Ride On_17

Time for more: up next was Phantom Regiment. Their show was "Swan Lake" was was a great interpretation of it. Powerful music, moving storytelling, and a dramatic uniform change halfway through. I do like some of their previous shows better since this one didn't quite have the "in your face" sound to it, but instead I enjoyed it due to its theatrical elements and how the story was presented. The swans are in the lake. After the start of the uniform change:

More to come later!

Next up were the Boston Crusaders. Their show, "Animal Farm," was very interesting. I wasn't a big fan of it, but it was definitely unique. Just by looking at the masks worn by the color guard, you could tell this show would stand out. Unfortunately, many color guard members dropped their rifles, flags, and other equipment which detracted from the show. They still sounded good, but this was probably my least favorite show and corps of the night.

Next corps: Madison Scouts. Their show was called "Time Trip." They had a great, powerful sounds but I wasn't a big fan of the theme, at least in the way they portrayed it. It didn't seem very cohesive or like it had a good story line. But they still did a really good job. Their field commander: orps don't have trombones, this one had a tr Corps don't have trombones but Madison Scouts had a trombone feature in their show. They didn't march but stood still on the field and they did a great job. This guy did nothing but slowly walk across the field for the entire show. I guess it was supposed to represent him walking through time, the theme of the show, but it was very odd. The bright flags nicely stand out against the black and white of the uniforms. The front ensemble was having fun. Epic trumpet solos and trios!

Then the start of the actual show began, with one of my favorite corps, The Cavaliers. Their show was called "Immortal" and included very theatrical elements in it. I really enjoyed it, and their sound blew me away. Waiting to enter the field. The color guard was ready to go. The show was interesting before it even began. These guys were really jamming and made the show even better than it already was. Awesome bass drums.

What's DCI you might ask? Drum Corps International. The best of the best. Indescribable music, powerful themes, and overall incredible talent. And these are only high school and college aged kids. Basically starting in the fall, there are music sessions and tryouts, and all winter and spring involves learning and mastering the music and drill. Then all summer long, the corps tour across the country and compete against other corps. Then in early August, nearly a year's worth of dedication and work comes down to the wire at Finals (that is, if the corps even advanced to finals). Learn more about DCI here: http://www.dci.org/about/ This past Saturday my high school offered a field trip (I guess you could call it that) for any band student interested in going together as a group to the DCi show at the University of Akron. I immediately knew I wanted to go, since I'm basically in love with DCI and many of the corps. I had never gone to a show before so had never experienced DCI other than having my speakers turned way up and watching videos on YouTube. $30 and an hour long bus ride later, we had arrived at the stadium. We arrived early so a couple of my friends and I decided to go across the street to grab dinner at Taco Bell. Well, it turns out that a lot of other people had the same idea. Combine this with a poorly staffed restaurant and we ended up waiting in line for about 45 minutes. We had plenty of time, so we weren't concerned with it. I got each of the 3 types of loaded grillers plus a Dr. Pepper Vanilla Float Freeze. Then it was time to go back to the stadium. All of the corps had booths or trailers selling shirts and souvenirs, so I bought a shirt from my favorite corps, Carolina Crown. We then found out seats with the rest of the group and got ready for the show. What I consider to be basically the introduction to the main show was a group called Rhythm in Blue, a Bluecoats alumni band. Bluecoats is a corps based from Canton, so this is their home field, per say. They just stood still on the field and played a medley of songs and did great, considering some of them haven't done this in a while.

I was just informed from a family friend who works at the park that commercials for the ride will be filmed this week. This is sounding hopeful.

I think this is a great idea, and hope that Cedar Fair might start something like this. I think it will work great. And I agree with what other people saying about the possible issues. Maybe the ride ops can be told to let people through as long as their number is within, let's say for example, above or below 25 numbers of the person in front of them. This system really does sound interesting and I'm surprised it hasn't been tried out before. We'll have to wait to see to find out how well it works.

This sounds like such a fun thing to do!

One time someone in line by us at Millennium Force asked me if Dragster had an underground tunnel, and was freaking out because she thought it did.

I really hope both Zumanjaro and Kingda Ka are both opened by mid July. I've been looking forward to riding both of those!

I did see every photo each time I rode it, but usually I just stood back and looked since the area up close was always pretty crowded.

