shadowscare

If they're limiting entry to Soak City through a reservations system I'd hate to see what it would be like without it. Park was extremely busy today. We entered before 11:00 am, got a locker, threw our towels down on some loungers, sunscreened up and went straight to Mondo Monsoon. Took about 30 minutes to get on. Longer than I would expect given limited reservations but... in my experience it's usually a long line so, whatever. Jumped in the wave pool for a bit and decided to head over to Zoom Flume. Ended up waiting just over an hour. Them went to get lunch, figuring a late lunch means we'd avoid the bulk of the crowds. Wrong. Line was snaking out of the queue at 1'45 and all said and done it took an hour to get food. And it wasn't for a lack of staff, but those folks sure didn't have any sense of urgency. Went over to Tropical Plunge, which took over 30 minutes. Ended up spending the rest of our time in the wave pool. Every food/drink station had a long line, walkways were crowded, wave pool was jammed in the afternoon. Beats a day at the office but not an experience I'd like to repeat.

We have reservations for Soak City on Monday, July 5th. I was surprised to see they're still limiting attendence! June was a jam packed month for us and we haven't been to the water park yet. How have the crowds been with the reservation system? Is early entry still unavailable? (website says unavailable, but maybe it hasn't been updated?) Any tips on getting there early and snagging loungers by the wave pool?

There's two sides to this coin. Local guests, or guests on a limited budget: It's bad. Lines for the general public are much slower. Out of town guests: It's good. If I'm visiting a park that I may never get to visit again, I'm buying the Fast Lane. Especially if the park is going to be crowded. I didn't come all that way to miss out on some rides because I ran out of time. Ideally I believe it hinders the overall guest experience, but I see where they can have their place. I'd say keep them, but limit them much more than they are.

I like relentless, out of control rides so for that reason I voted Mystic Timbers. I still recall when the ride first opened, "finally. KI has a brag worthy wooden coaster". And I don't know if they did track work, heavy maintenance on the trains, or the weather presented the perfect elements for the ride or what... but for those of you that were not able to visit this weekend, you're in for a treat. I got two rides; one around 5:00 and another at 10:00. That thing was absolutely hauling through the course. The airtime was on point! I enjoyed reading the interesting comments about Diamondback though. I have to agree that the capacity and the massive nature of the ride was quite the change for the park. Mystic Timbers may be my favorite, but Diamondback may have had the biggest impact on the park overall.

I think it was a combination of factors that lead to the craziness yesterday. Understaffed in some locations, first day on the job for many, and the weather forecast for Sunday looked pitiful so anyone that wanted to go this weekend, showed up on Saturday. If the forecast for each day was similar, it would have spread out the crowds a bit more.

I can assure you the people trapped in his Vortex (no pun intended) wished he would just stop talking all together.

Was this at night? Guy with glasses in a Toledo jacket? That was hilarious to watch. The look on the mom's face was priceless, as the family stayed huddled together and tried to keep their distance. Even my 11 year old son was cracking up at the scene. Those poor folks were stuck in that moment nonstop for 45 minutes. "So... so... Intimidator 305, or, I-305 as WE like to call it..." What a line!

Got to the park around 4:15. Rode MT, Diamondback, Bumper Cars, stood in line for 20 minutes for ice cream, then went to Racer, Adventure Express, then back over to Rivertown for night rides on Diamondback and MT. So yeah, the places was very crowded for food lines being ridiculous late into the evening. But if you were flexible with what you wanted to ride there was plenty of fun to be had. The kids were bummed we had to skip FoF because of the line but all in all we had a good time.

Update: MT 90 minute posted wait. Actual wait: 35 minutes. And the ride is HAULING. Fastest ride I've ever had on it.

Just got here. This place is PACKED. The food lines are insane. Just jumped in line for MT. Posted 90 min wait. We'll see.

Yikes. I'm at my son's baseball game so we won't be rolling in until around 4:00. Hopefully people will get discouraged by the lines and clear out by evening. Hey, one can dream right? Other than Orion how are the lines elsewhere?

I was there yesterday afternoon. There was a lot more people than the passholder previews. Yes, I realize it's a Sunday and expected more people, but we didn't arrive until 5:00 figuring many people would be on their way out. We were wrong. Now, the uptick in crowds, that part I can handle. What I can't handle is the general douchebaggery of the general public. The social distancing markers in the lines were largely ignored, people dropping their facemasks down, etc. It was a major difference. In line for Diamondback, this was rampant, with 3 security officers standing around doing nothing about it. With the switchbacks filled side by side (instead of every other row, as it should be), it was pretty close to standing in a crowd. We had a little better luck at Banshee, The Bat, and Drop Tower, but still a far cry to the general respect people showed to each other when the park first opened. I'll give it one more shot and if I encounter more of the same, I'll just wait until next year to return. I have no interest in being part of the problem.

