SFOGdude25

Not my idea, but perhaps KI is thinking about relocating Drop Tower to Rivertown to make room, and giving it a falling tree theme. "TIMBERRRRRR!!!" Could work if they theme it right.

^Thank you! Yeah that was probably the most fun segment to shoot and put together. I love how close you can get to the ride! It made for some great fly-by shots!

Hey guys! I just launched my new Youtube channel, and along with it a video featuring my trip to Dollywood last week! It's been a goal of mine to get a channel started this year, and this is just the first of hopefully many more videos to come! Shooting and editing video has always been a passion of mine, but I just haven't had a chance to take a stab at shooting theme park video until now. I used my point & shoot digital camera so the video quality isn't the best in the world, but it still looks decent to me. You gotta start somewhere! Anyways, enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWa7T9Xw7gM

I really don't care what they do with Ninja, as long as they don't touch Mind Bender for at least 100 years. Always has been and always will be the best coaster they have to me.

I think Busch Gardens Williamsburg wins that one. Yeah that's why I said in the chain (CF). Oh oops... That's what I get for not reading...

I think Busch Gardens Williamsburg wins that one.

Except it's a Vekoma, so even worse... Even if SFOG somehow miraculously made Ninja glass smooth, it would still be probably the 2nd or 3rd worst coaster in the park. At least it looks pretty...

A lot of people on Twitter are saying they should rename it Z-Force, as a tribute to the former Intamin Space Diver coaster that became Flashback. I'd be ok with this.

It's actually not new. It's relocated from its old spot where the new Funnel Cake place is now. But yes, I agree. It's easy for someone to lose their basketball that they're dribbling and have it roll and trip someone. Not fun...

White Water West still makes log flumes through their division the have with their Hopkins Rides purchase. They built one in Canada in 2014 and their built a Super Flume (like Fiesta Texas and Dollywood have) in South Korea in 2015. Oh ok cool! I forgot about Hopkins. Just looked on the website, and their products look great!

Another thing that was brought to light with the Legacy of Arrow doc was that Arrow was (at least from my observation) the prime provider for flumes in the U.S. so now that they no longer exist, the only other major manufacturer to make flumes that I know of is Mack, and they're based in Europe, so a flume from them MAY be more expensive since it would be an imported attraction. I really don't know how true that is, but that's my guess.

Apparently, teaser posters have already been put up in Rivertown that say "CAUTION: Watch for falling trees..."

Speed hills. The world needs more speed hills.

Trains are coming back together!!!

Update for today gives some optimism that they're getting closer. The crane at the top of the hill is gone, and the lead car has been moved (I assume back to the station or maintenance bay). Some guys are working down at the base of the non-inverting half loop, as well as a few more on the lift and near the station.

Currently at Dollywood. Workers are all over the lift today installing what looks like either extra mag brakes or LSMs, not sure which. The original LSM system seems to still be all in place. Also there's a single lead car at the base of the lift. Probably there for motor/brake clearance. Still no way to predict how long it'll be, but rest assured Dollywood and RMC are working hard to get this thing open. Workers on lift. Bad angle but it's the best I could get.

Hotel was booked a month ago so I've got that covered. It's 15 minutes from the park without traffic, so I'm not worried about sitting in traffic for too long, but it is right on the strip so we'll see. I may try leaving my hotel around 8:30 or so. I would change my place of stay to a cabin, but I can't afford anything over $100 a night right now. As long as the traffic is moving, I won't care.

Ok so I'm just now learning about this car show. Apparently Pigeon Forge is slammed during the show which makes me a bit nervous. I plan on driving in on the 12th and leaving on the 14th, which is the day the show starts. How crowded would it be on the days prior to the actual show? I imagine it could get pretty bad but hopefully not gridlock.

Awesome! I'll be there this Wednesday and Thursday. I'd be cool if I catch some testing!

Haven't been on it yet, but I went on a carnival equivalent many years ago, and I remember really liking it. The big thrill comes mainly from the moments where you're being hung upside down as you switch direction of travel. The way I see it, Joker Chaos Coaster is very similar in experience to the old Looping Starship ride that sat where Goliath's brake run is now, except Joker won't try to kill you with its restraint system like Starship did haha.

I thought Great Wolf was the hotel just next to KI that got demolished? The one with the indoor water park. Which hotel was that? That was the old Kings Island Resort that was across the street from Great Wolf. The KI Resort was there in '72 when the park opened. It was extremely dated and basically lost all of its business as soon as Great Wolf opened.

I spy an awesome new photo spot for Diamondback!!

I don't know how quickly track work is typically built, but say the crews finish it in like 1 1/2 weeks, that could still give them enough time to finish testing in time for opening. They're definitely pushing it though if they want to make April 23. I'll be there. If Legend is open, great! If not, no biggie. I'll just be marathoning Raven, Voyage, and Thunderbird haha.

A giga could definitely work for KI, but not as a "gate coaster." I could see the station going where Dinos Alive is now, stretching behind Firehawk and Flight of Fear and into the old SOB/Safari land. As far as the Rivertown expansion goes, I'd rather see the Antique cars return over a coaster, but if a coaster is in the works, my choice would be a GCI twister. As great as Racer and Beast are, KI could use another more modern woodie. Something compact and fast-paced like Thunderhead.

cool. they painted the super structure white. Pretty sure that's just the camera's higher exposure/dynamic range making it look brighter.