Delirium_Guy

I believe this has been posted time and time again. Yes, wooden coasters are rougher than their steel counter parts. I think everyone understands that. SOB is rough to the point of injuring someone.....THAT is not a wood coaster should be. Oddly enough, I find the ride to be somewhat smooth in the front seat.....but ONLY the front seat. Rode the back a few weeks ago, never again. I actually DO enjoy the first half of the ride, it has some intensity to it. However, I'd just as soon jump off on the block brake. The second half of the coaster is quite possibly the most boring ending of any coaster I've ridden. Period. - Todd, who thinks SOB is improved......but thats not saying a lot

Riiiight. IJ's capacity, like many things are KI, is completely over exaggerated. I distinctly remember talkling to someone on that crew the first season. The last hour the Park was open, they made every dispatch interval. I think they cranked out 60 trains in an hour.....that equates to about 720 people an hour. KI doesn't seem to be concerned about capacity, so why bother now? I think this ride looks super fun, however it is extremely similiar to 2004's Storm Runner found in the same park.....just substitute a vertical lift in place of the launch. None the less, I'd GLADLY take this ride at Kings Island! As an avid Maverick fan, anything of that sort would be a welcome addition for me! - Todd, hopefully headed to Hershey Park at the end of October!

I'll be there with my partner as well. Anyone want to meet up for a ride or two? I can attest to the short lines, I went a few years ago and lines were non-existent. I'm looking forward to a few Firehawk rides! - Todd

Agreed! I'm anxiously awaiting my visit to California Adventure.....which is looking like November! Whoo hoo! I'm still very partial to the original Magic Kingdom....I think its in a league of its own and definitely superior to its Orlando counterpart. Indiana Jones anyone??? - Todd

I'm quite happy with my Sea World Platinum Pass.....of course we both know they are one and the same :-) BGA is such a *nice* park. Kumba is the one and only thing that keeps me coming back....it never disappoints. Oh lord, have you ridden Gwazi lately? Running like a champ that thing is * end sarcasm *. - Todd

