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I think that says more about basketball than wedding rings. -KDD who hates basketballs.

Maverick. And I have been on SV. Its like 1.5 for me haha -Nuff Said.

In theory, you can dispatch a train on Vortex after the train in front of it has cleared the lift hill. This is very difficult to do. If you are in 2 train operation, you might be waiting for a train to come back to the station to load/unload, whereas in 3 train operation there is always a train in the station. If people didn't bring everything from their house to the park, the load/unload cycle would be shorter. Either way, I don't think people really care about sitting in the brakes waiting to go into the station.

Ever since I rode the top scan at Carowinds, I have been in love with the model. It would be such a treat to squeeze one in possibly where flight commander used to be or where skylab used to be. Overall, a flat ride overhaul in Coney Mall would give a little bit of love to that classic area of the park

Hi everyone! Well, after having to go to Holiday World instead last month due to bad weather, we were finally able to go back to Kings Island again last Sunday. Before we get into the meat of this Trip Report, as usual, the ride (and food/show) rating system: F- Garbage. I regret ever riding this and will not make the same mistake of ever riding it again! D- Mediocre. A disappointing, or painful ride, though there might be a little fun here. I might give a D-Tier ride a second chance but it is gonna need to be a walk-on or something. C- Average. A fun ride, but either there is enough roughness/pain to dilute it, or it just does not blow me away. Will still ride this if the wait is not too bad, though. B- Good. A ride I enjoy, but it may have some flaws, but I will happily re-ride this unless the wait is pretty crazy. A- Awesome. These rides leave me with a huge grin usually, and I will ride them over and over if there is a short wait. If there are long waits around the entire park, I may aim for these anyway, as if you are gonna wait, best to be for something worth it. Surpassed only by... S- Epic. The best of the best. I am usually giddy and my happiness meter is maxed out after riding one of these. Tragically, these are not the most common rides out there, however.  Note: If you wanna take this as a 1-10 system, S=10, A=9, B=8, C=7, D=6, and F=5 or worse. We missed a exit on the way to KI (I noticed but didn't realize our driver didn't until it was too late), so we arrived around 9:45AM, thus we kinda missed ERT. We decided we would just line up and go to X-Base to begin the day. Firehawk was still doing morning testing and wasn't ready to open, so for our first ride, we did the other major coaster in X-Base. Ride #1: Flight of Fear Wait: 1 Train (>5 Minutes) As we did not get to ride this on in June, this was my first ride on FOF since April. We rode in the very back car, as that seat had no wait. It felt like your typical FOF ride: a little rough, very forceful, and fun. Being in the back kinda made it feel a bit slower though since you could see the elements coming by looking at the cars ahead of you on the train, so the 2nd half of the ride was a bit more predictable. Still a solid ride though, and a nice way to start the day. Rating: B After FOF, Firehawk had finished testing and had opened, so we headed to that next. Ride #2: Firehawk Wait: 1 Train (>5 Minutes) I love getting to X-Base early when there are no waits. It has been a while since I had last ridden Firehawk, as this was my first ride in 2018. I had forgotten how loose the restraints feel, it is actually a bit unnerving. The ride was still fun though, the loop may be the best loop in the park due to the flying coaster nature and I didn't realize how close you get to some of the trees near the ride. A fun ride. Rating: C While riding Firehawk, I saw Vortex running either empty or near-empty trains, and wanted to go ride that since I had to miss it due to a hurt shoulder last time. My friends/sister went off to smoke, and I rode Vortex. Ride #3: Vortex Wait: 1 Train (>5 Minutes) I decided I wanted maximum airtime, so 7-1 it was. And I got what I wanted- first drop had some nice air. The ride, for Vortex standards, was pretty smooth but there was a slight wobble on the drop into the 2 loops. I did not get headbanged at all, though I realize this is probably because my head goes well above the restraints, and my neck has a good 3-4 inches or so on each side to move before it bumps them. As usual the ride had nice forces and fun inversions. A fun ride overall. Rating: B While climbing Vortex's lift, I noticed Beast had a very short, if any, wait. I returned to my friends and we discussed it, and decided to head that way since waits were apparently short around the park. Before Beast, however, we decided to ride... Ride #4: Backlot Stunt Coaster Wait: 5-10 