Flight of Fear

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I have not heard the radio since 2014 which is a true shame as that added another layer of depth to the story which is largely missing. The addition of FunTV and the Battle for Kings Dominion signage proved that the park is not concerned about attempting to tell a story anymore. Really hoping that I’m proved wrong come spring 2020.
 
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They can have that stuff outside the building, but once you're inside it should be a show - think fog, flashing lights, lasers maybe, a revised return of the old video sequence that used to play to set up the story and give an explanation to what's happening and why there's a flying saucer in the middle of a warehouse.

For special events they could even do a short skits with live actors - get the people in line excited and maybe even nervous/scared, amp it up.
 
Jonesta6 said:
old video sequence that used to play to set up the story and give an explanation to what's happening and why there's a flying saucer in the middle of a warehouse.
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This sounds interesting, do you know where/if I could find it?
 
I'm not great at a forum search on a phone, but I could have sworn someone here posted it via YouTube in the last year or so. Not sure if it was in this thread or another.
 
The last time I really remember hearing the old radio show in full sequence, was back in the 2009 season. I remember different parts of it.

"I looked out my winder and my corn was on fire"(Country accent)

"They got the machinery, they got the technology; their drilling a hole to china"(nerdy guy)

"All I heard was boom"(Country accent)

I don't know if the park cut a lot of the dialogue because they were afraid it would offend people? The radio show was something like 5, maybe 10 to 12 minutes.
 
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I forgot about the news segments, mostly remember what sounded like a military-type PA announcer saying things like the time travel unit was to report to (location) last week or some such thing.
 
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What’s sad is these effects could easily be restored with a single speaker and an MP3 player. I assume they’ve just been forgotten :(
 
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Yes those were also apart of the P/A spiel. I remember in the old KD fansite; a bunch of us felt that the ride was best themed during the Outbreak/Haunt. During Haunt Flight of Fear's outdoor queue generally received the green over lights, with fog. It gives it a stronger alluring appeal when looking at it from a distance. The maze was hit or miss. But the theme that they put inside the queue was a lot better during Haunt. Why can't KD just retire FOF's maze and keep the ride open during Haunt operation with the additional theme. Or at least utilize a lot of the theme during summer weekends.
 
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Yeah, the last time I heard the radio was summer 2014. I remember the track kept skipping and restarting. I sat outside on a nearby bench for about 20 minutes and I think it played through maybe twice without issue. I don't know if there were any other tracks but I remember three callers on the radio show: a guy who was trying to advertise his business, a stoner type, and a smart science girl who got cut off by the spooky interference. I'm guessing the CD they had broke and they never bothered replacing it?
 
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@Pretzel Kaiser One of the users said they had a source that said it is a safety concern. Some riders supposedly feel uncomfortable not being able to see the support beams. Earlier in the thread I disputed that statement by saying that in 2009 the ride operated in the pitch black without any complaints. Someone else countered back and said that the park has probably updated a lot of it's safety policies since then. I then countered back by saying that the neon floor lights are set on a timer. At 10:26pm or 10:30pm they automatically cut off. I know this because I've seen it happen on a couple of occasions.

My honest opinion is that the park just feels it adds to the theme, so they've always had them on. If one of the maintenance technicians went down there one day and disconnected them, the park probably wouldn't even notice. As a matter of fact, I'm sure there is a breaker in the spaghetti bowl area. For all you know, it's probably controlled with the flip of a switch. Maintenance technicians probably come in every morning, check the ride for safety and flip the switch on, out of habit.
 
I'm sorry.

But yea, I'm glad I experienced a lot of the things I did at KD before a lot of the new safety restrictions got put in effect. That's only if it's true. But here's another one for you. Since Premier Rides built The Mummy and Flight of Fear I think it's only fair that I mention this. If you've rode ROTM at Universal Florida in recent years; you might know about what I'm saying. I rode ROTM a year after it opened. So this was in August 2005. The launch hill on the Mummy was very fast at one time. When you approached the hill and Imhotep appeared on the screen; you could hear and feel the LIM motor revving up at the words "YOUR SOUL......". At the part of the phrase where he said "IS", the you could feel the LIM begin to pull the ride. Once he got the word "MINE", the train would literally get strong trusted up the hill, along with a push from the back. Once you flew through the fog at the top of the hill, the train would literally go ripping around the course. Five years later I returned in June 2010. I walked straight back to the Mummy and got on. I was so excited to be back after five years. When we got to launch hill I was disappointed. The launch was very, very slow. I rode it a few times to see if it would change and no. It was slow as molasses. My guess is that the park wanted to make the ride feel more family friendly, so they toned the launch down. Yes, it's hard to believe; but there was a time when the Mummy in Orlando, felt scary when riding it.

Now back to Flight of Fear. We are blessed that Cedar Fair focuses on ride performance. They cancelled Paramount's plans to remove it and kept it running. And look how intense Flight of Fear's launch is. For those who have rode Joker's Jinx; you know what I am talking about. Flight of Fear is faster for various reasons. One being weight. Flight of Fear is only 5 cars. Joker's Jinx is 6 cars. The websites say that Joker has a faster launch, but we all know this isn't true. I've rode both rides enough times to compare it. Flight of Fear rips through the first two inversions a lot faster than what Joker does. Joker completes it's course faster because it doesn't have the upper-level breaks. But overall, experience you have to give it to Flight of Fear. There's a cool feeling I get in the evening times. When you go through the door into the first hallway, the red lights give off a certain vibe. Then when you get into the hanger area, it has that old smell that it's always had. Add the little sounds playing over the soundtrack and your in for a ride.
 
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MikeLovesKD said:
I'm sorry.

