TombRaiderFTW

^^ In terms of the whole experience (from queue to exit), yes. As is Backlot Stunt Coaster, essentially. You could toss our Eiffel Tower in there, too, if you like. In terms of the physical roller coaster itself, Flight Deck has the same layout and specs as Vortex at Canada's Wonderland, and Flight of Fear's layout (sans the MCBR brakes) can be found at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags America, as well as a park in China. There are several clones of our Invertigo around the world. Firehawk has Batwing, also at SFA, as its twin, though Nighthawk at Carowinds is somewhat similar. Several KI flat rides can be found in various other locations as well.

My notion still stands. It'd be neat to have a Luminosity stage up near the Delirium fence, though. Imagine a Luminosity show with Delirium swinging overhead.

Nitro (SFGAdv), Maverick, Diamondback, Top Thrill Dragster, Mystery Mine (Dollywood), Cornball Express (Indiana Beach), Phantom's Revenge (Kennywood), and Shivering Timbers (Michigan's Adventure). Each has its redeeming quirks, but I don't go crazy for these rides like the enthusiasts at large.

Best Amusement Park: Hersheypark Best Theme Park: Of the ones I've been to, Kings Dominion or Six Flags Great Adventure. I'm inclined to believe that the Disney or Universal parks are more deserving of this title, but I was in a stroller when I last visited the Magic Kingdom and can only recall being terrified of the Jaws ride at Universal when I was in elementary school. Best Value Park: Holiday World Best Wood Coasters: The Voyage (HW) and El Toro (SFGAdv) Best Steel Coaster: Intimidator 305, Kings Dominion Best Flatride: Noah's Ark, Kennywood Best "New" Ride: El Toro, Great Adventure Best New Ride: From looks, Leviathan. I've only ridden Wild Eagle in the 2012 coasters, and as much as I like it, I imagine the B&M giga is better. Best Park Food: DOLLYWOOD. Oh my goodness. Most Beautiful Park: Dollywood or Kennywood Best Water Ride: Wildebeest, Holiday World Best Waterpark: Splashin' Safari Best Park Staff: Dollywood Best Kids Area: Of the parks I've been to, I'll honestly say that I liked Kings Island's the best. I'm willing to bet there are other parks I've not been to that have better ones, but KI does the best, in my experience. Best Park Show: ...I've just realized how long it's been since I've actually watched a show at an amusement park. Uhh... the first five minutes of British Invasion were decent? Cleanest Park: Holiday World or Dollywood Best Halloween Event: I've still only been to KI's Halloween Haunt, but I'm more and more inclined to believe the Universal parks throw the best Halloween event. I'll have to check out Halloween Horror Nights one of these days.

^ Except Magnum is better than them... Just teasin' (though I do think so, but that's just a matter of opinion.) It's disappointing that something as big a deal as the Golden Tickets is just a competition to see who can purchase the most advertising space. It'd be nice if a system as balanced as Mitch Hawker's poll got the attention the Golden Tickets gets, but that's life.

September 22nd will likely be far, far less crowded than October 27th. Even though both are Saturdays, the second is much closer to Halloween. By the later date, the scareactor count will, if the past is any indication, be at its lowest of the Haunt season, but the lines will be at their longest. I highly suggest September 22nd.

^ THIS. There's no better way to say it than that. Nothing gets under my skin at Haunt more than being trapped with a herd of people--of any age, really--who go out of their way to announce they aren't scared, then try to either scare the scareactors or deadpan and then get in the scareactors' faces in an attempt to intimidate them. You're at an amusement park during Halloween, for goodness sakes! On the other end of the spectrum, I get a kick out of watching groups of people/couples where one person is terrified, but all members are still having fun. It's not like they're making fun of the scared person, because the scared person is still laughing, too. That's the point of a scary Halloween event for me.

If we're talking about coasters wobbling, then let's throw this for a loop, shall we? FTW, not making a Son of Beast pun, actually. All structures do that; our perception of it just depends on what force is causing it and what its magnitude is. There are videos of tall Japanese buildings swaying widely during the earthquakes in 2011.

^ You say this like they don't have the "buy one wax museum haunt, get one free" deal at your local Sam's.

Something else I've just noticed: the scare zones have been revamped! Nightmare Alley, formerly in Planet Snoopy, has been moved to the path between the front gate and Action Zone. Action Zone's scare zone--whose previous name escapes me, if it even had one in 2011--is now Grimm Boulevard. Cemetery Drive is where it was last year (International Street.) Finally, taking the place of Nightmare Alley in Planet Snoopy is Freak Street... which sounds suspiciously similar to Nightmare Alley, at least in theory. Nightmare Alley's 2011 boxes as of Labor Day have already been installed in Planet Snoopy, so perhaps Freak Street will (more accurately) claim Nightmare Alley's "haunted carnival" theme and Nightmare Alley will get a theme more appropriate for something called "Nightmare Alley." Or maybe it will become a catch basin for the roamers that don't really fit any other theme, like the bush monster (which would blend in really well in the bushes along that path, by the by.) I don't know. Also, maybe it's just how they made the map, but Mysteria's marker is now over the Coney Mall arcade down by Vortex/WindSeeker. I wonder if they're moving it there. Then again, Racer's lift covers Mysteria's 2011 building on the map, so maybe they put the marker there just to give a general idea of where Mysteria is located.