Minutes There was a short wait for BLSC, but nothing enough to deter us from riding it. We boarded, and got another fun ride on the small-but-spunky coaster. All the remaining effects seemed to be working too. It did feel like it was running a wee bit slow due to it being early morning still, though. Also, on exit, I noticed the audio for the exit has been edited- there is a gap when he says "Enjoy the rest of your day at...Kings Island!" Hmm, wonder what was cut out. Rating: C After BLSC, it was onto the park's 1979 wooden monster. Ride #5: The Beast Wait: 20-25 Minutes The wait should have been like 5-10 minutes tops, but there was a barf train, so we had to wait more. However soon after that train was cleaned up, we waited a few cyles and were on. We rode in the very back car since I had a good experience with it last time (it was a back wheel seat ride in the 2nd car that hurt my shoulder, not the rear car). The ride was good fun, but it wasn't quite running at the blazing speeds it was back in June, even though it was kinda hot already. Plus I had ridden Voyage a few weeks ago, and Beast is not very crazy at all compared to that, save for the helix. Still a very fun ride though. Rating: A After The Beast, we headed further into Rivertown. I had heard Mystic Timbers was down to 2 trains, but I did a quick visual check and found all 3 were running now, so whatever had been the problem was fixed. We found the wait didn't look too bad either, so Mystic was our next ride. Ride #6: Mystic Timbers Wait: 15-20 Minutes The line had a decent amount of people in it, but it moved pretty fast too since the dispatches were frequent. We arrived at the station, and I saw a sign above the ride exit: "Outpost 5". LOL, apparently Outpost 5 has been moved to Mystic Timbers. We were assigned row 11, near the very back of the train (this was becoming a theme for me). We could barely hear the security guard going up the lift from this seat, but it didn't matter much because this seat gave lots of airtime on every hill, more than I have become used to on Mystic Timbers. We went into the shed, and got the snakes ending. Oddly, no music played, though. WHO BROKE THE RADIO!?!? Rating: A The snakes ending on MT was fitting, as we were trying to get our friend who is overcoming his fear of big coasters to try Diamondback. Apparently Mystic Timbers agreed with us by giving us that ending. He survived Voyage, we figured he could handle DB if he could get over the height, and he did do Magnum XL-200 which isn't too much shorter. We got him to cave, and thus, we got in line for Diamondback. Ride #7: Diamondback Wait: 10-15 Minutes The ride crew was doing a good job dispatching trains, so the line moved fast. We rode around the middle of the train, got seated, and climbed 230 feet into the air. Solid floater air on a lot of the drops, and a very fun ride. But did our friend like it? Yes. He loved it actually, and wanted us to come back to this coaster later! We would try to do just that. We are proud of him. Rating: A After Diamondback, we headed onto I-Street, planning to go to our car to begin waterpark adventures. But we got distratced, as we saw the Stunt Show begin. We did not see the entire show but the Motorcycle part was very cool. We were a little hungry/thirsty, so we went into... Food: Starbucks Wait: 10 Minutes (for food- it was empty) My sister got herself some coffee and a banana bread for me and her to split. However they at first forgot our bread, but they gave her a free lemon bread to make up for it. That was nice of them! It was pretty good, too. Rating: B Ride #8: The Bat Wait: 5 Minutes The wait was not very bad at all, which I have come to expect from this ride. The Bat was running pretty well, a little rough but it also had some weak airtime at points, which surprised me. Alas, the ride was also as usual pretty short. Fun though. Rating: B After The Bat, we headed up the path, and decided to do Banshee since we were in the area. Ride #9: Banshee Wait: 10-15 Minutes Our friend may be overcoming his fear of coasters, but he cannot do inversions, they make him sick, so he saved us locker money here (and at Firehawk/FOF, so we only need lockers at Mystic Timbers). This was the typical fast, forceful ride I have come to expect from Banshee. My friends keep thinking it is faster every time for some reason though, I guess they forget how fast it truly is. Also, saw the former gift shop turned into claw machines. Ugh, that is kinda sad, even if that gift shop was not selling much merch. Rating: A After Banshee, we decided to stop in Chicken Shack to get some sodas, but we were also hungry so we caved and got some food. Food: Chicken Shack Wait: 5-10 Minutes (for food to arrive) My sister and I decided to split a Chicken Wrap, since it looked share-able. It was huge, so yeah, 100% share-able. And wow, it was delicious! Probably a challenger for one of the