IBEW_Sparky

Please, just stop with that. An 11 year old is dead, another child critical, and there has been NO investigation and therefore NO cause has been given for the raft capsizing.... in other words it could have happened REGARDLESS of manufacturer. R.I.P to the child, and hopefully the other pulls through. I grew up going to this park.

Im going to run the Ride Forces program next time I decide to go, and see if it shows enough of a difference in front vs back to verify any difference between hard numbers and the perception caused by the view and wind in the front.

The nice thing is it wasnt an ERT fluke, it was consistent on all 4 of the rides I took.

I came back in here to do a revision of the initial review I did last July 14th. Anyone who has known me since I got here in 09 knows I am in no way afraid to call anyone on their BS regardless of who they are... some more than others... and that goes for myself as well. I was at the park from 1040 until 2100 last night, and rode Orion 4 additional times. Yesterdays and last evenings rides absolutely changed a lot of my thoughts on the ride. The additional weight of operating with full trains has made an incredible difference as I am sure all have noticed, and the fact that the trim was just barely touching (thank you to the park for that) made Orions belt a great feeling helix with the now very noticeable increase in speed as the train traverses through it. I was fortunate enough to get rides in rows 1 and 8 as well as rides in 4 and 5, and it's just a completely better ride now in all facets. The two elements that I thought were the shining stars of the ride... the drop and the twisted hill prior to the rise into the brake run... still hold true, and I was correct when I said the airtime in that element would be absolutely mental with fully loaded trains and no trim! This next part will mean jack-squat to people who aren't car enthusiasts or racers, I initially called it the Bentley GT of the "giga" category, in that the Bentley GT is called a supercar simply of its design and price point, but in some ways trying to fight above its weight class so to speak. Now, I will most definitely put it in the McLaren 570 slot... not the end all but DEFINITELY worthy of the class. We as racers say "If I do my job, and the car does its job, we've got this win". Well, Im not at all afraid to say I mis-spoke last year, and that Orion most certainly "does its job" and does it darn well.

Yes, 1000% YES they have.

Since Ive not scanned mine once yet this year, I would JUMP at a refund if it were offered.

Well, I made it as far as Kings Island Drive, and once I saw the vehicles at the intersection and the line on the road going to the toll gates, I spun right back onto 71 south and came home. Its been a good run folks, but seeing that just made me realize that this is it. It isnt the rides that did me in like happened to my Wife in 2005, but the people and the crowds. I hope you can all enjoy this hobby for many years to come, it was a good one for me for about 20 years.

Believe me I noticed it on film the next day. My wife and I made the attempt at the day and I dont know what made me so stupid as to think most of the crowd would just come to see the jump, completely my mistake and miscalculation, the park looked like the biggest outdoor Wal Mart on Black Friday Id ever seen in my life, promise you there were 45-50k people there. We made one lap of the park and left, then I watched the next day and saw that it was actually a 21 truck jump and the landing ramp saved him. Would I do it? Hell no. Do I respect the talent he has to do this? ABSOLUTELY. However his dad was, is, and always will be King of the cycle jumpers, and if anyone wants to question that, remember he jumped a Triumph T120 and later a Harley Davidson XR-750, and not a 250lb Honda CR500 motocross bike with $20k just in suspension work alone.

All this, and many of the other stunts they have pulled, reminds me of something Terp used to say when discussing the meal plan.... they already have your money.

Id LOVE to have every park in the country do what KK did, this is another example (in my opinion) of that park "doing it right" as others should do. Parks ARE NOT, repeat for those in the back, ARE NOT intended to be babysitters for obnoxious adolescents.

And after observing people in the US across all different demographics in the past year and a half (yes, it's a hobby of mine) none of this surprises me in the slightest. This all stems from the 10 to the 100th power of causes du' jour that people have to cling to in order to exist on a day to day basis in this country lately (again greatly exacerbated in the last 15-18 months) and combined with people who have become somewhat institutionalized mentally with the lockdowns and restrictions caused by that thing I will no longer mention in my day to day vocabulary and the fact that everyone just HAS to be "right" and everyone else wrong. Add a nearly 90 degree day to that, and we have this result, which will be the norm instead of the exception for all of this year, and likely beyond.

I promise you it wasn't Mr. McClure at fault, look above. Not to mention, this new GM spent 16 years working for Disney, has anyone stopped for one second to think about WHY Frenchie and this new CP GM left Disney after so long.... an entity that traditionally treats its EXECUTIVES (and no other employee) very well? One doesn't normally give up a spot like that 100% voluntarily. Edited to say that I will be one of those not renewing my pass for 22. I honestly would not have renewed it this year had it not been carried over from 2020, and no its not because Im an entitled, whiney douche, it is simply because it is time for me to move on to other things and if one particular person ends up moving to Sandusky in the next year or so I will simply go with them and have them purchase my FL+ so I can get it at the reduced price.

I have to wholeheartedly agree with both the forgettable, and overrated statements. I dont know, maybe its because I over-rode the crap out of it in 09, but it has been an epic snore machine to me since about 2011, regardless of what row or time of day I ride. EDIT:ANd before anybody starts with the "Youre just anti B&M" garbage, I dont want to hear it.... I really like Banshee and have thought since day one it hands Raptor its arse in a basket.

