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Kings Island (KI) Discussion Thread

p. 832: Camp Snoopy announced for 2024!

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I had a great time at the park on Saturday, as per usual. I think the threat of bad weather throughout the afternoon kept most of the crowds away. We were even almost regretting our FL+ purchase, but it really paid off at night. TR to follow, shortly.

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I had a great time at the park on Saturday, as per usual. I think the threat of bad weather throughout the afternoon kept most of the crowds away. We were even almost regretting our FL+ purchase, but it really paid off at night. TR to follow, shortly.

 

We were at the park on Saturday too, decided to get FL+ as well. It was well worth it once the Soak City crowd decided to mosey over. We could have gotten away with purchasing the passes for our time in the park on Sunday or Monday, but we factored in the two extra hours. We decided to check out Jungle Jim's and that giant dead mall on Sunday for a change of pace.

 

I found the crowds much more manageable than last labor day. Here's hoping cedar point's crowds this labor day weekend aren't as crazy!

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Can anyone see them?

 

I can't. You aren't the only person I've seen with images appearing this way, either. I thought it was my device, but I guess not.

 

Great report, from what I can tell through the text. Sounds like a good time.

I tried to copy/paste the TR and sort out the picture issue and my two hours of work was deleted by my four year old laptop that decided control/C wasn't a 'thing' anymore. Glad one person got to read it. Sucks, since I had some decent pictures. And......... now I need a new laptop....... because that one is dead....

 

That will probably be my last TR for quite a while.

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Half Assed Trip Report:

 

Last weekend we decided to head to KI for the second time this season. We headed down last Saturday from the greater Detroit area with the intent of spending Saturday night and Sunday in KI and Monday at Soak City and heading home Monday evening (because it's out first 4th of July here in the USA and the chance to let off fireworks was a higher priority than roller coasters). So here's roughly how it went and some thought....

 

Saturday

 

Got off to a late start because we had a late social appointment on Friday and decided not to rush out early. Plan was to head to the Airforce Museum in Dayton on the way down because I wanted to remind myself of what an ICBM looked like. Only had about 1.5hours in the museum in the end. I'd been there about 10 years ago and spent 4 hours there so I knew I wasn't going to be able to dedicate the time I wanted to. Did see ICBMs. If your in the area and have at least a couple of hours it's worth the look.

 

Left the museum at the 5pm closing to head to our hotel in Mason. Got to the hotel to be told we had been bumped because it was busy. The hotel seemed to be unwilling to do anything about it and I'm not the kind of person to kick up a stink. In hindsight, and after my wife's internet research on what to do in this situation, I should have kicked up a stink because I had a confirmed booking. Only response was to contact Expedia ( as they apparently should have contacted me) who would re-book me which confused me as that was not who I booked through. As a result, Expedia had no idea what I was on about when I called them.

 

Since I had booked with credit card rewards so contacted their customer service. Had a lovely conversation with a couple of people their who eventually informed me that they use Expedia as their agent for bookings. So I spent a total of close to 2 hours mostly on hold while the rewards company and Expedia tried to figure something out. We decided to head in the direction of the park towards the end of being on hold. Eventually the customer service rep said they'd call me back when we were almost at KI so we figured we should make lemonade.

 

Finally in the park we decided we were not going to put pressure on ourselves to ride everything like we normally do. We wanted to ride Mystic Timbers again, The Beast during the day and Diamond Back for the first time ever. We had ridden every coaster except Diamond back, The Bat, Invertigo and Vortex on our last whirlwind trip earlier in the season and the latter three were take it or leave it for me.

 

Mystic apparently had a shortish line (I think the app said 15mins) so we headed in that direction. Decided to stop at Boo Blasters on the way through because I like this kind of thing. It was OK but on as good as a Disney equivalent (ie. Buzz Lightyear Astroblaster). The gun I used did not seem to work either. From there, in summary, we rode:

 

- Mystic Timbers: It's good clean fun. Wife and daughter think it has gotten rougher since earlier in the season, but I don't agree.

- Backlot Stunt Coaster: Love that first helix. It's fun on a number of levels and I wish it was longer.