best tasting food items I have eaten at an amusement park (it's main rival would be the Pulled Pork BBQ Fries at Cedar Point near Steel Vengeance). The chicken was 100% white meat and cooked well, and the lettuce and veggies were fresh. It also had bacon bites in it, which is almost always a plus IMO. And it recharged me, I was feeling a bit drained before I ate it but after, I was energized! Rating: S After eating that delicious and amazing food, we headed out to our car and grabbed our waterpark stuff, and headed back into the park, since we wanted to take the train. On the way, I saw a rare sight: THE TRAIN Coke FREESTYLE WAS OPEN! I should have took a picture for proof. It was closed when we returned, though. Ride #10 (Part 1): Kings Island & Miami Valley Railroad Wait: Walk-On (Train was right there as we showed up!) We boarded the Green Train, and set off for Soak City. Diamondback dropped as soon as we began to leave, so we got to see it run its entire course, which was cool. When we got near all the fake stores/houses and stuff, the train ride op pointed out one of the most amazing things I have ever seen at Kings Island: there was a freakin' deer! It was a young deer, looked almost full grown in size but had its young markings still, so I assume it was a teenager. It wasn't far from the train, either, so we all got a good look at it. Before this I have ever only seen a wild deer ONCE, and it was from far away. So for me, this was very cool. A few minutes later, we arrived at Soak City and departed. Rating: B We arrived at the waterpark and changed into our swimsuits, and then headed to the wave pools. Ironically, the older one had a big crowd in it, so we headed to the new one, which had less crowds because it was further away. Ride #11: Tidal Wave Bay Wait: None Because Wave Pool Ahh! Since it was pretty hot- over 90 degrees- this wave pool felt very good to relax and chill in for a while. In fact, I lost track of time- we ended up staying in or around it for a whole hour. It cooled me off well though, so it did its job. Rating: B After a whole hour of Wave Pool, we exited and got some drinks, my friends and sister smoked for a bit, and then we hit up the "Lazy" River. Also, I was looking at the park's scenery and flowers a lot this trip and will point it out here- they did a GREAT job on that this season, there was a lot of sections of the park that look very pretty. Ride #12: Splash River Wait: 2-3 Minutes Much like at Holiday World a few weeks ago, the waterpark was so crowded even the Lazy River had a wait! At least it was not a bad one at all, only a few minutes. Also my eyes were not sore this time, so I could enjoy this better. There are a LOT more water elements on this lazy river versus Holiday World's, even though I am pretty sure this river is much older. I went around twice- also, I would try to avoid the waterfall with the Soak City logo, it is pretty fierce. Another fun wet relaxing ride. Rating: B After Splash River, we toyed around with the river's interactive "soak people" features for a bit. I checked out some nearby flowers and found a big bee was having a field day with them, he was kinda fun to watch. Then my sister and friends did 2 sets of Water Slides (Pineapple Pipeline and the body slides of Tropical Plunge- I was already wet enough, I felt). In spite of only doing a few things, we ended up spending about 4 hours in the waterpark this time, and I had fun and was relaxed. However, it was time for some more roller coasters. We boarded the train again, since that would get us back to our car faster. Ride #10 (Part 2- Gotta go all the way around for it to count, LOL!): Kings Island & Miami Valley Railroad Wait: 5 Minutes (for train to arrive) The ride op on this train gave us the "corny bad jokes" version of the train ride. Some of them were a bit funny, at least. Also we saw...MORE DEER! This time, it was a Momma and her baby. The ride op said these deer actually like the train tracks for some reason and come around quite a bit. Cool to see more deer, though. Rating: B After the RR got us back to the park, we headed out to the car, and dropped off our stuff. Then we headed back into the dry park, headed for Oktoberfest. We were gonna ride Adventure Express, but we saw no wait for... Ride #13: Viking Fury Wait: Walk-On Viking Fury was fun, but once you have ridden Skyhawk or Wicked Twister, this isn't nearly as scary as it once was. Also I should mention I could not start or do any chants, because I had caught a cold my sister had and did not realize it until a few hours before this ride, and my voice began to go out. (I took some medicine and it is coming back though now) Rating: C After Viking Fury, we hit up the ride we had come for... Ride #14: Adventure Express Wait: Walk-On I rode on a rear wheel seat, because the friend I was riding with picked it not paying attention and with my voice out I couldn't say