McSalsa

http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18600 Here is the suggestion page for future battles. PLEASE, DO NOT LIST SUGGESTIONS ON THIS PAGE.

Yep. It's another poll by me. This time around, I have gotten an idea: pick 2 or more coasters, and pit them against each other in a battle to see which coaster is enjoyed the most. That coaster wins the battle. I will try to not pick unfair battles, so you won't see a Voyage vs. Son of Beast battle(because Voyage would just run away with it). These will not, however, be limited to just KI coasters, but will often be KI vs. Other Coaster battles instead of just Other Coaster vs. Other Coaster...unless a really good battle comes up. I will create a page on this site under "other" where you can suggest future coaster battles. There will also be "Triple Threat", "Fatal 4 Way", or even "Battle Royal" coaster battles where up to six coasters duke it out! The next coaster battle will be Son of Beast vs. Mean Streak vs. Texas Giant in a triple threat match dubbed "Big, Rough, and Wooden". But I want this battle to get some attention for right now. And for the first battle, I have chosen 2 "family thrill rides", both at Kings Island. Adventure Express against Backlot Stunt Coaster. Who will win this battle? LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!

Doh! I missed most of the movie questions and the stunt questions! I am so lame...

What do you mean "poor choices"? Well, a few choices were made for rides that just didn't work as well as hoped, and were over-hyped. And there was the transformation of Action Zone into a parking lot, sure there are great rides there, but they should have kept some of the trees to help it feel more natural. And some fun rides or rides that added to the atmosphere were removed for rides that just didn't work as well. HB Land was transformed into the, by comparison, generic-feeling Nick U. However, Cedar Fair has done a good job reversing a lot of the bad choices made, mainly thanks to Diamondback. And they could easily add some scenery to Action Zone to make it look better, perhaps in a year where there are no plans for a major new thrill ride(this probably won't happen soon, however). It also appears Nick-U could be on the way out. I like how things look for KI now, and hope these new trends continue. It is also possible that I am imagining the park as being better back then, based upon looks, as I didn't make my first trip to KI until 2000. The park just looked so beautiful in 1997, it's sad to see a lot of the lush green gone now.

This video should bring back some memories for you: This video was from Kings Island's Eiffel Tower in 1997. Nothing major was added that year, but Flight of Fear had just been added the year prior. Take a look especially at what is now Action Zone. Wow. Pretty shocking. Kings Island was great in the mid to late 1990s. And thanks to some poor choices, we now have to work back to that. Owch. 111% Coasterbob62's work. Be sure to check out some of his other videos. Here are some of my other favorites: Son of Beast is coming. Son of Beast has arrived! I had my first trip to KI as a kid back in 2000, and was shocked at the size of this coaster. Diamondback has changed the landscape of KI considerably. Here is a before & after video. The Beast 2009. Enough said. I love this ride. King Cobra, may you RIP. You will be missed...by some. Others love Delirium too much to miss you. DA DA DUM. You shall laugh! He has many more good videos, so watch those too if you wish. He also has a bunch of Cedar Point videos, which was also at one time radically different. Enjoy!

Or you can be crazy and break your foot. Or someone else's. Or just wait until an accident occurs and you break your foot, etc. Then again, the medicals bills could go well over $200, so...not a good idea. I would just buy a VIP pass or wait. But, if you do by chance get a broken foot anyhow, or one of your friends does...make a trip to KI, and you can skip right past the lines and ride pretty much everything. DISCLAIMER: ONLY BROKEN FEET/ANKLES WOULD BE ABLE TO RIDE ALMOST EVERYTHING. DO NOT BREAK SKULL, NECK, BACK, ARMS, OR LEGS OR GET INTERNAL INJURIES AS THESE WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO RIDE MOST RIDES.

A friend of mine was also able to skip right past the lines without the V.I.P. passes or line jumping- he was with someone who had a broken foot. He showed me the papers. I was a bit shocked that people with a broken foot can still ride pretty much anything in the park, save Sling Shot, Skyflyer, or Thunder Alley. I was especially shocked by this line: Son of Beast- OK This was a few days before SOB closed for the year, BTW. He still had to wait, however, when he wasn't with that person. PS: I do NOT encourage anyone to break their foot just to avoid lines at KI. Or break someone else's foot and go with them, either! ...unless you are truly that desperate to ride Firehawk. Just kidding once again. Not even for that.

