TombRaiderFTW

My favorite thing about this ad is that it doesn't try to be even remotely specific in a way that's helpful. What are these experts knowledgeable in? No idea. Everything, I guess. But we'll assure you--twice--that it will just be you and them and no one else. You can expect an answer in exactly 9 seconds. Not 10 seconds, not 8 seconds--a nice, round 9 seconds. Want some information? You've come to the right place, probably. Buckle your seatbelt, because the next 9 seconds will BLOW YOUR MIND. If these are the kinds of ads we'll get if the admins don't change the forum coding, please don't change the coding. I'm all for them.

^ This is off topic, but I love trying to guess what year pictures of the park were taken. It's pre-2017, as Mystic Timbers isn't there. I believe I can see Reds Hall of Fame logos on that building, so it's at least 2013. I *believe* I can see the Fischer Family Care Center peeking up by the International Showplace, which would mean this picture was taken in 2016 at the earliest. I'm gonna guess 2016?

I mean, this one was a given. @King Ding Dong is still a passholder.

That's not a lot of mazes. I get it, though. Gotta go with what allows for social distancing. Speaking of, I wonder if they'll only group people together by their actual party without any strangers or anything. Completely unsurprised to see Urgent Scare out this year. I'm a bit surprised that no Blackout replacement was announced. I have to assume Cornered is going in Tower Gardens? It's a bit surprising to me that Field of Screams isn't being used in its original location--I feel like Cornered is going to be all of FoS's props relocated to the front of the park.

Can you share your math with the rest of the class?

Either this finally confirms that you're Sandor Kernacs, or [Citation needed].

I do wish they'd priced them more steeply, if I'm being honest. FastPass was a mind trick to add perceived value to your ticket price. Speculation on the internet guesses that up to 70% of a ride's capacity would be reserved for FP... so yeah, you might get on 3 rides quickly, but anything you don't have FP for took so much longer than it otherwise would. That pricing for a front-of-the-line option is almost identically priced to Kennywood's front-of-the-line option. For the price that even a one-park, one-day experience at a Disney park costs, is anyone going to think that much about dropping $15 several times over? That pricing works at Kennywood because Kennywood isn't trying to be some ultra-premium theme park. What is $15 a head per ride when you've already dropped multiple thousands to even be there?

^ There's a lanyard currently for sale in the Diamondback gift shop that has KI's logos over the years on it, including the original Paramount logo (minus the word "Paramount.") Kings Dominion acknowledged the Paramount era by name, including the trademarked ride names, during their 40th anniversary. Paramount is part of the parks' history, and it seems as long as they stay within certain guidelines, they're okay to reference that era historically.

I'm gonna offer some perspective that's not meant to justify or condemn what the nurse did. My first instinct is that they publicized the report because they see amusement parks as inherently unsafe and in need of accountability. I see that as the product of the cultural bias of amusement parks as being places where people are commonly hurt or killed, which itself is the product of the kinds of GP stories we frequently laugh about here, e.g., "The Bat swung too far and hit a support and killed the riders." The lack of evidence in those situations when Googled can build an idea that parks are in the cover-up business. They aren't, by the way, to anyone who might be reading this and thinking that's an accurate assumption. At any rate, the only way I see TTD leaving is if: 1. The Department of Agriculture refuses to certify it, 2. Cedar Point does not feel confident in their ability to keep it running safely, or 3. Cedar Point thinks it's going to hurt their brand to keep it open and decides to replace it with something equally or more noteworthy. CP has built itself a brand of being "the best amusement park in the world with the big coasters." I don't see them easily letting go of one of two major coasters that helped them build that brand, nor do I see them letting go of that brand entirely.

I was just wondering about that myself, and then I noticed: look at the center-right of the picture, just to the right of the center beam on the closest leg of the tower. Is it just me, or does it look like it's been painted a little blueish-purple? Or is that a lens flare?

"Ridiculous" seems like an odd choice of words. It's a PR campaign for a new ride, which isn't an effort that takes all of management's attention.

Who is their GM these days?

^ Some two cents: I am not an expert, but I'd be very surprised if the sprocket (which is what the cog at the tops and bottoms of the lift hills is called) is custom made. I'd very much expect that Beast (and most coasters, for that matter) uses an industrial chain (e.g. D88K, although that specific size might be too small) and a matching sprocket that many manufacturers could make. They might just have longer lead times given how large everything involved is.

Reading the news article was fascinating. I'm curious what the most expensive roller coaster was in 1995, so I can have some sense of what FOF cost. Also, some things never change: Remember when Valravn was the tallest coaster in the world? Ah, news media.

^ Was it 2014? I was thinking that competition happened in 2013 for some reason.

You just described Halloweekends at Cedar Point. For context, Halloweekends Fridays are notoriously dead, and Saturdays are some of the busiest days of the season. Definitely not. Haunt Fridays and Saturdays start busy and only get busier the closer it gets to Halloween.

I almost wonder if KI is having music license issues this year. It could be a coincidence, but it seems connected to me that Mystic Timbers is having music issues at the same time that the park is known for playing the same 5 country songs on a loop throughout the park. I don't understand why the IMAScore soundtracks would be part of that, though--it seems like that would be a separate licensure from pop music, or I'd even guesstimate that the licenses for those were given to the park as part of purchasing those rides.

^ I actually really like that idea a lot. Grande World Expo and Action Zone are basically indistinguishable to me (read: I think both are boring and concretey and kinda treeless), so it would be really wonderful to see Flight Deck and Time Warp go away and see both areas united and given a gentle retheme a la Frontier Canada. Make it the spiritual successor to Carowinds's newer County Fair by making it a World's Fair-type theme set at the turn of the 20th century. The main attraction would be a dueling Premier coaster like West Coast Racers themed to, like, steampunk drag racing or something. (I'll be daydreaming about this for the rest of today.)

Before last year, I would have made the joke that that's a season passholder in Area 72 when their Hank's burrito hits. But now there are restrooms in Area 72, so thanks a lot for ruining my joke, Kings Island, ya JERKS.

^ The season WHAT?!

Speaking of which, I used the Rivertown Freestyle for the first time Tuesday. It's pretty in there; you should check it out sometime!

^ Maybe there are Crayola markers in the kid on the right's pocket. That way, the original poster is validated since there would technically be markers at Cedar Point.

I tried French Corner for the first time yesterday! I got the berries and cream cream puff. It was delicious and light. I liked Yogurt Plus in that building, but I vastly prefer French Corner. I'd absolutely love to see the park continue to embrace unique, non-chain food experiences. (I get why they can be important to help more finicky guests find somewhere they'll spend money on food, and I guess I can begrudge them that. I just really like it when parks have unique dining experiences that can't be found anywhere else.) I've become a bit of a baking nerd over the last two years, so pardon my nerdiness for a minute: I'm not totally sure if the cream puff was made with choux pastry or croissant dough. It didn't look like it'd been hollowed out how croissant dough might require in that application. But, it also seemed too flaky to be choux pastry. Or maybe I'm just bad at making choux pastry. Either way, it was buttery and delicious.

The idea of someone having their go-to Power Slaw that's just coleslaw with a 5-Hour Energy in it made me belly laugh. I'm imagining Hulk Hogan being like, "Gotta 'slaw up before the big match, brother!" Calling it now: Power Slaw is the official snack of KIC.

I've missed trip reports. Yours certainly didn't disappoint. Thanks for sharing!