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At KD today and tried their Grain and Grill. I had the streak which looked dry, but was actually really good. I only got 3 slices. A little thicker than my experience at our G&G. I think a 4th slice would have been nice, but no big complaints. I would eat there again. @electricsungot 3 veggies and they loaded it up. All very good.

Looks really nice. 9 years since my last trip, I really need to get up there.

I'm of the opinion that KI needs another tweener coaster. Especially if they have any desire to reclaim "worlds best kids themed area" back from Dollywood. I've proposed this before, and my kids have graduated out of Planet Snoopy, but if I was in charge I'd look hard at removing Snoopy Junction and whatever small circular ride is back there (or maybe relocate it along with some other small kiddie rides for a small kid section out near Action Zone similar to how CP has that small area by Johnny Rockets). I'd relocate the Beattle Bugs for sure, and get ride of the theater/animal farm as well as Snoopy's snack shack. I'd also look into doing something with the pathway near linus launchers, which seems like the forgotten part of Planet Snoopy. Maybe the could relocate Sally's Sea Plane along with that circular ride mentioned earlier and open up a pathway there to allow for some small flats. Anyhoo, with all that space cleared out, I'd look at putting something in on par with Fire Chaser Express (39" height requirement IIRC). That ride is amazing for a family/kiddie coaster. While I'm in that area, I'd give Boo Blasters a big old refresh. I know some want a return to what it was prior, but I'm not sure that would have the repeatability with the small kid target audience. I think the shoot 'em up design is a solid attraction however they need laser guns that actual work (2 weeks ago, only 1 of the 3 on our car worked) and better, fresher targets and props. Some of the props have improved since I last rode on it a couple of years ago (Don't think I was on it last year at all) but a lot need refreshed. Mainly the guns need to actually work. I'd also look into doing something with the other half of the Boo Blaster's building. Is it big enough for an indoor play area like Dollywood and Valleyfair have? I think that would work well.

I’ve mentioned this before in another thread but I would gut out Boo Blasters being that the ride itself is just in an abysmal state and replace it with something similar to Darkoaster at BGW. That would make an awesome family coaster addition to Planet Snoopy. It would also be another coaster in the lineup for Winterfest and a potential year round operation at Kings Island. Call it Snoopy’s Ghoster Coaster (homage to Scooby-doo while keeping the peanuts theming and name)

I had the bowl. I did notice the excess liquid, but without the tortilla it was fine. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. It was super tender. If you enjoy pot roast, you should enjoy this. Portion wise, they really dug the scoop in and get me a heaping scoop. Very pleased with the portion.

3 containers showed up in NYC for Cedar Point Park, LLC, early yesterday from Genoa, Italy, which is the same port where some of the steel removed from Dragster was shipped. Today, we get reports of steel showing up at the CPXH-adjacent staging lot, including what very clearly appears to be the start of the support structure that will be built atop the 3 new footings in the lagoon. All 3 are described as "machinery for amusement rides", though this appears to actually refer to the steel we've seen. '' https://www.importgenius.com/importers/cedar-point-park-llc

I did tacos, you get 3 of them. 1 scoop of meat split between the 3. Honestly it was hard to tell, they were so wet that it ended up being a cheesy/soupy mess on the tray. I’d have to try them again, and make sure to ask them to “drain the scooper” before I can make a statement on taste.

I’ve never been at the park to witness this, I honestly wish they did more of it:

A wild mouse would also be cool but I’m not sure we’d get one since CP has one- maybe if it didn’t spin.

