Pagoda Gift Shop

I'm all for new trains. The ride might even seem less rough if you are sitting in a comfortable train instead of wedged into the current seats. As for the rest, I don't think the layout or track needs any modification at all. It's not like removing the trims is going to add any air time. It would just make the turns more violent.

I wonder what the turn out ended up being for the camp out this year. Maybe the same as the previous year? Or a little better due to the better camping location?

You left off a couple, most notably Gold Striker at CGA (2013). Knott's also received a Wild Mouse coaster in 2013. With the exception of the B&M Gigas, all the coasters are different types. How about that, Six Flags? The blueprints look like Prowler plus tunnels. I expect air time, 85 degree banked turns, and a curving drop. The Giga will have to wait until 2019 or 2020 I guess.

The tweets are getting deeper.... https://twitter.com/KingsIslandPR/status/739876390967902208

Another tweet. Similar photo, but different train. https://twitter.com/KingsIslandPR/status/739867583600590848

Maybe they should update the app to display food wait times?

By valleyed in the station, I assume you mean it was "partially" in the station? Probably from after a cycle had completed?

Was there on 6/2 and it is now a hot dog and Italian sausage place with a new sign on the front. This seems like a strange thing to happen almost 2 months into the season. Maybe their cheese steak provider went out of business? Seems like training the food staff to make the cheese steaks and then later switching it to hot dogs is very weird.

How far in advance would they need to submit plans? I wouldn't think clearing trees would require any plans to be filed. I'm not sure pouring footers would either. I have no knowledge of building construction laws, but I don't know why the city would care until an actual "structure" was being built.

I agree that would be great. Let's aim for 100 mph eh?

Very nice trip report. Thanks for sharing.

Yes, 2ndsout. All your comments about Haunt attractions and storage are correct. There may be a future for the Action Theater beyond Haunt. Similar theaters at Carowinds and California's Great America were renovated into new dark rides this year (Plants vs. Zombies and Mass Effect). The Son of Beast station and queue are probably less likely to be re-used.

They would never close the gift shops right at closing. To do so would be to leave money on the table, I don't understand why the food service isn't any different. There are a few places not on the meal plan that make perfect sense to stay open for a while after closing (Blue Ice Cream Shop in Planet Snoopy, Cinnabon, Funnel Cake Shop on I Street, possibly Starbucks and Graeters as well)

I had a great time at Coasterstock this weekend. It really is hard to narrow down my favorite part, so many things were great. If I had to pick, I think getting to ride Flight of Fear on Friday night with the lights on would be my choice. Sunday night was so strange because the park closed at 8. All the general population filed out, but we stayed for more ERT. It was really strange being in the park before dark with the whole place empty. I did several laps on all of the ERT rides last night. Overall a terrific weekend. I hope Kings Island continues to see value in doing this event in the future. Thanks so much to Don and the KI staff!

Speaking of the log flume, I totally forgot that it was SBNO in 2000 and received a complete renovation while being themed to Wild Thornberries. Source: http://www.coneyislandcentral.com/log_flume.php In retrospect, you'd have to think the decision to renovate was connected to the decision to remove Kenton's Cove Keelboat Canal. It was removed after the 2000 season to make room for Tomb Raider: The Ride. How long does a renovation of an old Arrow flume last? It's been 15 years...

What were you hoping for? (I usually don't pay close attention to shirt material type.)

I'm fine with random. It's the "properly staffed" aspect that I'm looking for. There should be as many "lanes" for going through a security checkpoint as there are at the ticket gate in my opinion. Anything less than that creates a bottleneck.

I heard from someone who went to the park tonight that there was a lengthy security checkpoint line before being able to get in. Have they had these random checks on any other dates so far this year? From what I heard, it was a slow moving line.

I also got the email around 5:00pm this afternoon. Everything seems to be in order for a great event. Now we just need Mother Nature to cooperate...

Yeah, so much for that good forecast a few days ago. I just checked and there is now an 80% chance of rain on Friday night, and a 70% chance all day Saturday. Ugh.

It had a decent line in 2007, but that was mainly caused by one train operation due to the incident with the maintenance truck.

I think it really can vary case-by-case. When King Cobra closed in 2001, I thought the other Togo stand-ups in the chain would follow soon after. They finally did, but not until 2014 and 2015 which is quite a long time after. Big Bad Wolf closed in 2009. Since then, no other Arrow Suspended coasters have been removed. We probably won't see any new ones built, but it could be another 20 years before The Bat goes.

That's probably true. I'm not sure why Top Gun's theming was shuttered so quickly. I don't think it really even lasted 10 years. The lower level had been shut up for a very long time, so removing it really did it a favor in some ways. Flight of Fear has maintained its queue much better, but I don't think any ride is quite the same after the first couple years.

There are pictures in this thread which were taken when they were removing things. The pictures at the bottom of that page show what it largely looks like now underneath. http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php/topic/28430-activity-underneath-flight-deck/page-9

We are 1 week out from Coasterstock and so far the weather forecast is looking great. Highs in the mid-70's all weekend with a low chance of rain. Hopefully that forecast holds up over the next week.