Favorite Memories Of The 2009 Season

[Jasper]

Well ladies and gentleman, Halloween is here, summer has come and past. The leaves are turning colors and the ghosts and goblins are out in their usual Haunt attire. Soon after these ghosts and ghouls return to their slumber though, comes the dreaded off-season. The off-season is a time around KICentral that can be quite relaxing at points, also quite intense. The arguements about what the park will have new next year or how a trash can will be moved to a different location in the park. But, lets turn back the clock shall we? The date is April 17th 2009, most of us are stricken with anxiety attacks for the nest day. We are all ready to ride the new beast that has been unleashed, Diamondback. We are all about to settle down for a long nights sleep so we can be energized and revitalized to go to the park the next day. Well my friends, that fateful day started, in my honest opinion, one of the greatest seasons for Kings Island ever. We saw many things take place right before our eyes. Nik Wallenda wire walked to new heights, ASA Action Sports Tour ramped into action, Son of Beast closed down, again, a new class of Hall Of Fame inductees for 2009, two new Halloween Haunt mazes, a new show, and last but not least, the departure of Nickelodeon Universe. All of these things made the 2009 season one of the finest KI has ever seen. From the gravity defying hills of Diamondback, to the long, agonizing waits for Firehawk. Now is the time to reollect on those fond memories of the 2009 season. I'll start.

Huddling in the family dryer during a torrential downpour and then staying the rest of the day until the park closed.

Riding Diamondback for the first time in the very front seat.

My first trip to Kings Island by myself. The long lines I had to wait in all day.

Most importantly, bringing together my 5 best friends and going up together for one final trip with us all together and having the time of our lives. That my friends is what Kings Island is made of.

[CoastersRZ]

One of my favorit memories is when several of us Coney ride operators made a visit to Kings Island on one of our days off. Several of us actually met in Coney`s employee parking lot and we drove up to KI. A little odd thing that happened is myself and a friend decided to ride Slingshot. Well, it later turned out that both of us were promoted to rides managers halfway through August, go figure. Some of us Coney people are going to be making a return trip to the park next Friday night.

My first ride on Diamondback was memorable for reasons that I can`t really get into here. Lets just say that it is always nice to see something that was on paper become a three dimensional object, and I`ll leave it at that.

[Captain Nemo]

Angie will understand this one

"For realz!"

[markhudson17]

My favorite memories of this 2009 season would have to be...

KIC Glam Rock Meet-Up. It was my first time meeting anyone from KIC and even though my day was cut short, it was great to meet you guys.

Diamondback. The first coaster that I was actually excited about and couldn't wait for. Its pretty bad that 3 months before opening day you have a countdown on your desktop.

Theres probably a few more but I have too many things on my mind to think of any more.

[Justin_M17]

Mine would have to be the look on the face of the seat separator on Diamondback when we told him we had 24 people It was beyond priceless.

[UnrealNightmare]

I think mine will be coming this weekend. lol

[pkiboy]

The wonderful people I met over the 2009 Season. Even though Kings Island is getting ready to shut its gates from a perhaps the best season they have had since 2004 I think its more than just a memory. I could go on about all of my memories that happend over the 2009 season but I know the park reads these bords so I will just say that I HAD A BLAST .

[Mr. Coastermania]

It would have to be april the start of spring as the rides get geared up for the first time like Diamondback.Not very long lines and the park seems so fresh.It's like a homecoming.

Oh anyways back to my fav moment of 2009 was opening day and the debut of Diamondback.

The first ride auction was a great moment to.

[dexbomb]

my absolute favorite memory of this season which may never be eclipsed is when i stood next to little bills giggle coaster and watched my barely tall enough 2 yr old and wife ride. Heaths face lit up from ear to ear he smiled the entire time and talks about wanting to go to the park all the time. we're raisin him right

[The Interpreter]

Mine is very simple and one for which I will ever be grateful. First going to the park for two different events during the off season and thinking I had truly seen Diamondback. Then going back opening day and really, truly seeing Diamondback, in a way I had never seen it before. And finally, after waiting so very long to be able to do so, actually getting to ride Diamondback. Even if it did take months to do so, it was a very gratifying personal experience, and one that was well worth the wait.

...My first ride on Diamondback was memorable for reasons that I can`t really get into here. Lets just say that it is always nice to see something that was on paper become a three dimensional object, and I`ll leave it at that.

Amen. And how. Truly seeing Diamondback was a very, very gratifying experience, and one I will never, ever forget. Truly actually seeing it with all its color and brilliance was actually even better than what I thought riding it would be like!

Terpy, who is glad that all Diamondback rides need not be experienced in what was for him a very personal night row...(and yes, those who know me know what that means, and it is NOT a reference to any coaster in New Jersey). A very good season indeed. Perhaps next year I will be able to see to getting to more coasters, but this year there were many other priorities and considerations. And some of my best times have been at, for me--of all places, Cedar Point. Tell me people don't change!

