazes and all scare-zones at 7 pm. Course, the park closes at 10 pm and most folks have school and work the following day and don't want to stay out too late; but, I think you could do way more Haunt stuff on Sundays than what you could do on a Saturday. Plus, park admission is lower than on Saturdays.
  14. As I stated in my earlier post, Knott's Haunt event is a separate admission to get into the park (along with Carowinds and Canada's Wonderland). I thought KBF offered a Haunt season pass too. I understand that you and your brother feel that paying another park admission to experience their Haunt event is not fair. I assume Cedar Fair does analysis, for each park in the chain, about the regional demographics as to whether a separate admission fee for Haunt would work. If it makes business sense to charge another admission fee, then I assume Cedar Fair will tell the park to do so. I suggest you and your brother email the park / Cedar Fair about your concerns.
  15. As far as I am aware, there are 3 Cedar Fair Parks that have their Halloween event as a separate admission; Knott's Berry Farm, Canada's Wonderland, and Carowinds. All other parks in the chain, that host a Halloween event in the fall, include it in the park's general admission ticket. The 1st Halloween event at Kings Dominion under Paramount was Fear Fest in 2000(?). There was a separate admission for it. Attendance was poor that first year. The second year, and going forward, it was included in the general admission ticket. I thought Busch Gardens started their Halloween event around that same time. I believe their event was included in the general admission ticket. With poor attendance the 1st year and with BGW having their event included in the GA, Kings Dominion's Fear Fest / Halloween Haunt has been included in the general admission ever since.
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