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Loch Ness Monster - Busch Gardens The Old Country in Williamsburg. 1982.

And now we have testing video (off ride) This thing looks like its flying over hills.

While I've never been to Kings Dominion, I found myself very jealous of their list of refurbishments they released slowly over the winter all directed towards bringing back prior aspects of the park (talking/singing mushrooms were one of the things, amongst other things, mostly, if not entirely they were relatively small features, especially compared to the cost occured repainting/rethemeing The Bat, let along Banshee). Anyhoo, since I recon Ki won't see any major installations this summer (not that I would complain if one came their way) I'm hoping for an offseason with several similar announcements at KI. Bringing back the vine(?) tunnel that slowly grew over at the start of the season, the talking tree, Flying Eagles (seemingly on everyone's list amongst our members here), etc....

GatorGirl's first inverting coaster was Tennessee Tornado at Dollywood, which has a 48" height requirement. We were there with a large group of friends, she had just reached 48" that year and the only other 48"ers she had ridden at that point were Racer, Flight Deck, Adventure Express & Backlot. We all went to ride it, but she said she didn't want to, so she didn't. After we got off, she heard everyone talking about how much fun that coaster is. When we returned to that section of the park later that day for another ride, she said she was ready. I asked her if she was sure, she said that she was, she got on and loved it. I was hoping she would because her first looper was probably going to be Vortex otherwise, and out of the two Tennessee Tornado is much smoother.

You didn't quit. You are still here.

I have a dog.

Just promise to ask your English teacher about double negatives....

RIP Trail of Terror. You were gone too soon, and you just had to go the way of the dinosaurs.

I don't post much on here anymore- I do enjoy reading the topics and comments every once in a while though. I do want to take a moment to defend someone I have seen but do not know. I don't know Don personally. I know who he is; I could point to him in a crowd if asked, but I've never physically met the man. I don't know the specifics of his job description- but I do know that he is likely one of the harder working individuals at the park. Most of us enjoy such holiday's as Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, etc... I've been at the park on a number of those days spanning several years and its not uncommon to see him around the park on those days. I would take issue with anyone on the site that demeans his job performance by what he posts or does not post on this site- its likely not a requirement of him to keep the KIC community informed of issues that aren't our concern. I've only been to the park once this year (opening day.... first AND LAST time I'll do that)- if a ride is closed, its not that big of a deal- get over it.

