Tbcoasterfan

Dick Kinzel is part of the reason Cedar Fair (and Cedar Point) are as good as they are today? What did they have like a 18 consecutive year streak of paying dividends to shareholders? Tell me another company in this industry that has done that?

haha nice

That's good. Snap turns never bothered me as I'm tall enough to where my hear is well above the harnesses.

How is it in turns of whiplash around the turns? I personally love all the tight turns on Maverick and this coaster seems the same x10! I hope I can possibly make it to the "in planning" TPR event there in August, although I'm not betting on it cause I have a wedding to pay for this summer. In the mean time I'll just oogle all your photos and Robb's videos and just keep reminded that Cedar Point doesn't open for another month!. Tom

Thank you! I will make sure to do that next time

Saw this article from the Detroit Free Press and thought I would share it with everyone. Looks like I'll have to set my Tivo! Michigan native hides his identity as an amusement park boss BY PATRICIA MONTEMURRI FREE PRESS "Step right up!" The boss of an amusement park goes incognito -- to the amusement of his employees -- on the next episode of CBS' popular new series, "Undercover Boss." Joel Manby, a Michigan native who helped launch the Saturn brand, sold Saturns from the showroom floor and ran Saab for General Motors, will be featured in Sunday's episode. He's now the CEO of a Georgia-based company of theme parks and aquariums called Herschend Family Entertainment. On the show, he dons oversized glasses and a beard to hide his identity from workers who take tickets, wash the streets, run the rides and serve the hungry masses at the company's entertainment venues. The show films corporate executives working in entry-level positions to gain a better understanding of the company's weaknesses and strengths. CBS says "Undercover Boss" has averaged almost 19 million viewers per episode since its debut after the Super Bowl. The show has featured the CEOs of companies such as Waste Management hauling trash and the top guy of White Castle flinging sliders. "I never worked the front line jobs in the industry, and I really wanted to do it," said Manby, speaking by phone Tuesday from his Georgia office. His company operates venues in nine states, including aquariums near Philadelphia and Cincinnati and Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Manby filmed the episode last fall, working at several of the parks. Manby, 50, grew up in Battle Creek. At Albion College, he played baseball and was the class of 1981 valedictorian. He joined General Motors and attended Harvard Business School on a GM scholarship. Throughout "Undercover Boss," Manby comes into contact with employees weighed down by personal hardships. He says the experience moved him and inspired him to improve some of the programs the company offers employees. At the Silver Dollar City theme park in Branson, Mo., Manby got up at 3:30 a.m. to wash the streets with an employee named Richard. Richard, said Manby, reminded him of the work ethic of his own father, who lost a business selling farming equipment and struggled to provide for his family, ending up as a factory worker late in life. Manby also worked as a waiter on a dinner showboat called the Branson Belle. "I've never been a waiter and it scared me to death," said Manby. "I didn't drop anything. I really learned the value and how important tips are." The recession, says Manby, has meant no raises for company employees, cutbacks to 401(k) contributions, and pay cuts for top executives. "If you have a heart, and you can care, you tend to withdraw. You almost don't want to face the pain that some of your decisions are going to cause," he said. "You have to keep the company profitable or everybody loses their job." Because of the show, Manby says, he can't imagine making decisions that will affect employees without seeing the faces of some of his front-line workers. "Forget the TV part. I will definitely go out and put my uniform on again," he said. "If anybody gets the opportunity, they should do that." Contact PATRICIA MONTEMURRI:313-223-4538 or pmontemurri@freepress.com ADMIN EDIT: I have gone ahead and merged your new thread with our existing thread for this topic. In the future, please use the search function to ensure that you aren't creating a duplicate thread--the existing thread was on the same page of the forums when you posted this.

The best advice I can give; reiterating what Erik said... You'll NEED ALL of the jackets and rain suits they sell. Hope you like wearing short shorts with very shallow pockets. Um also just remember to keep relaxed. I worked on Raptor and I had a blast. Like was said before take advantage of filling in on other rides. It's fun to learn to operate different ones. Besides working at Raptor I also briefly filled in at Blue Streak, Wicked Twister, Calypso, Turnpike Cars, Giant Wheel, Troika, and Space Spiral. Hope you have fun and take advantage of the free employee cookouts and the employee ride nights! Tom

Sign me up! I'd love to join!

What's the problem? Second

Because you paid to renew your card at Dorney Park, that is your home park. So you should have no issue visiting Knott's. I did the very same thing this past year without an issue. Interestingly the ticket taker at Knott's had never seen a Platinum Pass before and was chatting with me about it and Cedar Point (which he had also never heard of).

Dumb, but nowhere near as dumb as some of the poo-poo Detroit has shoveled out over the years. Like the school bus with gas tank placed under the emergency exit. Or the Pinto with the exploding rear bumper. I agree until the last couple years GM has had several quite poor vehicles. The coming lineup though is something the public ought to take notice of though; But I digress. GM is still tight on cash as they are trying to accelerate re-payments to the government. If the price to sponsor Test Track really is $100 million, I think GM would be best served spending that money elsewhere. *Btw full disclosure: I work for a GM supplier and support my brand 100%*

Be careful though as it may also accelerate unexpectedly and crash killing several and be the most recalled brand in 2009.....

Great pictures! I was there for closing day as well and got 2 final rides on Demon Drop. I had to laugh at the Berryhill grave stone as that's for Ken Berryhill and I know him.

I'm going to try to make my last ride Demon Drop at Cedar Point on Sunday.....

Uh, oh... Beware of Mr. "I know something you don't know..." I know, but considering it was was one of the S&S guys at the EAS who said it So why can't you divulge what you know?

Well NBC's Cleveland affiliate late night news (Channel 3) just did a story on Kings Islands Haunt saying how it's stirring up controversy and that some of the displays have already been modified so they don't offend......

Can't view them unless I'm your facebook friend. Should I friend you?

Why is Kenny Chesney on the death list? lol What's wrong with him?

Any pics from atop the tower looking down at the park and the surrounding area? Curious to see what it looks like.

The pictures are beautiful. Thanks for posting the camera info; I was wondering the same thing. See this is why I need an SLR lol.

So before the accident, did they ever actually get it up to the full launch speed? All the videos I've seen look really slow.

We had a very cold summer this year. Two weeks of last month never got warmer than 75..... it was ridiculous. And to confirm about the rail road tracks, I believe they said in their youtube pointcast where they were talking with Robert Decker that they were adding another train crossing. By the way heading to the park today!

We had a very cold summer this year. Two weeks of last month never got warmer than 75..... it was ridiculous. And to confirm about the rail road tracks, I believe they said in their youtube pointcast where they were talking with Robert Decker that they were adding another train crossing.

That's probably Robb's doing. If the first post to announce a new ride isn't very detailed, he usually deletes it and reposts a more detailed announcement in its place. Yeah that's what I figured and that's fine. I just know now to refrain from that in the future. I will agree with other statements even though the first drop is bigger, the second drop will most likely get you wetter and I bet that's why it's the finale.

Kind of off topic but I have a question: I was the first to post the official news right at 9:10am EST and I notice that when I look back several pages my post is......gone. Now I'm not mad or anything I am just curious as to why.