I just got back from my second visit of the year at PKI. Surprisingly, every coaster was almost a walk-on except for FoF which was only running one train. This lead to a nice 1 hr 15 min. wait. The lap bars make the ride 100% better! No headbanging, moving, etc. A lot more fun and I very much enjoyed the OTSR version(Everyone will have to change their votes in the Ratings Poll-4's to 5's!).
The Racer raced today! I was so happy that I had to get at least 5 rides on each side(we won every time of course ;)). The track really needs a paint job to go a long with the great painted trains this year. Forwards was a lot bumpier than last year over the little airtime hills. Very fun though.
SOB was smoother! Still no sign of the 3rd train.
RRR is the greatest kids coaster ever! The length is only 45 seconds but it packs a punch. Ride back seat. The minimum height req. is 48"(same as Racer and Adv. Express). The max is 6 ft. or 6'2", I think? Great ride. The theming for RRR and WTRA is amazing compared to other parks outside of Disney and IOA.
IMO, 7th Portal is by far the best motion simulator film so far at Paramount. The 3D effects are actually kind of scary. The story goes something like you're sucked into a computer and fight of some X-Men-esque villains in a slightly bland looking arena and then have to escape. I guess that's it? All I know is that I can't wait to ride it again. Hopefully, they keep up with the progression and we can be equally pleased and surprised with the Crash Dummies film. Only one side of the theatre is open b/c of this hoping for a late May opening of the new show.
Vortex needs paint! Very fun. Nothing else to comment on. Just paint. Wouldn't hurt Top Gun either.
Face/Off is *very* thrilling! I have nothing to say bad about shuttle coasters(except boomers). They are some of the most intense coasters around. I can't wait for Deja Vu.
Adventure Express seems a little faster this year. My favorite mine train(unless you count Big Thunder Mtn) and one of my favorite family coasters anywhere. First timers, don't be fooled! Why? The coaster has 1)Big thrills 2)Great theming 3)A slightly disappointing finale and 4)Is not the line to that stand-up coaster over there
Anyone else ever gotten 6 re-rides on Beast 2:00 in the afternoon in less than 30 minutes? I can't even get one ride in 30 minutes any day. Well, I did it. Beast was walk-on almost all day. And it's The Beast... Need I say more.
KCKC area is boarded off in front :( with "An Exciting Adventure will Await in 2002" and "New Thrills at PKI in 2002" signs. :) :) :)
Overall an excellent day at my fave park. Kudos to PKI for all the improvements, additions, etc. I'll have to give them a big thumbs down in the show dept. though. Only 5 shows, 3 decent, 1 was fairly good, and the last could be excellent with a little help. I don't go for them but I had to check them out. It would be perfect with a change and a few more events. An almost perfect beginning to a sure-to-be perfect year. 9.99/10 :)
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PKI-Kings Mills, Ohio-Wooden and Kiddie Coaster Capital of the World!
You are the Weakest Link! Goodbye!!!
*** This post was edited by Koaster King on 4/8/2001. ***
LOL, when we were at PKI some people got confused on the KC/AE lines too. Funny stuff...
Beast and SoB walk-ons....you and the other guests that day must be the luckiest people alive. That was my main complaint for PKI when we visited -- very, very long lines, especially for the Beast. And I'd love to ride FoF without the OTSR's; when we rode it we were focused on leaning forward in the restraint to avoid brain damage from those obnoxious things.
I'll confirm the crowds comments. Nobody was at the park this weekend. Highs in the 80s, beautiful weather, and no one there the enjoy it. :) Yes, one could literally walk onto just about every coaster in the park, including Sonny!
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Scott W. Short
scott@midwestcoastercentral.com http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com
I agree to everything you've said. I especially share your feelings on the Vortex; it looks bad. The park is great. I'm glad I bought a gold pass upgrade because for that hour, you could literally walk onto any ride; however, the rest of the day (I was there all three days) the lines were pretty short.
I asked someone about the third Son Of Beast train and they said it was still in maintenance.
Flight of Fear was excellent. Very smooth and very fun.
The Wild Thornberrys ride is a blast. One of the best parts about it: clean water. That was one of the letdowns of past water rides at PKI.
Overall great job this year PKI. Here's looking forward to that "adventure" in 2002.
StandUpFan, we were very lucky this weekend. I've nevr been able to walk onto the Beast like that. Usually when we go on weekdays, most of the coasters(besides SOB, Face/Off and Beast) are walk-ons. I hear that most weekends, especially Saturday, are really bad. I'm guessing you went on a weekend. Sorry for long lines. :( Surely, you got to ride everything you wanted to though. Right? We rode all the coasters(not TCTJ), Drop Zone, and all flat rides(including many rerides) by 3 today so I think you should have gotten to everything. Hopefully, you can come back and have a good trip.(Weekdays!)
