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Fire is the great enemy of amusement parks. You'll have to pardon me while I ditch the humor and hope and pray everyone is safe and the ride is not damaged.

Ok, I think Firehawk has to go. It is clearly an arsonist.

My understanding was that last time the smoke was contained in the launch track and sort of filled the ride building. This time, it's rising up above it. That could mean the smoke is no different from last time, but it's being ventilated... Or something's different. The humor won't be fondly recalled if the ride is damaged or - God forbid - someone is hurt.

Please do not quote entire articles. This site could get in trouble for that. Conversely, media outlets should NOT be reposting or publishing photos from here without permission.

My parents and I left our house a little after 8 am on Wednesday morning and arrived at Miami University around 12:30 pm. The trip was great and there weren't any issues at all. I was starting to get a little worried especially the last little part of the trip since we were going through all these little winding, country roads in the middle of farms and cornfields. My expectations for the university were starting to drop. However, as soon as we arrived on campus and I saw uptown Oxford, I was relieved. It was very nice and it looked like there was a lot to do. Oxford and the campus itself reminded me a lot of Athens and Ohio University. They were very similar. We started off with some videos and a presentation all about the university. There were a couple other families there and once we were broken off into student-led tour groups, my group was only my family and one other family. It was nice having such a small, personalized tour. Our student guide was great. She was friendly, outgoing, and answered any questions we had. I was really impressed with the whole campus. I love that old, brick style just like OU and was blown away by the dorms. Most of the dorms have either been renovated or are brand new, and are by far the nicest dorms I've seen at any college. Laminate wood floors, high quality wooden furniture, large windows, they were really bright, and they had real walls (no cinder blocks!). After our tour my parents and I walked toward uptown and met some students along the way. Everyone was extremely friendly, and one student even walked with us for a while and enjoyed talking with us. We asked around for some good places to eat, and one of the places that was recommended to us was called Wild Bistro. It was a delicious Chinese and Asian restaurant. After exploring more around uptown Oxford, it was early evening and we decided to head to our hotel. We were staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in Blue Ash, about 45 minutes away. We relaxed for a little bit and then around 8 pm I had a crazy idea that I wanted to run through with my parents. I asked if we could take an impromptu trip to Kings Island for the rest of the night. My dad doesn't have a platinum pass, only my mom and I, but my dad said he'd be fine if the 2 of us went. So after discussing it for a little bit, we decided that we'd head to the park! 10 to 15 minutes later we had arrived and it was finally time to ride Banshee. I couldn't wait to finally be back at the park and to try out its new record breaking inverted coaster. We were shocked to see that it only had a station wait. We were expecting it to have a longer wait. We rode it 3 times, in the front, back, and then front again. I love the view you get from the front, and I was absolutely blown away. It exceeded all of my expectations. Then in the back, I was not expecting to have that much airtime over the first drop. I had heard the back was fun, but it was so surprising. I loved it! I think overall my favorite seat is in the front, just because of the view. My favorite element is either the first drop or the inline twist toward the end. This ride is also fun when it's dark with all the lighting. All in all, I couldn't have been more pleased with the ride. I even like it better than Raptor. We then decided to head to Diamondback (no line) and had a great night ride in the back row. Its bumpiness at the bottoms of the hills are a little annoying but the airtime was amazing. Plus I reached out my arm during the splashdown and got a nice splash of water. By then it was almost 10 pm, so I decided to try and quickly head to The Beat. We had planned on making sure to ride it at night the following day, but I thought it would be nice to get a nice bonus by riding it at night even another time. We arrived at 10:02 and it had already closed. I really wish they had a grace period like Cedar Point, where the ride entrances stay open for an extra 8 minutes. Oh well. I still couldn't believe we had even gone to the park in the first place, and was blown away by