MaestroJr

Great as always Shaggy, I always learn new facts from your post. Keep up the good work sir!

Hope you have a great time, be safe!

Lightning Rod first off had a very creative queue which only added to its experience, it was probably my favorite of the coasters at Dollywood and I rank it higher on my list than Mystic Timbers. From the 0 to 45 mph lift hill, to the airtime hills and everything along the way, it truly feels out of control. I think the park did an amazing job with RMC in designing it and it is a very unique ride. We ate at the Grist Mill and Aunt Granny's. The Cinnamon bread and buffet were delicious! Yes I did really enjoy Tennessee Tornado as well but I think I will still stick with Vortex for my favorite only because I just wish Tennessee Tornado was longer. MaestroJr

Happy late Halloween everyone, I took a trip to Dollywood in Tennessee last Saturday and had a fantastic first visit, the rides were fantastic as well as the people. Instead of rambling I will post some photos me and my brother took and then tell y'all my favorite highlights of the day. Thanks for reading. Lightning Rod, new for 2017 FireChaser Express ThunderHead Mystery Mine Night Pumpkin Festival So, thats pretty much my day in photographs, we had great Tennessee fall weather, it was a truly different experience than Kings Island, yet familiar. Its a great park and all the coasters were unique and fun. Some like Tennessee Tornado felt like Vortex as they are both old Arrow loopers, but rides like Mystery Mine felt totally unique. Lightning Rod and Wild Eagle were great, as was the rough woodie ThunderHead. The Pumpkin Light Show offered a much more family friendly, but fun and spooky Halloween theme as opposed to the more violent and aggressive Haunt at Kings Island. I liked it though, it was done very well. Overall had a great day at the park and a great time in Pigeon Forge in general. Thanks for reading! MaestroJr Final Ride Count: Blazing Fury-2 Firechaser Express-1 Tennessee Tornado-1 Mystery Mine-1 ThunderHead-4 Wild Eagle-1 Lightning Rod-1

Last ride of the year for me was a chilly Vortex ride.

Had been planning this trip for a while and we had an excellent day of weather which wasnt supposed to be as nice as it was. It didnt rain until very late in the night and so with that said I'll post the trip report along with my photos below, thank you for reading. Woke up at about 9:30 and left central Kentucky about 10:45, then we crossed into Ohio at about Noon and got to the park around 12:30 making great timing. It was cloudy almost all day however the rain continued getting pushed back until about 10:00 or so, which meant great fall weather! We first headed to get a morning ride on The Beast with a minimal wait and it was fun as always. Then, we headed to Vortex which again had only a minimal wait, it was fun as well. Staying in Coney Mall area, we headed for a very painful backseat ride on The Racer. By far most uncomfortable ride Ive taken on The Racer as the backseat was brutal on Red Train but still always kinda enjoyable, its a laughing pain. We then rode Adventure Express and Banshee, both fairly normal waits and both fun. After we went back and rode The Bat with a short wait as usual, we entered and left a crowed Festhaus to choose instead La'Rosa's by the fountain, the sky continued to grey, but the rain never came. After eating some pizza, we headed over to Boo Blasters for a ride in Boo Hill. A very long wait but successful ride with 3 of us scoring above 1200 points. After doing some walking, we headed over to Flight of Fear which had an average wait, and we rode backseat with fairly jerky results in the process, but not too bad and not worse the our Racer ride earlier. I also really like the little alien guy at the end! We then headed to do some mazes after a tasty apple funnel cake, man fall is great! A couple of mazes had waits longer then 2 hours so we headed over to the friendly Killmart. I like how they incorporate Flight Commander's old queue line and we had probably about a 20 minute wait. Killmart is cool but nothing special. A ride on The Beast was next and good lord the wait was a while, about 2 hours almost as we waited for very front seat. Luckily the Fun Tv's were off so me and my brother pulled out our phone and we could actually hear and watch the Kentucky-Missouri game in peace as night got darker and we knew this ride would be special. And it certainly was worth the wait as flying through the tracks, front seat on The Beast, this time of the year and at night is just an exceptional feeling and ride as opposed to the day. Then we had another really fun ride on Vortex, it always is better at night as it is very disorienting and seems much crazier. We headed to do Wolf Pack and this was actually the first time I've ever been back to wait in the old Son of Beast queue with other people and go in the station so that was pretty cool I must say. I think most people know what that used to be as well which is cool. It was probably my favorite maze, pretty cool but not overly exciting or scary. Next we did Blackout which by then had a 20 minute wait and as we glanced up to see mist coming off the closed Drop Tower and listened very closely, we knew it was only a few seconds until it started raining. And rain it did, this is at about 11 or so and we got soaked after a few minutes so we didn't mind much. I didn't know anything about Blackout, so when handed a rope, I was surprised, after getting the concept, it was a lot of fun! I enjoyed Blackout and the whole maze, but underwhelmed by the fact that it isn't at all scary. It was good though, but could be better. We then headed to wait for the storm to slow down as people crowded the gift shop. It was raining, windy, and lightning was starting as we headed for the gates and left around midnight. Overall a good fall day at the park and Haunt was a lot of fun as always even with huge crowds and rain. Overall, had a great visit and glad the rain stayed away from us in Ohio for most of the day, look forward to Winterfest! Ride and Maze count- Bat-1 Beast-2 Boo Blasters-1 Adventure Express-1 Red Racer-1 Banshee-1 Vortex-2 Flight of Fear-1 Mazes- Killmart-1 Wolf Pack-1 Blackout-1 Thank you!

