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I wouldn’t say getting a 30+ million dollar B&M is settling. At least we’d know the ride would be reliable & have high capacity.

I'm a future teller *I assume that each set of two will be painted a different color on each train- front two cars will be red, middle two cars will be orange, and back two cars will be yellow* https://www.pinterest.com/pin/322007442077594651/?lp=true

I am the blogger. The original train you see in that picture was a "prototype" or "concept" based on the initial theme KI had given PTC (a mining car.) It was displayed at IAAPA the fall of '78 and was the only one that had a light added to the front. At the time, the park had not chosen the final theme or name - that came in February. Because of indecision of theme on KI's part - the trains were built by PTC and shipped to KI having only been primed - not painted. When they arrived at KI that winter a final color scheme was chosen and the coaster team/sign department painted the trains and sculpted the logo in house. The logo was added for publicity purposes... so that any photos would indicate the name of the coaster. The park had learned this early on from the publicity they received when Racer premiered - which has always featured the name of the coaster. PTC has never painted The Beast's trains, nor were they shipped with headlights. In addition - remember that there were initially 4 trains, so several modifications were made after they arrived for testing.

The equivalent of being pushed over the side of a sharp hill in a shopping cart. Actual ride footage of my riding it:

I recently came across this gem from 1979. It's a TV documentary called "America Screams," which eventually made its way to VHS in 1990. It features construction footage for Colossus (Magic Mountain), as well as an interview with John Allen. Also, while his name is slipping me, someone from Arrow Dynamics appears, talking about mine coasters and it even shows their prototype for a suspended coaster. Rides that appear include: Rebel Yell and King Cobra (Kings Dominion), Gemini and Corkscrew (Cedar Point), Submarine Voyage (Disneyland), and our very own Screamin' Demon. There are a number of other rides shown, but these are the ones that stuck with me. The best part is it's hosted by none other than Vincent Price, who even narrates while riding coasters at times. At one point, he tells a story about how he visited Pacific Ocean Park on the last day of its operation. He talked the park into letting him have a final farewell ride on one of the coasters, after hours and all to himself. According to Price, he got stuck on the ride and they had to have him climb down with the waves clashing below him, which he called a wonderful experience. P.S. I apologize if there's already a topic on this. I ran a search, but it didn't come up.

I run a website/social media page and was searching for content when I came across some photos of Vincent Price riding a coaster, which led me to discover its existence. I was able to track down a copy on You Tube to watch. I initially didn't post it, because I wasn't sure if it was okay to link it. It's sourced from the VHS, so naturally, it's like watching it while submerged under water.

As cool as it would to see the lake back (for the short amount of time it's not mosquito-infested and stagnant), I'd like to see the paw prints return.

I would like to see the water feature come back. I know they can't put full lake back, but maybe just have the mill wheel going with running water.

Besides being the longest wooden coaster in the world, I think a lot of people forget that The Beast is currently the longest coaster in North America.

The park owes the enthusiast community absolutely nothing.

What is odd is that the B&M inverts built before Raptor don’t have quite the roar that raptor does. I don’t think they would fill every invert but raptor with sand. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I recall Don saying back during Banshee's opening year that it had sand in it's track.

30 dispatches per hour, 480 pph. That’s only twice the amount of a Larson scooter.

Agreed, I think every B&M added to the chain have been a solid investment.

And to think... I used to like your posts. (Kidding, of course.)

Here you go. This is the original train as designed. My guess to why they didn’t do this was a). Guests would pick at it, and b). the decorations would created aerodynamic disruptions that would cause a greater friction loss, which would prove problematic on colder days.

FYI the trains never operated like this... This was a preliminary design only. They were completely re-designed before the coaster opened to resemble a "fireball" on par with the television commercial.

Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa. The only smooth part of the ride was the pre-lift section and lift hill. It gave me an almost instant headache. Only the Tiger side was running and it was so bad that even if the Lion side had been running as well, I would have skipped riding the 2nd track for another coaster credit. This was with the Millennium Flyer trains and I would hate to see how rough the coaster was with the original PTC trains.

For me the Outer Limits: Flight of Fear was one of the worst until they got rid of the OTSRs. Now i think it is quite enjoyable. Son of Beast was bad especially after the work they did after taking out the loop. I think after the new trains were added was when I could barely ride that one anymore. And then Gwazi at BG Tampa.

IF Phantom Theater makes a return, I nominate Mark Hamill to voice the Maestro

I love Rougarou's roar; it really adds to the theme of a beast on the bayou. On the other hand, Raptor's roar is way too loud!

