Park Nitpicks

[APE]

On 3/21/2018 at 10:34 PM, KatieF said:

I have a few nitpicks and they're all very similar in style...

-The Beast's queue line has been in such disarray for a few years now, and with Mystic Timbers opening next door-- I think it's become underwhelming. Last year, I saw some of the signs falling down in the queue for The Beast, I could spy Haunt junk in the little storage room on the bottom half of the queue, and it just feels kind of dark and dry rotted. Why can't this get some sort of spruce up? I mean, this is the world's longest wooden roller coaster and it's held onto that record for decades! Park guests should feel that they're about to board a legendary coaster and get hyped for that in the line, but you just don't.

 

Waiting for The Beast the other day I was thinking about how much I appreciate the old feel to it. Not everything has to be polished and clean looking. The Beast is a legendary ride that has been around for a long time and if they made the queue areas look like Mystic Timbers I think it would take away from the feel of that ride and experience. 

[robintodd]

13 hours ago, Yippee Skippee said:

I don't particularly like having to walk all the way around either. Especially when it's for white water canyon. I just assumed they don't allow it due to fast passes. 

I'm always scratching my head at that one as well.  Up at Cedar Point they allow me to stay on all the time.  One morning I rode Maverick 5 times in a row because no one was in my row when the train came back in.  Also had it happen at close on GateKeeper and Raptor.  You would think that the more people on the coaster the better (valleying, smoother ride, etc.).  

[McSalsa]

On Beast's que & station:
The old beat-up feel is actually what I think the station designers were going for back in 1979. The Beast's station is supposed to be this old, beat-up mill that no one has maintained for years because The Beast keeps scaring away anyone who would maintain it, thus it has fallen into disrepair, taken over by the creature. Now that the station and que are nearing 40+ years old, they have actually worn down and now fits the story behind the ride even better. It's not supposed to be clean and pretty. IMO as long as they are still safe (aka don't let the wood rot and someone fall from the station- replace it if needed) I am 100% fine with the run-down look. Beast actually has one of my favorite que's in the entire park, actually, since it matches its theme and backstory very well.

Now, The Bat's que...yeah, I do agree on that one. The patriotic stuff does not really fit back there, but I do kinda see why the park has not removed it as someone would probably call them anti-American or something. I also kinda wish they had done more with the actual ride station, besides just rip all the lower deck aircraft carrier stuff out and call it a day, because it still kinda looks like a aircraft carrier to me. However, I have kinda come up with a story in my head that "explains" it a bit: when Banshee appeared in 2014, the spirit of The OG Bat came with her, and there was a aircraft carrier close by (TOP GUN/Flight Deck). The Bat, with its swarm of smaller bats, decided this would be their new home and chased all the soldiers and sailors away, so now you have a aircraft carrier filled with bats, docked in a abandoned secret government base. At least, that's the best theme I could come up with to explain why the patriotic stuff is still there and it still looks like a aircraft carrier, but is called The Bat.

[lifetimecoaster]

 Last season when I was in the park, I did multiple ride throughs on Vortex. Came back into the station, no one in line, I asked one of the girls that was checking restraints and she said no big deal, you can stay on until you're done, or someone is in your row. I think it may be a thing that some ride ops take very seriously, and others do not. Body count does make sense, and if you're staying on, it can throw off their count. 

[whengodsaysgo]

24 minutes ago, McSalsa said:

 However, I have kinda come up with a story in my head that "explains" it a bit: when Banshee appeared in 2014, the spirit of The OG Bat came with her, and there was a aircraft carrier close by (TOP GUN/Flight Deck). The Bat, with its swarm of smaller bats, decided this would be their new home and chased all the soldiers and sailors away, so now you have a aircraft carrier filled with bats, docked in a abandoned secret government base. At least, that's the best theme I could come up with to explain why the patriotic stuff is still there and it still looks like a aircraft carrier, but is called The Bat.

This.  I love this.  This is creative.    Imaginative.  

Can you do this for Rivertown and Coney?

