silver2005

^Well something isn't right then, there's a lot of miscommunication across the park concerning them, especially if Guest Services of all departments is clueless as to their existence.

Don't you know? The Lemon Chill guys know everything.

Well....for Beast to be longer, it needs more wood, so it kind of makes sense. Then again, I'm trying to decode stuff from the GP, so that may be a problem in itself.

Trip Report- 8/9/14 I got a bit of a later start for this visit. Wanted to sleep in an extra hour or so, but I did manage to get in 1 ride on Banshee and Bat right before ERT ended. For this visit, I went with a Fast Lane Plus. I was a bit worried if I was getting it with how the crowds would turn out as there were scattered t-storms in the forecast We got a small drizzle after lunch, but that was it. Crowds were typical for a Saturday, though most things were walk-ons until about noon when crowds just exploded. Did get on Flight of Fear early too as it wasn't on FL. I took it pretty easy today. I didn't ride a lot on a few particular rides, but I did manage to ride a good variety. The only 3 I didn't get to in the non-Planet Snoopy areas were WWC (wait nearly to the bridge over the train), Scrambler, Monster and Dodgems. I have to admit, I miss Shake, Rattle N' Roll. If its up next year, I'm making sure to make up for the rides I didn't have this year. I learned today that the drink wrist bands are no more. Apparently there was mis-communication between the food department and management and they weren't supposed to exist. Being a fan of the Coke Freestyle Machines, this makes me sad. I had a few interesting points of the day. Around lunch and dinner, I went around to do a bit of a photography session. I approached it somewhat differently. I know we have plenty of photographers that zero in on the rides, which is fine, so I paid attention to little details and park atmosphere. I hope it comes across in the photos I'll soon be posting. I particularly like the ones I got on I-Street as well as a nice overview of Rivertown and Coney Mall. Near the end of the day, I pretty much rode Banshee, Racer, Vortex, DB and Beast for 2.5 hours since this was my last visit until mid-October by the looks of things as UC and band own my soul until then. In the evening, I got to ride both Beast and Diamondback with Gary Coleman, who is up to over 10,200 btw. Turns out he actually does ride stuff other than Diamondback. Then something kind of epic happened. I barely made it on Beast before they shut it down for the fireworks, and with 9 minutes to spare, I power walked from Beast to Banshee with about 2 minutes to spare for 1 last Banshee night ride. The fireworks started as soon as we hit the final brakes. The timing for that couldn't have been any better (along with a full moon illuminating the track on Beast, it was a GORGEOUS night ride). Anyways, that'll do for my trip reports for a while. I'll post my pictures sometime before Wednesday. I might do a few TR's on interesting band events. I absolutely will do one for the OSU trip with pictures. EDIT: I also caught the 80's show today. This suffers from the opposite problem the Boyz show did using key. They keys matched the songs, but the singers had to make octave jumps to compensate, usually going down octaves, which some couldn't hold up. There were a few songs taken way too fast as well. The singer for one of the Madonna numbers tried to growl her notes country music-esque which really ruined it.

I found a point of conflict involving the park selling the all day drink wrist bands. I have several versions of an explanation, but the most common one was the food vendors weren't supposed to sell them in the first place, they got in trouble or something of that sort. The lady I talked to at Guest Services didn't even know they were being sold, she was adamant they didn't exist for this year. So it sounds like somethings didn't match up between the food department and upper management concerning them, thus they are now not being sold anymore.

Technically that is true, in a weird, bad grammar way.

What's your point?

Going to Kings Island, likely for the final time before October, this Saturday and I will be going with a Fast Lane Plus.

