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Hopefully it wont be the kind that stinks.....

In its current state? Is it no longer in Ohio? Terp, who likes to ask questions.

^ "Photo courtesy of Kings Dominion" should probably more appropriately be "courtesy of Kings Island!"

Great trip report and pics! Thanks for sharing. I just have to throw this pic in to go along with the ones above: Entry plaza on opening day - 4/27/13 - hard to believe a whole season came and went between that pic and the pics above! Merry Christmas!

I have heard some say Banshee will be a gas!

No, I think upstop believes Banshee is no longer in its solid state. I'll bet he thinks it's a liquid.

That is such a sweet tribute. I can't wait to see him at the park. I am hoping after Christmas to sign up for this. I love this organization so much. I have said it before, but if you can go on A Kid Again days at Kings Island you will meet amazing people and leave encouraged. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Adventure Express stinks but I still ride it...something musky in one of the tunnels.

You did a wonderful (awesome ) job and besides.....who else here can say they got to see Banshee in it's current state and interview Don?

You literally go through a cow? And I thought Ed Alonzo was astounding!

From KDs Facebook: On the 11th day of Christmas, ‪#‎KD40‬ gave to me: A fresh paint job for the Anaconda! During the off-season, we’ll be sprucing up the look of the Anaconda roller coaster by repainting the entire ride. The lake below the ride is already drained and work is underway to have the ride ready for the 2014 operating season. And the colors? Well, the ride columns will be green, the supports for the track red and the train’s running rails yellow. (Photo From KDs Facebook)

Is it positive reinforcement to kiss an Irish American teenager's tongue? Terp, who likes to ask questions, and couldn't hold his tongue!

One thing I noticed is the random places she'll just sit either to observe or sleep. Like for instance....parks herself tail first up against the gates. The other orcas in the pool with her at the time trying to get around her so they can get to the gate to see what the other pod mates elsewhere were up to was rather interesting as she wouldn't budge at all. I love how ever since her arrival Corky, the second oldest captive orca, has been vocalizing a lot more. Listening to her calls, now its easy to see where the orca vocals used in the Free Willy movies actually came from (they were not really Keiko's calls at all). Though that scene in the movie drives me nuts cause they make it sound like the noises come from their mouths when its actually the blowhole, oh well, that's Hollywood.

She do the regurgitating a lot in SFWoA? Just curious. I know cetaceans don't have a gag reflex so it really doesn't hurt them but it is unneeded habit and I'm glad SW got her to break it. The SW orcas, particularly at San Diego, do it too but it is with fish when they want to screw with the birds, but other than that she no longer does it just to do it. lol... SW has done some good for orcas that don't belong to them as well if anyone is curious. Kshamenk, the lone male orca at Mundo Marino in Argentina WAS a real agitated orca that eventually started getting rough with his trainers and trying to...uh..knock up his bottlenose dolphin companions (primarily Floppy...poor doll). SW taught his trainers how to better care for him and giving him more mental stimulation, presently he is a much more mellow orca and Floppy is a happier dolphin. (though I wish his living condition would improve as well) This info comes from someone that gets to observe Kshamenk often.

Week 21 (12/16/13 - 12/22/13): -

That would be harsher punishment for parole violators, Stan. And... world peace!

And under the queue entry bridge....kind of Pepe Le Pew-ish...oops wrong corporate entity...LOL

And that they are apparently violating privacy laws in Kentucky and other states. This more and more looks like amateur hour as opposed to professional marketing.

Somebody needs to teach them what a Bcc: field is for. Or better yet, a proper mailing list.

This is a must watch story for anyone thinking about or planning to participate in the Scream for A Kid Again event: http://www.10tv.com/content/sections/video/index.html?video=/videos/2013/12/21/gabriel-statue.xml

I hate seeing my presents under the tree. I don't want to see any of my presents until Christmas morning. So my wife and I have agreed to keep each other's gifts hidden away until it's time to open them on Christmas morning. I don't like to see shapes or feel the weight of any gift with my name on it. I like to wonder what I might be getting and I like to be surprised. Knowing what's wrapped up underneath the Christmas tree already leaves absolutely no fun for Christmas morning, that is, except enjoying the new gift you opened. Just my opinion though That being said, any blu-ray, 3D blu-ray, video game, toy, or art book would be fine by me. I'm not too picky really.

