goettablitz

I imagine that modifying the controls for either ride would require additional cost from the manufacturer or control system providers to interlock them as well as additional state inspections. By making a phone call or providing a video camera to observe the other rides operation by passes all of this extra cost on the control system end since both rides still operate the same way as they were designed. It is just up to the operators to manage the dispatches.

I believe the reason that Drop Tower uses so much energy is because the magnetic brakes are rare earth magnets and are therefor always energized (you don't want to loose your breaks if the power goes out). Therefore the elevator mechanism has to have enough umf to pull the ride vehicle up thru the breaks. When you watch it cycle you will notice that the elevator speeds up once it clears the breaks. The Bat phone went away at some point and I believe it came back in one form or another (a phone or camera) when Banshee opened. It may be gone now but I'm not sure indicating that they may have updated the power distribution for that side of the park.

I think i remember reading in the news paper press release when FOF was announced that it stated it would run 4 trains with a capaicty of 2000 per hour. Not sure if it ever did run 4 trains though.

I worked at KI in the 2002 and 2003 season on Tomb Raier. I ended up helping out on White Water more than a few times. It is a great ride to work!

When we found out the park was for sale I remember Busch Gardens being a rumored buyer. As a huge fan of the Busch parks this idea really excited me. When Cedar Fair ended up being the buyer i was excited and concerned. Excited because they were adding hyper coasters, B&M inverts and floorless coasters to their parks and deperately wanted in on the action. I never felt like Paramount added the same quality of rides that Cedar Fair was adding. On the other hand i was concerned that Cedar Fair wouldnt seriously invest in Kings Island becaus of the potential for competition with Cedar Point. Boy was I wrong! Cedar Fair has been great to KI.

Back when Cedar Fair seemed like they would be adding Triotech dark rides to most of their parks, I had in the back of my head the thought that Phantom Theator could be re-born as Kings Islands version of on of these rides. It woud be cool to see it again. The characters from the ride are essentially Kings Islands (IP) characters and seem pretty fondly remembered.

Isnt it 6th tallest coster with a ilft? Fury, Levithan, Intimidator 305, Millennium Force and Steel Dragon 2000 are all taller.

I would be surpised if we see any more skywarps built in its original form. Everything that I have read about the one Six Flags installed at Discovery Kingdom is that it has a lot of reliability issues, its rough and not liked very much. Six Flags loves to build clones of things and this is the only one they have built so far. Sea World San Diego built a different verision called a skywarp horizon that I have not heard much about.

i agree. I would love an airlaunch coaster like Maxx Force but much longer.

Variety is the spice of life! RMC, Intamin, S&S, Mach, Vekoma, Gravity Group, Chance Rides etc. So many other manufacturers out there. It truly is a great time to be an enthusiast!

That was quick! The ride looks great!

I went the year that Fury opened and it had short waits all day. The longest lines I encountered were Ricochet, Vortex and Nighthawk. It makes sense as these ride have low capacity. It takes a long time to get the trains out for Vortex and Nighthawk and Ricochet just cant push that many people thru.

I heard rumors a few years ago that Indiana Beech may close after the season so I made it a point to visit. While it was certainly not my favorite park it was very unique. I am saddened every time one of these old school parks close. I hope most of the rides find new homes.

I think Action Zone in general needs lots of help. It is my least favorite area in the entire park. It is just very generic. I loved it back in the day when it was Adventure Village. Once it was converted to Action Zone it lost all of its character and charm. I woudnt mind if everything but Banshee, Bat and Delerium were removed and a new area theme come in. I do think it makes sence to keep Timber Wolf for concerts if it will be frequently used. Maybe Octoberfest expands and Action Zone becomes the Black Forrest.

That was my major disappointment with Diamondback, that it did not have the same type twists as Apollo. Mako has some similar moments as well. They are surprising and really fun. Fury has those moments also but they are magnified as they are taken so much faster. I really hope Orion has some moments like this.

I feel like Anaconda will not be around many more seasons and also perhaps Avalanch as well.

What a shame. This park got so much more love under Paramount. At least the locals have Busch Gardens right down the road and they are spending lots of money improving that park.

I agree. I thought I read that the same company that is building Orion also got the contract to demo Vortex.

It was probably a greater priority to get Firehawk torn down quickly so site prep could begin on Orion. Im sure Vortex will be gone before the start of the 2020 season but they are focused on Orion right now.

We went 2 years ago and thought it was the most un Six Flags park we had been to. What I mean by that is the ride ops were good, the food wasn't bad, the park looked good and the employees seemed to care. Needless to say we were very impressed and had a great day. There are more coasters there than you might think at first. The original Batman the Ride was great, Joker is pretty unique, X-flight is my second favorite wing coaster after Thunderbird. The wooden racing coaster was the surprise for me. It was lots of fun. Raging Bull has gotten lots of hate but i thought it was a smooth, powerful and fun ride, just a little light on the airtime. Also Whizzer was very unique and a great family ride. The park does have several clones they they are all fun rides. We stayed at a hotel across the street. It looked like you could walk to the park if you wanted. Also at the same highway exit is a Giordano's pizza so you cant go wrong there! Just time your drive to avoid Chicago rush hour traffic. Its awful. Have a great time!

I rode Raptor a month ago and thought it was very smooth. It does have an abrupt transition from the final helix into the break run that i do not care for but it was great other than that. Also I just got back from Florida and must say that Kumba and Montu both of which were built in the mid and early 90s are running so smooth and fantansic. Mako was also great (which is new but runs the older style 4 across hyper trains). I am wondering if the older train designs are better than the new hyper and invert trains from B&M.

I agree 100%.

I would love to see another dark ride or a new flume come to KI but I think the Crypt building should just be torn down and start fresh with that area. The building was designed specifically for the Tomb Raider attraction (ride, show and themeing elements). I think it makes for sense to start fresh rather than trying to find a shoe to fit into a box we already have. I also have a feeling with the demise of Vortex, filling that plot of land might be the new big budget priority so the Crypt may remain a haunted house for the near future.

This is the main reason why no one wanted to go to Sunlight Pool for my company picnic. Coney says they want to focus on their picnic area (among other things) but i feel like the rides were their differentiation from say going to a picnic area at a park. Prior to Coney my company picnic was held a public parks and will likely return to it now.

My employer has their company picnic at Coney. We get a shelter and unlimited ride wrist bands. A sunlight pool upgrade was offered a few years ago and no one wanted to do it. Since this announcement the higher ups have already started looking for a new picnic venue. Makes me wonder if other companies feel the same.