bkroz

My understand was (and I'm sure this isn't entirely correct, so please feel free to correct me) that the former KECO / Paramount Parks had the right to use Hanna-Barbera characters until the parks close. I always heard that the contract wasn't exclusive (that's why Universal had Hanna-Barbera), but that they still had the right. That makes a lot of sense, as just this year I've seen Barney Rubble & Betty, Fred and Wilma Flintstone, Scooby Doo (whose meet-n-greet character is not licensed through Sally Corp. like the ride is), George Jetson, and a few others... Seems odd that they'd be walking around in any form unless the park has the right to use all of them still. If that's true though, it's a double-edged sword, as it would beg the question, "Why isn't Nick U becoming Hanna-Barbera Land again, or even been, Scooby Doo Land?" I know this is like beating a dead horse, but I feel like kids may not be entirely familiar with the Flintstones and Scooby, but they certainly see them more often than Snoopy.

Just as a heads up, someone has edited all the Nick Universe names to their "new" Snoopy counterparts I don't know how to report that to Wikipedia or how to return it to its previous form, so if anyone does, that would be great. Some of the guesses are just horrendous, and apparently we're getting four new rides! Who knew?! EDIT: They really are quite funny... I'd love to save them somewhere. "Shoot the Pumpkins, Charlie Brown" as well as "Charlie Brown's Beastie" and "Charlie & Friends Cop Chasers" (I didn't know Charlie and his friends were into chasing the police?) and "Runaway Woodstock." What a laugh!

Uh, first of all, The Crypt is a Hindu temple, not an Aztec Tomb, and it today contains a pink bat demon, giant Hindu goddess, and (according to the t-shirt) an Egyptian mummy. DUH. Get it right. So for those of you counting, Rivertown is a mysterious Ohio settlement town that plays host to a pink bat, a Hindu goddess, an Egyptian Mummy, a savage beast, and a giant snake. And really no, the rides don't necessarily fit, but they easily COULD with a bit of a pre-show, even if told through signs. Hydra did place Hercules, so that's actually a bit clever. Talon and Raptor are so named because you appear to be in the grip of a bird of prey. A giant nest in the queue would easily tell people this. Diamondback is, as I said above, another unique animal to find a home in Rivertown. When discussing it in print material to give to my friends, I prefer to call it "Operation: Firehawk" because I think that well explains what it's supposed to be: a government prototype flight device for which you're the guinea pig. It makes sense and fits in X-Base in that regard, and again, could be easily explained in a short pre-show video or even a sign or two scattered about the queue. Intimidator, no that doesn't make sense. At all. I actually tend to think Flight of Fear does make sense in the Congo because of my ever-optimistic mind... As if the government set up a secret facility in the deep jungle. It requires that their Flight of Fear have a different storyline than ours (perhaps, you stumble upon an abandoned government facility during your jungle trek, find an old, decaying spaceship within, wander into it, etc.). However, even that storyline sort of falls through with the new Intimidator. The two could be CLOSER to matching if they recieved their own X-Base redo, but who knows if that will happen. It really should, since that would also encompass their Backlot Stunt Coaster. All three are in the same corner. But then again, their map no longer highlights differently themed areas anyway, since it's a Cedar Fair style map, so it wouldn't make a difference to the casual park-goer.

You sure about that? I have friends who have ridden it and want it reopen, and friends who haven't ridden it and are pretty bummed they might not get to, stories and all... A case study isn't going to prove a single point here. We need actual statistical information from a large pool of people. And unfortunately, we aren't going to get it. Ever. Several websites were pointed out that rated it (based on rider comments) around a 7 / 10. Obviously, the people who hate it will disagree with that and point out all the flaws of the census. If we found one that put Son of Beast at around a 2 / 10, the people who liked it would disagree with that and point out all of that poll's flaws. What the world as a whole thinks of Son of Beast, we'll never know. Everyone has a friend who "almost got killed by it and would never ever ever ride it again no matter what and its the largest piece of crap and should be a bonfire" and other sensationalized information. While everyone ELSE has a friend that liked it just fine and thought it was pretty incredible to have all that speed and force and it was a ride of a lifetime and other words sensationalized the OTHER way. Us sitting here (admittedly) sensationalizing things is not going to get anything done. At this point. the fate of the ride is being decided without us and without our friend of a friend of a friend who loved/hated it. We'll just have to see what's decided.

