BitterOldHag

So I am considering a visit to Coney Island this week (Thursday) for the first time ever and was wondering if anyone could help out with a few questions I have. 1) How hard is it to find parking near the attractions? The map shows a Coney Island parking area, so I assume that would be a good place, but if anyone else has someplace better, I'm definitely open for suggestions! 2) Luna is offering a 4 hour wristband that includes the Cyclone, Steeplechase, drop tower and Thunderbolt for $52. Is that enough time to get all the good rides in? 3) I hate to be the guy that asks "what are the lines like?", but... what are the lines like on June weekdays? 4) Deno's looks like the only rides I need to do are Spook-A-Rama and of course the Wonder Wheel. I would like to do each twice. Can that be done in an hour? 5) And finally, I was going to stop at American Dream on Friday. I remember reading someone here saying they frown on single visitors. Is that still a thing? I don't want to be chased down by security on my first visit to the NYC area! Thanks for any assistance, I greatly appreciate it!

^ Yep, FastLane is online only. I am SO glad I learned of the season long option from members here. It’s so nice to already have that already paid for on any visit to the park. And to Zand, sorry if I made Diamondback sound like it’s an airtime machine. I thought it was a way better ride in the back though and it does feel like you are out of your seat more often than not. Just my observation though! hope everyone enjoys their visits, even if it is busy...

Visited yesterday and despite some worries about getting in the parking lot (traffic on Kings Island Dr was backed up past the Great Wolf Lodge, and this was at 10:15), I had a fantastic 4 hours there. I so wish Cedar Point’s FastLane was set up like Kings Island’s. The longest wait I had during my visit was 10 minutes to actually get my FastLane wristband. I’m sure if I would have eaten at the park that would have been a much higher number though as the food lines were insane. - Banshee (walk-on FL+): rode during the tail end of early entry. Someone here mentioned that Banshee is really rattling and I have to agree. The first drop and Immelmann were pretty janky. I do love the batwing element and the final inline twist is my favorite part of the ride as it is just taken so slowly. It’s a decent ride, but I honestly think Raptor is the better B&M invert in Ohio. Rating 7/10 - Flight of Fear (5 minute wait FL+): speaking of running a bit rattly, FoF was a bit bumpier than I remember. I was on the first train of the day as they let the FL+ line in first before the regular line entered. The launch is still intense and twisting through near total darkness is always a blast. But the stop on the mid course and the bumpy ride keeps it from being a repeat ride for me. Rating 7/10 - Orion (walk-on FL+): wow. Full trains REALLY made a difference here. Orion was really flying compared to my rides last season and I absolutely loved it. So smooth, so fast, and a killer first drop make this a really solid addition to KI. Rating 9.5/10 - Mystic Timbers (walk-on FL+): My #1 wood and #1 overall coaster was still running unbelievably well this year. Mystic Timbers is a completely chaotic, out of control ride that never slows down and launches you off your seat more times than I can count. In the shed (which we are repeatedly warned not to go in, but we do anyways), the tree monster attacked on my first ride and the bats swarmed on my 2nd and 3rd rides. Absolutely love this coaster. Rating 10/10 - Diamondback (walk-on FL+): I was assigned to row 16 (they were assigning seats on all coasters, I didn’t ask for any special requests so I’m not sure if they were allowing it), and the airtime on this ride in the back is unreal. Sustained floater airtime on almost every hill, it was spectacular. I made the mistake of putting my arms out on the splashdown finale, resulting in my back getting a bit damp. I didn’t care though as Diamondback may have even been better than Orion. Rating 10/10 - BooBlasters on Boo Hill (3 minutes FL+): I miss Phantom Theater and the Enchanted Voyage. BooBlasters is alright. Nothing really stands out as being memorable, but I did end up with 1260 pets. Which I guess is good? Rating 5/10 - Racer (walk-on FL+): If KI can retrack the return leg of this ride like they did the outbound run, they will have something special here. This is the best Racer ride I have had in years. Massive props to the park for taking care of this historic gem. Rating 7/10 - Adventure Express (5 minutes FL+): The regular line was out to the midway so thank goodness for FL! I’ve always enjoyed this ride even though the finale after the final lift is such a letdown. The drummer guys on the final lift all seemed to be working AND had colorful new lighting installed. Even the “you will pay” guy looks like he got some colored contact lenses. Nice! Rating 7/10 - Kings Mills Antique Autos (walk on FL+): I am so glad KI added antique cars back to its lineup a few years back. The course isn’t anything spectacular, but it is a pleasant diversion and since it’s on FL+, how can you not stop for a quick ride? Rating: 6.5/10 - Windseeker (one cycle wait FL+, would have been the same without it!): not sure why I like these rides. There isn’t much to it, but the views are stunning. Rating: 7/10 - Shake Rattle and Roll (one cycle wait FL+): a KI classic since 1975, this Huss Troika has always been one of my faves at the park. It is weird not having Vortex in the background though. Rating: 6.5/10 - Backlot Stunt Coaster (walk-on FL+): when this ride first opened in 2005, I hated it. I thought it was a complete waste of space and a disgrace to Paramount’s Kings Island to visually destroy such a pretty area of the park. Now, it’s a can’t miss attraction each time I’m at the park. Guess I just needed to “get” the ride! The helix beginning is way more intense than it has a right to be, the flame effects work still (as do the “bullets”!), and the final tunnel seemed much darker than usual. Fun, smooth, and re-rideable, especially when there is no wait! Rating: 8/10 - Woodstock Gliders (one cycle wait FL+): while not the park originals, it’s still nice that Kings Island re-introduced a set of Flyers. They are your typical Larson model and move at a pretty good clip. The only complaint I have here is that they are located in Planet Snoopy. Rating: 7/10 overall a tremendous day at one of my favorite parks. The Beast was closed during my 4 hours there, so I didn’t get to ride, but Mystic Timbers more than makes up for that. I also think White Water Canyon and Congo Falls were closed. The temps never got past 60 while I was there, so that might explain it! Can’t wait to go back, even with the 8 hour round trip drive!

