DJSkyFoxx

This was kind of a tough one for me personally as I love them both for different reasons. Millie only gets the edge from me because that view from the front seat over the lake and the overall insanely fun sense of speed is felt more (to me) and I am incredibly nostalgic for the station music ( I actually have it set as my ringtone ) and the overall energy of the ride gets me hype. Orion is a great coaster that I enjoy riding a lot. The first drop feels stronger but Millie's speed feels more maintained than Orion's. Orion, IMO, has the better ops and capacity so it is far less stressful to manage in terms of getting the preferred seating for it. That has been really my biggest gripe about Millie. The way FL is set up. I remember the original access to the station was through the door facing the lift hill. As someone who primarily rides the front/back seat of coasters for the maximum thrill factor, Orion is great in the front and the back. Millie-TO ME-is best in the front as I have tried the very back and have ridden other seats the very front is the only place I truly enjoy riding it. Again-personal preference. I will wait the extra time for the front since that is my absolute favorite choice place to sit. I find both seating styles comfortable. The reclined clamshell design found on B&M hyper/gigas is always an enjoyable experience while I find Millie's seats comfortable in a different way. They are more rigid, but I enjoy the T-bar restraint giving a more open-air cockpit feeling. I find that adds to the sensation of speed and freedom while riding in the front. Overall, they are both great rides and I enjoy them both for different reasons, but Millie still just has that something extra that while being a little more frustrating to ride in terms of ops, is worth it for the incredible ride she gives.

A water coaster would be a welcomed addition! Kinda seems fitting too since the neighboring Great Wolf Lodge got rid of theirs. Hoping for Fast Lane option since I know for a fact this thing will undoubtedly have long waits.

I'm sure folks right now are happy Congo Falls is still standing with the heat dome we've been experiencing!

I can see it now. Orion will get an "Origin Roofing" wrap as a sponsor next year

Until I see photos again like this, I always forget just how incredibly gorgeous this version of the fountain truly was. It really made that "grand entrance" feeling really something special. Plus as silly as it sounds, I just don't feel like the current set up really gives as much of a "cooling" effect on guests as they sit at the tables or walk by when the breeze happens to blow just enough to give a light splash of water on a hot day. That was always nice. And the old fountain set-up really gave the entire pool a more filled-out appearance too. Not crowded, just more use of the pool.

Now you know DARN well if there were bottles of alcohol in there adults would be lined up all the way to The Beast entrance to play this game. Trying to grab as many as they can get their mitts on. That would be quite a show

I think its still the original ride from 1975. Of course, I have no proof other than just really taking time to look at the ride itself, it is an older machine. Newer rides just have an all-together different feel to them, but this one just feels like an old ride not to mention again, looking at the main hub, it looks like it has seen a lot of Mid-western sun and weather. But again, this is all just going from feel and looks. I suppose someone would have actual proof of it being the original or not somewhere.

The late 90's/early 00's were truly a special time having 3 powerhouse parks all within a days drive of one another in the same state. Each one offering a completely different experience and ride line-up. What a time that was.

People seriously just slide further and further down the scale. I say this almost every single day that people are devolving instead of evolving. Since when is it ever ok to assault someone over something so trivial? What example is this neanderthal showing his children? That it's ok not only to cut in line, but its also ok to assault someone when you don't get your way? Pathetic. Unfortunately these things are all too common anymore. Do better people. Seriously. If not for yourself, for your children.

I think that if they ever took out these rides they would replace them with something else entirely. I know these were all pretty temperamental when they first opened. And now it seems like they operate more reliably. But I feel that if these were ever removed another kind of ride would take their place.

@jcoop22 and @jbeast yep. Exactly for those reasons you both stated above. Again, its nice to have everything laid out in the app. But apps crash or sometimes they just don't load quickly or correctly. And heaven forbid your phone dies or freezes up or what have you. That's why so long as physical pass cards are a thing I will always have one. And yes, the parking scanners really do read them much easier. I have seen one too many people struggle to get the scanner to read their phone screen and it just holds up the line.

