Joncars05

Legend is running like brand new. The first drop used to shake me up pretty good. It was butter smooth this year. The double helix was super forceful as usual, and the return to the station was just as fast as before. They retracked that entire section so it was smooth as well. The new double down was okay. The first drop had no airtime whatsoever. The second had a decent pop but nothing to write home about. I was expecting more but it still works. They did a great job working on Legend because now it is re-rideable as all get out. I'm assuming (Since I never ride Legend until 2010) it is as close to what it was like when the ride first opened as you can get.

Malem. Based off of the weather I would choose Coastermania. It looks like HWN might be a washout...

That's my tweet! I can't believe Don re-tweeted it!

Uh, no. Just no. There is NOT a 1 in 112 chance of death in a car accident on the way to a park. Nope. Not even close. I would hope not as well. I'm sure there are some people here who have amassed more than 112 total trips to KI in the last 2 years! Maybe they are setting the curve

Good luck making it through this smear article without yelling at your phone or breaking your computer! http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/amusement-park-risks-impossible-article-1.2653335

I had an outstanding time at Coasterstock this year. I'll have a trip report up soon about it. I think the good was excellent this time and the ERT was outstanding. I was with my family for most of the time so I missed out on all of the meetups but it was nice to meet some of the members here for the final ride on Banshee. I use an app called 'Multi Counter' produced by akibonn. I use it for the amount of laps I take on a specific ride. It is available for Android. I'm not sure about IOS. No extra permissions on the app and it simple to use. I use coaster count to track all of the coasters I have been on.

I am friends with both of the guys that were stuck on the ride. They were not swinging the ride on purpose. The original article misquoted one of them and the press ran with it. They were saying the trains were too heavy to flip intentionally and the author of the articles just took the intentional flip portion of the quote to sensationalize it. Their trip report and account of what happened is below.http://coasterfusion.org/news.php?item.360.5

Once everything opened up it was a really nice day. I think the combo of me being with the wife and kiddo that couldn't ride and the weather in the morning caused me not to be in a rush to ride. I should've ride more because the lines were perfect! But since I didn't start riding until 4pm I just sort of conceded that I wasn't going to ride much. Thanks! Thanks! It really was a great trip. My little one is a daredevil so she jumped right in and had a blast. I'm sure she will be a coaster nut as soon as she hits the height requirements!

I took a trip up to Cedar Point with my wife and toddler on Sunday May 15th. The weather looked like it was going to be perfect about a week out it said it would be partly cloudy with a high of 71. Well as we all know weather can change quickly and this trip it changed drastically. On Saturday night, the Sunday high was forecasted to be 48 and had sustained winds around 20-25mph. There was a freeze warning and possible rain later that day. So as most of you know almost everything was shut down in the park. We still entered the park with hopes that most coasters would be operating. There was no such luck. In fact it actually started sleeting/snowing the first 30 minutes the park was opened. Basically everything was shut down for the first 3 hours. The only rides operating were Wicked Twister and Cedar Creek Mine Ride. Around 1 pm Valravn opened up but the line was well over 2 hours so I skipped it. We ended up letting our daughter ride her first rides ever at Cedar Point. Surprisingly she had a really good time. She rode until about noon and then left the park to take a nap. I ended up taking out my camera and started to shoot photos at the park. The weather conditions were really awful for shooting but I think I was able to take some really good photos. One thing that I did get a really good shot of was a valleyed train on Maverick. That will be included in the photos at the end of the TR. After my wife and kiddo returned to the park they decided to ride more kid rides. Again my daughter really enjoyed the rides. I was pretty surprised at the amount of stuff she could ride due to her only being only 20 months old. It turned 4pm and it was finally my turn to ride so I ended up getting on Magnum, Wicked Twister, and Gatekeeper. I saved Valravn for last. I ended up in line around 7pm and only waited 30 minutes to ride. Since I was a single rider I got really lucky and was able to sit front row for my ride. I ended up on the left side, in the far outside seat. The lift hill is very fast compared to other dive coasters. Once at the top the view is outstanding. The pause seems to be pretty short but the drop is very solid. The Immelmann loop was fun as well. The second drop into the dive loop was actually really good too. The Zero-G roll was okay as I felt like the train wasn’t going fast enough to really pull negative g’s. The turn around into the final airtime hill was a good transition and the airtime hill had a little pop of airtime. I thought the ride was pretty good. Definitely good enough to get into the top 5 at the park but I really don’t think it is all the media has hyped it up to be. I know that later in the year it will be running even better after it fully breaks in and it will be definitely faster in better weather. The cold and wind made Valravn sluggish. I hope next year when I make it up there the weather will be a bit warmer so I can fully experience Valravn. After my Valravn ride the family and I headed home. Despite the weather causing extremely limited ride time for myself I really had a great time watching my daughter ride her first amusement park rides on her own. I think having a toddler with me in the parks has changed my outlook on what successful park trips can be. Now instead of ride counts I slow down and enjoy the little things a little more. Thanks for reading! My TR photos are below! Ride Count: Gatekeeper: 1 Valravn: 1 Wicked Twister: 1 Magnum Xl-200: 1 Valleyed Maverick train getting pulled through an inversion: Wicked Twister Blue Streak Raptor vs Valravn Valravn in the sleet/snow Gatekeeper Keyhole Valravn! Getting a peace sign from a Rougarou rider Corkscrew Gatekeeper with a photobombing seagull Millennium Force Vs Top Thrill Dragster! The new paint job on Raptor is stunning!

