McSalsa

Hope this helps... ...but it only makes me miss KI more!

Well, I looked up RCDB and it turns out Son of Beast willl not be the tallest roller coaster ever demolished, if it happens: http://rcdb.com/r.htm?nm=na&ex=2&order=-23&ot=2 The 246-foot Moonsault Scrambler, which was closed in 2000, has Son of Beast beaten by 28 feet. What about Length? http://rcdb.com/r.htm?nm=na&ex=2&order=-25&ot=2 Well, Son of Beast may well get one more record after all. Unless they tear down that massively long ride in Japan that is currently SBNO.

One question that popped up in my head- if Son of Beast does go, will it be the largest roller coaster ever demolished? What ride currently holds that record? At 218 feet tall and over 7,000 feet long, I think it probably would be. Can someone clarify this? Thanks.

Uhh Terpy...there aren't any B&M Gigacoasters. Though if there were, they would probably be awesome. But they would still pale next to Train O' Doom.

To date, the only complaint I have ever heard about Voyage is that "it beats you up" and has some roughness. If these work the way GG says they will...Voyage will probably surpass all coasters, wood or steel! Sorry Bizarro and Millennium Force! As for getting these for Racer & Beast, what about Son of Beast (if it does stay)? These trains are designed to reduce roughness and maintenence costs, SOB's 2 main issues. Though I would want them tested first, just to be sure they work. Then install them on ALL Cedar Fair WOODEN COASTERS. BWA HA HA!

A punch to the face from Dad? Or 3 10/10s... I was just giving some numbers to compare the parks. However, if you break this down to just "Mega Thrill Rides"...removing all "family" and "kiddie" rides... Cedar Point #1-Millennium Force (9.6) #2-Maverick (9.3) #3-Top Thrill Dragster (9.3) #4-Raptor (8.7) #5-Magnum XL200 (8.4) #6-Wicked Twister (8.1) #7-Mantis (7.3) #8-Mean Streak (6.3) Average: 8.4 Kings Island #1-Diamondback (9.5) #2-Beast (8.8) #3-Firehawk (8.0) #4-Flight of Fear (7.8) #5-Son of Beast (7.4) #6-Invertigo (6.9) #7-Vortex (6.9) Average: 7.9 Cedar Point wins hands down. Please note that these numbers do not reflect everyone's opinions on a certain ride and will change from person to person. For example, I would give Vortex a 8/10, not a 6.9. Someone else might hate it and give it a 4, etc. There are also areas where Kings Island, as it is now, probably has Cedar Point beaten- such as the kids area and family rides (probably why the average score for KI is higher from that web page). As a whole, however, I think KI is very well rounded... Great Steel Roller Coasters? Check. (Diamondback really helped fill in this one) Great Wooden Roller Coasters? Check. Great Flatrides? Check. (Though we do need a few more for adults) Great Family Rides? Check. Great Kids Rides? Check. World Records? Check. Good Food? Check. (Though it is expensive!) Clean Park? Check. (Well, mostly...) Observation Tower? Check. Train? Check. Water Rides? Check. How many other parks have all these things? I don't there are that many.

Using Coastergrotto's numbers... Cedar Point #1-Millennium Force (9.6) #2-Maverick (9.3) #3-Top Thrill Dragster (9.3) #4-Raptor (8.7) #5-Magnum XL200 (8.4) #6-Wicked Twister (8.1) #7-Mantis (7.3) #8-Gemini (7.0) #9-Blue Streak (6.5) #10-Mean Streak (6.3) #11-Iron Dragon (5.6) #12-Wildcat (5.6) #13-Disaster Transport (5.2) #14-Corkscrew (5.0) #15-Cedar Creek Mine Ride (4.9) #16-Woodstock Express (4.3) #17-Jr Gemini (3.4) Average: 6.7 Kings Island #1-Diamondback (9.5) #2-Beast (8.8) #3-Firehawk (8.0) #4-Flight of Fear (7.8) #5-Son of Beast (7.4) #6-The Racer (7.1) #7-Invertigo (6.9) #8-Vortex (6.9) #9-Flight Deck (6.8) #10-Backlot Stunt Coaster (6.7) #11-Adventure Express (5.9) #12-Fairly Odd Coaster (5.4) #13-Rugrats Runaway Reptar (5.0) #14-Little Bill's Giggle Coaster (3.3) Average: 6.8 Kinda shocking...but we must remember, Cedar Point has 3 9/10 or higher rides...we have ONE...

Update: I just looked at the coastergrotto page for Canada's wonderland. They have one "9.3", Behemoth. And then a bunch of 7s. Moved KI above Canada's Wonderland And CW falls several spots...

