Intamin_coyote

Sideways! (if only)

Kingda Ka June 2015

Exactly! that's management's problem to worry about

Sorry. Meant for their ownership of KI at least (as that is home park, can't speak on how other CF parks typically do theirs). Considering its the age of the internet, I wouldn't say the park really has a right to be mad or even surprised that it got let out of the bag this early on. This happens for seemingly every major coaster nowadways, and I think they've been getting found out earlier and earlier each time simply because enthusiasts know where to look. And yes, I understand that many long for the days of being completely unknowing of what is to come before an announcement, but this is just the way things are now.

Both Banshee and Mystic Timbers had public announcements, after park close. I'm pretty sure DB and every other ride in CF ownership has had public announcements as well. This will likely be the same. Right. But I still having a teaser campaign would help add to the excitement, and get even more people talking. Yes, mostly everyone knows, but I'm sure there are still plenty that don't. Its just kinda lazy imo. We already know whats coming to BGW but thats not stopping them from doing a formal teaser campaign. Simply put. With KI's history of teasing rides so well, I'm surprised that they've taken this "nothing to see here" approach that they have.

August 2013

From someone on r/rollercoasters Take it for what you will. Could be a troll, could be legit, idk... Either way, I have to say I'm disappointed in how there has yet to be any teasers yet (whatsoever). And the more time that passes, the less likely we'll be seeing any teasers save one stating the announcement date. Yes, we already pretty much everything there is to know, even down to track color and two possible names, but it would have been nice to have some sort of story built up/attached to this ride. The teasing campaigns for both Mystic Timbers and Banshee were done phenomenally well. So I don't understand why they've chosen to go about this coaster the way they have. It was understandable not having teasers up on Opening Day since they wanted the focus to be on everything that was new or improved for 2019, and maybe wait until Grand Carnivale ends. But at this point...what are they waiting for?

^Excluding kiddie coasters, all it appears Argentina and Chile has as far as coasters are a few Vekomas (SLC and boomerang each), a Zamperla Wild Mouse, and a Zierer family ride. My rule of thumb, if you can easily identify who the manufacturer of the ride (and they're at least decently relevant), then you should be fine. Because even if the regs are lax in that country you know a major manufacturer would not want their name on tragedies such as these.

And if you don't have time/don't feel like waiting for the front. Honestly, as long as you sit in any of the front rows of a car, its considerably smoother than in the the backs of one. ...But as for the question above. Yea, probably not gonna happen. Those restraints have been available for nearly a decade already, so if SIX haven't bothered to put in them yet, I don't see them installing now or anytime in the future.

Hmm. Rougarou rough you say. So I guess it was pretty smooth! (I kid. I'm one of those few crazy people that loves Rougarou ) PS: Glad to hear you still had fun though, despite all the shortcomings of the park.

To be fair, it jumped $1.54 per share today (to $50.10 atm), most likely in light of the recent good news.

Net revenue is up (so far), thanks to higher per capita spending, both in and out of park, albeit flat attendance... https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190710005143/en/Cedar-Fair-Reports-3-Incr

Ok so, technically these shots were taken at sunrise (on Banshee Media Day) but hey, close enough

Mystic Timbers and KI's Giga I think will make for a pretty great one-two punch, once next year comes... EDIT: And also, Skyrush and Candymonium as well...

Agreed. Ouch. That hurts just thinking about. Never EVER would I want to put my hands up for a launch that forceful (really I don't see the point in putting up your hands for any launch) As side note. To those who have ridden it, how does the launch feel compared to the hydraulic launchers? Through some simple arithmetic, I believe the accelerations roughly would be... TTD: 120mph/4 s = + 30 mph each second KK 128 / 3.5 s = + 36.5 mph each second Xcelerator 82 / 2.3 s = + 35.7 mph each second --- Maxx Force 78 / 2 s = + 39 mph each second (Fastest accelerating North Am. coaster)

I think trying to diversify the ride lineups of generally non-themed parks with an immersive dark ride of some sort is meant with good intentions. But honestly, just stick to what you're good at. Leave "immersive adventure" to the experts at Disney/Univ.

Awesome! Thank you for sharing... Hmmm no fireball you say? That's strange. I can't remember ever riding it w/o the fire, but that would make sense to not have it given the heat (when i go on a cold day during Haunt, I always make sure to go for a front-seat ride to bask in the split-second of warmth it gives off )... I also can attest to it being better under the Paramount theme, and with all the effects on full display. But as mentioned above, it still better/more immersive theming than you'd find on 95% of typical Cedar Fair rides (I for am actually glad that we still have most of the effects working on the helicopter scene - apparently the one at CW just awkwardly stops for a brief moment before proceeding forward into the tunnel!) Unlikely. Per the blueprints the entrance will over by FOF, and passing through Firehawk's old photo booth.

^2007 - Maverick and Firehawk was the only instance of Cedar Fair doing so. But even then, FH was just a relocate from GL...a coaster that was convenient to give to them since they had just purchased the Paramount chain on June 30, 2006 and was unpacking Geagua at the same time.

If anything, this is perhaps just as much about not stepping on the still-pretty-new SV as it is not taking away from what's going on 4 hours south... From Zimm himself: Citing Cedar Point’s record-breaking roller coaster Steel Vengeance, which debuted in 2018, and Carowinds’ acclaimed Fury 325, new in 2015, Zimmerman said: “We can continue to leverage those for many years in our marketing campaigns.”

