WHODEY2007

My daughter winning the 1pm costume contest today

Waiting to get the fun started at Soak City

When I was a Park Police Officer, it was nice having a few less crowded weekends in April to help the young security officers learn how to handle situations that could escalate quickly. For some, this is their first security job. Some are 18 and having to deal with their peers and people who are much older than them, which can be daunting. Some think they can handle situations like that, until it actually happens. I will not be commenting on how the situation was handled, but I give a ton of credit to those who put themselves in the middle of that mess and tried to take care of the situation and I hope the park recognizes that as well. I fully believe the park will make adjustments to ensure guests have a feeling of safety. Things will get better.

I worked this event and that was so cool seeing Robbie jumping those trucks! The next amazing thing was seeing the absolute flood of guests back into the park afterwards. With all those guests, we were still able to keep the park safe, with minimal issues. Such a great day!

When watching becomes more fun than riding

A day of not being able to use, "But, I am a Gold Pass member..." in a complaint. Haha!

From the perspective of someone who has worked the event as a Park Police Officer, I would highly recommend this event! We kept a very close eye out for anyone looking to cause issues, but luckily that never happened at the events I worked. Everyone always seemed to be having an absolute ball! I wish the same for anyone who attends the event this year!

This is why I just go to Eli's, right by the park, before I go for some evening rides. Better food, more beer choices, way less expensive. You should check it out. (I am not a paid spokesperson. Just a bro looking out. Haha!)

Hello all! It's been a long time for a post, so I figured I would knock the dust off with a trip report: Went to KI yesterday with my better half, our 8 week old daughter, 2 adult cousins, and a 7 year old cousin. We were there before 10am and I could tell it was going to be a crowded day. First thing I noticed was multiple school aged kids with the same color shirts on. (oh crap... the dreaded Education Days at the park) This is where I get into my rant... I don't think it was smart to have an Education Day, Food Truck Friday, and Veterans/Active Duty Free Day on the same day. While this did bring lots of people into the park, not having alcohol be served until 5pm was a major point of discussion and frustration among us and many other adults at the park. We decided to hang around Hank's just to see how many adults would come to find alcohol and we wish we would have filmed it and used the Benny Hill Theme for music to it. We stopped counting at 200 adults in 10 minutes at 11am. They would wander around all sides of Hank's and the Biergarden, curse, and then walk off in search of a place that does serve alcohol. Maybe on a day like yesterday, opening up the Biergarden and only allowing purchase and consumption of alcohol in that area until 5pm, would be an idea. Anyway, we went to Banshee for 2 rides, so all adults could get a chance to ride, and then over to Planet Snoopy. Mini-Whodey loved being up in my arms and watch all the kids having fun. Even with the park being crowded, the wait times for rides in Planet Snoopy were very reasonable. The 7 year old rode Woodstock's Express several times in a row with only about 8-10 minute wait times for each ride. We ended up waiting longer for Blue Ice Cream than those rides! We were all starting to get hungry and decided to check out the food trucks. Another slight disappointment. The thought of food trucks is great, but not when most have the same food you can get on a normal day at the park. The prices were also a little steep. We decided to leave for food and went to Eli's, right by the park. If you want quality bar food at a fair price, this is a good option. Went back to the park at 3 and the crowd had grown exponentially. The cousins went to ride White Water Canyon, so the 2 of us took Mini-Whodey her first train ride. She smiled with that all gums smile the whole time! We ended up taking 4 train rides and then sat by Potato Works after. 530pm was the time the cousins finally got back to us. Mini-Whodey was passed out and we decided that it was time to get her home.

Just a thought... what if the Nintendo IPs aren't used in either IOA or UO and are used for a complete overhaul of Wet 'N Wild?

The problem with changing Lost Continent would be a possible change to Mythos and I don't think they would want to do that.

I was there. Was I THAT bad? Terp, who tried to behave. I never met you at the park while I was working there Terpy, or any other time for that matter, so you must be on decently good behavior while at the park. Haha!

When I lived in Orlando, the only times my friends and I went to Epcot was for the International Food and Wine Festival or to play a game we called, "Drink Around the World." When friends with small children would visit (or should I say, use my place as a free place to stay while going to the Disney parks) I would tell them to put Epcot at the bottom of the list due to the lack of rides and things to entertain younger children. I can definitely see why Disney would want to throw some Frozen into Epcot. I have a small wager with my friends that Spaceship Earth will become a Star Wars themed ride in the not too distant future. Back on point with the community in Epcot.. I believe with the constant changing in technology, that it would be extremely difficult to keep the community ahead of the times. Also, after speaking to some of those who have done the college internship at Disney, I would pass on living anywhere ran by Disney.

