TombRaiderFTW

I wouldn't go out of my way to wait two hours for any coaster on a whim, but I'll do it if there's a reason to do so. Very recently, I waited something like two to three hours for Flight of Fear while a strong storm blew through, prompting all the rides to close. A full queue diminished to ten people, making our group the front of the line. (Where else were we going to go? It's not like there was anything else to do in the park, save for maybe the shows.)

Why did they change the color of the cars? I kind of like the gradient effect myself.

The first one: The double helix, in my opinion, was a little better in 2008 and before, but there wasn't a drastic change. The old banking provided more laterals (though not up to par with The Legend's helix laterals, but closer), and the condition of the track because of them lended itself to the helix seeming more intense. When the change was made in 2009, the banking was modified so the laterals were somewhat converted to positive G's (pushing you down into your seat), and I think the brand-new track tricked people (including myself) into thinking the ride had been somewhat tamed. What once was this violent, lateral-filled, and loud finale of the ride was this much smoother element with forces different from what we'd known for a while. However, once the new track wore, I think the effect of the modifications dimished almost entirely--Beast's helix is still one of the best coaster endings ever, in my opinion. The second one: Prior to Diamondback, there was a small elliptical mound of trees, dirt, and mulch located approximately under where Diamondback's final helix is. The sign for the ride was mounted on poles on the side of the mound nearest the midway, and you could walk either way around it to get to the ride. It very much hid the ride itself and its entrance, but I liked it. It seemed like it added to the ride's notion of being hidden in the woods. At least during Haunt 2008, it was a popular location for fog machines.

At the moment, my favorite song is The Glitch Mob's dubstep remix of "Seven Nation Army." I could never just choose one song as my all-time favorite. I've never been able to pin down a favorite band, either.

Never been to Carowinds, but you can't go wrong with Dollywood. The atmosphere's like no other park I've been to, and the coasters (which are but one of many reasons to enjoy the park) are phenomenal. (Plus, the cinnamon bread actually does live up to the hype. You have to try it.) Since D seems to be the general consensus, I'll vote for D, too. If it were still up in the air, I'd suggest B as well, as Hershey's definitely a unique park, too. It's got at atmosphere that runs halfway between Cedar Point and Holiday World--it feels like a small park, but has the ride count and size of a large park. Plus, they have Storm Runner. (Never been to Dorney.)

Objection: That is all.

Off the top of my head: do one themed to Davy Jones and the Flying Dutchman (a la Pirates of the Caribbean, though obviously with no actual references) in Soak City. All props (such as treasure chests, crewmen barracks, cannons, weaponry, etc.) and walls would have that crusted, calcium-deposited look of something that's been underwater for years and years, and the scareactors' costumes would blend into the scenery (in the same vein as CornStalkers) so that you're never quite sure what's a prop and what's about to scare you. Sounds of a creaking ship mixed with very distant-sounding, slow-tempoed organ music and evil-sounding laughter would be played over the Soak City speaker system. The trail would "climax" with the victims entering the Flying Dutchman, a large, intimidating ship facade mounted on one of the buildings in Soak City, where Davy Jones himself would make an appearance. From the entrance, the guests would weave their way through various wooden halls of the ship, with physical scratches running with increasing frequency down the halls as the theming indicates you're nearing Jones' lair (including a gradual increase in organ volume.) The guests would reach the main "chamber" of the ship, complete with a flashy distraction, Jones' floor-to-ceiling organ, which is framed in shadows. Upon the victims' entrance, the organ music mysteriously cuts off--and they are quickly rushed by the fiercest of Davy Jones' crew, who were hiding behind the organ. Guests would then move (run?) for the exit, a simple doorway down a hall off to the side. However, Jones himself steps into the doorway--and just as the guests reach him, several trap doors along the hallway slide open, revealing rows of cannons that immediately "fire" with a loud boom (played through additional speakers hidden nearby) and a cloud of "smoke" (which is actually fog that's placed to cover Jones as he disappears to wherever the actor decides to hide nearby.) The guests then exit the "ship" and follow a path back to wherever the entrance would be located. Perhaps it could replace Cut-Throat Cove. Then again, with how heavily it (unintentionally) borrows from PotC, it's probably copyright infringement to use the idea. Oh well--you asked, didn't you? This is an interesting topic... I'm sure I'll be thinking about this some more.

Yeah, I never really realized how long I expected it to just stand there until they announced this. I'm so glad they finally made an announcement. Maybe not every freaking topic on here will include Son of Beast now. At least preliminarily, the only thing I feel like I'm going to miss is the novelty of the world's only wooden hypercoaster and the Paramount connotations the ride had in my head. My spine and brain remember the jackhammering too well for any other positive emotion towards the ride to surface. Good riddance.

