TombRaiderFTW

Wait a second. Aren't the shelves in the bottom-left picture props for Cut-Throat Cove now? (Great pictures, by the way! I didn't realize International Street actually had people in different outfits for different parts of the world, too. Where's the middle one on the top located?)

I don't know how likely it'd be for next year, but I'm all for Vortex getting the new looper trains from Vekoma like what went on Carolina Cobra at Carowinds. Sidewinder at Hersheypark has them, which I've ridden. The ride was still pretty brutal (who knew the top of a simple loop could be so headbangy?!) but the trains helped a lot, as there wasn't anything near your head/neck to hit. I don't find Vortex to be unbearably headbangy, even if you sit in its worst rows, but the comfort level would come up significantly with the Vekoma trains, especially in those turns before the loops and before the MCBR.

I voted Eagles. I'd rather have KI's old atmosphere back than have it become Cedar Point South.* I dearly love Intimidator 305, but it really doesn't help the weird stunts-meets-aliens-meets-snakes "theme" going on in the right part of KD's Congo section. (Not that CP doesn't have its own atmosphere... It's just that it fits Cedar Point much better than it fits KI.) *The assumption here is that it would go anywhere CF wanted to put it. If you could assume the ride is going in Action Zone, I'd be a lot more in favor of the giga, be it Intamin or B&M.

I made it to Dollywood for the first time on December 30th, and I was really surprised by how great a park it is. It really does deserve the praise it gets. I'm excited to see how this snow/water park pans out, because I'm sure it'll be great.

I agree that a zombie attraction a la Knott's would be great, but isn't that basically what we have with Urgent Scare?

...Wow. I don't think I've ever seen the International Showplace that full before. Must have been a good show. By the way, I don't think I've said it yet in this thread: these are really great pictures! Like with standbyme's photos, seeing stuff like this really helps the off-season go by. Thanks for posting them!

Kings Dominion's hasn't changed for me. Cedar Point's didn't until just now. Must be like when they first updated the Carowinds website from the original Paramount Parks layout--it takes time for the change to take effect.

Sorry, didn't mean to make it sound like it was true. I'm just saying that it was a rumor/speculation I heard floating around at some point. I know it's relatively unrealistic that they would have converted them, but a rumor's a rumor.

Aside from what I have quoted you on being completely false, please tell me that Sky Cabin having a giant "K" on it is not how you came to this gem of a conclusion. I'm not arguing that it's true, but I heard the "converting Sky Cabin to WindSeeker" rumor once, too. Maybe rumors got confused with fact?

^ I don't know if it's been like that in past years, but now that you mention it... With the attention to detail we saw last season, I almost wonder if the "splashdown" will return. It's not like it isn't already functioning at Kings Dominion.

^^ The fanboy inside wants to point out that The Crypt is still on the park map, which is more than Son of Beast can claim... But you make an excellent point about them changing the map when the season gets closer. Wonder if it'll still be on there come opening day... EDIT: Huh, looks like Eurobungie made it onto the park map again.

For some reason, I can't really see the Kochs operating Kentucky Kingdom. I'd sooner expect them to express interest in purchasing some of the flat rides for Holiday World--maybe the Vekoma Roller Skater for Holidog's Fun Town or a future additional kids' area at most. Or does the fair board still operate some of the rides without Six Flags for the fair?

It always seems like this happens mainly over the off-season, too. Guess the spambots get bored in the winter, too.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/K36iWnSaOEQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> I'm going with IndyGuy4KI's theory. If I recall correctly, Holiday World also made a significant retracking prior to 2010, when they initially anticipated running Timberliners, but I don't remember anything indicating it was to this degree. If they're practically rebuilding parts of the ride to lower variance in track gauge, that tells me we're not too far from seeing Timberliners on The Voyage. The Gravity Group would want to showcase their product on a very grand scale not available on rides the size of Grona Lund's Twister or Quassy's Wooden Warrior and in the very best light. (I'm looking at you, Millennium Flyers on Hersheypark's Wildcat. A good ride, but man, my sides were tender afterwards...)