Arrived at the park on its first opening Monday at about 12:30-1 PM. The GF and I made our way to Season Pass processing, received our gold passes and then we were quickly on our way into the park. Didn't appear to be too many people making their way in, which was good news for me. Quickly made our way over to Banshee thinking "I'd better wait in line and get it out of the way." To my surprise, there was no line. EVERY RIDE ALL DAY including Banshee except Firehawk was walk-up. I quickly made my way through the queue of Banshee, which was themed very nicely. The tombstones were a nice effect, and the large memorial for Son of Beast was a nice touch. The ride itself is disorienting as hell but a ton of fun. As soon as you go down that first drop, you never know what's coming next. 4,000 feet has never felt so short because the ride just goes so fast. Before you know it, you've hit every inversion and are back in the station. Exhilarating, disorienting, and an instant classic. They were running 3 trains, and only about half of them were full most of the time on this day. Talk about keeping the people happy. If you've read my previous report, you'll notice I mentioned that I did not ride Vortex. The one ride I wanted to but had eluded me in both of my prior trips. This being my third, I was determined to knock out the "unridden" list. Vortex was next. Vortex gets a mixed reaction from me. While I enjoyed how elaborate it was and the many inversions, this ride has clearly been outdone and outclassed. Banshee is so smooth, going straight from it to Vortex is almost like going from fighting a punching bag to Mike Tyson. Also, I'm 6'4". Vortex's over the shoulder restraints were clearly not meant for people like me, so I almost had to duck to get the restraints in, and when they were closed it wasn't all that comfortable. The ride had a crazy amount of head-thrashing, but just as many thrills. Take that for what you will. Glad to have knocked it off the list, but I do not know if I'll be clamoring to come back. Next, we headed to Dinosaurs Alive, the animatronic dinosaur park. This was free with our Gold Pass, so we figured it might be a nice diversion to reorient myself after the mind-bending thrills of Banshee and Vortex. Unfortunately, the dinosaurs are all hidden in a forest which does not lend itself well to 90% humidity on a 86 degree day. A breeze was nowhere to be found. By the end, we were so ready to get out that we were almost jogging. Not to mention the experience was nothing special, and half the dinosaurs no longer work. Won't be back for that. The space could be better used for a newer, better attraction. By this point we decided it was time to eat. Went to LaRosa's pizza and redeemed our Souvenir cup voucher (allows for unlimited soda refills on that day, and 99 cent refills every other day of the season). Pizza was fine, but a necessity for The Beast about to come. Headed next to The Beast, my favorite wooden roller coaster. There was NO LINE, which was amazing. I made it to the station and literally hopped right on. I swear this ride gets better every time I ride it. That final double helix is unmatched in my experience. I cannot praise it enough. Diamondback is not too far off from The Beast, so it was the only logical next step. This was also the only time I waited in line all day, a good 5 minute wait or so. Whoopie. Once again, I've come to realize why this is my favorite steel coaster. So much airtime you're thankful there's restraints, but so much speed and wild turns you fear those restraints may not be enough. This year had the addition of seat belts! And I can tell you from experience they vary based on the train. One of them I rode on had very loose seat belts, while another had quite tight ones (and I'm not a hefty guy). At this point I came to realize that I had not ridden the Backlot Stunt Coaster, which is closer to The Beast. However, we made a quick pitstop to ride the K.I. & Miami Valley Railroad. Nothing to write home about, but a fun little detour to take between the big rides. Backlot Stunt Coaster was next, and it's a fun little ride that was quite surprising in how fast it is for being as compact as it is. If JetStar 2 at Lagoon is ever to be replaced, something like this would be a fine replacement if you ask me. The dark tunnel right before the end is something else. You literally cannot see a single thing in front of you, sending you just about anywhere. The effects were a little corny, and the stop at the helicopter scene was not welcome in the hot weather, but on a cooler day I could see this not being a problem. No day at Kings Island is complete without a ride on The Racer. Got front row, a total blast as usual. A different experience than The Beast, but enjoyable all the same. Plenty of air-time, a few twists and turns. Only the red racer was running, which I'm sure was due to low ridership more than anything else. At this point in the day, I could tell I was tiring out. However, I decided to try my hand on Banshee again. I did, and it was fun, but the disorientation turned into nausea and that did me in. We found a nearby hotel and stayed the night, ready to hit the park again Tuesday. The only rides I could tell were not operational were Drop Tower and Delirium. I'll be back soon with my Day 2 report.

All I will want is when someone bumps into me to say something along the lines of "excuse me" or "my bad" maybe even "sorry". Is that too much to ask. I had a girl walk right into the back of me in line for Banshee. Her boyfriend even called her out on it, yet did she offer any acknowledgment of doing it other than to look at me like it was my fault she ran into me.

If you really, really miss Son of Beast, go to Indiana Beach and ride Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain (LoCoSuMo). Like being pushed over a hillside in a Kroger shopping cart. If you are in to that sort of thing...

Make absolutely sure, if you are driving, to get with your insurance company and get the yellow insurance card. http://insuranceincanada.com/auto-insurance/canadian-insurance-card

Pretty good summary that I agree with. SOB, just as a structure, was truly a sight to behold. Just the sheer size of it was quite impressive. And you're right, that first ride on it was about as exhilarating of an experience as I've ever had on a ride. But man did that thing get rough. I would occasionally have an experience that was tolerable, but far more often than not it was too brutal to enjoy, to the point where I refused to ride it altogether. And like TombRaider, I too feel that I have a high tolerance for roughness on a coaster. I know I will enjoy Banshee for far longer than I did SOB, but nothing matches the exhilaration that SOB offered.

Wabash Cannonball, Opryland USA. I have a picture of me coming down the first drop that my parents took, but have yet to figure out how to upload.

While it might go upside down I don't think it counts as a coaster. Mine was Raptor at Cedar Point.

