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The actual quote was by sections, not piece by piece. If you're going to quote someone, let's try and get it right.

http://t.co/D5rLOugO

ooo good one I've backed off the "enthusiast wagon" for a while now. You come to find there's more in-life and most of the "enthusiast" are embarrassing to be associated with.

I guess people realized coaster credits no longer get the lady's.

I hope I'm not the only one who was thinking, "Is this just a thirty second video of the structure sitting, OH WOW, nevermind"

Paul stated it best. Some enthusiasts can put a "black eye" on the perception of enthusiasts. A few bad apples can spoil it for the bunch. There are some enthusiasts who think they are entitled things when they go to the parks. This is a select minority, but they tend to stand out. Then there are those of us who have spent 11 seasons working in the industry and still are enthralled by it. I don`t care how many times I have ridden a certain coaster, I just enjoy going to the parks for the sake of enjoying the parks.

My wife and I were in line for The Beast on a Saturday night and a woman, about a ten year old boy, a fifty something man and a teenage boy got behind us, they were mouthing off back and forth and the teenager kept cussing at the boy and the woman. I tell my wife great tonight on a very special Springer...when I hear the woman quitely calling security, that's when I realized they weren't together. I had the woman and boy go ahead of us while they waited for security to get there, the man and teenager were both drunker than monkeys and didn't seem to want to mess with me. They were stupid enough to tell security that they did threaten the woman, the man saying " I can knock her on her -ss she isn't older than me". I told security that I better not see them in the parking lot because they were both wasted and to my suprise they were being loaded into a Mason cruiser when we were on the brake run.

I guess grammar doesn't, either.

The actual quote was by sections, not piece by piece. If you're going to quote someone, let's try and get it right. Burn!! LOL

^ Funny! It does bring up a question- what is the obsession with a ride count each year? I can understand a sig with the parks visited count, or how many times you visited each park count, but a total KI ride count? I don't get it.

Is your signature long enough ? ? ? ? ? ?

Don's meaning of "taken down the same way it was put up, piece by piece" must be different than my meaning.

My question is, since the coaster wars are far over, do you believe that the coaster enthusiast population is slowly dying off? I seem to feel as that the ACE population, as well as other coaster clubs aren't as prevalent in the scene today. Enthusiast events, like HoliWood Nights, seem to be less of an occurence as they used to be. So my question is, do you believe that the enthusiast population has (and/or will continue to) decrease as the years go by? And will this effect the industry as a whole?

I think we all need to really appreciate how much Don adds to this site. While fans of other parks have to sneak their way onto the property to get shakey cam footage or out of focus pictures, there is Don posting videos and pictures. Plus he helps put members in their place... someone give this man a medal! Side note: Does Don still hold The Racer Record? And cross threading here: Don's a good example of how an enthusiast can turn his hobby into a career.

That guy in the hallway would be "Steve". He's a poster on here, so I'm sure he appreciates the recognition. Sorry to hear that you were disappointed. Hopefully you'll have a better experience next time. This past weekend, I got to thinking how it's a little sad that not everyone gets to meet Sam. You see, Sam lurks in his hiding spot, awaiting the perfect victim. So there are some people who go by, oblivious to the fact that Sam is watching them. You never know when Sam may appear; sometimes he gets the front of the group, sometimes the middle and sometimes the end. There's no set "perfect victim" either. It may be a group of teenage girls, it may be a middle aged couple, it will almost always be the group of pre-teen boys who think they're tough by trying to scare/mock the other scareactors in the room, or it may be a group of football player types (Sam was particularly proud of one scare this past weekend; there was a group of football player types, with the biggest guy leading the group. Sam popped out, and the lead guy jumped straight up in the air. Sam proudly exclaimed to the guy's friends "Look at that! I made the big boy jump!", which got the guy's friends laughing hard.) Sam has a good eye for the perfect victim. It's all intangible qualities, mainly based on the people's body language & facial expressions. Sam can be summoned, however. Sam is in the If Sam's not already out and you would like to meet him, all you have to do is call his name while in that room. Just make sure that you're loud enough for him to hear you, as it can be a little noisy at times. Sam is in there most of the night, he only takes about 5-10 minutes worth of breaks total each night. Sam likes meating new friends! Heart, meet dagger. Wow... You gave Slaughter House the 2nd lowest rating out of all of them. I respect your opinion though. Constructive criticism is always helpful in making improvements.

