Anything going on at KI?

coaster club members and plat. & gold pass holders

Ok so Coasterbuzz members get in 1/2 hour early.. Does everyone need a membership, or just one. Cuz for Holiwood nights you just need one, and the rest can get in as guests. I'm guessing you need one each.

^Correct, they have people checking for cards on the right side of I-street, no card no ERT.

Who ever suggested Comfort Inn, Thanks. I never noticed it before on expedia. For HW I was planning on staying at Santa Lodge. Any one think this is a bad idea. I just want to be close.

I don't think KI did starlight admission last year. Any chance you think they'll go back to that.

Do you have a Platinum Pass from Wonderland? If so, you don't need to worry about parking or admission. Just be warned, that they might try to make you pay for parking anyway, as I've had my Cedar Point pass work for parking at Wonderland, but not KI. If you have a CW Platinum Pass and they try to make you pay for parking, you should be able to get a refund at Guest Relations.

In my humble opinion, Canada's Wonderland is a much better park than Kings Island. I prefer Behemoth to Diamondback, and I think Vortex is probably better than Flight Deck. I also like the mountain better than the tower.

As for hotels, I don't know if you can use Priceline.com with a Canadian address and billing, but that is my preferred site for hotels. I use the site for travel in the USA and Canada. It lets you bid on rooms in a particular area, and if you don't care too much about the specific hotel where you stay, you can get some great deals!

Enjoy your trip!

-Sam

Awesome tip about priceline. I'll have to try it out.

I didn't get the platnum pass, just a normal seasons pass. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it to KI this year, and for that matter enough CF parks to make it worth while. Also I was worried about the hassels I have heard about taking a platnum pass to other parks. Like the parking situation you mentioned.

It doesn't overly surprise me that you prefer CW to KI. CW Is a gorgous park with something for everyone. The only drawback is that it has soooo many average-poor coasters. 2 bad woodies, a vekoma SLC, 1 boomerang, 1 god awful zamperla volare flyer, a decent at best arrow looper, and an old fasion TOGO stand-up i'm sure KI fans know all too much about (king cobra). Pretty sad when a stunt coaster is the 3rd best of 15 coasters.

Anyone around here who has ridden behemoth, and diamondback swears behemoth pwns it 100% Alot of ppl from the US I have talked to prefer Diamondback. I think this is because Behemoth has a huge range of performance on good days to bad. More than any steel coaster I've seen. So the ppl around here have inevitably had a handfull of these great rides where as ppl that came up for one day probably have not. I can't comment cuz I've never ridden diamondback. But I can tell you behemoth for me is way better than Nitro at SFGA. But again thats based on one day at GA. I'm sure home park biased might play a roll too. Vortex might be one of the most under rated coasters out there. Thats a big reason I want to ride Flight Deck so badly. To compare the two. I've always just taken for granted that Eagles Fortress, and BBW were miles ahead of other suspended coasters and that Vortex, FD, and Ninja were all grouped together. But recently everyone who has made the trip up to CW is raving about Vortex. So it will be interesting to see. KI, and CW both have great flat rides as well.

One note about the mountain. I don't know when you visited CW. But the mountain is a shell of its former self. I used to look disneyish. It also used to have a walking your through it, with a lookout. Now its dirty looking by comparison, and 2 coasters inside made the walking tour a thing of the past.

Hey, now, the Minebuster used to be *awesome* until they reprofiled all the fun out of it, and did so in a way that makes the ride run poorly...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I thought the path up the mountain was necessarily closed when Vortex was installed?

^^Yes Minebuster used to be awesome. Or at least good. In 99 they added on to the water park in behind minbuster, and a path way was needed inbetween the 2nd, and 3rd bunny hill. So they made it one big long streched out boring hill. It totally kills everything about the ride. The annoying thing about it is there is another way to get to the back of the waterpark but they wanted 2 pathways. It is kinda cool when yuou are in the waterpark and MB is racing through. But as for the ride it's borderline unridable now.

^ On the right track... It was actually closed in 85 when Blauer Enzian was moved in the mt. and re-named Thunder Run. Vortex was built in 91. It more so just climbs the mt. doesn't go in or through it.

