malem

Regarding showers: this event was one night, with check-in at ~8pm. Perhaps it was assumed that local attendees would be able to arrive clean (or go one night without showering; camping doesn't always involve the luxury of a daily shower). Of course, for out-of-town attendees who spent all day Thursday at the park in the summer heat, not having a shower would be a bigger issue. It's sad that this wasn't better attended. Many here are supportive of the park's charitable efforts, but the super quick timeframe and concerns regarding event details made it difficult in this case.

Did anyone from here go? How was it?

Glad to see it's being offered for sale. Hopefully there's a buyer. To parks within a reasonable drive from Ohio: I'll buy a ticket if you buy the ride.

Raptor has reopened. I just rode it.

^^ The statement from Cedar Point said that it was a guest.

Via WEWS-TV: http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-news/oh-erie/man-dies-after-he-was-struck-by-the-raptor-roller-coaster-at-cedar-point

If dining plans went away, it could be a tall order to convince participating customers to pay ~$11+tax each time for what had been "free".

^ For large venues, there's also revenue from sponsorship & pouring rights, of course. (Assuming that the net price KI pays for syrup is substantially less than the wholesale price, profit potential would be even higher.)

Kings Island's quick service food is much better than Cedar Point's. This season, I have been served the following at CP: Cold pizza (twice) Cold fries Cold chicken strips A buffet with dry, salty "food" I have used my meal plan enough at other parks that the above meals were essentially free. So they were worth almost as much as they cost.

Forecast weather affects attendance whether it actually hits the park or not. Days with scattered storms can be great days to visit.

There was inclement weather in the area on Monday. At KI, this tends to be a huge factor in attendance.

Only here, though.

(Six Flags Great Adventure for people outside this forum.)

Part III: Kings Dominion After several long traffic delays, we made it to Kings Dominion just after 8pm on Sunday. I tend to avoid POV videos and "spoilers" of attractions that I have yet to ride, so I particularly enjoyed getting my first taste at night. The park's skyline is stunning after dark, and International Street comes alive with impressively renovated Royal Fountains and a Snoopy's Starlight Spectacular that lives up to its name. The park was lightly crowded Sunday evening, so we warmed up with a dining plan meal & several night rides to prepare for the following (full) day at the park. I had a great time visiting, partly because Kings Dominion reminds me a lot of Kings Island from when I was younger. Today's Kings Island is great in its own way, but Kings Dominion seems to retain more of the charm that I remember from visiting KI as a child. Majestic music plays on International Street, area theming is pronounced & effective, Antique Cars provide a relaxing escape, and there's no shortage of trees or great-looking landscaping. The ivy tunnel and scooters named "Flying Eagles" were also nice throwbacks. Much to our delight, the park was dead Monday with the scorching temperatures; nearly all attractions were walk-ons. Even Volcano was sending empty rows in the 9pm hour, and Andy was able to sit in the front row of Shockwave for ~40 minutes without getting off. After a hurried tour of the major attractions, we enjoyed most of the day at a leisurely pace - getting lots of re-rides and drinking plenty of fluids. As I expected, Volcano was my favorite coaster at Kings Dominion. I actually did watch POV of this in advance, but it doesn't do the ride justice at all. The vertical launch and disorienting, record-breaking inversion make for a unique experience compared to other launch and inverted coasters. Make sure to ride both during the day and at night! I had yet to ride a TOGO stand-up coaster, having missed out on King Cobra and SkyRider, so Shockwave was one of my bigger motivators for visiting KD in 2015. It might not be for everyone, but it turned out to be one of my favorite rides in the park. For me, it's significantly more comfortable than B&M stand-ups, and the layout is forceful & fun. Airtime hills on a stand-up coaster are (oddly enough) very enjoyable. I am sad to see it go, but I'm glad that I got to ride it plenty of times before it closes for good tonight. I gave it three chances, but I couldn't enjoy Intimidator 305 at all. For me, the ride starts with a grayout, then I'm slightly lightheaded for the rest of the short (for a >300' coaster) course. For those looking for raw intensity, this might be your ride. But it's not an experience that I find even remotely fun. Fifteen years after its original debut, Geauga Lake's second-best coaster still impresses at KD. Dominator was a bit nostalgic for me, having last ridden in 2003. The ride is great; the only negative is that unobstructed views of the parking lot are visually jarring compared to the rest of the park. Luckily, I tend to discount critiques of rides until experiencing them myself. After reading middling reviews of inverting pirate ships and having a not-so-enjoyable experience on Aero 360 at Kennywood, I didn't think that I would enjoy Berserker (or Southern Star at Carowinds). It turns out that I enjoyed them both, and I inexplicably found them less nauseating than Kings Island's non-inverting Viking Fury. Hanging upside down can be a lot of fun. We were all entertained by The Singing Mushrooms; it's great to see details from the park's past make a return. They draw crowds with shows every 15 minutes, adding a whimsical element to Candy Apple Grove. Andy enjoyed them enough to purchase ~$70 in themed merchandise on the way out of the park. All in all we had a great time, and I'm already looking forward to a return visit. Kings Dominion went all-out for their 40th anniversary - so much that the celebration is (justifiably) continuing for a second season in 2015. I'm really hoping to see similar investments at Kings Island in future seasons! A few miscellaneous notes: The Crypt was closed both days of our visit. HUSS downtime isn't limited to Ohio. KD's Flight of Fear has a smoother ride than KI's in 2015. Grizzly is a fun wooden coaster, with airtime and a classic layout in dense woods. Like The Beast, it is best ridden at night. Those who think KI's Drop Tower is scary need to ride KD's. The drop is significantly longer, and the open feel of the gondola adds to the thrill. The spiel-less ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower seems awkward after frequenting Kings Island. I almost asked a question to break the silence. Aside from my personal dislike of I-305, Rebel Yell was the only ride that disappointed us - mainly because we were comparing it to Thunder Road. We greatly appreciated that the restrooms were air conditioned.

