Joncars05

That's what I thought as well but then I started reading KK reviews from others online. I'm pumped about going but the reviews I have read from the GP have tempered my expectations a little bit in terms of dispatch times. Basically saying even with no lines they still had to wait longer than expected due to slow moving workers and long delays between dispatch times. I'm guessing most of you guys have had different experiences? I still haven't been so I was just going off of reviews I have seen.

From my understanding that is a pretty bad time to go. From the reviews I have read the dispatch times on most of the rides have been super slow at best and some said the dispatches during the fair were even worse. I plan on visiting KK this year but reading reviews about 1 train ops and 4-6 minutes dispatch intervals I'm going to have to temper my riding expectations.

I don't know if anyone has posted this yet but it appears that KK is still running a deal for Indiana residents outside of Clark, Floyd, Harrison, Scott, and Washington counties. https://www.kentuckykingdom.com/indiana/ The deal includes: Admission for $29.95 Admission to both KK and Hurricane Bane Free drinks, A free 2nd day. All you have to do is show your valid Indiana ID and they should grant you the tickets. I am assuming parking is not included with the deal. So if you are travelling solo it would probably be best to just buy the season pass if you plan on multiple visits. As for the deal I think they ran a similar deal last year and if I remember right a person could use the 2nd day ticket any time of the operating year and not required to use it on consecutive days. If anyone knows the details of the previous offer please correct me if I am wrong. Either way this is a pretty solid deal for Indiana residents and I am sure they are trying to get the out-of-state attendance numbers up.

Vortex and Adventure Express are my go to rides if the park is extremely packed. Their lines are both very deceiving when they spill out of their respective queues.

Those are popular rides but they are not as marketable as Gigas. Gatekeeper and Banshee (Valravn will be) are fun rides and in their first couple of years will be really popular but the shine usually wears off on them. I still think Diamondback is the most popular ride in the park due to its hieght and speed. The more marketable rides at CP are Millennium Force and TTD. Those two usually have the longest waits at CP. Why? Because they are the tallest and fastest rides in the park. Same with Fury at Carowinds and Intimidator 305 at KD. I honestly had no intention of driving 10+ hours to Carowinds or KD until this past summer when Fury was unleashed. I305, Fury 325, MF, and TTD are landmark rides. People travel from all over the country to ride those rides. World's or Nation's Tallest/Fastest (or close to the record) is much more intriguing than longest/most inversions records. They are indeed more marketable and can put a park on the map.

Do it! It is one of the best coaster events in the world. You will not be disappointed!I have done both events for the past two years and IMO Holiwood Nights is much more personal and fun. Holiwood Night's ERT hours, food, and exclusives blow Coastermania away. The big draw for Coastermania is the lineup of rides. Also after last year's debacle at Coastermania (although the issues seem to be fixed by the added fee and limited enrollment) I will certainly choose Holiwood Nights if the event dates run together as they do this year.

https://twitter.com/HolidayWorld/status/694597860055080960/photo/1 Photo courtesy of Holiday World's Twitter Page. Wow they are removing TONS of wood from Legend! This is going to be almost an entire revamp of this ride! The track appears to have been removed from the exit of the double helix to the station. I feel like Legend may be a completely different (More Smooth!!!!) experience when they are done.

They are really improving the park! I don't know about you guys but to me the little things like freshly painted trash cans and well groomed rides and paths are huge in creating a family friendly and fun environment. I had a blast the last time I went to IB and the park improvements they are implementing are making me want to visit again this summer!

I plan on making a trip to KK this summer. We will see if it actually happens though. Lightning Run, Thunder Run, and the new RMC Storm Chaser are all on my need to ride list. Since I wont be taking massive road trips like I did this past summer I think I should be able to make it down to KK.

This looks pretty cool. I always thought that Legend after the helix was pretty much out of control (in a good way). Throw in a double down AND lower the track for more speed and Legend's finale is going to be an animal! I cannot wait to ride it later this year!

The visual of this monster make this even more awesome. It's stunning that they were able to fit a hyper coaster in that small of an area. Photo Courtesy of Cedar Point's Official Twitter Feed.

I completely agree with you! And that's the difference between KI or CF and some of the smaller parks. Big parks are ALWAYS about the bottom line ( I do understand that profits are what businesses are created for). Smaller parks are usually about the patron's experience. That's why people usually only talk about rides at CF and SIX but you hear more about the experiences and memories made at HW (turning off the preshow on TB for an autistic kid bothered by the sounds so he could ride), Dollywood (shows are world class and theming during the holidays are amazing!), Silver Dollar City (Theming and family atmosphere), and the parks like them.

Drink wristbands are the best idea. I like having the cups but since you are not allowed to have the cup for certain rides I don't even bring it in to the park. The park is missing out on a major money maker because I would rather spend $7-$10 on a drink wristband every time I visit than bring in that cup and have to pay for refills AND buy a locker every time I want to ride KI's signature ride.

