ajfelice

I'm really liking the new headlights and grilles. With this project and a revamp of Phantom's Revenge car bodies, I hope to see Kennywood getting back to focusing on the smaller cosmetic details of attractions. Over the past few years it has seemed Kennywood has been getting slightly rough around the edges.

As much as many of us would love to see Holiday World construct it's very first major steel coaster, I wouldn't have a problem with the greatest "fearsome foursome" of wooden coasters on the planet...

Are we getting soft that many of us are claiming that Banshee can beat people up pretty badly? Or that Diamondback is getting rough? In particular, I have ridden Diamonback in a whole variety of rows in 2009, 2011, and 2014 and the changes are microscopic at most. Banshee on Media Day and the day after was just fine whether it was inside, outside, near the front, or near the back. Of course the back has a little more vibration, but that is to be expected on most coasters with a decently long train. Never would I say any of these B&Ms were painfullly rough or the least bit uncomfortable. If we really want to, we can petition KI to trim the hell out of Banshee and Diamondback so they run nice and controlled as Silver Bullet does, and we can all complain that B&M still makes forceless coasters.

I get the child belts in a place like Camp Snoopy, Planet Snoopy, or Kiddie Kingdom, but when Lake Erie Eagles ride requires children 36-44" to ride with a responsible person ages 16 or older, this becomes in my eyes excessive. The job of a responsible person is to make sure the younger and smaller riders don't do things such as opening a seatbelt when the ride is in motion. There are also things such as presence switches, ride stop, emergency stop, etc. that can slow a ride to a stop in the event a rider does unbuckle a seatbelt (which is pretty rare). Silly things like this drive an operations-minded person like me nuts.

^Now that was a work of sarcasm art! If you were to portion off the fraction of a fraction percent of the GP in the park each day who actually believed that Diamondback was unsafe without seat belts, you would probably find yourself a group smaller than the amount of fingers you have. Pleasing this tiny group of people is simply not financially justifiable. And remember, most guests who say a ride is unsafe is usually saying that with a degree of sarcasm. I maintain hope that these seat belts were a mandate from B&M (which must be enforced by state laws), in which B&M is the true expert behind the safety of their rides when they operate correctly.

You can't be serious, or your sarcasm sucks. All I hope is that B&M stepped in to require these belts for some reason or the other as there is really no other evidence to justify them. Suggesting Diamondback has a ridership problem? Are you cracked?

As crazy as some park food prices seem to be, it begins to make sense when you see that profits of these parks aren't very ridiculously high in proportion to their sales. What happens is that parks are masking the "true cost of admission" in things such as food, games, and merchandise. No park could survive on the price of admission and parking alone, they use high-margin revenue generators to actually be profitable. Also, until people start back-lashing and not choosing to buy things, the prices are here to stay. We keep thinking a "ceiling" is near with prices, but they continue to rise steadily as people still pay them despite the complaining. Until I see a park chain that appears to be sitting on excess cash and living the life of greed and corruption, I'm not going to complain too much. Sporting events, movie theaters, ski resorts, golf courses, etc. all pull the same stunts.

Cedar Point should have themed the queue line better. I expect an air-conditioned queue with couches, tiled flooring, and servers handing out free samples. But really, this area is turning out very nicely. Should give a nice, clean, yet festive experience for families. Cedar Fair is really starting to impress with their installations.

I shake my head and proceed to bang it into the wall thinking about this seatbelt decision. We are adding an extra component that needs repairs and regular maintenance to a ride that has an excellent safety record from a company with a virtually spotless safety record. People will get used to the change and efficiency shouldn't be drastically reduced in the long term, but it's just another hassle for the maintenance and ride hosts.