TRIP REPORT FOR MAY 12th 2014 actually, it's more like a diary than anything... It was a great day, I did pretty much everything I wanted to do! Today I went alone again, brought along by my bf while he goes to work. Better than me sitting around my house all day =p although I was alone, I was talking to people a lot. I am usually shy and don't seek out conversation, but I found my way into them today. My first ride was Diamondback. I went for the front and a man behind me was also a single rider. We chatted as we were going up the hill, and waiting to go back into the station. He told me he was thinking about bringing his niece on the ride, but as we were going up the hill he says "oh no this wouldn't be a good ride for her.." lol =D he mentioned that he hadn't been to the park in years and asked me about the Son of Beast, mentioning he heard they took the loop out. I told him it's all gone now, and Banshee is standing in his place! also I ended up pairing off with a single rider in the line for The Beast as well. a group of 3, I was the 3rd guy's ride buddy. We chatted as well, I saw he had a Banshee first rider shirt and we talked about opening day and how the Banshee is. he warned me that he screams like a little girl on the ride. Not really (: I took a ride on the train for the first time this season. I quite enjoyed the guide's information, it made for an interesting an amusing ride. I took a video of my ride, but my phone isn't wanting to upload it. :{ I saw pikachu in the window at the inn :3 I went through Dinosaurs Alive! for the first time today. The size of the exhibit surprised me. It was rally cool, I'd like to do it again. But honestly it feels a little out of place at Kings Island, maybe more of a zoo thing. Anyway, one of the first dinos I saw was this guy: If you look closely at his head (above the eye) you'll see a caterpillar! lol! My trip into Dinosaurs Alive quickly turned into me finding caterpillars inching for their lives across the concrete walk. I would pick them up and set them on nearby trees, so they wouldn't get squished. I've been seeing quite a lot of the little guys at a park near my house, so seeing them at ki was a pleasant surprise! I took this pic of The Racer, a view i'm not sure I've seen before today. I took rides on the shake rattle & roll, zephyr, Vortex and monster. I played DDR in the arcades and set a new high score. it was for the song think ya better D on heavy. Oh DDR how I love you ♥ Anyway, I also headed over to The Racer. while in line I noticed a little girl had the same hairtie as me around her wrist, but I didn't say anything (shy). but it turned out she noticed too, and tapped me to point it out. I wanted to get on Invertigo. I got in line, at first going for the front, but deciding that I may as well go in an empty seat. I just didn't want to be stuck facing a stranger. ^^; after the gates open, a guy sitting in my seat turns to me and says "this one will scare you!" before getting out. Haha, don't speak so soon guy. (; well, I was scared away, but not by the ride. I experienced another first today: hearing, smelling, and seeing a protein spill right before my eyes. At least the guy had gotten off the ride first and was over/near a can. I panicked for a second, feeling suffocated, turned on my heel and went back through the gate and out the entrance line, good thing there weren't any people. I decided to come back later but in the end I was too squicked out to return at all. sorry to any who were reading and are now grossed out, moving on now! I decided to ride the viking ship for the first time of the season. I sat on the right side, second row. soon after I got in line, a mother and daughter came in, mother started walking towards the left but the daughter decided she wanted to ride on the opposite side. she was little but decided to brave the outer seat. during the ride, the mother smiled to her daughter, who exclaimed that she was a big girl and she could ride there. It was one of the most adorable things I've seen all day, tied with the caterpillars, and some girl's cat stockings. http://www.blueeyedbookworm.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Kitties1.jpg I wish I could have ridden WindSeeker and/or Drop Tower today. maybe next time. (: I'm realizing I also didn't do Adventure Express. But I can do without that one. it's speed is fun, but the restraints could do a better job holding me in place. I noticed that after some time, Delirium was testing! yay! I heard it may be 10 or so test cycles before they accept riders. So I went and had some lunch in the festhaus. Nothing exciting, some crackers and pretzels I had in my bag. But the panda express smelled so good. ~_~ When I was done, I was able to come out and ride. I've noticed that seats from 1-25 or so gives you a view of the ground when you are spinning in the air. 26-50 shows you the sky. I prefer the sky, because when I ride I like