bkroz

With today's technology "it" could easily work? What's "it"? Not Son of Beast! "It" was a product of its times. The technology available at that time is WHY Son of Beast was what it was. The people around at that time, too. Given today's leadership, today's technology, today's shareholders, today's Kings Island, Son of Beast probably wouldn't happen at all. If it would, it would look, feel, and be marketed very differently. Hindsight is 20/20. Can we say that if Paramount had waited a few years, then Son of Beast could've been among the first of Intamin's wildly popular plug-and-play wooden coasters (like El Toro)? Sure. It's possible. If they'd waited a few after that, Son of Beast could've been Rocky Mountain Coaster style hybrid track. But they didn't. There's no telling what "it" would look like if it were built today... or if "it" would be built at all. To imagine the exact Son of Beast we once had, but with Intamin's super smooth track is just silly. That's not an option.

Sure can! Both train stations have convenient upgrade kiosks disguised as regular ole train station ticket kiosks. From what folks are saying about Hogwarts Express, it would be worth it. And it's an entirely different attraction in each direction...

And now dining stuff. I really wish I was more organized and able to put this all into one post. Both of the Wizarding World's big restaurants (Three Broomsticks / Hog's Head Pub in Hogsmeade and Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley) get consistently rave reviews. They serve authentic UK fare with no intrusive offerings. No Coca-Cola products, for example. Only Butterbeer, Pumpkin Juice, Gillyweed Soda, etc.. I'm sure you'll make sure to eat at both anyway, but it's worth repeating that they're GREAT restaurants and TOTALLY integrated into the story. Obviously Butterbeer (served as a soft drink or a frozen variety) are available in both places. If you get it at the Hog's Head, tip your bartender... Outside of the Wizarding World, Universal's food offerings aren't spectacular in terms of quick-service (a lot of hamburgers and spaghetti) but Mythos in the Lost Continent wins annual awards for its food, and it's worth eating there just to see the interior. The restaurant that's been causing a stir in Diagon Alley is Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Apparently the Butterbeer ice cream is worth waiting for. The website I write for, Theme Park Tourist, has full guides to most theme parks, including Universal Orlando's two parks. Each park has its rides and restaurants rated and categorized and briefly described, so that can be fun to look through too! But I'm biased - I wrote the guides...

On the subject of adding another day, Universal's ticket prices did a big jump when Diagon Alley opening neared, but they're still pretty reasonable. It's ESPECIALLY cheap to add extra days. (I was stunned to find that adding another day cost a whopping $5.00 per person when I last visited.) Assuming you'll do a Park-to-Park ticket (which, again, is the only way to get on the Hogwarts Express), a two-day ticket is $175.99. A three-day ticket is $185.99... A difference of $10.00. So, if your plane gets in at 2 or 3 in the afternoon, you'll be in your hotel by 3 or 4 (presumably) and for $10, you can upgrade your ticket to three days and be in the parks that night from, say, 5 - 10. That's 5 extra hours for an additional $10. Even if it's not beautifully ideal, that's 5 hours to get your bearings, ride a few big attractions, and get excited for your two full days to follow. Now, if your plane is landing at 6 or 7, it might not be worth the effort to rush to the parks. But it's something to consider!

Also recognize that the first week of August is most students' last week off for summer, and that Diagon Alley will be less than a month old at the time. Universal has hit it out of the park with Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, and wait times will reflect that. When Hogsmeade opened, folks were waiting for 90 minutes or more to get into shops and restaurants. With that pressure distributed between two Wizarding World lands, it shouldn't be quite as bad, but recognize that if your time is short, you may have to buy a wand from a cart instead of waiting an hour or more to get into Ollivander's. It depends on your priorities. If you're going just for the Wizarding World lands, you can do it all in two days. To me, that would do a disservice to two of the greatest theme parks in the world, though. Don't make the mistake of trying to meticulously plan which park you'll visit first and where you'll run to and what order you'll do rides in. Just like Kings Island, things rarely work out that smoothly. Go with the flow, try not to stress, and get lost in the moments. Universal has a really cool dichotomy: you'll be dropped off directly in the center of the kidney-bean shaped CityWalk. Two identical bridges branch off from each end of the kidney bean: one toward the Pharos Lighthouse, and one toward the Universal Studio Gates. You can plan until the cows come home, but when you first land there and see those two park icons, you'll just end up going with the flow anyway and following whichever path feels right to you.

