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Welcome! Upon boarding the ride, you will sit down and slip your shoulders between and behind the vest, then buckle the two vest pieces together. The lap bar will be handled by the ride ops; they will check your vest, push the lap bar down, then press a button on the lap bar's "arm" to lock the vest and lap bar in place. (Note that it's one button per two seats, so the button they push might be on the seat next to you, not on yours.) Once that button is pressed, your lap bar will no longer move in either direction, while the vest can be pulled tighter but not loosened (via straps under your arms). How much your body moves can vary; as a smaller person (5'6", 170-180 pounds), I feel like I have plenty of room to move, but without having so much that I feel like I'm going to fall out. Tighter restraints, of course, can reduce the amount of room, so if you'd rather have less room (and thus feel more secure), try asking the ride op to push the lap bar down an extra click or two (but make sure to ask before the lock button is pushed, after which it can't be tightened any further). You can also tighten the vest further (after being locked) by pushing back on the lower outside portion on each side. I find that both the restraints and the seats are very comfortable. However, some say that sitting in them reminds them of being at the dentist's office, and thus hate the ride. You COULD hold on to the harness, but it doesn't really have a handhold and thus can be a bit difficult to hold on to. As an alternative, handgrips are provided in front of you on both sides. It's possible, though not necessarily comfortable, to hold hands with the person next to you (I haven't tried it). Of note, some of us learned during a backstage tour at a KIC event a couple years ago that Firehawk's frequent downtime is a result of it having more safety sensors than any other ride in the park (and thus more chances for an error in the system causing the ride to stop). IIRC, we were told that Firehawk has four safety sensors per seat, just for the restraints. That might help put your mind at ease a bit.

Underpromise. Overdeliver. How hard is it? Sigh.

