CenturyFlyer

Hopefully Kennywood! Who knows if Steel Curtain will be open by mid-August... hoping that it will be!

From July 22-24, I got to go to three parks for the first time that I had wanted to visit for years. This will be long-winded, but if you're up for it, I hope that you enjoy the read. Holiday World Link Indiana Beach Link (Blue skies resulted in the best pictures of the trip.) Cedar Point Mini-Report Link Day 1: Kings Island (Wednesday July 22) To begin our trip through the Midwest, we made the drive to Kings Island and got there at 10:15, just as they were opening the parking lot. We quickly made our way into the park by passing through the temperature screening, in which we had an employee tell us to stand inside a set area. The operators were really pushing the numbers, dispatching the next train when the previous one had just cleared the speed hill. I had heard from a few places that Orion was a front row ride, but I personally prefer it in the back. There is little better than the first drop, airtime on a giga is good, and the helix is intense. Orion has become my #1 steel coaster and #3 overall (out of 131). Of note is the fact that Orion was not unloading one row at a time, and I heard a supervisor explaining something to the effect of “if you let everyone out at once…” as I was exiting my second ride. With rain in sight, I went to Beast, and it started to drizzle while I was in the partially-covered queue. There wasn't any rain while I was actually on the ride, though. It was hard seeing the big plot of land where Vortex used to be knowing that I missed my chance to ride it. Cedar Point has ditched live spielers on the ride platforms this year in favor of pre-recorded ones, but Kings Island still has the panel operators say the spiels live. I was hoping I would love the Beast but wasn't expecting much, and the “glorified mine train” idea was definitely reinforced by my first ride. The coolest part and the thing that made the ride worthwhile was cruising through the woods, and it’s hard to imagine what this ride would be like without that feature. And of course, the helix did not disappoint. There was rain in the forecast, but we still got in line for Mystic Timbers, which closed with us about halfway up the stairs. We waited for only a few minutes under the Brewhouse overhang (clumped together with other people - this is one moment where it’s impossible to social distance!) then headed over to Boo Blasters (don't think that there's supposed to be guns, but one in our car worked) before getting lunch at Skyline Chili. Some people might think that it's gross, but I enjoyed it. Even when we were done eating, all the rides were still closed, so we continued to wait out this two hour+ delay by waiting in a 30-minute queue for Flight of Fear. It’s a shame that social distancing means you can’t switchback in the flying saucer room more, as it would be fun to take in the whole preshow and the effects that go along with it. Even with Cedar Fair’s enhanced theming lately, it’s safe to say that they will never build something as elaborate as this. The launch of Flight of Fear was the best part of the ride. Everything after it was a big rattly mess to me. I remember liking Kings Dominion’s version a lot more. I wonder what’s wrong...my memory or the ride? Orion in a rain delay later in the day One of the biggest surprises of the day hit us right when we arrived at Area 72 at park opening. Orion opened way before the park, at around 10:40. Orion never distributed access passes the day we visited. Even with everyone in the park seemingly at the same attraction at once, it only took us 20 minutes to board the train. Diamondback was next, and I got stuck in line with an annoying group of kids flailing around and bumping into me. Diamondback was running two trains with the third one nowhere in sight. That’s the right decision to make, though, when you’re unloading one row at a time! (Orion was the only ride that didn’t do this.) Diamondback was awesome and is definitely #2 in the park now for me, but it was probably slightly less enjoyable to a first-timer that had already experienced Orion. I felt some mist as we glided across the lake. It was very cool walking into a new park, especially one as iconic as KI, for the first time. I’m unsure if I would’ve liked it more when there were bigger trees along International Street. The forecast was calling for rain later in the morning, but it was still clear at this point and would be for a little longer. The Bat entrance was deserted, but once we made our way into the ravine we found a healthy number of people in the station, probably due to the 1-train operation (which isn’t helped by the slow lift hill). The wait took 20 minutes, but the ride was better than I thought it would be. Riding in the back row, we got great airtime on the first drop, and while the rest of the course was over in a flash, it was my first "real" Arrow suspended (not Iron Dragon). Racer was only running the red side, although we had seen them racing trains earlier in the day. Racer was another ride that was unexpectedly solid. In the front row, it gave more airtime than I remember KD’s racer giving, and while it’s the worst woodie in the park, all three here are very good. I checked to verify that the “$10 Slingshot” didn’t allow single