Canada's Wonderland will be removing SkyRider after the end of this season. From their Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/CanadasWonderland/posts/10152349914303924

1. Beast- This is pretty much my favorite ride of any park anywhere. A lot of it is nostalgia, a lot of it can be attributed to the legend status it has in the area. It just feels different than most other rides. It has the length to be sure, but on any given ride, it doesn't feel like you're at an amusement park, rather just a rambunctious ride through the Ohio woods. At night its just superb. Along with the helix, my favorite part of the ride is the set of drops upon exiting tunnel #2 in to that valley where it hits top speed. 2. Diamondback- I know a lot of people hark on Banshee being the best Kings Island has to offer, but I still prefer Diamondback. I'll take air time (no matter the type) over all those positive g's. I actually kind of prefer floater air as the weightlessness lasts longer than the suddenness of ejector air. The best floater air, in my opinion, can be found around the 5th and 6th cars on the train. 3. Banshee- I think I've said a lot on how much I like Banshee in it's thread. Great fast pacing, a nice dramatic first drop, and a great night ride. 4. Tomb Raider: The Ride- Original ride program- I have to be specific here as I only got to experience TRTR with the original program, and near the end of its life when it was basically an indoor Ferris wheel. Never rode it when they set it to ludicrous speed. Everything just worked out well, the way it held you above the water and up at the ceiling, the music certainly helped, and visuals that really showed off how big it was. It felt like a step up from what you'd see at a seasonal park. I wish it had been built and ran like it was originally intended so we'd still have it around. 5. Vortex- This can be a rougher ride, but I've ridden it enough to know how to brace and know where to ride (5th car or back depending if I want more air or a smoother ride). My only complaint about it now-a-days is that the mid course brakes and the first set of brakes at the end really have some bite to them. They're both rather hard when slowing or stopping. I always like to look to the side on the loops and the slow corkscrews really let you enjoy being upside down. 6. Phantom Theater- I liked how this ride proved you don't need mainstream characters or brand names to make a good dark ride. Everything felt so original, there was a nice storyline, and I simply loved the soundtrack. I was really, really torn when Scooby took its place. 7. Delirium- I actually find this relaxing if that seems possible. It does press you into your seat a bit when it bottoms out through the swings, but when it peaks, it feels really graceful to me. I like looking straight up the entire time and see the world spinning around, similar to Vortex, though on Delirium, it does it slower for more appreciation of the view. 8. Drop Tower- I admit, I used to never be a fan of freefall, but I learned to start to love it. Above anything else on the ride is the anticipation at the top. I know it holds for 7 seconds and I try to count it down, but fail miserably every time. Its also a nice panoramic view of the area before plummeting. One of the few rides at Kings Island along with Banshee and Invertigo that give me a true adrenalin rush. 9. Racer- One word- classic. A simple out and back design with another track to race with as the cherry on top. I love riding it when they're racing at night, especially when they had more of the chaser lights working. It feels so nostalgic racing by Coney Mall with everything lit up (I like Comet at Hersheypark for the same reason). 10. Flight of Fear- Being indoor certainly helps, especially in the front seat with a nice AC breeze. I don't like how it comes to a complete stop on the mid-course brakes, but it still holds up. Aside from the launch, my favorite bit is pretty much the entire second half; the way it curves back and forth, acceleration increasing, and the banking gets wild until you bank all the way around for the final corkscrew. I would love to ride one of the bigger outdoor versions like Poltergeist where there's no mid course brakes. Runner ups- Top Gun/Flight Deck/Bat for being the coaster that made me an enthusiast, any film except Spongebob and Hanna Barbera 3D in Action Theater, KI&MVRR, WWC, KCKC, any of the Coney Island classic flat, Grand Carousel (especially with closer friends, family), Antique Cars, and Adventure Express.

^Don't forget Cedar Point.

Watch "Furius Baco Roller Coaster Front Seat POV PortAve" on YouTube But they said first launched wing coaster in the nation (aka, the USA). Furius Baco is in Spain...

I guess the point I was trying to make was that both compete the same market and both have their fair share of thrilling rides, but whereas SFMM always adds thrill rides anymore, Knott's keeps a more rounded collection and blows SFMM out of the water in attendance. There are a lot of seasonal parks that pull more than SFMM. It sounded a lot smarter in my head than when I posted it.

I notice from time to time that some riders don't exactly sit up straight on roller coasters with lap bars. I could see a hit to the head possible if the rider were doing that.

If you want to see an example of a park that adds too many coasters time after time compared to a park that focuses on the little things every once in a while, I direct you to Six Flags Magic Mountain vs Knott's Berry Farm.

Is it bad that before I read the story, I knew it happened on Timberwolf?

