DBru

The first one...besides Kentucky Rumbler, Thunderhead, and American Thunder.

As others have said, Kings Island just has so many of these mediocre coasters. There are so many "medium thrill rides" and a true lack of really exciting coasters for a park of this size. As KI posted on Twitter, this combines the best aspects (debatable) of The Beast and Racer...but we've already ridden The Beast and Racer, so why not bring us something completely different? Sure, Carowinds, Canada's Wonderland, Hersheypark, etc. built new coasters similar to their existing attractions, but those additions were taller, faster, and longer...KI is building something smaller, slower, and shorter--with the same height restriction. It would be like Holiday World building The Voyage first, and then a few decades later announcing Raven. I can hear the marketing team receiving the original plans now: "Well shit. What are we supposed to do with this?" "Uh...put a box at the end and tell them there's something cool in there. We'll come up with the rest later." Also, why does GCI continually butcher the best element a coaster can offer? These wide, turning first drops are such a waste.

^That coaster is fascinating!

I believe the "big" part of the Star Chaser hangar is still vacant. I'd love to see a compact indoor coaster placed in there again.

Wait...Zoombabwe had been running with 6-person rafts? Since when?!

^I noticed both of these issues yesterday, too. I kept thinking, "how has no one cared to fix this, yet?"

Cedar Point uses turnstiles at the entrance of every station to count riders. We would collect the number on the turnstile every hour and total them at the end of every day to get the number of riders. I know Raven and Legend used to use turnstiles, but I can't remember if they still do. I don't believe the Voyage ever used a turnstile. I'm guessing they count the number of empty seats every train and subtract that from 28x the number of dispatches each hour/day.

I would actually suggest avoiding the first car of the train all-together if you're looking for a less painful return-run. I always suggest the second-to-last row of the train for the most enjoyable ride on Magnum. Wonderful airtime on the first half of the coaster and crazy yet toned-down airtime on the bunny hills.

This is one of the most confusing statements I've ever seen made on this site. Lol. I would rank those awful staple-happy lap bars right down there with the horrid B&M vests that still lock.

I got in The Wave yesterday, and overheard someone say "Those people are still stuck on The Voyage!". I looked up and a full train was stopped at the end, right before going back into the station. I am not sure how long they had been there at that point, but it was at least another 5 - 10 minutes before they moved into the station. Then some empty trains were sent out. I probably wouldn't even have noticed it if I didn't hear someone else mention it, and not sure how long it was down because I got distracted enjoying Splashin' Safari. We left Splashin' Safari a little before 6 and decided to head to Thanksgiving to get a pretzel. The pretzel stand ended up being closed, but I noticed someone in a yellow shirt standing where The Voyage goes over the walkway into Thanksgiving and looking up at the brakes or track or something every time a train passed over. It looked like he was keeping track of something, but also kind of trying to pretend like he wasn't doing anything. The Voyage was running normally at the time, with people riding, so I don't think anything was wrong. But that area could have possibly been what caused it to be down earlier in the day. My friend was on the second train, stopped out on the MCBR. She just said they came to a sudden stop and were out there for about 20 minutes.

But what if the REAL April Fools joke is that it ISN'T a joke! (We'll see in a few months...)

I wish all dive loops and Immelmanns were designed with entrances and exits like this. That shaping looks incredible and should provide some really whacky, fun airtime.

The outward banked turn on The Voyage is my very least favorite part of that ride. I hope they've decided to leave it out of this one.

The thing is that they can only hire as many people who apply. A lot of parks struggle to find enough employees to fill positions in the early parts of the season...even if they have the budget and desire to hire more.

I believe all of the WonderWorks museum's fit into this category! They mostly cater to a younger audience but some of the exhibits/rides are really fun. I've been to the locations in Pigeon Forge and Panama City. The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is giant and features some really cool exhibits and a few motion simulators.

What a cute little overbank.

Interesting how with Shoot the Rapids coming down, this is the second modern Intamin flume ride to be removed after operating for only 5 seasons (the other being Pilgrim's Plunge). Talk about a failed product... Are there other examples of this kind of situation happening with another ride type? Maybe the HUSS Topple Towers?

^Great catch! Holiday World also recently tweeted, "I've found it's easier to just click "add to dictionary" a lot this time of year," which almost certainly means something else new is coming. And don't forget the, "Should we put it here...or here?" post from late last year. I'd say a Zamperla Samba Tower (or something very similar to what you posted above) is a pretty safe bet after that last hint. http://www.zamperla.com/products/samba-tower/#!

Pshht, Cedar Point? Who wants to work there? I'm kidding, of course. Congratulations, you're going to have a blast! Let me know if you have any questions (that aren't just common sense)!

Thanks guys! The show will run the first three weekends in May, at 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 2pm on Sunday. The Woodford Theatre really is quite a gem in its central Kentucky location! You can get tickets on the theatre's website if you're interested. (But if you call to purchase tickets, you don't have to pay the online service charge.)

"Hey sexy, you wanna go for a ride tonight? " "At Kings Island, I mean."

One year ago today, I was offered the position of Supervisor of Magnum XL-200 at Cedar Point for 2015. I'm sure going to miss my molly orange baby this summer!

I've recently been cast as Corny Collins in the spring production of Hairspray at the Woodford Theatre in Kentucky! I've always been a big fan of this show and role, so I'm incredibly excited to get started with rehearsals next month. If anyone's going to be in the area in May, let me know!

^Agreed. It was a beautiful film, but I found myself saying, "Oh, come on..." way too many times.

I'd be really interested in hearing why they went with the 24-passenger trains rather than 30. I'd also be interested in knowing what kind of specifications Cedar Point approached B&M with. (Did they specifically want a dive coaster? A certain height? Specific number of inversions? Train/restraint requirements?)