To quote Coldplay's "Lost!", "You might be a big fish in a little pond, doesn't mean you've won, 'cause along may come a bigger one." Son of Beast does have quite a reputation... Among Kings Island enthusiasts. I'd argue that, sure, a lot of the public around the Cincinnati area knows of it's infamy. However, I have traveled to Cedar Point, Geauga Lake, Kings Dominion, and more and gotten into conversations with quite a few people while waiting in lines and have brought up Son of Beast's closure, to which the reply is more often than not, "What is Son of Beast?" And yes, that is followed closely by "What is The Beast?" Son of Beast has notoriety and is one of the most-talked-about-coasters among enthusiasts and those who are obsessive enough to look up wooden coaster rankings on (pardon me, but) nerdy websites and blogs. But in the actual scope of things, if you look at all of the fish in the "bigger pond," it's not well-known. Not for better or worse. And before this whole mess happened, we laughed about the fact that the general public would often point to Son of Beast and exclaim "Whoa, look at The Beast! It's huge!" or discuss their disbelief that "The Son of Beast is all back in the woods and with all those tunnels!" We laughed about them saying that. Now we have to decide: Were they calling The Beast crap, or calling Son of Beast incredible and timeless? If The Beast and Son of Beast are so easily confused by the general public, even by those who frequent the park, then they must not be polar opposites, good and evil, fantastic and a bust, in the eyes of the public as we once thought. I'm not arguing for or against its removal. Simply that the majority of the public DIDN'T get off saying "That was absolutely the worst experience I've ever had period." "I hated every second of it." "What a bust!" "Werner Stengel sure screwed that one up!" "I wish GCI made it, instead." "I feel like the new trains a bit less comfortable then the Premier ones." No. The general public got off of it going "Well it sure was rough, but not beyond what I expected from a 200+ foot tall wooden roller coaster." They know nothing of who manufactured it, who designed it, who could've done it better, etc. In conclusion, I beg of you to consider that Son of Beast is only synonymous with "biggest mistake of all time" amid enthusiasts, and even then, not all of them. The general public never expected smoothness from it, and never received it. Are there incredible flaws in the design? Absolutely, I don't think anyone would argue against that. But we needn't try to convince ourselves and others that the entire world knows of the horrendous, vile Son of Beast and that there's absolutely no way to ever bring light to anything with the name "Beast" other than the original again. It's just not true. We sit behind our computer screens and curse it while the general public rides it, finds it to be about what they expected, and then either likes it or dislikes it. Enthusiasts are the only ones with vendettas against it, and I hope it follows that most people outside of the Cincinnati area who visit parks for fun and not for excruciating analysis haven't heard of it, and couldn't care less. I hope they find a way to make it into something that everyone can enjoy. They certainly have a lot to work with... I say bring in Intamin to create a looping woody plug-n-play. And I just bet that if they did that, and named it "Son of Beast: The Revenge," the lines would stretch to Timberwolf.

The very idea of it is nonsense. It just won't happen. In a trillion years they may be removed to make way for a nice forested median or a very exquisite garden, but they won't be removed ANYTIME soon, certainly not next year, and positively not for a BMX show. That's insanity. Hahha.