My parents and I left our house a little after 8 am on Wednesday morning and arrived at Miami University around 12:30 pm. The trip was great and there weren't any issues at all. I was starting to get a little worried especially the last little part of the trip since we were going through all these little winding, country roads in the middle of farms and cornfields. My expectations for the university were starting to drop. However, as soon as we arrived on campus and I saw uptown Oxford, I was relieved. It was very nice and it looked like there was a lot to do. Oxford and the campus itself reminded me a lot of Athens and Ohio University. They were very similar. We started off with some videos and a presentation all about the university. There were a couple other families there and once we were broken off into student-led tour groups, my group was only my family and one other family. It was nice having such a small, personalized tour. Our student guide was great. She was friendly, outgoing, and answered any questions we had. I was really impressed with the whole campus. I love that old, brick style just like OU and was blown away by the dorms. Most of the dorms have either been renovated or are brand new, and are by far the nicest dorms I've seen at any college. Laminate wood floors, high quality wooden furniture, large windows, they were really bright, and they had real walls (no cinder blocks!). After our tour my parents and I walked toward uptown and met some students along the way. Everyone was extremely friendly, and one student even walked with us for a while and enjoyed talking with us. We asked around for some good places to eat, and one of the places that was recommended to us was called Wild Bistro. It was a delicious Chinese and Asian restaurant. After exploring more around uptown Oxford, it was early evening and we decided to head to our hotel. We were staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in Blue Ash, about 45 minutes away. We relaxed for a little bit and then around 8 pm I had a crazy idea that I wanted to run through with my parents. I asked if we could take an impromptu trip to Kings Island for the rest of the night. My dad doesn't have a platinum pass, only my mom and I, but my dad said he'd be fine if the 2 of us went. So after discussing it for a little bit, we decided that we'd head to the park! 10 to 15 minutes later we had arrived and it was finally time to ride Banshee. I couldn't wait to finally be back at the park and to try out its new record breaking inverted coaster. We were shocked to see that it only had a station wait. We were expecting it to have a longer wait. We rode it 3 times, in the front, back, and then front again. I love the view you get from the front, and I was absolutely blown away. It exceeded all of my expectations. Then in the back, I was not expecting to have that much airtime over the first drop. I had heard the back was fun, but it was so surprising. I loved it! I think overall my favorite seat is in the front, just because of the view. My favorite element is either the first drop or the inline twist toward the end. This ride is also fun when it's dark with all the lighting. All in all, I couldn't have been more pleased with the ride. I even like it better than Raptor. We then decided to head to Diamondback (no line) and had a great night ride in the back row. Its bumpiness at the bottoms of the hills are a little annoying but the airtime was amazing. Plus I reached out my arm during the splashdown and got a nice splash of water. By then it was almost 10 pm, so I decided to try and quickly head to The Beat. We had planned on making sure to ride it at night the following day, but I thought it would be nice to get a nice bonus by riding it at night even another time. We arrived at 10:02 and it had already closed. I really wish they had a grace period like Cedar Point, where the ride entrances stay open for an extra 8 minutes. Oh well. I still couldn't believe we had even gone to the park in the first place, and was blown away by Banshee. We got back to our hotel around 10:30 and since the pool and hot tub closed at 11, we had just enough time to relax and swim for a little bit. The next morning we had a quick continental breakfast at the hotel and arrived at the park just after early entry. My dad waited around while my mom and I headed for Banshee. By the time we got to it, we only had enough time for 1 ERT ride in the back row but it was still a great little bonus. Then my dad met up with us near the ride and all 3 of us went on. This was his first time on it and we sat in the front. He said he enjoyed it. He's not a big coaster fan and mainly he just goes to parks to be with us, but he did like Banshee. Next we went on The Bat. This was our first time on it since we never went on Flight Deck last year. It took longer to walk to it than it did to actually wait in line. I sat in the front and really enjoyed it. Its intensity surprised me, but I wish it was a little bit longer. Overall though I like it a lot. Next was Drop Tower. I was so happy that it had opened just a few days prior, since I love this ride. It had about a half hour wait, but it was worth it. Following this we went to The Beast, which is my dad's favorite ride at KI. There was only a 10 to 15 minute wait. First we rode in the best seat (the front) and then my mom and I went on it again in the very back. I had never been on the back before and loved it. It feels even more out of control and crazy. Then we went on Diamondback, first in the front for the first time and then my mom and I went on it again in the back. I love how you hang over the first drop when you sit in the front. It's such a cool experience. After this I think my dad needed a break. He had gone on Banshee, The Beast, and Diamondback, and he was happy. Like I said before, he's not a big coaster fan so he enjoyed what he already did. So my mom and I decided to try out Vortex for the first time. We sat in the front and I liked it. I had heard it was rough but I didn't think it was rough at all. I thought it was actually pretty smooth, except it had the signature Arrow jerkiness to it, which I think some people might consider to be its roughness. I enjoyed the ride. Next was Firehawk, which had the longest wait of any ride we went on all day. We waited a little over 45 minutes for it, but I love this coaster. I still think that it's better than B&M flyers. However, it needs new paint badly. The bright green from when it was X Flight is really showing through in many places and looks horrible. But as for the ride experience itself, I loved it just as much as I did last year. It was early afternoon and we wanted to get something to eat. I suggested the Chicken Shack since I have heard about it, and that's where we ended up going. It was delicious, and the food was high quality. I got the 3 piece