This is why I ALWAYS have a physical pass. The app might be convienient in some ways, but technology fails.

As someone who has ASFL all parks, if I was issued a single-use Fast Lane ticket I would pay it forward and give it to someone else to hang onto. Even if said ride is not operational, I imagine they would hopefully honor it at a later date when it IS operational. It's this sort of display of poor behavior that could cancel this kind of event all together. Parks really don't have to put these events on or give any kind of special access to anything. If one is displeased with their experience, I feel the appropriate thing to do is to have a conversation. In this particular case a post Q&A conversation with park staff to express any discontentment in a more private manner vs. making a rude public display. Everyone has their feelings, but how they handle said feelings is important. A grown man having a tantrum at a special event is just silly. Hold it together until afterwards and then be adult enough to talk to someone about it. Just my thoughts.

I definitely second the elephant ear stall lol The Virginia Reel is a fascinating coaster artifact that I think would be a neat kind of experience to bring back on a modern level. I can't say I would ride it because super spiny things make me vomit

Ride wise-Vortex Event wise-Fear Fest. * I saw someone mentioned that it was actually scary and I concur. I mean. I was a teenager back then and I wasn't easily scared even in those days, but it definitely was not the "family friendly" Haunt we have now. I would compare this to the store Hot Topic. I was a huge fan of it was a high schooler. It was truly a dark, gothic store with an edge. A place parents questioned bringing their kid into ( unless you had my parents of course ) and the Hot Topic of now is nowhere near what it was back 20 something years ago. Same with Haunt.

10-4. I might add thought I did get to ride WindSeeker on 6/2 despite said wind while DT was down. I left around 5PM.

I went this past Saturday. Got there roughly around 5PM and Drop Tower was running with a load of riders. Got inside. Did a Banshee ride and headed over to Drop Tower just to see that it was down. It did not open the rest of the night as I was there well past close waiting to get a Beast night ride. I will also add that it was down when I went on Sunday 6/2 the entire time I was there. Seems the ol' tower of drops is having a rough season. Hoping to be able to catch a few rides on it this year but I fear I keep catching it on bad days.

I often imagine what they could have done with the original pedestals. They definitely could have been modified to help create a more modern effect and like mentioned on here already, add some fancy LEDs and such. But I sure do miss the actual "royal" appearance the opening entrance gave when walking up to the fountains. They could have totally taken the old and made it new again but kept that classic appeal.

Don't give them any ideas. This ride might end up with a Mt. Dew Baja Blast wrap and then some spiel about being "sponsored by Mt. Dew Baja Blast" On a more serious note, it is a really nice color and my fiancé and I plan to make a trip next year to experience KD!

The thing is, until more severe action is taken, this will continue to be a problem without any real consequence. For example, and I'm certain some of you have witnessed this as well, the Fast Lane line does not seem to be monitored as strictly as previous seasons due to the new QR scanners. Or so I've personally noticed thus far this season. Anyways, while going through the Orion FL line, there was a group of three teenage boys standing in said line. I noticed none of them had wristbands nor did they have single use vouchers. They told my friend and I to go ahead of them. I clocked what they were doing right away and I am sadly disappointed about the fact that I was right. As we made our way into the themed pre-station, the three boys came up and cut across to the main line without being noticed. THAT really ticked me off that they not only were able to just slide into the main line, but that literally no one was paying attention except for me. One of the boys kept looking back at me like he knew I was watching. I will admit, I enjoyed making him feel uncomfortable. But the truth of the matter is this. I REALLY thought about reporting the occurrence to security, but I knew that I would encounter two issues. First and foremost, the main line was actually moving faster than the FL line. They were way ahead and out of view so I knew that I would not even get a chance to report to a ride op about what just happened. Secondly, the whole stance on there needing to be more than one report of the offending parties really just turned me off from even bothering to attempt it. I really wanted to, believe me. But knowing that little to nothing would be done was what turned me off from it. I think there just needs to be a better system implemented. Sad to say, but maybe install security cameras in the lines so when folks DO report line jumpers, even if it is one single person reporting it, they can playback video and have proof. Just my two cents.

