ajfelice

There are lots of fun coasters out there for me. To name a few: Any Junior Wooden Coaster with Comet at Waldameer being most fun The Bat at Kings Island Adventure Express at Kings Island Thunderbolts both at Kennywood and Six Flags New England Leap the Dips at Lakemont Park Sooperdooperlooper at Hersheypark Bobsled at Seabreeze Rebel Yell at Kings Dominion White Lightning at Fun Spot America

This number I am using is from the Statement of Operations (a.k.a. Income Statement) provided from Conneaut Lake Park to Bankruptcy Court. -$599,137 is CLP's income minus expenses. The period this accounts for is from January 1, 2015 through October 31, 2015. The bottom line is that no matter what their income or expenses are, there is $599,137 more expenses incurred than revenue earned for the year 2015.

Trying to keep this complicated situation into the abridged version, here are some important points regarding the financial state of Conneaut Lake Park. Through the month of October 2015, Conneaut Lake Park's 2015 net income is -$599,137. It is important to point out that "busy" months of July, August, September, and October were all operating in the red despite wristband discounts and events such as Pumpkin Fest and Ghost Lake. Remember, the Pumpkin Fest and Ghost Lake are leased events that pay a flat fee to use the property, so only a predetermined small fraction of the income from all of the attendees is paid to Conneaut Lake Park. The proposed sale of "Non-vital" or "Non-core" property includes revenue generating parcels such as Hotel Conneaut and the former site of the Beach Club. Due to the properties being placed under a public charitable trust by a previous park owner, Gary Harris, any sale of property requires court approval to remove land use restrictions. Another added layer of complication to the proposed property sales is tax liens on those parcels which have yet to be settled. This is not your average put a For Sale sign up and may the best offer win scenario for generating some fast income. Looking forward into 2016 under the assumption it happens, there are a few more things to consider. In 2015 the park needed $300,000 in loans to open. Based on the financial and physical state of the park currently, I can't imagine Conneaut Lake Park not needing yet another large loan to tack onto their debt to open in 2016. Funding needed to open the existing attractions does not even cover the possibility of new additions or improvements to increase attendance and revenue. Blue Streak, while not an awful ride, is gradually becoming more aggressive and will need more costly maintenance is just one example. While a preliminary ruling has granted the Taxing Authorities most of the Beach Club fire insurance payout, the holder of the policy, Greg Sutterlin intends to appeal the ruling and continue to hold that money in limbo as the Chapter 11 Bankruptcy process continues. Speaking of the Chapter 11 process, the Judge ordered both parties to mediation, not compromise. In mediation, a third party mediator will attempt to facilitate an agreement between both parties, but mediation is non-binding and either side can refrain from compromising with no penalty. Personally, I do see a large portion of the Beach Club fire insurance payout going towards back taxes which is good for Conneaut Lake Park, but the payout only covers only a portion of the back taxes. The remaining tax debt continues to grow at an interest rate of 9% compounded monthly. With the park continuing to operate at a several hundred thousand dollar loss with barely 25,000 attendees in 2015, I personally do not see a sustainable outlook for 2016 and beyond.

Very loaded question. A few points people have made: 1. Tame ride experience compared to other coasters of its size. 2. Somewhat uncomfortable restraints for some. 3. Didn't meet "Cedar Point New Coaster" expectations after Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, and Maverick all opened in the last decade and a half. It is not a bad ride by any means, but some say it was overhyped. In my opinion, which park doesn't overhype a new ride? Overall, I enjoy GateKeeper and I am glad Cedar Point built it.

I have a potential idea on how you can get the most out of IAAPA as an engineering student, the Show Ambassador Program. I have participated this program for three years now, and each year has been full of professional career development training in the attractions industry. Your job for the week is to work the show through assisting education sessions, tours, special events, and other areas to operate the convention. While working you are put into very close contact with other industry professionals and you can get the chance to network. I have seen three engineers come away with jobs and internships for some companies such as GCI and Premier Rides due to connections made at IAAPA. Please feel free to reach out to me in a private message if you want to learn more about the program.

I never heard one guest get off GateKeeper saying, "Man, if they only had the block closer to the middle of the ride." I personally don't care where the block is either as GateKeeper with block before helix is probably the same as GateKeeper with block after helix. If I were to criticize GateKeeper for having a lackluster ending it is because the wide winged trains simply can't perform tight transitions and elements engineers normally place near the end of the ride to hide the loss of speed.

