TombRaiderFTW

Zamperla uses old Coney Island names for its rides. There's also a Tornado ride there that isn't a roller coaster at all, as I recall. Ideally, they'd be at least a little similar to their namesakes. Zamperla isn't in the wood coaster business, so I think it's cool that they're acknowledging a history they didn't even have a part in. (I would still SO love to see a GCI version of the Tornado/Bobs and a Gravity Group rendition of Thunderbolt, but I guess I'll have to keep dreaming about those for now!)

I think BB1's point may have been that the Madame Fatale's "Shipping & Receiving" sign is still on it. According to Don at the KIC event, Massacre Manor is the haunt that won't return this year. I didn't notice anything in his words indicating that multiple haunts may be leaving. So I'd say MFCoT will return this year.

No; it has smoother transitions, which means more comfortable airtime (but still abundant, if you sit towards the back!) Yes. They're classic while still being quality rides; it's like riding through a history book instead of just reading it. Except instead of being boring like a history book, they're actually good to great rides. Every wooden coaster there is best in the last car, in my opinion. Racer in particular has a vastly underrated last row. Kids, but it's enjoyable if you appreciate older style amusement park attractions. Some say you shouldn't ever miss it; I say it's worth a shot if you've already ridden all the coasters. The most I've ever waited for either was about 1.5 hours. That was for Phantom on Kennywood's opening day this year, and it was that long because the ride broke down for an extended amount of time. I've only been twice, but both seem to average half hour to hour waits on the weekends. Yes. He's Kenny Kangaroo, and he's here to mess you up. (Actually, he's a friendly character. It just felt appropriate to add something threatening after "he's Kenny Kangaroo.") The regular food is somewhat better quality than Kings Island. The big draw is the Potato Patch fries, which are hand-made steak fries covered in delicious cheese, etc. (if you so please.) Potato Patch WILL have a line all day, so bite the bullet if you want to try them. They're good, but I personally find them to be on par with Five Guys' fries. Still a fairly crucial part of the "Kennywood Experience" if you want to get a feel for the place. Not sure. I know a couple coasters have bins to store your stuff in, but they aren't secured in any fashion. I wouldn't put anything valuable in them. In my experience, Kennywood. I've only been to Kennywood twice and Dollywood three times, though, so I'm probably not the best judge. Tickets: Dollywood. Everything else: more or less a tie. Hardly. Thunderhead has its rough-ish patches, but it's very well maintained. Also one of the few rides I recommend riding towards the front, despite my being a back seat rider through and through. It's more intense than anything. Tennessee Tornado is quite frankly the only Arrow looper I've ever truly enjoyed. It's short, but Arrow perfected their designs with it. Not a rough transition to be found on the ride. Mystery Mine's decent, but I personally find the theming more enjoyable than the actual ride itself. Your mileage may vary. I thought Wild Eagle was a decent looper (the zero-G roll is great), but popular opinion is that it's fairly bland. If you've ridden Gatekeeper, it's less intense than that, but has comparable pacing. Haven't been to Dollywood this year, but last year Wild Eagle had the longest lines in the park. Then again, it was new last year. Dollywood's food is DELICIOUS. I've yet to eat anything there that wasn't ridiculously good. The pizza by Thunderhead is one of my favorites, though I hear the chicken restaurant is not to be missed. There's cinnamon bread that will change your life. I'm not joking. Never been. My memory's fading... I want to say Dollywood has bins for all the rides, but I'm definitely not sure.

The only ride I've ever been on that was above-and-beyond terrible was Son of Beast. Since the OP requested operating coasters, I'd have to say either Thunderhawk at Michigan's Adventure or Sidewinder at Hersheypark. Vekoma tried their darnedest to sprain anything of mine they could with those two. (I know some of you guys out there have been on SLCs typically considered far worse than Thunderhawk and are thus rolling your eyes. It's the only one I've been on.)

With the way Big Sexy continuously uses it, I can only conclude it means "pieces of steel". Beast, Racer, etc. would then be POW coasters, as they're made of pieces of wood.

What coasters do you like? I don't think I've ever read a positive comment about any coaster from you.

Yes, but how is it reaching the media? I wouldn't think the park would voluntarily release info like this to the press just because. Then again, what do I know about public relations?

Why is this kind of thing newsworthy this year? It's happened for years without being published.

Waldameer has a similar card system which is REQUIRED if you plan to ride any rides in the park (unless you get an unlimited wristband.) It can also be used on food, merchandise, and games, but you can also use credit/debit cards for those. In the case of riding rides, it's actually really convenient and streamlines the process pretty nicely compared to using paper tickets. Where KI has ride ops that pulse guests into the stations, Waldameer has one employee who mans the scanner. You scan your card, the scanner shows your remaining balance, and the employee presses a green button to unlock the turnstyle to let you into the station. Much nicer than the way Diamondback usually works, for instance. I've seen more than one guest, unknowingly or otherwise, walk past the ride op at the top of the stairs if the operator is otherwise distracted. Plus, it keeps Ravine Flyer II's tiny station from being the shoulder-to-shoulder headache it could easily be. In the case of everything else: If everything was rounded to the nearest half-dollar like the rides, it would be great. Unfortunately, it's not, which means I've got $0.74 on my Wally Card that's never going to see the light of day because I bought a caramel apple one time. I'm sure that adds up for the park. In the case of pay-per-ride parks, I really like the idea of money wristbands/cards. Otherwise, I think I'd rather just use cash or credit. I can see the benefit for families where the kids are doing their own thing and need to store money where it won't easily be lost (e.g. cash falling out of a pocket during a ride), but I'm not that bothered by carrying those things with me. That's why I've got zippered pockets in my shorts.

