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Another Fury325 Update: (Via Carowind's webcams - https://www.carowinds.com/online-fun/webcams )

For Thanksgiving break, our family visited Asheville, NC. I was skeptical about the trip. The city is very artsy and hipster-like, something we definitely aren't. Passing by the Dollywood and Gatlinburg billboards definitely didn't help, as I was irking to visit the "fun" part of the mountains. Asheville is very neat though. The largest house in the country, the Biltmore Estate, is amazing. It has 250 rooms and was built by a young man, George Vanderbilt, who inherited his father's railroad tycoon money. We took the tour of the house and it was very intriguing to see how life was like in the 1890s. George and his wife's bedrooms were separated from each other because it was inappropriate back then to be sleeping in the same bed (at least for the wealthy)! Vanderbilt even had an indoor pool (very unusual, because apparently many people in the 19th century didn't know how to swim), a bowling alley, and a bachelor's room that had billiards and hidden doors to his bedroom. It doesn't sound too exciting on here, but I highly recommend checking it out. The area also has a winery, many restaurants, and a shopping center. On Wednesday night, Dollywood commercials were playing over and over again on the TV. I said to my mom, "we should go to Dollywood." I had said this several times already, mainly as a joke, but she took this seriously; we told my dad, and it was set to visit Dollywood on Saturday! Saturday, we went to the Hampton Inn on Teaster Lane (very nice, I recommend). We had decided to buy season passes to the park. Pigeon Forge is only five hours from Cincinnati, the price for a pass is only $30 extra, and my dad (thanks Terpy for informing me of this) bought a Gold pass for himself so we now get free parking and 20% off food and merchandise. Getting past all this boring stuff, now I will talk about Dollywood! Walking into the park, I was immediately reminded of Magic Kingdom. To me, the theming highly resembled it. I was astounded by all the detail. I felt completely immersed in the place. Highlights: My sister, who I thought was 48", apparently isn't. We waited in line for Mystery Mine after measuring her at the thingy (whatever it's called) and it hit her head; but the one at the top, it didn't. So she's still 47"...frown face. Firechaser Express is awesome! Kings Island needs something like this. It was very long, fun, and innovative. The backwards launch freaked me out, to be completely honest. Mystery Mine is one of my favorite rides ever now. I didn't expect it to be that way, but I absolutely loved it. The beginning isn't too exciting, but the second drop is the coolest and best coaster drop I've experienced. The theme was well done too. Thunderhead has taken over as my number one wooden coaster. The Voyage has gotten too rough. Thunderhead was smooth all the way and is one heck of a ride. So much airtime, speed, excitement. I rode front seat both times which made it that much better. Wild Eagle is disappointing. Not very exciting. It is way too short. Meh. Gatekeeper is much better. Tennessee Tornado is another very short ride. Dollywood has short rides for some reason. Every one of 'em with the exception of Thunderhead and Firechaser Express is this way. I guess it's because of the mountains and their restraints for building. Blazing Fury is outdated and it hurt my back. But the theme was good! That is all. Barnstormer sucks. It only goes through one cycle once it hits the highest point. Skyhawk wins. The train is 1,000x better than Kings Island's! It was 20 minutes long and gave amazing views of the park. It starts out at ground level but somehow, you're looking above Dollywood and seeing all the behind the scenes. At Christmastime it's even better, and hearing Hard Candy Christmas and other Christmas music is just great. A Christmas Carol was very well done. I love the use of the holograms for the ghosts. The whole Christmas Carol story is worn out for me so I honestly almost fell asleep, but I can say the show was really good and I must see. It was too bad we didn't see any other shows, though. Craftman's Valley is the best! We spent an hour just walking around and looking in the stores. I probably forgot some stuff but I'll add more. To sum it all up, Dollywood is my new favorite park. Holiday World comes in a close second. The rides are all fun though they need some more family rides (yes, Dollywood needs more family rides), the theme is perfectly executed, the food is delicious, the staff are nice and friendly, and I just felt relaxed walking around. I'm so glad we got season passes because I can't wait to go back!

Hubby and I just drove by CSF again and saw two track pieces for Fury 325 on a truck. Didn't get any photos because I would have had to trespass in order to get any photos. He's driving so I was able to turn around and see the track pieces

It's from Kings Island, I took this photo in 2012, and its really heavy...... that is all...

I think a $24,000,000 B&M Invert would make a fantastic Christmas Present ~Coasterama, who better start looking for a very, very big tree.

Hello, I just posted the complete Salt Water Circus Dolphin show from July 24, 1980. Question, does anyone know who the host is? He says his name is Mike. I would like to send him a link to the video.

My wife bought me a platinum pass. Didn't go wrong there. Now, if I could just get her to ride anything...........

Lola. Front sear, right side. (the magenta train). Oh, how I wish. (Stella, back seat, left side was pretty awesome, too! <the teal train>) Like your cross threadin' there!

At least Night Row was easy to figure out. These new hints or whatever they are might as well be the secret to cold fusion.

Well, that cleared that up . I'm with ya on the sure isn't me part. Where's Adam West when you need him.

