johnjniehaus

That is quite the trip! Make sure you share all the details for us on the forums

I feel ya! I live in Harrison, OH so it's a little ways for me as well... If you want to carpool up there sometime this summer do me and maybe I can pick you up or something. One westsider KI fan to another

The stripes are cool though I agree with that the ride in general needs a good overhaul. I mean even something like they did with Adventure Express would be fine. Bring back the real Flying Eagles and a Backlot overhaul in 2025? I'm down!

Not sure if this is the right section for this thread so if not I apologize but I wanted to throw one out there for us to discuss our bucket list parks for this year and any amusement park road trips or other types of trips/vacations we might be kicking around for this year. Can't wait to hear where everyone is headed! Seeing as I'm a broke college student now, I will be lucky to get up to CP for two days. Does anyone know how far Michigan's Adventure is from CP and is it worth going to if you have never been? I have also kicked around the idea of hitting SFGA, Indiana Beach, & SFSL on a long weekend. ACE has a week long trip planned to the British parks and that's definitely on my bucket list but there's no way I'm coming up with nearly $3k this year to do it. Maybe one day...

Gotcha. Well I'll start. One thing I was surprised about is now seemingly affordable the event is given everything it includes. I mean out of town guests obviously have to get hotels but for locals such as myself this event is very affordable and is very exciting... I have always wanted to see some of the behind the scenes tours and I'm really excited about the Flight of Fear peek inside the bowl. The sign shop I've heard is pretty cool as well.

Did you create a new thread for discussion of this event? If so is there a way to find it?

Any more word on when tickets go on sale for coaster mania?

Cool my account is still under review or something so guess we'll see if it comes together

I finally decided to join ACE! If this event isn't sold out I'm definitely interested in it but I also think that ACE is a great organization and worth being a part of even if I miss out on the spring conference

Dorney park is such an overlooked and underrated park in my opinion. For a mid size park it's history is incredible and their coaster lineup is probably one of the best for a park that size. Iron Menace will be such a great addition to Dorney!

1) Delirium 2) Dogem 3) Monster 4) Viking Fury 5) Drop Tower 6) Sol Spin 7) WindSeeker 8) Shake Rattle & Roll 9) Scrambler 10) Cargo Loco 11) Eiffel Tower (if it is considered a flat) 12) Grand Carousel 13) Zephyr *If we still had the original Flying Eagles (I rode at Carowinds) it would place at #1. A vintage bisch-rocco flying scooter might be the world's best flat ride...

Same here friend! Only ever heard parents and their friends talk about the ride and the show got me interested in finding out more and the old ride looked like a lot of fun and with some good storytelling and good quality animatronics this would be one heck of a ride return for KI. PT has some of the best original characters in a dark ride and it's crazy that it's been over 20 years and everyone who rode the ride still remembers the characters. I'm talking about non-KI nerds who remember the characters' names and everything! Not just the Maestro...my dad and aunt are not enthusiasts at all but they still remembered and could tell you about Hilda bovine and no legs Larry and the rest of the PT cast all these years later

Very unfortunate chain of events. This park is plagued by the fact that it's in a smaller community with larger parks nearby and the fact that it just doesn't have much going for it at all. I personally think that they need to review their operating system. For example, could they do something similar to stickers grove in Ross, OH? Only be open for private events and maybe a few holidays? Coaster enthusiasts obviously want the leap the dips credit but if it wasn't for having the world's oldest rollercoaster, this park would have closed long ago. I'm very thankful to have gotten the credits in 2022 on both leap the dips and skyliner. Skyliner is actually a pretty good wooden coaster for its age and size.

Looks amazing! So glad to be a part of the Kings Island fan community. We have something there that no other amusement park has to my knowledge. A strong fan base that loves this park and loves the attractions both current and defunct that have operated here over the many years. KICentral is a way not only to learn about and discuss the park but also to connect with fellow amusement park fans who all have one thing in common - we love Kings Island and the amusement park industry!

I was wondering why there's not really any merch for Top Gun/Flight Deck/The Bat? Found pictures of this shirt online but don't see it for sale anywhere unfortunately. Flight Deck is what it always was when I was a kid and that is a really cool T-shirt design!

I'm kinda afraid of the regular que when this thing opens....

7-1 is my favorite row on The Bat

I'm with you 100% that when rides are removed a replacement needs to already be in the works. Unfortunately I think the pandemic scratched any plans they had for The Vortex plot and at this point people have just accepted the fact there's nothing there and probably won't be for a few more years

Not a huge fan of the name changes with the exception of Franklin Flyers (that one was good) We will now have Woodstock Express and Woodstock Air Rail (two Woodstock coasters...hmmm ok) and there was nothing wrong with the log flume name in relation to the area in my opinion

The Runaway Mine Train at SFOT, the Dahlonega Mine Train at SFOG, and Big Bad John at Magic Springs all have 3 lifts. As mentioned already The River King Mine Train at SFSL has 3 lifts as does Big Thunder Mountain at Disney World and Disneyland. So not totally uncommon for an Arrow mine train

How about we swap Delirium to Six Flags St Louis for the Colossus (giant ferris wheel)?

Few rides who's days are numbered.... 1. Boo Blaster: ride was in worse shape than I've ever seen it this past season. Maybe Phantom Theater revamp or something original. They won't take this out until they are ready to replace it. 2. Invertigo: Banshee has sort of taken the spot for inverted looper in the park's lineup and Invertigo is a rare vekoma model that eventually the park will not want to invest in (much like Firehawk) 3. Congo Falls: enough said it's been circling the ride cemetery for years. Possibly it and Invertigo leave at the same time with possible Timberwolf removal 4. The Bat: Hard to say how long a lifespan it will have but eventually I think it'll suffer the same fate as Vortex and due to the poor location it may not be replaced by anything. Is it going away tomorrow? No but do you think it will be there after 2030? I'm not sure if it'll last that long. Hopefully because I love that ride! 5. White Water Canyon: so this is random I know but has anyone noticed a trend of parks removing their river rapids rides? Carowinds, Holiday World, etc.... I think maybe it's a possibility that one day WWC will be filled in

My opinion is that yes ACE coaster landmark arrows such as the Matterhorn, Magnum, Loch Ness Monster, etc are prime candidates for re-tracking and restoration. The commonplace arrow is toast if it "reaches the end of its service life". There's a lot that goes into the lifespan of a coaster. The Matterhorn is older than many wooden coasters and the Runaway Mine Train at SFOT is still going strong. So some arrows may have many many years left in them. The "best" ones unfortunately also probably have shorter lifespans because of higher speed and forces and stress on the parts. I honestly fear for the Arrow suspended coasters seeing as none of them are recognized by ACE and there's only a handful left. Of course I have my preferences but at this point I don't care which park keeps their arrow suspended coaster, I just want one park to step up and make a big investment in preserving one

#PT2025

FoF 12/26/23