jamesdillaman

And yet, a day at The Beach watermark was always more fun for many of us than kings islands waterpark. It just had a less hectic atmosphere about it. And the tube "slides" were really good, nothing like it at KI's waterpark. Prices were better and the platinum pass was an awesome deal. Free soft drinks and tube rental if you got there before noon, not to mention prime seating by the wave pool. I'm truly sad to see this park close.

^ The absolute worst part about Rattler to me was it's utter lack of doing anything for all the roughness.

Deep South Bash was simply incredible! I can't thank the park staff and TPR enough for the fun my group had! This was the first TPR event for two of them and they had a blast! My wife and I had a great time as always. ERT on every coaster was awesome as I needed all the credits. Got them all and only had to wait for Ninja (2 trains for the front seat!) Walk-ons on every other coaster! What an awesome event at a truly amazing Six Flags park!

I just went a few weeks ago and had a great time. It seemed to be turning around again. I was plesantly surprised, but now -this- happens and I'm questioning everything again. I don't understand why doing it with no notice at all. The whole story is definitely not being told here, but I suspect some of the employees will fill in the gaps. Since they've been so vocal before, why stop now?

Pumped. This is my first new park since going to SFNE in 2009! All new credits for me! My friends are psyched as well as it will be their first TPR event! Even my wife is getting excited while watching some video from SFOG... Weather's looking good for the weekend, but that may mean more crowds. Oh well, as long as I get the credits before ERT begins I'll be happy!

^ I think Adventure Express is a great mine ride. Plus there's theming, why tear down a decent ride? Plenty of room at the park for expansion without tearing down Adventure Express.

Does anyone else think the days of the waterpark being free with admission may be numbered? With the new upgraded entrance and everything, might it be going the route of Cedar Point and their Soak City?

^^ Great minds think alike, Zach...

^ Awesome!!! Thanks for putting on such a great event for us! It'll be my first visit and I can't wait!

I'd rather ride Scream all day than Firehawk once. SKC is awesome and Domoinator was great when I rode it at Geauga Lake. A lot of the GP find B&M Hypers boring (They don't go upside-down? Stupid!), different rides appeal to different people. I think a floorless coaster would be a great fit for Kings Island. It has nothing remotely like that type of ride.

Guy, I feel your pain. I have to miss two of the best-paying gigs my band has to attend this event. My sub will be very happy...

^ Their kiddie coaster not small enough for ya?

I don't think there's been anything to really discuss since Shivering Timbers...

Did anyone catch the quote of Dan saying the kind of steel coaster they're looking at woud cost around $20 million? That seems like more than a eurofighter to me...

Too funny. Every trip report from SFGAm day makes me relive the epic storm and awesome nighttime ERT. Thanks for the photos!

She's right. I would never spend that much, and being from Ohio you probably wouldn't either, but if you're coming from the West Coast and you only have one day to do the park, after which you may not be back for years to come, it seems like a much better investment. Think about it: What's $50 more when you're already buying plane tickets, rental car, hotel, and food. I would never spend $50 at Kings Island either, but if I was visiting SFOT on a busy day, I'd buy the passes in a heartbeat.

^ Well, what's the weather like? Are there any summer camps attending that day? Is the park running any promotion with local groups that day? Bottom line, every day is different. If the day is nice, August 22nd might be busy, but Mondays are usually a good idea for Kings Island. My best answer is that around 30 minutes is the average wait time for normal summer days at Kings Island. Some rides will be less, some more.

^ There are lots of areas if you look at an aerial map. You can't really tell when you're walking on ground level. Besides, if you've ever been to a place like Indiana Beach, you'll realize that the rides at Cedar Point are still relatively far apart. They can fit a lot more in there without much issue.

^Um, they attract based on their advertising and promotions. If you're driving directly in front of the park, chances are you've already made the decision to go there. Locals, who WOULD maybe be attracted based on the looks of a ride, all know that it isn't open and hasn't been for a while now. From a marketing standpoint, that argument just doesn't hold water. They don't really show it on any ads, which is where they would if they were interested in using its look to attract more people to the park. Diamondback is much more prominent in the skyline, and a lot more people are attracted to the park by that (because they heavily feature it and Windseeker in their ads) Plus, the impact building a new ride in its place would have on attendance would be huge. You didn't factor that into your argument.

You mean, in addition to the Millions it already spent trying to make it rideable before closing it down again...? Seriously, some rides are just money pits and this seems to be one of them. Cut your losses, Cedar Fair. I love coasters just as much as the next guy but as Robb has said before, some rides deserve to come down for something new.

^ TICKET INFO: Adventure Park tickets are accepted on either the Zip Line or the Alpine Coaster. Adventure park tickets have no expiration date. Single Rider Tickets - $8 Double Rider Tickets - $12 SAVE Big: 10-packs for only $60!

Mean Streak at least WAS a better ride than SoB was. If you had ridden it in it's first few seasons, before the brakes all the way down the first drop, it was pretty cool flying through all that structure. I'd say Mean Streak is a much better candidate for the Rocky Mountain treatment than SoB is... Just my 2 cents.

Actually this sounds pretty good. As far as the locals calling it overpriced, though, that's fine. It isn't for the locals. If you have a season pass, you're not shelling out $50 for a 7-hour skip-the-line pass. You can go anytime and hit up the rides you missed, or go for a few hours on a Monday evening when the park is dead. For out of town visitors or people coming on busy summer saturdays, this will be a great additional income for Kings Island. They also said it's limited in the total number, but you purchase it online and then redeem it at the park? How's that work, is it day-specific on the voucher you purchase online? I can see some GP screwing this up and creating some guest relations problems. I hope they work out the kinks, though and take it to Cedar Point. I'd definitely do it at Cedar Point and turn a two-day minimum park into a one-day rides fest!

Well, when they put seatbelts on it, it pretty much guarantees stacking trains, but still if you've been there when there are only two trains on the ride, you'll be waiting in an empty station. The way the blocking is now (Block 1: end of station to top of lift 1, Block 2: Top of lift 1 to top of lift 2, Block 3: Top of lift 2 to safety brakes, Block 4: Ready brakes, Block 5:Station) is the main culprit. Since the train can no longer be stopped in the brake shed in the woods (Where the magnetic trim is that everyone hates), they have to treat that as one large block. The first year I worked there (before the seatbelts), we would have a train ready to dispatch and one SLOWLY crawling up the lift as block 2 wasn't vacated yet. Then the train would stop at the top of lift 1. Once the other train went off of lift two, we'd restart lift 1, and you could then finally dispatch the train in the station. With a good crew this would happen all day. Constantly setting up a train on lift 1, restarting the lift and then dispatching a train from the station that's been ready for 20-30 seconds. Like I said above, though, if you've ever been there with 2-train operation on the Beast, you'll still notice a wait 90% of the time for a train to come in the station.

^ What he said. If you want to check out a ride in its inaugural season mid-May is definitely not the time you want to go. Either June or better yet in the late summer, early fall when the crowds die down a little and the kinks have hopefully all been worked out.