McSalsa

^ Never got to ride Son of Beast, so I don't know what "SOB Painful" is, tragically...I only visited KI twice when SOB was open, as a 10-year-old kid afraid of roller coasters in 2000, and then when I broke my fear in 2009, SOB broke down and did not re-open that day. I thought I could get it on my next visit, which came in 2010...boy was I wrong there. Therefore, all I really have to compare Mean Streak to would be "Holiday World's Voyage on a bad day" painful...and that I could see, given that the height and speed stats for both are fairly close to each other, and both coasters run 2-row PTC trains with 7 cars...(granted Voyage had always been running only 6 cars when I rode it in 2010 and 2011 for some reason)

I actually was planning on riding Mean Streak, as it is one of the more...interesting, shall we say...coasters at Cedar Point. Is it really as bad as it is made out to be, or do people simply bash it 'cause it's "cool"? Mantis has a bit of the same problem...my sister, who has been to Cedar Point, did not really enjoy Mean Streak (though she did not hate it completely) but she LOATHED Mantis... Granted, I have had an experience on The Voyage @ Holiday World in 2011...it was an uber-rough ride, but in a strange twist, I got off feeling OK and could have gone again in spite of the fact everyone else in my group hated that particular ride, which has me wondering if I can handle rough woodies...with SOB dead, Mean Streak is the closet thing to "ultimate test of how much wooden pain you can take"...granted, I have also read recent reviews that suggest the re-tracking done in 2011 & 2012 has paid off, and Mean Streak is supposedly running well (so far as smoothness goes) in the last few years...though I am considering saving it for Friday, as I don't exactly want it possibly ruining a good chunk of the trip should it be as bad as claimed...

^ Mentally, yes I am writing this stuff down...this is all good advice. And I was kind of aware of Iron Dragon being "less thrilling" compared to Flight Deck, as I have compared POVs in the past...it does look like a decent ride though, and a relaxing one, with nice scenery around it, and Mantis above. Also, I checked CP's website...and wow, LOTS of rides the young 5 year old can go on...with an adult, of course.

Agh! How could I forget this...2 of the people I am going with are a my best friend's kids- a 5-year-old girl, and a little baby who was born like 6 months ago, as well as their momma who is kind of iffy on giant roller coasters. Smaller ones (like Blue Streak/Racer, for example) she likes, but go above 100ft or so and she is scared to death...in spite of the fact she once rode Flight of Fear on accident, not knowing it was a scary roller coaster. I'm guessing this could change some things...granted, me and my sister could always run off and do giant coasters while they go for kids rides and stuff. And hey, Planet Snoopy has ERT for them!

^ Oh, we are staying at Hotel Breakers (on-site Hotel), so we won't actually have to "leave" the park...but nonetheless, Millennium Force @ Night sounds fun. And I can just imagine what driving into that park lot will be like, somewhat... "HOLY FUDGE! THAT IS TOP THRILL DRAGSTER!?!? AND THAT'S MILLENNIUM FORCE!?!?" As I have never seen Giga or Strata coasters before, and until now, still see Kings Island's Diamondback as "huge"... As for SkyHawk...uuuggghhh...it's not a "main" mega attraction like Millennium Force or TTD, but it's still one of the more attractive-looking non coaster thrill rides there...so it being down is a bit of a drag. Not a huge one, though, as CP also boasts several other non-coaster thrill rides such as MaXair, WindSeeker, and Witches Wheel... Disclaimer: I also have never managed to get on a WindSeeker, as all my KI trips were before it opened, or when it was down waiting for a part or something...and I hear CP's is supposed to be the best, simply because the view is so nice...

^^ The one thing I fear a bit about missing any of the big rides is, my next trip to Cedar Point may be in 2018 or something...we are usually not that good on money, and thus usually go to closer, cheaper (because of gas prices) amusement parks such as KI or Holiday World. Gas alone for Cedar Point, for us, is around $150! So, that is why I am going to try and hit as much major stuff as I can, and most of the small stuff, too...although I admit there will be factors out of my control...like if TTD breaks, for example, and is closed both days. Granted, even if that does happen, I will still suck it up and try to enjoy the rest of my day. The good thing about Cedar Point- if one major coaster does go down, there are still 13 more adult roller coasters to fill that hole!

Thanks for that tip. I would hate to accidently ride in 2-1 or something (JK, I'm sure 2-1 is OK too).

Thanks...I think I'll choose 1-3, unless the line (if there is much of one, from what I've heard Magnum is a people eater like Vortex is here and thus lines are not usually a problem) suggests otherwise...aka, if 1-3's line is super long compared to other seats...

