McSalsa

^ Thank You!

I have a quick question that I think is a bit appropriate for here (since it is CP themed): if you get Platinum passes and stay at a Cedar Point on-site hotel, like Breakers, how big is the discount usually? My sister is considering getting passes, but wants to just go for Gold (Kings Island only) but were planning to also go to Cedar Point, but right now we only plan on going to CP once (2 days) in 2018, so how much we save on the hotel for that is a factor, and Gold is $100 cheaper per person. Thanks in advance.

Ahh, OK- so pre-1999 (Islands of Adventure opened that year if I recall). Thanks for clearing that up.

That is a pretty decent list of parks...quick question on the bolded Universal, though- just studios, or Islands of Adventure AND Studios? I did see you "broke up" the 2 Disney World parks, and Universal (and most sources) do consider the Florida parks 2 parks as each one has its own ticket.

Well, haven't made a poll in ages, but this thought popped in my head and I thought it was a good one, if a bit obvious and simple: how many different amusement parks (and theme parks of course) have you been to so far? Oh, while I will leave it up to you, I personally won't be counting places that are only technically considered amusement parks because they have 1 small kiddie coaster or something- such as a zoo, or a big video game arcade/go-kart track that happens to have a wacky worm, etc etc. but it's up to you if you wanna count those or not. Personally the one place like that I can think of I have been to would be the Indianapolis Zoo, but I also have never ridden their "Kombo" kiddie coaster, so that's my 2nd reason for not counting it... I have been to four, and since I remember it, I'll include the years of my first visit: Indiana Beach (1999), Kings Island (2000), Holiday World (2010), and Cedar Point (2017). Yeah, I am not the most seasoned person out there when it comes to getting around to amusement and theme parks. Someone will probably blow that away only a few posts, if that. Still, even with those few parks, I have already ridden some great rides and made lasting memories with friends. Hopefully in the future I can spread my "wings" a bit more, and will add more parks to my list. Enjoy the poll!

I was browsing Youtube, looking for something to watch, and this came up. Could not find just a random thread for this I thought it would fit, so I just made this one. Thought it was a interesting look into the past of Kings Island, as it is a promo from the TV show "Entertainment Tonight" for the new-for-1987 Vortex. I think it is very cool to see the coaster back in its very early days, when 6 inversions was the most in the world, and 148 feet was the tallest roller coaster in the world*. Still, 31 years (and MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of riders) later, Vortex remains a popular coaster at Kings Island. I even remember last year, the park (or someone in T-Shirt design at least) thought enough of it to put it on a "Kings Island 5" T-Shirt with Beast, Mystic Timbers, Diamondback, and Banshee. *= Unless you count Dragon Mountain @ Marineland in Canada, which is 186 feet tall and opened in 1983 but also heavily used terrain to boost its height as it sits on a tall hill and does not have very tall supports due to this.

I also vote Racer. I would love to see the ride get some TLC, which would include a new paint job and hopefully also a re-track (in recent years it has given me some bumpy rides and even 1 painful one). Diamondback would probably be my #2 pick, though to be honest, while it needs paint I do like how the faded colors are more subdued then when they were new. The super bright red track has now turned Maroon, and the bright yellow that stood out in 2009 now blends in more. I would not mind if when they do decide to repaint Diamondback, they keep a more subdued color scheme. Granted it still needs it, up close you can tell the paint is in bad shape after almost a decade.

I remember them- h/she (Username suggests female, but when you click it it says male on the profile- odd) was crazy about RMC's (not Intamin- though they did seem to be OK with Intamin at least), and was sure Mystic Timbers was going to be one as soon as we realized it was not a Giga but a wooden coaster. S/he was one of a few people who really firmly thought it would be a RMC, and when it was revealed to be a GCI (which most of the evidence and Cedar Fair's past trends pointed to anyway) s/he seemed upset about it. And yeah, s/he did get banned. I think it was before Mystic Timbers even opened as well, as I don't recall them ever saying anything about the ride when it did. (You can still search for banned members via the search tool, BTW, if anyone didn't know that) Oh, and on the "Cowboy Coaster" comment, out of curiosity I went to Intamin's web site to see what they consider Maverick: According to them, and they made the ride so they have a lot of say in it: Maverick is a LSM Launched Coaster. (As far as I know, Cowboy Coaster is a nickname for Maverick, and enthusiasts have taken to calling this and other rides of this model "Blitz Coasters"...I like that name more than LSM Launched Coaster, but it's not official.) https://www.intaminworldwide.com/project/maverick/ (Link in case anyone else wants to see Intamin's "official" site page for Maverick)