OK, my 3rd offseason poll that has been floating in my head for a while. How would you rate Kings Island's collection of roller coasters as a whole? This means every single coaster put together, compared to other parks. My Opinion: I regard our collection as excellent, though there are a handful of parks I would list as better...here is my top 5(update: top 4 now!) list. (I have only been to KI so this list is based on what I have seen and heard) #1-Cedar Point #2-Six Flags Great Adventure (El Toro, Kingda Ka, Nitro, and the other great coasters here raise my opinion of them in spite of the fact they have "only" 13) #3-Six Flags Magic Mountain #4-Kings Island Removed: Canada's Wonderland was #4 on my list, but upon further review I decided it wasn't as good as I originally thought. Though, if SOB is removed, I fear Kings Dominion and Carowinds, which would be VERY close behind KI on this list, could pass us with I305 and Intimdator. But that's next year. What do you think? PS: Parks without that many coasters didn't stand too much of a chance to make this list, but if Holiday World had 6 Voyage-class coasters they would easily be #1.

OK, here is an updated list. Thanks for the earlier one while I was away Standbyme. ROUND #1 (First 10 picks) #1-The Beast - McSalsa #2-Diamondback - RWildMan424 #3-Adventure Express - markhudson #4-Son of Beast - BeastinNight #5-Vortex - PKIVortex #6-Firehawk - PKIDelirium #7-Little Bills Giggle Coaster - TheSonofBeast #8-The Racer - dexbomb #9-Flight Deck - KI Kevin #10-Invertigo - brick52 ROUND #2 (Next 10 picks) #11-The Crypt - goodyellowkorn182 #12-Flight of Fear - CedarPointer #13-Drop Tower - flightoffear1996 #14-Shake, Rattle & Roll - Thrill_Biscuit #15-The Eiffel Tower - trint2004 #16-Delirium - Beast1979 #17-Viking Fury - Cort #18-Backlot Stunt Coaster - frisbeefan #19-Zephyr - TombRaiderFTW #20-Extreme Sky flyer - DVO ROUND #3 (Next 10...) #21-The train - rotag1299 #22-Scrambler - Diamondback FOF #23-Slingshot - DropZone99 #24-Monster - Phantom Theater #25-Beastie - Dbfan #26-Congo Falls - Rumor Smasher #27-Carousel - Elmer Fudd #28-White Water Canyon - standbyme #29-Wild Thornberry's River Adventure - KIfan73 #30-Runaway Reptar - CrashOverRided ROUND #4 (Yep...) #31-Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle - Ki4life08 #32-Action Theater - TOPGUN1993 #33-Avatar - KI Man #34-Tasmanian Typhoon - hookyboysb #35-Timmy's Air Tours- Coney Island Rocks #36-Plankton's Plunge - mtl2013 #37-lazy river - coasterfreak45 #38-coolanganda racer - marchimini #39-down under thunder- HTCO #40-Jimmy Neutron's Atom Smashers- Jasper If you are not on the list, you choose a ride that was either defunct, fake, or broke a rule. But you can try again. Though the pickins' is getting mighty slim... And at this point you may now offer trades. But they must accept your trade. Draft Comments: Lame Duck of roller coasters is Runaway Reptar. Stud of flatrides is...THE CRYPT!?!? (How did this get picked before DT or Delirium!?!?) WHY DID LBGC GO IN ROUND 1!?!?!

An interesting idea that popped in my head a while back, this is more of a little "game" than a poll but I still think it fits here. If you could have a ride from KI, ANY ride, all to yourself for a whole year? Here are the rules: -Choose ONE ride at Kings Island. And only one. -If someone has already called a ride in an earlier post (read them all before choosing!), you must choose another ride. The topic will be dead if all rides are taken. -All rides are in their 2009 forms (since we don't know what some will be like in 2010) -Eiffel Tower, Railroad & Action Theater are valid choices as are all Boomerang Bay rides -Both sides of Racer go as one ride in this topic -You may call a ride by a previous name to pick it (ala "Top Gun", "Tomb Raider", etc.) but be aware it's the 2009 version of the ride -You may also put up a picture of a logo of a ride you "claim" or a picture, but also specify what ride you are choosing. -No defunct rides may be chosen, sorry. The purpose of this? To see what rides get picked the earliest, and which ones become Mr.Irrelevant(among the last ones chosen). Act fast or the ride you want might be gone. As the original poster, I will get Pick #1. BWA HA HA ...I choose... The Beast! Wait, No Diamondback? Yep. But I have a funny feeling person #2 will call that... Also, you may comment without "claiming" a ride or if you have already picked. Also, to keep some from "slugging" through these pages, I will post a list of chosen rides every now and then for listing. Enjoy.

KI- Once. But at least it was a memorable visit! All Other Parks combined- 0. There was a Holiday World trip planned that got axed. I hope to get much, much more in 2010...