I'm about as critical of mask usage social distancing as they come. We spent a full day on Fri July 3rd and half day in the afternoon/evening on July 10th. I was pleasantly surprised by mask adherence and social distancing. I had a much better experience than some of the posters above, not sure why? On both of my visits I only had to let someone know they were too close two or three times combined. Even then, it wasn't like they were right up on me. Here are my gripes: Queue switchbacks were in use on 7/3. Yes, markers are spaced 12 feet apart and staggered. But it still means you continually pass by people. I saw a lot less of this on 7/10. On 7/3 the ride attendants were mostly having riders self check restraints. On 7/10 it seemed to be more manual checks. This means the employees get very close. But, it's only for a moment and everyone is wearing masks. With those two factors combined, from what I understand risk of transmission is very low. Overall I'd say KI is doing a really good job with this. Expect slower operations due to reduced capacity, eat at off peak times and roll with it. You'll have a great time.

I never thought nofnit that way. Close early and the electric bill drops significantly. In a time when you're looking to cut costs in any way possible that's a smart move.

So did Texas. And now they're an absolute mess. Indiana will be there soon enough. Anyway, stopped by the park today with the family for a few hours this evening. It was glorious. Entered the parking lot around 3:30. Rode Invertigo, Banshee, Adventure Express, Dodgems (2x), Monster, Scrambler, Orion, Flight of Fear, Stunt Coaster, River Rapids, bought some tokens for the kids to soak other riders, and Mystic Timbers. Longest wait was Mystic Timbers at 20 minutes. Side note, had a very bizarre mask incident. We're sitting in the front row of Banshee, literally just sat in my seat. As I'm pulling down my restraint a big gust of wind comes and POOF there goes my mask! Ride op comes by I alert her I lost my mask and she says she'll get me another one as mine was nowhere to be seen and locks me in. But they're out of masks on the platform. And they send the train on it's way. Uh... mmmmmkay. Pull back into the station and they had one waiting for me. So going 90 MPH, being twisted around on carnie rides, whipping through inversions? No problem. Random gust of wind? Bye bye mask!

I'm just the opposite. The Racer is bumpy but I can tolerate it. My last few trips on The Beast? Wasn't even 25% of the way through and I wanted it to be over. Three words: Are. Emm. See.

I've ridden many rows of The Beast over the years, and they're all varying degrees of awful. Most recently in Row 3. I've been on an SLC, it's nowhere near as bad as that giant turd in Mason. Even if it was smooth, 80% of the layout is a snoozefest. I was thrilled the first time I rode Mystic Timbers. Finally, a woodie in Ohio that's brag worthy.

Favorite: Mystic Timbers. Wild, out of control sensation with the rickety wood coaster feel without being rough. Nonstop speed from beginning to end. Now, I'll put on my anti flame suit for all the fanboys about to get triggered. Least Favorite; not just at KI, but anywhere: The Beast. I thought it was lame on my first ride 20 years ago, and it's even worse today. It's basically a nice first drop into a tunnel, turn and drop down a hill that's all completely ruined by trims, with a cool double helix at the end. Otherwise it's long sections of flat straight track with an occasional wide turn thrown in and of course, more trims. After the helix there's a gentle kiddie coaster hill followed by the world's longest brake run. However, even the redeemable parts of the ride involve getting the living crap kicked out of you on the roughest track end to end of any coaster I've ever ridden, except SOB. When my 7 year old daughter who is made of jello keeps yelling "why does it hurt so bad" during her first ride, that's bad. For some reason I try it once each year just to see if maybe something has changed. And it does change, it just gets worse. Friday was the last ride I'll ever take on it. No amount of history or nostalgia can overcome it. Either RMC it or burn it to the ground. Even a retracking can't save the overall layout.

The rattle on Banshee is pretty mild IMO. However I was surprised at the rattle on Diamondback on Friday. Sat in the last row and felt like I was sitting on a mini jackhammer. Not terribly violent but I was surprised by how much I felt it.

My son and I rode it twice on Friday. Once in the very back and once in the very front. Based on those experiences I would say any seat is great, but if I had to chose only one, I give the edge to the back seat. For all the talk about it being short, I dunno, to me it felt just right. I can't put my finger on it exactly... Maybe because it just flies through the course and you hit the brakes with a head of steam and it already hit every possible element you could put on a non-inverting B&M? And the best pop of air is the dip right before the brake run. Great ride, great addition. But it's not my favorite ride in the park; that still goes to Mystic Timbers. I prefer the wild, out of control feeling over the graceful elements of a B&M mega coaster. But that's just me. And to the person who mentioned it's better than Steel Vengeance? No. Just... no. So what's better, MF or Orion? Honestly, I don't know. They're both great in their own respects. Did anyone else think the drop on MF "feels" larger though? I don't know if it's the setting or the narrower track that plays tricks on my mind. Regardless, Orion's big, steep drop is a blast and my son likes Orion better than MF. Anyway, it's a great ride and the GP and enthusiasts alike will eat it up. Very happy to have a season pass!

Been here since park opening, lines are getting long now. Experience so far... Woodstock Express - walk on Flying Ace - 10 min Stunt Coaster- 15 min Beast - 30 min Mystic Timbers is now down, log flume is down, Diamondback is 90 min wait. Might as well each lunch!

Huh. I wonder where they get that idea from.

Spoke too soon. They opened the driveway gate at 10:00 and this is where we sit awaiting the parking lot to open. Again, we were initially arriving at 9:30.

We're currently in line with our very excited kiddos. We rolled up around 9:30. A fair amount of cars in front of us but we're near the front of the pack, sitting right across from Rivers Crossing Church.

I know this is more sad than funny, but I literally laughed out loud reading this!