Delirium13

I'm guessing that a lot of people are probably over at Boomerang Bay with how ridiculously hot it is today. Hope the rest of your day goes well!

Please, please, please... somebody tell me that I'm not the only one who had to google what "phiten" is. And just a month or two ago you all had me looking up what pogs were... At 37 I don't feel old, but all you kids are developing a knack for making me feel that way! You're not the only one, I can honestly say I've never heard of a phiten before...

Wouldn't Dent be considered in the "Midwest" ... It certainly would be.

See some shows, go up the Eiffel Tower, ride the Carousel (if need be, in one of the non moving seats), Maybe even the Action F/X theater's non-motion seats... Not completely disagreeing, but there is more there than you give credit for. Unfortunately, one of the best "for the whole family" rides was removed for the eyesore, Backlot Stunt Coaster.

EDIT: Please Delete

I've also seen the old "new style" Paramount's Kings Island logo, on the phone box of Adventure Express. It's been open everytime I've been there this year.

I also noticed that, it can be hard enough to get around Kings Island on a busy day, I can only imagine what it must've been like! I wonder what the wait was like for the roller coaster? Also interesting to note, the price for a Root Beer was only 10 cents. I wouldn't mind those prices for drinks at Kings Island now a days!

Thank you for posting this! I always enjoy stuff like this, it's always nice look back on these types of things, even though this park met a very tragic end, still very interesting! Those clowns give me the creeps!

I do, unfortunately. It was not a fun day to be at the park. It was essentially a busy Saturday x2. I went once and in about 8 hours I rode the Antique Cars (although now I wish I could go back to that for just a day to do that again) went up in the Eiffel Tower, rode Adventure Express and saw a show. I don't recall all my wait times but I do recall seeing lines for a few games in Coney Mall. Yikes.

I agree that location is one of Flight Deck's biggest enemies at the moment when it comes to ridership and the cosmetic attention it receives. It sits far back in Action Zone and with the Son of Beast closed the area just seems a bit dead, and Flight Deck seems forgotten. I haven't had a wait for the ride yet all season, and I ride it every time I visit. I believe that what happens with Son of Beast will definitely affect Flight Deck in some way or another, not sure how so but a few different scenarios I could see happening are: a.) Son of Beast either reopens or is replaced by a new attraction, which puts that area of the park, as well as Flight Deck, back into the spotlight, resulting in Flight Deck getting some much needed TLC and being spruced up with some of the following: new paint, new trains, landscaping, signage etc. b.) Son of Beast does not reopen, and it and Flight Deck are removed for some sort of new attraction(s). c.) Son of Beast does not reopen and Flight Deck remains in its current state a few more years before being removed. Just a few things for thought... I love the ride and hope it gets some TLC and stays, but as it is right now, those are a few things I could see happening.

I agree, you should definitely give it a chance. Especially since you did not experience it as Tomb Raider: The Ride, and won't have the comparison to make, you'll enjoy it more than most of the people on this board do. And yes the line is probably the best one at Kings Island.

What makes you say that?

What suspended coasters have you been on? Only Flight Deck, though Coaster critics have said its the most "intense" of all of them, which to me doesn't say much as Flight Deck is pretty weak. Thought honestly my main compliant is how short it is... if it were a bit longer I wouldn't have any complaints. I think the rumors we hear every year about them tearing it down just go to show its an unpopular coaster that no one cares about. We all know very well that Kings Island doesn't need to tear it down to get the extra space as they haven't even currently used half of the land they own. But many people talk about it being the first coaster to go even before Son of Beast because they secretly loath the lame-a-coaster and want it gone. Either that or they just hate the ridiculously long queue it has, which I agree the queue sucks and it isn't worth the short ride. I will be riding my second suspended coaster "Iron Dragon" next week which honestly from POV videos, looks a bit more entertaining than flight deck as it at least has 2 lift hills. An unpopular coaster that no one cares about? That's quite the assumption to make. I'd argue that there are many people on this website alone who care about and enjoy the ride very much, myself included. I would say, however, that there are a lot of people that think it is a good ride, an underrated ride, in need of some TLC.

Basically sums up my thoughts on Vortex after my first two rides on it this year, needless to say they'll probably end up being my only two rides on it this year. Such a good looking ride, yet so painful. Still holds a special place in my heart as my first looping coaster, but after my headache I received during my last ride, I'll stick to looking at it for now... Interesting article though, nice find!

Great Trip Report and nice pictures! The landscaping department really is doing a fantastic job this year.

