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thedevariouseffect

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Everything posted by thedevariouseffect

  1. Btw after seeing international restaurant pics it just reminded me...Those were the best amusement park bathrooms Ever
  2. I love riding Judy K That can be taken the wrong way so quick it's beautiful
  3. You missed my point. Try again? Wow it's amazing how my mind automatically filled "world record breaking" in.... Fail on my part, and the OP
  4. Lots and lots and lots of pics very nice Btw if anyone wants to add me on my FB to see my pics or just to be friends on there and plan stuff out let me know, possible KI trip this weekend, if not next weekend for sure before I go home on some leave
  5. ^Not current titles of record breakers other than the records Gatekeeper holds which are lame, but were the first of their kind/first to hold the title
  6. Oh forgot this one... Opening procedures for Corkscrew, you clear the track to make sure noone is in the ride area (Kings Island's coasters have mating calls). We use our loud as hell speaker on top of the lift/other locations. I worked TTD the day before, this was the outcome "Please clear the Corkscrew track, trains will be launching, please clear the corkscrew track trains will be launching." Guests there for ERT heard this...were very startled thinking the ride was changed
  7. Six flags has this problem due to their safety record and crappy ride ops...compare ki to cp though and you'll find the difference
  8. You can have an experience and be safe and efficient as well..never have a quickie?
  9. Worked for me haha. I wrapped it up there and stuck it into the footwell and it didn't move once. Other suggestion, beltloops
  10. Fix for souvenir cups if empty. Thread the handle through the seatbelt before buckling the restraint
  11. Eh congo and log actually have a bit of an operational or evac chance honestly that'd I'd put them as more difficult than Train or tower Now to the ride ops trying to make excuses...See how many others chime in the same ideas...Pity they make excuses and backlash instead of realize, hey people are seeing a problem with what we're doing and it's causing some difficulties with guests, what can I do to try and alleviate this or maybe present a better appearance...instead they try to argue
  12. Thanks for posting good high res zoomed in pictures, anyone else have better shots of the other locations, I wanna take my map of the area and actually input these locations into it and see if I can plot something out getting a great overhead view of it. I didn't even notice these footers last time I was here, nor notice the size of some of them that people have been posted as I don't have a good zooming camera
  13. Like I said I shall bring proof. I along with other KIC people at the event Saturday actually echoed this same thing. If needed next time I'm at the park I'll record video & whatnot of everything, I have no problem presenting evidence to support my claims. I'm all for ride ops having a hard job, I get that, and guests can be downright stupid, fat, or ignorant. However this is literally one of the easiest rides to work ever. The only ride easier IMO is the train or Eifel Tower
  14. Dear Kings Island Ride Op, this is for you I have worked at CP on various rides spanning many coaster generations, manufacturers, and styles, so I'm very experienced in the field, and also worked higher capacity rides than your Diamondback that you have been associated with for several years, so I'm very knowledgable from a guest, enthusiast, and ride op point of view. On top of this I have a girlfriend of two years who has worked KI three years, and I know many members of her crew and a few from other crews so I'm very knowledgable about your park. However I must inform you, Diamondback is stacking very bad this season, and it's inexcusable. I'm sorry but you have darn near the easiest restraints and seats to deal with, and the ride works itself more than you working it. You don't park trains manually, you have no manual restraints, and you have no cars that you need to climb into you literally walk straight across from platform. This being said I understand guests can impede operations, capacity and interval still however, especially when you have line passes (green passes for you), VIP tours, ect. However constantly having this problem theres only one group of people to fully blame, operations. You have nothing hard or strenuous to check or do but you still fail. Lets compare your ride to Magnum up at CP. There we have ratcheting lap bars, seatbelts, one bin in the middle of the unload side of platform, and a quicker interval to dispatch (if we don't hit interval the ride will setup, not stack, it sets up). However why is it my crew with more difficult trains, restraints, and not as accessible (you have two loose article bins), and more seats per op to check and more restraints to secure, but we can dispatch on interval and reach a 2k per hour capacity or darn near right under it comparing to your 1,620 theoretical capacity. All I've seen is excuses, excuses, excuses. It's also a shame as unless you're the same ride op I had problems with during the one train dispatched during KIC ERT the other day (Ride op Howard--Blue Tag), the crew seems to have a very high excuse, *****iness sense about them. Your job isn't hard comparable to other ride ops in the park and you really have no excuses as to **** poor performance on platform. I suggest relooking this situation, realizing what we see is the guests interpretation of your actions, and