Thrillography: Road to Thunderbird Trip Report!

Hello everyone ^_^

I hope you all have been enjoying this lovely Spring!

If you've been following our adventures through some of the Southeast's thrilling theme parks these past couple months, I hope you've enjoyed those too!

Now it's time to switch gears and head north of the Mason-Dixon line for a visit to FOUR fabulous parks: Kings Island, Kentucky Kingdom, Beech Bend, and Holiday World. You may have heard that the latter has just opened a brand-new, one-of-a-kind launched B&M Wing Coaster!

But first, let's start things off with the rainbow I found passing through Kentucky. :}

Starring in our adventure is Mark, a Royal Knight from the Kentucky Kingdom, and Los Angeles's hottest dancefloor DJ dynamic duo, The Perry Twins!

Derek, Mark, and Doug are ready to roll!

Yay for Kings Island and its faithful old entrance building. Never change, KI.

You already know what's up first; time to introduce the twins to Banshee!

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that Banshee was warmly received by Doug and Derek. Who can resist the curves of this screaming temptress?!

No one, that's who. :}

Honestly, I know you all came here for pictures of Viking Fury.

Guests participating in Viking-related shenanigans can wave at Banshee riders as they scream by!

New this season in King Island's Oktoberfest area is The Coca Cola Marketplace, a place for snacks, air conditioning, and unlimited flavor varieties of Coca Cola branded beverages! :}

After our initial Banshee ride, we headed straight for Coney Mall...

…because no one wants to get stuck waiting in line for this slow-loader!

While there's no such thing as a swift-loading flying coaster, Kings Island's operations on Firehawk are as good as it gets.

And with the park only open for about half an hour, yellow train joined red to help keep things loading smoothly.

*face-ripping g-force action*

"HOW CAN YOU COME BACK HERE AND JUST NOT RIDE ME?" says Drop Tower.

Thanks to two train operation, the often-dreaded wait for Firehawk was quick and painless. We even got the front seat of the yellow train!

Coming in for a landing!

Now that the most popular and the most finicky coasters in the park are taken care of, we can relax and meander around the park as we please! :}

Unfortunately for me, that meant riding Windseeker.

I hate Windseekers and Starflyers and things of that nature. I hate them so much that I need to distract myself from the predicament by taking pictures of other rides.

I hate them because dangling in the air at 300ft is so much awfulness. Drop towers and roller coasters are one thing; you're up there for just a bit and then you rapidly descend back to the ground. And observation towers feel so secure and contained.

Rides like these just dangle you up there for an eternity and you're swinging around in circles and you can feel the breeze blowing the seats around and it's just terrible and bad.

I still ride them, however, because I WILL NOT BE CONTROLLED BY FEAR!

I may look happy in this picture, but I am totally crying inside.

I HAVE SURVIVED WINDSEEKER.

I am rewarding myself with Vortex. :}

Beast, Diamondback, and Banshee, may be the sweethearts of this park, but for me, Kings Island is all about the Arrow coasters!

Ready for some classic Arrow looping action!

I believe Vortex is a national treasure. The layout is ridiculous and inspired, even by today's standards.

Like, this massive straight drop with the most killer back seat airtime?

Then a massive elevated turnaround?? Just because???

And then it just fires you into this mess of loops. I love how the first inversion doesn't even happen until about a third of the way through the ride. And then that sharp-ass turnaround into the mid course brake!

The plot of land that Vortex takes up played a big roll in its funky layout design. After the Bat fiasco, it's clear that Kings Island wanted to go as big as possible with Vortex, and that meant filling every last corner of the available plot with track!

When compared to later giant Arrow loopers like Viper and Anaconda, Vortex is clearly in a league of its own in terms of creativity.

Time to switch gears! (lol)

Who's ready for Backlot Skunk Coaster?

I never got to ride this with its original theme overlay, but fortunately for us Cedar Fair has remained committed to keeping all of the ride's effects running.

*moment of silence* v_v

Backlot Skunk Coaster turns 10 years old this year, and I think it's aged quite well. With multi-launch family coasters becoming increasingly apropos, Paramount was clearly ahead of the game!

