pillsberry123

5/7/11 - Kings Island in the Spring Kings Island was going well today. There were a lot of groups, so the park started to get congested soon after opening, but it was still a pretty good day. We only stayed for a couple of hours, but we squeezed in 5 rides. Diamondback - x2 The Beast - x1 Racer - x1 Flight Deck - x1 Windseeker's opening has been delayed again, so we were left with ERT on Diamondback and the Beast. Both the Beast and Diamondback were running well today. As you could have probably guessed from my avatar, the Beast is my favorite wooden roller coaster. If you've ridden the ride and wasn't so impressed by it, riding it at night gives it full justice. I highly recommend it. The ride isn't visible from within the park, so getting pictures isn't an easy task. After the park opened, we went for the Racer. After leaving the park, I realized that we didn't get any good pictures of the track, so this is going to have to do until next time. Coney Mall sign Oktoberfest - 2011 Action Zone - 2011 For 2011, Flight Deck received a new paint job. Flight Deck was runny VERY well today! I was impressed. Ignore that wooden ride in the back. That's not supposed to be there International Street - 2011

Mantis has a sweet color scheme. To bad the coaster doesn't live up it it.

Alright, no problem I'll get onto fixing that. Edit - Fixed

I've made this thread to put pictures from all of my Kings Island visits this year. Table of Contents Opening Day (4/30) Spring at Kings Island (5/7) Opening Day Diamondback - x1 The Beast - x1 Hello 2011! Diamondback still seems to be the star of the show! New for 2011 - Windseeker Windseeker's construction was delayed due to storms, so it wasn't open today. Passholders were given ERT on Diamondback! Diamondback ran very well today. Smooth as ever, fast, and full of airtime! The park was crowded today. This part of the park is usually dead by 9:20 in the morning. My favorite attraction at the park: World's Most Overpriced Soda Machines! The Beast's queue area has been improved. New music was added, and some things were touched up. Parts of the track were also redone. Unfortunately, the ride broke down while we were sitting on the brake run. I left before the day started to pick up, but I've heard from a lot of people that quite a few rides broke down today. Pretty good picture I took while waiting in line. Rivertown - 2011 Splashdown Vortex was also closed this morning. Those who aren't local to Kings Island will find this strange, but we are getting a new Dinosaur attraction this year! Incomplete Windseeker - While I was taking this picture, a woman was asking an employee nearby if this ride would be open sometime today... The Coney Mall section of the park has received new brick paving for 2011. Looks fantastic! New for 2011 - BRICKS!!!!!!!! Pretty short TR, but there will be more to come. Stay tuned for more throughout the season.

A couple of other points to remember is that B&M coasters are known for being high capacity, and at large parks where the summer crowds are huge, this is important. I've never waited over an hour for a B&M. In fact, the longest I've waited was Diamondback on a Saturday for 45 minutes. While it doesn't seem that important, having an attraction at a park that is not only able to draw crowds but is also able to handle them is great. Also, I don't know how you could say that B&M doesn't draw crowds. Their hypercoasters have been popping up at almost all of the former Paramount Parks, filling in the empty spaces in the coaster line-up. All of these parks now have a new signature steel coaster, easily the most popular attraction at each of those parks.

Although Top Thrill Dragster and Millennium Force are in my top 5, I voted B&M strictly for reliability. Intamin rides are down a LOT, but I rarely see a B&M down. Intamin's designs have also been pretty faulty for the past few years, from the heart-line roll on Maverick, the boats on Shoot the Rapids, and the modifications required on Intimidator 305. If I were a park comparing the two companies to find out which I would rather deal with, I'd pick B&M. The ride experience on Intamins and B&Ms are hard to compare. I will say that I'm not a big fan of Maverick. One ride per visit to Cedar Point is enough for me, and if the line is over 40 minutes you can count me out. However, I've never been unimpressed with a B&M.

Platinum Passholders also get the ERT, so there's no point in staying on property, especially if the prices are crazy. I've always stayed at the Econolodge across from the Thirsty Pony on the corner of Cleveland Road and Cedar Point Drive. Short drive from the park (10 min tops. Good if you are looking for something close), good rates, and clean. As for spending a day at Kings Island: although it could be done, with the amount of driving you are talking about I would rather spend an extra day at Cedar Point and set aside another weekend to do Kings Island. Don't rush your visit to either park if you plan on doing either. If you are wondering about any hidden places for food, there's a good Perch place called the New Sandusky Fish Company on Shoreline drive that we always make 2-3 visits to everytime we visit Cedar Point. Great stuff.