[McSalsa]

^
My Overall Rivertown Theme Hypothesis: it's this small town with a Railroad and various shops, however, the town hides horrible secrets, note-ably with the Mining Company (Home to The Beast) and the Logging Company (Mystic Timbers & Its Shed). Based on one of the 3 shed endings (spoilers?) that Diamondback is a huge monster snake that escaped from the shed, and now also terrorizes the town. A river also runs through the woods which people can take raft rides on (White Water Canyon).

Coney Mall is just a old fashioned amusement park, on the surface at least, featuring classic flat rides, old school roller coasters like Racer & Vortex, etc etc. They are also filming the car chase scene for a upcoming action movie here (Backlot Stunt Coaster), and they are looking for actors for that. However, hidden in a secret area behind The Racer, is X-Base, a government testing facility home to Hangar 18  (Flight of Fear) and its UFO, as well as a government machine to test human flight, known as Project Firehawk.

Now, the other full areas I don't know/have not made up stories for, but based on the lore I have read/seen or made up, I can add at least some individual rides to the overall Kings Island storyline:

Adventure Express: A railway designed to take government employees from near X-Base to Outpost 5, the other government base in the area where the Aircraft Carrier was located. However, the idiots building it made Track #2 go through a ancient forbidden temple, causing horrible things to happen on that track. Due to this, Track #2 has been closed for good, but somehow, on occasion (AKA every time you ride the coaster) the railway switches to Track #2, sending riders into the forbidden temple.

Son of Beast: Yes, this ride is gone, but it's storyline is still connected in ways. Government Agents studying The Beast in Rivertown stumbled upon a cave, and there was a baby Beast inside. It is not known if the father Beast knew of his existence or not, but the Agents kidnapped the young creature and returned to Outpost 5, where the aircraft carrier was docked. This government base was also hidden, behind a well-known movie studio. In addition to studying the creature, the scientists at Outpost 5 decided to give steroids and growth hormones to it as well for research purposes, causing Son of Beast to grow incredibly massive and become very aggressive. The people in charge of Outpost 5 grew worried as Son of Beast kept attacking search vehicle after search vehicle, causing many injuries. They stopped giving him the steroids and neutered him, hoping he would become less aggressive, but it only marginally worked as Son of Beast continued to attack more search vehicles. Eventually, the General decided enough was enough and ordered Son of Beast to be killed. It took a while, and they say Son of Beast killed many of the soldiers trying to kill him, but eventually they did it. However, little did they know, this would be the undoing of Outpost 5!

Banshee: When Son of Beast died, his blood soaked the ground. Little did most working there know, Outpost 5 was built on a former graveyard. With his last breath, Son of Beast wished vengeance on those who killed him. One of the spirits in the graveyard, known only as Banshee, heard Son of Beast's dying wish...and decided she would act upon it. The first of the loud screams was heard that very night. As days passed, mysterious things began to happen to the Soldiers, Scientists, and Agents: their drinks would turn into blood, their vehicles would randomly malfunction (sometimes even blowing up!), and they would have horrible nightmares and wake up screaming: "Banshee IS COMING! Banshee IS COMING!!!" Many soldiers, agents, and scientists quit their jobs and fled, but some remained. About 2 weeks later, the screams were heard again, but this time, Banshee herself appeared and began to terrorize and destroy the base! Since she is a ghost, bullets and bombs were useless against her. Nearly everyone either died, or ran away as fast as they could in pure terror. Banshee had taken over Outpost 5. She created a new tombstone for the fallen Son of Beast, with a flame atop it that is said to never go out. She also allowed a nearby Bat colony to overtake the army's aircraft carrier, and a pack of Werewolves were allowed to call the former Son of Beast search vehicle station home where they would not be persecuted by normal humans. The movie studio next door, unaware what had fully happened (they saw some explosions and heard the screams, but did not know the government base had been destroyed) remains in operation to this day, however, after Banshee took over Outpost 5 their hurricane-simulation prop, Delirium, changed colors mysteriously. The government has now abandoned Outpost 5, and has instead decided to focus its efforts on its studies in X-Base and Rivertown for the time being.

