fanofbigmedia

Potato Works - Large Fry w/Cheese with a side of Chicken Poppers w/Honey Mustard. I realize that sounds backwards but trust me.. the chicken is the side order here.

Here is a link to a very good explanation of what Trepy is talking about. Are We In Control of Our Own Decisions? It is 20 minutes long, but I promise, if you stick to it and give him time to explain, you will be enlightened.

notsoFunny story... When my oldest son was about 3, my wife took him on the Ghoster Coaster. I don't believe they waited 2 1/2 hours, but they waited a really long time. As they neared the front of the queue, my son announced his need for a biobreak. My wife, who's patience was beyond gone by this point, decided to wait it out and get on the ride anyway. Needless to say, they both got wet on Scooby's Ghoster Coaster. Good riddance.

I mentioned on my mini-trip report that nearly all the Nick merchandise is discounted for fire sale----much like the Paramount merchandise was during the 2007 season. I also noted some bargains on Scooby stuff. Am I reading too much into this or are the Nickelodeon attractions, and perhaps Scooby's notsoHaunted Castle slated for rethemeing?

Dude... over analyzing. Also, if I am not mistaken, only Gold Pass holders get early ride times... I assume this will hold true all season.

Flight Deck, and more importantly its ungawdly long "path," is in desperate need of some theming and/or landscaping. What a disaster.

Lateral Gs. Those turns need some banking. I would also add Little Bills Giggle Coaster to the list. I hate that &^$%& thing. If you've never been on it, you have no idea what I am talking about.

Ya know, I have heard this often but I am exactly the opposite. To me, nothing (short of Gatorade or something similar) quenches better than an ice cold Diet Coke. Another way to "save" is to pick up a six pack of those 24 oz. plastic bottles of Pepsi and pack a couple of those into your back pack. So long as you take out anything that will set off the detectors, it won't get searched by security. Even if it is, I have never been turned away for smuggling in such contraband. I absolutely agree. I love park food. I eat at McDonalds, Wendy's, Taco Bell, etc. enough during the other 364 days per year. For this day, I want to eat something unique and something I can only find at KI. Potato Works, anybody?

Yep. At Disney, you can usually get a pretty decent combo meal (sandwhich, side & drink) for about $6. A 32oz. Coke is only $2.79 and fresh fruit is everywhere. And you can't find Mickey bars at Kings Island no matter how hard you look.

I just returned from KI with my wife and my two sons (4 and 8). Here are some general observations. ... The park was inundated with thousands of school kids from as far away as Arkansas (possible further) for Math and Science Day. This produced only slightly longer waits on the E rides. Here are my wait times: Diamondback - 30 minutes (was over 90 minutes at some points) Stunt - 20 minutes Beast - 15 minutes (was over an hour at some points) Racer - 30 minutes (only one was open) Flight Deck - 30 minutes Drop Tower - 60 minutes I was able to ride Diamondback by myself but my son is too short for Firehawk, Invertigo, and Flight of Fear. Wait times were hit or miss all day with no rhyme or reason. If the wait was 60 minutes, we would come back in about an hour and find the wait time cut in half. The school kids began clearing out at about 6 PM (not 3 PM as we had hoped). After that, you could walk on many rides including Flight Deck, Adventure Express, Racer, SoB, Invertigo, Drop Tower, and several others. I did not check the wait times for Diamondback or any of the others. We just never made it back to those areas. .... We bought a souvenir 46 ounce Diamondback cup and used it to fill some empty water bottles. You could do the same with the free ice water cups. Flame away if you must but this beat passing the same cup from person to person in my family .... The Diamondback line moves constantly. They turn over riders very quickly. The single rider line was closed when I entered the queue. It reopened as I was just getting to the front of the queue. .... The estimated wait times posted at the front of several of the queues were very helpful but often way off. Our estimate for Drop Tower was 30 mintues but our actual wait was 60 minutes. They seriously need to invent a way to get riders on and off this thing more quickly. Perhaps they need a second tower right next to the current one? Just a suggestion. .... I believe most, if not all, Nickelodeon merchandise was 50% off. The future for Nickelodeon Universe looks very grim. All and all, I was impressed. There were no hiccups in our day at all. The rain held off, too. Good day. Oh, and I encountered a carpenter bee only once.. it was in the queue for Adventure Express.

