TombRaiderFTW
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Posts posted by TombRaiderFTW
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Is this feature commonly found in viking ship rides? From my recollection, I don't think neither Viking Fury nor the Rage at Canada's Wonderland did this.
Viking Fury doesn't (and neither does Berzerker: The Asthmatic Experience at Kings Dominion), but River Runner at Coney does. I know this because you suddenly stop feeling the jerk of the tire beneath the ship (not to mention because my stomach suddenly decided motion sickness was a good replacement for butterflies that day). (I didn't ride it, but the kids' swinging ship at Indiana Beach appeared to as well.)
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^ Wait... What does it mean when the fun factor's in the negatives? Instead of you having fun on Mean Streak, Mean Streak is having fun hurting you?
(I kid.)Of the Summers coasters, I've been on Mean Streak and Wolverine Wildcat. Mean Streak is... well, Mean Streak, so the nod goes to WW. Besides winning by default, Wildcat also has that really awesome double-down. I've been on Tornado at Stricker's Grove (albeit only in the front car), and it's my personal opinion that Tornado doesn't even know the meaning of "cliff" compared to WW's double-down in the last row. The upstops smacking the track made my ears ring... Happy sigh.
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I'm with giga on this... I can't just declare one park that was hands-down the worst. Every park I've been to so far has had its own redeeming qualities, so I'm going to divide it up like she did. I've been to Kings Island, Cedar Point, Stricker's Grove, Coney Island Cincy, Michigan's Adventure, Indiana Beach, Kings Dominion, Holiday World, and Nick Universe at the Mall of America.
Dirtiest park: Indiana Beach. I don't think I ever saw a not-full trashcan there.
Rudest employees: Michigan's Adventure and Indiana Beach. Both had a couple people who really liked their jobs (I'm looking at you, Wolverine Wildcat and Steel Hawg), but most just had an attitude of, "Oh, crap... More people want to ride. Wouldn't you rather just, like, go eat a taco or get a snow cone or do anything else ever besides ride this ride?!"
Worst food: Michigan's Adventure. Wasn't really thinking Cedar Fair heat lamps could be turned down, but then I got a $9 basket of greasy chicken and fries so cold they were shivering in their wax paper at their Coasters diner. Eww.
Worst layout: Either Indiana Beach or Holiday World. The bridge end of IB was pretty good, but the opposite end, namely surrounding Steel Hawg, was sort of confusing in the sense that you're not sure where the park ends and the housing begins. I honestly have to wonder if security ever finds confused guests late at night wandering around those buildings. Holiday World, on the other hand... I love HW dearly, but there is no straight line to anything, save for (maybe) the Thanksgiving section. It's all walking left and right and left and right down and up hills if you want to go anywhere besides Christmas, making it a little frustrating on my first couple visits to try to get from point A to point B just about anywhere in the park. I've basically got it down-pat 5 visits later, but still.
Worst capacity: Either Indiana Beach (who's getting razzed a lot in this post despite actually being a pretty decent park) or Nick Universe. Like I said before, IB's employees really weren't excited about life when I visited this summer. This included their energy in checking and sending trains. The park was positively empty the day I was there (walked on Steel Hawg 4 or 5 times), but when you take literally 4 or 5 minutes to check restraints on Cornball Express, there will be lines. Not to mention that the most communication the staff ever had with anyone was an angry glare. I honestly found myself wondering at times if the ride was down, only to unexpectedly- and wordlessly- be sent out of the station. It almost felt more appropriate to tell them, "I'm sorry. I really am. I just wanted to try this coaster because people said it's good and stuff..."
On the other end of the spectrum, Nick U's staff wasn't too bad- it was the rides. They were fun, but nothing in that building, by my uneducated guesstimate, got more than ~600 pph. It was tempting to exclaim when the lines would actually move. Seems like, being located in a travel destination, you'd want something that can push people through. Maybe that's just me.
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And how appropriate, since at one time the plan was to remove the Antique Cars and install....Hurler.
Gonna be honest here... That probably would sit really well with me, minus the "remove the Antique Cars" bit. I'm just saying.