^ Well... I do know they accepted mine the day I redeemed the one you get for signing up (sometime in mid-June, I believe.) I frankly never paid the Fun Perks slip much attention when I printed it very shortly after Fun Perks was launched, and I forgot the slip the day I redeemed the perk. The Fun Perks booth employees were able to access my account and reprint the slip for me, then redeem it. The fudge shop employees said it was not usable in that shop; the Hank's employees said it was usable there when I asked. Since I didn't really pay the voucher much attention, I don't really know if it said anything about Freestyle machines at the time. (Quite frankly, I didn't really mind if it did have the limitation. Free pop's free pop.) Maybe the rules changed between then and now?

I noticed that too. That made me laugh. Just because your dead doesnt man you have to be out of date! I'm entertained by that skeleton, but it didn't always look like that. I'm fairly sure the iPod was added to essentially replace the motion that apparently stopped working at some point. Then again, the last time I rode Boo Blasters, someone in my car managed to hit that skeleton's target, and the head (very reluctantly) spun around 3/4ths of the rotation. I think the cord ended up wrapping around its neck... I wonder if they've got it set to change directions for each rotation, because it seems like they'd otherwise just disable the target, if possible.

I'll gladly help if I can (as structural mechanics are some of my favorite things I've studied in school), but I'm a little confused about what you're writing about. Like, are you just describing the visual differences in various KI support structures, and then trying to relate those differences to the purposes of the structures? That's the impression I'm getting from what you're saying, but I want to be sure. An example of what I'm saying: you observe that Diamondback has thick, cylindrical steel supports, but Adventure Express (or Beast, Racer, etc.) has rows and rows of rectangular wooden beams that are assembled into certain wide shapes. You then try to describe why Adventure Express would have wide supports made of a weak material compared to Diamondback's supports? Or maybe it's something like: you observe that the Eiffel Tower gets wider at the base, but the Festhaus (or Drop Tower) stays the same dimensions on all sides. You then try to describe why the Eiffel Tower needs wide supports at the bottom, but the Festhaus doesn't, despite the fact that it's a physically wider and longer building? Just trying to get a better idea of what you're looking for. EDIT: WHOAAAAAA MAN. Post 1000. I just hit post 1000. Definitely never thought I'd see this day.

Isn't Kings Dominion's Grizzly based on the Coney Island Shooting Star, too? It's a huge stretch, but I'd pretty much die of happiness if Coney received a ride similar to Grizzly. One of the best rides at Kings Dominion, in my opinion. If the increased intensity of Hurler's trims this year mentioned online is to be believed, then Grizzly's the best wooden coaster in the park.

Yeah, I recently tried Hank's Burrito Shack myself. As far as burritos go, it's good, but it's no Chipotle or Qdoba. I'd say it's better than Hot Head, though--the chicken at Hank's is pretty tasty. It's worth at least one try, and it's possible anyone may like it enough to make several return visits. The easily accessible Freestyle machine doesn't hurt, either, especially since it's usable with the all-day drink wristbands. (If only they didn't ditch 2011's fries in the conversion... The seasoning on those was DELICIOUS.)

^^ What has the park deceived you about since 2009?

Is it weird that, all things considered, I'm kind of okay with this use of it? The only part I'm not wowed by is the fact that it's standing there, useless, for the first 4/5ths of the season, but at least they see some portion of the potential that ride had as The Crypt. I do find myself missing 2011's Crypt from time to time, particularly due to the clever use of the Inception score, but what it was was a joke compared to Tomb Raider. Combined with its HUSSiness*, I can't say I blame them at this point for removing the top spin. Considering the point during the off-season at which they decided and/or announced the removal, I think their only options were this or creating the most plain, uninteresting grassy area in the park. Between keeping what's there and further stripping Rivertown of any type of charm, I think I'd rather they kept the building. Add in the price of removal, and I'd probably have made the same decision if I was in charge. Hauntwise, I'm still stoked to find out what they're going to do with it--particularly with the ride chamber. It'd never happen, but a (seemingly) rickety bridge stretching from one side of the chamber to the other could be fun. One of the best Haunt thrills I've had was having to cross the first bridge on Tombstone Terror-tory after seeing this ominous figure back into the cloud of fog and completely disappear upon our approach. (As I was unwillingly made the group leader by the pack of chickens I got paired up with, we all had a little chat afterwards. ) Realistically, I don't have my hopes up that the Crypt Haunt will enter the ride chamber. I'm more expecting them to use the current outside queue as the queue and divide into groups at the building entrance. I predict that the house will run the length of the former inside queue until the preshow room, where it will turn right into the employee backroom and exit out the old "Rendezvous Point." Perhaps it will continue down the exit path, but with all the noise of Diamondback overhead, I'm not so sure. (I'd love it if they did use the ride chamber, but I just don't know how they'd do it.) *Friendly reminder so it doesn't sound like I'm calling the ride an impudent female: HUSS is pronounced "hoos."