chicken tender basket. We ate under the shaded area in Action Zone and just enjoyed the atmosphere. One sweep in particular was doing an amazing job, and was constantly cleaning. He even went above and beyond his job as a sweep and would talk to guests, and we saw him go and get cups of water for people. We talked with him for a little bit and he was very nice and took his job very seriously. I forget his name, but he was excellent. Some of you probably saw my post in the Kings Island 2014 thread, but I saw ohiocolts. While my family was eating, he came walked right toward out table and then walked around it. At the time I wasn't completely sure it was him since we've never met, I've only seen pictures on here, but I thought it looked a lot like him. If I wasn't in the middle of eating I would have said hi and told him who I was. After our chicken, I wanted to try a Banshee twist ice cream. It was very good and I enjoyed it. The blue is almost the exact color of the supports, which I found pretty cool. We didn't want to go on anything thrilling or intense after just eating so we went up in Eiffel Tower next. I really love the view from the top, and the breeze is great. I had planned on taking a lot of pictures (especially of Banshee) with our nice camera, but unfortunately the battery died and we had forgotten to pack extra batteries. I took a couple with my mom's phone, but the quality and zoom is nothing compared to our actual camera. It was still just nice to be up there to enjoy the park. By the time we got down, it was about 4:45 and we decided to go see the 5 pm show of Cirque Imagine. We had heard lots of great reviews about it and we were excited. Talking to one of the security officers standing inside the theater, we found out that almost every show every day is full, which is awesome. It was definitely a very fun, half hour long show. It was funny, entertaining, and a great way to spend part of the day doing something other than going on rides. It reminded me a lot of Skeleton Crew at Cedar Point's Halloweekends. It had some of the same types of tricks and stunts. It was very well done and we all enjoyed it. Our next stop was Invertigo. We only waited a 1 train cycle and then we were on. This is a fun, disorienting ride, and I liked it just as much as last year. It's more intense than you would think. Plus the ladies sitting across from us were hilarious. Their faces were so funny during the ride. I wanted to ride Banshee some more and did it twice, both in the front. I love how re-ridable it is. I could have kept on riding it, but the line was a little bit longer but still not bad (maybe 15-20 minutes) and I wanted to be sure to get on some more rides. Next was Adventure Express in the front. It's fun and is a little more intense than Mine Ride at CP, but still the 2nd lift hill that ends into the station ruins the ride for me. It's such a horrible ending. Then we went on the Red Racer and I made sure to not sit over a wheel seat and had a very smooth, fun ride on it. Then BLSC was about a 15 minute wait and I still enjoyed it like I did last year. Then I rode by myself on WindSeeker. The only one I had ever been on was the one at CP so it was nice to ride one with a different view. I waited 2 cycles for it. I wanted to ride Diamondback again, so my mom and I went in the back row. Then we went back to Banshee for 2 last rides on it, first in the back and then in the front. It was a little after 9 and I decided to buy a Banshee shirt from the gift shop at the exit of the ride. I found a cool shirt, and then we walked back to Rivertown where we sat down for a little bit until it got close to 10. About 9:50 we got in line for The Beast. I was excited to finally get my night ride on it. It was cool watching the fireworks while in line, and eventually the ride reopened. I was hoping to get the front seat, but there weren't many people in line behind us and the front row line was pretty long. We got in line for it anyways but soon after they announced there would only be 2 more trains so we had to move. We ended up getting on the last train of the night! And let me just say that all the hype The Beast gets about night rides is well deserved...I was speechless. The first half of the ride was incredible through the woods since it was so dark. Plus I thought it was cool seeing nothing but lightning bugs ahead of you. Then I also loved the 2nd lift hill and drop into the tunnel helix. It was pitch black and it was just insane. Overall we got 22 rides in that day, and 26 total if you count the night before. I had an amazing time at the park (including the bonus hour and a half night visit). I was so happy to finally get on Banshee and the wait was worth it. All of the speculation and construction had resulted in an amazing coaster. So the next morning I felt like I could sleep a lot longer, but I had to get up to go to the University of Cincinnati. We had a quick breakfast at the hotel, checked out, and about 20 minutes later we arrived. I wasn't too sure about the surrounding neighborhood. I had heard it was rough, and once there I realized that everything I had heard about it was true. I didn't feel uncomfortable since I have been around rougher, city neighborhoods like that before, and even Ohio State has rougher areas outside of campus, but there are really no borders with UC. Unlike some other places where there is a little bit of area between the campus and the city, UC and the city pretty much merge. It's definitely interesting. However, the actually campus is very nice and I was impressed. Plus I thought it was really cool and unique how the stadium and athletic venues are in the center of campus. We started off with a presentation about the school and were broken off for our student led campus tours. We had another awesome tour guide here and had a nice tour. The campus has a mix of old and new buildings and is nothing like any other college I've been to. Then after the tour we grabbed lunch from the food court area in the union building before heading to the engineering program I had signed up for. It was in Baldwin Hall, the engineering hall, and had a presentation, tour of the engineering buildings by a student, and a presentation with a professor. It was very interesting and was impressed. No other university I've visited has offered anything quite like this. I was extremely impressed with UC's engineering and co-op programs. Then we just explored around campus a little more and then found some of the restaurants and shops. We walked around for a little bit before leaving. I had a nice visit and liked the campus. For dinner we decided to stop near Lebanon to go to Skyline Chili. This was my first time eating there and I liked it. It was very different. Then on the way home we drove through Ohio State just for fun. I had an awesome 3 day college visit and Kings Island trip!

