Kings Island announcement March 18 "Something Big"

[Ian]

Bump, ROAR and yawn...

Just thought that somebody, somewhere may have been interested.

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

What a thrill.

 

[jjjjustin]

This thing just seems so out of place! Other than that the dinosaur doesn't look that bad.

 

[Ian]

You can buy publicity like this...

One of the animatronic dinosaurs in Kings Island’s new “Dinosaurs Alive” attraction caught fire Tuesday night, less than an hour after the park closed for the day and two days before the exhibit is set to open to the public.

The attraction – which features 60 life-sized dinosaurs in “a spectacular outdoor Jurassic forest setting” – will open as planned Thursday, Kings Island spokesman Don Helbig said.

“We don’t know (how the fire started),” Helbig said. “It was during their construction of the dinosaur, so we’ll be looking into that.”

Helbig said he is sure there will be no danger to visitors when the attraction opens. “Dinosaurs Alive” will be a “long-term investment” for the park and will be added to from season to season, Helbig said.

It is located across from the entrance to the Vortex rollercoaster, tucked behind The Racer rollercoaster, Helbig said.

Reports and photos of billowing black smoke started popping up on Twitter and other social media sites after the fire broke out around 8:40 p.m. After an employee in the Kings Island security office first said there was no fire. Helbig confirmed it later in the evening.

The blaze was contained to a single dinosaur and was quickly extinguished by the Kings Island Fire Department (located in the park) as well as backup from fire departments in Mason, Deerfield Township and Loveland/Symmes Township, Helbig said.

No one was injured.

The fire will be investigated by members of the Warren County fire investigations team in conjunction with the Mason Fire Department and Kings Island fire staff, Mason fire Lt. Mark Gerano said.

Kings Island is open daily for the season but closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/2011 ... eststories

 

[marc]

What a waste of money they look really bad

 

[madhjsp]

This does seem pretty random. I'm not sure it's deserving of all the hate that it's getting in this thread (let's face it, we as coaster enthusiasts don't exactly represent the target market for this thing), but it's going to have to be really well-done for it to stick around.

Kids are certainly going to want to see it, but if it feels really fake, they aren't going to be interested in returning, and parents certainly won't want to shell out the extra entry fee again.

I always hate to see parks fail or major attractions flop, but I don't know how I feel about this. It just seems like such a major monetary investment with a relatively limited target market and revenue-generating potential. A new coaster could bring lots of people to KI that have never been or otherwise wouldn't have gone, but few people would go just to see this.

 

[D1993]

^ i agree i really am hoping for a massive re-profile of sob by rocky mountain coasters. the dinosaur alive was kinda like 'oh well thats cute'
dont see how it fits, i guess its good for families etc