But yea, I'm glad I experienced a lot of the things I did at KD before a lot of the new safety restrictions got put in effect. That's only if it's true. But here's another one for you. Since Premier Rides built The Mummy and Flight of Fear I think it's only fair that I mention this. If you've rode ROTM at Universal Florida in recent years; you might know about what I'm saying. I rode ROTM a year after it opened. So this was in August 2005. The launch hill on the Mummy was very fast at one time. When you approached the hill and Imhotep appeared on the screen; you could hear and feel the LIM motor revving up at the words "YOUR SOUL......". At the part of the phrase where he said "IS", the you could feel the LIM begin to pull the ride. Once he got the word "MINE", the train would literally get strong trusted up the hill, along with a push from the back. Once you flew through the fog at the top of the hill, the train would literally go ripping around the course. Five years later I returned in June 2010. I walked straight back to the Mummy and got on. I was so excited to be back after five years. When we got to launch hill I was disappointed. The launch was very, very slow. I rode it a few times to see if it would change and no. It was slow as molasses. My guess is that the park wanted to make the ride feel more family friendly, so they toned the launch down. Yes, it's hard to believe; but there was a time when the Mummy in Orlando, felt scary when riding it.
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Having already been shaken by the Mummy’s intensity when I rode it in 2017, I can’t even imagine what it would have been like if what was in your description of your first ride was still in place. I think it would feel almost like Skyrush but indoors. I know this is kinda off topic, but it’s still intriguing to think about. I also always wondered why Joker’s Jinx and Poltergeist went with six-car trains instead of just five.
 
MikeLovesKD said:
I'm sorry.

But yea, I'm glad I experienced a lot of the things I did at KD before a lot of the new safety restrictions got put in effect. That's only if it's true. But here's another one for you. Since Premier Rides built The Mummy and Flight of Fear I think it's only fair that I mention this. If you've rode ROTM at Universal Florida in recent years; you might know about what I'm saying. I rode ROTM a year after it opened. So this was in August 2005. The launch hill on the Mummy was very fast at one time. When you approached the hill and Imhotep appeared on the screen; you could hear and feel the LIM motor revving up at the words "YOUR SOUL......". At the part of the phrase where he said "IS", the you could feel the LIM begin to pull the ride. Once he got the word "MINE", the train would literally get strong trusted up the hill, along with a push from the back. Once you flew through the fog at the top of the hill, the train would literally go ripping around the course. Five years later I returned in June 2010. I walked straight back to the Mummy and got on. I was so excited to be back after five years. When we got to launch hill I was disappointed. The launch was very, very slow. I rode it a few times to see if it would change and no. It was slow as molasses. My guess is that the park wanted to make the ride feel more family friendly, so they toned the launch down. Yes, it's hard to believe; but there was a time when the Mummy in Orlando, felt scary when riding it.

Now back to Flight of Fear. We are blessed that Cedar Fair focuses on ride performance. They cancelled Paramount's plans to remove it and kept it running. And look how intense Flight of Fear's launch is. For those who have rode Joker's Jinx; you know what I am talking about. Flight of Fear is faster for various reasons. One being weight. Flight of Fear is only 5 cars. Joker's Jinx is 6 cars. The websites say that Joker has a faster launch, but we all know this isn't true. I've rode both rides enough times to compare it. Flight of Fear rips through the first two inversions a lot faster than what Joker does. Joker completes it's course faster because it doesn't have the upper-level breaks. But overall, experience you have to give it to Flight of Fear. There's a cool feeling I get in the evening times. When you go through the door into the first hallway, the red lights give off a certain vibe. Then when you get into the hanger area, it has that old smell that it's always had. Add the little sounds playing over the soundtrack and your in for a ride.
Click to expand...
cschnizer said:
Having already been shaken by the Mummy’s intensity when I rode it in 2017, I can’t even imagine what it would have been like if what was in your description of your first ride was still in place. I think it would feel almost like Skyrush but indoors. I know this is kinda off topic, but it’s still intriguing to think about. I also always wondered why Joker’s Jinx and Poltergeist went with six-car trains instead of just five.
Click to expand...
The launch on mummy has limited feedback. If you ride in an empty train you WILL go flying. Just a litttle trick.
 
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I prefer it to be dimly lit. I don't really get a lot of fun out of sudden changes of direction that I can't see at all. I'm ok with the dark section on Backlot because it's short, but FoF completely dark... that would not be fun for me. I would, though, rather see some colorful dim lighting, instead of just plain lighting, and special effects and stuff.
 
I had a chance to ride Mummy with very little people on it. And it was the same result. The park slowed the launch down to make it more tolerant for families. I remember on my last day in 2005, my step-dad and sister went to Island of Adventures while I went to Universal. And you won't believe this, but I rode The Mummy all day. I probably rode everything once, and then went right back to The Mummy. However, the Mummy's intensity back then had one draw back. It took a tole on your back. With it rocketing through the course; the breaks in the fire room would literally bring the train to a hard halt. Then the hard launch out the room down into the pit, use to bump the back a little bit as well. After four rides, you started to feel it.

Back to Flight of Fear. It just comes down to who's working that day. In 2013, there was a Saturday when I came to the park with my friends and the hanger queue lights were on. Generally they are off, but for some reason someone had turned them on. Most of you have to understand that theme parks are a shift by shift managed thing. The morning shift could open the park and literally have the hanger as bright as a Christmas tree. When the evening shift comes in, someone could easily flip the hanger lights off, pop in a spooky queue soundtrack and have the place feeling as haunted as Crystal Lake. It's all hit or miss. Unless an operations supervisor comes in and tells the staff to keep it family friendly; for all you know, your Saturday experience at KD's Flight of Fear could be totally different from someone else's experience.

One time I had a dream that this Saw score was playing in the hanger/station queue area:
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