medford

My memory tells me that the "boats" for white water canyon were on display at winter fest the season prior (right up by the front gate), or perhaps the end of the season. I think the same from King Cobra, but I could be wrong, I was fairly young at the time. Announcing large attractions towards the end of the season, right before season passes go on sale is nothing new.

Would that be a ride designed by women, for women? As a man, I know I ain't getting on no flooress standup coaster.

Several reasons to keep older rides around: All rides, old or new have maitenance issues that have to be dealt with. You'd expect older ones to have more issues, though not always, however the biggest cost is the initial cost to build the roller coaster. As long as the ride remains popular, there is no reason to tear it down. No park could withstand the capital cost expenditures if they were to tear down a Magnum XL once a Diamondback style coster was available (assuming the Magnum XL coaster is still functional and popular, and in this case it is) Having older rides around, help disperse the crowd around a park. How many times have you gone to Diamondback, seen that the line was 45 min+ and decided to head over to The Racer w/ a 5-10 minute line? I know I've done so in the past. Park guests often like diversity, if you're going to spend $25-$30 mil every 5 years on a major attraction, it doesn't do you much good to have the same number of major attractions. Finally, there is a certain amount of nostalgia gained from riding a ride you grew up on with your kids. I remember whizzing thru the tunnel on The Beastie and thinking how tall that ride was when I was a kid. Now I get to experience the same thing thru my son's eyes (minus the tunnel) all these years later. I remember thinking how scary Vortex seemed, it took me 2-3 seasons before I'd hope on it at the age of 12 or so. I'm amazed that my 6 year old niece a few years back shrugged off the inversions the first time she hit 48" and was ready for a spin, I'm amazed that my now 5 year old wants to get on it. Those experiences keep me coming back to the park all these years later. I went a bunch as a kid and teenager, not so much in my 20s, and go a bunch now that I'm in my 30s w/ 2 small children. Older rides have value, even if their record setting days have past.

T-Shirts are sold everywhere. If you want one of a particular ride, check both some of the front shops, as well as shops around the ride in question. Prices vary, I think I've seen them for around $25 for an adult. I bought my 5 year old a youth size shirt to celebrate his first ride on The Beast the other night, $17 and change, including tax.

Me thinks this song would fit the occasion to a tee, only question is who's version to play:

He wanted on Vortex, but we didn't get to the park until 7:00 pm, so there wasn't much time, and by the time we worked our back to The Beast, Vortex was a much lower priority and we wanted to make sure he got his first ride on that. When going up The Racer, he kept saying he wanted to get on Firehawk (obviously can't) I don't think loops will be an issue with him. We may head up this sunday if the opportunity arises w/ his cousin, if so, I'm guessing he'll check off Vortex and the Back Lot Stunt Coaster. I think those are the last two 48" mark rides he can get on, other than skyfler and slingshot. He'd like to get on those, but we're not real big into the upcharge fee. I'm sure it will happen some day, just not today. Which brings up a question, for anyone still paying attention (and thank you for doing so), he asked if he could get on the new ride next year. I assume not, though assuming its a full circuit B&M invert, I don't know what the ride height requirements are for raptor or something like that. Do they typically release that info when they announce the ride? If you've got to be 52" there's a decent chance my wife & I miss out on whatever they're building next season. Perhaps we'll sneak away for a day by ourselves like we did a week or so ago, but going as a family is much easier.

under the "it has nothing to directly to do w/ the 2014 project, but I found it interesting" file: In the last 10 years or so of traveling 71s past KI on the way to work, I saw something I've never seen before at 7:50 in the morning. I've seen Vortex stopped on the lift hill on a regular basis, I've seen WindSeeker in testing more times than I think the park anticipated when they made the purchase, but today I saw Delerium in full mid operation. Perhaps they got the ride running as a reward for all the people that spent last night getting things ready for today. Sounds like a great way to end the midnight shift.

yeah, he wanted to ride that last night, just not enough time and The Beast was a higher priority. He'll probably hop on Vortex our next trip. I'm guessing Stunt Crew as well which I think coves all the 48" min. rides that are not an upcharge. He says he wants to get on skyflyer and Sling Shot as well, and asked if he can get on the new coaster (I'm guessing we'll find out tomorrow and the answer will be "not yet") but we'll probably hold off on the upcharge rides, try to make them a bit more special.