Paved parking lots are a nice touch, but holy crap are they expensive when you already have very little paved. The cost of asphalt as well as the drainage system required is pretty sky high. Thankfully Holiday World seems to do a good job of keeping the lots relatively smooth and maintained to avoid excessive muddiness or puddles during inclement weather. The main downside being a little dusty on a warm, windy day. Dust aside, I will take a well-maintained gravel lot over a grassy, muddy lot any day of the week. I would much rather see Holiday World continue to develop themselves as a regional draw with their unique lineup of rides, slides, and attractions. Perhaps a gradual project of paving lots in sections to defray the cost over time and keep more capital available for in-park improvements.

Any numbers to back this assertion up? I'm going to second this opinion. The difference for Kings Island is that they have a very nice market of Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, etc. to draw from. If you look at the surrounding area of Michigan's Adventure, it is easily understandable why the park is the size it currently is. Unlike Cedar Point's remote location (still very close to Detroit and Cleveland) that consists of a scenic peninsula and a rather large resort area surrounded by several other resorts to draw people into the area, Michigan's Adventure is a locals' park in a significantly smaller market. Adding more coasters isn't going to jump start this park into superstardom in the long-term. The ongoing "If you build it, they will come" logic when it comes to rides at Michigan's Adventure is a fallacy. The park is being operated based on its sustainable size.

Last time I checked, Wildcat is not really considered a family friendly ride even on its smoothest day. An RMC conversion would take an existing mediocre thrill ride and turn it into one of the best thrill rides in the park. Also, I do not think an RMC Wildcat with two or zero inversions would be considered a family ride unless the layout was severely neutered.

I don't like to cling to history for the sake of "history," "nostalgia," and "memories" when it comes to amusement parks. If I see that there is a better opportunity for a park to perform better and sustain a more successful future, I will get on board with the idea as long as the idea makes business sense. As much as I want some re-profiling to be done on The Beast to allow for the trims to be removed, I do not think financial cost outweighs the net gain of zero. The general public is hardly going to notice that The Beast might be slightly faster. Even if they do notice, it will probably not result in any measurable gain for Kings Island. The only scenario I see a re-profiling and removal of trims is in the event Kings Island decides to switch trains as the conversion project would require other adjustments to the layout. If the popularity of The Beast were to decline to the situation Ghostrider is in, I would be a cheerleader for a major project such as RMC or the GCI overhaul. At this point hypothetically, the history, nostalgia, and memories mean nothing as The Beast would be an expensive piece of scenery with low ridership. I'm sure an overhaul given today's advances in technology would result in a minimally trimmed ride, if at all. As a result, we could see one of the best coasters in the world be developed given the terrain and setting The Beast currently resides on. As it stands, I do not see Kings Island doing anything significant to The Beast until popularity declines enough to justify the cost. If The Beast is still cranking over a million riders each year with people still coming to the park to ride it with trims, 3-Bench PTCs, and a few bumps, I don't see how Kings Island would just throw money to make a few profiling adjustments to remove the trims. As much as my dream for Kings Island is to make the minor profile adjustments to remove the trims, I do not see them doing this anytime soon.

A general update: CLP reported in Bankruptcy Court that the operating loss for the month of September was $134,330. This brings the net profit for 2015 to -$590,263. This comes after CLP projected that the month of September would profit $36,500. Ouch. A group of us made it out to Ghost Lake despite not-so-good experiences in the past which was nice to get a last ride on Blue Streak. It will be missed with it's spooky tunnel beginning and impressive airtime hills. While many recent years were supposed to be the "last," 2015 has the added layer of Bankruptcy Court which was not a factor in recent years. If you want a ride on Blue Streak, I would say that forking over the cash for a mediocre haunt might be worth one last ride the ticket includes. The creditors, understandably so, seem to have no interest in keeping this money-hemorrhaging park going for another year.

