KIBeast

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.

Ki has been a long time favorite of mine. It started in the 70's, sharing great family memories with The Racer being the top coaster in the park. The eventual addition of the legendary Beast. Spending time in Hanna Barberra Land. The transition to Nickelodeon where I went one summer with my sister, her husband and my niece. So many great memories. The ivy tunnel. The Rotor. Der Spinnin' Keggers. The Bayern Curve. Tumble Bug. Winnie Witch's Cauldron. Over the top good shows. LaRosa's pizza when we entered the gate. My teenage/20's years where I went for nothing but coasters. The addition of Son of Beast, rode it with the loop and post loop with my ex-wife. My first experience going to a Halloween event. Lots of shared memories with good friends power riding all the coasters as many times as we could in a day. Riding the original Bat coaster. The arrival of The Vortex. The classic car ride where Backlot Stunt Coaster now resides. The addition of that coaster and Paramount acquisition. Lots of movie themes in the park. Great online friends made here on KICentral. The birth of this web site and when it had combined with another that I do not remember the name of. I remember the old traveling route that we had to take in the 70's. There was great anticipation of our day to come. Knowing that when we got close, we could see the iconic Eiffel Tower beckoning in the distance. And now, watching my son grow up and sharing experiences with him. His first trip to Kings Island. Our first on-ride photo. Our 2nd trip this year when he hit the magic 48" mark and rode every coaster within his height range. Sharing the same LaRosa's experience with him. I have to say that after all these decades, I personally have never had any issue with staff. Always professional and courteous. I really don't think we give them enough credit for the jobs that they do there. Without them, KI would not be as enjoyable. And the heat that they have to endure, just to make sure that we have a good day. As for the 45th Anniversary, it seems there will be a new coaster lurking near The Beast. I'm sure that there will be more in store, but even if there isn't, a new coaster is enough. Heck, being open for me to enjoy for yet another year is enough for me. You gotta be thankful that we have something like KI. I try to focus on experience far more than what's in store next for them.

Someone over at Coasterbuzz told me that The Beast never ran 4 trains. I thought I had remembered that it did, but maybe I was wrong? Can't remember. That was back in the 80's.

I went to Geauga Lake twice under CF ownership. I truly feel like that they made the best of a bad situation with Geauga Lake. It was very clean when I went. All of the employees were exemplary. I loved their collection of rides. I actually liked the layout as I thought it was easy to navigate. They just couldn't force people to go there, end of story. Both times I went, I had a great time. There was not one coaster that I didn't enjoy. I liked Texas Twister. The water park was great. My brother and I loved everything about it. All it needed was an appreciative fan base. Many people slammed CF for closing the gates. All I can say is that it was a lot of those same people that didn't go there enough or at all to make it profitable. Or they could have talked the park up. Word of mouth advertising still works. Six Flags management just didn't do that park any favors.

This is really awful on so many fronts. I'm sure the teenager was just doing what he felt was right by his family. Thankfully this ended with no one injured.

Only time will tell...where is Marty McFly when I need him?

I love how you have been reviving these old threads to add to the excitement. I am for one, excited for an announcement at the end of this season. But for now, I am ready to make another trip to enjoy this year.

So, here is my take. Personally, I like CP for quantity of coasters and KI I feel is more rounded. So far, I have only taken my son to KI and I want to take him to CP, but I feel like he would need to be older and taller to enjoy more of what CP has to offer. I may go out on a limb and take him there next year as I want to compare experiences and not just for coasters. KI has some decent family flats but I would like to see more. When I do get around to taking him to CP, I will be comparing in my mind the same quality experience that I have enjoyed with him 2 years in a row at KI.

Methnks the building may be gone to make way for the new coaster at KI. Just an uneducated guess.