Get use to it man. This seems to happen all the time nowadays. You aren't missing anything, because what we are supposed to find, or be diverted away from, isn't easy to spot. Unless it is. Who knows? Someone does, but it sure isn't me! Just roll with it and enjoy the ride! It is more fun that way!

Great trip report. The park is beautiful during the summer. I can only imagine with the holiday decorations, it would be more beautiful.

We have 2 Chuck E Cheese places here in Columbus, Ohio. Both are poorly ran and run down.

The replica of the Diamonback model that actually moves would make a great Kings Island present, I have seen it in the park being sold before, I would love to have a model of The Beast that has the tunnels and the carts move, I dont know if it actually exists, but if it did, I would definitly buy it in a heartbeat.

It's not KI specifically but I saw this for sale at Tuesday Morning: Great gift for a coaster enthusiast.

Stella or Lola??

In Chicago. With the industry's original Batman. Terp, who misses Robin at NJFTP nearly as much as he does Rolling Thunder. Or GASM. Sigh. As you get older, old friends move on, pass away or fade away. Such is life...

An appropriate homage to Paramount Parks and that company's attention to upkeep of themeing and even to Son of Beast itself, to be sure.

An off-season tour is something we're considering.

I thought this would be a great topic to discuss cool Kings Island related Christmas presents and gifts for the season!

Decided to go to Chuck E Cheese today while I am on a little Thanksgiving break from work. This Chuck E Cheese is located at: 8801 Colerain Ave. Cincinnati, Ohio 45251 I arrived around 2:00pm to find a quarter full parking lot. Walked inside and got my hand stamped and headed to the front counter. Was pretty hungry so I thought I should grab some food before the huge ride fest that was about to happen. I placed an order for a large extra cheese pizza and 100 tokens. See, the rides at Chuck E Cheese uses token as admission instead of a ticket. They had no "unlimited ride" plan which was kinda disappointing. After I ate darn near the entire pizza and had a Cherry Coke, it was time to get my ride on! The way Chuck E Cheese is set up is in 2 sections. The larger section is the arcade and the smaller section is the rides. The best part was that all the rides were practically a walk on today with little or no wait! What an awesome day this is going to be! Here are my reviews of the rides: Barney - The Ride Hop in and hold on tight as Barney takes you on tour of his farm on his custom made tractor. Don't forget your overalls! My thoughts: I had high hopes for this ride since it had a huge name attached to it. I found the seat very roomy and the on board audio top notch, however, with just a very few minor lateral Gs, it turned out to be sluggish more than anything else. Not sure what all the hype was about, but I was kinda dissapointed. Could have used an inversion here and there. Grade C+ POV of Barney - The Ride Bob The Builder - The Ride Hop in and hold on tight as Bob The Builder takes you on a tour of the construction site on his custom made bulldozer. Don't forget your hard hat! My thoughts: I actually enjoyed this one much better than Barney. The seat belt was perfect length and the on board audio had me singing along. The G forces on this one were much stronger than Barney. Since the ride itself reminded me of Troika at Kings Island, I enjoyed multiple rides on it. Could have used an inversion here and there. Grade B+ POV of Bob The Builder - The Ride Stuart Little - The Ride Hop in and take hold of the steering wheel as you drive Stuart back home. Don't forget your drivers license! My thoughts: A perfect one for families. A nice stroll down the street that reminded me of the antique cars. the on board audio was a little hard to hear at times. For what it was worth, the ride was perfect, however, it could have used an inversion here and there. Grade B POV of Stuart Little - The Ride Clock - The Ride Hop in and hold on as you take the ride of your life on a huge clock. Spin around multiple times as you groove to a funky soundtrack. Don't forget your....ummmm...ability to tell time? My thoughts: The best ride at the park. The Gs holding you in your seat as you spin around the clock are top notch. The soundtrack is great and the ride length is perfect! The only downfall is that if you want multiple rides, you have to get out of your seat to give it another token. The only thing that could make this ride any better is an inversion here and there. Grade A POV of Clock - The Ride All in all, I had a pretty good time. Barney was a huge disappointment, but Clock MORE than made up for it. The place was very clean and the live stage shows were great! I was a little shocked at the cost for pizza and tokens. Grade for the whole day: A solid B. Thanks for reading! Bill

Don might know if that item was at the park or not. The sad thing is, people will say anything to sell stuff on Craigslist to get people to buy. That is what you have to look for. Research before buying.

I own the first plaque offered for sale. (#11 of 250) If the price is right....

This really makes me want to get back down there. I am very sorry that you apparently bumped your head at some point before riding Wild Eagle, as this is the only way you could possibly think that Gatekeeper is the better of the two. It is always fun to get to experience a new park, thanks for taking the time to share with us!

Wow, that is pretty cool. If money wasn't tight right now and/or I had any personal experience with SoB, I'd be asking for that for Christmas this year. Here's a link to the listing: http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/clt/4782710133.html

Well, that was.........depressing. Sad, but true

Speaking of the Son of Beast, I was looking at Cincinnati Ohio Craigslist, and I found somebody selling a Son of Beast metal sculpture. It looks like a Kings Island collecters item, just type in Kings Island and it should be the first thing that shows up.

