RaptorGuy

Another reason for parks to stop doing Halloween events! That could have been much much worse than it was. It would have been tragic if the entire attraction would have burnt down, or worse yet and killed some people! That is the only Houdini ride left, and only one of two of those kinds of rides left. It would be sad to lose that one, too! Hopefully, they will be able to repair it and have it back operational next year.

OMG, I have the granddaddy of all "Guests Say The Darnest Things"! Yesterday, Sunday October 10, 10-10-10, I was walking through Planet Snoopy and overheard a woman ask her husband, "Where is that boat ride through the Smurfs? I can't find it!" I almost lost it. I haven't heard one that good since I heard a teenage girl 2 years ago proclaim that The Vortex was sinking! I guess the woman hadn't been to Kings Island in 20 years, or something. Just thought that was funny!

They are nice bobbleheads. I was going to get rid of mine, because I did not really know what it was that all the hub bub was about. Then I saw it, and saw what it was, and was pleasantly surprised. I carried it around the whole time I was at the park. It's really cute, so I'm going to keep it! I might add, when I got to the park and saw the crowds, I thought, "Oh no, not again" thinking it was going to be a repeat of yesterday. But, apparently everyone there just wanted to the bobbleheads, and left. All those people did not seem to be in the park once the ropes were dropped and so forth. That was a nice surprise!

I think a B&M floorless similar to The Krypton Coaster at Fiesta Texas would be in order for 2012! Maybe instead of a statue of Superman with his hands on his hips on the loop, one of Dick Kinzel making the same pose!

Some of you that are saying I shouldn't go, well, as I said, I want to go ride my rides, like Diamondback. I DON'T go on Saturday nights. It's a nightmare of many proportions on those nights. Friday nights, it is just out of control. I am NOT there to take part in the haunts, and I should not have to be accosted by scare actors when I have no interest in them. They DON'T scare me, they annoy me to no end. Like I have said, it should be toned down, and haunt should be in appointed places, and if you want to go do that crap, you can, but if you choose to not participate, it should NOT be thrown in your face!

Yeah, I finally had to leave. After what happened last night, I was NOT about to go through that again! It's not enjoyable to go to an amusement park when its off the wall like that! If you go all the way over there and can only get on 3 or 4 rides in a day, that is NOT fun. I like to do everything, and can't do it on a day like today. I am glad for ERT, though. I got 14 rides on Diamondback before the GP showed up. I ended up with 16 total on it. Then only got to ride Flight Deck and waited too long for Red Racer. After that, I decided my blood was boiling too much, I best go. Hopefully, Sunday wont be as bad!