Hey everyone! It's that time of the year again: the Mitch Hawker wood coaster poll is open. Here's a link! (I highly recommend Jordan Hatch's drag-and-drop ballot generator; it's way easier than editing the ballot text directly.) If you're not familiar, Mitch Hawker's poll is a yearly poll of the coaster enthusiast community to see how rides around the world rank. It's fairly popular and usually has well over 500 entries (last year's had 635 ballots for the wood poll.) When the results are tallied, you can see overall results as well as specific categories for the results (how well each ride ranked vs. another, etc.) There are folks that dislike the way users of a certain other site tend to skew the results in favor of certain international coasters. Whether that's an issue that concerns you or not, the nice thing about Mitch's poll is that you can see how many people who voted rode each ride. So if you don't like how high T Express at Lotte World, for instance, ranked, you can see that a whole 6 people rode it and disregard it. Or maybe you like those six people and value their opinion! Whatever floats your goat. Mitch's poll makes that kind of information easy to read and judge for yourself. It's a great poll if you're a numbers person. For the heck of it, here's how my rankings ended up this year. Son of Beast, having been torn down, is no longer eligible for ranking in the polls. It's really weird not having a shoe-in for last place: 1. Boss, Six Flags St. Louis 2. Voyage, Holiday World 3. El Toro, Six Flags Great Adventure 4. Favorite Steel (It's Intimidator 305 at Kings Dominion.) 5. Georgia Cyclone, Six Flags over Georgia 6. Ravine Flyer II, Waldameer 7. Cyclone, Luna Park (i.e. Coney Island New York) 8. Thunderbolt, Kennywood 9. Legend, Holiday World 10. Raven, Holiday World 11. American Thunder, Six Flags St. Louis 12. Racer, Kennywood 13. Blue Streak, Cedar Point 14. Thunderhead, Dollywood 15. Comet, Hersheypark 16. Hurler, Kings Dominion 17. Grizzly, Kings Dominion 18. American Eagle, Six Flags Great America 19. Beast, Kings Island 20. Viper, Six Flags Great America 21. Lightning Racer - Lightning, Hersheypark 22. Lightning Racer - Thunder, Hersheypark 23. Rebel Yell, Kings Dominion 24. Big Dipper, Camden Park 25. Racer, Kings Island 26. Mean Streak, Cedar Point 27. Screamin' Eagle, Six Flags St. Louis 28. Great American Scream Machine, Six Flags over Georgia 29. Jack Rabbit, Kennywood 30. Tornado, Stricker's Grove 31. Blue Streak, Conneaut Lake Park 32. Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain, Indiana Beach 33. Wolverine Wildcat, Michigan's Adventure 34. Cornball Express, Indiana Beach 35. Sea Dragon, Jungle Jack's Landing 36. Comet, Waldameer 37. Teddy Bear, Stricker's Grove 38. Woodstock Express, Kings Island 39. Ghoster Coaster, Kings Dominion 40. Lil' Dipper, Camden Park 41. Shivering Timbers, Michigan's Adventure 42. Hoosier Hurricane, Indiana Beach 43. Zach's Zoomer, Michigan's Adventure 44. Rolling Thunder, Six Flags Great Adventure 45. Wildcat, Hersheypark

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It looks very... Arrow.

Nice rendering of Lightning Run....... (Photo Courtesy of Kentucky Kingdom)

I'm pretty sure we have the same thing. Plus don't we have Banshee ice cream now?

Courtesy of Kings Dominion's Facebook page: "On the 12th Day of Christmas, ‪#‎KD40‬ gave to me: Blue Ice Cream to be sold in Candy Apple Grove! This family favorite will be available at Sweet Tooth located near the Drop Tower. We’ll be offering guests two choices of the Blue Ice Cream: plain blue and blue-vanilla swirled." (Photo Courtesy of Kings Dominion)

I have a buddy who was one of her trainers at SFWoA, and he said her behaviors there were obvious to him before she was moved, but brass didn't want to hear of it. Glad to hear she's doing better.

Yeah, she been there for a bit over a year. Her spunk probably impressed the matriarch (when other pod members tried to dominate her she nipped right back) because she is well liked by the entire pod. In shows, she flies! I do mean fly, it is funny to watch the other females try to jump higher than Shouka, you can almost see the competitiveness there. All the bad habits she displayed at Six Flags (example: regurgitating constantly) she no longer does. Though personality wise, she is rather unique if at times a bit puzzling.

