Kings Island General Discussion

[Mad Dog]

So, Kings Island has posted their updated COVID requirements.

Amusement Park & Water Park | Cincinnati, Ohio | Kings Island

Join us for a fun filled adventure at the largest amusement and water park in the Midwest! Visit Kings Island & Soak City, you're sure to have a great time!

www.visitkingsisland.com

Basic summary is:

1. No more reservations for Kings Island (the dry park) but you need them for Soak City.
2. Masks are not required while outside and are recommended if you can't socially distance (I'm think queue lines).
3. Rides will be operating at full capacity.
4. Health screening will be done at the entrance to the park (probably at the tent they had erected to do temperature checks which have been discontinued).

So, exciting news for me. I'll be at one of the Season Pass Days occurring on May 8th or 9th (less than two weeks finally).

I just did a survey for Kennywood Park. They continually used the term 'softer covid rules' for the 'summer' months, but they didn't actually say what it entailed. So
it sounds like they may well be considering something like Kings Island, but haven't quite decided yet.

 

[SkiBum]

I just did a survey for Kennywood Park. They continually used the term 'softer covid rules' for the 'summer' months, but they didn't actually say what it entailed. So
it sounds like they may well be considering something like Kings Island, but haven't quite decided yet.

Sometimes, it seems that people are just making things up as they go.

 

[Speed]

 

[GAcoaster]

Kentucky Kingdom apparently has had issues as well so they just instituted a chaperone policy-- no unaccompanied minors allowed.

 

[Mad Dog]

Kentucky Kingdom apparently has had issues as well so they just instituted a chaperone policy-- no unaccompanied minors allowed.

Kennywood had a problem last year, and a few years back. Mostly teen gang members coming in late in the day. So, for this year they have a policy whereby any non adults coming to the park after 4:00 PM need
to have an adult chaperone. Since the gang problems weren't early in the day, the chaperone policy only takes effect after 4:00. The Monroeville Mall, which is on the same side of Pittsburgh has had the
same issue with the gangs the past few years also.

 

[SkiBum]

This is a decent article about it: Officials: Kings Island closed early due to teens fighting in park, parking lot Saturday

It nails a few excellent point. People use KI as a babysitter. Literally, dozens of cars line up on the drop-off site in the morning and parents leave their kids alone all day until evening or close. I have been really surprised at the crowd levels, though we are only two weekends into the season. The park is packed to the gills at levels I haven't seen in years.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Kings Island is performing a massive off-season project on The Beast

Beast of a project this winter at Kings Island

The world’s longest wooden roller coaster, The Beast at Kings Island, is receiving 2,000 feet of track refurbishment this winter.

www.visitkingsisland.com

As someone who prefers wooden coasters not killing me, this is great news.

 

[Freak]

Kings Island is performing a massive off-season project on The Beast

Beast of a project this winter at Kings Island

The world’s longest wooden roller coaster, The Beast at Kings Island, is receiving 2,000 feet of track refurbishment this winter.

www.visitkingsisland.com

As someone who prefers wooden coasters not killing me, this is great news.

Glad to see CF show some TLC to their wooden coasters.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Glad to see CF show some TLC to their wooden coasters.

The updates to The Racer are great, way better than them just RMCing everything! I hope Hurler in Carowinds gets some TLC.

 

[MikePat]

I hope Hurler in Carowinds gets some TLC.

Or better yet, the Canada's Wonderland woody's (Cough Mighty Canadian Minebuster and Wilde Beast).

 

[Tobias]

Kings Island is performing a massive off-season project on The Beast

Beast of a project this winter at Kings Island

The world’s longest wooden roller coaster, The Beast at Kings Island, is receiving 2,000 feet of track refurbishment this winter.

www.visitkingsisland.com

As someone who prefers wooden coasters not killing me, this is great news.

Definitely good news for sprucing this up for the 50th. When I went in 2020, it was a tad Jekyll & Hyde depending on where I sat. Some rides were totally fine, others had me hanging on for dear life in the double helix. That said, for me the Beast at its worst had nothing on the Racer which legitimately tried to break my spine. (Very glad to hear the Racer's 2021 refurb helped.)

 

[JungleSkip]

Kings Island is performing a massive off-season project on The Beast

Beast of a project this winter at Kings Island

The world’s longest wooden roller coaster, The Beast at Kings Island, is receiving 2,000 feet of track refurbishment this winter.

www.visitkingsisland.com

As someone who prefers wooden coasters not killing me, this is great news.

Thank god. I think I still have bruises from our ride in May.

 

[SkiBum]

Thank god. I think I still have bruises from our ride in May.

