michaellynn4 Posted April 20, 2015 Posted April 20, 2015 ^ I grew up watching that movie. When I visited KI in 2013 and saw their log flume, I instantly got the reference and thought it was clever.
Samuel Posted April 20, 2015 Posted April 20, 2015 (edited) ^ I grew up watching that movie. When I visited KI in 2013 and saw their log flume, I instantly got the reference and thought it was clever. It worked for me, too. I didn't expect to see the name, and I was instantly delighted. There were a few Peanuts films beyond the holiday specials that I adored growing up, and still do! Race for Your Life is a great family movie. So long as they have Peanuts, I like Cedar Fair demonstrating thoughtfulness by giving a nod to some of the deeper cuts within the brand, even if the references are't immediately picked up by everyone. It's easy enough to put Charlie Brown's face on a kiddie ride, but the Kite Eating Tree frog hopper? The Red Baron circular bi-plane ride with Snoopy in the cockpit? I genuinely appreciate those extra touches. --- Thrillrider, this was a nice trip report! I enjoyed combing through the pictures. The new interactive maps and posted queue times are a good touch. I believe that some parks have stuck to the sign-post-with-a-zillion-arrows-vaguely-pointing-toward-all-rides-in-all-directions for far too long. For years, malls, sporting venues, and public transit systems have been using practical technology like this to help people orient themselves, understand their options, and make a decision on what they want to do next...but adoption among parks has been uneven. Still, I'm glad KI now has them. As a coaster fan, even when it's easy to figure out where everything is located in a park, it always stinks to waste time on a busy day just jogging around to compare different lines. Finally, I've plugged it before/I'll plug it again -- I really like the candy store at KI. Candy stores aren't typically a park priority for me, but KI maintains a nice selection of treats behind the glass. The peanut butter & Oreo fudge have become must-haves for me when I visit the park. Edited April 20, 2015 by Samuel
adamico2 Posted April 20, 2015 Posted April 20, 2015 Thank You for sharing your experience. I understand Diamondback's crew might not have been meeting expectations, but I would consider the context of being Opening Day before going too far criticizing them. Ride crews are trained several days or weeks in advance of opening, but the training leaves out one huge factor; adding guests to the equation. You can cycle empty trains as lightning fast as possible and even open and close every lap bar and seat belt, but that will never account for the variances caused by guests. As someone who trains people on rides, I can teach all the scenarios I want to make a new operator aware of what might happen with guests, but it takes time for the operator to master the efficiency in handling different situations. Being efficient is hard to train immediately, but instead it is developed mostly over time. In other words, you learn to anticipate and address holdups before they hinder efficiency, or you learn tricks to fix things fast. One other factor is the fact that many of those crew members probably never worked a ride before or have a true understanding of efficiency coming into their job. I can also say from personal experience, after an off-season of not operating rides, it takes a little bit of time to get back into the rhythm of grueling operations. Once the crew gets used to working together and the returning employees are able to offer more help to newcomers, efficiency should improve. Give the Diamondback crew some time. If reports are still coming back a few weeks into daily operations, then their criticism is fully justified. I would normally agree with you as I used to work as a supervisor on a coaster as well, but there was no hustle what so ever. It should not take 5 min to dispatch a train. We did not run into this situation on any other ride in the park. I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt because it was opening day, but it's not looking good. Interesting...On Friday night the crew was flying, nearly hitting their mark every cycle. The difference is everyone there on Friday was a pass-holder who renewed before the end of last season and generally knew how to get on and off a ride.
