Leaderboard

Part One Resurrection of a Park When it was announced that Ed Hart was reopening the park and I read about his plans, I had serious doubts. I immediately said "I have to go to that opening day!" I wanted to see how a park that had been closed for four years, loved by some and reviled by others, would handle the mass numbers of people that were sure to attend. I predicted it would be a fiasco and I wanted to see it all first-hand. I left my house at 7:45 on Saturday morning. After getting breakfast and coffee, I was on the road by 8:00. I made excellent time and it took me almost exactly two hours to get to the park. Once I got to the parking lot, it was a little confusing where I needed to go. There were no signs and no one directing traffic. I ended up following other cars over to the Expo Center, and saw the parking for the park to the left. I got a really close spot, and was at the gate at 10:15. There were already lines of people waiting to get in. I immediately saw my friend Tom and his friend Jeff, so I joined them. Lines at the gate. We discussed our plans for the day. They were going to Lightning Run first, while I planned to walk around and take pictures and video before taking my camera back out to the car. I just had to document the occasion. We agreed to meet up later. The gates opened up at 11:00, and we were in after a very short wait. The sign inside the gate. I stood inside the gate, and one thing I noticed right off The Bat was that there were lots of families coming in. This boded well since last time our visit was spoiled in part by unruly teens. King Louie was there to welcome everyone back. I headed to the left and one of the first rides I came to was Fearfall. After what happened with the park's previous drop ride, I wasn't the only one questioning the decision to put in a new one due to the general public's perception (in fact, later in the day I heard someone say "I'm not riding Hellevator!" and then someone trying to correct them). This ride looked fun. As soon as it reached the top, it dropped. No time to wait for Sammy Hagar to sing the words "Right now!" before the drop. I didn't ride it just then, saving it for later. Fearfall I continued on and came to the flying scooters, Professor John's Flying Machines. There was no line, and so I got right on. They're a decent set of scooters. I couldn't get it to snap, but I got some very nice height on them. The scooters were located right next to... I had heard stories from ACEr friends who had been there the week before that it was a tight fit with the unique restraints, so I wasn't even going to bother trying. But the ride looked like a lot of fun with its compact layout. Waiting to drop... ...and there they go! Looks like a fun turn. Lightning's coming! Next I came to the kiddie section of the park. Being a musician, I just had to get a picture of the little carousel, especially the tuba since that's my main instrument! Ride the tuba. As I wandered on, it was evident that there was still a little Six Flags left in the park. The Movie Store, which looks like Six Flags theming I had seen before. Sadly, Enterprise wasn't running. I love those things. I guess I'll just have to wait until Kennywood. The 5D Cinema I rode the 5D cinema, which was showing Rio. I didn't really care for the movie when we rented it, but as an action theater atraction it worked pretty well. I took a spin on Himalaya, where the ride op told me that he liked my shirt (I was wearing my black Banshee shirt). Next was the Bumper Cars. I didn't ride them after seeing how slow they are. I posted to Facebook "I will never complain about the slowness of KI's bumper cars after seeing KK's. The kiddie cars in Planet Snoopy are faster." And yes, I'm am serious about that! They were not the old fashioned kind with the pole up the back, and I wonder if this was part of the issue. There were also too many of them for that small space; they kept getting jammed up in a big group. This happened both times I stopped to watch them. Realizing that I had made a complete circle around the front section of the park, I made my way over the bridge and onto the Giant Wheel. Under the Wheel They paired me with a couple since I was by myself, and I got some good views of the park. Lightning Run from the Wheel Thunder Run from the Wheel Deep Water Dive from the Wheel T2 from the Wheel Right at the exit of Giant Wheel, I saw something that struck me as funny. At Kings Island, smokers get a lush garden next to the tower to stink up. At Kentucky Kingdom, they get something similar. May I present Wheel Gardens, a virtual smoker's paradise with ample seating and plenty of shade. Or not. Smokers' Paradise, or Wheel Gardens I didn't bring my swim trunks because I'm too heavy to be a single rider on several of the waterpark attractions, but I like waterparks and thought I'd walk around to see the place. This name sounds oddly familiar... Aruba Tuba at KK, not to be confused with Aruba Tuba at KI. I found someplace for devarious to hang out! Hurricane Bay Bar Waikiki Wipeout Family Wave Lagoon Wave Runner and Deep Water Dive Plummet Summit Giant Wheel When did I step into Universal Studios? It's Jaws Jr! Next up was something I had been anticipating for a long time. A flight on... I approached the ride, and it was much smaller than I remember it. Maybe it was because I was a little boy riding it at Kings Island, so the size difference between me and it was greater then. They also painted the shoes different colors. They were all orange when it was at KI. It was a fun relaxing ride, and it was great to feel that familiar thud when the shoes were lowered to the ground. A boy said to his mom while we were exiting "That was a weird ride... Can we do it again?" It was hot, so I found a shaded table to call Mrs. Gator and look at the videos & pictures I had taken. I spotted Tom and Jeff across the way getting pizza and waved them over. I told them about my day and they told me about their's. When I showed them the video of the Bumper Cars, they just had to see that for themselves. We headed over and they were in disbelief at how slow they were. After another ride on Himalaya, I took the camera out to the car then we headed over to Fearfall. After about a 20 minute wait, we were on. What a fun ride! We then rode Breakdance, a Scrambler-like ride where the individual cars spin too, which was a lot of fun as well. I hadn't ridden any coasters yet, so it was off to Thunder Run.