Thanks, I wasn't sure what his reaction to drop zone was going to be, worst of all, if he freaked out, there's not really much you can do about it. My palms were getting a little sweaty just watching them getting strapped in before the ride went up. When we go up the tower, he pretty much runs out to the edge to take everything in. I have to brace myself and slowly make my way onto the platform. I've done drop zone 1x and it was enough for me, heights are not my thing, though being on most roller coasters doesn't bug me for whatever reason. the only one that really gets my palms sweaty is ironically flight deck b/c of the sensation of no track below you. Don't know why that inspires a little fear in me and going up Diamondback is a joy, but that's just how I'm wired. Truth is, I'm pretty sure if you could safely strap him into any ride, even when he was three, he would have enjoyed it. I'm working on the little one, I strap her into her "car" riding toy, push her up the hills in the neighborhood, then let gravity bring her back to level. She seems to enjoy it, we'll see if it carries forward, b/w her mother and her brother she probably doesn't have much choice.

And from the blueprints, you can also see doors that you will have to open to get inside. Hopefully this means a lot of themeing. (You also can see an exit door. Just hard to make sense of it. I'm curious why it's all blacked out and doesn't have the individual steps drawn, unless it was a ramp I wish there were steps because then I could figure out station height. Its "blackend" or "thickened" up as you say, because that is the background information for that particular drawing. The intent of that particular drawing is to show the items labeled T-TA-3, and P-19F. Dollar to a donut says this is a site utility plan. The T-TA-3 that is being relocated is probably a transformer, the P-19-F is probably a pull station, the darkened lines running b/w the 2 items, then down the page is probably electrical conduit. It could be storm drainage as well, or perhaps even another utility. Anyhoo, lets just assume its electrical stuff, doesn't exactly matter to your question. The guy designing the electrical stuff is in no way, shape or form responsible for the stairs, que lines or station. He shows that on his plans as a point of reference, but they intended not to stand out b/c the people installing the electric off of that particular plan are only considered about their job, not what the carpenter or steel erector need to do. Additionally, the guy installing the site electric isn't going to install the stairs, gates, stationg, etc... By going this route, which is common to all construction projects, you can easily divide up the drawings by trade so that those installing and bidding on a particular portion of the job, only get the drawings they need, not 100+ extra drawings that they're never going to build off; its makes things cleaner. Imagine how dirty a set of drawings gets working out in exposed conditions, in the mud, rain, heat, etc... All those extra drawings are just wasted time, money and resources. the stairs will be details on an architectural set of drawings. There will likely be an elevation of that section as if you were looking at it straight on. The gates will be detailed, stationg will be detailed, etc... Again, this is common to all construction projects where you've got architectural details, structural information, pluming information, sanitary and storm information, possibly HVAC information, electrical information, foundation information, fire protection information, site work information, landscapping information, etc... As you can see, all the different trades add up quickly. In no way, shape or form, will the guy (or gal) building those stairs be looking at the page when it comes time to build it. I mentioned sometime back on this thread, when someone re-iterated that the foundation workers only knew were they were to put the footers, and nothing else that that may be true of the guy in the field, but when the company was bidding on the work, they likely sat thru design and/or construction meetings where a full set of drawings were available. There is quite a bit of coordination b/w trades; if you're doing your work in a vaccuum conflicts become costly to fix, but if you work in a team, look for and identify conflicts ahead of time, they can be worked out before they pop up in the field. I hope that helps. The steps are there, but the nature of the drawing just blurs it all together. You can probably figure out the height of the steps just as easily as knowing the run of the steps is going to be the length of the darkened areas, I'm pretty sure the rise is pretty standard unit/length of run.

