johnjniehaus

Alright just got back from a wonderful trip to CP and here's my report - Crowd level: lightest crowds I've ever seen at the park. Longest wait all day was 70min for Steel Vengeance. Millennium Force was a 45min wait We got on Maverick in 30 min both times and everything else was definitely less than that. Boardwalk: looks fabulous. Wanted to try and eat at the new restaurant but we were in the back by mine ride when lunch rolled around so we had the farmhouse instead. The wild mouse looked fun but I wasn't willing to wait 45 min for it when millenium force at the same time of day was 20 min wait. I also liked that they covered their tracks of removing the Matterhorn and Scrambler from the main midway and replaced them with walking path and landscaping. You would never know they were there unless you knew they were there. Millennium Force: wonderful as always! Ops seemed a bit slow but it's early in the season so they have room for improvement Magnum XL 200: experienced alot of down time during the trip. We didn't catch it until nearly 5pm and got two rides. To me personally still one of the best in the park. Gemini: due to staffing they were only running the red side. Hopefully they get the rest of the staff trained soon! Maverick: these ops were killing it! Line moved faster than I've ever seen it move and the ride only had one period of downtime that I noticed. Iron Dragon: wasn't operating however, they had trains on the lift and in the station so hopefully in a few weeks it'll be flying again Cedar Downs Racing Derby: This is one of our favs and it was closed all day. I saw there was a wet paint sign by the ride so perhaps painting is why it wasn't operating or perhaps like blue Gemini it was a result of short staffing? Regardless my 9 year old sister was pretty disappointed until we promised we'd ride the Cadillac Cars 2x to make up for it. Of course we rode Steel Vengeance, Mine Ride, GateKeeper, Valravn, Raptor, Blue Streak, and Corkscrew. The only major coaster we didn't ride was Rougarou and the Wild Mouse. Altogether a beautiful day and we were able to do a lot of rides. Enjoyed this trip much more than some previous ones where the crowds are just so crazy up there.

I was at CP yesterday (May 11) and Iron Dragon was not operating. They did have trains on the lift and in the station house. Hopefully they get it up and running soon!

In any footage I've seen of Vortex at Canadas Wonderland it runs 6 car trains. The Bat at KI runs 7 car trains. However, yes it would be interesting to know what the difference in wear and tear is on the two rides.

I was never fond of T3. About any "new" coaster model would be better than that one as long as it isn't a really tame family coaster addition. An addition to the park on par with storm chaser or lightning run would be great!

So.... sounds like it's not going to be opening day after all.

YES!!! It flies again! I can't wait to get back to the park and ride it again!

Kings Island: a ride through time shed a bit of light on the decision making process surrounding The Vortex removal and yes it's true that it was not announced until very late summer or maybe fall. However, it was still operational giving it's fans a few weeks to get last rides. I personally think they should have given it an entire season farewell much like Cedar Point gave Mean Streak but unfortunately we didn't get that. The problem with The Bat is that we don't know what the current issue is. It probably is (and I'm hoping that it is) just a small part issue or perhaps some re-tracking that didn't get completed during the off season seeming plausible seeing as Delirium and Drop Tower also are waiting on parts/maintenance. However, it is true that in cases such as Volcano at KD some coasters wind up in SBNO land and then are quietly removed without any last rides much to the grief of coaster enthusiasts and fans of the particular ride. I don't think we should jump to conclusions but I do understand the fear that The Bat could wind up in a similar situation to Volcano.

I'm really hoping whatever the reason behind the delayed opening is resolved and they are able to get The Bat operational sooner rather than later. I am also of the opinion that rides shouldn't be removed unless they are prepared to replace them with something and as of right now it seems that The Vortex plot is in need of something. I know they decided to take Vortex down coinciding with the addition of Orion but I do believe they intended to replace it before now. COVID probably changed whatever tentative plans they had. Regardless, I really love suspended arrow coasters and I really hope there's nothing majorly wrong with ours seeing as it is the "newest" one. If for some reason they decide it's going the way of Dinosaurs Alive and all the other defunct attractions hopefully they sell off some track slices because that's one coaster I'd actually invest in having a souvenir from.