Diamondback and Behemoth are interchangeable in my top 10 list depending on where I'm sitting. Diamondback IMO is much better in the front and Behemoth is much better in the back. I think the airtime overall is better on DB but it seems like I get more out of a ride on Behemoth. They're both great rides though and I'm sure you'll enjoy DB.

Vortex > Flight Deck. I think that the water has something to do with that, as it makes Vortex seem like it runs much faster than it actually is.

The difference to me between KI and CW is that once you get past Behemoth and Vortex everything else at CW then becomes a quest to get the credits and go. I like the park and think it's in a great setting, but the coasters there are sub-par after Behemoth and Vortex. If I had CW as my home park I'd almost guarantee that 90% of my time would be split between those two coasters. I will give CW the nod in the flat ride department, as the flats package there is much better than KIs.

On the food note, I'd say skip anything in the park not named Outer Hanks. You'll get a good portion of food there and for the price it's way more acceptable than anything else in the park. Outside the park I'd recommend MVPizza (pizza) or Eli's (sportsbar). Both of these spots are in the stripmall just south of the park. If you travel a little bit further down (south on I-71) there's a Red Robin burger joint off of Mason-Montgomery Rd. about ten minutes away from the park.

Last time I was at Wonderland, it was still a Paramount park...but as for food, be aware of the "Metric Rip-Off". A major food offering both at Wonderland and at the CNE was "foot long hot dogs". But something was apparently lost in translation as the "foot longs" in both places were only 10" long. In fact, the packages of buns even clearly identified the contents as "ten inch hot dog buns". So is that a metric foot? :)

As for the Minebuster, I am not certain that the need for an additional walking path tells the entire story, as I suspect this might have something to do with it. The real shame is that when that great huge rampy hill was built, it wasn't built correctly, meaning the train chatters over it and sets up a bounce and vibration that just keeps getting worse through the rest of the ride.

I still don't understand how or why it happens, but it was Bill Dauphinee (PTC at the time) who gave a presentation on wood coasters and explained *that* it happens: if there is a bad spot on the track, when the lead axle hits it, it will bounce. As each successive wheel hits it, the bounce will get worse...but once the train has passed the bad spot, it will continue to bounce, and in fact the bounce will be amplified until it is either cancelled out or until the end of the ride. I got a good object lesson in this with the Starliner at Cypress Gardens. The ride was practically perfect all the way through except for a 1" mis-cut on the outside rail near the end of the turnaround. After that jolt, the train started bouncing, and it bounced both vertically and laterally through the entire return run. Minebuster shows many of the same characteristics, except that its screw-up is on the second hill.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

DKNY6363,

I believe I visited both parks 3 times each last year, if I remember correctly. I usually visit KI on opening day, and on the way to and from Holiday World. I usually try to stop in at Wonderland if I am in the Toronto area. I live near Cleveland, OH, so I am pretty much between the two parks (though there are two lakes and a border that make the driving distance longer to Wonderland). I strongly suggest you upgrade your pass to Platinum as long as they let you, as it should save you money in the long run if you plan on stopping at KI, CP, and Dorney (as it looked like you might visit based on another thread).

My first visit to KI was after they got rid of their TOGO stand-up, but I really enjoy the TOGO at Wonderland. I may get flamed for this, but I love Arrow Loopers, and Kings Island has a nice one. I even like the torture of Dragon Fire at Wonderland, somewhat.

The Beast is a great ride, especially after they re-tracked the helix. The atmosphere of the ride is great, but it isn't anything you can't get at Holiday World. Have you been to Holiday World yet? If not, you should have a blast there.

I also have a suggestion if you decide to cross into the US in the Niagara/Buffalo/Ft. Erie area instead of Detroit/Windsor. You can easily hit Waldameer on the way to KI. If you haven't been, Ravine Flier II should be a nice warm-up for the Voyage.

-Sam

P.S. There are Tim Hortons on the way to KI, but none in the Cleveland area. If you want to have some extra fun, stop into a Timmy's in the US, and attempt to pay in Canadian!

American Timmy's are too funny. For those of you who don't know about tim hortins (timmy's) They are coffee shops in Canada that are as adictive as crack. Not even joking. Finding good coffee in the states is always a huge challenge for me. Dunkin donuts is a joke. I usually end up choking down starbucks burnt tasking coffee. Which does not contain the crack I am used to. haah.