Unless an Opening Day crew consists of the vast majority of ride operators who worked the same ride in the previous season, it is outrageous to expect them to be incredibly efficient. It doesn't matter how many weeks of training or how many employee days there were to dress rehearse for Opening Day. The fact is, once you add in the general public who does not ride coasters as frequently as employees or enthusiasts, it's a whole different ballgame operating a coaster. It is an acquired skill to learn how to anticipate the unpredictable nature of the general public. I shouldn't forget to mention the pressure of having to manage a 5 hour line of testy guests who are all anxious for a free T-shirt. It changes how you approach to working a ride. You can't understand the feeling until you have felt it. Yes, I got antsy watching The Beast of all coasters double-stacking, but in the end I bit my tongue because I had to realize it was Opening Day and likely the majority of those employees never worked The Beast before. After a few weeks of experience, we can discuss whether or not Kings Island has an efficiency problem. To be honest, I was very impressed with Kings Island's management of Opening Day. Almost every employee had a grasp on what they needed to do, and every single one of them was extremely friendly despite being overwhelmed by the crowds. To criticize them on Opening Day would be hypocritical to everything I have experienced and learned in my first days of being a Ride Operator. And let's be real here folks, are there that many parks who can regularly avoid stacking when running full train capacity? Cedar Point might be one of the closest to achieving this, but last time I checked the majority of three train operation coasters will have a train briefly pause just outside of the station unless there is a "power hour" underway.

1920s-Jack Rabbit at Kennywood 1930s-Blue Streak at Conneaut Lake Park 1940s-Comet at Hersheypark 1950s-Comet at Waldameer Park 1960s-Blue Streak at Cedar Point 1970s-The Beast at Kings Island 1980s-Magnum XL-200 at Cedar Point 1990s-The Raven at Holiday World 2000s-The Voyage at Holiday World 2010s-Intimidator 305 at Kings Dominion

I guess I was one of the lucky few to catch Flight of Fear around 12:30. Because my group already had several Banshee laps in on Media Day, we opted for regular Fast Lane. However, we still managed two walk-on Firehawk rides at noon. Closer to closing Banshee was down to only a 40min wait so we grabbed a night ride. I must say Banshee warmed up really well from an incredibly solid invert to one of the very best. The forces in the second vertical loop and coming out of the barrel roll into the helix are what really distinguish this invert away from the rest.

I don't think Six Flags really cares one bit, as most of the higher ups either saw what happened or were not a major part of the company at the time that SFKK was abandoned along with all of the bankruptcy changeovers. For a company like Six Flags, Cedar Fair, or you name it to be restricted by the Kentucky State Fair Board, I'm surprised Six Flags even went into that agreement (then again, this was the dark times of Six Flags). Heck, I still can't believe some of the terms and promises from the current operator such as the pledge to invest at least $1 million per year for park upgrades (unless their definition of park upgrades includes regular things like repainting and maintenance). I'm rooting for the place, but I still think it's a very risky investment even by theme park standards. I'm sure Six Flags isn't hurting from the loss of SFKK from the looks of their income statements.

Darien Lake was under PARC Management when that project was undertaken. From what I understand about the management agreements CNL has had been between various companies is that each company could propose any project they pleased, and CNL decides if they want release the funding for it. So the decision to remove the complex was likely not made at that point with PARC Management at the helm. Regarding Ride of Steel and it's paint, I find it more logical for Darien Lake to focus on rides that are in closer proximity to people's eyes. From a distance Ride of Steel looks adequate, and at this point with the long list of things Darien Lake needs done, the money and resources for such a big project need to be diverted elsewhere. And do you think management looks at Ride of Steel and thinks it looks great? Absolutely not, but there are other priorities obviously. New paint is not something that will spike profits and draw in the masses, so it's not going to be number one on the list of projects.

Holy Height Requirements! 56" to ride alone on Roller Skater but you can ride an adult wooden coaster, Thunder Run, alone at 48"? I know manufacturers are different, but still, I don't think Vekoma requires 56" to ride alone. Or hypothetically, junior at 48" tall goes up to FearFall and rides alone then walks over to Roller Skater and is told he needs a responsible person. Huh? I really hope someone was just a little drowsy at the keyboard entering those in for the website.

