Aaron

Cool stuff. Thanks for the info Shaggy.

I've always wondered this question when checking out the forums, but what was it that got you hooked and became a PKI enthusiast? I believe for me it was the fact that I have always visited the park at least once a year since I was a few months old. It has always been fun and interesting watching the park change every season over the years. But more specifically, I believe The Beast is truly the reason on how I got hooked. I was always terrified of coasters, and pretty much would only ride The Beastie or the forwards Racer if I was forced. Finally one day (I was around 8 or 9 years old) my brother talked me into one ride on The Beast. I distinctly remember leaving the station balling my eyes out, wishing that I had not given into a ride. But as soon as the ride ended and we departed, I was so pumped and overjoyed and begging my dad and brother to ride it over and over. From there it's pretty much history! That's my story, so what about you?

I agree that when Delerium is complete and running, those colors will look absolutely amazing. Just imagine walking towards AZ in Coney Mall then seeing a bright blue, yellow, and red tower and ring of people flying through the air at 130 feet. That will be a sight to behold.

The misconception of Dragster is that it is NOT starting to top off. The webcam is very misleading, the track is still going vertical, while on the other hand, the supports are starting to angle in, which is making many people mistake for the track. I believe Cedar Point will be the park in Ohio for the major extreme world record coasters, while PKI will have the place for world class coasters.

I dunno if PKI is hunted, but I know there are a lot of people that think PKI is haunted. They must have read the R.L. Stine "Beast" books (which I might add, I have both ).

PKI has made a name for themselves as a world class wooden coaster park, and now I believe they will be starting to make a name for themselves in the steel coaster category. I bet it won't be record breaking steel coasters, but I sure as hell think they will most likely be top ten coasters.

Obviously I'm referring to the current dragster coaster under construction at Cedar Point, but in all honesty, I doubt PKI will be breaking any height barriers. I believe PKI will have a new focus on coasters that "size doesn't matter". I just believe that they will be going after making top ten coasters instead of record breaking ones. But who knows, I'll probably be wrong.

I believe a coaster being contructed up in northern Ohio will most likely beat PKI to the record of the first teracoaster.

It seems like everyone seems to forget that Son of Beast is a hyper! Even though we won't be seeing a coaster next year, if PKI was to team up with Intamin for a steel megacoaster, I have an extremely strong feeling that would beon of the greatest coasters in existence. PKI's LANDSCAPE + INTAMIN MEGACOASTER = #1 COASTER. *drools*

Of course PKI will still be adding more coasters in the future, that's a no-brainer. But PKI will most likely be going for QUALITY over QUANTITY unlike most other amusement parks around the nation. PKI has already stated that they are not interested in the "Coaster War" about highest, tallest, longest, most this, most that, kind of war, and do not wish to compete with Cedar Point in coasters. Cedar Point is out there for the thrill seakers, while PKI is there for everyone in the family. I don't think PKI is in the "Coaster Wars" like SFMM and CP, but I do believe that they will be a park to beat in the future w/ some excellent coasters.

I'm not exactly sure if anyone should be emailing PKI telling the webcam is down. The link is no longer on the website anymore, and they have just been "playing around" with it before they put it "officially" back up on the PKI.com website. Just hold your horses!

I'm really sick of typing out the whole speech about why PKI isn't into the major record breaking coaster business anymore, so I'm just going to quote a post that I posted a while ago: Now for the new part: Kings Island is making an extremely smart move by turning away from the coasters into the new thrill experiences like the giant Huss rides. A Giant Huss ride costs about $2 million, and can bring the same capacity and general public turnout as a major coaster can, plus some of those "non-coaster riders". You can spend about $10 million on a major coaster that only thrill seekers and teens will ride, or spend $2 million on a new unique giant ride that will appeal to people of ALL ages. PKI's first step at this was obviously Tomb Raider, which whether you think so or not, was a MAJOR success for the park. People are looking for new ways to be thrilled and not just the ordinary roller coaster experience. Don't get me wrong, PKI is in no way out of the major coaster business, but PKI has said time and time again that their main focus is not adding major coasters, but yet rides that appeal to more of the family. If I have forgotten anything, I'm sure Shaggy will fill in the spots.

We did not "officially" get our two 2003 tickets, everyone needs to visit Guest Relations to claim them anytime next year. As for other goodies, we didn't get anything. But that's alright with me, I still had a blast no matter what.

After riding Tomb Raider 11 times today, I must say that the ride program is obviously the exact same every time (like I said, obviously), but I noticed how the water levels changed throughout the day. When we first started, the jets in the lava pit were bearly hitting the riders. By the end of the day however, I was getting nailed by a jet straight in the face that left me soaking.

