Problems at PKI this season.
I know many of you may disagree with me, and want to flame me, but there is some concerns I have with my home park.
Before I start, I am a gold pass holder, a former ride op, and an ACER, and this is one place I can't live without. I live less than 20 minutes away. I am not saying the park is suddenly terrible, nor am I saying I will never return, but the park's good reputation is in danger.
It seems that as the year has progressed, the problems with the way the park has run have increased. Especially after my first-ever visit to Cedar Point, which may or may not be coincidental.
1) Tomb Raider: The quality of the ride experience has lessened since April. Back then, most of the effects worked, the employees wore special uniforms, and there were many, quick moving people. Now there has been defacing (similar to other hyped rides placed there in the '90s), slower moving of employees, less people checking bars, and announcements reminding people to secure articles, even though there are lockers at the entrance. Also, the ride opened late so they could begin painting the queue railings, at 8:45 am one morning.
2) Response of employees to dispatch times has been slow. Either this is due to less staffing or something else, or both.
3) The Beast: With those brakes, the excitement level should be lowered to "4" instead of "5" Hourly capacity has also decreased.
4) Non-ride staff: From someone talking me into buying a bottle of water rather than getting it from the tap for free, to someone (an employee, not a guest) in the TR queue purposely throwing trash on the ground, even though the trash can was next to him. And when I told him to do better than that, he gave me some "look."
5) Flying Eagles, one of the best flat rides around, has been closed the last few times I have been there. Enough said.
6) Double ride tuesdays: At Son of Beast, I sat in the third row of the gold pass car on a tuesday, but wasn't allowed to stay on because the sign was missing that day, even though nobody was waiting for that seat.
I thought the problems were isolated until last night (8/26/02), when the following rides were closed:
Drop Zone, Flying Eagles, Backwards Racer, and I think White Water Canyon. The Beast and TRTR opened after 10:30.
Was it just a bad maintenance day, or are people not on the ball?
Thought THAT was bad? Try being threatened physically at the Styx concert at Timberwolf by a couple of lousy people because you were standing, trying to see and hear the band on stage. And when I went to security, guess who they sided with? The people who had a problem with people standing DURNING A ROCK CONCERT! So I moved to the back of the ampitheatre for the rest of the concert, for my safety. But I was glad I stayed. REO Speedwagon was the other band that night, but during the set change, I chose to get the (heck) l out because I was (ticked) with other rude guests and indifferent park personnel.
I did what I had promised to do MANY times: went to Guest Relations. Filled out a report so that my complaint wouldn't be absorbed and forgotten about by some person, (who though was nice, by the way.)
I urge that you be cautious when visiting Paramount's Kings Island this week or the next weekend, because your favorite ride may be closed, and you may be waiting in longer lines than expected.
I have no huge bitterness towards the park; I am simply in fear of my home park being run like a low-budget Six Flags park; a park that used to (in my opinion) compete against Cedar Point.
Sincerely,
Thomas E. Allen
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Come to Kings Island and forget it all.
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Raging Bull= 107
*** This post was edited by coasterzach1 on 8/26/2002. ***
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Come to Kings Island and forget it all.
As a former Op there there is bad days when everything goes to crap. They usually are concert days. Everybody is leaving cause of school starting. Beast will continue to be "tweaked", After last years bump they wanna get it right.
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Part of a Flight Attendant's arrival announcement: "We'd like to thank you folks for flying with us today. And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you'll think of us."
PKI has had it's problems this year. IMO, I just think that TR:TR was a waste. It was fun the first time, but it's just not cool how they hold you nearly upside down until you get dizzy from all the blood rushing to your head. PKI is still better than SFWoA in all aspects IMO, and will never lose that, but it is loosing some of it's "amusement park" feel. I still think it's one of the greater amusemtn parks out there, and I will keep going, but it is definantly losing some of it's major "perks". I can't put a finger on one right now, but I just know they are with some of my more recent vistits.
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LeWiS
I've only been the one time this year (CoasterBuzzCon) and found the park to be in its best form ever.
I'm curious... how is the Beast's capacity or intensity down when the ride is actually faster?
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"Let's stop saying 'don't quote me,' because if no one quotes you, you probably haven't said a thing worth saying." - Dogma, KMFDM
You do realize that the park is in limited operating days right now, right?
I was going to visit sometime this week, but posponed it for a week or two to go on a weekend when I looked at the schedule, which says that right now the park is in limited operating days, meaning that some attractions may be closed...
Thought THAT was bad? Try being threatened physically at the Styx concert at Timberwolf by a couple of lousy people because you were standing, trying to see and hear the band on stage. And when I went to security, guess who they sided with? The people who had a problem with people standing DURNING A ROCK CONCERT!
If everyone was standing I can see your point. But if most people were sitting, it is extremely rude to stand in front of someone so they can't see. I don't care if it's a concert, ball game, whatever.
