prozach626

Exactly. No one would be truly surprised, especially if they threw some floorless trains on it to make it slightly less painful.

I think this is a good move. The prior themeing, whether i305 or p305, just seemed unfitting. I think its identity in that area will be more organic.

The same way you pronounce Kamala.

I thought this was dumb at first... Then, I realized it was a hilarious possibility. New company, same shit. It would almost certainly be deconstructed, shipped, and reconstructed before the carousel is open.

I asked ChatGPT 3 times and got three different answers.

Agree , especially with your last statement. They need to find a better balance with the same profit result.

Our daughter is the exact opposite. She doesn't like roller coasters or anything with big drops, so... She was 42" this past summer, but it didn't matter. She's terrified, and hasn't enjoyed any of the roller coasters she has been on. Log flumes are a no-go, too. It's definitely ironic, but I was nearly the same way until I was around 10'ish. I think FL was around $100-$120 each. I know all together everything was around $600. I would have been fine with the FL being a total of $600 for both of us in order to have the experience we used to. Its always been a cash grab, but at least is had a lot more value to it. Now, FL is closer to a necessity. Would it be a huge shocker to see a normalized third tier option for most parks? By contrast, Fright Lane is an incredibly good value. For around $100 each, we never had to wait for any of the haunts. Fright Lane has always been like that.

Indeed. That's actually really cool that WoF cares enough to hire consultants. I'm not sure if that's an industry standard or not, but it seems like a good idea.

I think the lightning passes are great. The prices aren't for everyone. It's for those who are willing to pay for the experience. It's not mandatory. If you're taking out a loan to go to Disney, then you shouldn't be going to Disney.

I think you're right about that.

All good points. A few OK things in there, but yeah. Way better than just pizza, chicken strips, and funnel cake options. You can eat at DW and SDC without coming out feeling like complete garbage. Thankfully, parks are definitely doing better now. Even KI had an "organic locally sourced" restaurant up front.

Probably a Joker retheme.

Looks really cool. I'll take that over a giga.

