homestar92

There is one just to the right of the fountains as you enter, and another to the right of the Eiffel Tower (the side facing Planet Snoopy) where the big noodle was earlier in the season.

To an extent, this is already happening at CW, moreso than at Kings Island at least. They do not have a gold level pass, so for locals, unless they invest in a Platinum, they'll be paying for an individual admission - and individual parking - to attend Haunt. Based on the confused looks I got from employees when I tried to use my platinum pass for the 20% discount on food and merchandise, I'd reckon that they aren't particularly common, and that most passholders at that park use a regular pass.

I bet in 2015 Coney takes a page from Six Flags's book and operates one of their rides backwards! I think the Flying Bobs would be a great candidate for this!

Nothing is perfect in its first year, I will absolutely agree there. But KK is... different. And I'm no industry expert, I'm just writing out my opinions as a layperson. I may be way off, but here's how I see the fate of the Kingdom. It has existed before. Ed Hart has run an amusement park before. The park started with a lot more rides and attractions than most first-year parks have. There was likely some pent-up longing among locals to go to their park again. The regional competitors didn't even really launch any sort of media assault against it. In theory, they had every possible advantage. And yet, time and time again, they have made decisions that just seem... well, amateur. Worse than that even, honestly. I'm not sure you'll find anyone on here who WANTS this park to succeed more than me. Thunder Run and Lightning Run are easily among my favorite coasters, and I think overall, the collection of coasters and flats complements my home park (Kings Island) as the two are almost completely mutually exclusive in their ride offerings. I seriously LOVE this park. I don't want to see it close in any way. But the way Ed Hart has run things through the first year, I'm not convinced that he's ready to adapt to the market he's going to be facing. First, he has to make it to 2016. If that happens, I think the hardest part of reestablishing the park is over. If all goes to plan, all the rides on the property should be running by then and they'll have a very respectable coaster lineup, plus whatever surprises they add. To do that, though, he needs more than the 600,000 guests a year that he got in the first season. In particular, he needs non-passholders to visit one time and spend, spend, spend inside the park. That's where the money is. IIRC, they sold just under 200,000 passes. If that 600,000 guests includes passholders, you're looking at what would seem to be a very small number of other guests, and that isn't good financially. A Halloween event would probably help immensely, but as has been said many times in this thread, that part of Louisville isn't somewhere you want to be after dark, and thus, I doubt we'll see such an event at all unless the park can reach the level of success it was having early in its Six Flags tenure. Assuming Hart somehow pulls off that kind of success, he's going to attract the attention of Kings Island, Holiday World, Dollywood, and other regional parks. These other parks almost certainly have much larger advertising budgets than KK does, and could launch a media blitz to squash this park like a bug. He would have to adapt to this, too, and overcome that hurdle. If we can reach THIS point, then I think the park might be in the clear for a while. But there's a lot of ifs in this post, and frankly, I've gotten myself worried that my time with Lightning Run is going to be cut a lot shorter than I'd like. Of course, an automatic door on Swampwater Jack's for wheelchair access would probably be a prudent investment, too. But, hey, baby steps, right?

Similar to how you should never reference Wikipedia for an academic research paper, but you can use Wikipedia as a fantastic tool for finding other sources to cite.

Or a glitch in the Matrix. I do recall seeing the same woman twice in Madame Fatale's Cavern of Terror now that I think about it...

Yes, someone has Oh come on, you knew it would happen!

Honestly, I think our water ride lineup is pretty darn good. We have the classic family-friendly flume, an adequate Shoot-the-Chutes (I don't see much variation in these, so ours is as good as anyone's) and possibly the best rapids ride I've ever ridden (Kennywood's is close, but WWC is simply fantastic). I don't see much need for any other dry park water rides. Now the water park... a ProSlide HydroMagnetic water coaster would be pretty cool. It might even get me to visit at some point.