Seems as if a new tradition has began for me....making the trek to Orlando the first week of September. Crowds were ultra light last year, allowing us to ride until our hearts were content. So it was a no brainer that we'd repeat the same trip this year! Anyone who knows me, knows of my love for Disney. Everytime I step foot on property, I'm absolutely amazed at the experiences I have. There is always something new or something that I didn't notice the last time. This year we opted for a 10-day Park Hopper. Ultimately, we ended up upgrading our tickets to Annual Passes since we are planning to go again for New Years. Now we have free parking, some decent discounts at some of the gift shops, discounts at most of the restaurants at Downtown Disney among other things. They also reimbursed us for our Parking at Animal Kingdom the day we upgraded. This visit somethings were going to be missing. Mainly Haunted Mansion and Spaceship Earth. As we'd later learn, Rock'n Roller Coaster would also go down for a rehab during our visit! Just some highlights: Animal Kingdom - Simply amazed at the beauty of this park and amazed that they built it from scratch. Taking a spin on Kilimanjaro Safari truly feels as if you are traversing an African savannah. Animal Kingdom is truly starting to blossom into a hell of a Park. The addition of Expedition Everest has tremendously increased traffic in the Park and really made AK a destination on the Disney property. Everest itself really grew on me this visit. I liked it last year, but was a tad underwhelmed after reading some spoilers of the ride once it opened. This year, the hype wasn't present and I really was able to take in everything on the ride. The queue itself is so impressive with all the artifacts that they collected while researching the ride. Still present are the steaming trains as they enter and exit the loading station. Ride itself is still butter smooth and just plain fun. The Yeti animatronic is incredibly effective, despite its short appearance during the ride. The ride was just the ticket for AK and has really rounded the Park out a lot. Also new to us this year was Finding Nemo: The Musical. I'm normally a big Disney show guy.....but this one didn't cut it for me. Impressive were the stage sets and the actual puppets. Disappointing were the actors playing the parts of the characters themselves. Something just didnt' click in the show for me and I left feeling very disappointed. Still reigning as one of my favorite shows is Festival of the Lion King. Simply done, but perhaps the best show on property. Of course all the other goodies are still present with Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl, Kali River Rapids….. MGM Studios – We didn’t spend as much time as usual here this visit. We did manage to catch Fantasmic! 4 times. This show never gets old for me. Love the clips of Disney’s animtated flicks portrayed on the water curtain. The ending with the Steamboat Willie ship and all the Disney characters performing on it is super. Mix it all in with a phenomenal soundtrack, nice pyrotechnics and the mouse himself….you’ve got a winner J Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster went down for refurbishment around the 4th day of our trip, so we made sure to get several rides in place before that happened. Ride was running well. Still butter smooth. Speakers blaring loudly as always. They’ve kinda botched the queue up a bit. There is a single ride line and fast pass line that empty inside the building in what used to be stand-by queue. The stand by queue is now cut off by the obnoxious marble door that you enter through. Its kind of a mess, actually. Once you get into the pre-show room, single rides take the top row and then they fill the lower row with everyone else. Inside the load station, changes have also been made to accommodate the new single ride lane. Still a great ride though, love the music. Tower was rockin’ as always. We had some great rides and some great programs on it. Everytime I thought it was over, we’d get bolted back up to the top of the tower and drop again. I still stand by my comment that Tower of Terror is one of the greatest attractions ever built by Disney. The creativeness that went into the design was well beyond its time when it opened….and the result is one hell of a drop ride! Toy Story Mania is well under construction, with Mickey Avenue being blocked off from traffic now. After talking to my buddy that works down there, it sounds like its going to be a fun little ride. Can’t wait to hit it up next summer. This time at the Studios, we noticed A LOT more street performers. They were very entertaining and very much into their role. Epcot – Soarin’ still rocks. Enough said. Got a cool tour of Test Track and Mission Space with my friend who works there. Test Track is quite the complex ride, 192 blocks in total. The control room was pretty sweet. There is such a long list of things that can make this ride go down….all the way down to having a car detected with low air pressure in the tires. It will shut everything down, they go add air and the ride returns to operation. It can remain shut down for 11 minutes before they have to do an evac and reset the system. Underneath the ride was very cool. Beneath the road surface is actually a coaster like track. The cars are equipped much the same way as a coaster would be…..with the road, guide and upstop wheels. Mission Space was fun as always. Still a super intense attraction. It, too, has many checks and balances that can throw the system off. Interesting fact, once the ride starts the lights in the room actually turn ON while its in motion. There is a photo imaging system in place that takes a picture after the ride stops and before the ride begins. If there is anything that is slightly off place, the ride will not start. Illuminations was brilliant and I found a much great love for this show this time. Rumors are circulating that its days are numbered and a new, revised show is coming. The inferno barge is crazy. Spaceship Earth was down for its refurbishment, boo! Magic Kingdom – Still my personal favorite of the Disney Parks. We missed Haunted Mansion by 2 days, BOO! I’m hearing great things about the refurbishment, so can’t wait to go check it out. The Mountains were bringing it as always. Big Thunder was a blast, 3 of us crammed in the car….definitely made for a different kind of ride LOL! Space Mountain still gets me everytime. Hard to believe it reaches a terrifying speed of 27MPH…..yet it feels so much faster. Splash Mountain is still the best flume. Period. With an 11 minute ride time, Splash is an experience of its own. Love the story, love the detail and love theming. Philharmagic still gives me chills and is hands down the best of the 4D attractions in Orlando…..or anywhere for that matter. Of course, Magic Kingdom is home to my favorite nighttime show…..Wishes. Can’t get enough of it. The last 20 seconds are absolutely breathtaking. This year we had great views every night…..sitting right smack in front of Cinderella Castle. Not gonna lie, I still tear up at the end. Universal – Islands of Adventure is in desperate need of some TLC. Lots of attractions and buildings in need of a good paint job. Lines were non-existent. Hulk was fun, but getting rougher. Dueling Dragons are still butter smooth, but suffer from PATHETIC operations. Ripsaw Falls is now equipped with lapbars in the boats….makes for a tight and rather uncomfortable ride. No signs of work on the Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter. I think this is JUST the thing that IOA needs though to breath some life back into it. Studios was fun, actually becoming my favorite part of the Universal complex. Mummy was bringing it as always. Men in Black is still the best shoot ‘em ride out there…..though Toy Story Mania may give it a run for its money. Things were well underway to prepare the park for Halloween Horror Nights. We’re hoping to possibly hop back down for a weekend next month, as I’ve never been! Busch Gardens – I’m pretty much done with this place. Everytime we go, we have a lousy time. The difference is night and day between this place and Williamsburg……although Interpreter and I would disagree on which is the superior park. Operations were HORRIBLE. Employees were incredibly rude this visit. All this mixed with the screw up of their EZPay system with my friends season pass, led us to leaving about an hour after arriving. The new floorless Sheikra trains are pointless. It really adds nothing to the ride experience and seems like such a waste of money. I’ll be much happier next time just staying in Orlando and sticking with Sea World. Sea World was a great time as usual. Kraken is still the best coaster in Orlando. The new water park, Aquatic, is shaping up nicely as well. We spent 10 days in Orlando. Had a blast. Can’t get enough Disney. Happy to be an Annual Pass Holder now, whoo hoo! - Todd