So a little background. As a family, we've been getting season passes for 3 years now. My wife worked in the park growing up, I visited many times, so we were well familar with it, but its a completely different experience going as a teen or even a college kid to going w/ a young kid (or now 2). 2 seasons ago, my son hit the 40" mark just prior to his 3rd birthday (yeah for The Beastie and viking fury, two found memeries of my youth). Last season he hit the 44" mark just prior to his 4th birthday (yeah flying ace arial chase which I had never ridden until last season, a good, no make that great intermediate coaster for kids not quite up to the standards of the KI classics). So it was with anticipation that somewhere near the end of June we'd be taking him on The Racers, Beast, Flight Deck, etc.... You could see the dissapointment on his face each time he just barely missed the mark. However, this time we were stocked w/ a few millimeters of growth, plus a new pair of shoes that shot him well north of the 48". Despite all the anticpiation, he still wanted to do Boo Blasters, his traditional 1st ride. Good news for me, despite a fairly crowded parking lot when we arrived at 7:00 pm for a Tuesday evening, it was a walk on, even better a new all time high score for myself, 2519 (how It gets to those randome uneven number some time I have not a clue) From there we asked him what "big" roller coaster he wanted to do 1st (he knows Diamondback is still out of the picture, otherwise that probably would have been his choice) and he said he wanted to ride the blue racer. His favorite color is blue, the blue racer is the one he's anticpated riding for the longest, however w/ the walkon conditions at Boo Blasters, I was fearing the Blue side of The Racers was going to be closed. He got on with his mother, and to my delite the blue side was open. Once off the blue racer, they met up w/ me and our 1 year old waiting outside. Now he was ready to tackle the red racer w/ pops. Hands up thru the 1st three hills before I think he decided it was time to hold on. The Red Racer won, so he informed now that the Red Racer is his favorite since it won. After that, mom went to pick up dinner, while my son and I took on Adventure Express. Another walkon, I think he enjoyed the laterals, but most of all he enjoyed the tiki dancers. He didn't even need to be instructed, he started doing the tiki dance all on his own. I warned him to brace himself at the top of the hill, that a huge drop was coming. After the short decline back to the station, he just looked at me like the idiot that I am. A quick bite to eat in the Biergarten, then we worked our way over to flight deck, he's really been wanting to ride the "one that hangs upside down" for the last couple of weeks. Along the way, wife asked me what the height requirement was for Drop Zone. When I told her it ws 48" her eyes light up. I won't ride it, but she loved it, and it didn't take much convincing to get our 5 year old on it. Word from mom was he talked the whole way up the ride, and loved having his stomach go up to his throught on the drop. Seeing that it was another walkon, he asked if I would join him, no way jose`. We turned the corner and headed back towards flight deck, however we made a quick stop at the 2014 attraction setup. I've got to say, the tombstones look awesome, I hope that those are kept around and used for the theming of the ride in some form or fashion. If the ride is indeed called Banshee it would be a great addition to the theme. Anyhoo, my son and wife jumped on flight deck 1st, while I waited w/ our 1 year old in the area where the ride swoops by the old SOB line. Again another walk on, so after they rode, my son and I took a spin. Did I mention he liked the tiki dancers? He was doing the tiki dance on Flight Deck's lift hill as the sounds of the chain lift reminded him of the rythem of the dance. Once off of Flight Deck, he begged and begged us to do the sky flyer attraction. "no we're not paying the upcharge, but in th future we'll get you on it". he stopped to check out "the guy" at the gap in the construction fence, then we worked our way over to zephyr. After a quick spin on Zephyr, we worked our way back to The Beast, we thought about stopping at Stunt Track, but the line looked pretty long (our first noticable line of the evening) so we kept on working back for both his first ride on The Beast as well as his first night ride on The Beast (is there any better way to break in The Beast than in the pitch dark?) We got to the que right about 9:25. My wife had already laid claim to going with our son on his first ride on The Beast, and the line looked long, but our son was not detered. They were just short of the station when the ride shut down for firworks at 9:53, but once the ride started up they were on the 3rd train to leave. After our daughter and I took in the fireworks, and knowing there would be no one working their way down the exit, I pushed her stroller up to the station so I could spot them and see how close they were. My wife hasn't been on The Beast at night in about a decade, so she forgot just how dark it gets back there, said once they crested the hill she couldn't see our son again until they came to the 2nd hill. She asked him how he was doing, not sure if he woudl be scared or not, he just gave a big ol' smile that indicated everything was "perfect". My daughter and I were waiting on the exit side of the ride when they returned to the station, he gave me a big old thumbs up as they worked their way back, in return I presented him with his new The Beast t-shirt I had purchased while we waited to commerate the occasion. All in all, a great night, even if it started later than usual for us. Only the 2nd time we've stayed to the fireworks this year; probably the last time this season as well as school starts back up next week meaning the son is back in pre-school and my wife is back teaching.

it cost something to go up the tower when I was there in 2000. Did you go see Sacre Couer? Or the catacombs? Those were 2 of my favorite things in Paris. I loved Venice, I loved just taking bridges, getting lost and wondering my way thru the city. I loved finding little holes in the wall where we could get a great bottle of house wine for like $2 (american the exchange rate at the time was great for Americans, not so much now from what I understand). I loved the absolute silence you experienced in the morning compared to most of the large cities we were in that were busy by 7:00 am. I liked taking the boat out to the church on the Island (don't think you can see it in that picture) that has the "other last supper painting by Da Vinci" (ie not the one every catholic's grandmother had hanging up in her house somewhere) With all of that said, I agree, Venice is a 1 day trip, no more, no less.

As I mentioned before, its not exactly easy to spot, you have to walk towards and past the Fast Lane booth, its tucked into a corner behind there, it should be more visable.