Banshee. We got back to our hotel around 10:30 and since the pool and hot tub closed at 11, we had just enough time to relax and swim for a little bit. The next morning we had a quick continental breakfast at the hotel and arrived at the park just after early entry. My dad waited around while my mom and I headed for Banshee. By the time we got to it, we only had enough time for 1 ERT ride in the back row but it was still a great little bonus. Then my dad met up with us near the ride and all 3 of us went on. This was his first time on it and we sat in the front. He said he enjoyed it. He's not a big coaster fan and mainly he just goes to parks to be with us, but he did like Banshee. Next we went on The Bat. This was our first time on it since we never went on Flight Deck last year. It took longer to walk to it than it did to actually wait in line. I sat in the front and really enjoyed it. Its intensity surprised me, but I wish it was a little bit longer. Overall though I like it a lot. Next was Drop Tower. I was so happy that it had opened just a few days prior, since I love this ride. It had about a half hour wait, but it was worth it. Following this we went to The Beast, which is my dad's favorite ride at KI. There was only a 10 to 15 minute wait. First we rode in the best seat (the front) and then my mom and I went on it again in the very back. I had never been on the back before and loved it. It feels even more out of control and crazy. Then we went on Diamondback, first in the front for the first time and then my mom and I went on it again in the back. I love how you hang over the first drop when you sit in the front. It's such a cool experience. After this I think my dad needed a break. He had gone on Banshee, The Beast, and Diamondback, and he was happy. Like I said before, he's not a big coaster fan so he enjoyed what he already did. So my mom and I decided to try out Vortex for the first time. We sat in the front and I liked it. I had heard it was rough but I didn't think it was rough at all. I thought it was actually pretty smooth, except it had the signature Arrow jerkiness to it, which I think some people might consider to be its roughness. I enjoyed the ride. Next was Firehawk, which had the longest wait of any ride we went on all day. We waited a little over 45 minutes for it, but I love this coaster. I still think that it's better than B&M flyers. However, it needs new paint badly. The bright green from when it was X Flight is really showing through in many places and looks horrible. But as for the ride experience itself, I loved it just as much as I did last year. It was early afternoon and we wanted to get something to eat. I suggested the Chicken Shack since I have heard about it, and that's where we ended up going. It was delicious, and the food was high quality. I got the 3 piece chicken tender basket. We ate under the shaded area in Action Zone and just enjoyed the atmosphere. One sweep in particular was doing an amazing job, and was constantly cleaning. He even went above and beyond his job as a sweep and would talk to guests, and we saw him go and get cups of water for people. We talked with him for a little bit and he was very nice and took his job very seriously. I forget his name, but he was excellent. Some of you probably saw my post in the Kings Island 2014 thread, but I saw ohiocolts. While my family was eating, he came walked right toward out table and then walked around it. At the time I wasn't completely sure it was him since we've never met, I've only seen pictures on here, but I thought it looked a lot like him. If I wasn't in the middle of eating I would have said hi and told him who I was. After our chicken, I wanted to try a Banshee twist ice cream. It was very good and I enjoyed it. The blue is almost the exact color of the supports, which I found pretty cool. We didn't want to go on anything thrilling or intense after just eating so we went up in Eiffel Tower next. I really love the view from the top, and the breeze is great. I had planned on taking a lot of pictures (especially of Banshee) with our nice camera, but unfortunately the battery died and we had forgotten to pack extra batteries. I took a couple with my mom's phone, but the quality and zoom is nothing compared to our actual camera. It was still just nice to be up there to enjoy the park. By the time we got down, it was about 4:45 and we decided to go see the 5 pm show of Cirque Imagine. We had heard lots of great reviews about it and we were excited. Talking to one of the security officers standing inside the theater, we found out that almost every show every day is full, which is awesome. It was definitely a very fun, half hour long show. It was funny, entertaining, and a great way to spend part of the day doing something other than going on rides. It reminded me a lot of Skeleton Crew at Cedar