Shaggy

It was always rumored that Charlie Dinn... of which CCI was born (Dinn Corp became CCI when he retired)... had an original "Bat" car in storage at the facility. I never got proof, but it was urban legend. I remember driving by the old CCI headquarters wanting to walk in and see if the rumor was true... never had the guts though. LOL

I actually worked this attraction a few times while it was in operation at KI. It was a sloooooooooooow loader, and generated a notorious "ouch" from guests upon it's abrupt stop. It was a very fun ride to watch - but ultimately not a wise choice for a high capacity park. I always thought it's elevator lift looked like one of those elevators in an old Domino Rally toy playset.

GCI Wooden coasters are completely framed and built on site. Even the metal track running plates are cut and bent on site. In regards to the other question at hand... the pattern by which they are building the coaster is based on ease of getting equipment in and out of the site. Shaggy

Heat... plain and simple. People didnt want to be outside. I even skipped it this year.

Has the park said if the coaster will be painted/stained? I love the look of fresh wood, but within 6 months, unstained wood turns grey. Just wondering about aesthetics... Shaggy

I hope this means all the light bulbs on top of the International Street Buildings get replaced and illuminated. :-) I experienced Winterfest several times. It was always a good deal of fun, albeit cccccccold. LOL! Actually I think 2005 Winterfest was the last time I ice skated.

It's called speculative marketing. They did so to drum up interest. Whether the coaster gets demolished, refurbished, rebuilt etc, CP made the news by announcing it as they did. Leaving it's outcome vague continues the online interest and speculation. Its not different than a press rep releasing a pic of a celebrity "out with" another celebrity. It causes people to speculate and talk about that relationship - whether it exists or not.

For those waiting for CP to announce a RMC conversion of Mean Streak.... I'll be shocked if they do. I expect the coaster to not be reopened/ready until 2018. It took nearly 12 months to overhaul Texas Giant (with a more cooperative climate)... and Mean Streak is essentially the *same* coaster as the original Texas Giant.

Don't believe the speculation - it's not going to have a drop track.

Not a drop track - the track level doesn't change from the shed to the station. It will likely be a heavily themed experience while sitting in the brake run. I would love to see lots of animated saws, hatchets etc.

I seriously doubt there's a drop track... That would involve engineering by the builder/manufacturer - the GCI Rep explicitly stated even he didn't know what would happen in the "shed." I expect what happens will fit the "mystic" theme... And the lumber mill theme on the outside of the structure. I think this is a perfect choice addition to the KI coaster collection. I love GCIs and am super excited they are going with the millennium flyer trains. For those naysayers - give it a chance. This thing will be an awesome night ride no doubt- and some of the best woodies are terrain hungers.

I would suspect this attraction will not be animal or creature themed - rather themed to logging, foliage, trees, etc. Think Timber Falls, Loggers Run, etc. I came up with Timber Falls as the name over a month or two ago. Right after I saw the "watch for falling trees" on the fence barrier. It's not a competition ;-) I expect KI came up with whatever the *actual* name is long before either of us made up one ;-) Oh, and a couple of parks have already used the name for flumes, rides etc. As a matter of fact, there's a whole park named "Timber Falls."

I would suspect this attraction will not be animal or creature themed - rather themed to logging, foliage, trees, etc. Think Timber Falls, Loggers Run, etc.

You know, back in the day, you waited until the park put these out in the spring to find out what the new ride was....

Good grief.... FB, Twitter, Snapchat, blah blah blah... who can keep up with all 10 of the social media outlets the park is using? Us old folks aren't as savvy as you youngins.... LOL ;-)

I'm confused... where were those "Step 1, Step 2.." pics found? I did not see them on the parks' official Twitter, or on their FB page. Are they fake, fan made? Obviously, they are in the employee lot, pulling out of KI etc... but without an actual link it seems false to me.

Because of the vast amount of land that could be purchased at minimal cost. Walt formed a least 3 small false real-estate companies that were used to purchase the land. That way he could purchase hundreds of acres without using the "Disney" name preventing land prices from spiking. He literally bought thousands of acres for mere dollars - some of which had to have in-depth research done to find the descendants of the original owners who didn't even know they had inherited it. The site was chosen for it's remote location, size, adjacency to the interstate, cost, and developmental opportunities. The area was all swampland - and since the land could be purchased so cheap, it meant that more money could be budgeted to developing the land. Also, because the land was undeveloped, and not commercialized or zoned, Disney was able to basically create their own "rules" without the interference of the state government. The only hurdle they really faced - which they still face today - is that a good portion of it had to remain undeveloped as a natural habitat of Florida. Thus Gators trump Disney. Walt Disney was an amazingly smart - and forward thinking man. What he pulled off in Florida (even after his death) is nothing short of genius.