Thirteen years ago today, Cedar Fair purchased Kings Island along with the four other then-Paramount parks - for a an astonishing $1.24 billion... What's crazy to think about is how long its been already that they've owned the parks. About one more year from now, and they will have owned these parks for as long (2006-2020) as the Paramount era was (1992-2006). Assuming they own the parks past 2020, this will make them the single-longest ownership of Kings Island... I'll always look at the Paramount era with mixed feelings. On one hand, I have vivid, fond memories of growing up in the perennial "Award" winning Kid's Area that was Hanna-Barbera Land/Nick Central/Nick Universe etc. by which Paramount was responsible for expanding and improving multiple times throughout their ownership. But on the other hand, when I look at many of the decisions/major investments made in the times long before I was old enough to know or care who B&M is or what a "world-class coaster" entails, I can't help but to think that this must have been a frustrating time to be an enthusiast. I admire Paramount's ambition they had with Son of Beast and Tomb Raider, but my oh my is it a tough pill to swallow just thinking about $30,000,000 and $20,000,000 respectively spent on two things that: A) Failed to see their 10th anniversary (and at a seasonal park) B) Significantly and rapidly detoriated over time - one of which ending up as one of the infamous coasters of all time, and the other in its last couple years became denigratingly known as "a ferris wheel in a box" :/ C) Left behind painful reminders of what could have been in the form of year-round Haunt structures. And this obsession they had with prototypes was not limited to KI. Flights of Fear, Volcano, Hypersonic etc. And unfortunately for KD, neither Volcano or Hypersonic never worked as intended, and unfortunately no longer exist either. It seems that they really did want to bring to KI and KD something special and world-class in SOB, TR:TR, Volcano, and Hypersonic, but came up short when it came to execution. If they had just gone with relatively unambitious/less "inspired" projects such as any steel hypercoaster, B&M floorless, invert, etc., things would have gone much more smoothly, both figuratively and literally. Hinsdsight is 2020, but heck, an Intamin rocket would have ended up as a better choice than Hypersonic. As for SOB, a plug n' play in the 150-160 ft range (I've heard that Intamin was considered when SOB was in development, but either the price was not right and/or were not willing to go 200+ ft) Xcelerator (2002) opened just one year after Hypersonic Colossos (2001) - one year after SOB

Technically, there actually hasn't been any official park teasers to begin with. Only "developments", of which the most recent one has been simply what color the track might be... Similar to 3 out of the other 4 CF gigas, a nice blue color... (Source) Supposedly, the support color (behind the track), is a light gray.

I see what you are saying. Valravn seemed to have been a bigger draw then Steel Vengeance is in its opening season. Maybe it's too intense for the GP Hasn't Steel Vengeance averaged like a 3 hour line? Valravn sure didnt To be fair, lines don't necessarily indicate ridership (and in this case, it most certainly does not), considering Valravn was number #2 for ridership last year. Both hold 24 per train, but dispatch times for SV are...NOT very good (or so I've read). I wouldn't know since it was closed all day last I visited and have yet to ride it. Valravn's dispatch times are much, much better... Firehawk almost always had longer lines than Diamondback, Beast, Mystic Timbers, in its last year, but it obviously wasn't more popular or more ridden than those. All that having said, most every GP member I've met says they "love" SV, but almost everyone one of them say they love Valravn too. I don't think I've heard anyone describe SV as too intense for them, but I would certainly bet for some it is. Supposedly, 2017 was actually the most attended year at KI since 1998 but that's if.... you include Winterfest, which returned for the first time since 2005. The question would be how much of the increase can be attributed simply to having more operating days and how much of it was due to Mystic Timbers... As for Banshee. I'm glad someone pointed this out, but 2014 did coincide with re-opening of KK, which I think definitely played a major role in siphoning off what-would have been KI goers. For 2015, there was a ~3 % increase in attendance per TEA, and all they had added that year was a set of Scooters, and a kiddie ride. I would imagine a lot of guests came back that year to ride Banshee for the first time.

One thing that also should be mentioned about Volcano is that it was not put in by Cedar Fair in the first place, but was yet another notch in the very long string of prototypes/first/only-of-its-kind rides put in over the Paramount/Viacom era at the various parks, including... Flights of Fear Stealth Hypersonic Son of Beast Tomb Raider (KI) Drop Zone (first gyro drop) Delirium (first Giant Frisbee) As you can tell, some of these projects turned out very well, others so/so, and a few horrendous. I'd put Volcano in the "so/so" category. When you look at it from that perspective, in context of the other arguably over-ambitious concepts that Paramount was going for at this time, it wasn't a terrible investment. Despite its downtime and increasingly burdensome maintenance bill It was a very popular, iconic, and unique attraction for years and years. And besides ~20 seasons out of this thing is at least a helluva better than just seven from Hypersonic (and that ride was no stranger to issues either!), 10 from Tomb Raider/Crypt (nor was this one), or "10" (parts of ten seasons) from SOB. I think the biggest thing working against perhaps was simply how far ahead of its time it was as ride. In 1998, I believe the only other company to even make LIM coasters was Premier, and they were no stranger to their issues either - The Chiller, which ironically opened the same year as Volcano, but was an absolute mechanical nightmare throughout its relatively short lifespan before being removed as early as June 2007. (And on a somewhat - related note, the first complete-circuit launched invert since Volcano opened this year! You won't believe what its called. Ironically enough, with all the IOA discussions happening so much right now, )

I've been going to KI all my life, so I must ask. What is this "one-train operation" you speak of? I thought that was just for like kiddie coasters, shuttles, and whatnot. (But all joking aside, that wait for Ninja sounds effing brutal - typically not a good thing when the number of lifts a ride has exceeds its number of trains in operation!)