bkroz

It's easy to think this is a "fail" or a joke, but imagine if it were you. This gentleman shouldn't have had his hand outside of the boat. Yep. I'm sure he agrees. But if he absentmindedly was holding onto the edge of the boat or something, that's hardly something idiotic and "facepalm" worthy. This isn't one of those people who was "asking for it." At least, not that we know. I doubt it's funny to him and his family... Seriously guys. If it were one of us... And don't say it wouldn't be, because we don't know that the guy was doing something outrageous.

At many of the UK's parks, it's pay-per-maze, with a different ticket needed for each. The big shift in the US has been a single up-charge maze with a unique angle - usually, going through alone. Those premium mazes can sell out of many nights. Knott's Trapped is one such example, full of puzzles and interactive scenes. Last year, Knott's paired their Fright Lane with "Skeleton Key," which unlocked new and exclusive rooms in mazes. Knott's is a Cedar Fair park...

Disney spent big money making sure all of its boat ride stations had safe, gapped, rubberized docks after this happened to a young person at Disneyland's Storybook Land Canal Boats. Unfortunately, not every part of the ride can be retrofitted in that way. I would guess for that reason alone that it probably was on a drop. No where else does the boat come into such tight contact with a guide track or wall.

Kings Island is missing a quality dark or two. At least at one point, we had Tomb Raider, Flight of Fear, and Haunted Castle. Even exchanging the first and last for The Crypt and Boo Blasters, that's a lot of A/C and a lot well-done dark-ride-esque experiences. Imagine Cedar Point, where literally, you cannot go indoors unless it is to eat or see a show. Consider that Amusement Today's "Best Park in the World" for the better part of two decades does not have a dark ride. Wow.

It's happened before at different parks. A fun way to celebrate something. Alton Towers' THIRTEEN was briefly renamed FOURTEEN on Friday the 13th for "safety reasons." At the same park, RITA - QUEEN OF SPEED was renamed CAMILLA - QUEEN OF SPEED to commemorate Prince Charles' marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles in April 2005.

Mr. Q makes me think of a very different era. This is Mr. O.

Phew. Hoping that's correct!

Yet, without it, how many high-capacity, marketable, thrilling flat rides would Kings Island have in 2014? Remember a time when Paramount's Kings Island was proud to boast a wide array of massive flat rides? Fans knew that Cedar Point could build all the coasters it wanted; Kings Island would always dominate in the flat ride department. Yep. Also, King Cobra couldn't have stuck around. Period.

Thanks! Lots of cool stories worth sharing! I'm glad to have the chance to.