I grew up with Conneaut Lake and I am very apprehensive about what’s going on. Based on the article, the only rides that will be there this year are the Carousel, Devils Den and some kiddie rides. The Bug, Witch’s Stew, Trabant, Music Express, Bumper Cars and Tilt A Whirl were all removed. Blue Streak is questionable for the future. So that leaves the train (which I doubt will remain as it always seemed to have problems and even derailed once when I was riding a few years back), the Paratrooper, Flying Scooters, and the Ferris Wheel as rides I didn’t hear about. It sounds like they may add a used ride or two, which would be nice, but even still, this is going to be an interesting year. I sincerely hope they survive, but as an amusement park, it doesn’t sound promising.

Have done many of the above and can add: - King Cobra (Kings Island) - first coaster built as a dedicated stand up - Double Loop (Geauga Lake) - first coaster to feature consecutive vertical loops - Superman Ultimate Escape (Six Flags Ohio, now Posessed at Dorney) - first Intamin impulse

When I visited on Friday the 21st, I got to the park at 9, waited in line for 20 minutes for my FL+ wristband (they had one person working the register for those 20 minutes. A second worker finally came on after I got mine). I rode Raptor in the front (walk on), walked to Millennium Force where I waited 20 minutes and was denied as they took off the yellow train then had to evacuate the red train from the brake run. So, I briskly walked down Frontier Trail and arrived at Maverick at 10:05. There was no line at all. So I got on and off in less than 5 minutes. Went to SV and encountered a 15 minute FL+ wait, which was great. After riding SV, I thought I’d try Maverick again, but the entire covered queue was filled. So Between 10 and 12:45, I managed to ride Raptor, Maverick, Steel Vengeance, Antique Cars, Skyhawk, Wave Swinger, Gemini, Lake Erie Eagles, and Cedar Downs. Not bad for a rather busy day. Definitely splurge for FL+ though. It may not be as great at CP as it is at the other CF parks (Kings Island for instance), but it sure beats waiting in 2+ hour lines all day!

So the park was filled to capacity last weekend and this weekend is completely unavailable on the reservations calendar, yet that is considered "early season" and not "prime season". Those FL+ lines are going to be 2+ hours once Prime Season rolls around. I'm going tomorrow and am really not excited about it. Thankfully I live close by and can call it a day if the place is too crazy (which with Math and Physics Days going on, I am not expecting the best).

