JimParker85

Still skipping seats, that was my big question. Ugh. (At least on the email I received, but my PP is through Wonderland)

Tough top 5 these days, I feel like it will change for me on every visit. Currently: 1. Orion 2. Diamondback 3. Banshee 4. Beast 5. Mystic Timbers Razor thin margin all the way from 1-5 for me.

Pre-pandemic I would say Mack multi launch for sure. Not sure about that anymore, given their reportedly high cost.

Tough to find much to criticize, but I would say: 1. They need to do something to get the Crypt and Action Theatre buildings working again for the full season, not just Haunt. A new dark ride and/or experience. Especially with the park open for Winterfest, they are prime indoor locations going mostly unused. 2. Festhaus is underdeveloped. Should offer better dining options than standard fare and Chinese IMO.

The late August calendars are so bad. Phenomenal weather, more and more schools doing later starts... Parks closed.

Most recent ride was Magnum XL 200 on 10/2/2020. Most recent new credit run was our Silver Dollar City trip in August 2020, I think Wildfire was the final coaster we hit there.

Diamondback and Behemoth need fresh paint BADLY. Intimidator, the newest of the 3, getting one first makes it even more obvious. I'd also love a new color scheme for Behemoth altogether, but a fresh coat of paint would do!

Coast Rider is BRUTAL with those shin guards. I actually don't mind Apple Zapple, which is a shame. I wish they'd replace it with another small footprint coaster. I know most options that would fit there are often-cloned coasters like freespins, sky rocket 2s, Raptors, but Coast Rider is so, so bad.

First statement of the year from Knotts... Extending their passes into 2022 for every day they are closed in 2021. I wonder if they'll open at all this year. Awful.

Our most recent trip was this past year, second week of operations in early July. The new entrance area and Candymonium were top class. I slightly prefer Diamondback, but Candymonium was great. Coaster collection wise, I prefer CP, KI, Six Flags Magic Mountain and Six Flags Great America. SkyRush is so hard to love, the restraints are as bad as advertised. Fahrenheit is a weak Intamin IMO, and Wildcat is in desperate need of either Titan Track or the RMC treatment. Comet is a sleeper hit there, great old school woodie. Great Bear is unique, but limited. Their collection is solid, but not top 4 to me. I think BGT passes them as well with Iron Gwazi. Their Covid ops were also the weakest of the 5 parks we visited in 2020. Mask enforcement was nearly non existent, though I heard that improved a bit as the season progressed.

Time Warp tied with Flight Deck at Wonderland. Steps away from each other! Honorable mention to Mind Eraser at Darien Lake.

For Cedar Fair I believe its 40 or 42 Fahrenheit, someone on here may know for sure.

Six Flags making this move with favorable weather parks, too in recent years. I wonder if Cedar Fair considers it at some point with Carowinds, despite the inability to operate the B&Ms below a certain temp (at least for Cedar Fair). Kings Island is probably too far North to consider it, sadly.

Because of how beautiful International Street is, I don't hate the obstruction of it's view until I officially enter the park. It's always felt like a grand reveal of sorts, same with Wonderland and Dominion. I do wish the brown wall would be renovated and the building repainted/refurbished to look less dated and drab.

It wouldn't suprise me at all if they hold until mid-late may. Maybe the week before Memorial Day. Sucks, but everything does right now so add it to the list.

Missed it so much this year. Hoping very much to return in December 2021.

10 total rides over 2 visits. 2 in row 1 6 in row 8 1 in row 2 1 in row 7 (2 night rides)

Yeah i think the last major coaster in the chain that has traditional full bins is Leviathan. Maybe HangTime also but i can't remember. Yukon has the fun new moving bin system but its complicated. Other than this year obviously i ride Leviathan a lot. You can really tell the dispatch difference between it and Fury/Orion. With the simplicity of the clamshell KI was flying with Orion dispatches like Fury does. On Leviathan, my wife and I noticed a few years ago how everyone at Wonderland seems to always have loose articles so most of the train crosses over to use the bins. Slows it down for sure. The Yukon moving bins were interesting, rode it i think 8 times last year but they aren't simple. Also even with emptying your souvenir cups a guy from our train the one time was angry when he grabbed his drawstring bag that it got wet.