- The Beast (not quite in the daytime): Yeah, it's long, it's fast and it's not as uncomfortable as other old woodies but it's not that special.

- Diamondback: Sat in the middle but still was so good. Great airtime and really happy with my first ride on it. Was on the list to go back for seconds.

- Mystic again x 2 because we snuck the last ride in on the last train of the night.

 

Somewhere in the middle there we sorted out some accommodation....on the north side of DAYTON!!! Instead of a 10 minute drive we now had an hour. So we left at closing and got to the hotel a little after 1AM. That was going to put a damper on getting back for early entry on Sunday and Monday.

 

Sunday

 

After 2 snoozes I turned my alarm off and decided we were not going to make early entry. After a leisurely breakfast of whatever it was the hotel served for free and apparently decaf coffee (my fault) we headed back to KI and didn't get there until about 11AM.

 

Lines were not too bad according to the app so we headed for Flight Of Fear as a start. So the day went like this:

 

- Flight of Fear: It's cool but there is a lot of light leaking into the building so it's not quite as dark as I would like. Still a fun little compact ride. I got disoriented after the first element which was kind of the point I guess.

- Firehawk: Well, my wife and daughter rode it because I don't really like the restraints that much (or at least that was my excuse). My daughter loved it, especially being on the front this time.

- Windseeker: My wife doesn't like heights. To be honest I'm not great with them either but I really enjoyed this.

- Vortex: I didn't mind it but it's nothing special these days I guess. My wife and daughter proclaimed it as rough. I though it rolled smoothly but had not so great dynamics.

- The Beast in the full brightness of day: Yeah - it's better in the dark.

- Race For Your Life Charlie Brown: I really wanted to ride this because it has to be the fastest log flume I've seen (ie. before the drop). It was also getting to be a warm day (not hot - Australia in summer is HOT, Ohio is not by comparison) and I decided I could do with the splash. My daughter did not want to ride (she doesn't like water rides and slides that much...starting to think she is not my daughter). My wife complained our boat had a foot of water in the back and she was struggling to keep her feet dry...sucks to be her. I soon discovered how much water was in the back when it rushed to the front as we crested the first lift and the water rush forwards straight into my shoes. The ride itself is fascinating to me. The speed is much faster than any I have ridden and it has a rapids feature you hit before the second lift. The drop is nothing special but I got well and truly wet on the splash down. If not for the water logged shoes at the end I would rate this the best log flume I have ever been on.

- Diamondback (again, in the hopes it would hep dry my shoes): Almost had hope for sitting in the back but then a bunch of FLs came through. Stuck in the middle again but still a great ride.

 

After DB we were feeling the strain of the extra travel and stress. We looked at the app and decided for one last ride on something with a short queue. We headed for Banshee. Apparently you cannot wear a fanny pack on that so my wife and daughter were not allowed to enter the line (had not been stopped at any other ride that day). Decided we had ridden it before and were not going to bother with a locker so my daughter and I headed for Delerium as our last ride and my wife missed out as she does not like that kind of ride. We left the park at about 6:30 after grabbing some T-shirts on the way out with the intent of getting a good night's sleep (aided by a beverage) and an early start on Monday so we could head back for a few coaster and water rides before Soak City opened.

 

Monday

So Texas Roadhouse let's you add an extra kick to your margarita for $1 to $2. That caused Monday to also be a later start than planned and no early entry to KI. Instead we went straight to Soak City on what I guess was slightly early entry. Not sure what was actually open for early entry at SC because everything we walked past on the way to find a base camp (chair for our towels) was closed. Anyway we headed for Mondo Monsoon because it was close to where we were and it looked like the line was not too bad. After about 15minutes in the line and almost being at the top of the tower they shut it down as there was apparently a raccoon on the loose. Bummer...OK, try something else. So it went like this:

 

- Thunder Falls: Not bad for a start. Able to force a spin in the tube which is fun.

- Paradise Plunge: Wow, they are strict on the no exposed metal for this (and others). No issue for us but it slows things down. They're OK for body slides but nothing special.

- Tropical Twister: I'd ridden one before and was not that enamored by it. I didn;t mind this one. Again the no exposed metal policy along with a patron who had a freak out at the top slowed things down.

