KIghostguy

It says the new area will feature five rides, and currently, Thomas Town has five rides. I imagine that it will be a new theme for the area, versus rides being removed.

I attended Christmas at Kentucky Kingdom tonight. I really enjoyed the sledding hill, and especially enjoyed that their Larson Drop Tower was open! As has been pointed it, there definitely is room to grow the event's footprint in the combing years, but the buildings that were covered in lights looked very nice. However, I was very disappointed that Kentucky Flyer was closed our entire visit. I asked and was told that the minimum operating temperature is 32 degrees (it was 31 degrees when I asked). I assumed that it would be a lot lower than 32 degrees considering I have ridden Mystic Timbers in considerably lower temperatures. I understand it's a different manufacturer but...really? Roller coasters in Europe operate in the snow all the time; I find it very hard to believe that a wooden coaster would be unable to function just one degree colder than 32 degrees. I noticed that a ticket price at the gate was about $40. This seems unbelievably high to me. I got in for free with the Kings Island employee reciprocal agreement, but I could not imagine paying $40 to ride the sledding hill, ride some flat rides, see lights, and find out that the only coaster they run was closed with absolutely no warning outside the park.

I can forgive the lack of notice when the decision to remove a ride might have happened after the ride was already closed for the season. However, Berserker is still open this weekend. I don't understand why they wouldn't post something, considering that Kings Dominion knows this is the last weekend ever for it.

Not necessarily. AlpenFury has a huge price tag; I believe it will be the largest investment in a single ride in Canada's Wonderland's history. Iron Menace and its accompanying land at Dorney Park last year was the largest investment in that park's history. Rapterra is a very expensive ride and there's also a significant amount of money being invested into Kings Dominion this year for the surrounding area/50th anniversary-related projects.

Cedar Point was closed those same Tuesdays and Wednesdays in May this year (and I think 2023 as well).

For anyone curious about competition in the Columbus market...Zoombezi Bay in Columbus is getting a massive new waterslide tower for 2025. Two of the slides are first of their kind and one is first in the Midwest. https://www.columbuszoo.org/news/zoombezi-bay-announces-worlds-first-conservation-tower-water-park-attraction

My understanding is that Grace is the Regional Director, but she will have Regional Managers (yet to be named/announced) who will report to her.

Out of all the parks in the chain now, and all the years to actually build it…it is opening in 2025 at Cedar Point. There are other parks in the system that also have flat, empty plots of land. It is honestly ridiculous to think this has nothing at all to do with Top Thrill 2.

The 2024 Golden Ticket Awards were tonight, and it's always fun to discuss the winners and rankings. The full list can be viewed here: https://amusementtoday.com/issues/2024/gta2024/assets/downloads/AT-GTA-2024i.pdf If you are curious where Kings Island placed this year... #20 steel coaster (Diamondback) #3 and #5 wooden coasters (The Beast and Mystic Timbers, respectively) #5 best guest experience #3 best kid's area

Yes, season 8, episode 1, "Roller Ghoster."

Today was the last day of operation for Lookout Lagoon, which is being replaced by Splash River Junction. It opened in 1997 under the name Buccaneer Island. The name was changed in 2004 to Kangaroo Lagoon, and then to Lookout Lagoon in 2012. Probably the most notable thing about it is that it was featured in a couple shots of the Ghost Hunters episode that was filmed in November 2011. I took these photos a few weeks ago, on August 5. It obviously wasn't the flashiest or biggest thing in the waterpark, but I'm surprised the park didn't put out any notices or anything about it closing today.

It's replacing an amphitheater. I interned there in summer 2022 and it was boarded up by then; I don't know when it was last used.

I won’t have any copies with me, but if you bring your own, I will be happy to sign it!

For any coaster club members...tomorrow morning (Thursday) at 10:30 is The Beast behind-the-scenes tour! Hope to see some of you there.

As much as I love ProSlide attractions, Cedar Fair doesn’t work with them. They ripped out two slides at the Carowinds waterpark a few years ago just because they were ProSlide (supposedly). I guess CF sees them as the waterpark equivalent to Intamin .

Nice thread idea and conversation starter! Kings Dominion has done a much better job of retaining their original identities and lands than Kings Island. The park still feels like a Taft Broadcasting park in a lot of ways, which is a very good thing. Best of all, they still play the appropriately-themed music in each land! It continues to baffle me why Kings Island does not...

Terrible idea. At least with Boo Blasters, you aren’t shooting at things on a screen.

Sounds like fun, and a nice perk for coaster club members.

It is definitely possible to put a coaster into that sized plot of land. Dorney Park was able to squeeze an entire B&M dive coaster into where their Invertigo was.

Congratulations on 100 episodes. Looking forward to 100 more!

So excited for the water coaster. It is exactly what the waterpark needs attractions-wise!

Probably. Cedar Fair already does with their XDS team (eXperience Design and creative Studio). Nowhere near as big as WDI, but it exists, and it has grown already in the past couple of years.

It’s based on blueprints that were filed with the local government, so I don’t know how much more official it can get other than once it’s announced.

This is the confirmed layout. Looks excellent!

Got to ride it three times this morning. I was actually very impressed—smooth and surprisingly forceful for a kiddie/family coaster! Great addition to the park and is sure to be very popular. Will be interesting to see how it functions since it has one train and has Fast Lane.