LongLiveTheSmurfRide

I wonder if they had not built that extra area under Top Gun's queue with all of the theming, or that giant carrier picture; could they have afforded a couple more feet of track to be added? I know, it was the design, not the money. Just sayin'.

That's what I'm saying. What's the point in theming a ride if you can't keep up with it? I'd assume you scrap the theme and make a better ride if you're not going to have said theme in a couple years. Invest that theme money into a better ride or multiple rides.

And people wonder why it's no longer used as a ride.

I guess theme comes more into play with rides when you're waiting in line. Did the theme for the Top Gun ride really affect it once you got on the ride? Nope, but it made part of the wait a little more interesting. And lets face it, we typically wait longer than we ride, so when people talk about theming a ride, they're really talking about the line, right? In the case of theming an actual ride, I find it's cool, but seems like more of a chore than its worth if you're a park like Kings Island who may not be able to keep up with the maintenance. Look at Tomb Raider. It's a top spin in a box, but they themed it. It would have been fun if it was outside with no theming (on a ride cycle that wasn't akin to a ferris wheel, that is). But now that it's themed it gives more for people to complain about. "There were lights out on my ride." "The water didn't splash". "The music wasn't working". Seems like just too much for a regional park to have to deal with on a ride that's really just a top spin in a box. Sure, Disney and Universal can handle it, but I don't think Kings Island is a place that needs heavily themed rides as the norm. Why not just focus on making the ride great and not worry about the theme?

A good ride can stand on its own and doesn't need a "story". Diamondback doesn't need a story. It could be called "Roller Coaster" and be just as good.

I never liked the Paramount years. I loved the music, that was it. The Racers would still both be going forward because it wasn't a park decision by Cedar Fair. I'm willing to bet that SOB would be in the same state that it is now. We'd probably have a few more rides with bad Paramount movie themes (and the theming would be left to collect dust after the cost of maintenance got too high).

This wasn't actually on the ride, but when we were next to get on Flight of Fear a couple weeks back, my buddy yelled at the person (a complete stranger) in the train that was about to blast off. He was like, "Hey! Before you go, I have to tell you something important about the..." and then they shot off. I was cracking up. They'll never know the important news. Reminded me a bit of Back to the Future when Marty tries to tell Doc about the future.

Love those pictures. Pretty sure I saw Terpy in one of them. Heyoooooooo! :lol:

Darn, I don't get this channel.

Pretty amazing videos.

Whenever I'm feeling good and hungry....it's Skyline time.

It could potentially hurt Kings Island if parents see an anti-bullying campaign and interpret it to mean that they're specifically having problems with bullying in the park.

Bullying is one of hundreds of hot topic issues right now and while I agree it would be cool if all businesses ran campaigns about it, I don't believe it is extremely high on the causes that Kings Island would be the appropriate candidate for. If Kings Island was a hot bed location for bullying I could see them wanting to raise awareness and prevention, but this seems like something that needs to be focused in the places where it's more prevalent, like schools.

That's pretty cool.

I hear SOB's queue is quiet these days.

While eating at the Snake Pit I was glad when the season pass advertisements came on because it seemed to be a much lower volume than the music. It was also hard for me to hear the person at the counter when ordering so I had to keep asking for him to repeat himself.

Was at the park yesterday and had to shout for my friend to hear me several times over the annoying music that was played. Specifically over by the Snake Pit and the area between Rivertown Junction and the White Water Canyon entrance come to mind. There were other places through the park as well. I'm not really a shouter so at times I'd have to stop talking until we passed a loud spot and then continue so that I wouldn't have to yell.

You kids...why when I was a kid... When I was your age water slides only went uphill, both ways.

I do the same thing emileeee. A buddy and I used to be obsessed with getting crazy ride pictures. Once we brought a couple of these masks onto The Beast: We had them in our shirts until we were going up the hill. Then we put them on, turned out hoodies up and just stared at the camera with our heads slightly turned to one side. Then we took them off and hid them. We liked seeing other peoples' reactions to the photos when they saw us weirdos on there. We also tried riding The Beast with blindfolds on. Crazy experience, though not as nuts as I'm sure the Legend or Voyage would be blindfolded.

Pretty cool news. I've never ridden the Space Spiral in all of my trips out there, so I may make a trip this year to give it a go. Seems like DT has been on the chopping block for a while since it's basically a storage area with a coaster inside. A new B&M can't be a bad thing.

Okay before I tell my little story I will make a short disclaimer: I know this was potentially dangerous and that it was stupid and that I should have never done it, but hey, I was in high school at the time and as I now scold the youth of America at parks; I know I was just as dumb at the time (as a lot of us were). But anyway, my friends and I were at Cedar Point back in the 90's on a day that was not very crowded. We rode Gemini a lot and liked how you could slap hands with the people in the other trains during the turns. So we decided to take it to the next level. We purchased some plastic swords at one of the gift shops. We then proceeded to ride the Gemini and have a massive sword fight between the trains at each of the turns (massive as in 6 of us total: 3 vs. 3). Not sure if we were seen by the ops, but if we were they never said anything. I know that there was potential for a sword breaking and pieces going into eyes and all of that, but it's a memory I have from a fun time that will never happen again.

Paramount never would have brought back the Rotor.

^ Yeah, seems like these reviews are a little too nice. Nothing under a 9 so far. Crack the whip!!!

I agree that it's pretty dated looking, but if they change it, I'll have to redo the gate in my Minecraft Kings Island build. But I'm sure I could deal.