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Actually, Chad never left. He's been at the park for almost a year now.

Can you imagine how insane a giga coaster with a 90 degree drop would be? Nobody could have expected Steel Vengeance to have a vertical drop when Mean Streak was being converted. I think the park would probably go that road to make our giga the greatest one ever built.

And don't forget those organs were slippery little things too.... Sam liked to keep those lubed up! That's the gift that keeps on giving the whole year!

Okay 2035 isnt that far off but I would hope a newly paved parking lot would be in the future.

You are not wrong. See the hard part of all of this is, in the theme park business, spending money to make money is more important than in a lot of other businesses. You can remain pretty stagnant for 15 or 20 years and do very well in the restaurant industry, but not so much with theme parks. The giga coaster that all of us coaster people want to see is going to cost real money. To make that money, you have to get people in the gate, and not everyone goes to a theme park for coasters. (I know, it shocks me too.) Getting those flat rides out there, keeping scenery and themes updated and looking fresh year over year, and the food options are what brings in the guests that aren't there for a day of ramrodding as many coaster laps in as possible in the gate. As much as thrill rides are what's up for a lot of us, the 'Tiques are going to be a big lure for those folks that want to experience theme park rides, but can't handle the whipping, spinning, looping, screams.

-Record breaking Giga in the woods with 2 lift hills -Destination/portal launch coaster that transports you to the other side of the park A guy can dream

He's absolutely right. The uniqueness of the attractions has been muddied with the corporate icons smacked all over them. It's a Small World has Disney characters throughout the attraction now, and most new attractions are based on TV shows and movies. They just don't seem to have a personal touch anymore. It has changed drastically since I first went to the park in 1979.

A very interesting read. It is amazing how the early Imagineer`s styles really showed through on the early attractions.

A 90° drop is something the park doesn't have yet and something we could definitely use in our lineup. I hope that with all the concepts, predictions, and requests we have that we won't be disappointed when a giga eventually does come. Enthusiasts can get a little too big for their britches.

It's official! Teasing starts tomorrow!

Those guys are pretty “in” with the KK people. I believe it.

They are just releasing a teaser Friday, the announcement will be sometime soon

Yes definitely a good idea. Maybe a parking lot expansion as well!

Chapter 4- Carowinds There isn't much to be found on Carowinds without some serious digging. Carowinds used to have a railroad that circled the park and featured two operating steam locomotives and one that was never used by the park. Here are some pictures I found from Carowinds Early Years- a fan site that specializes in old Carowinds history. http://www.carowindsearlyyears.com/train1.html #1 #1 was an old prairie engine rebuild by Crown Metal Products. The locomotive is currently owned by a businessman out in California and operated on the Pacific Coast Railroad with an ex Six Flags Astroworld Train and an ex Cedar Point train. #1 renumbered to #3 at the PAcific Coast Railroad with the original Disneyland passenger cars #2 #2 was an original Crown locomotive that bares a resemblence to Kings Dominion's old #601. It operated at Carowinds, South of the Border Park, and eventually ended up at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch but was too but to operate continuously on the rails. #2 at South of the Border SC #2 renumbered to #1 at the Neverland Ranch #3 #3 was never operated on the Carowinds railroad and is on display in Huntsville, Alabama. http://trains.nute.ws/4-4-0/P&W3.htm

It's a case by case basis. They recommend 13, but it's up to you to decide what is appropriate for your child.

I was thinking. What if Kings Island got the Giga-Dive that Yukon Striker was rumored to be. Yes, those are one trick ponies and a lot of us would rather a Fury 325 type coaster, but we got to remember that us enthusiasts are a very small percentage. Dive coasters are GP eye catchers and I think a dive coaster would really please the Kings Island guests. A Giga-Dive would fill 2 majors holes in our coaster lineup. A giga and a 90 degree drop. Based on the Kings Island guests, that hold over that 90 degree drop would really please the Kings Island guests. I don't really want it to happen, but I would understand why if it did end up happening. A perfect location for it imo is where Congo Falls and Timberwolf is. The reason I say that is that the view from up there of the Mason/Kings Mills area would be excellent. Or they could up the ampe and take out Invertigo to give it an entrance effect. I know I will get bashed for bringing up a Giga-Dive, but I just wanted to bring it up. Plus, my dad would really love it because me and him when to Cedar Point and he really liked front seat of Valravn.

How about a Giga/Strata which goes out over Soak City. The Island King!

Nope it's not a racing coaster. I just redrew over the track a second time and it didn't line up exactly the same.

I was expecting another story about how the Disney parks today do not reflect Walt and I was pleasantly surprised. Movie and TV based attractions have had a place at Disney since opening day. Walt Disney always used his TV shows to promote the parks, and had the park reflect major projects from the studios. I am not a fan of the additions to it's a small world, but I have a very hard time believing that Walt would have an issue with much of what the company does today. He was a businessman and the parks were a reflection of the times, and it feels like they still are today. I just wish Disney would build unique rides not based on any theme more frequently, because attractions like Expedition Everest and Mystic Manor are amazing.

May want to ask the Navy about that, though I'm sure they'd love for the Air Force to use their own recruiting budget to promote their program.

Kentucky Kingdom will release a teaser on their YouTube channel for the 2019 attraction on Friday, September 14th. I can’t wait!

It will be. But not at Cedar Fair parks. Even in 2035

That’s harsh. Do you at least let his family visit him on weekends?

