Oldiesmann

My current favorite sound is Diamondback roaring through the woods. My favorite former sound is a loud bell shortly followed by the loud screams of unexpectedly drenched guests (the old slime tower thing in Nick U).

The names are going to be officially revealed today (March 10th), as was mentioned in last week's newsletter, so you may have stumbled across it early.

ERT on DB by way of PS...

Endless Summer on Ice was by far my favorite show this season (though I didn't see Don't Stop The Music! or Marty's Party). Lots of people can dress up and sing well-known songs, but not too many people can perform on ice skates, let alone do some of the things that Colleen and Josiah did:

If I could only change one thing, it would be a complete overhaul of Festhaus. Rip out the neon beer signs and country decor Get rid of Larosas and Panda Express Find out who designed and built the clock, and hire that company to come in and restore it Work out a deal to put a Hofbräuhaus franchise in there Restore the inside of the building as necessary to make it look like it did when it opened in the early 80s I'd also have to convince Mr. Kinzel and friends that this is a project worth spending their nickels on - a guest survey, and offering them a free dinner at Hofbräuhaus Newport should be enough though

I won't really miss anything either. The one feature that I used to love in Nick was removed after the 2005 season (the big green "slime" tower thing that would randomly drench unsuspecting guests who would look up wondering what the bell meant...).

Likely either Diamondback or Beast, but I'm not sure. I haven't kept track of how many times I've ridden each ride prior to this year since this is my first year having a season pass (excluding the one year we had them when I was a kid).

Although I'm not familiar with all the categories, some of those aren't really all that surprising. Lots more info available if you download the 40-page PDF of the golden ticket issue at http://www.amusementtoday.com/corndog/2009GTAissue.pdf (not recommended unless you have a fast connection).

There's also going to be a new water ride at CP called Shoot The Rapids: http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/ride...oot_the_rapids/

Sitting smack in the middle of the train (3-3) on Blue Racer gives you an incredibly smooth ride. There was an announcement for the nightly fireworks show yesterday even though the park closed at 8 There was no "the rides and attractions are now closing" spiel at the end of the night - things just shut down at 8 There were several large banners placed around the park advertising various sideshow characters (obviously related to Haunt in some way).

My sister and I happily made our first-ever trip to Stricker's Grove yesterday, and had a blast. I don't remember what order we rode things in, so I'll just post my comments on the rides. Tornado - extremely fun ride. I was a bit disappointed to find that it had seatbelts, but really enjoyed the ride - particularly the dips at the end. Teddy Bear - reminds me of FOC/Beastie. Cars are more comfortable, and there aren't any seatbelts, but the ride is much shorter. Scooters - brings back memories of the Screechin' Eagles at KI, but I couldn't remember how to snap them. Electric Rainbow - fun, but the Super Round Up at Coney is a lot more fun. Scrambler - we skipped this as we'd both ridden the one at KI numerous times. Ferris Wheel - first time either of us had been on it. Fun ride with great views of the park. Train - fun little ride that gives you a nice view of the countryside. Tilt-a-Whirl - a really fun experience as always. We got plenty dizzy both times we rode it. Tip Top - this was by far the best flat ride in the park. An extremely dizzying flat ride with no restraints (besides gravity of course). I'm not sure what was more fun - the ride itself or trying to see how fast we could spin our car. I also loved the "meal" option for the food - for $7 I got a complete meal - double cheeseburger, chips, corn on the cob and potato salad. It was also nice to see a park that not only allows you to bring your own food, but also allows you to grill it. We spent 3 1/2 hours at the park, and had a blast. We only rode Electric Rainbow once because we both liked the one at Coney better, but overall it was well worth the drive to the country. After that, we headed out to KI to renew our passes and finish off the day.

After our visit to Stricker's Grove yesterday, my sister and I both came to the same conclusion. Kings Island seriously needs a . By far one of the best flat rides I've been on (not to mention one of the most dizzying!).

I think that a Sally Corp GhostBlasters attraction is pretty likely, considering that SDatHC was a character retro-fit of the original GhostBlasters. I think we might see something related to Snoopy and the Red Baron (though I'm not sure exactly how you could turn that into a kids' ride), or possibly something related to the Great Pumpkin...

Better option would be to just save it in paint then put it on a photo-sharing site such as photobucket or imageshack and post it here so we can all see it

To my knowledge, Reptar has never had two trains. It's not a very long ride and it would be kinda hard to cram a second train on there without the possibility of a collision somewhere along the line.

They do, in that one gift shop with all the rock merchandise in Coney Mall. Not sure if they sell them elsewhere though.

What? There were Smurfs at KI!?!? At one time, yes. There was a nice Smurf-themed boat ride where SDATHC is now. The blue ice cream was marketed as Smurf ice cream and HB was the only place you could get it.

What and where is the Dent House? See http://www.frightsite.com for complete details

I honestly don't think that these changes will have much (if any) effect on the popularity of the kids' area, or its Golden Ticket status. Almost anyone will agree that the most important part of a ride is the experience. This goes for kids as well as adults. When I worked in HB back in 2005, I noticed that the biggest factor for kids in determining whether or not they wanted to go on a ride was the experience. It didn't matter that most kids didn't know who Quick Draw or Baba Louie were. They knew that the ride was going to be fun, and that's all that mattered to them. This isn't likely to change anytime soon.

What does he look like? That's probably the same one I'm talking about. He's an African-American that's probably in his late teens or early 20s. I've also seen him both wearing and not wearing sunglasses. Yep. That's the one I was referring to.

Diamondback is not an exact copy of Behemoth. The track layout is different, and Behemoth does not have the splashdown, among other things. Search for "behemoth pov" on Youtube for more info (and for the record, no, I have never ridden it).

Behemoth was indeed the first coaster in the world to use the seating style that Diamondback has. However, Diamondback was the first (and currently is the only) coaster in the country to use that seating style.

Just a clarification. The policy of The Beast closing around 9:45 for fireworks was not CF's decision. It was that way under Paramount and likely has been that way for a long time.

What does he look like? That's probably the same one I'm talking about.

Best one I've heard so far this season... As we were sitting on the breaks after a ride on Diamondback: Random girl to friend: Did this go upside down at all? You just rode it. How can you not remember whether or not it went upside down?