The Styx concert: most people were standing during the concert, but it seemed there were more people seated in that section. What caused me to stand was because the aisles were still moving. I kind of blame the people who put the concert together, because they should have put on an opening act for Styx. There would have been plenty of time for guests to take their seats, and get handfuls of beer, so that everyone is in the right place when Styx starts. If they had a problem with me standing, why didn't they stand as well? I didn't want them to not be able to see (who would?!). I go to high school football games (a school I didn't go to, BTW) where it is rare to be seated during the game. I can talk about why the heck a large amount of people don't stand during the highlights of a rock concert, but this is a coaster forum. It just happened to have happened at a place where there are 10+ coasters.
The Beast: I am all for a safe coaster. I thought that the skid brakes in and behind the station needed to be replaced anyway, because they were slow. However, why not just give the Beast some more TLC than just adding brakes at drops? The length and speed (and that double helix) still keep the Beast in my top five wood list.
Limited Operating Days: I can understand Monday thru Friday in late August being limited operating days. But Sunday? Come on! Flying Eagles was closed Sunday, but was open yesterday (Monday). Brian Neal (another nearby ACER) said it was due to crew shortages. But still, you'd expect the shortage to occur on a weekday rather than a weekend. I haven't heard about why Backward Racer was closed (same reason) Drop Zone, however, had mechanical problems, as it was closed both days (no complaints here). In other words, crap happens, but they could better plan staffing, no matter what time of year. Especially concert days.
Tom Allen, who has SOB and Flyers withdrawal!
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It's a purple thing. You wouldn't understand. (See, I've got you saying "What?")
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Bob M.
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www.geocities.com/moviecoaster
I totaly agree. I went this day as well and felt basicly the way. A lot of rides didn't even open until 11 or so including the beast. The list outside stating the closed attractions was completly full. So many rides went down for a period of time on sunday. From rides I saw that were down was, Face/Off, AE, Beast, TR:TR. The beast I think was closed more than it was open this day. I asked the ride op what was wrong with it and he said something about redundentcys (sp). Does anyone know what this means? DZ was closed all day. The flying eagles were not supposed to be operating but they did eventually. This was really bad considering the place was packed and half of there high capacity rides are down.
RPMGuitar, I dont see how you could barley feel the brakes on the beast. When you hit them everyone on the train goes flying forward. Atleast everyone in the front part of the train
The ride opp who said "redundancies" may have been telling you in a smarty way that everyone has been asking him the same question. That's a good one.
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(Former Signature replaced due to bad joke with accident) The Beast at night-Two peas in a pod? http://www.geocities.com/moviecoaster/safetyeditorial- Next article against Markey!
allenpanther said:
1) Tomb Raider: The quality of the ride experience has lessened since April. Back then, most of the effects worked, the employees wore special uniforms, and there were many, quick moving people.
I rode this yesterday and noticed that everything that could be working inside the attraction was indeed working. Shaggy can vouch for this also. The crew was also wearing the same looking clothes they usually do.
Now there has been defacing (similar to other hyped rides placed there in the '90s), slower moving of employees, less people checking bars, and announcements reminding people to secure articles, even though there are lockers at the entrance.
The announcement is made because some people simply don't pay attention to the lockers no matter how many times it is mentioned before the ride to not take lose articles on. I have noticed they have added stronger pouches for lose articles in front of every rider, but for some reason, people don't pay attention to the lockers or something. This slows down the dispatch times because ride operators are constantly having to pick up lose articles and throw them in a bin before the ride starts.
Also, the ride opened late so they could begin painting the queue railings, at 8:45 am one morning.
Not sure about that one but my guess is the ride was down for maintence reasons and the painting was being done while the ride was closed.
2) Response of employees to dispatch times has been slow. Either this is due to less staffing or something else, or both.
Probably due to the lose articles IMO.
3) The Beast: With those brakes, the excitement level should be lowered to "4" instead of "5" Hourly capacity has also decreased.
While the first drop now is braked, I don't think it takes away any excitment. I actually like the new brakes better than the skids for the fact that there is extra speed in certain areas. If anything, hourly capacity has increased on this ride because they very rarely stack trains anymore.
5) Flying Eagles, one of the best flat rides around, has been closed the last few times I have been there. Enough said.
With limited operation, sometimes crews from other rides 'share' other rides. For instance, if Shake, Rattle, & Roll was open, sometimes the Eagles will be closed or vice versa. Yesterday Shake was closed and the Eagles open.
6) Double ride tuesdays: At Son of Beast, I sat in the third row of the gold pass car on a tuesday, but wasn't allowed to stay on because the sign was missing that day, even though nobody was waiting for that seat.
Perhaps they changed the seats for the Gold Pass folks? Did you notice any changes to the sign position? I rode Sonny yesterday and didn't pay attention to those signs because I don't take advantage of the double rides.
I thought the problems were isolated until last night (8/26/02), when the following rides were closed:
Drop Zone, Flying Eagles, Backwards Racer, and I think White Water Canyon. The Beast and TRTR opened after 10:30.
Was it just a bad maintenance day, or are people not on the ball?
Didn't you get a blue sheet handed to you when you passed through the parking gates? There was also the same sign listed in the front of the park stating that certain rides and attractions will be closed due to school being back in session. This is called limited operation and happens every year.