Once in a while, I write for a website called Theme Park Tourist! I created this thread a few years ago partly for my own sake to list all of my writing in one place. Since then, the website has evolved and added a page for each author, so you can find pages and pages of my stuff on my author page if you're interested for some reason. Anyway, I'll update this periodically with my newest and favorite features. I think most of them are really interesting... but I'm biased. Let me know what you think, and if you like them, share them on your social media stuff and let me know! This series aims to collect and chronicle the in-depth stories behind lost attractions. The hope is that readers can share their own memories and stories about these lost wonders – both good and bad – to help keep the stories alive for future generations of theme park fans who simply can't understand what the big deal was about these classic rides they never had the chance to see. Image: Disney 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Why Disney Sank the Magic Kingdom Classic (click) Adventure! Unearthing the Secrets Buried in COSI's Valley of the Unknown (coming soon) Adventure Thru Inner Space: The Retro Disneyland Dark Ride that Inspired EPCOT Center (click) The Adventurer's Club: Legends of Downtown Disney's Living Theater Experience (click) Back to the Future – The Ride: How a Journey to the Past Created Universal Orlando's Future (click) Big Bad Wolf: The Swinging Suspended Coaster that Terrorized Busch Gardens (click) BODY WARS: The “Inside” Story of the Forgotten E-Ticket That Left Riders Queasy (click) Captain EO: The $17 Million Music Video That Changed Disney World Forever (click) Image: Disney Countdown to Extinction: The (Pre)historic Tale of Animal Kingdom's DINOSAUR (click) Country Bear Jamboree: The Rootin' Tootin' Tale of Disneyland's Lost Hoedown (click) Curse of DarKastle: Inside The Frozen Favorite That Melted Too Soon (click) ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter: The Terrifying True Story of Disney’s Scariest Attraction Ever (click) Geauga Lake: Why the World’s Largest Theme Park was Abandoned (click) Image: Disney The Great Movie Ride: Inside the Final Curtain Call for the Disney-MGM Studios (click) Horizons: A Look Back at EPCOT Center’s Lost View of the Future (click) If You Had Wings: The Magic Kingdom Classic that Gave a Generation Wings (click) JAWS: The Lost Universal Legend that Scared a Generation Out of the Water (click) Journey into Imagination: The Tragic Tale of Disney’s Lost Masterpiece (click) Image: Disney Kitchen Kabaret: The Nutrition Facts on EPCOT Center’s Animatronic “Dinner Show” (click) KONGFRONTATION: The Complete Story of Universal’s Legendary Lost King (click) Lost Continent: How Disney Accidentally Designed and Destroyed Universal’s Lost Land (click) Maelstrom: The Stormy Tale of Epcot’s Lost Norwegian Adventure (click) Mickey's Toontown Fair: Inside the Circus Cut from Magic Kingdom (click) Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride: Disney Fans Fought to Save This Whacky Ride… And Lost (click) Image: Disney The Peoplemover and the Fall of Walt's Tomorrowland (click) Snow White’s Scary Adventures: The Spooky Story of the Missing Magic Kingdom Classic (click) Soarin’ Over California: How California Adventure’s One Soarin’ Success Spread Around the World (click) Son of Beast: The Fall of the Tallest, Fastest, Only Looping Wooden Coaster on Earth (click) Space Mountain – De la Terre à la Lune: Launching Disneyland Paris’ Steampunk Peak (click) Image: Disney / Lucasfilm STAR TOURS: The Stellar Story Behind the Ride That Changed Disney Parks Forever (click) T2 3-D: Behind the Screens of Universal’s Larger-Than-Life Lost Legend (click) History in Motion, Part II: How the Original TEST TRACK Changed Epcot Forever (click) The Timekeeper: How Disney Turned Walt's 1950s Tech into an International "Sci-Fi Double Feature" (click) TOMB RAIDER: The Ride – How One of America’s Best Themed Rides Was Buried (click) Image: Disney The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror: Why Disney Created (and Condemned) California’s Toppled Tower (click) Universe of Energy: Behind the Extinction of the Last EPCOT Center Classic (click) History in Motion, Part I: Epcot’s Legendary Lost Classic World of Motion (click) In this brand new series, we dissect the true tales of some of the most astounding rides at theme parks around the globe; living legends that exemplify the brilliance, storytelling, and technology of leading parks. We’ll look behind-the-ride to get the full, unabridged story of these modern wonders and examine how their success is all in the details. Image: Universal / Marvel The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man: The Inside Scoop (click) Country Bear Jamboree: From Mineral King to the Magic Kingdom (click) DINOSAUR: Behind the Prehistoric Pandemonium (click) Expedition Everest: Inside Disney’s Most Legendary Peak (click) Frozen Ever After: Epcot's World (Showcase) Changing Dark Ride (click) Image: Disney Indiana Jones Adventure: Behind the Legend of the Forbidden Eye (click) Journey to the Center of the Earth: Unearthing Disney’s Best Dark Ride Ever (click) Mystic Manor: A Monkey, a Music Box, and an Imagineering Masterpiece (click) Image: Disney Phantom Manor: Paris’ One-of-a-Kind Haunted Mansion (click) Radiator Springs Racers: The Mile-a-Minute E-Ticket that Saved California Adventure (coming soon) Revenge of the Mummy: Universal’s Mummified Marvel (click) Tower of Terror: Tokyo's