bkroz

I really have no idea. A lot of people here will probably know more than me. But probably what we can all agree on is that it'd be best to call the park and ask... They're the only ones who absolutely 100% know for sure. But yeah, the Platinum Pass is a really good deal, especially with parking!

Let's face it: the mind sees what it chooses to see. Many here will recount extraordinarily longer wait times since the implementation of Fast Lane. Doesn't matter if there are two or twenty-two Fast Lane users, the wait will take ages and ages longer. If only we'd known ahead of time so someone could use a stop watch from a given location to boarding Diamondback, that way we could empirically see how much longer the wait really is on average.

HUSS G F is being interpreted as HUSS Giant Frisbee. It is a Cedar Fair staple, after all, and assuming that the G is giant (which would seem to make sense at a regional destination park), I can't imagine it being another Giant Top Spin (Kings Island's is a disaster) or a Giant Jump2 (the one at Canada's Wonderland is a borderline disaster), and to my knowledge a Giant Delirium (not related to Kings Island's Delirium) has never been built, and it relies on a heavily themed experience that I don't think Carowinds would build to suit.

I just had the pleasure of riding Six Flags Great America's Demon (more of a Corkscrew than a Vortex) for the first time the other day, and came out with an appreciation for those brakes before the corkscrews. I always thought, 'What's the point of slamming on the midcourse brakes, then going through those corkscrews so painfully slowly?' Trust me, once you've had un-trimmed Arrow corkscrews, the slowed variety doesn't seem half-bad!

I guess what I meant was, B&M is sort of the front-runner when it comes to "unique" coaster designs. The four-across trains. Inverted, standing, flying, floorless, dive machine... To me, they took the traditional roller coaster experience and found ways to make it new and fresh. HUSS, in my opinion, did the same with flat rides, making them more accessible to larger parks by upping the scale and creating permanent installations instead of carnival ones, and trying out new designs and seating arrangements. Sure, the reliability is night and day. But even though B&M is more commonly thought of as the company that uses tried and true methods without any fancy launches or excessive moving parts, think about it - floorless coasters... Dive machine holding brakes... Flying coasters... Their rides are increasingly more technology heavy, and I think we're starting to see the point where innovation meets reduced functionality when their flying coasters poop out a few times a day, or the floorless station gives SheiKra a hassle. Just as HUSS has taken other company's flats and made them larger and cheaper, B&M has really found their niche in the niche market, if that makes sense. They both have a lot of specialties.

What do you mean? No one and nothing is off limits at Kings Island's Haunt, after all. Be they dead, alive, or somewhere in between! All's fair game. And I highly, highly doubt Kings Island's Haunt will be an up-charge this year. If it is, it will be free for season pass holders. How do I know? Because season pass holders were told that was a perk of their passes, and if the park tries to change it now, it won't last long before the paying customer forces them to come to their senses. Remember last year when they decided that everyone needed to vacate the park for an hour, then return for Haunt starting at 7 PM? Many of us here were struck by how unlikely that was to actually happen, and lo and behold, it did not happen.

If Son of Beast is remodeled, I honestly hope it doesn't get a new name. I mean, "Son of Beast: Reborn" or something, sure. But if it gets a generic, wooden coaster snake name, I may die. Rattlesnake. Is that really fitting for such a ride? I've had quite enough of Vipers and Diamondbacks and Cobra and Rattlers and Black Mambas and Sidewinders and Sand Serpants and Pythons and Anacondas. Also concerning Intamins in the park, don't forget Sherwin Williams Tower The Eiffel Tower and Wild Water Canyon!

Dollywood's sign says much more than waiting for parts; it says they're in a contract dispute. I think HUSS is like B&M in many ways. They innovate. They build new, unique, technologically-advanced rides with many moving parts and control systems. Consider how much precision is involved with the spinning arms and rotating gondola of a top spin, or how exactly and minutely precise a computer must read to ensure that the frisbee is at a complete stop at its exactly specified "home" location with no stabilization from beneath. They try unique things, then other companies come in and try to improve them (Top Spin -> Zamperla Windshear; Frisbee -> Intamin Gyro Swing, etc). But the NEW HUSS that is responsible for most of those rides just seems to have absolutely terrible reliability and functionality. Even their regular sized rides seem to be maintenance nightmares, closed as much as they're open for their first few years and still sporadically shuttered in the years after. Interesting rides? Sure. But one has to wonder if it's worth it. At least twice, Delirium has been closed for months at a time "awaiting a part from Germany." Does that seem right? I don't think it should... And maybe that is the basis of Dollywood's contract dispute. Wouldn't a contract promise an operable ride with minimal downtime? And I think we know that Timber Tower never met those standards... And really, how much was TOMB RAIDER: The Ride? And has it ever worked right? Has it ever met the specifications promised by HUSS, even in 2002? We can't know without having read the contract they signed, but if Paramount had endured years of Delirium's issues and not ensured that TOMB RAIDER: The Ride's contract read differently, than I suppose there's no one to blame here but Paramount... Closed for months at a time, just as its Frisbee cousin was... And then an entire row was removed, with HUSS seemingly conceding that their 77-person ride was never going to work (visit HUSS' website now and your very own Giant Top Spin comes with 54 seats max; that is to say, they seemingly admit that the 77-seat model was unrealistic). And really... Shouldn't someone be given some sort of refund or voucher for that? I mean, really... But Cedar Fair still buys from them, so apparently they do something right (or do something cheaper than their competitors...)

