Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/13/2022 in all areas

  1. I got the chance to visit Haunt this past weekend for my first time this year. Pros: Hotel St. Michelle had great set design and the actors were all very enthusiastic. I was impressed! Some really great scares in here. Lots of sliders out and about on the midways. I definitely jumped a couple times! Slaughterhouse, Madame Fatale's, and KillMart were "the usual"--that is, all really good. Cornered is much improved in its new location over last year. Still nowhere near as good as Field of Screams, but definitely an improvement over when it was in Tower Gardens. Night rides! Everything was running really well this weekend, particularly on Sunday night. I had my best ride ever on Orion. Wasn't able to catch the full lightshow, but from what I saw it looked great. Cons: CHAOS was really good its first year, but I think the past two years it's been the weakest maze by far. The mirrors are all smudged now and the path is obvious, which really weakens that final act. The loss of Blackout and Wolf Pack without replacements is not good...I understand staffing is an issue, but it's hard for me to fathom that we went from 9 mazes in 2019 to almost half of that with 5 in 2021. I'm really glad that Kings Island replaced Urgent Scare this year, though! The dance party in Coney Maul has got to be a new low for this event. I'm sorry, but there is nothing scary or creepy or eerie about the Cupid Shuffle--unless you have traumatic wedding and/or school dance memories. It doesn't fit Haunt at all. Less decor than in years past. For instance, anyone remember the severed heads in the giant pumpkin in Pumpkin Eater's old location? What they had out this year looked really good, I just wish there was more like in the past. Lack of fog has already been pointed out and discussed on here many times. Overall, I felt that Haunt just didn't have that immersive Halloween spirit that it had in years past. There's still some fun to be had--you can't ever go wrong with The Beast at night!--but I was disappointed. The Coney Maul dance party in particular just totally kills the mood and atmosphere. Cedar Point really elevated HalloWeekends this year, and while I felt that Kings Island had a much better event in 2021, I don't think Kings Island's Haunt touches Cedar Point's this year.
    6 points
  2. Random thought. If, (I said IF) there is a new coaster install for 2024, or whenever the next large coaster install happens, the park should do more "mini" type announcements. Seems like when Orion was built there was a decent amount of teasers, which I wouldn't change, but maybe have a partial reveal on a couple of different dates with fun games, etc... to help drive attendance. When Orion was going up, it was pretty obvious early on that a large coaster was going into that space they were clearing, maybe in mid June after schools are out you have a "reveal the manufacturer" announcement, then in late July you have a "reveal the type of coaster announcement" the finally in August you get the POVs, stats and name of the ride. Seems like with a little creativity you could really ramp up the hype with some fun events around the construction.
    4 points
  3. All I can say is once there are odd posters near Vortex you can bet the rumors will start to run absolutely wild when these posters will appear is obviously still up for debate
    3 points
  4. Had another thought about NyteWalkers. This is driven by the main demon and her screams. I think if they bring it back next year they should call the show "Night of the Banshee". A guy and his girlfriend are in line for the ride/walking through the park, etc.. and he keeps talking about how much he loves it. She quips something like "I think you love Banshee more than you love me" he says "That may be true" or something like that and cut to a hard blackout and thunder/lightning and the ghouls come out and the show almost runs the same way it does now. He has released the Banshee, who can be released from her curse with one kiss. You could even use the Banshee scream from the ride for her screams at the end. Just think it would be great to tie it to a KI IP and make it unique to the park. The tricks resemble cars on a coaster and would (in my opinion) be a fantastic tie in.
    3 points
  5. And that is if it ends up going in The Vortex plot. It very well could go in Action Zone. We'll see though.
    2 points
  6. I still think Banshee’s marketing strategy was the best in how there were clues and different things put in place to throw people off before the reveal itself
    2 points
  7. Yes, it was a fun ride. Really felt like you were in the tree tops. The last few years the ride was around, it was in desperate need of some major refurb. There were lots of patches to the fiberglass. Don`t forget about the smell of the water. Unlike Race for Your Life Charlie Brown, KCKC used pond water that was not drained during the off season. Fish also lived in the water. On warm muggy Ohio days, the smell of the water was something. I was sad to see it go, but glad that they refurbished the flume that once resided at Coney versus this one. In fact, Flume was SBNO in 2000, the final season of KCKC. When Flume reopened in 2001, KCKC was closed and being dismantled to make way for Tomb Raider: The Ride.
    2 points
  8. I drive 2 hours to Kings Island when I go, maybe you can say I do not plan, but I do not bring extra insulin pump supplies or insulin. I have been going to Kings Island with diabetes since 2010. I have never brought extra supplies, glucose tabs, or anything. My sugar has gotten low multiple times. During those instances, I simply walk up and get a Coke. Easy peasy. Back to the fun. No issue. I will say if someone wants to bring extra pump/insulin/diabetes supplies, they should be able to. But there is NO reason anyone needs more the one additional infusion site to Kings Island. That has to be miserable to carry around right? If I came to Kings Island with all the supplies I needed and glucose tabs to replace everything, I could fit it in the bag that they allow entry with.
