1997 Trip Report index
Dave's Adventures
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It has become almost a routine for Sunday morning: Get up, shower, get dressed, jump in the car, and head for a park. Okay, so it is darned near November. Why should I stop now? So I didn't. I had seen the weather report the night before, which had predicted an all-day soaker. Oh, yeah? Saturday was supposed to be an all-day soaker, and I don't think we got a drop. So here it was, 7:00am on Sunday, still no sign of rain. Time to go!
Kings Island is right around 90 miles from my house, and it takes just under an hour and a half, driving down IR-71 at 65 mph., to get there. By comparison, Cedar Point is 105 miles away, and is a 2:10 trip at 55 mph. So why does Kings Island feel like a longer drive? I pulled into the nearly-empty parking lot ($6?! You have to be kidding!) and parked two spaces over from Sean. Considering that there are no close parking spaces in the PKI lot, (unless you are driving a tram) I think I did all right.
Sean spotted me almost before I got out of the car, and I headed over to the season pass office. PKI was offering a season pass offer that was too good to pass up: $60 for the 1998 pass, good for the remainder of the 1997 season (all 10 hours of it) and for the 1998 season...AND they were giving away today-only comps for every pass processed.
Once inside the park, a fairly large group of coaster nuts assembled under the former International Restaurant. The day would begin with a The Beast walk-back.
The Beast
There are very few coasters special enough that they deserve to be referred
to with a definite article. In spite of all the nasty things I say about it,
The Beast is such a coaster. Particularly when it runs like this. It
had been raining lightly when we took off in the nearly-filled first rain of
the day. By the time we reached the platform, it was POURING. But when 10:00
came, we loaded the train and they dispatched it anyway. We cruised out of the
station and started up the lift, stopping part way up. Oh, great. Riding in
the rain is one thing. Parked on the lift in the rain is entirely different.
The block programming on The Beast is very strange, frequently bringing
trains to a stop or near-stop on the lift. I don't remember which car I was
in, but it was a front axle seat. This means that my foot was directly over
a wheel. As a result, I can say with some certainty that all the brakes, including
the ones on the drop into the helix, were set high enough to lift the train
clear off of the track. But The Beast is one of the four wood coasters
in Ohio equipped with skid brakes. On this rainy October morning, The Beast
demonstrated why skid brakes are an endangered species. We flew down
the drop, screamed through the tunnel, zipped over the second hill, cruised
through the mid-course block, powered through the quick dip, and shot halfway
up the second lift before the lifting dog caught.
TRIVIA: Ohio has four wood coasters with skid brakes (as of 11/01/1997). The Beast is one of them. Name the other three. Bonus: There is a fifth coaster with skid brakes, but it isn't wood. Name it, too. [answer]
Back in April or May or whenever it was I last rode this coaster, the brakes leading ino the helix were off. Not today! They were set, but soggy, so we still flew smoothly down that last hill and through the enormous helix. I guess I've become too accusomed to the articulated PTC cars...I noticed that The Beast's 3-bench boxcars don't handle those turns very well--turns that were engineered for PTC's 4-bench boxcars. I can see why they changed it.
So The Beast delivered perhaps the closest performance to the way it is supposed to run that I have ever experienced. In fact, after the first three trainloads of drenched coaster nuts got off, the ride was closed due to weather for a while. As Colby noted, our gang headed for the cars to get additional raingear, then reconvened near Outer LIMits. Which was, of course, down mechanical. So we rode Vortex instead. Incidentally, Colby noted that I got all interested in the Monster...well, PKI's Monster has a wire mesh over the center instead of the solid plates that Cedar Point has on theirs. I was trying to see if it was mechanically similar to the Spider. I've been wondering ever since I watched the eccentric on CP's Monster turn (or appear to turn) backwards...something the Spider counter-shaft won't allow without reversing the drive motor. Unfortunately, the combination of rain and dreary weather means I wasn't able to see anything.
Vortex is a good ride, but it doesn't seem to like the cold, and like many coasters, runs rougher when it is nearly empty. So it beat me up a little more than I like, and earned a place of honor on my list of Coasters that Really Need To Switch To Lap Bars. After several rides, we headed for Adventure Express. I think we did a remarkable job of building suspense for that suprise element at the end. I have heard that our victim's expression was just priceless, but I can't know for sure as I was two seats up. I do know that she was the one who first suggested a re-ride, though! Adventure Express is a quite a good Runaway Train ride, though I don't much care for that last element myself. Later in the day, we rode (and re-rode) and I noticed that, like Cedar Point's Magnum XL-200, Adventure Express runs a lot smoother when it is fully loaded.
