itsasamccormick

I was stuck on the Green Lantern at SFMM when my family was visiting on a vacation. I know way back when it first opened it had a problem with locking the car back into place once it was going into the station. Long story short, the cart kept going in place and then releasing itself probably about 20 times. It was weird, because after the fourth or fifth time the speakers automatically told the queue lines the ride was experience a technical difficulty and would reopen soon. It wasn't too long of a process, probably around ten minutes. Last year the platform on Delirium at Kings Island wouldn't come up and it forced us to sit on the ride for about twenty minutes. I have never in my life seen so many managers from the park standing all around and interacting with the guests. Some of them even fooled with the panel trying to get the platform up before maintenance came. Kings Island's response was awesome. And finally, after waiting all of my life, I got stopped on a lift hill. It happened right after opening on GateKeeper one morning in July. Some smart person decided to get their phone out. I credit the ride operators for their attention and quick response. And while some people were yelling at the ride operator as she came to get the phone, I was happy. It was nice to see them keeping everyone else safe when it comes to idiots pulling out their phone. We were probably about 2/3 the way up the hill, and the whole process took about five minutes.

Forgive me if this has already been posted about, but I wanted to throw an idea out there about the entire Mantis transformations. If any part of the track was actually changed , I would really love to see the drop redone to become more steep. If that didn't happen I would at least hope the trim break might be removed... I think this would be the best area of the ride to change and would make the ride much more exciting. Looking forward to seeing whatever comes of this!

I'll gladly be in the minority that says this ride looks AWESOME! I've watched the POV countless times, and I'm so tempted to make the trip to Carowinds someday soon! I love B&M. The speed of this ride alone makes me so excited- if they've made it to 95 mph why stop there? The color of the track is also very awesome. I love the underbelly color- it is such an awesome compliment to the ride. I've seen people ask this same question on this thread but I didn't know if anyone knew why B&M uses the 4-across seats on their giga coasters? I guess the only B&M giga coasters are at parks that also have hypers, so I guess it could be a way to differentate the two from each other. I think the ride would be even more wild with the newer style seats. I'll hold out some hope that in three years or so we see Kings Island's entrance redone with a 350 foot B&M giga that goes 105! As crazy as that sounds, I'm sure Kings Island will get a giga if this coaster proves successful.

When I visited yesterday, I noticed the same thing. To start, there is a sign posted near the entrance that was screwed in (clearly showing it wasn't a one day deal), that said "The Legend will operate with one train today". I thought it was kind of weird not to see another train on the transfer track. We had to wait a solid 25-30 minutes on a ride that would had been a walk on. Not realizing until reading what you said, I didn't know it was as serious. I asked one of the supervisors on the raven and she said it was on a one train operation for maintenance. I wonder what the issue could be with the train?

Can anyone tell me how the unlimited drink special works when you buy the ticket with it? We're ordering those off of the website for tomorrow. (tickets at Meijer are 49.99, but online you can get a ticket for the same price with "unlimited" drinks) Is is like a wristband? And where all can you get drinks from? I appreciate any information you guys have about the program!

Not to backtrack here, but I really hope that the park will either use the Pilgrim's Plunge splash area or the building itself... Either that or remove the building and remaining pool area all together. I really doubt the park will leave the former ride area intact with such a massive new ride next to it. Excited for Thursday- we will know everything in a few short days! I really wanted to attend the media day, but I'm going to Cedar Point instead!

