Great America Guy

Awesome post Hank!!! That could very well be the best, and most down to earth post I've read on these boards in years. Something like this should be a real eye opener for everyone. Just knowing that any ride you board could turn out like this... or worse. You can put a price tag on the cost of the ride, or how much money it eats maintenance wise; but you can't put a price on the 27 lives that were in danger. Thank god that bruises, lost teeth, and a broken rib are the worst of the injuries... considering that given the speed of the train at that point of the ride this could have turned out far worse than it did. I hope everyone involved in the accident is doing well in their recovery.

Exactly. I've visited PKI every year since 1998. And since about 2001/2002, the rest of the parks woodies have been put on hold while they've sunk millions into SoB every year to make it rideable. The Beast isn't even the same ride that it was in 2001, it is just about as rough as it's son! Then there's The Racer. Last year my 7 year old cousin came back to the station on forwards Racer crying because it hurt so bad... and this is the same kid that likes Son of Beast!! While I've never disliked the ride; I didn't love it either. I rode it every time I visited. But after 6 years of trouble, and now this... I agree with the majority of you, that it is time to just give up on Son of Beast.

I love all of these ideas! For Coney Mall, I'd axe that whole ugly games area they added a few years ago to the left of Racer's entrance(where Skylab was) and add a flat there, well as in Flight Commaders spot, and Eagles spot. Add on to the end of Top Gun... utilize some of that momentum left over at the end of the ride. I'd also try and squeeze a few flats back into Oktoberfest. And I'd re-Internationalize International Street... no more ugly painted Nickelodeon store!

LOL, we came back into the park from lunch around 12:45 I think, and my uncle and cousin made it thru Delirium's queue in less than 30 mins, while I waited with my little cousin in the same length of Top Gun's line you describe.

Well, if this is true, I'm glad I walked through there today!

It was finally time to make our yearly trek to Kings Island for Labor Day weekend! This year we decided to go on Labor Day instead of the day before, which ended up being the best decision we could have made. We arrived in the parking lot by 9:45, and into the park by about 9:55. We split up and I took my one cousin towards Action Zone. We headed towards Face/Off but were greeted with the "Temporary Delay in Operation" speech. So we turned around just as the chains were dropped, and I ended up dragging my cousin all the way over to... Delirium 2 rides, 0 to 5 min wait We walked right on to my first ride ever on Delirium, and I loved it so much, we ran right back around and did it again!! I LOVE this ride! It's not scary or anything like that, it's just plain FUN! It is definately my favorite flat ever! 10/10. After that, we walked right onto... Son of Beast 1 ride, 0 min wait. I can definately see why most people don't like this ride, but I really don't have a problem with it. Besides having the loudest lift ever, and being one of the bumpiest rides I've ever been on, I really like the speed, and of course... the loop. As always, one ride was enough for the day. 6/10. Since we were right there, we decided to hike a few miles back to... Top Gun 2 rides, 0 to 15 min wait. This ride, like a few others we would ride later, seemed to really be running faster than I remember from last year. This ride really moved through the course! I always like this ride, its another one of those fun ones that you can't find at just any park. We took another ride later in the day. 7/10. Next, we were off to a suddenly re-opened... Face/Off 1 ride, 5 min wait. Finally! My first ride on this coaster in 4 years! I really like this ride! I'm sorry, but this ride walks all over Deja Vu. in my opinion, this one is 10 times more fun, and I would take this over Vu anyday! 8/10. After our intense ride on Face/Off, it was off to... Flight of Fear 1 ride, 10 min wait. This was where we really started to count our blessings for the continued luck of short to no waits!! Flight of Fear was just as awesome as always, and running pretty fast... which only made the MCBR feel even harder. Fun, fast, and smooth as glass!! 9/10. Passing by the completely full queue for IJ:ST, we made our way to my alltime favorite... The Beast 1 ride, 15 min wait. Here is where we noticed the park getting busier. The Beast had a few rough spots, but it still manages to hold its spot as my #1 favorite coaster!! 10/10. After that, we stumbled across another first for me; a re-opened... Tomb Raider: The Ride 1 ride, 25 minute wait. Here was our longest wait of the day. The ride was pretty good, and the theming was excellent!! All in all, I really enjoyed the whole expericence!! 8/10. After TR:TR, we went out to the car to eat. Upon returning ro the park, we took our second ride on Top Gun, then made our way to... Adventure Express 1 ride, 10 min wait. Yet another ride that seemed to be running fast, and surprisingly smooth! I always make time to ride this one, it really is a fun ride! 6/10. Next on to... Vortex 1 ride, 15 minute wait. This was the first time I've ever waited thru a full queue on Vortex. Through that, I finally took the time to look around, and notice how many remnants of The Bat that are scattered all over The Vortex site. I was really surprised to see footers that still had the bases of the supports still attached! The ride itself was good as always! I ended up buying an on-ride photo! 8/10 After Vortex, we rode Shake Rattle & Roll, and Zephyr. Then we made our way to... Eiffel Tower 1 ride, 5 min wait. I always love going on this one too. Once at the top, I began taking pictures before I met a fellow enthusiast. He was quite nice, orange shirt, long blonde hair, and very knowledgable about the park, which I thought was cool. Too bad I didn't have more time to chat, but he said he looks on these boards, so let me know who you are! When we got back to the ground, we stopped by an old favorite... Beastie 1 ride, 10 min wait. My first coaster ever! It was fun to ride this one again, and I forgot how much air you actually get on this coaster!! 8/10. We concluded our day with a ride on the Viking Fury. It was truly a GREAT day at PKI. The crowds were not bad, the weather was awesome, and so were the rides! I can't wait until next year to get back! Thanks for reading!