http://www.thecoastercritic.com/2011/07/survey-markers-for-carowinds-rumored-2012-ride.html New survey markers have appeared at Carowinds that read "HUSS GF". The thought is that they'll be getting a Giant Frisbee like our Delirium or Cedar Point's maXair. It's certainly not a very well-concealed plan, but Cedar Fair doesn't seem the kind of company to intentionally mislead as part of viral marketing. A few things I gather from this (which may be completely off base): 1) Somehow, despite multi-month downtimes for Delirium, maXair, and The Crypt, Cedar Fair seems to still find HUSS and their Giant Frisbee worth building. And since their favorite company Intamin makes a Gyro Swing that is very similar, I'd say they either have a lot of faith in HUSS, or a lack of faith in Intamin. 2) Carowinds is a park that Cedar Fair values (for now, though that may change as quickly as the future of their Son, which seems even more in-flux than the future of our Son). It's been given a lot of attention under both Paramount's banner and Cedar Fair's, which to me seems strange. Perhaps the company wants to make it more of a destination. And why shouldn't they? It's about as "south" as the seasonal Cedar Fair parks go, and it's near some vacation spots and some comparatively safe metropolitan areas. The additions we've seen at that park seem to point to a passive plan to really beef it up and milk its potential. I've never been to Carowinds. For those who have, is their enough visitorship to justify the Giant Frisbee? Or would a smaller, arguably more fun model work just as well...? Thoughts?

Just read this on Six Flags' Facebook and thought it was funny... Remember when the power went out at Kings Island, with every ride shut down, no air conditioning, a line to exit the park longer than the line for the rides, and no refunds or rainchecks? A similar event happened at Six Flags Great America last week, which left a handful of the major rides inoperable. As a courtesy, parking was free and exiting visitors received a voucher for a free visit before the end of summer. How's that for putting the customer experience first? P.S. Screamscape is reporting that Great America is losing Iron Wolf (the B&M standup, which gad98 previously recommended to ride very defensively - and for good reason). It's probably the worst of the B&M stand-ups I've been on. I believe it was the first ever B&M, and it shows... If your "coaster count" is important to you and you'd enjoy riding it before it disappears, then go for it. I doubt you'll see as much grieving over the Iron one as we did the Big Bad one.