I haven't had a chance to chime in yet, but I have been actively reading up on this thread and the 66 days at sea website! I'm really excited to see that Holiday World is finally getting a new roller coaster. I'm really surprised that with the success of the Voyage it took so long to build another coaster. I was surprised there wasn't a coaster built around 2011-2012, but the focus that was placed onto the water park was worthwhile in my opinion. I've always loved following coaster construction. Seeing something as small as the land clearing at the start of Kings Island's season last year to the Banshee now is just amazing. I'm going to take a minute and comment on the B&M discussion. I have always enjoyed coasters made by B&M, and I don't understand what isn't to love about them. I think that we really forget they are considered the Mercedes Benz of coasters (I myself forgot that analogy until I watched the video posted in this thread). I find myself slightly confused at the people who say they aren't excited about the possibilty Holiday World is adding a coaster made by them. Sure there is the never ending argument that their coasters lack intensity or the company lacks the willingness to take chances (as compared to other manufactures). However, i think that we may be seeing a change inside B&M. It wasn't until Leviathan that they changed their 230' height that they built at for years. And after riding Banshee, I would find it hard to believe that people would say their newer rides aren't intense. That ride is almost too intense for me, it is simply amazing. B&M has everything Holiday World could ask for. A proven safety record, nearly guaranteed reliability, and the ability to seat four to a row on most of their rides, which could add to the family appeal.Their latest rides, in my opinion, have been amazing. I open my arms wide to the fact that Holiday World could be adding a B&M. The only thing that really makes me second guess a B&M would simply be the cost of the ride. I know that so far we know the budget is somewhere around 13.5 million or more (please don't quote me on that). However, I do believe that their newer, larger rides generally range from 22-28 million, which is a number that I can't see Holiday World dropping on a single coaster. Doing some more research, I noticed that RCDB lists SheiKra as costing 13.5 million, which generally surprised me. I can't begin to fathom the style of coaster they are building, but I don't think a dive coaster shouldn't be completely ruled out. Granted, as I type that out I begin to second guess myself on it being a dive coaster. Who knows. I can't wait in the days to come for our guess to be answered. I cast doubt on the fact that this could be a new design, or something that hasn't been completely proven to work. After Pilgrim's Plunge, it just doesn't seem like the smartest thing. Then again, I am a nobody when it comes to their decision on what is coming. I am hopeful this new ride will embrace the area left vacant by PP, so that the area doesn't seem to be missing something.

This is completely opinion-based, however I would be very surprised to see if SFMM's rides each received less than an "A". Safety is always a top priority, and I really think that all parks (especially chain parks) strive for complete safety. Plus, the parks would receive plenty of time to prepare for an inspection and would most likely receive a pre operational inspection; where the inspector will simple note everything that needs to be completed before they'll complete a real inspection. (Please note- this is based solely on what I know of food establishment inspections in my home state, I'm well aware it would be different with rides) I think that inspections like this would be a great thing. It would really give the park something to strive for- receiving all A rankings. It would be very bad PR to have a sign posted saying "This ride received a C ranking upon last inspection by CalOSHA" I know I'd think twice about riding! This is a great concept, maybe one day we'll see it in action. But that shouldn't happen because don't most parks, if not all, have inspectors check the rides every morning too make sure they're safe. And if the ride doesn't pass the inspection, they won't open it that day. If that's what they do, you would assume that all rides would get an 'A', or at least a 'B'. This make be a little contradicting to my last post, but it's still something important I'd like to highlight. I'm a manager at a local fast food restaurant with food safety training. Each day, we complete a checklist of the store to make sure everything is up to standards, and that we are in complete compliance with regulatory requirements. I know without a doubt, even if I completed the checklist to the best of my abilities I would still miss many things than an inspector would not. The problem with internal inspections (while still being very helpful), is the simple fact that they're being done internally. If the state changed or revamped its inspection policy, they wouldn't be seeing things from the parks eyes. They're simply looking out for each and every thing that is not to code. The top priority of an internal inspection is to make sure that, by the end of the day, your rides are safe and opened to guests. An external inspector doesn't see things that way. In a better sense, all they look for is that the ride is safe and you aren't violating any rules. They don't have that feeling in the back of their head that this ride needs to be (or restaurant if you're following that way) open to the public. I have complete faith in Six Flags keeping their rides safe to everyone, however sometimes internal and external inspectors can see things in two completely different lights.

Great point, however, if the new evac procedure was really as effective as they claim it to be, they would be able to get the ride down quickly. I feel like the first few times they were so unprepared. (leaving them stranded that long tells me nothing they had previously planned for had been effective.) If they were able to get the riders down within 20-30 minutes, the media would (I pray ) be less inclined to tell the story since it would be nothing more than a standard evacuation that could happen on any ride. I do understand how bad the ride really looks and sounds to those in SoCal, but even the worst public images can be changed with work.

This is completely opinion-based, however I would be very surprised to see if SFMM's rides each received less than an "A". Safety is always a top priority, and I really think that all parks (especially chain parks) strive for complete safety. Plus, the parks would receive plenty of time to prepare for an inspection and would most likely receive a pre operational inspection; where the inspector will simple note everything that needs to be completed before they'll complete a real inspection. (Please note- this is based solely on what I know of food establishment inspections in my home state, I'm well aware it would be different with rides) I think that inspections like this would be a great thing. It would really give the park something to strive for- receiving all A rankings. It would be very bad PR to have a sign posted saying "This ride received a C ranking upon last inspection by CalOSHA" I know I'd think twice about riding! This is a great concept, maybe one day we'll see it in action.

This whole situation really irritates me... As a PR student with ambitions to one day work in the amusement park field, I'm going to post a few of my rambles... First I feel that Worlds of Fun could have been much, much more effective when talking about the rides relocation, and the reasoning for the ride's troubled past. Would I have mentioned that CalOSHA wouldn't approve the ride? No. Would I have highlighted the extensive effort behind Cedar Fair's work to make sure they're safe? Absolutely. I feel that even if the park would have been given 30 seconds to speak of how the evacuation procedures were reviewed and changed it would have made them look 4000% better. They could have highlighted how new platforms were designed, and how the "bug" in the computers (at least appears) to have been fixed. I would have highlighted that no park this season has had issues with the ride stalling out. I feel that the name change is a great idea, as it one day will get that one ride away from any judgement based solely on the ride's named. In my opinion, I don't think sharing similar names on any ride is an effective plan anywhere. If each park had a different, unique name for the ride then the name with the troubled ride wouldn't get around too easy. Take that statement for what it's worth, if it even made sense. A part of me honestly wonders what is wrong with CalOSHA. (Please don't let that be taken the wrong way- I fully understand the importance of keeping us, the riders, safe.) If no other state-led organization has kept the ride shuttered, then why is Knott's ride still being kept closed? Did the park not thoroughly prove that they handled this to the best of their abilities? If the new evac platforms aren't safe and effective, why hasn't Ohio (who has two WindSeekers) or any other state stepped in to close the rides? In my opinion, the rides are safe and CalOSHA needs to reevaluate what they think defines a safe ride. I think that moving the ride was the only option left for Knott's and Cedar Fair. As long as the park doesn't have any problems with the ride, then I feel that it will be well-received by the patrons of Worlds of Fun.

I'm glad to hear about the future and I wasn't knocking on you at all! I'm a PR student and I would love to someday have the job you have. I was just stating I haven't seen any hinting at new rides, that is all. I fully believe in the future of Holiday World, I don't want anyone to think differently!

I really intended to add that into my comments. I really liked how compact the ride was, it added some uniqueness to it.

I feel like sadly over the years I've lost touch with Holiday World. I'm not really sure what I've been missing out on, but in my complete honest opinion I think that the family feud has had nothing but a negative impact on Holiday World. Will had such an exciting, unique vision for the park and I really don't want that vision to be lost over greed. ' I'm sad that Holiday World let The Voyage's ranking slip. For years they were able to find a way to keep the ride above El Toro, but why did it slip this year? Why didn't they do enough to keep that ranking? Could they have invested more in retracking efforts? I just don't like seeing that small ranking leave the park... I remain curious to see where the park goes from here. Paula hasn't been doing any of her legendary PR work leading up to a new ride coming for next year, leaving me skeptical we'll see anything major. I think that the park is overdue for a new rollercoaster, whether that be steel or wooden. I think that the park has left their focus in the waterpark, and I really just want to see the next big, innovative ride from HW. (don't get me wrong, their work in the waterpark is wonderful, but I think its time to focus some attention back on the park.) Will was a visionary and sadly I feel that if he was still with us Holiday World would be in a completely different place. Just my two cents, I hope no one takes them the wrong way.

I'm posting my comments merely on a discussion basis, and not as much on my knowledge for this subject. Is there any hope for Mantis to smooth out a little? Has it been that rough since it opened? I rode Mantis on Saturday and I was astonished on how rough, jerky and uncomfortable the ride experience was. I rode Riddler's Revenge last summer and I honestly can't remember it actually being painful. I don't remember too much about my experience on RR other than I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, and that it was my first stand up coasters. For ever B&M ride I've ever experienced, I can't remember one being as shaky, jerky and uncomfortable as Mantis. Is it possible to fix this? I'm not sure what new trains could do for the ride (seeing that lately those haven't been the answer for any ride) or if maybe parts of the track could be replaced to make the ride experience more enjoyable. I know that steel doesn't really bend or get rough (like we'd see on a wooden coaster), but there has to be another option for Mantis. Another thing that really surprised me was my friend saying that Chang never felt like that. Did they change something about them over the years to make them more enjoyable? After RR I always wondered why we didn't see more B&M standup coasters but now I feel that I'm beginning to see the reason why.....