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Magenta Lizard

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Posts posted by Magenta Lizard

  1. I seem to remember waiting 2 hours or more for Whitewater Canyon way back when it was newer.

    I think the longest I've ever waited for a ride was about three and a half hours for Mean Streak when it was new at Cedar Point. Most disappointing ride ever, and I don't think I ever rode it again.

    I still haven't ridden Top Thrill Dragster up there because what should have been a less-than-a-half-hour line turned into a multi-hour wait with them taking several minutes for three guys to manually reset the trains that didn't make it over the hill (which was at least every other train, and sometimes a train would fail more than once). Then weather shut it down temporarily. Then we finally got our butts in seats... and after a couple minutes were told we were going to have to get back out. I walked at that point, I had had my fill. It still wasn't running at least a half hour later, so I felt I made the right choice to cut my losses when I did.

    Now, since I can, I'm trying to avoid going when crowds will make a wait more than an hour for anything I want to ride.

  2. I took everyone's advice and tried the fudge push pops today. I was just going to get a blue ice cream one for myself, but when they told me it was buy two get one free, I picked out a couple more to bring home to my husband.

    Unfortunately, I stopped in just as I was returning to the park from having taken a "storm break" trip to my car. So I had three push pops, and didn't really want to trek back to the car.

    Since I took another bit of advice and bought myself some men's cargo shorts, I had plenty of pocket room. It was actually working out pretty well, until I rode Banshee. I think she's the one that popped off one of my lids and smeared fudge in my pocket. Gave me an excuse to try the flavor I bought my husband, though. It was the ice cream sundae, and like the blue ice cream fudge, it is excellent! I'm definitely going to be buying more as the summer goes on.

    • Like 5
  3. I think that the restraints are breaking in, and that's a good thing. The first time I rode a couple weeks ago, it felt like they were trying to compress my spine, they were shoving my shoulders down so much. I noticed today that they flex a lot more easily, and are much more comfortable for it.

    I rode four times today (3 of those in fifteen minutes of ERT), and my only complaint was the time I didn't get to ride because it was shut down for incoming storms. I decided to ride Delirium first, and when I was walking over to Banshee, the line was leaving in droves. Moments after was when they came over the loudspeakers with the announcement about the storm.

    • Like 3
  4. Not very many honest people nowadays. Those days are gone unfortunately.

    FOFreak, who wishes he were born a few decades earlier.

    Having been born a couple decades before you, I can tell you that people weren't fundamentally any different. There have always been people who will get away with however much they can, but the majority of people are pretty honest.

    In a lot of ways, I can see that things have improved societally (tolerance of differences, etc) just within my own lifetime, and if I look back to the things told to me by my parents and grandparents, this has been a trend of overall improvement for decades. Violent crime specifically has been in decline since the 80s.

    • Like 4
  5. The grand prize is a trip to Knotts (along with airfare and a couple nights' stay in Cali) but each of ten parks, including KI, have 18 prizes of 4 tickets, Fast Lane, parking, etc. to those individual parks. If you enter a KI based vid, you get entered for one of 18 KI prize packs, one of those 180 winners (10 parks' 18 winners) then goes on to win the grand prize.

    What I found interesting is that while each of the parks' prize pack is essentially the same, the estimated value of KI's is the highest. So apparently it is the most expensive of all ten parks.

    • Like 3
  6. The KI app specifically labels the listings that say Tuesday off as being for this week, but doesn't have any further schedule. I suspect it is true the only reason it is off Tuesday this week is because of Memorial Day, and it will be off Monday next week.

    I'm really looking forward to the show, but don't know when I'm going to get to see it. In the hours since I checked this morning and saw tomorrow's weather looked good, tomorrow's forecast has gotten more stormy. Hopefully it goes back to what they were previously predicting (a couple days ago): stormy Tuesday and Wednesday but nice Thursday.

    • Like 1
  7. Since people who don't avoid contact with strangers are often out to get something (begging, mugging, etc) it probably is why many people are shy or offended when someone they don't know approaches their "space."

    In an environment like KI, though, especially in a queue, I feel like we all have enough in common that we aren't strictly strangers. That's why I personally wouldn't find it odd or uncomfortable for someone to give me a high-five. It's very unlikely to be an approach to play-in to a sob story. It is most likely just sharing exhuberance to keep the excitement and joy going through what can otherwise be a little dreary time at the park.

    • Like 3
  8. What do people do with their money and car keys when visiting a water park? Are the lockers over there pay every time you open them or can you get one for the day? Cuz it would suck to have to pay $2 or whatever every time you wanted to get some cash out to buy something.

