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Guysss! I did a thing!

No, sounds like they made YOU mad with antique cars.

I'm late to the party again, but I'm here to share my final thoughts on my Gravity experience this summer. Like I've said a million times before, I never imagined I'd fall in love with a show like I have Gravity. The KI Theatre was a lovely retreat from the weather, but even more so it was wonderful to become immersed in another world for thirty minutes at a time. If it was an all-day park day for me, it was nothing for me to watch three or four times a day (depending on the day of course). I connected with so many lovely people who also love the show. It was such a breath of fresh air, and this being my first season as a super fan as @Magenta Lizard calls us, I don't have previous seasons to compare it to. I've heard that some liked the past seasons more than this one. I've always been in love with space and when I was a kid I wanted to be an astronaut. I'm not sure if it was that, or the talented cast, or the thrills of the acts or what, but I enjoyed every minute of every show. @Lieutenant Phil and the rest of the cast brought their best every time. They pulled out all the stops with such energy and passion that as an audience member, you couldn't help but feel you had travelled to Planet 6328. Each act evolved and developed and was perfected as the weeks went by. I, for one, loved it when one of the characters would switch up their wording or do something a little different. The fact that they were having a blast, made us have a blast. The energy was infectious and uplifting. I'm looking forward to watching their journeys on social media, and would love to have them back next season! Thank you so much for your hard work and dedication. I was honored to participate in the blog meet up on the closing weekend of the show. We got a glimpse into what rehearsals look like and got to ask questions of the entertainment department and the cast. We got preferred seating during the show, and afterwards we were taken a few at a time backstage. We were able to greet the cast and see the green room and backstage areas. We were shown the video that Ariane had filmed and edited about the show. I'm so grateful to Kings Island and @DonHelbig not only for providing such wonderful entertainment for us, but also providing us this rich behind the scenes look at Gravity.

I saw this thread and I just had to comment! So, as some of you know, Son of Beast was my first looping coaster (and also my first hyper coaster, but 9-year old me was more concerned about the loop) and I remember the first time I rode*. My step-dad and I were headed towards Top Gun (my go-to ride at the time) and he kept trying to get me to ride Son of Beast. I finally got in line, rode and ended up loving it (it quickly became my favorite ride in the park). I remember enjoying the first drop out of the station and that long first drop (I think I said that the first drop was so long,you could scream twice). I also liked the loop as well as the section after the loop where you dipped and turned before heading into the brakes. Over the years, it did get rough and I remember one ride in particular hurting my sternum. Once the loop was taken out, the ride was meh and I was ok with the decision to tear it down as it had been SBNO for so long. As for Steel Vengeance being a spiritual successor to Son of Beast, I absolutely agree! The fact that it is a hyper-hybrid like Son of Beast as well as the fact that Son of Beast was my first looping coaster solidified my decision to make Steel Vengeance my 100th coaster. Steel Vengeance is actually crazier that Sonny with its outer banked turns and "random airtime". And better yet, it gives an overall better ride experience (although Son of Beast was pretty awesome in its own right!). In a way, it's harder to compare the two as I now have much more access to theme parks as I'm an adult that can drive vs. being a kid/teen and riding Son of Beast only a handful of times. Regardless which is better, I can certainly say that I'm pretty sure Steel Vengeance will be around for a while and continually prompting disembarking guests to ask the question "Is this real life?". *I also remember Sonny's crate scaring me everytime we walked by.

It was a ride beautiful to look at. The layout was pretty boring and the overall ride experience was lackluster at best. A lot of good memories though!

You mean This massive thing? My personal Photo.

I think a Ferris wheel would fit nicely in Tower Gardens.

2020 would be a good year for Son of Beast to return, but I heard that Kings Island was working with B and M.

SOB is not returning and there are other threads about coaster rumors. Thread will be locked.

Nope. Without a Skyride a park will always be a Tier II Park.

A perfect location for a dark ride maybe the return of the Phantom Theater but this time make it an indoor boat ride similar to the Enchanted Voyage. But hey I’m just spouting out ideas...