Part 1 of 2: With my last day of school being Thursday (5/28), my dad and I decided to kick off summer vacation together by going to Kings Island the following morning. I knew it was one of the Education Days with school groups, but crowds were relatively light (although they increased as morning turned into afternoon). Even though it was the normal 4 hour length, I only took 74 pictures (my camera's battery was only about 60% charged, so I didn't want to use it too much before the end of this trip). I rode 9 different rides (2 of which were more than once) and had lunch at Hank's Burrito Shack for the very first time! Well, enough introduction. Let us begin! Dad and I arrived at the park right when ERT started. It was about 9:34 when we walked in the gate and through the Gold/Platinum Pass entrance. I decided to make Diamondback my first ride of 2015, so we headed there. There was a little line which moved very quickly. I waited about 5 minutes before my turn came to sit in Row 14 on the Red Train. Needless to say, I missed flying down a 215-foot drop at 80 mph! It was a great way to start the visit. I only did one ride on Diamondback; it was 9:55, the line had doubled in length, and I wanted to be at rope drop to get to a certain favorite once the rest of the park opened. I noticed they didn't do the countdown thing at 10:00 like last year, nor did they sing the national anthem (I assume it was sung when the park opened for ERT?). All that happened at 10:00 was the guard moving back the rope. And just like that, the whole park was open for my first visit of the year! Just like any other rope drop, a number of people (about half the group) started running. But I decided to obey the rules and walk. Some of the time I speed-walked, but I was not in a big hurry so I just walked normally. It was a good thing, too. A Diamondback train was ascending the lift hill at the same time. If I had run, I would've missed the opportunity to beautifully capture its plunge down the first drop: And, of course, an overall shot of the splashdown pool and the Eiffel Tower: My relaxing post-park-opening walk concluded just inside Coney Mall, where for the first time in nearly 7 months, I was once again face-to-face with my special favorite ride... ..which my entire 6-minute journey from Diamondback to Vortex was only done by walking. The first train was already being sent out when I entered the queue, but the only riders on that train were two employees who were test-riding. I happened to be the first guest to ride Vortex that day! When I entered the station, Train #2 was waiting for me and any other prospective rider to show up. The gates were closed but were opened, accompanied by the ever-present "Gates are opening; please stand back" as I approached. I stepped into 1-1 as the gates were closed. No one else had come, which meant I had the WHOLE TRAIN TO MYSELF for my first ride of the year on Vortex! The ride was just as I had remembered, complete with smelling the chain grease on the lift hill, the hang time in the corkscrews, and the overall familiar intensity of the inversions. The one change I noticed was that the pine trees by the first half of the batwing had been removed, now offering any rider a clear, unobstructed view of the rather large element! For me, it was my first time having a clear view of the batwing. I always underestimate its grand size. Just to make sure the reride policy was still the same, I asked one of the attendants when I returned to the station after joyfully responding to "Welcome back, Vortex rider; how was your ride?" She said that I was allowed to reride as long as I changed seats (just like last year), so that meant it was the same. I walked back and hopped into 7-1, remembering my post in the "Best seat on a coaster?" thread about forgetting what 7-1 was like. The familiarity of the intense and airtime-filled ride in that row came back, and now I no longer forget! (Take that, offseason!) I went back to 1-1 for the third ride. Once again, I had the whole train to myself as no one had shown up in time to catch my train! In past trips it was already a challenge to get only ONE ride like that, but TWO??? IN ONE MORNING?!??!?? I had never done such a thing until that very moment. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised at that occurrence. While descending the first drop, a nearly full Beast train was making its way around the first turn. I imagined their reaction to looking up at a Vortex train speeding down the drop carrying only one rider above their heads! Once again, I was greeted with "Welcome back, Vortex rider; how was your ride?" as Train #2 carried me back into the station which now had about 5 other people waiting. I wondered if they were thinking something like, "Hey, there's only one rider on that train!" With people waiting for the front, I headed back to the back - to 6-1 this time to add a little variety. It was followed by another fun ride. I decided to finish my little marathon with another intense ride in 7-1 before going to some other rides. I went to WindSeeker. It was open, but with the 15-20 mph winds, at least 32 riders were needed to safely send it up, according to one attendant. She mentioned that if it was more calm, then sending it up with only 1-2 riders would be fine; if there was a little more wind (like at the moment), more riders would be needed to keep it balanced. I fully understood, as I knew that if the ride operated when unbalanced on a breezy day, it would put too much stress on the mechanism and on the tower, which would in turn shorten its life span. After my nice conversation with the WindSeeker attendant, I headed to the newly renovated Shake, Rattle & Roll to take it for a spin. I found it funny that I took pictures while in the queue for Shake, Rattle & Roll but not of the ride itself. Strange. I rode in Car 7, which happened to be on the arm that started spinning first. It was great to ride it again after not doing so for a year! While heading down the midway I noticed the Zephyr attendant playing games with the riders, so I decided to ride Zephyr next. Like with Shake, Rattle & Roll, I didn't get any pictures of Zephyr either. One thing I did notice, though, is that Zephyr now has green seats along with the red, yellow, and blue seats (or at least it was the first time I noticed them). While I was riding, the attendant played Simon Says with us (like on April 27, 2013!). One of the things "Simon" told us to do was to scream as loud as we could. We did, and then she commented "Wow! You all screamed as loud as Banshee!" After that fun ride, I headed to X-Base to check the lines for Firehawk and Flight of Fear. Flight of Fear's line was already outside the building (probably because it was warming up fast) but Firehawk's line only filled half a switchback. I joined the line to see that they were testing the yellow train, which slowed things down a little. But things got back up to speed not long later. I waited about 10 minutes before being assigned to Row 5 on the yellow train. Meanwhile, I started using the new in-park wifi and checked the Kings Island app. The listed wait times helped me some bit on deciding which rides to go for today. I absolutely loved getting to fly again. I had not ridden Firehawk in over a year either! I headed back to the midway and rode Dodgems and Scrambler. They were each a cycle wait (about 5 minutes) and they were each fun, although I didn't know if it was just me or the cycles seemed a bit shorter. Hopefully it was just me. I wanted to ride Racer, but I opted for Adventure Express instead since my longing to ride it was stronger (sorry, Racer ). The app said the wait would be 15 minutes, which was pretty accurate since I waited almost that long to get in the back row of Train #2. The back was just as fun as I remembered it - especially during the second half of the ride! It was really flying, and I loved every second of it. After this ride, I decided to wait until after lunch to ride again. It was about 12:30 - having not eaten or drunk anything since 8:30 (other than a cup of water) I was beginning to feel a little tired/"fuzzy" discomfort around my eyes. It was really uncomfortable, but thankfully it didn't stop me from ordering and eating a taco salad along with a 20-ounce cup of cherry vanilla Coke at Hank's Burrito Shack. I'm glad I could at least eat even with the discomfort I was feeling, since I knew it was what I needed to feel better. Sure enough, I was starting to feel better when I was eating my last bite of my first meal at Hank's! The taco salad was really good; I had beef, sour cream, lettuce, diced tomato and cheese in it, as shown: Once I was back to normal (or at least very close to it), I returned to Adventure Express for another ride. This time, I rode on Train #3 in the first row of the last car for another fun, wild ride through the woods! End of Part 1 I will have Part 2 finished within the next 48 hours. Meanwhile, enjoy reading!