anything. It was a bit rough, but nothing crazy, though when we connected to the first 1 lift there was a THUNK that even our friends on a non-wheel seat felt. The ride was still quite fun though, it was running at a good speed and the tunnels were very dark with the sun going down. Rating: B After AE, we headed for the last big coaster we usually ride, The Racer. Me and a friend went Red, and our sister and other friend went for Blue. We both rode in 4-2, the middle seat of the 4th car. Ride #15: Red Racer Wait: Walk-On Thank goodness we didn't sit on a wheel, because I feel this would have been a pretty rough ride from a wheel seat as it was quite bumpy. We did get a lot of airtime though. The trim brakes on the turnaround bit hard, we went around them pretty slow. We did win the race, though, and apparently Blue got no airtime and was just as bumpy if not more, so Red was the right choice. A bumpy (would have been rough if on wheel seat) but fun ride. I don't think the coaster needs a full RMC I-Box conversion based on this ride, it just needs smoothed out and the rumored re-tracking+new lighting package+restored paint job would fix a lot of its problems IMO. Rating: B After Red Racer, we headed towards Rivertown as our friend was still really wanting to ride Diamondback again, and we had time still so we figured sure, let's do it again. And that is what we did. Ride #16: Diamondback (Night) Wait: 25 Minutes We decided to ride from the very back car, since it had the best airtime. By the time we got on, it was dark out, so this was gonna be a night ride. And wow, this was probably the best ride I have ever had on Diamondback...heck, this was the best ride I have had on anything B&M! We got YANKED off the top of the lift hill, and the airtime was very strong and maintained all the way down- it was almost ejector air! And this level of strong airtime was found on seemingly every hill. Add the darkness of night and the smooth ride, and you have a truly epic ride experience. PS: Our friend is so glad we talked him into riding this, though getting yanked over the lift was a bit scary to him. Rating: S After Diamondback, we headed over and got in line for The Beast. It was around 9:30, so we knew it would probably shut down for Fireworks before we were on, and it did. We also saw a Skunk go under the bridge we were waiting on, and it had some Pizza, LOL. At 10:00 the Fireworks went off (I saw some of them but not much) and some time later, they got the all-clear to re-open. Ride #17: The Beast (Night) Wait: 1 Hour (Due to Fireworks) We rode in the last car again, but I was in the front this time, 6-1, so my sister would get a non-wheel seat. Our friend was a bit nervous on this, still, but we talked him into it. We headed out and climbed the 110 foot lift, and dropped into the tunnel that begins the epicness. Beast was hauling now, versus how it ran in the morning, and the darkness of night further added to the sense of speed. The tunnels were pitch black and really amped up the sensory experience with how LOUD they were. And then of course came the epic view of the park from the 2nd lift, and the insanity of the final helix at night. Diamondback was amazing at night, but Beast managed to beat it somehow. My sister loved the ride, but apparently she got tossed hard at some point because she got a bruise from her seat divider. Ouch, she got "The Beast Bite". She didn't even think it hurt bad until she went in a bathroom and saw it though. Rating: S After The Beast, we headed out of the park, with all other rides closed (we even saw the Mystic Timbers crew exit and leave the ride) and headed home after yet another epic day at Kings Island. This was my 4th time in 2018, a new personal record for most visits in a year. Now for the Pros/Cons of the trip: Pros +Amazing Rides. Almost everything we rode was fun. Though Beast and Diamondback at Night were the clear stars. +Great park staff. Employees were friendly and were working hard. +Beautiful scenery- there were lots of flower arrangements and the park was looking pretty good. +Clean park- did not see any trash or anything laying around in the park. +Short waits in the AM hours- granted they picked up a bit later on, but we had ridden almost everything by then! +Chicken Shack Chicken Wrap was AMAZING. +Wave Pool and Splash River were fun and helped us "Beat The Heat". Cons -Racer and Beast, while fun, could both use some re-tracking as both were kinda rough. -Big crowds especially in the Waterpark, but that is still to be expected this time of year. And that does it for another amazing Kings Island trip in 2018! This is really my best year ever at Amusement/Theme parks, and it is NOT over, as we are planning to return to Cedar Point later this month. Then you still have Haunt (looking forward to the night rides!) and Winterfest after that! Anyhow, questions and comments welcome. MCSALSA AWAY!!!