Awesome, thanks @Joshua

With regards to the former lake, this is what Shaggy has to say back in 2010 @Shaggy

This for some reason reminds me of Reading Rainbow.

I think B&M's new technique is filling the tubes/ rails with sand as opposed to the spine which is more cost effective and is accomplishes the same thing.

All of the newer B&Ms don’t roar anymore, so is it possible that they’ve filled all of them with sand? Or have they perfected the track design to the point where it’s no longer necessary? Either way, I do miss that roar!

If Banshee were hollow, you'd be getting a B&M roar around the likes of Great Bear, Raptor and Rougarou.

That scheme looks awesome from that angle. I wonder if it’ll be for just this year, or permanently.

They likely only may have done the drop of the first hill. Could the trains be quieter then the raptor trains? I’m not sure how much is different between the two.

I doubt we see a change to the park maps. Cedar Fair park maps have looked that way for years. I personally don`t find anything wrong with the style of the park maps.

Phantom Theater was a great ride. But I still remember riding the Smurf`s Enchanted Voyage when I was really young. I remember being super mad that Kings Island decided to remove the ride and replace it with a "dumb" haunted house. Funny that now I would love to have that "dumb" haunted house back.

I am still holding out hope that Kings Island will bring back the Clown Band one of these years. I have fond memories of that from when I was younger, and the roving street entertainment is part of what makes the park feel magical.

The SUPER DROP has passed its state inspection and will have its first day of operations starting Wednesday! Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Yes! https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2019/february/in-honor-of-its-40th-anniversary-kings-island-has-brought-back-the-original-beast-trains-color-scheme?fbclid=IwAR0L29g_vpTGr1hgLp3IzbvVIupL8LTPz2fyZa-h8seerB--Y2dVs9bpIfI

Projection mapping has been something they've recently started/testing. Cedar Point recently used it during Halloweekends. You can see an example of it here at minute mark 3:35.

a real glockenspiel with projected seasonal projections would be better.

Comparing Boo Blasters to Forbidden Journey is unfair under his reasoning. That’s a pill I can swallow. Using it as an excuse for low quality, understaffing, poorly trained employees, inconsistent portions, and high prices is not. The Dick Kinzel “people gotta eat” mentality (his words, not mine) is exactly why they are where they are right now. I’m particularly excited about this move, though. I only know Jes in passing, but I know he has quite a history of people development - which is what they need.

Humanitarian Efforts Underway After Kings Dominion Volcano Erupts

The worst wooden coaster I've been on is Son of Beast post-2007 with KD's Hurler not too far behind. silver2005, who is excited to see how RMC Hurler fares. @McSalsa- having been there twice and have ridden both, I can attest to El Toro being quite a substantial upgrade. I do miss Great American Scream Machine though. I know I'm in the minority on this, but I thought it was great. It was one of the great park entry coasters out there, I loved how flashy they presented it, with the name, the all out American theme, and it was a monster in terms of size, one of the biggest looping coasters in the world. It was quite the welcomer and I really liked it. I really, really hope to make it to SFMM's Viper before it bites the dust. I did get to see Batman and Robin: The Chiller operate (both sides, which was rare considering the Batman side was down a lot) but it went down for the day right before the cycle I was about to board. My first visit cemented me being an enthusiast with my first ride on Medusa. Its one of the rides that really got me into the hobby and still lives up to being one of my favorite steel coasters to this day. To give you guys an idea of what Viper was, it was one of the only Togo sit down looping coasters built in the US. It was a rather out of the box design as it had several elements not really well known to Togo- and inclined dive loop and a 0g roll. The later is significant as Togo was experimenting with the 0g roll concept, both in this and their Ultra Twister models. However, Togo isn't really well known for using high quality steel, so they were notoriously uncomfortable, though, it was lucky that it was only 88 ft tall and wasn't even 2000 ft long. The restraints raised and lowered parallel to the seat, not like most OTSR's where they pivot. If any of you have ridden Togo stand ups, the restraints on Viper went up and down similar to how the stand up seats would raise and lower. Viper's restraints would come down very close to your head and they were very hard. They way they supported the 0g roll was using support rings, and they got the idea of using them for the entire coaster. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdF8v8H7V5M

It's worth noting that amusement parks as a whole--and Kings Island is no exception--can be treated as and are treated as daycare services by some people. A pass is cheaper than a babysitter, and some people seem to think an amusement park is just as safe. It's not. Bad things happen at parks, too.