RaptorGuy

YOUR ERT? Maybe they took it away so you'd stop coming if it was yours. Maybe you'll stop coming here. Your posts are a joke, right? Right? Nope, I am totally SERIOUS! And I am going to come very little this year! I am going to go to parks that treat me better, like Dollywood and Holiday World. I don't want to go to parks that don't respect my patronage!

This is by far the WORST decision Kings Island has ever made in its 40 season history! I don't know who is making these boneheaded decisions, but they need to be fired and blackballed from ever working in the amusement industry ever again! The whole dinosaur thing is completely out of line and ludicrous! Who in the world goes to amusement parks to see stupid crap like this? I wouldn't pay 7 cents to see either of these stupid things, much less 7 bucks! And then they won't let you watch the stupid movie for just 2 bucks, but then say, you can see it for just 2 bucks extra if you pay the 5 to see the rest of the malarky back there! What a stupid idea this is! I am giving Kings Island a HUGE "SHAME ON YOU" for this! Here is how rotten Kings Island is this year: Strike 1-They take away my ERT for Diamondback and stab the late Ruth Voss in the back for taking away The Beast ERT/Walkback! Strike 2-They announce a stupid animatronic dinosaur exhibit that will cost extra, that has no place in an amusement park! Strike 3-They remove one of the greatest 3D ride experiences that ever existed and replaced it with another upcharge attraction that totally SUCKS! Kings Island, YOU'RE OUT! This will be the worst year I've never had at Kings Island now! Thank you, Helbig for RUINING my summer!

Amen to that!

My experience with the 4th has been, light crowds in the earlier part of the day and they start building in the afternoon. By about 6 or 7, it's pretty crowded. If you're gonna watch the fireworks inside the park, plan on staying till midnight. Lots of cars come into the parking lot, just to watch the fireworks. If you stay, till midnight and ride, when you leave, you should be able to get right out!

I have 2. The Cedar Fair Platinum Pass, that gets me 10 parks. I also have a Dollywood pass this year. Back in the old days, I had a KI, CP and Six Flags pass. But, after CF took over Geauga, I dropped the Six Flags pass and then they bought KI, so I only buy one pass for all of them now.

Um, just wondering, did you mean Patriot at Worlds of Fun or did you mean Silver Bullet at Knotts? There is no Patriot coaster at Knotts.

I agree! I would love to hear Happiness Is.. At KI. That would bring back some wonderful memories!

I miss the music from the old Taft and Keco days. International music on International Street surely made the best sence. Country in Rivertown. Old rock in Coney, which I believe is what they're currently doing and that's ok. Even Cedar Point plays different genres in different areas. Up in the front section, they play a song called 4th Door by Mannheim Steamroller and that's nice and relaxing. They play country in their Frontier area. So, I'd like to see similar songs like that played in the respective areas of the park. I did enjoy hearing some of the d 80s songs on Saturday. Brought back some great memories of past opening days when I was that young!

I am not for sure on this, so don't quote me on it. I believe that you are suppose to use your pp pass at the park that you bought it from before it will work at the other parks. In 2007, I bought my pass from CP online, because pricing and such was different then, and the best deal was to buy it there and I had just renewed it online from the previous year. I went to KI first and it did not work at either the parking gate or at admissions. Once I went to CP and used it, I had no further problems at KI that year. Just a thought on that.

You have a great voice for radio or some kind of documentary show for the History Channel!

The metal detectors are not turned on. They only use them on July 4th and Saturday night Haunts. Uh, really? Because I am certain that I walked through them every time I entered the park, and that they were staffed at all times... If they weren't even turned on, they would all be marked open. But instead, a security guard is stationed at each lane that is open. Why would they waste that payroll unnecessarily? And why would those security guards closely monitor whether or not the metal detectors go off? Is it all part of a grand attempt to make us think they're on? Is this a new policy this season, and one that they're telling the public about? (And why would they... "Attention visitors to Kings Island: we will only use the metal detectors on July 4, 2011 and October 7, 14, 21, 18 2011 this year. Any other day, you're welcome to bring whatever you want into the park.") This has actually been going on pretty much since Cedar Fair took over! They have one security guard per each section of 3 detectors. There's no way that one could monitor 3 if they were working. If someone walks in and it goes off, and another one next to it goes off, there's no way that one person can take care of that situation. Other clues to look for is, when you leave, the lights are not turned on, or if you want to check going in, you will find the same thing. Also, the way I personally know is, I walked in with an I-phone, and camera in my fanny pack, and nothing happened. I walked through on the days that I said above, and ONLY those days did I set off the metal detectors. I was quite shocked, because I was used to walking through as I always had, but on those specific days, it beeped and I got searched. So, the detectors are not really on. I wouldn't tell that to GP, because I am sure the whole facade is designed to discourage those would be criminals.

The metal detectors are not turned on. They only use them on July 4th and Saturday night Haunts.

When I was in line for Racer Saturday, there was an old maintenance van between there and AE that had Paramount logo on it. That looked like it was bought new the first year of Paramount in 1993.

Did I stutter? I meant to say "one" and not "fun" btw, it's cool if you support the park. It's just that.... ....ich bin ein Dollywooder!

