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KDogg

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  • Location
    Culloden, West Virginia
  • Interests
    Pro wrestling, amusement parks, camping, hiking

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KIC Tourist

KIC Tourist (1/13)

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  1. What's better than a planned trip to Kings Island? An unplanned one! My daughter got to go with her school so I thought she was gonna be the lucky one this time. But as it turns out, they were concerned that with her Autism there could be some problems. So at the last moment I scraped up a few bucks and headed out myself. She got to the park a couple of hours before I did and, as it turns out, did very well on her own. She got separated from her group so she found her teacher and relocated her group. It was during this time that I arrived, but since she was with her group again everything was cool until their check-in time. I had 90 minutes to kill before then so I headed off for some coasters. First ride was Flight Deck. I don't know if they did something to it or if it was just me, but the ride seemed more intense, faster, and seemed like it "topped out" several times on the swings. One thing I miss about the ride is the theming it used to have as Top Gun. I know Cedar Fair isn't much on theming but if they focused at least half the energy they do on Peanuts on the adult rides it would be a 100% improvement. But anyway... Next ride was Vortex. Last time I was at the park (been a few years) Vortex seemed to be having issues. Not this time. It, too, seemed faster and was definitely much smoother than last time. Definitely a 10/10 when compared to then. 9 After those two rides it was time to meet up with my daughter's school check-in. She wanted to spend the rest of the day with me, so I signed her out from the school group. Now, as I mentioned before, she has Autism, so I thought maybe the bigger coasters were gonna be a problem. Boy was I in for a surprise. We headed off to Rivertown because she wanted to ride Diamondback. When we got there the line was backed up a bit so we mozied on up to one of the kiddie rides she wanted to ride. Back to Diamondback and the line had moved a good bit so we got in. This was our longest wait of the day, but no more than 30-45 minutes. This would be the first time riding for both of us. Definitely a 10/10 ride! Very smooth, very fast, and love the amounts of airtime! Up next was the grand old favorite, The Beast. A little bit of a wait here too but nothing to complain about. The ride, on the other hand... I like a good shaky, rattly wooden coaster but The Beast seemed a bit angry. I like the fact that the trim brakes were toned down a bit (or so it seemed) but there were a couple of places where things got unusually rough. I thought a couple of those bumps were gonna sling us from the track but, alas, The Beast didn't get us. I'll give it an 8/10, fix the potholes and all will be good. We then took a spin on the log ride (forgot its new name lol). Not very eventful and didn't even get a splash until Snoopy spit on us. I don't like getting too wet but have to say it felt pretty good in the heat and it didn't drench me. I'm not a game player but my daughter wanted a Hello Kitty. Don't remember the game but it was the one where you spray a button to make the game piece rise. We were the only ones playing so either way it was a winner, so why not. She beat me and got her Kitty. I'll take that loss any day. The half a pretzel my daughter gave me earlier was by now well worn off, so time to eat. LaRosa's pizza was the final choice and we got the combo slice with breadsticks. They had a piece up but it looked like it had been there awhile, so I waited on the fresh. Very good. Back to The Vortex, as she hadn't ridden it yet. Once again, another great ride. I could ride that thing all day. She wanted to try Firehawk, but when we got there it was more than 60 minutes wait time and neither of us wanted to stand in line that long so we went for The Racer instead. Wait time was a little extended due to only the Blue side running at the time, but still not too bad considering. It was a good ride for an old classic, and didn't beat me up like it used to. The kids behind me provided a little entertainment, which made it a bit more fun. She took a spin on the Scrambler. She was antsy for it to start, and it was funny watching her get off - it made her quite dizzy. Next up was Adventure Express. Still week on the theming but at least what's there was working this time. I'm still undecided on this coaster though. It's like a love/hate relationship; I love the ride but hate how it beats the heck outta me every time I ride it. The addition of a NASCAR-style Hans Device probably wouldn't hurt this thing... Delirium was closed when I got there so I thought I'd be safe. Somebody fixed it (dang) and she wanted to ride it (oh crap). I don't do spinny rides very well and heights aren't my favorite either (other than coasters) but there's no way I'd let her ride it alone. She drug me into the queue but changed her mind when she saw that it was pretty much full. Whew. I wanted to hit the Flight Deck again but never made it. Drop Zone caught her attention (oh crap, again) so she drug me in there. Wait time wasn't too bad but when I did get on, I made sure eveything was as tight as it would go. I will admit the view from up there is awesome - so long as you don't look down. Not too bad of a ride on the way down, either, and the braking is a lot smoother than I thought it would be. Guess I can add it to the list of things I'll ride, but still not a big fan of the height lol. Our last ride ended up being Invertigo. I noticed upon my arrival to the park that it had been repainted. The red and yellow wasn't bad but it was dated to the Face/Off theme / McDonald's / old-school Hulk Hogan lol. The blue looks better. Anyway, it was my daughter's first time on it, and a girl across from us was also riding for the first time. Neither one liked the backwards part but they seemed to enjoy it. Wasn't my choice to be the last ride of the night but since it was such a good day and I plan to return during the summer, I can deal with it. After the Invertigo ride we just wandered around the park for awhile and picked up a couple of souvenirs, waiting for the crowd to diminish and the parking lot to clear out a bit. Now, some stuff I noticed: The park was definitely the cleanest I've ever seen it. I don't know if it was just a good crowd or good sweeps walking around but things were very nice. Smoking areas need to be highlighted. I walked around the park all day not knowing there were designated areas, and not one single employee told me otherwise until we played the game. All the employees and ride ops seemed to be in a good mood. I know everyone has a bad day every now and then but if anyone was having one this day I didn't see them. Bring back the music! I miss the Paramount movie themes playing, and the few rides that did have music had the same track playing over and over. These need to be fixed; there's all sorts of music out there that could be applied to rides and to the park in general. It's not like people are going to complain because such-and-such song was playing or they don't like a certain kind of music, they're there for the rides. But no music at all just makes it seem too quiet. I don't mind the different (though somewhat outrageous in some cases) prices in the restaurants, but special refill options should be the same price everywhere. I bought one of those 40th Anniversary drink containers and refills for it were different prices here and there. Well that's all I can think of at the moment. Overall it was a great day and like I said, can't wait to return later this summer with the rest of the family. Since I paid full price for my ticket I took the second-day-free option, which will offset the expense of that trip. See y'all then!
  2. I saw a fight back in 2007. I'm pretty sure they were thrown out, as they were at least escorted from the area by KI Police and Security - in handcuffs. Sad thing is, the fight wasn't even worth seeing (not that I want to see anything like that at an amusement park).
  3. I'll have myself a King Cobra, please!
  4. Oh, that good ol' pesky Bat rumor... I've heard it for years. My sister swears not only did it happen, but that she had just gotten off the thing the run before the alleged 'accident'.
  5. I want the Swiper the Fox statue. My kids were into Dora the Explorer not too long ago, so whenever the adults had something the kids were trying to 'swipe' we'd do the whole "Swiper, no swiping" thing lol. And since old habits are hard to break, it still gets tossed around a bit... So yeah, I want Swiper. I'd stash it behind the bushes next to my front porch, as if he's lurking around just waiting to swipe something.
  6. Here's a short conversation I had with my wife as we boarded FoF: Me: You might wanna put your head back against the seat. Wife: I'll be ok. Me: No, you better put your head back. Wife: I said I'll be ok. Me: This thing takes off 0-60 in like 2 seconds, you best be putting your head back against the seat. Wife: I will be ok.... *PSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH* - After the ride - Wife: I have a headache... Me: Dumb***, I told you to put your head back...
  7. KDogg

