bkroz

Yes! I have been waiting for this trip report forever (we also did our Kings Dominion trip reports the same way, listing the rides!) I’m so happy you had such a positive experience like I always do – Kings Dominion is best thought of as the “beautiful” Kings Island, with trees, fountains, forests, waterfalls, beautiful lakes, abundant fake rockwork, etc. No matter how beautiful you think Kings Island is in 2010, you’d almost have to admit that Kings Dominion is moreso. Maybe just because it’s in Virginia, but still... I couldn’t help but laugh at your review of Berseker. When you said you were most excited about The Crypt & Berseker, I just rolled my eyes. I didn’t ride it, but it’s always a walk-on, and from watching it and seeing that “first-time-it-reaches-the-top-but-doesn’t-quite-make-it-over” that you talked about, I just can’t imagine it being any fun. I’m so glad I finally found someone else who appreciates Dominator. Most everyone I’ve ever ridden it with finds the pacing way too fast, or way too slow. I think it’s an incredible stand-out coaster. That might just be because it was the flagship ride at my local park for a few years. Their Drop Tower does drop further than ours. Ours is the tallest gyro drop in the world. Theirs is also the tallest gyro drop in the world. Our record emphasizes the tower’s height, while theirs is about the drop length (their brakes start farther down). For my two cents, I would happily forego the spinning ascent on ours for the shorter wait that Kings Dominion’s tower proves that we’d have. And naturally, we also agree on The Crypt in most every regard you posted... More visually impressive for a watcher? Yep. I love when people first ride Kings Dominion’s, because they finally understand what I mean when I say that the nine-flip cycle really honestly does work on top spins, just not giant ones. Their Crypt is very, very small compared to ours, and it almost feels lackluster to first see it from behind as you enter The Congo, lifting riders to a staggering 45 feet (woo hoo.) compared to our 80. But it’s so acrobatic and so light and... It’s just incredible. After riding their Crypt, and even ours, I can’t imagine a simple, standard, outdoor top spin with no fountains and no music and no effects – it would be ridiculous. Also gotta love Shockwave... as you said, it’s the last turn & bunny hill that really gets you, when the car in front of you slams forward and your head goes right towards it... Wow. Anyways, I love this trip report! Everyone should take a lesson from you on how to write one, and I’m loving it! Can’t wait to read the rest!

And there's a spinning bright light at a park down in Florida... Of course, it's beckoning explorers towards adventure more than projecting a message to the FAA. Or is it?

Never meet (or work at) your heroes, kids! Unless you reallllly want to, then I guess it's okay. Count me in for WindSeeker 2011!

PizzaBaby and his claims of "oh only if you knew how they treated the employees I bet your jaws would drop" is laughable - yet another member here who pretends to have been a worker at the park (maybe even so high as an operator on Diamondback, which is, of course, only for the best employees!) and thus, knows a lot of crap that no one else does... Little does he or she realize that some, maybe even many of the posters on this board have worked, or do work for Kings Island, Paramount's Kings Island, or Cedar Fair's Kings Island. Signed to secrecy? Generally, simple, day-to-day employees are not secretly told things like Drop Zone being upside down and numerous other conspiracy theories you've passed around here. Those who would know that sort of information would also know far, far better than to post it on a Kings Island fan-site, even after their time with the park is over. Basically, what I've learned in my short time here is that those who know do not talk; those who talk, usually do not know. Even those here who are employed by the park to work at this year's Haunt event have been spectacularly mum about that which hasn't been officially announced by the park - they may be hired to work in a new house or scare zone, and be absolutely bursting at the seams to share that information here. But they don't. And to add to that, anyone who is, or was a "higher-up" at Kings Island and privy to the "secrets" of the park probably would not be named "Pizza Baby" or use run-on sentences, incorrect grammar and spelling, etc.

That was more in relation to a general height requirement, I believe - one that supposedly wouldn't allow room for a strata-coaster. Drop Zone is taller than both Millennium Force & Intimidator 305, so I doubt a giga-coaster would be an issue.