Had to do it

So my week long amusement park trip for 2023 has come to a close. I visited 7 different parks across numerous states and Ontario, CA. Here's my mini novel on how it went! 6/12/23: Carowinds - let's just say that this park was smaller than k thought but it still has a very diverse coaster collection. Fury was amazing and I really enjoyed intimidator as well. Nighthawk I thought was a lot rougher than Firehawk ever was at KI. I also got to experience our flying eagles (now mountain gliders) and they definitely lived up to the hype seeing as I was 2 when they were removed from KI I only have the stories of my dad and uncle to go off of. Now I can say yes they are absolutely one of the best flats out there. Ricochet, Carolina Gold Rusher, and Cyclone coasters weren't the best of their models but still enjoyable. I was happy to see a Schwarzkopf enterprise (scream Weaver) still in operation as well and got 2 rides on it. Vortex was closed still for whatever controls work they are doing on it (got that info from emailing the park about a week before my trip). Copperhead Strike was a great coaster and I could see something like that at KI one day. Also I found Hurler to be fun and not that rough if I wasn't in a wheel seat...rode it multiple times 6/13/23: Kings Dominion - Ok this was my favorite park of the trip! I was surprised how much I loved this park. First impressions were terrible so I'm glad that isn't everything. After waiting an excruciating 30 minutes to get through security at the front gate I finally got into the park. First ride of the day as Flight of Fear and their version is running much smoother than ours and also doesn't stop on the break at the top. Overall, theirs was running better than ours and the line was super short every time I rode it. Next was Intimidator 305 which I think is the child of Maverick and Millennium Force making it my new #1 coaster of all time. I rode it so many times that morning and I also ended the day with numerous rides on it. Anaconda is not as rough as people act like it is and in fact I enjoyed the ride quite a bit. Reptilian was a cool bobsled coaster that I rode a few times. Dominator was pretty smooth and forceful. Only got 1 ride on it seeing as it wasn't close to other coasters (had to walk through Planet Snoopy to get over there) it's really the only coaster at the park that looks like it was just plopped in there. All the others have alot of trees or terrain around them I think. The Woodstock Express here had an extra little hill at the end. Anyone know why that is? Did others have the additional hill right before the break run and it got removed or is KD version just different? Twisted Timbers was good but anyone saying it was a top tier RMC is wrong. There's numerous ones I've ridden better than that one. Sure it was probably way better than hurler but it's not the best ride in the park like some have claimed it to be. Apple Zapple was a good wild Mouse and Racer 75 was super smooth and running great. The red side won every single time though and it wasn't very close so for actual close racing ours is better. Ride/speed wise KD is probably better. Grizzly was a coaster I wanted to like because of all the hype about the re-tracking and sure those parts were great but you could immediately tell when you were back on the old stuff...those parts hurt! Idk who was riding this before they did re-tracking on the parts they did do. Overall I didn't hate it but it ranked middle to bottom of the lineup. Someone has told me that KI is the only park that has the stunt cars effects turned on however, KD had the fire working and some sound effects working. They also had water in the trough at the end under the bridge. So while I'm still not a fan of stunt cars, at least some stuff was working. KD flying eagles was pretty good as was the blue ridge parkway car ride. One other thing I'm questioning is why the Eiffel Tower was closed and when I say closed like que line fenced up with a privacy fence. It was like they boarded it up type of closed? Anyone got any info on how long it's been that way, why it's boarded up/closed, how long they plan to keep it that way? 6/14/23: Six Flags America - This was not a great park. I didn't stay all day and my biggest take away was the Marvin Martian t-shirt I bought in the gift shop. First, superman ride of Steel is pretty good (rode a couple of times) however the one train ops makes this one have a unnecessary long line. Batwing broke down right after I got off the first train of the day. Thankfully it ran smoother than Nighthawk at Carowinds. Jokers Jinx was a good ride as well but once again one train ops made that line crawl. Also, the operators weren't good on it. They checked the back half of the train before the lap bars actually locked and went on like nothing was wrong. I mean I could have pushed it up if I wanted to. Anyway of course the main operator activated the lock and everyone in the back pulled down but the checker op never did come back and check the lap bars after they locked. That's just not good operations if u ask me. The Firebird was probably one of the roughest b&m coasters I've ridden and Roar wasn't much better. Both of those were one and done. Ragin Cajun was a little too much spin after standing around for 45min in the blazing sun. Kinda felt a little icky after that one. The one coaster that exceeded expectations here was Wild One. For a coaster that's 100+ years old it's surprisingly