CoasterBuzz Podcast #118 posted

Posted | Contributed by Jeff

Jeff, Mike and Pat review this week's news in the amusement industry.

Guns! Guns! Guns! No guns in Ratopia.
People sell expired FastPasses on eBay, and Disney isn't pleased. People are idiots.
Lots of activity around Kings Island, as parts of their B&M coaster begin to appear and filings show its hyper goodness. Great fan site coverage. Gonch asks if it seems that ride construction starts earlier and earlier every year.
Jeff finally gets out to Kennywood, who is discounting very heavily in Cleveland with advertising.
Islands of Adventure closures begin as Harry Potter construction ramps up.
Six Flags stock is all over the place in terms of price, and Shapiro says they're going to hit positive cash flow for the first time soon. The pressure is on.
Guy gets the crap beat out of him at Valleyfair for defending his daughter's honor. What the hell is wrong with people? Gonch thinks that everything is too polarized. No middle ground in anything anymore.
Two strange ride failures in Europe, including an inverted coaster that derails a car and no one died.
Carowinds incident involves alleged self-touching and vigilante justice. Again, what is wrong with people? Gonch saw news in Charlotte, and Jeff hates that everyone assumes the worst, lives in fear and takes a wild west attitude.
Yet another worker killed around an operating ride. How does this happen year after year?
Cedar Fair willing to ditch Great America for $110 million to the 49ers. We love to see them taking on an NFL team.
What's the point in having an indoor water park if non-hotel guests can use it? Someone in the Poconos thinks it's a good idea.
Great profiles on PA wood coasters in the New York Times, and a profile on B&M in The Telegraph.
Gonch does Hard Rock Park, and thinks that if you're into the experience and the rock stuff, you'll love it. If you just want to ride, you'll be disappointed. It reminds him of Islands of Adventure in its first year.
CoasterBuzz Club events coming up this year: The Fall Affair at Holiday World, and BooBuzz at Cedar Point. Visit the CoasterBuzz Club page for more information.

Several of the Dells resorts sell day-tickets to their indoor water parks. Wilderness doesn't in summer (only off-season), but all the other "majors" do year-round.

Last November I went to Kalahari Sandusky for the day without staying at the resort.

I havn't had any issues with the Time Share people at Cedar Point. I've walked by them several times with zero interaction on my or their part.

Castaway Bay has Day Passes now.

I completely agree with Gonch about Hard Rock. It's a submersive experience park. Knights in White Satin is the best dark ride I've ever been on. Generaly I'm not a dark ride guy. I have fun on the interactives, but don't ride them over and over. I too, rode KIWS several times. Some of the best food I've ever had at a park. Interesting things to note about the rides are that the Eagles and Moody Blues rerecorded their songs to fit the ride. Where as Led Zeplin told the park that if they wanted to use their song, thet had to play the whole song unedited, which is why they have the whole pre-show. Their intentions are to try and make Myrtle Beach a Hallowwen destination. They feel it would be a god fit with the Rock N Roll theme. I can't wait to see what the park looks like in a few years.

I don't understand how this law works anyhow... you can have metal detectors at the gate and prohibit weapons in the park, but you can't do the same for the parking lot? It's all private property, it should be treated the same.

You think we're advertising heavily now? If they finish the expressway it'll be full throttle!

The Kennywood discount pricing is available for other zips outside the Cleveland area. I scored the $74.95 4-pack as a central PA resident. Kudos to Kennywood for this neat geo-segmented promotional effort.

Wilderness might not sell day-tix during the summer, but the they are comping a boatload of passes as premiums for time share pitches. The Wyndham vacation sales center at Glacier Canyon was hopping when I was onsite in early June.

Hmmm...(looking at the image that kpjb posted...) Looks like one of those Florida-style toll roads where they hit you up for a fixed toll at odd intervals. And how do you like that, there's a toll plaza right before the Kennywood exit. Just like getting to the Orlando airport from International Drive.......

--Dave Althoff, Jr. <-- Hates toll roads

No, it's more similar to how they tolled PA66 through Westmoreland county. Tolls are collected at the interchanges, with one or two mainline plazas. Depending on what side of the mainline you're on, the toll will be collected either when you enter or exit the road.

The Wyndham vacation sales center at Glacier Canyon was hopping when I was onsite in early June.

Wyndham owners, staying on points, also have passes thrown in. We booked at "the other" Wyndham resort (Tamarack) in part to save on points, and in part to be more free to sample all the other stuff at the Dells.

Gonch: Just playing Devil's Advocate here, but if you enjoyed Hard Rock Park for the experience - the "rock vibe," as you said it, wasn't it the charm that made it worth it? ;)
*** This post was edited by Jeff Young 7/29/2008 8:15:38 PM ***

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