So awesome! Thanks for sharing!

That's photoshopped, right? Hahah! I ask, only because I've always said they should color them red for Halloween, whether it be by dye or just lighting. I mean, really, it's the end of the season, and they'll be drained at the end of the year anyway, so why not!?

^ Exactly. Gold Passes are probably all you'll see for the remainder of the 2010 season, since they're currently priced to cost the same as a regular Season Pass would be. The page says: In other words, until October 31st 2010, Gold Passes are $69.99 - the same price that a Season Pass will be this winter & next year. So why would they offer Season Passes for sale right now? If the choice is $69.99 for a Gold Pass, or $69.99 for a regular Season Pass, who would knowingly buy a regular Season Pass? And yes, some people would accidentally - but some of them would certainly figure out what they missed when it was too late and feel cheated and deceived, and the park would hear about it. Of course, things do change, so who knows?

Haha! Wow. I mean, it's the same basic premise, just sort of "streamlined." But really, it's time to get the ball rolling. They're so eager to unify their parks in ways that people display resistance to (Snoopy, removing effects, etc) but when it comes to actual things that help save money & attract visitors on a corporate level (websites, season pass systems, computer updates) it's all ignored. So now we've got some old Paramount-style sites, some old Cedar-Point style sites, a new Cedar Point site, and some mismatched legacy Cedar Fair sites. Some parks have VIP passes, some have silver, some have value, and some have season... Some parks simply don't update and synchronize with other parks computers, making season passes inactive. But at least we all get Planet Snoopys!

It's true. Texas Giant's rehab is pretty much changing the entire ride. Yes, the layout is changing in places. But also consider - new track. New elements. New forces. New trains. New angles. New pacing. New speeds. If Son of Beast were given the "Iron Horse" treatment, and kept its original layout perfectly in-tact (minus the loop), it would still be a dramatically different ride experience. With a steeper drop comes increased energy. The new track's steel composure will absolutely alter the speed. That altered speed when experiencing even slightly-more-severely-angled pieces of track, or more steeply inclined hills, or new trains, or shortened block brakes, will make every single force & movement you experience on that ride completely different from start to finish, even in the portions of the layout that will remain unchanged. And you say, "Well, there's no guarantee that it will even work." Where was a guarantee that a roller coaster could safely navigate a corkscrew? could be suspended from underneath the tracks? be over 300 feet tall? engage an elevator lift? use LIMs, or hydraulics, or pneumatic pressure? It wasn't guaranteed that visitors would respond well to the first tubular steel-tracked roller coaster on Earth, but it was built anyway. And for certain, there's no guarantee that the Iron Horse re-do will do a bit of good for Texas Giant. But steel track worked out for Matterhorn Bobsleds, so someone else had to decide to be the second owner of a steel coaster. Millennium Force seemed to go over okay, so Cedar Fair asked for a second Intamin giga. Flight of Fear ended up quite well at both of its locations, and was then cloned three times more. If Millennium had proven unpopular, or Flight of Fear been inoperable, more wouldn't have been built. There's always a first. And perhaps more importantly, there's usually a second. That second still comes with no guarantee, but there is evidence out there that it worked once, and it may work again. If the Iron Horse re-do benefits the Texas Giant, and brings it renown as an above-average coaster, or even a top 10, more Iron Horse transitions will undoubtedly follow. I wouldn't be surprised if it's one of the options Cedar Fair has considered. A lot of people doubtlessly have their eyes focused on the Texas Giant, and will be closely monitoring its success once it is re-opened.

