Jew

Just to clarify: Mayor publicly announces support for redevelopment, writes a letter backing your bond proposal, negotiates a settlement with Six Flags (which was finalized in December of 2009)...and yet somehow, the deal couldn't get done. Yup. It's all the cities fault for publicly supporting the project while waiting for you to put your money where your mouth is in the form of that bond which would have made it worthwhile for them to lease the park to you. I got news for you: promising to pay for security and a minimum of a $10 million investment in exchange for $1/guest rent is NOT a good deal for the city. If you sent THIS SAME LETTER to Mayor Nagin, it's a damn good thing he didn't sign it. Speaking of money, how the hell could you not get $500,000 because "the mayor wouldn't sign some paperwork", Yet talk about offering $12.5 million to buy the park only a few months after walking away from the bond proposal?

Spring break 2012.

Has anyone asked him about why he couldn't come up with a down payment on the HUD loan if he has all this money lined up? (Not that we don't already know the answer, but I am sure his response would be entertaining!)

http://www.supercars.net/cars/5203.html

0-19 on power play+musical chairs in the net=FAIL.

^^The bumper cars were closed for about a year around 2002-2003 due to rotting wood underneath the floor (which created that hole you mentioned). Funny story about that: Jim Carrey held the wrap party for Bruce Almighty @ SFMM, and someone from the sales department had to show him why the bumper cars were closed for his party. He was genuinely upset they were closed and demanded to know why.

Hooray for the Staples Center love! Definitely better than the pond.

Yes we can. Unless you have worked in the amusement industry and are familiar with AB850 (the California assembly bill passed that regulates the amusement industry) and the ASTM F.24 standards on ride designs... Actually, I believe he cited ASTM standards as the reason why they can't do anything else and said it was a company-wide policy to follow those guidelines. Which translates to: we don't want to spend the money for train modifications, so we're just going to run with the excuse that "we can't make any changes because we have to operate the ride based on the SOP, and the SOP says OTSR's!" I certainly don't blame them (there are a lot better things that money can go to), but there really is nothing preventing them from doing so if they wanted to.

For what seems like the 10,000th time: THERE IS NO LAW IN CALIFORNIA MANDATING OTSR'S. Tim Burkhart was full of crap at WCB.

If I am the guy in charge of construction at KBF, my logic is "why the hell am I going to build a new ride and all the infrastructure that goes with it if I am going to have to tear it all up/close down the ride while I build my next ride a year later?" But that's just me. I could be totally off-base. I just don't believe this is being done simply to "preserve a Knott's landmark."

Perhaps the location change was so that Windseeker wouldn't be in the way of a new coaster snaking through the boardwalk in 2012?

^^I am going to guess the delay comes from the fact all the "behind the scenes" stuff has to be re-done. Going to the city council, drafting the new plans, etc.

Personally, I think it is a shame that they are attempting to take even more money away from worthy causes. There's so many other causes in the "arts and culture" category that are much more deserving of the money (except for that one for the UCLA band ). I hope the money comes with some sort of guarantee they will keep the ride/park operating. Otherwise it will just be closed again within five years asking for more donations to stay afloat...

BBW was good for one thing: a nice picture of the drop over the river. Other than that, it was just like all the other suspended coasters (aside from how boring Iron Dragon is and how amazing Eagles Fortress was): not boring, but not anything special either.

In the 25 year anniversary yearbook they made for employees, they have a few pictures of the park covered in snow. I believe those photos were from the 70's.

I'm guessing that they can't complete the investigation because it isn't safe to be on the roof of the building at the moment...but my money would be on an HVAC unit causing the fire.

Don't worry, it is still forthcoming. I've been working so much that it keeps getting neglected.

^I'm glad someone else finally understands. I just hope the fair board will negotiate a lease that ensures the interest payments on the bond are paid out before Ed Hart gets to touch any profit from the park.

Actually, tons of people want to build a nice stadium for a team that perennially sucks.

^They posted it.

Of course it will still work. The real issue is going to be the cost of all these new additions. It's a whole different landscape now: Holiday World is a major player, Beech Bend appears to making a serious commitment to expand their amusement business, and obviously Kings Island has been pretty consistent in adding major rides every few years as well. Plus the addition of indoor waterparks to the region. In order to make an impact in what is now a much more crowded market, they are going to have to spend more on major rides (a splashdown boat or drop tower won't cut it anymore) and spend more to market those major rides. He's already backing himself into an expensive corner by talking such a big game, which is probably why he's asking for a $50 millon bond to pay for the first wave of expansion/renovation...at least that way he isn't losing too much of his own money if he can't sustain this plan of constant major additions!

So basically...Ed Hart had success with constant capital additions when he didn't really have any competition. Go figure.

As mentioned earlier, it probably has to do with the X-mas crafts fair. Vendors are paying the park to come in and have booths...probably costs the park more to have to breach their agreements with them than it does to keep the park open and shut down most the rides/cancel most the shows!