How do you know they don't have any good coasters if you have never visited? Personally, I'm much happier spending my time at Disney than at Universal. You should give Disney a whirl, its a total blast and they have some darn good rides. Rock 'n' Roller Coaster is just a super fun ride. Tower of Terror rocks. Add in Everest, Mission Space, Soarin', Splash Mountain, Space Mountain. I'm 26. In no way do I find ANY of the Disney parks to be kiddie parks. We just finished a huge Orlando trip, TR is on its way soon. Universal wasn't putting on its best performance this trip to say the least.....and I don't even want to talk about Busch Gardens. - Todd

This really doesn't come as a surprise to me, as it would seem as if Universal has *already* removed their FREE Universal Express system in favor or people PAYING for it. At least, that is the way it appeared when I was there two days ago. I'd pay for fastpass, hell we are considering Annual Passes to Disney at this point. As for hearing a sucking noise coming from Orlando......if you only KNEW how much that irritated me. We've been at Disney for 5 days now. I always hear about how much they wanna gauge people on things. I find the opposite to be true. A few examples.....mostly food related. 20oz bottle of Coke at Disney -- $2 20oz bottle of Coke at KI -- $3.50 Large Fountain Drink at Disney -- $2.39 Large Fountain Drink at KI -- $3.49 Chicken Fingers w/ fries and drink @ Disney -- $10 Rivertown Potatoe Fries, Large drink at KI -- $12 So I'm failing to see where the gauging is coming into play when it certainly seems to hurt a lot more from our local park. I've made it through this trip spending around $20 a day for food.....and thats spending from 8AM until 10PM in the parks here. I think that if a Pay-Per-FastPass does come to light, it won't be that terribly unreasonable. Universal's isn't, I just refuse to buy it cause the lines are never that long in the first place. - Todd, enjoying Disney World at the moment......Soarin' anyone?

I can vouch as well that your Six Flags parking pass DOES work at SFKK! They very promptly handed me my $5 back at the GR booth. I think its terriffic that they do it considering, as you stated, they dont even own the lot. I'd also like to point out that I got my SF Parking Pass at SFFT for $24....not a bad deal at all! $75 for All Ohio Parking.....a tad steep in my book. - Todd

Oh, I definitely agree with you. Firehawk ran far more efficiently than it ever did at Geauga Lake. Its just been a bad month or so for ride down time at the Park, so it would seem. I heard the lift motor burnt out on it, but not sure how true that is. - Todd

Thursday Todd, a ride Op was assigning seat rows as you entered the station to the Maverick. Friday and Saturday however it was a free for all. As much as I dislike assigning ride seats, this did make the line move alot faster when Maverick was running. Georgia has one of my Favorite Woodies of all times, and yes that baby is violent. (GCyclone) I maybe used the wrong words to discribe it but I love em! I have to say, SOB was more fun in the back even though I was sore the next day! LOL Swampy Nice TR! CP is an awesome park and certainly has a super collection of rides. As for Maverick, Interp, they've been assigning seats all season long. However, if you wish to wait for the front or back, all you gotta do is ask. I agree that assigning seats greatly helps the line move and hate it when they aren't doing it......I noticed it most on Wicked Twister this season. I definitely agree that Georgia has one of my favorite wood coasters also, its violent in a good way.....however I don't come off with a headache or chipped teeth from it like I do from SOB. - Todd

And on a side note......Firehawk went down yesterday morning and as of 6PM today was still not operating. Smashing season for ride performance at Kings Island this year. LOL. - Todd, who STILL has yet to ride Drop Zone this year

I do not have an answer to your question, however I can say that it would be completely pointless for CF to sell individual rides. The rides depreciate like crazy. As stated in another post, the only reason to sell a ride would be because it's cheaper that storaging or disposing of it. I think that if indeed this is the case and HRP is picking up Saturator from Carowinds.....it just happened to be in good timing. Most reports that I read from Carowinds typically state that Saturator is closed. In my recent visits, its only been operating once. So perhaps this has been coming. As for HRP buying used rides, its certainly interesting. However, as I understand, Slippery When Wet is the only used attraction coming to the Park. With that said, the Park doesn't appear to be opening with all that many attractions in the first place. Disney's California Adventure or Animal Kingdom anyone? - Todd

The current rumor is that Hard Rock Park may be picking the ride up as a replacement for the Slippery When Wet attraction. It was originally supposed to be one of the old Hydra Fighters from a Wet & Wild, however that said attraction is now relisted for sale. Interesting. - Todd

On a random note......I have a Tomb Raider press kit up on EBAY if anyone is interested. It has some cool concept art and a few nice pics of the finished showroom! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...E:IT&ih=017 I also have an old vintage KI mat up also..... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...E:IT&ih=017 - Todd