And well, that's about all my Kings Island ride backstory head-canons. I really have nothing for I-Street other than it being a street with shops, probably in Paris, and Oktoberfest is just a small German Town, and Planet Snoopy is hard to make a backstory for that fits this overall storyline. I hope people enjoyed this story lore dump I came up with.

 

[whengodsaysgo]

1 hour ago, McSalsa said:

^
My Overall Rivertown Theme Hypothesis: it's this small town with a Railroad and various shops, however, the town hides horrible secrets, note-ably with the Mining Company (Home to The Beast) and the Logging Company (Mystic Timbers & Its Shed). Based on one of the 3 shed endings (spoilers?) that Diamondback is a huge monster snake that escaped from the shed, and now also terrorizes the town. A river also runs through the woods which people can take raft rides on (White Water Canyon).

Coney Mall is just a old fashioned amusement park, on the surface at least, featuring classic flat rides, old school roller coasters like Racer & Vortex, etc etc. They are also filming the car chase scene for a upcoming action movie here (Backlot Stunt Coaster), and they are looking for actors for that. However, hidden in a secret area behind The Racer, is X-Base, a government testing facility home to Hangar 18  (Flight of Fear) and its UFO, as well as a government machine to test human flight, known as Project Firehawk.

Now, the other full areas I don't know/have not made up stories for, but based on the lore I have read/seen or made up, I can add at least some individual rides to the overall Kings Island storyline:

Adventure Express: A railway designed to take government employees from near X-Base to Outpost 5, the other government base in the area where the Aircraft Carrier was located. However, the idiots building it made Track #2 go through a ancient forbidden temple, causing horrible things to happen on that track. Due to this, Track #2 has been closed for good, but somehow, on occasion (AKA every time you ride the coaster) the railway switches to Track #2, sending riders into the forbidden temple.

Son of Beast: Yes, this ride is gone, but it's storyline is still connected in ways. Government Agents studying The Beast in Rivertown stumbled upon a cave, and there was a baby Beast inside. It is not known if the father Beast knew of his existence or not, but the Agents kidnapped the young creature and returned to Outpost 5, where the aircraft carrier was docked. This government base was also hidden, behind a well-known movie studio. In addition to studying the creature, the scientists at Outpost 5 decided to give steroids and growth hormones to it as well for research purposes, causing Son of Beast to grow incredibly massive and become very aggressive. The people in charge of Outpost 5 grew worried as Son of Beast kept attacking search vehicle after search vehicle, causing many injuries. They stopped giving him the steroids and neutered him, hoping he would become less aggressive, but it only marginally worked as Son of Beast continued to attack more search vehicles. Eventually, the General decided enough was enough and ordered Son of Beast to be killed. It took a while, and they say Son of Beast killed many of the soldiers trying to kill him, but eventually they did it. However, little did they know, this would be the undoing of Outpost 5!

Banshee: When Son of Beast died, his blood soaked the ground. Little did most working there know, Outpost 5 was built on a former graveyard. With his last breath, Son of Beast wished vengeance on those who killed him. One of the spirits in the graveyard, known only as Banshee, heard Son of Beast's dying wish...and decided she would act upon it. The first of the loud screams was heard that very night. As days passed, mysterious things began to happen to the Soldiers, Scientists, and Agents: their drinks would turn into blood, their vehicles would randomly malfunction (sometimes even blowing up!), and they would have horrible nightmares and wake up screaming: "Banshee IS COMING! Banshee IS COMING!!!" Many soldiers, agents, and scientists quit their jobs and fled, but some remained. About 2 weeks later, the screams were heard again, but this time, Banshee herself appeared and began to terrorize and destroy the base! Since she is a ghost, bullets and bombs were useless against her. Nearly everyone either died, or ran away as fast as they could in pure terror. Banshee had taken over Outpost 5. She created a new tombstone for the fallen Son of Beast, with a flame atop it that is said to never go out. She also allowed a nearby Bat colony to overtake the army's aircraft carrier, and a pack of Werewolves were allowed to call the former Son of Beast search vehicle station home where they would not be persecuted by normal humans. The movie studio next door, unaware what had fully happened (they saw some explosions and heard the screams, but did not know the government base had been destroyed) remains in operation to this day, however, after Banshee took over Outpost 5 their hurricane-simulation prop, Delirium, changed colors mysteriously. The government has now abandoned Outpost 5, and has instead decided to focus its efforts on its studies in X-Base and Rivertown for the time being.