Boy, oh boy, I need to stop having impulses to go ride new coasters. Thursday evening, I decided that I wanted to go to SFGAm this weekend. Yes, the notice was unbelievably short, but I made it work. I called up a friend of mine who I thought might be interested and not have weekend plans, and he said that he could make it work, so Friday after work we were on our way to Chicago. I hate Chicago, for what it's worth, and I always have. i have family in Milwaukee, so I travel through Chicago about four times a year. I truly despise that city. And just in case anyone from Chicago is reading this, I'd like to point out that Mike Ditka is overrated, Soldier Field is a dump, and New York style pizza is by far the superior version. Now that that's out of the way, let's get to the report. I found a Motel 6 in Palatine, IL that had been recently renovated and was affordable. I've never been one to care much about where I stay. As long as it's clean, I can take a hot shower in the morning, and there is a bed that is free of any bedbugs, it'll do for me. So, for the price, I can't complain. Bit of a drive to the park, but overall, not too bad. I would definitely stay there again. We arrived to the hotel around 11:30 PM Friday (Central Time) and after a Taco Bell run, basically just crashed and went to bed. I love my Vue, but not enough that 6 hours of driving (especially when part of that driving involves Chicago travel) is enjoyable, so I was happy to be going to bed. We got up the next morning and headed to the park. Apparently I-94 is a toll road that only accepts cash, and only COINS at that. I didn't have $1.90 in change, so I had to go online later to pay the toll. I was prepared next time around, though, so when I bought souvenirs at the park, I had them give me change in coins so that I would have it for the way back. Now then, to the review: The Good: I've heard a lot about this park. It was my dad's home park when he was my age, so he always praised the rides he remembered there. That set the bar high, but I wasn't disappointed. It was a very clean park, and while I was there for their BooFest, it didn't bug me. There was fog, but only in a few places, and it was kept to a reasonable level. There were scareactors, but they were sparse. This meant that they weren't nearly as annoying, and when you DID see one, you weren't expecting it and the effect was far better in my opinion. I have no complaints with operations. Trains were dispatched quickly and efficiently on most coasters. Vertical Velocity was an exception to this, but we'll get to that later... The food was alright, but I had a hard time finding any that wasn't just something from a national or regional chain, served in the park. When I'm at a park, I want to try something from the park, not Panda Express that they phoned in. But, you get the same thing at all of the Cedar Fair parks I've been to, so I can't really say it's any different than that. The park is very clean, and they claim to be "the cleanest amusement park in the world". Holiday World also makes this claim, so obviously one of them is lying, but it was still very clean. Themed areas felt like they had an identity and I could tell which one I was in simply by taking a look around, something that Kings Island has largely lost in recent years (with the exception of Coney Mall). A recent addition to the park is the Little Dipper, which was relocated from Kiddieland Amusement Park. The park went under in 2009. Six Flags purchased the ride and installed it at SFGAm so that it would stay in the Chicago area. By doing so, they are preserving roller coaster history, and you have no idea how much I respect that. Maybe Six Flags doesn't hate wooden coasters after all. The Bad: Goliath didn't open for quite a while after the park, and this gave it time to develop a very long line before it ever opened. I wish there were more exclusive food options. I did not see a single costumed character (scareactors excluded) and I am very disappointed because I wanted to meet Bugs Bunny. The layout seemed confusing to me, but that might be because I'm used to Kings Island, Cedar Point, and Kentucky Kingdom, all of which I know like the back of my hand. Vertical Velocity had one of the most inefficient crews I've ever encountered. They made Hartland ride ops look like the Banshee crew. Many rides were temporarily renamed (going so far as to even change the signage) for BooFest, but the map was not changed to reflect this. This would be a nice touch if you were a local who frequents the park, but as an out-of-towner, it was very frustrating. I searched and searched for the Whizzer, only to give up and ask an employee for directions. Imagine my frustration to find out that this "Biohazard" ride that I had passed five times was actually the ride I had been searching for all along! The Ugly: It's near Chicago. It's full of Bears fans. It's near Chicago. It was cold. Almost as cold as Banshee's Media Day, and I was there for 12 hours. It's near Chicago. I had to carry an oversized Tamagotchi around all day and worry about breaking or dropping it, and the privilege to do so cost me 80 bucks. Parking is a staggering $25 for a parking lot that is in almost as bad of shape as Kings Island's. It's on a toll road. I had to pay the Gurnee Amusement Tax, causing the tickets to cost more than they should. Did I mention that it's near Chicago? Ride reviews: I'll start by saying that I was unable to ride any flats at all besides the carousel, even with The Flash Pass. I was going to ride Revolution, but I was simply too tired by the time I got all the coasters out of the way. Oh well, just an excuse to visit again, right? But I digress, I'll go ahead and review all the coasters that I rode. Goliath: Wow. What a rush. Fantastic first drop. Forceful turns. Decent pops of airtime. Inversions unlike I'd experienced before. Overall, it was a very impressive steel coaster. And yes, my wording on that last sentence was absolutely intentional. The Flash Pass that I purchased was the gold level, so I had to wait in line for this one. The estimated wait was posted as two hours, but it was only about 90 minutes. It wasn't too bad, though because their queue TVs were showing Looney Tunes, including one of my favorite ones, "Ain't She Tweet". It was my first RMC and it did not disappoint. Batman: The Ride: I've never been into