dakota2112

Someone did spot some activity: the trains are covered by tarps now But seriously... there is probably a lot more to this than people out working on the ride itself. Insurance, red tape/paperwork, etc.....

Your comparison doesn't work. I too avoid spinning rides, because history has shown that I don't tolerate them very well. Similarly, history has shown that I can tolerate all of the coasters at Kings Island. So I decided to ride SoB one day. But the difference is, SoB inflicted so much pain on my spine that I truly feared I was going to receive some level of back injury riding it. You generalize that "a coaster is gonna throw you around" but in my opinion, SoB is in a league all its own in terms of ride roughness. I don't know offhand what "intensity level" they have it rated at, but I think they should rate it more aggressive than Vortex/DB/Beast. Something about the jerky ride characteristic on SoB just really wrenches my spine around, unlike any other coaster there. I also question the amount of reaction force the structure and components must endure as the result of a loaded train, running that fast and that rough. The repitition of force causes fatigue, and fatigue eventually causes failure. For these reasons, I've made the executive decision to not ride it again if/when it reopens. If others want to ride it, by all means I hope SoB reopens and people can enjoy it again. But I hope for their sake that the ride really is safe.

The lack of a visible safety backup on the restraint system scared the daylights out of me the first few times I rode it, so I know exactly what you mean. The thought does still cross my mind occasionally when experiencing the negative G's, but I've generally gotten accustomed to not having visible safety backups on it after riding it more. However if they were to add a belt to each lap bar, I wouldn't object

I agree with the Drop Tower posters. It's overall a better ride. I've done the sky flyer once, and yes it was a rush, but I think Drop Tower is better. When going up on Drop Tower, you see that you're even with the top of sky flyer and say to yourself "ok this is high enough" and then realize you still have a ways to go. Drop Tower is higher, produces a wicked stomach float, and is free. But if you can catch the sky flyer on sale, go ahead and try it once and decide for yourself if it's worth riding again. Some think it is. I don't. It's all up to you

Is that without assigned seating?

On Delirium, the ride experience is the same no matter where you sit, so there is no real reason not to have assigned seating there. In fact it makes sense to assign seats on a ride like that (and Drop Tower).

Harsh vibration, maybe...but can you really call it "rough"? sigh... does it matter what word I used to describe it?

I'm a little confused by how anyone can call any part of Diamondback "rough." Even if it's not perfectly smooth, I think "rough" is an exaggeration...to put it mildly. Go ride Son of Beast, and then we'll talk about rough once you come out of the Rose Bowl helix. I've had the unpleasant experience of riding Son of Beast, I know all about rough The rough spot on DB that I am talking about only lasts about one second. The train experiences a brief burst of some sort of harsh vibration, compared to the relative smoothness of the other 99% of the ride.

its called trim brakes O:) lol Not the part I'm referring to. I don't remember exactly where, but one of the hills after the hammerhead seems really rough. (or maybe there is a trim at the place I'm thinking of - I'm curious now, and I'll have to check next time!)

Regardless of being treated, the splashdown still looks undeniably scummy, especially when compared to the I-street fountain. Other Little Things You Notice: The corkscrew on Vortex visibly flexes when the train goes through it. One third of Shake Rattle & Roll always starts spinning a lot sooner than the other two (yellow iirc). On one of the red Racer trains, in the second-to-last seat, left side, there is a chunk of padding missing from the lapbar, with orange tape wrapped around it like a bandage. Nice shiny new linings appear every now and then on various coaster station brakes.

Diamondback has one stretch which is really rough, or subject to some sort of vibration. And the splashdown looks scummy compared to the nice blue-painted concrete depicted in the early renderings (see also the Fountain! c'mon, the splashdown needs to look like that!)

There are Haunt props sitting right next to the red Racer (an ambulance, and several caskets). Diamondback's chain lift has a small diesel engine for backup power (possibly not a generator, but rather a direct mechanical drive?). The tops of the towers at the Peters Cartridge factory are quite visible from numerous places in the park.

Over the weekend, Flight Deck ride ops were having some fun: "You are on Flight Deck, the Jet Coaster! It lifts you three thousand feet in the air and travels six hundred miles per hour!" (or something to that effect) Then later, on Flight Deck: "You are on Flight Deck, the Jet Coaster, where you will enjoy NOT ONE... NOT TWO... but ZERO loops, and speeds as fast as 55 miles per hour. That's almost as fast as your car goes!"

Where's the love for Outer Hanks or whatever it's called now? I am partial towards eating there. Nothing like sitting by the lake and eating a basket of greasy fish & chips in the early evening.

SERIOUSLY?? Wow. I heard Closer to the Heart there recently, which is much more likely to be heard than Finding My Way. But I guess if this is satellite radio, then anything's possible. Other notables: - "Lamb Lies Down" (Genesis) - "Night Flight" (Zeppelin) - a couple Yes tunes

Good post, thank you! I do expect that whenever I get to ride DB, I'll be somewhat apprehensive due to the open-air nature... I was tense the first time I rode King Cobra back in the day for the same reason, and DB is shall we say a little more intimidating

Everyone's talking about whether or not you really need a restraint on this ride or that ride... but you're all talking about the ride in NORMAL OPERATION. What about when something catastrophically goes wrong, like the train leaving the track or coming to an abrupt halt? Another automotive example: you don't NEED that seat belt in your car, until the accident happens... I have nightmares about my son and myself riding Delirium, his restraint flies open and there's nothing I can do to stop it because I myself am strapped into the machine. But in waking hours when we actually ride it, I worry not - all because of that little safety belt. Call me crazy, but it's human nature

I don't want to speak for the original poster, but I think for some people (myself included) it has something to do with the perception of safety, on a subconscious level. "Seeing is believing". If you see that the restraint has a belt buckle on it, you know that there is something keeping it shut if the primary mechanism fails. I can't see inside that lapbar mechanism. It is human nature for some people when it comes to such things. (for this same reason, I find myself checking for loosened fasteners on Flight Deck's train carriage by looking for index marks that don't line up )

I haven't ridden DB yet but I will agree, having a secondary restraint failsafe mechanism would be a good idea, at least for me personally. IIRC Vortex and Delirium both have a "seat belt" which would prevent the restraint from opening in case of a failure. What's wrong with that? I personally would feel much safer. The car you rode to KI in probably has both seat belts and air bags, right? For what it's worth, I hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering... and even if you could convince me that the lapbar/restraint is failsafe, I would still feel safer with something visibly ensuring that it will not fly open - but then again I have utmost respect for the potential energy involved in being 200+ feet off the ground

Based on my experience last year - they either don't know, or there is bad internal communication. I ended up talking to a customer service rep on the phone and she flat out told me she wasn't sure which rides would be open or closed, something about she had two ride lists and they conflicted with each other. However the big coasters were open and would appear to be open again this year, and that's my main concern

Thank you.

If anyone here knows... which rides will remain open late during HH? If I recall correctly, some - but not all - rides remained open last year.

Ok so you still have to go to the processing center, but it's a quicker process - that makes sense now. Thanks!

Do you know this for certain? I renewed my 2008 passes online, which produced 2009 e-ticket .pdf files for me... and the pdf files say you have to take them to the Season Pass Processing Center. I haven't seen anything official to indicate otherwise.

If they're getting paid, then doesn't that by definition make them a professional? Try to look at it this way... the customer is essentially performing the quality control at fast food establishments, so when a screw-up is found, someone needs to be made aware of it even if the problem was fixed on-the-spot. That, for me, would be justification of filing a complaint. I've worked in QC before and if problems are not formally logged, nothing will ever improve.