Imagine a world where a Kings Island commercial shows Helbig out greeting guests with a huge smile and telling them to have a great day at Kings Island! Oh wait, I think I must have been dreaming! Or maybe a parallel nightmare! That'll never happen, obviously! I definitely MISS the old Kings Island commercials about The Beast, The Bat, and Vortex. Something mysterious and exciting. They made me long to be there! The new one that is currently running is over the top lame! Kings Island, The One and Only? Seriously? The one and only WHAT? Every other Cedar Fair park says THEY are the one and only, too! They should have done some animated story about WindSeeker, if they really wanted to promote that! They could have done some high graphic deal involving Diamondback, Beast, and some other coasters, and made them look extremely exciting! Or they could make something that harps hard on the fact that they've won best kids area for the last 10 years. At the very least, showing Son of Beast as an operating coaster is almost insulting. Like rubbing salt in the wounds of those who would like to ride it. I don't know what the marketing people were thinking by allowing clips of an SBNO coaster to be in their advertising. Pretty sad!

I think it would be an environmental hazard to tear this coaster down completely. Plus, all those trees would have died in vain! Now, I am no tree hugger by any stretch of the imagination, but it will still be a crying shame to waste all that good wood. At the very least, they should strongly consider making a new coaster on the structure. Maybe not Texas Giant style, but another true wooden experience. The design had flaws in it, unfortunately. The rose bowl was not a real comfortable ride. The rest of it was fine. I enjoyed most of it. The first hill was amazing, and the loop was too. Probably won't see a loop anymore, but it would behoove them to keep the coaster, and make some major changes to the ride. Plus, it would be cheaper in the long run to only replace and redesign a certain section, than to spend the money to demolish it. They could dismantle everything between the bottom of the 2nd hill and the little whoosh thing that replace the loop, and make a really good wood section there, and the ride would be superb! They could reuse a lot of the wood from those areas. The Screechin Eagle has sat idle for 9 years now, and no attention given to it. They say, it will start to collapse in another couple of years. If they let Son of Beast sit that long, it will meet the same fate, and thats NOT what we want to see happen. That would be a crying shame for sure! $25million+ down the drain.

You would think, but historically, Kings Island has always charged higher admission. It's always been about $5 more, which seems to be the case now. Maybe it does have to do with the fact that the water park is included in regular admission at KI and Soak City is NOT. Really, a lot of parks are in this admission range now. Dollywood is $57 to get in for a day. I bought a season pass for $81. I think that special is only good for a short time, though.

Apparently the answer to that is ZERO! Indiana Beach charges ZERO for admission to the park! If you just want to go into Indiana Beach and walk around and do NOTHING, maybe watch that water show, or check out the couple of shops, you can do so without paying admission! That's probably being a bit far fetched, because most who go there buy the ride bands, and eat there, too! Just sayin!

I don't really like having to wear a fanny pack, but as of last summer, I started carrying and expensive camera, and this year, I have upgraded to an IPhone. There's no way I'm going to take a chance on my Iphone ending up in the Cell Phone box in the DB que area. My main reason for going to a fanny pack involved the fact that I refuse to pay $2 for lockers by Firehawk to store my stuff. I can wear a fanny pack on that and the other coasters, and I'm not worried that I will lose anything. And like Snowman says, I am not there to be a fashion model. I wear coaster Tshirts, and shorts and stuff. I don't look preppy or anything else when I am at a park. I want be comfortable and feel safe for my stuff, and the fanny pack does that for me!

It would be a shame to have something repulsive like this blocking the view Just go enjoy the fountains at Cedar Point instead. The fountain at Cedar Point was removed 3 years ago, in lieu of one of those kiddie water splash things that you run through.

I sure hope not! That thing is just as much of an eyesore as the one by the road! It would be a shame to have something repulsive like this blocking the view of the beautiful fountains! I didn't like the Paramount logo blocking them back in the day, either. When you come into the park, you should be dazzled by the majesty of the fountains shooting up into the sky! Not seeing some repulsive looking dinosaur! I will add that to my list of complaints that I am taking in with me on opening day! Dinosaurs, did they really exist anyway? If they did, they didn't live 350 million years ago, as Kings Island's "fun facts" would lead you to believe! The earth did not even exist that long ago, so how could dinosaurs?

When all else fails, just wear a fanny pack! I know they look kind of silly, but they're very convenient. Easy to tuck under your shirt, too, and will even be more secure that way.

Although, I don't find any coaster scary at KI, I would say Firehawk is the most un-nerving. I would be happier if they had shelves to put your stuff on. I always fear I am going to lose something off my person. I came within a half inch of being clobbered by an arant cell phone in 09 walking near the ride. That's my only coaster fear at KI.

I love the idea, but it will never happen for the reasons Terpy stated. Like him, I too rode the prototype at IAAPA. The problem with those arms or robocoasters as they're called is capacity. It would be a nightmare. Those would be good upsell attractions at small parks like Strickers Grove size.

MarkR and I are going to see the Sycamore High production on April 16th. I will look and see if their chandelier is from Phantom Theatre. That ride had a similar story as the play. "Do you think you will be allowed to leave, once you have heard my music? I don't think so!"