Kenban

The post right before the one you quoted? The Kings Island website lists a Kings Island Holiday Buffet as an attraction for Winterfest. It is speculation that this new restaurant will be the buffet in question since the park does not have a buffet.

Vekoma is testing a new style flyer. There have been rumors it was for Disney but also rumors pointing towards other parks. It's difficult to describe quickly. But here is a website with pictures and video of what's being tested. Plus here is a youtube video from the site. Just watch the seats rotate at the top of the lift hill and as they return to the station. Honestly it looks amazing.

The brake fins which were damaged have nothing to do with the train. The catch car has its own set of brake fins because just like the train it is going 120+ MPH. The issue appears to be a misalignment caused the catch car to slam into the fins. Downtime is going to likely be based on part availability. Which is why Kingda Ka had the long downtime, they did not have enough brake fins and had to order more.

Looking at the list of restaurants for Winterfest. I noticed something which I have a hard time placing in the park, the Kings Island Holiday Buffet. At first I was thinking Red Hall of Fame Grille? Except I notice that is also listed as a dining location. The description states "Enjoy a holiday dinner featuring sliced turkey and ham, classic seasonal sides and some of Santa's favorite classic holiday deserts. Traditional holiday buffet with three carving stations. Wine and Beer service available.". For a while now I have been wondering why turn Attitudes into a restaurant and still need to expand the location by using the Coney Potato Works. This is a massive amount of space for a restaurant unless it is something special. I no longer think it is just a smokehouse, and while it might serve smoked meats it looks like we are looking at a buffet. I think total this is still larger than Midway Market at Cedar Point. I wonder if we will see an upcharge like at Cedar Point.

There is nothing magical which happens at 200 ft. A hyper style coaster can be shorter than 200, just look at Steel Eel. If Kentucky Kingdom wants a traditional hyper style coaster they can do it even if it is not actually 200 ft tall.

^ This is from the news article that geforce1994 linked to above. "Investigators reported finding a can of red paint and a wet paintbrush under the ride, but they never concluded that the crack was what was painted that day."

I suspect we are correct about what this will be. We are likely looking at a new restaurant. Based on when the work started I suspect this is for Winterfest. Which means I would expect this to be announced along with the rest of Winterfest. Because the park still needs to announce rides, shows, etc.

I love Mystic Timbers and frankly it deserves an award as the best new coaster of the year. It really is that good. But I have no idea how it can win an award for best new ride over Flight of Passage. I can understand how Dollywood got Best shows, but how is Six Flags Fiesta Texas in second? Only one Disney park is even in the top five for best shows?

So is the Potato works building inside or outside the fence?

The best thing any of us can do is complain. Let management know that you prefer instrumental music on I street and it's possible something might change. I plan on writing a letter to the park because it is harder to ignore and I feel like it makes a larger impact. Personally I really enjoyed the change to instrumental music it gave the area a different feel from the rest of the park. The biggest problem is that none of us know who or why the decision was made.

What I like more than anything else is that Six Flags is actually adding something in all of their parks. Just adding a flat ride each year would be good for a park like Michigan's Adventure.

In fairness Tallest Super Loop is a place holder. It's believed the real name has hurricane in it so they are holding off announcing the real name.

I suspect you have not been to Knott's Scary Farm. Out of the Halloween events at Cedar Fair parks it is easily the best I have seen. I would also say it is better than HHN in Hollywood but not as good as Orlando.

Just remember Kings Island was the first to receive Dinosaurs Alive. Even if it closes and is removed it could very well just be the first in the chain to have it removed and we could see the rest removed over the next two or three years. I would not link the closure or removal of Dinosaur's Alive to possible projects until we see more than just it being removed.

