Shaggy

Holiday World is not the biggest threat to KK. Clientele is. I'll not elaborate any more other than to say KK is still suffering from a reputation of being an "urban" park. It's not a reputation they will be able to shake, and it's horribly damaging to long term success. Holiday World, although the recent squabbles have diminished it, still retains it's family friendly and ultra clean/safe reputation. I was there yesterday (yes I was present at the announcement) and I was yet again amazed at how Holiday World has tapped into what I call the "Disney" effect. It's that really odd vibe where the guests literally take care of the park and help keep it clean. The family-branded past basically "educated" guests who, in turn, feel a part of the family and do their part. It's an amazing talent for a park to develop this sort of mindset. The current caretakers have Pat and Will to thank for that. KK, on the other hand, is dealing with trying to keep things operational in what is likely a stressful, and cumbersome "first" year. I would suspect that, come off season, lots of change will happen at KK.... mainly internal strategy and infrastructure. Hart's a smart, assertive businessman with an ego that isn't going to be topped. I would suspect that much more than a rehab of T2 and rapids will be taking place. But hopefully a re-focused concentration on guest retention and impressions will drive their decisions. Year two of ANY business, is always the toughest... mostly because the "new" has worn off. Buuuut..... Holiday's Worlds announcement may actually serve as a very good thing for KK. How so? Holiday World just entered the big leagues. Yesterday's announcement was an assertive effort by the park to make a big boy statement... they want to sit at the big kids table. But with such growth comes growing pains. Holiday World will see increasing struggles with their need to maintain the family reputation that Pat and Will built. When parks become large destination parks, they loose the intimacy and small-town vibe... and guests react accordingly. In addition, the marketing is changing. This year, the marketing of HW has been a direct, and apparent attempt to assert the park above ANY surrounding tourist destinations. For the first time, I felt the advertising (billboards) had a negative undertone and I personally feel it reflects a bit poorly on the park. Gone was any trace of the Koch family vibe... and people miss it. It ill be interesting to see how this all pans out. But bottom line, I don't think KK should focus on what Holiday World is doing as much as they should be concerned about what they should be doing.... and that has nothing to do with building rides. No park is without it's struggles.

This, my friends, is probably the most incredible news I've heard about KI all season! In my book this rivals the Diamondback and Banshee for incredibility! Great job, KUDOS KI!!!!

This is a close call, actually. I think Banshee has the edge over Montu, but not by far. They are definitely the two best inverts in existence. Again, I've ridden almost all on the list, and those lead the pack by far. Shaggy

I'm a Louisville local, and because I'm an "enthusiast" friends/coworkers always feel necessary to bestow their experiences/opinions/reactions about parks on me. In regards of KK... nothing I've heard has been extremely negative, but nothing glowing either... as I expected. Comments include: Waterpark is great Lightning Run is lots of fun Not enough to do "Rough" clientele Observations of at least two workers walking off the job Slow loading on the coasters Oddly enough, the very day the park made the news with the "Attendance is through the roof!" press release, I had two friends that were at the park. They said it was fairly empty. Not sure who to believe. LOL KK is, as I expected, going to suffer the same fate as SFKK. Business was drummed up by lots of media attention... but those that are attending are walking away with a "meh" reaction. As far as the incident with the Speedo guy... that whole situation was concocted by his seeking attention. Although Europeans find such attire acceptable and commonplace, in the the US it's not. That's not judgment on my part, rather, fact. When you wear a skimpy bathing suit you draw attention... and you know it. The "victim" in this case wore it out to be looked at. When the cops approached him, it was no doubt based on complaints, and they handled it poorly and called him inappropriate names. I doubt the victim was standing idly by with doe eyes through the whole situation. The mere fact that this made the news feed, with a "sexed up' picture of the fellow on the beach, proves there was an agenda behind it. Someone wanted attention, of all sorts, and they got it. Remember, it's all about press... KK has a long haul... a long rough haul. I'm neither rooting against it, or for it at this point. Selfishly, I wish it would stay open and attendance shrink so I can go back and marathon on Lightning Run in future seasons. That coaster, IMO, is the redeeming thing about this whole re-opening. Who knew?! Shaggy

