McSalsa

Based on that- assuming the other rides held somewhat steady to 2015- Vortex was still one of the more popular rides in the park in terms of rider numbers. It probably dropped one spot- thanks to the debut of Mystic Timbers, which from everything I have heard is in the million riders club (which would put it ahead of Vortex). Also 862,000+ riders per year would actually be the most ridden ride at a lot of parks- I think I even read somewhere that Kings Dominion's MOST RIDDEN coaster, Dominator (at least I think), only gets like 850k-900k riders per year (though I imagine a lot of this is probably because Kings Dominion is a park that generally only gets 1.5-2 million guests per year or so, Kings Island gets 3-3.5 million)!

Le sigh. And it's officially over. Sadly I was unable to come get 1 last ride in on Vortex, things kept getting in the way of visiting the park during Haunt so my final memories of the coaster are from July 13th. At least for the most part, they were good memories: I got kinda beat up on the last ride in 2-2, but I also got some epic rides earlier that were actually quite smooth in 7-1 (complete with ejector air). I have kept track of my rides ever since my first one in 2009 (like many on here, Vortex was my first looping coaster) and I managed to get 23 rides total over a 10 year span- considering I only got to KI once a year until recently and even missed a few years, 2.3 rides per year average isn't too bad I'd say. While I am excited for Orion, I am gonna miss Vortex- unlike Firehawk, which I only rode 4 times because the line was almost always too long, Vortex was a staple on many of my Kings Island visits: with short wait times, it was my go-to coaster for crowded days or if I just wanted to kill a bit of time (say if I wanted to do a Beast night ride and it wasn't 100% dark yet). Whatever replaces Vortex (I expect 2023-2025 range to be when this happens) is gonna have some big shoes to fill. Then again, Vortex itself replaced The Bat, one of the most famous defunct coasters ever created. Hopefully KI can pull off the hat trick, and the 3rd coaster (I do think a coaster will go in Vortex's spot- it is very uneven and thus would not really work flat rides and stuff) to occupy that plot is as epic as Vortex must have been when it opened in 1987.

To add to this: CBS didn't even own the park very long. March 2005 (the CBS Viacom Split) to June/July 2006. Italian Job Stunt Track- a small coaster but still a coaster- was pretty much a Viacom addition, and I'd imagine at that point in 2005 it was pretty much done with construction and ready for testing. The main thing CBS did was jack up lots of prices around the park, to increase profits and make it look better to potential buyers. The only actual additions the park made under CBS ownership came in 2006, when Hanna-Barbera Land became Nickelodeon Universe. A few kids rides were removed- including Scooby's Ghoster Coaster- and a few were added, but nothing major was removed under CBS (Viacom was the one who got rid of the Antique Cars and sent the Flying Eagles to Carowinds) and they very likely did not spend $30 million on the replacement rides that went into the then-new Nick U. (And this does not factor in the Antique Cars, I-Street Renovations, Switch from Reds to Brewhouse, Blue Racer Trackwork or Glockenspiel Fixes of 2019 that surely cost money)

^ Also, for the record: I have heard Beast runs with less trims (they shorten some of them by taking small sections of them off) during the spring and fall seasons compared to mid-summer as the ride is usually only running during weekends at this point, and it is usually cooler so the rides don't run as fast as they do on hot summer days.

TBH, not too shocked. I went about a month ago and it was crazier than I have ever seen any park, Halloweekends already got packed at Cedar Point and now you have a shiny new $99 Gold Pass boosting crowds even further (though even had they not done Gold Pass the park would still be PACKED today- people seem to love the Haunt events). Even a 10% boost or something from Gold Passes would drive the park to capacity, based on previous years. Plus it is very, very nice today. May and June next year may also see a slight attendance bump from Gold Pass, but at least those months were not crazy crowded to begin with like August-October have become. Heck, from what I have heard today Kings Island is very crowded as well (my sister is there without me ATM- there was no room in the car for me to come). Banshee is apparently a 90 minute wait. I have not seen a line for it that long since Opening Day 2014!

