BigDipper 80

We used to have a Rita's not far from us in Cleveland, and their Italian ice is some of the best I've had. It's great how they rotated flavors and made the batches daily, and hopefully they will do the same at KD.

Perhaps there is someone a bit more apt at explaining this, but from what I've read, a large part of the problem was that there was a brief period after the de-theme that CF ran the ride in a ten-flip mode, led to the removal of the first row because of the weight of the gondola would have been too much for the ride to handle flipping ten times. Even with the weight reduced, the thing still managed to tear itself apart since it simply wasn't designed to perform a routine that caused so much stress on the structure, leading to the neutered mode that ran the past few years.

This is completely wishful thinking on my part, but I wouldn't mind if they found a way to recycle part of the queue as a tunnel on a new Shoot-the-Rapids/Pilgrim's Plunge type flume. That stretch of midway seems to break the flow of Rivertown as it stretches back toward Beast, even as un-western as Rivertown currently is.

The new color scheme was a nice surprise when I checked my Facebook earlier, and I'm glad to see the park continuing with the general upkeep that's been happening the past few years. The small things can be just as important as new rides, and they go a long way toward making the park look spiffy.

^I believe he was referring to the employee housing located behind Wildcat.

Nice trip report! I remember seeing a photo of Montaña Rusa in a book years ago before its reprofiling and when it was still running Century Flyers. Even now, it looks like an interesting ride. Also, Churro Man needs to find his way to all US Six Flags parks.

Transformers! I hope it's as good as the early reports I've heard.

I'm slightly confused as to why the very first big image is of Kings Island's Vortex, but otherwise, the site looks as sharp as the rest of the the new CF sites.

That flyer really does look pretty great. It's incredible how all of these Chinese parks have such massive pieces of themeing. I can't imagine that any of that rockwork or huge set pieces are particularly well-built, especially with how ubiquitous they seem to be. It's amazing that their park-building bubble hasn't completely imploded yet.

Very, very cool. That's all I have to say. This continues to be one of the most interesting projects of 2012.

I really like those new ads. They aren't as "loud" and obnoxious as some of the old ones were. Hopefully those awful "Ride Warrior" TV ads will be put to bed too.

With all the love for UC, I figured I'd throw out a few shots I took a few months back. In all honesty, I've never been a huge fan of Michael Graves (or postmodernism in general), but I guess when you can see the Engineering Research Center from your window, it grows on you a bit. And although I can't necessarily claim that it's one of my "favorite" buildings, per se, there is a house in Walton Hills near Cleveland that my grandmother's uncle used to own. It was designed by Richard Neutra (I didn't even know who he was until recently), and my uncle saved all of the letters that he sent to and received from Neutra, so it was interesting getting to read into the conversation that went on between the client and the architect and seeing the house develop. Unfortunately, the house wasn't taken care of for many years, but it's been purchased by a lover of Neutra and it's getting fixed up. Edit: And one more that I can't believe I forgot: The Cleveland Arcade. Wonderful interior.

Terminal Tower, Cleveland As a native Clevelander, I've always had a soft spot for the Terminal Tower. It's wonderful, and it serves as the perfect backdrop for the Cleveland Orchestra's annual Fourth of July concert on Public Square. But my favorite buildings tend to be Art Deco, and there's another Terminal at the other end of the state that I like as well. Oddly enough, I haven't had a chance to actually get over to Union Terminal even though it's not that far away from campus. There are a number of other buildings that haven't been mentioned here yet that I adore, but for the life of me I just can't think of any of them today. Union Terminal, Cincinnati

In case anyone didn't hear, KI was on Ghost Hunters on SyFy tonight. I don't know if any west-coasters can still catch it if they care to. It'll be online eventually, I'm sure.

^I recall someone posting it here earlier, but it's always worth a second look . It reminds me of the "Blue Danube Waltz" scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

All done! Interesting survey, for sure. I'm looking forward to the results.

From a purely aesthetic standpoint, there are few trains that I dislike. Most of them look quite nice. My personal favorite train, though, has got to be the Century Flyer. NAD created an art deco masterpiece with these trains. BTMRR also gets props solely for it's locomotive zero car.

Oh, I certainly know that and wasn't trying to refute anyone. I was just stating how CP was relevant even before Kinzel, is all. He certainly did some good things, and although there are some valid points for both good and bad changes that happened during his years, I'll have to say that I certainly couldn't have run the company . That's all I've got to say about that.

^Certainly the park wasn't as well-known across the country as it is today, but I wouldn't say that the park was particularly irrelevant prior to 1989. Kinzel just helped shift the park further away from the "Disneyland imitation" model towards the modern "thrill park" model and a change in corresponding marketing strategies. That's not to say that prior to Magnum the park wasn't adding new modern rides. After all, Corkscrew as the first triple-looper (and the second modern-day coaster with a vertical loop) and Gemini as the world's tallest coaster were added in 1976 and 1978, respectively, well before Magnum. Magnum's big contribution was a change in marketing at CP and elsewhere, which drove parks to showcase the extravagant and/or "spectacular" giant new rides.

^Seconded. The first drop and fan turn didn't jackhammer for the first time in a while, but even that can't save it from simply meandering around and not doing anything. At least it's got an impressive structure to look at; I only wish that it did something.

Flight Deck and Drop Tower are probably among the least inspired ride names ever, but I'd give the prize to Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. Honestly, who names their ride "MILF"?

That paint job reminds me of the one KI's Vortex was sporting a while back. Unless that "grey" was just a combination of the faded blue and the less-than-ideal photos of the 90s and early 2000s.

As far as campgrounds go, KD's is fairly nice and very reasonably priced given its location, especially with the 10% discount offered to passholders, Good Sam members, or military vets. The public bathrooms are a bit dated, but they serve their purpose and if you have an RV you'll probably be using your own toilet as it is.

LINK I remember having the old Plain Dealer article of Kinzel discussing his plans for the company and himself, but I couldn't find the hard copy anywhere in my house. He does mention how he promised to retire in January 2012 during the last few minutes of this video (from which said article was based upon). I don't know much about CF other than what's in that video, so I'll just leave it at that and let others discuss what went down with Paramount and the investors and whether it had any impact on the retirement.