TheBEASTunchained

Ohhh....The memories ...Boom! Boom! Ouch! My head! (Photo Courtesy of lifthill.com)

A fast "out of control" ride expirience is what led to Son of Beast being where it is today.... If Voyage, Raven, and ThunderHead were that way then they would also be in the same situation.....

I believe the reason we haven't seen more gigacoasters is twofold. First, most of the bigger parks already have at least one hyper in their lineup. Second, they're very expensive, and that takes all but the largest parks out of consideration for building one because of return on investment considerations. I would argue that Cedar Fair going with B&M for Leviathan (as opposed to Intamin who had already produced two for the chain) speaks volumes. It tells me that Cedar Fair isn't afraid to spend good money on projects if they think they'll be good investments. It also tells me that they believe the economy has improved. A lot of other parks must feel the same way because even Six Flags is starting to spend money in bigger projects now (the two Rocky Mountain makeovers and X-Flight) when they hadn't spend considerable money on a project between 2006 and the Texas Giant makeover in 2011. Perhaps I'm reading a little too much between the lines here, but look at the coaster installations Intamin has created for Cedar Fair since 2002: Xcelerator, Wicked Twister, Steel Venom, Top Thrill Dragster, Maverick, I305 (six total) Every installation on that list has had noteworthy issues of some kind stemming from the initial engineering or ongoing reliability. Of those coasters only two have been built within the last nine years. Also of interest is that all but one of those coasters involves a launch. On the B&M side we have the following since 2002: Silver Bullet, Hydra, Patriot, Behemoth, Diamondback, Intimidator @ CW, Leviathan, Gatekeeper (eight total) To put that in perspective, there have been only nine full-circuilt Intamin coasters total built in the entire US during that time. IF this construction is for a coaster and IF this is for a big (i.e., expensive) ride I would be positively shocked if it was anything other than B&M. Kings Island needs a reliable, super high-capacity machine and a three-train operation B&M coaster fits the bill on all counts. I believe that you hit the spot with that post, and really put it in perspective. Hopefully some of you who are convinced it will be an Intamin coaster or that Kings Island will recieve the "very visible" peice of green Intamin coaster track on I-71, decide to read gad198's post I thought we already discussed Screamscape's reliability for the past 2 or 3 pages? Is there any more to discuss about that besides the fact that it is one of the most un-reliable theme park information sites on the web?

Matt Ouimet already confirmed that there are no more Wing Coasters coming to any Cedar Fair parks anytime soon. Is it that hard to understand?...

You're very confident in your posts.....Since you seem to know, Can you tell me what day to go to KI to see the track show up in the "next month or two"? We would all love to go watch... (TheBEASTunchained.....Trying to avoid posting in this topic...) I guess I'll just sit back and start watching again....Where's the popcorn?

Sounds like you had some fun , and great picture of Coney Mall at night as TheCrypt also said. It doesn't seem that the park was very crowded but that was probably due to the weather..... I'm heading to the park on Friday, and I'm guessing the park will be packed, What do you guys think the crowds will be like?

Dorney Park is now implementing a system at their park called FastPay which allows guests to load money onto a wristband to use for transactions at the park..... More....http://www.coaster-net.com/news/2122-dorney-park-now-wallet-free/ Your opinion?

Great trip report Terpy, rare to get a "TTR" from you, but always good when we do! Glad to hear that Grizzly is running good this year, and did you happen to get a ride in on Dominator? (My favorite steel coaster)

We already have at least 2 other topics already discussing the name "Banshee".....I guess we needed another one now?...Are the other ones to old..? (Lets go start another one too..)

I've been keeping up with construction on Gold Striker since its announcement and even up to its opening date. It looks like a Great roller coaster, I think I'll now need to make a trip to California this year so that maybe I can Strike Gold!

It could be placed on Fridays because they want to raise Friday crowds to meet the same attendance as Saturday crowds...Thats my guess..... And to quickly combine 2 topics with (no seriousness included).....What if the green roller coaster track is for a dive coaster at Kings Island and it dives over the "dive in theatre" screens. ( Thought I would make pretend for a moment.....)