- Rendezvous Run: I won...that is all that needs to be said.

- Wave pools: The bigger pool with the smaller waves was nice but nothing special. The smaller pool with the bigger waves was warm, a little murky and packed. Maybe too much pee in that pool. Got out after one wave cycle. I miss surfing real ocean waves (why did I move to the Midwest from Australia?!?!?!)

- Tropical Plunge (tube slide only): Rode all three. My favorites of the day. I like the colored light pattern in the tubes and the different rides. The big drop was my favorite.

 

After that we went to get some food and headed back out again. A number of the pools/rides on the back side of the park had been shutdown I assume to work on water quality. That meant Mondo Monsoon was down as well as Pipeline Paradise. I really wanted to try Pipline Paradise because I had ridden the one at Dreamworld in Australia and this one was different with the more curling wave so I wanted to see what it was like (that and I'm pretty rad so I wanted to show me extreme radness to the people of the midwest ).

 

Instead we headed for the lazy river which had the biggest queue for a lazy river I've ever seen and the park in general was getting busy as well so that was enough for us to call it a day. In getting changed for out trip back to Detroit we found that this Soak City has the WORST change facilities of any modern waterpark/pool I had been too. I'm no prude but I prefer a little privacy for getting changed. The showers were too tight and did not drain well enough to get change it plus there was not actually anywhere for my clothes to stay out of the way and dry. I got changed in the common area which I don't have a problem with but I prefer not to be looking at other people when I am getting changed (or perhaps it is vice-versa...or both). Even Michigan's Adventure had better and more private facilities.

 

Anyway, we went home via a short hop over the border to Kentucky so I could say to my work colleague I had been to his home state, a random Costco stop in Toledo and a stop just inside Michigan for additional fireworks for the following day! That was a big and sometimes mentally challenging 3 days. King's Island was great and surprisingly not as busy as I had expected given the timing. Soak City had the potential to be a great day but I think the odds were against us. The park has good rides but it just didn't happen for us. Plus the hotel debacle knocked the wind out of our sales and caused lost time that was frustrating. Well, it's time for a couple of sternly worded emails to the credit cards rewards people and to the hotel group that bumped us to see what they are going to do for us, if anything (the customer is always right...correct??).

 

That's enough typing. This was only meant to be a 10 minute job that I have now spent a couple of hours on. Here's my daughters take on the trip (in 3 parts apparently...not all/much theme park stuff but bits and pieces of commentary);

 

[youtu_be]

[/youtu_be]

[youtu_be]

[/youtu_be]

[youtu_be]

[/youtu_be]

 

CG

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Race For Your Life Charlie Brown never gets mentioned, so I'm interested to give it a try. There's really no high-quality POVs of it either. I know it's a little on the smaller and shorter side, but I seriously don't know why I never hear about it. Maybe people assume it's one of those kiddie flumes or bad carnival flumes because of the theme and location even though it's a full-sized flume. That's the only explanation, since I haven't even heard of it prior to researching rides this year for my trip to the park this month.

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^The flume is quite an interesting one for sure. It's one of Arrow's older flumes so that might have something to do with it. It's pretty fast and a little bumpy because you're not so much floating as you are hydroplaning through the flume. The splashdown at the end can also get you soaked if your boat load is on the heavier side. At Coasterstock this year 3 of my larger friends and I all got in one boat together, and you would've thought we had just gotten off White Water Canyon, but then I'll ride it by myself and not get wet at all.

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That will probably be my last TR for quite a while.

 

 

Aw, that's disappointing news Prozach

Haha. Sorry, bro. I might give it a while and just post the pictures and a very abbreviated TR. Depends on how user friendly my new tablet/keyboard is. It's in the mail, so we'll see.

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Instead we headed for the lazy river which had the biggest queue for a lazy river I've ever seen and the park in general was getting busy as well so that was enough for us to call it a day.

This was my thoughts as well when I visited some weeks ago. I was absolutely shocked to see how far that queue stretched!