7 days for the price of 4 is a pretty substancial discount. But I've been planning a Florida trip recently, so I beg you to keep in mind that that doesn't include park hopper pass, etc. Meanwhile, Universal is offering 7 days with park-hopper for $99.99 and, all-you-can-eat at select restaurants from noon til park closing is $19.99. That's prompted me to actually stay on-property where the hotel room are severely discounted, as front-of-the-line access is included with your room key... In other words, I'll be staying on-property at Universal for seven nights, eight days, I have the Meal Deal four of the days, plus flight and transportation for a total of about $600... That's nearly the price of the Walt Disney World Annual Pass you'd need to buy to visit those parks for 7 days!

I assume you actually want the answer or you wouldn't ask, so I won't riddle you. The gondola does swing, but to about fifteen degrees in each direction. The room itself is a giant barrel, pretty much, that rolls around you in increasing, synchronized arcs that mirror the swing of the gondola. They're actually pretty cool if you ask me, especially the big budget ones with synchronized music and special effects. And contrary to what you may think or how silly the videos may look, they're very very disorienting. I've heard a lot of people just getting off the ride or months later just adamant that the ride really does go upside down. There's a POV video of one of the more famous, Hex at Alton Towers here. As well as a behind the scenes video of the spinning barrel .

Sorry.

Yes. The only official name they ever had was "The Paramount Story," and since "The Story" isn't a good name for gardens, they're often called the Tower Gardens. Haha. (:

The park looks incredible! Like a different place! The landscaping, the dolphins, King Cobra... And Top Gun DID look incredible. Man, I'd do anything to have that back... The queue details, the "flying" screens, the red track, the billboard... Those were the days.

Haha yeah! It's not like the two already partner up to try to outwit Disney with the Orlando FlexTicket and various other partnerships they have...

I think that guest satisfaction on BLSC would shoot through the roof if they cut the line at like, fifteen minutes... I'd have some complaints, too, if I waited 30+ minutes for the thing like so many do. It truly is one of my favorite Kings Island coasters, especially at night, but I wouldn't wait more than 15 minutes for it. I can imagine getting off with a few complaints after waiting even a half hour. A fun ride, but I feel it should have a giant fun-looking sign out front that says "A FAMILY ADVENTURE" or something... The flames are what draw people in and wrack up the long lines which, even as one of my favorite coasters, it doesn't deserve.

Back seat on Son of Beast? Oh, you weren't asking for it or anything. Haha!

I can obviously understand why it closed - marine park in Northern Ohio? It is a bit crazy. But so is a water park when you think about it. The operational costs for a marine park are just much higher. The narrow pathways thing is true, but hardly crippling to the park, considering that by the time Cedar Fair owned the park, there weren't enough patrons to crowd the pathways, so that certainly wasn't the main reason for the park's downfall. Cedar Point has some cramped areas, as well, and a rather laborious and tiring layout. Even two "closely located" rides like Maverick and Magnum are a good fifteen minute walk from each other. I believe that were Six Flags Worlds of Adventure located in California or even a southern state not known for amusement parks, it would've been incredibly successful. The cost of transporting killer whales, dolphins, sea lions, seals, and walruses to a from California every six months would be crippling to any park. Did Cedar Fair come into possession of the most perfect park on Earth? No. Was Six Flags overexpanded? Arguably. But you can't honestly tell me that Cedar Fair wanted their newly aquired Geauga Lake to be tied with, or even comparable with Cedar Point. Like people who are saying "Shouldn't Intimidator305 be like Millennium 2.0 and fix all the issues Millennium had and be better than Millennium?" I ask you, do you think Cedar Fair was pushing Intamin to create a roller coaster that the public would consider better than Millennium Force? Do you think that Intamin was challenged to far overshadow Millennium? Because something tells me that Cedar Fair didn't push too hard for that. Cedar Fair doesn't want its flagship overshadowed by a random Virginia park. It just doesn't. In the same vein, Cedar Fair's intention was never to make Geauga Lake a destination. They bought it likely with one of their primary intents to make sure it didn't have a chance of competing with Cedar Point, or that at the very least the money would go right back into their pockets. And they've done it now. They bought each and every park in Ohio. So now, we aren't the state with a Paramount, Cedar Fair, and Six Flags park (each of them being the flagship of their respective chain). Now Ohio is the state with some formerly Universal-esque ex-movie park, a locals-only water park, and Cedar Point: AMERICA'S ROLLER COAST. Do you think they object to people having that view? I don't think so.

