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No. The search will tell you. King Cobra was a prototype and was constructed with inferior Japanese steel. It was removed. The similar SkyRider in Canada operates to this day. And Shockwave at Kings Dominion, from the same maker, TOGO, also operates. Welcome to KIC!

I like how they've already started landscaping around supports. The mature bushes will make it presumably harder for maintenance but it will look much cooler by the time opening day rolls around.

Here are my pics from today's trip

I don't know what it is for, but it isn't the first time we've seen it. http://KICentral.com/photos/displayimage.php?album=291&pid=7184#top_display_media

Nope sorry, King Cobra track is no longer on property. It was Scrapped shortly after Cedar Fair purchased the park!

One year, the amusement company for our county fair brought an Astro Wheel to the fair. A couple of weeks before the actual fair was to begin, I was driving to a town about 20 miles away, which was incidentally the direction that the fair rides were coming from. I noticed something odd in the ditch on the way and decided to take a slow drive past it on the return trip. On the way back, there it was....a ride car from the Astro Wheel was lying in the ditch. Later on, I was walking through the county fair grounds prior to the fair and was looking at the assembled Astro Wheel, trying to figure out which car was the one I saw when, from somewhere near the top, a bolt fell out and proceeded to ping and ding along the structure until it landed on the loading deck. Needless to say, I averted from riding that ride!

I didn't realize how popular platinum passes were! I always get gold, just because I live 25 minutes away from KI and I'm in college so $9.50 a month is manageable. I would get a platinum, but I would never get to use it. Even making a trip up to Cedar Point is pricey and hard between two jobs. I think the year a graduate college will be the year I go platinum. Until then, I'll stick with gold...

^^And Fear Fest wasn't a generic name?

Ah, yes. Two things: The guard cages mounted atop the cars--those are retrofits. They were not originally part of the ride. The restraints were also modified over the years. Originally there was only a single latching straight stick...and it could be opened easily by the riders...who would never even think of such a thing back then. And, like nearly everything else flatwise, these wheels used to operate much, much faster than the one in the video. Many years ago, Camden Park had a Ferris Wheel like that one, back by the women's restroom. It was wicked fast. So was the load\unload...one did not tarry, or one got yelled at, at best.

I would love to have a giant wheel. I wouldn't mind seeing it go in Action Zone somewhere since there really isn't any observation kinda ride on that side of the park. ^ Those are by far the scariest ferris wheels.

I'm not sure if you all have noticed, but the walkway for the queue has been removed. I'll post a picture soon.

"This is going to be a beautiful machine." Courtesy of Kings Island Central Facebook

Feet was your concern? I would have been more worried of someone sharting their pants! Thanks for that new word added to my small vocab Mr. Alonzo.

I didn't say I ride it, I just said we had one, Carny rides are not for me.

At least Halloween Haunt isn't confused with Fright Fest.

If anyone catches the camera while they are lifting track for the dive loop, can you take a screen shot and post it? I'm curious to see the crane bent over that far since It seems to be utilized more for just height than distance.

^Correct, it becomes a safety issue when running in the rain, for several reasons. First be wet track/wheels/brakes the train can slip through the brake, not stop on the brake correctly setting the ride, and also levels of rain with older safety devices (photo eyes mainly) can become tripped thus also setting the ride. Be happy Cedar Point is all about maximum safety and efficiency. Some parks even including our KI cannot transfer off units in the rain,so they either will stay up until rain picks up and shut down, and then not run at all. Wheras at CP, we can go up with two or one train depending on the safety systems/blocking to keep people moving and enjoying the ride. Just understand though, this is done out of safety to prevent the worst from happening or further ride downtime because both have happened in the past

We have something similar to that at the county fair.

Perhaps Huss is currently developing a Giant Giant Slide...

It has been fine for us. We park in the Soak City lot whenever we go to CP so we haven't had to wait at all while leaving the park, plus we park in the first two rows back there. We left both nights just after midnight and our exit from the back has been smooth. I will say when we get to the main parking lot up front the line looks long, lots of brake lights, and slow moving traffic but nothing out of the ordinary. But we have escaped those lines due to being in the drive lane from the Soak City lot. Coming into CP has been no problem because we come in during ERT time. They do still have temporary parking set up in the grass on the causeway but they have even come close from the times we have been there to even filling the main lot. There were very few cars (20-30 cars) in the side lot on the southwest side of the parking lot.