^ Magnum XL-200 is actually the ride I am most interested in there, believe it or not. A 200' steel hypercoaster that actually has an EDGE to it, which Diamondback does not? Seems appealing... MY GENERAL "STRATEGY" I have thought up: Granted, Maverick will probably, during ERT, be the first ride we go for...if it's not open, as Dr. Humor stated in that link, or post-Maverick we will head to Millennium Force for its ERT, and then try to hit Gatekeeper before the park opens. After that, we walk fast over to TTD and wait for the park to open, getting on 4 of the park's most popular rides quickly. With those 4 down, the rest of the rides should be a cakewalk if we can wait until after 1PM for Raptor and such...I hope. Does this seem OK, or is my logic flawed here? PS: Oh, and Terpy...any "magic seats" for Magnum XL-200? Because that 5-1 tip for Vortex you gave me a while back has worked well.

Epic Bump. (Did not feel the need to make a new thread since I made this one a while ago...) Well, I just found I might be going to Cedar Point in two weeks, and was reading this again...June 13th and 14th, a thursday and friday...and we are staying on-site at Hotel Breakers, so I will be able to have my first ERT if this goes through. (And will possibly also ride my first Giga Coaster, B&M Invert, B&M Wing Coaster, Stand-Up, Rocket Coaster, Blitz Coaster, etc etc...) A quick question...if this does go through, what rides should I try to hit up for ERT to maximize its effect? Looking at the list, Gatekeeper, Millennium Force, and Maverick all stand out as rides that riding during ERT would save a TON of time later...but which of those 3 should we do, or can we hit them all up? (Then stand near TTD before the park opens, saving even mo' time and ripping they day open for more rides!) I also figured hitting up the mainstream, popular rides (MF, TTD, Maverick, Gatekeeper...) on Thursday (weather-dependant, will probably be less crowded) and then on Friday going for the less popular stuff (like Gemini, small flat rides, etc)...is this a good idea? So...excited...which is basically the reason I am even making this post. PS: As you can guess, while I have been to KI 5 times and Holiday World twice, I have never been to CP before...hopefully that changes...also if this trip falls through too, I am gonna...

^ Taking pictures from Drop Tower without park permission while the ride is running...ugh. For shame. What if you drop that camera? Someone could have been seriously hurt.... (Talking to the CoasterFusion dude, not Rumor Smasher as he did not do this...I hope...)

Uh-Huh...that Smiler commercial screams classic 1980's coaster ads...this ad for Magnum XL200 seems eerily similar in the core concept:

^ Wow...that commercial, for whatever reason, screams 1980's to me...are you sure The Smiler didn't open in 1983?

WHOOPS... Didn't even notice...sorry...and, just because I'm in the mood, and SFGam was mentioned recently in this thread...dadadadadadada... BATMAN (THE RIDE)!!! (Original color scheme...which The Interpreter said he likes, which is why I used a pic of it.)

Umm...just saying, the clearing behind FOF not related to SOB...pretty sure that's a maintenance road. (Checks Google Maps, which has pre-SOB demolition images)...yep.A 7,000+ foot long coaster sat in that spot...just saying.Yep...with a twister-style layout.I don't think a out-and-back B&M Giga would quite fit there, even with the Thunder Alley spot being used for the station and some of the lifthill...if this is a Giga Coaster, then it is a twister-style layout...which B&M has done on this model before, albeit on a smaller scale, see Raging Bull @ SFGam...and I'd be fine with a Giga Twister since that would, obviously, be different enough from Diamondback. (Note: I know I said that earlier in this thread as well, just re-iterating for anyone who doesn't want to search through 50+ pages of stuff ) Picture of Raging Bull...and wow, looks like this style of coaster would fit nicely... I don't know why but I absolutely hate that track layout. I think it looks cool...Raging Bull's layout is unique among B&M Mega coasters, since all the other ones are out-and-backs...heck, most hyper/giga coasters are out-and-backs...however, what I have heard holds Raging Bull back is that it has several trims in the worst places...not the layout itself...

Umm...just saying, the clearing behind FOF not related to SOB...pretty sure that's a maintenance road. (Checks Google Maps, which has pre-SOB demolition images)...yep. A 7,000+ foot long coaster sat in that spot...just saying. Yep...with a twister-style layout. I don't think a out-and-back B&M Giga would quite fit there, even with the Thunder Alley spot being used for the station and some of the lifthill...if this is a Giga Coaster, then it is a twister-style layout...which B&M has done on this model before, albeit on a smaller scale, see Raging Bull @ SFGam...and I'd be fine with a Giga Twister since that would, obviously, be different enough from Diamondback. (Note: I know I said that earlier in this thread as well, just re-iterating for anyone who doesn't want to search through 50+ pages of stuff ) Picture of Raging Bull...and wow, looks like this style of coaster would fit nicely...