^ I can't possibly explain this any more than so many here already have. Disney's system is NOT FREE. It costs a LOT to buy a half-dozen machines to place at the entrance to each ride. It costs to keep those machines filled with paper and ink. It costs to build second queue lines for each ride. It costs to hire employees to staff the secondary lines and to hang around the machines to help people who are confused. You DO pay for Disney's FastPass system. It is $85.00 to get into a Disney park. I don't know how to make that many any more sense. It is $85.00. If you think that doesn't include those machines and that extra staffing and the computer system to distribute return times throughout the park, you need to reevaluate your understanding of that system. To employ a free system at Kings Island would be absolutely ridiculous, because the daily price of admission / price of season passes would need to rise to meet those additional expenditures. That's all well and good on a Saturday in July. But would you agree to pay $70+ to enter Kings Island in April? May? A weekday in June? August? Regardless, you would have to. Disney can afford to employ such a system because it is used every day of the week, all months of the year. At Kings Island, the waits are usually around 10-15 minutes, and even on the busiest Saturdays in July (of which, by the way, there are never more than five), the busiest rides (Beast, Diamondback, Flight of Fear, and Firehawk) hang around an hour in the late afternoon. Only on those days would a "free" FastPass even be worth the price to the park and consumer. Disney Parks and Resorts is an arm of a multi-billion dollar corporation whose parks are worldwide destinations open 365 days a year. Their per-cap, in-park spending supports itself, because their food is reasonably priced and their merchandise promotes memories of beloved characters and family get togethers, and has more than XXL t-shirts. Cedar Fair is a struggling, publicly-owned regional park owner who was this close to selling out for just over $11.00 a share a few months ago. Something like 40% of Kings Island's visitorship is season pass-holders who see a crowded parking lot and think, "Eh, we'll come back tomorrow." The two are about as "apples and oranges" as you can get. We'd like to promote Disney as this benevolent, loving, plush family-run business who generously gives all its visitors to chance to use its FastPass system and kindly promotes their quaint and tidy dining services by doing so. They are a business, as well, and they try to make as much money as they can. Disney 1-day ticket without Park Hopper (85.00) + FastPass (0.00) = $85.00 Kings Island 1-day ticket (35.99) + Fast Lane (50.00) = $85.99 And with Kings Island's system, there is no waiting between attractions, no return times, etc. and the park makes real, solid, measurable profit, not idealized, dreamy, "I'm sure they'll use the free time to buy a soufflé" profit. And while Disney does provide a FAR different experience, Kings Island has about 11 - 13 more roller coasters than your typical Disney Park. Again, apples and oranges, but if you must compare them than do so realistically. If Kings Island's Fast Lane doesn't make them money (which would be near impossible since again, it is close to 100% profit), it will quietly disappear. And if it sticks around, you can woefully thank it for our next large addition and general maintenance. GYK, normally level-headed and patient, but sick to death of people not taking the time to consider the costs, benefits, and consequences of this system from a logical point of view. Does Cedar Fair like its money? Hell yes. Is this is a good way to get it? You bet. And will your 1 - 2 train additional wait time eventually lead to a fantastic addition to the park? Yep.

VIA Kings Island'S TWITTER:

Especially odd since Wild Water Canyon is not a Fast Lane ride... As can be expected, it looks like one of the main problems with this Fast Lane thing is going to be the lack of training. More than likely, the employees do not know the basics - Do Fast Lane users have to get off, or can they just ride again and again? Which rides accept Fast Lane? Who is prioritized when there are folks in the Fast Lane and regular queue? Must the Fast Lane be emptied before guests in the regular queue can get on, or is it a balance that makes sure both lines are tended to sufficiently? Is the point of Fast Lane to have NO WAIT, or to REDUCE the wait (that is to say, do they automatically get on the next cycle, or might they have to wait for a moment?) The seasonal employees and attendants should know the answer to ALL these questions. They may have been as surprised by the announcement as us, and I find it completely believable that they came into work and were told by their coworkers that they would begin a new front of the line program today, and to let folks in line A in before line B. I think it's possible that these folks on Wild Water Canyon got an extra ride, and I think it was either because the employees didn't even know if their ride was Fast Lane friendly, or that they didn't know how to tell them that their $50 pass wasn't good for that ride. After all, $50 and one of the park's longest waits isn't covered? I'd be angry... Perhaps the employee just gave them an extra ride instead of dealing with it (which again, isn't fair or right, but if they don't know all the answers, how can more be expected?)

Oh, but it HAS won awards. It boasts being the cleanest park... No word on who actually awarded them with that honor. (It wasn't Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards, who again chose Holiday World as the cleanest in 2010). I DID think it was clean and well-kept, but it doesn't beat any Disney park as the cleanest anymore than Cedar Point beats any Disney park as the "best" in general. Also, Six Flags is sort of an odd reminder of just how advertisement-free Kings Island is. Literally every single light post has two banners. Usually one advertises Flash Pass or Season Pass upgrading, while another is for Stride gum or Dentine gum or a new film or a certain kind of battery. As we've all seen, there are also coaster trains with "wrapped" advertisement (and somehow, they always choose the most incompatible... Pink and green Stride gum train on Demon?) and many rides are sponsored. Some of it is tacky, some is alright, but it's just very different to see how extreme things COULD be (or perhaps, used to be. Top Gun: The Gillette Coaster?)

