CedarPointer Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Unless the line for Adventure Express was up to the front gate, I wouldn't always trust what those wait time markers say (especially if there's no worker around). I saw The Beast wait time (at a point where there was no worker at the front of the entrance near the end of the day) listed as 90 minutes. We go thru in about 15 minutes. I'll assume someone walked by and decided to play with the wait time sign and moved it to an extended time as a "joke" I'm not sure if you have to have a special device to do this, I've never looked all that closely, that only a worker would have, but I've always assumed it was just a turn of the hand that anyone could accomplish. There's a flat slot in the back that they turn, but you could probably use a coin or plastic card to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIfan1980 Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Sorry you didn't have a good day - I can understand your frustration at not being able to ride some of the major rides. That said, as you listed, there was a large number of major rides open and still lots of fun available to be had at the park - it seems like you had an "ain't it bad" attitude versus an "I'll have fun despite" attitude and that attitude dominated your day/thoughts. I went to the park Friday night - rode nothing, but had a great time, but then again I knew I was going to. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jr for Birdy Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 I was at the park Monday also,and it isnt the same without DB running.That being said,i was near a lady who answered her phone and found out her father had a heart attack,she grabbed her family and took off . I will never complain about a ride being down again after witnessing that, life is to short! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 I was at the park Monday also,and it isnt the same without DB running.That being said,i was near a lady who answered her phone and found out her father had a heart attack,she grabbed her family and took off . I will never complain about a ride being down again after witnessing that, life is to short! ......enjoy the ride you're lucky enough to be on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outdoor Man Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Its really unfortunate; but I was a Season pass holder every year from 1989-1999, and now from 2006-2012. Not trying to knock them, but the park really seems to be having an "off" year. I am not sure I can recall a time where they've had this much trouble keeping marquee attractions open. I am a pass holder that will get more than my money's worth throughout the operating season- spent mostly in the kids area, so I'm not too bad off. BUT- thinking of the non-cincinnati park goer- who doesn't event know what KI Central is- I would be pretty upset if I dropped $75+ for a day at the park and had soooo many of their flagship attractions closed. People have said in the thread that "its common knowledge here that DB was closed"--- how many members are on here? maybe 5000? active, maybe 1000? how many attend KI on an average day? So a VERY small percentage of the daily attendance is in the "know" that is on here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browntggrr Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 ^ DB being down was also posted on FB which is pushing 1,000,000,000 members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outdoor Man Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 I'd like to take a flash pole of how many people check the facebook page before going. Besides there was one mention of it on Saturday- and I had to page down three times to find it. STILL, point being- they've had a rather unusual time this year with reliability issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browntggrr Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Nobody wants the rides operating more than KI. If they could have predicted these issues, it would have been taken care of before breaking down. We should give credit where it is due. DB was operating for the first holiday weekend of the early 2012 season with a temporary fix. Many hurdles needed to be accomplished for this to happen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedarPointer Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Is this like when people show up on weekdays between daily operation ends and the start of Haunt and are extremely upset that the park is closed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIfan1980 Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 While checking Facebook or KIC is not common, checking a website is and the KI website clearly notes that Diamondback is down this week. The park has been very forthcoming with this info in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outdoor Man Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 maybe I'm the Neanderthal of the group- but when deciding to go to KI- I don't check anything but my wallet to make sure I have our passes prior to going. If it's september I'll check the schedule- but outside of that, nothing. To my original point, they seem to be having an "off" year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medford Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 By the way, Is there a "pot hole" (track uneven0 on The Vortex lift hill? There was a thump, and the guests in front of us commented, and most of the train groaned when it hit. After riding it last night, I can say there was definently no "pot hole" or whatever you felt on the lift hill. Vortex was riding as smooth and fast as the last time I rode it (maybe 3-5 years ago) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browntggrr Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 By the way, Is there a "pot hole" (track uneven0 on The Vortex lift hill? There was a thump, and the guests in front of us commented, and most of the train groaned when it hit. After riding it last night, I can say there was definently