superhero stuff, but I was impressed by the station. It was well themed and really felt like the Batcave. The ride is absolutely dwarfed by Banshee, but that doesn't mean it isn't great. While not as tall, fast, or long, its shorter height leads to smaller, tighter elements that really pack a punch. B&M built a fantastic invert here, and they nailed it on their first try. Does it beat Afterburn in my book? Oh, heavens no. But then again, I think Afterburn wins points simply because if I'm riding it, it means I'm at my favorite Cedar Fair property. The Dark Knight Coaster: I love Wild Mouse coasters. I love indoor coasters. I love themed dark rides. Exterminator is one of my all-time favorite rides. Having high standards for the ride, I expected to be disappointed. I was not. It was a fun, forceful Wild Mouse, and the dark factor made for unexpected turns and drops and made the experience even better. I loved having things to look at for the entire ride, and the surprise at the end just before the on-ride photo was hilarious, and led to some great pictures of the riders! Fun ride, even for someone who doesn't like superheroes. Superman: Ultimate Flight: Meh. Firehawk is better. This was my first B&M flyer, and I was sorely disappointed. I found the seating arrangement uncomfortable, especially during the ascent up the lift hill. The layout did not feel like any sort of flight pattern that Superman would be doing, and I don't think the association added anything to the ride at all. If I didn't ride this one again, I wouldn't be upset. I didn't hate it, but I wouldn't wait for it. The only thing it has over Firehawk is that it doesn't remind me of being in the dentist's chair, so it wins points for that I suppose. Raging Bull: Remember these words, as you won't hear them from me often: I really enjoyed this B&M Hypercoaster, and would gladly wait in line for it to ride again. It offers a lot more things than a newer B&M Hyper like Diamondback. Plenty of floater airtime, good pacing, and good capacity, all as you'd expect. The second half of the ride has some good laterals and a couple of low-to-the-ground helices. The variety of elements cemented this as my second favorite hypercoaster that does not feature any Arrow track. Again, the previous sentence was intentionally and carefully worded. American Eagle (Blue Side): Ugh. Train wraps. An ad for a Blue Man Group concert adorned the front of the train. This was a tad disappointing, but it certainly didn't keep me from riding. This was not on The Flash Pass lineup, so I had to wait in the normal line. Estimated wait was posted at 75 minutes. In reality, it was less than 45. The ride was fun, but definitely needs some TLC. Paint is peeling worse than on The Racer, and for a ride that is very, very visible from the Interstate, that isn't a good thing. The ride was OK, but I'll take The Racer any day. I did not ride the Red side, but I wish I had had the time, as the layouts are different. Fortunately, this makes my coaster count simpler, as I don't have to figure out if I would count the two sides separately or not, considering their different layouts. X-Flight: I didn't expect to like this one. After being thoroughly disappointed by Gatekeeper, I thought that wing coasters were a gimmick. This one was a lot better. The smaller size means tighter elements and better forces. The keyholes with the tower was fantastic, but using the ride's own support structure for a keyhole element was a stroke of genius. My only complaint is that the restraints still have the tightness problem on the collarbones that we saw on Gatekeeper when it initially opened. Viper: Wow, what a great woodie! I rode this at night, and I had not seen any POVs of the ride prior to riding, so I had no idea what to expect. The result of this was a surprising and thrilling ride that I so wish I had had time to reride. It is definitely up there on my list of woodies. I like it more than Mean Streak, and I REALLY like Mean Streak. I don't know if it is as good as Thunder Run, but close. Fast, thrilling, forceful, and not too rough. Great qualities for ANY coaster, especially a woodie. Demon: So, I think you know how I feel about this. It's an Arrow Looper, and I adore Arrow Loopers. The themeing was nice, and the lighting effect in the tunnel was awesome. Without these elements, I think it would have been pretty standard for an Arrow Looper, but as it is, it dethroned Viper at Darien Lake as my second favorite Arrow Looper. Vertical Velocity: Imagine Wicked Twister, but less exciting, louder, and with a truly awful crew, and you've got this ride. If you don't care about your coaster count and have ridden Wicked Twister, skip this one unless it's a walk-on. Whizzer: This thing is weird, but in the best possible way. It has a spiral lift. The lift motor is in the cars themselves, and not the ride structure. The seating arrangements are like you would expect to find on a log flume, and the only restraint is a seat belt. The ride has very good forces, and its forested setting and low seating make it even more thrilling. If I lived closer to the park, I would consider going back just for this ride. It's the last of its kind, and if you can appreciate a unique classic coaster with historical significance, you owe it to yourself to go ride this. Just make sure you are VERY comfortable with your riding partner, or you're bound for a very awkward ride... I did not ride Little Dipper due to time constraints, but I can comment on the parts of it I did experience. I popped into the queue and took a look around. There are signs pointing out its history and telling its story, complete with old photos. The paint job looks great, and it appears to be well taken care of. I also did not ride Spacely's Sprocket Rockets because they do not allow adults to ride without a child. I have never before seen this restriction on a Vekoma Junior Coaster, and it is admittedly a little disappointing, because those are actually really surprisingly fun rides. And that's about it... Would I go back? Sure. It's a perfectly fine park, but not one of my favorites. If it didn't involve travelling through Chicago, I'd be a lot more enthusiastic about returning, but as it stands, I didn't like it enough to consider driving through my least favorite place in the world any more times than are absolutely and totally necessary.