riders and split up with Dad; he went to do the Eiffel Tower while I went to Backlot Stunt Coaster. This was a walk-on, and I rode in the back row. Where Flight of Fear disappointed me, Backlot wowed me. For the third time that day, near-clones of coasters at Kings Island and Kings Dominion left me with completely different opinions. The fire effect wasn’t working, but this is a fun, zippy ride with some drops that I wasn’t expecting to be so deep. There are no turnstiles this year - not sure if it's been like that Cedar Fair doesn’t know how to maintain carousels. It seems like too often there are spider webs on the band organ (apparently this one has operated more recently), and pre-recorded music is never the same! ... but Cedar Fair gets an A+ for their floral clocks! These were running. Good to see We now walked over to Action Zone for our first foray into the north side of KI. Banshee was a ride that I was curious about, and it was a walk-on. Like Diamondback, Banshee was missing its third train, and my first ride was in row three. While this isn’t an intense invert by any means, I’m not a fan of sustained positive gs on steel coasters, so it is actually my favorite of the inverts I’ve been on. (Raptor, Alpengeist, Great Bear) It’s nice to be on an invert on which you can just enjoy flying through the sky without constantly bracing for the high g-force. Again, this is just my opinion. The in-line twist at the end was neat. There was still almost an hour left before the park closed, so I headed over to Orion. To my amazement, it was a walk-on. I boarded row four and had an incredible ride once again. I was pumped that I could probably get several more laps before the park closed if the line stayed short. However, this was quashed when I got stuck on the brakes for twenty minutes. I was hoping for an evac from 80 feet up in the air but instead, maintenance arrived on the scene, speeding their pickups along the dirt road to the coaster. The two trains in front of us slowly backed up before we were eventually released into the station. I took this picture later in the day when it got sunny. There's a train in there. Mystic Timbers is relentless, and I was hoping that I would become a GCI fan after riding what’s widely considered one of their best coasters. However, no matter how many crazy directional changes and pops of airtime Mystic throws at you, it’s a bit too smooth for me. That’s just what I thought of it after three rides. I’m a huge Gravity Group fan and love wooden coasters, but the GCIs that I’ve ridden just don’t have the edge that I look for in a woodie. The shed was actually one of my favorite parts of the ride. It’s kind of ironic, but I was not expecting it to be as good as it was based on the disappointed reviews I had read. The radio that plays on the brake run is clever and makes you not realize that the train is stacking. Mystic Timbers barely misses my top 20. I met with Dad at the Beast entrance and took a back row ride. This was too brutal for him, but I liked it more in the back. We were dismissed row by row this time. Even with the long lines at the Bat, crowds were light, so I went over to Invertigo to get the credit. The panel operator was also calling the ride Face/Off and said that we should go check out Fury, as it’s “taller, faster longer and has a more interesting layout than Orion! It’s a real great yee-haw ride!” Someday I will... Invertigo is the only ride in the park that almost knocked my glasses and my mask off and is a ride that is one and done. Kids on the train with me voiced their surprise when itwent backward. Huh??? I'll spare you a picture of the Son of Beast station for this one of the old Skylab queue house! Adventure Express was next. This was the biggest surprise of the day for me. Arrows are janky in a good way that Vekomas never are. The wooded setting is a nice touch, and the tunnel with the spears moving on the walls was something that I didn’t know was coming. Looks like a fun flume... The two kiddie coasters were open again, so I started out with Flying Ace Aerial Chase. It was pretty terrible, and I want to know how a Vekoma coaster can even rattle on the flat turn out of the station. Woodstock Express was much better but nothing special, and they were running two trains here. To finish out my day, I decided to get a final ride on Mystic Timbers because I really wanted to love it but just wasn’t a superfan. This time, I tried holding the lap bar with two hands for the entire ride. This is more effort than it’s worth, so I’ll ride this coaster in the future holding the lap bar up a little bit but not with all of my might, as riding for half of a course stapled is a small price to pay. And with that, my first ever Kings Island visit was over. Despite the rain delay, I was still able to do everything I wanted to do and had a very enjoyable experience. Something that stuck out to me at Kings Island was the lack of hand sanitizer stations. It felt like Indiana Beach had more sanitizer stations per square foot than KI did. Overall, Kings Island has the feel of a Cedar Fair park but has an outstanding ride collection that will make me want to return again and again. It was awesome to be able to ride both new B&Ms that have opened in the US in 2020! Next up we visit Holiday World, the home of my new #1 coaster...