We stopped off at Racer for a couple of rides (Why is there a brake on the turnaround? What happened to the last dip? Why does this have such crappy trains?), then headed off for Top Gun. At about this time, Sean made a discovery that I think made Colby a little nervous: the SkyCoaster was, in fact, operating. Having noted that fact, we all meandered down the path to Top Gun.
Past the sign noting a 20-minute wait. Well, it takes that long to walk the length of the queue.
Why is Top Gun running so loud? Arrow coasters are usually pretty quiet (lift hills excepted). Top Gun was roaring. It is a cool ride to watch, too, but the best view is from the 'exit' side of the path. Y'know, if they really wanted to, PKI could develop this area as a midway...or whatever its equivalent is called in a theme park. Take out the fence down the middle, add a couple of merch and food joints...though the area is really too narrow to handle any flat rides, what with Top Gun on one side and the Timberwolf shed on the other...
It really is a long way back to Top Gun. In my limited experience with this park, that has two effects. First, it is very annoying to have to go such a long way. Couldn't the station have been put at the other end of the site? Of course, there is an advantage to that. Nobody else wants to walk back there, either. The result is short lines for one of the best coasters in the whole park.
Finally! After heading down stairs, up stairs, through a short maze, up more stairs (What idiot didn't think to put a drain on the landing? That puddle is HUGE and there is nowhere for the water to go...)...finally, we reach the platform. I've grown to really appreciate the back end of the Arrow suspended coasters, and on Top Gun, it gives a really good ride. Why is it that Top Gun runs so much better than the other Arrow suspendeds I have ridden (Iron Dragon, Big Bad Wolf)? Part of it is certainly the fact that, like Big Bad Wolf, Top Gun features fast, steep DROPS, something that Iron Dragon clearly lacks. But there is something else about it. Top Gun runs so smooth, so fast... Sean remarked that it was running like a B&M. I don't think I would go that far...it still wasn't that LOUD...
We took a couple of rides. To PKI's credit, they had the "short cut" between the ride exit and ride entrance open, sparing us much of that interminably long walk. Then Sean was ready. Colby didn't look quite as ready as Sean did, but I think he was anyway. The two of them paid the fee, then suited up for the Skycoaster. I still haven't ridden one of those things...
Once Sean and Colby finished their flight, we proceeded to what was for me the biggest disappointment of the day. Like all parks with any kind of Bavarian theme area, Kings Island has a "Festhaus" styled after the "Hofbrauhaus" in Munich. A large room with long wooden tables, bench seating, live entertainment, and bratwurst und bier. Well, kind-of. At PKI, the room had been taken over by a kids halloween setup of some kind. Okay, I can live with that. The staging area was set up with large steel structures and huge video monitors. Nothing Teutonic about that at all, but then, perhaps PKI isn't into doing polka shows, so I suppose that is okay.
But what I was totally unprepared for was the menu. No beer is not unexpected; some whole parks are 'dry', including most of PKI. But no sausage?! Menu options in the PKI Festhaus are overpriced pizza, or more-overpriced burgers. Since I had eaten pizza the night before, I went for the overpriced and not-at-all-noteworthy cheeseburger. In fairness, PKI does still serve sausage lunches; in fact, I had one back in the spring, from the beer garden across from the Festhaus. But that is outdoors, and remember, on this afternoon, it was cold and rainy. Hmmm...The Festhaus is the largest sit-down restaurant in the park, I think...I wonder if PKI has considered reconfiguring it into a food court, with many different types of sit-down meals as available in the other restaurants.
After lunch, we noted several dramatic changes. Most notably, the rain stopped. In addition, amazingly, the already miniscule crowd appeared to get smaller. It was time for the ride festing to begin. We started by riding the Beast again (it's more pleasant to ride when it isn't pouring down rain, but the braking is also significantly more effective, and thus noticeable. From there, some discussion ensued about the proper path to take. We had not yet ridden either Outer LIMits or Beastie. We decided to go to Beastie first, as TOL:FOF had been down mechanical all day.