Basically. I have fed the dolphins several times. They specifically tell you not to lift the carton above the ledge.

My votes: Favorite Steel (Maverick) Blue Streak (Cedar Point) The Voyage The Beast The Racer (Kings Island) The Raven Mean Streak The Legend Woodstock Express (Kings Island) Maybe I caught Mean Streak on a good day. :\ Woodstock Express is at the bottom of the list because I haven't ridden it in years. Whenever I'm at KI I avoid Planet Snoopy.

A puppy... for the third Christmas in a row.

The documentary's main point waffles. I don't think it intends its core message to be that SeaWorld is evil because, in fact, SeaWorld's habitats and care for its menagerie of creatures certainly meets and often exceeds standards set by the AZA. That's why they didn't touch on the rest of the animals, really. What they're attempting to convey, it seems, is that killer whales in particular should not be held captive because they're too intelligent and too emotionally self-and-group aware to lead fulfilling lives in a false environment the way a seal or an otter can. Here and there they touch on forcing animals to perform, but again only really in the context of killer whales. It seems that their intent is not to poopoo on SeaWorld, but to poopoo on any place that holds these intelligent whales captive... SeaWorld just so happens to be the face of it. So it's a muddled message that screams "anti-SeaWorld" when I don't think that's constructive or even what they really intended.

I watched the first few minutes of the documentary. These former trainers are essentially saying that they were asked to get in the water with the wales on their first day. I've met some of the trainers... all of which said that they trained for months or years and had to get acclimated with the wales long before they were allowed to get in the water.

Got an email from Kentucky Kingdom today. After scrolling through the list of email addresses the email was sent to (?), I found the message that the water bottles for the first 500 pass purchasers have been mailed today. I'm guessing I'll get mine after the first of the year.

No pig has ever slapped me upside the head severely, and then, for good measure, done it several more times!

Putting lipstick on a pig.

As promised here is the video. Sorry for the end our mics battery ran out. I hope you all enjoy!

It has been 5 days. Once again it is time to move on... IMG_1132 by KIC-Vortex_BFF, on Flickr Easy: any coaster train Hard: Vortex at night Expert: Close-up of a decal on front of a coaster train

There are those who do that. I believe some of them live in Pennsylvania and Ohio, among other places. They are, of course, the Amish.

I think it's a discussion worth having, but I'd be far more concerned at what's happened to Shouka (a former Ohio gal!) out at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom before I'd be bludgeoning Sea World.

*Um it was a joke. *Don't speak down to me. *That is all.

As far as I am aware Tillikum did not perform (I am assuming you are talking about Believe right?) in the show until well after the summer season had already ended following his attack on Dawn (actually it was more closer to a year later, around the time of the announcement that Believe was gonna be replaced). If you indeed saw him it wasn't intentional on SeaWorld's part because they did everything they could to shelter him in the back pools since the attack was still fresh in people's minds, Tillikum would have had to sneak to the show on his own. Sure you didn't mistaken one of the adult females for him? SO they lied to me when they claimed their biggest whale was getting ready to splash me? I can also tell the difference between a male and female orca.

eh, I feel that every one should stand for something. Some people should choose their "hills to die on" a bit more judiciously, but at leas they stand for something and can say they do it. As for musicians that do it, I think it can help them cross over from bubble gum pop to music with a meaning. If you want to feel bad about the flow of current musicians moving into politics... here is a top 50 of current political musicians/artists... http://static.echonest.com/Top50PoliticalArtists/ (number 1 is Nicki Minaj, while Bob Dylan doesnt crack the top 25, so take that into consideration) Top 10 political songs of 2013 http://www.msnbc.com/the-cycle/top-10-political-songs-2013 Beyonce and Lil Wayne? Top 20 of all time? http://www.newstatesman.com/music/2010/03/top-20-political-songs Or my personal favorite, due to my time at Kent State and getting to visit the spots where the 4 died and seeing the memorial in person... Sorry for high-jacking the thread... but if Heart or Willie Nelson can write an anti Killer Whale Captivity song that is as good as OHIO then I will give credit where credit is due...

Got my ballot in! This is the highlight of the off-season for me!