Also aging nicely is Diamondback, which, following its fifth season at the park, was corrected of its dreadful back car rattle. Now it's smooth as a baby's bottom! :}

Bear witness to this wetness! :}

and to this wing-ness! Spicy garlic wings from Red's Grille! Delicious! :}

Anyone else hear about what's new at Planet Snoopy?

That's right! Flyers are back at Kings Island! And boy are they popular!

Good thing there's lots of stuff to take pictures of in line. :}

lol.

The Kite-Eating Tree is so full of it.

Doug is like "WHAT IS THIS!? THIS IS AWESOME!"

The ride operator calls out whoever flies the highest on Woodstock's Gliders. The four of us tied for 1st. :}

Woodstock's Gliders and Snoopy's Space Buggies both replaced Snoopy's Splash Dance, an interactive water maze and relic of the 90's Nickelodeon-ification of part of Hanna-Barbera Land. Each Paramount Park had one; I have great childhood memories of the "Green Slime Zone" water maze at Great America. :}

Now it's time for a true Kings Island Classic:

~~Scooby Doo~~ ~~Beastie~~ ~~Fairly Odd Coaster~~ Woodstock Express!!

To ensure maximum comfort while riding in Jr. PTCs, always remember to ride side-saddle. :}

What should we do now, guys? :}

It's actually time for us all to meet up with a very special new friend!

Sorry for potato quality, but here we are with our new friend, Kings Island representative Brett Parr! He was kind enough to take time away from his busy schedule to ride some rides with us! Thanks for knowing how to show us a good time, Brett! :}

In fact, next up is Brett's favorite!

Beast is running well right now. There's no telling when/if the ride will get worse/better during the season, but for now it's offering solid rides.

I'm always down for another ride on Vortex, but not everyone in our group is a fan!

Diamondback will have to do. :}

Anything is better than Windseeker.

While Brett had to leave us for a while to get some more work done, the rest of us decided it was time to cool down on the Kings Mill Log Flume (Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown!). This is one of my favorite rides in the park; you just can't beat a pre-1970's log flume. :}

Everyone got a nice spritzing. :}

Diamondback is just right here. Better ride again. :}

Woo! Diamondback photobomb!

Passing back through International Street, we got a nice look at the new giant Starbucks. Looks great. :}

We're back for more Banshee!

While much of the Action Zone is buzzing with activity, Invertigo is getting a later start to its season this year. We saw it testing throughout the day, but it never did open.

Now it's FINALLY time for my favorite! It's THE BAT! :D

I didn't take as many Bat pictures as I have in the past; I've made peace with the fact that I'll never take better pictures of this ride than I did on Banshee Media Day!

Speaking of Banshee Media Day, Mark and I took the opportunity to re-create the selfie we took together on that momentous day!

Bat's new colors are still looking daisy-fresh!

"Prepare for flight - at the speed of fright! On….THE BAT!" :D

Banshee has learned to accept her second-banana status for me here in the Action Zone. :P

Drop Tower! We came back for you!

…STOP EVERYTHING!

Can we talk about these shirts for a second?

Kings Island merch game ON POINT!

As soon as we finished fangirling over the retro T-shirts, we took a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower to get some birdseye shots of the park in the afternoon sun!

My favorite time to take pictures is between about 4pm and sundown. Nothing holds a candle to Mother Nature's setting-sun colors!

And on a partly-cloudy day like today, shadow patches pepper the landscape, allowing for even more-dynamic views.

The fantastic beauty of Banshee's color palate still hasn't lost its edge.

This strip of Coney Mall between Zephyr and Dinosaurs Alive has become rather quiet. There's not much going on other than the building that houses "Kill Mart" during Haunt and the employee break patio where Sky Pilot once was. Hopefully that'll change soon. :}

Hopefully nothing changes with Backlot Skunk Coaster! It is just so odd and delightful.

Things around here might be changing soon, however.

Rumor has it that there's been some activity in and around the stretch of land behind Banshee, Adventure Express, Flight of Fear, and Firehawk. Hmmm...

Something also needs to be done about the Action Theatre. I know it's another Haunt attraction, but having a park full of shuttered buildings during the rest of the season is kind of a bummer.

Banshee and Bat are having a face-off!