    2 points
  9. Or with Mystic Timbers with the "doggone it did the cat get out of the bag" or "stumped?!" Or "ride sally ride" with Diamondback
    1 point
  10. I can see the t-shirts and posters now (which would be a must for those who love to show to purchase and have signed!!). And after a year or two run we can have a male lead in the show for "Night of The Beast"
    1 point
  11. Love it! They could even make it a frame story where he and/or she imagines the Banshee coming to life, only to come to their senses at the end.
    1 point
  12. Flight of Fear may not need paint, but the track could use a scrubbing as it has a bit of a vibration. Also, I'm for Diamondback to go all red and black.
    1 point
  13. That's a really great idea! Being the fan of Phantom Theater: Encore, I would like to see that premise, but instead of Banshee, Hilda is the object of his love.
    1 point
  14. Good stuff (I too love Slaughterhouse and thought Killmart is good this year), but let's agree to disagree on the dance party! While it may seem out of place on paper (doesn't match Haunt's "scary" atmosphere) I think it's cool and something different! Looking forward to spending more time on the dance floor tomorrow night. EDIT: I would also (partially) agree on CHAOS... it had a very strong theme its first year (as a sleep experiment gone wrong!), but it's kinda devolved into a "Sci-fi/aliens" theme this year (however, apparently there is some semblance of the original theme as one of the scareactors's lines said "ready to sleep?" when he popped out Sunday). That being said, I still enjoy Chaos for the cool sci-fi theme it does have (even if that goes by the wayside the deeper you get into the maze...).
    1 point
  15. This looks great and fits Rivertown really well!
    1 point
  16. I know this was already mentioned, but I feel like this is an indication of the park seeing Sunday(s) as a success.
    1 point
  17. Unfortunately they only did the track and handrails. The supports were not done as you can tell if your in line for Hotel St Michelle. Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk
    1 point
  18. Welcome to my 2022 trip report thread! I should start by mentioning that this has been a long time coming and there will be several posts throughout the week and throughout the end of the year cataloging my trips and excursions in 2022. Please feel free to comment and leave your takes in this thread as participation makes this a lot more fun than me just blabbing for a few paragraphs about my trips this year . Part 1: Before Darkness Falls (A USO/IOA Review) If you have been in the Haunt circles, you probably have heard of the legend that is Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Orlando. Arguably the best Haunt event and it still kicks everything else out of the water. I flew down late on Friday evening and got to Dockside Inn and Suites for my stay. I should mention, if you want an affordable and decently accommodating hotel, Dockside is my go to. Easy access via bussing to IOA and USO, Starbucks, a very nice but quaint bar, two wonderful pools (one with my favorite poolside bar) and to top it all off the rooms are incredible. I have yet to have a bad experience at the hotel (I have stayed there 4 times now) and I have always raved about the experience. Got checked in, put my luggage in the room and I headed back to City Walk to pick up some Voodoo Donuts for a late night snack and for breakfast the following morning. City Walk was insanely packed, and the line for Voodoo was 20 minutes out the door just to get to order. If you don't know Voodoo Donuts, they are a craft donut chain from Portland OR, I got the Voodoo doll, a doll shaped berry filled donut with a pretzel spike, a few glazed old fashioned donuts, and a raspberry romeo, which is effectively a raspberry filled donut. Once again, these are some of my favorite doughnuts and they were well worth the wait. Finally got back to my hotel, got some pizza from the quick service (which again was amazing considering it's a hotel pizza). The following morning I took advantage of the Premier Pass ERT and got a few rides in on Velocicoaster. Back seat on every run, was "loose" and it still reigns as my #1 steel coaster. After ERT was done I was able to round out IOA in about an hour 30 before walking to USO to ride some coasters. Note the train was down this weekend unfortunately. When I arrived at USO I made a very quick run to Mummy as it just reopened to the public. The queue definitely felt like it got some love and TLC, however the ride itself didn't really feel better in any respects to the original. In fact, the new CGI made the mummy look more like a wooden façade than a decaying corpse. The new beetle animatic was amazing but otherwise I can't really say it felt better in any respects. I rounded out the major attractions in a few hours as it was now getting pretty busy in the park. I wound up at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade for lunch and once again got the Shepherds Pie with a side salad and a Dragonscale Beer. The meal was amazing as always, the beer was actually pretty good, I would describe it as a lighter lager. As the day prolonged I spent some time going around Jurassic Park riding River Adventure and checking out some of the shops I never really spent time to look at before heading back to Dockside for the afternoon. As mentioned before, Dockside has a really nice pool with a very nice bar. I was able to snag a skittles mixed drink (the name honestly alludes me), and it was actually pretty good and reasonably priced. The pool has a lot of decent places to relax and enjoy the water, however like other hotels on property, it also has underwater speakers that was a VERY nice plus. Eventually we were told to vacate due to impending storms coming in but that gave me enough time to change out and to get out for HHN. Part 2 will be coming tomorrow evening so stay tuned! What's your take on Velocicoaster?
    1 point
  19. Amen. I was actually very pleased with how mystic timbers came out though. Diamondback I never was huge on. It's always going to kind of be awkward in the park and stick out.
    1 point
This leaderboard is set to New York/GMT-04:00
×
×
  • Create New...