Spent Sunday at CP, and thought I would share a few thoughts. The morning drive from Erie consisted of slush on I-90, so that was a pleasant beginning, but as we made our way though Ohio the temperatures slowly got above 40, the snow melted, and the sun came out in spots. The crowd was fairly light, but a little surprising how they sustained through the day given how the temperatures were pretty chilly, and Sundays on HalloWeekends typically slow down very fast. We watched Wicked Twister crap the bed early into the day, but not much of a loss. Maverick did not show any signs of life until the early evening. Even as the day came to a close, Maverick limped to the finish with a harness issue, guest illness, and mechanical issue in pretty much consecutive cycles. At least we got the chance to ride, as Maverick is now a hands-up no-worries experience with new harnesses. Rougarou might be the "new" ride for 2015, but Maverick is the dark horse winner of 2015 in which the ride experience is near perfect. Best Surprise: Millennium Force was running very forceful despite the cold temperatures that can often make it very sluggish. Lots of airtime and great positive g's on the overbanks. Biggest Letdown: Blue Streak needs some love, and needs it soon. While no one can expect glass smooth from a 3-bench PTC train, the potholes are becoming more and more pronounced over the past couple years. Considering how CP does most of their track work in-house and Mean Streak being in fairly decent shape this year, I hope some resources are coming Blue Streak's way. Operations overall were doing well despite the obvious lack of staffing due to school being back in session. However, I must thumbs down the very loud, seemingly intentional, belch into the the microphone on Mean Streak. Hats of to the rest of the staff who was pushing through these very difficult last few weeks.

My Six Flags inside source (who works a full-time salaried, non-dippin dots, position) informed me that Disney won a lawsuit and set precedence for the new Six Flags policy to be considered lawful under the ADA. This source says that people who truly need the special accommodations are very respectful and understanding of the new policy. So there is some food for thought.

^Very peculiar. Not uncommon for the last ride of the night to involve filling all seats in which preferred seating is not granted, but in this case people were still outside the station. Outside of an employee blatantly violating policy, my only guess is that a guest re-opened the queue and they along with others went in. I only guess this because I have had this issue happen to me, and it's not fair to let people ride who cheated after others were already turned away. It could very well be a power trip on behalf of the operator, but I feel like there is more context to the situation. Most of the time, Cedar Fair employees wouldn't dare to ever consider something like you described. Edit: My other wild speculation is if the line was long, they were approaching an issue with child labor laws. I know KI hires under 18 to operate rides, and with staffing usually dire this time of year, several could have been working. If too many were approaching the hour restriction or break restrictions, they might have not been able to legally continue operating. Again, only a speculation, and the bottom line is that better communication would have helped the situation.

Re-opening the water park with what money? Through August, the park has a annual net loss of -$455,993 which does not include two loans totaling $300,000 just to get the park operational for 2015. Of course not all expansions are paid for upfront, but Conneaut Lake Park doesn't have the income to meet day-to-day operating expenses much less any additional financing expenses. Ghost Lake will bring the park about $25,000 in revenue through their contract with Mid-America Events, but $25,000 is a drop in the bucket for an amusement park when considering costs of labor, utilities, and general upkeep. Right now, CLP should be more focused on whether or not there will be a 2016 based on the current Chapter 11 Bankruptcy proceedings.

They may be the same model of trains, but being a year apart where the DL trains were the prototypes, I'm sure changes were made in the engineering. These aren't PTCs that have matured in design and been fairly constant in design for years. Second, maintenance does not determine their budget to determine how many trains to have available for each season. Third, saying that Cedar Point "actually" goes through everything in the off-season is insulting to Darien Lake's maintenance team unless somehow you are there in the shop in the off-season to witness them not going through the trains as thoroughly as they should. Perhaps DL might not have the budget that Cedar Point has to do all of the cosmetic things such as replacing every worn-looking seat and restraint. As for those alleged loose brake fins and plates, are you certified in ride maintenance to determine if a real problem exists? I am not saying that Darien Lake is perfect, but I do not think they are deserving of all of the speculation-driven criticism they receive.