By chance, do they still have the manually operated scrambler with the rotary crank speed control, or have they replaced it with electronic controls? I grew up in DSM, and while I didnt really appreciate the park while I was growing up.... like the second my Friends started getting licenses we rolled to WOF as opposed to going 35 minutes to Adventureland.... I went back in 2013 and really had a great time. Unfortunately, various circumstances have prevented me from returning, I havent even ridden Monster yet :-(.

Thats how KK and HW did it last year (though they both did temp checks) and in my eyes they "did it right" from the start. Way to go DW.

Ive always felt the same way about Maverick, although with the way the track is currently configured, I dont know if I would want to experience the water cannon turn at 70+ as I think that would rival 305's first turn in regards to possible grey/blackout problems.

My advertising catch phrase would be "The only Beemer on this property is my 740il. If you want to nap, we have a resort on property, if you want to pull Gs, we have the coasters that will do it for you." OH, and EDIT: My prices for all food and snacks would only be 10% higher than what you would pay for the same thing out of park and my drinks would be free a'la HW, for exactly that reason Brad, Id still make bank!!

That is an (unfortunate) fact, although it baffles me how the one-trick pony that is Valravn... or Dive Turkey as I call it... can be such a draw, I just never got the hype. I do enjoy GK, and I absolutely do agree with your fundamental point, they Love both of those coasters as can clearly be seen by the lines. Face it, when an Intamin (other than Millie) has a two hour line, we know that is likely due to sometimes multiple ride stoppages. When a B&M has a two hour line, we know its very likely it's because its a popular ride because even a mediocre ride crew can (usually ram people through on a B&M.

Exactly this, though with me my favorite coaster is SV, many others in my top 10 are Intamin. Even I have been calling the company Intamightwork for years, and if I were laying the cash out and looking at it from the corporate side of things, Id be more apt to install a GG, Mack, Gerstlauer, GCI, or begrudgingly a B&M, though with me it would be nothing but a floorless similar to Dominator, an invert similar to Banshee, or a launched wing similar to but longer than Thunderbird. Now, if I didnt give a rip about the GP (which I absolutely do not as it is) or a lot of money sitting SBNO for 25% of the season, my park would be known as RMC and Intaminville.

I still clearly remember the day in 16 at CP when we found that out at Panda together, and I also clearly remember us rolling right out of the restaurant.

Exactly this!!! When I was Director of Detail at a Ford/Chrysler dealership, I had one of my employees come up to me and ask "Do you think you can talk to the sales desks at Ford and Chrysler, and see if they can talk to customers who get deals done after 630 (we closed at 7) if they can come pick their vehicle up in the morning so us closers dont have to stay late". I just looked at him like "You did not just seriously ask me that?" I gave him the facts... and this is how it should be anywhere in the Country that charges a client a fee for a service or item... I said "Look, if you go into Best Buy at 850pm and start looking and asking about an $8,000 flat screen 8k TV, do you think for a second that salesperson you are talking to is going to kick you out at 9? H ell no, they are going to talk to you until midnight if they have to in order to make that sale, and the same goes in spades for that $75k F250 Platinum ole Bubba is looking at". Closing time is 8/9/10 pm (should be midnight from July 1-August 30) therefore the closing time for any and all services... including ride access... should be closing time, MAAAYYYBE 30 minutes prior like bars do with last call. It also relates to my employees who would come to me about their pay rate (which was disgustingly too low). I did everything in my power in a losing battle against ownership to change that, and my employees knew it, but the bottom line that they agreed with was they willingly and voluntarily took the position with said low pay, much like any employee willingly and voluntarily takes a position knowing its hours and possible late off times going into it.

@Shaggy, another good example of a ride that park goers of ALL ages generalize is the Dodge-Ems. it doesn't matter if you name that ride Dodge-Ems, Rough Riders, Joe Cool's Dodgem School, or The I-275/I-71 Interchange At Rush Hour, 90% percent of people say "Let's go ride the bumper cars".

The perfect world answer on what current ownership is thinking is "Oh ****, get Fred Grubb on the line" but in reality, I recall hearing and reading rumbles across different platforms (this was months ago people, so no I didn't save every link to my Mac) about lingering financial issues stemming initially from the T-Bird installation.

@Shaggy I realized later as I was dozing off (yes Ive got one of those binary minds that just doesnt shut off so I think of things at odd times) that I left that statement more broad than I meant to, I do apologize for mis-speaking in that manner. I own my screwups, unlike fanbois/girls, and thank you for calling me on it. I also admit that, while I was nearly sure it was Herschend, I did have a wild off the wall thought of another player possibly in it in the shadows who does have that $100+ price point on passes, but when I read the group operates 9 parks I realized that thought was invalid because the one in my mind only operates one park.

I dont know what the deal is with the confused look, the player in the game has park season passes at $100+. so it should be me that shows confusion as to why you don't think they will do the same with this park..... and Im not speaking specifically of Herschend. Like Shaggy said, not yet, there are others at that price point as well.