KIBeast

Glad you enjoyed your visit. I was most certainly surprised by how fun Slingshot is. The miniature golf is excellent.

I paid $80 for two tickets to KI just this year. How is that about the same as $65 for one?

I love the speed, the airtime on the subsequent hills, and the overbanked turns have really phenomenal forces. Plus, I love the fact that on the last overbanked turn, you're still going like 65mph.

Never been to Dollywood, but that does seem like an awfully steep price for a ticket. I never go for shows, so even if they are stellar, it's not worth it for me. And I don't see that they have such a stellar lineup of rides to command that kind of gate price.

Or, they may have decided to take down the dorms for another expansion? No idea

I don't ride it myself, but I forgot about this little gem. Next trip in August, me and my new family will have to grab a lap on this wonderful ride.

BLSC will most likely not be moved, honestly. What is the ROI in doing so? Why not just add a thrill ride to that area? It would be a huge expense to move it. And how often does that really happen? Coasters do get moved within a chain, but I don't recall a coaster being moved within a park to a new location. Seems very unlikely. On the new coaster, I am just awaiting an announcement from KI. This will be a great addition I am sure. No matter what manufacturer or specs it has, this is sure to be a great addition. If this is coming from GCI, I am hoping for something along the lines of Thunderhead at Dollywood. It proves that bigger is not always better.

I don't see the Backlot Stunt Coaster being removed. Good intermediate coaster and I see a line all the time. Every coaster can't be 200ft and over. KI is trying to provide a wide variety of coasters and rides. Some extreme, some not so extreme.

Believe me, back in an earlier time, I was and still am to a degree a coaster enthusiast. I love the thrill and I did kinda dug the coaster wars myself. I also agree that neither side is really right. But when you get down to dollars and bottom line, families spend more and if you want your company to grow, that is really where it's at. CF has recognized that. I'm not advocating what is right or wrong, I'm saying they recognize that families spend more.

You do know that these "cookie cutter B&M's" are bringing in people, not chasing them away? The general, non-enthusiast public loves these "cookie cutter B&M's" and setting revenue records with the company. Well, that and Ouimets new business strategy, which focuses on on the best day possible, tries to stay away from rides from a company that almost killed an entire boat full of guests. A company that had to replace sections of track on not one, but two, 20+ million dollar coaster. And all of this information has been commonly known and has been repeated on this and other sites multiple times, almost to a point where it's just a pointless argument. In the end, Cedar Fair doesn't care about the 0.01%, just the general 99.9% will give guests the "best day" and set a good reputation for the parks that'll make visitors come back to spend more money. B&M satisfies the company from a guest and company standpoint. Sorry for this boring, cliché, and mostly unrelated post to the topic. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I'm going to have to agree with this one. Now, my family is about to expand where I have four kids in all. I like what Ouimet is doing by focusing on the best day experience. My last trip was about making a great day, no matter what coasters we rode and how many times. I spent more money this year than I ever have. Bought a souvenir and just spent more in general in the park playing games. CF was smart in shifting their focus on families. We do spend more money in the park than just coaster enthusiasts.

I've been on it several times in the past couple of years. When you throw your weight into it, the cars spin really fast. They are fun and ran pretty long.

I was thinking that this is more along the lines of similar to a Shake, Rattle, and Roll rehab.

Nice trip report. Thanks for sharing the pics as well. Looking forward to my next trip in August with my girlfriend and her kids.

Having rode Thunderhawk at Geauga Lake, I didn't notice any head banging. Rumor has it that this was the smoothest SLC installation. MrPki, you should stop by Camden and enjoy our small park. There is a new coaster this year that is absolutely fantastic and fun. They also have a nice set of flyers, a nice haunted house, a good tilt-a-whirl, a kite flyer, a good kids wooden coaster, and a decent big wooden coaster. My only problem with Big Dipper is the shuffling up and down. My experience with employees has been nothing but exemplary.

Not that I think KI will get one, but a strata coaster is not entirely out of the question with height restriction. Find a deep valley and it suddenly becomes possible. However, I think with the problems at Cedar Point and Six Flags Great Adventure, I don't believe we will see anything from Intamin coming. Especially after that accident on the Snake River Falls

I had never seen this post, so thanks for sharing the story and pictures of Johnny. it's nice to finally put a face to a person that I had only heard of.

Saying did they see them that day is playing semantics. Employees have seen them in the past and management has/had ignored the sightings/warnings. I'm sure they are still being seen, even though they haven't attacked anyone as of late.

Employees have seen gators. Not sure if they were cast members or who saw them, but employees have seen them.

Great article! I still have lots of love and support for Camden. Not many small parks like it left. Michigan's Adventure makes money. Plus, they rarely add new large rides and increase the gate year after year with no drop in attendance. The water park is the main draw.

I liked Son of Beast, personally. Would I like to see a wooden coaster that large again, but built more successfully? Absolutely. However, I think as coaster enthusiasts, we are in the minority on that one. And as a few others have said ROI combined with cost are the two largest factors.

I agree in that it was an engineering marvel. I always loved seeing that structure when pulling into the parking lot. At least I can say that I rode a hyper wooden coaster in my day.

But was it an Intamin seat belt? Clearly, those are never satisfactory. I hate to hear this, but if she removed the seat belt, there is no one to blame?

But what is the Return on Investment? Are there enough people complaining about the trains now to justify changing? Or, are the trains doing enough damage to the track to justify such a change? Neither of these are problems I've heard of either from the park or the general public.

I too remember the paw prints of The Beast and metal hand of The Vortex. I remember how badly they were needed. Cool stuff

I rode Son of Beast quite a few times. I remember the first time I rode it. I loved it. It totally messed with my head when we went through the loop. I remember trying to get re-rides when the station was empty and being told I had to walk around the line again. I remember enjoying the ride with different friends. I recall when I went to the Halloween Haunt and rode post loop with my ex-wife. Never had a bad ride experience. I also remember going with an ex-girlfriend and her 3 daughters. The smallest one was big enough to ride, but I found out after we rode that it was her first major coaster. I would've picked something smaller to start her out on.