Not a good start for PKI

Well, I went up at King's Island today for pass holders and when I got up there they told me that the pass processors were out but we could get in with our papers. So thats what I did. I went into the park and to the furthest point that I could before I was cut off by the ropes. Finally they dropped the rope and of course everyone went for Tomb Raider. The line was all the way back to the rest rooms by the lake. Well, I stood in line for about a half hour just standing there. The ride was not open. Finally a worker came up and told us that they were having problems with the ride and that it would be a good idea that we go ride some other rides. Well, this wasn't possible because of the weather. It was to cold to opperate the roller coasters so we couldn't ride them. Son Of Beast was closed, Vortex was closed and the Beast was closed so we quickly went to Flight Of Fear after walking on Flight Of Fear we came out and saw that they were test riding Son Of Beast and the Vortex and shortly after opened both rides. We walked on Vortex and then we decided we wanted to go on Son Of Beast. So we walked over that way past what was King Cobra (completly dismantled only thing that is left is the chain lift. the sling shot is up). We walked on Son Of Beast and then we went to the Racers or Racer. Only one was working, the front one. After we went on the Racer we went to check out Tomb Raider. Same people standing in the same line in the same spot. We just went up to the entrance and admired the theming, which is GREAT! We talked to some guy, he must of been in charged (his name was Nick) and he said that the manufactures were trying to figure out what was wrong but couldn't find the problem. Well we waited and waited and waited for this ride to get open but still it wouldn't open so we went on Flight Of Fear again and after that we went back to Tomb Raider this time Nick wasn't there instead some woman and three guys where there and they were talking about spliting up in groups. I thought "score we will get to ride this thing." Boy I was wrong instead the said that the ride was closed (it was never opend, hello) but we could have a preview. So we got to walk through the building and into the movie area. I didn't pay attention to the movie because I was to busy looking at the theming. It was to bad that we didn't get to ride the ride but hey we got one step closer than the others. Like I said the theming is awsome and don't be upset if the ride is't working tomorrow.

***please pardon my spelling I tried to copy and paste so I could spell check but I couldn't sorry***

You could've broken out a paragraph or two...

Damn that mother nature... PKI must not have sent her the memo.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

I was there tonight too. unfortunately i was a bit more stubborn and stayed the entire time. I would have liked to at least ridden the Beast ... but I guess they don't know when it will be open anyway. They put in a new safety system with caliper brakes in the station and magnetic trims throughout the ride course. Hope it's back open soon!

I was also there tonight and I thought it sucked. Ya, it was nice that there was no one there and what was open was a walk on. That was the high point. I'll say the worst part was that the weather was so cold, putting my hands up on son of beast they about fell off they got so cold. Next thing that made this trip bad is there best ride the beast was closed. The ride ops said it was getting new brakes and it would be a better ride when it opened. LOL, i'll believe them when I ride it and like it better. Before I forget the sling shot ride was nice looking, thats going to be fun. Son of Beast seems to be running the best it ever has also, I knew that it would come around. I sure hope PKI will get TR:TR runnin especially because they gave away those bids for a first ride on e bay. Some people might be kinda mad if they payed to ride it first and its closed. Well, just wanted to get out my thoughts about how PKI kinda blew the season pass sneak peak.

*** This post was edited by Beast_rocks on 4/4/2002. ***

I was not suprised with Tomb Raider really. I thought there would be more action there was no sensory overload at all! Of course I couldn't hear the talking in the dark beacuase people were being rude. I thought it could have been much much better.

I was also there tonight. They need to rename it Tomb Raider: The Line. I do admit there were some determined people in that line tonight. It is too bad no one got to ride. I was not worried about riding it tonight any how, since I had two of the charity tickets for tommorow. I just hoped it would be open in the morning. When I made it home from the park I logged on to check my email and found a note from David Mandt. Here is what it said.

"Thank you for supporting Adventures For Wish kids by participating in the auction for the first ride on TOMB RAIDER: The Ride at Paramount's Kings Island.

Unfortunately, we just found out there is a chance the ride may not be operating tomorrow. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience.

Paramount's Kings Island will send you a refund check for the amount you paid for your seat. Adventures for Wish kids will still be able to keep your kind and generous donation.

In addition, we will send you two complimentary park admission tickets and two TOMB RAIDER: The Ride exit passes (per seat you had highest bid on) so that you will be able to enjoy the attraction later in the season. The tickets will be valid for admisison to the park on any single day it is open to the public. The exit passes will allow you to bypass the ride's queue line and enter the ride when you choose.

If you still want to visit the park tomorrow, you are welcome to do so. When you arrive at 9:15 a.m., you'll meet Jeffrey Siebert at the park.If
TOMB RAIDER: The Ride is operational you will be taken back for the first official ride. If it is not, you will still be given free park admission
for tomorrow. Regardless, we will still send you the refund, two tickets and two exit passes.

Please accept our sincere apology. Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,
David Mandt
Manager, Public Relations
Paramount's Kings Island "

PKI is no doubt a class act.

William

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Welcome back riders, hope you've enjoyed your ride, push down and then pull up on your lap bars and exit to your right, walk down the exit ramp and enjoy the rest of your day here at Paramount's Kings Island.

It seems that a lot of other parks can open a ride with no problem at all and it be find, but PKI always seem to pull this krap. Why can't they just do something right when they build a ride.

