2 hours ago, McSalsa said:

To be fair, the 6-bench rule held true (from what I have heard) even for Son of Beast

 

I tried that on Son of Beast (I rode it a ton in its original form between 2000 and 2006, with the Premier trains and loop) and it wasn't true in the slightest.  Other than testing that theory a handful of times, the only 2 'comfortable' seats, and the only rows I chose to ride it, were 1-1 and 1-2.  

EDIT: BTW, even then, I could only tolerate riding it once, maybe twice, a visit, and that was in my teenage years and as healthy as ever. 

7 hours ago, McSalsa said:

.

BTW, I have learned that the middle row of ANY coaster with 3-row cars is usually smoother. Woodies like Blue Streak, Racer, and Beast are all smoother of course but even Arrow Mine Train Type Cars (Used on Adventure Express, Cedar Creek Mine Ride, Gemini, and even Magnum XL-200 oddly) all gave me smoother rides from the middle row.

 

I agree.  On the steel coasters and mine trains also. I always try to get a middle row seat.   

After not riding the coaster for several years, we did a mini marathon on it one day this summer.   It had no wait, and we did choose a middle seat everytime, but got some of the best rides i have ever gotten on it..

Maybe it was the weather, misting, very light rain,  wasnt the biggest, baddest, ect...but was tons of fun.  Fell in love with it again lol.  Happy to see some Racer tlc.

On ‎1‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 2:17 PM, beastfan11 said:

Now is the time for that original paint scheme!

HOLY SMOKES YYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOMEONE WHO ACTUALLY AGREES WITH THE RETURN OF RACER'S ORIGINAL PAINT SCHEME!!!!

I wasn't expecting so much Son of Beast talk in The Racer thread   ..I think Racer > Son of Beast. Glad they are restoring classic ride.

On 1/9/2019 at 6:22 PM, Klabergian Empire said:

HOLY SMOKES YYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOMEONE WHO ACTUALLY AGREES WITH THE RETURN OF RACER'S ORIGINAL PAINT SCHEME!!!!

The problem is that most people on here don’t remember the original paint scheme. Most that saw it would agree with you.

I don't remember seeing the original. Just a few pictures online. I would be all for a new lighting package, and the original paint job.

I would also love to see a brake system at the top of the lift hill, so both trains go down the hill at the same time. It has seemed so out of time recently. 

On 1/5/2019 at 5:24 PM, silver2005 said:

I tried that on Son of Beast (I rode it a ton in its original form between 2000 and 2006, with the Premier trains and loop) and it wasn't true in the slightest.  Other than testing that theory a handful of times, the only 2 'comfortable' seats, and the only rows I chose to ride it, were 1-1 and 1-2.  

EDIT: BTW, even then, I could only tolerate riding it once, maybe twice, a visit, and that was in my teenage years and as healthy as ever. 

I was able to ride Son  of Beast without issue.  The ride never really gave me any issues.  It is strange how to some its the roughest thing ever and to anther its not so bad.  

On 1/3/2019 at 3:17 PM, Hampshire24 said:

I wonder why they didn't include this in their announcements this summer?

I would think this would have been a perfect pairing to announce with the Antique Cars. Kind of like a Coney Mall Makeover with the BBQ, Cars, and Racer Re-Track.

Maybe they thought this would overshadow the Antique Cars announcement?

Imo a restaurant opening in the freakin waterpark would overshadow antique cars. lol

It's my understanding that only the turnaround of the blue side is being retracked. The media coverage seems to be giving folks the impression that the entirety of the coaster is being retracked. I think a lot of guests are going to be disappointed next season when they find out that isn't the case. Should the park clarify things before opening day?

 

9 hours ago, 139Signal27 said:

Should the park clarify things before opening day?

The park did clarify with a blog post.

https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2019/january/new-track-part-of-racer-roller-coasters-annual-winter-work

I agree though that the media has a habit of hyping people up more than needed. 

4 hours ago, sixohdieselrage said:

I agree though that the media has a habit of hyping people up more than needed. 

The general public has a way of overhyping themselves. The media usually gets all the blame and, don't get me wrong, they do deserve some. But at the same time, a lot of people don't bother to cross reference articles, check for validity of source, or, in most cases, read past the headlines. 

