KIBeast

Yeah, KatieF, my son was asking me what the deal was with the old Tomb Raider building. That and last year, he wanted to know what the Son of Beast station was. They need to clean up more of those kinds of things or use them for other attractions. Especially seems like those two locations could be used. Why not a thrill ride in the old TR building? Or a coaster that uses the SOB station?

I used to try and get re-rides on Son of Beast when there was no line. They made me walk around and get back in "line". Oh well, really it didn't ruin the trip at all for me. Now looking back, I can see why I was made to get back in line on that one. Very turbulent ride, to say the least. Just wanted to say that I thanked guest relations for saving the day on my tickets, but also on my recent visit, the staff at KI made our day a great one. Very efficient and friendly employees. I really don't think they get enough credit for helping guests make memories. It's one of those things that we here in this community notice, but the general public probably takes for granted. So again, if any employees are reading this, thank you for making my Memorial Day weekend a very memorable visit. Singlehandedly, one of the best times I have had there.

My only problem with what I will call anticipointment, is the people who were disappointed are the ones who over-hyped it up in their own minds. Of course, you will hear a lot of hype coming from Kings Island as they are trying to get people to come see their new coaster. The coaster community, for the majority, should know by now that this is Cedar Fair and not Disney, so you are not going to see anything more spectacular in the shed than what is there. KI does not have the kind of budget to have the effects that some are imagining. Also, if you are part of the coaster community and haven't figured it out by now, the company is now being ran with a different audience in mind than when Dick Kenzel was President of the company. They are leaning more towards excitement and thrills for families, not record breaking coasters for a select few. Think of it this way, I easily blew $1,000 in two days there with my little family. When I was more a part of the coaster enthusiast community, I spent far less. CF knows where the money is at.

Yes it did, but not under current management

Hopefully, KI's 50th will equal a Gigacoaster installation. I am really not understanding the hate for Mystic Timbers. It is a brilliant coaster that has wild, non stop pacing, crazy changes in direction and an ending that is far more suitable than sitting outside in the scorching heat while waiting for the next train to leave the station. That first drop is really cool aspect of this coaster. When it comes to wood coasters, although I loved SOB myself, it proved that pure wooden coasters should not be built that high. Now, a coaster like Maverick would be a great addition as well. Not to mention that Cedar Point and Kings Island are NOT in competition with each other. They pull from two very different markets. That is not to say that people like me don't go out of their way to travel further to either park, but the majority of patrons do NOT come from the same market. It's a fact, not opinion.

On my most recent visit, we saw The Vortex 1987 written with rocks. Never really paid much attention much to discover them. A few that are mentioned I have not checked out as my son cannot ride those rides, so I will check them out when he is tall enough. Great eggs though

How did a wheel in obviously poor condition get past morning maintenance?

I was looking for a forum around here that had to do with KI employees. As I am not aware of any, I decided to post this here. So, with my recent trip to KI, I bought the coaster combo tickets. 6 of them in all. I already took my trip to KI, and am looking forward to my trip to Cedar Point in July 15-16th, my birthday weekend. Anyway, I was at work yesterday morning cleaning out my car, which were the remnants of McDonald's and some papers that I was thinking were the preferred parking passes I had bought and used those, so I tossed them in the trash. As it turns out, it was my coaster combo tickets. I panicked and was going to go dumpster diving to retrieve my tickets, except when I got to work, our dumpster had already been emptied. Bummer. I was really stressed out, not knowing what to do about it. I was talking to a co-worker and she said, give them a call and see if they can do anything about it. I thought, yeah, surely they can trace my debit card numbers and see that I had in fact bought them. Minutes before calling them, I had come up with the solution myself...when I purchased the tickets, an email was sent with a link to print out my tickets. If they could email me again, I could print them out again. It's not like I could scam the park and use them at KI again as they had already been scanned at the front gate. I called, spoke to a lady in customer service. She found my order by the phone numbers I had used. It was 2 phone numbers as I had used the same email address for both orders with 2 debit cards used. She sent me the link again and I was able to reprint my tickets. I thanked the lady for saving the day and told her about what a great time we had on our recent visit. Just goes to show you that with the technology and printable online tickets, a crisis has been averted. What has Kings Island done to deserve some praise?