Part Four Sorry, the Cardinals No Longer Play at the Fairgrounds After dinner we went to the Giant Wheel, which Tom and Jeff and not done yet. A group of teenage boys got in line behind us, bouncing their basketballs. Since the Giant Wheel is bulit on a slope, the platform for the queue is a metal "mesh", so the bouncing resonated quite loudly. All I could think of was "Terpy would not like this!" The ride op asked them to stop bouncing their basketballs, and they did for a while. They started again, and when I looked over, the ride op had one of the basketballs in her hand. She told them they could get it back after the ride. One boy, apparently the one who has his ball confiscated, said "I don't care, I can just win another one." As we were in line, I looked up and saw what I thought would make an interesting picture from my angle. Unfortunately I had already put my good camera in the car, so all I had was my phone, hence the difference in picture quality. The basketballs started bouncing again, and I noticed a Security guard had entered the ride area. He kindly escorted the boys out of line after they repeatedly refused to follow the ride op's instructions to stop their dribbling. We only had time for one more ride and since Tom and Jeff hadn't done the 5D Cinema yet, that's where we went. In the pre-show room, the ride op did his spiel and had to apologize to the people in row 3 that their pre-show screen was turned off by a guest who thought it would be funny to turn it off. To turn it back on apparently requires a "reboot," which he said Maintenance decided against because the park wasn't open for very much longer. Since we were in row 1, we were right next to the ride op. As the pre-show was starting, Tom asked him if he was sick of it yet. He admitted that he was getting there, but said he had made up a dance for the song that plays during the video. As we exited the theater, Tom said that he would like to congratulate Ed Hart if we saw him. We made our way towards the front gate, amidst lots of bouncing basketballs. Just as we were getting close to the exit, we saw Ed to our left on his phone. We waited until he was done, and Tom & Jeff went up to congratulate him on a job well done. I hung back because I didn't feel right meeting him while I was wearing a t-shirt sporting the logo of one of their closest competitors' newest attraction. Tom said that Ed seemed nice and appreciated the sentiments. Inside the front gate, quite a few teens were socailizing. They weren't causing any problems that I could see, but we did have to weave our way through them. We said our goodbyes. Tom and Jeff were going back the next day, with Tom to take videos for Coaster Crew then. I had another two hour drive ahead of me, which thankfully was uneventful. I've always kind of liked the drive between Cincinnati & Louisville. Epilogue They Did the Impossible! Kentucky Kingdom did the impossible... they won me over! This visit was much, much better than my only other time there. It was nowhere near the nightmare/circus/fiasco that I had expected it to be. The associates were friendly and the crowds, for the most part, behaved themselves. Whenever there was a problem, Security or management was there and took care of the situation swiftly. Sure, there are spots here and there that need to be worked on, but it was opening day so I was more forgiving than I would be if the park had been open for a while. I noticed that the families were mostly there for the waterpark. There's just something about that region and their waterparks... Holiday World's main draw is the waterpark too! Hopefully Security and management keep up the good work with any problems (aka unruly teenagers) that might occur. That was one of the main problems with our last visit, and from what I hear from others that was the one thing that bothered a lot of people in the past. I hope that as the word gets out about the park being strict, problem children will learn that they can't get away with what was once acceptable under previous ownership and possibly choose not to behave that way or choose not to even come to the park. I think the price was maybe a little steep for what they had to offer in the dry park alone, but add in the waterpark and it's a good deal. But you know what... I'm perfectly fine with that. I know that Six Flags' extremely low price points for the park led to the park being a babysitter of sorts in the past, and hopefully these higher prices will keep out more of the riff-raff (wow, I'm starting to sound like a grumpy old man!). I'd rather have a good time at a higher price than a miserable experience at a lower price. I'm actually looking forward to going back next year! But Terpy, be warned... you may want to bring earplugs for the basketballs!

