medford

When I was there last summer, there was a huge area behind the wildgroove expansion that looked like it had been cleared out (still a ton of work to be done on it at the time, and it may have been that way for years for all I know, that was the only time I had been there) It was along the train line that takes you back to the old village area mockup, where you circle back to the park. My first thought was "looks like they are getting ready to build a hyper". Looking at a map now, I'm not sure that makes sense, my memory is too fuzzy at this moment to recall completely, definently a lot of land, but the only area that seems possible based on the map wouldn't tie in well for a hyper, so who knows.

Thanks for the thoughts, and I'm not hung up on Robocop, just using the example you cited.. There is a really, really small audience for those lesser known films, even smaller for those that want to purchase a physical copy of that film. I would think that a digital marketplace would make distribution of those films significantly easier at a significantly lower risk/cost factor. Then factor in the current generation growing up, not sure how old you are, but I know you are young enough that you are in what I would guess is their core audience of media purchasers. How much larger is your collection or access to digital media vs physical media? Take Disney+ for example, my kids can watch 100s, if not 1000s of different shows/movies for $7 a month, $84 a year. B/w 3 kids with different tastes, I'd easily spend that much a year b/w birthdays, Christmas and "just because" gifts on only a small handful of films. Those small handful of films, eventually take up a significant amount of space, the disney+ takes up not more space than roku stick in the back of my TV (never mind about the server space that doesn't affect me personally, but is likely less than the space required to manufacture physical copies of these films. Your situation is unique, you care about Abyss, among perhaps thousands more, nothing wrong with that, but there are not many that do. I would think in the long run, digital media will give you more access to films like that than you currently have. I believe that access will trump physically owning a copy. There might be some slight exceptions for obscure movies that you want to watch on a regular basis, but in the grand scheme, how often do you really want to watch robocop or Abyss? I think you fall into what will be considered a niche market moving forward, similar to those that love owning/listening to their music on Vinyl. Sure I can listen to a great copy of Pet Shop Sounds, but digital allows me access to a ton of music that would never find the light of day in a music store.

Thinking about going to Carowinds for the weekend late in March (2nd operating weekend I believe) Any recs for things to do w/ young kids (4-11) outside of Carowinds Any recs on places to stay or areas to look for if renting from AirBnB?

I have no idea if a Disney purchase of CF would be good for KI and the chain or not. I do know that while the business model is relatable, there are significant differences between the way Disney runs its park and the way CF runs it. The seasonal factor is a big factor, but so is the IP rights. Disney could certainly enhance their brand with a chain of well run seasonal parks, but they would also need to recognize that what they do at Disney may not work work for KI, Cedar Pointe, Kings Dominion, Valley Fair, etc.. Heck, what works at KI doesn't automatically work at ValleyFair. Anyhoo...some thoughts on the comments made. Why are we worried about Disney or any other company deciding which films to release on DVD/Blu Ray. That format is going to be mostly dead in short order, its going to be about streaming, and I would think it would be vastly easier to make a larger library of old films available for streaming than it would on physical DVD/Blu Ray discs. I would think no matter if a film's distribution rights were owned by Disney or anyone else, making it available in the digital age would make it more available. Its going to be a heck of a lot easier to recoup their money by making Robocop available for streaming on Disney+ than it would be simply pressing out new copies. I imagine the market for physical copies of Robocop is failry limited. While some rides themes have strong ties (like The Beast), and I have no idea if the Marvel Universe can last a lifetime (as well as forgetting Universal's claims on IP rights for that stuff in theme parks) imagine a world where KI was themed to Iron Man, Cedar Pointe was themed to Captain America, Carowinds was themed to the X-men, etc... Could be kind of fun to theme each individual park around a central IP theme that would be different at each park. Just with the IP rights alone, there would be a ton of potential to make each park feel significantly different than another while also being significantly different than what you'd expect at Epcot. It would cost Disney a small fortune to get each park up to Disney Standards for both service and theming, they'd almost have to market them separately as a Disney owned, but non-Disney World experience. Given that cost, I'm not sure the upside would be worth it for them, they are not lacking for a place to market their IPs.

I think the idea is, on the chase there is a major catastrophe or dummies start flying off the ride, they don't want the web cams on so that everyone can record it. Once they get the first wave of testing done and confident everything is "as should be' they'll turn them back on. I believe each ride has to cycle a specific number of times before human can jump on, so there will be a number of cycles over several weeks to get the ride to that point.

