TombRaiderFTW

I agree, and I would also ask that same question of Star Wars at Disneyland. I'm sure it will do well enough based on name alone, but it really doesn't have the same iconic merchandise possibilities that HP does. There's lightsabers, sure (which Avatar has no equivalent to) but nothing on the food, shirt, or knickknack side of things. On the subject of Stitch: meh. I thought it was pretty forgettable (or else memorable only for the grossness of the chili dog burp.) Then again, Lilo and Stitch has never really appealed to me. If it gets replaced, I won't lose sleep. As long as The Carousel of Progress and Monsters Inc. stick around, I'm good.

NO. No no no no. No no no no no no no nononononono. I still haven't done it. This is not going away without me having done it. Plans are getting made. This is happening ASAP, so help me. Adventure is not slipping by me. Thank you so much for posting about it here.

As with most front-of-the-line passes, I'd recommend waiting to see what crowds are like before purchasing. The only exceptions to this are: 1.) if you specifically want to do the Skeleton Key rooms, 2.) if you get a really good deal by purchasing online ahead of time, or 3.) if you're going on a Saturday, especially those close to Halloween (when crowds are typically heaviest and both Fast Lane and Fright Lane are more prone to selling out. Even then, I'd still personally rather wait and see what crowds are like.) Also, as I'm sure you know: Skeleton Key is not purchasable by itself. It is sold in conjunction with Fright Lane. Just saying it here in case someone else would read it and be confused by how Skeleton Key is sold.

I don't think I've ever seen a picture of yours that I didn't love. Great TR, as usual! EDIT: Also, just curious... What filters do you use? I bought a polarizing filter in an attempt to take cool sky and water shots like the fifth one down, but I just can't quite get the effect I want.

Oh no! Always a bummer when parks close. I never got a chance to visit, but I do know that they've been trying to unload the Crossbow coaster for years now. Something I read a while back indicated that it never had the draw they'd hoped, and the ROI just wasn't there.

I imagine they're just using that as an overflow queue. Madame Fatale's line often extends past the entrance and causes backups for people heading for Beast and Slaughterhouse. Hopefully, the crowds will behave themselves and let the new vines grow on the tunnel framework...

We're also not very good at words, so I take offense to whatever that means! Just kidding.

^ Can I ask what other GCIs you've ridden? Not saying your criticism isn't valid, but Wildcat is also considerably rougher than other GCIs (including Lightning Racer.) Millennium Flyers made my one ride on Gwazi nearly miserable, too, for the same reasons you mentioned.

^^ Ha! I'd vote for you. Good one. Wow, thank you for the kind words! I enjoy your posts, too.However, I have to politely turn down the nomination, for three reasons: 1. I think I impulsively post too much to be a good representative of the mod team. I have stopped myself in the middle of typing posts on here a surprisingly large number of times. Sometimes, less-than-wise posts get through. 2. I don't make a good policeman. It's hard for me to make those kinds of judgement calls. I've moderated elsewhere before, and I don't think I did particularly well. 3. I don't particularly enjoy moderating, so making me one would be the quickest way to get me to stop posting. It wouldn't be out of spite--it'd be out of avoiding the responsibilities. (Then again, depending on Boddah's opinion of me, maybe that would be a reason for them to make me a mod...? ) So yeah, I don't think I'd be a great fit. (In fact, I think you would do pretty well at the mod position yourself!) But thanks for the compliment!

If he'd be interested, I'd like to nominate malem. Very level-headed, active enough, and doesn't spar with people around here (not publicly, anyway.) I don't mean this as a jab at the current moderation/admin team: the guy has been a de facto event organizer/face for KIC for some time now. I think he's proven that he can handle these things well. He seems like a pretty natural fit to me.

Wow. Congratulations! I'm very excited for SFFT's future.