The point of going to WDW is to not go for a one day visit. The point is to visit multiple days. I've purchased a 10 day park hopper ticket for my visit at the end of the month for $250. Its money well spent for me and WELL worth it. Great parks, great attractions, friendly employees......and did I mention cheaper food prices than at KI? The value at Disney, IMHO, is worth the money. I agree that for one day, that price is steep though! - Todd

I gotta say, I'm in agreement with the guy who wrote the article. While I've never seen that many rides down at one time, my experience this year at KI has been LOTS of downtime with LOTS of rides through out my visit. For me, its worse than its ever been. Now I understand that rides will break down, but thats never been a huge issue at Kings Island......or Cedar Point for that matter. The same thing is happening on my visits to Point. Tack on the offensively high food prices, the poor attitudes of employees this year.....voila! Welcome to the old Six Flags. All of this hatred for Cedar Fair comes with the way they have ran the Park this season. They've made many cuts in many areas and its showing. This isn't just a hatred or dislike by some of us on this board, talk to any one employee from KI and you'll be surprised by some of the stories you hear. They simply got rid of too many of the good people at the Park who actually KNEW what they were doing. In addition, those that remained have gotten so frustrated that they have now moved on to better things. Its sad, actually. I could care less if I do go back to KI again this season and if it weren't for the fact that I want a Maxx Pass to go to CP.......I highly doubt I'd buy a pass for nex season. - Todd

The Beast crew has been the best while I was at the park. Very, very little stacking, if none at all. I'll agree with that, of course its been that way for years as far as I'm concerned. Beast has always had the superior crew in the park. Its always refreshing to actually see the ride ops efficiently check restraints and get the trains out quickly. I also gotta give props to the Firehawk crew, I think they've done a great job this season also given the challenges that are presented at the ride itself. With that sad, worse crew either goes to Racer or Vortex. Vortex is pathetic, more times than not I see ALL three trains stacked on the brake run. To think, it used to be a people eater. Now I find myself waiting 15-20 minutes to board when the line isn't even out of the station. Sigh. - Todd

So what? Injuries? Are you joking? Yes, accidents happen.....but to say so what to them? In the event of Son of Beast, a serious structural failure occurred. Thats unacceptable either way you want to look at it. Its certainly not the first time that the structure has had to be reinforced or replaced. The point being made is that so much money has been poured into the POS and for what? I'm sorry, but I could think of many many better attractions that could fill that plot of land nicely. - Todd, who'd rather see SOB end up as firewood

I think the line is coming from a capacity issue as well. I can tell you that on my experience Friday night, I waited from just outside the station.....heading down the final ramp up. It took us about 40 minutes to actually get on and ride. You do the math, that wasn't a long line. But I agree though, I'd think that the line would be longer. - Todd

I gotta agree with Interpreter in the fact that its going to take some time to call these modifications a success on SOB. We have been promised a new an improved SOB many times in the past. Typically, it IS better when it reopens....but quickly falls back to its former, nearly unrideable condition. The ride *is* better, not saying that, I just expected a bit more......especially in the Rosebowl considering that section is where the problem was in the first place. I gotta say though, the final turn was FAR more enjoyable this time around and quite smooth. Second helix is still a snoozefest though. I'm also confused as to where this new airtime on the ride is? I rode the back seat and got no more air than I have in the past.....it was only smoother this time. - Todd

Well, thats because its true. For all you know, these modifications to SOB are going to fail tremendously (and from how flippin' rough the rosebowl was last night, I'm not convinced the ride is fixed). With that said, Interpreter is right. SOB was hands down the roughest wood coaster period. Actually, Ohio in general is home to MANY of the roughest wood coasters. Mean Streak sucks. Beast ran like crap on my last ride and lets not even dive into Racer. Wood coasters provide a rougher ride than steelies, yes, but not to the point where its uncomfortable to ride. Go take a spin on Voyage. Its not that much shorter in height than SOB, its only about 300 feet shy of being as long, and its nearly as fast. Yet, I can decide to ride in any seat I want and still get a comfortable ride. As for being man enough to handle Son of Beast, get a grip dude. If you like having every internal organ in your body jostled out of place, more power to you. - Todd

I agree. At least it *seems* MaXair swings quite a bit higher than Delirium. I DEFINITELY has a longer cycle and has a few more swings. To me, Delirium just hasn't been the same since the incident a few years ago. It sure doesn't ride the same, with the jerky transitions going from swing to swing. - Todd

I'm glad they at least got the ride open. I'm very curious to check out the experience. With that sad, no one should put all their eggs in one basket just yet. Remember, many times SOB has re-opened to smooth and somewhat good reviews, only to fall by the wayside. It'll be interesting to see what happens.....you should have a pretty good idea by the end of the season how the new trains are going to treat it. - Todd, off to Cedar Point today for some Maverick but hopefully to KI tomorrow to check out SOB