NegativeGs

Between about 1,300 and 400. Varies every ride.

School is certainly more important than roller coasters! And math can be fun. Fact, without math not much in our modern society would exist. At least nothing fun! I find taking a few deep breaths and then holding my breath helps with high positive g-force turns, like the fainting circle. Also, holding your legs up, helps keep blood flowing to your brain. If your brain is starved of oxygen-rich blood, you can faint. I do not know much about Kentucky Kingdom. They once had a B&M stand-up coaster, but that got relocated. Maybe one day B&M will build a hyper coaster like Diamondback there

Totally agreed. Probably why I thought something horrifically wrong, to suggest a supernatural occurrence, would be okay. Something mechanically wrong would not be acceptable.

Yes, Orion is awesome. And, maybe Diamondback is better? For me, Diamondback is awesome in both the front and back rows. And, in the back row you even get a little wet, which I love! On Orion, try taking a deep breath and raising your legs before entering it's fainting circle.

Finally, we can again night-ride The Beast in August

I understand your frustration. Based on my observations, I believe Kings Island attendants are doing an awesome job of enforcing safety and health requirements. Most people would agree that face coverings are essential at this time. However, zero tolerance enforcement of face coverings is unrealistic.

In the airline industry, flight attendants are responsible for ensuring passenger safety, and then passenger comfort. An analogy can be made with amusement park ride attendants. In the age of COVID-19, ride attendants are not only responsible for our safety, but now also our health. I have made five visits to Kings Island in 2020 and based on my observations believe ride attendants are doing an awesome job of fulfilling their responsibilities. To reinforce this, I am always polite to ride attendants and thank them for their assistance.

As the rattle relates to Banshee, I just re-watched this 2016 POV: Even in this 2016 POV, you can see the camera rattles side to side on the positive g-force valleys. As I watch the POV, the frequency of the rattle is in tune with the rattle I experienced yesterday. The amplitude of the 2016 POV rattle does however appear less than I experienced yesterday. Note from the POV that in the valleys, the lengths of track between support frames are short and the support frames are also short. Based on inspection, the track structure in the valleys appears very stiff and will vibrate at a high frequency, which is desirable. Yet, it is in the valleys that the rattle occurs - like @Skibum compared to a jackhammer. So, either the foundations are bad (but as I’ve said before, I don’t believe they are) or the bogies of the trains are causing the rattle. Or is it something else?

Agreed, Orion is definitely a front row ride.

I wonder if the natural frequency of vibration of certain lengths of track interact with the bogies of the train, which in turn causes the rattle? B&M's track and support structures appear slender. This gives a very aesthetic appearance but can reduce the natural frequency of the track structure. Depending upon the amplitude of vibration of the track, this could cause loose wheel bearings to vibrate as energy is dissipated. Imagine pushing a shopping cart with a bad wheel, it is often noisy and can cause the cart to vibrate.

I doubt Clermont Steel Fabricators would know the answer. Clermont fabricates and delivers the steel work specified by B&M. Clermont is not responsible for the design.

Another thing to consider is that B&M probably does not design the foundations, but rather they performance specify loads that must be resisted and anchor bolt patterns. Kings Island (or a General Contractor working for Kings Island) would then work with a local subcontractor to design and install the foundations, while the steel work of the coaster is being fabricated. If the subcontractor did not take foundation settlement into account in the design, then yes significant long-term differential settlement of the track could cause the 'rattle'.

I rode Banshee twice today. It seems to me the rattle is getting slowly worse. As a structural engineer, I do not believe the foundations are primarily at fault for the B&M rattle. If successive coaster builds at Kings Island had foundation issues (because of weak or compressible soil at the park) these issues would be considered by the structural engineer designing the foundations for the future coaster. A significant amount of site exploratory and office design work is involved in foundation design. However, the cost of a substructure is typically small compared to the cost of its superstructure. So, why cut a few $100K on foundations, at the expense of ride quality on a $24M ride? Same applies to Orion at $30M. If a foundation needs repair, it does not necessarily need to be dug up. There are many less intrusive and more cost-effective repair methods.

Haunt is a lot of fun. Last October, Cedar Point roads were temporarily closed because of attendance. I'm guessing most attendees were Gold Pass holders and have a right to enjoy. So, perhaps Haunt needs to be 3 or 4 nights a week, rather than just two.

And in the wild, Diamondback rattlesnakes rattle.

I hear you. My 10-year old daughter wants so badly to go back to school too. Hopefully this coming school year, parents and children can appreciate and have a little more respect for our school system.

Based on the video, parking at KI was cheap in 1972 at 50 cents a day. Taking inflation into account, that's about a sixth of what we pay in 2020 at $20 a day. Although, visitors probably didn't have Gold Passes back then, LOL.

Scare actors on Congo Falls would not be a good idea, lol.

I see Mystic Timbers being an awesome Haut-themed candidate. Imagine… Halloween theme the entrance, queue, and station - don’t want to scare riders yet. At midpoint during the lift hill, the usual good-old-boy narrative is suddenly curtailed and the terrified voice of a young person urges riders that something is horrifically wrong with the ride and they should immediately return to the station – makes riders nervousness, look back down the lift hill, and ask “This isn’t the Mystic Timbers we rode in the summer...?” During the ride, add Halloween lighting effects along the sides of the ride – for enjoyment for some, but primarily to terrify riders. Once in The Shed, replace the video displays with near pitch blackness, limited ambiance lighting projected over dry ice fog. Finally, scare actors encroach the train just before she returns to the station – hair-stand-on-end scream time! Finally, something arrived in The Shed worthwhile waiting for…

I’d like to see an increase in the outdoor scare experience. My 10-year old loved the experience last fall. She even got the courage to joke with the scare actors. If Haunt proceeds this fall, I doubt with COVID-19 that many No Boo necklaces will be sold.

I'm not exactly blasé about COVID-19. Wearing face coverings, frequently washing hands, and applying hand sanitizer has become a norm in my daily life.

Voted for KI

Agreed. And change make some needed changes to traffic lanes and intersections.

Now nice to read a positive review of Orion written by a gentleman who had to make a significant life change to enjoy the ride.

Based on my lifestyle (including significant work travel), I would place amusement parks at an 8 or 9 on this scale. Is my qualitative assessment going to stop me visiting Kings Island about once a week this season? Absolutely no, I feel there are many other risks that I readily accept each day that put me in greater danger. For me, the benefit of Kings Island outweighs its potential risks.