Well, mine is in, granted I have not been on too many woodies (or steel coasters for that matter)...alas, these rides will be affected: 1. The Beast Kings Island OH,y,n,1 2. The Legend Holiday World IN,y,y,2 3. The Voyage Holiday World IN,y,y,3 4. My Favorite Steel (Diamondback @ Kings Island) Anypark Anywhere **,y,n,4 5. Raven Holiday World IN,y,y,5 6. Racer Kings Island OH,y,n,6 7. Hoosier Hurricane Indiana Beach IN,y,n,7 8. Woodstock Express Kings Island OH,y,n,8 2013 was not my best year for roller coasters peroid, BTW...one trip to Holiday World was all I got. Granted, that one trip was super fun.

Great video and interview Ohiocoasterman, it was awesome. On another note......at 34 degrees......The Banshee construction crew is arriving early.....

For the most part, you hit the nail on the head. Though SeaWorld hasn't actually taken an orca that was directly from the wild in decades. (those they have taken in since the 80s had been someplace else like Marineland Canada or Sealand originally before actually going to SeaWorld) Morgan is the most recent example as Harderwijk and their folks did her rescue initially and she is now a SeaWorld orca at Loro Parque. Moragn was found in the wild starving and with a bad case of peanut head, which is a sign of malnourishment, and she was still bit of a youngin (kind of youngin that still needed her mom to survive). When she was first brought in I had little to no hope for her even that she would actually survive. So everyone knows I'm far from being someone that supports everything that SeaWorld does, I don't even like their bottlenose dolphin tanks to be honest cause of the sheer amount of them rascals they got. They breed very, very well...too well if you'd ask me. Hence why....I actually love the Mirage dolphin habitat. In all honesty...a lot of people refuse to admit but if it hadn't actually been for SeaWorld no one would give a flip about orcas. Before the first captive orcas, we as humans, were still hunting and killing them, either because they were nuisances to fisherman or for sport. And probably still be going after them present day more than likely.

just be glad we live in a country where we are given freedom of speech and the right to question - in many countries, a lot of posts throughout this forum (not just this topic) would be under continuous censorship and would never see the light of day; public flogging of those with posts deemed questionable; and perhaps death in other parts of the world. Personally, I try not to worry about things outside of my control (but even that is tough to do). For every show-whale SeaWorld has, how many other whales and animals have been rescued and given proper care to then reenter nature - maybe show-whales is a small price to pay for the overall good being provided to countless other wild animals that were injured and brought back to health and then returned to the wild. Same with zoos. Being an animal trainer is dangerous. So is being a firefighter, police officer, or astronaut - should we eliminate those jobs as well because people have been killed in those jobs? Do we really need to risks peoples lives to go into space? The fact of the matter is that things learned in space has made our lives better. The things being learned about animals at SeaWorld and zoos can ultimately save an animal from extinction. Some will find that acceptable, while others will say if they were meant to die off, then we shouldn't interfere. Taking that logic one step further, then we shouldn't be trying to find cures for cancer, AIDS, etc. and we shouldn't allow people to undergo experimental treatment that furthers the science so that perhaps in the future a cure can be found. I will end with if you make the argument that animals shouldn't be displaced from their natural habitat, period, then I think you have some serious soul-searching to do. The native americans probably say the same thing about you and I, so unless you are 100% native American, you should go back to England, Europe, Japan, Africa, Korea, China or whatever country your ancestors came from and return this land back to those that were first here. We will not see many people do that. Not everything humans do is perfect, and unfortunately there have been stumbles along the way, but as long as we grow and learn and make the world a better place and try to learn from mistakes and rectify when possible, that is all we can ask for in a modern society. The alternative is to go back to living off the land with no phones, no lights, no motor cars, not a single luxury.

My understanding—and someone please correct me if I'm wrong—is that anytime SeaWorld takes in an animal (be it an orca or any other creature) from the wild, they do so with the goal of treating and rehabilitating its injuries and releasing it back into the wild as soon as reasonably possible, and it is only those who have injuries that are unable to fully heal and would spell death for them in the wild that are kept in captivity, moved into the parks, and become show/display animals. Of course, the offspring of those injured animals, being that they are born in captivity to begin with, are then unable to be released into the wild because they are unable to develop the necessary survival instincts that they would if born and raised in the wild, but I see that as preferable to turning them loose to die in the wild.