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I'm preeeeeetty sure if it was announced that this was just a boring old B&M giga we would all still be lining up first day.

Indeed. Bavarian Beetle is closed and gone.

I leave for one day and this is what happens.. this is why we can't have nice things.

The "line to ride them" is only there because they are down all the time...

You still got it.

Right now Gatekeeper is running, TTD and and Maverick are both down...

I just got back from my first ever trip to Cedar Point and I was amazed at how much I loved every Intemin I rode. Now Ttd was down a lot but so was Gate keeper, because of wind. But I can say that I for one would LOVE an Intemin. I had also been hoping that we would get another large wooden coaster, Mean Streak broke me of that..lol.

El Toro. Millennium Force. Eiffel Towers. Bizarro at SFNE. All VERY reliable rides. Chang, a B&M, broke its chain on media day.

There is little doubt that B & M coasters are historically more reliable, but there is a simple reason for this; they don't take as many risks as Intamin. Intamin, for whatever reason, is consistently reinventing the technology of rides as they go. They have a large margin for risk in their rides. The downside? Modifications, downtime, etc... The upside? You are responsible for the worlds top wooden (El Toro) and steel coaster (MF)...and Maverick. Top Thrill Dragster is no longer the disaster it once was, it took the park nearly 5 years to get the kinks consistently ironed out. Maverick had an inversion removed that only enthusiasts know about, but other than that it has the longest lines of any ride at the park on any given day. There's no point in arguing which is "better"; that's too subjective. But what is different is clear. I'm also guilty of bashing Intamin, but MF is hands down the best ride I have ever ridden in my life, with El Toro a very, very, very close second. Let's also not forget that there are many other companies out there. I would only lean towards B & M b/c of the current Cedar Fair trend.

B&Ms are nice, but I'm not here for a larger version of Diamondback. I would rather have an Intamin than another sit down, non inverting B&M coaster. Maverick is my all time favorite coaster with Millennium Force behind that. So I would say Intamin>B&M

I wouldn't say that any of the Intamin roller coasters at Cedar Point are crap or fails. Some of them are just down more frequently than others. My hope is that it is not an Intamin, as I don't like having the unnecessary OTSRs on all the coasters. B&M rides are almost all pretty much cookie cutter these days, and are getting to the point where there's not a whole lot of force to them (again back to the not taking risks part). So...my vote is for a Premier. Oh, and by the way, Wild Eagle was down for quite a while today. It was the only ride I saw any downtime on during my visit to Dollywood. So much for the reliability theory. That ride is constantly down...though not as commonly as Mystery Mine.

I've never posted here before, but the last several posts have prompted me to make an account. I've been to Canada's Wonderland twice and both times Bohemoth was closed for the entire day. It was incredibly disappointing. I was looking forward to riding a B&M that has been reported to actually have some great airtime (I will admit I'm a big fan of Diamondback). I've been to Cedar Point once per year for the past 11 years and Millenium Force nor Maverick have ever been down when I've visited. Not once. So I suppose some of this perception of reliability is just a case of people complaining for the sake of complaining. I've been to SDC to ride Outlaw Run this year over 20 times this spring (I'm doing some work in Branson) and the coaster is phenomenal... In fact, it pushed The Beast to my number 2 wooden coaster (yes, I like The Beast more than Voyage)...Outlaw Run is now my number 1 and anyone who hasn't ridden it should make the trip to Branson for that coaster alone. However, Outlaw Run has experienced significant downtime so far this season. It's normally down 3 or 4 times a day, but only for 30-40 minutes. To me, that's acceptable, because it's an unbelievable ride that is redefining wood coasters, and new technology will always take some time to get perfected. I'd much rather have a world class ride with some downtime until they get the new technology worked out than a coaster like Leviathan that is still cookie cutter enough to be just ok. King's Island isn't my home park, but it is still a park that I love very much, and in my opinion a terrain coaster similar to Cheetah Hunt would be a much better fit for the park than just about anything that B&M could offer up. Gatekeeper will draw crowds to Cedar Point, for sure, but most enthusiasts are saying that the ride looks amazing but the actual ride is just so so. If I was making the calls, which I clearly am not, the new coaster would most certainly be an Intamin.

