jcgoble3

NOOOOO!!!! Not my beloved Congo Falls! That said, I feel it would be better to move Congo Falls over to Rivertown and find a place for it somewhere near Diamondback, if for no other reason than to put all of the water rides close to each other. As to other changes I would make: —Tear down Son of Beast and Thunder Alley. —Move Backlot Stunt Coaster to where Thunder Alley currently sits, as its theme (being a Hollywood stunt driver) better fits in Action Zone, which my understanding was that it was supposed to be a "movie backlot" (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) —Bring back the antique cars where they used to be (i.e. where BLSC currently sits) —Put in a couple of decent go-kart tracks where SOB currently sits (something along the general lines of what Cedar Point has would be nice) —To make up for the loss of SOB, add a relatively small but high-thrill coaster (something along the lines of Maverick) in the gap between Adventure Express, Flight of Fear, and The Racer.

If there's anything more than a station wait, they will assign rows. If you go through the regular line, the op assigning rows may be willing to accommodate requests for a particular row when reasonably possible, but there are no guarantees. If you use the single rider line, you cannot request a particular row at all.

From that article: Note that it says replacement link, not replacement chain. Interesting, given what CoastersRZ said.

IIRC, the water rides on the dry side of the park have free lockers also.

The Beast only has one very naughty kid. But who's to say The Racers and Beast don't have some type of relationship? I think the other kid he's referring to would be the coaster formerly known as Beastie, now Woodstock Express.

For this reason, I am not sure if it really makes any difference in capacity whether M Force runs two or three trains. Back in June, I waited for MF during both two- and three-train operation, and I did not notice any difference in how fast the line moved, so I would say that you are correct.

I would have to say Raven and TTD. I actually ran around those two for re-rides multiple times during ERT sessions this year, and had to pace myself because they were so long.

I can tell this is not going to be a popular post, but here goes anyway: Frankly, I prefer Mantis over Vortex. I don't know what you guys are talking about. There, I said it. Flame away.

Not to mention the light out on WindSeeker already. To clarify, all 64 seats have a white light on the bottom of the seat, visible when the ride unit lifts into the air. On the night of June 30, while waiting in line, I noticed that one of those lights was out.

Holiday World is $5 for a locker plus $5 key deposit—basically half the cost of KI after the deposit is refunded. The Beach, I believe (I'm not sure on this) charges around $5 to $7 plus a $5 deposit, or season pass holders like myself can pay a flat $28 when the pass is issued for unlimited tube and locker rental (i.e. you only have to put down the deposit, not pay the actual cost). I don't know about Six Flags because I've never been to one.

Well it's good that you ignored it because it was none of your business. That's a lot of the reason our nation is in trouble - people cannot keep their nose where it belongs. They have no right to charge $15 (before the deposit is returned) for a locker. It's not only ridiculous, it's irresponsible. Kings Island is a business in a free country built on capitalism. They have the right to charge whatever they want to for a locker, just like I have the right to choose to not rent a locker because I feel the price is too high. That does NOT, however, give people the right to change into swimsuits in the dry park and violate the dress code just to save $8, because while this great nation may be built on capitalism, it is most certainly NOT built on anarchy. Yeah, I know it's the rules you can't be in the dry park in only a swimsuit but....it was a smart thing on their part! If they changed in the nearest restroom to the train, it's not that much of a walk for them through the park in only swimsuits. And considering they were dressed appropriately to go to the waterpark, I think they should've been allowed to ride the train. You can't fit stuff for 7 people in one locker...so they saved more than $8. Smart choice Is violating the park rules smart? As for fitting 7 people's stuff in one locker, I should have made it clear that this was not a single group of 7, but rather individual women independent of each other. I don't think any more than two of them were part of the same group.

Ummm... I do believe that the State cleared SOB for operation the day after it closed, but KI officials chose not to reopen it? I don't think the State of Ohio has anything to do with the reason SOB is currently SBNO.

When I went through DA! on the second day it was open, I believe an employee told me that they expect to have the replacement sometime in August. I'm not totally sure that that's what he or she said, though, so don't quote me on that.

