kenban
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Posts posted by kenban
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I'm having trouble figuring out the orientation of this thing. Okay Kings Island experts... based on what we know, assuming this is legitimate do you think Race for Your Life Charlie Brown is in the way or do you think there's reason for optimism here?
From what I can tell RFYLCB is safe. Zone 1A is behind the ride in the woods, You cross over the train tracks going up the lift hill into Zone 1C which is where the clearing we have been seeing is next to the new entrance to WWC. Zone 2 is between WWC and the train while Zone 3 is between train shed and the train tracks. But I am not certain how the train shed fits here. It feels wrong somehow or maybe we are getting a new train shed.
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The only thing I hate about Vortex is the restraints. I think it is just rough enough to bounce your head into the OTSR over and over again but smooth enough it could be good if something could be done about the head banging. If it was possible to replace the trains or if it was somehow possible although I have no idea how to replace the restraints it might be possible to become a decent ride.
Look at Flight of Fear, I think the head banging was worse on that before the restraint change than Vortex is now.
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Zone 1A is the station and Transfer. Looks like a straight lift hill into 1C which has a drop through 1B. Maybe I am wrong but it looks smaller than Prowler.
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I was with you until the part about the park's anniversary. Lol
Someone asked about it at CoasterMania. The parks GM flat out said they know it is coming and are planning on celebrating it. He made it sound like they plan on making a big deal about it. Does that mean they plan on doing extra work to improve the park before hand? I have no idea. The chain has not cared in the past about anniversaries at other parks. But things change and it feels like Cedar Point is having more work done than normal.
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I still find it hard to believe that Cedar point would be getting any Roller coaster or Updates to said MS. Seems more likely that Kings island would get a coaster next year. Don't see them open two big coaster in Ohio in the same year.
Also what two parks get more People then Cedar point. Someone said its 3rd in the Chain.
While Cedar Point might be 3rd for attendance, the true metric of significance for Cedar Fair is a park's per capita revenue. With Cedar Point's onsite hotels, multi-day average visits, and the fact that they still garner a third highest attendance with the shortest season in the chain, I'd assume Cedar Point's per capita revenue is significantly higher than other parks in Cedar Fair's portfolio. This metric alone would justify giving Cedar Point top spot for any capital expenditure allocated by Cedar Fair.
When people were questioning why King's Island might be getting a coaster next year I posted this. The image is directly from an investors presentation given by Cedar Fair.
Cedar Fair does not break down the numbers for us but they do provide a nice little pie chart. You can clearly see Cedar Point makes almost 25% of the entire chain's profits. But if you look at the top 4 parks combined they make around two thirds of the money. Which is why the big parks get something every year and see a lot more big coasters then the smaller parks.
Cedar Fair announced last year they were planning on Capital spending of $150 million for the parks 2017 season and the same amount for the following year as well. There is enough money Cedar Point could get a water park expansion, and rebuild Mean Streak which total I would guess around $30 million. Kings Island could get an giga costing around $30 to 40 million. That would still leave $80 to $90 million for the rest of the chain.
Cedar Point's 150th anniversary is in 2020 and the park has publicly stated they plan on celebrating it. I suspect they are trying to get the park looking as good as possible before then.
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I'm with you, coasterbill. In addition, Mean Streak has historically been closed on Fridays during Halloweekends, as part of the somewhat reduced menu of attractions on those nights. It's a lot of cherry picking to say that Cedar Point doesn't care about being prompt, when the park does put a lot of off-season support into Mean Streak, on top of its daily maintenance, PLUS the fact that it churns three trains just about every day. As for Dragster, it and its green brother in Jersey are notoriously cantankerous rides. There are a ton of coasters here, and not everything will be 100% flawless. Sorry kenban, but the sum of some particular issues and specific closures isn't tantamount to "they no longer even try." That's just not true about Mean Streak or any of their coasters.
What I mean by they no longer even try is purely about the fact that it typically no longer opens at the same time as the gate in the morning. For example on Saturday it was not scheduled to start running until I think it was 11 AM.
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Let's be honest, the only people sad when Mean Streak doesn't open at 10 is probably Mean Streak Henry and Bill. I don't think we see many people sprinting to it first.
True, but most of the video is about trying to make sure Top Thrill Dragster and Mean Streak open with the park in the morning. But then I would not be sad to just see Mean Streak torn down.
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I laughed at them saying "dragster has to open by 10" usually even if its fully working its still not open at 10 due to them starting testing late.
There is another line later on about "you don't want to get a reputation for rides not opening on time". Sad to say they totally have that reputation mostly because of Top Thrill Dragster and Mean Streak. Mean Streak they no longer even try to open with the park in the morning and it does not even run the entire season, they either close it early so it does not run during Haunt or open it several weeks into the season.