Thought THAT was bad? Try being threatened physically at the Styx concert at Timberwolf by a couple of lousy people because you were standing, trying to see and hear the band on stage. And when I went to security, guess who they sided with? The people who had a problem with people standing DURNING A ROCK CONCERT! So I moved to the back of the ampitheatre for the rest of the concert, for my safety. But I was glad I stayed. REO Speedwagon was the other band that night, but during the set change, I chose to get the (heck) l out because I was (ticked) with other rude guests and indifferent park personnel.
Unless there was a no standing policy or something, I don't know about that. I have never attended a concert there.
I did what I had promised to do MANY times: went to Guest Relations. Filled out a report so that my complaint wouldn't be absorbed and forgotten about by some person, (who though was nice, by the way.)
I urge that you be cautious when visiting Paramount's Kings Island this week or the next weekend, because your favorite ride may be closed, and you may be waiting in longer lines than expected.
You also have to expect some rides to be down due to limited operation. There are signs out front stating this before people go into the park.
-Sean
About the original points:
1) Tomb Raider: The quality of the ride experience has lessened since April. Back then, most of the effects worked, the employees wore special uniforms, and there were many, quick moving people. Now there has been defacing (similar to other hyped rides placed there in the '90s), slower moving of employees, less people checking bars, and announcements reminding people to secure articles, even though there are lockers at the entrance. Also, the ride opened late so they could begin painting the queue railings, at 8:45 am one morning.
I just attended PKI again yesterday. I rode Tomb Raider for the umpteenth time. The only time I saw ride ops in specialized "uniforms" was on media day. The regular ride operators for Tomb Raider have never had themed uniforms for the ride. The uniforms used for the media preview/opening were holdovers from the SOB announce and opening. Every effect was working on Tomb Raider. The only thing I saw not functioning was one of the flaming "torches" in the Monkey room. In the ride room, the ultravoilet statue maddening effect is now back in action, as are the sparks and roving eyes. Also, yesterday for the first time I have ridden since media day the giesers were raised so that they were soaking riders. There were no less than 8 ride ops working the attraction, three of which were checking bars. The process by which loose articles are put in a storage container and then passed across the heads of riders has to go. That step in itself adds significantly to the load time. However the refusal of the guests to use the lockers or not bring loose articles in is what creates the problem to begin with.
2) Response of employees to dispatch times has been slow. Either this is due to less staffing or something else, or both.
Or safety.
3) The Beast: With those brakes, the excitement level should be lowered to "4" instead of "5" Hourly capacity has also decreased.
Beast averages a higher speed this season than it has in years. However, a recent ride on Beast has lessened my opininion of the ride.
4) Non-ride staff: From someone talking me into buying a bottle of water rather than getting it from the tap for free, to someone (an employee, not a guest) in the TR queue purposely throwing trash on the ground, even though the trash can was next to him. And when I told him to do better than that, he gave me some "look."
You don't have to get either bottled or tap.... every food stand will give you a free cup of ice water if you request it. Don't ask, don't get. My main question is why a non rides employee was in the TR que? The "look" is understandible because if people I do not know are patrolling my actions, it puts me on the defensive. I'm not condoning a trash drop though.
5) Flying Eagles, one of the best flat rides around, has been closed the last few times I have been there. Enough said.
As others have said, it is a limited operating week. But EVERY time I have been there this season they were running, including yesterday.
6) Double ride tuesdays: At Son of Beast, I sat in the third row of the gold pass car on a tuesday, but wasn't allowed to stay on because the sign was missing that day, even though nobody was waiting for that seat.
But was it a Gold Pass day slated for SOB? Was it within the past week? Because I thought those ended a few weeks ago. Why woudl there be a Gold Pass day when the semi-permanant signs were removed?
It is unfortunate you feel you did not get the most out of your visit. But keep in mind that near the end of daily operations, any park struggles with disorganization. PKI went out of their way to offer extra days to "play" I applaud them for that. But because of that I know that I cannot expect things to run perfectly. Also, although the park is accountable for it's employees, it cannot patrol them the entire time they may be at the park (working or not working) it's a shame that many who want to be treated like adults, act like children.
Yesterday was not my best day at PKI, but it was not close to being bad. Just remember, if you go looking for problems you are bound to find them.
Shaggy
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Shaggy
R.I.P. Maestro
Phantom Theater 1992-2002
allenpanther said:
It's a purple thing. You wouldn't understand. (See, I've got you saying "What?")
You've got me saying Elder sucks.
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Holiday World, it's impossible not to have a good time
Yup.... Limited operating! That's any day. Can they help they can't get people to work? Would you like them to en-slave some people so you get a flyers ride? Your complaints are all unfounded. I find it amazing that you clump complaints of other guest behavior in with why the park is going to hell in a hand basket! Yep, people throw garbage on the ground and stick gum on the walls, and they are morons....what does that have to do with the park?
Eric "Holiday World is "da bomb" Walton
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"Air time is not a crime. Take a click, you're a prick" - Kris Allen (Jul 2002, HW)
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http://www.islandguide.8m.com
SOB crew in twenty 02
96 SOB laps, and not tired of it yet!
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