Not much changed except for some footings. The work was going on during last weekend while the park was open.

@MDMC01 Look who's back. Sorry for the double post, but had to share.

Viagra's Eiffel Tower.

LOL. I figure it'll go back to Top Gun if the USAF is paying for it. And apparently Vortex makes King Ding Dong's vajayjay itch. Who knew?

Hmm. Wikipedia may be pretty off. I went to web sites for these parks, and hand counted all the rides I saw listed there (had to try and avoid dupes as some parks would list the same ride under multiple categories). This includes kiddie rides. I got these results- also, for comparison, I give the numbers I got with and without waterpark: Kings Island- 49 rides (66 with waterpark) Cedar Point- 71 rides (88 with waterpark) (I imagine Wiki's 72 was correct for main park but Witches Wheel has just been removed) Carowinds- 42 rides (56 with waterpark) Canada's Wonderland- 61 rides (77 with waterpark) Holiday World- 33 rides (52 with waterpark) Kentucky Kingdom- 38 rides (57 with waterpark) These numbers make more sense to me- Holiday World and Kentucky Kingdom are small, family parks and while they have big waterparks, they aren't gonna have as many total rides as a place like Kings Island. Carowinds, ironically, is only barely ahead of them in ride count however and if you include their waterparks, Kentucky Kingdom has more rides than them! Cedar Point and Canada's Wonderland are clearly ahead of everyone else, since both those parks have lots of coasters, big kids areas, lots of flats, and decent-sized waterparks. Also note these are the 2018 numbers so they don't count the new-for-2019 rides like Yukon Striker, Copperhead Strike, Kings Mills Antique Autos, or whatever any of these parks add for next year.

Exactly. This is exactly why I never left the airspace over the Little Miami River. I understand how important it is to follow Kings Island’s rules no matter whether it is against the law or not. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I did a quick Google search to find out the rules and essentially this is how I interpreted them: It's not a federal or local no fly zone, so they couldn't really press charges. Some may make the argument that flying a drone over private property is trespassing but no court in the world would convict you of that. It's against FAA rules to fly it over crowds of people, so flying it over the actual park itself, especially while it's operating, would likely be a crime. Just remember that they have the right to their policies. They may not be able to do anything, but they're a private business so they can ban you or suspend your pass or whatever if they think their policies were violated. It's really just not the best idea to do.

They might own that land, but I still dont think they own the airspace. It's no different than flying a plane over the park. As long as you are a certain height up, the park cannot tell you that you cannot do it. Now what that height is, I dont know. Sounds like I need to call the FAA and see what they say. I'll report back on my findings.

I think its awesome would love to see more !

Good question! They were taken from my drone, with the pictures coming from above the Little Miami River with a high power zoomed camera lens. It was launched from the bike path behind the river and I was very careful not to intrude onto KI property as I didn’t want to break any rules, if there are any. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Very interesting. I’d love to see the photos if you can find them! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm not sure which particular animals the building in question housed, but as far as I know - there were still two animal keeps still standing (along with a few other random structures) as of a few years ago. The building in these photographs was mainly used as storage and accessible via a very eroded and overgrown pathway. For years after the first Winterfest revival was cancelled, it was used to store a ton of WF decorations that never made it into that crappy haunt thing with mean Santa. It also had several of those classic HB benches that were installed circa 2001 and removed for Nickelodeon Universe. The heaters for the animals were still hanging from the rafters the last time I was in there. A second pen, known as "The Bolt Barn," was just up the hill from Son of Beast and had most of the surrounding brush and trees removed. It was also somewhat renovated. Inside were aisles upon aisles of tools and parts specifically used to maintain Son of Beast. The pond itself is very random to see in person, but still cool, and behind Adventure Express on the hillside there were (was, maybe with Banshee now there) some other structures. I think they may have been some sort of stations with phones. The former monorail maintenance shed (which could house one train indoors on special track and allow maintenance staff to work underneath) eventually became part of the facilities for Steel Coaster Maintenance. In the yard out front, that once was the switch track for the monorail, several things were stored there such as FoF's original OTSR trains (at least one of them). Underneath all the random stuff you could still find a monorail footing or two. Hope that helps @Bansheeback, I've got photographs somewhere.

Isn't that where they feed The Beast?

I'd pay good money to go tour old abandoned parts of fairly well established places. The museum center, music hall, KI. I did the old brewery tour downtown where you go into an ancient looking aging cellar, love that stuff.

Jeff Siebert was such a class act. For those who don't know, he is now the President and GM of Six Flags Fiesta Texas. ...also... notice how carefully he was saying, "Nick or Treat." That name didn't last.

Personally I´d like to see more flats before another coaster. I'd love to see some standard flats as well as high capacity flats.

It would seem that a flat ride expansion would suit the park best for the next big investment. Compared to parks like KD and CP, KI has way fewer rides overall. Some of those may not be great rides I understand, but KI needs to invest in it's flat ride collection to bost the number. An addition to x base that has a few new small flats and a bigger one, definitely some bathrooms and other attractions. I used to be on the giga hype train, and still would be excited to see one come, but after visiting the park a bunch this seems to be the biggest need. There are also a few places they could go through the park but adding a whole section together would be great. What are your thoughts.... Giga vs Flat ride expansion? Sent from my SM-S327VL using Tapatalk

Never utter those words here again!

I wonder how much the hurricane will hurt any construction progress. Keep us updated @Rustbucket. Thanks for your pics!