KIBeast

@Orion742, Big Bear is a really great coaster and solid addition to Dollywood. I don't honestly know which I would pick to ride 1st.

It did have a long line @Orion742. Found out recently that they have been running one train, which would explain the slow moving line and long wait. Dollywood is replacing the launch with a high speed chain lift, which should improve operations and I would assume allow them to run more than one train.

This is good news. On my visit this year, I rode it first thing since it was open and I knew of the issues with downtime. Wouldn't you know, shortly after we rode, it was down until late afternoon/early evening when we circled back and rode it again. My other issue with LR is how incredibly slow the line moves. Not sure if it's inefficient operations or what else it could be, but that line sits still nearly as bad as Mystery Mine Ride.

I may be in the minority, but I wouldn't mind seeing CF purchase some of those Tourbillon rides to be installed in some of the smaller parks in the chain. Not sure what kind of capacity they have per hour, but they look to low capacity to be in the larger parks. Looks like something that could fit in at Michigan's Adventure, Dorney Park or maybe even Valley Fair. Back on topic, I think Six Flags is making some solid additions to their chain.

That's very interesting...

I think a re-branding of Action Zone is needed. The area made sense when it was Paramount, but not so much any longer.

1st loop on an RMC?

Looks like it has to do with the new Adventure Express theming, not related to Son of Beast, imo.

This is a great addition! So now Planet Snoopy has 4 kids' coasters. That's really good. I'd love to see something like Big Bear Mountain added to that lineup.

That is exactly what I called it

I am thrilled with the new layout. Overall, it should be a great ride. However, these are my thoughts/opinions on the new name. I had assumed there would be a re-branding to distance it from the problem prone/injury inducing coaster that it was once. The name Top Thrill 2 isn't going to accomplish that. As others have said, using either Formula __ in the title or some other racing terminology would have been a better option. Again, strictly my opinion.

Zamperla leaked the details on their website. It was promptly removed and Cedar Point is none too happy about it. The spike will be 420ft, there are 3 launches. I think they said it will be a 79mph launch 1st, followed by a stronger launch (one would assume up the spike) and then a final launch of 120mph. Can't wait for the official announcement tomorrow.

It used to be that the halfway point where you could chicken out and exit, you could also enter for FL through the exit, I think.

I was just there on my birthday and did not know this crucial info. I had blue ice cream for the first time too. On another note, it seems The Bat is no longer on the Fast Lane list. On July 16th of this year, it was a 45 minute wait and we just didn't feel it was worth it.