I like the splashdown pool. According to the old press releases, it's supposed to be a Los Angeles aqueduct, definitely not a lake in the middle of L.A. haha. And even when the ride was themed to The Italian Job, it was still a "Backlot Stunt Coaster" if you will, meant to break the 4th wall. It wasn't as if you were re-living the Italian Job film, suddenly living the real-life equivalent of the finale scene. It was supposed to be that you were filming stunt scenes reminiscent of the movie and living as a stunt car driver (hence the "Action!" and "Cut!" at the beginning and end of the ride, respectively). So I think the little concrete aqueduct and the other "cheesy" effects (police cars, billboard, helicopter) are all nice touches, because they truly do make you feel as if you're filming a movie. And as photos of the ride can attest to, it is very cinematic. The ride looks good in photos, just as a movie set does, because that's how it's designed to be, from what I've gathered - it's small scale, but what you see while you're on it, and what you pick up in photos, is grande and cinematic. The splashdown pool is a great example of that.

Maybe it's the tenth year that they've had a Halloween event. Universal Orlando's event this year is named "Halloween Horror Nights XX," and they tend to be an industry-trend-setter (Busch Gardens Tampa's event this year is "Howl-O-Scream: My X." Unrelated to the roman numeral thing, but still interesting). But then again, Carowinds also has "Howl-O-Fest's Boo Blast!" an upgraded(?) version of Howl-O-Fest... Why it needs a possessive and a subtitle, I don't know. Apparently, it's just that much better than those silly, plain-old "Howl-O-Fest"s.

And it's not even like what Cedar Fair sometimes does, where something is the "tallest, fastest, gravity driven roller coaster on the East coast when the trim brakes are off" and it's a thousand little "fine print" things that allow it to have a record. This is a blatant claim that is incorrect. I know it doesn't really matter, and its marketing and good for them for going for it or whatever, but it just makes me sigh. Haha. Like, I suppose their position is that all other diving coasters are only ninety degrees (Griffin, SheiKra, etc) and that somehow, their Gerstlauer Euro Fighter transcends its model and becomes a dive coaster, which other Gerstlaur Euro Fighters of the same degree of drop and basic layout are not... Just strange!

Call me crazy (and some will) but for the 40th anniversary, I would be absolutely fine with just a whole bunch of capitol improvements in the park - a complete overhaul of the landscaping, new paint on The Racer, generally sprucing up Coney Mall, repainting the runway in X-Base, re-invigorating the Tower Gardens, taking a day or two to fine-tune the flames on Backlot Stunt Coaster just to ensure that they're operable for the season, maybe adding some new lighting and water effect in the fountains, adding some flavorful music where it belongs, a little bit of improvement to The Crypt even. Basically to re-open the park for 2012 and to see that everything is more the way it should be - a cohesive, immersive experience from start to finish, where things like paint, easily-maintainable effects, music (and by extension, guest experience) are a priority.

http://www.sixflags.com/overGeorgia/rides/daredevildive.aspx Dare Devil Dive Coaster. Gotta love those "dreaded Immelman"s. Additionally, reading over the "by the numbers" box reveals this to be the first roller coaster in the country to feature a "beyond vertical dive!" But... but wait... Maverick? Spongebob's Rock Bottom Plunge? Steel Hawg? Fahrenheit? And sure, those aren't "dive" coasters... But what makes this one? And even assuming that what they meant to say was "the first Euro Fighter style coaster in America to go beyond vertical": Not even. First beyond vertical dive coaster in the county? I'll give 'em that. Still looks like a unique ride, and a good fit for Six Flags Over Georgia.

Haha too true! So much of that park feels like Kings Island's evil twin (though I'm sure Dominioneers feel the same of our park). I, for one, actually prefer Kings Dominion's fountains. Ours are painted that "Shamu tank" fluorescent blue and look very pristine and proper, with those large white urns spraying water up, while smaller fountains all around spray little streams. And we have a few smaller trees here and there, enough that the fountains are very bright and majestic. Ours would be perfect for synchronizing music or something. Kings Dominion's, as Terp said, are flanked by huge, towering trees, leaving them (and most of their International Street) in shade. The fountain pool itself is not painted bright blue, but rather, are a dark, natural blue. Add to that, there are no urns or waterfalls - they look like giant geysers simply erupting from a natural lagoon. To me, it's peaceful, and reminiscent of real nature (a theme that continues through most of the park). They're really as different as could be - it's strange that they started out looking so similar.