I would have definitely gotten the premium drink plan if iced coffee was an option because that's all I drink as far as coffee goes. Well, that and cold brew. I like the fact that they are less acidic and cold brew offers more caffeine. Maybe next season that will be an option. I don't care if its a house made coffee. Or even one of those machines like gas stations have that you can get your iced coffee out of.

Even if we just get a new SC slide of some sort, that's better than nothing at all. It's easy to get caught up in the camp of wanting a new coaster as I know personally that would be ideal for many reasons. Not just because I love roller coasters as much as the next person on here, but also because a roller coaster can run through the fall season unlike a water ride. But I have realized that any new installation is a good thing especially with the state of the industry as a whole. There are SO many parks within the CF chain that haven't gotten a new coaster of any variety let alone a new flat ride or water ride. We are fortunate to have gotten Adventure Port last year, a new family coaster this year and very possibly something new for SC next year if these little tiny hints bear any weight. I just took a look at Moosehorn Falls and that looks like a pretty interesting slide, for the record.

I share this same thought honestly. That coaster truly is INSANELY ambitious. Exciting to think about and almost impossible to wrap one's head around. I think even when the construction is complete I still won't believe that coaster is actually real life and not some OLED image projected off someone's No Limits game. But yeah. I can't imagine that coaster not having tons of downtime if not similar/worse train issues when opening day comes. Hopefully it won't be the nail in the coffin for them, but like you said, its every bit possible for this to be their X. Or even KI's SoB. Hoping not, but we will see.

All of this I concur with. Vortex was a household name/ride within the park. One of the staples. When talking about Kings Island, to this day, people still mention The Vortex. And there are still a ton of people I interact with that didn't realize its been gone for as long as it has been now. The reaction is always the same. Sad face. It was so many people's first BIG roller coaster and first coaster with inversions. It got pretty rough in the last leg of it's life. Good days and bad days. I definitely remember my last ride on it, the last day of operation to be exact, being one of the best I'd had in a long time. Almost like it knew it's time was up so might as well put on a good show. It was bittersweet and sad. I got lots of pictures and videos. I still need to take time to post them as there can never be enough photos or videos of this now defunct legend. Loved it or hated it, you remembered it. I just don't want to see some generic, thoughtless, coaster/ride go in its place. If KI continues with the trend of honoring the past, especially something as iconic and legendary as Vortex was, I remain optimistic that something amazing will occupy that special plot of land. And it would be really neat if the paint scheme could be similar. That dark blue and orange simultaneously popped yet blended in with the beautiful trees in the backdrop. I don't know how to describe it any other way than that, but I think most of you can understand what I mean. And ah yes. The chain lift. I think just about any coaster lover has an affinity for a good old Arrow chain lift. That sound in and of itself is so iconic and I miss hearing it along with all of the other well-known Arrow looper sounds. The old air-brakes. The specific sounds the trains made while traversing the course, the rattle of the structure. I miss sitting at LaRosa's having a bite to eat and being right next to it. I could go on. But I think I've made my point. Vortex was part of the fabric of the park for a good chunk of it's existence. The park was a mere 15 years old when Vortex debuted. Pretty crazy to think about it like that. It truly was one of the foundations of our beloved park.

I appreciate the fact that despite the two coasters being similar, they are also different enough to provide their own unique experience. I haven't made my way to HW yet this year but I am hoping to make that happen as I haven't been back since 2017. It's good to see that they recycled the old Pilgrim's Plunge/Giraffica ride station and spruced up that area of the park.