to let my legs and arms hang out in front of me, coming off my seat a little, like i'm going to fall into the sky. it's quite a rush. but looking down at the ground from so high up is also awesome! I love Delirium! I decided I was going to get a 2 hour locker rental and ride the Banshee and Firehawk while my bag was secured. I'm so glad I did. I got in so many rides on the Banshee. I rode in the front seat several times, at least 5 or more, and only had to wait a few minutes if that! The ride is really incredible, I can feel the g-forces in the tips of my feet most, and i love the airtime. I don't love the restraints squiching my collarbone so much. which is odd, considering i'm not a small girl and my collarbones don't protrude much. But I wonder how comfortably it would have fit last year at this time, when I was 55lbs heavier? while I was riding the Banshee, I decided to try the back seat, although I was especially paranoid today about protein spills. almost on cue, another single rider got in line behind me, as we approached the station he said something like "front seat is for losers." P: we both ended up going for the back. we talked a bit while seating, going up the hill, and while waiting to go back into the station. he used a few terms that made me think he may be an enthusiast and could possibly be a member of the forum so I asked, and he was (: the first time I met a KICer. I decided to go see about getting on the Firehawk. I got a cup of ice water on my way and went through the arcade. I saw a little girl had won the big prize on one of the games, big bass fishing I think, you land your spinner on a tiny slice of wheel and get 5000 tickets, she won! I congratulated her, and realized it was the same little girl and mother from the viking ship. I mentioned that I recognized them and told the mother her daughter is adorable, she said I was sweet. :> Anyway, when I made my way over to the Firehawk, I saw it was closed. After I trekked over there! closed! gah. I decided to go for FoF while I was still there. It was a longish line but not too bad. I was behind two young guys who talked about losing their virginity and their "numbers" among other things. P: I tried my best to look like I couldn't easily hear them, and finished my ice water. When I got to the station, I wanted front seat so I waited a few cycles. the operator asked us to pick a number 1-100, apparently it decides what she says before sending everyone off. I think the number picked was six, but the line had me laughing like mad: "LOOKS LIKE TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAAAAIN!" *sends train off* I will ask them to say 6 if I can remember. I hope I heard the number right. Anyway, my ride was awesome! The room seemed better lit, not exactly bright or anything, but not as dark as usual. After the ride, I went back over to the Banshee. I got one last ride in, and afterwards asked what the time was, and it was about 5 minutes before my locker expired, perfect timing. My last ride was perfect though, I got an edge seat and the sky looked beautiful, with sun beams streaming from the clouds, creating a heavenly scene. here's a picture I took after I was on the ground and got my stuff from the locker. After that ride, I headed over to The Bat, for my first ride this season, with the new paint. It was as deserted over there as it was pre-makeover. The ride looks really great though. I thought for a second I might get a train to myself, but someone came. After The Bat I went to the Backlot Stunt Coaster, another first this season. I got front seat on that too. It was a really fun ride, and I could have easily gotten back in line and done it again, but time was running short and I still wasn't sure if I wanted to head to Invertigo and try that again, or do a few rides on Diamondback. I decided Diamondback. I walked over there and got a front row seat. it was 7:56 when it was done. I got back in line and managed a back set ride. I wouldn't have gotten front seat again, but I sort of regret doing the back seat, it was rocky. only in some parts, like the track was violently vibrating the back of the train. it hurt my head :s but going up the hill was awesome, getting a view of the sunset that I wouldn't have even known was there, from the ground with no clear views of the horizon anywhere. It was closing time, and time to meet up with my bf. exiting the park I got a lovely view! unfortunately my camera can't pick up sunsets as well as it should. It was seriously a beauty though, and the kind that casts everything in a pretty golden light. So, let me see if I can figure out a ride total. Diamondback: 3 Beast: 1 Train: 1 Shake Rattle & Roll: 1 Monster: 1 Zephyr: 1 Viking Fury: 1 The Racer: 1 Vortex: 1 Delirium: 1 Flight of Fear: 1 Backlot Stunt Coaster: 1 The Bat: 1 Banshee: 10? almost everything! and some random pictures I didn't fit in anywhere: if you're still reading, I love you