Heh. I just named all of the coasters in the Action Zone. :}

You may have noticed Flight of Fear's absence in the report thus far.

After my rides on it in May and October, I fear the worst for this ride.

Who wants to play "Find the Train?" :}

Oh, and just ignore that ugly-ass Haunt-in-a-box to the right. *sigh*

Find the Train: Round 2

(bonus points if you find Slingshot!)

While shuttered buildings can be an eyesore, replacing irrelevant attractions in high-traffic areas comes first. This year's little Planet Snoopy update was a good decision.

Not a lot of weak links in Planet Snoopy at this point. I'd say it's the strongest it's ever been!

Something else that's fresh this season is Shake Rattle and Roll's paint job and light package! More on that later. :}

Blue Racer: "We're out of sugar. Go ask the neighbors if they have a cup of sugar for us, Red."

Red Racer: "Vortex, could you lend me some sugar? I am your neighbor."

Vortex: "Random Outkast references are appreciated, but I'm afraid I'm out of sugar. I was just about to go ask Beast."

Back on the ground, there's only a few coasters left for us that we have not yet ridden.

Adventure Express rounds out Kings Island's irresistible Arrow trinity. I love everything about the ride, even the "wtf?" anticlimax. :}

Like Banshee, Adventure Express came loooong after its breed of coaster had been established. And while Banshee came twenty-two years after the original Batman: The Ride, Adventure Express graced us with its existence a whopping forty-two years after the original Arrow Mine Train-style concept coaster, Matterhorn Bobsleds.

And we can't forget about Racer!

Thanks to fresh trackwork on both sides, the Racers are providing some strong rides and some photo finishes!

Fingers crossed that one day we will be riding Blue or Red backwards once again!

Alright, boys! Time to face the music!

I think the fix is in for this ride. Anything this shuddery and jarring cannot be holding up well on a structural level. I think it's only a matter of time.

Shake Rattle and Roll commands attention with its radiant new lighting package! It's the first time I've seen LEDs on a Huss Troika, but hopefully it won't be the last. :}

Let's finish the night on a totally rattle-free nighttime ride on Diamondback!

Goodnight, Kings Island!

…and Good Morning Lightning Run!

From the Island Kingdom to the Kentucky Kingdom! Who's ready to party!?

The Perry Twins are super excited for their first ride on one of America's top steel coasters!

And Mark is so proud to show us his around his park!

Mark told us that Lightning Run's green train was damaged in the offseason and needed to be refurbished. Fortunately purple train is ready to roll!

The Tin Lizzies are rolling strong as well. :}

Lighting Run has held up extraordinarily well in its first year. When you have a prototype coaster like this, with speed and transmissions like these, the real test of success is how well things feel after that first season. It may be one of the wildest coasters around, but Lightning Run is no glass cannon!

Speaking of glass, Kentucky Kingdom wins best loose article policy notice by a landslide.

Lighting Run: Hairtime so strong, the camera can't capture it all!

Kentucky Kingdom's kiddie area continues to shape up nicely.

New this year is the charming and flamboyant "Up, Up, and Away," a Zamperla Samba Tower that takes the long-vacant spot once home to a Huss Rainbow.

I hope that Chance and Ride Centerline get to do more of these. I think every region needs one!

There's a lot of activity going on at Kentucky Kingdom these days. T3 and the river rapids are almost back online, which will once again give the park a second unbroken midway loop.

Today is about as nice a day as any! Perfect weather for Ferris Wheel shots!

Soon Hurricane Bay will be dazzling guests again with its impressive collection of attractions!

Behind the flyers is the new "Cyclos" ride, an evil looping Frisbee-type-thing from Zamperla. It should be open any day now!

Over here is a refreshed Thunder Run continuing to give more great rides during its second season of new life!

Behind it is Twisted Twins, poised for reincarnation in 2016. Brush clearing and ground prep have already begun!

More new hotness! Kentucky Kingdom's beloved Huss Enterprise is finally back from the dead after over a year of rehab and troubleshooting. Behind it is a new 4D Wizard of Oz motion film in the theater!

Not enough new for you? Kentucky Kingdom also boasts a brand-new 140ft spinning pile of NOPE, seen here on the left.

If you need me, I'll be over here on this classic Intamin spinning pile of YES!

