Leaderboard

It's really a fascinating story. I'm by no means a great firsthand source to telling it, but the basics: The two Busch Gardens parks (in Florida and Virginia) often build similar roller coasters together. One gets Griffon, the other gets SheiKra. Montu and Alpengeist. Even Cheetaka and Verbolten. 1993's addition to the Floridian park was the B&M multi-looper Kumba (identified by its unique loop that wraps around the lift hill). B&M (still a fairly young company at the time) was contracted for Florida's parks but had to withdraw from Kumba's "compliment" set to debut in Virginia due to a full schedule (EDIT: This was right 'round the premiere of Paramount Parks' Vortices and Six Flags' game-changing Batman: The Ride). Somehow, Arrow came along, inherited the job and the plans, and decided to create the ride themselves. The result was an Arrow roller coaster (think Vortex, Adventure Express, etc. with their admittedly awkward track transitions and pre-computer-planned layouts) that tried to duplicate B&M fixtures (cobra rolls, wing-over corkscrews, etc). According to "legend," Arrow couldn't figure out how to duplicate Kumba's loop-the-lift and ended up creating a unique element of a corkscrew halfway through the first drop instead (so again, imagine one of Vortex's corkscrews, but right in the middle of the first drop... see this photo). And still to this day, Drachen Fire is the only Arrow coaster that ever had a "cobra roll" element. Even the supports were built to resemble the style of B&M's - the only Arrow coaster to have that look about it from start to finish, I believe. It really does look exactly like Kumba's lift hill, compared to the lattice structures Arrow sitting coasters almost exclusively have on their main lift hills. One inversion was removed at one point with roundabout intention to make the ride less violent, but it didn't help enough. Its station is still standing completely in tact and is used for a haunted house. (That last paragraph... is there an echo around here?)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcgoble3/5836536916/'> And before anybody finds http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kings_Island_WindSeeker_from_Eiffel_Tower.jpg'>this photo on Wikimedia Commons and claims that it isn't mine, the Commons copy was uploaded by me. It was for a time used unmodified on the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WindSeeker'>WindSeeker article on Wikipedia (which I was partially involved in getting listed as a Good Article), and today it serves as the base image for one of the breakdowns in the "Structure" section of that article (side note: the base of the other breakdown is my photo also). Yes, I edit Wikipedia occasionally. Hard: Coke Freestyle machine Easy: Any of the Planet Snoopy gang

To be fair, it really does contain one of the Coney games: Hard: Green X-Flight paint showing on Firehawk Easy: WindSeeker from the Eiffel Tower

I have come to the realization that there is a BIG difference between 'What I think they should do' and 'What makes sense from a business standpoint'. Just because we all want the picnic grove closer to the entrance, as an example, doesn't mean they should do it. All about the moneys. And return rate on the investments made... I guess. ... And I'm stepping off the soap box now...

Give 'em time... :-)

I have walked around KI and CP this way. Its pretty cool. It would be even more cool if you could ride the rides. haha

Quite a deal was made about this ride - I recall seeing many stories on the TV, and I'm in Toledo, Ohio! Anyway, I have a couple of POV videos of this ride, which I thought looked so cool, but you can't tell the ride experience from a POV video. It's a shame that some ideas just don't transfer well from drawings to reality, and it was a shame that such a beautiful looking coaster had to be destroyed. I would have bought it if I'd of had the funds - and of course if I had the funds for that, I'd have the funds for land to put it on. Having said all of that, it reminds me of what Kennywood did to Steel Phantom. They hired Morgan to come in and re-do 7/8 of the coaster, removing the awkward parts & loops, making it a non-inversion ride - but a wonderful non-inversion ride!

For what it is worth, years ago I personally asked Ron Toomer about this plan sharing story. He said there is almost no truth to this widely told "legend." The company was asked to develop a coaster similar to or inspired by Kumba. Ron said the same thing later at several different Coastermanias. Nice story, though.