And that is why I'm going into Kings Island and riding Banshee with my same expectation for GateKeeper; a fun, solid ride. So I expect to have fun, but I do not expect any shakeups on my list of favorite coasters. Media Day for me is a social gathering more than just a chance to be the first to ride a decent ride. It stinks that B&M has gotten tame, but until signs show they are starting to struggle, I don't see this trend ending anytime soon.

At first, I thought that it's a problem to offer another free visit just based on the weather not being ideal, BUT my small park, free admission, free parking, and bring your own food option way of thinking doesn't apply here. Darien Lake is getting back another $8 for park each of those returning cars, and not everyone is smart enough to avoid amusement park food prices, so they will buy some grub. Getting an extra $8 bucks a car and probably some extra food and merchandise sales is much better than getting absolutely nothing from someone who is furious and doesn't ever return. Some Six Flags parks are using a similar policy as well.

I wouldn't say Rebel Yell was anywhere close to needing virtually a complete rebuild. That ride was just pure traditional wooden coaster fun, and didn't seem rough at all. Both Rebel Yell and Grizzly are two unsung heroes at Kings Dominion, as they are both incredibly solid coasters that seem to take way too far of a backseat in terms of notoriety and popularity.

Reminds me of the summer of 2008 when my 80 year old Grandfather asked if we would take him to Waldameer to ride the new Ravine Flyer II. We found out in the queue line that this would be his first coaster ever. After riding he stood up and said to my Mom and Aunt "Damn that F*cker was fast!" And that became the first and only coaster ride of his life. He is still around and in good health but one RFII ride was more than enough coasters for him.

Supports were never an issue on the wood versus steel debate. The debate was around whether or not the design of the topper track was still a wooden coaster or not, but we have since concluded it's still a wooden coaster with topper track. And remember, what is making this coaster so gnarly is the layout, setting, intensity, and airtime. If there was something bigger than those characteristics, we would have heard it in the official announcement.

As RMC starts building these longer and longer intense layouts in the woods, it appears "The Beast" of the 21st century is eminent. The layout of this coaster grows on you the more you read into it. There isn't one dull section that looks to be without either airtime, extreme positive g's, or extreme lateral g's. Maybe I'll have the funding and the schedule for a tour...

Yes, 12 is correct. Takes 70 seconds to raise to the top and drop. They are a quick ride to load/unload and start up, so the 12 person capacity should not be too detrimental to wait times especially when Kentucky Kingdom is not the most crazy busy park around. Only one operator is needed as well, so that can save a few bucks for the park too.

First of all, aren't YOU a coaster enthusiast like most of use here based on your high level of activity on here? The Public likes "Free" no matter what it is. Perhaps the shirts will make the public get their passes processed earlier and into the park as fast as possible on Opening Day? The demand will already be there anyways for people to get on the coaster as early as possible. My only hope is that Banshee's line is flocked on Opening Day to the point it reduces other queue lines. My student budget would like to avoid Fast Lane unless it is necessary. Although, I think Saturday the 19th is going to be the pure hell day for a KI visit if the weather holds out.

^I'll give it to you that the Grand Entrance to Black Widow helped, the rest of the queue didn't seem so great or comfy. I don't want to destroy Kennywood in particular, but they are a good example of not having the most cushy queues that no one seems to complain about; but if Cedar Fair had something halfway close to that there would be an uproar. I guess my main ax to grind is the fact that people are expecting these luxurious queues for an "amusement" park. Cedar Fair has done way more than their competitors with their simplified ride themes, decent queues, and visually pleasing installations with Banshee, Maverick, Diamondback, and even GateKeeper (despite the open queue section) than the likes of many chains and private parks.

I have the date circled on my calendar. I'll try to not ROFL until then. To bet that any park with the size and scale of Darien Lake to build a "big" coaster every 3-4 years is absolute ludicrous. I'm sure they have something in their long-term plan about this land, but I would never expect Darien Lake or any park this size to add these expensive attractions at the pace you are suggesting.