Crybaby. Kidding. It has become a test of endurance to ride it and I didn't even try this year. Too many decades of abuse. I used to maintain that a middle seat on a middle car was the best choice but even that was getting too rough. I hope that this works but I'm not sold on The Gravity Group. I'm interested in the reprofiling of the first hill as that sounds really nice. Too long, it has felt like it wasn't very steep, especially after riding other wood coasters with steeper drops.

 

[JungleSkip]

Crybaby. Kidding. It has become a test of endurance to ride it and I didn't even try this year. Too many decades of abuse. I used to maintain that a middle seat on a middle car was the best choice but even that was getting too rough. I hope that this works but I'm not sold on The Gravity Group. I'm interested in the reprofiling of the first hill as that sounds really nice. Too long, it has felt like it wasn't very steep, especially after riding other wood coasters with steeper drops.

My only concern here is they don't mention anything about changing out the trains. IMO the old PTC trains are one of the biggest issues the ride has, especially the seat divider in the middle, which is where most of the uncomfortableness came for me. Some Gravity Group timberliners would make one hell of a difference.

 

[SkiBum]

My only concern here is they don't mention anything about changing out the trains. IMO the old PTC trains are one of the biggest issues the ride has, especially the seat divider in the middle, which is where most of the uncomfortableness came for me. Some Gravity Group timberliners would make one hell of a difference.

Agreed. On KI Central, they were discussing that the trains are far heavier than usual. The weight is caused by adding head rests, dividers, and lap bars in-house and cause additional track wear. This wasn't my opinion/knowledge but posted by more informed parties on KI Central. I would like either Millennium Flyers or Timberliners, whichever provided the greatest capacity and reliability. All I remember about Timberliners was that Holiday World tried them on The Voyage and went back to the PTC cars.

 

[Tobias]

I would like either Millennium Flyers or Timberliners, whichever provided the greatest capacity and reliability. All I remember about Timberliners was that Holiday World tried them on The Voyage and went back to the PTC cars.

When it comes to completely new/different trains added to a wooden coaster, it can be hit or miss territory. For Millennium Flyers there's examples like Ghostrider which worked pretty well, and then there's Gwazi which ultimately ended up getting RMC'd.

As for the Timberliners, correct me if I'm wrong but how many coasters have gotten their PTC's replaced with Timberliners? The only one I can think of is Hades for Hades 360, and it's hard to say if that was an improvement considering that coaster will always be in bad shape due to the park it's in.

Then there's the Voyage, there was a whole lotta' hype that these trains were made for that coaster, and it was just the thing it needed...but they couldn't get them dialed in and ultimately stuck with PTC's. I know Timberliners are good trains by the coasters that were built from the ground-up with them, but if you can't get them fitted on what's essentially your Crown Jewel, that might be a reason why you don't see parks replacing their PTC's with them.

 

[SkiBum]

When it comes to completely new/different trains added to a wooden coaster, it can be hit or miss territory. For Millennium Flyers there's examples like Ghostrider which worked pretty well, and then there's Gwazi which ultimately ended up getting RMC'd.

As for the Timberliners, correct me if I'm wrong but how many coasters have gotten their PTC's replaced with Timberliners? The only one I can think of is Hades for Hades 360, and it's hard to say if that was an improvement considering that coaster will always be in bad shape due to the park it's in.

Then there's the Voyage, there was a whole lotta' hype that these trains were made for that coaster, and it was just the thing it needed...but they couldn't get them dialed in and ultimately stuck with PTC's. I know Timberliners are good trains by the coasters that were built from the ground-up with them, but if you can't get them fitted on what's essentially your Crown Jewel, that might be a reason why you don't see parks replacing their PTC's with them.

Completely agree.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Agreed. On KI Central, they were discussing that the trains are far heavier than usual. The weight is caused by adding head rests, dividers, and lap bars in-house and cause additional track wear.

Literally THE reason why SoB had its initial issues. They should go over those PTC and remove weight that isn't needed.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Looks like iThemePark left Orlando for some visits of other parks!

 

[SkiBum]

I was there on Friday for just an hour (benefits of a season pass and living 15 minutes away). I rode The Beast for the first time this year. It was remarkably smoother. I was in the very last car in the back which I haven't tried in years due to the roughness. It was an easy ride, with just a little shuffling. Gravity Group outdid themselves. The first hill feels steeper although it isn't any faster. I did feel the little hump that occurs at the entrance of the second tunnel (after the long run through the "shed"). The train goes down the incline, up towards the tunnel entrance, and GG added a small hump that the train goes over and dips into the tunnel. It's small, probably five feet or less, but it gives a very cool feeling going into that tunnel. The two helixes and tunnels were far easier to take and the whole ride was as fun as it used to be, years, if not decades, ago.

Rode Orion and it was more enjoyable than I remembered. Didn't have time for much else as I had to get back to work. The park itself looked very good and fresh.