Since it's the 140ft pile of nope's first day of operation, Mark must ride it, and the twins are up for a spin too.

"I'll stay down here and watch."

I would much rather take pictures of Lightning Run. :}

The twins seem to be enjoying the 140ft nope. Good for them.

Give me a Ferris Wheel every time!

Time for a ride on Thunder Run! The Doug and Derek haven't ridden it since it was brand new!

I am living for this person on the left so much right now.

I'm worried about that smart phone turning into a not-so-smart-phone, though!

The twins agree that even after 25 years, Thunder Run is still "Thunder Fun." :}

(Yes. Both of them said those exact words. Doug said it to me in the brake run, and then Derek said it when we all disembarked from the train. Twins, I swear. :} )

The park's coasters may have the power of weather phenomenons, but the park's best non-coaster attraction harnesses the staggering power of CULTURALLY RELEVANT FASHION!

That's right! It's time for a whirl on one of Intamin's greatest triumphs: a Flying Dutchman ride featuring a fleet of multicolored Dutch clogs. The ride was originally built for Kings Island, and ran in the park's Oktoberfest area until the early 90s, at which point Kentucky Kingdom bought the unique ride for their budding Dutch Village area around Thunder Run.

All of life's greatest selfies are taken from inside giant shoes.

It's almost time to fly!

Every other Intamin Flying Dutchman ride features little ships. As cute as they are, I can not believe Kings Island was the only park to go with the clogs.

Like, this ride is so cute that my head might literally explode.

In-flight selfie with Doug!

The Dutch Village area of Kentucky Kingdom is full of beautiful, mature trees and brand new gardens. Flying Dutchman is living the good life in the home it deserves!

While Roller Skater doesn't do much to carry the Dutch theme, it's hard not to grin at the thought of two shoe-themed rides right next to each other.

When you put a coaster featuring sneakers with wheels next to a ride with flying clogs, all other thematic inconsistencies can be forgiven.

Roller Skater gives us a nice view of Enterprise from across the road.

I love that the sign for the ride is not Enterprise, but rather "Ride The Enterprise."

I like when rides take control of the situation.

And I'm not the only one; Enterprise had a line that spilled out into the midway! I've never seen such a popular Enterprise before! I suppose the obedient subjects of this Kingdom cannot walk past the sign telling them to go for a ride.

The park's ARM drop tower is a swift kick in the rear, as are most ARM towers. They may not have the same presence as their Intamin contemporaries, but they pack a serious punch!

Time for another ride on Lightning Run before we head out!

I swear, this ride gets the best reactions out of people. It never fails.

Riding Lightning Run can leave you feeling a spectrum of emotions. :}

Also, we're having some great luck with T-shirts on this trip!

KENTUCKY KINGDOM MERCH WIN!

After our fabulous day at Kentucky Kingdom, it's time for a couple hours at the ever-quaint gem of Bowling Green, Beech Bend.

On the left is the foundation for a new chair swing. Hopefully it gets here eventually.

I think you all know why we're here!

Kentucky Rumbler continues to run well, and operations have improved due to a reprogramming of the brakes that sends the train into the station without stopping beforehand. :}

New at Beech Bend is this nauseating contraption, purchased straight off the trade show floor of IAAPA! I enjoyed the ride, but I would've appreciated a few more changes in direction. Looping in one direction ten times in a row before switching directions is a little rough.

Next we all took on the Dragon Wagon! We paired off so as to not break the poor thing.

Photo by Derek Perry :}

The Dragon Wagon is hilarious and fun and cannot be missed on any trip to Beech Bend.

Photo also by Derek Perry :}

THIS IS MY DRAGON WAGON FACE! RAWR!

Derek Perry photo again :}

Next the twins got their credit!

WOOOOOO!

Dragon Wagon gets the Perry Twin stamp of approval!

But what about Scat II? Are you guys into that sort of thing? :}

(We rode it. It was nauseating per usual. Next)

Time for the boys to get their mouse credit!

SPINNING MOUSE SELFIE!

This is the face I make before every spinning mouse. Because spinning.

Fortunately it didn't spin very much. No complaints from me. :}

One more ride on Kentucky Rumbler before we go!

As you can see, the park was quite busy.

