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I hope you know that it was in no way my intention to "prove you wrong". (I am the first to admit that I am not "Mr. Observant") I did not even know myself if it was or wasn't still there...you made me have to search through my photos to see if I missed that this year! Believe me...when I type ANYTHING that I think I know about the park I just sit back and wonder if the experts are going to shoot down my observation. I like the 1974 shot in today's set...when I was going through these shots after I purchased them this one caught my eye because I am used to only seeing faraway shots of the slide. 1974 I wonder why these type of slides fell by the wayside? I remember them being quite a bit of fun...and just this summer my nephews rode a small one at a local carnival and seemed to have a blast. 2011 Not much to look at in this shot...but as we all know, if this shot were pulled back Zephyr is quite the nice looking ride. Where would I rather be today? Well, at the risk of proving 74Gibson correct...I lean towards 1974 for a second day in a row. Zephyr is a nice looking ride but it seems to be the kind of a ride that is hit and miss with a lot of my family...when one is in the mood to ride it another one isn't...I can't remember when everyone wanted to ride it at the same time. That would probably be true with the slides too...but at least the non-riders would have a good time watching the riders...unlike on Zephyr where everyone is a quick blur as they go by...it's not even a nice photo op. Have a nice weekend...which is tough for me to say since I am looking out the window at snow!

A webcam to watch them pour a big slab of concrete? Gee that that should be fun to watch. Can't wait until they go vertical with the walls!

Something will be said. Perhaps not about Son of Beast, but something will be said. Otherwise, it's going to be a mighty quiet assemblage.

Here's my take on the last three sets of photos: Wednesday - Hanna Barbera vs. Planet Snoopy: 1974 wins by a slight margin. Surf Dog is an advantage for 2011, but Enchanted Voyage > Boo Blasters and Winsome Witch's Cauldrons > Charlie Brown's Wind Up. Enchanted Voyage may be dated as some of you have said, but that was a boat ride that was on par with "it's a small world"... I'm sure KI's designers drew inspiration from that ride. From the friendly snail out front ("Have a Happy Day!") to the giant Gulliver holding the Lilliputians in his hand, to the "dark" section of the ride that used to scare me as a kid, to exiting through the giant clown's mouth, and all the wonderful characters that "live in my TV", the animatronics in Enchanted Voyage are much better that the 2-dimensional cutouts of Boo Blasters. And Winnie Witch's Cauldrons... I loved that ride! (as well as Der Spinnin' Keggers). My sister and I used to spin it as fast as we could to see how dizzy we could make ourselves, all the while watching Winsome Witch fly around above us and waiting for that cat to pop out of that tree as we spun by. Today, GatorGirl marvels at how fast I can spin us on teacup type rides, and once she asked me why I'm so good at it. The reason is I had so much practice on Cauldrons! It was a great ride that families could ride together. Thursday - Sky Ride vs. Outer Hanks Patio: 1974 wins I never got to ride the Sky Ride at KI. My mom never trusted it so she never took us on it. That's probably why to this day, whenever I'm on a sky ride, I'm holding on for dear life. Just ask DaveStroem's wife and daughter when they rode the sky ride at SFGAdv with me, or anyone who's ridden with me on CP's: I'm white knuckling it. Something about hanging from a seemingly thin wire just gets my adrenaline going... yes, sky rides to me are thrill rides! Friday - Flying Carpet vs. Zephyr: 1974 wins, again by a slight margin I loved the giant slide, even when it got chopped in length and moved to HB Land, and to this day when I see one I am more than happy to ride it. With Flying Carpet there were soooo many lanes, and it was fun to see if I could beat everyone else down (kind of like a few of us from here did on Jungle Racer at HW this year during Holiwood Nights, which, for the record, I did win! ). The little three lane ones like at Coney are not quite the same as Flying Carpet, but still fun. I love Zephyr, it's a nice relaxing ride. But, as I jokingly said several times this year, after riding WindSeeker, Zephyr is dead to me now! OK, not really, but now I would ride WS before Zephyr... the thing is though GatorGirl will be tall enough for Zephyr next year and not WS... hmmm...

Standbyme, I've been having a hard time lately and I just wanted to say thank you for this. I always look forward to it and it puts a smile on my face everyday. We all appriciate your hard work. Hendrick, thank you for your amazing work as well. P.S. As for 1974 or 2011, my vote has to go to 1974. Giant Slides always bring back such great memories.

So I looked at my 2011 park map and couldn't find this "SOB" thing everyone keeps talking about. I then pulled out my 2010 park map, and again I couldn't find any "SOB". I get the feeling with all this talk about a nonexistent coaster, ya'lls might be some lyin' SOB's!!! I forgot to mention I'm psychic.... I looked at the 2012 park map, and sure enough still no SOB.

Thanks J.D. lol I have to many albums (one for each visit) Most are Beast now. Since I'm kinda bored I'm going to post how many photos I have per year.... 2006 = 2,795 2007 = 4,925 2008 = 7,722 2009 = 5,557 2010 = 4,543 2011 = 5,330 & Old KI Photos saved = 1,985 I should create a game about people guessing if I have a photo. Like name something random/practical at the park and see if I have a photo. K bye

Totally agreed. When I'm at the Beach Waterpark walking down a path with sand next to it, I automatically move over onto the sand because it's far more comfortable for my bare feet. I would spend a lot more time in Soak City if I had sand to walk on instead of hard concrete.

Thank you for the clarification. Can't hardly keep up any more. Got a nearly 3 year old to contend with. Lots of fun! The magic of Christmas is back for me! Sorry for the off-topic comments.

Wow, lots of fun comments on yesterday's photos...it IS appreciated. I can't thank you enough for making this worth my while. I can identify with this totally! If you aren't at the park with a little one it's like the kiddie area doesn't exist...and if you are with a little one the rest of the park vanishes...but happily. No offense taken at all...I will be the first to admit that there are some boring shots here...but I just figured that boring was better than nothing. I agree with you in a way...if I were judging JUST from the tower, and JUST by the looks and not the rides, 1974 would win most of the time with me. I miss it too...it was simple yet added SO much! Today's photo set is one of MY personal favorites! 1974 I just love looking at the skyride from this angle, it is so colorful! Even though the skyride scared me as a kid I really wish it were still around...although I can completely understand why it was removed. Also notice the cool strand of hanging lights! 2011 See the tree, how big it's grown...but friend, it hasn't been too long, it wasn't big... (One of the worst songs of all time...but my mom used to play it a lot. She used to have it on a vinyl 7" single...which everyone called a "45"...until the early 90's when the "kids" started calling them "singles"...then by the late 90's the major record companies called them extinct...but luckily there's still some indie companies still carrying the torch!) There is absolutely no doubt that I would love to be back in 1974 with this set of photos.

Sounds like a five star attraction. Or a 22 star attraction! Terp, he of the obscure yet relevant references

For some reason Mysteria comes immediately to mind. That's one great thing about the staff we had in Slaughter House. Very few minors, so very few people required to be gone throughout the night. Most of us 18+ Haunt workers don't rely on Haunt as our sole income, and TombraiderTy is correct that it does actually pay more than minimum wage. That is so true. I do it because I love it, and the majority of people I know from Haunt feel the same way. It's the most fun I've ever had at a job, and I would do it for free (just don't tell my KI bosses, or Mrs. Gator for that matter, who definitely doesn't mind me being gone those October weekends as long as I'm getting paid for my time).

It has always personally kind of bothered me that the rides name is Son of Beast. Technically, we are calling it The Anti-Christ.

We really need a LIKE button around here. Well put Terp.