Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/29/2016 in all areas

  1. I find it ironic that KIC has 195 pages of both accolades and criticisms about this park. Kentucky Kingdom would profit HEAVILY if they were to have opportunities to reach out to sites like this. Even though it is criticism, it is also a mode to state that "hey, we care for the well being of the park and want the best.". No one likes to see a park fail, and I think we can all agree that we like to see parks grow and flourish, like Kentucky Kingdom. I have good hope for the park is the PR can improve, as you stated Beast Unchained, there seems to be a new movement with their outreach. I hope that they do more advertising in 2016 as I believe they will need every last visitor from the state. It is time to take the eyes off of everywhere else and to go for the Kentuckians themselves not the external market, as it is Kentucky Kingdom, not Indiana Kingdom.
    11 points
  2. I went by the construction site of Storm Chaser today 1/29/16 and took some photos. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    9 points
  3. Lots of interesting posts on KI's Instagram this week....
    6 points
  4. For those who have not seen it, check out the end of this video to see empty test runs early on. It is cool to see the train run through the helix without tunnels from the ground. < This is a great video of what some of the park looked like back in '81, lots of old rides. At around the 1:15 mark you will see that The Beast did indeed have 5 car 4 bench trains equaling 40 riders. Also notice the pond, switchtrack, open tires, and that there is no trim on the first drop. This video also shows a lot of the original Bat. It is clear to see that the swinging motion is unique to the banking of the remaining Arrow Suspended coasters still operating today. One can see why it tore itself apart. But that is a different story. I like the song too.
    6 points
  5. They didn't stand, they sat. In a like manner as the ride attendant does before the drop on The Kings Mills Log Flume.
    4 points
  6. Is he going to appear as a Force ghost?
    4 points
  7. I'm having a hard time quoting it, but the "Opening Day 1972. #KingsIsland" from three days ago is technically incorrect. The picture depicts the grand opening on May 27, while the actual opening day was nearly a month earlier on April 29.
    4 points
  8. Kirk was the guy who ran that. I think for the last few months or so of his page being up it said to check him out on the Kings Island official blog. He's their unofficial guest entertainment blogger there with the CP Food Blog folks doing the blogging about food and food events. Both have done a great job!
    4 points
  9. I'm not one to spread rumors... often. But they seem to be only showcasing nostalgia, and the wooden coasters.
    3 points
  10. I usually start in Action Zone then work my way clockwise around the park.
    3 points
  11. 'Terp, were you asleep at the switch? This thread was pulled from the shelf twice by someone other than you... That DC Blizzard must still be affecting you. Wake up; the fast ones are sailing right past you...
    3 points
  12. I ride rides to ride ride. Not to stare at a TV screen showing a CG world when I can view the world at 2XX feet in the air.
    3 points
  13. Surprisingly to me, apparently it isn't allowed. From the CP site: "For safety reasons, taking pictures, videotaping and filming on rides are prohibited. Picture taking is permitted on the C.P. & L.E. Railroad."
    3 points
  14. Plus I don't like the restrains on CCMR, I don't ride it because of them. I enjoy AE at KI and will ride it anytime. Last year my friend (Airtimeiskey) on KIC, we were at Cedar Point, on Mineride back row, and we are 6ft plus people coming into this tiny train, they staple us in, our legs are in pain, they were about 30 secs from dispatching the train, we ask to raise our restraint, the ride op gives us a heavy sigh over the mic. Sorry for the off topic but seeing so many complaints about Mineride's restraints I had to share it!
    3 points
  15. They really need to stop hyping this until they decide on a bloody pricepoint... A lot of things seem like a great idea until you get the sticker shock of what they want you to pay... And I take issue with the review of the VR on Thunder Run that they quote in the article... They say 'VR breathed new life into this old coaster'... Thunder Run doesn't NEED new life... It's doing perfectly well in it's current life: Providing great entertainment for younger park-goers (or those who aren't into the more thrilling rides) and their families... It's got a 40 inch height requirement (tied for 2nd lowest among coasters at the park with Ghoster Coaster, Taxi Jam being lowest at 36"), if you look at the queue it is largely made up families with small children, and they aren't sending the train with empty seats... If the reviewer wants 'new life' maybe they should tell that park to look at installing a coaster with an inversions that doesn't suck moose nuts...
