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Diamondback is fairly forgettable as a roller coaster, and its addition did more to lessen atmosphere in the park than anything Paramount did.

Diamondback's splashdown has been filled.

Son of Beast was the best thing ever added to the park and never really as rough as people say...

I don't know if I can disagree with you (because of the premise of this thread). But I do think removing the trees actually made International Street look better. To me, it gives more scale and grandeur to the atmosphere. I do miss the shade they provided, though!

I have caved and ordered the book as well via Amazon. It should be here by the 19th according to my tracking. I am excited to read it, and add to my small-but-growing amusement park book collection that I have started (I have The Beast 2 by R.L. Stine and Always Cedar Point by John Hildebrandt already- so this book will be #3...)

I acknowledge the misinformation in the USA Today article, but "a man killed riding The Beast when he stood up and hit a tunnel wall" is an odd line to just insert without any facts attached... unless the author was being incredibly irresponsible and reciting a rumor he heard and was assuming as truth? The Colossus death he referenced is based on fact, and it's also odd that the following line in the article references the Consumer Products Safety Commission and its data... which is a factual, reliable source. I tried finding any additional information on CPSC's website, but it seems that most of their data shared is for 1987 onward... that USA Today article is from 1987, which means the supposed incident was likely 1986 or earlier. The oldest injury statistics report on the site is from March 1995, but the link is unfortunately wrong and takes a user to information on bathtub and shower injuries. And a search on Newspapers.com isn't turning anything up. It's just a bizarre statement to make and I wonder if it's irresponsible reporting based off rumors, irresponsible reporting getting rides mixed up (and if so, which one it was)... or actually true? Edit - I was able to get in touch with someone who worked at Kings Island's First Aid / Fire Department from 1980 onward. He doesn't remember there ever being a death on The Beast, which puts a lot of weight to the journalist getting their facts wrong. I'm still very curious if that accident occurred on a similar ride or what though.

I was supposed to receive my copy on the 5th then it said it would arrive on the 9th but didn't. It said it was still in transit. The latest update today said its on its in Cincinnati and should be here tomorrow finally. This has been frustrating but I'm just really excited to get this book.

Bought the book, skimmed it, looking forward to reading it all the way on my flight next week.

I have to wholeheartedly agree with both the forgettable, and overrated statements. I dont know, maybe its because I over-rode the crap out of it in 09, but it has been an epic snore machine to me since about 2011, regardless of what row or time of day I ride. EDIT:ANd before anybody starts with the "Youre just anti B&M" garbage, I dont want to hear it.... I really like Banshee and have thought since day one it hands Raptor its arse in a basket.

I don't know about that. I guess it depends on where you sit. I don't mind taking a beating from it. I believe The Beast is more tolerable than what Mean Streak was.

Last Saturday we attended Wild Adventures for the first time. We only had about 4 hours before the storms hit. We really enjoyed this park. Lots of stuff for our 2 and 4 year old to do. Twisted Typhoon was my 150th credit! Nice mix of coasters, flats, animals and other activities. Since its on the way to Florida right off of 75 we will happily go again in the future. Since we only had 4 hours I am sure we missed alot. Seeing Cheetah SBNO killed me. Hopefully it turns into Steel Cheetah lol

Wow, that's rough! However, I partially agree as it's very noisy and disrupted what was once a quiet area of the park. On a related note, here's mine: Diamondback is overrated.

I didn’t expect to actually agree with anything in this thread but here we are. Edit: Lol you said Son of Beast not Beast, just noticed that.

I would love if they did little models of the antique autos

The Beast is too rough to enjoy. Yes, this does come from me. I usually can tolerate rough rides but the rides I’ve had in beast are just unbearable. Last time I rode, I got a bruise on my shoulder.

Invertigo is better than The Beast

Six Flags should buy Cedar Fair!

Mystic Timbers is a kiddie coaster.

Blue Ice Cream sucks. *NOTE: the opinion expressed above is not necessarily the opinion of the author, the webmaster or Microfoft.

Here's one: "Orion isn't a giga!" Not my opinion though

I would love it if KI would do that.

Disclaimer: I’ve never believed that this incident was true in any form. I posted the article to make the point how easy it is for these stories to spread, even in the mainstream news. Just making that clear as this thread develops.

Morning everyone! Orion is looking great this morning From: Kings Island livestream video.

I have the green one. I actually totally forgot about it until I found it in storage about a year ago. This is a must if you like KI memorabilia. The $19.99 price is shockingly fair for it.

On a hunch I dug though some old papers and found it. USA Today, 1988 The pictures are out of order but the entire article is there. The section in question is highlighted.

In other park news, Dollywood has moved to masks only while indoors and no more temp checks, effective today.

Scattered throughout the decades, there's been a few collector gems pop-up for sale at KI. During the Paramount Era, they commissioned hand painted replicas of the lead carousel horses. Also, there was some original International Street art that was sold in a very limited capacity. Unfortunately, unique artistic representations of KI are pretty few and far between. Which amazes me, because in each of those cases they sold out afaik.

Glad to see KI again stepping up their exclusive merchandise game. The pin collection, the Nano-Coasters, the Coaster Cut Outs, the Ornaments, the calendar are all great pieces for a collector. Although these train models look a bit "rough" (as is the case with most resin models of any sort) I am very glad to see these and have made my purchase. I'm still wishing/hoping for CoasterDynamix Statix trains of Orion, Mystic Timbers, Racer, Banshee and "The Bat" (original please), as well as a much needed return to the large souvenir park maps. (I mean seriously, if CP can do it every year for 30 years straight, why cant KI?) Baby steps, I suppose ;-)

For posterity, I was a Beast Crew member (many, many moons ago) and can tell you we were all made aware of the potential hazards with the ride when in driver training. We were given examples of accidents that HAVE occurred in its history, so we knew what to look for and how to handle. Not once, in my time working there - or in training - was there ever any mention of someone being mortally injured by The Beast. However we were warned that people HAVE hit their heads on the trains, broken fingers and hands in the helix, busted lips, had heart attacks etc. Unfortunately, those types of things DID happen (rarely) while I was on crew. I saw and handled a couple of those types of instances personally. However, with the exception of one case, the injuries occurred to people that ignored and challenged the safety warnings. They were all treatable and relatively minor injuries. Perhaps the story is confused with another? In the 1980s a young teenager did get partially decapitated on a coaster at Kings Dominion when they stood up on the Galaxi. It made national news. (Side note: the growing issues and concerns with persons standing on the coasters (not just The Beast) is why the individual orange lap bars took the place of the buzz bars on PTC trains at many parks. But this was after many, many years of operating without them. The more recent addition of seat belts also was a result of concerns about guests breaking rules while riding.) FYI - I've never personally understood the fascination with these types of hearsay "stories." I once had a barber SWEAR he was at KI in the late 1980s on the day The Bat crashed into a concrete pillar, fell off the track, and killed people. He was adamant that it happened. There was so much wrong with his story, but when I tried to correct him - he got very defensive. You would have thought I had killed his first-born. After that, I learned to just roll my eyes and not engage with such stories when they are told directly to me. There's no use arguing.

People tend to lose their heads over these types of rumors

Later in the season they started selling single day fast lanes, but you had to get them ahead of time.

Post and suggest the story of Flight of Fear.

I'll start: We don't need anything from Rocky Mountain Construction

Last time I rode The Beast in a wheel seat it felt like my spine was about to snap like a toothpick, don't get me wrong I can handle my fair share of roughness (I once rode Vortex 56 times in a row) but The Beast is getting to a point where its unbearable.

Let me try. I wish The Beast get RMC.