And well, that's about all my Kings Island ride backstory head-canons. I really have nothing for I-Street other than it being a street with shops, probably in Paris, and Oktoberfest is just a small German Town, and Planet Snoopy is hard to make a backstory for that fits this overall storyline. I hope people enjoyed this story lore dump I came up with. 

 

I have goosebumps!!! This made my day!  

[SonofBaconator]

@McSalsa I knew I wasn't the only one that nicknamed it "Project Firehawk"!

[LuvingKI]

1 hour ago, McSalsa said:

^
My Overall Rivertown Theme Hypothesis: it's this small town with a Railroad and various shops, however, the town hides horrible secrets, note-ably with the Mining Company (Home to The Beast) and the Logging Company (Mystic Timbers & Its Shed). Based on one of the 3 shed endings (spoilers?) that Diamondback is a huge monster snake that escaped from the shed, and now also terrorizes the town. A river also runs through the woods which people can take raft rides on (White Water Canyon).

Coney Mall is just a old fashioned amusement park, on the surface at least, featuring classic flat rides, old school roller coasters like Racer & Vortex, etc etc. They are also filming the car chase scene for a upcoming action movie here (Backlot Stunt Coaster), and they are looking for actors for that. However, hidden in a secret area behind The Racer, is X-Base, a government testing facility home to Hangar 18  (Flight of Fear) and its UFO, as well as a government machine to test human flight, known as Project Firehawk.

Now, the other full areas I don't know/have not made up stories for, but based on the lore I have read/seen or made up, I can add at least some individual rides to the overall Kings Island storyline:

Adventure Express: A railway designed to take government employees from near X-Base to Outpost 5, the other government base in the area where the Aircraft Carrier was located. However, the idiots building it made Track #2 go through a ancient forbidden temple, causing horrible things to happen on that track. Due to this, Track #2 has been closed for good, but somehow, on occasion (AKA every time you ride the coaster) the railway switches to Track #2, sending riders into the forbidden temple.

Son of Beast: Yes, this ride is gone, but it's storyline is still connected in ways. Government Agents studying The Beast in Rivertown stumbled upon a cave, and there was a baby Beast inside. It is not known if the father Beast knew of his existence or not, but the Agents kidnapped the young creature and returned to Outpost 5, where the aircraft carrier was docked. This government base was also hidden, behind a well-known movie studio. In addition to studying the creature, the scientists at Outpost 5 decided to give steroids and growth hormones to it as well for research purposes, causing Son of Beast to grow incredibly massive and become very aggressive. The people in charge of Outpost 5 grew worried as Son of Beast kept attacking search vehicle after search vehicle, causing many injuries. They stopped giving him the steroids and neutered him, hoping he would become less aggressive, but it only marginally worked as Son of Beast continued to attack more search vehicles. Eventually, the General decided enough was enough and ordered Son of Beast to be killed. It took a while, and they say Son of Beast killed many of the soldiers trying to kill him, but eventually they did it. However, little did they know, this would be the undoing of Outpost 5!