Point's Halloweekends. It had some of the same types of tricks and stunts. It was very well done and we all enjoyed it. Our next stop was Invertigo. We only waited a 1 train cycle and then we were on. This is a fun, disorienting ride, and I liked it just as much as last year. It's more intense than you would think. Plus the ladies sitting across from us were hilarious. Their faces were so funny during the ride. I wanted to ride Banshee some more and did it twice, both in the front. I love how re-ridable it is. I could have kept on riding it, but the line was a little bit longer but still not bad (maybe 15-20 minutes) and I wanted to be sure to get on some more rides. Next was Adventure Express in the front. It's fun and is a little more intense than Mine Ride at CP, but still the 2nd lift hill that ends into the station ruins the ride for me. It's such a horrible ending. Then we went on the Red Racer and I made sure to not sit over a wheel seat and had a very smooth, fun ride on it. Then BLSC was about a 15 minute wait and I still enjoyed it like I did last year. Then I rode by myself on WindSeeker. The only one I had ever been on was the one at CP so it was nice to ride one with a different view. I waited 2 cycles for it. I wanted to ride Diamondback again, so my mom and I went in the back row. Then we went back to Banshee for 2 last rides on it, first in the back and then in the front. It was a little after 9 and I decided to buy a Banshee shirt from the gift shop at the exit of the ride. I found a cool shirt, and then we walked back to Rivertown where we sat down for a little bit until it got close to 10. About 9:50 we got in line for The Beast. I was excited to finally get my night ride on it. It was cool watching the fireworks while in line, and eventually the ride reopened. I was hoping to get the front seat, but there weren't many people in line behind us and the front row line was pretty long. We got in line for it anyways but soon after they announced there would only be 2 more trains so we had to move. We ended up getting on the last train of the night! And let me just say that all the hype The Beast gets about night rides is well deserved...I was speechless. The first half of the ride was incredible through the woods since it was so dark. Plus I thought it was cool seeing nothing but lightning bugs ahead of you. Then I also loved the 2nd lift hill and drop into the tunnel helix. It was pitch black and it was just insane. Overall we got 22 rides in that day, and 26 total if you count the night before. I had an amazing time at the park (including the bonus hour and a half night visit). I was so happy to finally get on Banshee and the wait was worth it. All of the speculation and construction had resulted in an amazing coaster. So the next morning I felt like I could sleep a lot longer, but I had to get up to go to the University of Cincinnati. We had a quick breakfast at the hotel, checked out, and about 20 minutes later we arrived. I wasn't too sure about the surrounding neighborhood. I had heard it was rough, and once there I realized that everything I had heard about it was true. I didn't feel uncomfortable since I have been around rougher, city neighborhoods like that before, and even Ohio State has rougher areas outside of campus, but there are really no borders with UC. Unlike some other places where there is a little bit of area between the campus and the city, UC and the city pretty much merge. It's definitely interesting. However, the actually campus is very nice and I was impressed. Plus I thought it was really cool and unique how the stadium and athletic venues are in the center of campus. We started off with a presentation about the school and were broken off for our student led campus tours. We had another awesome tour guide here and had a nice tour. The campus has a mix of old and new buildings and is nothing like any other college I've been to. Then after the tour we grabbed lunch from the food court area in the union building before heading to the engineering program I had signed up for. It was in Baldwin Hall, the engineering hall, and had a presentation, tour of the engineering buildings by a student, and a presentation with a professor. It was very interesting and was impressed. No other university I've visited has offered anything quite like this. I was extremely impressed with UC's engineering and co-op programs. Then we just explored around campus a little more and then found some of the restaurants and shops. We walked around for a little bit before leaving. I had a nice visit and liked the campus. For dinner we decided to stop near Lebanon to go to Skyline Chili. This was my first time eating there and I liked it. It was very different. Then on the way home we drove through Ohio State just for fun. I had an awesome 3 day college visit and Kings Island trip!