On my visit on Saturday, I didn't even realize Gemini was running that day until I saw the two trains racing! It was kind of a cool sight, especially as I wasn't expecting it.

The Growler was the Wisdom Tornado that used to be there. Who knows if something new is actually in the works for that spot.

I had a nice time here two days ago. There were social distance markers in all of the queues, and they were playing announcements over the PA system about their "strict cleaning practices," which is a total joke! Maybe I'll start a topic that covers my trip to this park, Kings Island, and Holiday World!

I visited Cedar Point today for just a few hours (10:30-3:00) and had a nice time, even if I only got on three different coasters. Since I'm a Cedar Fair passholder this year and next, I figured that I would focus on Top Thrill Dragster and Millennium Force and not worry about getting on Steel Vengeance or Maverick. I got the MF access pass then rode it without one in the back row. At around 11:45, I walked over to TTD and got a 2-3 pass. I checked on Maverick and SV at 11:50, but access passes were gone, and they weren't letting people in standby. Do a lot of people go to this standby early in the morning? I rode the train through Boneville (what a neat touch ) and rode Millennium Force again. My two rides were fun but not as awesome as I remembered it being last year. (This was only my second ever CP visit.) I got a ride on Magnum next in the back. Props to the crew for not stacking as much as the other rides in the park even with the requirement of unloading one row at a time! Following this, I walked over to TTD and was surprised to see an empty queue. I joined the line... and it broke down for a half-hour. This was kind of annoying because my dad wanted to leave by not long after three, and TTD had been down on my visit last year, so I really wanted to ride it for the first time! Luckily, though, the downtime wasn't long, and I soon boarded the back row of the train. Now, I had sort of zoned out in the queue due to my lack of hydration, so I completely forgot to adjust my mask or hold it onto my face during the launch. I was NOT expecting it to be so intense! Wow, it was much better than I thought it would be! My mask flew off and into oblivion. Even when I walked along the launch track, it was nowhere in sight. Luckily, I had an extra in my pocket that I put on as soon as we hit the brakes. I didn't realize what was "off" until the launch was nearly over, but once I did it somewhat hampered my enjoyment of the last (five seconds) of ride time. Anyhow, this makes this ride something to remember! I got a lime Fanta and hobbled out of the park. The takeaway from this day is to just get as many passes as you can early in the day and not worry about the standby queue (though that's probably not reasonable on a Saturday). From what I saw, those standby queues are longer than when you return with a pass. Safety-wise, CP had many more hand sanitizing stations than KI, (which I visited earlier this week - update coming soon) and I don't remember KI running empty trains after cleanings either. I missed out on lots of the coasters today, but I'm on the fence about a second visit later in the season. I guess I'll just see how things go. If they start selling Fastlane (say, just on August weekdays), I might come back.

Check this page on their website. Steel Curtain Black Widow Bayern Kurve Paddle Boats Paratrooper Turtle Pittsburg Plunge Lil' Phantom (Kiddieland)

Sooo... any reports on TTD status? Sent from my SM-J737T1 using Tapatalk

With Kings Island reinstating the practice, I wonder if there's an off-chance that CP could start Bring-A-Friend discounts again. Sent from my SM-J737T1 using Tapatalk

Just so you know, Hershey isn't assigning rows, so someone might sit down next to you on the B&Ms.

I appreciate the input, Canobie Coaster. ^ Yeah, I'm definitely not looking at this park as a "credit run," as the rides appear to be exemplary. I'm hoping that it will be a place that I will want to spend more time at in the future. I'm really looking forward to Holiday World, but I likely will re-ride something at KK if the lines are short.

^^^ Thanks for the help, guys. I really do appreciate it and will use the tips. BTW 100th post. Here's to 10,000!

^ Thanks for the help! I'm thinking that I might skip T3 when it could take away a Voyage ride.

Awesome pics, Mike! I am super excited to visit here for the first time on the 22nd! Do you (or anyone else) have any suggestions on a good order for the rides? Should you do Flight of Fear first after getting the Orion pass or head to Diamondback and Mystic Timbers? Is Backlot Stunt Coaster good to do early? It'll be a Wednesday, so I'm hoping for low crowds but am not counting on it. Sent from my SM-J737T1 using Tapatalk

Does anyone have a good gameplan if you get to the park at opening? I'm looking to ride every coaster except the kiddie one once before moving on to Holiday World for the rest of the day.

I just wanted to say thanks for all of the reports, Mike. It's nice to have some new ones to read. Looking forward to the pictures!

