MDMC01

I gotta say, this season of Gravity is starting to grow on me... I attended the 5 o'clock show today and it was great! It's only Opening Weekend and the cast seems to be settling in nicely; this can only mean good things for the next few months!

Hey all, not sure if this is the right thread to discuss thoughts of this year's show, but I saw my first three shows of the season yesterday (Saturday) and generally enjoyed it. To those that say that this year's show is similar to last years, they are right. There are a few things that are changed here and there, but for the most part, it's the same show as last year. The best way to explain this is to talk about Pokémon Sun and Moon and Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Aside from new things like a different Pokedex and a few new features, Utra Sun/Moon are basically the exact same games as Sun and Moon. In that context, this year of Gravity is basically the first year's Gravity, but with some minor changes and ways of doing things. That new stuff includes... Also, during the first show of the season, I got sad at the end as there were a few things that seemed like callbacks to Origins and Imagine.

Good to know!

At one point, it was said that from Banshee's highest to lowest point, the change (or drop) in elevation is 200 ft. Therefore, I (and I'm assuming many others) thought that Banshee would have/had a 200 ft. drop (According to RCDB, the drop is 150 ft). EDIT: Also, that rendering of a ground-up RMC snaking between Banshee and Bat is great! However, if they really wanted to use the Son of Beast station for the next major coaster, I would think they'd want the drop to be from the other side (facing away from Banshee) and then they could have a "shed" (or some other slow thematic element close to the end of the ride) and then have an additional lift that brings riders back to the station (by passing under Banshee). Thoughts?

Great video! He gets it and provides a very logical explanation. Is he by chance a member of KIC? If not, he was sure reading our minds about the disappointment of not getting a taller/faster Giga.

I would like to see something like Sledge Hammer or a Zamperla Hawk 48 (Meteor at Dorney Park). Maybe even a regular (inside facing) Frisbee like Revolution at Six Flags Great America. Also, S&S bought Vekoma? When did this happen?

See also Thunder Run at Canada's Wonderland. EDIT: Also, it blows my mind to think that outer banked turns are now a legitimate (and awesome) roller coaster element now. Before Steel Vengeance making outer banked turns “cool”, the only places I saw them were on S&S Coasters (like Wild Hawg at Indiana Beach), PAX (Russian coaster company with some interesting designs), a roller coaster toy at KB Toys back in the day, and Ultimate Ride (a roller coaster designing game where you could control the length and banking of track sections to make insane coasters).

See also Rougarou. That thing never has a line and I believe that’s because the GP finds it too aggressive. Also, great overhead view of Field of Screams (I forget who posted that)! Finally, welcome to KIC @BeastBabyDoll! Hope you enjoy all the lively discussion.

Wow! A lot to catch up on.... First, off, the legit blueprints: I'll admit, I was a bit disappointed to see that the actual track layout matched up with the "leak" due to the "short" track length. Then, someone mentioned the possible theming and I got really excited; also, this thing is gonna haul and I'm excited for the pure speed as that's one of the best parts about Millennium Force (the only other Giga I've ridden). And from the looks of it, it could have some pretty cool unique turn-based elements. Basically, as long as the theming and overall ride experience is done right, I think this coaster should be pretty awesome and I'll be a happy camper. That being said, I really hope we get the 4-across trains like the other B&M Gigas. Second, speaking of B&M, the only outright garbage coaster I've ridden by them is Iron Wolf and to be fair, that was their first coaster, and they've come a looong way since then. Third, yes I am one of those people who rides Valravn at The Point, thank you very much! I also like Steel Vengeance, Wicked Twister, Maverick and Rougarou (Millennium Force and TTD are up there as well). Finally, another possible speculation topic... what do we think the announcement video will be like? I mean, personally I'm all hyped up for a fast, fun ride, but I suppose there could always be more hype (well, let's not forget the shed overhype lol)... EDIT: Remember this... Also, this could be split into another thread, but... what was the hype like for Millennium Force around this time? Curious to know what they were thinking back in the day.

While the vending machines in lines are somewhat nostalgic to me (as they’ve always been there), they really don’t make a lot of sense... like, why stand and take 2 minutes to buy a drink when the line is constantly moving? You would either a) lose your place in line as the line moves past you or b) you’ll hold up the line as everyone is waiting on you. While it seems like a good idea, I feel like they should have either a side lane where one could get stuff from vending machines (away from regular line) and then re-enter the line after the purchase or put vending machines at the front of each line and/or in general areas of the park (like the ones near Invertigo).

Does that say $2 or $7? If it says $2, you are correct- what a deal! I think the cheapest food item I’ve encountered at the park so far is the $2 Texas Toast at Chicken Shack; that stuff is good. In other news, riding Delirium with your eyes closed (intentionally, not out of fear) is somewhat relaxing... it’s like a giant cradle. However, the weightlessness at the apexes make you feel like you’re going to fly out.

While this sounds great, I can see this idea being abused. How will they enforce the “drink plans only” nature of the drink stations?

What a great Coasterstock article! I thought the few paragraphs explaining about coaster enthusiasts was a nice touch as some Blog readers may not be familiar with us. Just out of curiosity, which Haunt maze did attendees get to walk through?

Great feedback, everyone! I personally like the very front seat, but 5-1 was nice when I rode it Sunday and the back is always insane (in a good way). Re: most Arrow loopers being designed around 5-1, I’ll have to try Corkscrew in that row and see if my ride experience improves! -MDMC, who literally fell into his seat while boarding Corkscrew last time he was at The Point. EDIT: 2-1 is also not a bad seat on The Bat.