Steel? So the next big coaster is steel? How wood you know that?

Kings Island's twin racing roller coasters debuted along with the park in 1972. This highly anticipated new ride ushered in the Second Golden Age of roller coasters and was the park's star attraction until the opening of The Beast in 1979. Although Cincinnati's Coney Island was extremely popular, it had the major issue of flooding due to its proximity to the Ohio River. The decision was made in the 1960's that Coney Island needed to continue to exist, but in a new incarnation and at a new location and thus Kings Island was born. Traditional amusement rides had been loosing popularity since the 1930's so only a small handful of roller coasters had been built in the previous decades. As a result of this, finding a roller coaster designer was a much more difficult task than one would have been lead to believe. In 1970, Gary Wachs and his father (the operators of Coney Island at the time) met John Allen, President of the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, at an IAAPA convention in Chicago. Allen studied under the legendary designer Herbert Schmeck and was the last remaining designer from the first Golden Age of roller coasters in the 1930's. The Wachs' convinced Allen to officially come out of retirement and design a ride for the new park being constructed off I-71 in a rural area about 30 minutes north of Coney Island. As the sun set on Coney Island in 1971, this advertisement was placed outside of the Shooting Star (Coney Island's major coaster) in anticipation for the brand new ride that will be located at the new park. The millions of patrons who visited "Old Coney" during its closing year gazed at the billboard in awe of what the next year would bring. Kings Island opened the next year to much fanfare and the heart and soul of the park was its star attraction: the twin racing roller coasters. With the debut of The Racer in 1972, public interest in roller coasters was stronger than ever before. Parks that hadn't built these massive wooden structures in nearly a half century began construction all over the country and thus the second "Golden Age" of roller coasters had begun. Since 1972, The Racer has given over 99 million rides - the most in park history - and still thrills riders to this day.

