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Everything posted by johnjniehaus
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I never got to experience action theater but I'd love for something to go in there. Kings Island has so many old ugly buildings sitting around that need to be used for more than just a seasonal Halloween attraction. Imagine having two additional indoor attractions/dark rides of some kind... Definitely give you more to do when it's hot, rainy, or cold. Side tangent I want to know why on earth they flattened the beautiful, historic Vortex station house during the demolition of that ride but have kept every old ugly paramount generation building? We still have the big white box (tomb raider), still have the action theater, and the hideous SOB station but a beautiful building like The Vortex Station House immediately gets the wreaking ball despite being built in 1981 for the original Bat
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Silver Dollar City announcement
johnjniehaus replied to Oldiesmann's topic in Other Amusement Parks & Industry News
SDC has been on my list for about 3 years now and it never seems to work out. The park is in a really bad location geographically for me (nearly 10 hr drive) and the flights to Branson, MO are never affordable either. The other issue is that MO.is so big that you really aren't close to any other parks either. At least if you go to Orlando you have Tampa and hour away. If you go to Kings Dominion you have BGW and hour away. Even Kings Island/KY Kingdom makes a nice weekend trip for someone coming from out of town. SDC looks amazing but geographically it's been a challenge to figure out how to work it into a larger road trip... -
Project 305 "nearing completion"...
johnjniehaus replied to Oldiesmann's topic in Other Amusement Parks & Industry News
All I ask is that they give it a name better than thunder striker haha -
So maybe this question has been asked elsewhere and if so please feel free to direct me accordingly but I've heard reports that Dorney Park's monster ride has been missing this season... anyone have any information on that. According to what I heard the ride disappeared from the park and the website this season and the pad was used for a seating area. Anyone know if it's in storage or if they scrapped it? Is it coming back? It was an absolutely beautiful flat
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Removing both Firehawk and Vortex back to back years is definitely on of my least favorite decisions ever made by the park. However, nothing tops the decision to remove both antique car rides and the flying eagles for the junkyard coaster. I just genuinely want to know what someone was thinking or how they even for a second thought it was a good idea to remove 3 park originals in favor of backlot when it could have gone into the plot occupied by Firehawk just two years later. Then if it wasn't enough they didn't bother relocating the flying eagles to the vacant flight commander pad but instead sent them away to Carowinds. I just don't understand how anyone thought that was a good idea???
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Kings Island Halloween Haunt 2024 Reviews
johnjniehaus replied to IndyGuy4KI's topic in Kings Island
It's during the day on Sat and Sun before haunt begins. You wait in the que and then they take a small group and it's almost like a skit type of thing they do with madam and the tour guides about the museum and they walk you through the haunt maze. Anyone can go on the tour but on a rainy dead day at the park, I waited longer for this experience than I did any rollercoaster the entire day. -
Kings Island Halloween Haunt 2024 Reviews
johnjniehaus replied to IndyGuy4KI's topic in Kings Island
Did the walk through of Madam Fatales Cavern of Horror today to see what all remains of tomb raider. It was a really fun experience! I must say after seeing everything that is still in there, wouldn't it be awesome to eventually have a rollercoaster or dark ride return to the building? Something like DarKoaster or Verboten would be amazing in there or of course a Vekoma Mad House would be a riot too. -
Kings Island Halloween Haunt 2024 Reviews
johnjniehaus replied to IndyGuy4KI's topic in Kings Island
Good to know... Maybe I've never actually gone over to try to ride it during haunt (busy getting my coaster night rides). Still think it should be open though just saying. -
MonteZOOMA'S Revenge opening 2025!
johnjniehaus replied to BeeastFarmer's topic in Other Amusement Parks & Industry News
ACE Friend was at Knott's yesterday...they might surprise me but this doesn't look like it's reopening next year... (Maybe they need to call Zamperla to fix it) I'm not sure what the problem is, why this project is delayed but all I know is that it's hard for me to justify all the travel costs to Knott's when this situation has not been rectified. I jokingly tell my ACE buddies that I'm boycotting Knott's until they get their act together. -
I personally have a system to conquer the park but I have no idea how many steps I take to do it. I almost always start the day in Coney Mall. If I'm there at open FoF is first ride of the day. If I'm coming up after work it's racer. Then I usually work back towards adv Express and then Action Zone so that I'm near the entrance at lunch time (most of my family doesn't eat in the park but if we do, grain and grill or festhaus are near Action Zone). After lunch we hit boo blaster and then rivertown.