Woah. Imagine how different Kings Island would have ended up had that happened. My thoughts on this (Warning- BIG POST AHEAD): The park would have ended up separated from its former Taft brethren, as Paramount still gets those. The Bat (then TOP GUN) would probably have still happened as that was in the works well before it opened in 1993, just with a different name and theme, but: no Flight of Fear (Paramount likely builds a 2nd FOF still but at Carowinds or Canada's Wonderland). No Drop Tower- Cedar Fair always seemed to add S&S Combo Towers instead. No Invertigo- Cedar Fair generally avoided Vekomas. No Son of Beast- Cedar Fair would have known better than to add such a massive woodie thanks to their experience with Mean Streak, so the park would actually dodge a bullet there. No Tomb Raider: The Ride as Cedar Fair would not do a mega themed ride like this in 2002 as Kinzel was still stung by Disaster Transport's flop. No Delirium (because no TR:TR and Delirium was apparently built just due to the early success TR:TR had). No Backlot Stunt Coaster- though this means the OG Antique Cars and Flying Eagles both stay, likely even to this day. Yay a plus! Even the Cedar Fair era stuff is not "safe". No Diamondback- as we likely would have gotten a hyper much earlier than 2009, maybe even in the mid to late 90s. It would have likely been a Morgan or a early era B&M. No Banshee in 2014- we likely do get a Invert, I would guess sometime in the mid 2000s, and it would probably be somewhere else as there would be no failed Son of Beast to replace. A GCI may have come sooner, or maybe we'd even have a Intamin Prefab built back when they were on much better terms with Cedar Fair, so also no 2017 Mystic Timbers most likely. With no Canada's Wonderland or Carowinds under Cedar Fair, would a B&M Giga have even happened? This puts Orion in some doubt, though it could still be a thing- heck, maybe we even get the FIRST B&M Giga. I also have to wonder: what would have come instead, because Cedar Fair would add new attractions to the park obviously. As stated in the previous paragraph, I do think we probably get a hyper much sooner, as well as a Invert, and a modern wooden coaster (GCI most likely, small chance Intamin Prefab). Other new big coaster additions would probably include a B&M Floorless (maybe even the record breaking one Cedar Point turned down to build Maverick) or a B&M Flying Coaster (Firehawk never comes, read on...). Flat ride additions would probably include a S&S Combo Tower. I dunno if Phantom Theatre would remain, or what Cedar Fair would replace it with. Lion County Safari probably leaves as Cedar Fair doesn't do animal attractions like that. Firehawk never comes in 2007, because I don't think Cedar Fair buys the other Paramount Parks in 2006. They just wanted KI, so they never go into massive debt. Because of this, Geauga Lake never closes (Cedar Fair suddenly had a lot of debt and a bunch of new parks that needed rides so they cut Geauga Lake), and because of this X-Flight likely stays put where it spends the rest of its life until its demise at the end of 2018. Geauga Lake probably doesn't get many large additions post 2004 though, but at least they'd be open. (Geauga Lake would probably be in a similar state to Worlds of Fun right now in terms of new additions and stuff). I fear for the other Taft/Keco parks though in this AU. If Cedar Fair skips on buying them in 2006, because they already have KI, then it is likely they end up under CBS ownership for several years at least. Would Six Flags have bought them? Probably not due to huge debt at this time. IMO Kings Island would likely be in much better shape than all the other former Taft parks in 2019, unless Busch Gardens or some other great owner bought them. And to end this: for a brief period in the 1990s, the kids area would have been...Berenstain Bears! (Then becoming Snoopy in late 90s)

From what I heard, most likely. Kingda Ka has had its launch cable snap and things like that and has been closed for long periods as well. The same is true for the smaller Xcelerator at Knotts, which was the prototype for this model. Interestingly Red Force in Spain, a newer and more updated version of this ride (though not quite as tall), uses LIMs instead of a launch cable. However because it is way over in Spain I have no idea how much this change has helped reliability versus the old cable launch models.