    What?

    This was funny simply because I caused it to happen... I had a buddy promise he'd ride Amazon Falls with me but then backed out with the lame excuse that he "didn't want to get wet." Since he'd backed out on every other ride as well, I decided it was time to "fix" him. So I told him to stand on the overlook where the ride goes under and the wave splashes over the walkway, telling him he wouldn't get wet there. Then I went on to ride the ride. Needless to say, when I came back he was soaked from head to toe!
  8. No wonder I haven't been hearing those voices lately... they all went to Kings Island and left me behind!
  9. The lineup for this year's Spirit Song includes the "Newsboys, Casting Crowns, Jeremy Camp, Kutless, Falling Up and many more." (quote clipped from KI homepage) I went several years ago when Petra, Rich Mullins, and Point of Grace were playing. I was kinda mad though, cuz I'd called the park and asked if the concerts were included with general admission and was told that they were. But when I went to get into the concert I was told it was an additional $20 per ticket. I started to argue with the ticket-taker, until someone from one of the church groups came up and said two people from their group couldn't make it so they had a couple extra tickets we could use. That was cool, but it still ticked me off cuz the park told me it was included in the regular admission when it wasn't. Anyway, so how's that work now? Are the concerts part of the regular admission or do you still have to buy additional tickets?
  10. KDogg

    The last ride....

    Although I absolutely love The Vortex and it'd be a hard decision for me to make, I think I'd have to go with The Beast. As stated above, there's nothing like the feeling after a great ride on the legend.
  11. KDogg

    Opening Day Poll

    I won't be making it this time around... I have a wrestling show on Friday night, training on Saturday, and another show on Sunday with Buff Bagwell headlining the card. May be a couple o' weeks before I get there.
  12. **BUMP** Somebody tell us if this is still on, the final costs, and any other info!!!
  13. Love the updates/rebuild. Also enjoyed The Beast construction pics, but they only made me want to go to the park even more... But, you know what would be fun if it were possible without dying? Sleigh riding down The Beast track! Thought of that when I saw the winter shots and several inches of snow on it.
  14. Speaking of the train... maybe that would be a great place to reinstall the 'Tiques. And for scenery, the stations could be refaced to give that classic railroad station look, and maybe a model town or two along the way, through which the 'Tiques would also travel. Being a topic concerning the seniors, everybody knows how the old folk live for that Sunday Drive and talking about the good ol' days. Anyway, just a thought...
  15. For Vortex' 20th Birthday: FIX IT!!! Sure it's still running, but it could use an overhaul... and a paint job. Keep the same colors, just brighten them up and make it look new again. That goes for the trains, too. But rest assured, so long as it's running when I'm there, I'll be on it!
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