If you've never been to Cedar Point, it's worth a trip for the bigger rides alone. I was confused by your wording, but I believe you said you haven't been there. So of course, that does seem the obvious choice, what with Millennium, Dragster, Maverick, Magnum, and the lot. But for what it's worth, I just visited Six Flags Great America for the first time and was blown away. I wasn't expecting much given the stigma around Six Flags parks, but the rides were really well maintained and ran smoothly, the themeing was far above anything Kings Island boasts nowadays, the staff was all friendly, and I saw virtually no problems with operations. We also got Panda Express platters (an entree and three sides) for $9.99, which was a tremendous deal in my experience with Kings Island / Cedar Point's Panda Express. If you're a roller coaster person, Great America has some really fantastic ones. I was especially enamored with their Whizzer and American Eagle (their racing wooden coaster), but Batman: The Ride was absolutely indescribable. It's the first B&M invert and I had always heard that it was much more forceful than any other, but it truly was one element after another of incredible intensity that just had my friends and I saying "Whoa" and completely surprised - a real "drooler" and "tear-jerker" if you know what I mean! Raging Bull was fun and a very unique take on the hyper-twister formula. I'd rate it higher than Diamondback if only for its length, but people here were right when they said it seems to lose power by the second half. Great America also has V2, a twisted impulse coaster like Cedar Point's Wicked Twister (but with a holding brake on the back, straight spike, which actually makes it more fun that Wicked Twister in my opinion). They also have a really well-kept Arrow looper (more like Corkscrew than Vortex) that has some really interesting themeing and some very retro light effects midway through. And of course, their Dark Knight coaster is.... unique. Viper is also a very fun woodie. The only drawback to that park is the price for parking. It's $20.00. I had a FANTASTIC time and was really impressed and enjoyed myself tremendously, but I can't bring myself to go back again for another few years with a price like that. Perhaps Six doesn't realize the psychological boundary of $20. That's a lot of money, and try as I might, I couldn't convince myself that one parking spot was "worth" that much. Parking at Cedar Point was $10 earlier this season, though that may have lifted to $12.00. If you're going to buy multi-day passes, that's $24 vs. $40 in parking alone, so I think that's worth considering. Great America does has an attached and included Hurricane Harbour which was just expanded this year, while Cedar Point's rather "blah" water park costs extra. I've never been to Holiday World, but I would say that if spreading your wings is the intent, then go somewhere you haven't been and use this money to treat yourself to something new. Again, both parks are really very nice parks. Great America has more of that old "Paramount" feel with the pool in carousel plaza and the themed areas, while Cedar Point is pretty face value with the enormous, world famous rides. I live two hours from Cedar Point and have been there probably two dozen times in my life, so I'm a little tired of it and an impartial judge. Haha. P.S. At both parks you will walk more than you ever thought you could. They have two of the most tremendously exhausting layouts of any parks I've ever been to.

BUT, do those people who bought it on Tuesday when the park was dead regret it? And will they take to Facebook, Twitter, and phone calls to friends to recommend Kings Island's Fast Lane, or will they say they wish they hadn't wasted their money? If the park really was "absolutely dead," (and by that I'm imagining 15 minutes or so for Diamondback, Beast, and Drop Zone, with everything else 10 minutes or less) then maybe they left with a sense of "We really wasted our money with that." I don't know, but maybe! I don't debate the morality of the line skipping pass' existence. But I do feel it's a little shady that the park even bothers to sell it during the week (or that they maintain the $50 price). Even worse, I fear they may try to get people to buy this next April or May, when they know it's not worth the same price as it might be on a Saturday in July. I get that they're a business, but I can't help but feel for the guest relations staff who have to parrot "no refunds" to groups that spent big bucks on this pass in advance, only to find 5 minute waits around the park.

Then I guess it's up to us to scowl and glare and maybe even mumble something sassy under our breath as they pass time and time and time again, marathoning on Backlot Stunt Coaster. Again, enthusiasts and those who are at the park daily and enjoy things like marathoning on Diamondback's ERT are not who this pass is aimed at. It's at people who only visit once or twice a year. These people, I imagine, are more interested in seeing the whole park, and it may not even occur to them that they can theoretically ride over and over and over and over again. "Normal" folks don't necessarily want to ride The Beast 20+ times in a row... The point of the pass is to help infrequent visitors get the most out of their limited time at the park. Sure people can use it however they want. But the fact of the matter is, a group of 13 year old 'ride warriors' isn't gonna get their parents to shell out this kind of cash just so they can ride Diamondback 100 times in a day.

Which was something nice for their passholders, but that was during Paramount's time. Not to mention it was certain days of the week (Tuesdays or Wednesdays, I think) and I recall having to stop at a special booth and get some sort of validation ticket with a return time or something (though I was young at the time). Also, lowering the price to entice more people to use it is not something I'd root for... If it were $25.00, the Fast Lane queues may be as long as the regular ones...

Yeah, I recommend going to the park and trying it out without the Fast Lane. Probably the biggest money the park will make is off people who buy the Fast Lane online before visiting, only to arrive and find that they don't need it...