From what I have heard RMC can indeed do loops, but their lead designer, Alan Schilke, doesn't like them so his designs don't use them (save Tennessee Tornado which he did with Arrow in 1999). Thus we aren't likely to see a loop on a huge RMC Hybird Coaster as long as he is the designer. Thus if the park did decide to build a huge RMC (I would not be opposed) I'd imagine they might have to either come up with a new theme (they'd probably go this route- it would just be a huge RMC with little to no storyline ties to SOB), or find some way to explain why there isn't a loop in a SOB "tribute" coaster.

Can confirm this. Showed up to the park last year during Haunt on a Saturday, rode everything except Firehawk at least once. Diamondback and Mystic Timbers were 5 minute waits or less early on. Then around 2pm the crowds began to kick in, those 5 minute waits became 30...45...and then by the time Haunt began they were up to an hour. Granted the ride crews at KI have also been doing a great job so the longest I actually had to wait was 1 hour for a Beast night ride, Mystic Timbers was only a 45 minute wait in spite of being listed at 75 since the ride crew was getting trains out very fast. Then around 11pm, people begin to leave usually, so the lines ease up a bit around this time- though they don't go back to how short they were in the morning, they will go from say a 60 minute wait for Beast to about 30'ish towards close. If you don't mind staying late, you can sometimes grab 2-3 extra night rides on coasters and stuff if you get lucky.

According to the web site Que Times (which apparently uses Cedar Fair's data), Beast has re-opened. If this is correct it must have just gone back up not long ago, as most other rides in the park have decent listed waits (will probably get even worse as Haunt approaches) yet it is listed as just being open.

Here is a picture I took with my phone on Saturday July 13th this year. Vortex was the first roller coaster I actually took a "solo" picture of, as all my pictures before this were park "skyline" pics. I took this picture while walking over to Vortex as Beast had broken down, had to wait 30 minutes (longest I have ever waited for Vortex- it got pretty busy this day because Saturday in July) but I did get a great ride in 7-1 so IMO it was worth the wait.

Ehh, if this happens, I had my own Joke: The Beast- Presented by Snickers PS: I too hope this does not happen, or if it does Kings Island at least somehow stays at least somewhat similar to how it is now. Though I fear that may be unlikely.

Yeah I thought of that. Of the 3 rides though, if something structural or track repair does need done, Magnum probably has the best chance that Cedar Fair will pay to have it done. Anaconda and Viper probably won't warrant a expensive repair like that at all, if Vortex couldn't. Granted if it is really bad, even Magnum's popularity won't save it. Volcano's issues were bad enough that they removed it even though it was clearly one of the most beloved coasters at Kings Dominion.

IMO of those 3, Magnum probably has the best chance of survival as it is still pretty popular in spite of its age. When I was at Cedar Point a few weeks ago (first weekend of Halloweekends) I noticed in the operator's booth it has already given 1,000,000+ rides this year alone. Raptor, for comparison- one of CP's most popular B&Ms, was only at 930,000. Though I do think they may have to give Magnum a major overhaul/repair soon, due to its age. Anaconda and Viper are probably screwed though.

You forgot about The Bat. I would think AE is safe because Mine Trains have not really been getting demolished as of late, with some of them going on to be 50+ this year like Cedar Creek Mine Ride. The Bat I have started to worry about: it is over 25- the age at which Big Bad Wolf was demolished- and it is a rarer model than the very common Mine Train coasters, with seemingly many more moving parts. I do think it'll stick around for a while, but I don't know how much longer it really has. And while they are not Arrows, I have similar thoughts about Invertigo and Flight of Fear in the upcoming decade (2020-2029).

Also if you read the blog, Gold and Platinum passholders can get 30 minutes of ERT on Saturdays and Sundays as Vortex has been added to the lineup for that alongside Mystic Timbers and Diamondback.