^KK is pushing hard for the out of state visitors. They have 2-3 different commercials that they are running for the Indianapolis area. One features the smaller rides, one features Storm Chaser with Purdue engineering students raving about the ride, and the other is touting the overall resurgence of the park. All feature the $29.95 two day, free drinks, out of state deal. But they are hitting the area hard. They have placed the commercials on all of the farmer give channels and run them in the mornings possibly targeting stay at home moms. I know it has worked for at least one person because our babysitter, who knows we are coaster nuts, asked us if KK would be a good place to go for her and her children. I said from the looks of it it is. You just can't beat that price. It's so low that even if you didn't have a good experience in the park you can just go home and not feel taken advantage of. But if you like it (the deal is unlimited, so you can use it multiple times in a year) you can spend 2 days in the park with free drinks and only pay $30!

If you don't like the service than do as my wife and I do leave the park and grab some food outside of the park then head back in. This right here is the reason they don't care if you get your food fast or not. If you continue to pay for terrible service then don't expect things to change. If they start noticing more people are leaving the park at lunch time and coming back when lunch is over and they see revenue drop then they might change their act. But until they see revenue from food drop they won't care. My wife and I can't stand the service (and ridiculous prices) at KI so we don't eat in the park. We would gladly go 3 minutes away and eat at Skyline without the wait, bad service, lower quality food, and price hike that comes along with eating Skyline in the park.

I'm kind of surprised to hear that. I was the one that took that photo of it valleyed. I have a couple more photos that will be posted in a trip report soon. They pulled the ride through the inversion pretty quickly. Although I didn't go back there later that day to see it in person the Cedar Point app stated that it was running later that day. You didn't happen to be the gentleman taking pictures maybe with your wife was ya? I was there by myself at that time. My wife and kiddo were napping in the car. A lady with a stroller came up and had a chat with me for a little bit while watching the crew work on moving the train. I was the guy standing on the bench to get a clear shot of the train for most of the time that I was there.

I'm kind of surprised to hear that. I was the one that took that photo of it valleyed. I have a couple more photos that will be posted in a trip report soon. They pulled the ride through the inversion pretty quickly. Although I didn't go back there later that day to see it in person the Cedar Point app stated that it was running later that day.

Nothing is wrong with ACE. There are a very few ACE members that are opinionated but that is like any other coaster club out there. Back to topic here KK had 6 billboards advertising the 29.95 two day deal, located on 465 from the airport moving through south side 465 all the way up to 69. KK has the same billboard on 67 and 74 as well. They are making some agressive moves advertising wise we will see if it pays off for them this summer.

Has anyone on here heard or know of any Lightning Rod updates they would like to share? I'm headed down there in mid June for my first visit ever and the lack of updates coming from either RMC and/or Dollywood are making me think Lightning Rod may not be opened in the next month.

Again if you are not on the current payroll you have no idea what their plans are and why they are executing it. And yes I am a HW apologist. Just like I am an apologist for KI, KK, and all of the other parks out there. I rarely, if ever, talk down about any park and I most certainly never name call anyone on this board for disagreeing with my opinion either...

Unless you are on the payroll you don't know anything as fact. If you did know then you wouldn't be saying anything on a forum. NDA's prevent that. Just because you have a operated a ride back when you were a teenager and have decent talking relationship with Don doesn't mean you know the inner workings of a park. What is Terpy's line again? Those who know don't speak?

I am far from an ACE member so please don't try and insult me. We are merely having a discussion as we don't know what the inner working of any park are. Your opinion is pure speculation as is my opinion is purely speculation. If my opinion upset you enough to start calling names and trying to insult a person you have never met then you need to just step back from the keyboard and chill.

It is the perfect first "big" coaster for kids. It isn't too tall, not too fast, and has just enough force to be really fun. There were a ton of young riders that were there riding this because it isn't too intimidating.