Well, for this old man on his birthday, he wanted to spend it with his son doing what I've been doing since I was the ripe old age of 1...attending Kings Island. Yeppers, my mom brought me at the age of one in a stroller. This year would be different. I was excited to see the new Adventure Port (more on that later). We started off arriving earlier than I thought and actually witnessed the national anthem being played before the gates opened (not something I've experienced maybe once or twice). Upon lining up for the gate, my son noticed on their electronic signs that The Beast would be closed for the day...bummer since I wanted to ride to see how it was since the work they have put into it. After entering the gate, the 1st thing we did was to process our Fastlane passes. When I presented the email to scan, the lady asked me if I wanted to use them for today. I was a bit confused because when I went to buy tickets, I chose July 16th as the day I would attend. I was asked if I wanted to add FL on, which I did. For some reason, it chose the 24th of July instead of the 16th. Weird considering there's no place to choose the date you wish to use your FL. I had the same experience last year when I went to Kings Dominion and Carowinds. Both of those parks just switched it to that day, no additional charge. However, that was not to be the case with Kings Island. They changed it with an additional $25/each FL. We went to Mystic Timbers 1st, his choice. As a matter of fact, he chose where we went all day, even though it was my birthday. I told him that I didn't really care what we rode and when, as I was there more for making memories than worrying about all that. We got 3-4 rides in when while on the lift hill of Orion, I saw Beast testing. I wasn't holding my hopes up, but I said I'll remain hopeful something changes. We continued making our way through to Adventure Port. Being a fan of Der Spinnin' Keggers, I wanted to try out the Cargo Loco. A nice fun ride, but I really wish we could've gotten our barrel spinning. We did ride it a 2nd time later and got some spinning out of that one. We also noticed the Tequila barrel one spun really well, so if you haven't gone yet, try to catch a ride on that one. We rode Adventure Express next and I must say, the added effects were a very nice touch. Also, the entrance looked better than ever. We had to catch a ride on Sol Spin later in the day as it was not open early on. I won't go into what we rode all day and in which order because quite frankly, I don't remember. Not because I just turned 52, but due to the fact that we managed 35 rides. It was a good feat considering the park was quite crowded. We only a meal at the park once, which he decided on LaRosa's in Rivertown, even though I wanted to try something new. Still a good pizza though. Later, we did in fact enjoy the legendary blue ice cream that neither of us had ever tried. Very good choice and great tasting on a hot summer day. At the point that we exited Adventure Express, we decided to redeem our drink bottle/wrist bands that I had also purchased. I went to a place in Coney Mall and was told I had to get the souvenir bottle, which I knew was not the case. Instead of arguing, we got a drink and headed towards the front of the park. I really did not want to carry around a souvenir bottle because I didn't want to have to rent a locker. So, we went in Festhaus and decided to explain what had occurred just minutes ago. I had checked my email on the way over and I read in the description that I had my choice of either/or. The associate grabbed a supervisor. He said he could fix the issue, but would have to take our souvenir bottles. I told him it was fine as I'm not trying to get anything over on them. We did get our wristbands, got a drink and headed out. It was early afternoon when we exited The Racer (possibly) and my son saw people exiting The Beast. We literally ran (for a short distance) towards Rivertown. I honestly can't remember the last time I attended KI and couldn't ride The Beast. I must say, after all these years, it's still right at the top of my list. The most impressive change was the banking out of the 1st tunnel. We made this one our last ride of the night and we were literally announced as the last train before the fireworks began. Speaking of The Racer, our 1st ride on it was the red side, which was fantastic. It was so great that I don't think it's been that good since the early years that I rode it. We rode once on the blue side and what a difference in between the two. The blue side needs some serious TLC. Seemed like the difference between night and day. After we left, we went to the Comfort Inn Suites at Mason. It was not a place I had stayed at before and I will NEVER stay at again. I usually like to stay at the Super 8 Mason. The check in at Comfort Inn was fine, the room was clean, the beds seemed comfy and the cleanliness was also good. I took a shower 30 minutes after checking in and my son soon after. As we were watching tv, I heard someone trying to enter our room. Mind you, I understand that someone may be confused and accidentally tried to enter the wrong room. I'm one to always move the latch over for safety sake. A few minutes later, they tried it again. I yelled HEY at them through the door. Next, I turned off the TV as I thought I heard someone talking in a low tone, but thought it might be that. Nope, it was not. I looked out the peep hole and couldn't see anyone, but still heard them talking, but could not make out what was being said. Now it's making us uncomfortable. I whispered over to my son that I was going to call the front desk. The lady picked up and I told her someone was trying to enter our room several times and it was making us uncomfortable. She said, "I'll tell them." She never came. It did go quiet in the hallway, so I thought they must have gone away. I heard some people in the next room. There was an adjoining room door, which I had already checked to make sure it was locked. Next thing I know, they tried to enter our room through that door. That was the last straw. We discussed that there was no way either of us were going to be able to sleep at that hotel, so we packed up and headed home. I was extremely angry because it's also a 2 1/2 hour drive back home and we left at 12:10am. I went by the front desk to turn in my room keys and to no surprise, no one was there. It has taken 3 days, lots of calls including their corporate office, but I will receive a full refund. I have travelled quite a few times and not once have I felt unsafe staying at a hotel. I had even read reviews and they all seemed positive. However, if you pull up Google Maps and read reviews, there's a lot of complaints about this hotel. Why it's different than checking it out on computer is a mystery to me. We did have an excellent time at KI outside of the couple of issues, but both were fixed (albeit one at my expense).

I was thinking about that myself. How tall would the spike need to be to clear the tophat?

New track being added for TTD From Lake Erie Lifestyles, there has been some new track added to the old brake run side of Dragster.

True, but I figured Cedar Fair was done with risk taking, in regards to that. However, Intrasys or Indrivetech could still be providing the LSM's that provide the launch.