Yes. Terp, who hasn't done that for a very long time.

Leviathan probably has one of the most boring layouts I have ever seen. So If it is a Giga I hope it has a lot more twisty turns. I also hope they don't cut the ride short like they did Leviathan. Just over 5.4k feet and it's taller then 300ft? How high off the ground is that final brake run again?

My guess based on some of the footings.

Here are the construction pics I took today. All pictures were taken legally from Eiffel Tower Construction #1 by oldiesmann, on Flickr Construction #2 by oldiesmann, on Flickr Construction #3 by oldiesmann, on Flickr Construction #4 by oldiesmann, on Flickr (Sorry for the last one being blurry - it was very windy on top of the tower at the time).

On Tuesday morning I had woke up after having several dreams about going to KI including Don driving several KIC'ers around the park. I was in a need of a day to myself so I decided I was going to take a vacation day and spend it at KI! I left the house at 7AM and got to KI about 9AM. It was quite chilly in the morning, but was to warm up during the day so I decided to leave my jacket in the car.I was hoping for an empty park for lots of rides. When it was about time for the park to open the scanners came and talked ot everyone and greeted everyone to get everyone pumped up which is always a nice way to start the day! The first destination was DB where I got in 8 rides in during ERT, and rode 2 more times before moving on to another ride. Then I went and rode The Beast 2 times. BLSC was not running that day for some reason so I went on to Vortex! I then headed to Firehawk and rode it 2 time in a matter of minutes. Here is a look at the CM midway around 11 AM. I then went on a ride on Dodgem and Racer! I started heading back towards PS and got some pics of the fountains! I then went and rode FAAC and SD. I still enjoy riding SD even by myself. (Coaster or not) It sounded like a good time to go ride Beast again times two! I then went and rode Zephyr and Dodgem again. I realized I had not rode AE yet so I went and rode it! Still very hard to get used to an empty field next to it. I then decided to hit up Delirium and then FD two times. When I got to the park I saw a lift being brought in on a flatbed park. I think I saw the same lift over by FD. Could it be we will start seeing steel being erected soon in the Project 2014 area?? I then went and rode DT and Invertigo! After that I was getting hungry and wanted to check out Reds Hall of Fame Grille. The really went over the top with this restaurant. Wait staff were great! Here is the view on the patio! I then went and rode DB 3 more times and that third time was my 300th ride! I got some pics of DB through the day. I then rode Beast, Vortex, FOF, and FD. I took a few more pics of Project 2014. I see this as a great queue entrance! I then enjoyed the Backyard BBQ. This was my first time trying it and it was very good. I had the fried chicken! I then got 8 rides in on DB before heading out of the park at 7:40ish. I had a great day! Got a few more pics before leaving! A great relaxing day a the park! Ride Totals: DB: - 22 Beast - 5 FD - 3 Vortex - 2 FH - 2 Dodgem - 2 Racer - 2 Invertigo - 1 Delirium - 1 AE - 1 Zephyr - 1 FAAC - 1 SD - 1 CF - 1 Total: 45

True... I probably should have worded that question better. Is there any idea as to how it would affect popularity? Essentially, I have been wondering if Behemoth is now more of an afterthought with Leviathan up there, and if that would happen at Kings Island as well. I can see Diamondback becoming second-fiddle if we get a fun new ride over in Action Zone. Since we have a pretty good example of this in CW, I was wondering if anybody could comment on how a potentially similar situation affected the park? Thanks!

The "line to ride them" is only there because they are down all the time... How many B&Ms have been down most of their inaugural year, like TTD? How many B&Ms have had to be modified after construction was completed, like Maverick and I-305? How many chains have snapped on B&Ms, like MF? How many B&Ms have stranded riders 420 feet in the air multiple times, again like TTD? How many B&Ms have had cable snapped during a launch, like TTD and Xcelerator?