Hmm...this depends. CBS ownership, or does Viacom get to keep the parks after the 2004 split? CBS did not seem to care about or want the parks, so if Cedar Fair had never bought the parks from them, I honestly wonder if Kings Island would even exist in 2018. As far as I know, CBS might have even sold the park so it could be razed and condos built on the site, which would obviously make tons of people angry. Thankfully, IRL, Cedar Fair did end up buying the parks from CBS. Now, if Viacom had acquired the parks in the CBS-Viacom split, maybe we have a different story. Viacom has made a few attempts to build new parks since losing the old ones (though so far, none have stuck) so I think they would have actually wanted to keep and run the Paramount parks. So, under Viacom... Son of Beast: Still gets torn down. This ride had many major issues, and RMC did not really get going until 2012-2013, after Cedar Fair had destroyed SOB already. I think Viacom would have been even less tolerant of the ride's major flaws, and it may not have even lasted until 2009 had they stayed in power. Flight of Fear: Probably re-Themed to a Musical Roller Coaster, but remains in the park. (There were actual plans for this, which Cedar Fair reversed) The Kings Dominion model may have been moved to a new park entirely. I'd say...Carowinds. Banshee: Not likely to have been built. In this scenario, Cedar Point is still a "enemy" rival park run by a different company. When Cedar Point built Raptor, they had B&M make a deal with them not to build any more inverted coasters within 200 miles or so of Cedar Point. Kings Island is within this range. I don't know if that deal had a expiration date or not. If not...uhh, anyone want Kings Island to get a Vekoma SLC? Diamondback: Unlikely- after SOB Paramount & Viacom seemed iffy on huge roller coasters, but since Cedar Point never added a B&M Hyper, still possible. Probably would not have been built in the current spot, however, since Paramount was not as big on tossing rides "In Your Face" like Cedar Fair does. Might have actually been the SOB replacement, TBH. Would not be called Diamondback though, of course, if Viacom/Paramount built a B&M Hyper. Firehawk: Might still be X-Flight @ Geauga Lake, but could have been re-located, maybe to Dorney Park or something. However in this scenario I think GL has a much better chance of surviving, but Cedar Fair did have plans to return it to its family park roots and downsize it before the PP Acquisition drove them into massive debt making that impossible. Tomb Raider- The Ride: TBH, unlike SOB, TR:TR has a bit better chance of still being around in this scenario. Running it in crazy mode in 2007 took a LOT of years off it, so had that never happened, maybe it would have lasted longer. It would probably have been pretty run down by now though, and likely still be a shell of the ride it was in 2002, unless at some point Viacom put money into refurbishing the ride. It may have gotten a re-theme though, since the Tomb Raider movie is very outdated by now. Mystic Timbers: ...might actually still be built, but under a different name. GCI's are not expensive, or overly large, and the company has a great reputation so Viacom probably would have taken interest and wanted one. With Son of Beast still flopping, the park would end up needing a modern woodie again anyway. In fact, under Viacom, I think smaller coaster companies would have some rides at Kings Island by now, like Gerstlauer, Mack and Premier Rides since Cedar Fair would have most of the big B&M's on lockdown...unless KI built them first, should Viacom have opened up to big coasters around the 2010's. A Dive Coaster seems like something they could have done, and ironically it would prevent Cedar Point from getting Valravn! Other Notes: WindSeeker probably does not get built, but Viacom might have built a Star Flyer of some sort instead. Racer still runs backwards since apparently that was a Cedar Fair decision, if Viacom is not tempted to RMC it. TOP GUN, Drop Zone, FACE/OFF, and Italian Job: Stunt Track retain their old themes and names. Nick U remains the kids area, but would need some re-theming as lots of the shows the rides were based on are over now. Boo Blasters is likely still Scooby Doo. Crocodile Dundee's Boomerang Bay probably remains the name of the waterpark as well, though it would also have probably been upgraded and gotten new slides by now. Unsure if Viacom would allow Vortex to live as long as Cedar Fair has, since the policies on very old rides like that could be different (Six Flags has destroyed most of their Arrow Loopers, for example, while Cedar Fair has kept most of theirs so far). Well, those are my predictions for this scenario, for at least the major attractions and stuff. Though since Cedar Fair bought the park in 2006 IRL, none of this is true in this universe, and some of it may be a bit optimistic at that.

I have not ridden that many wooden coasters (9 total so far), but of the ones I have been on, I feel Beast is actually among the smoother of the bunch (and is my current favorite woodie mainly due to the epic night rides). It was a bit rougher feeling in 2017, I do still think smoothness wise 2014 was its best year by far that I have ridden it, and of course the brand-new Mystic Timbers is gonna be smoother. But Beast may have a case for #2- and even my roughest rides on Beast (wheel seats usually) were far from unbearable, I have had much worse. (Legend @ Holiday World would probably be the other wooden coaster that could make a claim for 2nd smoothest, though I have not ridden it since 2013 and it got the GCI Re-Track a few seasons ago, and apparently it is even smoother now) In fact, probably the roughest single ride I ever got on ANY coaster was on the aforementioned a few posts ago Voyage, in August 2011. Holiday World was expecting the Timberliners to be ready and thought they could skip re-tracking as much that year. Ouch, I don't think so. The ride was still fun and very intense, just painful fun due to the added roughness. 2013 was better (it had gotten re-tracked by then), but the 2nd half of the ride after the triple down was still pretty rough at points. I have not re-visited Holiday World since 2013, but apparently this section needs work often as they are re-tracking it again for the 2018 season. Hopefully it runs well in 2018, I had some of my best coaster rides ever on it in 2010 and would like to see Voyage get back to that state. Back to Beast: I also kinda think the ride does benefit from a LITTLE roughness, as it helps enhance the sense of speed, which is one of the things Beast is all about. As long as it does not go overboard, which I don't feel has happened in my 22 rides on it so far, it's fine. I'd be OK with a re-track of course (Not a RMC conversion or layout change however, those would be excessive and un-needed), but TBH, Racer needs that a bit more than Beast in my opinion right now- it felt like it was the rougher of the two coasters last year.

Wow. I did not realize I had the same birthday as King Cobra- April 22nd. (Granted King Cobra was a few years before I was born) Granted, I never got to ride this coaster. I do remember seeing it in 2000 on my first visit to Kings Island and thinking it looked cool with the big loop right next to the walkway and stuff, but the fact it went upside down intimidated me as I was just a kid. By the time I finally felt ready to ride roller coasters it was 2009, and King Cobra was already long gone and replaced by Delirium. Also, good article IMO.

Well, the 2017 ElloCoaster poll is in the books. Here are the results: http://www.ellocoaster.com/2017-results/ It lists Top 25 right on the main page, but full results can be downloaded/viewed via a link. And here, IMO, are some noteables: Kings Island Woodie Rankings (171 woodies total were ranked) Mystic Timbers- 11th (2nd best GCI after #10, CGA's Gold Striker) The Beast- 57th (The love/hate relationship this coaster has shows, it still did OK IMO though considering it still beat 100+ other woodies...) Blue Racer- 113th (BLUE RACER DEFEATS RED!) Red Racer- 115th Woodstock Express- 164th (Poor Kiddie Coasters) Other Things of Note Wildfire @ Kolmarden was named best wooden coaster. The odd part: It is at a Zoo in Sweden! Lightning Rod @ Dollywood settles for 2nd, but put up a great fight to Wildfire. RMC takes home 1st and 2nd place, as well as 4th and 12th. They have not made a coaster that ranks lower than 12th. El Toro @ NJFTP, winner of 4 straight Mitch Hawker polls, sees a big drop to 9th place here. Apparently the only explanation I have seen is that it has gotten a little rougher since 2013 (plus RMC rose up during this period), thus the drop. T-Express, which was considered a rival to El Toro, placed ahead of it at 3rd. At least it won a Golden Ticket this year though. Anaconda @ Walygator Parc in France, as was the case in the last few Mitch Hawker polls, still ranks as the worst wooden coaster in the world.

