Nice pictures Shawn(Mr. Coasterguide)! Those pictures confirm what i`ve known since November 5 2000- That Kings Mills Log Flume was going to reopen after being renovated. (I thought you were taking your site offline, (I may have dreamt this)) I think that they should bring back winterfest. The Beach water park has a winter event, I forget the name. If PKI adds Winter Fest again, not only would they be a theme park, but they would become known for having a spectacular Halloween event and, if they do add, hopefully a spectacular winter event. If they do add Winter Fest again, not only would it be a great preview for the following year`s attraction but if they had lots of Christmas lights, say in the woods by the train and you took a ride through the lit up woods, PKI would make a lot of $$$$$! I remember when they put lights on the Eiffel Tower and it looked like a huge 300 foot tall Christmas tree with a star on top. Why doesn`t PKI add Winter Fest. Also, why don`t they just announce their 2001 attraction? Practically everything is known about it except for the fact that its not official yet.
I`ll end my story (I hope you understand what I said) now and can`t wait until PKI announces the 2001 attractions and I`ll be at PKI on April 7!
coastersrz....Thanks for the kinds words about the pictures. I have a few more of the site from other angles that I didn't post...give me your email and I will send them to you. I was going to take the site offline, but changed my mind after some feedback I got.
I didn't have the chance to attend winterfest, there is a cost issue and staffing issue. The park had a hard time meeting staffing requiremtns for the 200o season. They brought in a lot of exchange students and immigrants to work. The level of service suffered, I personally ran into the old language barrier more than once.
PKI knows people want winterfest back (at least that is what they have told me), the also know that people want the restaurant over the main gate to open again. *sigh* it isn't the KI of old. Remember the Dolphin shows and the safari monorail?
Shawn
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Restaurant over the main gate Shawn? When was dolphin show taken out? I miss the ice skating show too. That was one of their best. And the Smurfs!!!! I can't believe they lost that great ride. If anything, they should've added another building for Phantom Theatre. Does anyone know why Smurfs was closed? I heard it was something about one of the characters being demonic. Ok, that's strange? If it was lack of ridership, look at Phantom Theatre. It has great capacity, but...
It would be nice for another dark ride, but I think the kids have more than their fair share with Nick Central and Hanna Barbara. Does PKI really think that this addition for 2001 will bring in more guests? Maybe it's that Ghoster Coaster hour wait? (LOL) I hope they will concentrate for more thrills for the big kids in 2002-03. I'm not complaining about what they have. But a great hyper and full circuit invert(please by B&M), would really put them a lot higher up on the charts. Maybe even higher than that other Ohio park. Not that it isn't better already. ;)
bcdzoom...When Taft owned Kings Island there was an "International finer dining" place over the main gate. The rooms are still there, but they don't use it for anything now. It was great because you could sit up there in the evening and eat a nice meal and watch the fireworks and the fountains and tower. The ampitheatre to the right of the eiffel tower (it is used for various shows throughout the season now), used to house a dolphin show, the front of the stage was a giant pool as I recall (sorta like a seaworld setup), the got rid of thet when they got rid of the animal safari and the gibbon island. I miss the smurfs too.
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Shawn Wehrley said:
"The ampitheatre to the right of the eiffel tower (it is used for various shows throughout the season now), used to house a dolphin show, the front of the stage was a giant pool as I recall (sorta like a seaworld setup), the got rid of thet when they got rid of the animal safari and the gibbon island.
"" target="_blank">www.coasterguide.com"
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Shawn, If you're talking about "International Showplace", that is not the dolphin show. International Showplace was still there when the dolphin show ampitheatre was at the park. It used to be near the pond in Rivertown. Now it's just an empty space with some baby trees growing. In other words the dolphin show had it's own seperate ampitheatre. Just thought I might correct you on that.
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Bill Yost a.k.a. THE BEASTtmaster
www.geocities.com/byostie Can you take me higher? (CREED)
Actually the dolphin show was in a separate building/theater that was between the ampitheater in question and the lake behind it. It's all grass now and would be **perfect for a flat ride!!!**. Anyway, I miss the days when there were actually good concerts in Timberwolf, and getting an elephant ear and hot chocolate at Winterfest. Those were great 'un-corporated' times.