As a drag racer and go kart racer, sometimes we depend on our winnings from one weekends racing events to be able to afford fuel, tires, food, etc to make it to the next weekend...... Sparky, just pointing out things.

I have a theory as to what's going to happen. Let it be known that I have absolutely no insider information - this is 100% a complete and total guess on my part based solely on conjecture and observations of trends. That said, I still want to post it, if for no other reason than so that I can have a timestamp and gloat about being first if it ends up being true (even though a timestamp does a fat lot of good on a forum where posts are editable - but I digress). Do not take this as scripture or use it as the springboard for a rumor (looking at you, Screamscape!) as it is a total guess like I said. And if I'm wrong, that's cool, too. My personal belief is that we're going to see a waterpark expansion for Carowinds. Now, what would be the most economical means to do this? To use rides and attractions that you already own, of course. There is one glaring elephant in the Cedar Fair portfolio - one property that is unlike any of the others. One, and only one, standalone waterpark. That would be Wildwater Kingdom (of the Geauga Lake variety, not the Dorney variety). I could see Cedar Fair finally closing this property down. It is kind of the oddball among their parks, and frankly, their list of attractions doesn't really appear to be on par even with the attached waterparks at most of their dry parks. There are three attractions at Wildwater Kingdom that appear to be movable: Thunder Falls, Liquid Lightning, and Splash Landing (a slide complex, Proslide Tornado, and childrens' play area, respectively). Any waterpark can always use an extra slide complex or childrens' play area, and as for the Proslide Tornado, Carowinds doesn't have one, and those are a popular attraction at every waterpark I've seen that has one. I see all three of these making their way to Carowinds and the last remaining vestige of what was once the largest amusement park in the world finally being closed down for good. Now, where does that leave Thunder Road? Why remove it rather than build a path under it? Well of course, there could be maintenance reasons for its removal, but even if there is no issue whatsoever with maintenance or ridership, I see one big thing that eats up a lot of land. Precious land if Carowinds wants to expand the waterpark. The straightaways don't have a huge footprint, and you could reasonably just build a path below and be done with it, just like what happened at KI with Racer. However, the turnarounds DO take up space. Quite a lot of it, in fact. Coincidentally, just about enough to throw a Proslide Tornado down precisely where they sit. By removing Thunder Road, you free up enough land that you can install a Proslide Tornado and a slide complex without taking away any parking, which is something of a precious resource in their lot - especially after losing quite a bit of it to Fury. That lot can get filled. On Good Friday, it very nearly did (I saw it in person, almost completely full before noon). If this were all true, it would bring an additional eight slides to the waterpark at Carowinds. That's a large number. Talk about "making a splash". As I said, this is a complete and total guess. But I don't think it's too far-fetched. Widwater Kingdom has received such a spectacular lack of attention in the last several years that it's almost comical. In fact, want a good chuckle? Go to their website (which is http://www.wildwaterfun.com in case you don't know) on a desktop and hover over the "What's New" header on their menu... The park is clearly an afterthought, to put it kindly. Their social media presence is nearly nonexistant. They are the only Cedar Fair property that did not receive one of the stylized skyline images that can be seen on the Cedar Fair corporate website. They are, as mentioned before, an elephant in the room. And for locals to the former Geauga Lake market, a market to which two of my closest friends belonged, the very existence of that waterpark is a painful reminder of what once was. I really think its days are numbered, and I think Carowinds is going to be the park to reap the benefits. I don't know if my theory holds any water at all. It may be exactly what's happening, or it could be that I couldn't be farther from the truth. But I've made my guess. Let's see what happens. If the park has decided to remove an ostensibly popular ride, they must have very, very good reasons. I'm sure after all is said and done, Carowinds visitors won't be disappointed. And on the bright side, Rebel Yell is more or less an identical ride, and it's only a hop, a skip, and a jump away. Also - a side note. I'd be willing to bet money that a waterpark expansion would also be paired with a rebranding of the waterpark to the Soak City brand seen at other parks. The Wildwater Kingdom trademark is also currently less than a year away from its renewal deadline. I could also see a rebranding of the Dorney Park waterpark for the 2016 season because of this. I don't know much about trademarks, but it seems that a year is a bit too close to the renewal deadline for comfort if the trademark is intended to see continued use. But again, I may be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time and God-willing, it won't be the last.