Vortex has only a 48" requirement.

I think I speak for all members on this board... please dont post your age if you were ever a single digit age after 2000 Makes the rest of us feel ol.. I mean anci... I mean dat.... We feel mature ...

It was a metaphor

Didnt know AE & BLSC were flats

Tonight while training at Thunder Run I learned ACE would be at the Kingdom this Saturday. We were told to watch out for their questions as they would be asking a lot of things we aren't supposed to answer. So I think it is funny how we got a "warning".

You can buy men's cargo pants and wear them. It's a fabulous fashion statement, too. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They don't let you wear fanny packs on public operating days, as my friend recently discovered.

I wonder if Drop Tower's station is large enough to turn into a Haunt attraction?

Id rather have sore shoulders than a headache. I love the new restraints. They cause me 0 discomfort.

Not to mention, the ride's computer would not allow more than one train on the lift hill. The lift hill is one block section, and you can't have two trains in the same block for safety reasons.

Son of Beast will always hold a spot in my heart in large part because I was a student at Kings and I watched it slowly grow every day. In addition to that I feel like riding up a giant hill in a rickety bucket of a car had a certain "pucker factor" that a silky smooth B&M can't replicate.

Mine was The Vortex, followed by "Face/Off" (now Invertigo).

Must have been Corkscrew at Cedar Point the summer of 1989, when I turned 13. I don't think there were any other coasters with inversions there yet. The only coaster I ever rode prior to that year was The Beastie and I was terrified (hence why I hadn't ridden any others). That summer, I went with a group of girls who loved coasters, and I rode every one they had at the park at that time. And thus an obsession was born!

I really enjoyed your report I'll be going a lot alone this summer too, and like you, I tend toward shyness (although, at my age, I'm getting over my fear: I can talk to people if I need to and often enjoy it, I just tend to keep to myself mostly). I think there is something about a place where most people are there to have fun that makes it easier to break out of my shell. Amusement parks were the first places where I went "alone" when I was growing up. I was there with my family, but was allowed to go off for periods of time unchaperoned by my parents or sister. It was a little scary, but also liberating.

For anybody who saw the marquee over the past month, the new screen itself looks great - it's very vibrant and bright. The graphics though were mediocre at best - it almost looks like someone sat down, opened up Microsoft PowerPoint, and tried making the graphics on that. They were that bad. Thankfully, as of today or earlier, the screen's graphics look GREAT! They're now animated, colorful, and easy to read (formerly, the font choices and colors were horrid). The Dinosaurs Alive! one "chomps" down on the text, the "Connect with us" screen shows large social media icons and legible URLs, the military admission advert has a waving American flag. All in all, an awesome change to the sign.

Oooohhhh that's nice! [emoji12]Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I almost talked my son onto Vortex today, but he remained right side up.

BREAKING NEWS: The Republic of International Street has just invaded the sovereign nation of Planet Snoopy in an attempt to annex the region known as Boo Blasters. The leaders of International Street claim Boo Blasters is rightfully theirs and its employees identify as International Streetarians. Most other regions of Kings Island have pledged their support for Planet Snoopy and claim they will react swiftly to halt any advancement of International Streetarian aggression. Neighboring regions Action Zonia and Coney Mallistan remain on high alert. The remote nation of the United Attractions of Rivertown is considering many options including but not limited to freezing the Dippin' Dots tabs on many high ranking International Street officials. Now back to your regularly scheduled message board.

And few ask their dogs for weather forecasts....

Shoot the Rapids at CP if that counts.