    3 points
  16. Kings Island's events page on visitkingsisland.com was recently updated. The description of Opening Day includes the name of a new show set to premiere that day - Hollywood Nights. (With a y and in Mason, not Santa Claus.)
    2 points
  17. Cedar Point out of land? Hide your stuff in a bush while riding Banshee? Leave your stuff in a Flight of Fear bin while riding Firehawk? Seriously? Sigh.
    2 points
  18. Nope. That land is earmarked for an expansion of DVC-either for a new phase of the Poly or Floridian. Given its increasing popularity, it's a no-brainer.
    2 points
  19. I wasn't aware of that at the time. I guess their concern is that you might accidentally drop your camera or cell phone. I'll keep that in mind next time.
    2 points
  20. I actually predicted that happening back in July. While I was on the sky ride I noticed some people on the water tower so I zoomed in for a better look:
    2 points
  21. I remember it from my childhood. It was located in the Alpine Chalet building on International Street, currently the location of Starbucks. In the park's early years, it was known as the Hanna Barberra Potpourri Shop.
    2 points
  22. Way to strive for greatness, CP.From what I've read, Chick-fil-A was not managed by CP. And IMO Chick-fil-A is good quality. Not Disney quality, but it tastes good and is probably healthier than McDonalds (but what isn't?). And the service should be much, much better from what I've been reading about KI food service here. Could they improve? Sure. Do they need to? Not really. They should probably focus on improving the other restaurants/stands.
    2 points
  23. It's been over a week but I'm finally getting around to writing this up. I want to start by giving a little bit of background on me and my wife, who accompanied me on this trip. I am 31 and she is 29. My wife likes amusement parks in very small doses; she enjoys a Kings Island trip once every 3 years or so, but even on those trips she's ready to call it a day after a few hours. The excitement wears off quickly for her. She likes thrill rides but any attractions that aren't big, fast or intense are lost on her. She's been to Disney a few times, most recently about 10 years ago, and she's just simply not the target consumer. Things like theming and details, she couldn't care less about. She's never been to US so this was a first for her. I'll try to remember to include her thoughts and experiences in this review since she is pretty much a token example of the "general public", and sometimes we forget that park goers like her are far more common than enthusiasts like us. This was my 2nd trip to US, but first since 2000 when I was 15 years old. I remember loving both parks and almost all the attractions. Our family visited all 4 Disney Parks that trip also, and that was easily my favorite family vacation ever. While I wish I could tell you how this trip to US compares to Disney, I really can't do that since I don't remember a lot of details from my last Disney trip 15 and a half years ago. I personally am a moderate theme park enthusiast; I'm not one to visit various parks around the country (in fact the only big parks I've ever been to are KI, CP, the 4 Disney Parks and the 2 Universal parks), but I have a great appreciation for rides and theming. Pretty much the opposite of my wife! For those that pay close attention, I mentioned in my "One day only - Disney or US" thread that I wouldn't be able to ride the intense rides on this trip since I had a pretty major surgery a few months ago, but I called my surgeon and got the OK to ride so I was pretty happy about that. Sorry for the long intro, but I think it's important to understand the background of someone giving a review because their experience might vary drastically from yours based on their age, personality, number of parks they've been to, number of times they've been to those parks, and about a hundred other factors. You might really enjoy something that I don't because there are certain things you appreciate that I don't, or vice versa. Anyway, on to it... We got to the park about 20 minutes after it opened. I did not remember them having a parking garage but that's a great idea to not only maximize the limited space you have, but to keep vehicles cool in the Florida heat. Unfortunately it was only about 45 degrees with a forecast high of 60, so that was not an issue for us! Instead I was worried about the possibility of doing the water rides -- more on that later. On the way in you go through a metal detector (which took forever and was quite hectic) and have a decent hike before you get to City Walk, which is then a decent hike to the front gates. Since I'm still recovering from a surgery where 2/3 of my right lung was removed, I knew I'd be walking a lot and that that would be my biggest hurdle for the day, but I didn't expect to walk