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I went to Kings Island yesterday for the first time, and I was very impressed. Right now I'm going to say that it is probably my favorite corporate park I've been to, that'll probably change when I go to Cedar Point. I thought it was gorgeous. Very well landscaped and retains some of its charm from the 70's. My only complaint is that most of the employees were unfriendly and there isn't a whole lot of flat rides outside of Planet Snoopy. I wish Cedar Fair got some vintage amusement rides for them in Europe. But I loved everything else. They have a great coaster lineup. Really the only two rides that I disliked were Vortex and Flight of Fear. Vortex was pretty head bangy in the first turn and the turn into the mid course brake run. And Flight of Fear, I don't understand how a steel coaster with lap bars can be rough. It was really jerky and pretty painful. I did like the themeing though. One coaster that surprised me and really stood out to me is the Racer. i heard that it was pretty rough, but I rode both sides and I thought it was pretty smooth! And it had some great airtime! I rode each side probably about three times! Banshee was really good. I didn't like it as much as I thought I would, but it is still a great coaster, and I love the themeing (this is a common trend for me at this park). Diamondback was pretty good, but it didn't have that craziness factor that I really like in a coaster. It had plenty of floater air, but it didn't feel that out of control to me. Firehawk was another surprise. It was very smooth and I was honestly scared! The whole ride I couldn't help but shout "Oh my! Oh my God! Oh dear!" I loved it! And now my favorite two in the park. The Beast and Mystic Timbers. I can't decide which one I like more. They both felt CRAZY! The Beast is smooth and felt really fast, plus the double helix was intense! It slammed me around and I loved it! And I loved the tunnels! The only thing I don't like is the trim brakes but it is still a top three woodie! And Mystic Timbers. Wow! I heard multiple people say it was just "meh, nothing special" but i couldn't disagree more! It is now my favorite GCI above Prowler, Ameircan Thunder, and Ozark Wildcat! It was fast, stayed low to the ground, had lots of airtime, some great laterals in the turn around and going on to the brake run. And I LOVE the shed! I know people wanted something more, but I loved what they had. I got all three of the monsters and I thought it was really cool looking. And I loved the overall theme of the ride and I thought it was very well done. I'm definitely looking forward to the next time I go to Kings Island.

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I went to Kings Island yesterday for the first time, and I was very impressed. Right now I'm going to say that it is probably my favorite corporate park I've been to, that'll probably change when I go to Cedar Point. I thought it was gorgeous. Very well landscaped and retains some of its charm from the 70's. My only complaint is that most of the employees were unfriendly and there isn't a whole lot of flat rides outside of Planet Snoopy. I wish Cedar Fair got some vintage amusement rides for them in Europe. But I loved everything else. They have a great coaster lineup. Really the only two rides that I disliked were Vortex and Flight of Fear. Vortex was pretty head bangy in the first turn and the turn into the mid course brake run. And Flight of Fear, I don't understand how a steel coaster with lap bars can be rough. It was really jerky and pretty painful. I did like the themeing though. One coaster that surprised me and really stood out to me is the Racer. i heard that it was pretty rough, but I rode both sides and I thought it was pretty smooth! And it had some great airtime! I rode each side probably about three times! Banshee was really good. I didn't like it as much as I thought I would, but it is still a great coaster, and I love the themeing (this is a common trend for me at this park). Diamondback was pretty good, but it didn't have that craziness factor that I really like in a coaster. It had plenty of floater air, but it didn't feel that out of control to me. Firehawk was another surprise. It was very smooth and I was honestly scared! The whole ride I couldn't help but shout "Oh my! Oh my God! Oh dear!" I loved it! And now my favorite two in the park. The Beast and Mystic Timbers. I can't decide which one I like more. They both felt CRAZY! The Beast is smooth and felt really fast, plus the double helix was intense! It slammed me around and I loved it! And I loved the tunnels! The only thing I don't like is the trim brakes but it is still a top three woodie! And Mystic Timbers. Wow! I heard multiple people say it was just "meh, nothing special" but i couldn't disagree more! It is now my favorite GCI above Prowler, Ameircan Thunder, and Ozark Wildcat! It was fast, stayed low to the ground, had lots of airtime, some great laterals in the turn around and going on to the brake run. And I LOVE the shed! I know people wanted something more, but I loved what they had. I got all three of the monsters and I thought it was really cool looking. And I loved the overall theme of the ride and I thought it was very well done. I'm definitely looking forward to the next time I go to Kings Island.