In addition to the SOB Logo and stuff popping up around there, in the Mystic Timbers station, if you look above the ride's exit there is a sign that says "Outpost 5" and another that says "Shipping and Receiving". So, uhh, Mystic Timbers is Outpost 5 now? It is a neat easter egg, which is pretty much all I can assume it is at this point, and it does pay homage to Son of Beast and Adventure Express. I like it. Also, at the Son of Beast eternal flame near Banshee, I dunno if I just noticed this on my visit yesterday or if it is actually new, but there is some broken wood that looks like wood coaster supports with flowers placed at the base of the tombstone, like something people would put on their deceased families graves IRL.

Three train operation, at least when I was working on the ride, was closer to 1200 an hour, I'm sure @VortexBFForever has a better idea. At that point, we could dispatch a train with the gate still open and there were no seat belts.

We have a luxury here, we can watch the Diamondback webcam and watch for a train on Vortex to pass the same point. Watching the webcam for about 10 minutes it looks like the current crew is getting a train out about every 110 seconds. According to RCDB the ride time is 150 seconds, I checked on a Youtube video and it was about 145 seconds when that video was filmed. Using a 145 seconds without a third train either the second train would be held for about 35 seconds or the station would be empty for close to half a minute on average right now. The third train increases capacity, it is diminishing returns but it is increasing capacity. With faster dispatches the need for the third train would increase. Right now trains are sitting in the block outside the station for about 75 seconds. I would prefer to sit in the brakes then stand in line. Using the above numbers, capacity with 2 trains is about 700 people an hour and increases to 900 with the third train. That's close to a 30% increase.

I think the lack of Scareactors might be related to the overall competitiveness in trying to attract people for jobs. I know it is hard for us to attract people to work in the rides department at Coney, let alone keep them through the entire post season.

Mack has a ride called the Sea Storm that is similar to a musik express that could look nice.

There are quite a few of us Haunt scareactors that did both Haunt and WinterFest last year. I can't think of any that chose to do WinterFest instead of Haunt.

I think the 3rd train on The Vortex helps the capacity. Generally when train is dispatched the other train is just entering the MCBR. 3rd train can be in the station when the 2nd train is just completing the course.

Being one exit south from the park, the only noise I hear is the sound of the fireworks going off at 10:00 every night. My family and I enjoy it. But I would expect that if I moved next to an amusement park that's been there for over 40 years, then yes, there would be noise any time.

I remember years ago that ride ops used to check the over-head-restraints... as the train was going past on its way out of the station. would NEVER happen today.

Quantity does not equal quality. Last year, IMO was the worst year for the Haunt. The houses were all practically empty, very few roamers.

I think a large thrilling flat or two should go into an X-Base expansion (along with restrooms and maybe a food stand). But think some family flats could be good for Coney Mall/Oktoberfest. Would like to see some classic style flats like a Tilt-a-Whirl, G2 Enterprise, or something else brought to Coney Mall (1 or 2 additions). Then a return of Der Spinning Keggers or similar ride to Oktoberfest. Maybe a secondary one too like a Bayern Curve return or alpine/Bavarian themed Musik Express. For X-Base the main addition I want to see if a Screamin' Swing and think it would fit perfectly. Other fun flat ride addition I think could be a Mack Twist N Splash over in Rivertown.

Have a pulse. Lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I personally think Corkscrew is fun, especially in the back. I LOVE riding Corkscrew in the back! And I don't even need to mention its neat location! Not many looping coasters corkscrew right over the midway.

KI has just gone to far in what they now classify as a “loose article”. A men’s wedding band? Seriously? Was refused entrance to Tropical Plunge at SC yesterday becuase of my very simple plain ring. What married male in the US does not wear one? Have never had a problem before including several visits this season. I asked to speak to the ride supervisor and she explained that the policy is new this year and applies to this slide only and a ring could catch on a “divot” if a rider uncrossed their arms. I looked at the signage at the entrance and all jewelry is now classified as a “loose article”. So just take it off you say? Well like many men who marry excellent cooks we tend to put on a few pounds after tying the knot and there is no way that ring is coming off my finger unless it is cut off. It has probably been 15 years since it has been off my finger and that was with the assistance of soap. So I accepted my fate without yelling or being a jerk about it but was pretty annoyed so I went in the wave pool to cool off and stew about it. I got to thinking about it being an issue 10 years or so ago when I had some surgery and the nurse wanted me to remove it. I told her she was welcome to try and she just ended up tapping it up with some medical tape. So I went to First Aid and got a 10” strip of tape and wrapped it up, showed the ride supervisor and she was fine with that. Something they should probably suggest to guests rather than just turn them away, maybe even have a role at the line separator position. I still think banning wedding bands is over the top especially when KI appears to do so little about cell phones out on rides. Am I all wet and everyone else thinks to remove their wedding rings before going to the water park?