For me, a good first drop has to be about more than airtime and forces. The visuals presented have to be something to marvel at as well. The view from the top, however short, helps immensely. As the late John Allen believed, psychology is a powerful element when designing a roller coaster. I'm mainly going by ones I've ridden and already experienced. The Beast's first drop has a load of suspense to it. The park has told you at that point the ride is one of the longest in the world, yet you can only see the crests of the 2 lifts, leaving much in mystery. The first drop peering off into the Ohio hills and woods into that dark hole in the ground sets up the ride perfectly. While I hated most of Son of Beast besides the loop, the first drop had to be the only other thing. Stengel did design it like a steel coaster, but the swooping drop before the main 214 ft drop worked from a rider standpoint at least (knowing what it did to the structure is something else entirely). I like Arrow drops that do this sort of thing as they have that pre-drop to get it through the turn, and by the time you get to the main drop, its sailing over the crest, and you're doing it up at 100 ft+. I'm not too fond of most of the ride, but I really liked Fahrenheit's first drop. I'm not the biggest fan of vertical lifts, but its a great view of the Midway America area and it just drops like a rock from there. The vertical lift kind of takes away your awareness of how high you actually are, so when you crest, its kind of a surprise and that 131 ft hill feels higher than it is. I really like the look of GCI drops. They're very angular with a nice combination of air time and lateral forces, plus they're likely dropping into a maw of twisted wooden track below. Lightning Racer's twin twisted drops are a beautiful thing to see with the synchronicity, both from the view of the ride and watching below. Banshee and Medusa (now Bizarro) have this quality as well, but with the inverted/floorless cars, the ground just looks like its rushing up at you while you're spinning towards it with that added weightlessness. GASM at NJFTP wasn't quite so quick in acceleration on the way down, but that made it kind of graceful IMO. Anaconda's drop doing this while dropping into an underwater tunnel is also quite awesome. I think Millennium Force and Magnum benefit from being next to the lake. Its another way a coaster feels taller than it is to me, by being around a body of water. Millennium Forces quicker lift is also kind of unnerving for those not used to it or don't ride it a lot (like myself). It's great seeing those 2 first drops unfold on Magnum and Millennium Force. Great Bear is another that sticks out. Its kind of got a weird partial figure-8 bit before its main drop, which really tilts you to the side before dropping. Hershey and B&M really did an amazing job shoehorning it in there the way they did. This may not quite be a first drop, but I have to mention Mystery Mine's 2nd chain lift and drop thereafter. This kind of goes along with Fahrenheit's lift, but the added enclosure kind of makes you unaware of how high you're going, plus it has the hold before the drop which is a nice touch before a very quick ending. I like Tennessee Tornado's drop because of that kind of thing as well. My first time on it I rode it in the back, didn't realize the first drop was a huge tunnel, and it totally took me by surprise.

Ok, yes, there are weird interpretations like that and the fact they label the RMC Topper coasters as wooden coasters, but other than that, I still make them my go-to for info.

I just realized something. I wonder if B&M is trying to snuff Intamin out of existence, especially because they now have 2 of Intamin's creations and, for all intents and purposes, perfected them (giga and now a launched wing coaster). Mack is taking the rest of what Intamin can do and doing them better as well. Intamin might be as screwed as is Kentucky Kingdom right now, at least in North America.

RCDB is semi-in touch with most parks (I've emailed them on something about getting pictures up and they mentioned that). I consider them pretty darn reputable. For example, they just don't go randomly adding rides to their list. They first have to have hard evidence, either an announcement or parts on site before they're allowed to put a ride up. Its not like Screamscape.

^^^That or the hardware on the trains. Dive machine trains by themselves are pretty expensive from what I read, and wing coaster trains are of similar size (sort of).

Upon a closer look, I fail to see how a Thunderbird goes along with a voyage across the sea...

A few observations- 1. LSM launch 2. Like the interaction it has with the launch and first inversion around the area and then has a part that finishes with a terrain section, nice. 3. I'm surprised B&M's first launcher is a newer model. I was guessing it would be a sit down (standard or floorless) or possibly an inverted coaster. 4. Kentucky Kingdom is SOL

Wow, HW is shelling $22 million for this? Consider me impressed.

^^I can see it now, a bunch of KIC members at one member's house huddled around someone with a Smartphone or a PC trying to get the stream to load.