no "pot hole" or whatever you felt on the lift hill. Vortex was riding as smooth and fast as the last time I rode it (maybe 3-5 years ago) It may be a specific train issue & not a track issue. Issues like this should be mentioned to ride ops. If there are enough "complaints" it will help maintenance with troubleshooting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outdoor Man Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 By the way, Is there a "pot hole" (track uneven0 on The Vortex lift hill? There was a thump, and the guests in front of us commented, and most of the train groaned when it hit. After riding it last night, I can say there was definently no "pot hole" or whatever you felt on the lift hill. Vortex was riding as smooth and fast as the last time I rode it (maybe 3-5 years ago) It may be a specific train issue & not a track issue. Issues like this should be mentioned to ride ops. If there are enough "complaints" it will help maintenance with troubleshooting. or perhaps the lift chain motor had a "hiccup" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWBeast1039 Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 I predict by the year 2020 that Diamondback will not be a hypercoaster anymore. I hate it when rides sink. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeorby Nanpa Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 To my original point, they seem to be having an "off" year. Breaking in late, I agree too and doubt many folks check the website. Or maybe they have few choices... "hmmm, Diamondback down, we'd better have the relatives drive back home." Would be touchy for me buying $200 of admission tickets. Even as a passholder I was a little ticked that I couldn't get from The Beast entrance plaque to *any* seat before the 9:45 shutdown last night and this should be easy. Officially my fault for cutting it close, arriving at 9:15 although just one queues was open! But the ops seemed a bit slow, and irritatingly chatty, with LOTS of fast pass folks jacking up the line. I wonder if the parks A-team of ride ops is working for the season yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willis644 Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 To my original point, they seem to be having an "off" year. I agree completely. As has been stated in this thread, a VERY small percentage of the folks that go to Kings Island are members of this forum, or follow amusement parks in general. Therefore, when they walk through the front gate and see Diamondback closed, as well as some combination of Delirium/Drop Zone/Face Off/WindSeeker closed, ON TOP of two rides being clearly visible but SBNO (SOB and Crypt), I can completely understand why they'd be irritated. They don't visit this site, and thus don't know the back story of what is going on with these two. All they know is, they see several of the largest rides in the park that they paid quite a bit to enter, not running. If I were visiting from out of town, I'd be honked enough to talk to GR about some kind of refund. As it is, there are large pockets in the park where there is VERY little to do other than spend money on games/merch/food. It's been my theory for a long time that they need to add three of four small flat rides throughout the park to fill in the gaps. I thought it would have been a good idea for the 40th anniversary to bring back a flat from each of the park's first four decades. Something like the shoes, the barrels, skylab, wheel of fortune, eagles, etc. These wouldn't cost much, but could be marketed very easily as a return to the rides you grew up on. Anyway, long story short, without three or four major rides running, there isn't much in the park to hold my interest anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIfan1980 Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Just to note, those were the rides we grew up on because there were only a few coasters and no super sized flats. Imagine If only Beast, Woodstock Express, Racer, and Flight Deck were open - that used to be the extent of the high thrill rides. As for adding some of them back, I'd love it - but take a look around now. Are you seeing anyone say, wow DB, Invertigo, Delirium, and WS were down, and I thought my day would suck until I re-found Zephyr, Monster, Viking Fury, Shake Rattle & Roll, and the grand Carousel? Obviously this kind of ride just isn't good enough for y'all any more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medford Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 While checking Facebook or KIC is not common, checking a website is and the KI website clearly notes that Diamondback is down this week. The park has been very forthcoming with this info in my opinion. What about the person that decided two weeks ago to come to Kings Island this week, when the kids are first out of school. They visit the website then, see no mention of issues with Diamondback, Delirium, or Invertigo and purchase their tickets for today, put in for their day off work and travel to the park for their one of their bi-annual days at Kings Island. They have the tickets printed, know the opening and closing times, as well as the directions to get to mason. They have no real reason to go back to the website for futher information, they've been here a bunch of times in the past, have a good feel for how the park operates. I'd be pretty annoyed if 3 of the larger attractions were down for the day. Throw in WindSeeker's spotty operation and some well below seasonal temperatures the week after their expanded Soak City opened (not that they can control low 60s temps in early June) and I'd definently say King's Island is getting off to a rough start for their 40th anniversary. throw in the amount of time Vortex spent down last year, as well as WindSeeker's issues last season and I'd definently consider making a trip elsewhere this summer if I lived outside of the area. On the plus side, the perks program appears to be a big hit for their season pass holders, The Beast is running as well as I can remember it, the food is definently improved (can