Vortex probably is structurally safe now, but I guess Kings Island's maintenance crews have been monitoring it and realized it's gonna need some big re-tracking or structural replacement this offseason to stay that way, which for a steel coaster is very expensive. And with declining ridership, Cedar Fair probably doesn't wanna spend millions of dollars on a aging ride that is losing popularity. Granted this could also mean some part was actually rare and expensive, and thus cost too much for Cedar Fair to justify replacing it. I do remember meeting a staff member at Holiday World who said they removed Pilgrims Plunge/Giraffica because a replacement part was gonna cost $1 million dollars by itself, and ridership for that ride was already declining even though it was a mere 5 years old. I also fear that we are about to see a lot of coasters go defunct in the next 5-10 years. Magnum XL-200 started a coaster war in 1989, and with that war many new rides were built, but now those same rides are approaching the 30+ year old age when most parks say a ride has reached the end of their life. The still-popular ones that warrant it will get the maintenance and care needed to keep them running (to a point, sometimes repairs or parts are just too expensive even for legendary rides). But the lesser stuff (mainly Boomerangs and SLCs, etc.) is probably doomed. Heck, we have already seen this with most of this era's signature wooden coasters getting demolished or RMC'd.

Yeah, I also think it was probably metal fatigue- I don't think replacement parts for Vortex could have been that expensive, and it was still a very high capacity ride. KI probably would have preferred to keep it around at least a few more years to be a low-wait option for guests. But, if the structural integrity was going bad, then this was sadly the only option. Firehawk probably was a parts issue, as Vekoma seems to have stopped supplying parts for their older, less popular ride types as they move onto new ones. While I fear for Bat (it has lasted longer than Big Bad Wolf already), I think Adventure Express will be OK- it has a mostly wooden structure, and there are some very very old Mine Trains still in Operation (Cedar Creek Mine Ride turned 50 this year and is still in operation with no signs of going away). I think the fact they are family coasters and thus not as fast or intense as the big loopers helps a lot in this regard.

Vortex was, like many other people on here, my first looping roller coaster. My first ride was in 2009, and this was only the 2nd coaster I rode on that trip that broke my fear of them (Beast was the 1st). I enjoyed it, but it was not until I found out how good the ride was from 5-1 in 2010 that I fell in love. Since then, I have ridden the coaster on all but 2 of my recent visits to Kings Island: in 2014 when Banshee opened (waiting 4 1/2 hours for Banshee sucked up all our time) and on a day last year when a bad wheel seat Beast ride hurt my shoulder, making Vortex a no-go. I do have some memories already from 2019, which will be the ride's final season, from my trip back in July. Beast was down, so I headed over and got what may have been the best ride I ever got on Vortex from 7-1 after about a 30 minute wait. A old guy was sitting behind me in 7-2, and he also loved it. Later on, I came back for a night ride while the rest of my group was smoking, and saw a little kid who had just hit 48 inches who's parents said he had ridden it twice in a row and was going for a 3rd. That made me "D'AWW". I feel bad for that poor kid, and his parents, who now have to explain the coaster he loved so much isn't going to be there in 2020. RIP Vortex: I will probably be there for Haunt to get last rides on you. Please don't be like Firehawk and be down the entire time, open up, I wait 20 minutes and then go down again. Then again, Vortex has generally been much more reliable to me than Firehawk ever was.

Oof. After Firehawk was removed last year, I was expecting the other coasters at the park would all last at least a few more years and co-exist with Orion. Sadly I woke up to find this. I'm one of the people who actually liked Vortex, to the point when it does go, it is gonna be my new favorite defunct coaster or ride, surpassing Pilgrims Plunge/Giraffica for that title (and fairly easily). Unlike Firehawk- which I only ever rode 4 times- I have been on Vortex 23 times so far and on almost every visit (will likely being adding to that total as was planning to go for Haunt this year). It's one of my go-to rides on days like Haunt Saturdays, when the park gets very crowded. Which makes this much more of a gut-punch than Firehawk was. Plus Orion is replacing Firehawk, and looks to be a big upgrade, but I fear we are waiting a while before something replaces Vortex, at least until 2023. I think a B&M Dive is pretty likely- they are GP Pleasers, High Capacity, and comparatively cheap versus B&M's other big looping models. KI is gonna want to replace Vortex's capacity eventually, and Vortex had really good capacity so that will be tricky to do. A RMC wooden coaster could also be a option, but Steel Vengeance is still CP's newest coaster and will likely still be very popular in 2023 even if CP adds a new coaster soon, so I don't know if they would add a similar-ish RMC to Kings Island so soon. Most of the other ride types I can think of in this spot are more expensive, such as a B&M Floorless (would be a pretty much direct replacement for Vortex) or a Mack Multi-Launch like Copperhead Strike (but CH cost $30m so if this is the model they wanna replace Vortex with it may be a few years, possibly as late as 2024 or 2025). I also fear for Invertigo (which I thought might go before Vortex but it could live a few more years from Stinger parts), The Bat, and maybe even Flight of Fear in coming years. They are all also aging models and parts I imagine must be getting harder to come by. (Adventure Express is older but Mine Trains seem to last crazy long, and by their standards AE is still young) And of course for all the other Arrow Loopers in the chain (Corkscrew, Anaconda, Carolina Cyclone, etc): if Vortex is going, I don't see the other ones outliving it by that much.

