bsktgrvy

We have visited Indianapolis several times and I think it is a great city with a very nice downtown area. While Cincinnati has been wasting time all of these years Indianapolis has grown into a thriving city.

nm

I agree with that. We see an awful lot of "I know more than you do" posturing on this board.

Many, many, many cycles are required to be run before people are allowed to ride. After the required number of cycles has been completed, and the Ohio Department of Agriculture completes its inspection and clears it for riding, only then will people be allowed to ride. KI will not take the risk of anyone riding before this time, as the penalties, I would assume, would be quite severe. Back in the day I was lucky enough to ride several rides before they opened to the public, but that was only after the required number of cycles and the state inspection. They will most likely let a very select few ride before April 18th, but I cannot say for sure. Thanks for the quick answer!

I do not know much about the world of coaster testing, but I would think they will test DB with real people instead of water dummies prior to letting the public ride it, correct? Is there an idea of when testing such as this would take place? If the coaster is running as well as has been reported, I would think it would be soon.

I think the second drop looks steeper and scarier than the first drop.

Rides don't have to be tall or scary to be fun. One of my favorite rides ever is Lightning Racer at Hershey Park. It is just plain fun. This is assuming riding Lightning, correct?? Otherwise, Thunder's a little too bumpy to be fun. I rode the one that went to the right out of the station. This was a couple of years ago. If that's Lightning, then that is the one I rode.

Rides don't have to be tall or scary to be fun. One of my favorite rides ever is Lightning Racer at Hershey Park. It is just plain fun.

Enquirer article on test run: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090228/NEWS01/302280017 They also have a photo gallery. Link is in the article.

They need to put some baseball cards in the wheel spokes.

How about putting a wireless webcam on the front car of each train.

It's amazing how much it has changed since last year even. Nobody would even know there used to be a lake where the splashdown area is now. The antique cars that were nearby are now a distant memory. But this is truly progress and King's Island will look impressive with this new coaster.

You get an A + for this trip report. Very creative!

Stand and stare at the first drop the just created in awe?

The Carousel ride usually ran at Winterfest and I'm pretty sure it was running for the last one. If I am not mistaken in the early years of Winterfest I can remember the Enchanted Voyage/Smurf ride running too.

I have been saying this for years now - please add/fix up existing theming on the train ride. It does not have to be the way it was (cowboys, indians, since that is now politically incorrect), but it could be animatronic figures, scenery, etc.

I hadn't thought of that one - that's a great guess and I like the name as well.

If the three videos on the official website are any indication, I don't think it is snake related. If it were, the camera would be positioned closer to the ground. And the eye is definitely not the eye of a horse. My thinking is it is could be some kind of lizard (Komodo Dragon, as someone else suggested) or dinosaur, or perhaps crocodile or alligator?

Excellent post Shaggy. If the Park Map is going to continue to reflect these named areas, then the Rides need to be themed/renamed to match them.

The Red Racer is smoother than it has been in years and was very enjoyable. Now they need to make the blue side as smooth as the red, because it's still on the rough side.

On Saturday we went to LaRosa's in the park near Rivertown and ordered a sice of pepperoni and a slice of cheese. Pizza is priced for (2) slices on the menu board. I don't remember seeing prices per slice but that is what we were charged, and together came to nearly $1.50 more than if we had bought (2) slices. I was a little miffed at that one. I agree that Outer Hanks has some of the best value meals in the park. My wife and I split a chicken tenders dinner and we each had 2 pieces of chicken and plenty of fries. Although they could have gicen us more than 2 bites of cole slaw. Funnel Cake prices are ridiculous (we did not get one). It's $5.50-$6.50 for a few ounces of deep fried dough with a little sugar.

The weather was very, very nice on Saturday. I think the park looked great. My wife kept commenting on all of the nice landscaping. We arrived at 10:00 and first rode Adventure Express, then headed to The Racer to se if the reports of a smoother ride were true. They are - at least for the Red Racer. The Racer was fun again! No backache after riding. Next we took our customary ride on the Scrambler. Then a ride on Shake, Rattle, and Roll. We got all of this riding done in a little over an hour. Then we waited in line for "Backlot Stunt Coaster" about 20 minutes when the ride closed. It appeared that people were stuck in their cars after finishing the ride, so maintenance was called. So we left that ride. Time for pizza. We got ripped off. We had one slice of pepperoni and one slice of cheese (on the same plate), and instead of charging us the 2 slice price we were charged for individual pieces. I was a little miffed at that. Sure, it added about $1.25 overall, but it's the principle of the matter. You are already gouging us on food, there is no need to twist the knife around. Then we took a ride on the train. Why oh why can't they put some money into this and bring back some theming, fix up the town buildings? We still like the ride, but this could be so much more. Next we took a walk back to Whitewater Canyon to watch the freezing wet people. We even added to their misery by shootig off a couple of the water cannons. (To be nice, I asked people first, and only did it if they said yes). After that, the park got more crowded in the afternoon and we did not ride as much. We did ride the blue racer, and it was much rougher than the red side so it needs some more work in my opinion. For dinner we split chicken tenders and fries at Outer Hanks - it was good and a decent value for King's Island. At 1:00 we watched a bit of "The County Line". It was ok - some of the girls had a little trouble keeping their volume during the higher parts of songs. We finished up the day on the Backlot Stunt Coaster. We think this is a fun ride. One thing - there are many places in the park with bees/wasps (what most call a bumblebee)- please be advised. And it looked like the abandoned buildings in Rivertown had a nice hornet population going. I would steer clear of that area. You would think King's Island would at least warn people about it if they are not going to exterminate the buildings. All in all a very nice day.

I got to ride The Racer for myself on Saturday. We rode both sides once each. Each time we were near the middle of the train. The red racer is much smoother and was a lot of fun. The blue racer was still pretty rough in my opinion, although not as rough as the red racer was 2 years ago when I last rode it. By "rough" I mean there were at least 3 places on the ride where we were slammed into our seats - enough to cause some pain in the lower back. I expect some roughness on a wooden coaster but I dont' expect to be in pain for much of the ride.

Good topic! My top five (5-2 in no particular order, but # 1 is one I really want to see happen). 5. Kenton's Cove Keelboat Canal 4. Oktoberfest themed area with some of the rides like the wooden shoes ride, Bavarian Beetle, maybe even the Rotor. 3. Antique Cars 2. The Bayern Curve (Kurve?) One of my favorites when I was young. 1. Train ride theming and actors.

Dan Fogelberg 2 times (Once solo - once with a band), James Taylor, and Chicago.