tall and fast! Great layout and airtime and while it's not super smooth it wasn't painful rough either. It really did maintain its classic feel really well. 6/15/23: Dorney Park - this park blew expectations away! Why doesn't anyone really talk about Dorney? Sure it's small but all the rides I rode here were really good! Steel Force is a mini Magnum hyper that runs smoothly. Thunderhawk was running really smooth and is a classic. Hydra is unconventional but a fun floorless. Talon is a great invert that runs smoother than some newer ones (less rattle). Possessed was a lot of fun and the ops were killing it one that one too so wait time was minimal. The wild Mouse was well just a typical wild mouse but at least it was smooth! The demon drop was really amazing and I'm so glad Cedar Fair moved it to Dorney instead of scraping it after CP was done with it. Dorney also had a great collection of other rides like the huss enterprise, the unconventional log flume, and the zephyr railroad just to name a few. 6/16/23: Canada's Wonderland - alright this was the park I was most excited about and it delivered! Rode Leviathan first thing in the morning and I actually thought it was better than Orion meaning that Orion is my least favorite giga? (Still a great ride but I'm not a fan of wave turn or helix sections and leviathan had more airtime hills). Behemoth was a good hyper (in the back rows but unfortunately unlike Dback they wouldn't let you pick your row so half of my rides were towards the front with the weird acceleration as you get held over the drops waiting for the rest of the train to catch up) Yukon Striker was definitely better than Valravn and the vest restraints didn't bother me that much on this one. Vortex is an absolute beauty and rode well too. I prefer the back seat on The Bat (extra car gives it just a little more whip around the turns) but Vortex was still a great ride. Wilde Beast was the one I got the most rides on and I thought it rode extremely well (not smooth but just the perfect amount of rough to where it had some bite but wasn't uncomfortable in any way). Mighty Canadian Minebuster was a great layout (a few spots such as the helix were a little rough to me). Wonder Mountain Guardian is a great dark ride coaster (wish it was little longer). Thunder Run was really cool family ride and The Bat was the smoothest boomerang I've ridden yet. Dragon Fyre was good fun I just didn't get anything out of it's layout that I couldn't have gotten from another arrow looper. The stunt cars coaster is definitely the worst of the 3 installations as no effects worked and it doesn't even have all the signage anymore it appears. The Fly was a great wild mouse (just like apple Zapple) and of course I rode ghoster Coaster just for the credit. Now Flight Deck and Time Warp are two of the worst coasters ever! Both are extremely rough and both need to make way for something better. One ride and done on those. As for the flats, I rode Skyhawk, Wilde knightmares, and sledge Hammer. (I wasn't feeling adventurous enough for some of the other ones) sledge Hammer is my new favorite flat and I got 3 rides on it. So glad it was open during my visit. 6/17/23: Marineland - Ok so I had read some mixed reviews of this place some saying it should be closed for animal abuse and others praising it for its laid back atmosphere and good operations. So I drove there and after making sure Dragon Mountain was operating I bought a ticket and hiked back to that Coaster. The man made cavern that the station is in was way too cool to exist at that park. The ride itself was similar to Loch Ness Monster at Busch gardens in my opinion. Long Helix section through a tunnel and one of a kind inversion element (bowtie element on dragon mountain, interlocking loops on loch Ness) I rode this 10x and it made the trip to the park worth it. After DM I decided to explore the rest of the park and that's where things went south. The ladybug coaster was fine and the magic carpet ride was something I'd never experienced but the animal exhibits were disappointing. The penguin aquarium looked like it was 10,000 years old and the floor hadn't been mopped since 1980. The whale tank was smaller than sea world Orlando and had more whales in it. I don't profess to be a wildlife expert but the exhibits seemed super outdated and unlike sea world there was nothing about conservation at this park that I saw. So I know some people would say they wouldn't support this park because of the animal situation and I wouldn't blame anyone for that. Me personally, I figured I'd see for myself and I'm just telling myself that my $45 went towards the preservation of a wonderful arrow coaster. I really hope this park gets some new owners that either give the animal exhibits the upgrades/space they need or just revamp the park altogether and phase out the animals for more rides. 6/17/23: Six Flags Darien Lake - Ok so just like it's cousin at SFA ride of steel was fantastic. Prowler was also really good and I enjoyed the smooth ride in the metal track they put in places. Boomerang was typical, moto - coaster was closed for some reason, viper was fine, mind Eraser was the smoothest SLC I've been on yet, Tantrum was really fun but way too short of a ride (and running only one train with 8 seats on a euro fighter on a Saturday is terrible operations) overall not really impressed with Darien Lake but I still enjoyed the couple of hrs I spent there. Well that sums it up!