Plus, really, the smoothness of a coaster like raptor has nothing to do with the smoothness or lack thereof with Vortex. Vortex is not a rougher coaster due to the steel, but rather the transitions.

I have often dreamed of buying and renewing Camden myself. The only problem with re-locating coasters from other parks is, there isn't much, if anything at all, small enough to move there. Definitley, you could not fit any old Arrow loopers to Camden. No room for a coaster of that size. They did get Ricochet last summer and it is a superb addition for them. As far as Big Dipper goes, the lap bars are not unsafe and seat belts are a relatively new thing for coasters and are really redundant and unnecessary anyway. I agree in that I would like to see something new and a little larger than Camden open in WV. Maybe more along the lines of Michigan's Adventure.

CF maybe would not mess with Camden, but KI had some kind of tie-in with Camden years ago. That is how the Screamin' Demon got relocated there as Thunderbolt Express

I agree CoastersRZ. I think people who think it's rough now haven't been on the ride with the OTSR's. Now THAT was rough.

Great pic! I am not sure why they would have thought Mystic Timbers would have inversions. As far as the shed goes, I think it's good. Sure beats sitting in the sun while waiting for the next train to leave the station. I saw two different endings myself. What I thought was amazing is the pacing of MT. It does not let up for a single second of that ride.

So, my little family made a trek to KI over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. We bought Fast Lane passes for Saturday only. Crowds were only moderate on both days. The FL passes were still completely worth the money. We rode the new Mystic Timbers 3 times on Saturday and twice on Sunday. This coaster surprised me in how smooth it is. I also love the fact that once over the lift hill, MT does not let up the entire ride. As far as what is in the shed, I was not disappointed at all. The theming is exceptional and it was pretty much exactly as I expected. The coaster cars themed as trucks were really cool as well. My son, who is 8, absolutely loved it, as did we all. I enjoy these family trips as we like to take in rides other than coasters. My girlfriend had not been in 25 years, and she loved all of it as well. Bought a drink cup on the second day, which I had wished I had done the first day. These are well worth the money and we all 3 shared one cup. We got in several rides on both days. The weather forecast had been calling for some rain on Saturday and 90% chance of Thunderstorms on Sunday. Did not get any rain of any kind either day. This is the 2nd year that my son has been able to ride a lot of the major coasters. He was in fact brave enough to ride Adventure Express, The Racer, The Beast, Woodstock Express by himself this year. When we had him measured at the front gate, he looked to be about an inch shy of the 52" mark, which he is excited about. He also did the Guessing Game and won himself a frog, which he was terribly pleased with. We stayed at the Super 8 in Mason and same as last year, they have extremely nice rooms and great service. We checked in around 3:30, after lunch at LaRosa's in Rivertown. That place is always a must for us. When we left the park at 10, we went back to our room and took showers. Wasn't long before my son fell asleep. I was able to stay up not much longer than him haha. The crowd on Sunday morning was so light, we had been on 15 rides between 10a-1p. Then the crowd picked up. We bought 3 on-ride photos and a front gate photo as well. Now I see why CF has shifted their focus to families. We easily spent $1,000 in two days there. We also all bought a t-shirt and I got the preferred parking on-line for $25 each day. That is something that I will pay for every time. Well worth not walking a country mile to the car when you need a break. We also got in night time rides on MT and Beast. We all agreed Beast is still #1 night ride. MT is cool, but Beast still has that seclusion that MT seems to lack. Not a knock on MT at all. Also introduced my kid to a back seat ride on Vortex. He loved being whipped through the course and we all experienced air time on the first drop. Never remember getting air time on Vortex. Also, of all our rides on The Racer, I am of the mindset that this coaster should never be replaced. I know we experienced air time at least 6 times on it. Also got a little bit of air time on The Beast on the drop down into the valley. It's so funny to listen to my son explaining nuances of these rides to my girlfriend. He knows a lot about them for an 8 year old. My girl thoroughly enjoyed several rides which were new to her. She loved BL:SC. That launch always seems to make me gray out until the top of the spiral. Still a great coaster. All in all, we had a great time at KI and it was probably the best time I have had. Probably has something to do with enjoying some family time together.