FTW, who reserves the dot-dot-dot treatment for... Vekoma Inverts. Or at least the ones he's been on.
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In the meantime between now and this weekend, how about a Cedar Point-themed jack-o-lantern? CP released these jack-o-lantern stencils via Twitter this afternoon.
Pretty cool idea if you're asking me. I might have to get myself a pumpkin this year... That Millennium Force one looks pretty cool.
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Judging by the videos I'm watching of Dreamworld's Tower of Terror (which was recently turned backwards), it doesn't seem like the launch on Superman will be too bad.
The video really makes the point, but I'll back it up with speculation. These Intamin "coasters" don't really launch you in the "traditional" sense*. Every movement of the car on the track is controlled by the LSMs (and the computers thereof). I absolutely know no facts, but it seems to me that the cars' accelerations are much less intense than we're expecting* because the LSMs can lessen the acceleration and spread it out over more of the course, even theoretically while the car is vertical. Watch a decent POV, even- I think the reason there's so much floater airtime at the top is because the LSMs (visibly) extends the amount of time the car spends slowing and then re-accelerating at the peak.
*By a "traditional" or "expected" launch, I mean to point out that we're used to forceful launches that only comprise a portion of the ride, such as Top Thrill Dragster or Flight of Fear. Based off of the video, this is clearly not the same sort of launch.
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From favorite to least favorite, as of this year:
1. Slaughterhouse
So intense! The scareactors make frighteningly skillful use of their environments and their co-actors to deliver scares literally around every corner, not to mention that the decorations are plentiful and very realistic. The designers of and actors in this thing really know what they're doing. Super gory- as to be expected from something themed to a cannibal's meat shop- but personally distractingly scary enough to keep it from being overly morbid. I have a tendency to look everywhere at all times to avoid getting unexpectedly scared, and that did not help me in Slaughterhouse. The scares are good, and the scareactors even better. The ending's a real blast, too.
2. Massacre Manor, Trail of Terror
Both equally intense in their own rights. Neither are Slaughterhouse, but they'll have you freaking out if you slack on your guard. Not a whole lot of interaction with the environments, but there was quite a bit of double-teaming the scares, with great results. They give you some room to cautiously breathe at points, where Slaughterhouse is just scare after scare after scare after scare. These two were also the haunts last night where the actors... well... get to know you personally.
Quoth "Momma": "Mmm, Alex! You gon' be first in mah stew!" Be jealous, because that's going to be one darn tasty stew. 
4. Club Blood
I'm always iffy on this one. The scares are always top-notch, but the actors' behaviors for the second half usually are borderline offensive. All the scares from the start to leaving the "club" scene were expertly done- I even saw one guy wearing these really cool white contacts that glowed in the blacklights. TOO COOL! The second half, though... I don't want to give anything away, as per the OP, but it never fails to be a little too sexual for my tastes year after year.
5. Cemetary Drive
Surprisingly good! I can't really describe this one since its thrill lies in its actors, but this is a really, really good haunt this year. If you want to dip a friend's or your toe into a good taste of the Haunt experience, this is where I would start. Intense and suspenseful, but not too overwhelmingly so.
6. Corn Stalkers
Gah, Cornstalkers. Hands-down either my top or second-favorite haunt in '08 and '09; hands-down uninspired this year. I don't like to tear down Haunts without some constructive criticism added in, but I really don't know what would have helped this one. You knew what was real and what wasn't, even though the actors really were doing their jobs well. My biggest joy with Cornstalkers this year was just watching the group of 12 year-old girls in front of us obliviously wander through, getting scared out of their wits. Maybe I'm just growing up and getting used to scares, but something just wasn't the same this time.
7. Cutthroat Cove
On one hand, Cutthroat Cove was a lot better than it was last year. On the other hand, Cutthroat Cove is still... Cutthroat Cove. You can see the actors, most of which just scream shrilly at you and then meander back to where they came from. Ho hum. Awkward "booty" jokes, ahoy!