I agree that there's a certain vibration to the ride, but I can't say for sure that it's new. Besides, it's still by far the smoothest ride in the park, and one of the smoothest in Ohio in my opinion...

(I added the bold face type for emphasis.) Which is correct? In your opinion is the park going to be selling a lot of these or not? Secondly...I don't EVER EVER want to see you complain about high prices for food or anything since it is your belief that all of the money the park makes comes back to us in good ways...and not just to pay for golden parachutes. Why can't it be both? If the park sells 100 of these a day (which is obviously a fraction of a percent of that day's attendance), they'll have made a cool $5,000. That's no chump change. And again, this system does not require expensive machines that need maintained and staffed. For all intents and purposes, its revenue is its income. I don't understand people making this a moral issue, or pretending it's some atrocious thing that they can't imagine. For all the naysayers, if you visited Busch Gardens Tampa ONE TIME every few years and had to option to skip hour long lines for $50 extra, would you? If your answer is yes, then you have no right to complain about this, because the people taking advantage of this system will be folks who only get to visit a few times a year. And the absolute most ridiculous thing is the people pretending this is going to extend their wait times. Besides the sheer math that proves that in MOST circumstances your wait will be virtually unaffected, the only REAL day of the week this is going to be employed is on Saturdays, maybe Sundays during concerts or events. The long and short of it is, if you visit on those days, you're asking for a long wait anyway, so a few added Fast Lane users will make virtually no difference in the scheme of things. I'd wager that many of the people complaining are season passholders. And if you choose to use that season pass on a Saturday, you will experience long waits with or without the Fast Lane users factored in. (And if you do complain, I'll have to laugh - you park for free, get in for free, spend no money on the Fast Lane option, and then expect to be prioritized above those who pay an extra $50? Come on now... Those who spend the most get the most. If this is a surprise to you, then I extend a warm welcome and hope you are enjoying your trip to the United States.) GYK, who thinks he "gets it?" I'll let someone else judge that.

There's ranting, and then there's ranting. No one forces you to buy this, and I personally promise that if you don't choose to partake, you will notice virtually no change in the day to day experience at the park. If you go on a Saturday, yes, you may encounter a dozen or so people who choose the Fast Lane option while you're in line for a ride. But AGAIN, we're talking an additional 2-3 minute wait for you, and the park is making BUNDLES of money which WILL come back to us in the end.

My favorite roller coaster at Kings Island is Flight of Fear. And second, the Backlot Stunt Coaster. Really!

Why would we want it taken back? I can assure you (again), beyond the annoyance and aggravation of physically seeing someone "cut" in front of you, this system will hardly be noticeable to the everyday visitors. So I beg of you... At least visit the park one ONE DAY with this system in place before you write a letter about it (that's fair, right?) and if you do write the letter, sign only your name. Some of us here can conceptualize the real, true impact of this system and are not worried or scared at all, but excited about the massive amount of income this has the potential to generate. GYK, thinking this topic should really be locked until we have experienced even one full Saturday with the system in place. As it is, no one here has any idea what role this thing will ACTUALLY play, and we're all just grasping at straws and masquerading our moral questions as care for the consumer.

And instead of apologizing about your poor capitalization (which is against the terms of service of this website), you make excuses for it and capitalize every word in your excuse...? Why not just take the opportunity to stop? I'm not sure how old you are, but you will have a hard time finding a job or writing a term paper if you capitalize every word on your application... Also, even looking around this site for more than two or three minutes will make it clear that when you quote a user before you, it's pretty customary to place your response UNDER the quote, not above it (that makes things flow much more logically for readers) and that the "MultiQuote" button does exactly what it's name implies and prevents you having to place three separate posts in a row. Hit the "MultiQuote" button on any posts you wish to quote, and then hit "Add Reply." The three (or however many) quotes you've selected will be in a new post, and you can comment on each individually. I don't think people mean to take it out on you, 185139, but we've had far too many posters recently who can't seem to conform to the rules of the English language that this board requires - capitalize the first word of every sentence, proper nouns, the pronoun "I" and its contractions... Use correct spelling. Use apostrophes in possession or contraction. I think one of the reasons for the minimum age requirement on this board is that by that age, you will have written a school paper or two and come to understand these basic rules of language. It's just much easier to engage in a conversation when you use proper writing techniques. Half the posts in this topic have been about your writing instead of your trip. If you'd write properly, you'd be taken seriously. I know it's hard to master things like quoting when you're new, but do try to observe the way people write around here and learn from it! We're here to help.