Well it's good that you ignored it because it was none of your business. That's a lot of the reason our nation is in trouble - people cannot keep their nose where it belongs. They have no right to charge $15 (before the deposit is returned) for a locker. It's not only ridiculous, it's irresponsible. Kings Island is a business in a free country built on capitalism. They have the right to charge whatever they want to for a locker, just like I have the right to choose to not rent a locker because I feel the price is too high. That does NOT, however, give people the right to change into swimsuits in the dry park and violate the dress code just to save $8, because while this great nation may be built on capitalism, it is most certainly NOT built on anarchy. Unfortunately, you are correct that our economy is based on "capitalism". Common sense, however ,will tell you if King's Island didn't want them to be able to do that, they wouldn't let them board the train, etc without being fully clothed which they apparently are allowing it. I said that I didn't know whether they were allowed on the train or not, not that they were allowed on it. From what I've seen in the past, the employees on the train usually tend to strictly enforce the dress code with regard to swimsuits, so there is a very good chance that they were forced to go back and get their clothes. I simply did not see what happened because I headed off in a different direction.

Congratulations on getting fireworks on WindSeeker! I tried to do that last Thursday, but I was one cycle too late. If you look on the outside of the seats, you'll see two red lights. Those lights go out when the lap bar is locked, so they can in fact tell exactly which seat isn't locked. However, if they need to release the lap bar to let someone off, I'm guessing that they can't release individual seats, probably because that would overcrowd the control board with way too many buttons or switches, so they have to release a whole section of 16 seats instead.

Well it's good that you ignored it because it was none of your business. That's a lot of the reason our nation is in trouble - people cannot keep their nose where it belongs. They have no right to charge $15 (before the deposit is returned) for a locker. It's not only ridiculous, it's irresponsible. Kings Island is a business in a free country built on capitalism. They have the right to charge whatever they want to for a locker, just like I have the right to choose to not rent a locker because I feel the price is too high. That does NOT, however, give people the right to change into swimsuits in the dry park and violate the dress code just to save $8, because while this great nation may be built on capitalism, it is most certainly NOT built on anarchy.

As pointed out by KIfan1980 in this post, a search of the Warren County Auditor's website produces this note hidden in the "Memos" page of Kings Island's file: "SEE ALSO RTG 16C-2-3 FOR 'WAVE POOL'." The rest of the memos page mentions recent changes to the park, but I know of no changes that were made to the wave pool, so one can only wonder if this is a sign of Boomerang Bay improvements for 2012.

This past Thursday, in five minutes I counted at least seven women who changed into their swimsuits in the dry park (I hope in a restroom), locked their stuff, including their street clothes, in one of the $2 single-use lockers next to White Water Canyon, and headed for the train with the stated intent of heading to the waterpark. Now, I understand that $10 is a bit overpriced for a locker, but that's still not allowed. I looked around for an employee, but didn't see one, so I just ignored it. I never saw whether they were allowed on the train or not, as I headed back into the woods to ride WWC. I would have complained to GR out my way out for dinner, but I forgot about it until I saw this thread.

See this thread: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23856 Essentially, the Ruyang Yellow River dinosaur, which was supposed to be the world's largest animatronic dinosaur, caught fire a couple of days before the exhibit opened and had to be removed. I believe I was told that they expect to get the replacement in August.

http://www.visitkingsisland.com/public/fun/webcams/index.cfm Looking at the WindSeeker weather cam, Coney Mall looks like a ghost town. Interesting, because I would have thought that they would be packed to the gills today with it being a holiday weekend.

I never went to Raptor during ERT, so I have no clue there, but Maverick and MF were roughly 20 minutes when I was there. You're visiting at the peak of vacation season, though, so you may get longer lines. At KI, ERT is on WindSeeker and Vortex, unless WindSeeker is down, in which case it's replaced with something else nearby ( which is at least sometimes Backlot Stunt Coaster).

^OK, that makes a lot more sense. Thanks for the clarification.