Umm...just saying, the clearing behind FOF not related to SOB...pretty sure that's a maintenance road. (Checks Google Maps, which has pre-SOB demolition images)...yep.

^ Hmm...I thought a bit more about what Terpy said...Thunder Run "world class"? I had heard it was quite good, but it rarely got mentioned alongside Voyage, El Toro, Beast, or Pheonix when people mention their favorite wooden coasters...it does look like good fun though, if it is running well. Twisted Twins seems like a cool concept, but most of the polls I've seen, including the Mitch Hawker poll, had this ride very low on their lists, sometimes fairly near the bottom. I could see it being great like it was in its early years again with a good overhaul, though...since CCI built it, could Gravity Group come in, fix it up and modify it, and add Timberliners? That would be awesome...granted, they may throw in an inversion somewhere too like they did for Hades 360... Green Lantern/Chang probably is better than Mantis. I was just using Mantis because, well, the two are similar in layout and color schemes with a few minor differences...I wonder, why is it the B&M Stand-Ups prior to Chang all seemed to stink, and then Chang comes along and is good, and then the ones that followed Chang were also good (I have heard Riddler's Revenge @ SFMM is supposed to be the best Stand-Up ever)? What did B&M change between Mantis (1996) and Chang (1997)? New restraints? New trains? I'm confused on that...BTW, I did see some comments on a POV of Great American Scream Machine that were bashing GL, but they may have just been people who missed GASM and would bash whatever they opened in that spot... I also re-thought what it might take to get me to visit a re-opened KK again...if they can fix up their wooden coasters, and get them running well, and offer free/cheap drinks....$30 or cheaper (discount tickets would count towards this) seems OK for some fun wood coasters and ok-sized waterpark. They have to be cheaper than Holiday World, though- because HW has that exact same concept (Woodies+Waterpark being the main draw) and does it amazingly well. I still doubt any of it will ever happen, though, given the situation... UPDATE: Previous post edited.

Kentucky Kingdom's future is not looking bright right now...as I look at it, is there anything there that would justify a 1.5 hour car ride from central Indiana to Louisville to visit it? What do they have, even if the re-open all of it? -A good wooden coaster that has been cloned a few times -A dueling CCI wooden coaster that has been SBNO for several years and is likely in horrible shape. Needs serious work. -A Vekoma SLC...blah, and these are uber common. -Typical flat rides you can find in most parks...no thanks, both Kings Island and Holiday World have these, and they have far better coaster collections to boot (and in KI's case, much larger flats that can compete with roller coasters as well, such as Drop Tower or Delirium!). -A medium sized water park...if I want a water park, I go to Santa Claus, Indiana, for their giant waterpark with TWO water coasters several massive water slides...KK can't compete here. Even KI's Soak City looks to have more to do. Kentucky Kingdom, from this perspective, does not look to appealing...and this is even considering if they got it all to re-open, which now seems very unlikely. They would have to add something huge (not likely if they are struggling to re-open the park) or charge a dirt cheap price of around $20-$25 per ticket just to get me to even consider driving down there...granted, the nearby market would probably eat it up somewhat, but what's the point for anyone else? And how is this park supposed to make money and survive without a bigger market... KK's main problem is, they have to go toe-to-toe with a huge regional park (Kings Island) and a beloved family park with 3 world-class wooden coasters and the baddest waterpark outside of Texas (Holiday World)...and do so with a limited selection of attractions that would not be signature rides at either KI or Holiday World...Ed Hart claims he wants to build a $15,000,000+ steel coaster for the park...where is that money going to come from, if they seem to be struggling just to get everything else working? And even if they do, what's to say it would irk Kings Island...one theory I heard about why Six Flags didn't invest too much into SFKK was because Kings Island made the massive Action Zone expansion in 1999/2000 with FACE/OFF, Drop Zone, and Son of Beast and it scared Six Flags to death (hehe, SOB should not have scared them in hindsight ) that whatever they added to SFKK, KI would match and beat...and the fair board would limit their additions, making KI's job easier. So they instead invested heavily in Worlds of Adventure...and went-head-2-head with Cedar Point instead, which had just added Millennium Force and was soon to build Wicked Twister and Top Thrill Dragster. (Makes me think though...could X-Flight, aka now Firehawk, have originally been intended for SFKK instead of Geauga Lake/later Kings Island?) Now, this is just a rumor I heard, but it does make SOME sense...save the "LET'S FIGHT Cedar Point INSTEAD!" part, unless 1990's and early 2000's Six Flags was really THAT dumb...granted it could also have just been Six Flags had too many parks, and could not add to all of them, so they were picking & choosing and KK got jipped. I'll be clear- I would love to see KK re-open, and thrive. This would not only give me another good option for a nearby amusement park, but it would force Kings Island and Holiday World to build new stuff and work hard to stay competitive. But I seriously doubt it will happen now, I'd say I'm even 80%+ sure...my guess is when the deadline comes around, Hart will sadly reveal the truth, and KK will sell off all its old rides that still have any value (Kings Island could use the Flying Dutchman and Ferris Wheel if this happens, and could also pick up Deluge, their water coaster, for Soak City...all 3 would be welcome additions) and the park will be demolished for a shopping mall or something. Not what I want to happen to any park, but I'm being realistic, it probably will for this one... Sorry for how long this post was. I just had a lot of stuff to say about the KK situation...thanks if you read the whole thing.