Well, I'm starting to get a little more energy, so here's a longer summary: We first arrived at PKI, waited for everyone to arrive at Security Post 3, and then the group was led back to the "Wings" restaurant just by Tomb Raider. Everyone filled out their talent release forms, and then waited for Jeff Siebert, and David Mandt to take us back to Tomb Raider. We got on Tomb Raider, and took 3 total shots. Then there was a delay, and we waited in the Shrine area, then went back on for some more rides, with them changing the lighting to see which worked best for the cameras. (Most of the time we rode Tomb Raider with the lights on, and it is like a completely different experience compaired with the lights off... this also gives you an awesome chance to check out how ENORMOUS this ride truly is.) After those last one or two shots, we went back to Wings for a deli sandwich lunch. With a break of about 30 minutes for lunch, we headed back out to Tomb Raider for some more shots and riding enjoyment. Finally we got to stand outside in the 35 degree weather in t-shirts for the outdoor shots ("THINK SUMMER!"), and were thankfully led back into the ride where there was some nice heat for everyone to thaw out. We were then sent back onto the ride for some last overall shots of the ride in motion (which will look VERY cool on TV) After they finished the overall shots of the ride, we had another break, then went back for the last few close-up shots of the riders when facing the LAVA PIT (I got nailed plenty of times in the face ). Following the close-ups, they asked a few people to stay behind (including me) for the last shots of people walking into the main ride area after viewing the pre-ride movie. Those last shots called an end to our day, and were led out of the park to go back to our nice warm homes! The day was an overall fun day, and Jeff Siebert made it a very entertaining day for everyone. He always kept us energetic and alive and WARM (lol). As for him dropping any hints about the 2003 attraction, he did not say anything other than "We're getting a third attraction for 2003, but I can't tell you about that!" An overall great day, and I'm glad I was a part of this experience.

Hey everyone, I just got back from the Tomb Raider video shoot. It was one long day, a fun day, and a VERY cold day (as Jeff Siebert kept saying... "THINK SUMMER!"). In total we got 11 rides on Tomb Raider, and let me tell you, it was exhausting! I don't exactly want to go into a minute by minute summary, I'm a little too tired, lol. Oh, and as you may already know the show will air Memorial Day weekend on the Discovery Channel, like usual.

Thank you SML, now may we please get back to the topic?

No need for the all caps, we can hear you just fine.... as for the "breaking news" on PKI Guide? It's most likely just a little rumor someone would like to start, and I would not believe it until an official statement is released by PKI.

Well, I'm sorry I closed that thread, but it wasn't going to lead to anything. I try to keep the "productive" threads open, and close or delete the ones that I do not believe are very significant, so I do not waste bandwidth (bandwidth = $$). May I remind that no one should take a closure of a topic personal, I (or a moderator) will simply close a topic if it gets out of hand, or is not very productive, and DO NOT close a topic because I "may not like someone". Everyone is here to state their opinion, and I respect that... just please don't take anything I do personally, and if you have a problem with me, please just send me a POLITE email or PM. Any rude or immature remarks will be ignored. Remember, all the money that I have to pay to keep PKIU is coming out of my own pocket, and if you have a problem with the way I run the site, then I'm sorry. Running a website like PKIU isn't very cheep, and I do whatever I can so I may keep the cost down without having to resort to *shudder* ad banners and popups. Back to Phantom Theatre... PKI has already sank big money into the removal of the ride, and PT's replacement, Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle. Just because a few "enthusiasts" think that PKI should bring back PT and call off their plans, doesn't mean anything. They are wasting their time if they think that a petition will do anything. PKI does what the PUBLIC wants not what the ENTHUSIAST wants. May I remind you that enthusiasts make up about 5% of the park's attendence, not very significant. The plans have been made, it's sad that Phantom Theatre is going, but people have to get over themselves and realize that it's JUST A RIDE.

A "ride official" is someone that is very high up in the management at Kings Island that usually knows the park's future plans for future rides.

Very cool! It's about time they brought back the webcam.

I signed up around 5:15 PM.

Well, I got my acceptance letter, anyone else from the boards going?

Hey Shaggy, I'm assuming you'll be at the shoot? If so, hopefully I'll get to meet you! (I've met you once, about two years ago at a URC event at PKI )

Tomb Raider does have the capability of having several different ride programs, but I do not know for sure whether more than one was used this season. I know they have changed and tweeked the ride program several times this season, but I do not know if they have initialized the random ride program.