1. Digging holes and survey markers are fuel for enthusiasts more so than GP. Unless there are official hints being dropped from the park to suggest a new attraction, survey markers and holes in the ground mean zilch to guests. 2. A Say Goodbye to Ranger campaign would have been great if the park knew when Ranger closed down (most likely mechanical reasons) that it would never have re-opened. Hindsight is 20-20 on that issue. Besides, saying goodbye to a flat is a lot different than a coaster that has been a staple in the park for decades. 3. New trains would be likely added to RoS for mechanical reasons, as no park in the right mind would replace trains that currently still provide a decent ride. The shin guards on the current train(s) aren't the greatest, but far from a massive issue that would make them switch trains to save the ride's appeal. I suspect the new train talk is a result of mechanical necessity. The chassis on each car on those trains are a original prototype and likely an NDT nightmare. 4. New paint looks pretty but it is not always a dramatic result in the ROI. For many parks, paint is considered as first a protector against rust, and second as a cosmetic. So I would expect a new train or trains for ROS before a new paint job as the current one is faded but not rusty.

Relating back to the employment questions. The key to getting the attraction you want when applying for a Ride Host job is answering the general information questions concerning your preferred age group to work with, pace of work, and general physical abilities as well as demonstrating to the interviewer (usually a department manager) that you are a guest service oriented person. I can't stress that enough. The interest for amusement parks and attractions is not a bad idea to mention, but it should never be a key talking point in the interview. Make sure you talk about how you are committed to safety and providing the best experience possible for each guest and co-worker.

It does not. The -$450,621 is the simple difference between revenues taken in versus the cost of operation from January 1 2015 through July 31 2015. Most of this loss has been incurred during the operating season. For example, in June of 2015 CLP spent more than twice as much ($147,986) as it made ($68,342).-Source: Erie Times News While I do not want to see another small park lost, the numbers paint a scary picture. I have done some research myself this past summer to figure out as much as possible what is going on behind the scenes, and there isn't a documented reliable source, besides CLP/EPACC (group managing the park), that claims the park is a viable business.

^The last reported net operating loss for 2015 through July 31 is -$450,621. August might not be as bad of a loss for the month, but I would be shocked if somehow the month is profitable or could even put a dent in the almost half a million loss that 2015 has been. Ghost Lake provides only $25,000 for CLP as the event is contracted out to Mid-America Events.

Glad to see you had a great time at Waldameer. Too bad we weren't able to cross paths at some point. You picked the best day of the weekend. Heat wasn't too extreme and crowds were lively but manageable. Hope you come back again soon! As for Sandbar, it's a good place to sit outside for a couple beers once you have already ate, but that's about it.

About a step above prison. The rooms are very small with almost paper-thin walls where you hear everything. No night is complete without some drunk or obnoxious a$$holes running up and down the hallways making as much noise as possible. Cleanliness in your room is up to you, and hopefully your roommate holds up their end of the deal. Unfortunately, I found that my roommate was keeping garbage under his bed when he moved out (room smelled a lot better after I got rid of that). Showering is a game to avoid making skin contact with the walls or floor. Hopefully you are lucky to have a lukewarm shower. The beds are kinda squeaky and lumpy, and I suggest you bring some form of layering to avoid a rearranged spine. Thankfully you spend most of your time working and out with friends as the housing is essentially deplorable.

Cedar Point simply accepts or rejects a company's, in this case B&M, proposal. They do not provide a laundry list of elements needed, but more or less a list of things they are trying to achieve such as capacity, visuals from the midway, intensity level, etc.. Regarding how unimaginative some of the elements are, dive coasters and wing coasters use a very wide train. This dramatically limits the feasibility of certain elements. RMCs, for example, have the sleeker train design that is much easier to design quirky and unique elements around. Valravn in the eyes of the general public is about that huge intense vertical drop, not about a corkscrew or an immelman turn that is also on other coasters in the park. Everything beyond that drop is icing on the cake. I see this addition out of the "three" B&Ms over the past few years as probably the most successful for Cedar Point.

I'll put in the request for ten Whambulances to be stationed outside throughout the entire ceremony. Backups will be on call in case MF slips to #2.

Yeah that was a comical read. These awards are great for personal gratification or cheap marketing for the respective parks, but other than that they are comedic gold. There are too many advances in technology and amazing additions to the coaster landscape for the Top Ten lists to remain fairly constant over the past several years. For example, I haven't ridden it but Outlaw Run in its third season still can't break a top five ranking? Some far less exciting hypers outdo New Texas Giant? Every list is up for debate, but this one really makes one scratch the head. I think a much more representative list is the Mitch Hawker poll which usually tells a better story and has a much less biased panel of voters. But at least the CP Fanboys can sleep well for another year. God forbid Millennium Force is not the best steel roller coaster in the world.