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If the car I'm in is swaying like The Bat does going into the brake run, there's something wrong with the car .

When you start having KI dreams every other night.

I think this would be a cool idea for the Crypt building. (I saw this photo on here at one time, but had to do a bit of searching to find it)

Hello everyone! My new blog post is up: a complete history of the King Cobra, the world's first true stand-up roller coaster. Enjoy! http://kingsislandghosts.blogspot.com/2018/01/stand-up-thrills-story-behind-worlds.html

Island Mac n Cheese Bar??

What's interesting is that Cedar Fair primarily worked with Intamin and B&M for their parks which dominated the industry. Now you start to see a shift to companies like GCI, Gerstlauer and even RMC. I personally think this shift comes from Cedar Fair's unsteady relationship with Intamin and the strive for something unique and dependable.

With Knott's new coaster, I wouldn't count out Gerstlauer either.

Can't help you on Opening Day but based on my experiences in the month of May, the weather in Northern Ohio is the biggest wildcard of all. In 2016, I went up the second weekend they were open. Highs were in the 40's with winds over 15mph. As a result, Dragster was closed. Additionally, Gemini and Mean Streak were closed. The day after (Sunday) it was actually colder but the winds weren't as bad. As soon as I got off of Magnum XL-200 it started sleeting. Went up this past May and it was the polar opposite with highs in the 70's and no wind. All rides open, not a cloud in the sky, perfect crowd level, and I got my first ride on Dragster!

I think it would either have to be a dark ride or some sort of water ride. Unfortunately, I don't see the return of Kenton's Cove ever happening. I think another coaster in that spot would be overkill, with The Beast, Diamondback, and Mystic Timbers all in that one spot. So my suggestion would be a dark ride. Perhaps one that is linked to the story of Mystic Timbers and possibly even The Beast. However, if the building continues to sit attraction-less save for Haunt, then my suggestion is to liberally place vines and roots to appear as if that gnarly-looking tree has taken over.

I would love to learn how long Kings Island, initially, planned for that building - as well as the ride in it - to last. It's easy to get lost in a park the size of Kings Island, but that is a massive, multi-million dollar, fully functioning (HVAC, electricity, plumbing, etc.) structure that ended up having a functioning lifespan of roughly a decade.

When off season KIC meetups are being planned.

GhostRider is (once again) scheduled to be open this weekend, which is good especially because Xcelerator is still down.

Oh, no. Like, I got over into a right lane and then the car (now behind me) went around me and switched to the left lane. It wasn't erattic driving or anything lol.

Do you think they would do it twice? I would say if done again, they would mix it up to something else. Maybe write A-Cars.

Phantom Theater, Flying Eagles/Tiques, and KCKC.

I really think that if Hangtime takes off at Knotts, I would like something like Mystery Mine (or just knock the building down completely) with lapbar restraints, but in Infinity coaster form, something very compact and something that can easily have a story to go along with the attraction, either that or a Mack Powersplash (Pulsar), it can be marketed as Kings Island's 17th coaster, a launch coaster, and water ride.

He is the illegitimate child of the Dos Equis Guy.

Just noticed this on the Facebook invite for gold preview. Am i reading too much into this?

I would love another flume to go in that spot. I miss Kenton's Cove and it's a shame that it was taken down for something that sadly didn't last very long. A flume also fits the Rivertown theme, better than a dark ride. When I made my comment, I wasn't sure if KI would be willing to do another flume and if that's something the public would want.

That's amazing. You just made the anticipation for going back even greater .

I wish there was some type of facade put around the exterior of the building so it doesn't stick out as much

Really looking forward to the event and love that they added a pre-check in this year!

Personally, I think a flying theater would be a better fit for Crypt. It would add a greater level of diversity to KI's attraction lineup. You could also have special shows for Haunt and Winterfest. I'm just not sure if CF is willing to take that leap of faith, and if KI's guests would accept such an attraction. *sigh* A coaster is simply a safer bet.

Dreamworld in Australia is getting a flying theater in 2018. Smaller park than KI, it will be interesting to see how it is at their park. https://www.dreamworld.com.au/i-ride

Honestly @JubJester my first visit was in 2010....the visit after that was in 2015....that transformation that the park saw between those two seasons was amazing. Even seeing the transformation from 2015 to 2016 and then from 2016 to 2017 was pretty amazing in my eyes.