Speaking as someone who has worked Haunt events in the capacity that you are inquiring about, let me give you the best answers that I can give: 1. Operationally, I can't give you that information, but I will tell you that there is an increased presence just due to the nature of the event. 2. The methods the park gives out information has been well documented by the users in the above comments, but I will tell you that with the amount of Park Police, Warren County Sheriff's Deputies, and Mason police, that this would be squashed quickly. Never in the time that Kings Island has been open has this situation happened there and, God willing, never will, so hopefully that puts your mind at ease. 3. That's just the nature of people sometimes. Seems to be even more true now with people able to video record incidents and upload them to social media websites. 4. What kind of "incidents" are you referring to? If you are referring to those that had an arrest, I am sure a public records search would help you with this question. I will be honest with you in saying that I was less likely to give some leniency to someone acting up during the Haunt, than other times.(Obviously depending on the situation) My reasoning behind it was this, the nature of the Haunt puts more folks in the "fight or flight" frame of mind, and I wanted to make sure that situations would not occur to make a guest have to choose one of those, especially the first option. 5. I haven't gone to the Haunt every year, so I am not sure I can speak on that. A lot of the other members here have much more knowledge than me on this topic.

In my best movie trailer voice.... Imagine a world where doctor's notes are required to ride your favorite park rides, (Quick flashes of Banshee, Vortex, etc.) you haven't gone to the doctor to get your yearly note, and time is running out until the new season! Watch as your heroes deal with dramatic events like, wait in long lines at the doctor's office, wait in long lines to turn in your note to Kings Island officials, wait in long lines to get your pass or ticket processed, wait in long lines for a teenage ride operator to verify their identity and ability to ride a certain ride, then experience the thrill of finally being able to. Coming to a theater or park near you....

Personally, I don't care what they do with rides at Epcot. Just don't mess with the International Food and Wine Festival and I will be fine! Haha!

So Norwegians have the ability to bring snowmen to life? They kind of glossed over that power in the movie so maybe they will show how that works on the ride?

I worked Pride Night a few times and it seemed like everyone had a great time. All nights I worked were mostly issue free and I definitely saw no issues of "hate." I hope that all that decide to attend have a great time!

When I lived in Orlando, I went to SeaWorld and it was really nice... but..... I never went again. It just didn't make me want to keep coming back. Universal and Disney always had some interesting events going on to keep my attention, especially the International Food and Wine Festival at Epcot! Interesting tid bit... as a Universal Resorts employee, you could use your employee identification to get in free at SeaWorld.

Here's how I would adjust the policy: When you come to the park to get your season pass processed, anyone that will be using the Junior pass will be measured. If, at that point, the person is under 48 inches, that is what you are for the season. No measuring would be required at the gates for pass holders. I believe this would be the best method to solve this situation. Figuring out prorated amounts sounds like a waste of everyone's time.

Well, there are these awesome stores that you can get cash for your clothes. The example doesn't really hold water though. Many dresses are returned after dances. Many televisions are returned after the Super Bowl, etc. You can even return a pizza to Marion's if you are not satisfied with a pizza, as long as a certain percentage of the pizza is not eaten.

Why, in August, would the park be worried with such things? I completely agree with The Interpreter on this one. Stupid, stupid, stupid. The news video shows that the family lives in Landon. I would bet all my nickles that the family has visited Kings Island more than once this season. This story has actually been talked a lot about this morning where I work. The mothers with young children are now concerned that Kings Island will be measuring their children on each visit and if the child is at 48 inches, they will be sent to go pay more money to get in the park.

I would pick which ride you would like to ride most at night and do that one first... just from driving by the parking lots the past few weekends it seemed pretty busy. Also, 500 isn't really a dent when it comes to a 10,000 person crowd, but a 30,000-40,000 person crowd makes for longer lines no matter what event is going on. Also, with the current forecast, I would expect a larger than normal crowd. Congrats on the upcoming wedding and have a great time!

The officers with the black uniforms are sworn police officers. They get their commission through the City of Mason. A lot of them are also police officers in other jurisdictions like yours truly was during my time as a Kings Island Park Police Officer.