Part Two Line Jumping is Not a Sporting Event at Thunder Run The end of the line at Thunder Run was near the sign that said it was an hour wait. The beginning of the queue is wide, then it rounds a corner to go into 3 switchback queues. As we were nearing the corner, a group of four teens cut in front of us to join their friends, who were four groups ahead of us. The guy two groups behind them spoke up and told them to go the end of the line. The teens in the original group told him that their friends had gotten in line with them at the beginning, which we all knew wasn't true because we had all gotten there around the same time and nobody had left. The guy started raising his voice and swearing at the teens, dropping the F-bomb along the way. That's when one of the girls who had cut started in on him. "You need to watch your mouth, you're talking to somebody younger than you. Sh**..." The arguing continued, with both of them raising their voices, and her adding more colorful language "You need to watch your f***in' mouth, I don't need your sh**". We spotted a member of management on the exit ramp from the ride, which was almost directly overhead. I yelled up to him "We have line jumpers down here!" He asked who they were and I pointed them out. The manager had to yell over their arguing to be heard, he told them to leave the line and they did. After they left, our group and the group behind us laughed about the irony of Miss Line Jumper telling the guy to watch his mouth while dropping F- and S-bombs herself. You know how most switchback queues have a swinging gate or chain that can be used to adjust the lines according to crowd size? KK uses chains, but we noticed a few of these were missing at the park. When we got to the end of the third switchback to make our way up the stairs to the station, a group of teens came through the spot that was missing a chain, which would allow them to miss going through two lanes of the queue. I said, "Excuse me, the line goes that way, not this way!" The first teen said, "Who are you talking to?" and I said "You guys." He said, "I don't care, you can get in front of me." I quickly blocked their way and the rest of my group and the group behind us kept close behind me. The teen then said to his friends, "The next person to say something to me better be ready to suck my ****." As we were going up the stairs, a security guard was coming down them from the station. As he passed I said, "You better put a chain down there in the line because you have people going through that and line jumping." He asked who did, but since I didn't make eye contact with the group and kept my head down while talking to them, I couldn't point them out with certainty. I had an idea of who it was, but didn't want to be wrong. Security said that he would need to know who it was before he could do anything. I said "All I'm saying is there needs to be a chain there, something to keep in mind for the future." I looked back down the stairs a few seconds later, and the security guard was escorting a group out of the line. I guess other people behind me had pointed them out, and they were the ones I had suspected. I rode 2nd to last seat, and it was running great with some nice little pops of airtime! We then headed over to the front of the park and rode Tin Lizzies. The ride op had to give a long spiel explaining the rules as each car was loaded. I asked her "Are you tired of saying all that yet?" She smiled and said "I am, and I'm here for a few more hours!" I said, "And just think, it's only opening day!" We went over to Lightning Run, and I tried the test seat (which, according to reports, hadn't been there during the ACE event the week before). The light didn't light up when I tried. Tom pushed down on the second seat to see how far it had to go before it lit and he said there was about an inch difference between my lap bar and the other one. Close... We were getting hungry, so we agreed on Swampwater Jack's. I had been in there before to look at the menu, and they had some good choices.

We want more, we want more...

Prologue June 1998 In early June 1998, a group of about seven Admissions associates and one person from the Information Systems department from Paramount's Kings Island ventured two hours south to visit Kentucky Kingdom and enjoy the park, anticipating a ride on their new coaster, Twisted Sisters, and everything else the park had to offer. Little did they know it would be one of the worst park experiences they would ever have. We carpooled down, and the day started off well enough. We rode Hellavator, Thunder Run, T2, and Vampire. We didn't find out until we were at the park that Twisted Sisters had not opened for the season yet, which was disappointing because we were really looking forward to it. But overall, we had fun until Chang. When we got to Chang, the only access to the station was by stairs. There were no ramps or elevators, so my friend Brian, who is in a wheelchair, couldn't get up there. The rest of us waited in line and when we got to the station, we asked the ride op about how our friend could get up there. I will never forget his exact words: "Well, if he's in a wheelchair he shouldn't be riding anything." I asked "Excuse me, what did you say?" in disbelief. He said "Yeah, if he's in a wheelchair he shouldn't be riding anything at all." Now you've got to know Brian. A skiing accident when he was in high school broke his neck. Yes, he uses a wheelchair, but he can walk short distances as long as he's holding on to something. He is very active; he still skis, waterskis, goes boating, and has played wheelchair rugby on the international level. He just missed making the US Paralympic Rugby Team (which is profiled in the excellent documentary Murderball). He has ridden every ride at Kings Island, including King Cobra after his accident. So when the ride op said this to us, we were shocked. Needless to say, Brian was less than pleased when we reported back to him. When we decided to ride again, Brian figured he would take that time to get gas in his car, so he and another friend left the parking lot, filled up, and when he tried to use his receipt to re-enter the parking lot like at Kings Island, he was told he would have to pay again. After arguing with the parking lot attendant, he relented and shelled out the money again. It wasn't until years later, through this site, that I found out the park didn't control the parking lot. During the afternoon, a bad storm blew in. There was no notification over the park's PA system about it like we were used to at KI. We sought shelter in the one and only indoor restaurant. We ordered pizza and one person in our party ordered a beer. The food service worker told him "You're going to have to come back here and pour it yourself." Huh? He asked why, and was told that they didn't have anyone working at the time who was old enough to serve beer. He asked to speak with a supervisor, and after a ten minute wait one appeared and was able to serve him a beer. Things got crazy as the storm raged on outside. The place was packed, and there were lots of unruly teens in the restaurant. One of the food service workers knew some of the teens, grabbed the microphone that was on the counter near the register and started yelling at her friends "GIMME BACK MY PEN! YOU STOLE MY PEN! I WANT MY PEN BACK!" over and over. Then two groups of teens decided that they didn't like each other, or somebody looked at someone the wrong way, and they started throwing trays at each other. We narrowly missed being hit, but one innocent mom near us was not so lucky and was hit in the head. One of our party ran to the counter and asked the worker to call Security and First Aid. When the two First Aid workers showed up to check on the woman, we told them they needed to get Security in there too to calm the crowd. They told us that they were also Security, but they couldn't do anything because there were too many people and only two of them. By that time, the storm had cleared and we made our way to Guest Relations. We told them everything that had happened and demanded a full refund. The woman there said all the could do for us was a voucher for free pizza and beer. We told her that wasn't acceptable since we had already just eaten. She then said they could offer us tickets to come back another day. We told her that also wouldn't work, because there was no way that we would ever be coming back. She went in the back, and about five minutes later said she could give us our money back if we left the park at that time. We said that was absolutely fine with us! It was many, many years before I even considered giving them a second chance. After hearing from other enthusiasts that it was a decent park (and some even going as far as saying it was their favorite park!), I decided during the '09-'10 off-season that I was going to go to opening day 2010. I even put the date on my calendar. But then, it was announced that Six Flags was not going to open the park, and I considered it dead.