Alright tonight I saw PTE for the second time and I think it's an absolutely amazing show and I will be greatly disappointed if the phantom Theater ride doesn't somehow return to the park. Seeing the direction of the park with tying in nostalgia with new themes I would think a Phantom Theater revival would be right up their alley. For example they brought back the antique cars, sol spin is a modern Skylab, cargo loco pays homage to the keggers, and they even brought in a lesser version of flying eagles to Planet Snoopy. Even the re-tracking of racer and beast, the organ restoration on Grand Carousel, and the theming enhancements to Adventure Express show how the park is trying to restore some of the older rides to former glory while paying homage to defunct rides by building their modern equivalents. Also, has anyone noticed that Boo Blasters is in exceptionally bad shape this year? Like I've gotten so many broken blasters and I've even got blasters now that set off the targets and don't actually compute the score. Animatronics are broken, all sound and theme has been removed from the que, the strobe lights at the end don't work and service lights seem to be on during certain parts of the ride. If the plan is to give boo blaster the axe, that could explain why they're kinda letting it fall into disrepair. I got to see Adventure Awaits this evening as well. It was a really good follow up to the 50th anniversary show however, I found the song to be just ok and the audio was kinda bland and generic (smoothing about memories). The lazers and the drones look amazing this year and even the fountain had some cool choreography.

Was it good and what about portion size.

Must've missed the one where they went like 80+ mph in reverse, straight back, then up a tower, before stopping, falling, and mashing the throttle again.

Had it last night and was wondering the same thing. Mine was dripping so much it soaked through the taco tortillas.

I'm guessing because of their strong association with Marvel and Stars Wars now, I think most kids today will associate Disney with everything Marvel and Star Wars. Seems like both properties have taken a bit of a dive since Disney purchased them (or at least over the last several years anyways, not sure exactly at which point Disney acquired them.) Some of that is the natural ebb and flow in that I think super hero movies have been so played out that people are ready to find something different (though I'm not sure that they have) but part of that is on Disney or whomever is in charge of the scripts and stories, they haven't been great for the most part. the other area that will hinder them is for many older generations, Disney then later Nick represented the main kids programing and there wasn't much else. Disney World/Land offered a heightened experience with the characters that you loved in the movies/TV. Today's kids have so many more options for content, youtube, netflix and a billion other streaming services not to mention Tik Tok and the like. Disney's movie of the week is no longer something special, its just another option (well not that the movie of the week thing exists anymore, but you catch my drift) With so many options, younger kids will age out of Disney and into more grown up kids content much quicker that will lesson that sense of nostalgia that older generations developed with Disney Properties. I think the way older generation or Disney Adults if you will feel about Disney will be lost of today's youth if we check back in 20 years. Course by then I'll have my flying car so all will be good

Anyone had the steak recently at Enrique’s? Had it last night and it is definitely a different cut of meat. Now, don’t get me wrong, it was very good. Had a pot roast taste, like it was chuck roast. Guessing it’s a cheaper cut than what they were using before. On another note, they must have been out of the smaller bowls as they were using the large round bowls.

Or maybe it will be relocated to Indiana Beach!