^^ Err... What misery is Urgent Scare under? It's consistently been one of the higher quality haunts since its introduction in 2008. Same goes for Club Blood since it opened in 2007. ^ Yes! I'm excited for you. With the way you were staying mysterious about it, I was starting to think you were going to be in the new house. Blood Drums sounds very interesting, and I'm curious to see how they do this in Action Zone. If it's under the water tower, I'll be glad--that spot's had the same old bloodied alien animatronic for the past few seasons, with wiring in full view. I'm also very intrigued by Madame Fatale's Cavern of Terror. That's not the theme I was expecting of the old Crypt building, but it's got some real potential. Heck, the name alone is, with all due respect to Slaughterhouse, Holiday Horror, etc., better than any of the new attractions in recent years. Consider my hopes heightened. EDIT: I also have to point out that the lady they used for the MFCoT photo is one of my favorite scareactors. She's been at Cemetery Drive (both when in Tower Gardens and in International Street) and (I think) CornStalkers in previous years, and she really gets into her roles. I hope she's back this year.

I wonder how much influence KI's Labor Day sale prices had on that. I know I've never seen so many people eating blue ice cream and coneys as I did on Labor Day. Obviously, it more than likely isn't making up 4 of the 5 percent revenue increase (or something like that), but I do wonder what the percent increase would have been without the sale. Here's hoping it showed them something about the effects of reasonable pricing on in-park spending.

^ The one at the front gate.

1. Kennywood's Thunderbolt 2. The Raven 3. The Beast 4. Kennywood's, KI's, or CP's carousel 5. Adventure Express 6. Liberty Launch 7. Michigan's Adventure's old Falling Star 8. Stricker's Grove's flying scooters 9. Kings Dominion's Dominator 10. Either Cedar Point's Giant Wheel or Great Adventure's ferris wheel With more options, I'd also toss in Demon Drop (or some generic S&S Drop Tower) and either Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown or Frightful Falls.

All of this makes me very, very happy. The last time I visited KI, even less theming than usual was working, and I swear on my pass there was a flat spot on the wheel I was riding above in the last car. Sounds like they've given my favorite KI coaster some love it was needing. And yes, Adventure Express is a wonderful night ride--especially during Haunt! I've never seen (or at least noticed) green lights between the station and first tunnel. I do hope the lights you noticed on the second lift aren't just the emergency floodlights that occasionally get left on, because with the way the lights (until my recent visits, anyway) were being repaired, it was doing the ride wonders. I think I've officially descended into AE fanboyism.

And again for this year, I'm jealous of you scareactors. Have fun with your jobs!

My money's on Iron Rattler or Full Throttle, both of which, despite my slight distaste for their names, exceeded my expectations. I'm sure I'm underestimating it, but Outlaw Run just isn't getting me all hyped up. It looks like a good ride, yes, but I'm not frothing at the mouth over it and putting down Iron Rattler in comparison like people on several enthusiast sites. It's probably got something to do with my qualms on how they're classifying/marketing OR, but that's for another topic. Still, like Browntggrr, I have yet to ride any of them and do lack Doc Brown's DeLorean, so I couldn't tell you which one will be the best. Still looks like a great year is coming up, and I'm glad to see California's Great America finally receiving a new coaster--and an impressive-looking GCI, at that.

^ I'd actually very much be in favor of them revamping the small stage between the Eiffel Tower and the fountains into a Luminosity-esque stage, though definitely without the back wall. Rely more heavily on floor lighting in the stage and lighting off the 50-foot observation deck, and then you've got a clear view of the fountains, which could be included lighting-wise as part of the show like how Millennium Force, Giant Wheel, and Power Tower are at CP. (Or at least that's what was mentioned when Luminosity was announced... I haven't heard anything to that effect since, and I haven't seen the show myself.) I don't know that I'd like the show to be exactly like Cedar Point's, either. The impression I get from the photos I've seen is that it's very futuristic and heavy-bass pop-oriented. Those are fitting choices for CP, but I feel like pushing the futuristic aspect at Kings Island, combined with the large area the stage would likely include at the base of the tower/head of the fountains, would likely damage the atmosphere of International Street. I can't think of a substantial example off the top of my head of what theme would look good, but it would need to be something that still blends into International Street during the day when all the effects are off.