I just returned last night from a long weekend trip to WDW. I stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter andf utilized both the MagicBand and FP+ liberally throughout my trip. Below is a combo trip report/FP+ review. Day1--Arrived at AK about 11:30 AM. The park was surprisingly busy. We ate at flame tree bqq (long line) which was quite good. I had the half slab of ribs (served with slaw and baked beans). After lunch, we hot up Kilmanjaro Safaris, which was about a 25 min wait. The safari can be hit or miss depending on what animals are out and about. This particular time was pretty boring, considering not many animals were remotely close to the vehicle. I then hopped in the SRL for EE, which was about a 5 min wait each of the 5x in a row I rode. Always a fun ride, esp the backwards part in the dark! Folowing another short wait at Dinosaur (10 min), we hopped on the bus to DHS to use our fastpasses. We arrived at DHS about 3 and our first FP was for Star Tours at 3:30. The line was only 20 min, but we zoomed to the front. I got a ride experience I hadn't gotten before (Hoth), which was cool. Following that, we had about an hr wait until our FP for Toy Story so we browsed the shops, attened a showing of the Indiana Jones stunt show and rode the Great Movie Ride, which was about a 10 min wait. For a change, the gangster was actually into his role, which was nice. Following Toy Story, I hopped into the SRL at Rock N Roller Coaster, for a few laps..about a 5-10 min wait each time. I really enjoy this ride and can see how Premiere Rides used soem of the same concepts from FOF at KI on this ride. We then had a reservation at Mama Melrose which, while good, was diminished by poor service at the outset. Once we alerted a manager, however, our server apperared promptly and we got our food in a timely manner. Following dinner, I used the last of the FP for TOT, which is always a fun ride (love the random drop sequencies). Day 2 was spent at Epcot. The park was decently busy given that there were a lot of school groups in attendance for educational days. We had FP for SE, Soarin and MS which we used by mid afternoon. We then were able to get FP for Maelstrom, which was fun as always. We had a dinner reservation at Teppan Edo in Japan, which is like Benihana. The chefs are great as is the food. We didn't stay for Illuminations (seen it 50x lol) but went back to the hotel. I have to agree with some of the bloggers in that Future World really needs a revamp. The Imagination Pav is a joke nowadays (STILL running EO), and the Wonders of Life pav is only used rarely. I didnt even bother with the Energy show since it hasnt been updated in 20 years (Ellen looks so young and Alex Trebek with a moustache lol). I know the park doesn't suffer much attendance-wide, but that area is vastly underserved IMO. Day 3 was spent at MK, which will always be my fav park, given it was the one I worked at when I was there. The park wasn't too busy, and, while the wait for Anna and Elsa quickly soared to 5 hours soon after park open, it was down to 2.5 hrs around lunch and stayed thee until they left at 5 PM. For those wondering the 7Dwarves ride was running empty cars all day and I did catch a glimpse of some CMs riding later in the afternoon. LOTS of people were asking about a soft opening and while the CMS did tease that maybe one was imminent, it was never opened. FP for the big mountains were used and more FP were easily obtained for other rides up until prob about 10 PM. I stayed from open to close (8:30a-12a), so was able to do everything and then some (sev laps ea on the big mountains, never waited for than 30 min for anything). The park really sparkles and you can tell the TLC Disney has put into revamping Fantasyland. Now, here are my observations about FP+. First, the good: 1. Magicbands are super comfy, and super easy to use. 2. No more running around trying to secure paper FP tickets! 3. No need to carry anything into the park with you, money wise. It's all linked to your MB. 4. It controls everything in and around the resort-park entrance (MUCH more efficient than turnstyles!), FP entry, and all purchases no matter how big or small. It also acts as your hotel key. The Needs Improvement: 1. Under the old system, you were allowed a new FP at the earlier of either 2 hrs after you got your FP or the first minute of your return window, whichever was earlier. Under the new system, you are not allowed any new FP untill ALL 3 of your pre-booked ones have been used. So, if your last FP isnt until later in the day, you must either cancel it if you want a new one right away, or wait until you've used it. I did notice that least on my visit, there was some flexibility if you were seeking to ride an attraction earlier in the day than your pre-booked time, but I doubt that will be the case once summer season rolls around soon. Also, there were FP available up until about 2 hrs before closing, which was way different than the old system, where all FP for everythign were usually gone by dinnertime. 2. If you wanted to book a new FP after your first 3, you HAD to do so at one of the in-park kiosk locales. At prsent, there are only about 3-4 stations per park and they are pretty spread out. Each station featured 5-6 terminals with Ipads where you could make changes. A coule of CM also had Ipads as well at eachstation to alleviate congestion. If you wanted to cancel a FP and book a new one, you could so so on the Disney app or at a kiosk. Disney needs to add prob 3-4 more stations at each park. 3. Your 3 FP are locked into one park if you prebook. No park hopping until they are gone. IMO, I'd give the current system a B+. If Disney increased the no of terminals and opened up more flexibility as far as park hopping and prebooking (4 or 5 would be better than 3) and eliminate the requirement to use all 3 before getting more, I think the system will reach its maximum potential. I imagine lots of griping once summer season begins and FP are spaced out such that people prebooking would have to stay from basically open-late afternoon or later before using their initial 3. I enjoyed my time there immensely as always, and am looking to return in October w my kids, so hopefully by then the system will have worked out more bugs. I'm happy to answer any questions, so either post them here or PM me. Thanks for reading!