Wow, that looks fun...seems somewhat similar to a ride in RCT3: Wild! called Insanity...hmm. I also imagined a what-if: Zamperla comes in, and upgrades Delirium and maXair, making them able to do this and be more reliable at the same time. It would be awesome. As for Silverwood itself, looks like a great, fun little park with 2 awesome wooden coasters, a GIB, and an arrow looper and now this...I won't travel across the country for it alone, but if I ever happen to be in that region...perhaps...

^ I know, it was a joke..."oh noez they has drop towah protecting the construction site! " Also, that cheap? Only $50-100? Well, it would probably be more from Indianapolis-Mason, OH and back... Oh...and to expand on my joke... AT Kings Island HQ Don Helbig: Drop Tower, we have learned of your failure, and can no longer accept you here at Kings Island. You have been traded. Drop Tower: FUDGE! Where did you trade me to? Don Helbig: Holiday World. Drop Tower: OK, what was I traded for? Don't tell me you traded me for Liberty Launch... Don Helbig: ...no...we traded you for their set of Flying Scooters! Drop Tower: WHAT!?!?!?!

I kinda thought the first picture you showed has Drop Tower "protecting" the construction site so no one will peek in... Drop Tower: "HEY! YOU! In the plane! Put that camera away!" (And then in the second picture, you have moved somewhat away...) Drop Tower: "...fudge. How I am going to explain this to Mr. Helbig?" Sorry, I kinda had to...

^ http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/23493-something-big-announced-3-18-11/?hl=something%20big I found it! Now it is there for all to see...

That occured in 2008...I was assuming he visited that year (was listing all new stuff since the 2009 season, ala the years since he has visited), since it was 5 years ago. If not, then 2007 was his last visit...and of course then I need to add all the ride name changes and recaR to the list.

OK, since Benred23 answered your questions...I would like to just point out some changes you may notice. #1-You will nearly instantly notice 2 giant new rides. One of them is a massive steel roller coaster in Rivertown, Diamondback. The other is a 301' tall swing ride near Vortex in Coney Mall, WindSeeker. You cannot miss them...visually, at least. #2-You will also nearly instantly notice a giant towering wood structure in Action Zone is no more. Yep, Son of Beast is dead. It's station and q-line remain, though. There is construction work being done on/near the site, however, so it may not be empty much longer... #3-Thunder Alley and The Crypt are also both gone...harder to notice than the above, especially since Crypt's building still exists, but still... #4-A new attraction called Dinosaurs Alive! has opened in Coney Mall. It is a $5 upcharge. But it has dinosaurs! Action Theatre is incorporated into this now, and is no longer free... #5-Nickelodeon Universe is "gone"...Planet Snoopy has "replaced" it. Even though in reality, it's just new paint and a new theme, really. #6-Scooby Doo & The Haunted Castle has been re-themed into Boo Blasters on Boo Hill. Similar concepts though. #7-You probably won't notice it as the waterpark isn't open yet, but Boomerang Bay was re-themed into Soak City, and a few new attractions were added, such as a 2nd Wave Pool. #8-You will see people using a 2nd line opposite you. They paid $50+ or so to use this line, it is called Fast Lane. Opinions on this are VERY divided. #9-Several restraunts and shops in the park have been renamed and re-themed. Reds Hall of Fame Grille, the former Rivertown Junction, being the newest and most prominent example. #10-The Beast's entrance has been moved due to Diamondback's opening. It is now much further back, closer to the actual ride, than before. #11-Invertigo got repainted, it is now aqua blue and dark blue. Flight Deck was also repainted, but it's colors did not change. And those are the noteable changes I can think of, that have occured since 2008 (assumed your last visit because you said 5 years)...wow, that is a suprising amount of changes, isn't it?