coasterchris2134 Posted April 20, 2015 Posted April 20, 2015 hello hello, I was hoping I'd catch myself in one of your pictures at kings island lol, I was there on opening day and had a blast, I actually passed the kid in the bright green banshee shirt you have pictured in the candy shop or whatever it was. had to tell him nice shirt because I was wearing the same one. I have to agree that the diamond back crew was pretty sad, the banshee is the new pride and joy and had twice the line, we made it through the banshee line in 13 minutes. Anyways I have a question, I have a gopro and a chest strap, I tried to use it to get some video of the coasters, instantly I was told to take it off. I thought as long as it was secured it wouldn't be an issue, honestly I felt it was b.s., anyways just wanted to ask how people get video on these rides? Will it be allowed at events like coaster stock? Because that was the whole reason I bought the camera. Also how would I prove that I was a TPR member at something like coaster stock if I hadn't received my member info by then? Thanks for the great website and news on everything, will be at holiday world for their season pass preview night, hope they will let me video it lol
thrillrider Posted April 20, 2015 Author Posted April 20, 2015 Finally, I've plugged it before/I'll plug it again -- I really like the candy store at KI. Candy stores aren't typically a park priority for me, but KI maintains a nice selection of treats behind the glass. The peanut butter & Oreo fudge have become must-haves for me when I visit the park. Yes!! The fudge they have is amazing. We always stock up on it every trip to the park. This time around we got the dark chocolate caramel sea salt, the cookies and cream, and the buckeye fudge. We wanted to get some of the buckeyes, but they were pricy for what they were.
nswain1110 Posted April 20, 2015 Posted April 20, 2015 I couldn't help but laugh at this pic from your report! LOL - homegirl is not amused..
thrillrider Posted April 20, 2015 Author Posted April 20, 2015 There were quite a few home girl's there this weekend.
dippindotsguy8 Posted April 20, 2015 Posted April 20, 2015 I'm not sure that I understand why they need this type of belt on the larger rides. I can totally understand kiddy rides, but not a ride that you need an adult to ride with. Can't say for sure, as I've never operated one of these. I wouldn't be surprised if it's because they don't want people to get hurt when exiting the gliders at the end of a cycle, since some are still moving. The reason for the kiddie belts would be so people aren't trying to get off until an op is there holding the glider steady.
John Peck Posted April 20, 2015 Posted April 20, 2015 Most of the Larson Flyers come standard with that type of belt, and the park can choose if they want to or not. Knowing Cedar Fair, they just went with what the manufacturer suggested. Hersheypark and Cedar Point both have those belts, but not the Columbus Zoo (yet).
thrillrider Posted April 21, 2015 Author Posted April 21, 2015 Here is a picture of the cedarpoint version that I assume is the same as all the others.
adamico2 Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 hello hello, I was hoping I'd catch myself in one of your pictures at kings island lol, I was there on opening day and had a blast, I actually passed the kid in the bright green banshee shirt you have pictured in the candy shop or whatever it was. had to tell him nice shirt because I was wearing the same one. I have to agree that the diamond back crew was pretty sad, the banshee is the new pride and joy and had twice the line, we made it through the banshee line in 13 minutes. Anyways I have a question, I have a gopro and a chest strap, I tried to use it to get some video of the coasters, instantly I was told to take it off. I thought as long as it was secured it wouldn't be an issue, honestly I felt it was b.s., anyways just wanted to ask how people get video on these rides? Will it be allowed at events like coaster stock? Because that was the whole reason I bought the camera. Also how would I prove that I was a TPR member at something like coaster stock if I hadn't received my member info by then? Thanks for the great website and news on everything, will be at holiday world for their season pass preview night, hope they will let me video it lol Cedar Fair does not allow filming on any of their coasters, regardless of the mounting device. In fact, this is the policy at most corporate parks. To my knowledge, the Busch parks are the only ones that do (other than Disney, of course). If you try to take pictures or film on a coaster during an enthusiast event, Don has no qualms about escorting you out. (I've seen it happen.) As for the ClubTPR cards, I'm sure Robb and Elissa will get them out before the enthusiest events start up. They have some extra time this year since there weren't any coasterboy media events this year. P.S. Holiday World does not allow filming either.
thrillrider Posted April 21, 2015 Author Posted April 21, 2015 I remember last year at cedapoint, some gut had a pair of ski goggles with a camera built into them.
Diamondbacker27 Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 I couldn't help but laugh at this pic from your report! Are you sure this wasn't taken at Walmart?
thrillrider Posted April 21, 2015 Author Posted April 21, 2015 I couldn't help but laugh at this pic from your report! Are you sure this wasn't taken at Walmart?
thrillrider Posted April 21, 2015 Author Posted April 21, 2015 Anybody know what they are going to do with the flight commander location? It seems like the perfect spot for a flat ride as the line and cement pad are still there. That would have been the perfect place for windseeker.