The Krofft puppets first gained US attention at the 1962 Seattle Worlds Fair. There, they presented a show called "Les Poupees de Paris" that included puppets/marionettes impersonating popular celebrities. They then toured the show throughout the US to great popularity. In 1964-1965, they once again presented the (updated) show at the Worlds Fair in New York. Here's a pic of the 1964-65 Worlds Fair Krofft Pavillion: The show was later presented in 1968 at a large fair in San Antonio. Here is a pic of the pic of the Sid and Marty Krofft Pavillion in San Antonio, where they presented a show called "Kaleidescope." It was at the show in San Antonio where one of the heads of Six Flags saw the production and contacted Sid and Marty to design a show for SFOT. They did and the show ran for years at the park. Originally, the show had a circus theme but it was changed over time. Here's pics of the Six Flags theatre: Other parks took note, such as Cincinnati's Coney Island, and had the Kroffts design shows for them as well. The Cincinnati Coney Island Theatre was located to the left (facing down the mall) of the Lost River, near the parking lot. It was only there one or two seasons, until the park was dismantled afaik. I didn't see the show...( I wasn't born for another year...I am the same age as KI.) But as I understand it, the Coney Show probably originated at Six Flags Over Texas and was likely a duplication. Here's a pic of the Cincinnati Coney Island Sid and Marty Krofft show: The Krofft's transferred the show to Kings Island where it operated in the giant red inflatable Theatre to the left of the Eiffel Tower. Here is the only pic I know of, from the King's Island Krofft Production. I believe (don't hold me to it) the elaborate puppet show that ran at Busch Gardens: The Old Country during it's first season was also a Sid and Marty Krofft production. (I saw this show when I was a kid!) It was through their associations with the Amusement industry that the idea for their ill-fated amusement center "The World of Sid and Marty Krofft" in Atlanta was born. In the meantime, they achieved mainstream notoriety... and lots of cash to fund it... via their immensely popular 1970's television children's shows and variety programs. (PuffnStuff, Krofft Supershow, Donnie and Marie etc) Here's a pic of the map of the "World of Sid and Marty Krofft" in Atlanta... which opened in 1976 and lasted a mere 6 months. I actually work with someone that visited it as a child... and was able to ride the infamous Pinball ride! (Also pictured below.) Does that help?

If so, my apologies... didn't know.

A piece of a long lost attraction from Kings Island/Coney Island can be your's for a mere $4,250. It's a car from the former "Sunshine Turnpike." http://www.ebay.com/itm/Coney-Island-Cincinnati-then-to-Kings-Island-AMUSEMENT-park-Turnpike-Car-Ride-/251543803359?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a912dd5df

For the record.... not my quote ;-) LOL! I particularly like the article because it pays the proper due respect to certain individuals that often get overlooked in "The Beasts" notoriety. Quite frankly, if it hadn't been for Al Collins and Ruth Voss, The Beast would probably never have happened or become as famous as it has. Those two were key to it's success.

A fresh new article in Cincinnati Magazine celebrating "The Beast's" 35 anniversary has been posted online. Here's a link to the article which features invterviews of several Beast fans, fascinating insight into it's origins and early years and includes quotes from several friends like Don Helbig, David Lipniky and more. I too was honored to take part in this interview. It was great fun to reminisce about my early experiences with the coaster. Happy Birthday Beast! Your legend lives on! http://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/features/2014/05/29/screeeeeeam

GMA... as well as Today... as well as Fox in the Morning are all Times Square based.

I had 5 different non-enthusiast friends here in Louisville all tell me the same thing over the weekend. They basically said they were going to wait to go to KK until it has all the "kinks" worked out. Specifically they said they wanted to wait to see if the park is safe... on multiple levels... before returning.

Ding, ding, ding... we may have a winner ;-)