Right, so about this. Cedar Point has officially released the details for Halloweekends 2016. As with last year, "Halloweekends" is offically the overarching name of all Halloween events at Cedar Point. Technically, the adult stuff is Haunt (not Halloween Haunt--just Haunt, from what I've seen) and the kid stuff is The Great Pumpkin Fest. I realized I didn't mention that in my original post. They started doing that with the names last year. Just wanted to clarify that in case it might come up for some reason--like, for instance, if you were to visit cedarpoint.com/halloweekends. You have to choose which "experience" you want to see the details of. So, there's that. There are no new houses or scare zones this year. None of them were removed, either. I don't think that's unheard of at CP. As someone who's been going to Halloweekends for the last couple years, I think the quality of CP's houses makes up for its lower quantity (compared to KI's Halloween Haunt.) I don't mind that there isn't anything new, because what they've got is pretty good. I wouldn't mind if KI's Haunt went closer to this model (as long as they start using buildings that are inconspicuous during the regular season, anyway. I'm still a little grumpy over the placement of KillMart. I liked that arcade, and that end of Coney Mall is already kinda awkward with the Flight Commander queue and weird recessed Icee stand. Grumble grumble. I'll stop for now.) However, per Tony Clark, the Skeleton Key rooms have all been removed from the houses. They're now individual experiences located along the Frontier Trail, which is the walkway you would take if you were to walk from Millennium Force to Maverick or Skyhawk. (During Halloweekends--err, "Haunt"--that walkway is home to Screamworks, which is a steampunk-y scare zone that mainly features lots of fog, a handful of steampunk-y looking props, and screamsters in various steampunk outfits.) That, I imagine, means that any spoilers I put in that spoiler tag are no longer applicable. That move seems a little odd to me, but maybe the Skeleton Key rooms were a problem on a busy nights. Or maybe people missed them and complained that they didn't get to experience them. (You had to find the Skeleton Key room door yourself, as the entrance was frequently located somewhere in the middle of the house. They weren't at the beginning, like at Kings Island. I missed the one in Zombie High.) Just thought I'd share here since I had hyped up the Skeleton Key rooms, and now what I said might not be true anymore. So now you know!

I was at Cedar Point on Saturday. Raptor was running like usual then, at least. Side note: there are some cool angles to look at Raptor from inside Chickie's and Pete's.

You know what I just realized? The way those plans are laid out, the shed and the station are across the railroad tracks, right in the footprint of Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown. I really hope that's not correct. I was thinking RFYLCB would be safe, as the park hasn't said a thing about it.

Yep, I'm not ready for it to go. Enjoy the last show, everyone! I stand corrected. Thanks!

Seeing as how the animation was done in NoLimits 2, I imagine they probably just used the program's automatic wooden supports feature. The main point of the animation was to showcase the ride experience, anyway, so there wouldn't really be much point to properly detailing all of the supports.

I am beyond pleased with this year's series of announcements. Flat ride-heavy announcements are the sort of thing that get discussed a lot on enthusiast forums but don't happen as often as we tend to expect. The Europe flat ride roadtrip thing apparently really paid off. That's definitely one of my favorite moves any park or park chain has made. And Winterfest is happening! Yay! I hadn't really expected Cedar Point to do anything with its waterpark, but I really, really like that the CF waterparks are starting to be rebranded with individual names. Carolina Harbor, Cedar Point Shores... I'd be okay with that trend continuing. I don't expect that it will happen everywhere since Kings Dominion and Kings Island fairly recently went to the Soak City name, but I could see it happening to Michigan's Adventure, Valleyfair, Dorney, Canada's Wonderland, and California's Great America. I do have to wonder what Kings Island would theoretically name theirs, though... Ohio River Bayou? Dunno. It's a fun thing to think about. I'm also very surprised (not disappointed, just surprised) that CP's announcement had nothing to do with Mean Streak. Surely it's not ACTUALLY leaving? Dorney's, Carowinds's, and Worlds of Fun's flat rides, like I said before, are great. People (especially on Facebook) can get miffed when new rides aren't coasters, but I think it's easy to forget how fun flat rides are when people are all whipped up in speculation frenzy. Carowinds is really developing into an exceptionally great park. Also, I really hope that something good comes of the CF officials' trip to Asia. I wouldn't be upset if some new flats showed up at KI. I'm excited to see CGA starting the first phase of its big transformation. I like Rougarou, so I hope Patriot works out well for them. I always imagined their Vortex as either one of the better stand-ups or one of the headbangiest. Valleyfair's announcement is unusual, but not unexpected. Looks like CF has had enough of WindSeekers. Unfortunately, a not-fun windy experience on SFOT's Sky Flyer is going to keep me off of North Star if I make it to Valleyfair, but I hope it's a hit for them. The Winterfests are really exciting. I can't help but feel like this is happening because Holiday Lights works as well as it does at Kennywood... It gets very crowded as the season goes on there. It seems like they did it first, and then SIX decided to try it, and now it's making the rounds at FUN. Hopefully they will do their best to have the definitive holiday events of their parks' local areas. I'm a little surprised WoF got the last Winterfest and not KD--hopefully it works well enough at all parks that KD gets their own someday. Although, I can't help but wonder if the popularity of BGW's Christmas Town might be causing them to rethink how they do Winterfest at KD. Seems like they'd want to go pretty big to be able to compete. I do have to say, though: I'm surprised that no new dark rides were announced. I hope the Amusement Dark thing hasn't gone away, because I was really looking forward to more of those dark rides. (I also really liked Wonder Mountain's Guardian, so maybe I'm just weird, haha.) I suppose it's not impossible that Kings Dominion or Michigan's Adventure will see something like that next year...?