^ The old Cedar Point water tower was in a backstage area, between Corkscrew's turnaround and the main parking area for Hotel Breakers.

On a typical hot summer day, my favorite coaster in the park is Banshee, followed closely by Mystic Timbers (and Diamondback isn't too far behind MT). However, if it's cool or cold and cloudy or the autumn tree colors have kicked in, or at night, The Beast rises above them and takes the cake since it is more of a "take advantage of the scenery" type ride and thus it takes advantage of those conditions better than your typical "element-to-element" normal roller coasters do. Oh, and for wait-time-to-fun value, Vortex and The Bat are both amazing since usually neither of those will be over 30 minutes even on busy days since both are older rides and still have great capacity.

Well, having finally made it to Cedar Point this year (and I made it twice!), I have finally been on a few Intamin roller coasters, so now I can weigh in more on this topic. Intamin currently dominates the top of my coaster rankings, with Maverick currently #1 and Millennium Force at #2 (out of 31 coasters so far). None of their coasters I have been on so far were even close to bad- TTD is short but crazy intense, and Wicked Twister packed far more of a punch than I was expecting from the POV videos. Also, unlike B&M, Intamin makes more than just roller coasters. They made Kings Island's iconic Eiffel Tower, Drop Tower, Congo Falls, White Water Canyon, Viking Fury, and I am sure probably even more. Their rides tend to push boundaries and they are always eager to break new ground, but this has a major drawback: Intamin's coasters and rides are known to have reliability issues, especially rides like Top Thrill Dragster. One my first ever visit to Cedar Point, I had 3 of them break down in a row while I was in line, it was not until my 4th attempt to ride a Intamin- Millennium Force at night- that I was successful, and I thus had to wait until my 2nd trip (which wasn't even planned as we surprisingly won a contest) to get the other 3 Intamin coasters there under my belt. Add in the accidents, and the sadly too often need re-designs of rides AFTER construction and even opening, and I can see why parks have moved away from building their rides. ...especially when their main competitor in the steel coaster market is B&M, a company with a perfect safety record and great ride reliability and capacity. Not to mention B&M can also dish out thrilling rides, and their rides are usually ADORED by the GP, aka the people who make parks the most money. Most enthusiasts also enjoy them, myself included, as can be seen by Fury 325's recent victories in both the Amusement Today Golden Tickets and the fact it tops the Coasterbuzz Top 100 as of right now. Just like Intamin, I have yet to find a B&M I didn't enjoy, even Rougarou which I ranked lowest among them I liked quite a bit- granted I have not ridden B&M's one model that usually gets mixed to bad reviews, the stand-up (never rode Rougarou as Mantis). I do still prefer Intamin's on-ride experience, but B&M is not far behind, and with all other factors included I can see why Cedar Fair loves to build B&M's so much these days. Though TBH I agree with Xdog42 on the aspect of the 2 companies products co-existing well. Cedar Point is a great example of this, as the 2 companies made pretty much every major steel coaster for the park since 1994, adding to the PTC Woodie and Arrow Coasters that were already there and building Cedar Point into the monster park it is today. Though that will change in 2018 as Cedar Point's streak of B&M's and Intamins ends with RMC coming in with Steel Vengeance, the first major coaster not from either of these companies since...1991's Mean Streak, which is what is being turned into Steel Vengeance. Odd how that's worked out.

My vote on this goes to...well, first I will address the other 3 rides that seem to have gotten lots of votes, and give my opinion on why I would keep each of those: Backlot Stunt Coaster- Honestly, I am surprised this has so many votes. Sure, it's capacity is not the absolute best, and it is horribly placed as all that gravel and the box cars look out of place in the middle of the park, but it is a fun family ride with some nice elements and good forces. The helix and final tunnel in particular are quite good IMO. If this was my call, BLSC stays. Vortex- Sure, it's 30 years old, going on 31. And it can be a bit rough. But I don't think it's THAT bad (though I am of a height where my head is above the OTSR) and it has a awesome layout, is pretty reliable, and has great capacity leading to very short wait times. Vortex also stays. Firehawk- Really it was down to this and the coaster I actually picked, and unlike the other one there is not another flying coaster at Kings Island. Poor capacity aside, Firehawk does offer a fun flying sensation no other ride in Ohio can claim to have. Plus at least Firehawk is usually decently smooth. Firehawk also gets to stay. Which means, the coaster I have chosen for removal is... Invertigo. Sadly for Invertigo, 1 coaster has to leave, and of all the coasters at Kings Island, I see it as the most easily replaceable. It is low capacity, reliability issues are somewhat common, and it unlike Vortex actually headbangs me nearly every time I ride it. Plus, it is not even the only large inverted coaster in the park, with the far better Banshee in the same general area. To be honest though, I don't think Invertigo would deserve actual demolition... (Invertigo begins to wake up from offseason sleeping) Invertigo: Ugh...I slept horribly. I felt like they took me completely apart...wait, WHAT THE (BLEEP)!?!? Why am I in the middle of a huge field!?!? And what's this massive pile of wood doing next to me!?!? ??? (In a Pirate-y Voice): Ahoy Matey! I not a pile of wood, I am Shivering Timbers! Welcome to Michigan's Adventure! Invertigo: MICHIGAN'S ADVENTURE!?!? NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!! Shivering Timbers: O dear. He's acting the same way that Vekoma SLC fella did back when he first got here. Don't worry mate, you'll come to enjoy it here...