Sorry to double post but I am really curious about whether the Skyride is open. Can anyone help me out? Busch Gardens has theirs closed due to social distancing. You can watch it running all day on the park's webcam.

Here's a short TR of my awesome time at Knoebels after Hershey. We arrived to a very quiet parking lot. As we walked into the park, it quickly became clear that crowds were light. I guess that this is because people don’t want to wear a mask, or more likely, are smarter than me and are staying away from amusement parks for now. Mask wearing was very well obeyed, although social distancing wasn't always followed in what few queue lines there were. We went to Twister first, and the line took about 10 minutes (kind of weird), which was by far the longest queue we waited in. They were assigning rows with effort made to keep spacing between groups on both woodies. As I left Twister, I noticed that the queue line was closed off for them to do cleaning, and people were lining up behind the barrier. Twister is a top-notch wooden coaster that I find myself liking just as much as Phoenix sometimes, which is insane. It’s really strange, but I also know that I’m at Knoebels when I hand my tickets to the deaf guy at the Twister entrance. I hope that isn’t bad. Phoenix was perfect as usual, with great floater airtime at the crest of the second turnaround that I had never noticed before and made me straddle the seat divider. I took two rides back-to-back two different times, in row 4.1, 1.3, the front, and the back, and the airtime was slamming on the double-down and the fourth hill. Knoebels did better at precautions than Hershey. Hand sanitizer locations seemed to be more obvious, and they sanitized the trains more often. The ironic thing is that there were fewer people here than at Hersheypark! Enjoy the pictures! BTW my Dad got a Bison burger here that cost as much as the crappy grilled ham and cheese I got at Hersheypark! They are taking apart 1001 Nachts, but according to the 2020 park map, the Tornado is going to be placed by Stratosfear (not sure if that's been mentioned yet). It's too bad I never got to ride this. This is still my favorite amusement park train ride. The Twister trains have new lap bars that are black instead of orange with a little yellow stripe. (What's that for?) Exciting, yep, and there are still no seat belts, so yay. A new trough is being built at the of Flying Turns to avoid valleying. The new Phoenix facade is sweet and will be even cooler when the logo is added to it! I always like checking out the Knoebels museums. This was cool. BRING BACK Billy Penn!! This timeline is a big improvement and is much more up-to-date, but I’m disappointed that it no longer begins with “God created the earth." Good memories I've never noticed this before. I had some fun with the camera. If only more parks had seen value in keeping the Lusse Skooters around... Don't trip! The light crowds let me get this picture on the Roto-Jet from Freedomland USA. Such a classic flat and better than the one at Hershey! Notice the social distancing signs on the carousel. Yep, those are each unique and hand painted. It's small details like this that make me love Knoebels more every time I visit. Since we were pretty much the only people on an outside horse, I caught the brass ring! Yep, I'm including four pictures of the bumper cars. They reskinned this billboard for the season with that new 3-D Kozmo, and I love it! Now it's time to go. See you next year, Knoebels! Our hotel was in Hershey because we originally had no plans to go to Knoebels. On the way back home, we stopped and took this picture of the old William's Grove Cyclone!

^ Thanks for the great report! I'm looking forward to visiting for the first time this year. That's good crowd levels are light. It makes sense that they reversed their decision and are selling Fastlane, but that just goes to show that you never know what parks are going to do this season!