One-of-a-Kind Thriller (click) TRON Lightcycle Power Run: Inside The Grid (click) Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress: From the World's Fair to Walt Disney World (click) Forget legends. This series is a growing collection of missteps, flops, failures, and "disasters." Embarrassing overlays, broken technologies, and tone-deaf "upgrades" that led to some seriously regrettable rides, attractions, and even parks. We'll explore the before-during-and-after of these unusual and unfortunate stories, see where they went wrong and what can make them right. Image: Disney Backstage Studio Tour: How The Ride Meant to Headline the Disney-MGM Studios Killed It Instead (click) Disaster Transport: The Disney Knockoff Coaster That Changed Cedar Point Forever (click) Disney’s California Adventure: How Disneyland’s Second Park Crashed, Burned, and was Reborn (click) Image: Disney DisneyQuest: How Disney’s Plans to Bring Its Theme Parks Closer To YOU Crashed and Burned (click) Drachen Fire: The Short Life of Busch Gardens’ Nightmare Franken-Coaster (click) Enchanted Tiki Room: “New Management” Almost Closed This Walt Original (click) Europe in the Air: Grounding Busch Gardens' Soarin' Simulator (coming soon) Hard Rock Park: The Ambitious Music Park That Went Bankrupt in 150 Days (click) Image: Disney Journey into YOUR Imagination: The Unimaginable Story Behind the Ride Epcot Fans Hated (click) Journey to Atlantis: How SeaWorld’s Attempt at Disney Dark Ride Storytelling Sank (click) Rocket Rods and Tomorrowland 1998: Why Disney’s Most Disastrous Ride Ever Literally Didn’t Work (click) Image: Disney Stitch’s Great Escape! The Tragic Tale of Disney’s “Worst Attraction Ever” (click) Superstar Limo: The Disastrous Disney Ride That Lasted Only One Year (click) Walt Disney Studios: How Disney’s Parisian Movie Park Became a Box Office Bomb (click) This series explores never-built attractions, lands, and theme parks and examines the parks we know and love if things had been done differently. Possibilityland is growing as we explore the in-depth stories behind these never-built attractions that could've changed everything if they'd ended up coming to life. Image: Disney Beastly Kingdom: The Imagined Land Animal Kingdom Almost Had (click) Discovery Bay: The Inventive Tale of Disneyland’s Lost Land (click) Epcot’s Project – GEMINI: Disney’s Secret Plans to Transform Epcot (click) Muppet Studios: Disney’s Inspirational, Celebrational, Muppetational Never-Built Land (click) Image: Disney Never-Built "Mountains": Disney's Most Perilous Peaks (click) Possibilityland: A Walk Through the Disneyland That Never Was (click) Tomorrowland 2055: The Future Disneyland Almost Had (And the Failure It Got Instead) (click) Western River Expedition: The Would-Be E-Ticket That Could’ve Changed Magic Kingdom (click) Image: Disney Fun Features Universal Rises: The Changing Tide in Orlando (one, two, three) Tokyo Disney Resort Walkthrough Photo Report (one, two, three, four) The Tomorrowland Saga ––– Part One: Back to the Future - A History of Tomorrowland (link) ––– Part Two: What's Happening with Star Wars at Disney Parks? (link) ––– Part Three: Tomorrowlands of the Past, Present, and Future (link) Behind the Ride ––– Verbolten: Brave the Black Forest (link) ––– Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye (link) COOL! The Wonders of the Theme Park World ––– The Seven "Natural" Wonders (link) ––– The Seven "Ancient" Wonders (link) ––– The Seven "Modern" Wonders (link) Ideal Build-Out Parks ––– Disney Hollywoodland Park (link) In-Depth: Shanghai Disneyland's New Lands, New Classics, and New Rides (link) The Ride Count Countdown: How Disney & Universal’s Parks Stack Up (click) Cancellations, Closures, and Cop-Outs: 25 Years Ago, These Disney Parks Projects were Canned (link) Random Listicles 9 Forgotten Disney Parks Icons (link) 8 Disney Castles of Every Size and Shape (link) COOL! 7 Classic Disney Attractions That Look MUCH Different Overseas (link) 7 Strangest Theme Park Rides Based on Movies (link) (Kings Island!) 5 Asian Parks That Copycat Disney (link) 11 Infamously Failed and Flubbed Theme Park Attractions (link) (Kings Island!) COOL! 10 Disney Attractions Connected by the Secret Society S.E.A. (link) 11 Awe-Inspiring Theme Park Icons (link) 8 Never-Built Lands at Disney Parks (link) Less Is More: 6 Roller Coasters that DON'T Break Records (link) COOL! 7 New Lands for Disney's Animal Kingdom that Make More Sense than Avatar (link) 6 Reasons Why FastPass+ Won't Work at Disneyland Without BIG Tweaks (link) Disney's Most Elaborate and Immersive Meet-and-Greets (link) COOL! COSI – Why Every Disney Fan Should Visit America's OTHER Epcot (link) 10 "How'd They Do That" Special Effects That STILL Amaze Us (link) 10 BEST (link) and 6 WORST (link) Times Disney "Plussed" Classic Attractions COOL! Adventure In the Valley of the Unknown (link) New Hopes and Fears: How STAR WARS Changes Everything at Disney Parks (link) 8 Classic Disney Attractions Plussed by Projection Technology (link) COOL! The 25 Most Incredible Theme Park Animatronics On Earth (link) 12 Incredible, Immersive Dark Rides You CAN'T Ride at Disney or Universal (link) 6 Disney Clone Pairs You Might Not Recognize (link) NEW! 10 Disney Rides with "Spiritual Sequels" Around the Globe (link) NEW! = Recently-published features, newly added to this list COOL! = Obviously they're all cool, but these are my personal favorites! Great choices for a fun read! Kings Island! (at the end, after the link) = A Kings Island attraction is featured

