bkroz

Just looking at the darn thing it seemed obvious that an "airtime hill" and a water slide should not mix. Yeesh.

And imagine it with synchronized on-board audio, which it had as Italian Job. The audio control panel is still visible on the front of the ride operator's control room, and the glass on it is physically shattered. Top Gun had pipes along the station that sprayed mist to make it look like a jet carrier as the train rolled in. You can catch a glimpse of the pipes and of the beginnings of the effect at 3:13 in this video, but you can REALLY see it 10 seconds later.

Yeah, 10 minutes? Smart to keep traffic away from the area though. Wow. You never think you'll see this kind of this happen...

Whoa, very cool. So it's accessible from both in and outside of the park? Or is it just outside the park? Either way, it's very sharp. Same with the giant "Great America Plaza" sign over the courtyard entrance. A very modern and attractive look. This would be GREAT for Cedar Point. A whole, modern, unified style for the front entrance.

Test seats outside of Delirium, Diamondback, and Banshee. Official 2014 Guest Assistance Guide, page 4: Here's a really important part: If in doubt, do it at least on the rides with substantial waits.

Why don't you tell us what you specifically need? And when? Less than $140 and you need a suite? For what? For the capacity? For the kitchenette?

Via a partnership with Canada's Riverside Investment Group Co. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-six-flags-to-open-theme-parks-in-china-20140623-story.html

Five years after its removal, they probably wouldn't attack.

To be fair, they had a catalogue of titles. It would've been silly to not use them. Sure, Drop Zone didn't have any allusion to the film. Didn't really need one, did it? Drop Zone is just a great name for a drop ride. Same with FACE/OFF. Nicholas Cage wasn't delivering the safety spiel or anything, but if you've got it, use it.

When I saw this, I thought maybe it was a thread for brainstorming better names for our drop t0wer* than Drop Tower. Dropoff. Pitfall. Stunt Dive. The Plunge. Gyro Drop. ForceFall. It's a loop accessed from Kings Island Drive near the park's sign. It's free. Loading and unloading only. Marked on the map below with a bus icon. There's a walkway for your passengers to walk directly to the park gates. *Spelled with a 0 because Drop Tower automatically capitalizes.

Posting it along with the caption "What does it mean??!" is clearly meant to egg on enthusiasts and get them brainstorming. *shrug* I certainly don't think it means that, but you can't expect that the purpose of his posting that was for fans to say "Oh, a nice new patio in Frontier Town."

Yeah, not a good movie. Novel (which is pretty good) was written by the fella behind Jurassic Park and Lost World, though, so I'm sure that was the intention... A Jurassic Park-sized triumph. Whoops. Even with Drop Zone and Face/Off, Congo might be the most "in name only" moment in Action Zone haha.

But see the first link you just posted above...

... huh? Splash Zone? Greeters? You mean a Graeters Ice Cream in Soak City?

http://www.sanduskyregister.com/article/cedar-point/5793421 I bet Fast Lane was a dream come true for this young man.

I wonder how many would cite themselves as "amused" after waiting for the ride for 45 minutes on a warm summer Saturday? I bet they're chuffed at the 45 second ride. I found a video. The car does stop at the MCBR in Canada, but launches a second or so after. At least, when this video was recorded!

That it did!

Haha, this is true! Though with the way the ride operates, I bet eliminating it altogether wouldn't pose too much of a risk. As far as I have heard, Canada's Wonderland's still doesn't bother to stop at the MCBR at all (unless it needs to, obviously). Just hustles right on through, since all of the props and effects are lifeless.

I'm sure the fire effect can be tricky. Problem is, it's a slippery slope. Last time the MCBR [effects] died, it started this way, and with many of us saying "Oh, I'm sure they're working on it! It's just going to take a few more days / weeks / months." EDITED to add bracketed word above.

Mr. Kinzel didn't send word from on high that the trains ought to be turned to amorphous blobs, and to send anti-theming Vikings out to pillage special effects. Contracts expired, rights were lost, and the park had to react. Sure there was a budget that was consciously diverted elsewhere, but that wasn't some malevolent anti-theming tirade. And what's the storyline of Adventure Express? It's really just a series of vignettes, isn't it? Backlot Stunt Coaster doesn't rely on some cohesive story (even though there is one) and it certainly doesn't require you to be familiar with The Italian Job. You're a stunt car driver in a film racing around a set encountering scenes with police, enemy helicopters, and tunnels. The name tells us that much. What more do you need to know? A better question: how would replacing the midcourse brake and helicopter encounter with a dark tunnel given the average rider any better idea "what the hell is going on" or provide a better experience? At best, you'd cut 15 seconds off an already minuscule ride time and remove the one noteworthy moment on the ride. Already happened two years ago. We were all stunned when the ride's fire effects returned full force, along with LED lights, new helicopter motion, new helicopter noises, and a new soundtrack. It seemed impossible! Apparently, that's already rusted away? Though I still don't understand the damage level here. Has the fire just not worked for a few days? Or are we back to a Canada's Wonderland state where you stop at the silent midcourse brake and nothing happens? EDIT: As for the splashdown, I wouldn't count on it. Paramount seemed overambitious with including water effects on rides, and didn't learn the lesson despite failures on Adventure Express, Top Gun, TOMB RAIDER: The Ride, and Italian Job: Stunt Track. That being said, Kings Dominion's has had half of the splashdown working the last few times I've been there. It splashes only on the side facing the midway. Though to be fair, almost none of their other effects work at all, so perhaps it was a question of "this or that?" and they chose that.