you please make a better pizza though, it shouldn't be that hard, or consistantly as substandard as it is), I've noticed "small" changes to the cleanliness of the park and general condition of some of the flower/tree beds around the park. For a season pass holder, that lives close enough to have flexibility in their trips to KI, I think they've done a lot of things well. Obviously, all machines break down at one point or another, I'm not sure there is much KI could have done to avoid the issues with Diamonback, Invertigo, Drop Zone & WindSeeker; perhaps a maintance guy would even rave about how quickly they're dealing with this issues, but there are definently a lot of things going against King's Island to start out their 40th anniversary. It definently feels like Matt Ouimet is the right guy to lead the park into the next 40 years. I notice a ton of attention to the small details, which likely means all the bigger details that are in the works behind the scenes are well thought out and will continue to make KI a world class amusement park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willis644 Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Just to note, those were the rides we grew up on because there were only a few coasters and no super sized flats. Imagine If only Beast, Woodstock Express, Racer, and Flight Deck were open - that used to be the extent of the high thrill rides. As for adding some of them back, I'd love it - but take a look around now. Are you seeing anyone say, wow DB, Invertigo, Delirium, and WS were down, and I thought my day would suck until I re-found Zephyr, Monster, Viking Fury, Shake Rattle & Roll, and the grand Carousel? Obviously this kind of ride just isn't good enough for y'all any more. Not everyone needs a 300 ft tall swing ride. Some people enjoy rides like Zephyr and the Eagles just as much (if not more) than WindSeeker. Just because you prefer one over the other, and the other happens to be older/smaller, doesn't make it less desirable, especially to casual KI visitors. You're combining two thoughts that were only loosely tied together. Small flats serve their purpose, which is to cut down on the lines of the bigger rides, and to give families something to ride as a group. I never suggested they could take the place of larger rides. I simply floated the idea that they make dead parts of the park seem less dead, and could absorb some of the blow should one or two (or three or four) larger rides go down. I don't believe KI has enough flat rides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browntggrr Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 I can remember a time, before CF, when many were happy to not have "rides that pierced the sky" because of the large collection of flats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderbeast1968 Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 By the way, Is there a "pot hole" (track uneven0 on The Vortex lift hill? There was a thump, and the guests in front of us commented, and most of the train groaned when it hit. Maybe it was the coaster train, or maybe the motor had a hiccup, or whatever. I was just asking a general question.After riding it last night, I can say there was definently no "pot hole" or whatever you felt on the lift hill. Vortex was riding as smooth and fast as the last time I rode it (maybe 3-5 years ago) It may be a specific train issue & not a track issue. Issues like this should be mentioned to ride ops. If there are enough "complaints" it will help maintenance with troubleshooting. or perhaps the lift chain motor had a "hiccup" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderbeast1968 Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Was Diamondback running Sat or Sunday June 2-3rd? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browntggrr Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Can someone please tell me, is Diamondback open on Saturday and Sunday? Under the discussion on Facebook, one visitor said "It is up and running today, and they had rode it 3 times. I know the heading reads "Closed Monday June 4th? If there is a mechanical issue, then shouldn't it be closed Sat/Sun ? What gives, I am totally confused. Maintenance. Diamondback's appointment isn't til Monday. It SHOULD run tomorrow, and will, unless for some reason it does not. Thanks Was Diamondback running Sat or Sunday June 2-3rd? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Was Diamondback running Sat or Sunday June 2-3rd? Yes, We rode it both days for ERT. There was a guy out by the concrete base of the support near the ride pic camera sunday morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Yes. It ran both days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browntggrr Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 ^^ That certainly adds to the mix. Perhaps the current wait is for the cure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 ^^ That certainly adds to the mix. Perhaps the current wait is for the cure. He wasn't looking at the main support concrete, but one on the slabs off to the side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shyflyer Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 According to my sister who works at KI, Diamondback is closed this week because the trains were running to close together. They are reprograming the computer systems. Not 100% sure this is true, but they tell ride-ops more than you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TombraiderTy Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 I saw a wait time for Adventure Express as a hour. Seriously, I have NEVER waited over ten minutes. If the line for Adventure Express stretched from station to the entrance sign, the wait is still about 15 minutes. AE doesn't even have a wait sign at its enterance. It did yesterday Not to be rude, but no it did not. It has never had an estimated wait time sign and, as the line doesn't surpass 15 minutes, it probably never will. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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