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At some point, there were brakes on the section outside of the tunnel. The ride already has a really long brake run, not sure why they felt the need for extra brakes (especially with it now having more powerful fin brakes, not the skids it opened with.) The other Beastie clones (specifically Carowinds', which is the closest related to KI's and KD's) also have the missing final hop. However, KI's is the only one with the trim brake.

From the Weatherbug webcam, it looks like they brought down the lower part of the lift hill.

B&Ms usually have enough storage space to put all trains in storage.

I think the "5 year plan" theory is based in some truth, from Cedar Point. I recall that when Maverick was being built the "5-year plan" may have been thrown around a bit. I specifically remember them talking about Maverick being planned when TTD opened, which is 4 years. So in some cases, parks do plan ahead that much. But nobody said they *had* to, as long as everybody involved can manage a shorter timescale.

Can somebody PM me whatever this document is?

Anybody know if Racer's Blue side trim was removed or not? Hurler CW was de-trimmed after its recent GCI retrack, and I'm wondering if the same goes for Racer. A friend of mine says that red is consistently dropping first but the trains are finishing in sync, which could either mean the retrack is causing Blue to run faster due to profile smoothing (as happened apparently to Coney Island Cyclone) or Blue's trim is gone. (For those unaware, both sides of Racer have trims entering the turnaround.)

Last time I rode FoF at Coasterstock, it trimmed fairly lightly on the MCBR. Not the near-stop it used to do. Also, if you're larger or taller, and FoF crushes your legs, do not sit in odd numbered rows. The even rows are more accommodating in my experience. I do find FoF to be the best-themed coaster at a CF park. Sadly, the "outer limits" (of course with that phrase cut out for copyright reasons) phrase at the very end, along with, sometimes, the alien taunts in the station, are cut off by ride operator spiels. I've only heard the unload platform alien voice at Coasterstock. FoF does have some areas where the theming is lax, though. The brake run are seems a bit ugly, and the unload platform is very bare compared to the heavily themed queue and station. The music in the brake run - and, if possible, the "spaghetti bowl" itself - also should be a bit louder. The ride has a great soundtrack but it's not very audible. But it's definitely improved recently, with the restoration of audio effects, the queue, and the ride's soundtrack. They just need to make the audio a bit more audible - AKA, don't have the operator cover up the alien voice in the unload platform! (And also, the third train would be nice :P)

^Buzz bars lock in a single position. If it doesn't lock flat, you can't ride. A small child is no less safe with someone who barely fits than they are with a person their size. In fact, some newer rides suffer from this worse than a buzz bar would. Pipe Scream at CP has what appear to be automatically lowering individual restraints, but in reality the restraints are linked and stop at the first person they hit. I believe Surf Dog works this way too. Being relatively large myself, I often end up stapled. Painfully. (The automatic lowering doesn't mess around.) My first ride on Pipe Scream, on its media day, was a different story. We ended up sitting by a lady who was very large, and my restraint was so loose I could have easily stood up and jumped out of the ride vehicle. A 48" tall child could have done so even more easily. With a buzz bar, again, it has one position. If a rider keeps the bar from closing, they can't ride. In fact, most PTC ratchet bars are allowed to ride LOOSER than buzz bars. Beast, however, has the 2-click rule in conjunction with giant clicks. And it's not like buzz bars are unsafe for children. Phoenix has a height restriction of 42". Without seatbelts. With famous throw-you-off-the-seat airtime. Remember, my concept is for Beast's new trains to be new PTCs with buzz bars, no headrests, but with seatbelts, and dividers. (Seatbelts and dividers are standard on all new PTCs.) PTC still sells this type of train.

^That appears to be an accessibility thing. What does accessibility have to do with buzz bars? I don't see anything about a buzz bar that makes it less accessible than a ratchet bar.

^Knoebels' Phoenix, Indiana Beach's woodies, Silverwood's Timber Terror (AFAIK), Hershey's Comet, and more... all have buzz bars and safely operate today. Phoenix doesn't even have seat belts! As for "sliding across the entire car", while Beast always has had seat dividers, back in a day before the bubbble-wrapping of coasters spread like plague, there was a time when it was NORMAL for a coaster to have a bench seat! PTC's new trains come standard with seat dividers, even buzz bar trains (I emailed them out of curiosity once, and while buzz bars are an option as are not having headrests, all trains now come standard with seatbelts and dividers.) One more note - 3 years ago, enthusiasts said that SFMM never would remove the OTSRs from Revolution. And they did. This is comparable. (Although Revolution's were removed mainly to put VR on it more comfortably, or at least I think that was the reason.) And this plan wouldn't change The Beast drastically. In fact, it would make The Beast much more similar to how it was when it opened, and similar to the way that it safely operated for at least 20 years or so (not sure exactly when it got butchered with ratchet bars.)

PTC still makes buzz bars (albeit with seatbelts.) Maybe KI should get some of those. The ride opened with buzz bars and no seatbelts; it should be perfectly safe with buzz bars AND seatbelts, and much more comfortable than the current franken-release system that requires you to be stapled with 2 giant clicks unlike ratchet bars at most other parks that have smaller clicks and a higher minimum position. #BuzzBarBeast2019. Because this ride deserves better for its 40th anniversary. Ditch the headrests as well. Physics hasn't changed in 40 years, Knoebels still runs a much more intense (airtime-wise) woodie with buzz bars (WITHOUT BELTS.) Maybe KI should boldly lead the way for parks reverse this trend of butchering the classic wooden experience with ratchet bars and useless, ugly headrests.

My friend says he rode it twice yesterday. He says it absolutely sucked (forceless) the first time, then felt like Voyage's spaghetti bowl in terms of intensity the second time. So perhaps it's a pretty temperamental ride with regards to weather, "warming up", and such.

^I would say Voyage has some brief "ejector" moments, but nothing like an RMC. More like a "snappier" GCI airtime moment. As for Mystic Timbers, most small to medium wooden coasters at Cedar Fair parks are given a 4 rating. Blue Streak has a 4 rating, for example, despite having a lot of airtime (and besides size and speed, arguably may have been more intense than its big brother in Frontiertown that had a 5 rating.) On the other hand, some larger kiddie/family coasters get a 4 rating too, like Woodstock Express at CP. Not all ratings make total sense too. Drop Tower is a 4 IIRC, despite the fact that Drop Towers are extremely scary to many.

I imagine that, considering the typical "coathanger" corkscrew transition, Vortex was designed for its current near-stop on the MCBR, but has anybody ever ridden it with the MCBR off? (Vortex's trims are pretty appropriate in my opinion, considering the rough corkscrew transition and batwing further down the track, but I'm just curious.)

I honestly want to see another traditional woodie of SOB's scale, from a company that knows what they are doing and a park willing to shell out for the maintenance, but that'll probably never happen. If it happened, I'd say it'd have to be at a park where the terrain allows for a significant portion of the ride to be taken at a moderate speed, running downhill as it loses speed to keep a good (but not excessive) pace like Voyage's second half. (Think of how Hercules at Dorney had the massive drop off the hill, then the rest of the ride was rather small and on top of the hill.)