Sigh. Can we wait to see what is going on? The media WILL turn here. This is what you want them to see? Really?

Cheech & Chong: The Ride

A couple weeks ago, one smoking motor was reported as four fires. Initial reports should be taken with a grain of salt.

I get nervous that my gun won't work on Boo Blasters, thus making that ride utterly irrelevant and even more un-enjoyable.

Or he had to use the restroom. As we all know, it can take a very long time to get between X-Base and the nearest restroom.

In today's world of media it's better to be first to market than best to market. Therefore, small details (such as when a ride was renamed) that are irrelevant aren't thoroughly fact checked. I'm sure that die-hard Reds fans can pick apart articles about the team, Bengals fans can do the same, and so on. If you're an "expert" in the field then small factoids like that will stick out at you while the average person wouldn't even notice.

Well yesterday was an awesome trip. I stayed for the whole 12 hours they were open and got some amazing rides. They changed the charge of a locker to a minimum of 2 hours. I don't bring loose articles but my friend had a backpack. When we first got there we went straight to Banshee. It started sprinkling and some people actually got out of line. After Banshee we headed toward The Bat but it was closed and it started raining kind of hard. We got our stuff out of the locker and went for Adventure Express. The lines, I should say, were about 10 minutes all day. We rode The Racer after that and went for FoF. It was the only ride that was above 10 minutes, it was about 30 for FoF. We continued going around the park in this circle until we got to Diamondback. We rode Diamondback 4 times then went back to The Beast. We went back to Banshee about 8:00 and decided to just keep riding it until they closed. We rode 10 times and we got back in line at 9:56 and rode it one last time. When we were going up the hill, I saw that it was a full moon and then, BOOM. Fireworks were going off and it made the ride so much cooler! That was my #kibestday

They'd have loved the many, many people who called it "The Son of The Beast." And that was BEFORE riding it. You should have heard what they called it afterwards. Or not.

On Sunday, June 1st I took my son Korbin to KI with me for his first trip of the year to KI! He had hit the 52" mark and he was ready to hit up Banshee! We stopped at McDonald's near the house and got some breakfast to eat on the way and started the 2 hour trek over to the park. We got there right at 9:15 and by the time we got up to the entrance to scan our passes the park was opening and allowing pass holders in for ERT. We first made our way over to the measure station to get his wrist band and he was right at 53" with his shoes on. I am hoping he will be at the 54" mark by the end of the season so he can ride everything in the park. We got in line for Banshee. His eyes were pretty big as we got in queue, for this was his first time seeing it complete. I got several good shots! After he got off his first ride he said "Banshee is the best ride in the park." He wanted to ride again! Oh, and that first ride he took was in row 8 second seat from end edge on the exit side! (I of course took the first seat getting the best seat on the train! We got off and of course got back in queue before the park would open for the day. As we were getting in line the park was opening to the GP. I of course took a few more pics while waiting in the quite short queue to get on. I think this is the best pic I got of Banshee! This time we rode in Row 2 of the train. I still think row 8 is best, but the front is great as well! After our 2 rides on Banshee we headed over to The Bat. I just love the new paint job on the track and trains! After riding The Bat we rode Delirium. This was Korbins first time on Delirium and was not sure if he would like it or not, but he ended up loving it. After that it was getting quite warm and we decided to cool off on Congo Falls. I rode it once, he rode it twice and then got soaked on the bridge as boats were coming down the hill. Here he is all drenched, but he was having a good time. We then went to hit up The Racer, but first let me take a #noselfie and have someone else take the photo for me! We ended up taking a few laps on Racer and then the Scrambler. We decided we were getting hungry so we got a Burrito from Hank's. I do think they need to revamp their system in there it took us 25 minutes to get through the line in there with only 6 people ahead of us. I felt like we stopped time while we where in there or at least were in slow motion. The food was very good though. Happy customer! Korbin wanted to ride Dodgems, but they were cleaning the floor so we hit up WindSeeker. I was not sure if he would like it or not, but he loved the view up there. He is fearless! We then hit up his now second favorite in the park, Vortex. After Vortex he wanted to walk through DA. I was up for a easy walk through DA so we did that next. It is hard to believe that DA has been there since 2011! Here is the video I made back in 2011... After DA we went and watched the new Cirque Imagine. I was not sure I could be as entertained as I could be by Ed and his show, but I was totally amazed by Cirque Imagine! This is one great show, do not pass up watching it! We then went and rode Shake, Rattle, & Roll. While in queue I got some great pics of Vortex. Still some of the best looking trains! On our way to BLSC I got one more. We then headed over to The Beast. We got through the line in about an hour, but we were 2 cycles to getting on and it went down. We ended up waiting about another 1/2 hr for it to start up again, but we already have an hour invested in the line and did not want to loose that. We ended up having a great ride on it. Beasting1980 texted me while it was down and said they were at the park along with Beasting1980Mom, LoraX, Katie, and UnrealNightmare. We told them that Beast had just opened back up with hardly no line so they met us back there and we rode it again. Korbin was getting quite tired at this point and was ready to go home, but we got his blood pumping again and we all hit up BBOBH. After that the rest of the group went to see Cirque Imagine. Korbin wanted to do Dodgems so we went to do that. It was still closed and they told me that someone had dumped Coke all over the floor and that is why it had been down for so long. That made sense while electric cars had been off most of the day with them cleaning floors to pick up wetness! We decided to hit up Racer again! After that fun ride I said lets go see if they got Dodgems ready for they looked like they were about done when we left the last time. Yep, they were up, so we rode them 2 times. After that he was wearing down quick and was about 7PM. He had school the next day anyway so I didn't want to stay much longer anyway. We had an awesome Daddy and Son day that we will remember for a long time!