That reminds me APE, as I'm sure you know, some people don't understand mosh pit etiquette either. But 100% of the time in my experience the person with the poor mosh pit etiquette has been handled by security and/or others in a manner that did not work out so well for the culprit. I wish poor behavior in lines at amusement parks could be treated with the same success rate.

Maybe he doesn't know for sure and doesn't want to add to the speculation. I remember when Delirium was down for months they (Paramount) put a sign up saying that they were waiting for a part from Germany and the ride wouldn't open in the foreseeable future. I'm hoping that a long term delay is not in Drop Tower's future, but hey... I'd rather have them NOT run it until they're sure that the ride is safe, efficient, and reliable.

I just don't understand the sudden oversight here. Absolutely proper names should be capitalized and information should be accurate more than it's inaccurate, but what major amusement park doesn't have an unofficial dedicated fan site or discussion board or community? And of the ones that come immediately to mind, ours here at KICentral.com/forums is absolutely among the best moderated, most positive, pro-park, open discussion communities out there. This is not an outrageous garbage dump of accusations and anti-park / anti-Cedar-Fair nonsense. Altogether, this is wonderful and positive community that shares a common love and appreciation and respect for Kings Island and its direction under Cedar Fair. It's odd that "the park" even has a presence here in the form of DonKIPR. That's not typically the case - at least publicly - on the limitless other discussion boards out there. Look at Theme Park Review, which runs rampant with speculation, rumor, and downright negativity. The owner of that site is infamously rude - sometimes even offensive - and posts his questionable comments and opinions right alongside exclusive interviews and ERT photo reports, associating his particular brand of annoying-crazy with the site's exclusive content provided by parks! And yet, guess who's at Banshee media day? Look, too, at MiceChat, a community focused solely on Disney Parks (Disney being one of the most valiant defenders of intellectual property in the world today) where speculation and rumor are off the charts, every day, constantly. The site specializes in "leaks" and inside information from anonymous sources. Certainly there is no official "DisneyParksPR" account posting vaguely-threatening comments and sometimes being downright off-putting to the community there. (EDIT: Imagine "DisneyParksPR" commenting: "Not sure where you got all this inaccurate information but this site sure has a lot of it..." It's sort of laughable to imagine. Sort of like "Wow this is a pretty fun site. Too bad... Hope nothing happens to it.") There was a time when fans of Kings Island were celebrated for their enthusiasm and interaction. There was quite another time when they were seemingly ignored. The presence of an official "PR" account in this community seemed a shift toward the "old way," but now it's actually become off-putting. Does Kings Island have every right to view these boards and even participate on them? Sure, why not? And if something here falls out of alignment with their legal expectations, I should expect the site administrators to be contacted. But the downright dismissive tone is becoming tiresome... We're not the enemy, or some horrible vitriol-spewing Facebook fans. We're not even a "bad" fan community, as far as fan communities go. I'm glad for the park's presence here and I understand the account owner's obligation to defend the product he represents, but at this point it's like... we as a community are not harmful. We are not tarnishing Kings Island or Cedar Fair Entertainment Company. It's just frustrating to feel like we're being moderated by a multi-million dollar company when we're just fans having fun, being optimistic, and speculating together. It first occurred to me in a personal way two years ago when the park tweeted "What would you like to see added to the park map for 2012?" I said "TREES!" The "park" responded "It's a map of attractions, not of individual trees." Like, is that professional? Is it kind? I understand that as the most aggressive consumers of the product, we can be annoying. But c'mon. In what universe would Disney respond to a fan that way on Twitter? Universal? SeaWorld Parks? Six Flags? (EDIT: By the way, trees were added. Or... bushes. Either way, The Beast no longer looks like it's sitting in a field, making the map a much more accurate representation of the ride, thank you very much!) And that tone appears to be mirrored here, again representing the park as a sort of "big brother" whose presence here is only to scold us or keep us in line and remind us that we're in thin ice all day every day. Very odd. Not very welcoming. Not very FUN. Don't get me wrong: We're lucky that the park we love has become an active presence on this site. We're lucky that rather than ignoring us, news gets posted here and we're invited to participate in exclusive events at the park we all love. We're lucky that, in general, it seems Kings Island's management views this community as the positive, helpful, enthusiastic, and beneficial community it is. But the oversight... the sort of vaguely dismissive treatment... it's not exactly precedent, and that's my point.