Dominator's Loop Raptor's Cobra Roll The Beast's Helix Magnum's last bunny hill (my favorite moment of airtime on any coaster!)

Huss Giant Frisbees are my favorite. For some strange reason I find their experiences to be relaxing and soothing. Plus, I love the hang time you get for those 2 or 3 near vertical swings.

I've already posted, but I'd give a lot of credit to these coasters: (photo by Intvertalon) and (photo by Groteslurf) Two John Allen classics that anyone can enjoy. Great, classic rides with great airtime and smooth drops.

When Diamondback was being built, I was talking with a friend about it. Friend: Hey did you hear about that new roller coaster that Kings Island is building? Me: Yeah Diamondback. Friend: That's going to be crazy. I've never heard of a roller coaster that goes 200 feet tall. Me: Go to Cedar Point. They have four coasters over 200 feet tall. Friend: But they aren't taller than Diamondback. Me: Yeah, Millennium Force is over 300 and Top Thrill Dragster is over 400. Friend: No that can't be. Diamondback is going to be the tallest roller coaster in the world. And after I showed him a video of Top Thrill Dragster he said "But that isn't a roller coaster."

The only SLC I've ridden is Thunderhawk, and that's while it was at Geauga Lake. I didn't care for it too much. It wasn't unrideable, but it wasn't enjoyable either. I can't imagine a steel coaster much rougher than that.

My avatar should say it all! This will always be my number one. For the drop, the nonstop speed, and overbanked turns... my favorite steel. Millennium Force. Gotta give credit to this one. Magnum Xl200 Great woodie. Fantastic pacing, great speed, great airtime, and a ride you can ride again and again.

I don't see these "plans" meaning anything. I'm willing to doubt that they would build a new coaster when there's one SBNO across the park. Besides, if Cedar Fair adds any coasters next year I'm willing to bet that they would either be in Sandusky or Knott's.

1. The Beast (at Night) - Kings Island 2. Millennium Force - Cedar Point 3. Top Thrill Dragster - Cedar Point 4. Magnum XL-200 - Cedar Point 5. The Raven - Holiday World 6. Diamondback - Kings Island 7. Dominator - Kings Dominion (rode it at Geauga Lake) 8. Cornall Express - Indiana Beach 9. Raptor - Cedar Point 10. Racer - Kings Island Hopefully, my list will change quite a bit this summer!

I think theming helps for smaller rides, and in some cases is important for smaller rides, but for bigger rides they aren't really that important. If I'm riding a Mine Train Coaster or a Dark Ride, theming is the whole point of the ride. With that being said, if a ride is bad, it's bad. It doesn't matter what the theming is. With bigger rides it doesn't really matter that much. You can take a ride like the Raven, which is has a basic theme or a ride like Gemeni, which has no theme and still judge them the same. Even with rides like Flight of Fear, the theme is huge, but you still judge the bigger rides based on experience over anything else. As for the Top Thrill Dragster vs Kingda Ka debate, I think that Top Thrill Dragster has the best theme. Sure, Kingda Ka probably has more theming, but it's not as good as Dragster's. When you start the ride on Dragster, you're listening to Ready To Go, being to told to keep your "arms down head back and hold on", and watching the Christmas Tree. Compare that to Kingda Ka, which is basically a push out of the station for the launch. That's what makes the difference. The Theming enhances the experience, it doesn't just add more to it.

The tunnels on the helix of the Beast are awesome. Great headchoppers and LOUD! Pitch black at night as well. They sell the experience for me.

Raptor at Cedar Point.

Diamondback or the Beast, depending on my mood.

Hello, I'm new here. My name's Chris and I've been on this site a lot of times for the Trip Reports and the amount of info that's on here. I decided that I should get an account going and become a part of the community! My home park is Kings Island, and my favorite ride is the Beast. I don't have the biggest track record, but I've been on 49 different coasters, and I hope to get my 50th credit this summer. I'm not the biggest expert in the world, but I'm very familiar with Kings Island and Cedar Point. Thanks for the welcome!