I just returned from the park and the prices at Potato Works were on par with seasons past. Late this evening, I decided to fork over north of 9 bucks for a Diamond Back cup. This thing holds 46 ounces and has a nifty little spout at the top that I used to fill some empty water bottles. So... we bought 2 fries, 2 cheese cups, a chicken popper, and the 46 ounce refillable cup (enough Diet Coke for all in my family) for just over $30. That's pretty reasonable considering that last night's dinner at Donato's (off site, of course) was closer to $40.

It's been a couple of years since I have been.. do they still have a separate entrance for GP holders? Do GP holder just go to the rope and show their pass to the staffer to get access? I hate to sound like a NooB.

Thanks for starting this forum. I was wondering the same thing. My first though was that they may have put a new train on Little Bill but then I snapped to my senses. The posters above are correct. Typically, these commercials are produced by the ad agency, who hasn't a clue which rides are in which park. They just piece it together, tag it with the appropriate park name, and send it to the dub house where it is duplicated and distributed to the media outlets. I would even bet that the commericals for Kings Island, Cedar Point, Knotts, and all the other Cedar Fair parks, arrive at the television station on the same tape. It is laziness on the part of the agency and on the part of Cedar Fair management to allow this misrepresentation. Having said that, I doubt anyone other than us geeks would have even noticed.

Dudes.... read the Wiki article. Male carpenter bees, the ones that are so menacing, are actually harmless. They do not sting. They have NO STINGER! Female carpenter bees do pack quite a punch but they RARELY leave the nest and rarely are aggressive (except for defending the nest). It is rather odd, though, because the Male's sole job is to gather food for the females and guard the nest. The only way they know how is to hover nearby and pounce on anything that moves. This is why they are always dive bombing you. They can not sting you. All they can do is scare the bejezzus out of you so you will leave the area. This is a great thread, BTW. My first trip back in nearly 2 years is coming up.

I am betting the Pixar name will eventually be phased out of all things Disney. It will take years for people to stop calling the park MGM Studios. On the other hand, it took all of, what? 12 Minutes to stop calling Kings Island, Paramount's Kings Island. I always thought that was a ridiculous name for any park. Paramount's ________ .

I hate to bump an old thread but are water shoes permitted on the slides? I am a tenderfoot and scorched the devil out of my feet my last visit to Water Works (yes, it has been that long ago).

Good stuff. A part of me misses King Cobra but the video reflects what I recall from the last time I rode it (1995), it is a very short ride.

Reminds me of McDonald's. Never fails. If the temperature rises above 80 degrees, the milkshake/ice cream machine breaks..... or so they say.

Flight Commander. I loved that ride but it was a death trap.

Yep. I am returning for a second visit this weekend and I am packing a cooler. We (there will be 7 of us) will be returning to the parking lot for lunch... No Potato Works this time. No LaRosa's. No expensive drinks.... It serves them right for tapping me out my last visit. Hey, it works for Wal-Mart.

I vote for bringing it back. I remember those days. Hell, even Disney has roving entertainment. If you have young kids, those unplanned spontaneous moments are the ones that are most remembered.

Yeah, we ate at one in the Daytona Beach area and nearly swore off of them forever. This was our fist experience and it was horrible. However, a friend of ours kept suggesting we try another one. Now, whenever we stay in West Chester or Dublin Stay Bridges, we make it a must eat. For some reason, Stay Bridges and Steak 'n' Shakes seem to be built within a block of each other. In fact, you must drive throuth the Dublin Steak 'n' Shake parking lot to get to the Dublin Stay Bridge.