Son of Beast was an inherently flawed ride. In this case, the riders went on a slide that, under recommended conditions, is perfectly safe. But, for some reason, they were allegedly allowed on the slide with the wrong tube. If this is, in fact, true, then it would imply negligence or improper training on the part of the ride attendant. Could the cases lead to a similar end result? Sure, I suppose so. But they are most certainly different from one another.

^ And to add to this, never judge a coaster after only one ride. Vortex, for example, is a VERY different experience in the front than it is in 5-1 or 7-1

Funny. That's why I usually don't ride Diamondback if it isn't a walk-on. I feel we could raise quite a Dinn debating the coasters that we find Boring & Mediocre. Oh, and I'll mark the following as an edit, just in case the post gets likes or replies before I'm done. These are my personal favorites on all the coasters at Kings Island: Beast: Middle row of ANY car or the very front. No real preference within that group, especially at night. Racer: Second to last row. Adventure Express: Front Row or second to last row. Banshee: Front row, outside left or back row outside right Bat: Front row only. Life is to short to not get the best possible ride from this wonderful machine, and with any row other than the front, you're not getting the best it can deliver. Diamondback: The back. Sometimes I get a little bit of air. Also, it tends to be a bit quieter so as to not disturb my nice nap. Firehawk: Wherever they place me. And only if waits are minimal. I like the ride, but not enough to wait for it, especially before dark. Flight of Fear: Formerly, the very back. Now, the backmost row that they are allowing people to use. Flying Ace Areial Chase: The front. Great Pumpkin Coaster: I've only ridden once, and in the back, Invertigo: One of the seats outside Chicken Shack, preferably with their delightful toast. If I must ride it, then the front seat as you leave the station (facing parking lot) Vortex: I'll happily ride any seat, but 7th car, front row is my favorite. Woodstock Express: The very back row. Backlot Stunt Coaster: I'll sit anywhere, but the closer to the back, the better. Any droppy ride that ISN'T an S&S Space Shot: The nearest park bench. Oh, and for Blue Streak: Driver's seat, and nobody else is to ever sit there. Preferably a nice pretty girl in the passenger seat, but no luck on that yet. Of course (to the original poster) unless you've been lurking here for a while, that last one probably makes no sense to you.

You'll find two prevailing opinions on Vortex. Some, like malem and I, prefer car 7 row 1 as is offers great air on the first drop. Many others like car 5 row 1, as they feel it is the smoothest. I disagree, and find 7-1 to be much better, but to each his own. Those are just the most common though. I'm sure you'll find fans of every seat around here.

I think what we're all forgetting here is that Facebook commentors are more or less the lowest common denominator of the internet... Well, maybe. It's a toss-up between them, and YouTube commentors...

^ Don't worry, not that Arrow. I'd reckon that one has A LOT of life left in it.