I voted "other" because I simply can't choose! I've only ever ridden one coaster I really didn't like, and even that one might grow on me if I gave it another chance. I have favorites within categories, but can't choose a single category as my favorite. Whichever one I'm on at the moment!

Just rode Banshee for the first time today and its an amazing ride congrats to Kings Island Banshee is a slam dunk

When I first saw the subject of this thread, I thought that by boat ride, you meant log flume. Only once I saw the options did I realize you were referring to the viking ships.

Viking Fury is an enjoyable ride that the whole family will love. Berzerker is all the fun of an asthma attack combined with a claustrophobic's worst nightmare and wrapped in a ride cycle that feels like it's never going to end. Berzerker is the definition of cruel and unusual punishment and has probably been considered for use at Guantanamo Bay. It brings me joy to imagine my enemies riding Berzerker. I chose Viking Fury.

I also had to go for "Other" because "Coasters designed by Ron Toomer" isn't a choice...

You must have missed this one then. Photo courtesy of RCDB. Also, whenever someone has brought up Intamin's reliability record, I have yet to hear someone try to defend them for it. Just sayin'.

Seatbelts? Cedar Fair.

Hint: The park reads this here.

Part Three Is That My Patty? There was quite a line at Swampwater Jack's, but I was forgiving because it was opening day. We got up to the counter and they were out of what I wanted, the grilled Cajun chicken sandwich (so proud of myself in being good and not going for the pizza, burger or fried chicken, although they all looked good!). A girl behind the counter asked me what I needed and I told her. She found out for me that they were on the grill now. Tom & Jeff got their food, paid and sat down while I waited... and waited... and waited. In the meantime I watched their operation. Lots of people were ordering chili cheese fries, which had to be ordered at the counter, and then the kitchen was asked to make them. This caused a lot of the backlog in the line, so I'm sure they'll find a way to fix that. Finally my chicken was ready. I got in line for the registers and only the one on the right was working; the one on the left had been working just a few minutes before but was having computer issues and was being worked on by a supervisor. After about five minutes, I started to eat my fries (cold fries are one of my least favorite things) and then my chicken sandwich. The chicken was a little dry so I decided to save that until I could put something on it. The register on the right went down just as the left one started working. A manager came in and worked on the right one, but then in it's first transaction back online the left started having problems again. There were three people ahead of me in line and all four of us were gathered around the register counter. After a while, the manager told us to just go ahead through without paying. This was a nice gesture that I greatly appreciated after waiting so long. I put Heinz hot sauce on my sandwich from the pump dispenser, got to the table, took a bite and my mouth was on fire! I said to Tom and Jeff, "I need to remember to taste the hot sauce before I dump it on next time!" I put some mayo on it to cool it down, which helped a great deal.

