Hoeter

I am 6' 2'' and weigh 305 - I fit with no issues. It wasn't uncomfortable for me - Flight of Fear and Backlot are the worst restraints in the park in terms of comfort.

I took a ride on SSBR this afternoon and felt this coaster definitely packs a punch. I wouldn't make it the first ride for someone that is brand new to riding coasters, but it's a decent ride that can fit between "Great Pumpkin Coaster" and "Backlot Stunt Coaster" in terms of introduction.

I drove past Clermont Steel over the weekend and only saw red B&M track sitting out and some unpainted pieces. To my knowledge, they don't fabricate any wooden track. Gravity Group, I believe their facilities are out near the old Tri-County Mall north of I-275.

I've been to both Carowinds and Kings Dominion, having visited Carowinds last in 2015 and Kings Dominion in 2014, respectively. Kings Dominion is the sister park to Kings Island, having opened three years after Kings Island in 1975. Similar to Kings Island, Kings Dominion has Flight of Fear and Backlot Stunt Coaster that are either identical or near identical to what we have. Project 305 (formerly Intimidator 305) is a must ride for any coaster enthusiast - think Millennium Force and Maverick at Cedar Point had a baby. Out of the 111 coasters I have ridden, I can safely say that I-305 is at the very top of the list in terms of intensity - I greyed out on almost all rides I took on it. Reptilian, their Mack bobsled coaster and Dominator, their B&M floorless coaster previously at Geauga Lake are also rides I wouldn't pass up. If you are looking to ride something similar to Vortex and are feeling nostalgic, they still have their Arrow looper, Anaconda. If you are looking to see how different Kings Dominion is than Kings Island, I would recommend a visit to this park. Carowinds, I will say, gets the nod here for me because of Fury 325, their B&M giga coaster. It is the longest steel roller coaster in North America, 7 feet longer than Millennium Force at Cedar Point and feels like one of the most complete/well rounded coasters that I've ridden. The first drop, turn before the hive dive, and the hive dive itself were notable elements on the rides I took. Their B&M hyper, Thunder Striker, will have a similar experience to our Diamondback, so nothing radical there. Their B&M invert, Afterburn, provides some of that 1990's B&M intensity and rank up in the top of B&M inverts I've ridden - edged out by Raptor at Cedar Point and our Banshee. I will add an addendum to my response and say this - we were able to knock out Kings Dominion and Carowinds over two days. It's about a 4-5 hour drive between the two so if you have the All Park Passport and have the extra time to swing both, it may be doable.

I've only been on two SLC's - T3 at Kentucky Kingdom and Mind Eraser at Six Flags America. I will say the trains on T3, based on my experience, was better than what was on Mind Eraser, plus T3 for me was a far more enjoyable ride. From the time Mind Bender left the lift hill, it couldn't end fast enough. That day, I learned that SLC stands for Sucks Like Crap. This POV gives you an idea of how butter smooth the ride experience is - B&M should take note.

I've been mulling on this all day long. We already have a giga coaster with an 85 degree angle of descent. Other than the fact that a dive machine hangs you over the edge for 3 or 4 seconds, would the drop experience really be that much different? I've only been on one dive coaster (Valravn at Cedar Point) and thoroughly enjoyed the front row ride I took on it. The farther back in the train I went, the less I enjoyed the ride. It's not on the list, but I would like to see something similar to Maverick at Cedar Point in the plot that Vortex occupies. I know that Cedar Fair and Intamin have a rocky past, especially with the past issues that Cedar Fair has had with them, so I'm curious as to the feasibility of something similar being installed, especially with the popularity of Velocicoaster at Islands of Adventure. A Mack launch coaster could be a good fit in this spot, however based on what I've heard, these come with a steep price tag. If I could only ride one coaster up at Cedar Point, Maverick would be the one.

Looking through Reddit, it appears as if someone got a survey from Cedar Point, however it included a tilt coaster and water coaster in lieu of the dark ride coaster and dive coaster that showed up on the Kings Island survey. One Redditor posted that Carowinds sent out a similar survey, with the giga dive coaster, water coaster, family launch coaster, and a super flume as options. CP - Carowinds -

Thanks McSalsa - enjoyed reading your trip report. I was there yesterday from 11-3 and waits weren't all that bad. There were numerous school groups in the park yesterday. I really regret not marathoning Orion yesterday, it was about a 5-10 minute wait after I took my first ride. I did end up buying a pack of the trading cards as well and just checked them out - I hope they expand and add more cards to the lineup in the future. I also picked up an Orion shot glass. I have a collection of shot glasses for all of the gigas I've ridden (all four in the U.S.), several KI rides, and several CP rides.

It looked like one of the elevators started to descend then stopped. The bottom half of one of the elevators was visible below the bottom of the platform, while the top was concealed. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ended up buying a Gold Pass this morning, and went up to the park for the first time since the 2019 season, staying until about 3PM. I figured I would try and see what I could ride given that lines could potentially be minimal - I'd rather wait 15 minutes and get "walk of shamed" than wait an hour to be told the same exact thing. I was able to ride The Bat, Banshee, Adventure Express, Racer, Orion, The Beast, Mystic Timbers, and Diamondback without being turned away. I rode everything except for Invertigo, Flight of Fear, and Backlot Stunt Coaster - the latter I didn't see running the entire time I was there. Finally got to ride Orion for the first time, which was nearly a walk-on - I should have stayed over there and marathoned. As my last visit was when Vortex was still operating, I will say that it was weird without seeing Vortex, especially standing in line for Diamondback, looking towards LaRosa's and walking past where the batwing used to be. Otherwise, I thought the park looked good! I do want to get up to Cedar Point during the season, however I did not add the All Park Passport when I purchased this morning - I am assuming I can go into Guest Services next time I'm at the park and pay the difference?