Remember a few years ago when we all felt oddly rejuvenated and excited because they'd completely fixed the flame effects, added new LEDs, and were playing new music on purpose? What a difference... Hopefully this is just an oversight and something that'll get fixed up soon. Honestly given Cedar Fair's recent direction, I tend to have more hope than despair, and that's a big change. I hope they prove me right!

One issue, I think is the mixed message of Rivertown. Is it the old west? Or... something else? I think technically it's supposed to represent an early Ohio settlement along the river, right? Nothing wrong with that in Kings Island's early days (when you visited for the atmosphere, dining, shopping, and food as much as for the attractions), and the log flume and the keelboats fit that setting... issue is, not of whole lot of EXCITING stuff can be tied to an early Ohio river settlement. The Beast fits in a unique and clever way... sort of a local legend about a creature in the woods. Obviously additions thereafter have deviated, using Rivertown as a "Frontierland" or... I don't know, Southeast Asia. For a while, that early Ohio settlement had a Western coaster diving over an Asian temple with a demonic bat inside and a Beast out in the woods behind. Today it's a hodge-podge, but no more than any of the park's other "lands." (Lest we forget, Adventure Express and the Burrito Shack are in Oktoberfest, Banshee is in a vaguely-themed studio backlot, Flight of Fear technically remains in Coney Mall since the park doesn't acknowledge X-Base as a land, etc). I continue to think that an off-season of re-defining / re-naming / re-theming ALL of the parks "lands" would be a great thing to see, but I continue to understand that the average guest probably wouldn't notice. Then again, Kings Dominion made a whole year's celebration about two lands coming back to life, so who knows.

And that'll presumably keep Kingda Ka down, too, right? Yeesh! Who could've foreseen that clipping a record-shattering Intamin ride onto a record-shattering Intamin ride in New Jersey would lead to downtime?

It wasn't designed to resemble a backlot? Compare Universal Studios Florida's 'backlot' style Shrek 4D to Singapore's "themed islands" version. Similarly, compare Florida's Despicable Me to Hollywood's: In both scenarios, the first example is a remnant from Florida's "backlot" style that was fixed / changed into "theme park" style in later incarnations. Giant tan show-building. It's cheap and the parks can "get away with it" by saying "No, no, no, we're a studio! Seeing the ugly tan building is part of the experience!" In both the second examples, the same rides have been incorporated into their surroundings in complete themed "lands." That's the new push, and it's happening at Universal Studios Hollywood AND Universal Studios Florida. At Disney's Hollywood Studios, there doesn't seem to be the same push. Instead, Star Tours is next to Muppets is next to American Idol is next to Indiana Jones, etc. Not that that's inexcusable or unforgivable, just that that's not the best those parks can do anymore. Now, for example, they could theme the entire eastern shore of Echo Lake as an Indiana Jones base camp, building it around the existing show. Similarly, they could build a whole themed Star Wars land AROUND the existing ride. That's the kind of thing Universal is doing with Springfield and Diagon Alley and Gru's Neighborhood. Universal Studios Florida never had a backlot tour. Plans for one were axed after Universal caught wind that Disney was planning a competing studio park for Florida, and that its main (and really, only) attraction would be a studio tram tour.

What I mean by that is that in the 1980s and early 1990s, it was "all the rage" in the park industry to build theme parks masquerading as movie studios. Universal, Disney, Warner Bros., and yes, even Paramount suddenly realized that bringing films into parks was easy to market. Even better, by saying, "We don't have to build a real Egyptian temple, it's a movie studio, so we can put it in a studio showbuilding!" parks could build very cheaply, with big massive showbuildings that are in no way disguised or hidden from view. No need to hide Star Tours behind an elaborate Tomorrowland facade - just put it in a very visible box! In the late 90s, Animal Kingdom and Islands of Adventure opened and changed the standard. Suddenly the new standard was highly detailed, themed lands that supported massive rides (as Disney had previously done at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom in an earlier era). Those parks are so immersive you can get lost in them. The detail is so rich, it's incredible. So those studio parks left from the early 90s - like Universal Studios Florida and Disney's Hollywood Studios - are aging poorly. Set next to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios looks cheap... and it was. For one possible path for the park, look at Universal Studios Florida which is very clearly dedicated to turning their "Look, I'm a studio backlot!" into a park with appropriately themed lands. Sure, their entry land (with Despicable Me and Transformers) is called "Production Central" and maintains the backlot look. But have a look at the brand new land, Springfield U.S.A. which they built around the existing Simpsons Ride. Also, the new London / Diagon Alley. They're physically rebuilding that park as a theme park with themed lands instead of a hodge-podge of mismatched rides placed haphazardly next to each other. The situation was far worse at Universal Studios Hollywood, which developed very organically over many decades. Its upper lot is composed of rides scattered around with no logical layout whatsoever. That park is currently undergoing a 5-year expansion that started by physically BUILDING a central park icon from scratch and carving a "hub-and-spokes" format into the park. If you visit in 2016, you won't see the random hodge-podge of buildings. You'll walk down Hollywood Blvd. to the Universal Plaza Tower, where paths will diverge - one to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, one to Springfield USA, one to Gru's Neighborhood and Minions' Super Silly Fun Land. They're BUILDING a theme park with themed lands. No more big boxy showbuildings. No more mix-and-matched rides next to each other. Hollywood Studios needs that too, and this could be the start of it.