^ Exactly. I would never want Six Flags to go belly up, as I guess I have been blessed(from what I've read) to have Six Flags Great America as my homepark. I also would never want Six Flags to own PKI. Kings Island is awesome the way it is. If Six Flags ever did purchase PKI, I would never want to wait around and see if Kings Island would get the "flagship" park treatment, or the not-so generous treatment that alot of Six Flags parks get.

There is your proof on that subject... Bigger/Taller/Faster does NOT always mean better! I can barely put into words what an experience on The Beast is like... It's just incredible! Of all of the roller coasters I've been on, Beast is still my favorite of all of them! BTW, I'm another one who has never been beat up by SOB; I don't dislike the ride, it's just not on the top of my list.

Wow, thats a great pic! I really like the location PCW picked for their IJ.

The longest line I've ever waited in was 1.5 hours each for Batman: The Ride and Iron Wolf at SFGAm, both in 2001. The longest PKI line I've ever waited in was a little over an hour for The Beast at night back in 2001 also.

No-one ever fell out of PKI's Drop Zone. After the PGA incident, all Drop Zones in all Paramount Parks were closed until the PGA accident was investigated. Same with the accident on Shockwave at PKD, where the man fell out of the ride. When that happened, Paramount ordered King Cobra and Sky Rider(PCW) to close until investigation proved that the accident was not the fault of the ride.

Yeah thats why. I couldn't remember if it was 15 or 20 degrees for the tilt. Now 45 degrees like mentioned before would be killer!!

See: Deja Vu I think that when IJ:ST is fully loaded it will complete the course even faster(actually I know it will, as we've already learned...physics!) I for one am still excited to try this ride out!

CoastersRZ: It all depends what the park has in store for Winterfest. And how fast they can get the park transformed from Halloween to Christmas.

I rode Acrophobia back in March of 2004, and when we rode, we didn't even notice the "tilt-out" I don't know if there was something wrong with it that day, but whatever tilt we had, it wasn't enough to make any difference. Drop Zone would be awesome with this sort of idea, and I would give anything to try that out!

I agree, most likely a Nick Central Expansion/HB retheme. Maybe also a Giant Flat in Flight Commanders place?

I've only been going to PKI since 1998, but I do miss the way Rivertown used to look, with both flumes. I also miss King Cobra, The Racer when forwards was enjoyably smooth, and I will be missing the tiques this year.

^^Look here: http://www.rcdb.com/ig777.htm?picture=1 It's a B&M vertical drop coaster.

Wasn't the ride they used in the concept art for the Adam's family coaster a B&M Dive Machine? If so, that would ROCK!!!

I too think that a Wild Mouse or even a Boomerang coaster would be awesome for Coney. There aren't many other types of coasters that could fit into Coney, besides and Impulse, but those are most likely very expensive. I also liked the idea of rebuilding copies of the Shooting Star or the Wildcat. It would be incredible to get to try out these classic designs! And I really would'nt put it past B&M to build a compact coaster. Up here at SFGAm Batman and especially Iron Wolf are fit into VERY tight spaces. But a nice compact B&M would mean big $$.

PKI (Labor Day weekend as always) Six Flags Great America (All the time) Six Flags St. Louis Holiday World Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom Cedar Point Valleyfair! Mt. Olympus (Gotta try out Hades!)

^^ Yes, it did, but they probably already knew they were going to remove SD as Vortex was being built, although I am sure that Vortex probably had a big effect on SD's ridership.

In terms of how I thought the layout and theming would look, I definately under-rated it.

I agree with CoastersRZ about how much the park has changed since 1998. That was the first season I ever went to PKI, and the differences between now and 1998 are unreal. I remember the Keelboat Canal, King Cobra, Outer Limits, Adventure Village, Top Gun red, Amazon Falls, and Adventure Express completely in the woods insead of next to a mammoth wooden giant.

Just watch, opening day rolls around and all thats left where the Eagles were is a nice grassy area with a tree planted in the middle of it. I think it will most likely be used for the Happy Days Cafe, or maybe IJ's que will wind around through that area?