Kings Island (KI) Discussion Thread

[Maplepancake]

It was a great weekend at Kings Island! Media Day and Scream for a Kid again were great events put on by Kings Island!! I really enjoyed how much less empty the park was on Saturday versus Friday though. Great/Exhausting weekend was had by all!

[diverguy59]

This thing looks awesome! I can't wait to get down to Kings Island sometime soon to ride it. Thanks for all the updates everyone, I'm absolutely loving them.

[CPSFMMCW]

What are the normal requirements for a media day?

 

Generally you have to be a recognized member of the media and invited by the park. It is generally at the discretion of the park's Public Relations department who they choose to recognize and invite.

 

There are many exceptions the "media only" as park's sometimes partner with coaster groups, local businesses and radio stations to invite additional guests.

I was gonna say, cuz on the KD website it says that only people who are invited are people who are from TV news channels and stuff like that. No coaster groups. Hopefully whenever they get a new ride, that'll change.

[ginzo]

Quoted for hilariousness!!!

 

Was out there today. Wasn't a big fan of it. Though not for lack of forces. Reminded me of Alpie, which I'm not a huge fan of.

[FaithPlus1]

^Of course you didn't like it. It's in Ohio! Same coaster in Europe and you'd be singing its praises.

[ginzo]

^Of course you didn't like it. It's in Ohio! Same coaster in Europe and you'd be singing its praises.

 

No. I'd love to have a coaster in my own top 10 within easy driving distance of me.

[DevinC049]

Just got back from another day out there today. Was one of the last riders on the last train running from opening. It was already so much better when dusk started to come over the day. Cant wait to get out there and ride it at night! Also I was really surprised to like the back more than the front on this. Usually for BM inverts the fronts where its at for me. I loved the front row on this on opening day, but man the back row really blew it out of the water. The heartline/inline roll was so much better in the back. Two thumbs up in the front two, but 3 in the back- loved it.

[coasterlvr]

I hope to make it out to Ohio to return to King's Island since like 97 or 98. :O

 

is there no mid course brakeon Banshee? how does this affect capacity? does it run 3 trains?

[DevinC049]

It does run three trains with no real brake run in the middle of the ride. The trains are purple, a dark navy blue, and a tealish green which essentially are just different up by where the wheels are covered. Capacity is good with roughly 1650 riders per hour. It was having trouble with breakdowns just a bit on opening day at the beginning, but today was great. The ride ops really keep things moving up there. 32 riders per train I believe.

[B&MBoy1982]

The lift hill speed also varies depending on dispatch intervals.

[Password121]

In my experience, there really is no need for an MCBR due to dispatch intervals being too long for it to be necessary. The next train can drop off the lift once the preceding train clears a block, which in most cases is already at the final brakes.

[TheDarkMaxim]

I'm amazed by how efficient they were dispatching this weekend. Each attendant was only responsible for about 1 or two rows. I expect that to change as they stop having so many supervisors working the ride, but still.

 

The one negative I have is the lockers. I understand how it shortens dispatch times, but it's really just a money grab that IMO puts CF on SF's level (only in that sense).

[mikeslagy]

Since it's been 5 years since I've been, summer of 2009, I'd really be interested to see how much value the Fastlane is. I usually go to parks alone, easier/more enjoyable for me, and I can remember all to many times at KI in quene for The Beast, Racer, Flight of Fear, etc., thinking, 'Man, I wish their was a single rider/fastlane option for ::INSERT RIDE::.'

During the point in the day where Banshee's line was 4+ hours, we took two rides on it within 15-20 minutes. Aside from that we rode EVERY other coaster that offered FastLane and didn't wait more than 1 or 2 trains with the exception of Flight of Fear because it broke down. But once it came back up, I was the first train out.

 

If you're not a local, and you only have one day at the park, it's WELL worth it! Really, it depends on the circumstance. I'm not sure I'd recommend Fast Lane to someone who lives 10 minutes away from the park and knows when to go to find the queues empty, but for me, who flew in from out of state, I couldn't imagine NOT getting Fast Lane.

 

i agree 100%, days like this are the exact reason for Fast lane

[mikeslagy]

I also took some photos Thursday at Media Day, these were my favorites.

Banshee as the sun begins to rise

[bonsaiisuperstar]

Yeah, your ride ops are going to be extra fast when you have Greg Scheid, Don Helbig and Walt from B&M standing there and watching everything all day.

[gerstlaueringvar]

^ That must be terrifying for the ride ops. Good thing for the riders though.

[WildStangAlex]

It was a great weekend at Kings Island! Media Day and Scream for a Kid again were great events put on by Kings Island!! I really enjoyed how much less empty the park was on Saturday versus Friday though. Great/Exhausting weekend was had by all!

 

Really wish I had been able to stick around until Saturday, as Friday was BRUTAL!

[_koppen]

^ That must be terrifying for the ride ops. Good thing for the riders though.

 

Nah, just do their job and everything will be fine!

[Astrojack]

Anyone going to the park this Friday? Operating hours are 4pm-10pm. I remember going on this Friday when Diamondback opened and the park was empty, hopefully luck out again this year

[Diamondbacker27]

USA Today is reporting Banshee as the Worlds longest roller coaster

Not longest INVERTED, just the Worlds longest

[coasterbill]

I just saw this too... I guess it's an honest mistake.

[Diamondbacker27]

Possibly or they just don't know. I saw several reverse POV's of news reporters. They kept saying things such as "we are climbing this 140 foot lift." "We are going through 8 inversions, or seven. I don't remember."

I think they should study up on the ride a little more before they record. But most of them did a good job.

I really enjoyed the video Susan Glaser did.

 

http://videos.cleveland.com/plain-dealer/2014/04/susan_glaser_rides_the_banshee.html

[coasterbill]

Possibly or they just don't know. I saw several reverse POV's of news reporters. They kept saying things such as "we are climbing this 140 foot lift." "We are going through 8 inversions, or seven. I don't remember."

 

To be fair when people are strapped into a coaster they're not usually thinking clearly. I'm sure many reporters were pretending not to be terrified. That doesn't explain the world's longest coaster mistake but like I said I don't think it's that important. Maybe it's just me though... and I'll admit that it's pretty bad that it's in the headline of the article.

[Diamondbacker27]

I think it will also attract more people to read it.

Most people are just going to skip it if they see " ride the worlds longest inverted coaster"

That's what I think anyways.

[GigaG]

Is there stacking? Honestly, if there is, I think there should be separate loading and unloading platforms a la Millenium Force.