Now I'm turning into a math geek but whatever....Did you guess the hypotenuse and opposite side or we know those numbers 100%? We know (allegedly) the length (horizontally) of the lift hill. If you guess at the lift angle, you can figure out both the hypotenuse and the overall height. However, other than traditional lift angles, I don't think there is anything that specifically calls out or points you in the direction of the elevation of this ride. Well nothing other than "The Bat" release on the KIs website, if you take that as truth.

FWIW, at the end of the night, there was an employee carrying a large bag full of stuffed animals from over by The Beast (I'll assume they were stored in the Crypt building) to I assume the games in that area. What that has to do w/ that truck driving in the background, I have no clue. As far as the hint knowing when a shipment is made based upon the weight, I don't know shipping rules, but there is no weigh stationg b/w CSF and KI. Would someone still be able to track a truck if it didn't have to stop at a weigh station? JRBirdy, we showed up at the park around 7:00 last night, the parking lot looked pretty buys, but other than The Beast right before fireworks, The Racers, drop zone, Adventure Express, boo blasters, flight deck and the zephyr were all walk ons.

I agree w/ the post above, avoid the 1 trick intamin (or whomever) is best and they'll go away or eventually learn to post something worthwhile. A trolls life is short lived when ignored, the lack of attention is their kryptonite.

Yes, very classy. I don't remember any fatalities on any Intamin coasters do you? Their coasters aren't made by people like the Dinn Corporation who lots of wood riders used to think had a flawless safety record until that awful Texas Giant incident. You've got to be kidding me, right? Please name me one fatality on an Intamin coaster please? #crickets from wiki: In August 1999, a 12-year-old mentally disabled boy fell from the Drop Tower: Scream Zone at Paramount's Great America and died. The victim's family claimed his harness was not locked properly. An investigation was inconclusive and no charges were filed.[3][4] In September 2001, a 40-year-old woman fell from the Perilous Plunge attraction at Knott's Berry Farm, into the water, was hit by the boat, and died. An investigation showed that the 300 lb (140 kg) woman had loosened the safety restraints so she could fit more comfortably into the ride.[5] On April 16, 2004, a 16-year-old girl from Pontypool was killed after falling approximately 30 m (100 ft) from the top of the Hydro (now called Drenched) ride at Oakwood Leisure Park, Narberth, Pembrokeshire.[6] During a trial brought by the victim's family against Oakwood, a jury returned a narrative verdict stating that the victim died due to being improperly restrained.[7] The second incident of 2004 was on one of Intamin's mega coasters, Superman: Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England in Massachusetts. The ride, again with lap bar restraints, was dispatched with a sufferer of cerebral palsy in the front seat, who died after being ejected from his seat. According to an investigation [1], the ride operators were primarily to blame for not ensuring the rider was properly secured. Intamin was also partially blamed because the ride's safety system allowed the train to be dispatched without all the restraints properly secured. In June 2007, a 13-year-old girl had both of her feet severed at the ankles on Superman: Tower of Power at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. A ride malfunction caused a cable to snap and a cord to wrap around the girl's feet, amputating both of them. She was brought to the hospital in critical condition [8] and the park was later fined $1,000 for not properly maintaining the ride. The girl survived the accident and doctors were able to re-attach her right foot. A settlement was later reached with Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom that will provide for her throughout her life.[9] On September 16, 2009, two guests were injured when a cable snapped on the Xcelerator roller coaster at Knott's Berry Farm. The 12-year-old victim had lacerations on his leg, while the adult victim complained of back injuries.[10] On July 8, 2011, a 29-year-old guest was killed when he was ejected from the Ride of Steel roller coaster. The rider, an Iraq War veteran whose legs had been amputated, was on the front row of the roller coaster when he was thrown from the train during the course of the ride. Park officials stated that the ride was in proper mechanical order and that the various safety restraints were also working normally at the time of the incident, but that the attraction would remain closed pending an investigation.[11][12] On February 24, 2012, a 14-year-old girl died in an accident at Hopi Hari, Vinhedo, São Paulo State, Brazil. She fell from the Drop Tower ride "La Tour Eiffel", suffered cranial trauma and died on the way to the hospital. Initial investigations suggested the possibility of mechanical failure in the restraint latch.[13] There are several fatalities on Intamin rides both coasters and otherwise, plus several more accidents w/ the severed off legs being the most serious. I really have no preference B&M vs Intamin, but you asked for fatilies on Intamin coasters, so there you go.

Not in my book, but it may make cents.