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Assuming that list is accurate it's probably taking into account the exchange rate with Canada's Wonderland and the strong dollar.
Since the information comes from investor information provided by Cedar Fair it is required by law to be accurate. It takes into account all expenses and would include the exchange rate. King's Island was not ahead by a lot either. Although that will change this year with the current exchange rate.
The attendance numbers are actually a lot more suspect since none of us know how they get those numbers. Cedar Fair has publicly stated they do not provide the information.
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^I guess that makes sense, I do feel kinda bad though for the other parks but at least im lucky that my home park is favorited by cedar fair.
Has nothing to do with the park being a favorite. In terms of profit the top 4 parks in order are
1. Cedar Point
2. Knott's Berry Farm
3. King's Island
4. Canada's Wonderland
The rest are not even close. These four together make around two thirds of the total profits of the chain.
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↑↑If cedar fair decided then how come they always give the same parks new rides.
This discussion happens weekly, but the short answer is this: they want to make money.
And to add to that, those little parks don't generate (relatively speaking) enough money for the chain to warrant the large investments Cedar Point, Canada's Wonderland, Kings Island, and Carowinds are getting.
Actually Carowinds makes like half the money either King's Island or Canada's Wonderland make. Carowinds got Fury 325 early because corporate saw a larger boost from Intimidator then they expected and rewarded it with Fury. This was discussed on an investor calls sometime after Fury 325 was announced or built.
Parks get investments based on profits they have already made and the potential for future profits.
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I wont be talking about other parks since each park decides mainly what they build not cedar fair. So instead of saying another cedar fair park should get a new coaster, I will talk just about kings island. With the worlds longest invert just a few years back I dont think they would make another big investment right away, especially since gigas are expensive.
Then again hope its not like cedar point, were I thought they weren't going to get a dive and then they did. lol it still cracks me up.
Still cant believe they got a dive.
It is obvious you have no idea how Cedar Fair is structured. The parks do have input into the system but in the end Corporate tells the parks you are getting X and here is where it is going. Cedar Fair even designs the coasters. For example we already know total the chain will spend $150 million on capital improvements this year. We also know for a fact that at least one large expensive thrill ride is being installed in the chain for 2017. History has shown that it will be a B&M the question is who is getting it. The early signs point towards King's Island but we could be wrong about who is getting the ride. Also possible it might not be B&M but that is unlikely. The items we know are from investor presentations corporate gives.
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Kings Island's park PR or in other words the man whose job it is to screw with us just tweeted this.
Never mind what's under the railway bridge. #KIProject2017There are survey markers under the bridge.
Personally I am still leaning towards B&M giga. Lift hill and drop next to the train shed. Then turn left towards Diamondback's hammerhead. The return will dive under the train and pop up over the line for White Water Canyon. When the line for WWC was finished recently they installed a wire tunnel over sections complete with vines to grow over it.
The bridge dive is something that Fury 325 did as well.
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I can't the King's Island when visitng King's Island. Where the f**k is the park's namesake island?
On the Ohio river. The park is named after Coney Island, the amusement park in Cincinnati that King's Island replaced. Many of the early rides were moved from Coney Island.
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Next time you ride Banshee look up at the wheel assembly. The bottom wheel which I have heard called the guide wheel just bounces like crazy. Not sure what the cause is but it is a very visible sign of the rattle. As the wheel jackhammers against the track it moves enough you can see a gap between the wheel and track.
I assume you're talking about the upstop wheels.
i was specifically told by some who knows more than I do we are looking at a guide wheel not an upstop wheel. But I could be wrong. The upstop wheel takes the weight of the train when under negative g forces or when the train is upside down and should be tightly clamped to the rail. The guide wheels help the wheel assembly turn and keep on track.
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Next time you ride Banshee look up at the wheel assembly. The bottom wheel which I have heard called the guide wheel just bounces like crazy. Not sure what the cause is but it is a very visible sign of the rattle. As the wheel jackhammers against the track it moves enough you can see a gap between the wheel and track.
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Two stops at KI this weekend, and after three Banshee rides I can't believe how bad the ride has gotten. The rattle is downright terrible. This was three different rides and seats, no change... I was a big Banshee fan the past two years (with dozens of rides), but after this weekend it totally dropped to one of my least favorite B&M inverts. Headache inducing by the end of the ride. I hope it gets better by the time we go back later this season.
Did you try sitting near the front of the train? My experience is that the rattle gets worse the farther back you sit.
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I like to think I add instant gold to every thread I touch.