that far just to get to the front gate! Anyway, I was surprised at the variety that City Walk has as far as food and entertainment options go. I wouldn't hesitate to stay at the resort if I go back. The mini golf course looked legit! Our plan was to start on the Universal side, make our way around the right side to the first Harry Potter area, ride the train over, do a full loop around IOA, then ride the train back to US and finish out the rest of the rides there. We bought the one-time-use-per-ride Express Passes when we bought our tickets because we only had one day to do both parks and we thought "better safe than sorry". We thought the crowd might be light since it was mid-January, but at the same time it was a holiday (MLK Day) so we didn't want to take any chances. I'll just go ahead and give you the verdict on that now: altogether the EP might have saved us about 2 hours on the day. So it was worth it for us because we needed those 2 hours, but not sure how valuable that would have been to the average person at $80 each. It was certainly disappointing to see that the passes either couldn't be used on rides where the wait was long (Forbidden Journey, Gringotts, train), or that the lines were so short that it gave you no advantage (most rides). There were only a select few rides where the EP actually helped, but on those few rides it did save A LOT of time. First up was T2:3D, but the first show wasn't until 11. Bummer. On to ET. We only waited about 5 minutes which was actually a letdown because the queue seemed nice! The ride was pretty much what I remember: a solid dark ride that was a little creepy, but enjoyable. I really like the pacing of this ride. You don't blow through each scene too fast which gives you a chance to see everything. My wife couldn't have been less interested, and to make matters worse, the alien at the end said her name wrong ("Jessica" shouldn't be that hard; they at least nailed Ryan though). While it's a neat dark ride, I would appreciate it more if it had a nostalgia factor for me. Like if Phantom Theater was still around at KI I'd still love it because of the nostalgia, but if I was 31 and riding it for the 2nd time, I'd probably think it was kind of lame. Simpsons 3D was next. First time for me so I didn't actually know what it was going in. For those who also don't know, it's a 3D motion simulator with a bunch of different pods all staring at one huge screen. We were bottom right which I will say did affect the experience a little, but overall was not a huge deal. I enjoyed it, but my wife had to close her eyes halfway through so she wouldn't throw up. I gave her some Dramamine afterwards which helped a little, but I had a feeling she'd be in real trouble the rest of the day. I also enjoyed the Simpsons area. I thought the theming was nice, and the music really added to that. In fact, US did a great job with their music throughout the park. Each area played music that really made me feel like I was in that world, whether it be The Simpsons, HP, JP, or whatever else. Even MIB played music not only from the movie, but from the time period when the movie came out which really fit well with the experience. Speaking of MIB, that was next. After a short wait with another nice queue (common theme throughout the day), we got on but got stuck about halfway through for 5 minutes or so. This allowed my wife and I to accumulate a ridiculous score, but the problem was that for the rest of the ride, none of the animatronics worked, nor did the screen thing towards the end. Pretty disappointing because before that we actually both enjoyed this one other than the random spin-outs. Why does darn near every ride in this park have a part of the ride with a spin-out element? From there it was onto Diagon Alley. Having only seen 3 HP movies, I'm not the biggest HP fan but I could certainly appreciate how cool this area is. If I had more time and didn't have someone with me who just wanted to get the day over with, I'd love to spend some time in there and check out all the little details. The first thing I noticed in DA was how it really feels like you're in the world of HP. The second thing I noticed was the crowd. My goodness, there were a ton of people there. I can't even begin to imagine how crowded this area gets during peak season. Not only were there a ton of people, but there were countless groups of people who thought it was a great idea to just stop in the middle of the walkway, creating ridiculous bottlenecks all over the place. There were also a ton of people with cameras bumping into others as they foolishly tried to walk while looking through their camera lens and snapping photos instead of briefly stopping to do so. I very much wanted to fall in love with DA and Hogsmeade, but the crowds made it really difficult to do so. Anyway... Before riding Escape from Gringotts I had to try a Butter