I 305 gets trim on the first drop

I am seriously reconsidering my trip to KD, which would have been the first trip there in about 15 years. Who wants to be held back when they drop down the lift hill of supposedly one of the tallest, fastest coasters in the country?

I hold the opinion that the first hill of many roller coasters is the equivalent of the money shot, and I-305 has became a cheezy, low budget monster movie with very cheap computer effect.

mlnem4s said:
Quick update on changes to I305:

* First drop now has even more trims installed.

* Mid-ride trims have been completely removed.

* No changes in the restraints.

I can only imagine how disappointing the first drop is now......sigh.

I think it's about time that companys that push what people can handle as far as coasters go, should stop selling their coasters to parks that will ruin their rides. I mean these manufactures should care less because they get paid either way, but thats like an artist selling a painting to someone that plans to burn it.

When will people realize that not everyone has to be able to ride everything in the park. How about something in this world for only a certain group of people. Everything gets toned down these days to please everyone. Cant discriminate in any way.

I understand that I305 was probably going to tear itself apart with it's speed and some form of change was needed, but there are many different rides that have brakes for paper thin reasoning.

I'm starting to requestion this hobby because of the reasons I speak of now.

I'd just like to point out 2 coasters that come to mind when it comes to the complete opposite and keep what little faith in parks I have left. The Voyage and Cyclops. If these coasters were in corporate parks they would have so many trims it wouldn't be funny. I thank both Holiday World and Mt. Olympus for not having brakes to ruin the rides.

@LostKause, I can understand your disappointment with I305 being neutered but I would say definitely go and enjoy the whole park. I was really impressed with it, they are making a lot of infrastructure improvements for guest comfort and it is a beautiful facility. In some ways I enjoyed it much more than visits I have had to Kings Island (too bad they didn't get a clone of the Beast or Vortex!) I saw Pat Jones out walking the midways mingling with guests and motivating employees and she strikes me as being a great GM. Dominator was running great as were many of the other coasters. In short, you might actually have a great time, even with trims on I305.

BamBam36 said:

When will people realize that not everyone has to be able to ride everything in the park. How about something in this world for only a certain group of people. Everything gets toned down these days to please everyone. Cant discriminate in any way.

I305 is a $20m+ ride. You are right, not everybody needs to ride I305--just enough to justify a $20m+ expense. If you and "a certain group of people" will generate enough revenue to justify a $20m+ investment--plus operating costs--you have a valid point.

At $160 each, your group would only need to purchase 125,000 Platinum Passes more than it ordinarily would to justify KD installing I305. I'm assuming your in park purchases would cover the operating expenses.

I think the park mew exactly what it was getting as far as g forces go but didn't expect said forces to destroy their trains.

LostKause said:
I am seriously reconsidering my trip to KD, which would have been the first trip there in about 15 years. Who wants to be held back when they drop down the lift hill of supposedly one of the tallest, fastest coasters in the country?

Heh, I cancelled my trip when I found out there could be seat assigning! The decision has kept looking better ever since...going to GAdv now instead, Ole!!

EDIT - Great Adventure? It's funny how we are all different. I had many bad experiences there, so I've been staying away from SFGAdv for many years now.

- END EDIT

I appreciate and respect what you are saying, minem4s, and I have thought about all that is new since my last visit many years ago. Maybe my plans to visit KD should be for next year, when all the hoopla that has resulted from the new coaster dies down, and the crowds get back to normal.

Traveling to a park, staying overnight one or more nights, and paying for all that needs to be paid for, gets very expensive, especially for a park that is over 6 hours away. I get sick to my stomach when I visit a park and it doesn't turn out to be at least a decent trip. If I went to KD mostly for the reason of experiencing this new coaster, only to find it to be disappointing, I may regret it. Hindsight may tell me that I should have visited some other amazing park hours and hours away.

I don't want to chance it. I can usually only afford between 2 and 4 parks a year. Potential disappointment stresses me out, so I may choose another option. ...Or maybe I'll just go back to KI again for the hundredth time. :)

Holy enthusiast drama! (and not just LK for once :) )

Really, we're at a place where I simply can't relate. I've said it over and over, but it's times like this that I'm pretty sure I'm not really a coaster enthusiast.

I'm going out and hitting parks the next 4 days. A real enthusiast would apparently be going all emo over a set of trims.

Enjoy, guys.

I say go to CP and ride MF and then ride the Maverick. Now you wont have to go to KD.

+1 (Gonch's post)

Canceling park trips because of a trim...astounding.