Based off of the number I have gathered both KK and HW have a combined attendance right around 2 million people last year. That is around the total attendance of Carowinds last year. You can say people have forgotten about HW or KK but the numbers say otherwise.I will agree and say that KI is on a completely different level than KK and HW. That is mainly due to KI belonging to a international theme park chain. Both HW and KK are independent parks. Both KK and HW will likely never truly challenge KI for top dog in the tri-state area, but 2 million visitors a year is a very sizeable chunk of the theme park market. To say that people have forgotten about HW and KK is a stretch at best. You mean "reported" attendance by two private companies who benefit from making sure that number is as high as possible without sounding too unrealistic. KI generates a solid majority of its business from pass holders and return visits. Kentucky Kingdom used to when six flags flew above its entrance (and didn't bother investing much because those local pass holders kept returning). Holiday World and KK are only a threat in that they may possibly prevent some consumers from traveling up 71 to Kings Island. However, even when Six Flags still operated KK, they abandoned plans to be any direct threat to KI and instead just focused on the local market. After "Twisted Sisters/Twins debuted, you stopped seeing Six Flags adverts in the Cincinnati market. You'll never convert Holiday World pass holders into KI holders several hours up the road, so I doubt KI is too concerned with Koch family drama world. In short, the "two million" (through the gate per year, not entirely separate individuals) are probably more like a fly buzzing hours down I-71. Cedar Fair probably keeps an eye on it, but probably doesn't care, if anything, they're more curious about Holiday World and probably just chuckling at KK when they're not asking: "that park is open again?" I've said it once before and I'll say it again. To say that KI and CF are only 'curious' about a park that had 1.3 million visitors (2014 attendance numbers that I found) adding a $22 million one of a kind B&M coaster, and are 'chuckling' at a park that just added a coaster from a well renowned company (RMC), built a brand new extremely well received Chance coaster, and revamped two other coasters in only 2 years, is misguided. Are KK or HW every going to dethrone KI as the go to amusement park in the tri-state area no. But I can guarentee that the recent additions at HW and the opening at KK have hinder the profit margin at KI. Even though CF has been reporting record profits just think about how much more they could've made if KK hadn't opened or HW hadn't built Thunderbird. Because I am not talking about season pass holders I am talking about families that take only one trip a year to amusement parks. I feel as if both HW and KK attract those type of visitors more than KI. So to not make any adjustments while competition less than 3 hours away are making major moves would be not in the best interest of the park. I truly believe this new project from KI is a response to HW and possibly KK and their park additions. Again the competition, even if on different levels, is great because it forces the parks to be active and improve every year. That is exactly what I mean! I am with you on this one!

Yet people who are unfamiliar with the area, in rush hour (or heavy traffic limited to one lane due to construction), and having only 500-1000 ft to change lanes or be stuck in the right lane, have trouble. Just because an area is familiar to you doesn't mean everyone driving is familiar with the area. A simple navigation error shouldn't result in people have to pay an $18 fee then wait over 30 minutes to have the situation resolved. From the video attached in the article it looks like the lane to turn into KI is the only lane open to drive until about 500 feet before the entrance. That is when the left lane opens to avoid entering KI property. If you are in the right lane with traffic whizzing by you, one might opt to stay in the right lane to avoid a collision. Apparently this isn't the only person who this has happened to as the park is aware of the situation and a local news station felt that it was a story that needed to be investigated and reported on. Sure drivers could pay more attention but they also might be staying with the flow of traffic and miss the right turn only signs. It could've been avoided by drivers seeing the signs and KI simply adding a turn lane or turnaround to exit the parking lot.

Thanks for the compliment! This might not be a popular opinion here but I honestly like Cheetah Hunt just a little bit more than Maverick. One thing I really like about Cheetah Hunt is the ride elements are all spaced out. The elements on Maverick, for the first half of the ride, seem way too close together for me and it gets a little disorienting. But the second half is awesome. Cheetah Hunt is definitely more family friendly (less intense) than Maverick. Cheetah Hunt has two strong launches (2nd launch to get up to the figure 8 element, and the 3rd launch to give you a really good pop of airtime). But both are very similar, good airtime moments, tight turns, smooth transitions, and good launches. I have to give Cheetah Hunt a very small edge over Maverick just on theming and pacing. I think the fact that Cheetah Hunt is more spread out makes it just a tad bit more enjoyable to me.

Thanks! I use a Nikon D5300 and usually use a 55-300mm lens. I'll sometimes use a 18-55mm lens when coasters are close. I'm glad you like the photos! I'm am pretty sure it all depends on the manufacturer's rules. Scorpion has a different manufacturer than AE at KI so that is more than likely the reason for the discrepancy in rider height limits.

Awesome, I have not seen an IB billboard in Indy for years! Where is it located? It is located on Crawfordsville road. If you head west from Indianapolis Motor Speedway towards 465, the billboard will be on your left across the street from Kroger.

Yikes I have been in the left lane to try and get back on the road before (albeit not with the new entrance) and it is absolutely dangerous to try and merge back into oncoming traffic so I see this event happening a couple of times. But oh boy the response from the park is less than helpful. I'm sure that this maybe happens only a couple of times a day but it just seems like it could be avoided by both the driver and the park. Sure the people end up getting a refund but its just a hassle. Not only for the person who has to go and talk with security to get a refund and may not have time to do so. But it also takes away park employees from doing something productive and makes them have to attend to something that should be a non issue. Adding more signs wont help too much because for the most part the right lane is always packed so people wont even be able to see the signs. The construction only exacerbates the issue. So I am not sure what they can do to alleviate the issue but it sure seems like there should've been a turnaround added for an easy exit if someone happens to make a wrong turn.