After riding Delirium, Flight Deck, Adventure Express, and Drop Tower a couple times yesterday, It was very apparent all concrete work was focused on the area that the go karts sat on, and a tiny bit directly behind Delirium. It did appear that the footers that people are saying for transfer track are a lot closer together than those for Diamondback, not that that necessarily matters. Also, that whole area seems a bit odd/jumbled to me. I personally don't see any of the concrete "lining up" to be for something like a brake run to station. The footer hole digger thingy (no clue about its actual name) was sitting just behind Sling Shot. In that area, it looked like there was a larger, almost triangular footer, sorta like the one for Diamondback's turnaround. I looked as much as I could, and I didn't see anything but a couple bulldozers sitting where the majority of SOB used to (out in the valleys; on a side note, none of these pictures do justice to the change of elevation and topography of this area). Just my random observations. Once more starts happening, I'll start taking my nicer camera and zoom lens up to KI and take some closer pix.

I remember sometime in the late 90s on the way to KI seeing gas for something like 79 cents. 1997 or somewhere around then.

This is one of my favorites.

So I was looking for something else and it brought me all the way back here... the bold are the removed rides.... Gas was $2.57? Wow

Just wanted to let everyone know that I got a tip from one of the ride operators on Dodgem today. He told me that the cars are not all the same speed. The two fastest cars are the bright yellow ones, number 35 and number 9. I drove car number 35 today, and the difference in speed compared to other cars was definitely noticeable, at least to me. Try one of them out!

I think quality and reliability go hand in hand.

Not much to report from today. The park wasn't that busy even with the school groups. Most rides were either walk-on or 15 minute wait tops. WindSeeker was down all day due to wind, and Drop Tower, Skyflyer and Slingshot all went down due to wind at one point as well. 5 rides on DB during ERT and 3 straight rides on Flight Deck without going back around (I could have gotten more had I wanted to, but 3 straight was enough for me). I rode everything I wanted to ride (at least everything that was open) by 3:30, so I went back around and rode most things again. Despite the heat, there was still quite a bit of interest in the family dryer. At one point I walked by and there was a group of about 9 school kids in there - during the hottest part of the day. No wonder Cedar Fair loves those things. New stuff I noticed: Card readers added to all the vending machines at the beginning of The Beast queue Quite a few new arcade games Jukebox Diner now has Coke Freestyle machines, which offer more choices than those in the burrito shack There's a "Rivertown 1979" sign above the kiddy corale at Beast Most of the rides that have "estimated wait time" signs got new ones customized to their particular ride New decorations in the queue at Flight of Fear: Biohazard by oldiesmann, on Flickr Translation Project by oldiesmann, on Flickr Urgent - Press Release by oldiesmann, on Flickr Finally, a few other photos I took: The great blue heron is back Great Blue Heron #2 by oldiesmann, on Flickr The new beer garden, with some nice landscaping: Christian Morlein Biergarten by oldiesmann, on Flickr The new dino: New Dino by oldiesmann, on Flickr The inside of the train: Train by oldiesmann, on Flickr I also took several construction photos, which I'll post in the topic on that

If I remember correctly, The Beast queue still had water even after Vortex was built, but I could be mistaken. The years all run together and I don't remember what year the water was removed (but I do think it was after 1987, Vortex's debut season). As to why the water was removed, Shaggy had a good post a few years ago:

You guys seem to forget some of the other Intamin's that are not Cedar Fair creations. Like Fahrenheit, Storm Runner, Bizzaro, El Toro, iSpeed, and many more. Just because a handful of them had problems doesn't mean they are all crap. If I'm correct most of the rides were first of their kind or there were very few of them.

Be sure to watch this.....could be some new clues? http://www.travelchannel.com/tv-shows/future-scream-machines-bigger-wetter-faster

Well...not to be a pain in the rear again, but that actually did look like fun to me. Especially once they were all sitting and they span the crap out of it.

