RingMaster

^ The downside, however, is that it's still not finished. Anyway, kinda resembles a cross between both a zero-g roll and a Stengel Dive. This takes the extreme overbanks from The Voyage and (almost completely) turns it on its head.

This thread has been up for two years, and numerous Save Sonny fan pages have popped up on Facebook within the same time period; Kings Island's more tenacious than even the combined efforts of Jack Black and Kyle Gass when it comes to being mum about the attraction's fate.

The only thorough gutting of the station was the removal of the queue rails; the track is still in place but with a platform placed over it as a makeshift floor for Wolf Pack.

Not to mention, further back past the SOB graveyard lies a few of the original pens and buildings from Lion Country Safari buried in overgrowth. Quite creepy even in the daytime to look at them. Also quite creepy to see the old farmhouse that lies inside the fort next to Soak City...

Well, the way I look at it, it isn't finished.

An operating season, for one. Can't go to Kings Island to ride whatever new attraction they have if it ain't open.

Technically, it's already been (and still being) done with the bungee jump gag, where an actor leaps out in front of guests and leaps back into the darkness in the same split second. But in terms of flying over guests' heads, it can be done. You just need a lot of structural support on the walls where the rig is going to be and whatnot.

Well, to be frank, the "themed" area of Oktoberfest consists of a Viking ship (whose origins stem from Norway), a coaster set within the confines of a South American archaeological expedition gone horribly awry, a burrito shack, and a restaurant with the facade of a German festival house but with Italian and Chinese entrees, and a set of both country and British-themed musical revues. Actually, I can't even be frank, because they don't sell hot dogs in Oktoberfest!

Compared to a majority of the Disney Parks, Cedar Fair's (and even the former Paramount's) ride cloning is miniscule. Minus Kings Island and Kings Dominion (with the Eiffel Tower & International Street), at least Cedar Fair doesn't copy entire theme parks and paste them into different locations across the country. Need I remind you of the five Magic Kingdoms - Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland - and the multitudes of cloned attractions, such as, but not limited to, it's a small world, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Tower of Terror, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, etc?

They built a near 200' mountain with an animatronic yeti (doesn't work though), with a switch track along with a 4,000 foot length of track, and the queue for the ride. Disney overdid it. Kings Island doesn't need to spend that much money on it. Compared to what has surpassed said attraction in terms of theming and technological breakthroughs, such as the now open Cars Land/Radiator Springs Racers (and even the entirety of Tokyo DisneySea), Expedition Everest could be considered a cheap build. That said, would Kings Island spend $100+ million on a highly-themed, technologically heavy attraction such as RSR or Transformers? No. Would they spend $15-$20 million on a more modestly-themed, standard coaster/attraction like Mystery Mine or Verbolten? Most likely.

Some people believe Diamondback to be outdated.

Yes, one of the early scenes has you walking through a forest while a giant full moon rests above the treeline (and no, it's not some fat guy being ill-mannered while hanging atop the wall).

Don't watch if you don't want spoilers on what all takes place once you traverse the innards of Ornament Valley, but you kinda still need to watch it to see how big of a step forward Disney and its Imagineers took with audio-animatronics. The first Cars film is my least favorite of the Pixar flicks that I've seen (I have yet to and most likely don't plan to see the sequel), but RSR is probably the best attraction Disney has ever created via bringing characters from a two-dimensional film into a three-dimensional environment. This definitely puts Uni Hollywood's Transformers to shame (had they gone for a few AA figures like they planned before it would be a different story).

The main aspect of the expansion is to bring the other major half of the Harry Potter universe - Diagon Alley - to Universal. The first centerpiece attraction, much like Forbidden Journey is to the original World, is a dark ride coaster combo themed to the Gringotts Bank. In the books/films, Gringotts has its money and treasures locked in vaults deep underground, and the only way to get to them is via a special minecart. Think the mine chase sequence from Temple of Doom, and you'll get a gist of what to expect. Some similar technology used in Forbidden Journey (ie: the domed/3D projection screens) will be used, but the Gringotts attraction is a completely different ballgame compared to the former. I'm under the assumption it is a cross between Spiderman (or, rather, the recent Transformers ride) and Revenge of the Mummy, combining a motion simulator base to an actual roller coaster track, or perhaps a point in the ride where the car locks into a separate platform that's a motion base (Tower of Terror is a perfect example of this). Which brings us to the second centerpiece attraction connecting the two lands from both parks together - the Hogwarts Express. The number two thing people have requested when rumors hit years ago of a Harry Potter theme park (the first being Hogwarts, duh), rumors suggest a tram-styled ride will transport guests to and fro between Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley just like in the books/movies, similar to the Backlot Tram Tour at Universal Hollywood. And to further enhance the experience of riding in a train and watching the English countryside out the window, the technology used in both Kong 360 @ Uni Hollywood and an attraction in Hong Kong called the Ocean Express is rumored to be used here, as the "trains" themselves are actually on an elevated rail traveling through the backstage in-betwixt the parks, allowing for trucks to still pass through.

Perhaps this is the part of the thread where I bring up the fact that Ed Alonzo's magic shows are notorious for being raunchy and/or juvenile, as he has been a staple of Knott's Halloween Haunt for years (faeriewench will back me up on this one). The show's supposed to be geared more towards an older audience what with ze dancing girls and the potty humor. How KI managed to bring this show to a regular seasonal audience (rife with families and younger folk) is beyond me. Let me also bring up the fact that I have yet to visit the park, therefore I have yet to see his show in person, and I have only seen his show via YouTube. But it sounds as if they still have quite a number of kinks to work out before M&M gets to 100%. - Me, who only knows much ado about nothing...

