TombRaiderFTW

They ran two for your visits?Maybe they just wanted me to have longer lines The fact that I was there on what has to be one of the busiest days of the year probably had something to do with it, too. The waterpark actually reached capacity. If it weren't for Flash Pass, I probably wouldn't have gotten to all of the coasters, as most of them had completely full queues.

That wasn't the case on Batman: The Hurlinator or Viper when I was there July 4th. Maybe they're doing that on American Eagle?

Not to jump on you, but it's actually "You have disturbed the forbidden temple. Now you will pay!" You can hear the final tunnel audio track over on KIExtreme.

Thank you for posting and sharing your pictures! I especially appreciate the Haunt setup pictures--with that entrance, it looks like they're giving a little extra effort on CornStalkers this year. And the extra effort is appreciated!

This is the first announcement that's ever made me want to immediately start making plans to visit the park. That sounds fantastic, and I'm sure it will be very unique. Is this the new dark ride design Ouimet keeps mentioning? Also, MAJOR kudos to Cedar Fair for acknowledging the existence of the rest of the park when making an addition. Such a nice change from the "slap a coaster wherever the heck you want without any concern for the theme" days of Kinzel.

Somewhere, The Interpreter is crying. I really didn't care for Rolling Thunder, but I have to admit I'm probably going to miss it. It added something nostalgic and small-park-ish to Great Adventure, and it's a bummer to see that replaced with something very big-park-ish whose experience could be replicated elsewhere. I'll feel very similarly about Skull Mountain and Runaway Mine Train when they go (except it'll be worse, because I actually love both of those rides.) The CCI fanboy in me cringes a little bit to see Medusa get changed despite the fact that I've never ridden it, but things happen, and the new ride looks really good. Otherwise, it looks like a good lineup. Seems like a series of interesting additions appropriate for each park. If SFA is the size of park I'm thinking it is, I think Ragin' Cajun will fit in much better there than it does(n't) at Great America. Goliath looks very interesting... I guess I severely underestimated the size of Iron Wolf's footprint.

^ Oh my gosh. I would freak right the heck out. And yet, I can appreciate that that's one of the most creative ideas I've ever heard for a haunted house. But I'd still freak out.

Either Vortex or WindSeeker. I could take night photos of WindSeeker for hours.

Wood: Boss. Steel: Intimidator 305. Overall: Don't make me choose!

I may not always take time to say thanks like I should, but I appreciate all the time lapse videos you put together, davidw. Always a neat perspective on coaster construction!

I'm a little confused about where they're going to place Backwoods Bayou. It's listed as being part of Cemetery Drive, which usually takes up the length of International Street. Are they going to try to split up IS half and half with the theme, or are they going to take advantage of the International Street-Coney Maul and International Street-Rivertown paths? (Not that it matters to me; I've always liked Cemetery Drive.) I'm also a little surprised that they've done away with Grimm Boulevard so quickly--it was there for just one season. I know they've gotten rid of the Action Zone water tower, but the cool fog "tubes" could theoretically have been added to the surrounding buildings. Oh well! Nevertheless, it looks like a great lineup for this year. Now--all you Haunt workers need to 'fess up about where you're located!

I'd forgotten about that. You're right--doing it that way is much clearer.

^ WHOA NELLY. Please don't let this be another Bat incident/placeholder until something else is put there. Chalk me up for being VERY interested in a membership and any kind of "Holiday Lights" event! On a similar note, they've evidently started dynamic pricing on Haunt tickets: EDIT: Let it also be noted that visitkingsisland.com/events/things-to-do/special-events/holiday-lights-2013 returns a 404 error, much like Banshee's URL did a few months ago... Coincidence?

I guess I don't know Great America's layout as well as I thought I did... Where in the park is this? I realize it's over by X-Flight, but I thought American Eagle was around that area.