Get together a group of folks who know (or at least think they know) a whole lot about a specific topic and you'll get a lot of head-butting, one-upping, and competing viewpoints. It happens everywhere. I'm not really sure why things feel smoother here, but I think it's because it's a community where a lot of posters have been around for a long time and know each other in person, which is really cool! When a new visitor arrives and goes against the grain, I know a few of us who are quick to message them and give them advice for how to relax. I've apparently been a member here for nine years (time flies) so I started at 14. I grew up here! Lots of us have. It's a different place. But, Kings Island is a different park! *insert dreamy Americana music*

Just to see if it works, try clicking "MultiQuote" then selecting "Reply to 1 quoted post(s)" that appears in the bottom right corner. See if the desired post appears then. if not, it could be a browser thing? I don't know.

Sure! They're really just shorts anyway, aren't they? Just don't drip.

I'm surprised they didn't just melt and re-bend it on site! A few little crinkles never hurt anybody.

Just from the image, they look like Intamin's standard ones, with the two metal clips to push. Most times I rode Millennium in its early years, people looked absolutely puzzled as to how to unlock the thing.

According to Screamscape, the issue is due to potential loose articles. Lance says that Ka runs two trains. Once both are safely back at the station, then Zumanjaro loads its three carriages. Yep, the Drop Tower can't even load until Ka clears the brake run. The fear, apparently, is that items shaken loose during Kingda Ka's launch might inexplicably race forward and fly into those boarding Zumanjaro. Equally risky, apparently, the roof over each of Zumanjaro's gondola's was deemed inadequate protection from any items that might fall directly overhead from Ka's hill. Once Zumanjaro lands and riders exit the ride area, Kingda Ka is cleared to launch two more trains while Zumanjaro sits, empty. So it's not necessarily sharing a tower that's a problem. It's the Drop Tower facing the launch track and being in the potential crash zone of any items that might fly from rider's pockets during Kingda Ka's launch. As it is, I think they'd be better off closing Kingda Ka until this is sorted out. Right now it can't be meeting even 25% of its potential hourly capacity, so both it and Drop of Doom are going to have really long lines that are gonna make a lot of people really angry. At this point, folks are used to Kingda Ka being closed (it has been all season already) so what's the difference? Apparently it's not a temporary protocol, either. Screamscape says that the state has gone so far as to demand that the two rides' operational systems be linked together so that one is physically locked down while the other operates. The only solution might be very tall walls and very wide roofs / netting on the Drop Tower? Lance does point out something that's painfully obvious though - rides have gone over and under each other forever. A few feet away, Rolling Thunder and El Toro intertwined for many years. No one ever shut one down for fear that a flying shoe from the other could hurt someone. This is a little absurd. Granted, there's no precedent. Even Magic Mountain's Superman / Drop of Doom combo at least had the two rides on opposite sides of a tower facing away from each other. Admittedly, this is different. But is it worth all this?

