Steph88

Quoting the article: "Rounding out Theme Park Tourist's top five list: Cedar Point, Carowinds, Canada's Wonderland and Six Flags Magic Mountain." Very interesting! 4 out of 5 are Cedar Fair parks! I'm sure they'll be happy to hear this.

I loved the polls! They inspired some really interesting discussions, plus they're just fun to answer. Unfortunately, I have no constructive criticism. Just wanted to say thanks for doing them!!!

I LOVE big hills. Negative Gs all the way! That and awesome theming/special effects are most important to me.

For me the most memorable topic was "The Crypt- Gone for 2012". I remember getting SO confused when I saw the ride was no longer on the website and I started looking for info as to why. That's when I discovered KI Central and started reading the forum, though I didn't make an account til years later.

If we visit family in Kentucky this year we'll plan it for fall and go up to KI for our first ride on Banshee! I'm also trying really hard to save up for either a move elsewhere or a vacation this summer. If we move to or vacation in Tampa, my must do is Cheetah Hunt, because when we did BGT last it was under construction, and the POVs look fantastic. Another possibility is a vacation in North Myrtle Beach, which would only be a few hours from Carowinds, and Fury 325 looks AMAZING. So I have 3 things on my to do list this year.

Monster is definitely my favorite of all those. I used to LOVE Scrambler as a kid, but as an adult it hurts my neck too much. Last time I rode Shake Rattle and Roll it was a blast. Echoing KI Guy- It'd be great to see Kings Island add a Paratrooper to Coney Mall! Preferably the kind like at Waldameer where the whole thing goes up and down for faster loading/unloading, rather than the kind at Western Playland where it operates a bit more like a ferris wheel, loading one or two seats at a time in the upright position. I like sitting there on the ride at the top just getting to see the sights, but for a bigger park like Kings Island it might be best to have something with a quicker load time. I also really miss the giant top spin. I don't think we'll ever see another one, unfortunately. But it would be nice to have a regular one again. A magic carpet ride would be cool too.

What a cool kid. I hope the surgery goes well and she recovers quickly!

The thought of another company buying the Busch Gardens parks, frankly, scares me. Disney or Universal COULD do a lot of good with it. Supposing they don't try to do what Cedar Fair did to Geauga Lake. Close competition? Buy it and shut it down after a few years. (That's not the only reason Geauga Lake failed but it's a pretty huge reason.) This sounds like a very real possibility when it comes to Busch Gardens Tampa. I'm not certain Cedar Fair would preserve or add to the theming if they bought Busch Gardens. Would they be able to deal with the animal aspect that Busch Gardens Tampa is so famous for? From what I've gathered, Cedar Fair doesn't really do animals, except for the small petting zoo at Cedar Point. Six Flags, as some people said, probably aren't going to be able to buy another group of parks right now. It seems as though they are trying to downsize. I really hope SEAS can bring themselves back to profitability. I like the idea of more than just a few big names running parks. The more competition, the more companies will try to add new experiences to their parks. I'd love to see what SIX, FUN, and SEAS would do if the economy recovered, attendance rates soared, and they had more money to work with. I hope the Busch Gardens parks live long enough to see that day.

Awesome! Really excited to ride it again this year then.

I don't know if I like the inversions RMC adds to otherwise really great coasters (if not for the roughness). There are plenty of steel coasters if people want inversions. To compromise the existing coaster's layout is not something I'm a big fan of. However, I think I'd be pretty excited to see Mean Streak get that makeover. I rode that multiple times in 2013 and it was just SO rough. I think it would be a good candidate. Everyone seemed to be avoiding it like the plague when we were there. I'm actually fairly close to Iron Rattler right now so I may go over to Six Flags Fiesta Texas and check that out. I would love to keep The Beast's layout but have a smoother track (not necessarily an RMC makeover). I rode it in 2012 and I thought I was going to get whiplash. In comparison, I've never considered The Racer to be very rough. Has it gotten any smoother since 2012? Retracking or anything? I'm wanting to plan a trip out there this summer so I'm curious.

I gotta admit, that's pretty funny.

I have to agree with Pyrokinesis, I'd be thrilled with a B&M Dive Coaster- I'd have to make the trip for that. Sheikra is one of the best coasters I've ridden, a close second only to Diamondback. I also think the park is really lacking in dark rides and I'd love to see one added someday down the line.

I wish it could reopen as a small family park, similar to Waldameer, which seems to be doing better than ever. But I doubt it'll ever happen because Cedar Point is so close, I HIGHLY doubt they'd want to make any investment, and there's no way they'll let the future buyer do that. It's such a shame. I lived in that town for a while in its early Six Flags days and had a season pass. I've been back to visit that area and it's just so sad. Geauga Lake's closure just seemed to zap the life out of that community. I realize companies have to look at profits but they left that area a complete mess and that's just wrong. I wonder- if someone bought it from Cedar Fair, then sold it again a couple years down the road, would the sale restriction preventing them from making it an amusement park again still hold up? Can they really specify rules for every subsequent buyer in the future? Wishful thinking, of course, but I'm curious...

I voted B&M, because looking at a list of my favorite coasters, B&M made nearly all of them... Then looking at a list of Intamin coasters, I just now realized I've only ever been on 2 of them! Disaster Transport and Wilderness Run when I was a kid (at the time called Jr. Gemini.) It's not for lack of going to the parks, just bad timing and super long lines. Clearly, I have some work to do in order to have a fully formed opinion. Also, hi! I've been lurking on this site for a couple years now and I've learned SO MUCH about coasters from you guys and just general research. Since I tend to visit it several times a week now, I figured it was time to make an account.