I was present at the park on Saturday and rode Lightning Run - twice. First the park pros: It's definitely been freshened and has a "cleaner" look and feel to it. The waterpark expansion is terrific, looks great and is huge! There were TONS of people there, and they were very excited. The park cons: There's still an IMMENSE amount of work left to be done. They met there deadline to open on time... I suppose... but many obvious things remain. Trash cans were few and far between. If it were me... I get that addressed pronto! More queue systems need installed for the newer attractions to deter lines from stretching into the midways. Lightning Run I was pleasantly surprised at the ride's overall riding experience. Someone's earlier claim in this thread that it was "better than Banshee" is silly. That's comparing apples to oranges... or grapes to grapefruit. LR is a small, compact coaster and isn't on the same playing field as a coaster of Banshee's size and scope. This is Chance Rides first full-circuit coaster, and really is a stand-alone new experience. Because of it being "tightly wound" I was leery of possible jarring transitions with neck snaps. Much to my surprise, the overall coaster glides smoothly and the transitions are really impressive. The first drop is fun and Maverick-like. My favorite part was the ground level series of "s curves" just before the final bunny hops. There's pops of air on those bunny hills, but it's not floater air. It's more of the Magnum XL200 jolting pops on the final bunny hills. Some riders enjoyed the more jerky air pops, some riders did not. Obviously the rear of the train experiences them more abruptly than the front. It has great speed for a smaller coaster and it hits the final brakes hard with lots of inertia behind it. Now for the really bad news.... The restraints are uncomfortably confining, to say the very least. I can probably understand why they are designed to be as tight fitting as they are. However the restraints will, mark my words, be the largest complaint inducer of the ride. Walk of shames were happening left and right. More problematic however, was the fact that the train was dispatching an average of every 10 minutes. Even if the 2nd train had been running, it would have faced a lengthy stack time due to the excruciating waits resulting from restraint issues. Let me explain the scenario: There were 3 ride ops... two checking, one operating panel. Exiting guests had to completely exit the station before gates were opened. When guests boarded the car, they were instructed they must first buckle the belts and not touch the restraint. This was so the two ride ops (only a single on each side) could check belts unobstructed. Guests invariably pulled down the lap bar, prompting the ride op to have to signal and request a release for each individual lap bar that had been pulled. Then, they finished checking belts for the train. From there, the ride panel op would then announce lap bars were lowering and people began to lower themselves. Much to the chagrin of many, the bars would not go down far enough, and the ride panel op would then make announcements on the PA system as to which seats were not fitting. "2, 7, 10 Right and 3, 8, 9 Left." Ouch! That prompted a re-release of those restraints, retries, pushes, tugs, standing on them (not kidding) etc. The op panel obviously has a sensor system than measures if a restraint has met it's required level. Well, more often than not, it wouldn't after numerous tries resulting in a final "sorry you will not be able to ride." This to the guest that had just waited through the long line that didn't have a test seat at the entrance. Not only that, tall folks were having issues with the shin restraints impeding the ability to lower the lap bar all the way. I'm 6' 3" not overweight. I fit, but I must admit the shin restraints were not comfortable and I got nervous the first time that they would impede my lap bar meeting the requirement. (I rode in the front seat and then 3/4 of the way back.) In addition to all of this confusion, the unload side op had to collect all the loose articles as people boarded into a bin (one for each car) that was placed on the unload side of the station. (How this will work with two trains remains to be seen.) Now all that having been said... it was the coaster's first day with the "public." I am sure adjustments will be made, and that tweaking of the restraints will become a part of the ride's installation. The ENTIRE Chance Team was observing the ENTIRE day. I have concerns however, given the obvious challenges the face with a "large" (...in the waistline - Louisville has one of the highest obesity rates in the country) clientele, that vast modifications will need to be made to the restraint system. Judging by the struggles I witnessed, changes are necessary. Operationally, I give the park a break... again it was Day 1. However a 3-person crew on the parks new signature coaster just will not float. If the above procedure is what they will be following all season, then they must staff at least 6 on the crew. (Line sorter, Panel Op, 2 checkers each side.) Until they get a more fluid load system in place, then there's really no need to run a second train. Not running a second train will back the line up into the midway (see above) and thus LR needs a queue house or pad to hold waiting guests (which it doesn't have!?!) Now, let me conclude by once again prefacing that this was all DAY 1. Any park, run by any owner, with any new ride faces struggles. My words come from a place of observation, not judgement, and with no ill will (seriously.) But they also come from a place of concern, and surprisingly enough, encouragement to those I witnessed wanting so badly for the park to be a success. Time will tell. I'll re-visit sometime later... much later... before I pass judgement and throw stones. ;-)

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

I've enlisted the "accidental" toe crunch maneuver from time to time. If they keep bumping me or backing up against me, I simply take a casual, yet hard step backward and let nature... and my 210lb weight on their toes... do the rest. Then I apologize profusely for it explaining I didn't know they were so close to me. They usually keep their distance after that. Fart spray can aid in clearing your personal space as well. Kidding...