And then Doug and Derek just *had* to ride the Michael Jackson Sea Dragon!

This girl in the white right here is FEELING this Sea Dragon ride, and I'm living for her gig right now. I love it.

Bye bye, Beech Bend! Thanks for being a good way to kill a few hours!

Now it's time to introduce the twins to a local favorite!

And with lots of vegetarian options, the boys were greatly appeased!

We called it an early night after two long days of coasters and travel. Tomorrow we drive out to Holiday World to take on the shiny new Thunderbird!

Good morning, Holiday World.

We're all happy to be here, but not as happy as we would be if Pat Koch were here to greet us with her warm smile and salutations. :{

Enough about the past, though. Time to do what we came here to do!

The walk to Thunderbird from the park entrance is more of a hike, but it's nothing compared to the mile-long sojourn to Wood Coaster from the entrance of Knight Valley!

The new area is now the nicest part of Holiday World. It feels very Dollywood, which is a nice departure from Holiday World's usual steel buildings and particleboard playhouses.

The barn is a thing of beauty!

A beautiful barn fit for a beautiful coaster!

Thunderbird is an extremely substantial ride; it offers a solid launch, excellent height and speed, a thrilling sequence of elements, and nice overall pacing.

Operations are extremely swift, with most train dispatches taking less than a minute.

Like Wild Eagle, Thunderbird plays well with its surroundings, and the best seat in the house is back seat, wing left. :}

I was skeptical of how well this ride would turn out. Heavy B&M wing coaster trains coupled with a 0-70mph sounded like a recipe for disaster. Fortunately, this was not the case. I'll never doubt you again, B&M!

Atmospheric touches are scattered all around the area, including a variety of farm-related paraphernalia.

I would say that, besides the launch, Thunderbird's greatest strength is its double-overbank sequence. It feels quite bird-like!

But the vertical loop is nice too. :}

It's quite refreshing to see any looping coaster with feature elements that aren't inversions. Several loops in a row is great, but they have to be executed really well (read: Banshee) to keep from feeling repetitive.

Like Banshee, Thunderbird features an extended flat roll as its final inversion. It's definitely a crowd-pleaser!

The launch into the Immelmann is a great way to kick things off, but I'll aways be partial to the top hat. :}

Thunderbird sets itself apart not just among other wing coasters, but in the ever-growing expanse of launch coasters. Gone are the days of launch coasters relying on the launch itself and a few transitions to earn their merit; launch coasters today are now combining substantial track layouts with their hefty accelerations to give riders an experience that rivals even the best traditional lift coasters.

And, while it's no Bullet Coaster / Defiant Eagle, Thunderbird illustrates this shift in concept and design beautifully.

Resting in the shadow of Thunderbird is Crow's Nest (formerly Sparkler), which was closed all day. Hopefully they'll have it running consistently soon.

I'm sure we can expect to see more waterpark attractions on this new side of the park to complement this fabulous new coaster!

We wanted to ride Voyage, but it was having a late start and wasn't quite ready for showtime.

That means it's time for Gobbler Getaway!

^_^

I love these rides, but as usual, I lost the game pretty handily.

We emerged from our turkey-calling expedition to find Voyage stalled at the top of the lift and tended by a ride operator. Not a good sign.

Next up: the sunscreen ride!

Everyone needs extra protection from the sun in Holidog's Fun Town since there isn't exactly an abundance of shade.

Time to cram ourselves into The Howler to get the twins their credit!

On the spectrum of kiddie coasters that are a pain for adults to ride, Howler is probably a nine out of ten. It's one of those that you wish would end after just one circuit instead of two. :P

Where Sparkler once sat is now occupied by a "Strike-U-Up" human strength tester attraction and a peculiar-looking planter arrangement. Definitely a head-scratcher.

Doug is just so excited and he just can't hide it! Liberty Launch is next!

I'm always up for a good Double Shot, and Liberty Launch is one of the better ones.

Back over by Voyage, it was time for us to take our first ride of the day!

According to friends I know who went to Thunderbird Media Day, Voyage was running as well as ever. There's been a ton of track work done all over the ride and it looks great.

