jbeast

I have ridden it quite a few times in my college days in Dallas. Me and my best friends would hang out as much as we could at the park and ride The Judge, the original version of The Texas Giant and Shockwave as many times as we could. My early years of truly understanding my joy of coasters. There used to be an awesome all you can east Chinese restaurant just across the road from the Judge that we would always eat lunch at. Fun days!

The Beast and Bat commercials were the best! No social media in existence or even thought of at the time and I could not wait to see them on TV.

Wow, that is crazy to think about. I rode Revolution the 2nd year after it opened. I was so scared to ride it. My uncle, who lived in Los Angeles, was the person who encouraged me to ride it. It was my first 'big' coaster that catapulted me into the joys of my love for rollercoasters.

Regarding a coaster doesn't have to be the tallest to be an airtime machine. Maverick is one of my absolute favorite rides ever for the intensity and airtime. The first time I rode Lightning Run, I was floored how much airtime and how much fun it is in a small footprint. Fury is in a class by itself. I rode it 25 times the day I was there last. It is a truly incredible ride, and I traveled all the way there just to ride it (and my former Eagles too). Saying that, I love Orion's height, quick lift to the first drop and the speed it keeps up throughout the ride. Out of the hundreds of times I have ridden it, no one riding with me has been disappointed afterwards. It's just a lot of fun and I am happy to have it in my home park.

With respect. I think there is a difference. Orion keeps it's speed throughout much of the ride and Diamondback, which I love, is more of an airtime machine. I absolutely love the speed Orion has. Sure, maybe some low to ground curves like Fury could add to that effect I agree. But I ride Orion because it hauls. That's why I love The Voyage and Top Thrill 2 so much...it's zen feeling for me going that fast on a coaster.

Seems like I am one of the few true coaster nerds that really enjoy Orion for what it is. Ha! Just kidding. It's no Fury 325, and is on the shorter side of overall length, but it I love that first drop, fun elements and tons of speed. It's a great combo with Diamondback's airtime and repeating big hills. And it is very re-ridable for most everyone. I can marathon both easily which is nice. I think we are lucky to have it at our home park. Now just we need a really amazing install in The Vortex old spot...it's just so empty back there without it.

I have not ridden Flight of Fear in many years. Being 6' 4" and size 16 feet, I don't fit in those tiny trains anymore. Got to pace myself and any looping coasters now anyway. Love Banshee, but wow does it hit me hard now. Equilibrium just isn't what it used to be. I remember well when the coaster first opened and how revolutionary is seemed with the indoor launch. Could not wait to ride it. And laughed at how many people would get up to the station, watch the train take off into the tunnel and then turn around and walk out of line. It was quite intimidating when it was a new thing. KI was good at that for awhile...bringing new tech to the forefront with a ride. I was in awe when I first heard about The Beast. And thank goodness they are keeping my favorite coaster going strong. And, when the original Bat was built, as a kid I just marveled at the way the trains on that thing snaked under the track. I am incredibly lucky that I was able to get alot of rides on it. Then came King Cobra. A stand-up coaster, seriously...that's what we all thought at that time. Love Diamondback, Banshee, Mystic and Orion as amazing coasters in my backyard, but KI definitely had a bit different feel in those days it seems.

Too bad it hasn't worked in there. On my last Disney trip, one of my favorite places was the Biergarten in Epcot. Met people from all over the world at our table, enjoyed some decent German food, had a couple of giant glasses of exceptional beer and thoroughly enjoyed the band playing and working the crowd. It was amazing! Such a festive atmosphere!

I had a great time the two days we spent there last summer. Some uptime issues with Top Thrill 2 and Millie and it was so hot outside and a bit crowded, but we were able to get several rides on each. My youngest son who just found his love for coasters a couple years ago, was floored by his first Intamin experiences. It had been about three years since I had been up there, and I was reminded why I have driven that 4 plus hours so many times to experience such an amazing park!

Of the many things I love about The Beast which is my favorite coaster ever is the angled drop going into that impossibly small tunnel into the helix. The helix itself at night is a zen experience for me every time I have ridden it since its opening year. The crazy helix, feeling like almost going off the rails in pitch black...nothing else like it! Over the years, quite a few changes have happened with the ride and I am super happy they keep updating The Beast with new track...the little pop of air off the first tunnel going into the valley is amazing! But I hope they keep the wild and out of control feeling going into the helix and the helix itself. No other coaster has such an intense ending and that's why I love it so much...even if it does beat me up a bit.

Having the meal plan and drink plus plan the past few years, I can say that KI has some amazing options for food. My go to is Brewhouse for the Pub Burger. Grain and Grill and Island Smokehouse are my other favorites. I have not been to Jukebox in ages. Not when I can stop in Brewhouse, in air conditioning (or heat) and get a far superior Cheeseburger. And I love my blue raspberry Icee and hot chocolate having the drink plus plan...won't go without it now. My youngest son and I went to Cedar Point this past summer (his first trip ever), and for the most part, the food was great, but wow did the burger and fries suck at Coasters as our last meal after 2 days there. I was shocked how bad it was. I stomached it because we were hungry before the park closed and it was close to where were getting after just riding Siren's Curse. Won't eat there again.

DJSkyFoxx...I cannot agree more on your take on both coasters. That backward launch on TT2 caught me totally by surprise on how forceful it is. Just could not believe it. I loved the original version, and the updated version is just the best. And Siren's Curse is just a flat-out amazing coaster in every aspect. The hangtime waiting to be let go is so much fun and it is one snappy coaster through the rest of the course! So much detail in that coaster! My only hope is KI gets something on that par and even better for the old Vortex spot.

Personally, I like Fury and GateKeeper over the entrance to those respective parks. Both are stunning in those spots. I don't want that for KI though. I think maybe a refresh on the entrance building perhaps, but I love walking through and seeing the fountains and tower unfold as it has been since the park opened. I would much rather see an amazing coaster installed into The Vortex's old site. It feels barren along that walkway from Rivertown to Coney without a major coaster in the spot. And of course, without my beloved Flying Eagles also. I'm old enough to have ridden the original Bat and Vortex. So, to me, that is sacred coaster ground. My personal wish is for something along the lines of Maverick or next gen version of a multi launch, or a ground-up RMC (one can wish).

I went last night and stayed till almost 9pm and had walk-ons or really short lines on Diamondback, Beast, Orion and Mystic. What a great evening! I got a ton of rides on those coasters and other rides and didn't miss going to any of the haunted attractions at all. The atmosphere with a ton of fog, scare actors roaming the park and world class rides, plus some good food worked for me.

The haunted houses and mazes don't do much for me anymore it seems. I'd rather ride than wait for them. I'm a big horror movie fan and love Halloween and scary stuff though. On a semi related note to scary stuff. When I lived in Texas as a kid, my dad and I visited one of the new caves at Carlsbad Caverns at the time. It was pretty wide open till the end. We had to crawl through a pretty narrow tunnel at the end of the trail to get to a back room big enough for about 30 people called the dark room. The test was how long we could keep our flashlights off the longest back there in unreal pitch black. I am 6' 4" and crawling through that tunnel to get in and back out was one of the scariest things I have ever done. And the weight of total darkness in that back room was unreal. It feels heavy and you lose all sense of where you are. It did not take long for people to turn their flashlights back on. That's the stuff that scares me.