As a young coaster enthusiast, It's always been my dream to be able to go to Cedar Point. My family lives about three and a half hours away and my parents don't have the luxury of being able to request off so it's hard to plan a trip. Every year my school sends the graduating eighth graders to Cedar Point. Lucky or us, our trip was on a Tuesday so lines wouldn't be as bad. I was constantly checking the weather. The day before the trip said thunderstorms all day so I was really bummed. We arrived at my school at 6:30 AM for the long bus ride there. Thankfully it was a charter bus and not a standard school bus. It was a fun bus ride since I was with my friends but the views weren't very exciting, *cough cough* farm *cough cough*. We were actually in Sandusky around 10:00 and I saw the skyline through the trees. We were practically raving in the bus, just waiting until we finally pull into the parking lot. The bus stopped and I knew that this would be awesome. We piled off of the bus, stretching from being cramped for 3 and a half hours, and got our tickets and free drink wristbands from the teachers that came with us. My friends and I went into the park and managed to escape the dreaded front gate photographers and headed for Gatekeeper. Me and my friend sat on the left side back seat and it was really fun. Not as exciting or thrilling as I thought it would be but still a fun first ride. After this we were planning on riding Wicked Twister but it was down so we instead went to Top Thrill Dragster. It was about a 10 minute wait and the station was very cramped and uncomfortable but I got on in the second to last seat on the right side. It was short but really fun and I enjoyed it. After this we got some Cokes and walked over to Rougarou. The line was a little more than 15 minutes. I sat down in the fourth row on the left end and thought it was a pretty okay ride. Definitely not as thrilling or even as smooth as I thought it would be. There were some head banging moments that I wasn't prepared for and I had a little headache for a few minutes. We walked across the pathway to Millennium Force. The line was about 30 minutes, (45 if you count the 15 minutes it was down). I wasn't afraid to wait a little longer for the front seat and I'm glad I did. Definitely deserving of all the awards it has received. Millie is an absolute beast (pun intended) and it was extra fun in the front. After Millennium Force, we had to check in so we went to Coasters Drive-In, where we were to check in. None of us had our phones on us because we put them in a locker near Gatekeeper. We were supposed to check in at 1:00 so we figured we'd be early. Turns out we were 30 minutes late rather than 30 minutes early. The time on the Fun TV in line for Millennium Force had been an hour behind. We sat and got chewed out by our teacher for 10 minutes who was unable to comprehend the fact that 10 people were telling her the same excuse and said we were all just lying. She told all of us that we were going to be with them until 4:00, the next meetup. She made us go back to Millennium Force and wait in line for 30 minutes until the ride broke down. Instead of exiting the line, she made us sit there until 3:00. Millie never opened and they told us that we had to leave the queue. She was madder than a hornet at this point and told us we were going to TTD. I rode next to my girlfriend on it and this was her first time riding it. I forgot about being in trouble for a few moments while riding with her. When we exited we saw that it was 4:15 and we were dismissed to do whatever we wanted until the park closed at 8:00. We went to ride Wicked Twister seeing that it was now open. It was a couple minute wait though I kind of wished it was longer. The queue has a beautiful view of the beach and I wished I could have looked at it more. It was an okay ride and definitely made us dizzy. We next went to the ride that caused me the most physical pain, Magnum XL-200. It was a walk on and we were actually kind of excited. Though I knew it was a rough ride, I wasn't expecting the hell that my upper legs went through. We got off sore though we had to laugh at our pictures because I was saying the "f" of a word I'm not going to say on this website. We next went to the ride I wanted to ride more than all the others, Maverick. We could see the storm clouds in the distance so we really wanted to ride. The line was about 30 minutes long and we sat in row 4. Hands down best ride at the park. I thought it was better than Millennium Force by a lot. The theming was fantastic and the ride experience was unforgettable. The new restraints were also very nice. My friends wanted to ride Mean Streak but I really didn't want to. I went anyway for the coaster creds but I'm glad I did. I don't know how many of you are familiar with Mean Streak Henry but I know him from CoasterBob's videos and some blog posts. Normally I wouldn't voluntarily sit next to an older man on a roller coaster I've never met before but I did this time when I saw his shirt. He told me he was on ride 77,465 I believe, (It was over 77,000 I know that much), and I told him about how I'm a Kings Island fanboy and we talked about numerous coaster things throughout the ride. He was a pretty cool guy and I shook his hand when I got off. Mean Streak was not as rough as I thought it would be and though it was kind of boring, it was interesting. We went to queue Maverick again because I REALLY wanted to ride it again. The wait was more fun this time because someone brought three beach balls in the queue and we were all hitting them around. We were almost to the ramp into the station when the ride shut down due to weather. It was 7:00 and we had to get to the Grand Carousel in 30 minutes. We started walking back when it started pouring rain. We sprinted through the park along with about everyone else trying to leave. One of the cashiers at a shop yelled at us but an older man in the shop yelled, "They can't catch all of you, run!" We took a breather by the train crossing in front of Rougarou because the train was still coming but we then sprinted again. We ended up getting to the Carousel before everyone else and we rode it around 5 times until we had to leave. I grabbed a park map on my way out and we went to the bus. As a Kings Island fanboy I am kind of defeated to admit it but Cedar Point is by far a superior park. The theming and overall experience I had in the park was better than I ever had at Kings Island. I also bought a T-Shirt with some of CP's rides on it which I wore to our graduation party last night lol. Cedar Point definitely felt like a home away from home to me and even though I had never been there before, I felt like I was welcome there. The employees were friendly and the weather was fantastic until the storm hit. I never realized how beautiful and blue Lake Erie was because videos of the park really don't show it. I had a fantastic time and I really hope I can go again in the next few years before I'm out on my own in the world. Of course no trip report is complete without pictures! Here are some I took at the park:

There are many people, adults and children, who love thrill rides while there are many others, yes, adults and children, who hate them. We need to lay off those non riders and let them be. To shame people whether adults or children into riding rides that they are terrified of is not only cruel but downright dangerous. I used to take my niece to KI when she was little. I always showed her what a ride did before riding it and, if she was scared, I would no way, no how force her to ride the ride. I let her decide when she was ready to ride a ride. Gradually as she got older, she felt less scared and willingly rode without pressure. Guess what? She absolutely loves coasters. Studies have shown that kids are more likely to hate and be terrified of amusement rides if you use the high pressure method as opposed to letting them go at their own pace.

Well, its kind of laughable when they had this coaster already sitting in the park all the time they've had it, had more than 2 years to get it ready, and miss an opening date. They got the other re-opened rides that were supposed to open today going.

Which is in and of itself very interesting. Reticence is not normally their strong suit.

Hey guys! Long time no see. So a couple friends and I are in the early planning stages for a trip to Cedar Point this July. The trip depends on a few different factors, and we need help deciding on what to do. 1. Will we need two days to cover all the "big" coasters, or does this depend on what time of the week we go? 2. If we do need to spend two days at the park, is there a good hotel that is relatively cheap? We would more than likely split the cost of the room(s) between all 7 of us. 3. Where can we find the cheapest tickets? Does CP offer 2 day passes? Thanks in advance!

1) One can be a fan of Kings Island without being a fan of every action the park has ever taken. 2) It's rather difficult to compare the two. 2a) In KK's case, they marketed a ride with an availability date that has continuously slipped. People are now interested in going to ride the ride, and yet they are repeatedly denied the opportunity. 2b) KI, on the other hand, simply did not have plans to announce regarding a ride that was clearly marketed as closed indefinitely. They were very clear that the ride was closed until they knew what they were going to do with it. When they had a final decision, did they not clearly convey it to the public?

I think just being around the park from the time they are young really helps. Most kids I know that have gone since they were young have always been ready to ride when they are tall enough.

I'm hoping if I play the "you can't ride this yet because you are not big enough" will grow a want to ride for him. So when his time comes it's a joyful anticipation versus a dreaded experience.

Shark, I felt bad she had a bad experience. You were great with her though. You do need to know your children. I have taken my children to amusement parks since they were weeks old, so riding rides (coasters and flats) have been normal for them as long as they can remember. Had we not gone to parks, they may have been harder to get them on rides. Princess Sparkles really does not like drop type rides or WindSeeker, but will try them if she has not ridden a new type. She willingly rode the Big Droppy Thing last summer and probably would never do that again. However, she loves Xtreme Skyflyer.

When you can retire your old "favorite spot to eat in the park" and start enjoying this awesome patio behind Festhaus, with its view of Delirium, Banshee, and thousands of people experiencing happiness.

Maintenance has the path between Festhaus and Viking Fury blocked off. I was able to get in and get some Panda Express, but I went around using the path between the Theater and Delirium.

T3's opening just been pushed back again, June 6th now according to the website. At least its on a Saturday...

Much also depends on the kid. Some kids secretly want to be pushed. Others are bull headed, self reliant types that no amount of pushing is a good idea. Logic might work, but pressure? Nope. Terp...who bets you know which type of kid he was/is.

My purse becomes full of receipts and smells like Congo Falls...

For what it's worth, part of a plan for demolition and waterpark expansion has been filed with one of the park's counties. See the Carowinds Connection forum; it was quickly posted to the Thunder Road thread there. If Aurora's Wildwater Kingdom were to close, Cedar Point's Soak City could also be seen as a possible destination for attractions. Much of that park is woefully outdated.

I can't answer your question but will say that this ride always freaks me out. It's the only ride where I am constantly thinking about the restraints and safety systems. I've yet to ride it this year and have been to the park about ten times.

