TombRaiderFTW

^ I did last weekend, as a matter of fact.There are, figuratively speaking, a handful of red track pieces out front. That's the only color track there--unless you count the unpainted pieces, in which case, there are rust-colored pieces there, too.

^ Didn't know that--thanks! The last time I was at a Disney park, I was in a stroller, haha. I need to get to one soon!

^^ I actually have ridden a Triotech dark ride that used the iLLUSIO effects, and, while neat, I feel like it's underutilized in a shooter dark ride. If you're really into shooter dark rides, you'll probably think it's awesome that your target is an actual three-dimensional real-life object instead of a target or digital creature/object on a video screen. I'm not that into that variation of dark ride, so, while I can appreciate the imagination that went into it, it didn't do a whole lot for me. It kinda felt like someone just sat something in the way of the screen. There was a prop in the window by the front gate at Kings Island a few Haunts back that projected a statue face onto a rounded, nondescript bust, and every so many minutes, the face on the bust would suddenly become animated and scream or cackle or something similar. And it actually looked like the bust was moving. That, to me, seems like a more effective use of that sort of idea--you could have an entire room of a dark ride that seems innocuous and quiet, but on a cue, every object in that room can become lively and animated or frightening and make you want to get away. Seriously, imagine a variation of that part of Ghostwood Estates at Kennywood where you run into the "dead end" where everything is quiet, a little confusing... and then imagine the portraits glaring and shrieking, the helmets of the suits of armor opening to reveal yellowed, snarling teeth, and nearby pottery shattering simultaneously. The projection quality is high enough that you wouldn't necessarily see it coming. (Granted, that's not the most family-friendly idea, but you get where I'm going with this.) Personally, I'd rather that sort of projection be used that way. But I'm also not going to complain, period, if KI were to get something in the vein of a dark ride. A new dark ride of any sort* is much better than no dark ride at all. *Garfield's Nightmare excepted.

Bumping this topic because I now actually know what everyone's talking about: I borrowed the "Goodbye, Coney Island, Goodbye" book the other day from the library. It's good, but I feel like some of the impact was lost on me--neither I nor my family (that I know of) ever visited Coney before Kings Island. I also didn't know much about Coney's history, layout, or rides, so it was difficult for me to understand what I was (or wasn't) seeing in the pictures. Which is why I was really pleased to find Charles Jacques's book in Coney Island's gift shop yesterday. I haven't finished it yet, but what I have read is extremely interesting. It's an engrossing read on the history of the park and, to a lesser extent, the history of Cincinnati during and after the Civil War. If you have any inkling of an interest in the history of everything leading up to the creation of Kings Island (and the history of Coney after Kings Island opened), I really can't recommend this book enough. I too am dying to read Charles's book on Kings Island, but I haven't found anything indicating that it was ever completed. Does anyone here know anything about the status of the book?

I have a hunch I know what Terp's cooking up in his post. Either that, or I'm worlds away from the truth because he's kidding with us. I'm curious to see what this August brings...

By the by, SLC is how many folks abbreviate Suspended Looping Coaster, which is what Vekoma's official name is for their inverted coasters. Here's the link to the SLC page on Vekoma's website. Vekoma's the only one who refers to their inverted coasters as Suspended Looping Coasters, so "SLC" is a title that's usually only applied to Vekoma's inverted coasters in the same style as T3. See also Thunderhawk at Michigan's Adventure, Mind Eraser at Six Flags America, and so on. Invertigo (and the handful of copies of it that exist in the world) are called, coincidentally enough, a Vekoma Invertigo. Curiously enough, it seems to have disappeared from Vekoma's website. I wonder if the apparent issues with Stinger at Dorney Park have anything to do with that.

You don't base your first impression of a ride on how much it weighs? And you say you like roller coasters...

Agreed. Y'all should read the rules page on Kennywood's website. It's huge, and you can tell from the wording that they've had people trying to work around their rules in just about every manner possible. (Don't bring dead animals to Kennywood? Seriously?)

The bench by Mean Streak is my #2 bench, just behind Cowboy Joe's bench at Kennywood. It could be #1, but it needs retracked pretty badly. Hopefully they bring in RMC.