8. Wolf Pack
I don't really deserve to give this one a fair review since I can't, but you can read my feelings on it here. WARNING: There will be spoilers!
9. Tombstone Terror-tory
I was sorely let down by TTt, frankly. What was one of my favorite haunts last year was nothing more than a cool set-up to a bunch of below-average scares. You could see the actors coming a mile away, and they would only either shriek or growl mildly. What a bummer.
Haven't gotten to Urgent Scare or Carnevil yet, and with any luck, I won't have to go through Death Row ever again.
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I don't even like the idea of werewolves scaring you. It's different when there's a guy with a cut up face chasing after you with a chainsaw.....then, a werewolf, just going "rawr" seems a little stupid. Even before you guys rated it, I still didn't like the idea.
See, I kind of see your point... except, aren't other various mystical creatures and cannibals going "rawr" basically all that's in the other haunts? There aren't that many chainsaws, Trail of Terror aside, now that The Worksite is gone... Sniff.
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I honestly wasn't wowed by Wolf Pack. Maybe I was spoiled by how ridiculously scary Slaughterhouse's first impression was last year, but Wolf Pack just kind of seemed like a stroll through fingerpainted sets with boy scouts and various guys with taped-on chest hair and sideburns jumping out and roaring at me from obvious hiding spots. The actual physical props and decorations, sans the walls, were very nice and gave the whole thing a very nice forest-y feeling, but in the end it felt a lot like a toned-down Club Blood with boy scouts and body hair instead of fangs.
That being said, I do have some disclaimers. First off and most importantly, mine was one of the first groups of the night. Because of that, it was still relatively bright outside, so a lot of potentially good hiding spots were really obvious. Second, on top of that, I don't think many of the scareactors had much hands-on (or maybe hands-off, since KI's a Cedar Fair park) experience in scaring. Finally, Wolf Pack's doing a 2009 Urgent Scare by trying to sell you your own picture... except without the cool effect (which I won't divulge lest they're doing it this year- are they?). You get your picture taken in front of a cutesy fall setting with absolutely no purpose whatsoever than to get a spontaneous picture. That was kind of a turn-off for me, because I'm there to get scared. If you're going to take my picture, make it something memorable for a scare-filled event in October. Not a "oh, here's what you looked like in line" sort of thing.
I want (and will) give this Haunt a second try, as I feel it's got a lot of really cool potential going for it. The whole thing's a progression of the werewolf transformation from initial nibble on a boy scout to full transformation (culminating in that giant werewolf statue at the end.) Sounds awesome, right? (I wanted to give it a second try last night, in fact, but we just didn't get around to doing it. The coolest part was that it actually was something awfully close to a full moon, which the actors DID use to their benefit. ("WATCH OUT! IT'S A FULL MOON! RUN!")
In the pitch-black night with actors who know their stuff, this Haunt could potentially rank up there with what I consider to be the best Haunts: Slaughterhouse, Club Blood, Massacre Manor, and Trail of Terror. I'll be keeping my hopes afloat for this one... I didn't think Slaughterhouse could get scarier, but boy, was I wrong last night.
EDIT: On a side note, did anyone notice how epically pretty the moon was last night over Haunt? It was very much something out of a good horror movie.
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^ I love humor in passionately serious threads. (No, really. That was probably one of the funniest things I've ever heard on KIC.)
I'm going to be very honest, and I hope my opinion can at least be respected. This event doesn't get under my skin nearly as much as the dead celebrities did last year. That's not to say that it couldn't be perceived as offensive; it really comes down to how KI handles it. And honestly, I'll be at Haunt this Friday.
First off, this is not something that is disrespectful to the families of the actors (which, realistically, is what the wrestlers are). This is their job. This is something they enjoy. If it wasn't, why would they do it professionally? There aren't "midget hunters" lurking about, trying to capture anyone under 4'6" so they can throw them in the ring until they fight to the death. They do this voluntarily, and if someone like Kings Island wants to hire them to do what they like, that's the wrestlers' own business.