The queen of American watering places, The Amazement Park, America's Roller Coast. That way you can see the greatest pirate in the land. After which you can see me.

Not nessicarily, heights are a big fear issue for some people. Just remember to not feel pressured or that you are letting the people you are with down if you don't feel comfortable enough to ride a ride yet. When you are ready, you'll know

A ride op told my friend to put his shoes back on, although he was wearing them. They were skeleton-toes, although his were dark brown, and his skin a tad bit lighter. Another ride op had to convince them they were actually shoes.

Vortex is nice to look at. That's all I've got to say.

When I was young, Vortex was the "big" ride that officially made you a tough guy if you rode it. Because of that, I still have a nostalgic appreciation for the ride. As a rider now, it's okay. Not the worst Arrow looper I've been on, but I don't think I've ever found myself craving a ride on it. Several of my friends don't care for it, which means I usually only ride it when I'm at the park by myself or if I'm there with someone who's never been to KI before. There are many things to like about it, but I'm just not very excited about many of them, especially if I'm not sitting in one of the last three cars. That being said, Vortex's corkscrews are one of my favorite coaster elements, and the turn before the MCBR always surprises me with how intense it is. When it leaves Kings Island when its time comes, the place will definitely lose something for me.

I need some ice...

Hey Rustbelt was Blazing Fury last November? If it was I probably walked down with you. My buddy and I were stuck on the brake run of Carowinds version of Firehawk, it doesn't have a duel loading platform and there was a problem with the restraints on the train in the station so we sat for 45 minutes with our hips higher than our heads. About 15 minutes in they came up and asked if anyone would like a drink, we were all like sure would but do you want to tell us how to drink in this position.

^My friend explained how he had been cornered in the room and was threatened by the guy, who proceeded to punch him in the face. While I agree a fist thrown may be instinct, that time it was clearly assault.

I'd go even further. If a guest assaults a park employee or other guest, (s)he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. No exceptions.

Thoughts change and times rearrange. I still check up on this site once or twice a week and I still talk to a few members, but for me college is quickly approaching and you start to realize that maybe roller coasters aren't the most important thing in your life anymore.

I would have gagged, just from walking through Mysteria!

Meating new friends. Nice! Terp, who is glad you didn't butcher that line.

So I had a crazy one last night. I was at Halloween Haunt on a Friday night and the park was dead, no pun intended. Anyway I went to Action(less) Zone first and got in line for Drop Tower. Walked right on. Next was Delirum, which was an hour wait, although on 5 people were in line. Gotta love the capacity on that machine. Also Delirum was where Invertigo was and Blood Drums was where Delirum is. Yes Invertigo was gone completely. Crazy part # 2 was Son of Beast was running. In my dream they had demo the rose bowl but reconnected the track from the second hill. Crazy part #3 all of the rides were hauntified. I.E. Delirum had people with chainsaws on the ground chasing you. DT had a monster on the lift car. Son of Beast still had Wolf Pack. FD line had been converted into a Haunt about plane crashes.

Wow. And again: Wow. Great video. Never thought I'd see that!

Don't go to either parks on a Saturday. This Sunday CP was empty. 3MF, 1TTD, 2Mag in 30min....