Well, the bike stuntman from the show approves of my idea. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Check out this blog written by Trevor Bodogh, the insanely talented stunt bike rider at the "Cirque Imagine" show at Kings Island. I only had the opportunity to shake hands with him (and the rest of the cast) briefly during the media preview, but you can tell from his blog that they really appreciate the support that they have earned from our community. The blog starts with him leaving his home in Ontario, Canada, a few weeks ago and I assume he'll update it regularly. Very interesting stuff! "Cirque Imagine" is playing daily* through August 17th. Show times are Tues, Wed, Thur, Fri, Sun 3:00, 5:00. 7:00, Sat 1:30, 3:30, 5:00, 7:00 *No Shows Mondays

We ate at the Chicken Shack for the first time on Thursday. I had a chicken sandwich with fries. It was a very good and very large meal. I am so very glad that we have the season long dining plan.

So my 20th birthday is next week and for it I got a Kings Island Gold Pass. Today I decided to make my first ever venture down to the Thrill Capital of the Midwest (Not the world, that's either CP or SFMM) to claim it and get my paws on my first usable gold pass! I was nervous about the drive so my dad drove down for the highway bit and I just followed him. After we got to the home stretch in Middletown, we split, he went home, and I finished the last third of the drive unescorted. I had driven to Kings Island with just someone to follow! I was so proud of myself! And this highway driving thing opens up opportunities to do Cedar Point and Kentucky Kingdom next season! First thing I did was get my Gold Pass processed. Apparently in this day and age of all this technology people still need to print their confirmation numbers, I was the only one to have pulled theirs up on their smartphone for them to punch in...and that was it! But regardless, I have my pass! And I got it on this date! As if the thread title didn't suggest it! First up on the lineup was none other than my baby and the best ride at the park, Banshee! Got the purple train the first two times but the last time I got the blue train (though it was rattling some), so three rides on my favorite Kings Island ride wasn't bad at all! What a way to celebrate the new Gold Pass! After a few spins on Banshee, I decided to go to Skyline Chili. At Kings Island. Just need a Red's baseball cap and this is the most Cincinnati thing ever... Diamondback was next...and it rattled a bit. I, that coaster's five years of existence, have NEVER had a rattly ride on Diamondback! It was in the middle-ish of the brown train if that helps anybody, but it rattled and I've never had it do that on me before. I cut across this area behind Eiffel Tower when I realized, there's a LOT of room back here and it looks boring except for Starlight Spectacular. They would HAVE to be able to move enough Starlight Spectacular stuff around back here to fit in a small flat of sorts. Maybe a new Flying Scooters reviving the Flying Eagles name? I got my painful history lesson on The Racer but when I got off...would ya look at that! Diamondback was down! I used to call it Diamondback, but after my last visit when they were stacking three trains deep because of the seatbelts I called it DiamondSTACK, but with it broken down on the lift like that...it's DiamondSTUCK!!!!! Where can this go from here? This HAS to become a thing! Okay, I KNOW I'm about to get blasted for this, but here goes. I've been wanting them to do a few minor touch-ups on The Beast to make it seem less dated and more nostalgic (the mantra I've been using to describe Cedar Fair's renewed focus on paying homage to parks' pasts). They have the new logo that they use on the merchandise and while they could have a new fancy sign made, I'd like them to stick with this iconic one. However, I noticed it seemed pretty faded. They should really repaint this sign and maybe put it closer to the path, maybe out in the center of the ride plaza like other modern Cedar Fair coasters (Leviathan, Gatekeeper, Banshee). I've always had the biggest set of problems with this building. First off, you're about to face The Beast, the path to go do that should be ominous, not "BUY M&M'S AND Coke!!!! COLD DRINKS HERE!!!!" Either knock it down or make it seem relevant to the ride's theme other than "Beast Canyon." Put some boarded up windows, weathering, and a few warning signs on it Plus, these vending machines