Holiday World is a great park. I enjoyed all 3 wooden coasters (though I was one of those crazy people who liked Legend best even before the GCI revamp) and they still have a nice small park charm to them the 2 bigger parks I have been to (Kings Island and Cedar Point) lack. They also really try to theme their rides to whatever section of the park they are in, which can lead to odd yet fun results- see Gobbler Getaway, their shoot-em-up dark ride in the thanksgiving section. It is far better than Boo Blasters (and I don't even think Cedar Point HAS a dark ride period if I recall) and the ending is hilarious. Jcgoble is also not kidding about food there being cheaper- at Cedar Point (and I think KI would be the same price 'cause same chain) we paid $10 for some chicken fingers, and all we got were chicken fingers and honey mustard dip for that price. At Holiday World you get that, plus fries and celery, and a choice of ranch and blue cheese dip for $9. So you pay $1 less, yet get more. (At least the Chicken Fingers I got at CP were good though) Or make that $5 less when you add the fact the $4+ drinks are free at Holiday World. Oh and unlike most parks, Holiday World's web site is not afraid to show what they charge in-park for food. https://www.holidayworld.com/park-tickets/food-snacks/ Just click a restaurant, and you can see the prices for yourself. And I'm kinda surprised no one has mentioned one of Holiday World's biggest draws, attractions wise: Splashin' Safari. It is the Cedar Point of waterparks- except instead of huge steel coasters everywhere, it is huge waterslides everywhere. You know the giant Funnel slide at Kings Island, which is one of the biggest and most popular waterslides KI has? Holiday World has that. There however, it struggles to make their top 5 waterslides in terms of scale and "draw" factor! You have ZOOMbabwe- one of the world's biggest waterslides which is over 100 feet tall, and is completely enclosed on the inside, creating a massive "dark" water slide (the view from the top of it is also incredible). Bakuli is almost as big and ends with a huge toilet bowl section. Hyena Falls is a complex is multiple slides, the biggest of which has a awesome and intense half-pipe element. There is also the massive mat racing slide, Jungle Racer, as well as numerous smaller slides, a fun lazy river (perfect after riding Voyage IMO), 2 water play areas, and 2 wave pools. And then you come to the star attractions of Splashin' Safari: Wildebeest and Mammoth, the ProSlide Water Coasters. These 2 slides CONSTANTLY get rave reviews, and also huge waits on busy days. Basically these slides feel more like a mix of a roller coaster and a waterslide, as they have twists, turns, and drops just like roller coasters do, complete with airtime...lots of airtime. Especially Wildebeest, and if you can ride it by yourself somehow (you'll need a day with no crowds) prepare for the best airtime I have experienced on ANY ride so far. Splashin' Safari blows Kings Island's waterpark out of the water, IMO...no offense to Kings Island though, Splashin' Safari blows MOST waterparks out of the water. And this isn't even mentioning Thunderbird, which was built after my last trip to Holiday World so I have not yet ridden it. Though if my rides on GateKeeper were any indication, Thunderbird is probably also awesome. I do hope I can get back to Holiday World at some point- I had great fun there on my last few visits, and would love to go back. Oh, and on Voyage: I like the coaster, and actually adored it back in 2010 when I first rode it, but when I returned to ride it again in 2011 it had become pretty darn brutal and rough (I heard that year they did not do as much re-tracking since they were expecting the Timberliners). I rode again in 2013, and while the first half of the coaster (everything up to and including the triple down in the dark) was almost back to 2010 quality, the 2nd half still felt brutal and somewhat painful. I was fine after a ride on the Lazy River afterwards though. I could ride it a few times a day, sure, but I'd need breaks between rides. I honestly prefer Legend over Voyage- Legend is a bit on the brutal side too, but not as much and it hits the brake run before it becomes too much. I haven't ridden Voyage since they began "trimming" it though (aka using the mid-course brakes more), so maybe that has helped them upkeep the 2nd half better, even if the intensity is reduced. Still, I know Holiday World works their butts off trying to keep Voyage running well. I cannot imagine how bad it would get if a chain park/new owner that didn't put as much TLC in took over Holiday World. Voyage would probably become a nightmare after a few seasons tops.

I was looking around online today, and I found this. Apparently it is a new wooden coaster poll that is meant to be a spiritual successor to the old Mitch Hawker polls that stopped running after the 2013 season. http://www.ellocoaster.com/wood-coaster-poll/ So far it's just going to be for wooden coasters, probably because there are tons more steel coasters than wood these days so a wood poll is simpler I guess. Oh, and I voted on it. Here is how my ballot looks... #1- Beast, Kings Island #2- Legend, Holiday World #3- Mystic Timbers, Kings Island #4- Voyage, Holiday World #5- Blue Streak, Cedar Point #6- Raven, Holiday World #7- Racer (Red), Kings Island #8- Racer (Blue), Kings Island (Racing Coasters can count as 2 if you prefer a certain side of them, I like Red Racer more than Blue) #9- Hoosier Hurricane, Indiana Beach #10- Woodstock Express, Kings Island And those are pretty much all the wooden coasters I have been on so far. I have to get out of Ohio & Indiana and find some more wooden coasters to ride...anyhow, felt this was worth sharing if anyone is interested. I kinda wanna see the results, mainly to see how the "woodies" (poll includes RMC topper track rides) built from 2014-2017 like Goliath, Lightning Rod, and Mystic Timbers among others do...

At Kings Island, my final ride of 2017 was Beast @ Night way back in August. It was amazing as usual for Beast night rides. Didn't come to KI for Haunt this year. Last coaster of the 2017 regular season (winter events not included) was GateKeeper at Cedar Point though, 2 days ago on October 28th.

Hello everyone! As you may have read in the off-topic... uh, topic... I went to Cedar Point for the 1st time ever on September 16th for my sister birthday. While we were there, while we were waiting on the Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad to show up, she entered a contest. A few weeks later, she got a phone call and found out we had won. The prize? 4 Cedar Point tickets, with included Fast Lane Plus and Fright Lane. So suddenly, we were going back to Cedar Point. She ended up liking the on-site cottages at Lighthouse point, and one of the friends we were going with said they looked nice too, so she just went and booked them even though she said she was wanting something cheaper than Hotel Breakers (the cottage was like $10 more). Then, a week or so before the one day we could make the trip, she and her friends decided to book a single night at Breakers Express simply so we could drive to Cedar Point a day early and not have to wake up at 5AM and drive that long. So much for trying to use cheaper hotels. Thanks to everyone who gave us suggestions and advice though. Now would probably be a good time to explain my ride rating system as usual... 10=Incredible 9=Excellent 8=Very Good 7=Good 6=OK 5=Meh 4=Bad 3=Terrible 2=Garbage 1=Hot Garbage 0=INFERNO Garbage As a side-note, since my last trip to Cedar Point, I realized I had to tighten up my ratings so that there would not be so many 10/10's, so for example while in the past I would give a typical ride on Racer a 8/10 now it would be a 7/10. This does not mean I liked the ride any less, I just wanted more room between the best rides and the ones that are just pretty good. Anyhow, now to the rest of the trip report. On Friday, we headed to our friends house and packed some stuff up. While there, I saw about 25-30 ducks walking down the street and heading for a neighbor's house who according to one of our friends feeds them. It was a sight to behold. We finished packing, grabbed some food at a nearby McDonalds, went back to our house because my sister forgot the tickets (D'oh!) and then hit the road. During the drive the rain began, and the temperatures began to drop. We arrived at the Express Hotel around 11:30PM, and we got our room and headed in. It was actually a bit bigger than the room we got at Hotel Breakers, and IMO was a bit cooler. Though it had the negative point of not being on-site. We then slept, woke up, and got some doughnuts and took our stuff and checked out. We still got ERT though, which was a plus. We then got McDonald's (Doughnuts did not fill us all up), and headed to our cottage. It was small on the outside but seemed bigger once we came in, and was quite nice to be honest. We then got a shuttle to the front gate, and redeemed our tickets, Fast Lane, and fright lane. We then headed into the park with the intent to ride Maverick, but one of our friends (the same one who was trying to get over his fear of coasters, he had a major victory later on) saw a ride he wanted to hit up first... Ride #1- Cedar Downs Racing Derby Wait: 5 Minutes (1 Cycle) This was a nice flat ride, though it was not terribly intense or super thrilling it does have some fun factor to it. I liked how during the ride, they played audio of an actual horse race. I also thought it would be a littler faster based on the off-ride videos I had seen, but it was still much faster than a old-school Carousel. A fun ride to start the day. Score: 6/10 (Note: Remember, Harder to get high ratings now! 6/10 not that bad anymore...) After the Derby (I came in last), we headed on down the Midways. The train was not open yet so we had to walk all the way to Maverick. On the way, I noticed something that worried me: I had not yet seen a single coaster running! Flat rides were testing, even giant ones like WindSeeker or MaXair, but no coasters. This worried me. We got to Maverick and saw...it was closed. There was a line built up outside it, and I even asked the ride-op who said clearly it was too cold but once the temperatures got higher Maverick and the other coasters would attempt to open. We headed into the nearby restrooms since some us had to go, and we checked out the awesome Town Hall Museum. The models of Blue Streak and the now-defunct Mean Streak were awesome and I even think they were to scale with each other. We then headed out and I pointed out that wooden coasters tend to be able to run in colder temperatures versus steel, so we would check to see if Blue Streak was open. But, to get to Blue Streak, we would ride... Ride #2: Cedar Creek & Lake Erie Railroad Wait: Walk-On...it was arriving as soon as we needed it! This time it was daylight, so all the cool creepy fog effects the train had last time were gone. The skeleton dudes were still cool props and stuff though. This is a good way to get from Frontier Town back to the middle of Cedar Point. Score: 6/10 After that, to get even closer to Blue Streak- as well as to see what else if anything was running- we rode... Ride #3: Sky Ride Wait: Walk-On In a surprising twist, I am more comfortable going backwards on this ride. I also was looking and yes, Blue Streak was open! And to my shock, so was a 2nd coaster...Wicked Twister! We still decided to do Blue Streak first though since our not-quite-comfy with coasters friend can handle and liked it. Score: 6/10 We got off the Sky Ride, and headed to Blue Streak. Ride #4: Blue Streak Wait (with Fast Lane): 45 Minutes (W/O: 75 Minutes+) The main reason for the huge wait was they decided to add the 2nd train and then had to do a bunch of test runs. However, those ended, and we got on near the middle of the ride. The train climbed the lift hill, and I wondered what a wooden coaster would be like in these cold temperatures. Well, cold of course. But also still very fun. We got tons of airtime similar to last time save like one hill, but one airtime moment had a near-disaster event: my sister's glasses, which she never got a strap for, flew off and landed in the car! She tried to save them with her feet but they slid up into the front of the car. We hit the brake run and thankfully, the people in the front row of our car found them, and they were un-damaged. I guess Blue Streak will teach my sister not to ride without a glasses strap next time. On nearly all coasters after this, she took her glasses off and put them in her pocket. The ride was very fun and packed with thrills however, and no bad stuff happened to me (I had a strap for my glasses) so I loved the ride. Score: 9/10 After Blue Streak, we were all a bit hungry again, so we headed to a nearby restaurant, Chickie's & Pete's... Food: Chickie's & Pete's I got the Chicken Tenders, and my sister got the Crab Fries and the "Blue Streak" alcoholic beverage (considering what had happened just prior I found that ironic). Our other friends got huge cheesesteaks, but I found out those cost $21 each! Holy expensive food compared to my $9 chicken tenders! We also got overpriced sodas as we forgot our drink bottles from the last trip at the cottage. The food came to us fast and hot, and my chicken tenders were great. My sister gave me some of her fries as she got a huge bucket, and they were amazingly delicious IMO. Her drink was just OK, it was Banana flavored, and it was not even Blue! Our check also took forever to arrive, which I think was due to the restaurant being a bit busy and being understaffed at the time. This was also the only food I ate in the park itself, well save some cheese fries later on a friend got that have gave me, which were also amazing so I now think Cedar Point has amazing fries. Score: 8/10 (would be a 9 or 10, but they were slow on the check) After we ate, our friends wanted to go smoke, and I was told since we had Fast Lane Plus I should go get a quick ride in on Wicked Twister. Great idea, I thought. I'll be back in 5 minutes! Ride #5: Wicked Twister Wait: 40 Minutes!?!? (Must have been 2 1/2+ Hours without FL+) Well dang I did not expect that to take so long. The ride crew was a bit slower, and with only Blue Streak as the other coaster option, the normally not-so-long line for Wicked Twister was immense. My sister even finished smoking and came up to the ride exit and we were chatting when I finally got on, which distracted me from the launch! And wow, Flight of Fear has NOTHING on this launch! POV videos do not do this ride justice. Wicked Twister is very fast and forceful, and dropping nearly 200 feet back and forth is great fun. Way, way better than Invertigo, and it was pretty smooth to boot! Also it did not "Intamin" (aka break down) once while I was waiting for it which is always a plus. Score: 9/10 As I was waiting in that stupidly-long-even-for-Fast-Lane line for Wicked Twister, I saw Magnum XL-200 had began to do test runs, which warmed my freezing cold heart in the hope it would open. Then, my sister (when she came up to the exit) did so because they saw Valravn was doing test runs as well! The coasters were coming to life! We stopped in the Snoopy Gift Shop to warm up (PS: This shop was awesome but we did not get anything) and then we did some more checks...and my sister's favorite coaster was open. We headed down the Frontier Midway and saw Millennium Force was also testing, which also made me happy but that was not the ride my sister wanted to do...we got to that minutes later. Ride #6: Maverick Wait: 5 Minutes (W/O FL+: 2 Hours...EPIC TIME SAVINGS BATMAN!) Seriously, just looking at the line we skipped thanks to Fast Lane Plus was crazy. Maverick itself? Even crazier. I had heard that this coaster was basically Backlot Stunt Coaster on steroids, and that turned out to be pretty true, and BLSC on steroids is awesome! Maverick had some nice crazy ejector air, only a bit weaker than what I got on Magnum about a month earlier, and lots of sweet twists and turns. The mid-course launch was also epic and intense just like it was on Wicked Twister. Also just like Wicked Twister, Maverick did not go down once this time. Guess there were no Bees due to the cold. (Then again we did also only have to wait like 5 minutes...) Score: 10/10! After Maverick, we were pretty cold so we decided to head back to our cottage and rest for a half hour-hour or so. Our non-big coaster friend wanted to ride Cedar Creek Mine Ride but it went down and as we passed it, I saw why...MINE RIDE HAD VALLEYED IN THE HELIX! This was the first time I have ever seen a coaster do that. It didn't re-open after that and I cannot really blame Cedar Point after seeing that. So we stuck to our plan. I also spotted Top Thrill Dragster of all rides do a test run, but it did not send a 2nd train for a while so I assumed it may have failed and closed again. We first headed to Hotel Breakers to catch a shuttle, but got Hot Chocolate on the inside that was great but was also so hot it burned my sister's throat a bit! Then we headed to our cottage on the shuttle, and rested for a bit. I watched some of The Nightmare Before Christmas which had come on, but after around 30 minutes or so I was warm again and wanted to go back and ride more coasters since they were starting to open now. I agreed to meet up with the group around 8PM at the cottage (Spoiler: I re-united before then at a different location), and headed out on my own... As I made my way towards Magnum XL-200 from the Soak City lot, I saw TTD send more trains out, but then I noticed TTD had people on it! Not getting to ride it was a big buzzkill on my last trip, so I walked fast, got in the park, and showed my wristband to the ride op and entered the line. I waited 15 minutes, thanks to FL+ in spite of them only using the first 3 cars of each train so it would not rollback. I got on. We rolled out. The engine sounds played. Arms down...head back...WA WA WA. Our train rolled back to the 1st launch section where the 2nd train is usually when it launches, just in front of the main station, and stopped. I feared TTD had remembered it was a Intamin and had broken down...but, turns out, it was just a minor seatbelt issue on a guy in front of me! Ride #7: Top Thrill Dragster Wait: 15 Minutes+5 Minutes for Minor Issue (Without FL+ I guess it was like 2 hours or something, not sure but it was a big line...) The cable car hooked up. The brakes came down. It was happening. The sound effects played again. And then...LAUNCH. Holy Toledo, even the forceful launches on Maverick and Wicked Twister did not prepare me for this like I thought they would. It was like a crushing force was pushing against my body. I blurted out "OH HOLY CR##!"- I apologized to the guy who rode with me for my colorful language- a dad with 2 teenage daughters, he understood 100% though. We rocketed up the 420 foot tower, which actually felt good because the forces were removed. But then we were sky high, and I looked down on the pewny Millennium Force...WAIT, THAT IS NOT PEWNY HOLY COW! Then we came down which was like Wicked Twister times two. And then, at last, the brakes. Wow. It was only 20 seconds, but what a thrilling 20 seconds! Most intense coaster I have ever been on. Conquering this monster felt like an achievement. Score: 10/10! After finally overcoming Top Thrill Dragster, I decided I would go ride Millennium Force next since I knew what the wait would be with Fast Lane Plus. I walked over and got in line... Ride #8: Millennium Force Wait: 30 Minutes (W/O FL: 1 1/2 Hours- a savings of a whole hour!) After chatting with a girl and her boyfriend in line, we reached the station in about 30 minutes so my prediction was correct. I got to ride the the very last car this time, and got good floater air over the 3 huge drops (especially on the 1st drop- 300'+ of floater air!) and the final baby hill had borderline ejector air from this seat. The speed was still crazy fast, but it was also cold so the ride was very cold. It was epic, though I would still say my 1st ride (a night ride around a month ago) was better since it had the night ride "boost" a lot of rides get. Still 10/10 worthy even in the daytime though! Score: 10/10! After Millennium Force, I considering riding Valravn since the people I were chatting with recommended it and said front row was THE row to do. But I knew my sister really wanted to ride it, so I wanted to wait and ride it with her. Instead I decided I would ride Magnum XL-200 next. I headed over to Magnum XL-200, and I ran into my sister and our other friends...who were also heading to Magnum XL-200! So we re-grouped much earlier than planned... Ride #9: Magnum XL-200 Wait: 15 Minutes (W/O FL: 30-45 Minutes? I didn't get a good look at the line...) Here is our non-big-coaster riding friend's big achievement for the day: he rode Magnum XL-200! And he thought it was OK! Even though he still refuses to ride anything with loops and stuff, since those make him sick, and he still won't ride giant rides like Millennium Force or Top Thrill Dragster this was still a big step. As for my experience on this ride: pretty similar to last time during the daylight, but the cold temperatures must have slowed the ride at least a bit because the ejector hills at the end were a little bit weaker, though still pretty darn strong. The ride was also very smooth considering the age of the ride. Though our seat selection could also have done that. As I tried to exit the ride, my lap bar kept trying to come back down, and I tripped trying to leave the ride car (did not get hurt though)- it was like Magnum XL-200 did not want me to leave! Sorry baby, I must go ride other rides... Score: 10/10! After Magnum XL-200, we headed over to ride Valravn. However, when we were about to board, GateKeeper began testing for the first time and Valravn broke down. We headed over and waited a few minutes to see if GateKeeper would open, but it looked like it might not. Raptor also did a few test runs but then nothing. Valravn re-opened, so we went back there since the Fast Lane Plus line was very short...by now, it was also dark out. Ride #10: Valravn (Night) Wait: 5 Minutes (W/O FL+: 3 HOURS!!!) This was probably the biggest perk of having Fast Lane Plus of the entire trip- we waited 5 minutes for a coaster that had a 3 hour wait in the regular line! As for Valravn itself...it is AWESOME. We rode front now as I had been suggested earlier, and hanging over the edge gives a very Drop Tower like experience. The drop itself has lots of airtime, not quite ejector but pretty darn strong floater. The inversions are forceful and much faster than the POV's suggested, and the airtime hill actually gives very good airtime. This is actually my new favorite coaster made by B&M so far! Now I understand why so many here on KIC keep asking Kings Island to build a Dive Coaster... Score: 10/10! After the epic Valravn (which also includes a nice photo op spot with the huge throne) we decided to go get a night ride on Maverick, since my sister said the ride she got at night years ago was incredible. So we headed over there, and rode Maverick a 2nd time! We had to go through a scare zone to get there though, but it was pretty fun to be honest. Then we reached our goal... Ride #11: Maverick (Night) Wait: 15 Minutes (W/O FL+: 75 Minutes) The regular wait had decreased drastically from earlier, which I assume was from more rides being open and haunts opening, but a few more people had FL+ now so we had to wait a bit longer. But it was EASILY worth it! Maverick was great in the daytime, but at night, it becomes incredible! The airtime felt even stronger than before, and with areas of the ride now being dark you can't see the twists coming as easily. And the launch tunnel becomes pitch black, save the cheesy yet fun "exit" signs all over it, giving it a bit of a Flight-of-Fear vibe in that area. Millennium Force got to be my favorite coaster for a month, but now, Maverick is my new #1. Steel Vengeance is gonna have to be outstanding in many ways to surpass this...granted it might, that thing looks amazing too... Score: 11/10!!! (Still broke the scale, even with the more restrictive ratings!) After we rode Maverick, I was planning to head back to the cottage since I was feeling a bit worn out, but when we stopped near Magnum XL-200 to use the bathrooms we found out that Raptor and GateKeeper had both opened! My sister really wanted to ride GateKeeper, and I wanted to get the Raptor credit. So our friend who had faced his fear and rode Magnum earlier, who did not really wanna do haunts, left and we went to go ride the 2 B&M's. But, on the way, my sister saw a scare zone she wanted to do...we thought it was a haunt at first though. SCARE ZONE: Blood on the Bayou This Haunt was cool, and a bit creepy. It was awesome how you get to walk under Iron Dragon (which had opened but had a 45+ minute wait so I never rode it since it lacks FL), Rougarou (never opened, though a train was left on the lift halfway up), and Top Thrill Dragster (was still running and looked to be running strong all day once it opened- the new cable car must be working great). Also we saw the funny and amazing Voodoo screamster from Night of the Living Fed again in here! Also, there was a first for me: normally I do not get "targeted" by these guys, but one of them actually followed me around creepily for a bit. I had fun here. Score: 9/10 (would be a 8/10 but +1 for having Voodoo!) After BOTB, which set us back quite a bit, we ended up at Raptor, since we were on that side of the Midway. It was finally time to ride my 2nd B&M Invert after Banshee... Ride #12: Raptor (Night) Wait: 10 Minutes (W/O FL: 30 Minutes) Woah. Same coaster model, very different experience. A lot changes in 20 years I guess. Where Banshee is very graceful, yet forceful, Raptor is very snappy and transitions much faster from element to element, sometimes so fast I did not have time to register them! It was also a bit rough in spots, but I wasn't too bugged by that. My sister did not like it because her restraint locked at a point where she could still move quite a bit, and she strongly prefers tight restraints that feel 100% safe. I felt fine but I am not bugged by a not-so-tight restraint. I enjoyed Raptor quite a bit, nearly as much as Banshee, but I think I would still give Banshee a very tiny edge because I prefer the Pretzel Loop on Banshee to Raptor's Cobra Roll, and Banshee has that amazing slow roll at the end. Raptor is awesome though in its own right. Score: 9/10 After Raptor, and my sister calmed down a bit, we headed to GateKeeper which has the vest restraints she adores. (TBH they are comfy and prevent head banging) Ride #13: GateKeeper (Night) Wait: 15 Minutes (With or W/O FL, it was useless for once!) For once, there was not enough of a regular line so our FL+ was worthless. But it was a short wait anyway. I rode from the middle this time, and it was still pretty forceful and still very fun, save the airtime hill gave pretty weak air this go around (I could feel some, it was just weak). The keyhole element remains awesome, and the first drop is crazy with that twist. A great ride. Score: 9/10 After GateKeeper, I agreed to do 1 more Haunt (we still thought Blood on the Bayou was a haunt at this point) so we headed over to Hexed, which was nearby, before I too returned to the cottage. HAUNT: Hexed My one Haunt of the night, and while it had a lot of cool props, there were not many screamsters in here at all. My sister who loves Haunts was very disappointed. In fact, when I talked to her later in the evening she said most of the Haunts at Kings Island are better in her opinion. I thought Hexed was OK, but then again I am not into Haunts that much so I was OK with not being scared and looking at the cool props. Score: 6/10 After that, we headed to Valravn's exit and had our friend grab his van and come get us. I stayed with him and went back to the cottage, and our other friend and my sister went off to do Haunts for 1 hour. Later they came back, and I found out myself that you can actually watch FUN TV on the Hotel TV's. It was offline though because the park had closed. My sister came back, we ate some food we had brought from our house or gotten at stores on the way there, and we fell asleep. I woke up at 8AM the next day, the others followed after, and we packed up the van and left after having an awesome trip. A 5-hour car ride later, we got home safely. Since I rode quite a few new coasters yet again (I had barely ridden half of these yet on my first trip), here is my updated probably end of 2017 Top 10 Coasters so far: Note: I have only been to Indiana Beach, Kings Island, Holiday World, and Cedar Point so far and am missing a few coasters from some of them. #1- Maverick @ Cedar Point #2- Millennium Force @ Cedar Point #3- The Beast @ Kings Island (Favorite Wooden Coaster, Broke Fear of Coasters in 2009) #4- The Legend @ Holiday World #5- Magnum XL-200 @ Cedar Point #6- Top Thrill Dragster @ Cedar Point (An epic 20 seconds but it is only 20 seconds) #7- Valravn @ Cedar Point #8- GateKeeper @ Cedar Point #9- Banshee @ Kings Island #10- Raptor @ Cedar Point Some epic coasters got knocked out of My Top 10! Mystic Timbers, Diamondback, The Voyage, and Blue Streak must now accept Top 15 status. Wicked Twister was Top 10 for a brief period, then I rode Maverick and it fell out, it is my #14 ahead of Blue Streak. Getting in my top 10 is gonna start to become hard now that I have been on 31 coasters and will probably ride more in the future. Also I only need Corkscrew (was stuck on its lift all day closed), Cedar Creek Mine Ride, and next year's Steel Vengeance to have ridden all of the coasters at Cedar Point. Anyhow here are my final pros and cons.... PROS +Fast Lane Plus seems very worth the $150, granted mine came free +Park Worked VERY hard to get as many rides open as possible it seemed, even when there were mere hours left before closing +Food at Chickie and Pete's was very good, and the fries I got both there and outside were awesome +Both Express Hotel and Lighthouse Point Cottage were great hotels +Amazing Roller Coaster selection. They don't call it "America's Roller Coast" for nothing! +The Intamins actually behaved most of the day and didn't seem to go down too often! CONS -Brr...super cold weather. Not park's fault, but still a con. -Huge crowds in spite of this. Had I not had Fast Lane Plus, I would have had a much worse day. -Issues getting rides open, though I suspect a lot of it was weather, at one point your coaster choices were Blue Streak or Wicked Twister. GateKeeper and Raptor did not open until very late. -Food places seemed understaffed based on what we saw at Chickie & Pete's Thank you for reading this pretty long trip report. 2017 was a great year for me coaster-wise, my best one yet IMO. Though it may not be over just yet if we visit KI for Winterfest, and based on this CP trip, I will ride Mystic Timbers in 35-degree weather! Though I fear it will have a huge line. Anyhow, comments and questions welcome as always. MCSALSA AWAY!!!