You just hit the nail on the head bud. The BEST coaster experiences I've enjoyed in my 35+ years of riding had nothing to do with the rides... it had everything to do with those I rode with. <===== Here's proof! Thanks for sharing this. Fun post!

While I expect 2015 to be a quiet year for major ride additions to KI, I will say what I have said for years. I'd love to see a major flat rides package added to KI in the future. Canada's Wonderland added glorious flat ride after flat ride for years and years under Paramount. Now under Cedar Fair's guidance, they have majorly upped the coaster ante. That has, IMO, made it the chain's Platinum level park. That's hard for me to admit, since my heart will ALWAYS lie with KI. But the up side is, Kings Island isn't too far behind Wonderland when it comes to being thrill-rounded. With the 1-2-3 punch of Beast, Diamondback and Banshee, a good flat ride package would tip the scale for KI. Ultimately, a complete overhaul to Coney Mall and the insertion of flats would make me turn cartwheels. I could very easily see that area specifically receiving the new for 2014 CP Gemini Midway treatment, or something similar. I can't help but think that those in charge, who remember the ORIGINAL Cincy Coney Island, would be willing to re-visit the area to properly update and yet pay tribute to KI's roots. But no matter what my personal preference would be, I have TREMENDOUS faith in those leading KI right now. For the first time in years they are making changes that cause my jaw to drop and my heart to smile. There's good things to come at KI. Shaggy

The Beast queue is very narrow! especially compared to newer attractions like Delirium and Diamondback. It's especially noticeable when you have to leave the queue midway through waiting, and have almost no means of getting around or through the other guests. The Beast's queue was built well before ADA laws required a specific width for accessibility. The queue width had everything to do with making the most use out of the space. There's been no need to change it since Beast loads accessible riders via the exit. Also, at the time, obesity and general size of riders was much less... not meant as a derrogatory statement, rather a general fact. Finally, most don't realize this, but The Beast originally had 4 queue houses - long lines necessitated it back in the day. As lines decreased over time, the 4th queue was removed. It currently has 3. The remnants of the former queue can be seen by the keen eye.

Annually, the floral clock stays winterized until frost season has ended. By winterized, I mean all plants are missing as are the hands of the clock. It will return.

It probably has more to do with the fact that Delirium will likely end up in many of the Banshee photographs the park has taken for promotional purposes. It's not uncommon for surrounding rides/buildings to get "spruced up" around a new attraction since they are photographed and filmed extensively in their inaugural years. I doubt it was a last minute decision, but even if it was, it is more than likely photo driven.

ACEonline.org That should explain it all...

I believe high winds and lightning within a 10 mile radius would be much more of a concern than rain. Remember... Beast opened on a rainy Friday the 13th.

I *believe* The Beast's paw tracks managed to extend all the way around the Eiffel Tower and to the right side of International Street for at least one season. However most seasons, that I recall, the tracks began behind the Eiffel Tower. The tracks haven't been consistent... they've been there some seasons, not there others. Traditionally, they wear away by mid-season or so from foot traffic. But for those years where no tracks appeared it was often because the black-top had been re-sealed just prior to the park opening. I would suspect their appearance/disappearance has more to do with "time" or the lack thereof. As other's mentioned, Vortex, Flight Commander had them. But Beastie typically had them when Beast did. Top Gun and, I believe FOF had them for their inaugural seasons.

I have to respectfully disagree. Lightning Run is smaller than I expected. Now I won't dare be an armchair coaster judge (one who passes judgement without riding.) But I am visually underwhelmed by it's stature in the park. I have seen it up close and personal a few times and I pass by it every day when headed to my office. I hope it will be a sleeper - you know, one of those fun little coasters that pack a whallop. Kentucky Rumbler (a wooidie at Beech Bend) is exactly that, and I wouldn't have expected it. But traditionally, small, compact steelies can go one of two ways: short, intense fun or short, intense head banging. Visually it has an *air* of how FOF looked when I first saw it. (Although not *as* tightly twisted.) Time will tell. I will say, thank goodness for Mark Brunner. He - with permission from the park - has documented it's construction. Although I see it routinely, he's been kind enough to keep other enthusiasts updated with progress online. Shaggy

I just realized something... guess I'm late to the party in observing this... but the station floor doesn't drop. It's a static, concrete loading station floor. Shaggy