Second poll in 10 minutes...making up for almost 2 months with no polls... We all have our favorite roller coasters, but in some cases, our favorites aren't the most intense ever. Using myself, as much as I loved Beast, it was a walk in the park compared to some other coasters I have ridden. The fear factor. Coasters so crazy, so fast, so insane, they make you say "OH SH!%!!!". Coasters that have you huffing and puffing and thinking "Oh...My...Gosh..."(or something equally stunned)as you come back into the station. What is the most frightening and intimidating coaster you have ever ridden (or it looked so scary you dared not even try it!). In my case, Diamondback takes the cake. Being over 200 feet in the air, and then feeling like I was going to fly out scared me to the point where my knuckles were white. I was holding on to the lapbar so hard, my hands hurt afterwords. I had to catch my breath afterwords. It was an amazing ride, and one intense one as well. I have only been to KI and Indiana Beach, so one day Diamondback may lose this title. Or maybe it won't. But what coaster scares you the most?

Sorry. I had to be "quite general" when it came to that because KIC only allows 20 options per question. If anyone else beyond this point has a very particular ride that makes them feel sick, please leave a comment on it. Thanks.

Ahh, my first poll of the offseason. The subject- puke! In Roller Coaster Tycoon, your guests will ride rides, get sick, and hurl. This happens in real life too, of course. One of the "guest ratings" in these games is "Nausea Tolerance". The question is, how much can you take before...BLAGH...you hurl. Some people can take a lot. Others cannot take much. How much can you handle? Do you keep riding if you start to feel sick? And what rides cause you to hurl the most(this usually varies from person to person). Enjoy.

Well, it was a great year for me too even though I only managed to go to KI ONCE . But that only made the one visit that much more memorable... #1-Seeing KI for the first time in 9 years caused me to nearly explode from excitement. #2-My first ride on The Beast ever. (Awesome) #3-White Water Canyon with my sister and my best friend. Hillariously fun. Also quite wet. #4-Waiting 1 hour to ride Diamondback (should have been only 40 minutes but rain interfered). #5-Seeing my Mom's reaction to Diamondback (she was scared to death! OK I was a bit too...). She was OK, but rode only 1 more ride that day. #6-Eating an amazing Chilli Dog from Skyline Chilli. Hadn't had one that good in a while. #7-Getting hit on by a park employee and not realizing it up in the Eiffel Tower. Yep. Me dumb. #8-Riding The Beast...at night...with my best friend. #9-Ending the day with a gentle ride on the Grand Carousel. See #7. I tried to "save it". And now, the dissapointments... #1-The Crypt...you already know. My first real "ride" after the Eiffel Tower and I was worried it would ruin the trip. Beast made a nice save though. #2-Firehawk's lines. Ouch. #3-Really wanting to try Son of Beast, walk up to it, "we're closed for the day, sorry". And now it may NEVER open again. Now I may never how good/bad Son of Beast really is. #4-Being forced to have KI withdrawl. That's it... And now, McSalsa's Top 5 Rides of 2009: #1-The Beast (Night) @ Kings Island #2-Diamondback @ Kings Island #3-Flight of Fear @ Kings Island #4-The Beast (Daytime) @ Kings Island #5-Red Racer @ Kings Island Sorry for the long post. PS, I will try my hardest to get more visits to KI next year...and other parks as well. So far, Cedar Point and Holiday World trips are possible. Hopefully, all goes well. Bonus: Most Painful Ride of 2009 Vortex. My shoulders ached after that ride. Not that bad. If you count Carnivals, though, a certain Hammer ride had Vortex beat 100 fold...and probably even Son of Beast.

OK, I had another dream about KI to post. Sorry for bumpin this. In the dream, it was 2010. I rode Adventure Express, and then went over and rode The Beast. Then we headed over to Action Zone and examined Son of Beast, which was undergoing overhaul and would not be ready to re-open until 2011. It had a new steel support structure, had been re-tracked, and had new silver trains. A weird part was they had swapped out the old chain lift for a cable lift hill (which leads me to believe Intamin was doing the overhaul as I said "like El Toro" when I saw the Cable Lift Hill). Kings Island also got a new ride of 2010...Screamin' Swing! I had also heard they had chosen the next ride for the "new ride rotation program". It was...TopGun1993 don't read on...Adventure Express, which was going to Knott's Berry Farm. I heard rumors that a B&M Invert was coming...rumor was, it would be Raptor from Cedar Point...wait, could that fit? Could this really be the future? PS: There was no mention of Planet Snoopy in my dream. We "avoided" that area. Summary of Dream: "Good" Stuff: -Son of Beast was going to re-open, though in 2011 -Raptor coming to KI -Screamin' Swing Bad Stuff: -Adventure Express final season at KI before moving to Knott's That's it.