Sadly for us, The Voyage now employs a full stop on its midcourse brake run, killing a majority of the ride's momentum. This was extremely frustrating for me; this has been my #1 coaster for 5 years, but with that midcourse brake bringing the ride to a halt, I can't even call this a top 20 ride. My favorite part of the ride, the underground triple dip, is completely ruined, and the once-ferocious return to the station now feels more like a lackadaisical meander.

My understanding is that the ride was not coming to a halt on Thunderbird Media Day, and was apparently not supposed to need to during any typical operation day, with the additional understanding that the ride will brake based only on weight distribution. Unfortunately for us, this does not appear to be the case anymore.

The economic bottom line is important to any business, so running a roller coaster like Voyage at full speed and replacing most of the ride each offseason was not going to work in the long term. Hopefully other solutions for the problem can be reached, or, at the very least, the ride will run stop-free during coaster enthusiasts events, lest the ride drop any further in the coaster polls.

I don't blame Holiday World for ultimately resorting to these measures to keep costs down and ridership up, but that doesn't mean I'm not disappointed.

And with that, the Voyage drops from its five-year spot at #1 on my wood coaster list. Balder at Liseberg, the utterly flawless Intamin plug-n-play pride of Sweden, now takes my top spot.

Oh, and after our ride, Voyage broke again and had to be evacuated from the base of the lift hill. lol

On the other end of the spectrum, The Legend is giving what are arguably the best rides of its life. The ride is 100% fresh track and pacing that is out of this world! For better or for worse, the train flys through its unbanked helix. It is a great way to get closer to your friends. :}

With the triumph of The Legend and Thunderbird today, it seems only cosmically fit that The Voyage would share its state of disappointment with The Raven, which was giving the most lackluster rides on it I've ever had. Pacing was weak, and airtime was meh.

*sigh*

Holiday World is starting to feel like just another park right now. Real talk.

Time to drown our sorrows on Frightful Falls, which is still completely wonderful. For now.

Off in the distance, we saw Voyage broken AGAIN!

C'mon, Holiday World. Get it together.

#hallowswingsselfie

#mayflowerselfie

Pilgrim's Plunge / Giraffica update: Still a tragic eyesore.

Hopefully Holiday World can assess the Pilgrims Plunge situation soon. I swear that the existing area is begging for a MACK water coaster!!

Thunderbird will just have to distract from Plunge's blank skeleton of fail for now.

Shouldn't be hard to do; Thunderbird is such a crowd-pleaser. :}

And reliable, too! While Voyage was busy suffering from its *fourth* breakdown of the day, Thunderbird was still going strong with its 60-second dispatches.

Also, kudos to HW for keeping as much of the foliage around the ride intact as possible.

Time to try the new BBQ!

I'm pleased to report that the new area's Dollywood vibe continued into the food; These "Pork Wings," made with Holiday World's house BBQ sauce, were absolutely delicious!

The new Thunderbird area is basically like this bubble of flawlessness (aside from Crow's Nest being MIA for now), but all in all I'd say that the rest of Holiday World isn't quite up to snuff right now. Maybe just some early-season hiccups?

If you could take what Holiday World has done with their new area and extrapolate it out into the entire park, you'd have one solid entertainment machine.

(also, you'd basically have Dollywood or Silver Dollar City. :} )

*BOOM!*

Here they come!

There they go!

While standing under the ride for a few circuits to take some pictures, we noticed a dull scraping noise each time the train passed between the first and second inversions. We didn't think anything of it until we saw that the rails were already exhibiting signs of wear at the bottom of the Immelmann.

Hopefully, whatever is happening to cause this is an easy fix. A ride that's 10 days old should not already be grinding away its paint job.

Keep your fingers crossed that Thunderbird has a problem-free year! If the track thing is merely cosmetic, maybe it can wait until the offseason for a fix? We shall see.

Thank you, Thunderbird, for being both spectacular and substantial, and proving me wrong of my skepticism!

I'd say between Fury 325 and Thunderbird, B&M is having a pretty great 2015. :}

"I agree whole-heartedly" says the fuzzy caterpillar.

Now if only we could get the Voyage situation squared away…….

If they'll still run it sans-stop for coaster enthusiast events, maybe it'll find its way back to my #1 spot. I don't think I'll back this season, however.