TombRaiderFTW

I've always heard (from enthusiasts, so take it with a large grain of salt) that these were added in case Intamin or Cedar Point wanted/needed to add trim brakes at that point in the ride. As far as I know, they've been there since the ride opened.

EDIT: Nevermind. I didn't like how this post sounded after I posted it.

If I remember right, Dorney usually opens one of the first weekends in May, KD opens either right at the end of March or at the start of April, and Carowinds usually opens mid-March. Of course, don't take my word for this--parks' operating schedules can and do change from time to time. But yeah, the operating schedules are typically announced in January or February.

I think Mean Streak has its decent seasons. I don't find it amazing, but it's not the worst ride ever. Blue Streak I actually find to be a lot of fun, and I'm curious to know where you sat when riding. It's definitely a violent ride, but the airtime in the first car usually more than makes up for it, in my opinion.

There is no coaster at Kings Island that I would want redone the way Six Flags has been doing recently. I would, however, be in favor of Beast sparingly using Topper Track in conjunction with minor reprofiling to remove/reduce trims and introduce stronger laterals. I do NOT want it to be fully retracked with Topper Track, because part of The Beast experience is the wooden feel of the ride. There's something somewhat disappointing about the fact that the hill after the first drop was obviously meant to have airtime but can't because the train's moving too slowly due to trims. (I know the ride's always operated with trims because the original ride was considered too intense and/or jarring, but still. It seems like this could be fixed with today's technology.) The laterals in the helix have felt somewhat reduced to me since a few years ago, too--there was talk about the helix banking being slightly increased, but I don't know if that was factual or just enthusiast speculation that I bought into. If that actually happened and was caused by maintenance costs, I'd like to see Topper Track used there, too. Think Tremors or Georgia Cyclone. Of course, I'm being a fanboy with a pipe dream that would probably offend several folks. But since we're on the subject...

Touché. Hopefully I'm not coming across too fanboyish in my post. I do love Knoebels a lot, but I actually do find Flying Turns genuinely impressive from an engineering standpoint. That was the context behind my post.

Flying Turns actually is appreciable as a candidate for Best New Ride in a coaster "awards" show, considering how unique of a ride it is and how long it took to get right. That's not saying the rest are unimportant, but none of the rest involved literally reinventing and modernizing a coaster style that hasn't been seen for a very long time. I'm very surprised the GTA's actually acknowledged it, though, considering the skewing we've all been discussing up till now.

^ As far as I remember, subscribing to Amusement Today did not involve asking what coaster club(s) I affiliate with. I'm a member of ACE, which has one of the more expensive club fees... So even if specific clubs did get more say, they're certainly being awfully picky about who they're asking. I, for one, tend to believe Terp's theory about more advertising meaning more awards.

Yeah, I'm an Amusement Today subscriber (my subscription is probably about to expire, now that I think about it) and I haven't gotten a ballot, either.

Did Great Adventure actually tease the announcement of Rolling Thunder's removal, though? Serious question, as I don't totally remember how the removal was announced.

Yes, but not because of Mantis and SkyRider closing. The aspect of standing up on a roller coaster hit its peak around fifteen to twenty years ago, and no one really managed to create a stand-up coaster that actually got decent capacity. The ones that were built are just living out their service lives. Stand-ups were a dying breed when people stopped building them. In my opinion, B&M did a better job of the restraints than TOGO (I was never around for an Arrow stand-up), but no layout I've ridden from either company really set my heart aflutter. I do enjoy Shockwave at KD more than Mantis, Green Lantern, Apocalypse, or Georgia Scorcher. I thought Vortex at Carowinds was decent, though. The restraints on Shockwave are comically awkward and difficult to get into.

In theory, yeah. There's just a LOT of variables that would theoretically go into designing new trains, like mass moment of inertia of the new trains vs. the old trains, rider heartline location on the trains vs. what heartline the track was designed around, service life changes, and braking configuration, off the top of my head. That's not mentioning the multiple station changes required on Cedar Point's part. It's not impossible, but it would be difficult, which I would believe would also make it very expensive. I'm by no means the expert on how everything mechanical is designed, and B&M clearly knows what they're doing when it comes to coasters, but I would be extremely impressed to see Mantis get new floorless (or any other style of) trains. Regardless: Based on the strangeness of hyping up a ride "removal" announcement, it seems like Cedar Point's got something unique up their sleeves. Parks don't really tend to say, "Now, for the moment you've been waiting for... We're going to remove a ride. GET PUMPED!" Even parks with the ever-teasing hype machine that is Tony Clark as their public relations guy. There's something big to this that's yet to come. Stay tuned.

^ Not just you. The server's been on and off for me for the better part of the last 48 hours.

Awesome! Thanks Don and Boddah and Dane (and whoever else) for putting this together!