^ The Beast is the roller coaster that started my love for roller coasters, this one I really do not want to do the Walk of Shame. I know the last time I was up at the park in 2019, Diamondback was close to being a no-go

Seeing all of the posts on social media today makes me want to get back up to the park - I haven't been since 2019. I'm going to try to get up there at some point this season, but am concerned about taking the old Walk of Shame. Right now I'm 6' 2'' and around 310, so I'm not sure what I can/can't fit on at this point.

I really enjoyed Sonder's Blue Ice Cream Ale the last time that it was out - I will say though in my experience, as with other beers, the colder it is the better. I live near the Jungle Jim's in Eastgate and I heard that they had it in stock - literally missed the last one being sold by a matter of minutes. Hightailed it to Mason and got one of the last four packs they had in stock. Now that they've re-released it, I'll have to ride up to Mason to pick up a pack.

Having grown up on the east side of Cincinnati, I have been to Coney Island several times during my childhood and visited their Christmas light display a couple of years back. I vividly remember seeing Kellogg Avenue and Coney Island underwater when the flood hit in March of 1997. This announcement, in terms of shock and awe, reminds me of when the Cincinnati Gardens closed several years back. A lot of the feedback that I have seen on social media regarding the closure/announcement of the new music venue has been relatively negative, however with the removal of the rides a couple of years back, I was curious how viable business would be with the pool and related water attractions. I did a little reflecting as well on the impact that Coney Island had on the industry and the impact that it had. Had it not been for Coney Island and other events, such as the 1964 flood and the purchase by Taft, there's a chance Kings Island never would have been built, meaning that The Racer would have never sparked the second golden age of the roller coaster - I wonder what the impact would have been on the industry? Coney Island, I feel, wasn't only beloved by generations of Cincinnatians, but had a lasting impact on the industry as a whole.

I see several parks getting sold - ones in close proximity to one another. NJFTP/Dorney and Knotts/SFMM immediately come to mind. I strongly wish that Herschend approaches Cedar Fair to buy Kings Island. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I agree with CoasterJack above. I visited SFGAdv (or NJFTP for those from way back when Terpy was still on the boards) in 2014 and at least one of the El Toro trains were wrapped in a Kia Soul graphic - this was definitely interesting for my first visit to a SIX park.

^ Made to Thrill - https://madetothrill.com/ I currently have posters for The Beast, Magnum, Millie, Dragster, Banshee, Mystic, and Steel Vengeance. They also made the I-Street and Blue Ice Cream posters, however those are only available on the Kings Island store or in the park. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry to bump a thread that was last responded to in 2020, but I feel like I'm at a point to where my home office is "complete" in terms of roller coaster decor, however as of late, I've started to add some Bengals gear due to their successes. There are a lot of pictures attached - apologies in advance. Some of these were taken earlier on in the process. I have collected quite a bit over the last 10 or so years and have quite a few shirts that I can put within this space as well, such as the one for Banshee Media Day and the First Rider Auction for Mystic Timbers. The shot glasses on the shelf - there are several non-KI ones, such as Dragster, Millennium Force, Maverick, Valravn, Magnum XL-200, Lightning Rod, Intimidator 305, and Fury 325 from my travels.

Late to the conversation - Don will be missed. In the "Decoding 2014" thread from way back when, I posted the below in regards to the Son of Beast station and chuckle every time I revisit it.

It is official... Top Thrill 2 - the world's tallest and fastest triple launch coaster. https://www.cedarpoint.com/blog/media-center/get-revvved-up-in-2024?fbclid=IwAR36_an9_ngAk569Da0fmEMyVHIRdas3Z2tp5Qt8GnfxhqqdAcCO0IpFUCM&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

As someone who thoroughly enjoyed reading "Kings Island: A Ride Through Time," I immediately purchased "Kings Island: A Photographic Journey" upon hearing about it this past Sunday. It arrived this afternoon and was, in my opinion, well worth the money I paid for it. Even though I wasn't around for the Old Coney/Taft/KECO/Lindner years, it really transported me back to that timeframe and makes me wish I was around to see the park in its early days. As I started going to Kings Island beginning early in Paramount's ownership, around 1993 or 1994, there was a lot of nostalgia around that section of the book and a lot of good memories come to mind as I approached the Cedar Fair section. Anyone who has visited Kings Island or is a fan of the park needs to get this book before it's gone.

The local government here in Clermont County did a video on Clermont Steel Fabricators, which can be viewed here.

I just finished the book. Very well done and highly recommended to any fan of Kings Island and this forum. Also to anyone whose a fan of the industry in general, as the park has had more of an impact on the industry than I thought going into it. Literally I was reading 50 to 60 pages a night since I got the book on Monday, I was hooked on the story of the park and I don’t really read for pleasure. That says something. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you. I’ve made it through about 50 pages thus far. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Evan, My book arrived this afternoon. Excited to finally read it! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk