McSalsa

^ Wait, is this ride using the classic 4-across trains and not the V-Shaped ones? Huh. And it's NOT a Giga but a normal hyper. Either SeaWorld just didn't want to spend extra money on the V-Trains, or perhaps an issue was found with them. As for the coaster itself: looks like Fury 325 and Diamondback rolled into one and then shrunk down to just 200 feet (versus 230 for Diamondback and 325 for Fury 325).

Well, looking at Carowinds on Google Maps, the removal of Thunder Road will open up a HUGE section of land to expand on- though I question why they can't just do like Racer & Rebel Yell do and "tunnel" through Thunder Road. Here's an image I made from Google Maps with sections highlighted- blue is the current waterpark, and the red is possible expansion area (Thunder Road is in between these 2). They may not use all of it, depending on if they want to save some parking lot or use the section where the trees are: http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy10/McSalsa/Carowinds%20Googlemaps%20Expansion_zpsauixa3kr.png~original That's at least DOUBLE the waterpark size, which if all used would create one heck of a GIANT waterpark that would put even Spashin' Safari and Schiltterbahn (hope I spelled that right) to shame. Though I don't think they will and some of that will probably also be used for the dry park or stay parking lot. Thinking about it, if I recall, Cedar Fair under Matt Ouimet has stated they would be interested in building on-site hotels for their parks if they hand the funds. With Carowinds obviously being seen as a hotspot for growth, they may be wanting to add one. I also feel if Thunder Road does go, Carowinds next big coaster after Fury 325 should be a wooden coaster- most likely GCI given they seem to be Cedar Fair's go-to. With only Hurler and the kids coaster, their wooden lineup doesn't look so good.

Yikes- this worries me because it does show Cedar Fair will remove classic attractions if they feel they are in the way of future projects or park expansion. And there are a handful of members of the GP who don't see the value in keeping these classic wooden rides (usually they are also the ones who want giant steel coasters instead every year). Though looking at the comment responses to those FB posts, MOST of the GP seems ENRAGED. Whizzer @ SFGam was saved by fan outrage, and Thunder Road is still standing for now, so this may not be set in stone but I'm not sure if it'll be enough. Cedar Fair will go where the money tells them though, and if they see enough money in keeping Thunder Road, they may do it. This also makes me think about the future of Racer @ Kings Island, and the other coasters possibly on the chopping block. Racer might be OK since Flight of Fear and Firehawk being behind it already put Racer in a spot that really can't be used for much else but it may still end up cut at some point (for simply saving on ride upkeep) if its popularity gets too low. Coney Mall without Racer would feel very, very weird. Another big option is Vortex- a very different type of ride, but it is old and I noticed its ridership has been going down every year since 2012. It's the one I worry may get cut next to make room for a new roller coaster around 2019. The Bat did just get a re-theme, but it was a light one (a lot of old TOP GUN & Flight Deck stuff remains) and King Cobra was removed shortly after a new paintjob as well but one thing in its favor is its location isn't very prime for a major attraction and its ride type is known to be rare now. I hope all 3 stay but these are the major coasters I could see being removed within the next 5-10 years or so. I would hate it if it happens to ANY of them. One other thing I did just remember though- Thunder Road was once painted and had its paintjob stripped off, and it rotted badly afterwards. Could this have negatively affected its lifespan compared to its "sister" coasters, Racer & Rebel Yell? I honestly wonder, but don't know... Also I nearly called Thunder Road Rolling Thunder several times while posting this. Both were classic wooden racing coasters with similar names. One is already gone- and now the other may get the same fate. Sad and ironic at the same time.

Nice article, though the source makes me go "Huh?"...Polygon is usually just a video game website. The Beast really is an awesome coaster though- and a famous one. The only ride I can think of that would surpass Beast in fame would probably be the Coney Island Cyclone. Hence why Beast had 2 R.L. Stine books, the kids wooden coaster was themed after it for a good while, and it even got a horrible sequel.

Great TR and awesome photos. I was kinda hoping Demon (the park's "Arrow" looping coaster which looks fun based on POV's) and Viper (their Wooden "Cy-Clone" Coaster which I have heard good things about) would be on here but as you said, you live closer now and I'm guessing you'll be back for them at some point. Also: wow, that structure for Goliath looks incredible from these images you took. Wood or steel, the ride's looks alone are incredible regardless. The B&M's at the park also look very sweet but most B&M's do anyway from what I have seen in person and photos. And finally: that Batman isn't a clone. It's actually the one the clones were "made" from.

Ouch. Poor Monster. I really hope this is just a repair, and that is actually gets done. What would worry me is having already seen one of the Spider rides go (Paul Revere's Midnight Ride @ Holiday World) though that was a slightly different model. Monster is MUCH older too though, so I wonder if replacement parts exist. If it does go, not sure what could take Monster's place. A Tilt-A-Whirl or something?

Hmm...with my limited park experience, I haven't been on too many coasters that are generally seen as "bad" but there could be some options: Vortex @ Kings Island While the hatred isn't universal (there seem to still be PLENTY of fans of this ride besides me), Vortex (and these huge Arrow Loopers in general) tend to get more flak than most rides for their head-banging and in polls like the Mitch Hawker poll will often be fairly near the bottom (In the 2013 MH Steel Poll Vortex ranked #294 out of 364 rides). While I do agree there is head-banging here, it's not enough to outweigh the good features the ride has IMO- a great layout, good forces, actual airtime from the cars near the back on the big drop, etc etc. And, thanks to its pretty solid capacity and few Ques, lines are almost always less than 30 minutes making this my main go-to coaster on a crowded day. Backlot Stunt Coaster @ Kings Island It gets OK reviews for the most part (ranked 226th on the Mitch Hawker poll which isn't terrible) but BLSC does get a bit of hate it seems- I'd guess it's not really for the ride experience itself but what it replaced and where it was put down within the park though, which I do agree wasn't the best of moves (this ride would fit much better in Action Zone). The ride itself is far from bad though, and is actually really fun for a small coaster. It kinda stinks how bad it's capacity is though. But, if the park isn't crowded, this one is on my to-do list whenever I visit KI. Adventure Express almost made my cut as a guilty pleasure, but while I love that ride, it's huge cult following as one of the best mine train coasters ever made alone made me think it just a bit too mainstream, and this is for coasters that DON'T get glowing reviews often. Legend @ Holiday World doesn't really count as a guilty pleasure (great reviews and usually it ranks fairly high in polls), but I do have an uncommon opinion on it: I think it's the best coaster at Holiday World when most rank it last (though depending on how Thunderbird reviews, this may change). (Responses to a few earlier posts) Also: Front Row on The Beast, especially at night, is awesome but this is such a common opinion and Beast is usually seen in such a good light I don't think it counts as a guilty pleasure (even as my favorite coaster so far overall). I don't think modern INTAMIN rides should count either- while they break down a lot, when they work, a lot of their rides are considered world-class and beloved by the hardcore coaster enthusiasts. Rides like Bizarro (SNFE), El Toro (SFGadv), Expedition GeForce (Holiday Park Germany) and many others would not top poll after poll otherwise or be ranked 9.0+ on websites with coaster ratings. Some of their older rides, like White Cyclone @ Nagashima Spa Land (random example I picked from my head), could theoretically count though as those didn't review nearly as well. And finally, I agree with Terpy- to quote Yukon Cornelius from the Rudolph special- "I'LL LIKE WHAT I LIKE AND YOU LIKE WHAT YOU LIKE!".

Well, this is kinda interesting- stopped by my local Burger King to get some burgers, and they had Kings Island coupons for $25 off gate price. While that's not weird (see it often for amusement parks at several restaurants) by itself, what was is these coupons apparently include Banshee and the new-for-2015 Planet Snoopy rides ERT...that I don't think I have ever seen outside a Gold/Platinum season pass at KI before. Diamondback isn't included though, apparently. Well, just my findings. Also some lady took my food I was getting for my Mom thinking it was hers, and when her order did come up she was long gone so I got a re-make of my Mom's order and the lady's. Fast food errors in your favor can be pretty good.

^ Wait...WindSeeker DROPS? Uh-Oh. (BTW I get the point though- Eiffel Tower is the only ride in the park where you're that high with a floor under you...unless you get stuck on WindSeeker and they are using the rescue device...)

Well, for my advice, I'll go on a ride-by-ride basis for all the major (adult) rides. I have limited experience with most of the kids rides and have never been to the waterpark, so I'll leave those off (mostly): ROLLER COASTERS The Beast -Incredible Night Rides. Even if the wait is an hour or more and you lack Fast Lane Plus, you may still want to get in line and stick this one out at night. -The very front has awesome and legendary views. The rear car has incredible intensity. For extra smoothness, try a middle seat of a car. -Keep your hands down during the drops- these tunnels can actually get your fingers if you are tall enough! -Don't expect much airtime- this wooden monster is about high speeds and wooden shakiness through the woods, not airtime hills or sharp turns. Banshee -If you're doing a night ride other than Beast, this is probably the other great choice. -It would probably be a good idea NOT to hit this at rope drop- as the newest roller coaster and just 1 year old, this is where the crowds will mostly go at opening. It also has ERT so they would already be there. -A very fast, forceful, and intense coaster -Row 1 has awesome views, and is generally considered one of the best seats on the ride. If you are a larger person, try rows 4 or 5. -Loose articles are NOT allowed and there are no bins for this ride. You'll need to get a locker or just dump whatever you're carrying at the entrance and hope it isn't stolen. -It's an invert like Raptor, but larger and with a very different layout, and with trains with restraints more like Gatekeeper. If that helps anything. Diamondback -I'd also advise not going straight here first, as a lot of the non-Banshee crowd would go here and that's still a big crowd. Again, it ALSO has ERT. -TONS of floater air over most of the hills- especially from the back. I'd suggest riding from there. Front seat would also be a option for the view. Due to the V-seats, you could also do the 2nd row of the 1st car and get mostly the same view though with less wait. -Be sure to watch the splashdown even if you are a non-rider. That wave of water is HUGE. Vortex -"OH NOEZ THE LINE IS SPILLING OUT TO JUKE BOX DINER IT MUST BE 2 HOURS"...actually if the crew is doing a decent job, it'll be 30 minutes or less from that point. This ride has great capacity and not that many Ques inside the station. -The best seats are usually considered 5-1 and 7-1. There is much debate over which is actually better. -However, unless you have short legs, I'd advise against ANY rear seat. It gets very cramped. -Also: WATCH YOUR HEAD/NECK (depending on how tall you are). This ride has some jerky transitions. But if you can handle it, it has some great forces too and even some air from select seats on the first drop. -The closest comparison with a CP ride would be Corkscrew, but Vortex is on a MUCH larger scale with 2x the inversions. Firehawk -Ride this first. No one really comes to it early on, but once they get there, the low capacity results in a quick 2-hour wait. -The flying sensation of this coaster can be a bit weird feeling but cool at the same time. (I love how the loop feels on this) Flight of Fear -After riding Firehawk, hit this one next ASAP. For the same reasons. Thankfully it is right next door too. -The Que line has awesome theming and even plays a movie depicting the ride's storyline while you wait. And it has Air Conditioning. Thus a long wait may actually be somewhat bearable here. -Keep your head back during the 0-54mph launch. Or else the obvious will happen. -One of the most violent and intense coasters at Kings Island, and all in the dark...unless you get a super rare lights-on ride for some reason. In which case enjoy the mindblow of how much track and supports are in there. The Bat -Another good ride to try if you don't have Fast Lane and need a ride with a low wait time- the long walk back keeps a lot of people from doing this one, and it does have good capacity to boot. It is also not on either Fast Lane or Plus. -A short ride, lasting about 1 minute, but also a fast and intense one during said minute with high speeds and lots of swinging. Way more intense than Cedar Point's Iron Dragon. The Racer -As with Beast, try to avoid wheel seats here for more smoothness. -This ride is MOODY. One day it can very smooth with great airtime, then a few days later super rough with no airtime. -The ride can be used to gauge how crowded it is: are both sides running? If so, it's likely at least somewhat crowded. -Red Racer is usually considered the smoother of the two, but with the moodiness, there are probably days that may not be true. -Very similar to Blue Streak in concept, except 2 of them and they race like Gemini. Invertigo -The coaster located right next to the front gate, thus it gets a large crowd right at opening. Avoid it then and go to Firehawk/FOF instead. -You may need to wait/shell out money for FL for this one though as its low capacity will probably hinder it all day and result in long lines. -Very forceful, in fact probably the most forceful coaster in the entire park pulling 5.0 G's of force. -As with Vortex, watch your head. Possibly even moreso here. -Has a interesting face-to-face seating system. If you have friends and want to watch their faces, sit accordingly. Adventure Express -"OH NOEZ THE LINE IS SPILLING OUT AGAIN LIKE Vortex IT MUST BE 2 HOURS TOO..." Uhh, no. Same deal here- AE has high capacity and few Que lines as well, so a spillout usually just means 20 minutes or so of waiting. -As another 3-row coaster, middle seats are smoother. -The back car is a great one, IMO, for viewing the theming on the coaster. -"NOW YOU WILL PAY..." BEWARE THE SUPER INTENSE ENDING!!! IT MAKE BEAST LOOK LIKE KITTEN IN COMPARISON!!!* (See Disclaimer at end of this post) -It's a mine train like Cedar Creek Mine Ride, but is generally far preferred to that ride as it has more action and theming. Backlot Stunt Coaster -I would hit this ASAP after riding Firehawk and Flight of Fear, to beat the crowds to it, as it is another low capacity ride. This will really help you get in more rides later getting these 3 out of the way first. -The launch and helix are more intense than you'd expect. -The dark tunnel section is also somewhat intense. -Yes, the fires are real. -Has sharp turns and bunny hops along the way, which led a friend's parent who was with us to make comparisons to Maverick, calling this the "baby" Maverick. I can kinda see how the 2 would be somewhat similar...Maverick looks like it's 2x bigger and 10x crazier though. NOTEWORTHY FLAT RIDES & WATER RIDES Drop Tower: Scream Zone -If you are scared of falling from 300 feet up straight down at 67mph...this may not be the ride for you. -A somewhat decent way to guess the wait time- look at the Que, and count the full rows. Multiply by 10 minutes each. Not 100% accurate but kinda close. Delirium -Very similar to maXair at Cedar Point, but with a slightly shorter ride cycle. Other than that and its paintjob, it's pretty much the same exact ride. WindSeeker -Same as the CP version, save the KI one has had fewer issues since its debut and is so far the only WindSeeker to not get stuck. The views are very different though given it is another park. Eiffel Tower -Awesome views from 265 or 275 feet up depending on the weather. -Wait time should not be too much, but you should save this for a lull period, or for after a meal while your stomach rests. It's a great relaxing attraction. Congo Falls -A great way to cool off on a hot day without much wait. Even on crowded days! -It's just a basic splash boat ride, and is smaller than Snake River Falls. But for little to no wait on a hot day, can you say "no"? White Water Canyon -Another great way to cool off on a hot day- this one can get a line those days though. Thankfully, capacity is good. -One of the more secluded and wooded rides- in fact this might surpass even Beast in that regard. -Otherwise, it's a pretty standard river rapids ride. Still great fun though. Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown -The park's log flume ride. Decent capacity, but it's a fairly popular kids ride as it is in that section of the park. -Try not to overload your log with too many adults or big people- the end result of that is a intense ride that feels out of control with a huge splash at the end instead of the normal-sized one. I speak from experience. Other Rides -The park also has several classic flat rides: Grand Carousel, Scrambler, Shake Rattle & Roll (Troika), Monster, Dodgems, Viking Fury (Swinging Ship), Zephyr (Swing Ride), and the new-for-2015 Woodstock Gliders (Flying Scooters) in Planet Snoopy. If it's not crowded, or too crowded for most coasters, you could try some of these out. (Woodstock Gliders will probably have some kind of wait though as it is a new attraction) -Only do the dark ride, Boo Blasters on Boo Hill, if it doesn't have a long wait. A lot of the theming and effects weren't working on my last visit, and it's a pretty standard dark shooter ride otherwise. -While I haven't ridden Woodstock Express in years, and never done Flying Ace, Surf Dog is a fun flat/coaster/whatever you call it. If the wait for its is low, I'd try it out. It is similar to Cedar Point's Pipe Scream. -I can't give any advice on the waterpark as stated earlier. Sorry. Hope some of this stuff can help. Sorry for how long the post got!

Well, one of my hopes came true: the Halloween CCI's are here in 60 frames per second... The Raven The Legend With Voyage and Thunderbird already filmed and posted, all of Holiday World's coasters have high quality 60FPS POV's now. Well, unless you count the water coasters. 60FPS Waterslide POV's? Also apparently based on comments on The Legend video, it got a retrack this offseason. Also looks like Raven may have gotten a bit of work too but not sure for that one (guessing based on seeing lots of wood down for "walking" the track on it for possibly doing fixes). Apparently the HW Wood Coaster guys had a lot of work this offseason on all 3 woodies, and with Thunderbird opening, I could see why the park might do it (get all 3 woodies running as good as possible for all the new guests who will be coming for Thunderbird in 2015).

Wow- Nintendo has so many characters and franchises at this point, you could do an entire world-class theme park with just their stuff. Mario (+Spinoffs), Zelda, Metroid, F-Zero, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Pokemon, Star Fox, much more...they literally have so much to work with. It will be very interesting to see what Universal does with this. Nintendo could work with nearly any type of ride too- Roller Coasters, Flat Rides, Dark Rides, Water Rides... Video Games and Amusement Parks put together. Wow...I'm so happy this is happening. Disney World had better watch out, because Universal means business with additions like this and Harry Potter.

Like Kings Island, it would depend a lot on weather and what time of year it is. A weekend in May or Early June would probably not be so bad, but late June-Early August would likely be pretty packed. Though Holiday World, by virtue of being a smaller park in the middle of nowhere, would still likely not be as crowded as Kings Island or Cedar Point. Also on hot days, most of the crowds will hit the waterpark instead as it's a HUGE draw for the park. On my visit in Memorial Day Weekend 2010 (first ever trip), many waterslides were 45+ minute waits. New-for-2010 Water Coaster Wildebeest was 2+ hours. None of the wooden roller coasters were more than 20 when I rode them. Though Thunderbird will likely make it noticeably more crowded in 2015- large coasters are known to cause spikes in attendance when they debut at smaller parks like this. In 1997, when Kentucky Kingdom added Chang, they got over 500,000 more guests that year then they did in 1996. If Thunderbird can get those kind of results for Holiday World, expect a crowd surge in 2015 and increased wait times as a result. You may also want to do a weekday if you can- May and Early June have traditionally been not that crowded on those days, even for the major waterpark attractions, and even the added Thunderbird crowds probably won't hurt too much. Holiday World does seem to have the Six Flags-like policy of "not crowded, run one train on the coasters" though so you may still have to wait for Voyage on a day like this (6400+ feet of track and one train do not mix well for wait times).

Well, looks like Thunderbird was not the only coaster CoasterForce filmed at 60FPS... Front Seat POV @ 60FPS Rear Seat POV @ 60FPS A 3D version is also available. See CoasterForce's Youtube page for it. Also: I really hope they also do Raven & Legend, I really like these 60FPS POV's- they seem to show off the speed of a coaster better than 30FPS to me. And more videos from other parks like Kings Island at 60FPS too would be awesome.

My votes: Best Sounding Lift Racer. Wooden lifthills sound great in general, and when 2 woodies are going up at the same time? Epic. Plus unlike Beast it's actually located in a spot where non-riders can hear it as the train does its climb. If I were voting on most easily noticeable lifthill sound though, it would go to Firehawk- it's so oddly high pitched compared to all the others it stands out. Best Sounding Launch Flight of Fear, easy. BLSC doesn't really even make much noise and FOF does a whole "WHOOOOOOO...BANGBANGBANG!!!" as it launches. Best Sounding Ride Racer again. Wooden coasters sound awesome to me with the clattering and rumbling, and since Beast is so hidden you can't hear it off-ride much, Racer again gets the vote. The B&M's (especially Banshee) also sound great with their roaring sounds. Update: After seeing a post about Beast's helix sounds below, I have changed my mind for #3. You can't hear it from in-park, but that roar in The Beast's Double Helix is just too awesome sounding to refuse.

I'm going to agree with Terpy here- I don't consider Goliath or Outlaw Run "wooden" coasters. Yes, they have wood structures, but by that logic Adventure Express and Gemini are wooden coasters. I did at one point think these were wooden, but that was before I saw how much of the track was actually replaced by steel- I thought it was just a small plate that covered the whole track. Then, I saw this photo from IAAPA. The topper track is on the left, with Iron Horse on the right: That's a HUGE section of wooden track taken out- nearly everything the main wheels would ever touch- and replaced with steel. The only wooden part of the track that even remains are the lowest layers which are just there to absorb weight and hold the wheels to the track. While a coaster like Georgia Cyclone that only uses SOME of this on its worst parts could still be considered wooden, Outlaw Run and Goliath use this on every inch of their tracks. Yep- while there's some wood in that track, I'd still call them steel coasters. They are probably very good coasters though (have yet to actually ride an RMC but reviews have been great so far). The current wooden records are held by, according to RCDB at least...(ignoring Goliath and RMC Topper Track woodies for above reasons) Tallest: T Express @ Everland (Korea), 183.8 feet (even if it was wood Goliath is only 165 feet tall and thus fails to beat this- they probably meant by drop) Tallest Drop: El Toro @ Six Flags Great Adventure, 176 feet Fastest Top Speed: El Toro @ Six Flags Great Adventure, 70mph Longest Track: The Beast @ Kings Island, 7359 feet Most Inversions: Hades 360 @ Mt. Olympus, 1 And, if because the track is laser-cut on INTAMIN woodies (El Toro & T-Express), if you discount them for that...the tallest, fastest, and largest drops on traditional woodies go to... Tallest: The Voyage @ Holiday World, 163 feet Tallest Drop: Mean Streak @ Cedar Point, 155 feet Fastest Top Speed: The Voyage @ Holiday World, 67.4mph (Beast and Hades 360 are normal wooden coasters so their current records would still stand under these rules)

http://www.themeparkbrochures.net/mainmaps.html That link has a couple of old Kings Island maps from the years 1972, 1989, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2008. (Note: 1993-2006 maps will be under PARAMOUNT'S Kings Island, not just Kings Island) So that should get you started.

Hmm...something odd I noticed on the parks page. I was checking out the cool drawings they did for most of the parks, and on the Kings Dominion one, there appears to be a B&M Hyper/Giga in the background between their Drop Tower & WindSeeker and above what I assume is supposed to be Grizzly. At the same park that already has Intimidator 305...d'oh! Didn't see any other giant errors though...well other than not listing Prowler as a signature ride for Worlds of Fun maybe. Also I agree- this new web site is pretty awesome.

In addition the previous post's 4K POV, Coasterforce has also posted a POV of each side of the ride...in 60 Frames Per Second! So if your browser supports it (Firefox apparently just now does for me), here you go: Thunderbird at double the usual POV refresh rate! Left Side https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2awPsI_2F4c Right Side Thunderbird Off-Ride (also 60FPS)

Well, here's my story: My first big roller coaster rides came at Indiana Beach in 1999 (I haven't gone back yet), on what was then their largest roller coaster, the 78-foot high wooden Hoosier Hurricane. Believe it or not, I wasn't afraid of this roller coaster, and rode it 3 times in a row with my dad. So what would eventually cause the fear? Read on. In 2000, Paramount's Kings Island began to advertise Son of Beast (as you'd expect as it was the big new ride), the "Tallest, Fastest, Only Looping" wooden roller coaster in the world. At some point that summer (I think August), my family decided to make a trip, and having braved Hoosier Hurricane so easily at Indiana Beach, I was cocky "I CAN SO TOTALLY TAKE DA SON O' BEAST! AND The Beast TOO!!!". However, after a 2-hour drive (we got lost), we arrived and I laid eyes on Kings Island for the first time. This was so totally NOT the same as Indiana Beach! Where that was a small park with only one "big" roller coaster (if you could even call Hoosier Hurricane big), here you had a monster wall of wood 218 feet in the air, a 315-foot Drop Tower, a 150+ foot Skycoaster, a 138-foot Vekoma Invertigo, and a 314-foot model of the Eiffel Tower staring a 10-year-old in the face...and that was just from the parking lot (oddly enough, as a kid, I was uber-confused and wondered how they hid The Beast so well as I only saw the 2nd lift hill late in the day from the Eiffel Tower- had only someone told me to look behind Vortex...). This mere sight alone made me chicken out from the big rides, especially Drop Zone and Son of Beast and anything with even one loop. While I did do 2 of the kids coasters (The Beastie and Top Cat's Taxi Jam- now Woodstock Express & Great Pumpkin Coaster) without much issue, and rode a bunch of the flats (Scrambler, Monster, Zephyr, a bunch of kids rides, and the now-defunct Antique Cars) and even did the Eiffel Tower, I didn't ride any big coasters (probably due to how much SOB alone was intimidating me with its sheer size). Save for one: I did agree to try Racer, since that was still pretty much on the same scale as Hoosier Hurricane (Racer is only 10 feet higher). But I was for sure doing fowards. But Racer was about to shock me with something I had never felt before, and at the time was very afraid of: Negative G-Forces, aka "Airtime". I thought I was actually going to fly out of Racer. This scared me and made me not want to ride another roller coaster, well save maybe Hoosier Hurricane again, ever. While I had a good time overall at Kings Island in 2000, roller coasters weren't my thing anymore. During the rest of the 2000's, however, I started growing and maturing and sometimes on TV I would catch a roller coaster special. I learned of parks like Holiday World, Cedar Point, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and others via these TV specials. And I would eagerly watch roller coaster POV's when they showed them on these shows. In 2008, when my sister announced she was going to Kings Island with a friend of hers, this sparked my interest again. I thought "I wonder what Kings Island is up to these days..." The first result that came up that caught my eye? Something like this... "Due to Accident, Son of Beast to loose loop..." Me: "OH...well dang. An accident on Son of Beast? Well, the removal of the loop gets rid of half the reason I won't ride it. What else is new...hmm...Cedar Point bought Kings Island!?!? (I had no idea what Cedar Fair was at this point) Interesting. Wonder if Kings Island will get huge new roller coasters because of this." My sister came home from that visit, and she had conquered her fear of roller coasters on that trip. She also reported a huge construction site, and I said jokingly "Giant steel roller coaster." Little did I know, a few days later when I got on the PC and looked up "Kings Island" again... "Kings Island announces Diamondback: $22 million dollar 230-foot hypercoaster..." Me: "HOLY COW I WUZ RIGHT WTF...(clicks POV animation of ride)...OK, this looks cool. Hey, what's this website...Kings Island Central..." My sister wanted to go to Kings Island again in 2009 when I shared this news with her. I decided to face this fear head-on, and would go to: it had been 9 years. I was a 19-year-old teen now, not some little kid. I might react differently to roller coasters at this point. I even had my eyes on a candidate for my first big coaster in 9 years: The Beast. I noticed from POV's it only had 2 huge drops, tunnels didn't bother me much, and it was mostly low-to-the-ground. Yet the 2 huge drops would get me "ready" for other coasters with huge drops, I assumed. A week before the KI trip, we stopped at a local carnival, and I rode a few of their rides to get used to amusement rides again. It went well even though the Carnival had no rides that went upside down, something I wanted to "test" myself at. More time passed, and soon, it was May 16th, 2009. Go-time. And I did a Trip Report on this visit... http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php/topic/17880-a-very-very-late-may-16th-tr-by-mcsalsa/ The short version, for those of you who don't want to read a whole TR: the first big ride we did was The Crypt, and my sister lied to me saying it didn't go upside down. I should have known better once I sat down and there were big, thick OTSR's. Those usually mean you are going upside down! When the ride cycle ended, I was annoyed. But not scared. I was actually annoyed that a ride that was flipping me upside down...only did it twice and lasted like 30 seconds. "THAT SUCKED! I hope the other rides here are better than that..." (Luckily for me, so far, The Crypt is the worst ride I have ever ridden at Kings Island to date! Though I probably would have liked it back in the Tomb Raider days...) Next up was my first big coaster in years, as I had decided earlier, The Beast. I was a bit nervous going up the lift hill, but by the ravine drop, I realized "Hey...this isn't bad at all! WHEE!!! SUPAH FAST!!!" The final helix's intensity was still enough to scare me just a bit though. Not too badly though, as I told the group: "We just did a ride that flips, and a roller coaster with big drops. (Points to Vortex) Time to combine the two." My fear of roller coasters was dead at that point, as now I looked towards them with anticipation, instead of fear. When we rode Diamondback, I also finally realized what that airtime thing was I had heard about on KIC. And later that day, I made amends with the ride that had caused the fear in the first place and rode Racer. Never got to ride Son of Beast though- it broke down, and by the time I returned, it had closed for good. Then I joined KICentral myself and am here now... (BTW, that TR above was one of my first posts ever...) It would still be another year and half before I'd ride Drop Tower though. And that and WindSeeker do make me nervous even today. Though not as bad as a Ferris Wheel, I recently found out. And that is my long story of how I didn't have, developed, then lost my fear of roller coasters.

My picks: -Coney Mall. So many good lighting packages on the flat rides...though Beast is the best overall night ride IMO. -Diamondback has the coolest/best trains. Comfortable seats, open views, and that big snake head...awesome. -Best paintjob IMO is Vortex, with its blue track & supports and orange accents. I didn't deduct points based on how the rides CURRENT paintjobs look though- Banshee would have an unfair edge otherwise. -Banshee does have the best lighting package at night though. Beast is awesome with basically nothing, but I didn't think that should even count, since ya know, we are rating the lighting packages and not the rides. And those are my votes for this poll.

Wait...couldn't even buy a ticket to get in the park? WOW...that's...that's bad. I don't think you blame KK themselves alone for how un-crowded it is though- Holiday World looks dead as well based on the Thunderbird webcam (no huge line or masses of people leaving the ride- strange considering it is a brand-new coaster and its debut is today, and it's clearly running) and ditto for Kings Island (Diamondback's line is only at the stairs, but I couldn't see Banshee's since that webcam is covered in rain). Horrible weather today is keeping people away I assume.

To be honest, I don't just think Voyage would be too much for a small park to handle- a ride that large (by wooden standards) and intense would probably be too much for a big park too. Looking at the tallest and fastest "normal" wooden coasters, a lot of them are maintenance nightmares, and most usually get negative reviews- with only a few exceptions having truly stood the test of time (Kings Island's Beast being one of those few- and it's design and use of trim brakes itself may be a reason it is still even going so strong). This does not count Intamin's Prefab woodies, or RMC's topper track "woodies" (if you can even considered them wooden).both of which can do the 150+ foot drops and 65+ mph speeds with no problems, though both behave and ride unlike traditional wooden coasters. Because of its sheer size and intensity, I can probably assume Six Flags would be "OH (BLEEP) NO!!!" to Voyage as they haven't really put up with much tamer woodies since they started with RMC, and Cedar Fair would have problems with it as well (even though Cedar Fair has been a bit kinder to their wooden coasters in recent years versus Six Flags). Many wooden coasters in the past were eventually demolished because their maintenance costs became too great, and/or they were just too intense for most riders. I fear Voyage could become one of those coasters in the future, especially if the park ownership changes and the new owners aren't willing to put up with such a high maintenance ride. (One big fear I have if this happens if if Voyage is still getting decent enough reviews, said ownership may stupidly axe Raven or Legend- both perfectly fine wooden coasters with fairly normal upkeep levels- to make room for Voyage in the budget...) Then again, maybe using the MCBR all the time could be enough to keep Voyage's upkeep down to at least somewhat tolerable levels. Hopefully, that'll be the case and nothing will need to be removed/modified. But other big wooden coasters were trimmed before, and a lot of them still had issues afterwards. The seas ahead may still be rough for this massive wooden coaster.

Oh. Sorry- thought it was still 2016 for some reason. D'oh. Will fix my OP.

EDIT: Ignore this part, it had incorrect information. I thought Polercoaster would open in 2016, not 2017... A B&M Hyper does sound cool though, and could be a great addition for SeaWorld Orlando.