I had a fun day on July 7th at two parks, Hersheypark and Knoebels. I wanted to love Hersheypark, but I left feeling unfulfilled. I got five of the credits on a past visit using the evening ticket in 2016. This time, I got five credits. I still have four to go. I was not as much of a coaster fan in 2016, so while I still have never been on Storm Runner, I can say that I rode the HUSS Condor! One day I will ride them all! Candymonium was definitely the highlight of this trip, and it’s a great ride. Of the other hypers, I’ve only been on Apollo’s Chariot, which is better, so what can I say except that it’s FUN! The second trim hit hard, and while they were running three trains, three were being stacked every single time, which would be acceptable if they were sanitizing more often, but they were only cleaning every three hours. Hersheypark tickets are cheaper than usual right now, and there's a reason for that. It seems that Hershey seems to define “limited capacity” as only running 60 or so percent of the rides. In addition to the rides listed as closed on the park website, these weren’t open: Wildcat Wild Mouse Sidewinder Monorail Skyview Some of the common flats weren’t open, like the Ferris wheel and Whip, and I don’t remember seeing the Tilt-A-Whirl, Claw, bumper cars, Wave Swinger, or several kiddie rides running either. I also think that only the Hershey’s drop tower was operating of the three. The fact that the least popular, minor coasters (excepting Storm Runner) are closed could indicate one of two things: 1. Hersheypark doesn't see a need to open every ride with low attendance at the park, which is sad but realistic from an operations standpoint when lines stay short at the open rides. 2. Prep time for this season was rushed and every ride isn't ready yet. Or maybe I’m just oblivious and these rides are closed due to low staffing. Either way, once we saw so many rides closed, it was obvious that it would be difficult to fill a whole day at Hershey. As for the rest of the day, I got my first rides on Fahrenheit and Skyrush as well as laps on Lightning Racer and Comet. I rode Lightning Racer twice just to make sure I wasn’t missing anything, but both rides were lackluster in forces. What makes this ride fun is the interaction with the other train; there are only a couple pops of airtime. Comet, on the other hand, is my second favorite coaster in the park. The airtime isn’t Phoenix level, but it’s almost there, especially on the third hill. Laff Trakk was also an unexpected highlight. We left Hersheypark by 2:00. Yes, we could’ve ridden Comet or Candy again, but at this point, the seed was planted in our brains that it was a good idea to go to Knoebels, which we had had no idea that we would do when we had left the house in the morning. First, however, I wanted to ask if any of the closed coasters would open. (Skip this frustrating bit if you want.) The girl at guest relations had an initial answer of “We don't know, and we can't tell you; sorry.” When I asked her if she could ask someone who did know she asked us why. I replied that we were considering whether we wanted to stay or drive to Knoebels. Her answer was “You're going to dump us and go to Knoebels?! That's a really long drive.” Anyway, we eventually found out that they would be closed for the day. All of this was for some closed rides that aren't very good! As a side note, the new merchandise (in a gift shop that everyone exits through) is awesome, and I love that the pinwheel design is back. We wanted to ride the Chocolate Tour ride before we left, but the process of getting into Chocolate World was more confusing than it had to be. The attendant handed us a “timed entry” ticket. When we asked if we needed a reservation for the tour ride, he said yes, so we thought that we couldn't go in. He told us we could still enter, telling us that "you can come back another time," in reference to the given ticket. If we could go in now, why would we want to wait? This guy was very enthusiastic, just not the best at conveying information. The Chocolate Tour ride was how it was last time I rode it, and it was a very-enjoyable walk-on. Hersheypark could lessen the shock of so many closed attractions if they listed them somewhere on their website like Knoebels does. Overall, I enjoyed this Hershey visit but was looking forward to Knoebels by the time we left. This is why we're here. The new entry plaza lacks the 45 years of tree cover the old one had and is unfinished, but it's still nice. A great sight when you walk into the park The Twizzlers train in the holding brake The carousel is now right when you enter the park. This wasn't the best idea in my opinion. It's now by itself, and I'd imagine that some families wouldn't come back specifically to ride it. It was better when it was surrounded by other family rides. The band organ isn't working yet, too. Fahrenheit was a blast. Sadly, Storm Runner won't be launching this year. The Boomerang to the left was closed as well. Here's a fun picture from the Great Bear exit ramp. Coal Cracker is a unique name for a flume. Great Bear's twisted corkscrew B&M inverts use similar elements but are always a blast. Approaching the helix Whee!!! Skyrush has a new neighbor. This is the gift shop that you exit through now. There's this cool Kissing Tower cabin in the center. Candy through the window We couldn't leave Hershey without doing this. Bye Hersheypark! As you can see here, it was still a construction zone. Thanks for reading, and I'll post some Knoebels pictures soon!

A Kings Island employee has tested positive for COVID-19. https://www.fox19.com/2020/07/08/kings-island-employee-tests-positive-coronavirus-park-announces/

Thanks! Does the system make you select a time with only a certain number of spots being available per time slot like the Cedar Fair parks are doing?

I remember seeing an availability calendar for reservations on the website with check marks on the open days (which was all of them). I don't see it now. Am I just missing something?

The rides page on the website lists Storm Runner as closed for the season. That seems odd (though not really I guess b/c Intamin), and it would be unfortunate if it's closed all summer. sooperdooperLooper is also temporarily closed.

^ Very true. The carousel building with the kiddie rides and the Haunted House were great places to be, but I was never a fan of the outside attractions besides Pirate's Cove, the Zipper, and maybe the Flying Bobs they have.