are well away from where the queue normally goes when it's full and I feel like they should be moved into the actual cattlepens. Additionally, The Beast is hard to see as it is and some unfamiliar guests coming to the park for their first time may not even know it exists and walk right past it. Decorating the queue as just another Rivertown building at the end of a path would probably make them just glance at it and walk away, especially with the "COLD DRINKS" sign. That ride plaza and entrance need to SCREAM that The Beast is back there. Plus, giving it some love would help make it feel more nostalgic. But it's a lovely station. Maybe hanging some lumber tools from the ceiling would help but it's fine as is. And all in all, a SICK, sick ride that I feel doesn't get the justice it deserves from its theming and plaza. I wouldn't change anything about the ride itself except maybe make it faster and smoother. I just feel like putting more on the plaza and queue line would be a good way to up this ride's publicity, both because it would be more noticeable from the Rivertown midway and because it would give the park a chance to advertise it. I LIKE The Beast Canyon thing they had going, though. Maybe turn Beast Canyon into a sort of subsection of Rivertown like X-Base is to Coney Mall? Finding space to put another attraction or two might be hard but I'm sure it can be done. I see you, Vortex! Seeing that Diamondback was still down, I went to go hit up Backlot Stunt Coaster. Fun little ride, good for families. I love the new Biergarten! Hello, Bat! I was getting into favorite seat on my favorite train on Banshee (blue train, front row, leftmost seat) when I feel my restraint pop up and they force us back into the gates. Banshee's down for weather! Great! I waited 90 minutes but they never opened it back up even after the rain so I left to get stuff out of my locker and continue my day at the park. Look at the line that formed outside! She REALLY doesn't like rain to stay down this long... I spent the rest of my day walking around and taking pictures. Got this nice Oktoberfest one, but I really feel like this area needs a facelift. Something to draw people in, like Cedar Point's Gemini Midway complete with string lights. Is this sign new? I can't recall having seen it looking like this before for some reason. Artsy overcast shot of Race for your Life Charlie Brown. I feel like they need to do something with this old queue... It wasn't today that I noticed how photogenic Vortex is. It's crazy to think that back in 1987 this ride was the new big thing at Kings Island and somebody else was probably photographing it from every angle like I'm doing with Banshee in 2014. I wonder if Banshee will ever be "that rough coaster nobody wants to ride anymore." And I can't wait to see what they DO want to ride! Sometime in the past The Bat was here, you can still see some of the old Bat footers! Old and new. She's still a-sleepin' back there... I felt dumb not having checked out Cirque Imagine, but hey, I'm a Gold Pass holder. I can see it any time I wish. And from there I left to brave Mason rush hour traffic. A good day to you!

Row 4 is a little more forgiving. I couldnt fit in the test seat but i could Row 4. I went on a diet and lost 10 pounds and now I can fit anywhere.

Sometimes I feel like height and speed, other times I feel like twists and turns, and sometimes I want a launch. Or maybe even tons of airtime. It changes all the time.

Good stuff so far, Gator. I actually might head down there later in the summer, so reading this is making me really excited to go!

BoddaH1994, Sometimes a post comes along that is pure gold! That picture alone is wonderful for so many reasons (nostalgia, artistic beauty of the billboard, etc.), and your well-written commentary really makes me stop and think of just how ground-breaking that venerable coaster truly was, and how much respect the ol' ride deserves! We KI fans have all these newer, glossy, big-shot coasters and other thrill rides to choose from all over the park, and sometimes I find myself not even paying any attention to the ol' Racer, as if it's just an interactive, decorative gateway to the southeastern attractions (FOF, FH, DA, AT). It's almost like I think, "It's Racer! It'll always be there; after all, it always has been there for 42 years... right?" ( Just what kind of coaster enthusiast am I to think that?) Thanks for this! Racer is on the top of the list for the next visit.