That is a really well organized spreadsheet! I only track rides and stuff I do. I use a Word document to track all the rides, shows, etc. that I've seen and done (I've been tracking my rides since 2010) and I also have an Excel Document that shows the yearly totals for only the rides. In the Word document, I break it down by Coasters/Flats/Water Rides and also have special categories like Night Rides, or ERT (which actually doesn't count towards the overall #; for example, since my first ride on Autos was during ERT, it doesn't count in my overall total of how many times I rode Antique Autos). I also have other categories like Shows or Haunt mazes. My Excel document just tracks yearly totals for the rides (and groups the water rides with the flats) as well as the first and last ride of the season(s) were (used to have a Worksheet for the Top 3 most ridden rides in a category, but I don't have that anymore). Finally, I used to write trip reports after each visit, but that proved to be too time-consuming. While at the park, I write down the rides I've ridden on my phone (in order), which I use to help me enter the stats after each visit.

As some of you know, The Bat (1993, fka Top gun/Flight Deck) is my favorite coaster at Kings Island and as of 5/19/2019, I've ridden it over 200* times. However, during my 7-ride marathon today I wondered what the "best" seat was? What I mean by this is what was the seat that the ride was designed around? For example, the "best" seat on Vortex is 5-1 as the ride was apparently designed around that particular set of seats. I actually rode in 5-1 (left side) twice and while it gave a great ride, I wanted to know definitively, if anyone on here knows. So, anyone know what seat The Bat (or maybe even Arrow Suspended coasters in general) was (were) designed around? *I've probably ridden it a ton more as I've only started counting my rides since 2010.

Here’s my two cents on the issue... I am no sports fan (I like baseball and hockey, but I don’t have loyalty to any team- I just like the sports themselves) and therefore I’d hate the idea of a Bengals coaster (not a big football fan). That being said, Steel Curtain looks amazing. It troubles me that they are having technical delays; makes me think of that picture of Max Force construction I saw a while ago where they hadn’t gotten very far.

Dang! Just out of curiosity, does anyone wanna take a guess on how many people were at the park for Mystic Timbers' preview night? That's the most crowded I've ever seen the park (worse than a Haunt Saturday).

Hey all, just catching up and I've got a few things to say: 1. RE: The X-Base restaurant- that would be really cool! If said restaurant were similar to the picture posted by @Hawaiian Coasters 325, I'd love it if the giga was close by so guests could see the coaster whiz by as they are eating. Maybe that could be a really "twisty" (sorry) part of the ride (think Rougarou's back half or most of Raging Bull at SFGAM) that would be really low to the ground (or maybe one of the cool elements mentioned on here like the Treble Clef or Shambala's turn) and then fly out of sight with an airtime hill to the next part of the course (or the brakes). 2. That would be awesome if Holiday World got a Dive. They could either put it in Thanksgiving (in the land between Hyena Falls and Thunderbird) OR somewhere in Fourth of July as they are the one major area, (besides Christmas, which is kinda like our International Street in a way) that doesn't have a coaster (and no Howler doesn't count ). If they were to put a Dive coaster in the 4th of July area (which would of course have Red, White and Blue trains and the same color chaser lights like Valravn did that one time), I think it should go in the area near Firecracker. But I'd rather see it in the Thanksgiving spot anyway. Sorry, I'm getting a little carried away... lol 3. RE: Complex rides, see also Firehawk. IIRC, that was the most complex ride at the park at the time and had the most sensors as well. 4. Flourscent green track would be sick (as in, awesome)! Don't know how I'd feel about that on (our) Giga, though... 4. And finally, regarding this thought process of certain parks in the chain getting better rides then the others (and therefore some parks getting "downgraded" coasters because they shouldn't overshadow the big dogs), that doesn't make sense as it would be smart to strengthen ALL of the assets in your portfolio, not just one or two... -MDMC, who doesn't like to think of KI as a business, but as a great place to have fun!

3, if you are including Flying Ace.

As was I! I made the most of it by getting some rides on Delirium, Vortex, Bat and a 3 ride combo of Monster/Backlot and Beast with @jcgoble3 as well as blowing some $ in the Arcade (totally worth it!). It was a good way to recover from the busy (but fun) KI trip I had the day before!

I totally forgot about the fact that Diamondback and Son of Beast once coexisted! However, I guess it was different as SoB was wooden and Diamondback is a Steel coaster... oh, well, we shall see what happens!

Not to play devil's advocate, but... Skyrush and Hershey's 2020 Coaster will coexisit in the same park (according to RCDB, Skyrush is a hyper at 200 ft.). I'm thinking it'll be a giga, but you never know. Also, yes I do remember the disappointment at the Mystic Timbers announcement... I was very excited, but there was definitely some audible disappointment, especially from the person in front of me... Finally, I don't remember the Trump/Clinton joke at the announcement, how did that go again?

Hey all, I'm caught up again lol So, #1: Regarding correctly predicting things during past construction projects, I remember predicting there'd be an inversion where Banshee's Dive Loop currently stands... only I thought it would be a Euro-Fighter doing a cobra roll, #2: That Intamin Giga concept seems like a combination of I305 and Millennium Force #3: @magentalizard: That fireworks case also says Legend on it... hmmm lol #4: What were/are the Kingdom 6? #5: If Georgio will be at the announcement, it would sure be interesting... It'd be like a live episode of Ancient Aliens; give some historical backstory to lure people in and then BAM! Aliens lol

I see Steel Vengenance as the modern day equivalent to Son of Beast, but that’s just me. EDIT: But yeah, something that makes this Giga “cutting-edge” would be cool.