BTW, Shawn, do you have any overhead shots of the White Water Canyon queue and ride areas? If you do, can you post them? I cannot find good overhead shots of this area and would like to know what it looks like 'available-space' wise back there.
Thanks in advance...
Chris
Actually the theater/building from the dolphin show is now in the Nick area and houses a show there. I believe last season was the first season without the International Restaurant.
William
*** This post was edited by lumpy72 on 1/25/2001. ***
I also miss the slides! I loved the slide! And the rainbow arch and the tunnel thing(I think it went from International Street or Hanna Barbara to Rivertown) and the elephant fountain. Awww! :(
It lost a lot of magical feeling when Paramount took over. But PKI is still an excellent park. Also, what's with PKI turning the All-Star(I think?) Cafe into like a deli sandwich place. That was a bad-looking move. I never ate there, but if I had the choice, definitely All Star. They need to fix the Rivertown Antique cars up or maybe(croos your fingers) their removing it to put in a coaster. Better be something good though.
lumpy72 the International Restaurant has been gone for quite some time.The Dolphin show was located right behind International Showplace (If you head past the Eiffel tower and come to the Antique cars turn right and it is now just a big grassy area) Which would be a good place for a flat ride as that path is always deserted, especially at night when there are few lights on it.
Shawn Wehrley, my e-mail address is rzerhusen@fuse.net I`m glad you decided to keep the site online. It`s the only one that I`ve found that has lots of pictures of The Bat and Screamin Demon! (Both of these coasters I never saw as I was born in `85. I would like to see the other pictures!
When they took out the dolphins they moved the structure to Splat City. I may have not made this clear, sorry.
William
lumpy72, I never heard that before!
Chris Rettig...I will see if I have other shots of the area by white water canyon. When I went up in a plane on Tuesday (1/22/01), I took about 100 shots of the park from the air. It is amazing how much of the Beast you can see in the winter with the leaves off the trees. email me at: shawn@coasterguide.com and I will send you the pictures you want (if I have them). I stand corrected on the Dolphin Show, between 1972 and 1999 I was only at the park about 6 times since I lived in Columbus, Ohio at that point. Sorry to all, and thanks for the correction.
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Thanks for your kind words about my site coastersrz, the positive feedback means a lot.
Shawn
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I looked for a shot of the whitewater canyon area, unfortunately I did not have one. There are vast areas of unused land around KI that I did not take shots of. Sorry Chris, I was trying to concentrate on the coasters on that trip. Next time I do a photo flight I will take shots of that area and email them to you.
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Thanks for the effort Shawn! What I am really looking for are shots of WWC queue area, the area of land behind Keatons Keelboats and the Beast area, so some of those shots you have might be very useful. If you think you might have some, please email them to the address in my profile. I really do appreciate it.
Thanks again,
Chris
Thanks for the pictures Shawn, I really enjoyed them. Do you have any of The Beast that you could sned me, if you do I would apreciate it!
I wouldn't say that they don't use the old International Restaurant for anything; after all, I've eaten three meals up there in the past two seasons. That's now a catering facility for smaller groups, and it's also where, over the past two seasons, they've hosted some coaster nut groups.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Thanks for the notes Shawn. I'll get a reply back to you when I can. My interest really lies in the land structure behind those rides and the possibility of fitting a hyper coaster back in Rivertown. I think it can be done, with a little tweaking of current queues and dealing with the railroad's track layout. I think it would have to be a combo out-n-back and twister ride to make it, but I don't see a reason why it can't. That's primarily my curiosity in the sky photos. I want a little more on the topography and layout of the land.
Rivertown, in more recent years, is quickly becoming a ghost town, with nothing new since WWC. In the meantime, Hanna Barbera land was remade over again, twice. I'd wish the park would even itself out a little instead of being so top heavy on its two extreme ends. If PKI would only take the time to do something with the walkway by the pond and put in a major capacity ride in RT to alleviate the situation, I'd be happy with that. And I wouldn't mind if they decided to not put in a major new ride within the next 3 years after that. If 2 for 2002 is true, lets hope RT isn't neglected again.
Sorry for the rant, but if ya gotta vent, why not in the PKI forum? ;)
Doe anyone know when PKI will officially anounce their 2001 attraction? Also, I hope they don`t wait this long to unveil their 2002 attraction!
Chris did you get the awsome satellite shot that Lumpy sent? Wow!
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