[faeriewench]

Me, Haunt Undertaker and Ki Man riding Diamondback with a dragon puppet

[KIfan1980]

I have more than a few but will only list a couple:

- Having the pleasure of meeting many KICers on park meetups, totally added to the fun.

- Diamondback ERT. From waiting at the detectors to the fast walk to the rerides before the crowd showed up.

- Walking up on opening day and being handed a SRL ticket.

But without a doubt my two favorite were:

- The night my then 5 year old got his 48" wristband and we got to ride Flight Deck, Racer, and BLSC together for the first time. I'll never forget his comment "daddy, I love riding roller coasters with you" on The Racer breakrun.

- The first time my 3 year old decided to brave the FOC. It's now the first ride every trip!

[KI Kevin]

Opening day. Getting to the park at 7:00 AM with two of my friends. I had invited another friend, but he came with his dad because he didn't think we'd get there on time. Turns out we beat him by 15 minutes!

I'm not sure that this has been one of the best seasons for the park, but it was for me. I went, without a doubt, more times than any other season. I also really liked 2004 and '05. I really started loving coasters in 2004 after those Son of Beast and Vortex rides.

Hmm, what else? Going to CP for the first time in five years was awesome. I also LOVED Busch Gardens and Holiday World! I rode so many more new coasters this year than any other it's not even funny.

[KIfan73]

It's got to be the first visit of the season. This year it wasn't until June 15. After reading KIC all winter (and attending the off-season blues party!), looking at pics on the Internet, and feeling like it's been years since I've been to the park, the drive there, parking, and walking through the gates is my best memory of the park every year.

[Jasper]

I love reading all of these memories, keep them coming.

Another one for me is going to the park in mid August and never seeing Diamondback's line reach past the stairs to the station. The park was absolutely empty that day and I loved it!!

[gigacoaster2k]

Angie will understand this one

"For realz!"

That was too funny!

- Rolling up to DB with 22 people in tow during RWW.

- Driving the hour down to KI after working all day on 2 hours of sleep, because my friends from Cleveland were texting me from KI and telling me to come down, and realizing no one in the group had any sleep, and feasting on candy the whole night.. we were SO hyper and took so many stupid pics.

- Tom76257, violakat03, and I driving back up to KI after Six Flags and Holiday World, and lapping Diamondback in a torrential downpour.. and the weird ride on Drop Tower in rain mode.

- Going with my dad and seeing the look on his face after he rode DB for the first time.

- Meeting all the other KICers.. so many of you have become a part of my life, at KI, other parks, and outside amusement parks. So many of you have become friends that I will defend until my dying breath, and I wouldn't trade you for the world.

- Having my flip flop take a road trip around Ashers' and kjkjkj's seats on DB.

- Not being able to hear an air horn now without thinking, "Diamondback??!!!"

- Borrowing kittenpooh's kiddos at RWW so we could all get our Little Bill's credits.

- When I was sunburnt, tired, felt nauseous, and hadn't had a shower.. yet violakat03 convinced me to drive to her house so we could go to KI for a few hours.

There are probably so many more.

[Dbfan]

Kinda a bad year for me, first time I havnt been to KI in a summer since who knows when. Had two trips planned, but my friend got hurt and had to have surgery, and both those trips were cancelled. Dont worry, we have already started figuring out dates for next summer.

[Jasper]

I am sorry for you not being able to go Dbfan, I hope everything is all and well now. I look forward to hearing from you next year after you take your first visit of the year.

[CedarPointer]

Getting to KI at 6:00 in the morning on opening day, which just happened to be the same day that we moved into our brand new house.

[violakat03]

Goodness, where do I start?

First off would be the offseason blues party. It was cool to finally put faces to names, but at the same time I wish I'd been able to meet more people. That was followed by the construction tour a few weeks later, and not just getting to put more faces to names but getting hang out with some of the coolest people I'd met so far, going to Jungle Jim's and Krazy City with a group of KICers.

Group of KICers (CoastersRZ, Cory Butcher, Kawana, Gordon Bombay (standing on light pole), violakat03, Radar, clbehymer, Captain Nemo, Beast08, zosobeast, Avatar) at Jungle Jim's after the construction tour.

Second would be opening day. Finding out two days prior that I was going to get to take an auction ride thanks to RexandtheBeast.com. Spending the night before at a hotel with Angie (gigacoaster2k), shooting random videos, getting very little sleep, standing in the cold at some ridiculous hour of the morning and line after line before finally get our very first ride on Diamondback. Our two-some turning into a humongous group by the end of the day where we all rode Diamondback as a big KIC group.