By the by: ACE is showing an event on its website called "Rip Roarin' Rampage Returns" on October 25. I wonder how official the date is...

There are Skee Ball machines in the Coney Mall arcade near Monster. Those machines will produce tickets. However, that arcade can get a little crazy at times, especially since the other arcade is now closed. The arcade near Beast also has Skee Ball machines and is typically less busy. Those Skee Ball machines (along with the rest of those games) do not give you tickets for playing; they're just there for fun. I hope you have a great time with your family!

I'm going to miss the Scooby dark ride at SFStL. I'm very interested to know if they keep the boats. Anyone else cringing at the names "Wicked Cyclone" and "Twisted Colossus"?

I always love your excitement for architecture and themed experiences, goodyellowkorn. You usually make me want to visit places that aren't even on my radar, and this one is no different. I haven't been to COSI since likely before 1999, so I'm obviously due for a visit. I'll have to get back soon! On a related note: have you visited the Columbus Zoo recently? Maybe it's my lack of visits to a Busch Gardens, Universal, or Disney park speaking, but I think the zoo's Heart of Africa and Islands of Southeast Asia areas are absolutely breathtaking. Family with whom I visited Africa agree with me when I say that Heart of Africa is surprisingly close to visiting a real nature park like Kruger Park. The best way I can describe Islands of Southeast Asia is to say that I would entirely expect Tomb Raider: The Ride to be tucked away around some corner, and it would not feel out-of-place at all (which is and isn't why I love it, haha. ) I could seriously spend hours in those areas. I think you might like them. EDIT: I totally don't mean to derail the topic with talk of the Columbus Zoo, haha. I think your trip report was awesome--I just don't have any questions or anything to add to it! It's that good!

Here's a video I found of the "show": I'm very curious to know how this show affects dispatch times for their train. For the length of time the show takes, I'm doubting its compatibility with Kings Island's train. It seems like stopping one (or both) trains for 10 minutes would make the waits for the train on the weekend prohibitively significant, as each car usually gets pretty fully on Saturdays in the middle of the summer. Unless there was some way to seriously shorten the show so trains didn't have to stop--which seems problematic, too--it doesn't seem as possible for KI to receive this show as I'd originally hoped. (Sorry if the train of thought in this post is scattered; I'm really tired.)

The King Cobra trains used to be stored in Flight of Fear's ride building. If memory serves me correctly, they went to Kings Dominion around early 2010, presumably to be used for spare parts for Shockwave. Somewhere around here, there's a topic from that time period that, at least at the time of its posting, had a picture of the King Cobra trains at Kings Dominion.

Thunderbolt's paint circles are being (have been?) replaced this year with new lights. At last check, they had only finished updating the red train.

^^ I think you mean Haut-Vol. I would be extremely happy to see them perform shows at Kings Island for a long time. Cirque Imagine really made a huge impression on me when it comes to live entertainment at the park. If it becomes a two-year thing like Ed Alonzo, I really don't know what KI could bring in next that would impress me as much as Cirque has. Man, I'm going to miss that show...

As long as they stay the heck away from Boss... I'm not a fan of this being Six Flags' new solution for older-to-oldish wooden coasters, but I guess I can see their justification for it. The thing is: Iron Rattler's a great ride, but a significant remodeling by GCI seems just as marketable. I wish Six Flags would pursue other options than just RMC (or the Rolling Thunder treatment.)

I am glad to be visiting Busch Gardens Williamsburg for the first time this year, because it does seem like every installation from Europe In The Air onwards contradicts the "old world Europe" feel that I've always had the impression BGW exudes. Verbolten, Mach Tower, and London Rocks seem like they're interesting enough but would better fit in a "modern Europe"-themed park than somewhere with mythical Griffons and Loch Ness Monsters and old world architecture. Like Terp said, they feel an awful lot like the "cheap and cheerful" era of Paramount Parks. That being said... Will someone explain to me, someone who hasn't been to a Busch Gardens before, if the last few additions actually are poorly done, or do they just clash really badly with the existing park? POV's, for whatever those are worth, do make the rides appear decent enough, but that doesn't speak much to how they work with the rest of the park. (Heck, if there's one thing I've learned, it's that POV's will give you the wrong opinion of a ride or park before you get there. I thought El Toro and Boss looked somewhat boring and uninspired before I rode them. I've also been avoiding Curse of DarKastle POV's like the plague, because I want to go into that ride with no idea of what to expect.) The rumored Festa Italia coaster seems very out-of-place compared to the rest of the park, but for all I know, it could match the rest of Festa Italia perfectly.

I wish they had a grown-up version of those... I'm totally jealous of how much fun the whip around the ends looks. If "they" means "Kings Island," then yeah, I totally agree.If "they" means "the amusement park industry," there are a few out there that have grown-up versions of that ride. The closest park to Kings Island that has one would likely be Camden Park, followed by Kennywood.