I had planned early on (weeks in advance) to go to the KIC meetup on closing day of Winterfest. This was when the temps first started dipping super low, and there was a lot of talk of the park not opening for the night. I made a point to keep an eye on park social media postings, keep up with my KI friends and the KI Pass Holders Facebook group and even called guest services to ensure the park would be open. It was decided very early in the day that no rides would operate. Boo Blasters was the only actual ride that was running. Ride ops were told not to even report to work. This sort of eliminates the idea that it could have been the KI/MV RR or Mysti’s crew(s). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Flight Commander was a death trap waiting to happen. The same thing that happened to her would have happened sooner or later to a single rider that fainted, had a heart attack, etc. The root of the issue was with the restraints and how the manufacturers wanted all restraints in empty seats kept up, not that she was drunk.

^ May 18 and 19 are a Friday and Saturday, not a Saturday and Sunday.

When you want blue ice cream so bad you can almost taste it!

I honestly think KI now just uses the standard Muzak channels, which is so disappointing and quite honestly, distracting. When I was a kid/teen, I distinctly remember very thematic music - not just the Paramount days either but even prior to that...The fountains on international street even seemed synced with the music, with the fountain height and colors varying as the music varied. I don't even think this would be a hard improvement for them to make...I've noticed the international street music is same/similar to the Paramount days, which is cool...but it's lost its gusto, so to speak, in terms of syncing with the fountain activity - so that could be fixed. The Peanuts franchise has some killer music, so that could be updated. Coney Mall needs more dated era-type music, etc. I think I could go on for days about this because I really miss how well it used to be done (or at least as well as my memory serves me).

Maybe it was Santa Claus and some helpers telling us to all be good this year?

There might be the small wrinkle that the first ground up I-box is going to Energylandia in Poland: http://coasterhub.com/archives/23520 . Would still be really cool to have a ground-up RMC (though personally I'm not sure that there'd be a difference between I-box and topper when built from scratch, does anyone else know if there is one?).

I love that CF is working with multiple manufactures. It's adding a wonderful depth to the chain's lineup. I mean Gerstlauer, B&M, RMC, GCI. All in the span of two years? A ground up RMC would be a welcome addition to KI.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the possibility that KI could get the first ground up I-Box coaster. The marketing for it would really be in their favor. The first ground up RMC Hybrid, and it is steel so for the GP it wouldn't be "just another Mystic Timbers". I'm honestly surprised we haven't seen a ground up RMC I-Box at this point. KI really would be the perfect park for it too.

Overheard after a rope drop while heading in: "This place was so much different when it opened and Universal ran it"

Racer doesn't need to be touched by RMC, none of our wooden coasters do, plain and simple. Mean Streak and Hurler were not popular rides at all so they could get the RMC treatment. Racer is too legendary. If RMC can install topper track without hurting the wooden integrity of the coaster then great, but I'd rather see a compact, ground up, RMC before I see a conversion.

Haven't watched the video yet. What was better than SOB was looking at it and the hype building up to it. The ride was very painful. Even when they switched to the lighter trains after the loop removal. In fact, I think the lighter trains made an even more painful ride than the Premier trains. I rode it a year after it opened. It was definitely a memorable experience each time. The probable wasn't that it was too rough, it was that it wasn't very fun. The dip out of the station was cool, the loud sexy chain lift sound was nice, the first drop was awesome, but then everything just took a turn for the worse. The rose bowl helix was straight up awful. The loop? Amazing. My favorite loop to date. Glass smooth. HUGE. Then went back to the pain. The second helix was almost as painful. The hills after that were pretty bad as well. I think they were meant to have huge airtime but failed. It baffles me why Paramount chose RCCA to build a massive record breaker. It was beautiful though. The sound was amazing. Not one record SOB held has been broken. Unless a certain park is going to have a streak that's the opposite of nice.

When it snows. A friend of mine is headed back to his native Hawaii today for a few months. I told him to box up some of their weather when he gets there and ship it back to Ohio.

It's cold, period.

As requested (this may or may not end up sideways; TinyPic's being weird): Sorry for the weird angle; the lighting was such that a straight-on picture would have had my silhouette in the middle of a really bright glare. That's a safe bet. Thanks for the picture! If you feel inclined to share any more, they'd definitely be appreciated.

...when you become slightly frantic over bidding on a Tomb Raider: The Ride poster on eBay because 1.) it's Tomb Raider: The Ride, 2.) it's next to impossible to find any Tomb Raider: The Ride merchandise online, and 3.) you don't really bother to check eBay for this kind of stuff during the summer because it doesn't really cross your mind to do so until Christmas. (I won, by the by! )