And pkitex87, I agree that the water in the WTRA was beautiful. Crystal clear. The elephant strangely didn't hit very many people on the ride. The theming was great anyway. I try not to remember the old KCKC water. Pretty scary.
Tim, pkitex, whoever, how were the lines/park Friday crowd wise? We went by on the way to eat and the line to get in was more than a mile long south of PKI. Whoa! I know it rained for a little while. Was crowds like Sat/Sun? It looked like the busiest day ever from the line. Thanks.
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PKI-Kings Mills, Ohio-Wooden and Kiddie Coaster Capital of the World!
You are the Weakest Link! Goodbye!!!
You people are so lucky you got walk on rides. Man, I waited 1.5 hours for each ride when I was there last year.
Who would have known the people we're going to stay away, or the GP didn't know the park was open.
It's like the holidays, the parks say the lines are no longer than regular days, but I don't believe it. How many of you will visit a park on May 28th (Memorial Day) or July 4th? I won't, I'll go the days after July 4, but not on it. Oh, and July 4 is on a Wednesday this year, so ask for the next two days off now, before other people at your job beat you to it.
This week is spring break for people in Florida, all the kids are out of school, so things may pick up at your park.
I tell you, I couldn't believe it. I stood in line so much longer Friday night than I did Saturday all day. FOF was so much better than last year, as was SOB! I thought it was just me when I thought it felt smoother. It's growing on my favorites list. Still wish it had more airtime, though. My only complaint on 7th Portal was that it seemed really short. Would have liked a little more action like the very end with the "Big" guy. :) Plus, I love that they have beer stands all over the place now, rather than only a couple food places.
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UCSigep
"Did you make a copy? Because if you made a copy, we could watch the copy."
*** This post was edited by ucsigep on 4/9/2001. ***
I was at PKi Friday and Sunday. Friday`s lines were unreal, with the line for RRR out of the que line! Sunday it was walk on everything including RRR which is a really fun kids coaster. heck, I think its a fun coaster for anyone! WTRA is more fun than what it used to be as Kings Mills Log Flume. I agree, that WTRA water is clean and doesn`t smell like KCKC`s water did!
Was at PKi on Friday and Saturday. Friday's lines were incredibly long but Saturday's were a little more reasonable. Early in the day I got to walk on SOB but as teh day went on the lines got longer. Can you believe at one time Vortex's original colors were dark blue and orange. Now it looks like powder blue. For some reason 7th portal did not seam to be in 3D until the very last scene. I will have to watch again without the glasses and see if the image is offset like it should be. I hope for an anouncement soon about next year's ride.
I went to PKI on the last two days of the season last summer, I'm pretty sure it was Sun. and Mon. We rode every coaster but the lines were horrible. We waited nearly 3 hrs (!!) for a ride on the Beast once, and needless to say it was our last. By the second day we were bored because the lines were so long it almost wasn't worth riding, even though we loved the Beast and SoB (two best woodies I've been on). We left early and got to CP in time for Starlight passes -- good move on our part. :)
I went to pki this Sunday, and by 3:00 we had ridden every coaster and a few flat rides.Here is my coaster count for Sunday.
the beast:12 rides(including morning ace walkback)
sob: 4 rides (great ride, only not enough leg room)
fof: 1 (would of rode more, but line got long)
vortex:2 (needs paint bad!!)
king cobra: 1 (the most painfull ride at pki now)
face off: 1 (an ok ride)
top gun: 1 (great ride, but too short)
racer: 3 (always a fun ride)
adventure express:1 (an ok ride but kind of ruff)
rrr: 1 (the best kiddy coaster I've ever been on)
wild thornberrys: 2 (a great water ride)
all in all I had a great day at pki, very short lines, great rides, I loved the new restraints for fof, and the 7th portal was great(I love the scene with the saw in your face).And GREAT weather!!
*** This post was edited by hothitz on 4/10/2001. ***
Geez, you people are making me sick... ;)
If I see many more posts like that I'll have to take a detour on one of my trips and hit PKI again.
ShiveringTim said:
"I'll confirm the crowds comments. Nobody was at the park this weekend. Highs in the 80s, beautiful weather, and no one there the enjoy it. :) Yes, one could literally walk onto just about every coaster in the park, including Sonny!
But, if you look at premier, raining, highs in 60 i think, everybody and their mothers were there.
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