I didn't know you worked at Banshee's photo area. I don't think I know what you look like, so I'm sure I saw you but never even realized it was you. Yes, that was me! Awesome! I thought it was.

1. Rode Banshee 9 times between last night and today. I love it. Way better than I expected. 2. Ohiocolts, were you at the park today? I know we've never met but I've seens pictures of you on here andI swear I saw you. Were you wearing a purple Coasting For Kids shirt? If that was you, then around 3 pm you walked right next to my parents and I eating under the shaded area in Action Zone. 3. Not only did I get my first night ride on The Beat, but it was also on the last train of the night! I was blown away.

Got to the park at almost 8:45, rode Banshee 3 times in a row with little to no wait! 1 word: AMAZING. Rode the back (incredible airtime on the first drop) and the front twice. It's so cool at night and just in the front in general. Then rode Diamondback in the back Missed The Beast by 2 minutes so that will wait until tomorrow. This was an awesome, last minute park visit! Can't wait for tomorrow!

So my mom and I are heading over for the rest of the night at the park! Thanks to platinum passes and a hotel 15 minutes away!

^Thanks for the information!

I just have a few things to be cleared up. Thursday will only be my 2nd time at KI, and this is the first year I have had a platinum pass and it seems like CP does their platinum benefits a little differently than KI. I have tried to find platinum pass perks on the park's website but can't find any specifics. Is KI like CP and has 10% off of meals and any other special food/shop perks? Also, for ERT I see that it will start at 9:30. Are the rides still Banshee, Delirium, and The Bat? Thanks!

Around 48 hours from now I'll finally be getting my first night ride on The Beast!

Another comment about the day: Customer service and staff freindliness is still as great (if not even better) than it has been on my previous 2 trips to the park so far this year. I'm very impressed. And I have to give a shout out to Maverick's crew, especially during the night ERT. One ride op in particular was amazing, but I forget his name. But he was the one singing the "Maverick Song." He was so hilarious and fun, despite how late it was. Kudos!

IMO Universal has the best locker system. Finger prints and it's free for the duration of the wait for that particular ride. I think that system is incredibly convenient and amazing.

Failures can only lead to successes. Much can be learned from a failed attraction.

We noticed that too. I've seen rumors that it could be for HalloWeekends but I guess only time will tell.