Lake Erie Lifestyles, a YouTube channel, posted an update today. I knew there was new track on site, but apparently there are some crates which have been confirmed to be Zamperla. No questions any longer about exactly who is doing the re-imagining. I hope this works out for Cedar Point. Zamperla does not have any experience with any projects of this scale. CP already gambled once with Intamin and we know how that has worked out. I do hope for the best, to be clear.

@medford, by any chance did you notice the operations there are particularly slow, or am I just spoiled by Cedar Fair? Speaking of best kid's area, I feel like Planet Snoopy needs some additions to bring it back to #1.

So, my son and I traveled to Dollywood on June 27th, 2023. We have wanted to go there for a number of years, but just had not made it yet. We finally got there. I have some positives and negatives concerning Dollywood. Let's get to the positives 1st. Preferred parking - I know this sounds silly, but I saw a lot of the main parking and it's down a hill. I realize they have trams (which is something you don't see a lot of these days), but I would prefer not to wait on one to get there. It was pretty awesome being that close to the gate. The food - Although we didn't try anything new to us, I noticed everywhere you went, their food smelled absolutely delicious. I saw a lot of unique food offerings and found that impressive. We rode nearly every coaster there, with the exception of Fire chaser Express and Dragon Flier. Those lines looked pretty long every time we went by. Lightning Rod was the 1st coaster we rode. I told him we should catch it first thing if it's up and running due to it being down on a regular basis. Fantastic coaster. Other than LR being our first, I can't recall which order we rode them in. Tennesee Tornado - We managed to ride this one twice. Love this coaster. Greatest Arrow ever, plus the way the terrain is utilized is fantastic. Mystery Mine - Decent coaster. The best part comes after the 2nd lift hill. Wild Eagle - Great coaster. Managed only one lap as when we were in the station, they were having difficulties with one train's (one side) restraints. We waited, maintenance guy fixed issue, they ran 2 empty trains, same problem pops right back up. By this point, we had spent a good portion of time already waiting, so we exited to ride something else. We did get to ride once later. Thunderhead - excellent GCI. Also a great ride. Big Bear Mountain - the newest addition. Managed 2 laps on this one. By far, my favorite coaster at Dollywood. It's billed as a family launch coaster, but felt a little more intense than Back Lot. Also, has 3 launches which was cool. Really, we only had 3 complaints about Dollywood. 1) midways are entirely too narrow for the size of the crowds they have. 2) Seems to me, operations are not very good, outside of Big Bear Mountain. It was literally the only coaster pushing people through at all. We didn't purchase time saver. I guess the difference being that at any Cedar Fair park we have visited (without Fast Lane), the line constantly moves and you aren't in the same spot for very long. Not the case with Dollywood; Lightning Racer and Mystery Mine were by far the worst when it came to getting stuck in the same spot for a long time. I think all of their coasters run 2 trains with MM being the exception. It ran more, but with an only 8 passenger load, the multiple trains did not help alleviate this at all. 3) It's $25 for an on ride photo package. The only other option is a lesser charge for digital only, in which case I would have to go home and buy that size photo paper and my ink is also dry, which means I have to buy $100 worth of ink. Last I checked, CF parks charge in the range of $12-14 each. This is double that. Overall, I would recommend Dollywood. It has fantastic scenery. The coaster lineup is really good, but spend the money on Time Saver. Park tickets are not cheap either at $89/each. We did spend the night at a hotel called the Pigeon River Inn. Very nice room. Highly recommend for a day or two, but I wouldn't book for any length of time. Plus, there were in fact no pigeons at the hotel LOL.

Maybe just a repaint of Iron Dragon's supports @disco2000?

If someone would be so kind to give a review of the area, it would be greatly appreciated. I would also like to know, outside of the entrance, what has changed about Adventure Express (if anything). The new additions look great.

Let's be realistic for a moment, if you will. This was not going to work from the get go. I understand that there are a lot of Star Wars fans. I am one of them. This experience would be cool, but the cost is way out of my range. My thoughts on this are these: How many Star Wars fans are there? How many actually would want to LARP? And how many of those have that kind of disposable income?

Thank you for your review. Glad to hear that this model is an improvement. If I'm not mistaken, it appears that there is only one inversion. Taking into consideration this model type, it would seem maybe less is more.