Banshee: When Son of Beast died, his blood soaked the ground. Little did most working there know, Outpost 5 was built on a former graveyard. With his last breath, Son of Beast wished vengeance on those who killed him. One of the spirits in the graveyard, known only as Banshee, heard Son of Beast's dying wish...and decided she would act upon it. The first of the loud screams was heard that very night. As days passed, mysterious things began to happen to the Soldiers, Scientists, and Agents: their drinks would turn into blood, their vehicles would randomly malfunction (sometimes even blowing up!), and they would have horrible nightmares and wake up screaming: "Banshee IS COMING! Banshee IS COMING!!!" Many soldiers, agents, and scientists quit their jobs and fled, but some remained. About 2 weeks later, the screams were heard again, but this time, Banshee herself appeared and began to terrorize and destroy the base! Since she is a ghost, bullets and bombs were useless against her. Nearly everyone either died, or ran away as fast as they could in pure terror. Banshee had taken over Outpost 5. She created a new tombstone for the fallen Son of Beast, with a flame atop it that is said to never go out. She also allowed a nearby Bat colony to overtake the army's aircraft carrier, and a pack of Werewolves were allowed to call the former Son of Beast search vehicle station home where they would not be persecuted by normal humans. The movie studio next door, unaware what had fully happened (they saw some explosions and heard the screams, but did not know the government base had been destroyed) remains in operation to this day, however, after Banshee took over Outpost 5 their hurricane-simulation prop, Delirium, changed colors mysteriously. The government has now abandoned Outpost 5, and has instead decided to focus its efforts on its studies in X-Base and Rivertown for the time being.

And well, that's about all my Kings Island ride backstory head-canons. I really have nothing for I-Street other than it being a street with shops, probably in Paris, and Oktoberfest is just a small German Town, and Planet Snoopy is hard to make a backstory for that fits this overall storyline. I hope people enjoyed this story lore dump I came up with.

 

Very awesome!!!!!!!!

[Stoan]

Sounds like they could theme The Shed to be the various ride "monsters". The Beast, Diamondback, Banshee, Bat, Angry Orchard? They got most of these already. Well two, i keep getting the bats, missing the other endings.

[SonofBaconator]

4 minutes ago, Stoan said:

Sounds like they could theme The Shed to be the various ride "monsters". The Beast, Diamondback, Banshee, Bat, Angry Orchard? They got most of these already. Well two, i keep getting the bats, missing the other endings.

I always get the Angry Orchard Easy Apple Tree

[timfsu2k]

On 4/18/2018 at 10:51 AM, lifetimecoaster said:

 Last season when I was in the park, I did multiple ride throughs on Vortex. Came back into the station, no one in line, I asked one of the girls that was checking restraints and she said no big deal, you can stay on until you're done, or someone is in your row. I think it may be a thing that some ride ops take very seriously, and others do not. Body count does make sense, and if you're staying on, it can throw off their count. 

I was told that the reason they no longer allow you to stay on the ride was due to safety concerns.  They are afraid that someone will be adversely affected by the ride but not realize it immediately.  Would be bad for someone to become ill or even pass out a third of the way into the ride cycle.  

 

That's just what I was told when I asked this question.

[LuvingKI]

2 minutes ago, timfsu2k said:

I was told that the reason they no longer allow you to stay on the ride was due to safety concerns.  They are afraid that someone will be adversely affected by the ride but not realize it immediately.  Would be bad for someone to become ill or even pass out a third of the way into the ride cycle.  

 

That's just what I was told when I asked this question.

And that could absolutely be true. Actually sounds like a good reason

[lifetimecoaster]

14 hours ago, timfsu2k said:

I was told that the reason they no longer allow you to stay on the ride was due to safety concerns.  They are afraid that someone will be adversely affected by the ride but not realize it immediately.  Would be bad for someone to become ill or even pass out a third of the way into the ride cycle.  

 

That's just what I was told when I asked this question.

LOL, You mentioning that is worth me telling my story then.....

 I was with the wife and kids. They wanted to ride shake rattle and roll, and while they were riding, I noticed multiple nearly empty trains on Vortex, so I told my wife I was going to go for a ride on it. Walked on to a front seat ride, got off, went and walked onto Wind Seeker. I realized that there were empty trains leaving the station on Vortex, so I went back and jumped on again. Grabbed a middle seat so I could marathon it. After about 3 laps, that last loop into the corkscrew all the blood rushed to my head, and then in the helix was shoved quickly back out. I woke up on the brake run before the station and decided I should probably call it a night on my Vortex marathon. Got a great chuckle out of it, but I certainly supports the theory that people in lesser health could have a very bad experience with that. 