Not sure if this helps but I took this picture of both the cannon and mummy from Phantom two years ago in Cavern of Terror. From what I can recall it's in the beginning of the maze. It's not that difficult to see however it is pretty dark.

I think The Bat could especially benefit from VR as maybe if your traveling through a midnight sky. Could be cool.

I think the best themed ride goes to Flight of Fear, it just puts you in the zone of Area 51 and makes you feel very secretive. Plus, it's a pretty fun and cool coaster.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, rides like The Beast and especially Boo Blasters don't need fun TVs, period. Rides like The Bat need something and I mean something to keep you entertained and themed, it's a 1 minute ride which is fun but severly lacking on a single theme. Being Halloween colors don't cut it. I see it on its last leg anyway and I still do enjoy but I'm sure all that space will be up for grabs sooner than later. MaestroJr

It's always funny but always strikes me as odd whenever I'm in line for Boo Blasters and someone behind me says, "yeah this used to be Phantom of the Opera you know?" I wonder why so many people think it was called that when the sign out front clearly states "Phantom Theater".

Children under the age of 3 don't need to have any ticket, but above all that all ages must have one. Hope this helps!

I live near Lexington,KY and my family has always chosen Kings Island over any other park, it's funny cause I feel much more at home in Cincy then in Louisville and Kings Island has always been my home park in another state. I agree though location is key, you live in Louisville driving 10 mins over 2 hours is no question but from here it's almost even and KI is my choice, always will be! MaestroJr

Never went back to DA to walk through but always enjoyed looking at them from Firehawks lift hill!

It's funny cause even the Kings Island twitter page with non-enthusiast want a Giga, then again I don't think Kings Island really needs anything else before a Giga, looking forward to the future!

Hoping for a Giga, think it's time for Kings Island to get one, would hopefully have a cool theme!

Quite a lot indeed!

Now with the confirmation of Boo Blasters, it's fair to ask if any Chirstmas decorations will be added at all. What do y'all think? My bet is no.

Don't get me wrong it's still a popular ride, but I think in terms of its heyday, the lines aren't as long because it doesn't have the same charm or effects it had and is now just an "OK" coaster. I still enjoy it but it's fairly jerky and not that thrilling of a coaster with some decent effects. But it's line just depends on the visit I guess.

Wouldn't it be cool to have a Haunted and Christmas themed Mystic Timbers shed, just an idea.

Adventure Express could defiantly benefit from some TLC to get more popularity it's way again. Back when it had a "theme" it was very entertaining but now serves mostly as a child's first "bigger" coaster, though I always will ride the hell out of it for nostalgias sake alone!

I know, I know, I ask this every year, but are any old ride props being used for haunt this year? Just curious!

Great photos guys, hope all who went had fun! Look forward to going myself soon!

It's also funny how the mouse is the only actual animatronic from Phantom still in use and it still is operating kinda. From what I can recall from last year, it pops up as it has and growls kind of at you. It's funny how it's such a small part of the original Phantom story but it still is in use.

It would be interesting for a Peanuts and Phantom Theater double dark ride at Kings Island but probably will be more of a triotech. A practical dark ride with real props and animatronics would surprise me and I wouldn't expect anything until Cedar Fair gives the axe to Boo Blasters at all four parks that have one. MaestroJr