Rivertown Rider

Looking at the approximate size of the building of the Smokehouse I don't think it would take up all three buildings worth. I think they could easily use the back part of where the Attitudes building for the Antiques and possibly put a small flat like a Tilt a Whirl or Music Express on the midway side right beside of Scrambler.

On the Cedar Fair conference call they mentioned that all parks would be making next year's announcements on the 16th. We only have one more week until we find out. I could see see them using the Confections and Potato Works area for another smoke house and the Attitudes building area plus Tower Gardens for the Antiques.

I think the big thing in B&M's favor is the reliability. I don't want KI to build a giga that has constant downtime and I think that is why they would probably go the B&M route.

I thought they removed it when they put up the Coke Freestyle location and then never put it back up. It is one of the those simple things that adds a lot to an area and I hope they put it back up.

I always thought of the Coney Confections building as more of the entrance to Coney Mall rather than the Attitudes building. I would love to see the Coney Mall sign come back where it used be though.

Thanks Liz. Yes I just found some old Haunt maps online and that is correct. Do we think it is possible if Sorority House is going away as mentioned in another thread that they could just demolish that whole building and use that area plus the Tower Gardens area for the all-new Les Taxis. That would also allow them to keep the Skyline Patio area as it is. They could always relocate the arcade game and put the Attitudes store somewhere else (maybe combining it with the Coaster Connection store in Action Zone).

While looking up the satellite images of the park online, I noticed that the building that Attitudes is in is massive. I know that part of the building is arcade, part is the old lazer maze, and then the other part is Attitudes. Is that back part just used for storage or did it formerly have some other purpose other than the lazer maze? When you look at the overall building it looks to be three-to-four times the size of the Coney Confections building.

It is great to hear that Kings Island is on track for a record year of attendance. I think focusing on the families is smart as not everyone is going to ride Banshee or Diamondback. I have seen several older people in line for Mystic Timbers this year that probably aren't frequent riders of the more extreme coasters. Hopefully whatever additions we get next year takes this into account and we get some family attractions along with thrills attractions as well.

I think repaving the lot and adding some smaller flats in the same year would work. The park is having a record attendance year. They should be able to afford both.

Really if Dinos is going away and they used part of the land for a new Antique Ride, then you could use where the current dino shop is for a flat ride and the former Flight Commander pad for another flat. You could put an Electro Spin where Flight Commander used to be, a Music Express or Tilt a Whirl where the store is, and then the Antiques going back into the forest. It would really improve that area of the park and I think would very feasible. Cedar Fair said during their earnings conference call yesterday that all parks would be announcing next years additions on August 16 so we should find out soon.

It looks neat but a capacity nightmare. Perhaps they should have named it something different. Coming next season to Six Flags Fiesta Texas, "Wonder Woman: The Attack on Capacity"

Canada's Wonderland's version is electric and I think that would work. I think some people will be upset that they are not gas-powered but I'm sure the electric version is more cost-effective.

I haven't been to Fenway or Wrigley yet, but PNC has the best stadium tour we have been to. Kennywood is definitely in the middle of nowhere. The Science Center was a really good museum and the Heinz History museum was also good. The Heinz History museum is run by the Smithsonian and it is a bit overwhelming with the amount of information and exhibits so if you are going there make sure that you allow the time.

I think there a couple places that the Antiques could go. The area where the Skyline Patio sits right now would probably be the easiest though. You could even a take a small back part of Tower Gardens to lengthen the course. They could always add additional tables in Coney Mall somewhere.

I actually rode it when I was there in June and really enjoyed it. It packs a lot more force than you would expect. It would be a capacity nightmare in a bigger park (12 people at a time, 6 on each side) but I think it would be a great addition to a park like Coney or even Strickers. I think if the manufacturer built a bigger version with double the capacity it may be a good fit for some bigger parks. As far as the restraints, it is a simple over the shoulder restraint on top and they the bottom part just closes and latches. If you do go to the Island I would recommend getting the all day pass which is $30 but it give you 24 hours of unlimited rides on the Sky Wheel as well as the flats. The flats are pretty basic but the Wheel makes it worth it.

I haven't been on Fury yet but I preferred Leviathan to Millenium so I would prefer to get a B & M but whatever giga we get would add something special to the park.

I would love to see them bring back the antique cars. I was at the park last night and it doesn't look like they have removed anything from Tower Gardens yet but that space could be better utilized than it is now. The good thing about that location for the antiques is that it would a good family attraction plus close to some of the other family attractions like the carrousel and Dodgems.

I'm happy for Don and agree that whoever replaces him has some big shoes to fill. If there was someone who was born for that role it was Don.

I would like to see a flats collection with maybe one bigger flat and 2-3 smaller flats.

Yeah the line length argument is always strange. Vortex has always chewed people. Something like Flight of Fear and Backlot (which I both love) have lines but they have horrible capacity for the most part. Even if Vortex is running half full trains it is still probably doing better numbers overall than those rides. I also think for people over 30 who grew up going to the park that Beast, Vortex, and Racer are generally rides that are must-do if they only go to the park once or twice a year. As long as Vortex is not a maintenance nightmare for the park it will still be there for a while hopefully with a paint job.

I finally got the chance to go to Holiday World for the first time yesterday. My thoughts and observations: The Voyage- I had high expectations of The Voyage going in and I am a huge wooden fan. The first half of The Voyage was probably the best wooden coaster I have ever been on and then with the second half after the MCBR it beat me to death. I would be curious to ride it in cooler temperatures as others have said if that would calm it down. It is hard for me to figure out where to place it in my personal rankings as the first half it does as well as anything I have ever ridden but the second half brought back memories of SOB and Mean Streak. It is certainly top three with Beast and Mystic Timbers but neither of those have the roughness I experienced yesterday. I would certainly rank it above the Kennywood woodies and the Dollywood woodies though. I rode it a couple times and would definitely ride it again. The Legend- I rode front seat and it was a great ride. The second half of the ride felt like it just kept pulling me to the left so it wasn't the most comfortable ride but still a solid ride. The Raven- Short but fun ride. I felt it was the roughest of the three woodies as it jackhammered a lot. Thunderbird- I really enjoyed Thunderbird as well. I've only ridden this and Wild Eagle as wing coaster. Overall I probably like this one better due to the near-miss elements with the barn and trees. We got there before opening and I went over toward the Thanksgiving coasters first. Voyage was closed when the park first opened so I made the walk toward Thunderbird. I discovered why it is called Mt. Thunderbird. After riding Thunderbird, Voyage started testing and I went down and rode it after it opened. We also did Gobbler Getaway and it was a fun ride. After lunch I headed over to Halloween and did the other two coasters. Legend was down at first but eventually opened. I also did Frightful Falls and the Scrambler. It was a pretty busy day at the park and all of the coasters were running two trains but operations were still slow. It was a fun park and I would definitely go back. As far as the mid-sized parks I would still rank it behind Dollywood and Kennywood overall. I didn't get a chance to do the water park this time so I plan to do the two water coasters next time.

All of the Star Wars area images and videos they have released so far have looked great. Obviously concept art is just that but I have high hopes in this land and Disney will make a fortune if they do it right.

I finally got to checkout the Island Smokehouse on Friday and I had the pulled pork and it was great. I also thought the fries they had there were the best in the park. I totally agree that they need to put one on the dry side of the park.

I really like Firehawk and the Disney Vekomas I have been on but Flight Deck at Canada's Wonderland was the worst coaster I've ever been on so I'm on the fence.

I would prefer they not put VR on any of the coasters at KI. I like things that improve capacity not hamper them.