your backlash by yourself and other ride ops within the park just add to this perception, and perception trumps intent. Also please let Howard know I'll be watching a bit more closely, his remarks I brought up in the KIC day trip report were very pathetic and **** poor. He is lucky that I'm not one to have mgmt bust someones ass that night/next shift and face disciplinary actions unless needed. I know what ride ops go through daily at CF parks, but still, making excuses and backlashing is not something to be done especially when you are clearly in the wrong. By my knowledge the train can be dispatched before MCBR as to allow the train to reach the next block at the top of the hill right after the previous train has just cleared MCBR to keep trains moving. Now this interval is hard to hit I'll give you that, however even dispatching right after MCBR is still sad when you see one train stacked in readies, or if you see all three stacked and the one sitting on your "main brake." If you'd like examples when I'm at the park I'll gladly videotape and bring back in crew actions and interval and dispatch times to prove our point. I think I've said my piece here good enough
  15. Some reason first did was set to my custom privacy, changed to public thanks for the fyi. I dont know why they didn't, my only guess is because of current method of posting. I may change this tomorrow however. Also did the picture URLs work at least btw? I think a few of those action shots are nice, and I'm really happy how my international restaurant panorama turned out
  16. The links weren't links, just URLs to copy and paste, I'm on a tablet and don't have access to the full editor nor am I taking the time to a href everything and fill HTML tags everywhere lol, those days are over. If the URLs done work let me know and I'll adjust my strategy tomorrow when clinic isn't busy. Also two more videos one more of fof and one of racer going through the out section if track https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10201380058891988 https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10201379845566655
  17. Also the helix right before the brakes on Vortex... Spinning is spinning IMO..helixes aren't a coaster credit...like Gatekeepers, biggest wing coaster loop, or longest wing coaster, etc. That's nonsense stuff...longest Woodie, longest steel, tallest not this picky ****.
  18. No this was what the stand had they did it all together...I just asked for it that way...it was the funnel cake stand in river town across from reds grille. Just got the expensive funnel cake and swapped the ice cream because they had both available.
  19. Which coaster needs a paint job...why all of them do, without paint the metal would rust, and they wouldn't have the exciting colors they have with the paint
  20. Hey thanks...now the pictures and videos all worked then I take it?
  21. OK now that I'm rested and finally recovering after a long start to my weekend I figured I'd chime I with my report... Left base at around 0730, got down to KI at about 0820 sand waited for the front gate to open, once it opened I got GREAT parking...I may do this in the future. Anyways got lanyards and headed back to FOF once inside it was a nice treat to see. https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/p206x206/1012789_10201378777259948_348849631_n.jpg There were a lot of spare and old parts of gutted rides laying around. Most noticeable for me was a lot of huss crypt parts. On sure these seats, restraints, and other parts are being kept as replacements for Delirium instead of waiting for huss to create replacements. There were many other pieces in here as well including old ride plc control panels, some random shells of a train, not sure which ones honestly, someone with more ki knowledge will have to confirm, one looked to be king cobras stand up, another looked to be a premier train chassis, the pics for those of you on my Facebook can confirm. Also there were bars of anti rollback catches, a large section of chain, and replacement sections of tubular steel rails all stacked up in one corner. After getting some initial photos they started dispatching empty trains. Wow was this amazing to see! One, those trains are really moving along that track, two the roar really goes throughout that building, you can hear the air getting moved as the train gets launched down the track. Second those supports and track really do flex a lot even under weight and speed of an empty train. Anyways, they cycled trains and we got great pictures and of it going through the course there for awhile. When they said it was time to go we went through the huge door in the back and went over to Firehawk. Also might I add the very nifty construction sign placed right outside the path that goes behind the ride that I believe everyone stopped to take a picture of haha. Good shots of the other side of fof and then Firehawk, and from there we went over for ert. While everyone got in some ert I stayed back and talked with Don and Cos about the park, PR, and all the interesting stuff I miss about working with Cedar Fair. After that we decided to go over and get tickets for slingshot and then grab a bite to eat. After heading to the back of the park we grabbed larosas and then waited in line for Diamondback as it has an ok line up to that point. I will say Diamondback has always been a good ride, but i did notice a bit of vibration and noise coming from the axle behind me right before the trims on the hill before the mid course brakes on green train. I have never experienced that so hopefully it was just a worn out wheel or bearing possibly