Ugh. Siiigh. Listen, Disney. I get it. Attendance is supposedly down. IP-based rides bring in the people. Universal is raking the dough in with Potter IP. Seems like an obvious choice to bring popular IPs to the parks. I get it. I do. I'm probably going to nauseate Disney purists, but I don't totally mind IP in Epcot. It's what people expect when they visit Disney parks. I fully believe it can be handled in a way that remains true to Epcot's original theme. IP should never, ever replace the original theme of Epcot, but it certainly can have a place alongside it. What actually is ruined about your day by walking past an Aurora meet-and-greet in the France pavilion? If the China pavilion had a Mulan ride in conjunction with what's already there, is that actually a negative to your day? In my opinion, IP used alongside the existing Epcot experience isn't a terrible thing... Mostly. The Frozen ride in the Norway pavilion is right on the line for me. Quite frankly, I never recall anyone raving about Maelstrom until it was announced that it would be removed. Nobody who posted here saying they were going to visit WDW were told, "Don't miss the boat ride in Norway in the World Showcase at Epcot!" Like with Son of Beast, Mean Streak, CP's Wildcat, Big Bad Wolf, and several other rides over the years, fans started popping out of the woodwork once its closure was announced. I'll admit that I never rode it, but it does seem like a ride in Maelstrom's location could have been a bigger draw than what Maelstrom was. Maelstrom didn't appear to be a strong component of the quintessential Epcot experience to anyone prior to the announcement that it was being removed. In retrospect, I think my biggest issue with at the time was that I, as someone outside Frozen's target audience, was burnt out on Frozen. Now that the ride is here, my bigger issue with it is that there really doesn't appear to be any discernible story to the whole thing. It's ineffective storytelling that exists to name-drop (or, more specifically, animatronic-drop) Anna, Elsa, Olaf, Kristoff, Sven, and any other buzzwords they could think of. And that's a bummer, because I feel like a Frozen ride could actually lend itself to the Norway pavilion as being a legend or popular story of the country. It could be presented like that, and I'd be totally fine with it. I don't know. Just don't use it as a flashy money grab is all I ask. Which is where Guardians of the Galaxy's placement at Disney parks concerns me. Frankly, they've shown apathy over where it went at DCA. As someone who doesn't intimately understand the story of Epcot but who has read the right articles on Theme Park Tourist ( ), it seems to me like Epcot will always be prone to the same problems that affect the Tomorrowlands: the future is always changing, so the theme has to change along with it. Future World is dated--I don't think anyone will argue against that. I might even argue that Wall-E and GotG and Meet the Robinsons could be good catalysts for updating Future World--not as replacements for what Epcot is, but as motifs for what Future World could look like. If Epcot is a World's Fair, then what better represents the future of technology than themes of green energy and space exploration and contact with extraterrestrial life/technology and the concept of time travel? Why can't rides and experiences explore the development of those technologies? But based off of GotG at DCA and Frozen in the Norway pavilion, Disney isn't giving the impression that they intend to use IP in that way. They intend to do a "cheap and cheerful" smash-and-grab for people's money using pretty effects to name-drop Peter Quill. I want to think more of Disney than that... I hope I'm wrong. Sorry if the train of thought of this post is confusing. I'm kinda tired.

Several of the performers, including Mike himself, are reporting on Instagram that Monday was Mike's (a.k.a. Paco's) last day at Origins. He is leaving a week early to head back to Canada. He was definitely one of my favorites, which is going to make seeing my last shows of Origins this year a little sadder. But, I wish him the best! I do wonder how they'll handle the opening part before the show starts without him, though. Would they actually bring someone else in for the last five days of performances...?

Seems like a good place for this: Sean posted a video of the Tomb Raider: The Ride announcement. It's interesting how this ride announcement went down compared to Diamondback's, Banshee's, and Mystic Timbers'. It's very simple and appears to be limited to the news media. I couldn't not chuckle when the logo was revealed to nothing but a few camera clicks. Nothing too groundbreaking, but an interesting view nonetheless. Also, was that giant TR:TR display in front of the fountains for the rest of that season?! I love me some TR:TR, but I'm pretty sure the Twelfth Commandment is "Thou shalt not disrupt the view of the Royal Fountains from the front gate." (The Eleventh, of course, is "Thou shalt not mess with Adventure Express, or NOW YOU WILL PAY.") I've always read how mysterious the park kept the details about the ride, but I never realized how vague they really were. They only discussed the effects and didn't even hint about the Giant Top Spin. That strikes me as a really interesting--and gutsy!--move... And yet, on the other hand, here we are in the age of #whatsintheshed. The more things change... In related news, while researching some companies I'd like to follow on Twitter, I uncovered this page on VisualTerrain's website. It's got some neat high-ish-resolution pictures from TR:TR that I figure some around here would enjoy seeing, if they haven't already.