Agreed.Carowinds' Hurler is a fast, fun (if jolting) coaster that has enough airtime and laterals in it to keep it interesting the whole ride. It's not for everyone, but there's something worth trying there. It's probably my favorite coaster there, and it's definitely the one I've ridden the most. Kings Dominion's is... not. Trims, and then endless, airtimeless shuffling. Once you've ridden Carowinds' version, it's also pretty disappointing. I wish Carowinds wasn't removing any wooden coasters, but if either Thunder Road or Hurler had to go... I'd choose Thunder Road. But like many have pointed out, it's odd that the park didn't just put a path under it... I have to imagine it's for something big, or else there was an unexpected reason that required Thunder Road to go. Given how they mentioned the 2016 announcement as part of the 2015 announcement, I'm betting they've got something good up their sleeves.

The nice--and I say that both literally and tongue-in-cheek--thing about Kentucky Kingdom is that, if it were someone else's fault but they're own, you can count on them pointing fingers. If KumbaK delivered the trains late, they'd be saying that. Heck, even Holiday World did that with the Timberliners back in 2010--they point-blank said that the trains were late, and it threw their testing schedule off. Kentucky Kingdom, and moreso Ed Hart, have made it abundantly clear from the lawsuit(s) last summer and the T3 delays that they are not afraid to point fingers and throw blame elsewhere. The fact that Kentucky Kingdom isn't pointing fingers now almost makes me think it is something on their end. But that's me.

I think there's something important to consider here: location. For a large number of the major cities at or below Boston's latitude in the country, you can name a large park (either a chain park or a park with about 3 or more coasters) that's within a 3- to 5-hour drive. Literally the only exception that comes to mind is New Orleans, and that's only been the exception since 2005. Situations like Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens Williamsburg, where two major parks are an hour or less apart, rarely seems to work outside of Orlando or Los Angeles. Which makes sense--both of those cities are major vacation spots. If there's going to be a new park outside of Orlando or LA, I think it'll fall within a few hours' drive of New Orleans. If Alabama Splash Adventure takes off, I can see it filling that niche. If there are any new parks in the next 10 years, I look for them to either be Disney theme parks added to existing resorts or small, family-owned amusement parks around the size of Stricker's Grove. Sometime around 2012, I think Ouimet made the comment that the amusement park market is saturated in the U.S., and I think I agree--I just don't think there are any other major cities who aren't already taken care of for the type of weather they experience.

From what I found on YouTube using Shazam, the track for the Cyr Wheel act--at least for last year's Cirque--is Smokin' Ace by Liquid Cinema. So far, the only site I've found where you can listen to it is a random German production music library site. Not sure how trustworthy it is (it's not the most flashy site on the internet), so proceed at your own risk here. I've only seen Cirque once this year and can't remember: do they still use that track for the Cyr Wheel act?

The show Terp mentioned is another show by the same production company (Les Productions Haut-Vol), I think. Regardless, I believe I've read before that some of the performers have worked/also work for companies like Cirque du Soleil.

They did that last year, too, quite frequently. I always assumed that there aren't cameras on Racer's lifts, so they were doing that as a safety precaution during the busy season. I could very well be wrong, though--I always forget to look for cameras when I ride, and I don't have any inside information about ride operations at the park.

Congratulations on your engagement! Any plans to get married on The Beast, by chance? Thanks for the great TR!

Except in the case of Space Mountain at Disneyland. (It's kinda fun to do the impossible, as Walt Disney would say.)

Maybe they're reinstalling the Festhaus clock...? FTW, occasional optimist.

You guys are killing me with this discussion of USF/IOA. The wands and spell locations are one of my favorite things in any park ever. I've been counting down the days till my next visit there from the moment I last left.

When guests start saying the darnest things again...

^^ She was. Sophie Bolliger is the name you're looking for.

Cedar Fair's thrill rating system lost all meaning to me when I saw that Kings Dominion's Blue Ridge Tollway (their antique cars) has a rating of 3. Out of five?! By that logic, a nearby bench ought to be a 2, breathing ought to be 1, Cirque Imagine should be a 5, and Intimidator 305 should fall somewhere in the range of 20 to 40.

Sea Viper was an Arrow looping coaster, though, and not an SLC...?

Have fun! Please do let those of us who can't be there tonight how it is!

A roller coaster. A date. (Not the fruit.) The feeling of disappointment when a ride I liked is removed. The feeling of apathy when a ride I disliked is removed. If I had to guess, I probably rode a steam train the first time there. The weird feeling that comes with visiting multiple parks in one day. New ride announcements. An acrobatics-/cirque-type show. (And what a show! Y'all need to post reviews of this year's Cirque Imagine on here.) Blue ice cream!