Taylor Finn

Just to echo the last few posts, I am overwhelmed with our commitment to this great cause, especially after just receiving a huge donation recently! It's so neat to be a part of this.

Alright, I will follow suit now that I have some money. I will match the next $25 donation to my page! I may end up doing another like this, but this is a start!

I'm going to be going to kentucky kingdom this Friday then holiday world on Saturday gearing up for coasting for kids at Kings Island on Sunday. My friend and I are looking for a cheap, clean hotel near Holiday World for Friday Night. Any suggestions?

Seeing as there are no seats out where we are talking about what prevents there being safety nets of some kind being put up to protect from that happening? I'm sure there would be roadblocks toward doing that.

^Thank you so so much for your generosity! He already noticed the donation before I told him, he is very appreciative! And I definitely will.

^My friend Andrew on Kings Island's TPR team could use a little jumpstart on fundraising. It is his first year riding and he is incredibly excited for the event. I am continually inspired by everyone's generosity on this forum! http://support.gktw.org/site/TR/CoastingForKids/General?px=1224631&pg=personal&fr_id=1236

Hello! So I worked with the musical director from the high school I attended and had her support GKTW as her charity of choice. I contacted someone from the fundraisibg department of GKTW and got approval and supplies to set up a booth and had ushers collect money in little sand buckets. I gave out some lapel pins that I was provided with to those who donated. I managed to collect just under $600 over the course of the eight shows! Now to preface my question, I intend to obviously ask the person I worked with from GKTW regardless but I just wanted a second opinion as well. Do you think it would be alright to have this $600 go toward my Coasting For Kids fundraising total? Either way, the money is going directly to a great cause. I did do a lot of work to raise the money. My only concern is that the people donating were not donating specifically to support me for CFK, just donating to GKTW in general.I don't want to appear selfish by doing this to put myself in a better position to win a prize for the event (really not a big deal to me at all). At the same time, I'm confident if I add it, others at KI for the event might strive to raise more. I've been thinking a lot about it and I don't think it's a huge deal either way, just wanted to get an opinion or two. Thanks!

Yeah, I mean it is still certainly cheaper than a lot of other places, but the food prices have been increasing steadily every year. I remember 5 or 6 years ago, a dip cone was like $2.75 and it is up to $4.25 or something and potato patch bacon cheese fries are almost $6 now. So I dunno, for me it is getting up there. The quality is certainly superior, though.

My friend Andrew just signed up for our Kings Island team. His page is: http://support.gktw.org/site/TR/CoastingForKids/General?px=1224631&pg=personal&fr_id=1236 By the way, Team TPR is $10 from reaching $1000 at KI!

What is the status on the independently operated rides? Like the El Dorado bumper cars, and all the other rides not in Deno's or Luna? I know they were trying to get a lot of them out. I always appreciated those rides, even if the cost was steep.

I have ridden the Beast on two separate visits; once when I was real young (like 9 years old) and once again last summer. It was incredibly smooth last summer, objectively smoother than it was when I was young because it destroyed my dad's neck. But it also felt incredibly slow, especially at the end of the tunnel and the following part of the ride up until the helix. I realize they can't let it operate untrimmed because it would destroy the track and probably mean more upkeep for the park. 10 years ago, did The Beast run THAT much more intense from a speed standpoint (it was definitely rougher).

Hello! I have signed up for a second year to Coast For Kids! Give Kids the World is something that is incredibly near and dear to my heart. I have organized my old high school musical director to support GKTW and collect donations at all 8 shows, independent of the money I can raise through this. I am really hoping to make a difference this year. I will be participating at King's Island instead of Cedar Point...couldn't turn down an hour on Diamondback and half an hour on Banshee. I will be able to throw some more money around when I start working in a month, closer to the event. Thanks for anybody's help in the coming weeks and I cannot wait for the event! Here is my fundraising link: http://support.gktw.org/site/TR/CoastingForKids/General?px=1017239&pg=personal&fr_id=1236

I have honestly never had an issue with lines at Kennywood. I have never waited more than 30 minutes for a coaster, besides the Exterminator, honestly. I am sure Black Widow will have a decently long line, as it is new(ish), and if it is hot out, you can anticipate the Log Jammer and Raging Rapids to have pretty long lines. And then, the two dark rides (Ghostwood Estate and Garfield's Nightmare) will have decently long lines, but overall, on a weekday you should be fine to take out the park in a day, with ease.