This made me chuckle a little bit. Trading something to CP would be difficult seeing as they have one of the most complete coaster collections in the world. I personally enjoy Beast and Racer much more than Mystic and figured that a modern woodie was about the only thing we have that CP doesn't have or would be interested in having in the future. Part of the deal was also getting one of only two racing derby carousel rides that exist in the USA. Again trying to make sense for CP I couldn't justify trading them any of our flat rides because it would only be duplicates of what they already have. However, I can understand that for any fan of Mystic Timbers the trade would be out of the question! So yeah I might be crazy ... Just not crazy about Mystic Timbers

Yes exactly my thoughts! I personally won't be at CP on opening day but I'll be there that following week weather permitting.

So most people likely know by now that Iron Dragon had some track removed during the off season at Cedar Point. I heard from someone that the track has been reinstalled and I decided to reach out to Cedar Point about the coaster and received the email pictured here. From the sound of the email, it should be operational for Opening Day. If anyone else has any more information concerning Iron Dragon, I and possibly others would be interested.

So you are telling me that at 18 years old, I'm responsible enough to join the military and vote but not to chaperone a younger sibling at an amusement park? I understand that there's been a lot of trouble out of teenagers and young adults but I would think there should be a way to discipline the offenders instead of penalizing the respectable customer as well. Like how about anyone caught misbehaving by security gets an immediate boot from the park and a 30-60 day ban from entering the park? That would screw some punk kid's summer up real nice.... just saying. I'll be turning 21 in June so I guess until then I'll be "in violation" after 4pm while accompanying my younger sister or cousin. Obviously if security asks me to leave I have no intention of bulking authority but I'm not waving my ID around asking to get booted out after 4pm.

Trying to make sense for both parks - How about Backlot Stunt Coaster to Valleyfair for Excalibur? (I've never ridden it but if it's anything like Gemini at CP it would be way better than Stunt Cars. Furthermore, Valleyfair in years past has acted like they aren't planning on keeping Excalibur long term) Trade Mystic Timbers to Cedar Point for Wild Mouse and Cedar Downs Racing Derby (we get amazing flat ride and a family coaster and they get a new woodie seeing as they are currently down to Blue Streak) Trade Boo Blasters on Boo Hill to Cedar Point for Skyride (we get Skyride across International Street like it was back in the 70s and CP who currently doesn't have a dark ride would now have one) Trade Invertigo and Congo Falls to Six Flags Over TX for Shockwave (TX probably always needs water rides and they don't currently have a 'boomerang' model as theirs went to st Louis. Shockwave would fill the void left in our lineup by Vortex demolition by having a smaller looper that still rides smooth and packs a punch) Trade Orion to Six Flags Magic Mountain for Tatsu (Magic Mountain finally gets a giga and we get a B&M flyer that is totally different than everything else in our lineup) Trade (name any flat ride in the park) to Carowinds for our original flying eagles.

I personally really enjoyed the dark ride shooter Ghostwood Estate at Kennywood. The shooting tech was more similar to Men in Black at Universal but the amount of animatronics and sets was absolutely amazing. I also really enjoyed the Houdini themed mad house at Six Flags Great Adventure and I wouldn't be opposed to a phantom theater mad house attraction. I boo blaster needs to go ASAP but if they want to bring Phantom Theater back, they need to do it right which is no screens and preferably no shooting (in my opinion) just make a really really solid story ride with really good sets and animatronics.