As usual, Beastie was running fairly well. I think
it must be the only computer controlled junior woodie I have ever ridden. It
is also the only one that runs two trains. I do wonder about that trim brake,
though...I'm sure it wasn't in Allen's original design, but then, he didn't
count on brake fins, either.
TRIVIA: Incidentally, the Beastie is one of the three coasters
at PKI that does not have divided seats. What are the other two? [Answer]
When we got off of the Beastie, we rode the Phantom Theater dark ride. The visual effects are pretty good, but audio is a big problem, as the too-loud speakers allow sound to bleed from scene to scene. Also, the physical effects (hot and cold air) are a nice touch.
Apparently, we missed a huge rainstorm when we went into Phantom Theater. Just missed it entirely. Good timing! And when we came out, we found ourselves standing in front of an 8' lift hill on a Miler coaster. Should we? The sign on the ride fence says, "Adults should be accompanied by a child." I think it was Colby who pointed out that the park guidebook says "must", but I replied with, "What guidebook?" Oh, I knew what he was talking about, but I pointed out that I had not read that brochure... 8-)
Hey, in spite of the fact that the ACE Code of Conduct says not to, we can always ask the operator. The worst thing that can happen is that he can say "no". So we asked if we could ride. Much to our suprise, the operator said "yes". So we rode the Scooby Zoom. One ride is two circuits of the track, but the operator apparently forgot that he was carrying almost a full load of adults, and he overshot the station. So we got a third circuit! Thank you, Scooby Zoom Operator!! The Scooby Zoom is an updated version of the classic Herschell or Schiff oval kiddie, but in comparison with those coasters, it is amazingly smooth. It is a really good kiddie coaster. I should also note that Kings Island has done a smart thing: They have put automated cameras and photo sales booths on both Scooby Zoom and Beastie. It makes so much sense! Of course people want to buy the photo of their kids' first coaster ride! I wouldn't be suprised if they sell a higher percentage of photos taken on those rides than they do on the Beast, Vortex, and Outer LIMits. 8-)
Speaking of Outer LIMits, that was where we went next. We arrived just as an employee was moving barricades to shut down the queue again. So it had been running, but we missed it. Then, our amazing luck kicked in again. As we started to walk away, the ride started up again, so we turned around and got in line. It's a shame they weren't running the pre-show, but then, they had all the short-cuts open inside the hangar, so if the pre-show were running, we wouldn't have seen it. Someone explain this to me: The ride has an elaborate 20-minute preshow that is really quite good. The ride is supposed to run four trains, and if four trains were running and the queue inside the "hangar" were full of people, everyone would get to see the whole pre-show once. Then, there is an overflow queue outside, with inane QTV blaring over the monitors. Why make people stand in that line rather than showcasing the preshow? Fortunately, we didn't have a long wait anyway. The Outer LIMits preshow theming is so good, I hate to see it go the way of Disaster Transport.
Once inside the spacecraft, we headed for the front of the train. This particular afternoon, they were running two. We watched as they delayed the dispatch for the train ahead of us. We watched that train vanish. We shoehorned ourselves into the next train. Actually, the train is fairly roomy until you pull the shoulder bars down. Then it gets really crowded. The station audio cut out again as our dispatch was delayed. Then finally, poof! WE were gone.
Contrary to popular belief, Outer LIMits actually tracks quite well. I felt more mistracking on Vortex than I did on Outer LIMits. But man, is that ever painful! Outer LIMits has a very serious rideability problem. Particularly through that last half-corkscrew after the mid-course brake. PKI has taken to bringing the train to a complete stop on the mid-course safety; I am guessing this is their feeble attempt to improve rideability. I have news for them: It doesn't work. There is only one thing that will fix that ride, and until Paramount does it, they are going to get complaints no matter how much time and money they invest in track work, brake work, and launch tweaking. The shoulder bars HAVE GOT TO GO. Those things are HURTING PEOPLE. But I am convinced that if those trains had their shoulder bars removed, Outer LIMits would be one of my favorite coasters. I really want to like this ride, but the shoulder bars make it almost unrideable.
Update: The shoulder bars were removed and lap bars were installed for the 2001 season. Flight of Fear, as it is now known, has become one of my favorite coasters.