^ That would probably be a good option, and considering many people seem to miss them, new Antique Cars would make guests happy. Though my personal pick would be a bit different: Tilt-A-Whirl. Just because I like them and it is a classic flat ride.

^ This kind of shocks me: Cedar Point is WAY ahead with six 200'+ roller coasters. I am looking over on the RCDB page, sorted by height, and it seems no one else has more than two over 200'. A few of the parks that have 2... Six Flags Magic Mountain (Goliath + Superman: Escape from Krypton) (X2 would be a 3rd but it is only 175 feet tall with a 215 foot drop) Six Flags Great Adventure (Nitro + Kingda Ka) Six Flags Over Texas (Titan + Mr. Freeze Reverse Blast) Carowinds (Fury 325 + Intimidator) Canada's Wonderland (Leviathan + Behemoth) Fuji Q Highland (Eejanaika + Fujiyama) ...and I may have missed one or two but I think that's it. Heck, in 2009, Kings Island would have made this during the brief period when both Son of Beast and Diamondback operated at the park!

I see "DM" on the part # section. I am pretty sure that means Dive Machine. Probably for outside the United States, I'd imagine.

^ Kings Island has more than one Intamin. Off the top of my head, I'm pretty sure they made all of these: Eiffel Tower White Water Canyon Viking Fury Congo Falls Drop Tower: Scream Zone ...and there may be more smaller rides I just am forgetting/not thinking about.

^ I hate to bear bad-ish news, but apparently this was while the ride was open with people on it. Thankfully in good news, no injuries. Though due to the damage done the ride may well be closed until next season from what I am hearing. Edit: Missed that post #1 also confirms the ride being closed. Sorry, brain fart!