I think after the pandemic all amusement parks took a pretty hard financial hit and while I would hope that they have been able to recoup some money by now, I also think that park leadership gets a bit greedy and wants to see huge profits and part of making more money is not spending a lot of money. So you know cut things like landscaping that at the end of the day don't get people into the park. I'm assuming very few people go to Kings Island just to look at the landscaping and trees. Or in order to cut labor they only have half of the food locations open. The people who are going to buy food are still going to and they will just have to wait twice as long to do so. To me pass holders with meal/drink plans are the ones who really get penalized with closed dinning locations. Unfortunately, I think that Cedar Fair silently has been making some changes that are not totally unlike Six Flags (just six flags has been pretty vocal about changes and has made the news over enthusiast backlash and angry customers) However, preview day this year at KI reminded me of opening day last year at Six Flags St Louis. Kings Island had 4 big rides closed (Adv Express, The Bat, Delirium, and Drop Tower). Six Flags St Louis also had some big rides closed for opening day in 2022 (The Boss, Mr Freeze Reverse Blast, Xcalibur) and both parks had probably half their dinning locations closed. I also think that some of the staff didn't seem to be "ready" or very well trained. I do want to say I appreciate all the good staff that typically KI has but yesterday (preview day) there were a few that just seemed unprepared. One of the seat assignment people on Diamondback consistently left unfilled rows, there was no seat assignment on The Racer, and whenever I went to Auntie Anne's in rivertown there was a lot of mistakes. I ordered regular pretzel nuggets and a cup of water but got charged $4 and something for a fountain drink and whenever I asked if the water wasn't free anymore the girl didn't seem to know so the "manager" came over and took it off. Then whenever she filled my order she gave me the "pigs in a blanket" as I would call them but basically the hotdogs in pretzels however, I just took it seeing as they probably wouldn't be allowed to take it back. So needless to say, so far I am unimpressed by the 2023 season seeing as many of the off season projects are incomplete and the park overall is just not up to previous years standards. I feel like it's extremely noticeable though because we just came off one of the greatest seasons at the park where everything looked amazing and staff was excellent and frankly it was the 50th so it was supposed to be amazing. However, the golden standard has definitely relaxed quite a bit for the 51st season. After all of that I'm still excited about seeing the new projects completed and obviously with more experience the staff will improve. I'm just hoping they can get some of the closed rides up and running or at least give some descent reason that they aren't. It makes me a little more understanding if there's a "reason" behind an action.

So someone in line for The Beast today asked if I had heard about the new HUSS Enterprise opening in Adventure Port called Sol Spin. He further informed me that the park had one once upon a time that was located in the area by Vortex now occupied by shake rattle and roll.... If only the Sol Spin was a HUSS Enterprise....for some reason I prefer the minimal restraints and the "cage" feel on a true enterprise (HUSS or Schwarzkopf) vs the modern equivalent.

Red was running very well when I rode it. Really hope they do blue this next off season. That trim on the red turn around didn't hit very hard when I rode it today so I'm thinking that blue is going to have a very hard time catching up now seeing as typically red always arrives at the lift first and drops first.

Anyone have any information on why The Bat is closed or how long it'll take the park to get it running this season?

Well you learn something new every day. I was always under the impression that the tumble bug was the oldest ride to ever operate at Kings Island but after doing some digging (outside of wikipedia) turns out the original Coney Island dogem was from 1924 (a year before the tumble bug opened in 1925). However, there seems to be some debate as to whether the current dogem is the original or not seeing as it changed cars, locations, and buildings over the years. I think the park even celebrates the Grand Carousel as the oldest ride currently at the park so I would be inclined to believe that the original dogem and the current dogem rides aren't the same?

Arrow Suspended, Togo Ultra Twisted, or Schwarzkopf loopers would be my picks provided they were built as originally intended (no nerfs on restraints, trains, speed, etc). I'm happy to see the Schwarzkopf Wildcat is going back into production. I think they should revive more former coaster models seeing as eventually the existing ones will be rather old or gone the way of the scrap yard.

I have said for years that the plot seems suitable for a dive coaster, however it wouldn't be my preferred choice seeing as the new models have anti airtime vest restraints. The older dives like griffon and sheikra are loads of fun but Valravn is just average to me due to the lack of airtime.

Anyone else notice that Adventure Express is listed under June 1-July 31? So can we hope for a possible late May/June first opening date seeing as they've implied that it won't be operational for Opening Day?

I would argue that Skyhawk at Canada's Wonderland is a "modern equivalent" of Flight Commander just as the demolition derby is the modern day cuddle up. Maybe there's hope KI will get one some day. (Most likely not but you can speculate right!?)

Sorry I misunderstood the point you were trying to make. All of that information was very interesting! I definitely agree with your statement that if it has been a success there would have not been so much mystery/obsession over it because many more people would have got to ride it and it would just be one of the former coasters at this point much like Kings Cobra or Screemin Demon. It would still have had the first suspended coaster title going for it, but King Cobra had first standup on American soil going for it and few people ever talk about that one anymore.

Man I forgot how loud Steel Vengeance lift is! Actually a few RMC have very loud lift hills. I also remember Phantoms Revenge at Kennywood being loud enough to hear from the parking lot.