Just make it in whatever makes the most sense to you. It it isn't the best one we will move it to one we feel is better. Its not big deal at all.

On the topic of bumper cars, I had a lot of fun on the set at Conneaut Lake Park, although less because of their speed and more because of simply how monstrously hard the collisions were. Which is odd considering I'm usually not a fan of unnecessarily rough rides. Seriously, I was shocked I didn't have a headache for the rest of the day.

The "line to ride them" is only there because they are down all the time... That was a good one. I wonder if the gate is broke down too at CP creating an illusion of all those people wanting to get in there to ride those crappy Intamins? Because Intacraps are the only thing in the park? But for real. Intamin's have fantastic layouts most of the time.. The reliability though... different story.

Knoebel's Grove Amusement Resort has among the best left in the land.

I've heard nothing but amazing things about the Intamin Mega-Lite coasters that have come out so far. I think in terms of intensity, Intamin takes the cake. B&M are great rides, but tend to be lower on the forces. Like someone said a bit ago, I'm not really interested in getting a taller, slightly different Diamondback, like Canada's Wonderland kind of did (even if Leviathan and Behemoth aren't all that similar). I want something completely different ride-wise....along the lines of the mega-lites, or Maverick or I305. Only time will tell.

I've been going to Kings Island since I was about 2 years old and I'm 32 now (you do the math) and I've been lucky enough to not have anything embarrassing happen to me at the park....yet. However, I do have a couple of stories of things I've witnessed while I was there. First one: This was quite some time ago when Soak City was called Water Works. My dad and I were standing in line for the Lazy River and we noticed a rather large man walking up the stairs to take a ride on the now Pineapple Pipeline. I few minutes later we saw him walking back down the stairs. He either decided not to ride it or was told that he was too large to fit. Either way, I always kind of felt bad for him. Second one: I was with a friend of mine, probably back around 1998, and we were in line to ride the Pipeline Paradise. We get to the top where the life guard is and he starts flirting with the her because she was quite attractive. So now it's his turn to go, he grabs a board and heads down towards the wave. He hits the wave so hard that is blew his trunks clean off his backside. He slides off the board and down to the bottom. I just remember him sitting at the bottom trying to wiggle back into his trunks. All the while the cute life guard turns around, now facing me, and is trying to hide her laughter/embarrassment. I was laughing so hard! After going to the park for 30 years without anything happening to me, I'm concerned that the odds are not in my favor. Something is bound to happen eventually and when it does, I'll be sure to write about it on here!

I think the first video in this thread shows an individual falling in a manner contrary to the conservation of angular momentum. If it were "real," the "rider" would have fallen at a distinct right-to-left arc, and his rate of descent would have been slightly more gradual, not at the velocity depicted.

I usually stay away from the yellow cars for some reason, but maybe I'll try one now. #YOLO

yeah, I honesty needed a "Me" day!

My guess based on some of the footings is that lift direction in drawings is incorrect.

I find your lack of depth perception disturbing.. LOL

Depending on what you're reading, often Wikipedia is fairly accurate on things. You have to keep in mind that it may not be, but usually the ones that know what they are talking about are kind enough to fix the mistakes.

I was there on 5/14 also. Loved how short the lines were. Almost every ride was a walk on (granted we did not get to ride any coasters since it was a day for our kids) They had a great time! Who knows, we may have crossed paths some time during the day

I bring my two year old on Monster with me and she absolutely Loves it! I had no idea she could ride it until I asked a ride-op after reading the sign wondering "I think she can ride with me!" I limit her to two rides on it since she's only two I'm nervous that she might puke, otherwise she wouldn't ever want off the ride.

I ate at Hank's Burrito Shack, which is one of my favorite food places at KI. More food for your buck than most of the other places.

Thanks for the report! 45 rides is more than I got in a 15 hour day with Fast Lane!

Kings Island now has a number you can text to get updates and news from the park! (and they are "Promo" texts according to the park) (Cedar Point did this for Gatekeeper to make announcements on the rides construction)

It's a coaster. They go up and down and sometimes stop.