Yes you cast your fountain of gold on every thread you touch. That's why it smells like a lockerroom
Everyone on the tour bus is scratching their heads on this one. Might you elaborate?
I think he is just agreeing that you provide a golden shower to the threads you participate in.
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I saw the first picture of green track outside CSF about a week or two ago. I have heard the ride would be green and orange but I also do not remember hearing that until after the first piece of green track appeared so I do not put much faith in it. On the other hand Don posted about photo ops in Batavia just days before the first piece of green track.
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1. What modifications would you recommend I make to my current idea?
2. While I won’t really be able to avoid it, do the parks put out a list/schedule online ahead of time for any rides that will be closed for annual maintenance?
3. Which coasters have single rider lines?
4. Flat ride suggestions?
5. How are operations? What coasters break down a lot and which are really good?
6. Food suggestions?
7. What coaster usually has the shortest line? How about the longest line?
8. Anything else I should keep in mind?
2. No need really. The park is very good about doing maintenance when it is closed for the winter. The only ride which is still closed and I think should be open for your trip is White Water Canyon.
3. None
4. The park has several good flat rides. But you are already going to have a busy day. This is a holiday weekend and unless you get a fast lane will already have a hard time doing everything.
5. Operations are pretty good. Not amazing but better then normal so far this season. The rides are pretty reliable and are mostly rarely down.
6. Eat at Reds Hall of Fame Grill if you have the time, best food in the park, but service has been spotty. The Chicken Shack can be decent but is very hit or miss and seems worse this year. There is a buffet lunch out at the Picnic Grove this weekend due to the holiday and that should be decent but more importantly fast. Food service has been just awful all year so far. Waits are frequently 30 minutes or longer and popular locations have been over an hour most weekends so far. My guess it will be miserable trying to eat in the park this weekend at most locations.
7. Shortest line is typically Racer or The Bat. Adventure Express and Vortex both have lines that are normally not too long but more importantly they just seem to move. Longest lines are Diamondback, The Beast, Flight of Fear, and Firehawk. Banshee is typically the best operations in the park and has a shorter line in the afternoon, most sunday afternoons it has little to no line.
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The parks snapchat account is run by an intern. They do not know what next years attraction is and they also have no idea if something will be removed.
The ONLY place which has been hinting at anything to do with the log flume is snapchat. I would just ignore it.
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Ok thanks! I'm thinking the even itself will be a little more crowded this year since it's popularity is growing. Either way it seems that a lot of night rides on beast are in my future!
That's a shame about the food lines. Hopefully we get lucky and catch them at a good time. We love the chicken at Chicken Shack so we'll probably wait either way lol.
So far this season the food lines are running 30 minutes to an hour on weekends. I have read reports on other sites about people saying some locations are running 90+ minutes. But I have yet to wait in a food line that long. But I have personally had waits of more than 45 minutes. A few weeks ago I just walked in and turned around and walked right back out of the Festhaus because the lines for both food locations stretched from one side of the building to the other. Which does mean that the food lines take longer then the ride lines.
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Anybody here that went to coasterstock last year that wants to tell me what kind of crowds to expect during both the normal days and ERT?
There were a little over 500 people who went last year. ERT was a walk on for the majority of rides. Smaller rides popular with enthusiasts for example Woodstock Gliders had the longest lines during ERT. But big coasters like The Beast were running trains with very few people on them. I rode The Beast by myself, great chance to get front row night rides, although you might have to wait if you want the front row.
It was warmer last year so I do not expect it to be as busy during the day. But Saturday might be 45 minute to hour waits for the popular rides. Food lines have been horrible this year.
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^^That's because they have been teasing it much less than Kings Island has been with their new attraction coming in 2017. Although it might just be because Kings Island seems to have a better PR team than WOF. But to be honest I think Kings Island is getting a GCI, and WOF is getting a B&M. (Similar to 2013's addition of Gatekeeper at CP, and Goldstriker at CGA)
Well in WOF's defense, the new PR just started a few months ago. The previous girl who held the position did next to nothing
Ah. I see. I hope WOF's PR will continue to improve. I really do hope WOF does get a new roller coaster next year. It's more than needed.
It was announced a few months ago that two flat rides a Huss Troika and a Huss Condor were purchased used in Europe and will be installed at WoF. While those might not be the only additions I doubt it will include a coaster as well. Typically you do not install both flat rides and a coaster in the same park in the same year.
Kings Island (KI) Discussion Thread
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Posted
I put this together really quickly.
Think I am still off on the scaling because I think it might be larger than that. Would require a new train shed. I could see the park using this as an excuse to change the path of the train.
I went back and looked at the satellite view again and I am positive I am wrong, or it is smaller than The Racer. Might try again later tonight.