(Ogrmac, Ogrmac's mom (I think?), gigacoaster2k, kiruler102, violakat03, keiko_coaster, PhantomTheater, Beast Man, iChase, Avatar, rollercoast19)

Third would be a mix of many days .. I originally went into this season expecting to have a lot of solo days, but it turned out that I never had a single one. I always ran into at least one, if not more, KICers every time I went to the park this season and never had a single day where I was completely by myself.

Then there would be Ride Warriors Weekend. That insanity was a class of it's own! From the ERTs to the backstage tours to the crazy randomness of the people I met that weekend, it will remain one of my favorite memories ever.

And the next would be CoasterMania at Cedar Point. Again an awesome experience with a great group of people.

For more information about CoasterMania, because it's just a rather indescribable experience, check out Jackson's PTR (http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18991) and Angie's PTR (http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18102).

Then there was the Angie/Kat/Tom trip to SFKK, Holiday World and Kings Island.

http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18874

And the violakat03/dare-to-fly adventure to Chicago, with stops at Indiana Beach and Holiday World mixed in.

http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19343

And finally, the two weekends in a row that dare-to-fly and I headed to a ridiculous amount of ACE events (4 events and 4 total parks in 4 combined days), rode a ridiculous amount of El Toro, and did an even more ridiculous amount of driving. I'm still waiting on his pictures (since I didn't take many) so that I can do a trip report.

So in general, looking back, the people, especially the people from KIC, have made this an unforgettable and unimaginable season for me.

[TheSonofBeast]

opening day this year, i rode amongst other things, Son of Beast. Waited a good 45 minutes (something i rarely EVER do), and finally got into the station. i pick a random row somewhere in the middle with my friend. While in that row, a group in front of us is trying to even out. they ask if we will go in front of them so they can ride with their group. so of course we accept and get on. Halfway up the hill, the train comes to a stop. we sit there for around 5 minutes, and we spot one of the ride ops sorting through keys trying to open the gate to walk up the son of beat lift stairs. about ten minutes later, and enlisting the help of another person, she climbs up the ride, closes down a empty lapbar one more click or something along that nature, goes back down, and 5 minutes later we are on our ride! When we return to the station cheering ensues of course, but I had totally forgotten about the people who we switched trains with. They look at us and say oh we are so sorry we should have been the ones that got stuck. I thought it was hilarious that they felt guilty about somehting they had no control over. I just thought it was awesome to sit up high and enjoy the view for a while! my only disappointment was when the ride started going again and i relalized my dream of walking down a lift hill was ruined again...

[maverick2007]

Mine would have to be:

-Riding DB on opening day and thinking "Wow this is really forceless". I was wrong!

-Meeting KIC members at Mid-Summer Scream

[TopThrill]

Waiting a total of two and a half hours for Diamondback, on opening day.

[Jasper]

-My girlfriends brother having his first ride on Slingshot. The scream he made was priceless.

[TheCryptRaider]

I'm going to name my top three moments..

1.) Is it really that obvious? My first Diamondback ride, and the wait leading up to it. The excitement in the line was just exhilerating, and I got to meet quite a few other crazed enthusiasts. The first ride was amazing, although I can't remember much about my first ride, I remember how it was.

2.) Taking my brother on his first 'big' rides. My now 6 year old brother just reached the 48' mark this spring, and so we've been taking him on all the 'big' rides. The Beast, The Racer, BLSC, Flight Deck, Adventure Express, and even... Drop Tower. I remember him getting off his first Racer ride, and he told me.. "That was some ride!" It really made me happy to think I get to share these experiences with him. He is so excited about the fact he is now a 'ride warrior'

3.) Getting my friend Josh on The Beast for the first time. My friend Josh hated roller coasters. I was nagging him the whooooole entire day, and then he finally gave in and rode The Beast. He loved it, of course, and now rides it every time he goes.

2009 was by far my favorite KI season EVER. With the addition of arguably one of the best roller coasters ever, sharing my favorite thing with others, and many many other additions and changes to the park, I give 2009 the award of being my favorite seasons. Hands. Down.

Or maybe hands up if you prefer.

Ride on!

[DropZone99]

So many!

First of all, waiting those long 8 months to ride Diamondback, every day after school first thing I'd do would get on kiDiamondback.com and watch the webcam for hours, than try to be the first person on KIC to post something happening at the construction site. Than I remember when out of no where the trains appeared in the transfer track shed, and everyone including me was jumping out of their seat of excitement! Than when all the testing videos popped up on youtube, and hearing how ferocious Diamondback's roar was!

--------------------

Finally after so long, April 17th. came. I got home from school and grabbed all my stuff and left my house, picked up Mitch (Gnarkiller) and drove to KI. Got my Platinum Pass processed, and stared at Diamondback! Than at about 7pm. went to Skyline just across from KI and had an amazing dinner with some of my coaster friends. Since my birthday was the day before, they got me presents too! I got a Hercules (DP) pin, Voodoo (DP) shirt, and Adam (pkiboy) gave me 5 coaster magazines! After dinner, Went to the hotel and about 4 hours later finally fell asleep.