For those wanting to purchase a campsite, tonight at 11:59pm is the deadline!

^ "Leaks" certainly didn't seem to hurt the announcements of Gatekeeper, Banshee, and Fury 325. And close followers of the park feel special for knowing more than the general public. In this case, logos & virtual models of the ride (and park) were included without obfuscation in a mysterious-looking app linked from the park website, such that anyone with a freely-downloadable tool could navigate them. Also, the virtual reality POV in the app was apparently taken live for a brief period last night.

^^ Since it has been leaked on Reddit and That Donkey Site, I guess it's fair game to include here. And, now, many more people are talking about Cedar Point's 2016 project than otherwise would be. Mission accomplished?

The app is supposed to display a countdown timer until after the 2016 announcement. There are apparently glitches to bypass the countdown, as found by people on PointBuzz. More technically minded people (read: mobile software developers) may have another way to access the app early. No, it's not changing your system time. For anyone who manages to find spoilers, I'd recommend leaving them off public forums and social media. Let CP make their own announcement.

That's a screenshot from the Cedar Point VR app for Android. It's not supposed to spoil anything until after the announcement. Except when it does.

Especially after visiting Kings Dominion, I'd love to see more International Street improvements.

Watch a POV of the new ride while riding one of the existing rides?

As you said, ejection would seem to be indicated for more extreme situations than a first-offence coaster selfie. (Doing it again after being caught, refusing to follow instructions, dropping objects from a tower...) Consequences tend to have a deterrent effect. See what happens when police start handing out lots of traffic tickets in a particular area.

From what I've seen, most riders put their device away after being scolded via the loudspeaker. Of course, this lacks the deterrent effect of stopping the ride, taking the device, and/or ejecting the rider from the park.

Tony Clark teased a date. (Tuesday), August 18. Image: Tony Clark via Twitter. https://twitter.com/TonyClarkCP/status/628203530155900928

^^ Here's a KICentral thread documenting it: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php/topic/24716-half-pint-brawlers-taser-match-canceled/. Luckily, there have been some changes since 2011.