Terp trip report? I like it. How was Volcano? Any hiccups? And did the station change at all over the off-season, as was rumored?

^ Wow... Guess we'll have to strip KI-ORIG-EMP of his Kings Island Fan Card. The nerve! How dare he not know! It's not quite that serious, compadre. I don't think there's any shame in not knowing or caring how to recognize the difference between major manufacturers' tracks.

Thank you so much for putting this together! I'm definitely tempted to attend. We'll see!

There was nothing frightening about Demon Drop, then? I knew those screamers were faking it...

Yes, but isn't Drop Tower just dropping straight down and then boom! it's over? Oblivion's the same idea in coaster form, except it uses the terrain.

*mutters something about the difference between being punched in the head and being punched in the head with boxing gloves on* I'm not really getting my hopes up with Kentucky Kingdom. I think Terp's probably hit the nail on the head, although I think the fact that things are happening at the park is a good sign. The lack of communication is telling, but I'm thrown off by the fact that work is being done at all in the park. Time will tell, I guess.

Have you actually been on Oblivion? I haven't; I'm just honestly curious. I can see some scare factor in dropping straight down into a hole in the ground.

Thanks for sharing! What's your job at the park?

I got out permanently on April 27th with a diploma in my hand! Still tossing around the idea of grad school... A master's would be nice, but I don't know if I want to fight through two more years of engineering school. For right now, I'm kind of past the "school" portion of life.

^^ And he appreciates you referencing it, even if most seem to prefer Photobucket!

You wanna talk public outcry at CP? Try wearing a Kennywood t-shirt to part like I did yesterday. I had no fewer than 8 people, both guests and employees, make comments about it to me. The comments ranged from "yay, Kennywood" to "you're in the wrong part of town, kid" to "are you trying to start a riot or something". I didn't know people at Cedar Point even knew what a Kennywood was! Back on topic, here's a photo taken today at around 6:30pm. Based on what's visible in the park, I've got no idea what this could be. Based on what we've seen online, I've gotta agree with Shaggy's prediction. If the past holds true, we'll know in August. The whole former Son of Beast area:

The photo above doesn't really show what changed. In fact, the photographer would have to turn 180 degrees to see what changed. Where Diamondback's helix is used to be midway; the path stretched from The Crypt to Rivertown Games. In the middle of this path was an elevated island of grass, tall trees, and The Beast sign (nearly identical to the large sign currently located to the left of the entrance.) The best image I can find of it in a Google search: Note Tomb Raider/The Crypt in the background towards the bottom. Here's how this photo was taken: Personally, I liked the old entrance better, but it's much easier to see that there's a roller coaster back there now. There was something mysterious about not being able to see the ride until you were getting on it. But I'm just being nitpicky!

I always enjoy hearing your take on parks, and this is no different. Thanks for sharing, GYK!

^^ To me, that feels like she's signing off. I don't know how to describe it. Like, if you put your heart and years of your life into your dream, only to have your family argue over who's in charge of it and who's making the money off of it, wouldn't you be a little put out? And then add the fact that your dream is successful because people believe you're not out to grab money. That's Pat Koch right now. She's got a reputation for being hardworking, and she's avoiding appearing in anything related to the park. To me, that says she's tried what she can, and she is not proud of the results. It's like trying to resolve things between two people shouting at each other with their hands over their ears. If it were anyone else in the company, I wouldn't mind as much. When it's one of the biggest pillars of the essence of Holiday World declining to associate herself with the place, then I'm concerned about its future.

I'm personally hoping the courts rule in favor of using the DeLorean to go back in time and stop this whole mess before it started. I hate the fact that Pat is not publicly associating herself with the park this year. It's her, her husband's, and Will's passion for the place that brought it from Santa Claus Land to the awesome place it is today. Quite frankly, I've lost my interest in going to Holiwood Nights, as I don't feel like Lori is remotely interested in the original dream for the park and I don't understand Dan's intent to overlook Will's kids (who are his own nieces and nephews and have worked at the park for years) to bring his own children in. New management is focused on personal glory rather than the reason the park exists in the first place. Holiday World's presence is entirely based on the perception of management integrity, including not feeling like they're out to get every last cent they can get. I find that contrast both disappointing and off-putting.

Coworker 1 to coworker 2 during a conversation about Kings Island: "Hey, remember when they had The Bat? I rode that. It was awesome. I think it was the prototype for that Top Gun ride." Me: *perks up, listens in* Coworker 1: "Yeah, I rode that the week after the big accident." Me: *slightly cringes* Coworker 1: "I guess two cars ended up derailing..." Me: *definitely cringes* Coworker 1: "...And killing, like, 10-14 people." Me: *counts capacity of two Arrow suspended coaster cars in head, groans internally* Coworker 2: "Woah, really? When was that?" Coworker 1: *pauses* "...I guess that would have been 1987 or 1988." Me: *develops hemorrhage* (It didn't actually tweak me that much, haha. I'm exaggerating. I don't exactly expect everyone in the world to know the precise life span of a short-lived prototype roller coaster from 30+ years ago.) EDIT: Okay, so I guess this is technically a guest OUTSIDE the park saying a darnest thing, but I'm too lazy to drag up the appropriate topic. Sue me!