I think the hype worked out well regardless.  Most of my GP friends I've talked to about this are pretty pleased Racer is getting some TLC, even if the retracking isn't as much as initially thought.  I think the public wants Racer to be good and understand it'll take more than one off-season to get it back to being more comfortable despite the media leaving that out.  Though, as I've stated before, I thought Racer was running pretty well this past season.  

51 minutes ago, Joshua said:

The general public has a way of overhyping themselves. The media usually gets all the blame and, don't get me wrong, they do deserve some. But at the same time, a lot of people don't bother to cross reference articles, check for validity of source, or, in most cases, read past the headlines. 

Oh, I fully agree with you, but when they report stupid crap, like the SoB revival "teasers", it puts the GP into a hype train that isnt needed. 

@silver2005 Agreed about The Racer. But, keep in mind, as we all know, the GP isnt as informed as we are. 

2 minutes ago, sixohdieselrage said:

Oh, I fully agree with you, but when they report stupid crap, like the SoB revival "teasers", it puts the GP into a hype train that isnt needed. 

The tiniest thing sends folks into a theory frenzy. I imagine if KI's Instagram page posted a historic photo of, say, Kenton's Kove, the comments would light up with speculations, like "OMG! KI is bringing back the Keelboats!" Then the bloggers chime in. And the Youtubers. Then come the "Is Kings Island Bringing It Back?" articles. It's a madhouse, I say!  

Quote

But, keep in mind, as we all know, the GP isnt as informed as we are. 

It blows my mind that I still hear that "Vortex is sinking!" myth. I've heard that one since the 90s. 

@Joshua "OMG! KI is bringing back the Keelboats!"...heading over to FB to post the news now...thanks for the heads-up!   

I wonder if part of the reason they are not working on the Red side this year is because of the Antiques being in construction right now.  Maybe next year they will work on the Red side.

13 hours ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

 

The park did clarify with a blog post.

Right, but your average guest isn't reading blog posts. I'm just talking about your casual visitor that just so happened to hear thr story on the news. I'm just wondering if it's worth the park's time to do a little more, or is any perception good perception?

 

8 hours ago, Joshua said:

But at the same time, a lot of people don't bother to cross reference articles, check for validity of source, or, in most cases, read past the headlines. 

Lol that's very true. There probably isn't much the park can do to fix that.

On 1/11/2019 at 12:06 PM, sixohdieselrage said:

I don't remember seeing the original. Just a few pictures online. I would be all for a new lighting package, and the original paint job.

I would also love to see a brake system at the top of the lift hill, so both trains go down the hill at the same time. It has seemed so out of time recently. 

There was not much racing this year.   One side always got to the lift hill first and it was over.     One of the best parts of the ride is the slide by slide speed of the initial hills, but it failed to run together to produce that.  

What any racing coaster really needs is a sensor that adjusts lift hill speed so they both reach the top at the same time.  

2019 tip #1 - ride the blue side of Racer for a smoother ride.  Got it! 

14 hours ago, 139Signal27 said:

Right, but your average guest isn't reading blog posts. I'm just talking about your casual visitor that just so happened to hear thr story on the news. I'm just wondering if it's worth the park's time to do a little more, or is any perception good perception?

 

Lol that's very true. There probably isn't much the park can do to fix that.

The average guest isn't following John Matterise either, nor watching the channel 9 news in general.

 

The average guest won't be disappointed because the average guest won't even know that anything was done over the off season.  The won't realize it before they ride, while they ride or after they ride; the average guest will look at their park map and wonder "what next".   We are not the average guest.

The Racer has been running well all season, but rides this fall have been particularly impressive. Blue Racer has a slight edge, but both Red and Blue have been delivering lots of airtime these past two weekends.

I highly recommend riding both sides when visiting Haunt this year.

3 minutes ago, malem said:

The Racer has been running well all season, but rides this fall have been particularly impressive. Blue Racer has a slight edge, but both Red and Blue have been delivering lots of airtime these past two weekends.

I highly recommend riding both sides when visiting Haunt this year.

It was running noticeably forcefully last night. Tons of floater air, which you don’t normally get.

Check it out:

Ignore the 49 instances of floater. For some reason the app misread that. 
 

Disclosure: this is an Apple Watch app. I did not have my phone out on a ride.

Rode the blue in the middle of the rear car and it gave a great ride. Rode the same spot on the red and it was atrocious. 

I wouldn't be surprised to see Red get some retracking love this offseason followed by a paint job back to the original look prior to the 50th anniversary.