Made a trip out to the park today with my girlfriend today and got there around 4 o'clock. Walking into the park it seemed as if they had completely recovered from the power outage, from what I could tell at least. Music was playing, the fountains were going, the sun was shining, it was a beautiful, but extremely hot day to be at the park. First thing I noticed was that the park was the most crowded I had seen it so far this year (I haven't gone on any weekends or holidays), which surprised me as it was a very hot Wednesday. Call me crazy, but as much as I like to go on a day with low crowds and short lines, I prefer to see the park full, not crazy crowded, but full. The place seems so much more lively and in my opinion the atmosphere is better. First ride of the day was Boo Blasters for a little friendly competition. I'm glad to see that they have fixed up the queue line, including fixing the wallpaper, as has been mentioned on this site already. Everything but the fog effect seemed to be working today, as opposed to a few "blacked out" scenes as I had encountered on my past two visits. It's really nice to see them taking care of these things, and I have confidence in them that they will have the fog effect repaired sometime in the near future. Next up was Diamondback. Waited only about 20 minutes or so. Diamondback was being its usual awesome self. Gave a great smooth ride with plenty of airtime. I really like the gift shop that the exit leads into and find myself looking around for a few minutes after my rides, they did a great job on it. Then it was on to The Beast. Waited about 10-15 minutes. Rode in the front row of the very last car, what an intense ride. I definitely prefer riding The Beast towards the back of the train, as the ride feels much faster and out of control. The only trade-off is that it's a bit rougher. After The Beast we headed back to International Street to look around in some shops and get out of the heat for a bit. After a little bit we went over to SlingShot, as I have always wanted to give it a try. Longest wait of the day due to capacity, we probably waited about an hour. But it was worth it. Riding SlingShot is truly an experience worth having. For about 5 minutes you are the center of attention of all the bystanders and the ride itself is just a rush and provides a very nice view of the park. After Sling Shot we decided to take it easy and rode Adventure Express, waited about 5 minutes for that. Went to the Red Racer next, waited 5 minutes. The Racer was usually a ride I skipped in the past but have made a point of riding on every visit this year. It's a very fun ride with plenty of airtime, I love it. Red won as usual After The Racer we were hungry and decided to eat at Skyline on International Street. I was extremely pleased with my food and service there. I got a cheese coney and a large 3-way because usually a large 3-way at the park is about the size of a regular 3-way outside of the park, today was different. I was given more spaghetti and chili than I knew what to do with. And when I was handed my 3-way and coney, thinking out loud I said "I should have grabbed a tray". One of the girls working the counter went and brought me one, I wasn't expecting it and was very thankful. The food was all warm and delicious and I was not able to finish my 3-way. Just one of many positive customer service experiences during the day. While passing Outer Hanks I noticed a grill where they were cooking corn and what looked like rotisserie chicken, it smelled delicious. After dinner, we did the Dodgems, fun as usual. My girlfriend had never seen Spongebob 3D so we headed down to the Action F/X Theater. I was surprised to see they had gotten a new Spongebob sign out front and by the line. It looked nice. Waited for about a half hour and got on, the seat motions seemed more intense than I had remembered but it had been a while. On the way out I decided to take a peak into Urgent Scare, and got an early taste of Halloween Haunt when I looked through the crack between the door and the wall to find a face looking back at me. It was just a prop body but it scared me! I jokingly tugged on the door handle and to my surprise it was unlocked, I did not open the door, but they should probably lock that before the wrong person finds their way into Urgent Scare... It was getting dark so we headed for The Beast. The line was beginning to pile up and we waited 25 minutes. You can't go wrong with The Beast at night, an absolutely incredible ride experience. The ride-op asked if there were any first time riders on the train and several excited and scared little kids raised their hands high, I was jealous and wish I could experience that again. After The Beast it was about 9:30 and as I haven't been at the park at night yet this season I wanted to check out Snoopy's Starlight Spectacular and the Fireworks, this is when the trip got even better. Starlight Spectacular was even better than I had expected. Watching the trees and the tower dance to the music was awesome. We stayed in the area for 15 minutes or so just taking it all in. It seemed to be a hit with everyone else in the area too, as people stopped to take pictures and videos of the Tower. I heard many compliments as well. It was getting close to time for the fireworks so we made our way down International Street, to the sight of the fountains lit up in different colors, the sound of people laughing and music playing, and the delicious smell of funnel cakes, the atmosphere was just amazing. I do miss the instrumental music and the Tower lights on the fountain side, but I was in too good of a mood to let that bother me. The firework show was great and I'm glad they still do it every night. It ended with applause from the crowd and a wonderful day at Kings Island came to a close. The nighttime atmosphere at the park is just fantastic and I felt like a kid again at the park. Thank you to Kings Island for a wonderful day! Thanks for reading!

^^ Here is my long trip report from my visit in 2007. It is a very fun park!

Not to mention, from what I've heard, they also experience a lot of downtime. As for what Kings Island should get in 2011, a Screaming Swing would be fun, as would a good invert. If however we have another year without a major addition, I would like to see general park improvements, especially in the Coney Mall and Tower Gardens area. I feel as if for a year without a major addition (other than the retheme), too many of the "little things" around the park have been neglected, as was mentioned in another thread. Either a new invert or dive machine get my vote though.

What was the incident? I'm not positive, just the usual "Technical Difficulties" response was given. They tried for a little bit to get it running and after about 20 minutes they apologized and ushered everyone through the station, giving out free tickets.

How times have changed... Just back in 2002 I was waiting in line for Son of Beast at the end of the night when the ride closed, everyone waiting in line at the time were given free tickets to return, I used my tickets and was not upset by the incident. In fact, I left with a better opinion of the park and their customer service. Fast forward to 4th of July, the whole park gets shut down and nothing. No refunds. Nothing was done. You would not have to go back very far in time for a Kings Island that would have given refunds, you do have to switch owners though... Must be a quote out of the Cedar Fair customer service handbook this year. You're right, they should've played hide and seek in the parks many hiding places until the power resumed...

I've also encountered a snake back by Flight Deck, some Animal Services person was removing it when I was exiting the ride a few years ago. I saw a deer eating grass while riding Adventure Express this year, but the grass has since been cut.

I guess he didn't work for Duke back in 2008 when Hurricane Ike passed through...

Very nice trip report! I too also enjoy The Beast further back in the train. I think the trims are much more noticeable in the front making for a tamer ride, but in the middle to back the ride feels out of control (in a good way, of course). Thanks for sharing!

Yes, the recordings still play, but they are hardly audible, the same cannot be said about the speaker in line for Drop Zone. Everytime the operator talked everyone covered their ears, oddly enough it was so loud you couldn't understand it. But I digress, as for what the Flight of Fear recordings say, I cannot quote exactly but I did hear "Attention all base personell..." several times last time I was in line. And while waiting to be dispatched I heard the "You believe you're doing the experiment, then kindly explain why you are the one's strapped in your seat," or something like that. I'm sure someone on here knows them better. I just wish they played a little bit louder...

What's all over the ground?