Ride op: "Diamond!" Me: "Stack!"

BB1 occasionally rides WindSeeker often, for it is not that bad. I tend to stay away from the big droppy thingies in Action Zone........some places BB1 shall NEVER explore!

"Are you like always here?" -op on Vortex "Hey! I know you! You were here last week!" -op on Delirium "You come here a lot" -op on Eiffel Tower "Hey, its that long haired kid whos always here!" op on The Bat "Hey there!" -op on Banshee "Do I know you?" -op on Racer "Seriously, this is like your millionth time on this thing." -op on Drop Tower Im getting the feeling that i go to KI too much

They credited my friend for the photo.

They should move a Sausage Food Cart over there by it and perhaps it wouldn't look too suspicious.

Always said that ride was a smokin fun ride. edit: wonder what it looks like from the tower?

Flight of Fear is smoking again. I have a friend there he said he can see the smoke and cops are running to it. Picture sent to me from my friend.

FYI - The fudge push pops are now buy 2 get 1 FREE! That's in addition to the 10% off for Gold and Platinum pass holders! $4.99 x 2 = $9.98 - 10% = $8.99 (Gold and Platinum pass discount) Then buy 2, get one discount: $8.99 / 3 ~ $3 each!!! + tax Best deal in the house!! Please note: this post is for information only. It is not intended to be information on behalf of Kings Island or the Cedar Fair Entertainment Company. Pricing and product availability are subject to change. For official information, please contact Kings Island.

Per the news release, the electrical panel involved isn't actually part of the ride. Supposedly the ride itself was down for less than an hour today, so that emergency personnel could access the area. That hardly matters to the general public, though. They will continue to claim it caught fire no matter how many times the actual story is explained, and with each retelling of the story, this alleged fire will get bigger and more destructive. I need to learn to stay away from comment sections on articles. I've seen many people claiming that the ride must surely be unsafe and needs to go.I really wish the General Public would just listen to us enthusiasts. Or park officials. Or reason. Would that be the same enthusiasts who were making jokes here before the extent of the incident was even known?Even now, what do "enthusiasts" know about the incident that the park hasn't told the public? Terp, known for asking questions, not always comfortable ones.