Oddly enough, I'm getting nostalgic about the loss of Disaster Transport. (I've never seen Space Spiral open even once in the visits I've had between 2005 and 2011. I haven't made it to Cedar Point this year.) It wasn't the most thrilling ride, and I didn't love it that much. For some reason, though, rides like DT, CCMR, Magnum, Gemini, Wildcat, Iron Dragon, Corkscrew, etc. all tend(ed) to define CP for me, at least in the years I've known it. That's not to say that Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster aren't great rides--don't get me wrong. (Millennium's one of my favorite steel coasters, as a matter of fact.) I just think one of the things I liked the most about the place was that you have super-modern record-breaking rides like those, but then you've also got these really unique rides from the 60's-80's that are part of how Cedar Point got its current reputation. Maybe I'm the only one to whom that matters, but it's part of what I enjoy about the place. That's also not to say that I'm not excited for Gatekeeper, either. I really like the name and creative use of the ride's location. (Name haters, let's face it: the ride's an adornment for the front gate. Cedar Point's got this reputation as the coaster park in the Midwest, at least with almost anyone I've ever encountered who knows about the place. Having a coaster built into the entrance of the park is a no-brainer.) The wing coaster style is practically unheard of around here by the average park guest, and it looks like it will likely eat through lines, which is something Maverick, which seems to me to still be riding its "newest coaster in the park" popularity, is lacking. Or here's hoping Gatekeeper pulls some the lines away from that ride, anyway. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this is bittersweet for me, much like the removal of The Crypt.

I haven't seen a ton featuring Woody Harrelson, but I'd see him getting more recognition from Cheers than anywhere else. Even The Hunger Games, because, despite its huge profits and popularity, it's a fad.

I don't think Kings Island ever owned kingsisland.com... Wasn't that registered to some Canadian company?

^ No. They'd probably suck.

A thought, albeit a long stretch: take the idea from another thread about a B&M giga by Timberwolf running parallel to Colombia Rd. Now, when the ride reaches the central strip of grass in the parking lot, have an overbanked turn so that the track runs over that strip of grass towards the KI sign. A camelback or two later, have one of the Shambhala at PortAventura-style ampersand turnarounds that wraps around (or even through?) the KI sign, then runs back the way it came. It would catch some eyes, even from I-71.

For the sake of not overcrowding this post, I won't quote The Interpreter's post. But to reply: thanks for those responses! Yes, I did eat an "El Toro bowl" (or something named along those lines) from the small restaurant whose name escapes me, near El Toro's second camelback. Very high quality ingredients, and it tasted very good! Definitely wasn't expecting such good food out of a large (read: non-Dollywood ) park. I was a little surprised that my friend's taco salad automatically came with many jalapeños, but that may easily have been our fault for not paying enough attention when ordering. That was actually one of the first times I've bought food at a park (that wasn't Dollywood) that felt worth the price. And yes, I very much agree with your sentiments towards Great Adventure. Some time ago when I'd recently discovered that Six Flags has an engineering department, I was looking into the possibility of internships. The only prominent things I found online were several interviews with Larry Chickola concerning engineering for and the engineering department at Great Adventure. Now that I've been there, I'm sure that would be such an awesome job, at least for the setting. (I know parks are different places when you're on the inside, but even then.) I feel like I'm pretty similar, at least in terms of being a rough-and-tumble sort of coaster rider. I'm adamant that the best steel coaster at Cedar Point is Magnum (particularly when untrimmed), and The Voyage at its roughest (which, in popular opinion, was in 2011--and the thing jackhammered like crazy) was still the best coaster I'd ever been on at the time. I don't feel like I got totally stapled on El Toro: the lapbar was on my lap, but it wasn't locked unpleasantly tight like I've had on Millennium Force, Maverick, TTD, or Diamondback. There was a respectable amount of wiggle room, but nothing like the typical PTC car. I'm very jealous of your GASM ride! Part of me feels like a solid Arrow looper is missing from the park's lineup, but part of me wonders if I'd feel the same if I'd never known the ride existed. GASM would certainly have fit into the Boardwalk area very well, but I imagine each of the recent coaster additions to the park further illuminated just how comparatively uncomfortable that ride probably felt. (I don't say that to hate on what GASM was; I'm just saying that I know several non-enthusiasts who praise Diamondback for not being rough like Vortex. But maybe GASM wasn't rough like that, for all I know!) Thanks! And thank you for reading!

Good news for you, then, because it's done! Thanks for the encouragement, guys. As of late, I've been a little busy--and otherwise lazy, I'll admit--but your comments made me want to finish it. Hope you enjoy. I305 has a fantastic drop, but if there's one thing you should get from my TR, it's that you definitely should not judge El Toro before you've ridden it. Preferably in the back seat, because it's just redonkulous back there. (That's right. I broke out the italics and the bold. El Toro is serious business, haha.) EDIT: Two other things I forgot to add. One: it feels like the TR just ends, so if, by chance, you've got any questions, I'll gladly answer them. I don't really know what else to do there. Two: I've got a bonus I forgot to add to the end: I finally made it to Coney Island (NY!) during the summer, and I (finallyyyyyyy) got to ride the Cyclone! I'll toss another post in here sometime about that ride, because... wow. It's really something.