In terms of height, according to RCDB, Nemesis @ Alton Towers at a mere 42.6 feet tall. However it does have a 104 foot largest drop, because it goes into a ravine. Also in spite of its small size I have constantly heard it is one of the best B&M Inverts ever made. Random Fun Fact: You could stack 7 and half Nemesises on top of each other and the ride would still be a tiny bit shorter than Fury 325, B&M's largest coaster to date!

Oof. If you were planning to go to Holiday World for their Halloween event and were hoping to get some night rides on The Voyage in, I had bad news: that won't be happening this year. The Voyage is slated to get yet another massive re-tracking, and thus must be closed for the rest of the season. From what I can tell Raven, Legend, and Thunderbird will all be open though. Giant traditional wooden coasters like Voyage need lots of upkeep, especially with how intense Voyage is (even with the MCBR on) and this is more proof of that. Hopefully when Voyage re-opens in 2020, it is a smoother ride for at least another short while (until the next inevitable major retrack).

...ok, I have rested up a bit and let the Day 1 part of the trip go up itself for a while: now, time for Sunday- Part 2! Ride rating system for new rides (or major updates) is in Part 1. Part 2: Sunday, September 15th, 2019 Some of the people in our group slept in, so we didn't leave Breakers Express until ERT was almost starting, thus we were not going to get Steel Vengeance ERT. When we arrived at the park, we instead opted to ride Valravn (save for "B" who won't do a ride with inversions unless it is Maverick) since according to the app Maverick was down. We were sat in the back row, and while hanging over the edge wasn't as intimidating, I got some nice airtime on both vertical drops as well as the airtime hill near the end of the ride. The ride was also very smooth. After getting off Valravn, we headed over to TTD, but found it was still broken as whatever happened on Saturday was major, so it would be closed all day. No TTD rides on this trip for me then, d'oh! However, Maverick was back open, so we headed over to it to find a 30 minute wait. For Maverick that isn't bad at all, so we got in line and waited. When we got on the line had already swollen up to over a hour, however! Maverick didn't break down this time, so we were able to board and got a awesome ride- lots of airtime, plenty of twists, and a powerful launch were all highlights. After Maverick, we headed over to the Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad, and rode it down to the Millennium Force plaza. However MF was a hour wait at this point, so we skipped it and got some food at the nearby food trucks. I got a hot dog. Most of the group wanted to ride Sky Ride to GateKeeper, but since I'd be riding alone I decided to walk and see if I could beat them to it. I did, but part of the reason was the rest of the group had decided to go to the car for a bit. So I rode GateKeeper solo, as it was only a 15 minute wait, from the 2nd to last seat on the right wing. The ride was running great, good g-forces and speed (It was for sure not being "GateSleeper"!) and I even got some airtime on the airtime hill. After riding GateKeeper, I headed over to Wicked Twister which also had a short wait, about 5-10 minutes. I rode towards the back, and thus really got "spun" on the backwards launch. Good fun. After riding WT, my group was back so I rode it again immediatley after, but we went for a seat closer to the front, and got another great ride. Then we rode GateKeeper again, again about a 15 minute wait, and this time I rode from the very back. It was about the same as the first ride a bit earlier. My friends decided to smoke for a bit, so next, I rode a new ride I had never ridden at Cedar Point before... NEW RIDE: Troika Basically, it's the exact same ride as Shake Rattle & Roll at Kings Island with a different paintjob. However, both rides are fun, as you spin and twist in the air. Score: 7/10 After Troika, my friends were done smoking, so we went and rode MaXair. If you have ridden Delirium, MaXair is the same thing but the ride cycle goes 1 swing longer once it gets up to full speed, thus making MaXair