StormChaser97

Unacceptable on so many levels… I would hope something would be done in terms of accountability but I never count on that lol

Really happy to see the Cedar Fair font and branding are sticking around. It’s always been some of my favorite branding in the amusement park industry!

Picture perfect day at the park today! Just gorgeous. If the weather could be like this everyday of the season, I would be a pretty content coaster nerd.

The show was great but didn’t really change much up other than a few new drone formations. Still a nice end of day treat. I watched it while I was riding Diamondback and I have to say the addition of the drones to the firework show has made it my new fave night ride. Watching the drones as you fly over the hills is really special. Plus, right as we came out of the splashdown and hit the brakes, we looked back and the Diamondback logo formation popped up with perfect timing. It was a lovely end to the night!

Here now, it’s wild how much is closed!

If you have to choose, I would recommend Carowinds. It’s a much better overall experience. I love Twisted Timbers and P305 is as intense as they come (so much so that I usually have to take a break after a few cycles, which isn’t true for pretty much any other coaster I’ve been on. Fury is a better ride in my opinion because it strikes that delicate balance of extreme intensity and reridability just perfectly) However, KD feels so much more disjointed as a whole. Plus the operations at Carowinds are miles ahead. I visited both parks last month when I went to see a friend at UNC and KD was running a single train on their Backlot Stunt Coaster, which tells you all you need to know lollol I guarantee you’ll feel like you got more out of your day and trip if you go with Carowinds.

Some other photos from the evening. Such a great night. The park was running the best I’ve ever seen. There were two trains on lightning run and their dispatches were spectacular for this park’s standards. You are really starting to feel Herschend’s fingerprints in the atmosphere, reliability, employee morale, and the park’s overall charm. Most of the ride ops were interacting with guests and very friendly, clearly happy to be there. Something that was almost nowhere to be found under Ed Hart and previously, Six Flags. I’m so glad Kentucky Kingdom landed in an operator’s lap who seems to recognize this park’s potential despite its limitations. They are playing up the park’s strengths very well and I see nowhere but up for Kentucky Kingdom if it stays in Herschend’s hands and the exponential improvements in quality and value year over year continue into the near and distant future.

It’s been a long off season but I’m finally reunited with my fave ejector airtime machine in the Ohio valley. Great night here at the park for season pass preview from 5-10 PM. Beautiful weather and can’t wait for some night rides!

Loved reading your thoughts! Here this morning for the season pass preview day and can’t wait to experience it myself shortly

The Muffuletta sounds yummy!

This is cute! Nice little touch

Kentucky Kingdom has added Thursday evenings to the Pumpkins at KK event this fall. So now a 4 day weekly event for the entirety of October!

Things were kinda rough but I had a great time! As a pass holder who goes biweekly, I expected the park to be off its game a bit. I would never recommend someone who only goes to Kings Island once or twice a year to go on opening day. However, if you go regularly and have that itch after a long winter, it’s worth it to just see the park alive again and get a couple laps on your favorite ride. I’ve been to way worse opening days in the past and I’m sure the park will be humming like a well oiled machine soon enough!

Update: squeezed in a front row ride on Diamondback at 8:58 that was spectacular! Once it finally reopened in the last hour it was running great! I thought Banshee was also running better than previous years today and was definitely one of the more reliable staple coasters along with Mystic Timbers. Orion was running well but down every now and then. Overall a decent opening day with the usual setbacks! I like this chilly, breezy weather so couldn’t complain there. Can’t wait to come back in a couple weeks!

At the park right now and just got evacuated from The Beast’s final brake run about an hour ago. We were first stuck on the second lift hill for about 20 min. The train behind us was evacuated from the first lift hill lol Diamondback closed as soon as I got here at 3:30 and hasn’t opened since. So the opening day hiccups are not in short supply haha On the bright side, it’s a beautiful day and the park looks great. Making the most of it! Def gonna get some blue ice cream after I get off Orion here soon

So I’ve watched videos of both SSBR and Good Gravy! now and I have to say, SSBR looks like a much more intense ride. I thought these would have very similar intensity levels but the custom layout Holiday World ordered looks intentionally designed to be a bit milder. SSBR has quite a bit of whip and kick to it. I think it’ll be a great time! Def enjoy the theming and execution of Good Gravy’s rollout a lot more though haha I’m also just now noticing that the spike on Good Gravy doesn’t have the double up-double down element that we get on SSBR. I am curious if that hump will give a decent little pop of air since it makes it up the spike quite further than I was expecting.