I dont care what kind of weather it has to be, I will go to Kings Island. A winter event sounds nice, I havent actually attended WinterFest when it was at Kings Island, but I seen videos and it looked like something that the whole family could enjoy, im all in if something like WinterFest returns.

Bring The Eagles Home, that they did. This topic, no clue, but the pot, or Kegger is being stirred.

"...Banshee and The Beast..." Terp likes that!

Maybe I'm biased, but this thread has certainly given me the impression that we have a much more informed community here today than we did a decade ago!

A tension cord has now been put into place on the current support column being worked on for extra support as the crews work into the evening. More pieces to this column are currently being brought quickly to the site in what looks like an effort to be able to finish early tomorrow morning / Monday morning. Still image captured from the Carowinds Fury325 Construction Cam EDIT: The font above the photo should be more eye-friendly now, Thanks for letting me know!

It has been an interesting day for watching Fury325 construction as the tallest support column section is currently being installed which means that Monday or Tuesday, the coaster may very well be topped off at its peak height of 325 ft.

Even in the Carolinas, cranes bend down in their continuous search of pennies.

More pieces of support columns arriving at the Fury325 lift hill site this morning as construction crews prepare for another day at Carowinds..... Still image captured from the Carowinds Fury325 Construction Cam

While I think a dark ride will happen in the next few years I believe this isn't for it. My bet would be on a Harmony Hall type addition. This solves a loss of indoor theater and adds an indoor food court.

It was really neat seeing the aerial views of the park from the Eiffel Tower. It's crazy how much the park has changed in even just 35 years. Really cool to be able to see this stuff in action and to see how it evolved over time. One must hope that Kings Island pays more attention to their burnt out light bulbs in the future, as Dwight mentioned, haha. Maybe someday they will. *looks longingly at the sky*

Wow!..... These videos are truly stunning! It's always great to see previously unseen footage of the park. There's always a view you haven't seen.

ah, back in the days when they knew how to do the complicated things like.... change burnt out light bulbs. Such a lost art.

Such wonderful gems! Thank you for posting these!

At Kings Island, you can get cool, air-conditioned refreshment at Flight of Fear, Festhaus, Boo Blasters, Kings Island Theatre... Used to be The Crypt, too. At Cedar Point you can get cool, air conditioned refreshment at the Good Times Theatre. Wowzers. I'm sure it's being removed for a good reason, but a destination park with zero dark rides, zero indoor coasters, zero large theaters... Odd! The only relief from the heat is in small entertainment venues and arcades.

Time to replace the one thing missing from Cp since the removal of The Pirate Ride, Earthquake and the Fun House. The perfect spot for a new dark ride.

It has nice views of the park. Terp, being nice.

It's from the second drop on Screechin' Eagle at LeSourdsville Lake. http://binged.it/11pU5sU Edit - I'm also thinking that the second picture is Screechin' Eagle. I don't believe Racer ever looked that bad. If it's Screechin' Eagle, it'd be on the return track, the one that runs right next to the first drop.

less than 6oo,ooo visits. Not unique visitors. If each of the season passholders visited only three times, there's half the attendance. And season passholders spend less in the park. A LOT less...

How many think Kings Island's Marketing Department should conduct an interest research poll this next season to see about the support for a Winterfest Reboot in 2015-2016?

I received an email last offseason from KI inviting me to take part in an online survey. Of the dozen or so questions asked, I distinctly recall that a couple of them related to my interest level in a Winterfest return and if so, what offerings and price point would be reasonable for such an event. I'm sure CF has those results and will or won't bring it back if demand warrants,

Use the site's search feature. Lots and lots has been said about Winterfest. Every off-season the topic is brought up, and it's already been the subject of much discussion this year. There are countless reasons it came back for its most recent reboot, and countless more that it probably won't be seen for a very long time. Browse a bit!

Yeah...sounds reasonable. But let's test it a few ways. Next time you eat, cover your head completely with a blanket. When you are at a restaurant, order your meal and head into the restroom to eat it. You don't have to sit or stand in the stall, you can stand by the door or sink but you must hold a 15lb weight in the cradle of your arm while you eat. You can't put down this weight for at least 10 minutes...likely 20 minutes. Sound reasonable now? I understand that seeing a woman breastfeed can make people feel uncomfortable. When I was 16 and doing a show, a woman started breastfeeding her toddler, right in front of me; yes, that was a bit awkward but I got over it and continued the show for the family. From talking with my cousins and friends, most of them would much rather have a quiet, clean, comfortable place to breastfeed in private than do it in public and face the judging glances of people. And those that don't appear to care, are often at a point where their child is hungry and needs to be fed now. Their focus, rightly so, is on the comfort and well-being of their child, not on if they are making strangers uncomfortable. I've said it before but how KK handled the situation was dismal at best.

Yeah, man. I think I saw you there. That line for Bob the Builder must of been....5 minutes long!!!! Oh sweet, dude...I tried to get a POV of clock....but the purple guy saw me and asked me to leave.