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The Beast became an ERT ride last year when WindSeeker wasn't ready to open in time for the start of the season. I wouldn't expect the ERT lineup to change this year because if one of the rides becomes unavailable, the rest can compensate for it. Things may be added, but I'd be happy with the expanded offerings and extended time slot! Under the new CEO, the Cedar Fair parks are transitioning from "teenage thrill parks" to "family parks." We're leaving behind the awful "Bred to Shred" and the flatlining "Ride Warrior Nation." Now, "Thrills Connect!" for the whole family! New slogan: "Sometimes the best way to find common ground is twenty stories above it!" "Best day of the year experience" is the new target. This is no longer a park where teens rule. Now, the whole FAMILY should get gold passes, because Planet Snoopy opens early for Gold Pass holders! Compare that to recent years when one family member would get a gold pass for parking and the rest would get regular passes. What difference did it make? A family with two young kids doesn't care much to get in early and marathon Diamondback. But now, they can and will spend the extra money to get the whole family in early. That's extra snacks, extra souvenirs, extra park-time, and extra memories. Interviews make it abundantly clear to me: Ouimet is a genuinely good human being. He is passionate but realistic; confident but grounded. He's personable and approachable. He knows what he wants the parks to be and what they need to be. The new ERT is a magnificent reflection of that if you ask me.

Why must you speculate on a commercial? It's the same commercial they use for all Cedar Fair parks, not just Kings Island. It means nothing. What's with all the people that look at every little thing that Kings Island does and making it seem like it's a hint towards something.

Not sure what a Theroy is... Sounds like a first name. The roller coaster you're talking about (shown twenty seconds in on that commercial) was Invertigo at California's Great America, which had the exact same color scheme as our Invertigo used to, but with blue supports instead of red ones. That roller coaster has now been transported to Dorney Park where it's blue all over, and Kings Island's was painted the same way shortly after. I haven't seen the 2012 commercial, so I don't know exactly which ride you're seeing, but I promise it's a ride that already exists, and probably at a Cedar Fair park. Parks (especially within the same company) borrow from eachother and use stock footage. For a while, Kings Island's Vortex was on the splash page for all the Cedar Fair parks. More recently, it was Cedar Point's Maverick. I'd wager that nine times out of ten, even regular visitors don't notice.

Would love to see those - thanks! I should probably showcase this in a different thread, but here are two concept pieces that are part of a larger set that I've thought about scanning: Bat head detail concept Paint option detail concepts ~Josh

They must have deleted the Arrow video, because it definitely was on my favorites list on YouTube. EDIT: Found it!

Greg makes the best posts.

A. The park doesn't have to have ANY pre-opening.ERT. How many coasters are open before the public opening each and every day at Six Flags? B. In days of old, Beast was open for ONE ride for ACErs just before the park opened. Before that, not at all.

Is my common sense proof enough?

Thanks for explaining rather than acting like it is some top secret rally, lol.

Everytime i check the weather its different im just gonna hope it rains a few times drives people away and everyride is almost walk on eighter way im gonna have fun tomorrow plus its my birthday and im not gonna be at work and me and the wife get a well deserved date day.

I think their bringing a whole new meaning to "bottomless buffet"

Travel Channel is doing (another) coaster special, this time putting coasters up against others to see which is the best. Travel Channel was at Dollywood a few weeks ago, they are now at Kings Island this weekend to collect more footage for the special. It will probably be ready to air by mid-summer. Thank you for the explanation.

I do go on lots of trips to park but just following screamscape helps. They always announce all the new rides and coasters and everything about them. Youll also find alot of information just on forums like these.

Conspiracy theories are running amok, but I'm still not seeing any reason to think anything other than something terrible during testing. Terrible meaning a grossly failed inspection, or another "unplanned rollback" during a test run. Some people may be overlooking is that, as much as you may love the ride, it is now a liability. Does another park want to purchase a 40 year old ride with a recent history of accidents (one of which I would call particularly severe) due to mechanical failure?Does Cedar Point want to invest in moving/rehabbing a ride that I am quite sure raised some type of insurance cost for them? I completely understand the emotional attachment to a ride that leaves, but between this and Disaster Transport, they are both eyesores that I would pluck from the park. I think I can state with 100% confidence that this is the absolute last way John H. would want or plan a ride like Wildcat to leave the park. Add the liability factor to Wildcat, and you have what you have here.