After careful thinking this through for quite some time now, and after how things went last night, Friday October 8th, 2010, I feel it's time for Kings Island and even the entire Cedar Fair Company to give consideration to canceling Halloween Haunt events after this year! Kings Island has proven time and time again that they absolutely do NOT know how to put on such an event in a way that makes it enjoying and entertaining! It's now come to the point that it's extremely irritating and even unsafe to attend the Haunt. First off, it draw's a crowd of unsavory elements to the park. They show up either high on drugs or drunk on alchohol. They smoke in lines to much higher extents than regular times, and they cut in line, and when you say something, they want to fight you, and when you yell for security or the ride hosts, they REFUSE to do anything about it. They blow you off with some lame comment like, "We can only do so much!". WHAT???? Are you kidding me???? "We can only do so much????" Where's the security when we need them? Also, gangs of teenagers show up and hang in large groups and are in the way, all over the place, and they become unruly, and no one does anything about it. Last night, people were walking through the park smoking cigs, and security walked right past them and said NOTHING! What are they there for, to pick their nose? SAY SOMETHING FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! DO YOUR JOB! Second of all, the crap that happens at the front gate on Friday nights when the park first opens is utter chaos! That is VERY DANGEROUS and someone or MANY are going to get hurt and hurt bad! The people playing monsters come running out there, as people are trying to get in, and get your face, and come up behind you while you're trying to get through the security gates and get your wallet out to get your pass, and they get you side tracked. That is PURE NONSENSE! Whoever came up with that act ought to be ashamed of themselves and FIRED! That needs to STOP THIS WEEKEND! All I want to do is get in and go ride my coasters, like Diamondback! I don't need to be accosted by these scare actors wearing these godawful looking masks that I have NO interest in to begin with! Then I get inside the front gate only to see SATAN himself on top of a scaffolding over the Royal Fountain. That in itself is WRONG on so many levels. What is Kings Island doing, promoting HELL? Whats up with that?? Whoever came up with THAT act, also need to be FIRED. Terrible! Terrible! Terrible! The event itself is VERY poorly done. It's so dark and the fake fog is so thick that you can't see half of where you're going! That is SO dangerous for people who might be hard of seeing, wears prescription eye glasses, or just anyone in general. I don't have any problems with my eyes, but I have accidently run into people, run into carts, and been run over by other people! THAT is DANGEROUS! Now, these things have happened several times in the last 3 years, some of them did NOT happen on Friday night. There's NO reason on God's green earth why there should be so much fog, and have it be so dark. The decorations throughout the park are really in poor taste. There's so many skeletons everywhere, it looks like BONEVILLE! The worst of it, is all the coffins everywhere. That is extremely OFFENSIVE! What is so amusing about caskets where dead people get buried? That is hard for some of us who have lost loved ones to deal with. Or some of us who have loved ones who may not be with us much longer. That is horrible for us! I don't need that reminder everywhere I walk or every ride I get on! I don't like seeing them laying there. Even though I really would LOVE to see Halloween Haunt completely canceled and go back to how it was in the 1990's, I would be willing to offer that they tone the event WAY down. Just do maybe 3 or 4 haunted attractions, like Massacre Manor, Trail of Terror, Tombstone Junction, and bring back Elvira and Fun House Express. That would be so much better. Get rid of all that garbage at the beginning. Stop doing those evil Satanic shows like whatever that horrid thing is in the International Showplace with the bomb that goes off and scares everyone to death riding Diamondback or walking by. That should ALL be canceled! Just put up some nice fall decorations, like pumpkins, corn stalks with orange and purple ribbons, some things like that. That would be just fine for me. Still continue to do the thing for the little kids in the picnic area. That is innocent enough. That is what Halloween really is. Its NOT a holiday that should celebrate Satan, Hell, and Death, the way Kings Island is portraying it with this Haunt crap! I just want to go to Kings Island and ride my coasters and rides, and not have to deal with the haunted stuff. If they want to do it, like I said, do those ones, keep them where they are not in your face and if you choose to not take part, you don't even have to know they're there! Since I don't post hardly on here, and this my first real major one, I want to say that this is NOT a personal attack on anyone or even Kings Island themselves. I am sure everyone has their opinions, and I respect them. I am just voicing mine on how I feel about Kings Island and ANY of the parks really doing these kinds of evil Satanic Haunt events. I feel they are evil, unholy, and promote all that is wrong with our society right now. These parks ARE Promoting evil by having events like this, and it needs to be STOPPED! Especially, when they do such a poor job at managing the crowds of misenthropes that it draws! I would love to see Halloween Haunt canceled and bring back Winterfest. Winterfest is a much nicer event. It's a happy event, and brings out the best in people, NOT the worst like Haunt does. Its a much better money maker. Just ask Dolly Parton. Dollywood does NOT do any kind of Halloween event, but they do a Christmas event, and do it well. They make a lot of money and people go there. There's no reason to think that Kings Island would NOT have the same kind of return. So, hopefully, someone at Cedar Fair will get the message! CANCEL HAUNT!

I agree with that. The current Coney is fun, but its NOT the park it was. If they would build a couple of wood coasters, perhaps it would be little like the old days!

A very sad day. So unfair to lose a great person at such a young age. It's bad when anyone dies no matter what age, but 48 is in the prime of life. He had such vision for Holiday World. I am sure that will live on.

Thanks!

Great photos as always! Voyage is MY number one woody as well. And it IS hard to believe Legend is 10 already. Where does the time go?

This was the best behind the scenes tour I've ever been on. I totally enjoyed this. Something I've always wanted to do. Thanks to Don and KI for doing it!

I think the trains on Backlot Stunt Coaster are downright ugly! If I had my way, that coaster would be removed and sent to Michigan's Adventure. It's a low capacity coaster, in a high capacity park. It never should have been built to begin with at Kings Island. They took out 2 good flat rides for that, and in Kings Island fashion, all of the themeing stopped working after the first week the ride was in operation. Some of it NEVER worked. It was a poor waste of space.

I'll vote for Marty, too

This will never happen. They have a walkway there now for the exit. When they had the lake, you exited out back where the Crypt walkway is now. They will never use that as a walkway again, so there really is no way to put the lake back in. Also, it collected a lot of garbage, and was a mess a lot. The lake was NOT a calamity of Paramount Parks. KECO actually removed it in 1987 when The Vortex was built. That's another reason you wont see the lake back. The lake spilled over into the area of the lift hill of Vortex.

The ACE Walkbacks this year, which will now be the Coaster club walk backs, as you can be in other clubs and participate, they will originate from the front of the Kings Island theater this year. They will leave at approximately 9:45am and go to The Beast.