Arrival Uneventful. Arrived at 9:15, scanned my e-parking-ticket, proceed to the Gold lot, and then proceed to the season pass processing center. Since I was bright enough to fill out the stupid information request online after my purchase, I was able to proceed past the fools with the pens and the clipboards and process my passes with zero wait. We then joined the masses at the terrorist detectors. At 9:30 AM, the terrorist detectors opened and the process was efficient. We walked in, took a few pictures with the characters, then started looking for some clearance priced sweat shirts. It was about 55 degrees with a cold wind and we were dressed for Florida. This happens to my family frequently. Anyhoo, on with the show. Rides Nothing much to report here. I have a 5 year-old and a 2 year-old so I was able to enjoy rides with them, but only one, The Beast, for myself. I can not, and will not, go to KI without at least one ride on The Beast. I rode Avatar for the first time. Very cool ride that rivals many of KI's coasters as far as the thrill factor. My 5yo enjoyed this ride several times. Our longest wait for most rides was about 10 to 15 minutes. However, I think we must have waited about 30 minutes on the log flume. Got soaked. Food & Stuff We took a trip to Disney World a while back. When we arrived at Disney's main gate, the south entrance to Disney's property, we pulled up to a booth and I promptly handed my wallet to Mickey Mouse. We then proceeded with our vacation. Little did I know that Sponge Bob would be waiting for me (and my wallet) at Kings Island. What trip to KI would be complete without fries from Potato Works. Man, those are some good taters. We got two large fries, two large pop-corn chickens, and two large drinks for about $35. Sunday, we ate at Bubba Gump's for the first time. This is where I became upset. People rave about this place so anticipation was high. I severed my arm for a fish 'n chips basket. This consisted of three of tiny's pieces of fish, ample fries, and uneatable slaw (Bubba needs to come to West Virginia so we can teach him how to make coleslaw). Those pieces of fish would be considered popcorn fish elsewhere---not at Sponge Bob's Kingdom. I then provided a severed leg for a basket of chicken fingers for the little ones and all told, we spent nearly $35 (including a buck to feed the fish in the pond behind Bubba's). We also enjoyed a meal from the West Chester Steak 'n' Shake. Man, I love this place. I was thrilled when I learned they are building one near the Huntington Mall. The closest we have to Steak 'n' Shake is an old, run-down, GD Ritzy's near Cabell Huntington Hospital. There really is no comparison, though. We have become accustomed to waiting until we return to the hotel before getting our LaRosa's fix. We get twice the food for 1/2 the price. Games Rip off. Shows Dora's hunt for the red chicken was very good. The kids loved it. They danced, clapped, and had a really good time. Bravo! Three cheers for Cedar Fair for bringing the entertainment back to KI! This is a must see if you have youngins. The Hot Island Rhythms show was on par for this type of distraction. A few people stopped to watch, but most kept walking. The singers were not that great but the show has some promise. Again, the more entertainment choices, the better. So bravo! Staff The staff at KI is amazing. I can't say enough. There were a lot of operators in training but what do you expect this early in the season. I must especially point out what a fantastic job the operators did in Nick Universe. Those guys work hard getting the rug rats on and off these rides. They do their job very well and they get three cheers from this tired papa. Great job! Further, the girls working the Old-Time Photo on Sunday. Great job! Stay Bridge Rant My final thanks goes out to the idiots who were staying at the Stay Bridge in West Chester Sunday morning. Big thanks to the idiot who though it was a good idea to pop some bread in the toaster, turn it on HIGH, and walk away. In a packed hotel. At 7:30 AM! On a Sunday! Causing said packed hotel to have to evacuate. At 7:30 AM! Bigger thanks to the idiot who though it was a good idea to attempt to pull the non-existent battery from the fire alarm in his room rather than evacuate the building. Your atrocity caused your neighbors to have to stay out of their rooms much longer than would have been necessary had you been educated enough to know NOT TO MESS WITH THE FIRE ALARM!

God yes. Their pizza can be a bit on the greasy side but their calzones are the best around, IMO.

Disney's FastPass system is a real time saver. However, there is some strategy involved as you can only carry one FastPass until it's expiration (or return time). For example, if you arrive at the attraction at noon, and the FastPass return time is 7 PM, you will not be able to get another FastPass until 7 PM (at which point, all FastPasses will have been allocated anyway). On busy days, many attractions will exhaust their FastPass allocation for the day by 11 AM. Plus, there is a third line that is being implemented at many of Disney's newer attractions. The Single Rider line. The Single Rider lines for Disney's Test Track and MissionSpace rarely exceeded 10 minutes while I was there while the standby waits were > 1 Hour and the FastPasses were gone. Therefore, as your wait time improves, you make more and more trade-offs (time, money, or companionship). There is also an inverse relationship between time and money. You spend one to save the other. Almost always.