Blackie

I'll start with a reason that 99% of enthusiast wouldn't even consider.... 48" height requirement. Think of it from a business standpoint and from anyone in between the height of 48"-52". Variety: It would look and feel different than any other ride at KI. Cost less than a B&M of the same size. Beauty: Most of the Gerstlauer coasters are absolutely beautiful, even without the awesome light package. And that's a showcase location for a coaster. Reliability & Safety: They may not be quite on par with B&M in this department, but they are still very good. And I know CF is pretty happy with Hangtime. Maneuverability: The tighter tolerances (radius) could really make it easy to take advantage of that topography. My Preferred Ride Type: Infinity: Multi-launch As much as I would love to see a Floorless or Wing coaster from B&M in that spot, a large scale coaster from Gerstlauer would get me even more exited.

Without those designated smoking areas people are going to smoke all around the park. It already happens outside of designated areas as it is. I highly doubt this rule will enforced effectively. Forcing people to leave not only the park, but the entire security check point is silly. And it will only lead to more people breaking that rule. Non smokers and their children may now be subjected to even more 2nd hand smoke than before, assuming they didn't enter or get very close to those smoking areas to begin with. Most of the smoking areas at KI have been poorly placed. Adding a few smoking sections away from high traffic areas throughout the park would be a lot better than this, for everyone.

16:24-16:34. "We continually look for ways to make our guests happy, ......... Part of that of course are new things and also making old things new again." Fred Grubb was spotted checking out Racer on 5/24/18. So.... Is it too early to ask if this will be a Topper Track upgrade or an I Box conversion? 2020: Make Racer Great Again. Thanks for the interview Mr. Showalter and IndyGuy4KI.

Wow! You guys are quick. I'll be there rain, shine or snowing. As expected, KI will not be adding Friday to the list. Totally understandable. I am very impressed with how quickly they responded. I'm sure the crowd will be very light, so I doubt using the Fast Lane Plus will be necessary. Thanks for the link malem. I'm not put off by the term "off-season". It just means we had another good season and at least one more to look forward to. Considering how CF has been heavily investing in their parks, it makes another season that much sweeter to look forward to. My son will be well past the 48" barrier next season and he is already a full blown ride warrior. 2018 will most likely be my best seaon yet. Thanks for the quick and insightful responses. I'll see you on Sunday.

Thanks for the response. I don't expect them to add Friday, so I wouldn't be disappointed in the least. A closing day meetup??? I might just show up for that alone. I've been lurking for many years now. I would be more active within the community had I not had an unpleasant experience with The Interpretor several years back. He doesn't appear to be very active anymore, so I may to contribute more often. Meeting some of you would certainly help my comfort level. If my snowball doesn't burn and they add Friday, I'll post a new topic for it. If not, (which is exactly what I expect and is fair) I'll confirm it in this thread. Thanks again malem.

A nasty cold front appears to be coming and weather.com forecast the high temps for Saturday and Sunday to be 44 degrees. The lowest temp that steel coasters can operate at is 45 degrees. I was planning on attending the "last rides of the season" this Sunday and using my free Last Lane Plus ticket that day. It's looking like I'll have to cancel that trip. I did email Kings Island and politely requested that all Fast Lane Plus tickets be honored this Friday due to the freezout. I doubt it will happen, but I've wasted 10 minutes of my time on worse things before, so it's worth a shot. I would honestly be surprised to get a return email before opening on Friday. I might call them tomorrow afternoon if I haven't heard from them by then. I know they're not responsible for acts of nature and I'm sure they're gonna lose money those two days, if they even open. Can anyone offer any advice on how to handle this better? Thanks in advance.

I was at the park Thursday (7/13/2017) and noticed the Slingshot wasn't reaching nearly the height or speed that it used to. I took a friend who hadn't been to the park in many years and he insisted on riding, so we did and it was really lame. The carriage barely cleared the towers. I asked the rides attendants why the launch was so weak and one of them explained that KI had been having problems with the ride and was afraid that something might break. I'm just curious to know if Slingshot is still running soft since their website still states that it reaches 275 ft and nearly 100 mph.

1. Diamondback 2. Banshee 3. Mystic Timbers 4. The Beast 5. The Bat 6. Firehawk 7. Flight of Fear 8. Invertigo 9. Vortex 10. Backlot Stunt Coaster 11. Adventure Express 12. The Racer 13. Flying Ace Arial Chase 14. Woodstock Express NR: The Great Pumpkin Coaster NAC: Surf Dog

Overwhelmingly positive, with the exception of a few Debbie Downers.

It's starting to smell kinda funny in here.

Thanks for the info. Greatly appreciated.

Selfie Sticks??? Disney bans them and Cedar Fair sells them. hmmm.... Was Diamondback open today? The web cam is showing an image from yesterday just after 3 P.M.

B&M Inverted follwed closely by Intamin Giga

A Paw Print shows up a week after Texas Giant 2.0 starts testing = Hope. If they made the decision to remove it, I doubt that they would hint about it. That would be cruel. TG 2.0 looks like it may be a winner. I have only seen off ride videos but the pacing is good (for two cars) and it appears to be pretty smooth.

When anyone says that they don't lie or that you can trust them, they are almost always lying and usually completely FoS. It sounds like the person from FaceBook thought it was a good idea to fabricate a ridiculous rumor just to see how many people are stupid enough to believe it. I can't wait to see how Texas Giant 2.0 performs. That thing looks absolutely insane. Let's hope that Rocky Mountain Amusements gets a chance to fix SoB because there appears to be only one other alternative.