My wife and I ended up going and had a decent time. We got Fast Lane and Fright Lane. We only had a couple train wait during our daytime rides. Our first ride was Diamondback. My personal opinion is it's still the best piece of steel in the park. It kicks ass all the way into the MCBR, and still packs more excitement than usual for a 2nd half B&M hyper. Diamondback offers a ton of negative forces with a good mixture of positive forces. My favorite part is the low left bank into the second airtime hill. It hauls. I also love the unintentional rattling on the first drop, which fits with the theme, including the great looking new paint job. The drop over the midway, the nearby helix, and the splashdown led by long trains offer some of my favorite visuals. Row 2 is a great place to be, because you're basically in the front, but you don't have the front seat wait. We lucked out with this seat, since more often than not we do not request seats, anymore. We then rode Mystic Timbers, which is highly underrated. The mix of jostling transitions with low floater airtime is perfect. Night rides are great, as well. After that, we rode The Beast. I missed out on this over the past few visits, because the wait is crazy near the end of the night. That's with, or without Fast Lane. We weren't going to miss it this year, whether it was during the night or day. Daylight rides are nearly just as fun. Flying into the final helix still makes me nervous, even more so that I don't ride roller coasters nearly as much. We spent a decent amount of time sharing a cheat soda sitting in front of the Troika and talking. We took advantage of non-parent moments when we have our chances to do so. Watching Orion trains cycle over the antique cars and racer makes for a great spot to relax and enjoy the view. No regrets. We went on Flight of Fear. Holy shit this thing sucks. It beat the absolute fuck out of us. We won't ride it again. Ever. We went for a ride on Orion. This time, we did request a front row seat. We only had about a ten minute wait in total. The feeling of speed in the front row is incredible. I like Orion, but I think a giga coaster shouldn't be overshadowed like it is. I really wish KI could have packed more ride time into it, but the economic timing was unfortunate. As great of a ride as it is, I think it's a missed opportunity. I much prefer Diamondback, Mystic Timbers, The Beast, and possibly even Banshee over it. My optimistic hopes for a multi-launch or a dive coaster in Vortex's prior location will hopefully also overshadow Orion. (my money is on the multi-launch) We left the park to get chicken wings and crush beers at BT Roosters, which is our KI tradition. We took an Uber from our hotel back to the park, and we got there around 5. We killed some time with a beer and grabbed our Fright Lane passes after 6. The park was absolutely packed. Fast Lane is no longer a value during Haunt evenings, and they're doing the same fucking thing CP is. Some of the Fast Lane queues were out past the entrances. The add-on seems more profit driven than ever. They could easily raise the prices enough to keep consumer volume down and offering a better up-charge experience. But, I'm sure the numbers don't work out as well. It's disappointing to know that Fast Lane (plus) used to be such a perk, but now it's more of a necessity. Anything longer than fifteen minutes used to be taboo even despite being on Haunt nights. With our limited visits to parks, I'd be willing to pay $200 - $300 per Fast Lane pass in order to be as good of an experience as it used to be. We went through all of the haunted houses. They were fun and all, but I just don't know how adults can be intimidated. They're more laughable entertainment than anything, which is not a complaint. As an 80's/90's kid, Kill Mart still takes the cake for me. The nostalgia is hilarious. I don't even think it was 9 PM yet when we decided to queue up for our last ride. We waited about 40 minutes for Orion. It was the only Fast Lane queue we could find that wasn't out to the entrance. I think we were seated in row 3. Compared to the front, it felt neutered We went to Corn Stalkers, which was our last haunted attraction. After that, as per usual, we found a nice looking family and gave them our Fight Lane passes with the bonus selection remaining. It took about 30 minutes to wait for our Uber. Just like last year, my feelings were mixed. I genuinely wish I had the same interest as a I used to, but it just seems to be drastically diminished. We set our expectations appropriately compared to last year, so it wasn't a disappointment. We still decided the trip was worth it. However, in the end we both think we could have had just as much fun, if not more, by watching and riding all of the bullshit rides with our daughter. For us, sharing new experiences with her is an irreplaceable feeling compared to trying to relive our past.

Ah. I had a reading fail. I missed the part where you were pregaming. Your choices make sense. I think out of all of the canned cocktails I tried I didn't mind the mules. I've seen them, but I haven't had a Beat Box. Sounds like I was way ahead of my time when I used to pour Vodka directly into the Boone's Farm bottles, at an undisclosed age.

They're really cool. So are pocket protectors.

Holy shit chill. Why are you responding to my posts from July?

Man, I just can't get behind those premade cocktails. They always sound so good to me, but they never quite taste the same.

Thanks for sharing the food options, especially when it comes to the healthier options. I hear you on needing more, sometimes. When we eat clean on vacations and keep working out every morning, we actually find ourselves losing weight despite having a few drinks during the evening. We always eat really clean throughout day and cheat a little at dinner. I can't eat like crap during the day anymore, anyway. But... When we go to Kings Island Haunt this Saturday, it's going to be a free for all. It's like our one day a year where we intentionally drink a lot and don't care what we eat starting from late afternoon until we tap out at night. A workout before the park and the next morning before we drive home are crucial to make us not feel like total garbage. Cardio, cold shower, coffee, eggs, and a small bowl of fruit in that order. That puts me right back to about 75-80% after our annual Haunt binge nights.

We were going to go to Carowinds this weekend, but we're going to stay away from the east coast all together. We'll be going to KI this Saturday so we can rediscover again that we're just not into this shit very much anymore. That seems to be the theme every trip. But, here goes another try.

I'd rather they get another flat or two. Sounds like you had a great trip.

Meanwhile, SFSTL can't even run its carousel forward.

Really happy to keep seeing these healthy(er) food choices catching on.

No pun intended, right? .....

That's good to know. We'll make sure to eat early enough to get back to the park before all hell breaks loose. What's the best option for late night drunken food in the park? La Rosa's is our go-to at King's Island. It's quick.