So many smaller parks could use it. ValleyFair jumps to the top of the list if you're talking about the chain parks.

One thing with Mystic is no waterfalls. Some of the old school ones like Thunder Canyon have like 3 or 4 of them.

It is shocking to me that Carowinds is running without a water ride in park. In a perfect world I'd say they should renovate their SBNO rapids ride like Knotts recently did and then add a new modern flume in the Dinos Alive area but I highly doubt either would occur. If any major park in the chain could use those investments, it's that park. All 3 of our summer trips there in 2016, 18 and 19 it was VERY hot.

Mystic River Falls was really a lot of fun. We went for two days at the start of August and had two rides. Not a soaker, but unique and super popular. Two hour wait during the peak of both days with one party per boat (max 8) due to distancing rules. It did break down a lot, we observed a party stuck near the top of the lift tower for about 30 minutes. That would have been interesting. It looked like it cost a fortune with the ride, theming and surrounding area.

i have to stick up for Cedar Point a little here with theming and presentation. No doubt it's a straight up Amusement Park, but everything from the Main Midway train station to the back corner is pretty awesome, and includes 3 world class coasters. I love the Frontier Trail and Frontier Town, and the vibe around Dragster when it's running. 17 years later, it still draws crowds to watch it launch. Kings Island is beautiful and much more laid back as many have said, but CP is a beautiful place even when you aren't on the boardwalk between Breakers and Lake Erie. The Valravn walkway is also very nice IMO. They still need a lot of work on the Main Midway, but French Quarter Confections, the Legacy Brick plaza and the new Corral were steps in the right direction. The Arcade is an eyesore at this point, at least to me. Nothing beats International Street to me, but it's not like CP is ugly.

We've got Banshee, Beast and Orion. Missed out on The Vortex one, sold out

I've felt this wind blowing towards KI as well. It was the best park experience we had in 2020, which also included 4 days at CP, 2 at Silver Dollar City, 2 at Hershey and 1 at Great Adventure. I disagree with anyone who would put the totality of any coaster lineup over CP, but the quality of the KI lineup is great, too. Losing Vortex and likely not replacing it for a while does hurt, but its now a top 10 North American lineup for sure, arguably top 5. The access passes killed CP this year for a lot of people, and no Fast Lane just made it impossible to do much once the park got busy in mid August. We were so lucky to have all season fastlane but without it, the experience this year (and possibly 2021 as well) was just vastly superior at KI. KI has pulled WELL ahead in terms of food. CP eliminated their burrito/bowl option, Pinks and their popular foldover in the same offseason, and the mac shack opened way late. Hugos Italian was a flop and we got a question in our session back at 2020 chill out about it's lack of quality. Meanwhile, Brewhouse is a huge hit (nothing comparable at CP). I could go on, the Chef special this year was another big hit and raises the real and perceived quality of the brand altogether. CP has unique problems that make it harder to have a "great" enthusiast or general public day. Staffing is a nightmare in the best of times due to their size and location, now virtually impossible with no international workers. You'll see more and more people start choosing KI in this way if CP has to operate with access passes, drastically limited hours AND very early line closures again in 2021. The early line closure thing was awful, a real gut punch to a CP life-long fan such as myself, especially as KI did not do it that way. I really am sad for Jason and his team at CP. He was BEAMING about all the 150th stuff at Chill Out in February, just days before the pandemic hit. They had huge plans, and I think a big coaster for 2021 on the horizon. Now? Maybe 2 lost years of they can't get international workers. And in 2020 they supplanted with workers from 5 other CF parks, likely not an option this year. I'm so glad KI was able to do much better, and they have become even better in so many areas. I love Orion and all of area 72. If we can get a more normal season in 2021 with maybe Haunt and Winterfest too, what a great year it'll be. Really hoping for some full train Orion rides. I think CP can get back to being what so many of us love, but I worry that after maybe 2 full years with access passes and a greatly reduced experience, the park will lose a lot of it's goodwill. They have so many challenges to operate at full tilt on their best day, and it's catching up with the park a bit. (Multiple Intamins, wind, rain ops, staffing, crowd size). CP is still my number 1 park, but i can understand for sure the changing opinions referenced here.