Beer. If you've never had it, it's cream soda that tastes like butterscotch...which is actually quite good and different. I'd definitely try it again. Afterwards we hopped in line for the ride. We waited about an hour but most of that was inside where we experienced what is possibly the most impressive queue I've ever been in. Being in that queue made me wish I had seen all the movies so I could appreciate it even more. The kids in line next to me were excited almost to tears just from the queue. That's how impressive it is. The ride itself? Yeah it's neat, but I don't know, it just didn't really wow me or anything. For those who have never ridden it, it's more or less a mine train-type coaster that comes to several stops and interacts with different 3D screens. At the conclusion of this ride I came to a realization about my own amusement park preferences. I'm more like my wife than I thought. I love real thrills far more than simulated ones. Give me the 300 foot, $25M coaster over the interactive, $100M dark ride. That's not to say I don't still love dark rides; I just like them in moderation. A park with a bunch of coasters and a couple dark rides with excellent theming (especially in the queues) is what matches my interests most. After FJ we wanted to hop on the train over to Hogsmeade, but I couldn't find the darn thing. When we entered the park I never saw where I could grab a park map, and I didn't see any once in the park. Turns out you have to actually LEAVE DA in order to ride the train. Once again the queue was enjoyable as you had to find and enter platform 9 3/4, with a cool visual from a certain position showing people disappearing through the wall a la the movie. We only waited one cycle which wasn't too bad (foreshadowing....). Once on the train I was surprised and disappointed that you actually ride in cabins and stare at a screen. I'd much rather ride a train where you're exposed to the elements and can see other areas of the park, but I assume there's a good reason why it is the way it is (i.e. there's gotta be something you can see from that train that they don't want you to see). To add further to the disappointment, the dad in the family that we rode in the cabin with sat right next to the screen with his head leaned forward the whole time so that I could only see about 30% of the screen. Between him and the groups of people causing bottlenecks in DA, do people have no respect for anyone else these days? Furthermore I found it very difficult to decipher what the characters outside the cabin were saying despite silence from everyone that was in my cabin. Overall I was not a big fan of the experience. Hopping off the train, we discovered Hogsmeade was even MORE crowded somehow than DA. Also the Dragon Challenge coasters weren't running so we just decided to leave Hogsmeade and try the rides here later. Exiting Hogsmeade meant entering Jurassic Park -- my favorite area of either park. Once again the scenery and music made me feel like I was there. Before we did anything it was time for lunch. My wife, being a picky eater, opted for the pizza place in this area. It was pleasantly above average for amusement park pizza. I wanted to wait and try Mythos but this was a decent consolation. Not sure that we would have had time anyway. After lunch I was thrilled to see that the Raptor Encounter was still there despite not being able to find anything about it on their website (though I didn't look that hard, I at least clicked around for a little while and didn't see anything). Speaking of their website, unless I missed it, it makes absolutely no mention of The Hulk being down. It is still listed under the rides section and is still there on their online park map. I didn't know it was being re-tracked until I read it on here the day before our trip. I'm not saying it would have been a deal-breaker or anything, but it still annoyed me. Anyway, Raptor Encounter IS SO FREAKING COOL. I've seen videos of it before, but in person it is even more impressive. And when you stand next to that thing you know it's fake, but part of you is still a little jumpy. The look of it might be a little off compared to the movies, but all the sounds and mannerisms match the movies exactly. This honestly might have been the highlight of the whole day for me. Following Raptor Encounter we continued our way down the path and saw the construction for the new King Kong ride. Holy moly, that building is HUGE. I really can't wait for that one. Following that it was time for River Adventure, which I remember being my favorite ride in the park. No chance 60 degree weather was going to stop me. I'm not THAT tough though so I did buy a poncho. My wife was kind enough to give me permission to marathon it for 1 hour since she was ready for a break anyway. So I took off my shoes, put on my flip flops, threw on the poncho and was off. I wasn't