Per the news release, the electrical panel involved isn't actually part of the ride. Supposedly the ride itself was down for less than an hour today, so that emergency personnel could access the area. That hardly matters to the general public, though. They will continue to claim it caught fire no matter how many times the actual story is explained, and with each retelling of the story, this alleged fire will get bigger and more destructive. I need to learn to stay away from comment sections on articles. I've seen many people claiming that the ride must surely be unsafe and needs to go. I really wish the General Public would just listen to us enthusiasts. Or park officials. Or reason.

^You don't. If you did, now that would be being a creeper. But you probably missed some good photos...

Where there is smoke there is not always fire. Case in point, this same ride less than two weeks ago.

Drop Tower. There has never been a more awesome/terrifying 2 minutes in my life.

And of course "mothers-in-law"

You must be one of the few who know the plurals to Attorney General, Postmaster General, etc.

So I heard one when the train rolled back in from AE. I found this a LOT funnier than I should of... The Ride Op asked "How was your ride?", and a kid yells "turkey!", then ride op said something like "Sounds good!". For some reason I found this really hilarious.

Drop Tower - I only do it like once a season. Skyflyer - I've done it once. I'm good.

Check out Trevor Bodogh (bike guy)'s blog following their 50th show. Some cool photos and content! http://trevorbodogh.com/2014/06/13/cirque-imagine-show-50-kings-island/

I almost never ride Firehawk. I can stand in line for Banshee for an hour because the line constantly moves, but Firehawk is just at a standstill a lot and it drives me crazy! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Twice in just a couple of weeks. How weird... According to the Ally Marotti's Twitter there's another fire reported at one of the pump houses, but it's already been put out.

Great find! Wisdom Industries has lots of unique rides on their website. It looks like they also have custom fabrication. I'm guessing they hold the patent or at least held the patent and would redesign this ride if some park or ride distributor asked. I remember the cars releasing and flying into the tunnel then spinning furiously. I imagine it was a really fun ride.

Via @SKettlerWCPO on Twitter: Statement from KI: https://twitter.com/WCPO/status/477847463337148416/photo/1

SOB causing havoc from the grave?? Sent from a signal coming out of the Vega system.

I saw this from Drop Tower this morning. Smoke was rising up from the Launch area. Not quite sure where exactly.

It's his friend's photo. Wonder how they're crediting that... Or IF.

Too bad the media didn't turn here before reporting four fires last time the motor smoked.

Perhaps KI should have put Firechaser Express in the park instead of that other new ride for this year. ::hangs head::

Tina.

My close friend just rode both Montu and Banshee for the first time this week. He just got off Banshee and sent me the text. "Banshee > Montu" I agree with him but it had been about ten years since I've ridden Montu.

Heh, last time I went, during ERT the operator on the mic was telling us all to enjoy our rides on The Banshee. I thought about the people here that drives nuts

I always overhear guests say ride names like The Banshee, The Diamondback, The Firehawk, etc. Shameful. McThwaggy used his iPhone using Thwaggatalk.

Drop Tower assuming my wife can talk me into the line. It's her favorite so I'll do it with her. I've certainly drug her onto roller coasters she was not fond of... I'm not worried or nervous about SlingShot or Skyflyer because they fall into my NOPE! category. I'm not stressing over something I'm never going to do.

^ A large percentage of those additional 1,000 people would be experiencing both Diamondback and Banshee, along with other signature attractions. Wait times would be expected to increase with additional crowds. Adding capacity to the park will decrease wait times at each attraction, but I would expect this effect to be less noticeable than the first. Real guests don't act like "Roller Coaster Tycoon" guests. A very small percentage of the current attendance is at Banshee at any one moment in time. Were we at the same amusement park?

Hitting the brake run on Banshee, girl in row ahead of me: "Wait, that is it?"