I am not posting to start a war for or against the new fast pass system. I think it is a great idea, but I just wanted to get the opinion of others. While in line for Peter Pan, we approached the cast member letting standby guests in, and for every 30+ fast pass people, they let like 4 or 5 standby in. This was the case for all the rides (most noticeably Buzz Lightyear), and the lines moved exceptionally slow, despite fast operations. My theory is that there are simply more people taking advantage of the fast pass system, so they are distributing more of them for each 5 minute interval. Can anyone comment on this theory? I've been to Disney a bunch in my life and always loved the system because it never seemed to drastically affect the standby line, but yesterday I was actually really frustrated by it, even though we did use it for 3 rides. Have other people experienced this?

I am of course sad about this. It's the right move for them, though. I really hope there is a tribute/mention of Fred Rogers and his influence during this new ride. The man was just amazing in every way.

Yeah, I think this coaster is an excellent fit honestly. It won't be so tall so as to steal attention and feel out of place, and I think they will run this at pretty decent capacity, as well. And especially considering where it is at in the park, it is near a lot of other more modern attractions. I know they will increase wristband prices a bit now, but I hope they don't increase individual ride costs anytime soon. That is my favorite part about this park. You really have to ride to get your money's worth on the wristbands.

I was definitely not expecting this addition, though I am definitely excited by it. It is surprising that it is not a launch based on the picture. Definitely nice to have a real thrilling coaster at Knoebels, though. Sky Rocket has worked out well for Kennywood, so I imagine a similar ride like this one will be very popular.

Rocky Horror is certainly offensive but it's viewed as a 'classic' now. Generations of people before have found it funny so if I stood up now and said it was crossing the line like this one guy did with Bill&Ted, my statement wouldn't get enough leverage because I'd be going against a lot of people who view it as legendary/essential to our culture. Similarly, Blazing Saddles by Mel Brooks. That sort of movie is considered a classic, so when you watch it and you hear all the racy humor, you just shrug it off and say, 'Well it's a classic!' Regardless, it really frustrates me that this show has been cancelled for this.

I really am intrigued by this project and am happy to finally hear word of progress. I wish the Avatar sequels were spaced out some more, but that is besides the point. I am hopeful that they include a boat ride, simply because the land is going to benefit from two attractions for crowd control. I am sure they even have ideas for a flat to round out the selection. I can see the area becoming ridiculously crowded upon opening and I know Disney is thinking about ways to alleviate this. If the area becomes one massive circle with little side paths, that would probably be beneficial. Cars Land and Harry Potter world are dead end paths, which means that everyone comes back to the entrance of the world the same way. I know they do this to conserve space, but I think this themed land could logically be laid out like that, with a bunch of little areas to explore on the inside, etc.

I took a screenshot of a video I filmed backstage two years ago on New Hotness. You can get an idea of what the drains look like.

The ride sounds really neat, but the capacity is very disconcerting. In a normal 12 hour day, this ride can only handle about 7500 people, probably like 25% of the total park attendance on a busy weekend. Everyone is going to want to ride it, though since it's new. Hopefully they are at least considering a singe rider line/a separate unload and load station.

Certainly excited for the drop tower and a bit upset by Rolling Thunder. I'm sure they plan on adding something there. It would be dumb of them to not use that space for a family oriented coaster or a couple of fun flats.

^I will absolutely second every word that he said. The operators responded to our enthusiasm and sent us through three straight times. That hour of Glow ERT will probably stay up there as one of the best nights of my life.

I just got back from Kings Island a few weekends ago. I was there at park opening and we went to FOF and Firehawk first, followed by Backlot Stunt Coaster. Honestly, if you can knock those out and bear the burden of Invertigo having a bit of a wait, that should work out well for you. I went on a nice Sunday and didn't need Flash Pass to ride everything including two rides on Diamondback and Three on The Beast, as well as Boo Blasters and the Log Flume.

This was a great opportunity for the park to show the locals that they are working hard to bring the place back. Abd I think they impressed people. I hope the crowds pick up a bit for the remainder of the season so they can have some extra funds to spruce things up even more in the offseason. The place looks significantly nicer than when I went, especially because an empty midway will never look nice, no matter how new the paint is. As an aside, how long is the haunted walk through and do you think it'll be open with actors during all operating hours or just at night on weekends or something? It looks like a solid, unique addition that could spark some talk among people.