^ I'm going to assume you've never ridden Little Dipper at Camden Park, then. Those things are easily within arm's reach, even if the arm is a child's. Kind of unnerving, but then again, so are a lot of things in that park. Granted, I wouldn't think you are going fast enough on LD to remove a limb, but I'd say you could easily break some fingers, a hand, or maybe an arm if you're unlucky.

Other. I'm a fan of Phantom Theater's and Banshee's logos. I'm indifferent to the Adventure Express sign at the front of the line, but I do like the logo with the "tiki man" between the words in the ride's name. I also thought The Crypt's sign was pretty cool. Ride experience differences aside, I think I actually liked The Crypt's sign more than Tomb Raider's.

^ That's because it's Mantis, and the ride op was probably looking out for your health/skull integrity.

As long as the shareholders and Falfas aren't visiting that day, anyway.

Call me clueless, but what are we supposed to be seeing in that photo?

^ Somehow, I'm not surprised... Given the timing, I smell an ultimatum delivered as soon as the park went weekends-only. Never thought I'd see a day when I like Cedar Fair more than Holiday World management.

In response to this post, I feel the need to highlight the level of detail involved in Madame Fatale's Cavern of Terror. The park took an old queue that was already beyond their typical magnitude of Haunt theming and built a house that really blew the rest of the attractions away. It is nothing like the Paramount- and Kinzel-era houses with the thinly-veiled pockets for actors to hide in, like in Club Blood, CarnEvil, or even Wolf Pack. Particularly towards the beginning of the Haunt season, there were a ton of actors hidden in places you'd never expect, even if you'd been in every other house in the park. I'm still creeped out by the flickering hallway with the wrapped figures leaning on the walls that are uncomfortably close to your sides. I used to scoff at the old KI Haunt commercials featuring KBF's houses because the actual event never featured anything nearly as intense or intricate as the commercials showed. MFCoT actually was that detailed, and it maintained one of the longer lines at Haunt every time I visited. Yeah, it was "the new one," but I'd be pretty surprised if the lines are anything relatively shortish this year. People seemed to figure out in the (two?) seasons Mysteria was at Haunt that it wasn't that good, and the lines showed. Granted, I haven't visited USO during Halloween Horror Nights, so maybe I'm wrong here. I just really feel like the Cavern of Terror was a really good and unique step in the right direction that shouldn't be ignored. I know it's set the bar high for me this year--particularly with Backwoods Bayou. That seems like a fairly unique chance to reinvent Trail of Terror, and I hope KI takes the opportunity to do so.

That's a fair assessment, although I will suggest that you may have hit it on a bad day when it comes to the theming. Not that I'm assuming that it would do much for you; I'm just saying is all. At least as of last August, several pieces and lighting fixtures were working, although I don't know how much theming the ride originally opened with to compare. As much as I like it when parks bother to add a preshow to rides, I'm inclined to believe that all the effects working would still do nothing to convey an actual story for the ride. And oy, does that building ever stick out at Great Adventure. Out of curiosity, have you been on the one at Great America? It seemed like a wilder ride to me, though the theming wasn't doing quite as well as it was in my experience at GAdv. I also didn't notice the building as much, though I loathe its placement in the New Orleans-themed section of the park.

Awesome job, Shaggy! Interesting piece, and your comments were great. It was nice to see a piece featuring coaster enthusiasts that didn't involve said enthusiast spouting endless facts about the ride a la Travel Channel. I have to admit that the slightly awkward newscaster banter at the end of each video made me chuckle, though.

iPhone 5 on Straight Talk here. Uses Verizon's 3G network. Fantastic coverage at the park--anything Internet-related loads really quickly. Oddly enough, it's exactly the opposite at Cedar Point. Terrible coverage no matter where I am in the park, and I can hardly do anything at all. I can rarely ever even make a call until I leave Sandusky. And that is no change from when I was on Verizon earlier this year. Makes it nigh impossible to participate in the tweetups up there.

Conneaut Lake Park. Seriously, have you SEEN the Kiddieland sign?! Nah, but truthfully? That I'll wake up one day realizing I've wasted a majority of my life having experienced none of the things I want to experience.