From Holiday World's Facebook: They also posted this picture, which I find incredibly interesting: Talk about retracking! Looks like they're practically rebuilding that turn! (Which isn't a bad idea, in my opinion... It looks like the long turn before the two bunny hops leading to the first 90 degree turn, and that turn's always been at least a little jackhammery when I've ridden it.) Can't wait to see the video tomorrow.

^ I agree. I was actually being a little facetious in that quote. I'd very much like it if KI regained the Antique Cars as well, if they weren't so expensive to operate. I can live with or without Son of Beast.

^ I'm just asking: does that mean Cedar Point's equivalent is designed for such a thing? I've never really seen either without water.

^ Because the Antique Cars aren't Son of Beast. Everything involving Son of Beast is a hint by Kings Island about Son of Beast. I once Googled Son of Beast, and there were about 104,000,000 results. Clearly, that is the speed in millimeters per hour the ride will go once it is reopened. Plus, one plus four plus all those zeroes equals five, which means the ride will reopen in 2015. Don Helbig, you sly dog... You even got Google in on this. (Cynicism aside, I do find it slightly strange they'd show anything related to SoB on the show. Even then, I think we're looking way too far into this.)

I like this idea, too, but it doesn't seem like we've really got a good place to put it. The best fit that comes to mind would be the location of the old fort along the train tracks. Even then, though, any connecting path to the dry park I try to imagine always ends up awkwardly placed by the maintenance sheds. Not to mention that that would remove, in my opinion, some of the best original charm KI has to offer.

Hmm... Well, at the very least, the 90's were a pretty big time for wooden coasters. You've got the whole Dinn Corp.->Custom Coasters->Great Coasters progression to work with. (Each was a product of the one before it.) Dinn was building some of the world's biggest and most innovative (for the time) wooden coasters, like Mean Streak and the original Texas Giant, towards the beginning. CCI brought on a new, modern twist on the wooden coaster, one where the ride didn't have to be the tallest but had many exciting elements and much faster pacing, like Raven, Outlaw (Adventureland), Cyclops (Mt. Olympus), and Megafobia (Oakwood). GCI, from the very little I've heard, wanted to specialize in twister-style rides, and thus got its start with fairly compact rides like Hersheypark's Wildcat, both the Six Flags Roars, and Busch Gardens' Gwazi. By the end of the decade, GCI modernized Prior and Church's train design for use on their rides, thus creating Millennium Flyers and constraining their ride designs far less. So, in 10 years, we've gone from Mean Streak being the latest and greatest thing to the modern GCI coaster, a pretty big industry change, if you ask me.* You've also got the rise of B&M's to work with there, too. (*Which, by the way, I don't pretend to be an expert on. Everything I said there is either based on observation or what I've read from other people online, so I might very well be mistaken in some aspects.)

Aw, thanks, Shaggy! It's in my size and everything. Seriously though, cool pics. Thanks for posting them!

^ I'm with you. At least in 2011, Adventure Express was my favorite ride at KI. My favorite flats are Viking Fury and (wait for it) The Crypt, but for some reason, it seemed like VF always had a line this past season. Because of that, I only ended up riding it once, on closing day. (I also enjoy Zephyr, but it's not one of my favorites. Between walking onto Zephyr and walking onto WindSeeker, I'd probably choose WindSeeker.)

Now that I've been to Kings Dominion to ride Shockwave, I'm pretty sure I'd have liked King Cobra. When it was around, I was too short (and later too afraid) to ride it. I do still have a few memories of watching it run. Now that I know going upside down on a roller coaster isn't actually the scariest thing ever, I'd be willing to bet KC, with its lack of that awful banked left turn of Shockwave's, would actually rank fairly high on my ratings. I need to go to Canada...

^^ Sure, sure... Next, you'll be telling me it's Bolliger and Maybeeyard, not Bolliger and Mabillard. Or that it's Verner Shtengel, not Werner Stengel. (In all seriousness... I'm with coaster_junky. I've been pronouncing it Huss this entire time. The things you learn on KIC...)

Why can't amusement park engineering internships be this explicitly available and/or necessary?!