So is Vortex. It passes right by Beast. Maybe that's how I was able to ignore BLSC when judging Coney Mall. It really is just "it's own thing", as is the case with Vortex as well. These rides are in a "transitional area" between Coney Mall and Rivertown, behind the Eiffel Tower.

I'll go ahead and comment on the other areas while I'm at it... Coney Mall If Rivertown didn't exist, Coney Mall would have gotten my vote simply for the atmosphere. BLSC hurts it, but does not do any serious damage as I was able to ignore it. X-Base It has Flight of Fear, the 3rd of the rides I would give a 10/10 to, but this area just is not big enough yet. Firehawk was a start, but we need more back here before it can even think of challenging Rivertown. Action Zone It has some of the best flatrides in the entire park. But when the 3 coasters all get mixed reviews (SOB too rough, FD too short, Invertigo makes me ) and such generic theming it falls just a bit flat. Oktoberfest The theming here is A+, but all it has for rides are Sling Shot(which I feel is more Action Zone), Adventure Express, and Viking Fury. But you can get great food, too. I enjoyed it even though we rode nothing here on our trip (will not make mistake next time, so beware, Adventure Express!). International Street Great theming, only a few rides. But it hosts one of the park's star attractions: The Eiffel Tower. And most of the shops. Kudos for that. And this area really wasn't meant for rides anyhow. Nick U Hanna-Barbera Land was better. This area is way, way too genericly Nick-themed! Kids probably love it. As for me...BLAGH. Boomerang Bay I have never even seen Boomerang Bay. When we went, it was May 16th...it wasn't open. And I didn't remember to look for it from the Eiffel Tower. Oops. I was too busy starting at SOB(it LOOKS impressive, have never rode it), searching the woods to see if I could spot The Beast(found it!), or watching Diamondback. Thank you.

Oops! Forgot quality of food! I'll add that choice...

OK, here is yet another poll. What part of the park do you like the best? It can be for any reason, including but not limited to: "My favorite ride is there" "I love the theming there" "There are tons of great rides there" "My kids/family/friends love that part" "I spend most of my KI time there" etc. I went with Rivertown, because that's where The Beast and Diamondback are. WWC is also good, even if Crypt does sour it a little bit. The theming there is also nice, although Diamondback is just a bit distracting.

Possibly...it would probably just be better to ignore the entire "Flight Deck killed someone" thing entirely from here on. It's way too complex and is getting way off topic. On another note- no one has rode The Bat? Wow, Bat Rides really were rare. Well, maybe when some older riders get to this poll...

I don't blame the ride, but it still "counts" since it did occur while on Flight Deck. Had it happened on any other ride, that ride could still be attributed no matter how non-intense. I wonder if the park billing it as a family ride affected her desicion to ride it, it's the only larger coaster with a rating of 4/5 on the 2009 park map now that Racer was upgraded to a 5. It has still killed more riders than all of the said rides combined, however. Spoiler: In case you didn't know, all of the listed rides have spotless records when it comes to fatalities. Injuries? Of course. But not deaths. Even SOB has yet to kill someone... Did she die on the ride? No. Was it the rides fault? No. She did not die ON the ride, true. The ride's fault? Yes and No. It killed her by doing what Flight Deck was designed to do- thrill. The problem was she has a heart condition and should not have been riding thrill rides. She did have the fatal heart attack on the ride. You should get checked by a doctor even if you think you are healthy- you might be shocked by the results. She did not do this, and that too can be blamed. It's a complex issue. Perhaps I should have never stated that as a "Fun Fact". And I just realized there is nothing fun about any death caused by anything. I'll edit that and just say "Fact".