I agree about CW's coasters being sub-par. its a huge annoyance as the summer wears on. Often we will go at 8, get there at 8:30 ride vortex, BLSC, and behemoth once, or twice. Then hit the road.

I don't know if CW flats are better. They look good on paper but some aren't as good as they look. The top spin is week, Sledgehammer (jump ride) is always broke and when working it has a bad cycle. The pendulum ride is the worst i've been on. Wayyy worse than MaxAir at CP. So i'm assuming its much worse than deleerium. The diamond in the rough is shockwave. Great flat ride!

I'm probably doing the windsor/detroit border. I've actually been to waldameer once last year. RF2 is really good. Much like the beast 10 times better at night.

Just for knowing sake where abouts on the way to KI is this tims?

I like the idea of Arrow loopers too. Although I can't say i've been on many. If your ever in the niagara falls area Marineland has probably the best one. Dragon Mountain. Look it up! However you have to pay $40 to do that and not much more. Hope you like whales, and seals.

There is no metric foot that is 10". It's probably just one of those close enough sort of things, or a shrink after cooking thing. The footlongs should be a foot. Either that or they could be called 30.5 centemetres longs.. lol

If you go through the Niagara River crossings, you would take a detour off of I-90 west to visit Waldameer. After Waldameer, you would get back on I-90 west to I-271. You would take I-271 its entire length to I-71 (southwest of Cleveland), and take I-71 to Kings Island.

According to research on Google Earth and Google Maps, they seem to suggest a route through Sarnia/Port Huron. That route is less than a half hour shorter than the Buffalo/Ft. Erie route. Looks like your trip to KI would be around 8 hours (give or take 15 minutes) either way.

If you go the I-90-I-271-I-71 route, there are plenty of Timmy's along the way, but none in the Cleveland area. There are a lot of them in the Columbus area, and some in the Erie area (not far from Waldameer). Not sure about the area near Kings Island.

I also haven't been on many Arrow loopers, but I like Vortex at Kings Island, Corkscrew at Cedar Point, and to some extent, Dragon Fire at Wonderland. By the way, the Vekoma SLC at Wonderland is probably not the worst I have been on. That title would probably go to the one at SFNE. Geauga Lake's SLC was actually pretty good before that park closed.

Any luck researching if you can use Priceline.com from Canada?

-Sam

Gary Dowdell said:
Diamondback and Behemoth are interchangeable in my top 10 list depending on where I'm sitting. Diamondback IMO is much better in the front and Behemoth is much better in the back. I think the airtime overall is better on DB but it seems like I get more out of a ride on Behemoth. They're both great rides though and I'm sure you'll enjoy DB.

It is interesting you said this. I was going to say EXACTLY OPPOSITE about Diamondback and Behemoth. I thought Behemoth front was better with extreme ejection air where as Diamondback had better floater. Behemoth's first hill after the turnaround was the best. I still prefer the back for both. If you can get a ride on Diamondback without the trim, the hill right after the trim has unbelievable air.

For the suspended coasters, here is my ranking:

Eagle Fortresss >>>>>>>>> BBW >>> Vortex > FD > Ninja >>>>Iron Dragon.

I never thought that a suspended coaster can be that great.

I prefer Behemoth up front - some good air at the crests of the hills. In the back, it was pretty much a dud. Diamondback, however, I found to be a very fine ride in the back...and not so terrific up front.

Oh, and Tim Horton's....might be the only place in Canada where you can get food after 10pm...seriously, the country is like, boarded up after the sun goes down....what's up with that? ;)

Clearly you've never been to Clifton Hill......

Diamondback has a lot of personality, especially for a B&M. It's hard to make generalizations about it, even on the same train in the same day. I forget how many laps I did the day of the media event, but I couldn't nail down any real trends about airtime and seat position.

I gotta agree, Jeff. After the snoozefest that was Nitro and Raging Bull I had low expectations for Behemoth and even lower expectations about the trains.

Boy was I wrong! Who'da thunk B&M could engineer a ride with ejector air?

I remember when I went on diamond back!! It went up and down and up and down a couple times , than turned around and went up and down some more than it was over. I had this guy sitting in front of me that thought he knew everything, but he was wrong. He looked alot like the guy that I saw taking video of the starlight experiance at cedar point.

But back on topic, nope nothing new for KI this year except laimo kids area transformation.