This is my understanding of the issues and the two events that you asking about are not directly related. The Mystic Timbers media day invite was due to issues on the Banshee media day. Basiclly it went very badly and it was decided to stop inviting coaster clubs at all. When Mystic Timbers media day came around it was decided that instead of not having enthusiasts at all to invite a single club. Obviously the club that was invited was ACE and from what I have heard this is likely to continue in the future. I expect only ACE will be invited to media day for Steel Venom. If media day invites are important to you I believe you should join ACE. ACE has had special access to The Beast for years, this is not new. Ever since ACE gave The Beast landmark status the park has been doing exclusive events for ACE. I do not know if the park is still doing this but they used to do a walk back when the park opens so they would be the first riders every morning. Outside of those two experiences I expect the other coaster clubs to continue to receive invites to events.

https://www.cedarpoint.com/tickets-passes/pre-k-pass Cedar Point has the pass as well so it is likely chain wide. Since Kings Island has not announced anything for next year I am thinking it will either just show up on the site or there will be part of another announcement at a later date.

The value of a season long Fast Lane pass just like the dining plan, drink plan, and even the season pass itself is completely down to the individual. I decided to splurge and buy the Fast Lane pass. I can normally only visit the park on Saturdays and Sundays and I find myself only riding attractions with short lines which typically limits what I am willing to ride because while I really do prefer the newer coasters like Mystic Timbers I do find myself not willing to wait an hour. Also I am not even willing to drive to the park if I feel like it will be extremely busy. Right now it feels like this will change everything about what I do when I visit the park and how often I visit the park. I have zero doubts about the value to me of the annual pass, dining plan, and drink plan. I am sitting here even after purchasing the Fast Lane pass wondering if I will get my moneys worth. Oddly I feel like I would have paid even more money for one which is good at the entire chain.

$499 will buy a lot of Fast Lane passes but if you are a frequent visitor especially on the weekends this could be worth it. Knott's also added the season long option also at $499 so Cedar Point is the only park in the chain without a season long option. But that might change because the renewal option is not loaded yet.

I saw Don at the park Sunday and I figured I would ask if we should expect to hear an announcement on Wednesday. Basiclly he said there is no announcement at this time. He did say we should expect something later on.

California's Great America was under extreme height restrictions for a very long time. Cedar Fair was able to get them modified recently but even building a hyper is likely to be very difficult. The parks tallest coaster is 108 ft and they just received permission to build one 110 ft tall. The closest Six Flags park Discovery Kingdom famously had to build their Intamin Impluse with a sideways spike to keep it 150 feet tall.

If Coney Confections and the Potato Works buildings are removed I cannot see the restrooms surviving. Together with tower gardens and the attitude building that is a pretty big piece of land. Something around 250' x 250' except for the corner where the Carousel is located. I think that is more land than being used for the project at Knott's (around 400' x 100' I believe).

Magnetic trims grab a little harder at the start so they are more obvious. But on The Beast the trims are in the same locations they have been since the ride opened. I should add maintenance does fine tune the trims throughout the year based on average temperature. The train naturally goes slower in colder weather so they remove one or two of the fins to keep the train speed up in the spring and the fall. One of the easiest ways to tell how fast your train is going compared to other times you ride is to see how far up the second lift hill your train makes it before it catches.

Any size giga at Kings Island will still be shorter and slower than Top Thrill Dragster. A 330 ft. tall coaster will steal as much thunder from Millennium Force as Diamondback did from Magnum, and Banshee from Raptor. The big draw at Cedar Point next year and the following few years will be the RMC version of Mean Streak. If history has shown anything Cedar Fair is willing to go longer, taller, and faster when they build a coaster at Kings Island.

I want a B&M giga similar to Fury and an Intamin Blitz. I am not sure Mack is ready to build a giga. I believe they have built only 3 coasters over 200 feet. If I remember right the tallest was 202. 300 is a pretty big step up and Cedar Fair is going to want to go bigger than Fury so expect 330+.

The floor of the building with attitudes is the same size as the Crypts. Both are 100' x 100'. About half the size of Voyage to the Iron Reef at Knott's. I have a lot of ideas which are possible but not sure how likely any of them are. For instance I would love to see a dark ride located here but the building size would have to double. I am thinking about the fact that we were told a haunted house would not return. Maybe the reason that house will not be back this year is the space will not be available? I do have to mention one possibility. I have heard nothing about any attraction announcement date for Kings Island. As far as I know all the Cedar Fair announcements are the 16th. The four coasters are all being announced next week as is Carowinds. There is a possibility we get no actual ride in 2018.