    I know 20-some years ago (coincidentally the last time I've been to a water park) that they sold little plastic containers with rubber gaskets that you could wear around your neck to carry your money in (because the shops refused wet money). At that time you could wear those on the slides and such, but something (Banshee) tells me they wouldn't allow that kind of thing anymore.

    So do you all just rotate things out between the people you're with? Am I missing some other obvious answer?

    Really, the "what do I do with my crap so it doesn't get stolen" is the third major reason I don't like water parks, behind wearing contacts (not as much of an issue anymore since I wear two week disposables so it doesn't cost $70 to replace a single lost contact), and propensity to sunburn.

    • Like 1
  9. So is that on the honor system? I see it ripe for potential abuse, if so.

    Even if they do have a way of guaranteeing the person actually waited that long, it seems to me that would make a bad situation even worse, as everyone who experiences a wait comes back and cuts the line of those who have come after them, who most likely were already going to experience a similar wait and now will have to wait even longer. The snowballing would be tremendous.

    • Like 8
  10. Unfortunately, even though the pass may be in your name, if the payment plan is in your mother's, you are unlikely to be able to get any information about from another source.

    You're going to have to make up with your mother eventually, may as well start sooner than later.

    • Like 2
  11. If they aren't being dicks (and I know everyone has encountered teens before who are clearly looking to cause trouble through "harmless" interaction, thankfully those are by far the minority) I don't see anything wrong with returning the high-5. I like when people can spread their enthusiasm in such a way. But, perhaps through a combination of my forbidding nature and avoiding going to the park when it's been particularly crowded so far this year, I can't say I've actually encountered someone offering one.

    I don't see anything wrong with someone choosing not to go along with it though. Physical contact, and our responses to it are a very personal thing.

    • Like 1
  12. Last time I was at the park, I found a small wad of cash on the walkway between Diamondback and the Diamondback store, as I was the first from my train out of the gates. At first I thought "hey, money!" but immediately as I picked it up, thought "this is some kid's, I can't take this!" A kid behind me also leaving the coaster saw me pick it up and told his friend "hey, that lady found like $5" in an excited tone that made it clear if he found it, he would have kept it without an ounce of regret (and, when I was his age, I have no doubt I'd have felt the same way.) I didn't even unfold the bills to see exactly what was there, but it was a $5 on the outside and at least one $1. They were running Diamondback slowly enough that day that there wasn't anyone left from the last train in the store, and no one in sight was doing the "oh crap, where'd I drop my money" dance, so I handed the bills to the kid working the register, and told him where I found it in case anyone came looking. I knew the chances were slim that whoever lost it would be reunited with it, but they were better chances than in my pocket.

    I was just wondering what others would do or have done in the same situation.

  13. I sure hope they weigh the butts in the seat on the opposite side of the structure then. We wouldn't want it to be thrown off. Geez, imagine if I hadn't chosen to ride at, having his butt in one seat on one side, and two on the opposite, without my extra weight shifted to the next seat in front to help balance things out. It may have been permanently broken. For that matter, I think there were four people on the other lane and only two on ours, so I'm not sure how any of us survived.

    No wonder it is down so much if the time. I had no idea it was so important. All the other times I've ridden where the ride ops didn't balance it out perfectly by numbers must be the cause.

  14. I guess like a lot of things it depends on who is operating.

    I shouldn't have to tell the ride op of WindSeeker that when there are a grand total of six people riding, she doesn't need to pair up single riders. The first time it happened I didn't know it until the most irritating boy of all time jumped in the seat next to me (my ride was pretty much ruined by him shouting and trying to spit at his friends in the seats in front of us). The second time I just chose another seat rather than sit beside a frankly creepy looking dude. I am ordinarily loathe to ignore ride op instructions. I understand having to sit next to people I don't necessarily want to sometimes, since I'm at the park alone. But it's just silly when 9/10 of a ride is empty to "make sure there are no empty seats."

  15. I braved my embarrassment and rode Surf Dog. I was seated next to a couple cute and talkative 5-6 year old girls. The one nearest me told me that she doesn't like Surf Dog because it is scary. I didn't press her on why she was riding it then. :)

    About halfway through, she started repeating "I want my mommy." She looked at me to see if I was scared too, and I think for reassurance (I'm probably older than her mommy).

    I was a little worried for her, but she wasn't squirting any tears, nor did she look truly frightened, just a little unsure. She continued chanting "I want my mommy" for most of the rest of the ride.

    Then when it finally stopped, she enthusiastically told her friend "let's ride it again!" I think that is a future coaster enthusiast in the making! :)

    • Like 6
  16. I think you generally have to actually ask for row 1. I got in it once by accident because I was a single rider and they had 3 waiting for it, but most of the time there are at least a couple groups waiting for it. I assume that is because those groups specifically asked.

    I did enjoy row 1 quite a bit.

    • Like 3
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