LongLiveTheSmurfRide

I don't think 100 laps on SOB is possible. I helped set-up the Gemini 100 out at Cedar Point which (obviously) was an event to get 100 rides on their ride the Gemini which has much shorter ride and load times and the people doing it just barely got 100 rides on it before the park's closing. I mean, you can give it a shot, but I don't think it's possible.

Yeah, when I meant "clone" I meant something exactly like another park. So if Face-Off was the first to have seats facing both ways, I don't consider it a clone. In that respect, I wouldn't mind KI getting something just like MF, as long as it doesn't have the exact same track layout. I mean, one could argue that B&M inverts are really just clones, like the difference between the Raptor, Batman: The Ride (just one of them) and Talon. They all have basically the same elements and types of inversions, but they're each different in some way (size, total inversions, speed) so I wouldn't call them clones. Just the same types. So I really wouldn't mind B&M or Intamin coming in and making a type of coaster that isn't a prototype, as long as it wasn't the exact copy of another coaster. *edit* To make myself clear, I do consider all the Batman: The Ride coasters at the Six Flags parks clones. I was just using the idea of one of them in comparison to Raptor and Talon. *end edit*

Has KI ever actually "cloned" a coaster before? I know they've built coasters that have been cloned at other Paramount parks after KI built them first, but have they ever built a coaster that has been done the exact same way as anywhere else before them?

I usually stay near the back of the train, myself. The first ride I took was in the second car from the back and I believe that was the most air I'd ever gotten. It really does depend on the speed though. If the train you're on is slow, you'll just coast over that second hill after the tunnel like it's nothing and you'll get no air. I do agree though that I have had rides where there wasn't much airtime. But like I said, it was usually chilly out. And I'm sure age will slow the coaster down a bit and kill some of the air too.

MF has quite a lot more air than The Beast. The big hill after the overbanked turn is almost all airtime. I guess it's depending when you ride it. During the summer when the ride is at its fastest and it books it over that hill it's got longer air than any one dip on Maggie. When I ride it in the fall months and the weather chills out I don't seem to get that same air though. Then there's the hill on the return, and then of course you've got that little bunnyhop at the end of the coaster which gives plenty. Sure it's no Maggie, and I'm not saying it gives "massive" air, but I think you're going a little overboard when you say it has little more than the airless Beast.

I haven't ridden the train in a while, but it used to have a scene you passed where Indians were attacking and there was a gun fight (all statues). It was kind of neat and made the train ride kind of exciting.

That's probably when I saw it too, hehe.

I miss being able to park in the front row without paying for premium parking.

I don't know if anyone here knows the answer, but I remember not long after they took Flight Commander down they had a sign at the Flight Commander site saying, "A new attraction is dropping in here next season. Of course, the next season nothing happened, but then I believe the following season is when they put Drop Zone in. Was that Flight Commander spot where they originally were going to put Drop Zone? I remember thinking that sign hinted at some kind of freefall ride, but nothing came of it until a few seasons later when they put that pay-to-play trampoline thing there.

I miss the Scooby Doo house of mirrors. I miss being able to walk up the Eiffel Tower stairs. I miss WinterFest. And I miss being able to walk correctly since riding the SOB.

I like the outside a little better than the inside. At least it's something to look at while in line. The signs for the diner are really pretty cool.

I just hope they make it something special. I mean, throw an old jutebox and tv set in there and some pictures of Happy Days stuff on the walls and I might as well be in a place like Johnny Rockets. I hope there is actually going to be more to it. Does anyone have any of the conceptual design pics on the net or a pic of the one at PKD?

I agree that the map looks more confusing. If I was new to a park I'd rather see what was listed in the actual area I was in or near than trying to find things alphabetically. I mean, according to their alphabetical listing there's only one LaRosa's pizza and it's on International Street. Sure, if you're not in the park yet, it's cool to see everything listed in a neat order like this, but when you're there and running from ride to ride and you're trying to find what's close to you quickly, this is not the way to go. I can't imagine if a park like Disney with triple the amount of attractions and shops as PKI would arrange their park map like this. It'd take forever to find what you were looking for.

I found a pretty cool beer stein, well it's beer stein-like, it doesn't have the lid. Anyway, I got it on e-bay and gave it to my little brother for his birthday last year. It's from the KI days, though I'm not sure of when it would have been sold there. I'm sure it must've been an Oktoberfest item, and it appears to have been numbered on the bottom. A friend at work who collects steins says it was made by a recognized stein maker in Germany because he had his initials carved in the underside. It really doesn't have much that would distinguish it as something from Kings Island except for a metallic blue Kings Island logo on one side with mainly German origin paintings and carvings around the rest of it. It’s about 12 or 13 inches tall and the handle has a nice design to it also. I'll try to find a picture of it to post, or maybe grab it from my brother some day and get a pic, but he's all the way in Oklahoma with it right now. But that's my little something to add to the conversation.

Though I like the old school eagle paint job, I can't really fault the way it looks now. I think they did a pretty good job making the ride look like it could be something new that'll attract attention. I mean, besides the simplicity of it, with that paint job it looks like a new ride. I'm seriously glad they never gave it a paint job like that when it was here or there would be a line of kids waiting to ride stretching all the way to The Beast. I'm glad that the folks who run that site are having as much fun on them as we did. And I want one of those Flying Dutchman Revenge rides.

The flying eag...I mean, The Beast. Ask me again in 2 years when they get that B&M invert. Then again, it'll probably still be The Beast.

Woohoo!

Can't they put it on layaway?

I see this all as a positive if one of the two buy PKI. If Universal buys it, perhaps they'll use their insane attention to detail to really make it a top notch theme park. And if Cedar Fair buys it, perhaps they'll toss out the theming and focus more on the rides themselves and how to make them fun, not how they fit into a special type of theming. Either way I'd say we win. That is unless Six Flags buy them.

Actually, when I think of a dark ride anymore, the first thing that pops into my mind is something like the Indiana Jones ride out at Disneyland in California. It's the best dark ride I've ever ridden. I haven't ridden the Spiderman ride down at Universal Studio IOA, so I can't compair them. But that is the next generation of dark ride. Fast and fun. I don't think they have to be slow and all about going through a few rooms of scenes anymore. The new dark rides can be just as fun and unexpected as a rollercoaster.

I know MGM bought some of the rights to a lot of movies, including Raiders. In fact on Paramount's site they state that the majority of sound films made by Paramount before 1950 were purchased by MGM. I wonder if they got a hand in some of those others that are in the Great Movie Ride there. In any case, I would rather Paramount do a ride showcasing only their movies. And I mean the good ones unlike other movies *coughtombraidercough*

From their website here's a small list of movies they could display scenes or clips from: The Ten Commandments, White Christmas, Shane, Psycho, Romeo and Juliet, True Grit, The Godfather films, Ordinary People, Reds, Terms of Endearment, Saturday Night Fever, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Beverly Hills Cop, Ghost, The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, the Star Trek movies, Indecent Proposal, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, Mission Impossible, Waynes World, The Addams Family and Titanic.

I'd rather see a vampire than nothing in 06.

They could always do something like MGM Studios has with their Great Movie Ride where you ride through scenes from multiple famous movies by the studio. I think that'd be neat. I love the MGM one, and if Paramount could do something like that, though they don't have nearly as many classics as MGM, they might be able to boost people's appreciation for their history.

What's wrong with using No Limits? You can make a 3D coaster design with it and take pictures and whatnot.