The show is put together by Les Productions Haut-Vol out of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Cedar Fair has evidently contracted them to provide shows to several of their parks. Per several of the performers' Facebook pages, most of them are also from Quebec. A few are from the US, but not many. Most of them are bilingual in French and English--if you saw Cirque Imagine, almost all of the spoken lines were in French. Earlier in the season, the two purple "ferrets" spoke a lot of French, but a lot of what they say is in English now. EDIT: What he said.

I finally saw the show for the first time since the day of Mystic Timbers's announcement. I think that, with Josh participating in the final act, the show has finally reached its sweet spot. It's been wonderful this whole time, of course, but the gap between Jasmin (the original Jacko) leaving and Josh participating in the final act has made the trampwall portion feel a little less impactful than what it could be. Now, it's living up to its full potential. Combined with how they have spiced up the painting act and the way all the performers have really started having fun with their roles, I think Origins has never been better. (I have GOT to figure out the tracklist for the show! I can't go through this winter without knowing it!) I'm starting to get the "end of cirque-related show" angsty feelings that apparently have become an annual tradition for me since 2014. Like with both iterations of Cirque Imagine, I am going to sincerely miss every last performer of Origins. Those folks have an incredible presence both individually and together that can't be replicated, which is both a compliment and, for me, a complete bummer! They truly deserve a standing ovation for delivering a season's worth of quality performances without fail. Kings Island staff reading this: Thanks for bringing Origins to the park. It's been a wonderful ride. An encore next year would be very much appreciated. Also, on a semi-related note: Trevor Bodogh, the bicycle performer from both years of our Cirque Imagine, both years of Cirque Ambiente at Canada's Wonderland, and this year's CI at Kings Dominion, has announced on Instagram that he will be performing for Cirque du Soleil in 2017. I don't think he's officially said which show he'll be performing in. I wish him the best, and I hope I will have the opportunity to see whatever show he's in next year. (Anyone else kinda feeling like this cirque thing gets in your blood after a while? When the day comes that we don't have a cirque show at KI anymore, I don't know what I'm going to do with myself!)

^ SeaWorld is a great example of that. Their silence concerning Blackfish and PETA has bitten them in the butt, and they're still recovering from the backlash. I fully agree with your idea that parks should acknowledge customers' doubts instead of ignoring them, RailRider, but I also have to ask: how should Schlitterbahn be responding right now, without further information being available? I'm not asking that with an ulterior motive--I'm just genuinely curious to know what your thoughts are. Would it be to emphasize their cooperation with the authorities?

First: this is an incredible tragedy. I can't think of this incident and not get sick to my stomach. I can't imagine the pain for the family, the employees of Schlitterbahn, and all witnesses. My prayers are with all of them. I realize it's easy to throw stones when you aren't intimately associated with the fine details of any tragedy. I'm aware that there is more to the story with this incident, as there is with every incident. But I also can't not comment on the content Schlitterbahn has released over the years as it relates to this accident. They have displayed an astonishing amount of transparency (or those are the words I'm going to use, anyway) with the design and testing of Verruckt, including some very intimate details on design flaws. There is a faith in engineering, construction, and operation that is inherent to every person who gets in line for any ride anywhere, and I think kids have that faith more than anyone else. They aren't concerned about whether or not a ride is safe; they're just wanting to have fun. Which, I think, is why it's especially shocking to us when children are injured or killed. Children aren't cynics; they're innocent and naive and hopeful. And we, as adultish amusement park goers, want to capture that same baseless but wonderful and simplistic optimism about the world. That's why there's a plaque at Disneyland about leaving behind the world of today and entering a world of imagination. Kids are who we would wish to be if the world didn't require us to be someone else. We don't yet officially officially know why this happened. For all we know, this is a freak, one-in-a-million alignment of thousands of factors that no one ever could have anticipated. But the content that Schlitterbahn has released definitely casts some doubt on them. What I have seen has portrayed the ride as dangerous for the sake of exciting the adrenaline junkies of the world. In the meantime, it also portrays the designers as people who approach waterslide design choices like the neighbor kid with a hose: he turned his back yard into a mud slide and invited you to try it, but he didn't think about the fact that you slide right into a fence at the bottom. I don't know the designers' characters personally, but the existence of the term "safe dangerous" does not do favors. Neither does the fact that statements about incorrect design assumptions and video of testing issues were both issued and made easily accessible by the general public, including broadcasting of the video on cable television. (I still can't get over that.) I want to believe that the impression they're giving is all a tremendous misunderstanding, but Schlitterbahn--from construction to now--has produced no statement, media, or other action to indicate that any faith put in their product, Verruckt, is well-placed. I get that Schlitterbahn obviously isn't in the business of hurting people, but literally the only counter to the "it's dangerous because we did it wrong and we had to redesign it" hype they have provided is "well, we redesigned it, but you still might die." And then someone actually died. How that could ever not come across as irresponsible and lacking integrity escapes me. It definitely seems like guests' faith in them seems misplaced. I want to be clear: I am not blaming Marketing, Public Relations, or any other professional or department in particular. They did not wake up one day and maybe decide to market Verruckt as unsafe without getting someone's approval. And the person who gave approval might have had someone to report to who thought it was a great idea, and so on. This could be just as traumatic to them as it is to the people who witnessed the accident. They, too, need prayers. As a fan of the amusement industry, I am, for lack of a better word, an advocate for it to people who either casually visit parks or don't visit parks at all. A ton of people think amusement parks and/or waterparks are unsafe. It is absolutely maddening when parks give evidence to this thought. I don't know how to end this post. I'm just so frustrated with it all.