Aww, I was hoping it'd be the dancing cats. Or Fred Flintstone dancing with a carrot. ¿Por que no los dos?

There's also a large number (41 I think?) painted on the cement below you as you return to the station at the end, which I'm pretty sure has something to do with military flight. I am sure they (eventually) are going to do something with the remaining older theming, but just haven't gotten to it yet (weather was cold, then rainy most days). When I saw how much the ride had seemed abandoned by park and fans alike when I went a couple years ago, I actually would have predicted removal rather than revamp. I'm happy to have been wrong, and I really don't believe they'd have put this much money and work into it then say "screw it" about the things easily fixed by new paint. The length of the hike back there is ripe with possibilities, especially for the fall. I haven't actually ever been to a Haunt at KI yet (they didn't have them yet or I would have been all over it as a teen) so I can't really speculate beyond imagining what I would do if it was up to me, but a spooky long walk into the woods seems to me to be an exciting possibility to play with.

My was The Vortex with my aunt screaming in my ear.

sooperdooperlooper at Hersheypark. I was only willing to try it because I knew it only had 1 loop so if I didn't like it, there weren't any more inversions to worry about. I didn't ride another looping coaster for a few years after that.

Let's turn the tables, you (you reading this right now) if you were to be the Kings Island PR person and your friends/family ran the park in various different departments, with Don and others currently working at the park being the guests/pass holders/enthusiasts, how would you feel if you had to field questions on a day to day basis over the same exact things? How would you like to work in the call center and a majority of your phone calls are fielding questions/comments about things seen on a site that has a relationship with your park? You: "Thanks for calling Kings Island, how can I assist you today?" Don: "I read on KICentral.com that WindSeeker hasn't operated at all this year due to one of the arms coming off during testing" You: "Uh....that's not true That is just a rumor that is completely untrue, is there anything else I can help you with today?" Don: "Well I'm really upset because I saw on KICentral.com that the Banshee crew is not allowed to have water in the station, how is that fair to them, what happens if one of the crew memebers passes out due to heat exhaustion because you didn't give them water." You: "Again, that is a rumor, each and every ride crew has access to water and is provided cups to drink from." Don: "Oh, okay....so I heard that Drop Tower hasn't operated yet this season because it's not certified from the state and that you have to wait for a part from Germany to arrive, at least that's what I saw on KICentral.com." You: "Again, that is a rumor, weather has been a major factor in the operation of Drop Tower, it will open again as soon as possible." Try fielding those kind of calls over and over and over each day. It gets tiring. It does happen, I've heard stories from a friend who worked in the Call Center getting phone calls about rumors that were seen on this site. Don and the park is not trying to control this site. They're trying to protect the park, themselves and ultimately you. Don does not have to even respond to enthusiasts let alone this site, but he does. There are several park PR teams that do not respond unless you are affiliated with a site that they've built a relationship or strictly news media. As someone said earlier, the park isn't going to give an exact date or even a guess to when Drop Tower will open. If they do and it doesn't happen, the phone calls, tweets, Facebook messages, emails, etc. will flood all over again often angrier than the first round. Remember when you signed up for this site, you have accepted the Terms of Service in which state: If something were to ever come to it, your information can be used against you in court even if you were just posting a rumor. Property/intellectual rights at their finest. Knowingly posting false information can cause you to be banned from the site if it becomes an issue as well as posting info that has not been released to the public. So Don, responding as he has, protects the park, himself and you. Just be smart when posting and we wouldn't have to have these posts.

The ride has been open this year. Thousands of guests have ridden it since Opening Day. A lot of inaccurate information about the park has been posted on this site this year.

S.O.B, for my first time riding both coasters. It was very intimidating for a wood coaster on your first ride, I remember going up the lift thinking this is The Beast on steroids! Banshee, I was excited for my first ride but it didn't have my heart beating faster like SOB that first time. If you ask me after the first ride I would take Banshee any day.

I just wish they chose an LED that has a yellow old fashioned hue to it. Would I prefer old incandescent, oh of course. But the bright white LEDs..It's nice seeing lights, but it is somewhat awkward

The carrots have all moved to the kiddielands in that place that numbers its flags. For that matter, so have Fred, Barney, Scooby and a host of others. Terp, who was Porky Pig at one of those places once, many pounds ago...