I've felt that mechanical jerk several times over the years while riding Delirium; it's not new. I've also been on it while it was in the process of breaking down, so to speak, the controlled swing giving way to a free swing while letting out a quite audible groan.

It would be understandable if it were the only Windy Seeker in an amusement park and needed extra work done to it even after it's already open. I'd even possibly forgo the issue involving the arms moving too freely and the seats getting dangerously close together as the gondola slows down. But to spend $20 million on four of the same prototypes and leave out a crucial safety element until AFTER the ride has opened to the public (and then spend another $15 million on several more at other parks in the chain)? But I do completely agree with you on the aspect of prototype attractions.Things happen. We've had the same problem with several big attractions just within our own park (Tomb Raider/Crypt, Delirium, IJST/BLSC, Firehawk, etc.).

You guys forgot about the gas-powered engines The Bat cars would need to get around the track. Can't just leave the 'Tiques out of this, ya know?

No. They do not haunt the area. They lounge about in old chairs and admire the collections of items they've obviously purloined and artistically arranged on the wall. Explain to me how a gaggle of barroom furniture nailed to the wall in the style of vertigo and bicycle wheels strewn about is considered "artistically arranged"? I swear, werewolves these days have no sense of style. They can't Feng shui their way out of a cardboard box, let alone a cabin in the woods, and now they feel the need to run around in nothing but cutoff shorts in their human form? I've all but given up on being afraid of them.* *If anyone has noticed, I'm poking fun at the Wolf Pack attraction for Haunt, which was one of the best houses of last season.

It's been like that since 2009. We were the first park in the chain with those new uniforms, thus starting the trend that the others follow.

They started dialing back on use of the detectors starting in '09 and only reverting back to them on more crowded days/Haunt nights. Anyone know if the security guards and staff that would normally be posted by the detectors were still there? They were really nice/cool and I'll miss them if they're gone.

We've gone almost two days, and not one picture of a detector-less entrance to the park.

In response to the colonel, The Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse was one of many icons to both the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland. Tarzan's Treehouse...not so much. I had always envisioned a Wild Thornberrys tree house attraction to be placed in the grassy knoll in-betwixt Phantom Flyers (now Linus Launcher) and Timmy's Air Tours (now Sally's Sea Plane), and have the log ride instead become what would equate to a cross between Splash Mountain and Ripsaw Falls, called Nicktoon Falls. Then again, I had once envisioned a completely different version of the former Nick Universe, what with four separate areas - Jr. Ville, Neutron Plaza, Splat City & Mt. Gushmore, and Bikini Bottom. Jr.VIlle would encompass the northern quarter, going from Wind-Up to the Snoopy Boutique. This is where a majority of the kiddie attractions would reside (the rest would sit inside BB), however, the Character Carousel would be moved into the area as a new flat ride would take its spot in NP. All rides are based off Jr. shows (Lazytown, Backyardigans, etc.). Compared to the other three sections, this would receive the least amount of significant changes. Neutron Plaza, themed primarily to Jimmy Neutron, sits on the eastern corridor and is essentially the smallest of the four sections. Sitting in Carousel's position would be an Astro Orbiter-styled attraction for the entire family. The big change here would be the addition/creation of a Festhaus-style indoor restaurant, Nicktoons Cafe, going in the spot of both Ice Cream and Snoopy Grill (Blue's Ice Cream would be moved over to Jr. Ville). Taxi Jam (now Great Pumpkin) would be rethemed to Danny Phantom (with a name of something like Danny Phantom's Ghoster Coaster). Splat City & Mt. Gushmore resides down south, and is a hybrid of themes. The Wild Thornberrys treehouse concept I mentioned up above would be in this area, roughly where Linus Launcher sits now. Runaway Reptar would stay the same, except the theme would more closely resemble that of an actual episode of Rugrats. What that means is a mix between alphabet blocks scattered about and positioned to look like a cityscape and actual skyscrapers and buildings, to blend that sense of imagination and reality the show is famous for. Also, behind RR and making its way into Nicktoons Falls, is a faux mountain range with the Nickelodeon letters in the style of the Hollywood logo. That mountain range carries its way into Mt. Gushmore and Nicktoon Falls, a heavily rethemed log ride built similarly to Splash Mountain. The focal point would be a rock formation of five famous Nick characters (Tommy, Jimmy, SpongeBob, and the Fairly OddParents) like Mt. Rushmore. Bikini Bottom is the last section, to the west, and is the biggest change to NU. The inspiration for BB comes from an attraction called Mermaid Lagoon at Tokyo DisneySea, which is an indoor kids area made to look like everything is underwater. The same concept would be applied here, as people would feel as if they were underwater, and in the town of Bikini Bottom. The star attraction here is the Crash Course Boating School, an indoor/outdoor dark ride/coaster. Other notable attractions would be offshoots of ones found at Mermaid Lagoon, such as a Jumpin Jellyfish parachute ride, and a clone of a ride from Great America (Boatmobiles, now Peanuts Pirates). This is all I can remember for the time being, as I had this all planned in my head years ago. Perhaps I should try and create this in RCT3... EDIT: I would have had a crudely drawn picture to illustrate the zoning, but it won't let me put up the picture.

Did they take out the other three planters on I-Street? Some of the pictures they have from Twitter look as if they got rid of the other big planters on the Street...

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but Boomerang Bay was only $4 million for the whole package, even with two brand new slides (Taz and 'Gata), a water fortress (Jackeroo), and a kid-sized pool (Kooka). Soak City is reported to be around $11 million (again, someone correct me if I'm wrong), with a brand new wave pool, a brand new season pass entrance, a redone lazy brand new action river, a new path connecting Zoom Flume to Coconut Cove, repainted slides, fencing, and the like.