the better of the two rides. After MaXair, my group went to see a show, so I went and rode Raptor again since it was so good on Saturday. The line said it was a 30 minute wait, but due to B&M Capacity it was really only 15 minutes, the line for Raptor just kept moving. I noticed in the Raptor control booth there was a drawing that called Raptor "Queen of the Birds". If Valravn is the "King", then that means Raptor married him, and I imagine GateKeeper is the royal bodyguard, LOL. Raptor was a bit weaker than it was on Saturday, but not by very much and it was still a epic ride. After Raptor I got in line for "Boo" Streak, and right before I got on my friends show finished but I was close to riding so I rode solo. Boo (Blue) Streak was running pretty decent, not too rough, but the airtime was also a bit weak. After that, my friends went and got some beer and were eating at Chickie+Pete's, so I sat in the Raptor/Blue Streak plaza and just chilled for a while. I did get some nice pictures during this time, which you can see at the end. Also, it drizzled a little bit, but not for too long or very hard at all. When my friends were done eating, we headed out of Raptor/Blue Streak Plaza to find it was 4pm, which meant the Great Pumpkin Parade was going on. We followed it as we were heading for WindSeeker, but my sister and friends realized some haunts were open (unlike Kings Island, CP has a few indoor haunted attractions open on Sundays). I broke off from the group yet again since I don't like Haunts too much, and headed down the beach boardwalk. With Hotel Breakers closed, this was actually quite nice as there was barely anyone on the boardwalk. At the end of the boardwalk, I spotted my target ride: A big old Arrow from 1989. Magnum had about a 10 minute wait, and was back down to 2 trains instead of 3- a good sign that the park was much less crowded than on Saturday. I rode in 6-2 near the back, and got lots of good ejector airtime as usual. After riding Magnum, I headed back up to meet my friends at WindSeeker but they had moved on, so I went over to Iron Dragon to ride that. As the ride climbed up the lift, suddenly, we got E-Stopped: and a ride op came up and took a phone from someone in the front row. I saw this happen on Raptor too. When will people learn? Le sigh. However, with the phone taken, the ride started back up and I got a fun, smooth ride swooping through the trees. Iron Dragon may not be the most intense coaster ever, but it's still fun. I then headed over and walked onto a ride that is actually intense, Rougarou, next. This time I was put in the very back, and while I found the front row of Rougarou quite smooth, the back is kinda rough. I was able to avoid headbanging, but I had to be defensive to do so. I did still enjoy the ride, however. After Rougarou, I headed back to Power Tower, to find my group was still not done on the beach. I chilled near the Iron Dragon plaza for a bit, watching a heavy metal music show, then wandered to Valravn and took some pictures. Then I headed to Power Tower again, then I saw Corkscrew had literally no wait, so I went ahead and rode that. The retro paint job on the trains is actually pretty cool, and the banners that were added this year to both Corkscrew and Gemini are nice. Sadly, besides looking cool, and I am not really a fan of Corkscrew's trains: they are lifted up a bit higher than Vortex's, and thus while I am comfy and snug on Vortex, here I felt cramped up. I didn't get headbanged because of this (I was too tight to be moved) though. And Corkscrew did have some good g-forces and airtime. I am not a huge fan of Corkscrew but when it is a walk-on, I'll ride it, it's a OK ride. However I very much perfer KI's Vortex. After Corkscrew, I headed to the Magnum Gate, and waited for my group. They came in, and hearing Corkscrew was a walk-on, we got back in line to find it had broken down, so we got out of line. We then headed over to Power Tower. Earlier, Space Shot was down, but it had been fixed and re-opened. So we did that side. NEW RIDE: Power Tower- Space Shot Imagine Drop Tower at Kings Island...but in reverse. Instead of going up slow and then dropping, you get SHOT UP instead. Then you bounce around near