Just got back from Opening Day at Waldameer. Overall enjoyed my visit as usual. Some of my observations: - X Scream and Sea Dragon were down. When we were leaving, Wipeout was being worked on as well, but it was running earlier. - Mask wearing was about 70% not wearing to 30% wearing. Many employees were not wearing them either. Being fully vaxed and wearing my mask, I am not overly upset about it, but I was surprised. - inside the Whacky Shack, the park painted the interior of the rotating drum, making the effect much more convincing. All stunts were working as well. I love the fact that the park maintains this classic dark ride so well. - Ravine Flyer 2 was running great. Lots of track work was done including the 90 degree banked turn and it maintained its speed quite well. Such a great coaster. - It boggles my mind how many people wait until opening day to process their season passes. That line was enormous. Despite the park offering a couple days before the park opened (and even having a few rides open), most people seem to enjoy waiting. Hey, to each their own. Again, I enjoyed my time at the park and it was just great to be out on a gorgeous day. Heading to Cedar Point with my season long FL next Friday. I saw that Math and Physics Days are going on each Friday in May, so it might not be a long visit!

I noticed the Sky Ride is currently closed too.

As someone who has been visiting Waldameer for 30 years now, I totally forgot about Ali Baba. Probably because I rode it once and it made me nauseous! But I could see Waldameer removing it for something else. I always gave the park credit for making what was a standard off-the-shelf ARM portable ride look great with the fountain in front, but it always looked sort of out of place with its airbrushed backdrop. Wipeout is the other one I could see on the chopping block. It seems they have fallen out of favor lately as several parks have removed theirs or shipped them to other parks. Not sure what the park may have planned to add though. Zamperla has a new ride called Gryphon which looks like an updated Huss Swing Around with Endeavor style individual seats. Gryphon That would probably be a good fit for a park like this. A Zamperla Air Race is a possibility now that the park has an upside-down ride in Chaos. Or perhaps even one of these new SBF Tower Plane rides (I believe that new "park" opening in Myrtle Beach soon is going to have one of these. It reminds me of the old Intamin Flight Trainer) SBF Tower Plane Looking forward to the park's 125th Anniversary season in just a few weeks!

It looks like reservations only need to be made for Soak City. Can anyone else verify this, or am I staring at something and completely missing it? Made my CP reservation earlier, trying to get in to make a Carowinds reservation now. It says there is "over an hour wait". Can we use our season long FastLane to jump this line? Edit: just saw it on the website that it's only for SC. My apologies for being a dumb old man...

Received an email from CP today stating that reservations will be required for the season (at least for now). It mentioned that reservations will open for season pass holders on April 26 at 11:00 am. Guests staying at CP's onsite properties already have a reservation for the days they are staying. So if anyone had planned on going, make sure you are online and mashing the refresh button next Monday! ^ Oh, you must do Cedar Downs. I'm sure others will chime in and say the same.

Not to mention the ticket is only good for 2 hours! I have never been to Luna Park, so I don't know how lines are, but that seems a bit rushed to me. Deno's has the same policy- wristband only and 2 hour time limit - but their park seems a bit easier to get through in 2 hours than Luna. Heck, I'd be perfectly happy riding the Wonder Wheel and Spook-A-Rama for 2 hours!

Noticed some things on the park's website for 2021. - Pirate's Cove appears to be the only attraction that will remain closed for the season - Park opens May 15th and will be closed on Wednesdays throughout the season - Reservations, masks and social distancing protocol will still be enforced - And the big news for many folks is that the Covid page on the park's website does not state that admission must be paid by all guests. So I am assuming that Free Admission will make a return this year, and hoping that will also result in guests returning. Can't wait to go back, most likely by myself so people can laugh and make fun of me.

^ The Platinum Pass FastLane Add On is $850, so it's a little pricier than the $299. I bought mine from Canada's Wonderlands site and that way you get the Canadian conversion rate (something like $675 instead). I plan on visiting CP and KI multiple times this season, plus make a trip to Carowinds, so I am looking forward to having FastLane already paid for. I am actually selfishly hoping that CP doesn't offer it to the GP this season. Everything would be a walk on as there were very few people with season long FastLane last year. I told a friend of mine that I had spent $800+ on a Platinum Pass and FL and was roundly laughed at. We'll see who's laughing when I walk past them in the Steel Vengeance line and get on twice before they even move.

Thank you both for the responses. I was worried I may have just spent a good chunk of change on something I may not be able to use! Very excited now that I have season-long Fastlane!

Thanks tndank. I didn't think to check there. Funny thing now is that I don't even see a Fastlane page that was there this morning. Oh well. Having season long FL will definitely get me to CP more this summer and definitely Kings Island. I'm doubting Canada will be open for us Americans this summer, but if by chance they do let us in, I'll make the trip north to CW. One other question- do I have to get the Platinum pass processed at CW, or can I take the vouchers to Cedar Point or Kings Island and have it processed there? I called the park and they said due to the pandemic, there was nobody in guest services to answer my question, and the security guy I talked to said he thought it had to be processed at the park it was purchased at. Anyone have experience with this? Again, thank you!