So I drove 8hrs on Sunday to Charlotte to have all day at Carowinds on Monday, then drove most of the night to get to Kings Dominion Tues. Stayed till ten and got a hotel. Dominion and Six Flags America are probably only 2hr or so apart so I got there easy Wed. Left SFA around 5pm and drove 3hrs and got room in Hershey PA. Drove an hour to Dorney Park Thur and left around 6 to get to my room in Ithaca NY. Got up at 5am of Fri and drove 5 hrs to Toronto for Wonderland and stayed till 10. Got a room right by park. Sat morning drove about 1hr 30min to marineland stayed for 3 hrs and drove to Darien Lake and stayed from 3-7 and rode all coasters and moose on the loose. Then I stayed in Jamestown NY. I actually hit Cedar Point for 3 hrs on the return journey Sunday...

My family spent last week in Pigeon Forge including a day at Dollywood (our 2nd trip, prior one was in 2019). First the weather sucked, but was by no means a washout, actually aside from arrival and our first 30 min or so inside the park, rain was pretty much a non issue, I was hoping that would help keep crowds down a bit (we had similar weather on our prior visit and once the rain/thunder cleared the park was fairly empty) but the crowds were strong for a Wednesday. It was the last day of the ACE event (I'm not in ACE so this wasn't a planned thing, just a coincidence) and with a lot of ACE name badges around that might have been part of the reason for the larger crowds despite the wetish day (it was also wet all week, so Wednesday was the best of the bunch and might have brought in people that wanted to attend one day and that was the best of the pick). Anyhoo, we got into the park shortly after opening. Several rides were still not running yet, but Big Bear Mountain was one of them and it was only listed as a 10 min wait. We headed back to Wildwood Grove and got in line. Probably took about 20 min to get thru the line, a nicely themed entry line, to get on. Sat towards the back, and for 39" height requirement it was an awesome experience/ride. Great theming, felt like pretty good speed and just a lot of fun. If KI has any designs of taking back the best themed kids area from Dolly, well good luck cause they will have to "earn it". Firefly was still not open yet, we had ridden it on our prior visit (I believe that is win Wildwood Grove was still new. Kinda like Flying Ace Arial Chase, but better cars/restraints and a better ride. Definitely feels more "kiddie coaster" than Big Bear Mountain or Fire chase express but a fun ride when we went 4 years ago. When it did open up, it was listed as 40-50 min waits most of the day, so we never jumped on. Anyhoo, my youngest wanted to desperately ride Wild Eagle so we headed in that direction, however on our way Fire Chaser Express had just opened up, and knowing the lines for Wild Eagle would be shorter all day, we jumped on that while there was only a min wait. The Ride, at least my car has gotten noticably rougher than when we rode it 4 years ago, not painful by any means, but a definite rattle; perhaps it just needs new wheels. Anyhoo, for those that have never been, its a great ride, awesome theming, I'd love to see something like this in Planet Snoopy at KI. Best family/kiddie coaster I've been on (39" requirement). From there we jumped on Wild Eagle, maybe a 10 min wait, my youngest son loved it. I rode it last time with my oldest son and it is as smooth as ever. Not super forceful but a fun ride. Lightening Rod opened up at the same time as fire chaser express and what started out as a 10 min wait turned into a 115 min wait by the time we rode FCE and WE and got over there. Rather than wait in line, figuring it was a bit of a "just opened up rush" we grabbed lunch at the restaurant near the entrance. Burger themed diner and I've got to say, not the best food experience, Dolly is known for great food and this was sub par (though better than some other parks food that I've had). By the time we were done, the listed wait was 45 min so we jumped in line, however things we moving very slowly then we saw a car shoot up the lift only to fail to make it over and come back down. I assumed perhaps they could relaunch it from the bottom, however it went down for maintenance with an evac at the bottom of the lift hill. So from there we jumped up to Blazing Fury. We somehow failed to ride that on our prior visit. Fun little indoor family coaster, not great and a little painful in parts but a quirky coaster/dark ride. From there it was Tennessee Tornado, which I'm told is still very smooth but I refuse to ride arrow loopers early in the day so I still can't verify that then over to Thunderhead, their GCI. I'd say I still like Mystic Timbers better, but Thunderhead is still fun like every GCI I've been on (which actually only extends to Renegade at Valley Fair). By that point, Lightening Rod had reopened and the line was down to 60 min so we headed over and got in line. For whatever reason they were only running 1 train, which certainly made the wait longer, but it moved at a slightly steady pace. My daughter waited in line for 60 min then decided to bail, however my 7 year old loved it. Wife and the oldest had ridden it before along with me on our last trip, still forceful, yet smooth. Launch up the hill is fun. At that point, we had cleared all the coasters so it was time for repeats and some flats mixed in. Had diner over by the pizza place at Drop Line, pretty good pizza for a theme park. Since my oldest is Gluten Free, I still haven't had the cinnamon bread which I'm told is out of this world and a must try, but don't want to watch him drooling while I enjoy it so we haven't tried it yet. With the exception of Drop Line, the 7 year old was able to get on everything else that he wanted (WE is a 50" height, he is 52"). I love the park, they had a fun little foam pit set up that the 2 youngest did for awhile during the middle of the day and their summer themeing "road trip" displays were pretty cool, something KI should copy/imitate some day.