Even though The Interpreter recommended not staying in the Dells, I actually got a pretty reasonable room at the American something or rather Inn. It was the hotel right next door to Riverview Park. It had an indoor pool and hot tub. Of course I was there the last week of summer and it was bit of the off season I beleive. The area is gorgeous. Avalanche and Hades are 2 of the finest wood coasters you will find anywhere. All of the parks are pretty much walking distance of each other, and there are walking paths to get you to each park. If you like scenic train rides, there is one maybe a mile or 2 away from the parking lot of Timberfalls that is really beautiful. It's a highly recommended destination vacation spot! Its like Pigeon Forge North. The same style of atmosphere.

I am looking for the winner of the autographed poster that John Robinson gave away. He seems to have misplaced the information of that winner to get him the prize. If you are that winner, or remember who that winner is, please send me a private message. Thanks Brian Neal

I am doing a headcount for anyone who wants to attend Winter SOAR. I need sort of a headcount on anyone who is going. There is no preregistration, but just need to give the golf course an idea of how much food to prepare. If you are planning to attend, please let me know at ACESOARRegion@yahoo.com. We are opening this to KIC members, as well as other coaster clubs. So feel free to come, just need an idea if you are coming, and you can pay the $25 at the door when you arrive. We are giving away neat prizes from several local parks. Here is the information on it, in case you have not seen it. http://www.aceonline.org/events/details.aspx?event=107 We are looking forward to a good time, and we look forward to seeing you there. Brian Neal

The Coney Island Whip was never at Kings Island. If you read the brochure for those that have it from 1974, it does not mention a Whip. The only rides of those 3 that came from Coney were the old Dodgems and Cuddle Up. To my knowledge, Cuddle Up left in 1975, and was turned into that shop that is there now, or that bowling game. The Dodgems left in 1984. I have no idea where the Whip went from Coney, but it was not taken to Kings Island. My guess is, it was destroyed, but could be wrong on that. Coney will be at Winter SOAR, perhaps we can ask him if he knows where it went!

December 6, 2007 Ultimate Rollercoaster http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/news/...071206_01.shtml Aurora, OH -- The recent closure of the Geauga Lake amusement park (GL) in Aurora has prompted US Senator Sherrod Brown to urge Cedar Fair (CF) to preserve a piece of roller coaster history. In a letter addressed to CF chairman and CEO Dick Kinzel, Brown asked that the company develop a plan for GL's historic Big Dipper roller coaster. He is hoping that CF is willing to keep the ride at its current location or have it moved to another site where it can continue to operate. "Such an important and rare piece of Ohio and amusement park history deserves the utmost consideration as CF develops plans for the property," wrote Brown. In September, CF announced that it would close the amusement park portion of GL forever. However, the company plans to keep the new $25 million water park located across from the rides open. CF has reported a huge decrease in attendance at the property since purchasing GL from Six Flags in 2004. Representatives for the American Coaster Enthusiasts were excited about the letter from Brown. The group has been hoping and trying to save the 82-y.o. roller coaster. CF has already relocated 4 of GL's steel roller coasters to its other parks, but the 3 wooden roller coasters remain. The Big Dipper, The Villain and Raging Wolf Bobs roller coasters are all currently up for sale. Brown would like to see the Big Dipper remain in its current location. He is urging CF to preserve it as is. "Ideally, keeping The Big Dipper in its Aurora, OH, home would be preferable -- perhaps by including the coaster as part of a mixed-use retail and amusement complex or as part of a classic amusement park museum", wrote Brown. "However, as CF makes final decisions on the future of the Dipper, I strongly urge against destroying or scrapping this unique piece of Buckeye State history." The Big Dipper roller coaster opened in 1925 under the name Sky Rocket. Originally named the Sky Rocket, the name was later changed to Clipper and eventually changed again to Big Dipper in 1969. Designed by John Miller, Big Dipper is one of only 13 surviving rides of its kind in the world.

What roller coaster in your opinion had its best year ever? Adventure Express What thrill ride in your opinion had its best year ever? Avatar What restaurant had the best food? Panda Express What crew/area was best? Adventure Express Did Son of Beast have its Best Year Ever? explain why or why not. No, CF destroyed Son of Beast with the loop removal and putting the worst possible trains on it. The Dept of Agriculture needs to condemn this thing and have it removed. What new show in 2007 was the best in your opinion? Dead Awakenings What was the best thing that happened this year at Kings Island? Coaster Con XXX What change from 2006 to 2007 was the best? You can go to both Kings Island and Cedar Point and park at both parks on the same pass. Did Kings Island Central have its best year ever? I will say yes, because as a result of the event they had at Kings Island, I made a couple of new friends!

This Parade makes the one at Cedar Point look like a Bozo The clown act! Good job to Six Flags Great Adventure! Keep it up! I need a new home park