marineman

My wife and I were in line for The Beast Sunday having a conversation about how dumb it is to have that big, ugly, empty building sitting there used for literally nothing except a haunted house. It takes up a good bit of space itself, and there is plenty more around it. The survey that went out mentioning an indoor/outdoor ride could certainly fit that building/plot. Personally, I'd much (much, much, much, ...) rather have a more intense looping coaster since the park is fundamentally lacking in that area with the removal of Vortex, Firehawk, Cobra, etc and most new coasters not having loops (except Banshee). Still, the real estate makes sense. If they do it, hopefully they at least make it a legit, butt-kicking ride.

Please, not another B&M! A Vekoma would be alright, and obviously an RMC amazing. We need something with a different feel, though. I also do worry that our baby coaster for the year will be used to buy KI at least another 2-3 years before building anything significant, which sucks.

I totally agree, and I like B&M coasters. Banshee and Diamondback are, IMHO, both extremely good rides and they rate very highly on my top rides list. I also think Orion is far better than the critics make it out to be. The issue is, B&M has their niche, and it's fully filled in the park now. Big, wide, smooth, reliable rides are great, but they are also similar. Isn't that exactly why everyone was mad about Orion in the first place, since it was too similar to Diamondback? Why repeat a similar feel again? It's time for something different.

I am very disappointed in the SSBR (now that we've established that acronym, lol), mostly because my fear is KI will use it to delay building anything significant for at least 2 years. I was really, really hoping for a big, legit 2025 coaster, but I certainly wouldn't bet on that now despite a couple years of rather uneventful releases in the ride department. I mean, the barrel ride? Really!?!? Speaking to The Vortex plot, it doesn't have to be a very small coaster. There a lot of woods to the far side that could be used, up to and including the area between Beast, Racers, and Orion with a clever track layout. There's also a big plot to the other side of The Beast, all the way over to White Water Canyon and Mystic Timbers that wouldn't be totally off limits with some creativity (though they won't do it). KI has just been stuck in a B&M rut and they suck at compact coasters (aside from dives, which are largely not very good IMHO), but plenty of companies have made very good rides that would easily fit that space. RMC (albeit an unlikely candidate), Mack, Vekoma, S&S, and even Zamperla. I really hope they go a different direction than B&M for whatever the next ride i, especially in that plot. We could do so, so much better with it. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed SSBR isn't ruling out a '25 project too, but if I were one to bet, I'd say it probably does.

If this happens, I can say with 100% certainty that we will not renew our passes. We only go on weekdays on days when I'm able to cut out of work a little early. Losing an hour off our trips would render it a lost cause for us.