I can't help you with Kings Dominion or Carowinds, as I've never been to either of them. I've also never been to KI or CP on a Sunday, but I've heard that Sundays are typically not too busy (don't quote me on that, though). With that in mind, a few tips regarding lines (and other things): Kings Island: —On Saturday night, stick to smaller rides; the big rides will have long lines on Saturdays. KI is open until midnight that night, so the crowds may thin out a bit later in the night as families with kids head home for a reasonable bedtime, but I could be wrong on that. —Sunday morning, I recommend hitting Firehawk right at 10 am, as it typically has close to or over a one-hour wait most of the day. While in X-Base, hit Flight of Fear also, followed by Backlot Stunt Coaster, as both of them can also have relatively long lines at times. —Vortex's line is usually shorter than it appears to be, so don't be deceived by it; a line that is all the way out to the end of the black fence is only 15–30 minutes, if that, depending on whether the switchbacks in the station are open. —Diamondback and The Beast are two of the highest capacity rides in the park, so while they may have long lines, those lines will move relatively fast. If the Diamondback line is really long, take advantage of the single rider line if it's open, as you can sometimes cut your wait by more than half by doing so. —Don't trust the wait time signs; sometimes guests will mess with the signs, so always walk into the queue and look at the line for yourself before rejecting the wait as too long. In particular, I've lost count of how many times I've seen The Beast's sign say 90 minutes when it was really only 15 or so. Even if there is an employee at the entrance (e.g. Firehawk, Diamondback), the sign may still be wrong if it hasn't been updated in a while. Cedar Point: —First, let me say that on my only trip to CP (five days last week), the weather forecasts were so crappy that I had plenty of ridiculously short waits. You probably won't be so lucky, especially since you're hitting CP at the peak of vacation season, so I have very little advice I can offer from my own experience. I can, however, repeat some things that others here have said. That said, here goes: —Again, lines will be long on Saturday night, so stick to smaller rides and plan on hitting the big rides on Sunday. CP is open until 11pm that night. —For Sunday morning ERT, make sure you're at the gate by about 8:45. They will begin scanning passes and tickets at about that time so you can line up just inside the gate. When the national anthem ends, race for the ride of your choice. Several people on here have said to hit Maverick and Millennium Force during ERT, then line up for TTD. Enter through the resort gate if you want to hit Maverick first or the marina gate to hit MF first. After hitting those two, go line up for TTD. TTD may start running early if they finish up morning test runs early, so you might not have to wait until 10:00 to be let in. Take advantage of this relatively short wait to get a front row ride; even if this costs you an extra 20 minutes now, it would cost you an extra 30–45 minutes later in the day in addition to a full-length wait that may be over an hour to begin with. —Because Raptor is close to the main gate, it will have long lines right after opening, but should have a much shorter line later in the evening. —Be aware that not all rides are open 10 to 10; several of the smaller rides don't open until 11:00; Iron Dragon, WildCat, Dodgem, and the train will close early for the American Portrait show, and Snake River Falls and Thunder Canyon (I believe) are only open noon to 9:00. —If you choose to hit the water rides, be aware that Cedar Point does not require shirts or shoes on the water rides. The section of the midway running from Skyhawk down to Shoot the Rapids is informally designated as the "water zone"; within that area, shirts/shoes are not required, so you can store them in an overpriced locker and walk from one to the next, hitting all three. I strongly recommend at least taking your shirt off, especially on Thunder Canyon, as that ride, unlike KI's White Water Canyon, (spoiler; highlight to read) has multiple waterfalls that are practically guaranteed to thoroughly and totally drench you from head to toe. —This topic and this topic have plenty of tips for Cedar Point. —Again, don't trust the wait time signs for the same reason as at KI. In five days at CP last week, I personally witnessed somebody messing with the signs three times. Everything in this post is true to the best of my knowledge, but I'm only human. If I got anything wrong, I'm sure others can and will correct it. Have fun!

Nice report. And I thought I had some short waits the week of the 20th! Wow! My shortest wait for TTD (excluding the nighttime ERT session on the 23rd) was 20 minutes. (Which reminds me: I need to make time to finish composing my own CP trip report.)

Sounds like you had a good day. Sometimes spontaneous trips like that are the best; I rarely plan a trip to KI more than two days in advance (Opening Day this year being a notable exception). Tip on Firehawk: Go there first thing in the morning, and by that I mean run straight to it when the ropes drop. This is where it helps to have a Gold or Platinum Pass; I was there that day yesterday also and was able to line up at the rope in Coney Mall and make the very short run to Firehawk when the security guard took the rope down, and I ended up on the first train of the day. Without a Gold/Platinum Pass, you'll have a longer run from the front of the park, but I would think that you should still be able to get a reasonable wait time.