Cedar fair acquisition of paramount parks complete.

I've personally hated Paramount with (almost) every decision they've made since 1999.

Replace Adventure Village with a huge slab of concrete and tacky half-assed theming.

Rip out King Cobra and let it rot in the back fields.

Install SlingShot and that ugly black chainlink fencing in OKTOBERFEST.

SOB. Nuff said.

Rip out the flume and replace it with a large box. RIP Rivertown, 1972-2001.

Rip out the Splat City climbing structure and stuff and replace it with Reptar.

Rip out Antique Cars and Flying Eagles for IJ Suck Track.

I still get emotional when I look at photos of King Cobra and such. I grew up at Kings Island in the pre-Action Zone days, and it's just so different now.

Delirium has been the only new addition I agree with. Nickelodeon Universe is nice, but they ruined the South Pie section.

FearFest. Not a bad idea really, I'd like to see it cover the whole park more though, not just Coney Mall and Rivertown.

WinterFest. Good event, but Oh my God, they just seriously botched the operations and pricing of it, so bad.

I personally cannot wait until the Paramount name is stricken from the parks.

*** Edited 7/8/2006 7:58:19 PM UTC by pkidelirium***

Donald, You just posted the main reasons I've not been back since Flyers final night.

Winterfest was good, expensive but good.

Chuck, making three hour treks and Strickers now and isn't really missing nothing.

My God, you're kidding me. You still can't get over one (mediocre) ride? That reminds me of the people who can't find anything else to do at another park because one particular coaster is closed that day.

Mediocre? I don't think we were riding the same ride then lol. Second best flyers I've ridden only to Knoebels.

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Jeff said:
My God, you're kidding me. You still can't get over one (mediocre) ride?

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I believe he said that the previous poster had mentioned the main reasons he hasn't been back since. "Reasons" as in plural.

Maybe my standards are low, but I found PKI to be entertaining and wonderful. Yes, there are things that Aren't There Anymore, but what is there is well worth a visit.

Methinks some of you are angling for your curmudgeon license ahead of your time.

No but the flyers were the final straw in a long series of removals with no replacements. It started prior to Paramount but Paramount sure didn't stop the sieve.

PKI has about 50 less rides now than it had in 1978, Sure theres some record breakers ect.

The Congo area looks like crap as Action Zone. Rivertown is down to three rides Octoberfest has one ride which used to have about 8, Coney has five less rides and they butchered the most beautiful part of the park with IJ Stunt crap and removed two family rides.

sorry, I'll goto a park thats building great stuff, adding and is ten dollars less before I'll fall for the next big thing while they rip the heart out of a park.

Flyers, Meh I don't have to have em but they were one of few things left that I actually enjoyed and didn't become boring to me after years and years of riding it

. It's boring when you've ridden every coaster, could close your eyes and know where every bump, brake and turn are and what thrill they had are hampered by brakes to save a buck for the stockholder.

Paramount did improve atmosphere in the fact that I felt the park was safer and less combative due to overconsumption of alcohol and they kept a great GR staff and kept that good but they've cut corners every chance they could in almost every other dept.

Chuck

I agree that the charm has been lost at PKD, but for a while it was hard for me to put my finger on it. Sure some of the landscaping and ride decisions changed things, but I think the biggest effects on the atmosphere now are two things. First is the music. The classical music on the midways let you know you were at Kings Dominion and not still in your car. Second, the place seems like a bit of a commercal now. It ruins the trance that makes you feel like you are actually in another world for the day as opposed to a big fensed in area with rides. It really does not matter what color the seatbelts are, what the legal signs say, what rides they add, or even what trees they cut down. If some exec makes all the small decisions with a maximize profit paradigm as opposed to a maximize atmosphere one, then you get what we have now. I am not saying it is a bad park now; it is just not what it used to be.

Having said that, what CF is going to do for the loading intervals at PKD is enough to make me happy they are there.

^And you think PKI had it bad?PKD has lost quite a few attractions both under KECO as well as Paramount over the years as well but it's still an all around good park.

They lost three or four classic <albeit outdated> attractions in the mountain in exchange for a less than stellar invert...dare I say I'd much prefer to ride an SLC over V:TBC any day?

They've lost quite a handful of classic flats including their enterprise over the years...heck wave swinger is just about the only original ride left in the grove from PKD's early years & they also got rid of their classic skyride as well.

They've taken a once beautiful lake & turned it into a swamp...too bad CF can't turn pond charles back into lake charles again.

They've removed a classic & scenic train ride in favor of a giant piece of firewood which hardly anybody rides & even less would miss if it were removed.

Last but certainly not least they totally ruined Yogi's cave.

On the flipside however at least they've still got their flyers.

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Charles Nungester said:
It's boring when you've ridden every coaster, could close your eyes and know where every bump, brake and turn are...

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So what you're saying is that you're used to everything, and that's boring, but you want everything to be the way you were used to before. I'm a little confused.