Lol. I didn't necessarily cancel a trip. I was contemplating whether I should go to KD this year or not. I-305, which I was really excited about just a month ago, has suddenly began to sound like a letdown. I dislike artificial slowdown on what's supposed to be a virtual free fall that much. I just don't think I would enjoy the ride as much as I enjoy the drop on MF, which is very similar.

(And to reintroduce a phrase that I didn't realize was lost here on CB,) ymmv.

Though I also feel the drop "may be" less thrilling, I'm hopeful the the rest of the ride will be more fun.

Interesting two pages no doubt. I understand all of Lost's points, but when you only see the glass half full, you miss more than a few solutions. I completely understand the disapointment hearing the trims have been added, and certainly wouldn't want to invest big loot to travel to a park and be disapointed. However, as an enthusiast, I'd still want to experience the ride first hand to judge it for myself. I was there opening day, and honestly, the trims may have improved the entire ride at the expense of the first hill experience. Opening day, I hated the 3rd hill due to its trims, since (imho) it had ejector air potential like Bizzaro at SFNE. The bottom line for me, is I305 was a top 5 coaster in the world and still is, because the entire ride experience is very intense. If they solve the train/wheel issue and remove all trims, it could be #1. Give them time to work things out.

And Lost, if I lived 6 hours away from KD today, as an enthusiast I'd make it a day trip to keep cost down and experience the ride. Leave at 6 AM - spend 6 to 8 hours at the park on a slow day - then home around midnight.

I'm jealous of I-305. At least somebody's getting some trim these days.... ;)

The only good solution that I see as a fix for this ride is redesigning the turn at the bottom of the drop to make it wider, and I am 99% sure that that'll never happen. KD already has the ride, and the trims. Why would they justify the major expense? If it did ever happen, it would have to be worked on during the off season.

I'm probably being too dramatic about the trim. Truth is, I am very disappointed that it was added. It seems like CF has a lot of these kinds of problems.

Thom25, the days of driving over 6 hours, visiting a park, and driving another 6 or more hours back home are way behind me. I could handle that maybe even 5 years ago, but at 36-years-old, I've found that a hotel room is a necessity.

(OMG! Did I just admit how old I was? lol)

Even if I did it all in one day, it would still be pretty expensive. Two or three tanks of gas, a cheap internet admission ticket, and food would still cost me two or three hundred dollars. Add
$50 or $100 for the hotel room and I'm pushing $400, just because I want to ride this specific roller coaster.

It this one specific roller coaster is getting bad "reviews" from other enthusiasts, then I don't see it as being *overly* dramatic for contemplating a visit to a different park. Kings Island is only 3 1/2 hours away from me, so it's cheaper to get to, and I'd get the same "Theme Park" experience that I would if I had decided to try I-305 for myself.

^ who has given I305 a bad review?

The people who have bitched about the trim haven't ridden it.

LostKause said:
The only good solution that I see as a fix for this ride is redesigning the turn at the bottom of the drop to make it wider, and I am 99% sure that that'll never happen. KD already has the ride, and the trims. Why would they justify the major expense? If it did ever happen, it would have to be worked on during the off season.

I would like to remind you and everyone again that during the first summer of Magnum XL 200 the coaster went through several issues and changes and then the off-season also had some alterations performed to make it a better ride for guests.

I don't think it is too far fetched that maybe Intamin can work with Cedar Fair (who frankly is the one company throwing them A LOT of work) to address whatever issues they might have with the drop/turn in order to remove what is a staggering amount of trims going down the first drop now. Time will tell.

BamBam36 said:
I think it's about time that companys that push what people can handle as far as coasters go, should stop selling their coasters to parks that will ruin their rides. I mean these manufactures should care less because they get paid either way, but thats like an artist selling a painting to someone that plans to burn it.

That's a completely unqualified statement. You don't know that it's the park's decision. Perhaps it was the manufacturer.

Funny to me is that I had NO problem with the drop/turn. All of my complaints came from the overly-quick transitions combined with the OTSRs. Almost like the ride was designed very well for lappies, but no so much for the restraints it got. I understand at least some of the problems that caused the change(s), but those were the park's problems and not mine, LOL.

I rode Intrimidator for the first time yesterday (after 20 trim free rides) and I am kind of ambivalent about the trims. They TOTALLY kill the fun of the first drop... you really feel like you are being held back. I still grey out in the turn, so I don't really understand what the point of putting the trims right there was. I did not feel any airtime on the 150ft hill. The "pro" of the trims is that they improve the pacing of the rest of the ride because you don't come to a screeching halt on the one hill. I wish they would have put the trims on the downward side of the 150 ft hill. Or maybe half on the drop and half on the 2nd hill... because the drop used to be my favorite part of the ride...

I only rode it twice though, so maybe I'll be able to make up my mind after a few more rides.