I completely understand about Rougarou but am not as down on it as others. Sticking your head forward works for my kids and pressing my head back works for me. Just seems replacing a section or two of reprofiled track would fix the majority of the problem and make it a pretty decent ride. CP needs people eaters, especially on days like today where reports are that all lots are full and the line to get in this morning backed up to McDonalds. Although several come to mind like CCMR, WT and Corkscrew. It really depends on what if anything would replace it. CCMR if they could get something with a lower height requirement for families. Just doesn’t seem to serve any purpose with 48” height requirement. Same could be said for Wilderness Express. Ryan calls Corkscrew “demeaning” but is nice to look at and also has a small footprint. WT is useless with its overly restrictive size requirements but takes up no space and does check off the 200’ box. In the end I come down on Corkscrew becuase it is just a bad ride.

I vote Rougarou. It wouldn’t break my heat if they got rid of Magnum either, even though that’s the very first coaster I rode as a kid aside from The Racer. It would be much more bearable if they got new cars or added some contoured padding to the lap bar.

Sadly, you're probably right. The economy is ramping up, and an unscrupulous investor may see an opportunity.

Some of my Facebook friends have been sharing the "Disneyland" stories on my timeline, and I just have to roll my eyes.

This sounds like one of those projects where they’re lucky if the ground gets broken before investors start pulling out.

I'm not 1000% certain it's really going to happen.

Outpost 5 is the new Illuminati

Last time I checked I did .

on “Normal” means that they are reaching their daily attendance goals, not that they are on par with their annual budget. We knew that season pass sales were down. This was highly indicated by the extension of the Gold Pass program through July 4th. I think all of this is an attendance downward spiral (for lack of a better term). They stated that purchasing decisions are being made much closer to the actual visit now. People aren’t visiting because they don’t have a season pass. People aren’t buying a season pass because they don’t make that initial visit. The Gold Pass extension was an attempt to break that cycle. Here’s an interesting thought, though: the Kings Island season pass numbers were down from last year. They stated that last year was the record year and this year would be second. So that still implies that this year’s number still isn’t even close to last year’s. The fact that it’s even mentioned as a measurable burden on the metrics of the entire company implies that it’s pretty significantly off. If it was within a few percentage points then it wouldn’t have enough of an impact to be cited specifically. Here’s to a stronger second half of 2018.

Do you think Kings Island has done a good job the past 4 years on what they've added and updated? I do think KI has lost some of its wow factor, losing Les Taxis, The Flying Eagles, Phantom Theater, Oktoberfest Ferris Wheel, bigger log flume, theming and landscaping. I know it must be a pain for the park, when people look back and see what's gone and then compare it to today. They have brought some of these things back, classic music on I-Street, Winterfest and Peanuts Celebration (not brought back but still new) and more landscaping this year around the park. I feel like from what Mike Knootz said at Coasterstock, they'll work on Coney Mall some more with maybe a new flat ride, and hopefully on making International Street more beautiful again like it was around 2000, and here's wishing they don't cut anymore of the branches off the tree's near the Royal Fountain, the shade is half gone now...

This act should be booked for Haunt.

Would the people who live close the the park not be immune to the park noises? Calling on @XGatorHead 8904 Should the people who decide to live close to the park not expect the park to be running coasters at any time of the day?

Geez, digging up a post from 16 years ago to contradict? LOL In all seriousness, that was an answer to a specific question posed by someone referring to the immediate season(s) that followed. They didn't bring it back until 2005... and gossip revealed it was a big financial flop. (Cedar Fair took over in 2006, cancelled it saying they didn't have the ability to orchestrate it in time as the new owners. However it's pretty obvious that had it made $$$, they would have continued it...) This past year, however, to those of us outsiders, Winterfest seemed to be a tremendous success. I think it's owed mostly to the fact that it was brand new all over again and rode a wave of nostalgia. However, you cant solely base an events success off the first year. The second, third and hopefully fourth is typically the true test of it's success. I know they didnt plan for it to be a 1 and done... so it will be around for at least a few seasons... hopefully more. I love it.