These haunt reviews can be very uplifting or utterly crushing now that I have this new perspective on my Haunt experience.. *cough* Cool to see how the other houses are doing though, thanks for the review.

Madam Fatale's was great tonight. Sucked every other time. But was great tonight. Still missed a few spots that got me before...it has great potential. Slaughterhouse was blah, so was Cornstalkers. Board 2 Death had their lighting fixed this week which was an improvement. BUT ONCE AGAIN in multiple rooms the F^cking actors were talking to each other, not paying attention! For real?!!? Get your sh^t together. I've worked in the mazes, you can talk to your friends when there are breaks, or spaces between groups. But this has happened every time I've gone through this maze. Disappoint. Sucky Saturdays - they just stream people in the maze constantly. Slaughterhouse has been the worst offender. It's so awkward and terrible just standing still in the rooms waiting for the line to move while the scare actors just kinda look around.

Clearly a work in progress.

I have about 20 or 30 in my junk drawer. They're in good condition too. I also have at least 20 of 2011 Haunt maps, 2012 Haunt maps, 2012 regular season maps, 2012 CP maps, and 2013 CP maps I'll take a 2011,and a 2011 haunt map. Would you like a large Coke with that?

I love dark rides and real fun houses. The only walk through fun houses I see anymore are crappy trailers set up at chuck a buck carnivals. It saddens me that kids today will probably not get to experience a real walk through sturdy funhouse. (I suspect the accident at Six Flags New Jersey had a bearing on it.)

And Kings Island is in Mason. To most people, Jungle Jim's is a Cinci thing...

Traffic? Really? Terp, late of Atlanta and now of DC, home of the nation's worst traffic, by far.

Being a pro football fan who learns not to get too excited when the home team is ahead by more than a touchdown, even during the final 2 minutes; Being a pro baseball, well, watcher who has felt the exhileration of watching the home team win the World Series more than once in his long lifetime; The number 4,192 - Don't care if Pete Rose is banned for life; that's a memory that I choose to cherish; Bob Shreve's Past Prime Playhouse, which remains in the hearts of many a Cincinnatian; The Garfield Suites Hotel, and its world-class amusement park creating general manager, Gary; and... Ah, the Name is Bootsy, Baby!

I think they should install another giant topspin and call it the crypt and build it so it won't tear itself apart and make it do all the same stuff as tomb raider. That ride was fun!

In a kinder, gentler time, the Cuddle Up was one of the only ways dating couples could Cuddle Up. See also Mangels Whip, Eli Bridge Scrambler, Kennywood ThunderBolt and Tunnels of Love.

Region = Louisville. Sure.

I was there tonight and security were as numerous as the monsters. It was so crowded tonight, we hung up on Haunts and rides, (we got there late, didn't feel like Fastpass would be worth it.) Walked around rode some fun little rides, and did the impossible, got that man I married to ride The Monster. We had a fun enough time along Coney Island to make the trip worth it. I thought the monsters that I saw were excellent tonight, but to be honest, there were so many weird looking people in the park tonight, it was hard to tell the two apart.

I renewed my Cedar Point Platinum Pass two days ago....I did it with the EasyPay plan. $20 per month til June...why not? I'm okay with the EasyPay plan. The only thing I wish I could do, is get an actual new pass, with the new look.

As an English major and lover of puns and play on words I am furious that you beat me to every punch. I am also wondering if I should have revealed my major since I am sure to be on here after a few adult beverages and make some mistakes...keep them coming he who interprets.

If they had a shorter brake run, it might indeed be a break run.

Doesn't matter. Trim Brakes do not equal normal braking devices. Brake runs are a part of a blocking system...and can feature numerous blocks, see Diamondback, I-305, TTD, etc. I-305 is relatively a long brake run and could be considered excessive IMO. A longer brake run can ensure 3 train operation as well as a MCBR.

So you are a ride engineer? Interesting.

