jcgoble3

While I love the "big" rides (Beast, Diamondback, etc.), I could spend all day on Flight Deck and The Racer. Either that, or I'd hit Boomerang Bay. P.S. Who voted "throw a tantrum"???

From KI's Facebook page: EDIT 8/31/2011: Changed title to reflect new year of discussion.

Conclusion: The less you expect out of a ride, the more you'll like it.

My mother took me to KI about once or twice a year as a young child, but I was too chicken to ride any coaster other than what is now the Great Pumpkin Coaster. Than, at age 9 (I think), she talked me onto The Racer. That scared the crap out of me so bad that I don't think I ever went to KI again until this year, 14 years later. Now I love coasters; I just wish I was able to travel further to other parks.

In the times I've been to KI this year, I've seen, on more than a few occasions, Beast trains being consistently dispatched before the next train reaches the brake run when there's a decent crew operating. (I'm not saying this happens all the time, just that it can and does happen.) In this scenario, we have three trains every five minutes (exact dispatch time is irrelevant here because trains can only be loaded as fast as they come back), or 36 trains per hour * 36 seats per train = max capacity of 1296 riders per hour. Actual capacity will be slightly less because seats are not assigned and there is no single rider line, meaning there will occasionally be an empty seat here and there when a group doesn't want to break up, but the effect of that is negligible. The point here is that the RCDB listed capacity can be achieved with a decent crew.

I hope I'm not breaking any rules by bumping this, but I just had to add something new: This morning, after I had boarded Firehawk and the restraints had been secured, the ride op said over the PA something to the effect of, "OK, red train, you will be falling back into your pre-flight position in 3... 2... 1... and now you can stare at the dull gray that they painted our ceiling, the same gray used in every prison in the U.S."

Long Medium-time reader, first-time poster. I'm fairly new to thrill rides in general (this year being the first time I have been to any amusement park in 14 years since The Racer spooked me at age nine), but just in the span of this season, I've reached the point that I can put my hands up (or out in the cases of Firehawk and Xtreme Skyflyer) on most thrill rides, and yes, that includes Drop Tower. The ones I can't put my hands up on include Flight Deck, Vortex (both due to the OTSR pinning my arms down), Invertigo (backwards still scares me a little bit), and The Beast (have to brace myself because it's too rough, though I can raise my hands on the first drop).