the top for a bit, get some great views, and come back down slowly. I really liked this ride, though I do still perfer Drop Tower at KI as I thought it was a bit more forceful, and I like the suspense of waiting for the drop from high up. Also, I was on the side facing Valravn and Raptor. Score: 8/10 After Power Tower, my friends wanted to ride Iron Dragon and Rougarou. Both were about the same as earlier: my sister was the only one of the 4 of us who rode Rougarou who didn't like it (Roommate B sat out), she got headbanged because she is short. After Rougarou, we got in line for Millennium Force, which we planned to make our final ride of this trip. The wait was about 40 minutes, but the line moved pretty well. As the sun was gone and darkness was setting in, we got a quasi-night ride on Millennium Force, and it was great. The speed was much better than our 1st ride on Saturday, as the ride was fully broken in, and I did get some decent airtime to boot- plus I was riding in the very back car, so I got yanked over the 1st drop and then fell 300 feet getting airtime the whole way down. After the final ride on Millennium Force, we headed out, used a nearby restroom, and chilled for a bit watching the screamsters from Frontier Town head out past us which was fun. We also heard the Millennium Force crew send out the final train of the night. After this, we headed out and left the park, and came home. And that was Day 2 of Cedar Point! Had a ton of fun both days, but Sunday was better because of less crowds. We probably are gonna take a year off from Cedar Point in 2020, as we wanna hit up other parks, so it'll be a while before we come back. Hopefully Gold Pass madness has died down a bit by then. Anyhow, before I give some final thoughts...MOAR PICTUREZ FROM SUNDAY!!! Steel Vengeance in the morning! I didn't ride this Sunday, but felt as my #1 coaster, I should take a pic of it anyway. Not only is CP teasing about Orion's height, but they are lying and adding 2 feet to Millennium Force's!?!? It's Wickedly Twisty! A King and His Queen. (According to Raptor's ride op box at least) Boo! Going for a Loop! A huge barge. And in the distance, that white thing is a 2nd huge barge. Boardwalk views. Hotel Breakers- it's not super cheap, but this place is convenient to stay at when visiting Cedar Point. Magnum XL-200: Even when you see it, you won't believe it! 30 years old and still awesome. A big awesome 300 foot Giga Coaster, and a big broken 400 foot Strata Coaster. WindSeeker from the boardwalk- this pic was cooler last year when we got a rainbow in it, though. Valravn near sunset. OK, that's it for pictures. Now for final Pros/Cons of both days... PROS +Amazing Rides +Beautiful Landscaping and Scenery, even if not themed very much +Ride Operations were generally fast for most rides (Magnum XL-200 and Raptor especially) +Express Hotel was decently clean and nice to stay at CONS -Monster crowds on Saturday: the park nearly hit capacity, and I was waiting 45 minutes for Magnum and stuff! (Really made me respect how CP has kept their old Arrow coasters and such, they were lifesavers!) -Top Thrill Dragster breaking down and not running Sunday -Many other rides did have breakdowns, though not as bad as TTD's as they all re-opened at least, and I did get lucky with Raptor on Saturday Anyhow, that is all for this trip report. Comments and questions are, of course, still welcome. Now I await my next trip, which will probably be Kings Island Haunt. Haunt at KI can get busy, but after "surviving" this Saturday at CP, I think I will more than be able to handle KI's Haunt. McSalsa Away!

I'm not really bothered by the rattle on Banshee. Then again, I can enjoy rides that are considered pretty rough like Vortex and Rougarou, so maybe I am very durable and thus probably not the best person to ask about these sorts of things.

I was at CP this weekend, and I took my own pic of this, so here is more proof this is real: Also yeah I dunno why they have Millennium Force listed at 312, everything else I have read says 310. There was a 2nd tank that referenced Cedar Point's Jumbo Jet as well but I never took a pic of it. Edit: Oops, forgot the quote the OG pic, and not sure how to add it in now.