Tasteless display at Kings Island Fright Fest?

A Nashville TV station posted the following story today. McNair, Kazemi Skeletons In Kings Island Attraction: Athlete's Mistress Lays Across His Lap On Couch. I'm not offended by the displays but I think the park could do better.

Wow.

That's really a good way to put it, too. It's not really a matter of offense, per se. KI could just do a lot better.

If you're famous, you're fair game.

Hard to believe Taylor Swift made the list, yet Kanye's not there.

Don't take it all too seriously, you'll never get out alive.

A few years back They had a Display on the walk toward SOB.
It had a Skeletal dog chained to a dog house, Above the door it had the Name Vick... I laughed so hard.
The next week the name was Spot!
Ughhh.
What is funny to some, offends others I guess.
I personally don't want to live in a Politically Correct World.
It would not be fun for anyone.

rollergator said:

Don't take it all too seriously, you'll never get out alive.

Well, that's just it. It's not serious because I take it that way. It's serious because it's just not funny. It's lame.

I think it is serious because. All of these parks are doing some scary event.
But they are all scared to scare anybody.

I mean honestly.....
They are scared to make you're blood curdle, They are scared they might offend You, They are scared they might gross You out....Ect, Ect...

The only really good gag I seen at any event, was a few years back at KennyWood. Some girl was freaking out, so a Security gaurd was trying to calm her down. After she calmed down a bit, He turned to expose that he was also a Monster! She lost it! I lost it! LOL...

But why bother, most of the events I have been to have been so lame.
I only go for one last chance to ride a few great rides.

Originally I didn't care after reading the first few posts, but I find nothing humorous about being cavalier about the murder of real people. You can create some great scares without being classless douchebags.

Lame.

Update: Park Drops McNair Skeleton Plans

E-mails flooded Channel 4's inbox expressing a distaste for the display.
Channel 4 e-mailed the park, as well, and received an answer Wednesday.
"When the gates open for the start of our Halloween Haunt event on Friday," the e-mail reads, "park visitors will not find a depiction of Steve McNair in any scenes."

What does a poor attempt at humor have to do with the level of scariness of the attraction?

I thought it was creative. Tasteless? Of course. Classless? Yep. Poor attempt at humor? I don't find it funny at all, but a bit edgy and offensive...but it's an adult-oriented (supposedly graphically intense) Halloween event.

How is it any more offensive than the overdosed Heath Ledger or the dead Micheal Jackson?

Think of it as the morbid version of the Oscar tribute to dead celebrities...instead of being honored, their death is mocked.

This is not a "family-oriented" event, and is explicitly advertized as such.

Well, gosh, everything you said makes it perfectly OK! I wonder why they didn't keep it.

Did they take down the Heath ledger and Micheal Jackson? They didnt keep it because of the sudden bad PR, although the damage is probably already done.

I wasn't attempting to justfiy it, just giving my reaction.

I find it no more offensive than the other mocked dead celebrities...I guess that is more my point. (and I need to stop talking about this in more than one thread).

I think it is silly that Bernie Maddoff is on the list. Why would Death want to take him from us? Seems like Bernie is helping Death out by still being alive.

Robscoast said:
What is funny to some, offends others I guess.
I personally don't want to live in a Politically Correct World.
It would not be fun for anyone.

Screw being 'Politically Correct' - common decency and regard for others is very different than being Politically Correct.

Jeff said:
Originally I didn't care after reading the first few posts, but I find nothing humorous about being cavalier about the murder of real people. You can create some great scares without being classless douchebags.

Lame.

I am going to go out on a limb here and post this:

There is an enormously talented individual that everyone is coming to learn of at Cedar Point, John Taylor. Many of you know John has developed Halloweekends at Cedar Point over the years, with limited resources and budgets, to the point it is at now. Only this year does it seem he has finally been given "free-reign" to push the envelop to the level of a Disney/Universal; the world is now seeing what his true capabilities are with HJTF and GABEE. Knowing John, he is an unassuming man who takes enormous pride in his work and creations. I know for fact that there are companies out there that would snatch him up in a heart-beat, yet he remains dedicated and loyal to Cedar Fair as a 30+ year employee.

So I have to ask: Is it not the responsibility of a CEO (and frankly, the Board of Directors too) to harness the energy, enthusiasm, talent, creativity and capabilities of a person like John and give him the tools and resources to oversee the entire company's Halloween events? (Especially when your company is a billion dollars in debt and Halloween is your single most profitable event in the parks?)

The issues popping up with some of the haunts at Kings Island are silly, stupid, lack creativity, totally classless and frankly are completely avoidable bad PR for the park and the company. It is extremely frustrating to employees within the company and those on the outside that crap like this goes on and still somebody at the "top" is so rooted in his conservatism that his leadership policies allow talent to go unused and wasted while the "potential" that exists at Cedar Fair never finds its way to the masses.

Sad, really really sad.

Anyone who thinks there's nothing distasteful about it should volunteer to take McNair's kids out for a night @ Kings Island and show them the haunts.

I'm with those who think the idea is lame. It lacks humor and creativity. It's the equivalent of a comedy just inserting some gastric noise for a laugh instead of actually bothering to think about dialogue or plot.

mlnem4s said:
this goes on and still somebody at the "top" is so rooted in his conservatism that his leadership policies allow talent to go unused and wasted while the "potential" that exists at Cedar Fair never finds its way to the masses.

Sad, really really sad.

Wooo! Sad? Hmmm... I was most sad when CPoint decided to 'update' the Blue Streak from beautiful CLASSIC coaster to what it is now. Now that was SAD. They had the potential to get bigger, innovative rides, and still keep a little slice of true classic fun. But they didn't. Another topic, I know, but couldn't resist. Personally, I rarely go to the point (last time was 2000) mainly because of this reason. I can experience all their other rides, concrete, and high priced foods and drinks somewhere else.

What's wrong with Blue Streak?

CoasterDemon -- I understand what you are saying about Blue Streak. That was first real coaster I rode as a kid. I hadn't been to Cedar Point for about 10 years or so since I last been there when I went in the early 2000s. I sat down in the seat and when the kid came by to check the lap bar, I told him he had ruined a great ride. Now I know the kid hadn't done anything and I was 1/2 joking in any event. But it was how I felt and still do feel about it.

But the Blue Streak is still one of my favorite rides anywhere. Always make a point to take at least a lap or two on every visit.

People that find this type of thing uncreative and not funny are probobly the same people who thought Transformers 2 was bad because it was mindless or people that don't find South Park or Family Guy funny. People like that need to not be so uptight and relax. There's nothing wrong with mindless or offensive humor. Not everything has to be so serious. Steve McNair was murdered while cheating on his wife with a crazy person so now they're making fun of it. He wasn't randomly gunned down in the street. He was only a victim of his own stupidity.

Also, just because you don't like it doesn't mean it wasn't a good idea. We'll have to wait and see what the numbers are like at the end of the year or see if anything changes next year.