Hmm... What about X-Flight? X? Deja Vu? Vertigo?

It's not just PKI. Its called working out the bugs.

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Jeff said:

You could've broken out a paragraph or two...

Damn that mother nature... PKI must not have sent her the memo.

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Did you get...the memo? Yeaaaaaaaah, if you could just put the cover sheets on your Trip Reports that'd be greeeeeeeeat.....

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Quoth the Jaguar...."Check"

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I said it seems. I know that they have to work out bugs but you know MF didn't have to many problems and I bet WT will open right on schedule. Maybe they should start construction sooner so it gets done early enough to test it a lot. Also, unless its a problem with the special effects working right, the ride is not a new concept. There have been plenty of top spins before. Really all of those that roadkill named were very new at the time or were the first, they are expected to have bugs and not work exactly as planned

I was there as well tonight and stood the ENTIRE time. And... I made sure to let the ride ops know how I appreciated that they even allowed us to enter the cave. They could have easily said Sorry, go home. They received a lot of crap tonight from snobbish do what I say or die people and it was rather unfortanate. I felt for them b/c I have dealt with the same thing at my job (I work at a science museum and we have a few amusement attractions). Some of the guests around me were shooting the messenger and it really angered me. Despite what some of those people thought tonight, just b/c you work on an attraction doesn't mean that the mechanics will let you know what the exact problem(s) is/are- a lot of people wanted to know what was broken and would get all bent out of shape when the ride ops didn't know. Things break, esp. new things- BIG DEAL. Mechanics don't always give a full engineering testmony to ride ops- IT HAPPENS.

I went to PKI tonight with the intention of riding TR:TR. That's all I wanted to do. Well, I didn't get to ride the actual ride and guess what, I left happy tonight. Wow, I must be a Martian. But, I experienced the theming of the first few areas- incredible in my book. I had a big Kool Aid smile on my face when the music cued as the tomb door opened.

I love how people complain about waiting in a line. The last time I checked, park associates don't hold shot guns to your head saying Stand here or die! I wish PKI well with TR:TR and will be back in line first thing on April 20. I hope the grouches I witnessed tonight have cut up their Gold Pass and never return.

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OHIcOaster
"Back seat, no hands."

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Beast_rocks said:
I know that they have to work out bugs but you know MF didn't have to many problems....

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Are you sure? It sure wasn't running at full capacity for the Longaberger/AAA picnic folks. And 3-train operation during its CoasterMania debut was not without its sniffles, either.

Every ride has its growing pains, no matter who runs it, who builds it or how simple it is. Just happens.

-'Playa

( a man who dragged his family 700 miles to find SOB MIA during URC II)

*** This post was edited by CoastaPlaya on 4/5/2002. ***

....thinking if the cable (edit: on MF) had snapped at an "inappropriate" time or if the same had happened with VertiGo that it'd be a different story...not ripping CP by any means, but if you go "cutting edge", sometimes it cuts both ways...

*** This post was edited by rollergator on 4/5/2002. ***

Hey OHIoCoaster, you work at COSI? I'll look for you next time I go!

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He let the contents of the bottle do the thinking; can't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding.

The thing that I find funny about "dem dere new-fangled thingamabobs" is that they always seem to work when the cameras are running.

Seriously, I watched the entire Media Day for Batwing (hell, I was in it) and things ran fairly smoothly. At the very least, it ran MUCH more smoothly than it did the day Batwing opened to the public. Similarly with V2 at SFGAm, everything I saw on TV appeared to work without a hitch. Now we have Shaggy/Steph/Sean (what's up with all the 'S' names :)) giving us reports of multiple re-ride and narry a mention of a 'hiccup'. Yet when the ride is to perform for the PAYING public, it suddenly has *issues* that keep it down all day.

I'm not going to go so far as to actually advance one of my celebrated 'conspiracy theories'. But it is a puzzlement.
lata,
jeremy
--who notes that at least Hypersonic had the consistancy to act up *every* day ;)

Thats what I'm saying Hostyl

When parks keep pushing the limits of their operating seasons (too early or too late) this is going to continue to be a problem.

I think the late starts on construction are part of the problem (and most times these days some sort of de-construction is involved as well). Then, add in the fact that the TV cameras generally stop rolling during down-time....nobody wants to watch footage of the mechanics anymore...;)

Also, those "media days" are when the park KNOWS it must be working right....if the ride doesn't work at all, there's nothing at all on the evening news....

bill, bummed that the SFoG trip this weekend got nixed, esp. after seeing S:UF on CNN...

I can see it now, a repeat of 2000, Rideman will be coming to PKI every weekend for 3 months only to be greeted by "Sorry Tomb Raider Will Not Be Operating Today"

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David Bowers
Mayor, Coasterville

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2Hostyl said: [quote removed -J]

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Nah, makes quite a bit of sense. They pay exorbitant amounts of money to host media days. They're gonna run the thing whether it is exactly right or not. I mean, there is rarely if ever a problem that will actually cause people to be injured or hurt, most will just cause headaches later. Like driving a car that needs a new clutch. You CAN do it, you'll almost certainly get there, but if you have the option (general public) then it realy isn't smart.

*** This post was edited by Jeff on 4/5/2002. ***