Here is what you’re dealing with at the Brewhouse: It tastes better than it looks. I’m not a fan of the pork rinds so I pick them off but the avocado on it is a nice touch.

If they keep the ride around for awhile longer it would be nice to see them bring back the water feature for the sign. Water effects always seem to add a little something special to attractions. Even if it's just for the sign.

I also gave the enchiladas a whirl this past Saturday and they were actually quite good. The red sauce was nice and hearty with a good flavor and the chicken was seasoned just right! I'd give them a 7.5/10 I'll have to give the brewhouse special a go next time although I am quite partial to the BBLT over there

Was really hoping it would be in park or Soak City like last year and yes on the dining plan.......

There was a post on social media over the winter with a pic of a restored or reimagined mask. But I don't think it was said they would return to the original spots , but would be very easy to conjecture that they would.

Have we been given any indication that they are coming back? I kind of assumed that they were gone for good

They can tell people and have signs saying that the restraint will lower on its own, but people are used to lowering their own restraint so they’re going to do that due to muscle memory. They should have accounted for this. If pulling on it caused a fault then that’s a huge design flaw that should have been addressed many iterations ago.

I didn’t see anyone in the station area. I think they were just driving around. I took another picture of the station just before the park closed last night:

As of this evening, the lights are still on! There were also a few maintenance trucks going up and down the road.

Cutting the budget on live entertainment is another financially stupid move long term. It further alienates the non thrill customers that already dint have enough to do at Cedar Fair parks. They seem to just want ti regurgitate the same thrill seeking market and not attract new demographics

Sol Spin has been added to the website! https://www.visitkingsisland.com/rides-experiences/sol-spin

I agree. I think taking out the theatre and using that space for a launched coaster would be a great addition to Planet Snoopy. It would add great variety to the kids lineup with having a standard little kiddie coaster with Great Pumpkin, wooden, inverted, and then a launched. whatever they do or add I still hope it gets refreshed into Camp Snoopy with lots of trees and landscaping added.

I personally don't think we need any more kids rollercoasters. Our lineup is extremely solid with the 3/4 we do have and once kids hit 48" they are onto better things anyway. The only kids coaster I still ride is Woodstock Express because that's actually a good rollercoaster. I feel like if the park wants to target younger guests they should continue investing in more flats with low height requirements (like cargo loco for example) to get some of those kids out of kiddy land. People seem to forget that kids can ride things like the scrambler, monster, shake rattle and roll, viking fury before they hit 48". Maybe another family coaster would work but it would need to be something that adults/teen want to ride too (maybe something like Dollywood Big Bear Mountain, Wild Mouse at Cedar Point, or Seven Dwarves Mine Train at Disney) something that has a lower height requirement than 48" but will appeal to more than just kids.

Lots of new crates and barrels around Adventure Port today!

Sorry for the double post, but... I got another meme!