Last night I watched one of the regular ride ops snap for the first time. He was so excited. It was one of the coolest things I have seen so far this season. He said he's been watching and finally it clicked. Kind of cross threading, line jumping in Woodstock Gliders lines is truly ridiculous. Ride ops if they witness it do tell people they must go to the end of the line. Last night people kept sneaking in after the line closed for the night and each was told they could not ride. While I know there are a lot of complaints about various things, they are acted upon if seen. The park does enforce things, it's honestly a matter of the circumstances.

20 minutes until Cirque Imagine. Imagine that.

They might have had that decision long before they made the announcement. They just did everything closer to how and when they wanted to unveil Banshee. Even at that time,it wasn't a ride the park was happy with having sit there. Also, they did answer a lot of questions and the people they banned said some pretty nasty stuff if you recall.

Except Kings Island was then getting ready to demolish it, a ride which clearly caused them discomfort in more ways than one, while KK has boasted pridefully about this May 30th opening for T3 for quite some time, not to mention had more than enough time to get it ready. They did get around to answering them on FB.

For some? Very, very hard. For others, not so much. Example? On Wednesday, storms knocked the power out around 2:30p. DTE Energy provided an estimated restoration time of 11:30p - 1:30a. It was back on hours before then, if I recall correctly. After power was restored, our Comcast cable service went out. Their estimated restoration? 10 pm. Calling back around that time yielded a response to check back in 24 hours. In other words, they'll get to it eventually. Eventually it was.. 12m-1a on Thursday. DTE is doing it right. Comcast.. Well, need I explain?

Of course, the fact that after the first few years there were typically dozens of people in the park helped.

New to the forum and I've been lurking for awhile. This is our first year for Gold Passes and my kids had only been to KI once before (they are 5 & 8). My 8yo is tall enough for everything, but pretty scared of most of it considering I got her on Delirium last year and she was terrified and won't ride it now. After three trips this season, my bribing and coaxing finally worked. For a $20 gift shop purchase and color changing nail polish, I got her on Banshee last weekend. She absolutely loved it! She teared up in line but calmed herself down as we got up there. If she were hysterical I wouldn't have done it, but I knew it would open up a whole experience for her this summer if she got over the fear now.

Diamondback 15-20 minutes. Banshee 12. Beast looks like station wait. Possible 1 cycle waits for Gliders. The park is surprisingly not busy.

Small correction. Not even about 10 minutes after I posted that, the Kingdom's PR has several cut and paste word-for-word responses apologizing for the delay on several of the comments asking about T3.

You guys are killing me with this discussion of USF/IOA. The wands and spell locations are one of my favorite things in any park ever. I've been counting down the days till my next visit there from the moment I last left.

Yea a lot fo the windows in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley have interactive stuff where you perform a spell and something will happen. There are also other interactive elements as well such as statues and fountains that are activated by the too. Only down part is can get lined up when it's busy for people to do it because it's not real easy. you have to perform the spell perfectly or it won't work.

I learned the hard way last season with my niece. She had been trooper all day hanging in the kids area with my son. Then my niece wanted some bigger rides. She is 9 or 10 years old. I thought she was ready for The Beast. She was absolutely fine till we climbed the lift hill. Then the terror look, then the drop, then the sobbing, then she hit her head on the seat divider. More tears. She got off never wanting to ride another coaster. That was the time I saw Lorax at the park. Good first meet up, me and a crying niece. Haha... well by the end of the day she was talking about Beast but saying she doesnt think she will ride it again.... Lesson learned for my son. Only push him on one new ride per visit instead of 9 new ones haha...

^Some parents believe not "pushing" your child & let them find things out on their own is a good thing. They are so terribly wrong. Allowing that type of behavior is bad parenting. It sets the child up for failure later in life. But let's face it (and I am going to apologize in advance for being blunt) the mother purchased season passes not knowing if the child even liked rides?? She does not have the greatest decision making skills......