As a joke of sorts, here is an even more updated map. PS: This is no slam to SOB fans. It is just a joke about how the coaster is not running right now. Some people, myself included, are upset about that. I have yet to ride SOB myself, and it was shut down on May 16th. KI trips are rare for me, my family isn't rich, and if a major ride isn't running, odds are I'll miss it for over a year. After Diamondback and Beast, the ride 3rd highest on my hit list was SOB- and I couldn't ride it and won't this year even if I return to KI.

Yep...not sure why though.

Interesting yet stupid poll ahead. What do you think of the current park maps? Here is a picture of the 2009 map for you:

No mention of SOB's "repoted" 5/31/2009 accident on that second site...weird. I also see some clear fake accidents in the un-verified section. This is getting off topic...

I don't blame the ride, but it still "counts" since it did occur while on Flight Deck. Had it happened on any other ride, that ride could still be attributed no matter how non-intense. I wonder if the park billing it as a family ride affected her desicion to ride it, it's the only larger coaster with a rating of 4/5 on the 2009 park map now that Racer was upgraded to a 5. It has still killed more riders than all of the said rides combined, however. Spoiler: In case you didn't know, all of the listed rides have spotless records when it comes to fatalities. Injuries? Of course. But not deaths. Even SOB has yet to kill someone...

OK, it's been a month or so, so if I am going to keep this up for all the KI coasters, I had better get back to these. With the popular rumor that Flight Deck is going to be removed, I chose it. Rate Flight Deck! Fact: Flight Deck has killed, indirectly, more riders than Beast, Son of Beast, Diamondback, Invertigo, Flight of Fear, Vortex, Drop Tower, Delirium, The Crypt, and Firehawk combined.

Note: Some rides were given more hype than others. You can consider this when making your vote. DropZone99 probably did this. Example: Beast, SOB, and Diamondback were given far more hype than BLSC, meaning they have to be AAA or its a dud.

A while back, someone made a poll about the most underrated ride at KI. Now here is the opposite. In the list above I give you 12 of Kings Island's most famous and bragged about rides that we are told "you have to ride this!". Note the lack of non-heavily promoted rides such as Adventure Express and Flight Deck, etc. While those rides are great, a typical park guest doesn't even know they even exist until they look at the map. Of the rides listed, which of them underperforms the most? My pick: Crypt. Too short, boring, end of story.

I think pkiruler meant that the current trains were not meant for SOB, and were designed for another ride. I can agree somewhat to this, I think new trains might help the roughness issue a bit. If anything, they should make cushioned trains, it would cost more but would absorb some of the roughness (although giant+high speed+non pre fab wooden will always equal some level of roughness, the ride will probably never be perfectly smooth even by woodie standards). They might even have to test SOB often with multiple trains to find out what works best, but that is still better than throwing away a $20 million investment. SOB probably won't be thrown out just yet, I could see Cedar Fair trying a couple things before doing that. At least, as long as SOB has those world records they will. If it loses them, which I doubt will happen in the near future, then I can see them not trying as hard to fix the ride and removing it, but only after they attempt to fix it a few more times. If they get desperate enough, the ride could see a total overhaul in a few years, like Texas Giant is getting after this year. But the destruction of SOB is probably not happening...for now at least. As for using heavier trains, they won't do that. That's why the 2006 accident happened, remember? This one pales in comparison (1 injury versus 27) though any injury or death on a coaster is serious.

Speculation over: Cedar Fair finally coughed up what really happened- a woman was injured on the ride on May 31st. Cedar Fair did the correct thing and closed the ride. So much for my "new trains" theory, although that could still happen because of this accident.

Thought of and added a new option. It's the one about the loop. Unlikely, but you never know.

I have only logged about 15 "laps" on coasters, but already I have a few "Zen" moments! The 1st Drop on Diamondback, my very first time. I felt like I was going to fly out! Then came the corkscrew at the end of FOF...later, on the same day. But the one that takes the cake was my first night ride on The Beast. During the day I liked Diamondback and FOF more, but that night ride shot The Beast all the way back to #1. I have yet to ride DB at night, or Voyage, or Millie...but if anything surpasses that night ride on Beast, I will let you all know.