violakat03

I just want to see if I'm insane or my memories are mixed up. Back in about 1999 or 2000, I got stuck on The Beast for about an hour when there was a malfunction with a train leaving the station. We were in the brakes leading up to the station, waiting for the train in the station to leave, and got stuck there. Now, my question is, was that ever an enclosed tunnel like The Racers has or has it always been open-sided like it is now? Because I swear it was a closed tunnel when I got stuck in it, but I just saw a POV video from the 80's and it was open sided. So am I just insane and have myself all mixed up?

I agree that they're cool when outside, and I think it's kinda cool inside too. I'd probably even enjoy the Crypt if I wasn't still mad at it for being such a let down after a 3 hour wait. That ride was totally over-hyped.

I've been mad at that ride ever since the first year it opened. I rode it on OPENING DAY that year and no one really knew what it was. There were rumors flying everywhere and most thought it was an indoor roller coaster a la FOF. I waited in line almost 3 hours for it. Biggest waste of 3 hours in my life.

My favorite memories ... Going down the first hill of The Beast with my best friend who was terrified of roller coasters, and had a death grip on my hand the whole way down. When we got off, she was all smiles and said "I'm not afraid of them anymore." We rode 6 more coasters that day. And Drop Tower! Riding The Racer, red train, 8 times in a row without getting off on the first night of Halloween Haunt, even though my husband gave up on me after the 2nd lap. Our random trip to Boomerang Bay one hot summer day when we wanted to go swimming but the YMCA didn't have any open swim hours. A last minute decision that ended with my first ride on Flight of Fear in 4 years. The scarer that got my husband really really good just outside X-base! The very last day of regular season, I went with two friends, one of which had never been to Kings Island before. We left the park for a late lunch (cause my pass would let us park for free again) and right as we left, it started POURING down rain. It stayed that way for about two hours, so we killed a bunch of time outside the park. When we got back, we walked on Son of Beast front car, but most of the rides didn't reopen. We ended up marathoning Flight of Fear for the last 2 hours.

I think Paramount really killed a lot of what Kings Island really was and CF is in for a long road to bring it back to it's glory. The overabundance of commercialism (every single new ride except SOB being themed after a movie) and the focus only on 'bigger and better' took out the family aspect. I personally think Cedar Point is a great family park for rides - they've got a good amount of little kiddie rides (more than Kings Island) and lots more flat rides. I definitely enjoyed CP's flat rides more - from the high thrills like Chaos and Witch's Wheel (PKI took out Skylab the year after I rode it the first time) to the family oriented things like the Antique cars/turnpike cars/Cadillac Cars (yes, they have THREE car rides at CP), and the spinning rides like Matterhorn, Calypso and Super Himalaya. I'd like to see a wider variety at King's Island, because now that I've visited Cedar Point several times, I find KI lacking in flat ride variety. I still think it's a great park with great coasters (and there is no coaster in existence that even compares to The Beast, IMO) but there's only a small handful of flatrides that adults can really ride and enjoy - Monster, Shake Rattle n Roll, Scrambler and a few others. They could benefit from a lot more flat rides that are family friendly. I do think they're an excellent park for 'growing up' to coasters. I started out on The Beastie when I was 10, being absolutely terrified of the idea of coasters but loving it once I got up the nerve. At 11, I rode the forwards Racer and Adventure Express. The summer I turned 12, I started out on Flight of Fear and never looked back. CF has also brought back shows - I don't even remember them having shows (though I know they did have one or two) when Paramount owned it. Now I can actually name off a few of the shows, and they have live entertainment on the International Street stage again, which has been done in a while. The park overall is cleaner, security is more visible, and the staff seems much friendlier. I think they're taking giant steps towards bringing Kings Island back to it's former glory. Though we'll probably never see a return of the monorail or zoo area, I think they'll do some good things if we give them time. My biggest hope for next year is that they return some of the theming that's been left to rot - the old western town on the train route is barely even there anymore because it hasn't been touched by maintenance in so long. A return of the fog and strobes to Flight Deck would make that ride exciting again. And could someone PLEASE dust in the queue area of Flight of Fear?!

I worked in the Emporium during off season (big store on International Street), and at least once a week, I got "Where's the Eiffel Tower?" .... Umm .. walk outside, look up. Can't miss it. I have no idea where the whole "they took out The Bat because it killed a bunch of people" got started, but I've heard that for as long as I can remember. Two pre-teen boys in line for The Beast: "Wow, this ride was built in 1978 (reading from a sign)." "Yeah, they're takingit out next year because it's illegal to have rides that are over 30 years old."

darn, I won't be there on Sunday. However, I think it's totally doable. The weekend before last, I did 8 rides on red train in less than an hour on Saturday night and never had to go back around. This was in the last hour before close and every seat, including front, was walk-on. There was me and 3 other people that kept switching seats around and trading seat partners and no one else even got in line while we were there.

I've only ridden TTD twice. And in 6 days total at the park this season I never once saw a rollback, so my hopes are fairly low of getting one. And I never noticed the radar while on the ride. I'm usually too busy watching excitedly at the hill and grinning.