the only one who refused to be slowed down by the cool temps; there was actually about a 5 minute wait. Coming into the day I was worried that this ride wouldn't be as fun for me as it was as a 15-year old, but I was wrong. I loved every second of it....until we got to the top, that is. The freaking T Rex at the end wasn't working. He just sat there behind the fog, and his audio was off as well. I seriously wanted to cry. I know that during non-peak times, the year-round parks do maintenance and rides tend to be down more, but this was a big letdown. I got soaked too, even with the poncho on (just caught a flood of water right to the face), but it ended up not bothering me at all. But there was no point in marathoning it at this point, so I grabbed my wife and headed towards Ripsaw Falls. Ok, time to go off on a little tangent here. I know I just said that the JP area is my favorite area in the park, and that RA is my favorite ride, but at the end of the day I'm still a bit disappointed. In my humble opinion, Jurassic Park is the 2nd most valuable amusement park intellectual property behind only Star Wars (and yeah, I'd even put it ahead of HP though I'm sure I'd get a huge disagreement on that). I mean it's a movie about an amusement park with dinosaurs. JP deserves to have an UNREAL amusement park area, or even it's own park, but instead we get this. It's ok, sure, but it should be amazing, and it simply isn't. But I digress... Like I started to say before my tangent, it was time for Ripsaw Falls. Wifey once again sat out as I got in line. Right before it was my turn to hop on, the ride went down for about 15 minutes. Not sure what happened but everything seemed fine when I rode. This is a fantastic flume ride that almost gives Splash Mountain a run for its money. The one and only one negative is that I found the seating and restraint situation to be pretty uncomfortable. Outside of that I would have ridden it a few more times if we had the time. I considered trying Bluto's Barges since the poncho was working out pretty well but it was closed. So it was on to Super Hero Island. Once again I loved the theming. Our first stop was getting a Ben & Jerry's soft serve cone, which was well worth the investment. Then it was time for Spider-Man 3D. The first time I rode this ride I thought it was amazing. There was nothing like it at the time and it was one of the coolest rides ever. I was worried though that it wouldn't hold up after all these years, and after riding a few similar rides earlier in the day. Well there was nothing to be worried about. It's still awesome. The queue, as had been the case most of the day, made the wait go by quickly and for the first time all day the Express Pass paid off as we skipped by most of what was a decent line. Neither one of us had any interest in the Dr. Doom Freefall ride so we headed towards the Dr. Seuss area. I know, you'd never guess this, but I thought the theming was great yet again. Despite not planning on it, we jumped on the Cat in the Hat ride since there was virtually no wait. I'd basically equate this experience to ET: a nice long, well-paced dark ride that unfortunately doesn't hold any nostalgia for me. It gave us a nice break from screens though at least. I was kind of curious about Poseidon's Fury since I did not remember it from my last trip and I have no idea what the heck it is, but ultimately we passed since...well, I have no idea what the heck it is. So it was back to Hogsmeade. We were hoping the crowds would have thinned a little bit by now, but it was certainly not the case. But the good news was Dragon Challenge was up and running again. So we dropped off our stuff at the chaotic locker area (every locker area in the park was chaotic by the way) and headed over towards the entrance. Someone at the entrance was warning people to make sure they have absolutely nothing on them or in their pockets whatsoever, and I was surprised yet pleased to see how heavily this was enforced when we actually had to walk through a metal detector. You'd be amazed at how many people didn't listen to the person giving the warning and turned to head back out the entrance with cell phone in hand. I wish every coaster had the same procedures! The ride itself was fine; a little short but still enjoyable. My wife really liked it but she has never been on a full circuit inverted coaster before. I told her she'll love Banshee then! The only problem here was the rides didn't race. I really can't fathom why this is the case. From what I remember, half the appeal of the ride was all the elements where it looked like you were about to collide with the other train before avoiding it and entering the next element. Why take this away from the experience? Man, this is taking longer than I thought. Time really got away from me there and I have somewhere to be now, but I'll try to finish up soon.