If your youngest is under 36", here is what they can do in Planet Snoopy: Other Attractions Character Carousel (maximum 60 inches; less than 46 inches must be accompanied by a responsible person) Joe Cool's Dodgem School (maximum 54 inches) Linus Beetle Bugs (maximum 54 inches) Peanuts 500 (maximum 54 inches) Peanuts Off-Road Rally (maximum 54 inches) Sally's Sea Plane (maximum 60 inches; less than 42 inches must be accompanied by a responsible person) Snoopy's Junction (maximum 60 inches; less than 40 inches must be accompanied by a responsible person) Snoopy's Spash Dance (no height requirement) Woodstock Whirlybirds (less than 42 inches must be accompanied by a responsible person) Don't know your dimensions, but sally's sea plane and snoopy Junctions (both of which a responsible person will have to ride with them) are not super roomy. I can get in no problem, but a larger person may not fit, something to keep in mind. There is plenty of room in the whirly birds, everything else I doubt parents are even allowed on. A couple of notes, I'm guessing your 2 year old won't get the concept of turning the car on the dodgem so they'll essentially be a sitting target. Cars don't move all that fast, so I wouldn't worry about his safety, but it may not be something he enjoys. Snoopy's splash dance is a terrible design. the kids go in one side, walk thru the water, then exit on the other side of the attraction. You can't get to the other side as they come out, so either you've got to trust that they'll exit and come back around to the begining, or have your spouse on the other side. As I write this, I remember that you're going in October, I'm guessing that will be closed anyways since its a water attraction where you basically get sprayed w/ water. Also check the schedule for shows, your 2 year old will be able to enjoy that. There really isn't a ton for a kid under 36" to do at the park.

Intamin tried the inverted log ride a month or so back, didn't turn out so well.

The biggest potential problem with renaming Flight Deck to The Bat (something that I think would be awesome) is how much shelf life does Flight Deck have? The rumors of its demise have been around for awhile now, at least 5 years, the park says it has no plans to remove Flight Deck, yet at the same time, suspended arrows are going the way of the dodo bird. If they were to rename flight deck The Bat, I certainly hope that means there is a planned effort to keep the ride going another 20 seasons (which would be great IMHO, no matter if it was renamed/themed or not) as you don't want to remove a ride called The Bat after another short lifespan. To expand upon that idea, turning Action Zone into amusment dark, renaming flight deck to The Bat, they could take SOB's station and turn into a regular Haunt attraction available all season long (perhaps just in the evenings), add another season long haunt (actually they could fit a couple) in timberwolf. Perhaps turn the whole area into a haunt style setup in the evenings, scare actors walking around, etc... Biggest draw back is that it would limit that part of the park, potentially to families with small kids, but it could be a huge hit. Not sure if a haunt type setup would be popular enough to hold everyone's attention over the course of a whole season vs the limited amount of weekends we see it in the fall.

two truths in life I learned from my grandpappy. If its stuck, and is suppose to move, WD40. If it moves, and is suppose to be stuck, Duct tape. I hope they have lots of Duct Tape

Be careful that the island doesn't tilt off and sink into the ocean

Can't say I'm an expert on PR, but Don has tweeted things directly aimed at KIC thru this project several times. Sometimes they are as simple as "KICentral keeps going round and round" or "the people at KICentral would love to see the art project I've been working on" (paraphrasing can't recall the exact tweet) Sometimes they are little more "inside baseball" like on the day the put up the breast cancer displays and Don had thrown out several vague tweets geeting KIC all giddy that track was going to be on site, someone mentioned in this very thread something about apples or "how bout them apples". It was approx. 15 minutes later that Don tweeted a picture of an apple at their fresh fruit stand. To the non KIC tweet follower, that was simply an ad for their fresh fruit stand. For someone following KIC at the time, it was a clear response to this thread and the 2014 speculation. It was a brillant mix of park advertising w/ insider meaning that only a handful (or however large KIC is) would understand. Real or not, that website didn't become available for 30 minutes on accident. It was either a diversion, or the a quick show of what the new ride was going to be to help drive some more buzz. Or perhaps a 3rd motive, KI used this opportunity to gauge what the reaction would be for a future wing coaster named The Bat. I don't think many would be thrilled w/ SOB the revenge right now, but its pretty obvious that most are all right, if not down right giddy w/ a future ride paying homage back to the short lived Bat.

^^^ with that note, also beware that the scare actors start migrating to their areas (often in full or near full costume/makeup) prior to the start of the evening haunt. So that if you're leaving at 6:00 ish you might wake past a handful of zoombies. It didn't phase my son at the time, the actors weren't doing anything other than walking back to their area w/ pizza in hand, but some kids are more squemish than others.