Can one of you supply the link for the chain wide Fastlane? I looked at Canada's Wonderland, Carowinds and Dorney and they don't have it listed unless I am missing it. Kings Island says theirs is sold out as does Cedar Point. :(

This would probably make too much sense for Parques Reunidos, but if they wanted to maintain the feel of these rides, they could replace Kangaroo with one of those compressed air Techno Bounce rides, replace Enterprise/Volcano with a Zamperla Endeavor, swap the Paratrooper for one of those lay down Cliff Hanger models that show up at all the fairs, and while it is not even close to being a good replacement, maybe a Matterhorn/Flying Bobs type ride to take the place of Bayern Kurve. But knowing PR, they will leave the ride pads empty like the old Top Spin they had.

I see Fastlane Plus has increased to $100 this weekend. I had it in my cart for $95 and after a meeting I was in ended, I went to finish my transaction and I was told that one of my cart items was no longer available. I'd pay $200 for Fastlane Plus at Kings Island though. Definitely one of the best paid line cutting systems out there as far as where you get to merge. My lone complaint is that they don't have anyone inside Boo Blasters to merge the two lanes. Makes for a rather awkward moment!

Best $95 I have spent in a long time! I have two more things to add from my visit. First, I do not understand why Orion gets so much negativity. I absolutely love it! To me, it’s a high speed “flight” along the edge of Kings Island. It’s so smooth and the elements, at least to me, are unique. Granted it is a bit on the brief side, but it is definitely different enough from Diamondback (which I also love) and has fast become one of my new favorites. Then there’s Flight of Fear. I haven’t ridden this since 2015 and if it wasn’t for the literal dead stop in the mid course brake (I thought we were going to have to evac as I don’t recall the ride ever completely stopping here), this would be in my Top 3. Who knew that a few colored lights in total darkness is really all you need in that big steel box to make an insanely crazy ride? And even with the dead stop, the train picks up so much speed in second half, it feels like you are going to be ejected into the darkness. I was truly blown away and wish I was in better health to have ridden it a few more times. Damn heart problems! Living only 80 miles from Cedar Point yet 230 from Kings Island, I am actually becoming more of a KI fan than I ever was before. The ride lineup has become really outstanding over the last decade, the park has been spotless on my two visits this month, the Landscaping puts CP to shame, and no matter how many times I see it, I still love the International Street/Eiffel Tower entry. The visual impact of that when walking through the gates is unmatched by most regional theme parks (Kings Dominion and Canada’s Wonderland excepted). Maybe I need to move a little further south!

Here at KI today. Since 11 with FastLane I have done Mystic Timbers twice, Beast, Backlot, Diamondback, Adventure Express and had a break with a bloody syringe lemonade and a worms in dirt funnel cake. Off to Orion next. FastLane rules!!!

Thanks for the info on FastLane. Maybe if MT is open at park opening, I’ll head there first. I see they posted the food and drink guide for Trick or Treat Fest. For those who haven’t seen it: Food and Drink Guide. There are some very interesting sounding treats! Looking forward to checking it out.

How long were the FL+ lanes? I went on the 6th (Sunday) and it was good until 1:00 when Diamonback and Mystic Timbers were 20-30 minutes. I am going again this Saturday (I know, first day of Fall Fest ) and have FL+ and am wondering if I should just power through as much as I can again from open till 2:00, or if I can slow down a bit. I think I know the answer but just thought I'd ask!

I echo what Bill said about the park being very busy on Sunday. I will also mention that I must have ran into a bottleneck when it came to FastLane. I rode The Bat (which does not offer FastLane), DropTower, Banshee, Adventure Express, Orion, Antique Cars, The Beast, Italian Job Backlot Coaster, and the Train between 11:00 and 1:00. Then I got caught in a traffic jam at Diamondback, which had a 20 minute FL wait. And finally I went to Mystic Timbers, where I waited a half hour. To be fair, I don't think MT opened with the park, so that may have explained the wait, but I was so used to the walk ons that the 30 minute wait was slightly upsetting. That was until I got assigned to the front seat. Sweet Fancy Moses, Mystic Timbers is insane! FastLane was definitely worth it. I highly recommend anyone going to the park purchase it in advance as I don't believe it is being sold at the park.