You are going to LOVE Universal Orlando. LOVE it. It's fantastic. When I visit Orlando, Universal is my primary destination every time, above Walt Disney World. The two parks are snuggled right up to each other and VERY easy to walk between. For that reason alone, get a Park-to-Park ticket. It'll let you bounce between the resort's highlights, especially at the end of the second day. You'll be kicking yourself if you go to Islands of Adventure on Tuesday, then Universal Studios on Wednesday and realize you can't run back and re-ride Spider-Man that night. Also remember: Diagon Alley has two major attractions: Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, and the Hogwarts Express. The Hogwarts Express is a fully-immersive dark ride (so it is NOT a simple train like Kings Island's or the Walt Disney World Railroad) that travels BETWEEN Diagon Alley (at Universal Studios) and Hogsmeade (at Islands of Adventure). You cannot ride the Hogwarts Express attraction unless you have a Park-to-Park ticket. You board in Kings Cross Station at Diagon Alley and get off in Hogsmeade at the other park (or vice versa) so without a Park-to-Park ticket, you will miss that E-ticket, headlining, major ride. There's nothing I'd tell you to skip, but with time being short, focus on the obvious headlining rides (Forbidden Journey, Gringotts, Revenge of the Mummy, Spider-Man, Transformers, Jurassic Park, Hulk, Dragon Challenge, Men In Black) but be sure not to miss Poseidon's Fury, E.T., and the Horror Make-Up Show. You'll find that Universal's two parks contain as many headlining attractions as Disney World's four, and doing it in 2 days won't be easy! If you're staying on-property at one of the resort's three deluxe hotels, your room key counts as FREE, UNLIMITED front-of-the-line passes (not good on Gringotts or Forbidden Journey, last I checked). You can also purchase once-per-ride Express Pass Plus online or at the park, with prices fluctuating based on expected crowd levels. It can be pricy based on the time of year, but it will definitely relieve pressure from your vacation and allow you to relax a bit.

What state department is that all regulated under for them? Ours is the Ohio Department of Agriculture, right?

A Monday is July is probably quieter than a Saturday in July, but more busy than a Wednesday. It's the heart of summer. There's not a great time to go to any theme park in July, especially those drawing from major metropolitan areas with huge tourist draw. Expect crowds, expect to wait, and be pleasantly surprised if you don't have them and don't wait. And then there's The Flash Pass...

Even in the Dark Days, Great America always stood out as one of the cleaner, kinder Six Flags parks. It remained that way when I visited a few years back. A really nice collection of coasters, especially if you're a frequent visitor of Cedar Fair parks. You'll get a nice dose of different manufacturers and models, and a different way of doing things. (Cedar Fair's California's Great America originated as a sister park of Six Flags Great America. They share SOME coasters and elements, but they have diverged in the decades since their separation, each well representing the direction of its respective owners.) If you're visiting for just a day and doing it this month, you may consider a The Flash Pass. I used one. Just be aware that Six Flags infamously inflates wait times to boost The Flash Pass sales, so don't take them at their word necessarily. Don't miss the Whizzer, even if you're tempted to. Raging Bull is stellar, in my opinion. Parking is a whopping $25. Brace yourself. (EDIT: Never mind, profile shows you're 13. Probably you won't be responsible for the parking fee. )

Seatbelts? I'm assuming that the ride ends in a trough, then, and not a pool. I'm assuming (probably incorrectly) that the black pads at the bottom of the raft are friction pads to slow it?

If you ask me, "dark ride" doesn't require a cart. I'd call a funhouse or dark walkthrough a sub-genre of dark ride. Just me justifying why my "dark ride" spreadsheet includes Cinderella's Fairy Tale Hall, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Noah's Ark, Poseidon's Fury, Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough, and Twister: Ride It Out. Kennywood is a fantastic little park. Thunderbolt is incredible. Only thing that irks me is that I (and others) think of the park as a dark-ride heavy park, but Noah's Ark is really the only classic classic one, you know? Ah if only Garfield's Nightmare was... I don't know, something else.

Even if they pulled a "water-coaster" move and constructed guide rails that engaged with side tires and prevented the raft from lifting off the slide, the problem would still remain that riders aren't strapped to the raft (nor should they be!) so they could still go flying. Oh man.