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Kings Island Halloween Haunt 2024 Reviews
johnjniehaus replied to IndyGuy4KI's topic in Kings Island
So I went to haunt opening night and why in the name of boocifer was boo blasters closed???? The one "haunted" ride closed during Halloween? Ridiculous! Last time I checked boo Blaster is technically international Street not Planet Snoopy except when it comes to staffing haunt I guess... Out of curiosity was it open sat during haunt or can we expect it to be closed consistently during haunt? Having said that the atmosphere was there, got a couple good jumps by roaming monsters. I thought the costumes and roaming scare actors were very good and very plentiful! Lines were short and I got some great night rides on beast, bar, Adv Ex, Dback, Orion, and Banshee. Got Racer before it was totally dark. -
Kings Island Halloween Haunt 2024 Reviews
johnjniehaus replied to IndyGuy4KI's topic in Kings Island
So I'm genuinely curious, is this haunt maze just open all day now? Is it a haunt maze that has been toned down for kids? Or is this sort of a behind the scenes type of tour of this particular maze much like they did with Hotel StMichelle during the ACE Spring Con? -
Kings Island Halloween Haunt 2024 Reviews
johnjniehaus replied to IndyGuy4KI's topic in Kings Island
Going tonight! Who else is going to be up there? -
Something is Surfacing 9-19-2024
johnjniehaus replied to SonofBaconator's topic in Other Amusement Parks & Industry News
Great points. It's interesting what the GP thinks about things.. sometimes they don't care and only the enthusiasts make a big deal about something but then other times the GP can be the harshest critic. -
Something is Surfacing 9-19-2024
johnjniehaus replied to SonofBaconator's topic in Other Amusement Parks & Industry News
As I said, everyone is welcome to their opinions. I don't feel the need to debate about the reason CP is getting a new coaster next year. I have my opinion others are welcome to have theirs. You can agree, disagree, think someone is right, think they are wrong. However, I think that discussing opinions is more important on these forums than personal attacks such as labeling people as belonging to a "weird community" or responding with "you..." as if an individual person is the problem with a narrative. If I disagree with an idea I state that my opinion is different from said idea not label groups of people as weird, tell someone they personally don't understand the role of the press, or tell someone they personally are 'needlessly emotional " about some topic or issue. That's a great way to get someone to consider your position when you launch personal attacks instead of just stating a different side of an argument or issue. -
Something is Surfacing 9-19-2024
johnjniehaus replied to SonofBaconator's topic in Other Amusement Parks & Industry News
That is very interesting! I had never heard that but it makes a lot of sense. Does anyone know why the coasters were switched? I'm genuinely curious now -
Something is Surfacing 9-19-2024
johnjniehaus replied to SonofBaconator's topic in Other Amusement Parks & Industry News
I'm not looking to argue about this. Attendance is not down and if I had to guess neither is profits but did the failure of Son of Beast cost KI attendance or profits? As far as I know it did not because people do not go to a major park for just one rollercoaster. Did the original Bat cost KI attendance or profits? I'm not sure that it did but you know what both rides did was give the park bad press coverage. Instead of getting good press about how great of a ride TT2 was/is, the park continued to get bad press all summer long and again at the end of the season due the announcement that I would not reopen this year. Sirens Curse can easily distract guests and make them feel like there is a new coaster to ride while also giving the park good press and distracting from the fact that TT2 still might not be open for opening day in 2025. So by opening a new coaster, instead of the headlines being "Top Thrill 2 not ready for opening day - remains closed" the headlines will be "Cedar Point opens record breaking tilt coaster" Again I do not wish to argue here but I think it's rather bold to call someone needlessly emotional. I can make the case for a logical business decision to give a small compact coaster to Valleyfair, a park that has a nice plot of land formerly occupied by Dinosaurs Alive and a park that has only one coaster that goes upside down (a very small arrow looper).A park that has not received a new coaster for a very long time. To say that CP got the project because they were the only park that has available land doesn't make sense to me because there are 40+ properties in the chain. How could CP be the ONLY park with a relatively small plot of available flat land? And furthermore we know that they can slightly alter projects to fit a park when a coaster project is relocated. Last time I checked CGA was supposed to get a hyper coaster and it was slightly redesigned to fit the KI terrain making it a giga coaster. I just want to say everyone is entitled to their opinions but I personally cannot see where TT2 played zero factor in this decision. It is a smart business decision to distract fans and the press. It's a smart decision to give your attendees a new hopefully reliable rollercoaster after the previous one failed to deliver. It's a smart decision to have a new exciting project that will make people want to buy season passes. For example, I went to CP this summer, my family refused to go because TT2 was closed. Now that CP announced Siren's Curse they are saying they are going next year and might not even buy KI passes. I asked about TT2 and that was an afterthought to the fact CP has a new rollercoaster that "looks really good" This didn't happen to me personally but I had a friend who was driving up to Sandusky when they made the announcement that TT2 was closed and he had already invested all sorts of money into the trip both in travel expenses and hotels. I think he'd have a right to be "needlessly emotional" about the fact TT2 closed a day before he got up there to ride it and the fact that it remained closed the ENTIRE season so no matter how many times he visited or went back to CP it was not going to be open. As for myself, am I happy it was open for 2 weeks and then closed the rest of the season? No I'm not happy about it but I understand that it's not in anyone's control that the ride had a design flaw that they haven't been able to sort out. However to say this isn't a disaster? I think most people would consider Son of Beast and the Original Bat at KI failures at a minimum if not disasters and based on what I know, the original Bat managed to operate more than 2 weeks during its opening season and is still considered one of the bigger fails in KI history and Arrow Dynamics history. -