I happen to like Khol's haha. Anwyay, are they somewhat pricey? A little, but their clothing quality is better than your standard Wal-Mart fare.

I would not mind seeing Intamin make a return to Cedar Fair. As far as there being another Inatmin giga at Cedar Point, that is not an issue. Cedar Point and Kings Island do not pull the majority of their crowds from the same market, so it is not competition with themselves.

I know this isn't an exciting addition, but the parking lot does need some new paving. After the makeover and re-naming that Cedar Point's water park received, it makes me wonder if all of their properties will receive the same re-naming as it seems they like to be uniform across the chain. I also could see some of WWK's stuff coming here, although some of it is slated to be re-located to Michigan's Adventure.

I never knew that fill dirt would be such a hot topic! I would love to see the Son of Beast station used for an installation. Not sure if there is room for any kind of coaster back there, but I always did like that station.

I think you can add most inversions on a hybrid as well

I remember seeing the Goodyear Blimp up close when I was a kid. It came around to an airport where I live. Different looking than that one in particular, but cool none the less. I remember having a Goodyear blimp inflatable toy as well. Was really cool. I have not seen it over KI that I can recall.

Awesome video. This project is looking like one heck of a ride. Wondering what records this will break? CP seems to do that with every installation. Any thoughts, ideas?

So, I just purchased a Fast Lane Plus pass for that Saturday only. I figured it will really help with the long lines for Saturday. Sunday wouldn't make sense since the crowd will be lighter and we are not staying all day anyway as we have a 3 hour car ride back home. Also purchased preferred parking for both days. I have done that in the past and could not tell you how much the extra money for the preferred parking is so worth it. YOULLBEBACK, thanks for the compliment on the signature. I was on a forum getting advice as I was going through a divorce and was going for primary custody of our son. It helped being able to talk to other guys going through or having been through similar situations. In a discussion, I stated that very phrase. Someone suggested that I use it as my sig and I decided to use it here as well.

Those are some great photos! Lorax, then the subliminal message has achieved its' goal! On a side note, I went as a kid during the time that The Racer was the premier coaster. It had quite the line, back in the day. I remember when The Beast first opened, it was the tallest, fastest, and longest coaster. I did not ride it until after about 3 years open. I think the name alone terrified me. But boy, was I sure glad when I did. That coaster has brought a lot of good memories for me. My grandfather rode it as it was the wildest coaster he had ever seen. I remember the really long lines to ride it, the night time rides where people in the station were chanting, "Bring on The Beast! Bring on The Beast!" Good times and great memories.

By my own admission, I am a bit crazy haha. I am sure that we are going to have a great time not matter what. I just may have to check out a show. I figured Sunday would be less busy than Saturday. This will be my first trip with my girlfriend and my son. The first of three vacations together. We also have Myrtle Beach and Cedar Point ahead of us as well. I am looking forward to Mystic Timbers and some new on-ride photos. I guess one of us will have to ride alone, since there's three of us and we'll want to ride in the same coaster car or next row of next car. I am sure it will be hot as blazes, so plenty of sunblock and water will be the order of the day. It will be interesting as I have never been on any holiday weekend.

This is probably a rhetorical question, but how crazy am I for going to KI on Memorial Day Weekend? I had originally planned on going the weekend of May 20th, but my son's last soccer game is that Saturday. Anyhoo, I pushed our trip back by a week, not realizing the holiday weekend. I figure we will see a good crowd that weekend, but I am also positive we will still have a great time. We are staying the night at the Super 8 Mason, which was really nice last year. Not real expensive and a short drive. Great rooms and service as well. Has anyone been on this particular weekend in years past and how was it? Does KI do anything special on the Memorial Day weekend? We will be there that Saturday and Sunday, not Monday. Thanks for any responses and help or tips you would care to share