Wildcat being removed will have nothing to do with next year's capital investments. This was a last second decision, and will not impact 2013.

Because they wanted to ride ^ Photo #116 - KI opens tomorrow woo....

Oh boy, you asked for it... After being scared to death by The Racer way back in 2000, I was terrified of roller coasters for 9 years and would refuse to even ride some of the more intense carnival rides. However, in 2009, with the addition of Diamondback, I decided to give roller coasters another shot and we planned a trip to Kings Island. We arrived May 14th, 2009 around 10:30 AM. Little did I know, the 230' Diamondback would not be the highlight of the trip, as good as it was...(and still is) After heading up the Eiffel Tower for some amazing views, we first tried the now-defunct Crypt (because it was raining and Beast was down), which (even though none of us knew it) was on its 2nd day of the "ultra-tame" ride cycle that the ride became lamented for during its final few years. While the ride, at first, caught me off guard and suprised me, it ended far too soon. I was dissapointed, and was a little worried that Kings Island might actually let me down. After leaving, the rain had stopped and Beast had re-opened. I entered, and smacked my sister with a q-line "gate" on accident. The Beast's crew was doing an excellent job getting people pumped up for what they claimed was the "best roller coaster in the world!". After a 25 minute wait, I boarded the ride..."Ok, here we go...a roller coaster..." The train left the station and around the turnaround. Thudthudthudthud..."Oh (Insert Curse Word Here) What Am I Doing!?! I'm on a HUGE wooden roller coaster! This might hurt..." Then, we began climbing the 110' lift hill...clankclankclankclank...to relieve some tension, I looked at my momma and cracked a joke: "Look ma, we're higher than da treez! " The ride reached the top of the hill, and one of the most famous images in all of coasterdom was before me: "Well, here goes no..." I couldn't finish because we began dropping! There is a trim brake on the first drop, but I didn't even feel it (In fact, I never have, even though I know it's there...) We hit the tunnel, and people were screaming, and I thought "Hey! This isn't so bad!". We dipped into a ravine, then back up, and flew into the brake shed, where I managed to catch my breath for a moment before the ride quickly turned again and darted into a tunnel. "Oh Man, this is a long tunnel!" I thought during that part of the ride...then, the ride exited into the daylight and made a few more downward turns into the woods before another lift hill emerged before us. We hit it, and I caught my breath again. My first thought "Momma, are you ok?". She said yes. My second thought was for a friend of mine who was also afraid of roller coasters, and he said he was loving it so far. So was I. Then my sister blurted out: "You ain't seen nothing yet!" "Crud!" I thought. Kings Island emerged in its glory, but I didn't get to view it for long before a 141' drop into a tunnel was smack dab in my face. The ride dived down, faster, faster, faster and into the darkness, where I was thrown around and the train began screaming as if it were trying to break free of the track. Then, we exited, and dove back in! All over again, and finally, the train calmly exited the second helix tunnel and turned right into a small drop, and then we hit the final brakes. "WOW!" I thought. "Welcome back riders, how was your ride?" My response: "WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" After that, I took on Vortex, later Diamondback, and numerous other rides at Kings Island. That night, I returned to Beast with my friend and we took a night ride on the wooden monster that put even the ride I described a minute ago TO SHAME. I have been on The Beast 7 times, and all 7 of those rides have been memorable for one reason or another, but never because they were bad. I've since been to Holiday World as well, and rode their wooden coasters, and yes, they are great...in fact, at one point I had both Voyage and Legend ahead of Beast in my coaster rankings, but a stunning Halloween Haunt night ride changed that so Beast was #1 again. And it hasn't lost that spot yet. (Granted, I've only been to 3 parks total and there are some pretty epic looking rides out there I have yet to go on, such as El Toro @ SFGadv, Bizzaro @ SFNE, Millennium Force & Maverick @ CP, etc etc) And I agree with KIFan73: I would go to Kings Island simply if Beast were the only ride/attraction there, no offense to Diamondback, Delirium, Flight of Fear, Vortex, Drop Tower, Racer, Flight Deck, etc etc. But, they are simply the cherry on top of a Beast sundae...MMMmmm...Beast sundae...