I witnessed something similar to that at Busch Gardens. A fellas girlfriend told him she would continue to make his pass payments after they split up. She lied.

There's an new FUNtv at Viking Fury as well. I like the concept, not a fan of the execution. It amazes me they can't add at least 5 more songs and a few more commercials. I hear the same thing over and over and over again. I honestly believe they should try to add so much that a guest will never hear/see the same thing twice in a day.

I was the crazy woman in the white dress Sorry I didn't see your post until now. I think this was my favorite of the four tours I've taken so far, because I finally got into the middle of the helixes, I got to take my husband with me (usually I'm at the park alone), and I learned something new that surprised me (around 90% of The Beast's wood is original to when it was built).

I had expected the park to be busier. I suppose with rain in the forecast that has chased people away. I am going to head up after I finish cleaning.

Maybe they're reinstalling the Festhaus clock...? FTW, occasional optimist.

I've noticed other than that one response, KK has been dodging questions on T3 on their FB page.

Some of the windows had what appeared to be holographic scenes. One in particular had a bird in a cage that appeared to sing and follow the motion of the wand. This was in a dark part of the alley, the area, overall for me, was way too crowded to be enjoyable.

Not daily, I mean hourly or every two hours...the same things play multiple times. A guest visiting one day could see the same thing several times while in line for different rides. Yes. Read what Terp wrote. The person who comes to the park once or twice a year wont really notice the same games/ads being played, etc. They will be busy talking to their friends. Checking their phone. Looking at the ride. Planning their next ride or where to go for food. Etc. The park (for most) is a novel experience. Getting some quick "knowledge" about the park from the screens is for those people. Being reminded of a food item or a song is again for those people. Quick example of "real life radio"... In a 2 hour block, the dj has 15-20 must play songs, that on average will fill half the time. The dj will also have 3-5 commercial blocks per hour, so for a 2 hour block, that is an average of 8 commercial blocks at 3 minutes each. So 24 minutes. You are now at 84/120 minutes. fill in with DJ breaks, say 30 seconds each and 10 per hour, so 10 minutes for a 2 hour block. You now have 94/120. You can then filter in 1-2 new songs per block. 100/124. Contests or call in account for 3 minutes each hour. You are not at 106/120. Throw in a little retro music 2 songs per hour, 4 total. 14 minutes can be added. you are now at 120/120 minutes. Then it all starts over again. The same 15-20 songs must be played, etc.... So at a park, if you are there all day, yeah you will hear the same stuff, but its intended that you wont or you wont pay attention to it. Just like radio...

Wands cost about $50 with wizard capes at $109.... and nearly every kid had one or the other....I think the wands have RFI in them, becauses kids were spending a lot of time waving them in front of store windows. Full trip report coming in the next few days.

Maybe. Radio stations and large businesses who play music usually pay a flat fee. The fee is based on ratings or number of expected patrons. As for why there may be a limited number of songs could be on design. Remember the enthusiast or the person who comes to the park daily is not usually the target market. .

And you would be correct. Here is a picture from RCDB of X-Flight at Geauga Lake...which is now Firehawk... And here is a video (linked by RCDB) that shows it in Action there back in 2001, its debut season:

They have to secure licensing for everything they play. They cant just play anything they want. The Cash Coaster is new. Saw a few episodes of it. Its evolving slowly. Youust remember, KI is creating the content for all of the parks. Or at least putting it all together as per the press releases.

I'm glad someone else remembers the House of Cards. Trying to find any reference to it or pictures of it made me feel a little like I may have only imagined it ever existing.

Another preview weekend? And a Wednesday opening? Really?

^ They should want to! Tampa is awesome. Gorgeous gulf beaches, dolphin cruises, aquariums, museums, it really has a lot to offer as a vacation destination, and is much more affordable than Orlando.

... I can say to the family "I'm not cooking tonight. You want dinner? Go to Kings Island and use your meal plan."