^^ At least one person here would argue that Kings Dominion improved the Kings Island model in several ways... I'm just saying!

^ Great video, Don! Thanks for sharing! (I managed to avoid 99.5% of all the pictures of the event, somehow, haha.) Hey, so I did make it into some form of documentation of the event... Haha. Got my own closeup and everything!

THIS. They could copy and paste that entire area (yes, even Avalanche) at Kings Island, and I'd buy a pass from now till I die. Easily my favorite park area in any park I've been to. But that's mostly because it all feels like an extension of Tomb Raider: The Ride to me (even though their Tomb Raider: Firefall was one of the last additions to the area.)

If you look on Google Earth, you can actually see what's left of a few old gravel roads from the campgrounds. Like several people said, it's behind Great Wolf Lodge and beside the small gray/tan building (whose name escapes me at the moment... It's a Kings Island building. I want to say it's part of the landscaping department.)

I'm so glad to hear someone appreciate Magnum. It's one of my favorite coasters and EASILY the best hypercoaster I've been on. I rank it slightly above Millennium Force, as far as Cedar Point coasters go, but to each his own--I happen to love Gemini when it's racing. (Then again, I also think Blue Streak and Wicked Twister are some of the best coasters in the park, so I'm a little abnormal.) Then again, the reason I rank Magnum as such is because of the rainy, trimless rides I once had in 2008 (or 2009... Can't remember.) You thought the airtime was intense on a regular day? Thanks for the TR. It was great!

I'm 62.5% to 3 stars. Really glad they gave us this--as much as I like the system, the whole "just keep spending money until it happens to change" aspect wasn't my favorite thing ever.

I mean, if Holiday World wants to make Voyage into a looping coaster, I'm pretty sure I'd be okay with that. (Just kidding... somewhat. For some reason, I've always thought a loop seemed like a natural progression between the ride's final two "crossovers"--there'd be the same leap over the lift, then a loop starting at the current tunnel elevation and encircling the ride's entrance, then essentially the same leap over the second brake run/transfer track. It's a stretch, but... I don't know. It's a random thought that hit me once, and it just stuck with me. Imagine entering the queue, and just before the line enters the building, the roar of the train rushes up and around you. It'd be a unique photo opportunity, and it'd give The Voyage another record. That's ignoring PTC's and TGG's say on the matter, of course.) Random thoughts aside, I have a hard time reading just about any amusement park- or roller coaster-related Facebook page anymore. People are going to share their gripes, which is fine, as long as there are positives mixed in there, too. Both Cedar Point's and (especially) Kings Island's Facebook pages, once structured like that, have devolved into a guest competition to see who can most hurtfully use the phrases "the worst visit I've ever had to the park" and "never wasting another dollar with you" (or some other variant), among others. Holiday World's page inexplicably (to me) doesn't seem to have this problem. Nor do Kings Dominion's, Conneaut Lake Park's, Dollywood's, Waldameer's, or even some Six Flags'. Kennywood's page occasionally has this, but it's never to KI's concentration. And that's kind of a mystery to me, because, at least to me, it doesn't feel like Kings Island does things anywhere nearly as poorly as people try to say. They have their pluses and minuses (as does any park), but they're at least decent in most aspects, save for the horrible luck they seem to be having with ride breakdowns this year. I actually think the park excels in areas like operations, and the staff friendliness has noticeably increased from last year, at least in my experiences.* It just seems like you could do a lot worse than Kings Island. Am I being an overly supportive fanboy, or is it just the clientele the park attracts? And don't even get me started on the "Save Son of Beast" page. *On hot days, employees have actually finished interactions by smiling and saying something to the effect of "Stay cool out there!" Maybe it's just been luck of the draw, but I've had more memorably friendly experiences with staff than in previous years, when I got an eye roll for ordering fries. Has anyone else noticed this?

Terpedoed in 1 post or less--er, sorry... Seriously, what is up with KI's rides this year? At this rate, they could open a new Haunt this year called "Maintenance Worker," because it sounds like their lives must be nightmares this season.

They did tell us, though. Granted, they didn't explicitly say "it will be used for Haunt 2012," but they said it will "be used as an exciting new Haunt attraction for seasons to come," or something to that effect.

I'm inexplicably more excited for this year's Haunt than in past years. The things I'm absolutely dying to see make a return for Haunt 2012 are the Cemetery Drive props/actors on International Street, Holiday Horror/Nightmare Alley, and Slaughterhouse. (Maybe Wolf Pack, too, if it can manage to retain the awesomeness it had towards the beginning of Haunt 2011.) The rest I'm hopeful will return, but I'm also excited about the prospect of them changing and being updated. And, of course, there's the new Haunt coming to the Crypt building... I'm stoked.