    1 point
  24. Just out of curiosity--when did KI add the "observation decks" on the first and second lift hillls? I remember as a youngster that they were there and had employees watching from each one, (and keeping us calm when we were "stuck" on the second lift hill when I was in 8th grade). And, too, when did the stop using employees on these observation areas?
    1 point
  25. Oh, I miss those days! Sent from a signal coming out of the Vega system.
    1 point
  26. When I go to Kings Island in May, I am deciding whether to got to Action Zone first to ride The Bat and Banshee, or go to Rivertown first to go to Diamondback and The Beast.
    1 point
  27. Potato works in rivertown the chicken and fries meal is my favorite
    1 point
  28. You should get an email with instructions. And Welcome to KIC!
    1 point
  29. I'm not going to lie, at first i thought that this was a new show for Holiday World. I'm glad to see a change up in what they offer and it's healthy to do so. Meanwhile don't look for me to flock to the bandstand as i honestly never care about the live entertainment. I have only sat down once for the Ed Alonzo show but that was mainly for a friend of mine.
    1 point
  30. Hollywood Nights sounds really interesting indeed, I'll have to check that out when I go.
    1 point
  31. Is photography permitted on the Sky Ride at Cedar Point? I was under the impression that it wasn't.
    1 point
  32. When I was younger I used to enjoy going into The Nickelodeon Store that used to be on International Street, but now I think it's Peanuts Emporium now, does anybody else remember this? Also I'm trying to find pictures of it, but I haven't found any yet.
    1 point
  33. If only I lived closer and knew someone who could use the 2nd pass...
    1 point
  34. What a....diversion.
    1 point
  35. Cedar Creek Mine Ride and Iron Dragon... What an odd choice. They have some of the best scenery in the park. And some of the shortest lines. No doubt that'll change once we have to deal with people taking forever to put on headsets.
    1 point
  36. Small.....or I suppose with the world's largest immelmann you could say a rather "large" update on Valravn construction from Cedar Point's Facebook page: Cedar Point on Faceboook: "What a great #sunrise, wouldn't you say? #Valravn" Photo : Cedar Point via Facebook
    1 point
  37. Again, I say... nope. I will gladly skip CCMR and ride Iron Dragon VR-Goggle-less, thank you very much!
    1 point
  38. Hey! We aren't all jokers in DC!
    1 point
  39. Well golly, you'd think there was a few major DC movies or something coming out or something to elicit this change.
    1 point
  40. I just signed up and I can't wait. It was an excellent event last year, and I expect this year won't disappoint!
    1 point
  41. I'm really excited about the Twitter scavenger hunt. If anyone wants to link up on Twitter before the day, I'm @maglizrd. I typically follow people who add me, especially if I can tell it's an enthusiast.
    1 point
  42. They uploaded the event flyer https://www.visitkingsisland.com/images/uploads/file/Coasterstock%202016.pdf
    1 point
  43. When your mom agrees to drive past the Park just so you can *maybe* see construction, in order to get you to be quiet for 5 minutes. Sent from my LGL33L using Tapatalk
    1 point
  44. Interesting schedule. Not sure I'll show up on Friday since it's just added ERT, albeit after the park closes. I also wish they'd move the train tour to Saturday morning, as it's not practical for me to do that on Sunday with church in the morning, since my church is on the other end of town from there.
    1 point
  45. You can also go 93 miles per hour on I-71. It's not true that you can't.
    1 point
  46. I witnessed something similar to that at Busch Gardens. A fellas girlfriend told him she would continue to make his pass payments after they split up. She lied.