 

Great mini-report. Based on my visit back in 2014, I have very similar opinions to you. The only two "bad" rides to me at the park are Vortex and Flight of Fear. However, I will be visiting again later this month, so hopefully one or both of them will give me a better ride than I had 3 years ago. It's nice to hear you say such positive things about Mystic Timbers... I'm really looking forward to that one. I love GCIs. Thanks for sharing!

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I went to Kings Island yesterday for the first time, and I was very impressed. Right now I'm going to say that it is probably my favorite corporate park I've been to, that'll probably change when I go to Cedar Point. I thought it was gorgeous. Very well landscaped and retains some of its charm from the 70's. My only complaint is that most of the employees were unfriendly and there isn't a whole lot of flat rides outside of Planet Snoopy. I wish Cedar Fair got some vintage amusement rides for them in Europe. But I loved everything else. They have a great coaster lineup. Really the only two rides that I disliked were Vortex and Flight of Fear. Vortex was pretty head bangy in the first turn and the turn into the mid course brake run. And Flight of Fear, I don't understand how a steel coaster with lap bars can be rough. It was really jerky and pretty painful. I did like the themeing though. One coaster that surprised me and really stood out to me is the Racer. i heard that it was pretty rough, but I rode both sides and I thought it was pretty smooth! And it had some great airtime! I rode each side probably about three times! Banshee was really good. I didn't like it as much as I thought I would, but it is still a great coaster, and I love the themeing (this is a common trend for me at this park). Diamondback was pretty good, but it didn't have that craziness factor that I really like in a coaster. It had plenty of floater air, but it didn't feel that out of control to me. Firehawk was another surprise. It was very smooth and I was honestly scared! The whole ride I couldn't help but shout "Oh my! Oh my God! Oh dear!" I loved it! And now my favorite two in the park. The Beast and Mystic Timbers. I can't decide which one I like more. They both felt CRAZY! The Beast is smooth and felt really fast, plus the double helix was intense! It slammed me around and I loved it! And I loved the tunnels! The only thing I don't like is the trim brakes but it is still a top three woodie! And Mystic Timbers. Wow! I heard multiple people say it was just "meh, nothing special" but i couldn't disagree more! It is now my favorite GCI above Prowler, Ameircan Thunder, and Ozark Wildcat! It was fast, stayed low to the ground, had lots of airtime, some great laterals in the turn around and going on to the brake run. And I LOVE the shed! I know people wanted something more, but I loved what they had. I got all three of the monsters and I thought it was really cool looking. And I loved the overall theme of the ride and I thought it was very well done. I'm definitely looking forward to the next time I go to Kings Island.

 

Great mini-report. Based on my visit back in 2014, I have very similar opinions to you. The only two "bad" rides to me at the park are Vortex and Flight of Fear. However, I will be visiting again later this month, so hopefully one or both of them will give me a better ride than I had 3 years ago. It's nice to hear you say such positive things about Mystic Timbers... I'm really looking forward to that one. I love GCIs. Thanks for sharing!

You're welcome! And yeah, I was surprised by Mystic Timbers! I wasn't expecting it to be so awesome! The only thing I hated is that they do assigned seating. Luckily I was blessed and I got a front seat ride, somewhere in the middle, and the back. I think I prefer the back because you really get whipped around! Enjoy your visit! I definitely enjoyed mine!

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Visited yesterday for the first time since 2015. Had another good visit. Some thoughts:

 

-Mystic Timbers was really fun. Even better at night, but there are still quite a few lights visible from White Water Canyon

-Diamondback is still fun. Really wish they would at least repaint the lift supports. Also while the crew was better than the one I experienced in 2015, nothing beats the crew when I visited over 2 days in 2011

-While it never actually stormed while I was there (2:30pm-close) there was a good bit where rides were down due to lightning in the area. Still can't understand why Banshee/The Bat have to be down for lightning while Vortex, Delirium, Congo Falls, and Xtreme Skyflyer can all operate.

