That looks fun.

That... is a deceptive, murderous torture device from the depths of Hades. I used to think those looked like fun, too.

I don't have asthma, but Berzerker at Kings Dominion made me experience it. And then I got to experience it upside down.

It gave me a drastically improved appreciation for Viking Fury.

I concur. You forgot painful.

I went on it with friends, "common it'll be fun they said....."

Are they still friends?

Some, not so much.

I rather liked the two I've been on. Too bad Canada's Wonderland doesn't have theirs anymore, chugh43. I owe you for getting me to try Mean Streak again last year.

Lol Gator, you can get me on Canada's Wonderland's TOGO stand-up. That'll get me back!

^Hopefully I fit on it. I loved King Cobra, but didn't ride SkyRider when I went in '96 & '97 because it was a KC clone, and we still had KC at home. Now that KC's gone, I wouldn't mind experiencing something like it again. I missed out on Shockwave at KD for the same reason.

And, though close, SkyRider isn't a King Cobra clone. I wish it were, but for the quality of steel used in fabrication.

Shockwave and SkyRider aren't identical, either, for that matter.

I unfortunately never rode, King Cobra. Gator, either way, I feel you'll get me back somehow.

And, though close, SkyRider isn't a King Cobra clone. I wish it were, but for the quality of steel used in fabrication.

Shockwave and SkyRider aren't identical, either, for that matter.

Could have fooled me, the layouts seem identical to me! Shockwave is definitely different though.

And, though close, SkyRider isn't a King Cobra clone. I wish it were, but for the quality of steel used in fabrication.

Shockwave and SkyRider aren't identical, either, for that matter.

I've learned that in the years since. At the time that I visited those parks, I considered them clones so I didn't ride them.

Even exact clones often ride differently. I've had VERY different ride experiences on otherwise identical Batman: The Rides, for example. Or Jetstars. Galaxis. Firehawk vs. Batwing. Invertigo vs. Two Face: The Flip Side. And so on.

^Indeed...Take the Vekoma Boomerang at Geauga Lake..I actually loved that thing. Take the one at SF:FT..rough rough rough

Vekoma SLC clones differ as well. Serial Thriller / Thunderhawk at Geauga Lake was tolerable, others not so much. There are clones that ride the same however, Zamperla flyer are all equally as painful.

Edited January 28, 201412 yr by PhantomTheater

Wasn't sure where to put this.....

So I'll spin it to fulfill the thread idea. I would love for something like this would come back to KI, but a much updated version.....I found this on Facebook and figured I'd share.

The story of "Sky Pilot"
During the fall of 1988 a contingent of KD brass traveled to Germany to view a prototype of a new style of ride that was mechanically interactive, that lifted guests 90 feet in the air, raised and lowered them on an arm and spun them 360 degrees in either direction, all via a joystick located between the two seats. Impressed, the brass returned, announced the ride was a winner, and within a few months construction and maintenance prepared for the arrival of what to be the newest addition to Candy Apple Grove – the Sky Pilot.

For some bizarre reason, the Sky Pilot was one of the heaviest free-standing flat rides ever built until the Drop Tower came along. The existing concrete pad that formerly held the Apple Turnover was inadequate for the weight of the new attraction, so a device called a whiphammer was brought in the break it up. It was basically a giant articulating sledgehammer mounted on the back of a loader. The head of the hammer was solid steel, and the size of a 50-gallon barrel. The operator raised it, and when it slammed down it shattered the 12” reinforced concrete so handily one could actually see the shockwaves from the impact.

Construction went fairly uneventfully. During that winter, while the center post was being installed, one of the pods and its drive unit came from Intamin, and the maintenance staff rigged it up to an arm inside the maintenance shop so VIPs and other office staff could come over, climb inside and get the experience of being inside what most compared to a very slow clothes dryer. I recall two young ladies from marketing coming over in their skirts, and the smiles on the faces of the maintenance guys when the pod turned them upside down.

Once constructed it became obvious very quickly that the pods had to be covered with canopies to staunch the deluge of coins and wallets, as well as other personal belongings (and the occasional hurl) falling below while the ride was in operation. An Intamin engineer named Fritz came to KD to supervise the installation of aluminum-framed Lexan canopies that originally were pneumatically connected from the operator’s panel.

Each Individual canopy was controlled by a small electronic control panel mounted in the nose of each pod. The open and close speed adjustments were notoriously fickle. More than once a canopy slammed down on the hand or head of a mechanic deftly trying to fine-tune the mechanism with the acuity of a safecracker.The canopies arrived as solid pieces with no ventilation, sealing the riders like a clear can of mixed nuts. Determining that it was a bad idea to raise, lower and spin guests in a sealed, un-ventilated, non-draining environment, a hole pattern had to be devised, and mechanics drilled several 1” holes in the extremely expansive Lexan to retain air, wallets and coins in, and any liquid waste material out.

Eventually the automatic open and close mechanisms in the pods were taken out, and operators raised and lowered them manually to allow guest ingress and egress. The automatic controls were just much trouble to keep from pinching fingers or decapitating someone. The main ride had two large motors – one to lift the tower and another to rotate the center. The lift motor was placed inexplicably inside the center tube, and when it broke down one pre-season only the skinniest mechanic in the department could slither inside the claustrophobic tube, disassemble the motor in pieces and hoist them out until he could reach the problem. He came out coated head to toe in black grease.

Once assembled, the guests rode and controlled the raising, lowering and rotating via a joystick mounted between the two seats. It became apparent soon that the joysticks broke off very easily. Later that season a very small but almost unbreakable nub of a control stick was installed.
The ride proved to be mechanically reliable and enjoyed by many season at KD.

From KD Golden Years Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=360370077437083&set=a.232180120256080.1073741829.229513350522757&type=1

I would bring Pirates of the Caribbean from Disneyland to Kings Island. I would place it wherever there would be room for it.

Since we said anywhere, and nothing about realistic ideas, I pick Millennium Force!

BB7, thinking on the bright side.

Disney's Haunted Mansion, in the Boo Blasters building with an I-Street entrance by Starbucks.

Jaws from universal Orlando, put it in WWC (Although i actually like WWC). Could put the raft on tracks, and have jaws coming after you maybe?

I'd pick either Bizarro (SFNE) or I305.

Ihu's Breakaway Falls from Aquatica Orlando

Even though we don't even remotely have the terrain to suit it, my completely unrealistic fantasy version of Kings Island would have Phantom's Revenge or Magnum XL-200 instead of Diamondback.

Or heck, even in addition to Diamondback. Not like it matters much, because if I had either of those, I can assure you, I'd forget Diamondback is even there

I want I305 mainly because that coaster is number one on my bucket list to ride.

Falcon's Fury to Kings Island

To be honest, most of the rides I'd like to see at Kings Island are overseas, thus don't exactly pertain to this thread.

If you really want something out of me, I'd probably choose Storm Runner, Thunderhead, any Mack/Gerstlauer spinning coaster or wild mouse, any B&M floorless or stand up coaster which uses 3 trains, or Outlaw Run.

Nearest Dive Machine.

Nearest Dive Machine.

Let's go Griffon!

X² would be special.