^^You need to understand blocking systems to understand the amount of brakes on the ride And I don't wanna hear you say Levi has a long brake run, go look at your TTD...it's excessively long, but again does serve a slight purpose if all 6 trains were used I guess =/ But you have brakes for the transfer table, pre transfer to stop the train while the track is moving before releasing to the transfer table, a trim before it, and the main safety brake at the end of the brake run...With no MCBR it has to have various points to stop the ride if a train is not clear and advanced at the ready brake (transfer track before station) and also set the brakes behind the train so the next train on the course does not come close to the train advancing on the brake run...it all makes sense

Well, yes, without trims or an MCBR, the train is moving faster when it reaches the end of the course and thus needs a longer distance to safely stop. As the speed increases, the distance needed to stop the train increases exponentially.

Why are people so dead set that Cedar Fair won't build as good of rides at KI just so it doesn't compete with Cedar Point. That thought is just absurd to me. If a company is going to spend millions of dollars on a ride, their not going to say " let's dull it down just a bit so it doesn't take away from our other park that is still over 4 hours away". Sorry I just don't see that being te mindset of a company that's about to drop 24 million on Banshee or any other future ride for that matter. Just my opinion.

So you wanna pull out a flat that has horrible capacity, to put in a coaster that has horrible capacity

^ I'd like to see Vortex where Vortex is located.

And also, with all due respect, the coaster was not named "Son of The Beast."

Hey everyone! KICentral will be hosting a video contest effective immediately. The winners will be judged by members of Kings Island's marketing department and the winners will receive a personal Beast backstage tour as well as having their video featured on Kings Island's Facebook for 200,000 of their fans to see! Here are the rules: The video is limited to TWO MINUTES in length. The subject matter will be, "What Kings Island means to me." The only limitation is that there must be some footage from the park that was filmed during the 2011 season. This footage must be very evident as in, having WindSeeker or Dinosaurs in the background. Other than that, reach inside yourself and BE CREATIVE!!! There are no other format rules besides what has been listed above. The contest will be judged on a 50 point scale, and the categories are as follows: 10 Points are scored based on how you perceived the theme of, "What Kings Island Means to Me." 10 Points based on the originality of the concept of the video 10 Points for over all editing quality 10 Points for the rules (two minutes, current footage, etc) 10 Points for the "awe factor" which basically means that the judges can give or take these points base solely on how impressed they are. There are two ways that you can submit your video. You can drop it off at the park at Guest Services near the main gate. If you choose to do that, make sure you mark on the container that it is a video for the KICentral Video Contest and address it to Don Helbig. Secondly, it can be mailed to the park at the following address: Don Helbig Kings Island Public Relations Area Manager KICentral VIDEO CONTEST 6300 Kings Island Drive P.O. Box 901 Kings Island, OH 45034 The cutoff date will be announced in the near future along with when the winners will be announced. Let me know if you have any questions!!! Ryan

Are you talking about the "Dive Machine"? edit: I am not knocking the contest, I am actually excited and can't wait to see what people come up with!!!

I think you're confusing that video. That was peoples' reactions when they found out they were going to get a new coaster in 2005... one with a theme...

Haha... cool topic. Here's a story I haven't really shared yet: Several years ago, back in the days of Fearfest I was up at the park with this girl who I had the biggest crush on. She was really jumpy in the mazes that we went through. When we went through Death Row, I was bragging to her that I had walked through the maze several times during the construction and knew my way through, which was the honest truth. We went in, just the two of us, and I lead with her following behind me, holding onto me for dear life. I wasn't ten feet into the maze when I managed to get us turned around and we walked right out the entrance. What's worse? I knew the manager of the maze, who happened to be standing at the entrance and immediately asked, "Ryan, what the heck are you doing???" My first and last date with that girl.

You are officially white and nerdy, Paul.

I have the large, fold out maps for 1973 thru 1979. The first three years are in bad shape, because I was a kid when I started collecting them and treated them badly. Also, until 1976 the maps were printed on this glossy paper stock that in later years started to crumble at the fold lines. Now I don't even dare handle them. Starting in 1976, they changed their map stock (not to mention the illustration style), and that material has done much better over the years. If I can get my scanner back from my wife's best friend, I'll try to post pics of them sometime. I don't have many maps from the 80's; I didn't visit the park between 1984 and 1991, when we visited on our honeymoon. From then on, I have sporadic years of the brochure with maps, and since 2000 I have every year. I wish they'd re-introduce the large, collectible quality souvenir maps; actually, I wish Cedar Fair would bring those to all their parks.

I like to pick up 4 or 5 when I'm at the park on my way out. Although, most likely, I'll lose every single one...