11 hours ago, silver2005 said:

Just looked at the 2017 operating calendar and  I find it interesting that the park is going into daily operation in mid-May.  Also included is the Winterfest calendar. 

Why weird? Park has been doing that for at leas the last two years.

^I've always been used to the park going to daily operations either much closer or even after Memorial Day. 

So Soak City has some major hour modifications. The first half of June has an hour less of park time for week days


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I thought Soak City always closed at 7.

12 minutes ago, Oldiesmann said:

I thought Soak City always closed at 7.

It's always closed at 7 to my knowledge...

It's really cool seeing Late November-December on the calendar. The offseason should feel much shorter. Hoping for success with WinterFest.

It's like the off-season having just started almost!

I was really hoping for a New Years Eve event (fireworks at midnight, etc). But it will still be nice to be able to visit in the winter at all. 

It's always closed at 7 to my knowledge...

No it was 11 - 8 majority of the season. 11 - 7 was only on certain days.

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14 hours ago, PKIVortex said:

 

No it was 11 - 8 majority of the season. 11 - 7 was only on certain days.

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I don't visit Soak City often, thanks for the correction.

Lifeguard positions aren't as easy to staff these days. Weekdays in early June usually aren't too crowded, so that extra hour at Soak City probably wasn't a top priority.

KI isn't alone in this regard; Great Wolf Lodge shortened waterpark operation by an hour on Fridays & Saturdays (9pm close instead of 10pm close) as of last year.

1 minute ago, malem said:

Lifeguard positions aren't as easy to staff these days. Weekdays in early June usually aren't too crowded, so that extra hour at Soak City probably wasn't a top priority.

KI isn't alone in this regard; Great Wolf Lodge shortened waterpark operation by an hour on Fridays & Saturdays (9pm close instead of 10pm close) as of last year.

Let alone staffing it during the summer in general. Can't tell you how many times the last few summer's I've had to lend a hand since all our potential lifeguards are also split between KI and the Beach lol.

Speaking of Soak City, who got to ride Tropical Plunge last year?

It's been pretty warm out lately. We're still in January but that means we're one step closer to finding out the mystery of #WhatsInTheShed on opening day in 83 days!

(Photo edited and taken by me)


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^85 days

8 hours ago, kingsislandfan1972 said:

Speaking of Soak City, who got to ride Tropical Plunge last year?

I did! I rode 5/6 slides on the Complex, and I enjoyed the Blue and Green drop slides and the Constrictor the most (aka, Blatoise's HydroBlast/Vensaur's Vine Whip and Arbok's Constrictor); the tube slide with the double drop (Delibird's Slippery Slope) was fun, but the yellow/orange drop slide (Raichu's Electric Feel) was super intense and I did not try it again.

Speaking of Soak City, who got to ride Tropical Plunge last year?

I did once! I rode the green plunge slide. It was okay. I was hoping to get a dropping sensation. But no one does it like Drop Tower..... except for the Xscream at Waldameer (and other like Drop Towers) [emoji14]

TropicalPlunge wasn't worth the 40 min i waited for it. I wouldn't want to wait more than 10 or 15 for those things to be worth the wait.

~~~~~

What do we think of this btw?

^Sign upgrade as a prelude to a LED makeover?

 

wishful silver.

^ That would be nice, especially with this being the 30th anniversary of Vortex.

Yes LEDS!

RIP Vortex sign.

Taken at 7:50 pm closing day. Just happened to take one last loop around the park. Shedding a tear even then that the season was over. Little did I know this would be the last photo I would get of The Vortex sign.

I would put money on April 13th for MT media day. Friday April 14th will be gold pass preview night (as it has been the night before opening day for a while)


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Maybe there will be a new Vortex sign with a 30th anniversary logo (or another type of redesign for the 30th)?

EDIT: If there is a ceremony for Vortex's 30th, I think Vortexbfforever should be invited (or maybe even give a speech)! She's ridden Vortex 300+ times!

If they are doing lights, I've always envisioned having lights accent the loops, corkscrews and batwing a la CP's Corkscrew as well.  Using LED's on those elements would be slick. 

Towards the end of last season, The Bat sign went temporarily missing (and was replaced by a smaller printed corrugated plastic version) but came back. I wouldn't read too much into it temporarily being gone. If anything, they are probably repainting the station but will return the sign. 

When we (Carowinds) received our Boomerang from Geauga Lake in 2009, they added the newer style trains and trust me when I tell you it makes a HUGE difference. Imagine what these trains would do for Vortex...it would be a WHOLE new coaster with much smoother transitions in the elements and best of all, NO HEAD BANGING

I agree; the first time I rode Sidewinder (Hersheypark) I noticed they had the new restraints. Although that was my first (and currently only) standard Vekoma Boomerang Coaster, I couldn't imagine it with the old restraints as it was fun, but not worth re-riding. Now, if we are talking about Vekoma's other mass produced product (SLC's), I love those (at least based on my experience on T3, but then again it had the new restraints as well)!

More to the topic, I don't know who I'd feel about those on Vortex. On one hand, I've survived without new restraints for years, however, it would breathe new life into the ride and really help with some of those transitions (esp. when sitting up front or in 5-1, which seem to be the most jerky seats for me).

Not usually an Opening Day go-er due to crowds, especially on seasons when new rides debut..... BUT....

 

Do any of you guys happen to know if FastLane is usually offered on Opening Day? And was it available for use on Banshee for it's Opening Day?

6 hours ago, KingsMills79 said:

When we (Carowinds) received our Boomerang from Geauga Lake in 2009, they added the newer style trains and trust me when I tell you it makes a HUGE difference. Imagine what these trains would do for Vortex...it would be a WHOLE new coaster with much smoother transitions in the elements and best of all, NO HEAD BANGING

Those trains, developed by Vekoma, have only ever been installed on Vekoma's own rides.  No Arrow coaster has them and I don't think one ever will.  They have somewhat different track designing.  

Concerning the leds on the loops.. it would be amazing if we could have trigger start when the train passes and cause a stream of rainbow lights going around the double loops so it looks like the train lights it up. It could light up slightly in front of the train on the spine facing the park