Quite a business to be in. Imagine you purchase five new theme parks – including your flagship's greatest competitor – and just one month after your massive acquisition, just as you begin to meld your new parks into your legacy portfolio, a massive roller coaster that you inherited injures twenty-seven riders and sends nineteen of those to the hospital. Quite a welcome present from your new park, eh? $20 million+ later and an empty field to show for it... Any regrets?

^ I don't know that it would be quite THAT bad. When The Beast was built, I can't imagine people confusing it with Racer. I think if Kings Island built a new wooden coaster and marketed it with the ferocity that they've marketed other major installations, it would be widely understood in the tri-state area as separate from Son of Beast. Especially with the buzz around Son of Beast (and its closure, demolition, and replacement with Banshee), I think it would be more or less clear to a majority of people that the new ride was unrelated to Son of Beast. Probably a major reason Kings Island (and most parks) favor steel coasters to wooden is that steel coasters are less divisive and more easily marketable in today's world. Sure, some people prefer wooden coasters. But it seems that steel coasters are almost uniformly smoother, sturdier, and more reliable. In theory and practice, steel coasters can be taller, loop-the-loopier, and have fun "gimmicky" configurations like ZacSpins and Dive Machines and Inverted Coasters and launches. There are wooden classics, and modern wooden wonders, but steel coasters far outnumber wooden, and there have got to be reasons for that, right? The Interpreter recently said that steel coasters are a relationship, wooden coasters are a marriage. Steel coasters may cost more initially, but look at a 20 year old steel coaster vs. a 20 year old wooden coaster and imagine not only the experience between the two (and how each has changed from its first season to its twentieth), but also look at the amount of upkeep and investment that each has needed in its first 20 years...

I don't have any info, but your pass should have a whole lot of fine print on the back. If it's not there, there is doubtlessly an associated contract of your rights and responsibilities and Kings Island's that would be available online or at the park. The trouble is, most of those contracts have fine print within the fine print that says policies are subject to change at any time. One thing we see an unfortunate amount of here is miscommunication, where guests are told different things by different folks. The people trained to process passes, for example, understand things differently than those who work admissions. Take your issue to guest relations, and you may hear either one of the answers you got at processing and admissions, or even a third option! All you can do, unfortunately, is work your way up the pole and calmly, kindly, gently ask for supervisors and superiors. Ultimately the answer you may get is, "Yes, unfortunately, you'll need to upgrade," so be prepared for that. Whatever the result, request (kindly) that the park be more clear about that in the future, and ask that all employees who work in admissions and processing be trained on the way that that works. Because honestly, that's not some isolated issue. I'm sure that happens to many kids every season. Honestly, I'm surprised that you were stopped at the gate and questioned about it to begin with. Someone was really into their job if they sincerely took the time to check your child's height. I guess that's the right thing to do given the information they apparently had (that the day they reach 48 inches, a child's pass must be upgraded immediately), but I'm still surprised it happened. I wish I didn't have to tell you to "get to the bottom of it and let us know," but I'm not sure what else to say. Calling guest relations and speaking to one of the lovely folks there will provide you with an answer, but it doesn't mean you'll get the same one next time you try to enter the park. The only definitive answer will come from someone salaried, I imagine, and even then you may experience problems at the gate unless that person takes it upon him or herself to make the policy clear to everyone. Once in a while, Don is active here. He might have an answer.