Than woke up at 5'o-clock am. and got ready. My friend Brian picked me up and we stopped at McDonalds to get some sweet tea and than waited for the parking lot to open. The sun hadn't even woken up yet, it was so weird but awesome being at KI so early. After hours of waiting, than moving to a new location, and waiting, repeating the patter over and over again we finally ended up in line for Diamondback. On my first ride I was assigned row 8, even though the worst row, I still loved Diamondback! Opening day was so fun, my friend Danielle from Michigan made it down to KI and we hung out all day, along with a few other people (TG93, TombraiderTy, & a few others.) Ended up riding Diamondback 5 times that day, and got to ride some of my other favorite rides like Drop Zone, Son of Beast, Racer, and Adventure Express, and I can't forget riding Beast with all the KIC people on one train!

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My next great memory of 2009 was May 2nd. I got my first ride on Xtreme Skyflier, many rides on Diamondback, it was a beautiful sunny warm day, and I got a new view of Diamondback model.

Just about a week later, RWCW came! I arrived late, but luckily I made it time for ERT on DB! I'll never forget those multiple rerides on Diamondback all at night with some of my best friends. I got a total of 19 rides in during ERT, something I hope happens again. Even though I ended up not feeling too well that night, I still had one of the best times of my life, something that is priceless. The next morning, my uncle turned off my alarm clock so we missed ERT again! But we got there in time for opening. I got to ride Drop Zone multiple times without getting out, same goes for Son of Beast. The best thing that day was Son of Beast tour. I was so glad I got a chance to get an exclusive view of SOB before it closed just over a month later. I know most people don't like SOB, but While on the tour, I hugged a support and got my photo taken with my (then) favorite woodie.

I didn't make it to the island for a month, but this next visit made up for that time apart. My mom took me for two days, one of which was one of the best KI visits I've ever had. The park wasn't too busy the first day so I got to ride DB a few times, but later that night getting SOB night rides, and Beast night rides was amazing. The next morning it was pouring down rain, and DB wasn't open for ERT but I didn't care. I later got to ride Drop Zone many many times without getting off, all in the fog during rain. Those rides on DZ made the trip what it is. Also Diamondback having a station wait, and no seat assigning made for many rerides.

Just 4 days after that I went back to KI. Once again it rained but this time the park was a little more crowded being a Sunday. Not too much exciting happened this visit, except my final Son of Beast rides, all of which were trimless!

I didn't get to go at all in July, but I went on August 1st. This was a hot saturday, super busy. Normally I hate the crowds but this time I liked it. The park was open til' midnight, I got most of my rides during ERT and at night using the SRL waiting no more than 5 minutes when the whole queue was filled and overflowed! I made my first visit to BBay in about 4 years this visit. Not too much else happened.

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On August 5th. I did something very dumb but I wouldn't change if I could go back into time. I lied and told my mom I was going to the movies (all day... yeah dumb lie!) I really went to Indiana Beach with one of my friends (he didn't know I wasn't supposed to go.) I had an amazing time even though the whole time I was feeling like I would have an anxiety attack from being so nervous. At about 7:30pm. My cousin found out the truth, within 30 seconds I got the phone call and was in trouble. We had to leave early, luckily I got all the credits and rerides. I got in more trouble than I ever have in my life, My mom just got mad/sad. Didn't get grounded or anything, but worst... My mom didn't trust me for a few days. Even though I got in trouble, I still would do it again if I could. I had one of the best days ever.

-------------------------

I didn't get to ride a coaster that wasn't portable (I rode 3 at the fair) for over a month. I made it to Haunt's opening day but only got to ride DB twice and only went through two haunts.

I made it to KI one more time, this time it was super busy and I didn't ride much at all, I don't really miss this visit too much.

[KI Kevin]

She wouldn't have let you go to Indiana Beach but would have let you go to the movies?

[HTCO]

Mine would consist of the following:

-Waiting for Diamondback on the first day of operation and watching its glory with my friends.

-Attending my first ever KIC event and meeting a lot of cool people.

[rotag]

I'm tryin to recall, & I'm havin a overflow of memories flood my mind. To tell them all the best ways, you would have to go back & look at my trip reports. The only things I can add to this is meetin all these wonderfull KIC'ers & leavin lastin impresions. Plus I've had plenty of moments as a haunt member w/ other haunt members.

I am for shor that next year will be just as memorable.

[brick52]

Going to my first ERT morning session and riding Diamondback three times in a row then heading to The Beast and riding it 4 times in a row without getting off then The Vortex 8 times in a row in the very back seat.