being put under too much stress at that part of the ride. Other than that fantastic as per usual. From here we decided to make a trip to boo blasters just to relax and get out of the heat. After cooling off I wanted to get a look at the top of tower at the construction so we headed next door. From there we saw nothing new in the construction area just the same progress that everyone has been posting about recently. The only new thing I noticed is there is a lot of metal rebar on site for converter pours, especially right behind slingshot. https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/8580_10201378847901714_856975482_n.jpg Anyways we got down, and decided to just relax and catch up on stuff and look through the shops while we waited over in coney mall to go get shots of racer and firwhawk in the afternoon. Anyways we all met up minus a few stragglers :-) and took some great pictures of racer first. It was very neat to get that angle and to be that close to the ride. After walking all the way back to racer we took a look at the rebuilt not caught on fire giant dinosaur that was re added this year. From there we crossed the road and saw the old go carts that were scrapped due to "building for the future." https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/1016511_10201378890262773_121175484_n.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/206943_10201378910943290_903141902_n.jpg https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/969970_10201378912823337_282865086_n.jpg After this we crossed back over the road and got great pictures of the flat spin and helix of Firehawk. From here a maint. worker came over and explained Firehawks plc and ride safety systems. I was actually surprised as to how complex this system was. It isn't intamin ridiculous, but it is ridiculous nonetheless. Now we also got to see a lim motor from I believe backlot, and must I say I was blown away. One single lim (I believe he said 24 total on just backlot) is not able to be fixed or refurbished and can only be directly replaced costs the park about 8k just for the hardware. He did go into a lot more detail but honestly I forgot most of it. The only major details I remembered was 8k for a replacement, they need replaced due to water damage from the winter months of water freezing inside the motor, its a three phase motor, and every motor has power, ground, for the phases, along with three temperature sensors that are inputs to the plc to monitor temperature of each motor. https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/1584_10201378956664433_1337304495_n.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/181293_10201378957424452_2054320489_n.jpg After this little q & a we made the long hot walk over to the international restaurant. Once inside and upstairs, we all got food which was incredible might I add! We were served pulled pork, corn, beans, wings, and since cream including Coke products. Meanwhile guests on the midway enjoyed pretzels and larosas haha. Also I appologize for my girlfriend dropping the spoon into the baked beans...soulless gingers...From there don and our PR person talked and then finished up with a female PR person talking about the movies over at Soak City this summer and a possible kic event later in the season involving haunt. I will say though it was such a treat to go up into the restaurant and get served food of that caliber in the park and have such a great view. After working at cp and spending so much time up there and being one of their huge hardcore enthusiasts, I will say this trumps our parks eating establishments by a long shot. You can't beat the view, food, and exclusivity of that place. https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/1011709_10201378974024867_2061760442_n.jpg After walking back downstairs I finally got my girlfriend to get on the sky flyer which took a great deal of peer pressure and budging. However once suited up and at the top, the fun started as soon as I pulled the cord, and she will gladly do it again. Finally she can say she's ridden everything in the park haha. Anyways from there to keep the adrenaline going we waited in line and used our slingshot tickets we purchased first thing in the am. Fun ride as per usual. Next was probably the best part of the day honestly. We got VIP seating for Alonzo's magic show. Great tricks even though I knew how most of them worked but still awesome to watch. Best parts of the show though are his humor and just the craziness he brings to the show. The balloon part was just awesome haha..hopefully it didn't smell too bad though :-). Also for those of you who either liked the music or have an all inclusive Kings Island music park playlist, the prominent pre show music was made by John Morris--The Belgium Circus Episode from the Elephant Man movie soundtrack. Anyways after watching the show setup for the first part of the season he sat down with us and had a quick chat with all of us and had a q & a which was very fascinating to be a part of. It was such a privilege to sit there and hear him talk. I will say I'm very excited to hear he will have a bit of a spruced up adult oriented show for the haunt months which sounds awesome. I did take a look at the show he did for Knott's on youtube and it was very adult oriented not kid safe but very awesome nonetheless. Anyways after our event there we got out and I figured we had time to kill and instead of breaking off after each event why not stay as a group and go do some rides.So after proposing the idea to the group and talking with don we all decided to make our way over to beast to do a photo