I am just 20 years but I remember riding Son of Beast a few times. I never got to ride it when it had the loop I wish i could have.. IMO Kings Island has not been the same without it.. It’s PURE size was so intimidating! You could see it for miles walking up to that structure just put people in shock.. just the feel of walking to it in line and the smell of all that wood.. Kings Island never has got that intimidating factor back (A giga 2020 will fix that though).. Even though the ride itself really wasn’t all that impressive just the pure size and feel of it at the park just is something people miss.. from what I do remember it was very rough.. I probably rode it in it’s last year or so, still the roughest ride I’ve ever been on, but you still miss it... anyways just wanted to share my thoughts on SOB that many people agree with... Kings Island needs that intimidating factor back! GIGA

The annual Six Flags announcements are tomorrow (8/30). Not sure what time, though I imagine it'll be before or around noon-ish. The only thing I've heard is that SFMM will possibly hitting the 20 coaster mark. I didn't see anything happening on my trip to NJFTP. No RMC conversion rumors that I've heard either.

Yeah I thought the same thing after I was all done haha I just can't wait to see how it will really look. I wonder when we will see the layout and details. If they even release them.

@Maverick44 That's a cool design! Really enjoy the small details you put into it. Only thing I'd change is some turns in that straight stretch of road on the left. Unless that's the MCBR...

I got to ride it through its entire life. I rode it as early as the gold pass preview night in 2000 (which was later in the season due to the late track work editing they made so late in the process, something it would endure through its entire lifespan). 12 year old me was impressed by it. However, every day it aged, it got worse. It was a ride I would only do early in the day and maybe twice a visit. For all that impressive size, it sure didn't deliver in the ride quality department. The first drop, while impressive, had to have a drive tire at the top to actually get the trains over the drop, and with the extremely gradual drop curve, it had no weightlessness to speak of. The 2nd hill had a nice lateral jar at the top, but that was it in terms of any sort of fun forces. The giant helices were way to spread out to have any sort of positive G that was of note and even then, it had too much of a jackhammer effect to be any fun. The only 2 seats I would ride were the front 2. Even riding in non-wheel seats anywhere past the front 2 was awful. The loop was probably the best part of the ride, the trains went into it with good speed (the MCBR didn't slow the train at all), it was butter smooth, and had some decent positive G's for being so tall (the loop was one of the biggest at the time, 118 ft, up there with the bigger B&M loops of the era like Mantis, Chang and Riddler's Revenge). Since it was so helix centered and so spread out, it had absolutely no airtime. I know y'all get on B&M's and Millennium Force for being force-less, but SOB made those interesting by comparison in terms of the ride experience. I mean, how do you have both a wooden coaster and a hyper coaster with no airtime? It got even worse after the 2007 renovation. Gerstlauer trains were sure never made to do 80 mph. They made it over hills to the point where I thought it would stall and the jackhammering got worse, not to mention they were extremely uncomfortable. This also had no good seats.

Also bring back Phantom Theater.

I attended both FearFest and Winterfest in 2005. I actually attended Winterfest about four times that year. There was a lot more to do with this past year`s Winterfest than there was in the 2005 version. Although, I did prefer the train ride with its live entertainment package better in 2005 than the 12 days of Christmas lights that Winterfest had in 2017.

I never rode Son of Beast, but I do have one special memory of it: it was the very first thing I saw as my mom drove us down 71 toward the park on our first visit ever back in 2007.

Or this: Source: http://queencitydiscovery.blogspot.com/2012/11/son-of-beast-trackwalkers.html

I would absolutely agree that the lift hill was one of the most beautiful structures I had ever seen. The ride experience? No thanks.

Could not agree more! My family of eight enjoyed the show on many occasions, (some times right behind@whengodsaysgo) sometimes all three in one day. It was a great show! Sent from my SM-S327VL using Tapatalk

You are absolutely right. Tower Gardens is an even better spot than Coney Mall. I'd also like to see a flat or two return to the Oktoberfest area.

I honestly wouldn't mind this.

KI has nearly limitless upside due to its size. Increased theming, flats, coasters can all be done. It could one day be 'everything for everybody'.