They immediately set a mood far different than what you might find at Cedar Point or Worlds of Fun (though worlds of fun is exponentially closer to the old, grand entrance to Paramount's Kings Island ) and create a lasting memory. It's so different to enter into a beautifully landscaped boulevard full of fountains and trees and shops than to enter into a wide open midway...

Perhaps! But in true Terp fashion, we must ask... where's the proof? GYK, who wishes he had The Interpreter's gift of choosing his words very, very carefully.

^^ Context clues, my friend. They're what I live for!

And notice how Terpy said of that ride's operating status, "Five years from now, it won't be and it will be sadly missed." Hmm....! GYK, KICentral's biggest (and only?) fan of The Crypt (and, as such things are usually understood, its biggest critic).

True, but Theme Park Review has, at one time or another, discussed, posted photos of, and covered news about, pretty much every amusement park that I've ever heard of. Here, our news is mostly self-restricted to corporate matters (SFEC, Cedar Fair, SeaWorld Parks), "nearby" parks (Cedar Point, Holiday World, etc) and the occasional (and very much welcomed) trip report from "exotic" parks from around the globe. If there were dozens upon dozens of topics about dozens of theme parks, all significantly related and repetitive, I would agree that each one should get its own sub-forum. I don't think it's necessary here. Look at IOACentral, where each park gets its own forum, which is then divided into sub-forums for each "land," and then divided again for each attraction. It's a well-visited site, but when each and every ride gets its own sub-sub-forum, it makes the discussion appear sparse, and many channels of discussion actually get overlooked - an "Introduce Yourself" sub-forum, an "Industry News," sub-forum, a "General Park Opinions" forum... Being so precise turns away those who do not want to discuss precise things (like Terpy said).

$150? Weren't Platinum Passes $160 last year? And there's not even an "offer only good until Oct. 31st" type stamp... Am I missing something, or has the price really apparently dropped?

I think that Cedar Fair needs to unify its pass systems. I don't understand why every park doesn't have a "season's pass," a "gold pass," and a "platinum pass." It just makes sense to me: Season Pass: Admission at chosen park. Gold Pass: Admission + Benefits at chosen park. Platinum Pass: Admission + Benefits at all Cedar Fair parks. Perhaps they could even be Bronze, Silver, and Gold passes, respectively. But every park has something different, with the Plantinum Pass being the only unifier between all parks. Cedar Point only has a Season Pass, so unless you buy a Platinum Pass, you do not get parking or benefits there. Dorney Park also has only a Season Pass, but it includes benefits & parking (thus making it equivalent to a Kings Island Gold Pass and not a Kings Island Season Pass). Kings Dominion has a "Value Pass," "VIP Pass" and "Platinum Pass," that are exactly equivalent to Kings Island's Season, Gold, & Platinum hierarchy. At Knott's, not even a Platinum Pass will get you into Haunt, but Carowind's Halloween event (a hard ticket event, like Knott's) is included with all passes except "Silver" (the equivalent of Kings Island's "Season Pass.") Pretty much what I'm saying is, I don't understand why all the parks don't conform to one system. Silver, Gold Platinum. Season, Platinum. Value, VIP, Platinum... Whatever they chose. It would be cheaper and more efficient to just print thousands of "androgynous" laminated cards labeled "Season Pass" than to have Season Passes, Silver Passes, Value Passes, Fun Passes, etc. all providing the same service.

So, those who already possess season passes for the 2010 season & chose to renew for 2011 will be able to visit the park on all remaining public operating days in the 2010 season? What a steal! (What they forget to mention is, those who have a 2010 season pass and chose not to renew for 2011 can still visit on any public operating day in 2010, too!)

And sometimes, there's a lot more going than there is coming...?