Well, it was a good show, but I think I might have liked it a little better if I wasn't familiar with the Kings Island version. Don't get me wrong, it was very well done. But a lot of the stuff that I really liked about the show was missing from this production. I was waiting during the opening scene for GatorGirl's eyes to light up when they started singing "Hard Knock Life". And then they didn't. When it was time for the reindeer scene, I leaned over to GatorGirl and said "I like this part". But instead of the giant blacklight puppets that KI had, they had people in reindeer outfits singing "Up on the Roof", and she asked me "Why do you like this part?", so I had to explain to her what KI had. There were not 12 penguins singing "The Twelve Days of Christmas" with a Cincinnati twist. There were 3 penguins who sang "This Christmas" (which happens to be one of my least favorite Christmas songs). There was also no homesick alien singing "I'll Be Home for Christmas". With that said, some positives are that the main character, Wendell, was played by local 2012 American Idol contestant Eban Franckewitz, who GatorGirl is very familiar with. Also, the new parts of Heat Miser and Snow Miser were played by Bob Herzog and John Gumm, respectively, both from Channel 12 news. Overall, I do recommend the show, as it is still very good. It's a fun story, good songs and the kids enjoyed it. I'm just a cranky old guy who remembers the old version a little too well.

Yes, I rode it. Many times. It was a very violent ride. The General Manager, I am told, was not happy with the ride experience. The story ended similarly to other such instances.

Hey Guys! Just wanted to let you guys know about a cool new thing on Google Earth. If you go to Kings Island and put the little "street view" character on a path in the park, you can act view it like a normal street view image and "walk around" the park. It's pretty neato as the pictures are very high quality and they seem to be quite recently taken. I first noticed this feature with amusement parks when i was looking at Busch Gardens Williamsburg and tried it out. Just today I've looked and seen that Kings Island, Cedar Point, Michigan's Adventure, Dorney Park, California's Wonderland, World's of Fun, and Canada's Wonderland (which were taken during the beginning construction of Leviathan). And thats just the Cedar Fair parks. I think its prettty cool and think you guys should go check it out! Hope ya like it, DBI

I love the little Christmas tree that is placed in the frame

I think Kings Island is just in a transitional stage and it's in the process of becoming great. There were a lot of rides that needed to be done away with and areas that need attention, and I think they're just gonna tackle everything one step at a time based on a priority-need basis.

For years, forums like these were largely ignored by most parks. Now, they are indeed seen by many as a valued resource to not just passively gather information but also float trial balloons, correct misunderstandings and misinformation and to make superfans feel special. The niche is totally different than FaceBook, Twitter and similar social networking. That being said, it is clearly a niche and not representative of the parks' overall customer bases.

^ Yes. That post deserves more than two "like" votes. While the park certainly values its enthusiasts, we're not the market FUN needs to understand. Designing things for your biggest fans generally isn't a way to grow your business. (i.e. Most people here already visit the park and are very likely to continue doing so.) That said, it's quite certain that "we'll" be pleased along the way - thrills connect, after all. Enthusiasts should also want investments that grow revenue, since capital expenditures are roughly tied to a percentage. I do wonder how much amusement (or frustration) management gets out of "suggestions" that get posted in threads like this. (Which almost certainly aren't the right use of resources even if we were the target audience.)

And everyone knows Terp likes to ask questions.

More than 60 life sized dinosaurs occupy the space that should have been a X-Base Expansion. WASTED!

NBC's show Revolution was filmed at the park. That is the last I have seen of it.

This has been bugging me ever since I saw it but there is, what looks to be, an old entertainment prop from KI that faces the highway. It's the old paramount symbol minus the mountain, so just the stars. Has anyone else seen this and if so, is it from KI?

This is what they made Chevy Vega engines out of, but that, too, was many, many years ago!

^If only you knew how big my smile was when I saw those! EDIT: 800th post

Drachen Fire wasn't aluminum. More likely it ended up as recycled steel. The Pittsburgh area used to use steel beverage cans, but that's been many, many years ago.

I heard it was burned up by a dragon, thar be dragons in those woods. If it is not there today, it was taken down for a reason. I never got to ride this dragon, a shame I havent, but it looked and sounded like a great ride.

My time to shine Not exactly accurate though but close enough

Hard: Flight of Fear outside queue Easy: Coney Games

You seem to have a gift for this sort of thing!

I am not sure a wrap, ribbon, and a bow is going to help it blend into Rivertown any better? Although, it might make for a better location for Holiday Horror! IndyGuy, who may or many not be here all weekend!

You packaged that well! -Tb, just 'ribbin' ya a little...

I am reminded of a common newspaper disclaimer: Claims made in a lawsuit tell only one side of a story.

That is what top 20 posters do, they put things back on track...

Three Years After Opening, Theme Park's Future Uncertain: http://www.carolinal....aspx?id=606121Reestablish? Even more so than Kentucky Kingdom, the park never established itself as a formidable competitor for the visitor dollar in the first place... The article also attributes much of the park's problems to the economy....which, though to some extent true, is nowhere near the major portion of the problems that both it and the Kentucky park had...chief of which in both cases was location....