-Still hilarious that Adventure Express is rated a 5 while rides like Windseeker, Mystic Timbers, and Drop Tower are a 4

-Still love The Bat

-Vortex was fairly smooth compared to some of the rides I have had on it.

-The Beast night rides are still really good

-One annoyance: on almost all of my rides on the two B&M coasters one of their two exit gates was still locked, causing a bottle neck with everyone riding.

 

Ride Counts: Diamondback 4, Mystic Timbers 5, The Beast & The Bat 2, Banshee 6, Each side of The Racer, Flight of Fear, Adventure Express, Vortex, Delirium, Eiffel Tower, and KI&MVRR all 1

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-Still hilarious that Adventure Express is rated a 5 while rides like Windseeker, Mystic Timbers, and Drop Tower are a 4

 

I can somewhat justify the two flats since by their definition a 5 is typically multiple changes of direction while a drop tower only has 1 big drop. But there's absolutely no rationalization I can even think of why Mystic Timbers is a 4 while the mine train is a 5.

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Diamondback was pretty good, but it didn't have that craziness factor that I really like in a coaster. It had plenty of floater air, but it didn't feel that out of control to me.

 

I don't think anyone has ever intended to convey that Diamonback is out of control. Diamondback is a controlled smooth ride, built exactly how B&M intended. The only non inverted B&M that I can think to describe as out of control would be Fury.

 

Sounds like you had a good trip. I personally prefer this park to CP, since you don't have massive crowds. Every ride becomes a walk-on at KI when you buy a FL+.

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Diamondback was pretty good, but it didn't have that craziness factor that I really like in a coaster. It had plenty of floater air, but it didn't feel that out of control to me.

 

I don't think anyone has ever intended to convey that Diamonback is out of control. Diamondback is a controlled smooth ride, built exactly how B&M intended. The only non inverted B&M that I can think to describe as out of control would be Fury.

 

Sounds like you had a good trip. I personally prefer this park to CP, since you don't have massive crowds. Every ride becomes a walk-on at KI when you buy a FL+.

YES! I loved that it had zero crowds, partly because it isn't Cedar Point and partly because it kept raining throughout the day. I'm going to try to go to Cedar Point next year for the first time to ride the new Mean Streak. I'll probably have to get a fast lane then though. I was going to go this summer but after seeing that Mean Streak was going to get the Rocky Mountain Construction treatment, I thought it would be best to wait.

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Hello all,

I am posting this in multiple threads so I apologize if you read this more than once.

Anyways, August 5th-15th we are doing our yearly coaster trip. This year will include visits to SFSL, WoF, SDC, SFSL again (gotta love season passes), Holiday World, Kentucky Kingdom, and Kings Island.

We will be at Kings Island Monday the 14th. We've been to the park many times so we know what we are doing there. Just curious about the crowd.

Thank you so much in advance

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Visited yesterday for the first time since 2015. Had another good visit. Some thoughts:

 

 

-While it never actually stormed while I was there (2:30pm-close) there was a good bit where rides were down due to lightning in the area. Still can't understand why Banshee/The Bat have to be down for lightning while Vortex, Delirium, Congo Falls, and Xtreme Skyflyer can all operate.

 

-One annoyance: on almost all of my rides on the two B&M coasters one of their two exit gates was still locked, causing a bottle neck with everyone riding.

 

Hi there. I work at Banshee, and can somewhat explain these.

 

The rides close in phases depending on storm proximity.

Phase 1 is the big coasters such as Diamondback, Banshee, Invertigo, and the towers. These things close first.

Phase 2 is things like SkyFlyer, Delirium etc. These cose second.

Phase 3 is the entire park. Basically, if Phase 3 happens, run for cover!

 

Some rides close when others don't depending on the history of said ride in the rain.

 

Don't know what is going on with DB, but we are waiting on new pressure pads at Banshee. We try to open the second gate by the switch after the train stops, but we can't always tend to the gates.

 

Sorry that annoyed you. It is just as annoying for us because it takes that much longer to get everyone out of the station and to send the next train.

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