The cameras will be turned off during testing, at least if the past is any indication, but it will be possible to watch and spot from different areas, however impossible to see it all unless you've got an eye in the sky. however, once testing is complete, the cameras will come back up and you'll be able to watch it undergo some cycling prior to opening up for the public.

Not sure if this is the best spot to ask these or not, but what the heck: We are planning to go up to the Pointe next summer as part of a family get together. My family of 5 would likely need 2 rooms in Breakers, or 1 6 person cabin at Lighthouse point. Any advice on which to choose. I haven't looked at this yet, but I assume upgrading our gold passes to platinum would be advantageous as some point.

There are 4 in Coney, 1 in Action Zone, 1 in Oktoberfest and 3 in Rivertown (not to mention Boo Blasters which is technically international street but logistically in Planet Snoopy) that all accomadate kids from 46" down to no height requirement with an accompanying adult.

Don't like pizza? So you're the ONE Can't help ya out, generally I think LaRosa's is just OK as far as pizza goes, its not horrible or even disagreeable, but so many better choices out there. However, I love their sauce (its sweeter than most); you should be able to buy their sauce at your local Kroger store. There are only 2 types of store bought sauce I'll put in my lasagna, LaRosa's or Meijer both are a little thicker and sweeter than most store bought sauce, I like a thick sauce. If its the sauce that makes the difference, perhaps a home made pizza with their sauce will do the trick for you (or buy the sauce, heat it up and use it as a dipping sauce)

Congo Falls left?

Awesome read.

Would you rather have a long brake run, and no MCBR, or a MCBR and a short brake run at the end? I'll choose the former

Keep in mind, that crane came from somewhere, it may currently be sitting at KI "rent free" as the place it was at prior didn't want to keep paying "rent for it" I'll assume with a Crane of this size, the erecting company leased the crane for a certain period of time with a defined "start pointe" and a "not to exceed" date. With weather and what not, they would have to build some fluff into the schedule for days they may not be able to use this crane (or any crane). If you remember the windstorm from 10-11 years ago, I doubt there were any cranes in operation that day in this area. Anyhoo, just because the crane is sitting at KI and not in use, doesn't mean KI is paying any more for it. Given the additional space, KI may even be getting a discount to allow it to be "stored on space" rather than storing it at a midway point b/w its last job and this installation. They'll start using that big boy when its needed, and not any time sooner than that.

There's something happen' here, what it is, ain't exactly clear. There's a man with a crane over there, saying watch, you better beware.....

Made the Que shorter? Que appears to be the same as it has been since it opened, the only thing that has changed is how much the que extends out past the end of the que. Back when I was a kid, it was often that the Que would extend out to where the basketball games are now (past the Diner), but I always knew once you entered the Que, it was approx. 15 min to ride time. Vortex ate people and chewed them out, so even though the lines have diminished, it still regularly sends out full trains. If they would have changed the ride to only run 2 trains, you would have seen theline extend to near the start of the que on a regular basis. How do they decide who gets the last ride on Vortex? Is it as simple as the last person in line on closing day gets the last spot? Or do they let employees take a few spins at the end? Seems only appropiate that VortexBFF should get a spin in her favorite seat on the last train to leave the station.

welcome back as well, I enjoy your pics.

I doubt that, it was already announced that KI isn't purchasing any rides from Coney, plus that land has a ton of elevation change, not a great spot for a ton of flats. My guess is a new coaster takes its place in 3-4 years.

I love(d) Vortex, unfortunately as I grew older, it stopped loving me back. I have not ridden Vortex in 2 or 3 seasons, my son will only ride it occasionally, my wife feels the same as I. Such a beautiful ride to look at and watch, once you see the smiling eyes, you can never un-see them again. I'll have to find a way to get another lap in one last time before the end of the year. Similar to Son of Beast, the roughness will be forgotten in short order while the memories last a lifetime. This ride will be talked about for a long time to come and mostly remembered fondly. One could argue that plot of land held both of the 2 most visually interesting coasters in the park. Does this mean they can put the pond back in by The Beast

based off Fury construction, they will do one of two things next (at least in terms of vertical construction). They will go back to the Brake run and assemble more of that, or they will go to the base of the 1st drop and start installing that. Its possible that they won't need Clifford for another week or two. Will they need Clifford for any additional hills? They used it for Banshee, which is slightly below 200 feet, with hills of 174, 202, 147 and 125 could the cranes currently in use installed those hills? Doesn't seem like it if they can't install any more lift section than what they just did (I don't know if that is true or not, taking Maverick44's word on that) Edit, also it appears that the brake run is roughly the same height as the track currently installed, its possible they could install all of the brake run before moving on to the rest of the lift hill. Getting this portion done, allows them to move back to that side and finish out the brake run without interference. I'm sure somebody looking at plans can confirm the exact height of both, I'm guessing a bit based upon rendering.

