jcgoble3

Not to mention that dueling trains on a single-track coaster requires running two trains at all times.

Here's the Storm Chaser page on the park website: http://www.kentuckykingdom.com/comingsoon/storm-chaser/

Want elevation figures? Fire up Google Earth (the program you download and install on your computer, not the web service), move the mouse around, and look in the bottom right corner. Here's what I got (all figures are ground elevation, not track elevation): Bottom of the lift hill is 754 ft. Bottom of the second hill is 748 ft. Bottom of the last dip before the turnaround is 744 ft. on the red side and 746 ft. on the blue side.

I'm just saying that announcements are often (not always, but often) held in the general vicinity of where the new attraction will be located, or some other relevant area. This small stage, if it is indeed for a new ride announcement, could be an indicator that Antique Cars could be returning to the park, as that's near or in the general area they were once in. Hell, maybe Backlot will be torn out and replaced with Antique Cars; it's not too late in the season for a "closing forever" announcement. Or maybe I am indeed grasping at straws here. Right now, anything is possible.

Hmm. In that area? Could we possibly be getting some version of antique cars back?

So wait. Imagine two rides. One is a hurl-and-twirl style zipper ride at a local carnival. A thrill ride. The other is the Spider-Man dark ride at Niagara Falls in Canada, which is essentially a low-budget, non-motion-simulating version of Islands of Adventure's... Same concept, just on a slow-moving classic dark ride track. A dark ride, even by your definition. Categorization aside, you would say that Universal's Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man is defined more accurately like the former rather than the latter...? Because it spins? Hm. GYK, just trying to make sense of a complex question to which there may be no right answer. Universal's Spider-Man has a lot of dark ride elements, yes, but it also has a number of thrill ride elements, such as simulating a free-fall, etc. I think KI Guy said it best: a true dark ride is based around visual entertainment and "thrills". Physical thrills, or the simulation of such as Universal's Spider-Man does, push it into "thrill ride" classification. It might be best to say that Universal's Spider-Man is a hybrid of a dark ride and a thrill ride, but to call it simply a dark ride is IMHO incorrect.

Spider-Man is, put simply, a thrill ride. Not everything needs to, or should, fit neatly in standard categories. Sometimes a ride is just a ride. As for Curse of DarKastle, again, I'm not familiar with it. Can you describe it for me?

Scares alone don't disqualify it in my book. By "thrill factor", I meant the type of thrill/fear you get on something like Banshee or The Beast. A haunted house–type ride, even a scary one, still qualifies under my #4. I probably ought to rejigger #4 and #5, though. I originally had them as one, then decided to to split them, and I think I could have chosen a better way to do the split. But first, I'm hungry.

I'm not familiar with Laff In The Dark. What, specifically, about it do you think excludes it under those criteria?

YES! I want one of those!

I tweeted the park and got a response. Cirque Imagine runs through Sunday, August 16.

To me, a dark ride has the following distinguishing features: First and foremost, it must be primarily a ride. Walk-through attractions do not count. It must be mostly or entirely indoors. Outdoor rides never count. It must be lit primarily or entirely with lighting that is part of the theme or set. Rides that normally operate with general lighting for the whole room (other than in the loading/unloading area) don't count. It must be gentle, with little or no thrill factor so that young and old, and thrill-seekers and chickens, can enjoy it together. Finally, it should be as inclusive as possible, with no strong forces or thrill ride–like restraint systems that exclude riders because of physical conditions. This and #4 together exclude rides such as Spiderman at IOA, as well as Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.

It's still listed here as "NEW APPLICATION FILED", implying to me that the trademark office simply hasn't taken action on it yet. It was only filed three months ago, so it's moving at the speed of government.

The one time I saw that happen, that's where the ride computer stopped the ride. It went up a little too high on the load side for some reason, then there was a brief "screech" sound as the brakes were applied. At that point the ride panel started beeping as the "Alarm Silence" button flashed, the ride slowed and stopped in the valley on the far side. It's probably a safety feature because it's easier to get people off if needed when it's low like that. Okay, that's one instance. But I vaguely recall someone (possibly ohiocolts?) saying somewhere (possibly Facebook?) that in another instance it simply ran out of steam, couldn't make it over the center hump, and valleyed like a normal roller coaster would. I don't know if that was actually said by someone, though, or if my faulty memory is making things up again.

Last year, it ended in mid-August. I don't think we know yet for this season.

How about the spectating parent of that young child, who has no clue whether you are a pedophile or not? See also the second half of the post below yours.

One should not have to ride in a certain way to enjoy the ride. If one must do so, then there is something wrong with the ride. See also another discussion about I305 under Trip Reports.

So has this thread now transitioned into the General Holiday World Discussion Thread?

If you don't agree with your own opinion, then it is time to change that opinion.

Probably part of that $300,000. Unless I've missed something, I doubt that those new loans have to be fully paid back in a single year. More likely, they are multi-year loans.

AFAIK, yes. Next time you are at the front of a row queue, watch underneath the boat's "home" position. There are a series of tires that spin one way to drive the boat up, then quickly reverse direction to throw the boat in the opposite direction when it comes back down. AFAIK the boat is freely swinging with nothing to power it or brake it but those tires (though I could be wrong on that).

Its actually a triple-down element within the tunnel, and that is the only thing that is altered by the MCBR. Once you get out of the triple-down, and past the very first rise after that, the ride experience is much the same as it always has been. To be honest, the triple down has always been the one element of Voyage that I disliked, though I've never really understood why. I think the airtime in it just always felt awkward to me. In which case, I suspect the new trimming removing the airtime from the triple down might actually improve my opinion of Voyage (which I already rank as my #1 wooden coaster). Hmm...

Haven't there been a few instances of Surf Dog valleying on the non-loading side of the ride this season? How would that be possible if it is powered up every hill? Perhaps it isn't powered nearly as much as we think it is. Perhaps it is only powered for a few brief moments at each change of direction, and coasts otherwise. Perhaps it is... a roller coaster? jcgoble3, carefully considering a change of personal opinion about this issue

Wow. That's deep, man.

My favorite: "Plot twist, paired with cat..." LOL!