CoastersRZ

To clarify, the above information came from the interview of the park`s new general manager in the podcast.

I didn`t hear any loud music when I was in the park on Friday or Saturday. I just loved the music on International Street. It makes it feel more majestic and like my wife said, makes it feel like Disney. Just makes it more memorable.

When I rode Firehawk on Friday night, I did not see the cameras when I rode. They might still be there inside of Flight of Fear.

I agree. If they can get the Funpix location working at Vortex it would be nice to see Firehawk, FoF, and even Adventure Express have an onride photo. All three of which used to at one point in time have on ride photos.

Here are some other things that I have noticed so far for this season: There are also signs up around the base of the Eiffel Tower that say "Pardon our dust Snow -Winterfest." There are several round footings (matching the ones on International Street by the fountains) in the Tower Gardens area, and on the path between the floral clock and Paradise Island. And that large round concrete ring over in that area (there is also a concrete ring out by the front gate before the metal detectors), is likely a base for some large Christmas trees for Winterfest (just a thought). Also, I rode the Grand Carousel both yesterday and today, and was disappointed to not hear the band organ playing. Instead, they were playing the piped in music, which was bearily audible. They did replace the cool white LED builbs on Carousel (which made it look almost like the lights weren`t even on), with regular incandescent bulbs, which is a much improved look. Also Vortex still has an on ride photo, but it is exclusively a Funpix on ride photo location (no staff are running it, it just has the Funpix kiosk. The Vortex drive box has been repainted as well. There is also a 30th anniversary banner hanging in the station.

Yes, it is very refreshing to hear the instrumental music return to International Street. Kudos to whoever made that decision. It just adds so much to the atmosphere and makes things seem more like Disney.

Well, the trains were PTC. And the park did receive some design calculations from John Allen, who was with PTC...

A couple of notes from my visit to the park tonight. International Street seems to be playing instrumental music again (no pop music), which even my wife commented on how it made the entrance seem grander. I rode The Beast shortly before 5pm, and only waited about twenty minutes for it. They have new signs at the top of the two lifts that have the Beast paws on top of them. My wife noticed it first when we were in the station waiting for our ride in 6-2 and she asked me what was ontop of the lift hill signs (from the station, they looked like owls). As others have mentioned, Dodgems has new LED lights. Oddly, we got walk on rides on Vortex, and Windseeker, and a ten minute wait for Firehawk. Also, there are now queue lines for Chik Fil A and the Skyline in Coney Mall. Overall, it was great to be back in the park, and the food stands seemed to be handling the crows the best they could, given the large crowds.

Having ridden Mystic Timbers today, I must say that they are two different styles of coasters. Mystic Timbers certainly gives The Beast a run for its money in my book. Would I rank it higher than The Beast? The jury is sitll out on that one. But Mystic Timbers, like so many other GCIs I have ridden, is non stop action from the time you leave the lift hill until you hit the breaks at the end of the ride. The ride is intense, yet fun. I definitely think that Kings Island has a hit on their hands. It really rounds out Kings Island`s roller coaster collection nicely, in my opinion.

Yes. If you can handle the strobe effect of the camera flash, there is nothing in the shed that remotely resembles that strobe effect.

Yep. And then had to protect it, because it rained the day they opened the ride to the media.

That is a really interesting video and nice find! Thanks WCPO for sharing! Amazing how close everyone was standing to the tracks when the train came into the station!

During Winterfest in 2005, the park had the train, Grand Carousel, Boo Blasters, Great Pumpkin Coaster and the kiddy swing ride open as well. In the original incarnation, I think there was one year they had the Scrambler and Dodgems open. None of the big coasters have ever been open for Winterfest.

Exactly. The Beast was the ride that got me hooked on roller coasters when I first rode it back in October of 1995. Little did I know how much that one ride would shape the rest of my life. I even met my beautiful wife because of that fateful ride.

While that news station is just not reporting this, CNL Lifestyle properties actually sold the park back in November (along with a collection of other parks). http://www.snl.com/IRWebLinkX/file.aspx?IID=113645&FID=36526407 Other parks that were included in the sale include Magic Springs, Frontier City, several Wet `n` Wilds and Pacific Park in Santa Monica, CA. I have visited Darien Lake several years ago with my wife. The park had an odd layout and a strange vibe. Coasters were decent, especially Ride of Steel and their launched Zamperla Moto Coaster. Worth a visit, but unless they added something new, I wouldn`t go out of my way to make a return trip there. I have also been to Pacific Park at Santa Monica pier in CA on my honeymoon. They have a nice collection of rides that are really crammed in a small space. Definitely check out the carousel just outside Pacific Park.

Thanks for sharing. Very informative. I look forward to future chapters!

Please do. One of the features of the site redesign here is we want to highlight content submitted by users. While Kings Dominion isn`t Kings Island, we would love to see any historical pictures that you may have of Kings Dominion!

I would love to see a Tilt A Whirl at Kings Island. For now, I will have to get my Tilt A Whirl fix at Coney.

Thanks for sharing. I have seen relatively few pictures from Kings Dominion that show their train ride.

The ride still looks a lot better than it did before it received its last major painting (for the 2002 season). At the start of the 2001 season, the dark blue supports on the verticle loops looked like light gray because the blue had faded so much.

You know the off season is almost over when you spend five hours down at Coney on a Saturday when the rides are still not put back together and doing more than 20 interviews for ride operators.

I would love to see some classic flats put into Kings Island.

Looks like they still have some painting/staining to do on the exterior of the shed.

It wouldn`t be the first time that a ride at Kings Island had original music composed for it. Tomb Raider and Flight of Fear come to mind. In fact, this guy is responsible for the Flight of Fear music: http://www.rpmusic.com/about

Excellent trip report! How did you like the area where the new rides were located in? I have yet to get down there to ride Fury 325. One of these years I will get down there to ride it.