My last visit was not actually entirely special. My NEXT visit is the one I'm hoping will be the most memorable visit of the season (perhaps even moreso than Media Day). I am excluding Coasting for Kids in that listing, because that event is so awesome and special that it's unfair to compare anything else to it.

Between 4 and 5 hours for Top Gun with DiamondAceExpress after prom. We found ways to pass the time in line!!! Don't get any ideas, OhioColts!

As nearly every INTAMIN installation is delayed. Parks want reliabilty, low or no downtime, safety and no surprises. INTAMIN's not very good at that.

All I know is that I like every type of coaster. I also know Flight of Fear is underrated.

Is it open? And about those press releases. The love Busch has for INTAMIN right now shines right through. I expect there's going to be litigation on this one.

I voted "other" because Blitz coaster is not listed.

Laterals, negative g's, smooth, fast, laterals....

Well, for all you Intamin fans, why can't you have a thrilling and reliable ride from them? Is that too hard to ask from them? If you want any indication of how they're viewed, look at how their American projects have waned, almost exponentially over the last 5 years. Look how long its taken them to fix our very own Drop Tower. I've said this many times, but if you really want something from Intamin, Mack has a lot of the same things and they have a better track record when it comes to reliability.

There are steel parts of wooden roller coasters. They too are expensive.

occasionally, like in our case, Pirate ships!

"Intafail" as you called it produces the most thrilling rides and regularly has their rides rated very high. Id rather Intamin push the envelope and have some downtime than for a park to put in a mediocre ride that's a people eater.

^Sending the global economic community into sheer panic! Touché!

Pass options as of today:

You'll need the voucher at the season pass processing too, so by all means take it with you

Viking Fury is enjoyable, while Berzerker is just a little bit over the top. ♫ da-da-da-di-da-da!♫

I do Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I agree. I like that there is so many to check out and probably helps the lines some. But I'd be fine with them cutting out 2 or 3 if it meant having a really strong line up of fewer houses with better theming and quality.

Very sad indeed. I haven't gone there in a long time, but I remember when I went at the age of 17 and had a blast. It wasn't crowded at all and there was ample space for swimming/diving/etc. I can remember having to sign a waiver and also my mom having to write down her license plate number and vehicle description just in case one of us got hurt or...well...killed in that case. But yeah. I don't honestly remember anyone walking around checking to make sure people were following the rules. If they were, they were very discrete about it, but again, the place wasn't crowded at all either. I can remember jumping off the 40ft cliff and losing quite a bit of important stuff...haha. Most of all I will say that hurt a significant amount! I felt like I had crawled out of a car wreck! If you land wrong, it really could cost you your life.

It would please a lot of people if one side of The Racer ran backwards once in a while - like, maybe, every other year. (I know there are problems with the backwards thing, but other parks are doing it so maybe it could be done with The Racer again?)

I've never been to Coney Island (I know, it's on the list) however I LOVE Stricker's. I can't say enough about that place. My first visit was 4 years ago now, and we've been twice a year ever since then (4H because of the lack of lines, and Customer Appreciation Day for free drinks/popcorn/cotten candy/snocones), and it's a 2.5 hour drive each way from where I live. I even convinced my sister to visit the park with her son, and they've been going every year too for the last 4 years. Going to Stricker's is one of my highlights every year over the summer. I think we might be going three times this year (4H, Labor Day, and Customer Appreciation Day), but we'll see how things play out.

Those who know do speak, quite a lot actually.

Yes we just started the 2014 season, BUT it's never too early to start talking about Haunt!

You also have to remember that entertainment in general is more expensive now than it was. I remember going to KI in the 90's loaded with $10 in grass cutting money and that was enough to both eat and play a few games. That most certainly is not in line with inflation. You could also make the same argument with movies, video games, and even childrens' toys.

Ask me in mid August. For goodness sakes, we are just starting summer which I do not want to end.

The rear of the train is barely at lift crest, by then it's already picking up speed getting pulled down, so noone would hear it. Where it's at now allows those on the train to hear and enjoy it as well as guests down at the lift hill base.

Watch the segment about Banshee that aired this morning on Good Morning America.