It looks like the wood on entire first drop of The Legend is going to be replaced. Also a Youtube video has been published as to what Santa brought to the Coaster Cats and HW this Christmas! Photo and video are provided courtesy of Holiday World

Photo Courtesy of HW's Twitter page. https://twitter.com/HolidayWorld/status/677568546755448833 An interesting photo has been posted on HW's twitter page today.

Because its always about the bottom line... US parks will never leave an opportunity to make more money. So theming usually goes out the door because of the extra financial burden of upkeep of said theming.

I'm sort of surprised everyone thinks this new element is going to be an inversion. I could see something as simple as an extra 90 degree turn or something similar. I just don't see them going that far as adding an inversion on any of their coasters. I'm really excited to see what they do have in store. It may prove my guess wrong.

I hope the cost is very similar to the cost of last year's event. For me, Coasterstock was one of the more pleasant surprises of 2015. The event was very fun and I am sure Coasterstock 2016 will be just as fun, if not better than, Coasterstock 2015.

I stayed at the Econo Lodge in Richmond, VA. I know its outside of your 5 mile range but its a quick 15 miles or so from the park and its all highway. It was close to some food places and decent room. No frills (free wifi and very limited but free breakfast) but if you need a cheap room that is about 12-15 minutes away from the park. I thought it was clean and good enough to stay there again.

Unfortunately it looks like the investigation has determined that 'human error' was the cause of this accident. It appears that the manual override of the ride safety control system was used without following the proper safety protocol. I know that this was the main thought by the majority of people here. It is so unfortunate that a simple human error has caused so much damage not only for the injured individuals but the company as well. It will be interesting to see the fallout of what they have concluded. It seems that this may be put on the mechanic team servicing the ride at the time of the incident and not the ride ops. I just feel awful for those permanently injured due to what has now been concluded as someone making a mistake. http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/nov/24/alton-towers-rollercoaster-crash-caused-by-human-error-theme-park-says

After riding Fury 325 this year a B&M Giga would be hope for the next KI addition. Not exactly sure where they would put it but a giga would be fantastic.

Okay so I am a total nerd when it comes to this so bear with me here haha. This year was our BIG year as 2014 my wife was pregnant so we didn't make it out to the parks for more than a couple of trips. That being said we renewed our CF PP and took full advantage of it. We went to two new parks this year Carowinds and Kings Dominion. We also went to Cedar Point, Kings Island, and Holiday World. We added 27 new coasters to our coaster count. Now here is where I get to the crazy stats that pertain to just me. In 2015 - I was able to ride a total of 304 laps on coasters. - Top 3 for amount of rides this year were Banshee (25), Thunderbird (24), and Fury 325 (22). - I was inverted on all of the coasters that I went on 653 times. - I traveled a total of 1,300,951 feet on a coaster this year, amounting to an absurd amount of 246.4 miles... (I think I did the math right here) - The most distance traveled on one coaster this year for me was Fury 325 clocking in at 27.5 miles. Other less nerdy and more memoreable facts/memories for 2015 include: - I was able to get my little sister (8 years old) on The Beast for the first time ever! She loved it! - I was able to get my cousin (11 years old) to ride Top Thrill Dragster 3 times! He still brags to this day because his tougher twin brother chickened out! - I was able to take my daughter (13 months old) to her first park (Holiday World) this October. She had a blast! - I was able to get my mother in law (65 Years old) on her second coaster ever. She rode The Racer when it first opened up and was terrified of it haha. I was able to get her on Thunderbird at Holiday World. I have the ride photo from it but she would kill me if I put it up here. It was probably the most impressive thing I was able to get someone else to do ever. After this crazy 2015 year I think we are going to take a break for the summer of 2016 and maybe only spend a day or two at KI or HW total. We had an awesome 2015 year!

I love doing this at the end of the year. I know trips to the park are more than just ride counts but it is pretty cool to look back and see all of what you did. When I get a little bit of time I'll add some of my quirky stats to this topic!

That $25 per car parking fee is working well for them!

Never said that attendance wasn't down or going to be lower due to the accident. I just said it wasn't as dramatic as the article mentioned. It wasn't a "ghost town" as the article tried to present it as. The news article and their author used hyperbole to try and sensationalize a tragedy and generate clicks. A reasonable person would assume that attendance would drop after an accident of this magnitude. But one would also suspect that the park being closed for close to a week during peak visiting season while shutting down its marquee ride for the time being would also affect the bottom line. If KI closed Banshee or Diamondback for the year for mechanical issues would attendance drop? Or if KI or CP was shut down for just one weekend (Alton Towers was shut down for 5 days after the accident) during the summer would profit numbers for the park take a hit? I would assume yes for both of those questions.