shoot from the drop as one. While we waited for the group to all catch up and meet at the queue entrance i grabbed my famous funnel cake. If you'd like to try it, its a funel cake with powdered sugar, whipped cream, and the famous blue ice cream with a few cherries. This is heaven on a plate served with a fork, and only costed I believe 9 bucks. You are all welcome haha...I'll be amazed if this catches as well in the park by other fellow enthusiasts lol. After some disorganization and winging it we finally occupied almost the whole train. Hopefully this picture will be posted soon, that's something that's really cool and pretty neat to have. Also good job for the crew, fun energetic, and worked this into the cycles as best they could especially after taking to the white tag at separator to help him out as best we could. Anyways after our group pic on The Beast we figured why not go next door to Vortex. This was quite amusing. The ride was down mechanical for "minor technical difficulties." This minor difficulty ended up being a bad wheel on train one car one rear axle front road wheel. So much for minor haha. Anyways after chatting for a bit and having a blast we got on Vortex and got a ride on it for the night. One complaint here for the ride...the crew didnt spiel at all...dead quiet. This crew so far hasn't been on my radar for anything spectacular so far this year and have been very disappointed with them thus far. I did actually get on train one and noticed nothing special honestly, except for some reason it did feel as if it was running faster but I can't be too certain on that. From here we figured other was nothing left to get done with our time requirement for the night and decided to go back to the international restaurant to go watch the fireworks from up there. I haven't been too excited watching the fireworks s in previous trips and years, but this was such a treat. It looked so cool and nice to have that, the fountains, and just the park all around you while they were going off. I wish we could have stood on the balcony to be able to hear them but I'll take what I can get, it was still a great experience. After the fireworks ended we went back to Diamondback to get one last ride as ert on it. We waited for the line to clear out for last riders and went through the line following them. Great last ride of ert for the day and its always a fun ride to go at night, however I did have one beef. The male blue tag Howard who was spieling was just downright a rude prick. His last train of regular riders he was rude enough and then with us even worse. Basically as their train came in he was just in a monotonous ****ed off voice and verbatim said "Once the train is stopped get off get your stuff and go home." I understand its late and other rides are done but it was only like 1030 and we only added one cycle to the ride. Again with us he was downright rude, even going the length of basically yelling at us to not cross the yellow ling and to give the ops our loose articles even though this actually took them longer to dispatch the train. I'm sorry but the guests were in the wish before the line was closed, and as our group added one cycle of riders to the end of the day to what our already had, there's no reason to be a prick, especially over the mic. If it wasn't for the fact I was exhausted and done for the day as well as guest services being packed I would have left a complaint. I'm not usually the type to rat someone out and get them busted however when I see this existing in the park, these people need to not be in the public eye as so, especially seeing this coming from a blue tag minor. Anyways, honorable park mentions. Beast crew for being spot on this year so far, minus a bad spiel. Sky coaster crew for just being kick ass. Very fun, good working, and relaxed crew. Funnel cake stand for supplying a plate of food secks. International restaurant for awesome food. Diamondback entrance ride op for her humor. Alonzo for talking and being an awesome host. Lastly, thanks to everyone involved in setting this up. It was a blast for me to have my first enthusiast tour since being back home from Texas and Florida last year. Its always a blast for me to come back to Cedar Fair parks ajd see the behind the scenes and special stuff I got to always see when working at Cedar Point in 2011. I always have been an enthusiast and its a thrill to be one, as well as work for the coaster nuts. Its also nice to be able to shed light and be around those who are into this stuff because I have so much I can share and give to this community versus some random guest in a queue haha. Plus were just a blast in the park its always fun riding with all of you and doing the crazy stuff we do. It was a privilege to just spend the day and hangout with everyone, and I can't wait to look for future opportunities to do the same. I also say if anyone wants to do anything in the future as maybe an unofficial event and just go ride rides and do shows, all of that jazz let me know as my schedule is rarely too hectic. I'd love to do stuff like this again with any of you that were there. Anyways thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it and can hopefully see the pictures if not I'll try to find a way around it and whatnot. Also again, if anyone wants to go hang out here or at cp or wherever this summer let me know. This is my last summer stateside until I pick everything up and move to Guam next February so I'm really wanting to make it count.
  22. Yes I created it..and yes it was good...my arteries are officially clogged haha
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