There are many factors to consider. Coaster clubs like ACE have been rendered obsolete in certain ways by the internet and the abundance of communities that can be created at will. As for enthusiasts, everyone grows up and moves on to new things in life. Just in my lifetime I've gone from being the diehard rollercoaster fanatic, to an adult who still enjoys parks and rides but doesn't center his life around them. You also have an econonmy that's not in the greatest shape, so parks are doing their best to cater to the largest possible audience to sustain their business. Spending twenty million on a record breaking roller coaster may bring an influx or visitors short term, but it's not going to help your business as much as families or broad appeal will. I think the enthusiast population will always exist but it won't be as predominant as it was. When you can learn about any coaster, park, manufacturer etc. with the click of a mouse, it's hard to really be that much more in the know than anyone else

Great TR, Thanks for sharing! I bet Tom76257 wishes he was with you on the roll back! His favorites coaster in the park is BLSC. Opnenig night of haunt he was planning on a BLSC Marathon for an hour. Not sure he did that or not?

I love the first drop. Always been one of my favorite drops in the park.

For many families that I know in Indy, going to the camp ground for the week, and spending most of their time at the park was their family vacation for the year. I know as a kid we did that several times and visited for at lease for the weekend every year. Most of the people that we know that did that stopped when the campground closed. I used to make weekend trips to the campground and KI myself when I was old enough to go by myself. Camping and having KI next door to your campground made it a a destination park for a lot of smaller budget families. I get asked at least once a month by fellow campers and people that know I frequent KI about them getting a campground back.

10 out of 10. Vortex was the coaster that started it all for me back in 1987.

Now shouldn't those photos be posted in the Pictures of SOB Demolition?

Just checked Twitter and Greg posted some photos, wanted to update you guys

Memories ... oh hey, it's Jeffery Seibert

And before terp says anything Don't believe his BS that 5-1 is better then 7-1

1. Kings Island 2. Kings Dominion 3. Cedar Point

CP on Sunday - less of a crowd. Go online and study the park map. You'll have a good time. No rain is predicted but it will be chilly with a high temp of only 53. The park is on the lake, so it will be even cooler. Take a jacket and if you wear glasses, take a head strap or you won't be let on certain rides. With it being that cool, stay off the water rides, even if they're open.

I agree. When i was a Guard in 2009-10 most of the calls for fights started out as an incident involving line jumping. One of the worst ones i was involved in was when a drunk grown man pushed a ride op down the stairs at Firehawk, I had to go to court for because of that clown too!

This time, you can't blame Luminosity! Avocado!

The Madness of Poe? No no no, that was at a different theme park. Where the movies come alive! (I love me some Poe...) (EDIT: I know you know that Madness of Poe was at above mentioned park but still...)

I would go to Cedar Point for the sake of saving gas and trip time. It also sounds like you still have a lot more to experience at CP than you do at Kings Island.

My legs hit the front of the cars on Vortex, so it's not very pleasant to ride. If I'm not in the front seat of a car, it's downright painful.

Now part of me's wondering what Son of Beast would have looked like in 20 years if left to its own devices, much like the Coney Island Thunderbolt (which sat SBNO along Surf Avenue in NYC from 1983 to 2000.) (Courtesy RCDB.) Something tells me it would have been the world's tallest planter. Probably a pretty cool-looking one, too, in its own way.

This picture was taken last week.... The Chain is still on the ride. These were also taken one week ago from the Eiffel Tower: I'll upload some from yesterday as well very soon

There's a guy dressed in a leaf suit somewhere in the park that is going to scare the crap out of you. I hope I didn't spoil anything; also, it gets foggy.

Hi guys. Looks like ukfan031 beat me to the pictures. BUT! I'll still post them. Sorry it took me so long. A round trip to KI is 8 HOURS for us. We only stayed for about 4-5 hours too. I hope Some of you will still appricate them . Pictures2 720 by KIC-Original, on Flickr Pictures2 721 by KIC-Original, on Flickr Pictures2 722 by KIC-Original, on Flickr Pictures2 724 by KIC-Original, on Flickr