Six Flags did not destroy the park. It was unquestionably among their top three parks as far as its ride-priority (it got new rides before a lot of other parks), investment, and attendance. The county line runs right down the center of the lake, and it turns out that the side SeaWorld was on didn't allow structures over x amount of feet, thereby eliminating the addition of roller coasters. All of the other SeaWorld parks had started adding coasters (like Kraken in Orlando, Steel Eel in San Diego, etc.), and the Ohio park was getting left behind. On top of that, it simply costs a LOT of money to operate a marine animal park for about five months, then move each and every animal down to Florida for seven. That's expensive. So SeaWorld offered to buy Six Flags Ohio. Six Flags denied, but instead offered to buy SeaWorld, who accepted. As you know, that made the world's largest Six Flags: Complete water park, complete amusement park, and complete marine park. It really was quite spectacular. In their first two years of owning the park, Six Flags added an unprecedented five coasters (Batman: Knight Flight, Superman: Ultimate Escape, The Villian, X-Flight, and Road Runner Express), which to my knowledge is still the largest expansion ever to occur at a seasonal park. On top of that, they also brought in new whales, dolphins, penguins, sharks, flamingos, every single animal that SeaWorld had left with. Six Flags was dead serious about this park. Cedar Fair is responsible for ruining it no questions asked. There's a lot of debate as to how exactly, but there are so many reasons. They removed all the licensed characters (as they had to), but half-heartedly, renaming the rights seemingly overnight with no regard to the park's atmosphere. For example, Superman: Ultimate Escape was renamed Steel Venom. The structure remained red and blue with a S-Shield shaped sign, simply changed out for a black, purple, and silver snake logo inside of it. Batman: Knight Flight became Dominator, with the Batman symbols literally burned off of the seatbacks, and giant "W"s for Wayne rusted and burnt onto the building. Loony Toons Boomtown, instead of bringing in a new character base, was simply stripped of Loony Toons and renamed KidzWorkz. Not to mention they halted all regional advertising. Six Flags advertised in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, even New York, and got visitors from all areas. Cedar Fair wanted to have more of a local feel to the park, so they only advertised locally. Why you'd want to reduce your demographic is beyond me, but it's a fact that they did. And, since Six Flags and Kings Island were arguably Cedar Point's only competition, buying them (albeit, one at a time) literally created a monopoly. Though many don't consider it, Ohio truly was a Mecca of theme parks. Besides California and Florida, we truly were next in line. We had the world's largest Six Flags, Cedar Fair's flagship, Paramount's flagship, and an Busch Adventure Park. Today, they're all owned by Cedar Fair, and all have been downgraded in one way or another for it. Plus, before Six Flags came, the park had a boomerang, a double loop, and two woodies... Not much to destroy, is it? And I don't see how adding five coasters could destroy it any way. In short, no. It is part of the waterpark that Six Flags had built on the Wild Rides side of the lake (Hurricane Harbor). They just transferred it over to the other side to market it as "new". Six Flags' water park was Hurricane Harbor. When Cedar Fair bought it, it was renamed Hurricane Hannah's (that sign, of course, is now used for the restaurant just inside the entrance to Cedar Point.), and when they moved it to the other side of the lake, they renamed it Wildwater Kingdom to match Dorney Park. Six Flags was undescribable. As a kid, I have distinct memories of being at Six Flags, terrified, and wishing I was across the lake at SeaWorld. To look across the lake and see those signature whale stadiums was so sad. Of course, when I grew up, it was quote the opposite... Stuck at SeaWorld watching Batman roaring through the cobra roll and Serial Thriller flying down the hill... It sucked. When it was Worlds of Adventure, it was so amazing to walk between the two. . Who knows. Water parks in Ohio are about as hard to maintain as marine parks in Ohio, and have an even shorter season. Plus, revenue at water parks is entirely different - People don't carry money on them when they're in a bathing suit, so they buy less drinks, less food, fewer t-shirts, etc. Plus, the costs of running waterpark are about the same as running a roller coaster... One uses a chain lift, one uses recycled, pumped, and chlorinated water. Essentially, Cedar Fair ruined it. Six Flags: Worlds of Adventure truly was incredible. Though to a lesser extent than Kings Island, it was another example of a theme park bought by an amusement park company. And every single thing that Cedar Fair did led to its demise. Removing Loony Toons was necessary, but they brought in no replacement. Insisting on limiting advertisement was a ridiculous step. Simply relocating the old water park and marketing it as "new" was stupid. And let's not forgot, just when the park needed the most, they removed X-Flight and Superman / Steel Venom, arguably the park's two star rides, and then with true insanity (insanity defined as doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result), couldn't understand why attendance wasn't at its highest the next season. Everyone complains that Six Flags employees weren't high quality. Well I guess you've made your point, because now there are no employees. I'd rather have Batman: Knight Flight back in Ohio than a warm smile and greeting from a ticket-taker. Sorry, I just would. The pathways were narrow, yes. But the park also was empty while Cedar Fair owned it. Literally, a five minute wait on Dominator. I believe that the year it closed, Geauga Lake was the third worst-performing Cedar Fair park. Even during its infamous last seasons when it was arguably a walk-on for each and every ride, it performed better than Michigan's Adventure and Great America. We went from this: To this: And it's embarassing.

