RCjunkie

I totally agree.

If you talked to Dave Frasier you know more than I do for sure. With IMAX being gone I believe 2015 will bring the park a water park expansion for sure. Hydroblaster could easily return and I am with you thinking it would be better in the water park, it would get more use that way. My guess is Looping Starship will be removed or relocated with the water park expansion/addition so that will leave plenty of room to bring it back if they want. You get rid of that amphitheater next to Route 76 and you have a nice plot of land for some new flats or relocation of older ones. I am hoping Monster gets restored for next year like CP is doing this year. It would fit right in with the refurbished Scrambler and Tilter.

If/when VF gets a new coaster Excalibur will be demolished and the new ride will go in it's place. VF doesn't need more coasters, it just needs the quality of the coasters upgraded with new ones. I don't think VF has the foot traffic to justify a new coaster without taking out the operating expense of another one that is under performing like Excalibur. Excalibur is just a dog that will not hunt anymore. The ride does not open until noon on week days, usually only runs one train, is the only coaster in the park to be closed during Haunt and also the only coaster in the park that is NOT on the Fast Pass system because it is always a walk on anyway and just is not that popular of a ride at all. VF has flat rides on the FP system when Excalibur is not.

The VF construction cam is back up and it looks like they are almost done with the AA driving track. Getting there.

I totally agree. VF has been neglected for a bit but the last 3 years have seen some great additions and improvements. A new kiddy area was the #1 need and Camp Snoopy filled that need. They had rides their since the 70's when I was a kid and it needed a refresh and it received a pretty sweet one. That part of the park looks great now and is a joy to walk through now. That part of the parks is so much busier than it used to be also now. The surprise Route 76 area looks to be another great addition. Old refurbished classic flats, the comeback of the AA's and the new Northern Lights ride. Hopefully they can redo the Monster next year like CP did this year and move that over there too. Next thing that needs to be addressed is the weak water park, every other park in the chain has a better one. With IMAX being demolished and the other moves in the park it looks like this will be the next addition after Route 76. It is needed and will be welcomed. Once they address that need the only thing left will be a new coaster and hopefully it will be a thrilling one. After that they will need another new flat or two, since Chaos left nothing has been added. The area next to Route 76 where the defunct amphitheater sits looks like a nice place to place a new flat or two. A family coaster would not hurt either.

Agreed. A B&M coaster has just as much possibility as any other manufacturer for VF's next coaster. CF has a good working relationship with them and VF is one of the only two parks in the chain that do not have a B&M ride. Wild Thing cost 11 million back in 1996. In today dollars that would be upwards of 16 million and CF in 2013 has indicated VF is one of their top 3 potential growth parks for the near future. Would that get a Gatekeeper or Banshee? Nope. But it could get them a Raptor clone or something between a Batman invert and a Raptor design. I just hope IF they do decide to go with B&M as a manufacturer for VF's next coaster it would be a Invert or Floorless instead of their Winged or Flyer models because this park is overdue for a thrilling ride that provides some forces.

Too bad you have to lower your expectations to make a ride fun. Sounds like your trying a little to hard to enjoy it but to each his own on why or how you enjoy a ride. Everyone is different. I just prefer thrilling rides. X-Flight is fun and I like it better than Gatekeeper by just a little bit but neither are thrilling. Fun yes, thrilling no. I am not begging VF for anything and I can complain if I feel like it, CF is just a business and I am one of their millions of customers. As a customer I am just stating what I think the park needs after visiting other parks in the CF chain, a thrilling ride with some intensity because the park has never had one and preferably one with inverts because the park has not had a new one with inverts since 1980.

I disagree and would say Gatekeeper is low force compared Raptor but everyone has their opinion and preferences. I would rather have an Intamin like Maverick too, who wouldn't? But that probably will never happen because of the large financial investment it would take to build it. VF's revenue is to small to support that type of decision. I would take a B&M Hyper or Giga also at VF also but again, who wouldn't? And again it will probably never happen.The Hyper because the park already has one in Wild Thing and they do not need two or the price increase to remove WT and install a new Hyper. As for the Giga it would just be too expensive again for VF's revenue generation. Also, where would you put it? If/when VF gets a new coaster we will just have to wait and see what they choose. Until then we can have fun and continue to speculate.

Does anyone know if the 52''' height requirement vs. the usual 54'' for other B&M Inverts is due to the new seating harness?

So true. I also hope it is an invert especially after the good reviews of Banshee and that it is actually forceful in places. I know it would not be as big but a scaled down version would be perfect. Remove a loop and a turn or two and I would be thrilled. If they go B&M hopefully it is not a wing rider, it is not what this park needs even though I am sure it would be a hit with the GP but we already have enough low force rides.

It looks like we will see some testing today. The water dummies are now loaded. Ready for testing. Go water dummies!

^ I have no idea but they have since re-adjusted the camera view. Looks like they are done with pouring the concrete base for Scrambler now. You can also see that temporary orange construction fences have been put up, I am guessing they are so they can pour the concrete 'roads' for the Antique Auto's and not mess anything up on Northern Lights. Getting closer.

Can someone who has rode Banshee today tell me their opinion if it is better than Raptor, about equal or worse in terms of overall ride experience?

Despite the snow last night and it being only 30 degrees (F) right now you can see a concrete mixer on the right side of the picture and they are pouring cement for the new Scrambler base. Good to see progress despite the weather with only 29 days until opening. Scrambler base being poured.

Leviathan at #13 and Millennium Force at #14. I have not been on Leviathan yet and I am surprised it beat Mille per all the reviews offered last year by riders on this site. Any comments from people who have been on both of them? Just curious.

That is the question I am asking too. With Banshee being in the same state as Raptor I expect and welcome the reviews and comparisons between the two. If it is equal too or better than Raptor then I will visit this year for sure. If not, then I can wait until CP gets something new and visit both parks as I usually do in one trip.

Learned insider information like Code 6-0-7 (backwards and upside down) is LOG. This was fun to listen too even for someone like me who really does not care much for water parks because Shane and Robb give you background information from the operational and development aspect. Robb, too bad there is no money or personal interest in doing podcasts for your site because your a wealth of knowledge about parks and rides and fun to listen too.

Looks pretty good on paper.

It was pretty obvious but now here is the proof. The train is finally here and loaded on the track but I see Dan already took care of that. Train on the tracks.

Just got this picture from VF's construction webcam. A big shipping container with a crane mounted next to the Northern Lights track makes me think the train has arrived and will be loaded on the track today. Stay tuned. A shipping container and mounted crane.

I enjoyed it so much more as a kid and it is a little annoying now for me to listen too it but there is no doubt this ride is a true classic, it has stood the test of time. Thanks for the tour.

VF just posted via their Facebook account they have the base of the relocated Tilt-O-Whirl up close to where the old Steel Venom queue used to be. Tilter.

I saw the same thing and had the same question. Thanks for explaining that about the reporting/management structure that CF uses. So he must visit at least once a year if not a few times then. Do you know the entire CF GM reporting structure for their parks and if you did can you share it? I would be curious to see it .

Do you know why the Kings Island's GM is at Valleyfair?

After the dog riding monkeys this place exhibits so much Klass. I have to admit I like the monkeys. If it comes again you have to stop and get an updated TR because you can never have enough Klassy TR's on this site.