It's hard to say what will happen in 2012. The uncertain future of SoB is holding alot of Cap Ex money in limbo right now. I recall someone from Cedar Fair publicly stating that a decision wouldn't be made until late 2011. It looks like they plan on seeing how Texas Giant rides and holds up to a season of operation. If fixing Texas Giant cost $10M, I could only imagine what it would cost to give SoB the same treatment. Even if CF likes what Rocky Mountain Amusement does with Texas Giant. and decides to hire them to redesign SoB, I doubt that it would be ready by Memorial Day, 2012. I think that it will either by their new ride for 2013 if it's not removed. That might leave the 40th Anniversary a little short on funds for a major coaster installation. So what major attraction could they build that is not a budget breaker? I think that a ProSlide Rocket would be a great choice and could be done for under $6M. The Wildebeest at Holiday World is a blast and only cost them $5.5M. Judging by the layout of Boomerang Bay, Paramount may have had at least one more phase planned for the waterpark. The area between Snowy River Rampage and Tasmanian Typhoon would be great for a water coaster because of the terrain and because It could help connect the pathway from SRR & TT, forming a circle from its U shape. I think that Boomerang Bay is a little short on great attractions for a park like KI. The main park is lacking a great water ride. Aside from a little pop of air, Congo Falls very underwhelming. It serves its purpose though. White Water Canyon is OK. The six passenger boats give this thing a poor capacity relative to its popularity on a hot summer day. The lack of water features, short ride length along with a faster than normal current make this one of the worst river rapids ride I have ever ridden. I rarely get very wet, let alone soaked. I'm not sure if CF has much confidence left in Intamin at this point. Between the issues they had with Shoot the Rapids, I-305 & Pilgrims Plunge's smaller than promised splash, they are not looking like a viable option at this point. Mack is great but have a pretty tame catalog in comparison. Here is a crazy idea that I have for a Mega Splash. Type: Tracked Flume Ride, Splash: Non-Variable, Height: 150ft Boats: 6-14 Passenger Boats (2,4,4,4) Hull of Boats designed to cut through water, Aqua Flow system similar to B&M's system on Diamondback, Griffon & Sheikra. The bottom of the boat would have three water intakes. A large intake on the bottom center would flow to rear, projecting water at a 45 degree angle in front of the vessel. Two medium sized intakes on the bottom edges would flow to rear corners of boat projecting water at a 30 degree angle in front of the boat. This system would allow the boat to stop gradually as opposed the sudden deceleration of many traditional splash rides or expensive magnetic braking systems. The Lift: Dual Elevators similar to the ones used on Pilgrims Plunge. The difference would be that instead of floating around a curve and entering a lift that tilts the boats to allow passage, the boats would exit the station, take a soft turn into one of two loading stations which would be located on the outer edge of each lift. The boats would rotate 180 degrees up the tower to its centralized location at the top. This would allow the boats and carriage to pass side by side and may require an additional support for each tower. The Drop: Past Vertical: 95-97 degrees allowing a natural water fall. (Note: Water Fall would need to project outward toward pullout of the drop and be separated as to create a heavy mist as opposed to a wall of water.) The Rest: After passing through the splash zone, the boats would enter a dark tunnel where a water fall awaits just to make sure that everyone gets absolutely drenched. After exiting the tunnel, the boats would enter a second splash zone filled with water features and guest operated water cannons and then make the turn back into the station. Crazy?

It's not only OK, but necessary to say no to a guest. Snowman's story is a great example of that. I don't think that guest should be told no as long as the request isn't unreasonable. There are alot of people that visit these parks either over or undermedicated. To answer the original question: I am thrilled that CF bought KI. I am very impressed with what they are doing. I've been a regular guest at the park since 1979 at the age of three. I didn't like Paramount at all. They removed alot of good rides and operations were the worst I have ever seen. I hold Taft/KEC in much higher regard.

I'm having trouble finding a factual source on why King Cobra was removed. If it was removed because of metal fatigue, why would it lay in storage for more than four years? It wasn't removed from the park until Cedar Fair took control. If it was considered a total loss, Paramount would have sent the trains to King's Dominion. One of my closest friends uncle was a maintenance tech for KI back then. His version of the story was that Paramount lined up a buyer for KC that was willing to pay $1M for it. The deal went south because the buyer wasn't happy with its condition. I was told that the metal fatigue was not severe enough to warrant its removal, but bad enough to make it a lousy investment. I remember a guest asking the employee manning the elevator in the Eiffel Tower why King Cobra was removed. His response; "They are selling it to raise money for a new attraction." Two of the other rides that I miss are the Antique Cars & the speed slides that were replaced by Coolangatta Racers. Does anyone else notice that most of the rides we miss the most were removed by Paramount. I don't think that we gained much more than we lost under Paramount, considering how long they operated the park.

One of the rides that I miss the most is Kenton's Keel Boat Water Canal. It was the best water ride in the park in my opinion. I'm not sure why this was removed. From what source did you find that metal fatigue was the reason that King Cobra was removed? I don't buy it. If that was the problem, why would PKI keep it in storage for more than four years. Spare parts for Shockwave isn't a good answer as KC layed in the PKI boneyard until late 2006. I heard from a reliable source many years ago that Paramount removed it because they had a buyer lined up that was willing to pay $1,000,000.00 for it. The buyer backed out due to the poor condition that it was in. It was most likely the metal fatigue that was mentioned. I miss the flying eagles as well.