    1 point
  47. I do love that they kept the old mill theme with The Beast. I do recall getting an order of fries to eat while waiting in line. Late teens, early twenties, and plenty inconsiderate, we would eat in line because that was the only time we sat still. It's funny that even with a pass at that age, one attacks the park like it's suddenly going to disappear. I don't know if was my younger attention span, or that the park has changed, but lines in the park used to be ungodly long. When I see people in line eating, I recall that I, myself was oblivious to the people around me, so I cut them some slack. Smoking, however, no.
    1 point
  48. Actually, when Beast first opened, it didn't just have different seats/restraints...it had DIFFERENT TRAINS...here's the story on that, but first... Here's a picture of the original trains: The difference between these old trains and the "new" ones is quite obvious if you look at the last car. Besides having no headrests and buzz bars (those weren't on the current trains when they were first installed either, but were added later due to changes in Ohio code) notice that it has 4 rows of seats (the current Beast has 3 rows per car) and only 4 cars. Due to the ride's early popularity, I'm told a 5th car was even added at some point, which would make each train capable of holding 40 passengers (The current ride holds "only" 36, and an "average" wooden coaster, let's say Raven @ Holiday World, usually holds about 24)! However, even though these were good for capacity, they proved to simply be just too large and heavy and were damaging the ride (Like father like son?), so the current 6-car, 3-row trains were added. Unlike SOB (which also during its life had 2 sets of trains, with the first one ending up being too heavy), however, this switch actually worked and helped the ride (Would something like the 2006 SOB accident have possibly occured on Beast had they kept using the original trains? It's a scary thought...). The Beast was also originally designed to run 4 trains, but during testing, it proved to be worthless as one of the trains would keep being "blocked" and stuck on the 1st lift hill, so the 4th train was scrapped. The trains you see in that picture also have a red front car, but the color changes to yellow the further you go back on the train, the cars colors were changed to just red when the yellow proved too be a little too easy to spot in the woods. And get ready for this: Trains aren't the only changes The Beast has had during its lifetime, here's a list of what I know about the ride: -The ride used to have only 3 tunnels, and the final helix was originally not enclosed. The ride got its current set of tunnels in 1980, when 2 short tunnels in the middle of the ride were connected into 1 long tunnel, and the helix tunnels were added. -As you may know, The Beast originally had skid brakes- old style wooden coaster brakes that can still be found on some old coasters in other parks. These remained on the ride until 2001, but on a fateful day in October, there was a minor accident where the brakes failed due to rain and 2 trains bumped in the station at a whopping...5mph. No one was seriously injured, but the park took notice and changed the braking system. When the ride re-opened in early 2002, not all of the trim brakes had been re-installed, which gave Beast riders some wild rides, but eventually before 2002 was over, the current brakes were all in place. -The ride's final helix was re-tracked and re-banked in 2009, for "smoother rides". Some Beast fans have complained about this, claiming the final helix is no longer what it once was, and while I had never ridden Beast prior to 2009 I still personally find the helix forceful and intense enough, and it's a still an epic finale to a great ride in my opinion...though I do wonder what it was like before 2009... -The ride itself is not all that has been changed. Originally, there was a pond surrounding The Beast's station and turnaround, that smelled nasty according to some. It was, according to KingsIslandPR, removed when Vortex was built, but this cannot be 100% confirmed. Also, there were once more switchbacks in the main q-line, but they were removed as the ride's massive popularity dropped from "insane" to just "popular". -The Beast's entrance has even been moved! In 2001 (a photo I saw from that year showed its "old" location to me), the ride entrance was much further up the midway in Rivertown, not sure when it was put there. However, in 2009, Diamondback opened and the entrance was moved back to its original 1979 location. -Thanks to LongLiveKingsCobra for this one: When in line for The Beast, you will see vending machines under a building labeled "Beast Canyon Cold Drinks". Well, believe it or not- that was once a place where you could buy food and drinks (basically, a restraunt in line for a ride)! This was probably due to the 3+ hour waits Beast was known to get in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It's amazing just how much one coaster can change throughout the years...
    1 point
This leaderboard is set to New York/GMT-04:00
×
×
  • Create New...