I wouldnt wait 5 hours, I couldnt... I have a bladder the size of a walnut. That having been said, the ride looks terrific! Those animatronics are incredible. This is a MUCH NEEDED addition to EPCOT. I hope more such attractions will follow. EPCOT has always been the "yawner" park for me. Shaggy

Here's a picture of KCKC. Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk For those of you that may be curious about KCKC's removal... here's a few pics, taken by your's truly, shortly after KCKC was closed to make way for Tomb Raider: I have more, but will need to dig them up... KCKC was a hydroflume made by Arrow Corporation. They made several - Cedar Point had one, Six Flags parks had a few etc. Hersheypark still has theirs (it may very well be the only one still in operation - at least the only one with the original "hump" at the base of the drop) but most of these types of flumes have long since been removed. They were, as I understand it, very high maintenance. Several of them had boats jam up on the dual drop - so often (as was the case of KCKC in later years) one side of the drop chute was not operational. I believe KCKC only used the right chute (riders right) from 1992 on. For those that didn't get to ride, some of the "quirks" of KCKC were: the rotating load station (many people would trip or fall when they stepped from the rotating platform onto the non-rotating center), the very "jiggly" lift that rattled constantly, the lift recording "Please remain seated, keep arms and legs inside the boat at all times." Also, little know to the public was the fact that there was a full basement under the station - used for maintenance and employee breaks. Also, the flume was known to have "visitors" from time to time.... turtles, geese and, yes, snakes. As for those curious about it's placement in the park - the base of the 1st drop on Diamondback is essentially where the base of the drop of KCKC was. As far as the original question about a photo booth... KCKC never had an on-ride photo booth. The booth you may be referring to was built for Tomb Raider. It was still present for a number of years after Tomb Raider closed and was visible from the Rivertown midway. The booth has since been demolished afaik. The new WWC entrance path travels in the area of the former TR:TR photo booth location. Trivia: Before The Beast had it's exit re-routed and the on-ride photo booth added, there was a "Beast Tamer Photo" Kodak picture spot located beside the lift of KCKC. Riders from Beast used to exit the coaster from the opposite side of the station, and there was a "hut" where they could stop and have their picture taken in front of The Beast's logo. In addition, there was a "Kodak Picture Spot" located to the right of the KCKC drop.

Here's my best shot from media day... needless to say, I think this is the picture most coaster nerds will try to get... LOL! (Please do not re-post or use this, or any of my pictures without my permission.) Here's a small album I created with most of my shots from the event... Kentucky Kingdom Storm Chaser Media Day

I was fortunate enough to attend media day today and rode Storm Chaser around 20 times. I'm happy to report that KK has a terrific coaster on their hands. I'll post more later, but the barrel roll drop, air hill and corkscrew elements are the highlights. The pacing is great for about 90% of the ride then loses steam at the very end - that will improve with time once the coaster breaks in properly. BTW, UPS was flying in jets directly overhead today - which made for an extra effect. I am very grateful that I was able to attend - the park looked great.

would be pretty cool if a coaster in that area was tall enough that we could see into fort coneyI've always wanted to see what it looks like inside. I've always wanted to GO inside but that'll never happen.Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk I've been in the house-in-the-fort at KI a few times. Last time was well over 10 years ago. I never trespassed - was always with a park employee escort. When I was in there, the house was the exact opposite of interesting. It literally was full of trash, old rotten furniture and abandoned junk. It was no doubt just left as-is when the original owners vacated. There were no secrets to be seen, no hidden ride parts, nothing but an abandoned junk riddled old house. Unless something changed since Cedar Fair took over (which I doubt it has) then there's no real merit to the intrigue of the house in the fort. I always get a kick out of the speculation about it, especially since I know first hand it looked something very similar to this picture: http://www.johnvantine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/wachapreague-island-first-abandoned-house-inside.jpg

Frankly, the fact that Worlds of Fun and Carowinds are getting great flat ride packages makes me jealous! For years I've wanted KI to up it's flat collection - the park is crying out for them. Back when Paramount owned the parks - year after year Canada's Wonderland added glorious flat ride after flat ride. Ultimately, because of that, it became the best park out of the lot. When KI added Delirium a million years ago, I was over the moon. They need more like that. Shaggy

Easily The Beast at KI. Not just because of multiple visits as a guest, but I was on crew for a while. We would "test ride" at least once a day. So needless to say, I've racked up a lot of rides on that one. My record of multiple rides on a coaster in one day was actually on Son of Beast. During it's inaugural year, I was aked by the park to be the on-ride commentator for a Discovery Channel/Travel Channel special. I believe I rode SOB 27 times virtually in a row... from like 8 in the morning until noon or so. Several of those times was with a camera mount both in front and beside me... over and over and over... Also I rode multiple times for off-ride long shots, short shots, lift hill shots, loop shots, rosebowl shots etc etc etc. And I paid for it. I liked the coaster initially, but that day did me in on the ride. I actually attribute my bad back to that infamous day in 2000. I could barely stand up for 2 days afterwards. But even so, it was a great memory that serves as my life's 15 minutes of fame. For that I am completely honored and grateful. True story!

The weather had everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING to do with attendance being up at the Kentucky State Fair this year. In years past, it's been miserably hot... this year, not so much. I will say that typically the musical acts/concerts are the huge draw. This year, I couldn't even tell you who played the fair. There may have been a reduced concert offering/attendance considering half the stands in the former baseball stadium (where concerts are held) have been demolished. I would suspect, had they offered larger acts (as they have in the past...) attendance would likely have skyrocketed.