As most of you probably know, I'm lucky enough to write for an enthusiast website called Theme Park Tourist. Recently, I was able to collaborate with the incredible designer S.W. Wilson to bring a few "Ideal Build-Out" conceptual plans to life, basically tidying up and expanding famous parks to be their best selves. Of course, we started with Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, which (as we've discussed here, even) is feeling the weight of it's 90s studio theme. Big boxy showbuildings and mismatched rides don't scream "Disney," so I set out to redesign the park from scratch. I initially designed the park on paper: Then, S.W. took my concept and basically made sure it all fit. He created a scaled conceptual map that realistically organized the park in a way that could physically happen considering backstage facilities, access roads, and showbuilding size for different ride types. (To my credit, I wasn't far off!) Here is S.W.'s brilliant take: Renamed Disney Hollywoodland Park, the new version has 4 added E-tickets and 7 new, original themed lands. Is it realistic as a park expansion? Of course not. The notion of an "ideal build-out," in S.W.'s style, is to basically imagine where the park could be given unlimited time and resources, built-out to its fullest potential. Rumors have swirled for a while of Disney's Hollywood Studios getting a Cars Land or a Star Wars land. I took things in a little bit different of a direction. So, if you're into all things Disney or the above concepts pique your interest, head over to Theme Park Tourist and check out my land-by-land walkthrough of the "new" park! If you want to leave comments there, it would be great! And also here, of course.

So if I pull into the parking lot at 10 AM, 11 AM and promise the parking attendant "I'll only be here for like, a half hour," I can pretty much get free preferred parking?

I would be very happy if we ended up with a Steeplchase or something even resembling it.

Wow, so sorry to hear about that. Thoughts are with you and Julie's family during this. Keep your memories close!

I remember having to purchase a "Cedar Fair MAXX Pass PLUS" at Geauga Lake to visit Knott's Berry Farm. Of course, the folks at Knott's had never heard of Geauga Lake or seen a pass from there, and it was a nightmare. At that time, I think it was standard fare to have to visit guest relations where a team member would need to call your home park and verify your identity, then print you off a gratis ticket with a manager's help if you used a MAXX Pass PLUS (and that's IF they believed your pass was valid at all... see the link provided above). It was a wildly ineffective system and was no doubt part of Kinzel's distaste for relying on technology and computer systems (something Cedar Fair is still paying for last I heard, if you can believe it). And the system they used was nothing short of laughable. A Pass was good at one park, MAXX Passes were good at certain parks, MAXX Pass PLUS at others, and a third tier or maybe add-on included water parks... It was just silly, and clearly based on the local-park model and centered around Cedar Point's pricing dynamic, and it made absolutely no sense to continue to use it when Cedar Fair's property count doubled and traveling between parks became much more logical. Plus, Paramount's system is intuitive. Regular (or at most parks, Silver), Gold, and Platinum passes. Easy. Aside from the parks themselves, Paramount's infrastructure there might be the biggest benefit Cedar Fair got from the purchase.

^ I get what dtk1376 is saying. The top tier is identical to the middle tier, just with free parking and admission at other Cedar Fair parks. But in your home park, a Platinum Pass looks no different from a Gold Pass (right?). At Disney Parks, a middle tier [Gold] pass gets you 10% off food and merchandise across the resort, while the higher tier [Platinum] pass gets you 15% off. Something like that is a no-brainer and an incentive to upgrade even if Cedar Point isn't in your future. (I think Kings Island is doing something like this now... years ago, passes did not provide a percentage discount, only odd meal combinations impractical for most of us... Anyone else remember the days of "GOLD PASS EXCLUSIVE: Buy 4 Subway footlongs and 3 bags of chips, get 1 Subway footlong and 2 cookes free with the purchase of a large beverage." At Universal Parks, the percentage-discounts mirror Disney's, and the highest tier gets you something like 4 free bottles of water throughout the season and free Express access to attractions after 4 on weekdays. Now, obviously that latter perk wouldn't work at Kings Island necessarily, but remember Kings Dominion's Re-Ride Wednesdays (not sure if KI ever had it) where flashing your Gold Pass let you stay on select coasters for a second ride? Something like that exclusive to Platinum Passes might get people excited to upgrade - again - even if they didn't plan to travel. And think about this: Would it really kill Cedar Fair's bottom line if Platinum Passes were pre-loaded with a one-day Dining Plan? Platinum Passholders are part of a group that has intrinsically demonstrated a desire for a premium experience and a financial ability to pay for it. They seem the most likely to purchase a Season Dining Plan, right? And in that case, giving them a day for free will 1) incentivize purchasing a Platinum Pass over a Gold Pass and 2) let them see how hassle-free** unlimited dining can be so they consider adding it on to their pass. The incentive to upgrade from Gold to Platinum now is entirely based upon whether or not you'll visit other parks, which is fine and works! But probably they could build a more dynamic system that does better, and lures in folks who don't anticipate traveling but still want a premium experience at Kings Island all season long.

Who hear is asking for more breaking? Not Intamin!