Something is Surfacing 9-19-2024
johnjniehaus replied to SonofBaconator's topic in Other Amusement Parks & Industry News
I agree The Vortex spot deserves a unique layout but I also think it stings to see CP get so much coaster investment while KI gets SSBR. I'm going to be blowing up on these forums though if CP gets a new coaster in the Snake River Falls plot for 2026 and they still haven't addressed The Vortex spot at KI As for this possibly being a six flags Mexico project, why is CP the one benefiting from it? There's literally 40+ parks in the new combined chain and you can't tell me that CP was the ONLY park with unoccupied flat land available. They gave it to CP because they want to distract from the TT2 disaster and it's the most visited/highly profitable park in the chain since wonderland attendance has dropped. Despite my criticism, I think the ride will be fun, I love seeing another unique coaster within driving distance of Cincinnati and I think CP needs a comeback after the abysmal TT2 situation which was a huge bust and disappointment to many people. If they can distract everyone with siren's curse they can take all the time they need to figure out TT2 and get it operational without pressure from the pass holders and enthusiasts. -
Something is Surfacing 9-19-2024
johnjniehaus replied to SonofBaconator's topic in Other Amusement Parks & Industry News
Thoughts - The Good 1. Looks like a really fun ride actually 2. Love to see a modern Vekoma going into CP 3. Love to see them cramming it into that space by iron Dragon (I'm surprised it isn't going into the Snake River falls plot) The Bad 1. Two train ops? For CP that's bad for a new ride 2. Why are they building a tilt coaster next to a dive coaster that has sort of the same purpose in the lineup? 3. That section by Iron Dragon is always packed as it is. Hopefully they consider that and have a good walkway design. The Ugly 1. Why on earth does CP get 3 rollercoasters back to back to back years? That seems a little ridiculous when parks like valleyfair and Michigan's Adventure have been waiting for over 10 years for a new coaster. 2. I thought after SSBR, we'd see the next Vekoma come to KI. Was KI the vekoma experiment so that CP could benefit from another major addition while we get stuck with Mike's budget blasters? 3. Not saying Vekoma tilt is my first pick for The Vortex plot but why on earth does CP get this after receiving two coasters back to back years while KI has been waiting nearly 5 years for them to fill that gaping hole at the end of Coney Mall??? This kinda came out of nowhere for me as I was expecting snake River falls to be replaced either next season or in 2026. I'm going to go up there next year, ride siren's curse (which I actually love the name and logo), I'm going to love having a vekoma tilt within a days drive or Cincinnati, and at the end of the day CP is one of my favorite parks and this ride is going to make it so much better. Hopefully they get TT2 up next season as well and if they do essentially having two new coasters will make 2025 one of the biggest, wildest seasons CP has ever seen. Having said all that I'm still upset by the fact arguably the best park in the combined six flags chain is getting another rollercoaster when they just got wild Mouse and TT2 and I would have thought their time and resources would be exhausted after TT2 and all the follow up issues. CP doesn't need a new coaster next year IF TT2 actually does reopen as a reliable attraction. Meanwhile you have KI still waiting for a Vortex replacement. I'm thinking about how great this coaster would have been had it gone to valleyfair. The two train ops wouldn't be an issue, VF needs a modern looping coaster, and it would be the first coaster they've received in MANY MANY YEARS! not like they just got new coasters in 2023 and 2024... -
Big Bad Wolf Returning?
johnjniehaus replied to SonofBaconator's topic in Other Amusement Parks & Industry News
I still have mixed feelings about them building a BBW 2.0 but it being a B&M family invert. Sometimes it's best to leave the legacy of a beloved ride alone... If they had come out with a new swinging train system or S&S had just brought back the arrow model I would have been all for it. However, if the ride or the layout is lacking there's going to be a lot of original fans that are upset that they used the legacy of a beloved former ride to market a subpar one. For me personally I wasn't a huge fan of any of the names but Geisterwolf made the most sense to me. This ride is a ghost of one in the past while "wolf storm" and "wolf reign" made less sense to me... besides aren't DarKoaster and verboten already themed to storms? -
Big Bad Wolf Returning?
johnjniehaus replied to SonofBaconator's topic in Other Amusement Parks & Industry News
Am I the only one who saw the announcement today? https://buschgardens.com/williamsburg/vote2025/?fbclid=IwY2xjawFRjx1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHYJISROajnXE7xkoffFM4RyXJglfbm-9XnNJLXwlkWptWvcv6kVWAK8HCQ_aem_xNyJNa2smoJFXQtn5dTC4Q%2F -
Silverwood, Puyallup State Fair, & Wild Waves
johnjniehaus replied to johnjniehaus's topic in Trip Reports
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Silverwood, Puyallup State Fair, & Wild Waves
johnjniehaus replied to johnjniehaus's topic in Trip Reports
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Silverwood, Puyallup State Fair, & Wild Waves
johnjniehaus replied to johnjniehaus's topic in Trip Reports