I have fond memories of Cedar Point in the 80's as well, but I take its evolution as inevitable. Ditto for parks I don't get to visit frequently, like Magic Kingdom, Busch Gardens, and yes, PKI. I've said it before... you see what you want to see.

I personally never understood the outcry over these flyers being removed. If you go to a corporate park and your sole purpose of being there is to ride a flat all day, I really don't understand that.

That being said, I was at PKI when the Flyers were still there and I just recently visited with IJST. I noticed between the new coaster and that Happy Days diner is a big grassy area. Isn't that where the Flyers used to be? They obviously had the room to keep them, so why the removal?

I thought IJST was a great coaster for what it is and what it does. Does everything have to be nail-biting to appeal these days? The first launch into the upward helix, the dodging of police cars, and the final after the helicopter into the tunnel are great features. No complaints here and I will gladly ride this thing again.

I think of PKI kinda the way Moosh talks of CP....they just haven't added anything that makes me say "I really NEED to go to PKI to ride that." Even though I REALLY like IJ:ST, it's just a nicer experience overall to go ride it in Canada... :)

My last visit to PKI? Probably about 5 years ago...if time permits, I might find myself there in August, since I'll be in the area anyway...just nothing I'd make a "special" trip for...

Side note: PKD *has* flyers, but the strictly enforced "no bumping policy" really SERIOUSLY detracts from the ride...

Another thing. All corporate parks seem to go through stages of changes throughout the park's life.

PKI is no different.

These parks aren't meant to be nostalgic places that hold on to every last piece of history that it started with.

I've got mixed sentiments. Yes, I seriously miss the Flying Eagles, but they're not the only thing that brought me to the park. I'd love to gather with the other enthusiasts for a ride or two on the flyers, but I'd honestly get bored, and want to hit the other rides and coasters.

I still go to KI at least once a week. Although my life/financial situation prevents me from going to other parks (for now), even ones I have a season pass to, such as Six Flags and Cedar Point, I still enjoy the place.
I'd rather live in a town with a large park in disarray than one with a tiny kiddie park or no park at all.

Change isn't always bad, but I'd have to agree with Chuck and Donald about some of the changes. A nice (though not so busy, aging) African safari themed section changed to a flashy carnival? A big box in "old Rivertown?" A racing coaster that doesn't race much of the time? No antique cars in a major park? I'll celebrate when the Paramount name is gone from the KI and four other parks.

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Jeff said:
I've said it before... you see what you want to see.

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And what...that doesn't apply to everyone, including you, as well? Its a completely subjective opinion, and unless you're walking into the park like some sort of robot, that's going to apply to every single person walking into the front gate.

I mean, you see what you want to see. That's fine. But its not like the park doesn't have some sort of effect on that.

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Chitown said:
I noticed between the new coaster and that Happy Days diner is a big grassy area. Isn't that where the Flyers used to be? They obviously had the room to keep them, so why the removal?

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Gas lines for the pyrotechnics midway through the ride had to run right under the Flyer's spot. The park was going to relocate the ride in Coney Mall. The decision to move it to Carowinds came out of the corporate offices over the park management's objections. (Based on conversations with Siebert and Kaiser.)

I'll disagree with some of the criticism of changes at KI over the years. Once they decided not to be a wild life park, there wasn't any good reason to keep the African theming. Turning it into Action Zone on the opposite side of the park from Nickelodeon allows a natural separation of stroller-pushing families from the teenage thrillseekers. I miss the scenery along the train but instead of a sightseeing loop it's now an effective piece of transportation between the wet and dry parks. The Racer rarely races but now offers decidedly different experiences between the two trains.

The park isn't as charming or thrilling to me as it once was, but to my nieces and nephews, it's still the be-all end-all. When they're my age, they'll undoubtedly be complaining about how the park isn't what it used to be, either. ;)

The gas tanks and lines for the pyrotechnics are right behind the helicopter scene, behind the Antique Treats stand next to the former station for the cars.

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matt. said:
And what...that doesn't apply to everyone, including you, as well?

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Of course it does, but I'm not hell bent on looking for something to ***** about when every park isn't exactly like Holiday World or Knoebels. I'm not suggesting that anyone brought up those specific examples, but for years in enthusiast circles you hear nothing but how how corporate parks suX0rz and it's an opinion based on wholly ridiculous things like a specific ride missing or a midway made of concrete.

What the hell is "enthusiastic" about enthusiasts? Does anyone remember having a good time? My girlfriend had barely been on a coaster prior to Coastermania, and she asked me once, in all seriousness, why everyone was so unhappy, based on their chatter about the same old complaints. I guess I've been around it so much that I didn't even realize it goes on.

What about removal of the few flats that I enjoyed other than the coasters that get old don't you understand?

They've added two outstanding flats in the 13 years they ran em and removed about 20. Drop Zone and Delirium. TR:TR well thats a once a year deal to me and nothing to write home about.

Chuck

My point is that if you can't enjoy a park with dozens of rides remaining, just because those that you liked are gone, it's my opinion that you choose to focus on the negative. I treasure every day I can go to PKI, because it's a three hour drive and I have a good time, every time.