geekzapoppin

I'm not GLBT myself, but a great many of my friends are so my wife and I always enjoy going to Pride Night. It's one of the few times when the folks in line around you are genuinely happy to be there and ready to have a good time. Most importantly, everyone is NICE to one another. After a lousy experience at FearFest on Saturday, I have a feeling that Pride Night might be the only time we visit the park from now on.

First of all, to the workers at PKI: No matter what you're paid, it isn't enough to have to deal with the calibre of folks who were in the park last night. Without exception, every park employee with whom I dealt was courteous and friendly. Thank you. However almost the reverse is true about a good number of park patrons. There were people smoking everywhere: in line, walking around the park, at the food stands, etc. We were around more smokers this year than in years where people were pretty much allowed to smoke wherever they could make fire. It was awful. We also saw a bunch of perfectly healthy teens who had rented scooters because they were too lazy to walk around the park. To top it off, they got ****ed off at having to wait in line for the Fearfest attractions and scooted off, sometimes two to a scooter. We also saw one of the wandering performers get punched by a snotty teenager. The two got in each others' faces and almost started a real fight. A security guard walked right past and never batted an eye. Those are just a few of the many things that ruined our day at the park. I honestly felt that PKI really dropped the ball when it came to policing the park. As for the actual attractions, to be honest they were all very similar and none were very imaginative or well-themed. The actors all tried very hard and were fun to interact with, but the actual locations came off looking much like what they were: hastily thown together areas that are meant to be a quick overlay to existing areas within the park. We won't be going back to Fearfest.

Let's see how many incontinence newsletters we can sign him up for.

That would be sweet if they actually spent the money to make the ride look as nice as as that Scooby coaster looks. However, this is Paramount we're talking about. Just look at what they did with the Scooby dark ride. Plywood and flourescent paint. I'm not gonna get my hopes up until I hear otherwise.

Booyah! Thanks for the info. I haven't been to FearFest since the first year, so this will be a nice bonus.

My wife bought me a two-day pass back at the beginning of the season and I still have one day left on it. On the actual card it says that it's good through October but I'm worried that with Fearfest going on that it's pretty much useless. Is it still good and, if so, what will I have to do to pay the extra admission for Fearfest? Thanks! PS RIP Hanna-Barberra Land. Another piece of my childhood bites the dust.

By the way, about Tom and Jerry, they were created by Bill Hanna and Joseph Barbera so it's possible they own the characters. I know that they've been animated by a number of studios over the course of their "careers". I'll miss HBL but for purely selfish reasons. It's one of the few places that is still there from when I came to the park as a child. It makes perfect sense to change it as the HB characters don't have the same multigenerational recognition as the Disney characters do. I'll still miss it when it's gone. It's not like there is much of it left that is the same as when I was a kid.

As I said in another post, I'm not Gay myself, but my wife and I have a lot of Gay friends and are very supportive of GLBT rights. We go to Pride Night whenever we can. Honestly, it's the most fun I ever have in the park. People who are normally shunned by society for just being who they are can be themselves without having to constantly worry about whether or not they'll be beaten or even killed for it. I'm not exaggerating. It happens more often than you think. Anyway, Pride Night is always tons of fun and the guests and staff seem to enjoy it equally. As for a "White Pride" night, since when are whites a minority? Hell, most days at PKI are already White Days for the most part.

I first told my wife I loved her on the sky bucket ride at King's Dominion. I can understand why they're gone, but I still miss them. They were always a nice way to view the parks.

It was just "King's Island" long before the Paramount was added. I think that most younger folks just find the idea of dropping the "Paramount's" from the name odd because it's what they're used to. Much like us older folks never really got into the habit of calling it "Paramount's Kings Island". If they spend more money on the park bringing it back up to the standards of its heyday, then I'm all for it. They can call it "Cousin Buford's Trailer Park" for all I care.

ACE physique! HA! That's too funny. Sadly, I feel I also have such a physique. I haven't been to the park in a couple of years, but the last time I was there, I barely fit in The Beast and The Racer seats. I haven't changed much in size since then (6'3" and 275lbs) so with the seatbelts I hear they've installed, will I be able to ride at all? I'd hate to not be able to ride the best attractions the park has to offer.

I guess what upsets me is that the FOF was one of the few things that Paramount did right when they took over the park. KI is still a nice space and has potential if Paramount would just give it some care and upkeep. Heck, the "Walk of Fame" or whatever the area near the Tower is called that has the Paramount stuff in it hasn't been touched since it was created. I enjoyed THE UNTOUCHABLES and THE ADDAMS FAMILY as much as anyone, but they aren't exactly new films. When I was a kid, our family traveled from WV to spend a couple of days at KI. That would be our entire summer vacation. I can't see even considering that now with what the park has become. The only reason I'm going now is that I live in NKY and at least they still have some nice coasters.

Let me preface this by saying that it's been a couple of years since I've been able to go to the park, so anyone who has been there recently can feel free to correct me. When the FOF first opened, I remember being incredibly impressed at the amount of themeing in the queue for the ride. From the outside line with the frequent announcements about "trouble on the base" to the show inside that combined the video with sound and lighting effects, my friends and I marveled in the job that Paramount had done on the attraction. For the first time in many years, it felt like the owners of the park had presented a "Disney-quality" attraction. The last few times I visited the park, though, I noticed that pretty much the only part of the pre-ride presentation that was in operation was the video, and even that was being displayed on monitors that were in bad need of replacement. Was I just unlucky, or has the attraction truly fallen apart that badly over the years? It's a shame if it has been left to deteriorate, as it really was a wonderful piece of "show" in the park. Any thoughts? *EDIT - Oops, can a moderator move this to the appropriate forum. I accidentally posted it in "Polls".

I also miss both the Enchanted Voyage and the Smurf Ride (yes, I know that one was built on the ruins of the other.) My memory is a little fuzzy, but didn't there also used to be a neat little HB Character fountain where you could control the water flow to make it do different things? I think I'm also the only person to have missed Yogi's Cave at PKD. I was also very sad when they removed the sky buckets from the parks. I first said "I love you" to my future wife on the buckets at PKD. Sigh. I just miss dark rides in general. They were about the experience, not the thrill. At least WDW still has some great dark rides. I haven't been to the park since the Scooby dark ride was installed, but I hear that it's a cheapo retrofit of the Phantom Theater. I guess I'll find out when I go next week.

Hi folks. First post here. I've been going to KI on and off for around 25 years or so. I remember the last time I rode the KC was, I think, the year before it was dismantled. It had been a while since I had been to the park and I had grown (up and out) since that time. Let's just say that it's a miracle that my son was conceived. I somehow got the seat locked into a position wherein it was far too low to the ground. I spent the entire ride having my man parts battered. I never rode it again.