It's too long gone to hope to bring back the Smurf Ride, so I'll go with turning a Racer train backwards. Image source: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/files/26_106.jpg

Here we go again lol

Also Giga, Wing, Dive coaster would be amazing!

OK That's fair. Cedar Point is the #1 priority park of Cedar Fair I do believe. That being said, it is a B class park at best for the reasons listed about. The former Taft parks have SO much more potential to be A class parks....

More importantly, it was the anniversay of the day Les Taxi was closed for good.

This would be a good one for the ask the park a question thread!

This is the kind of post likely to get you mauled as a newer member, but I'll bite. I heard all 3! The first Giga-Dive-Wing Coaster ever! :-) How awesome would that be. :-)

It would be actually pretty cool to not know the layout until it opens next year.

#whatsunderthecoveredbridge?

I used to work there, that is not the only time it’s an issue. Anytime anything is going on at the fairgrounds, KK employees and guests are forced to move to less desirable lots that are much farther away from the park than necessary. Some examples Derby, fair, street rod nationals, gun show, etc. all of those events get the parking lots immediately surrounding the park and KK guests are forced to park much farther away while KK employees are forced to park on KK private property which is meant for horticulture and maintenance staff and it basically clogs up all of the space behind T3.

I can't picture a Ferris Wheel anywhere else in the park but Coney Mall. It'd be odd for either a FW or a Skyseeker to be in Rivertown. But a dark ride in The Crypt building...

Haunt is a simple formula: Open the gates and people show up. Lots of people. You could have 10 new mazes or none and it wouldn’t move the needle by any measurable amount. Notice how Haunt is marketed but new mazes aren’t? It only comes down to one factor: weather. If they are going to make cuts, Haunt is a good place to do it.

But where would you put the drink station?

@JCoaster25 Don said there is nothing in the plans soon for a "refurbushment". Those weren't the exact words, but along the lines of that. IIRC, some took a video while he was talking about it. If they bought the paint, I know myself and several others there today would have been happy to paint it for free.

True. You have to give them a little flexibility though. This is on the banks of a river. If it were on regular private property I’d think it would never happen at this point, but dealing with the Army Corps of Engineers creates these kinds of delays.

enchanted voyage !!!!!!!!! and the trams in the parking lot .

What this guy said... ... except not this part.

Who wants to break it to him?

I actually attended an event for interns this summer when I co-oped at Cedar Point where we got to meet Cedar Point executives. When we were able to ask questions I asked the woman who supervises rides, whose name escapes me, if the relationship between Cedar Fair and Intamin has changed due to downtime and the Shoot the Rapids incident. She said, and this isn't word for word, that Intamin got Cedar Point where it is today with rides like Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, and Maverick- however the cost of operating those rides has gone up 53% in the last couple of years. Cedar Point, and to an extension- Cedar Fair, wants to provide guests with fun and thrilling rides while being able to have safe and affordable operations. In a conversation with Jason McClure, he said that the company would continue to work with B&M for a while because of their excellent track record. Just food for thought. Please don't make this thread a manufacturer bash

A couple of things to note. The first is a file on Warren County's website listing improvements to Kings Island from 2018-2020. Look at the bottom of the picture. We could be seeing something be as early as 2020 according to this file. Also with the addition of Yukon Strike to Canada's Wonderland we know that Cedar Fair isn't afraid to break its own records since YS basically shatters VR's records within 3 years of being built. With that being said, it wouldn't suprise me if KI built a ride that was superior to Fury 325.

I noticed while riding The Beast this season that there are some red and blue boards on a sawhorse near the first drop. It's probably just something to get enthusiasts speculating. It has also been mentioned before that the park has been posting a lot about The Racer on social media, which is something that they did back in 2015 with the "Two things from 1972 that everyone has experienced will be removed for 2016" tease which led everyone into thinking The Racer was closing back then. Could the PR department be leading the enthusiast community down that road again? With the return of the ACE Landmark plaque near the entrance, I would certainly think that's what it is.

I hope if they do all of that, they time all 4 lift chains so that the trains are in sync. Feels very unfair how the other train goes down the first drop first.