Myself Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 I think a Gerstlauer Sky Roller would be a great fit for the spot...it gives a similar ride experience, and as long as Kings Island is referencing its past with a SOB eternal flame at Banshee and naming the current Bat after the former Bat...it'd kinda make sense.
Midgetman82 Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 ^That would be a pretty excellent idea, and give the park something totally unique for the region. My only concern for it is its capacity or PPH. Great report. Considering my experience on opening day last year, I figured it would be packed this year as well. At least you enjoyed your time there. Thanks for sharing! Kentucky Kingdom has the same belts for their gliders (though Holiday World doesn't... hmm). I can understand why parks would opt for the operator-released belt considering the weight of the tubs when they swing could probably knock a kid over if they attempt to disembark prematurely.
thrillrider Posted April 21, 2015 Author Posted April 21, 2015 ^That would be a pretty excellent idea, and give the park something totally unique for the region. My only concern for it is its capacity or PPH. Great report. Considering my experience on opening day last year, I figured it would be packed this year as well. At least you enjoyed your time there. Thanks for sharing! Kentucky Kingdom has the same belts for their gliders (though Holiday World doesn't... hmm). I can understand why parks would opt for the operator-released belt considering the weight of the tubs when they swing could probably knock a kid over if they attempt to disembark prematurely. Thank you. The weather was perfect for opening day, so that helped the park fill up.
prozach626 Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 Thanks for the nice trip report. Doesn't surprise me that your burger was cold. King's Island has some of the worst food quality in the industry, only topped by Cedar Point. You just have to use my strategy: A mid afternoon trip away from the park for chicken wings and beer.
thrillrider Posted April 21, 2015 Author Posted April 21, 2015 Thanks for the nice trip report. Doesn't surprise me that your burger was cold. King's Island has some of the worst food quality in the industry, only topped by Cedar Point. You just have to use my strategy: A mid afternoon trip away from the park for chicken wings and beer. Actually, we usually always eat at the skyline chile when in the park but we ate at one earlier in the day so we thought we would try something we have never tried at the park. Typically, we have good quality food at the park. This was the first time in a long time we have had a negative experience at kings island....cedarpoint on the other hand is a different story. By the way, I forgot to give Banshee some love in this trip report, so here ya go......
rcjp Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 ^Banshee really is a great looking coaster. How was it riding like? Were there vibrations closer to the back as most mentioned last year?
thrillrider Posted April 21, 2015 Author Posted April 21, 2015 Actually, I did not notice any vibration.
linearinduction Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 hello hello, I was hoping I'd catch myself in one of your pictures at kings island lol, I was there on opening day and had a blast, I actually passed the kid in the bright green banshee shirt you have pictured in the candy shop or whatever it was. had to tell him nice shirt because I was wearing the same one. I have to agree that the diamond back crew was pretty sad, the banshee is the new pride and joy and had twice the line, we made it through the banshee line in 13 minutes. Anyways I have a question, I have a gopro and a chest strap, I tried to use it to get some video of the coasters, instantly I was told to take it off. I thought as long as it was secured it wouldn't be an issue, honestly I felt it was b.s., anyways just wanted to ask how people get video on these rides? Will it be allowed at events like coaster stock? Because that was the whole reason I bought the camera. Also how would I prove that I was a TPR member at something like coaster stock if I hadn't received my member info by then? Thanks for the great website and news on everything, will be at holiday world for their season pass preview night, hope they will let me video it lol Cedar Fair does not allow filming on any of their coasters, regardless of the mounting device. In fact, this is the policy at most corporate parks. To my knowledge, the Busch parks are the only ones that do (other than Disney, of course). If you try to take pictures or film on a coaster during an enthusiast event, Don has no qualms about escorting you out. (I've seen it happen.) I know someone that has a Letter from Kings Island's Marketing Department that permitted a Chest Mounted Go Pro on the Coasters, "As long as it doesn't interfere with any safety device."
thrillrider Posted April 22, 2015 Author Posted April 22, 2015 ^See, I just don't understand that. There are so many pov videos out there, so what's the point?
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