It depends on your definition of "better," in my opinion. The quality of the scenery at CP is significantly better. They're very intricately themed, for the most part. I honestly can't think of a specific house at KI that comes close. Maybe CarnEvil or Board 2 Death? For comparison, here's a picture inside G.A. Boeckling's Eerie Estate, which is, in essence, CP's version of our former Massacre Manor: Source: CP Guide That's probably below average on the theming scale for CP, particularly inside that house. Generally, all of CP's houses are that quality. Coincidentally, most (if not all) of them are in buildings that are specifically devoted to the houses and aren't used for anything else throughout the year. Unlike Kings Island, the buildings used strictly for Halloweekends are located off the beaten path, in buildings that ordinarily wouldn't be noticed in the regular season. Ahem. Talent-wise, Cedar Point's scareactors are okay, but seem to be generally more focused on the theme of the house than on actually, y'know, scaring you. If you're looking to have the pants scared off of you, I can't say I'd suggest Halloweekends as a rule. There ARE houses that tend to be focused on scares (Zombie High and Eden Musee have always been good for that) but other ones, like Hexed, aren't, in my experience. The scareactors in their Scare Zones actually have done a better job of surprising me in the past than most scareactors in the houses. You may have a different experience, though--I've always gone one of the first two weekends of the year, when the scareactors are all still settling into their roles. Also--and this may be important information to know if you're wanting scares--Cedar Point does not have scareactors or fog machines outside of the Scare Zones. Creatures do not roam the park, and the pathways are clear as long as you're not in a Scare Zone. CP's Halloweekends is not KI's Halloween Haunt, for better or for worse. The only exception I've ever seen of this is a lone scareactor that was roaming the annual "dead" ride graveyard at the front of the park, and it was clear that she was directed not to scare anyone. In addition, Halloweekends Friday nights have limited ride lineups--typically the big stuff is open, but smaller rides like some of the flat rides will not be open. If your kids aren't into big scares but want to try something, Halloweekends may be a good way to get them started. I recommend Hexed. Now, for the good stuff: if you want to get lots of night rides without too much waiting, Halloweekends Fridays have always been great when I have experienced them. And all of the houses really are fun, as long as you aren't looking to be scared out of your pants in every one. A scareactor focusing on theme is still a better experience than no scareactors at all, and they do add a fun experience that you can't get elsewhere. Not to mention that Cedar Point has, since 2012, had a show called Skeleton Crew by Les Productions Haut-Vol, the same company that put together Cirque Imagine and Origins. It's been pretty great every time I've seen it. I've heard good about the rest of the Halloween-specific live E, but I've never seen it myself. Spoiler-y stuff for the Skeleton Key rooms behind the tag: In the daytime, they do have some kid-specific activities, but I don't know the fine details of it. I know there is at least one kid-oriented "haunted" house that I think might have trick-or-treating opportunities inside? As a non-kid, I haven't experienced much of it, so I don't know much. Altogether, Halloweekends is pretty good. It really just depends on what you're after. For me, it's enough for me to want to head up that way and pay for a hotel once a year.