That isn't a "fake hill" on AC. B&M's signatures are pre-drops. It's not supposed to be a scary "fake" hill... It's to reduce strain on the chain lift. And also, it's an amazing ride. Really. It has some incredible elements Diamondback just doesn't. It's turnaround is an incredible rising helix, it does some awesome dives on its side... Very amazing, and airtime out the wazoo. Overall, I prefer Diamondback, yes, but AC is HARDLY mediocre. And I've been on plenty of B&Ms.

Yes! www.themeparkbrochures.net

I know I'm new, but I have 300+ posts on the other site, and you can bet I'll try my darndest to make this site great.

Wonderful trip report! I love Kennywood. It has such class. That's really the only way I can ever describe it. A classic darkride (the last of its kind in America!) and new, high tech dark ride, what my friends and I call "Garfield's six-hour boatride," a Zamperla Hawk, the delightful Exterminator (sorry you missed it!), beautiful landscaping and Phantom's Revenge, one of the greatest surprises of my amusement park visits ever. Glad you had fun!

My CoasterFanatics count is 89. Proud of myself! (:

There's really no reason to tell a first timer "AVOID THIS AT ALL COSTS. Avoid the kiddie stuff!" The truth is, Kings Island can easily be done in one day, and if you've never been, you really ought to try everything. Yes, including Flight of Fear, Adventure Express, Crypt, etc... They may be boring old rides to you, but for a first-timer? Really...

It really was quite clever that it was table tennis, but I feel like they should've really marketed it as such. There have to be at least SOME people who traveled a slight distance and/or paid for Kings Island admission only in hopes of seeing a "pro" tennis match... I think it's fun, but I'm sure the punchline wasn't a payoff for many people.

Here's a man who gets it! HERE HERE. I love it.

I'm sure that, fair or not, an eight year old kid doing it is different than a 15 year old who's there with his friends laughing about it. I've never seen anyone throw anything, but on Kings Dominion's Drop Tower, they're dead serious about it. Like, one of the older women working there came over to me and held her hand flat out, as if waiting for me to drop something into it like a teacher. I obviously wasn't holding anything, but she was like "Oh sorry, I just have gotten hit in the head too many times." Then a second worker walked all the way around the tower saying "hands open, palms up! Hands open, palms up!" and checked to make sure no one was holding anything.