Yeah, I'd say definitely not Disney who's bringing them in. The Walt Disney Company has much bigger things on its plate and doesn't dabble in character appearances in the Midwest. The rest of the question is how they can appear in terms of the Universal / Marvel contract period, which I think is because of that third party and because it's a non-permanent attraction that doesn't feature one of Universal's featured characters. But again, it probably didn't even need to get to the point of asking that question.

It reminds me of the viral marketing we see so often in Europe. Remember B&M's Wing Rider with its near misses being marketed on-purpose by viral news stories saying test dummies had come back to the station missing limbs? Or Alton Tower's many stunts featuring on-site nurses and "free diapers" for scared riders? Can you imagine it in the U.S.? If Schlitterbahn hoped to drum up word of mouth by allowing things to be filmed and commenting on the ride's troubles, they've succeeded. Now let's see how the turnstiles spin, eh?

Hey guys. Made a quick stop at Coney Island in Brooklyn this week, so I wanted to share my experience briefly! First of all, Coney Island is a neighborhood famous for its amusement parks and beaches, which are all located on a few square blocks together along the Atlantic Ocean. The amusement parks mostly blend together, but there are a few different operators. The most famous and historic was called Astroland for many, many years, but stumbled in 2009 and closed. In 2010, Zamperla (a coaster / ride manufacturer) won a bid to operate the old Astroland for 10 years, and has been stuffing the park with its own rides ever since. So most of the rides at Coney Island are part of "Luna Park" (that's Zamperla's park, formerly Astroland, and formerly Luna Park again before that in Geauga Lake style), but there are other operators and attractions strewn about too. All are free to enter and walk around. Luna Park's rides take credits purchased and loaded onto a refillable Luna Card. Those credits can be used on coasters, food, and games. The other amusements take tickets purchased at little kiosks. Here's a map just showing Luna Park's rides, with the grayed out plots representing other blocks managed by different companies or independent attractions. (Click here for big, interactive version) In this map, the beach / ocean is at the bottom with Brooklyn at the top. What's so cool about Luna Park is the history. Not much of it can still be seen (except the world's first Nathan's Famous hot dogs... Is this were "Coney dog" comes from? I mean, probably, right?) but this was a magnificent era back in the 1920s. Like, the kind of place Gatsby would've gone. That last image is from 1905 and shows the park's famous Electric Tower. For those of you who have been around long enough to remember my Tokyo Disney Resort photo trip report (shameless plug, hoping someone comments on it and bumps it), it will look a little familiar... Luna Park was the inspiration for Tokyo DisneySea's INCREDIBLE version of Toy Story Midway Mania, which is located in the park's 1920s-New-York-City themed land. Obviously the park today is not what you'd call "regal" or anything. It's basically a collection of flat rides, carnie vendors, chain link fence, and New Yorkers all jumbled together. The coasters have big flashing signs that really are purely to draw you in and convince you to ride them, because this is a pay-per-ride park where weak performers don't make enough money to justify their operation. Remaining from the old days (1927, in fact) is the Cyclone coaster (POV video), designed by Vernon Keenan and built by Harry C. Baker (means nothing to me, but maybe it will to someone here!). I was speechless at how smooth and wonderful this incredible coaster is. Ultra-padded seats on plywood trains, manual brakes. It's got it all. The Cyclone was 9 Credits, or $9.00. I took pictures, but who's got the time to upload them when they're just mediocre? I'll use some RCDB photos instead, all with copyrights and source URLs. Ask if you can't find the source. (Check out the girl in the front... ahah!) The rest of the park's coasters are Zamperla models. Thunderbolt was the new addition just this year. 125 feet, vertical lift and drop, three inversions. It's a pretty simple out-and-back layout, but with a few neat features. The coolest part to me was a relatively simple move: the "turnaround" part of the coaster is like, 3/4 of a corkscrew that turns into a slanted helix. Check it out in the POV video. It does knock you around but... it's Zamperla. Speaking of which... Soarin' Eagle is a Zamperla Volare, aka one of their notoriously uncomfortable flying coasters. Honestly, I didn't think it was bad. It was definitely a favorite among Luna Park's rides. Is it janky looking? Yes. Is its loading procedure odd and uncomfortable? Does it jerk you around? Sure. But it was fun. It's odd to have to climb a ladder into a moving train car and feel stretchy seat belts lower across your back. Given the option of slowly climbing a lift hill face-down like B&M's or the quick spiral lift, I'd take the latter. To be fair, a recent TPR trip report of Luna Park says this Volare is much smoother than most. It's the only one I've ever been on, so I can't say. But it wasn't bad. By the way, it's relocated from Elitch Gardens where it was simply called The Flying Coaster. (POV video) The park also has a spinning wild mouse called The Tickler and a Circus Coaster for the kids (along with many flat rides), but the only other coaster I rode was Steeplechase, a Zampera Motocoaster (and my second after Knott's Pony Express). There was something so great about this ride, and it was definitely the surprise of the park for me. Pony Express is alright I guess, but if you think Backlot Stunt Coaster is disappointingly short and anticlimactic, try Pony Express -- oh, that's right, some of you can't because glasses. Sorry! Honestly, Steeplechase probably isn't much longer (aaaannnnddd RCDB shows it's 100 feet shorter, actually) but it's a nice, classic experience. The ride looks like an old white coaster, and it's lit so well at night, and it just feels great. The first launch is surprisingly intense and wraps around to the top of the coaster. From there, it's a bit like Volcano (which is probably the weirdest comparison ever made between coasters but what I mean is) because it's smooth, quick, and steady, sort of slaloming and twisting in a very predictable and rhythmic way. See the awesome launch? The coaster looks beautiful and it's just so classic and wonderful. I enjoyed it tremendously. A great throwback to the rides of yesteryear, and a thrilling family ride. It's actually a flywheel launch, too, which is sort of cool to see it on a small scale. (POV video... Compare it to Pony Express' POV video. Pony Express just lacks action. It's a coaster for the sake of being a coaster. Steeplechase has personality and looks beautiful. It feels like a complete ride, even if it's 100 feet shorter.) I guess thematically Steeplechase may be a little to early for Coney Mall, but who really cares? I'd have this ride installed there immediately if I were behind the decision-making at Kings Island. It has a gimmick, family statistics, and a wonderful classic look that fits the Kentucky Derby style. It would look beautiful lit up at night along Coney Mall. Wow. So if you're in the New York area and have an afternoon to kill, four train lines dead end at Coney Island. It's about a 30 minute subway ride from Manhattan, so $2.50. For $40, you get 46 credits which is enough to ride all the major coasters and then some. It's not the reverent and beautiful and historic place it once was. It's a local spot with that Jersey Shore attitude and it's heavily patrolled by security come nightfall... But altogether, it's a nice aside and a cool place to visit with some great coasters. The town owes Zampera quite a debt for taking over and straightening the park out. Also, I should mention. Though it's not part of Luna Park (and thus you need to buy tickets separately from Deno's Wonder Wheel Park), the historic Wonder Wheel at Coney Island is a beaut. The ride with its sliding gondolas served as inspiration for Disney California Adventure's Fun Wheel, which sits on Paradise Bay instead of the Atlantic Ocean. Deno's also has a few haunted house dark rides ($6 each) which looked pretty historic, so if you're a dark ride person, you could have a blast.