On a lighter note, we did miss another cloudburst while riding TOL:FOF.
After two no-waiting rides for Outer LIMits, it was time for the real ride fest to begin. Racer...three, four, five, eight, ten rides without getting up...first forward, then backward. Then off to King Cobra.
I have noted in the past, in my anti-shoulder-bar rants, that stand-up coasters are one situation where shoulder bars may be necessary. Well, I may have to revise that point of view a bit. You see, I am an American, of not-uncommon stature for an American...right around 6'0", perhaps slightly shorter. That means that the distance between my crotch and my shoulders is greater than the distance from the seat to the top of the shoulder loop on the Togo-built King Cobra. As a result, I kind of cram myself into the seat, and have to leave the shoulder bars almost open. That leaves the lap bar to secure me in place. I wonder if it would be sufficient on its own...
King Cobra is a fun ride, but I find it a bit rough on my arms, not because it is a rough ride (really, it isn't, even though it is a Togo), but because I simply don't fit. I took a bunch of rides, without even leaving my...er...seat.
That became a theme for the afternoon on certain coasters. Kings Island is very inconsistent in this regard, so I think it must be a policy decision made not by the park, but by the ride operators. On Racer, King Cobra, Vortex, and Adventure Express, we were permitted to keep our seats if no one was waiting, and to switch to another empty seat if someone was waiting. On Top Gun and The Beast, on the other hand, we were required to exit, walk around, and reboard. At least they had the queue short-cuts open.
From King Cobra, we ride-fested on Top Gun, Adventure Express, Vortex, and The Beast. Our gang repeatedly split up and regrouped, reflecting our differing tastes and tolerances. We all finished up on the Beast. I didn't make the last ride of the season, as I chose instead to ride in the front seat. But I was on the second-to-last public train of the season.
Paramount's Kings Island really is a nice park. It is far from being my favorite, and there are many problems with the park. It is a frustrating park for me, as they have some truly great rides, but over the years they have mistreated those rides. On the other hand, the rides are generally well maintained and run well. Take the Racer, for instance. It is a great ride. It runs well, even in the rain. Kings Island uses an oiler on it every day, and it shows. But they have also added a trim brake to the turnaround, taken out the last dip, and committed such atrocities to the train that while it is one of the best running woodies in Ohio, it is also one of the least pleasant to ride. How is a coaster nut supposed to respond to that? While in Virginia, I finally saw the one Brady Bunch episode worth seeing, and I couldn't help but notice that the only ride they showed that is still operating at Kings Island was the Racer. Sure, PKI has a lot of neat stuff in it, and they get special marks for keeping their Flying Scooter. But what about the Cuddle Up; the Tumble Bug; the Wildcat; the Flying Dutchman; the Screamin' Demon? Since 1972, I think they must have taken out more rides than most parks have put in! The result is a park that gives the impression that they started with a nice park, but they decided they didn't like the concept. So they reworked it to make a completely different nice park. Then they did it again. As a result, the park has a bit of a disjointed feel to it. It just isn't quite as comfortable as it should be. But I had fun anyway, and that's what is really important.
GLOSSARY:
comp: Complimentary pass. [back
to text]
counter-shaft: The main drive shaft in an Octopus
or Spider which converts the single rotation of the motor into the two rotating
motions needed by the ride. [back to text]
joint: Shop. Usually refers to a food trailer serving
the public. [back to text]
shed: Ampitheatre. Outdoor concert facility. [back
to text]
tram: Pasenger-carrying road train, often found in
large parking lots. [back to text]
Trivia question #1 answer: The four wood coasters in Ohio equipped with skid brakes when this report was written were The Beast at Paramount's Kings Island, Big Dipper and Raging Wolf Bobs at Geauga Lake, and Sea Dragon at Wyandot Lake. A fifth coaster with a skid brake in the State of Ohio is the Pipeline Express coaster at Putt 'N Pond Action Park. [back to text]
Trivia question #2 answer: The three coasters at Paramount's Kings Island which did not have divided seats when this report was written are the Beastie, Scooby Zoom, and, believe it or not, Outer LIMits: Flight of Fear. [back to text]
Next trip: Busch Gardens Tampa
1997 Trip Report index
Dave's Adventures
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--Dave Althoff, Jr.