The celebrity displays, on the contrary? Why didn't we see or hear of Greg Scheid or Dick Kinzel talking with Steve McNair's family to gain their permission for the display? Because it was offensive on a personal level to these people, and even trying to do so might have earned Cedar Fair a lawsuit. And because it was so personal, I was utterly disgusted and floored. To quote myself on KIE:
Without launching into a spiel, I'm leaving it at this:
KI has crossed a personal line that shouldn't be crossed.
My pass renewal now lies in question.
And I wondered to myself then: Where are the people who loved Cedar Fair because they're bringing the park back to the pre-Paramount, "classic" days? No one answered that call, because no one could justify that that was what Taft or KECO would do. Because Taft or KECO wouldn't have done it.
The "blood" will not be real; it will be just as much of a prop as every last office supply or other weapon they use. They will come out the other end of a show just fine. I do not buy this "they actually cut themselves" business, because you can't sincerely try to tell me that there's a legal business anywhere here in the good ol' health-precautioning US of A where it's required for the employees to do themselves physical harm. Come on.
Furthermore, I cannot comprehend why this activity is suddenly sending off the health alerts... Those worried about the sweat getting flung around best try taking a look at the crowd in the Festhaus on days like the humid, blazing 4th of July, 2010, when the Festhaus was packed and had absolutely no air conditioning. Or on the average day in Coney Mall, when too many rides on the Scrambler paints Coney Mall's asphault the colors of a five million dollar LaRosa's pizza. Or on any ride ever with OTSRs, where many times during the summer months I've gotten the fantastically piercing stink of sweat or B.O. You will not be in any more risk of getting sweat in your Sprite while wrestling midgets do their thing on a stage at least ten feet away from you than you will any other day at the park. The health "risk" will not be a risk in the least, because why would ¢edar Fair expose themselves to further lawsuits like that? SBNOSOB '09 and '10, anyone?
Now please understand this: I do not like the idea of this being at the park. Any wrestling at all is beyond uninteresting in my opinion, and adding midgets to it is just generally tasteless. (That's "tasteless," not "an attack at the personal level". At that, it does not have a strong effect on my attendance this year... but continue.) But like I said before, it really comes down to how KI handles it if they're going to add it. If this wrestling actually brings in rowdy "white trash" as the multitudes of you who haven't been to a single one of these events claim, then it's up to KI to ensure that these guests don't cause issues. What gets me is how much widespread doubt there is that KI will be able to handle these allegedly rowdy crowds. And I'm not going to condemn those of you who think so, because I honestly agree. I don't think they've perceived just how much of an issue this might be (at least, according to the people who've never experienced it firsthand).
And now I ask again: Where are the people who love how Cedar Fair is bringing the park back to its "classic" feel? Anyone?
Cedar Fair management does not and will not do things like the old times. Management-wide Blackberries aren't tools, they're toys to be disposed of. New rides aren't supposed to be small and have theme; just give it something that can have an adjective ending in "-est" for the advertisements. New Haunt attractions are to bring controversy. For all of this, Cedar Fair wants nickels in return.
And because of that, I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt, for one key point: they want nickels. If what I've read in this thread is understood correctly, Haunt attendance has hardly wavered in spite of the controversial additions it's had basically every year since at least '06. Because these controversies aren't dangerous... unlike so-called "drunken," "white trash" mobs ready to cause a fight at a second's notice. If KI doesn't control the fights, word will get out, just like it did with the dead celebrity displays. And if a sincere safety risk won't keep people away from KI, then I guess I've misunderstood a lot in my lifetime. If these guest fights are real, then how they're handled will be key to Haunt's survival. But none of us know the truth, and until someone can vouch for having been to one of these events (whether inside or outside KI) I'm still going to be there Friday.
Kings Island's Halloween Haunt: All you fear is here. Where else?
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As far as I'm concerned, feel free to go on and on about any cool moments so I and anyone else in this boat can get super excited for when it lands on Hulu.
If one of these things could happen at KI...
in KI Polls
Aaaah! So many that I want to choose...
Can we have, like, all of them?
(In the end, I voted for restoring TR:TR. Try not to act too surprised, everyone.)