So, so far: Schlitterbahn (which operates water parks exclusively) claims that they expected roller coaster dynamics to work here. Schlitterbahn admits or does not counter news articles that state that test sandbags flew off the slide. Schlitterbahn does not deem it sensible to queue folks on the ground and use an elevator to take one group at a time to the summit. I did not see the Travel Channel special - was this footage of a test raft flying off provided by the park or obtained by an outside source? Again, just looking at the thing gives a particular impression of someone shooting right off the airtime hill. In this day and age, it seems more or less inexcusable that an attraction - even a water slide - would be constructed without the dynamics being worked out long beforehand. Every element of force at every inch of that slide should have been calculated long before it was even announced, and for every potential rider of appropriate size. Then again, Maverick. Drachen Fire. Etc. etc.

The Marvel thing is confusing as all get out. I can't make heads or tails of it and wouldn't try. But remember that many of the characters are protected by Marvel's contract with Universal / MCA from appearing in theme parks east of the Mississippi. Last I checked, Kings Island was, so either the characters in question are not protected by that contract or they're appearing under a license from a third party who has permission to allow them to appear. Also, doesn't the contract stipulate something about being in a permanent attraction, which this certainly isn't? And what about that section saying that characters with familial ties to the Universal attractions couldn't appear? In this case, none of the characters coming to Kings Island (Captain America, Iron Man and Thor – "The Avengers") are reasonably related to the character families present in Marvel Super Hero Island (Fantastic 4, Spider-Man, X-Men). The two stipulations above explain why Walt Disney World could have the Avengers monorail (sans Hulk) and why Guardians of the Galaxy 3D previews can be shown there just without the Marvel moniker. One way or another, this is obviously allowed. These contracts are just too complicated for the average person, and even experts could probably play around with relationships and things.

From the article linked to the in the original post: ... Really? I think Action Park made the same assumption.