Agreed, homestar. It's outrageous that these news sources choose to mention the ride's tagline, "The Stealth Assassin." At best, it's embellishment masquerading as fact. A lame attempt to elicit an emotional response, and it'll probably work. Meanwhile, in Spain, another major coaster incident today as an 18-year-old rider has fallen from Terra Mítica's Intamin coaster "Inferno." Though news sources leave the park's name in Catalan, they happily translate the roller coaster's name to English - "Hell." (The accident on Inferno is being discussed on KICentral here.) It's downright predatory for writers to embellish in those ways. Some parks make it easier than others. God forbid anything happen on a roller coaster named after an Irish spirit whose scream signals imminent death... And God forbid that roller coaster play an ear-piercing scream right at the top of its lift hill... Should a rider ever return to Banshee's station unresponsive, even a freshman journalist on a high school newspaper could piece together a darning story, no embellishment necessary! Good thing they went with Mantis instead. Oh, wait...

"Just sayin'" should probably contain a period somewhere. Don't start this game. It's no fun for anyone involved! It might be worth nitpicking instead that our park is apparently an island of two or more kings where, logically, you'd imagine it belongs to a king, or even kings! Yet, it is neither King's Island nor Kings' Island (or is it Kings's Island?). Ah well. The mill of many kings seemed to disagree, which, somewhere down the line, influenced a dominion not belonging to any kings, but containing many? An odd dominion, that. Not worth getting into here. Apostrophe problems happen to the best of us. For a time, Disneyland's Club Buzz Stage was advertised as Lightyear's Above the Rest! [ir]regardless, the world's of fun if you ask me!

Inferno was the world's second Intamin ZacSpin, opening shortly after an identical twin in Finland. The ride's restraints appear to be the newer, soft over-the-shoulder restraints used on the modified Intimidator 305. To my knowledge, there are no reports yet as to whether the restraint failed, or if the rider slipped out. There are only 4 ZacSpin coasters in the world. It'll be interesting to see how California reacts with the only one in the United States, Green Lantern: First Flight at Six Flags Magic Mountain. By the way, Terra Mítica was briefly named Terra Mítica: A Paramount Park during a brief management deal from late 2001 to 2004 (before Inferno was built). If we're being honest, it was certainly the best-themed Paramount Park, too. If you're a theme park fan, look into Terra Mítica (formerly of Paramount) and Spain's PortAventura (formerly of Universal) for two incredible examples of themed environments and stories blended with great rides.

This is horrible and unimaginable and awful and tragic. 1) That said, why leave the park's name - Terra Mítica - in Catalan, but translate the roller coaster's name - Inferno - into English? I suppose it's viral-friendly and gives the story a little zest, but must we really say that the individual died on a ride called Hell? 2) I'm having flashbacks to "the stealth assassin." And by flashback, I mean a few hours ago... Story is awful enough. This is embellishment, even if its embellishment masquerading as a factual lean. Fact checkers? Or tabloid gossip mongers? 3) And then there's Banshee at Cedar Point... Oh, wait... 4) Hopefully things like this having real consequences will help us think twice before making jokes next time an accident is reported. Flashing back now to Flight of Fear just a few weeks ago when many decided it was prime time for a punch line... while we still thought the building was on fire! These things can have real impacts... It's not funny for the riders who go through it, even the ones who are physically uninjured.

Remember how Busch Gardens Williamsburg removed Big Bad Wolf, citing a 25 year shelf life for Arrow Suspended Coasters? Ninja is 26. Not saying there's any truth to that, it's just odd. This is not good at all. Other than Ninja, there are three Arrow Suspended Coasters left operating with their original suspended trains. All three are at Cedar Fair parks. *gulp* Either way, this is horrible. Obviously hoping those seriously injured are alright...

These events are fantastic. Way to go Kings Island!