Biggest bust of all time? and has been built for six years..... If you want to talk about that we should take a trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg....I can show you a space that was once occupied by a roller coaster for 6 years... It was called Drachen Fire...

Riding The Beast and eating a funnel cake in the same day at Kings Island, Whats better than that?

You worded it right shark6495! ...... and besides, if you "go through the fairgrounds on a weekly basis", there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to easily take a few pictures and post them here. At this point you are the only person that seems absolutely confident that Kentucky Kingdom will re-open in less than a year or at all. If there is no proof/pictures of what you claim to be seeing, How can we believe you?....

Tips for going to Cedar Point.....Ride Mean Streak. But also make sure to ride Magnum and Gatekeeper too!

It is kind of interesting to hear that one of the security guards said that the Giant Wheel made a few rounds......I also found it interesting how the rides and buildings were labeled with the letter/number combinations.

Interesting... I was at the Fairgrounds last Saturday (for something completely unrelated to KK) and I took the time to drive all around the perimeter of the park. I didn't see any change - other than some vines/trees cut back at a gated entrance near Thrill Park Theater. Granted I didn't get out of my car and peer through or over a fence (I wasn't invested enough to take the initiative), but it appeared as dead, sad and unkempt as ever. I saw no signs of "construction." I have to say, when you drive around it, it's shocking to see the dissaray. There are buildings with giant holes in roofs. Tons of rotten wooden siding on games buildings/food stands. Coasters are rusted over. Greezed Lightning is in as poor shape as Thunderbolt Express was at Camden in it's final standing years. The Giant Wheel looks completely rusted out. There's literal trees growing up through the rides. (On a simular note, I read online that the cement in the wave pool has cracked and trees/roots have grown through.) The once Black T2 is a pale grey now. The footings where Chang stood are all still there... it would be a hefty cost just to remove those. I've been vocal about my non-support for the parks "re-opening." I think it's a complete joke. But IMO, there's no way the park can be reapaired to a viable complete state of operations in time for 2014. It's become more and more obvious to me that SF walked away not only because of bad land/parking/rent deals with Workman's Fairground... but it also knew the investment the park would require in the near future. The costs outweighed the gains - thus they packed their bags and hightailed it out of dodge. Shaggy You make a very good, and valid point, which also brings up my other question to sccard01...... If theres so much "construction" going on lately, then where are the pictures? You'd think if there was very much, to any activity that maybe one or two news channels would try to pick up on it or something.

Looks like TheBEASTunchained will be making his first appearence at a KIC event! Sounds like lots of fun!

As far as good coasters go, Try riding the wooden roller coaster, Shivering Timbers at Michigan's Adventure, or even the serial thriller of an SLC coaster called ThunderHawk.

Too bad we couldn't name the roller coaster "The Smiler"...... (Photo Courtesy of Matthew Wells)

I would be suprised that it would be confirmed by anyone that we would be getting a gigs coaster.... Is Gigs a new model by B&M or are we talking about Little Bills Giggle Coaster?....

Guys....Hold your horses! (or Banshee's) Triangular Foooters mean nothing about who's making the coaster or what type of coaster it is. Ex.) There is a triangular footer under Diamondback's first drop.

I heard two coasters that was meant for Kentucky Kingdom where put into World of Adventure. Xflight/Firehawk may have been one of them But I've heard Dominator was custom made to be at the front of the park in the year 2000. It was going to take the place of the vampire and the squid waterslide, but Six Flags went cheap and put in Road Runner in 2000 and Sky Coaster later in 2001. I guess were lucky that Dominator is over at the Dominion in Doswell right now then aren't we.....

One of my favorite flat rides is WindSeeker, It may not be the most thrilling but the views and wind that hits you being that far up is great in my opinion.... Can't wait to ride the new 400 ft. Texas Skyscreamer!

The famous Diamondback ride-op chant..... Operator- "When I say Diamond, You say Back!" Operator- "Diamond" Guests- "Back" Operator- "Diamond" Guests- "Back" Operator- "Diamond" Guests-----Going down first drop screaming- "Lord Help Me!!"