They are indeed taking the atrocity down gently. I can’t imagine this going anywhere else in the HFE chain… this addition is far beneath Dollywood and Silver Dollar City. Wild Adventures already has an SLC in Twisted Typhoon. They are most likely looking to sell this off to an unfortunate buyer haha

I wasn’t able to get pics because I just drove by on my way home on the interstate but T3 is officially (finally!!!) being dismantled. Hopefully this means a new addition for next year! Herschend seems to be kicking into high gear at the Kingdom

All park pass and add ons went smoothly today too at KD! The park’s ride operations? Not so much lol one train ops on everything except Dominator. Carowinds had at least 2 trains on all the coasters yesterday. Still had a great time but the park is just not on Kings Island and Carowinds’ level operations wise.

Sure do! I was most scared about those but they’ve been smooth too. I have all park season Fast Lane and the premium season drink plan and no issues. The employee was even nice enough to ask me “soft drink or icee?” So hopefully those initial training hiccups at the beginning of the season are getting ironed out. Having a great day here. Sunny with some considerable wind. No ride closures yet, fingers crossed! Tomorrow, I’m doing a day at Kings Dominion and I’m interested to see if it goes as well there. Does Carowinds just have better run park? We shall see haha

At Carowinds today with my all park passport gold pass add on out of Kings Island. Butter smooth entry at the parking tolls and at the gate, whew!

I’ve wanted nighttime ERT ever since I became a pass holder. Never got to experience it before it was cut. It would be so cool in the summer to have extra night rides when the sun sets super late. Even if it wasn’t a daily thing, just a once a week or even semi-monthly offering would be so appreciated.

If I want a pure, unrestrained shot of adrenaline- Drop Tower If I want a complete, satisfying ride experience with great forces and weightlessness- Delirium If I want to giggle uncontrollably and feel like I’m 5 again- Shake, Rattle, and Roll

I hope so as well!!! It is way too tiny. That small little circular midway, which is the entire front side of the park, will get very clogged up if people can’t venture over the bridge or crosswalk to spread themselves out more. If the event is a hit and they’re slammed, that could become a legitimate issue. Hopefully, if they don’t do it this year, they open the back section in future seasons.

Louisville local here! I’m excited for this but I hope it’s better than Pumpkins at the Kingdom in the fall. While the lights were great, they were only on the entrance’s side of the park. Thunder Run was closed for the season with its entire entrance blocked off and Lightning Run wasn’t operating that night either. Got a ride on Storm Chaser, which I’m obviously a big fan of lol lol but they were only running one train on a Saturday night when it was fairly busy. I wasn’t really impressed with the park operations relative to the summer. The park operations performance during peak season ranges from average to slightly below average. But the fall event really reminded me of the bumpy times at KK when the park first reopened with Lightning Run, which just so happened to also be the year I worked at the park as my first job in high school hahaha Lightning Run was a great comeback but pretty much everything else was pure chase lol I’m noticing very gradual and encouraging signs of improvement in the the park’s performance in ride operations, guest services, etc. since Herschend took over, albeit much slower than I expected and wanted to see. For example, T3 is still standing and 100% intact, from what I could tell when I last drove by about a week ago or so. I was hoping to see faster movement to usher in its replacement. Hopefully they rip it down soon and get working on something new, even if it is just a water park expansion. Anyway, I’m excited to see how this event goes and I’m rooting for their success! Hopefully they beef up the fall event and really knock the new Christmas event out of the park, pun intended hehe Although KK has had a rocky history and still has some issues to sort through, I think Herschend is showing a willingness to invest in the park long term. I wanna see my hometown underdog succeed haha My home park at heart is always Kings Island though, that short little drive to Cincinnati is the BEST. No matter what KK does, I assure you locals here will continue to drive up to KI for as long as it’s open, given KK’s long list of limitations. I mean heck Holiday World is an even shorter drive than KI from Louisville and a far superior park to KK with plenty of room to expand. Long time lurker here and just got the itch to weigh in on this one. Might try to do so more. I’m so excited for the spring and summer! I’ve got my HW, KK, and KI season passes ready to go. I’m visiting a friend at the beginning of April, who is in graduate school at UNC. We’re gonna hit up KD and Carowinds with my all park passport, then do a day at BGW as well. It will be my first time at BGW and I’m stoked! Little bummed Loch Ness won’t reopen till May but they have plenty more to offer that I’m excited about! This summer I think I’m gonna do a week long trip starting with Cedar Point then driving east to hit up all the Pennsylvania parks for the first time. So many great rides with rich history out there. Hoping to make this a great summer full of new experiences!