I realize I'm over a month late, but I just saw this post, and I couldn't resist the opportunity, so your wish is my command. You're welcome For some reason, I find that much funnier than I anticipated. Perhaps because it's midnight.

On the topic of Geauga Lake - this image from the Wildwater Kingdom website seems to be just a bit of a slap in the face to fans of Geauga Lake: I mean, I know it's a stock template. But I feel like they really should have made a mock-up of a pass without a roller coaster for this park... Also, 65 bucks for a season pass to a waterpark that hasn't received a major update in years... Suddenly a Hartland season pass seems quite lucrative... I suppose when it's all you've got... On another note, I'm curious as to how chain-wide things such as the season-long dining plan for 2015 Platinum Passes will work. It makes it clear on the Dining section of the website that they do not participate in the season-long dining plan for 2014. Which is interesting to me, as the other parks that do not offer the season-long dining plan for 2014 simply don't say anything about it at all. I guess being the only standalone waterpark in the chain means you're bound to get treated a little different than the other properties.

I prefer my approach to Halloween Haunt. Just have an extremely disgruntled look on your face and they typically don't bother you. And usually I don't have to act. The scowl is completely natural due to the incredibly irritating fog. No, I won't stop complaining about it. Not until it either gets brought down to a reasonable and safe level or November 3rd arrives.

Sigh... Nobody has any faith in my girl. Will Vortex outlive Diamondback and Banshee? No. Absolutely not, barring some massive and horrible tsunami that manages to isolate itself solely to Action Zone and Rivertown, I think it is very evident those will last much, much longer. That said, there are other rides that I could realistically imagine leaving sooner. Sadly, one of them is another Arrow. Yes, there are Arrows of a similar age being removed at other parks. There are also older Arrow Loopers that are still standing. Many within the Cedar Fair chain. See Sandusky, Charlotte, Santa Clara, Shakopee, Vaughan... An Arrow Looper is still something of a mainstay, and while they are certainly not as plentiful as they once were, a good percentage of larger parks still have one. In fact, many coasters, from many manufacturers have been demolished over the years (with the exception of B&M) while older ones remain standing. What is the right decision at NJFTP and Worlds of Fun may not be the right decision for Kings Island, Carowinds, etc. If a Cedar Fair Arrow is in danger of removal in the near future, my money's on Doswell. But I certainly have no insider knowledge. That's pure speculation and I could be completely wrong.

I'd reckon that "desperate" is a word that aptly describes Kmart right about now, actually... I will miss PKI.com. I had it down to muscle memory. Now I'll have to re-train myself on how to visit the website. Good thing I won't ever be visiting that awful site on my phone, I suppose.

I'll have to ride T3 to find out what it's like, I suppose. I'll ride any coaster once, no matter their reputation (assuming of course that their reputation doesn't involve frequent safety-related incidents). Including SLCs and Zamperla flyers. That said, there is currently only one coaster on my list of rides that I refuse to ever ride again, and Terp has explicitly stated that T2 was worse than that specific one... I really hope the new train(s) can help... I'm going to go into it cautiously optimistic that they will, to some extent. They should at least eliminate the headbanging, which is one of the many unenjoyable aspects of an SLC. And for a guy whose favorite coaster is Vortex to say that he had an issue with headbanging, that says a lot about these infernal contraptions... For what its worth, my list of rides that I refuse to ever ride again currently consists only of that one particular SLC, and all droppy rides that are not an S&S Space Shot.

Wheels on Vortex can be replaced relatively quickly, too. As I recall from a previous KIC meetup, a wheel replacement on Vortex happened while another group was in line for it, and took roughly the same amount of time that it took jcgoble3 and I to ride Flight of Fear (with a skip-the-line pass). So basically, if the issue is that a wheel needs replaced, it isn't a repair that would likely put the train out of commission for a great length of time.

It might be tight, but at 6'3", it can be made to work. My dad is that height, and he has ridden Silver Streak at Canada's Wonderland, which is, for all intents and purposes, basically the same ride. Though it was a tight fit. If you are at all worried, you can go up the exit and ask to test one of the seats before spending your time waiting in line. This is true for all rides (or at least all coasters) that lack a test seat.

They could always just use the name Madame Fatale... If it is trademarked, then we know that Cedar Fair owns the trademark, or at very least has the rights to use it...

Only if by that you mean adding bathrooms in X-Base...