silver2005

Uh...we only know it'll be a B&M at the moment. We don't know what type yet. The floorless, wing and dive models are certainly still in play (CW just proved that CF is willing to put in bigger similar models at parks close to CP).

Racer refurb Return of Antique Cars Return of Phantom Theater

If we get 'Tiques back, MIA can have Backlot.

I'll one-up you and hope that its the return of Phantom Theater. Honestly though, I'm hoping for a Racer refurb.

Great addition for the park up north. I also like how they're utilizing Sky Rider's paint scheme. With this along with a few other coasters that say otherwise, can we please stop pretending that Cedar Fair isn't willing to build rides that take records from Cedar Point, even if they're close?

I looked up to see if British parks were more lax on cameras filming on rides than the US since Andy Murray is from GB, and they (ex. Alton Towers, Thorpe Park) don't allow it either. So its not like he has the excuse of being a foreigner and not being around parks that are more lax in that department.

^They aren't anything new to the industry. Heck, Crypt at KI used them. We can blame human error on many concepts to improve the park experience, but for a majority of people, they work well. You're always going to have exceptions, flaws and human error in anything. You can only foolproof things so far.

The only real distracting thing about driving past Kings Island is at night. The marquee sign is super bright.

I say Valravn. The dive coaster concept just doesn't do anything for me. If I want decent free fall, I'll go for a tower. There are also better looping and floorless coasters out there.

^Its kind of hard to pin Vortex for such a stature since in the 80s, mulitple records of varying degrees were being broken all the time. The 80's were when the technology of steel coasters really took off thanks in large part to Arrow and Togo. For example, Shockwave at Six Flags Great America broke all of Vortex's records a year after it was built. Then the likes of SFMM's Viper, Magnum and Steel Phantom were built soon thereafter.

^But that's meant for a ground-up design only, yes? Would 30+ year old Arrow supports be able to support those huge I-beams and the forces associated with the faster pacing RMC goes for?

6-1 on Vortex is my sweet spot. Evens out the OMG ejector air of 7-1 and the smoothness of 5-1. I do enjoy 1-1 as well, though. Its got a nice breeze in the front with the way the air slides across the pointed fronts, even on warmer days. The front seat around dusk is one of my favorite scenarios to ride it.

Did RMC ever come out and say they'd be willing to re-tool steel coasters? Off the top of my head, I can't think of anything they currently design that would. Also, with the price to do so, you might as well tear down Vortex and build a new ground-up steel coaster (preferably a Mack multi-looper to keep the lower height restriction). In regards to Racer, I think it just needs a new set of 3 bench PTC's like Thunderhawk got or Millennium Flyers like GhostRider got, both with extensive re-tracking and, hopefully, removal of the trims on the turn arounds (if Blue Steak and Phoenix can tear through their respective turns with some decent lateral G's, so can Racer). Its running the best it has in years this season and its still a pretty popular ride.

Plot twist- every Cedar Fair park is renaming one of their wooden coasters Son of Beast.

The word Calico is a reference to Knott's Berry Farm.

I mean, Cedar Point essentially just got 2 coasters in a row (Valravn and they spent 2 years for Steel Vengeance). They would have announced Gemini's closure with Witch's Wheel if it was going. I really don't think it is. Its still running great. I think WW just got to its retirement phase. Its removal might be for a flat replacement since that area is now pretty vibrant.

No park would want to deal with the upkeep of a wooden coaster that large. Even El Toro has some rough spots with the pre-fab track. Personally, I don't think wood coasters should get even close to hyper style stats, let alone a giga.

^I feel the same way, though I'll add that I think RMC crammed in elements at the end where it feels like they're trying to do too much in a small amount of space. The ending is really awkward to me. The ride up until the last roll though is incredible. Love the first 2 drops.

We have a commandment 'round these parts...

Ok guys, we're not going to turn every thread into an SOB thread. Got it?

I'd love to know the 'source' for all this information. I mean, this is past Dip N' Dots guy, this is the Dip N' Dots distributor we're talking here. This guy is committed to his craft.

I was a 90s kid. I remember the park before the Paramount era slightly, but otherwise, the majority of my younger years associated with the park was Paramount era. This opinion is a bit of a combination of my views as a younger person along with the benefit of hindsight and now knowing what went on behind the scenes. Overall, the Paramount era had a solid start and then waned. I think their heads were a bit too big at first in trying to convert 5 traditional amusement parks to Universal style parks, but I think through the 90's, they adapted a model that worked. They did work more with innovative rides such as bringing LIM coasters to life, being a bit more thorough on theming than Six Flags and passes were a bit more affordable than SIX or FUN, even for all the parks. As it progressed though, especially with how Son of Beast and Crypt turned out, they tried to put together big elaborate concepts while cutting corners. They also didn't completely rely on the Viacom brands for creating new attractions at their parks (at least less so than SIX at the time). If any of you pay attention to the industry, then you know that Viacom has been clamoring for a Universal style park in Europe for some time now. The fact they can't get it off the ground nor provide more detailed concepts kind of shows that they didn't have that great of ideas to continue with the original Paramount Parks. I don't think they were really married to doing parks after the first decade or so. They put some admirable effort into it, but I think their idea well dried up (the fact they hesitated in using Star Trek theming always astounded me). I think the way Viacom has handled Nickelodeon kind of eludes to that as well. My favorite bits that the Paramount era gave to Kings Island are Flight of Fear, Action Zone, the kids area, 2 decent water park expansions, and what has now become the gold pass.

That building in the teaser picture looks uncannily like Beast's station.

Which Six Flags park are you talking about?

^Cedar Point is playing disco music on the midway near Gemini for its 40th anniversary, and that little addition really brightened up that part of the park. Perhaps KI could do the same with Coney Mall. Another idea I'd like to throw out there is have Racer's queue and station completely rebuilt.