Your welcome. PS: For anyone who doesn't understand what this video is (HUH!?!?), it was from opening day 2000. Son of Beast was still "finishing up" construction and did not open along with the park that year, instead it had to wait a few more days/weeks until it debuted in (I think) early May 2000. It was then closed once again after riders complained of roughness. A few weeks later, it was open once more, and got much better reviews. I made my very first KI Trip sometime in August 2000 and Son of Beast was running all day that day. My cousin rode it and declared it "the best ride in the park" if I remember correctly, a 10/10 (he gave original Beast a 9). By 2003, however, the bad reviews started to come in, then the '06 accident hit and Son of Beast has been on a downhill spiral ever since. I think this guy sums it up correctly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_oaGXcdWgs#movie_player This video may be about Holiday World's Voyage, but the comment made at 2:20 is very fitting- some coasters just start off great (in fact, I don't think there are many at all that are considered bad when they open) but give it a few years and the best and worst will begin to show.

What more needs to be said about this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iwFrdqAYEQ...feature=related Found this video on youtube that seems to be from either 2000 or 2001, because King Cobra can be spotted in it. It features Son of Beast, and gives a look back at "brighter days" for the ride. Just felt this was worth sharing.

Do they still have the blueprints? An idea popped into my head last night as I first saw those videos: a theme park built with the theme "the great rides of the past return!". It would be filled with re-creations of classic roller coasters that no longer exist, coupled with classic flatrides and classic theming and atmosphere. Sigh. If only I had the money do that... PS: For Terpy... It's a no limits recreation of a ride that no longer exists. I think you will be quite pleased.

Oh, and if anyone finds more old roller coaster videos, feel free to post links to this page. And we don't care even if the coaster/ride is still standing today (let's say it's a video from when Vortex first opened, etc). But make it at least pre-1990s if possible. Old Pictures are also welcome. For Example: Beast POV as a "baby" in 1979. The coaster remains, but is now 30 years old. My how time sure does fly. From the KIC video page on youtube.

While this isn't footage of KI, I thought some of you "old school" (or even new school) coaster fans would enjoy some classic roller coaster videos of rides that simply no longer exist. I found this video on youtube: It's a video of the infamous Crystal Beach Cyclone. One of the most violent roller coasters ever built, and possibly even more so than even today's most vicious monsters (Voyage, El Toro, etc.). The music in this video, in my opinion, fits this coaster PERFECTLY. More Videos on the same channel: The Rye Aeroplane Coney Island Ohio, Pre-1971 (The prelude to Kings Island of sorts) And here is a link to the channel itself with even more videos: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=swampfoxer#p/u Enjoy.

Not necessarily. I'm not a coaster engineer, but please humor me. Imagine if Voyage was exactly the same as it is today, but dig a 60 trench at the base of the first drop (154'). Now "extend" the first drop into that trench. Now you have a 214' foot drop, like Son of Beast. My understanding (and ride experience) is that the drop on Son of Beast works fine, despite its height and speed. The problem is traversing the Rose Bowl at high speed. In theory, the Voyage train would crest the second hill and traverse the rest of the course just as it does today. The only difference is a longer and faster first drop. My point is that a wooden hypercoaster doesn't have to be rougher than any other wooden coaster, as long as the other elements (curves, turns, banks) are designed to be taken at reasonable speeds. To answer your original question, I think the biggest barriers to another hyperwoodie / looping woodie are cost, maintenance, and the fact that steel does hyper and loops just fine. Personally, I agree with you: I'd love to see more giant wooden coasters. Excellent points. If anyone ever does another wooden hypercoaster, I give these suggestions: -Don't use a "Twister" style layout. Make it "a classic out and back coaster on a much bigger scale." You can have Helixes and turns, but save those for the END of the ride, when it has lost some of its speed. -Have Intamin build it, so it can be a pre-fab. This will reduce costs and make the ride much, much smoother than most normal wooden coasters. Of course, the end result is a "Wooden Diamondback" of sorts. It works, and you get records, but you can get the same result from a B&M Hyper for about the same price. So you would only do this for records, it seems. Though you could probably mix it up a bit (have a few helixes with tunnels near the end of the ride, etc) to make it different from its steel hypercoaster "brothers". Just more thoughts...

The Suspended Coaster wasn't a failure. It was simply replaced by a newer design- the rise of the inverted coaster is what killed it. By the time we got Flight Deck(Top Gun) in '93, all of the problems had been solved. Flight Deck isn't a maintence nightmare like The Bat was at all, and though it has some rust, it still operates very well and is an enjoyable ride. I understand, though, if you think them "failures" because they didn't turn out to be the mega thrill rides we had hoped for (though some of them are excellent "family thrill" rides). I also hope, in the future, someone sees the lignt that Suspended coasters are NOT the same as Inverts, and builds a new one. One problem though- Arrow is gone...would B&M or Intamin build a Suspended coaster...and what the heck would theirs be like!?!?