[Humblememes]

My biggest nitpick is that the old Spongebob/Dinosaurs Alive Action Theater is only used for Urgent Scare. Don't get me wrong I love that house but I wish at least something was over there.

[teenageninja]

15 minutes ago, Humblememes said:

My biggest nitpick is that the old Spongebob/Dinosaurs Alive Action Theater is only used for Urgent Scare. Don't get me wrong I love that house but I wish at least something was over there.

I wish they could bring back Days of Thunder.  Those weeks in 2004 were glorious.

[Bansheeback]

My biggest nitpick is that the old Spongebob/Dinosaurs Alive Action Theater is only used for Urgent Scare. Don't get me wrong I love that house but I wish at least something was over there.

^ Same with Crypt, such a giant waste of space.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BeeastFarmer]

I was very dismayed to see the removal of the ginko trees in the former smoking ring in the area formerly known as Coney Mall.  The new maple trees look nice though.  The ginkos were probably past their serviceable life and the fruit did smell terrible.  Just sad to see them gone since they had been in the park since 1972, and if I am not mistaken, were transplanted from Coney Island.  (correct me if I am wrong.)

[IndyGuy4KI]

So I tried to purchase 2 additional drink plans to add to my pass so it would be my second and third on my pass. One would be for my daughter. I did not want it on her pass, I wanted it on my pass to have more control over what she gets. I was told you could only have 1 drink plan per pass... I wanted to purchase the second so I could get my young non pass holder a drink plan as well. I went on ahead and added the drink plan on my daughters pass, but could not purchase a second. So KI missed out on $30.00 because I was told it could not be done. Seems a little backwards, I am trying to be honest and get a drink plan for my child and can't.

[King Ding Dong]

Well Brad the easy fix is to get your non passholding child a pass.   Help fund the Giga!

Is your daughter old enough now to roam unsupervised?

[Creed Bratton]

And yet last year, I had 2 drink plans on my pass, even though I paid for one.... weird.

[malem]

I have two on my pass this year; I purchased the second at Knott's Berry Farm in January since my first wasn't working.

I don't need two drink plans, so I asked Guest Services at KI to cancel and refund the redundant one on Opening Day. They couldn't issue a refund, but they gave me Beagle Bucks to reimburse me for having to buy two.

[whengodsaysgo]

8 minutes ago, malem said:

I have two on my pass this year; I purchased the second at Knott's Berry Farm in January since my first wasn't working.

I don't need two drink plans, so I asked Guest Services at KI to cancel and refund the redundant one on Opening Day. They couldn't issue a refund, but they gave me Beagle Bucks to reimburse me for having to buy two.

It came in handy when I lost my (now found!) pass at the park on Opening Day and the app wouldn't load, though.

[TombRaiderFTW]

1 hour ago, malem said:

I have two on my pass this year; I purchased the second at Knott's Berry Farm in January since my first wasn't working.

Just curious: did you also have issues with parking and admission at Knott's? I don't have a drink plan, but I had issues with both when I visited KBF earlier this month.

I'm parroting The Interpreter here, but Cedar Fair has offered Platinum passes for 10 years now. It's about time for these sorts of things to stop being issues...

[malem]

Parking, admission, and dining plans worked perfectly. It was just the 2018 drink plans that weren't yet on KI passes.

Lesson learned: bring a pass renewal receipt when visiting for the first time each season.

[silver2005]

Glad I waited until preview night to add the drink plan. 

[King Ding Dong]

@malem you couldn’t pull it up on your phone searching noreply@accesso.com?  Or would they not accept the emailed version of the receipt?  

[malem]

I renewed at the park, so there was no e-mail receipt. Without a receipt, there was nothing they could do, even after walking into Knott's Guest Services with KI Guest Services on the phone.

Prior to the issue at Knott's, I had never had a pass issue at any Cedar Fair park.

[harmony29]

3 hours ago, chugh43 said:

And yet last year, I had 2 drink plans on my pass, even though I paid for one.... weird.

Around Labor Day my husband mysteriously had 7 drinks and I had 5, smh

[King Ding Dong]

Good thing they don’t have an All Season Beer Plan, mistakes like that could cause some problems.