Somewhere on the interwebs, there is a comparison b/w a POV of The Beast during its first year of operation (no tunnel thru the double helix IIRC) and the POV they shot when I think Banshee was installed (the park shot several official POVs during that time frame of other rides) The 2 POVs were placed side by side and for the most part The Beast ran identical from to frame in both. Wish I could find it, 95% certain it was posted here, perhaps by Shaggy. Edit, went to you tube and watched the 2019 POV and the POV above (19xx). Granted, this isn't perfect since I was judging the length of time b/w each hill so my start and stop times could be off a shade but: 2019 from drop to base of 2nd lift hill : 1:10 19xx from drop to base of 2nd lift hill : 1:09 2019 from descent of 2nd hill to the entrance to the brake run : 47 seconds 19xx from descent of 2nd hill to the entrance of the brake run : 47 seconds As mentioned getting a true comparison is tough, in both cases I was starting the clock when it felt like the train was starting to gain speed, then stopping it when I felt like they hit either the start of the lift hill, or the start of the final brake run, but both starting and ending points should be close enough to discern that there is no real difference b/w what was posted above and the 2019 POV that you can find on youtube. If you want to see slow, see the original testing POVs where the trains crawl their way into the 2nd lift hill and the final brake run I encourage others to do the same and see if they find a noticeable difference in the time it takes the trains to traverse different portions of the track.

If you watch the fury time lapse, as soon as they had the first substantial lift hill track vertical (where KI is heading now) they started working on the bottom of the drop, then altered back and forth between the lift hill and the drop before meeting in the middle with the top. Seems like this digging would be related to something on the drop, perhaps something to get the area ready for cranes, workers and what not to begin that process in the coming days.

Its a wood coaster, you can retrack/replace forever if you like. I'm sure parts of the ride get retracked every year or handful of years, nothing major, but routing maintenance over the coarse of the offseason. Unless mother nature comes calling, there is nothing that would prevent KI from keeping it going for the rest of my liefetime short of The Beast becoming less popular than the maintenance is worth. There are coasters over 100 years old out there still operating.

As I understand it, that is the trade off for not having a mid-course brake run. I think most of us would prefer the higher brake hill than a MCBR

OK, I've spend a lot of time in Planet Snoopy over the years, and spend a day at Dollywood, including an hour or so in Wildwood grove. In terms of cleanliness, newness, whatever, Wildwood Grove wins hands down, honestly it would be impossible for KI to compete with the freshness that is Wildwood Grove in that respect. In terms of dining, Wildwood Grove wins by a landslide. The Mexican restaurant that they have near the entrance to wildwood grove was excellent, KI's food offerings are mostly 2nd rate in that area. In terms of rides, I think KI wins in a landslide. Dragonflier is similar (though admittedly better) to Flying Ace Arial Chase. The flying tubs are similar, if not identical. Blackbear trail was kind of cool, and my kids loved it, KI doesn't have anything like that, Wildwood Grove doesn't have anything like The Beastie. There are a couple of other rides unique to Wildwood Grove (compared to Planet Snoopy) but many more unique experiences at Planet Snoopy (compared to Wildwood Grove). I feel like, aside from the dining and freshness of Wildwood Grove (which was excellent, so I don't mean to take anything away from the job they did there) it would be tough for a family to spend more than a couple of hours in that part of the park, while at Kings Island, I think a familar could spend half their day in Planet Snoopy and keep the kids entertained (as well as some of the in between kids). Now as a whole park experience, I'd say Dollywood is a better place for the 46" and under crowd, firechaser express just blows away anything KI has, throw in their other kids area (which felt run down compared to Planet Snoopy) and there is more there for a small kid, but if were just talking about 1 specific part of the park, I'd rather take my 3 year old to Planet Snoopy for 4 hours vs Wildwood Grove, all else being equal. But as Bodha said, I get how it works, that's just my $0.02 on the 2 specific areas.

My guess is that Orion lift hill gets exaggerated more, and Diamondback's hill gets a little less exaggerated so that Orion's hill appears much bigger than Diamondback.