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10/18/08 Kings Island PTR


gigacoaster2k
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I got off work at 3 pm, and decided to head down to Kings Island for the rest of the day.

I was almost to downtown Dayton, when everyone slammed on their brakes.. not only was construction funneling traffic down to 2 lanes during one of the busiest times of the day, it was funneled down to ONE lane due to an accident. I was going about 3 mph for about 10 miles.

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Yay, what fun that was. <_<

I got to the park and managed to get a great spot in gold pass parking, in row 55, which I took as a good sign. I was very wrong.

The first ride I hit was Invertigo. The queue was half full, and combined with the low capacity, I waited about 45 minutes.

Ready for some G forces?

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I rode in the very front, as always.

Then it was off to Drop Tower, as I was craving that adrenaline rush.

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I walked over to the queue and was horrified to see that it was almost completely full.. but I waited anyway. I waited close to an hour.

It's only a 264 foot drop at 65 mph.. don't look so scared! ;)

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Xtreme Skyflyer.. something I still haven't done yet.

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After I got that amazing Drop Tower rush, I headed over to Backlot Stunt Coaster partially because I wanted to get some Diamondback construction photos.. yes, I like BLSC, be quiet. :P

I wanted to try and get some good photos for you while it was still light outside. My jaw literally dropped and I heard myself say "Oh my God" when I saw the massive supports and pieces of track pointing toward the sky.

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Photos do not do justice to this, not in the least. It's HUGE.

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Standing directly under the first drop!

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This is going to pull some Gs.. I can not wait until April 2009.

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Something Cedar Point doesn't have..

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I waited about half an hour to ride BLSC, and went in the front seat. Crazy as it sounds, I almost lost my sunglasses to this ride (they were in my hoodie pocket).

After that, I hit Vortex and went for the very second seat. I still love this ride. It was about half an hour to 45 minutes, odd since it's usually a walk on. I heard sirens, and saw people lining up for Urgent Scare.

After I walked off Vortex, I saw that the line for Urgent Scare was backed up all the way to Zephyr. By this time, the park was so packed that it became a sea of people. I saw no spaces in the crowd whatsoever. In the 12 years I've been religiously visiting this park, I have never seen it that crowded.

I wanted to do something to make my night worthwhile, as I had this nagging feeling I wouldn't get on many more rides. I wanted a good dose of adrenaline.. so I headed for my first ride on Slingshot.

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My ticket to ride!

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I waited an hour to ride it.

That has to be one of the most amazing rides I've been on to date, and my first bungee cord ride. I have to admit that at one point my heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest while waiting in line, but it was totally worth it. Thrilling, yet exhilarating at the same time.. and I kicked my feet and got the cage to do a few flips.. wheee!! Skyscraper at CP is still better, but Slingshot was pretty awesome, and I'd definitely do it again.

After this, I went for some LaRosa's pizza. While sitting in the Festhaus, suddenly the place went dark and strobe lights appeared on the stage. Apparently I had arrived just in time for Ghouls Gone Wild. The singers were great and so were the costumes, and the fireworks really got my attention. I had a pic, but it's very blurry and you can hardly see anything.

I headed back to Drop Tower to see that they had even turned the water tower into a haunted attraction.

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This ugly thing was at the base, and occasionally it would snap straight up and scare anyone standing in front of it.

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Who needs scare zones when you have this? ;)

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It was really starting to get cold, but I didn't care, I wanted another ride on Drop Tower, so I stuck it out and waited the hour in line.

After that, I headed to Delirium, but it was down, so I went back to Drop Tower. I looked at the full queue, saw that it was 11:15 pm, and wondered at this point if it was worth it. Drop Tower ended up breaking down, and I saw that Delirium was back up and running, so I headed for it. I was 2 rides away when they announced that it had broken down again.

I ducked under the rails, and headed out of Action Zone. I'd had enough.

I stopped by a gift shop on my way to the exit, and bought this shirt. I've pretty much been eyeing it all season, and had to have it.

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I looked at my phone to see that it was 43 degrees in Mason, and cranked up my heater as high as it would go. I left the park a little before midnight, and got home around 1 am.

Ride count:

Drop Tower - 2

Slingshot - 1

Invertigo - 1

BLSC - 1

Vortex - 1

6 rides in 7 1/2 hours..

If KI and/or CP is going to be that ridiculously crowded for what's left of the season, consider that my last trip this year. I had fun, but good grief.

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It had to have been some major accident, or there was another one in the same place because on Friday when I drove down I got stuck there too. Instead of having 45 min to check in and change to hit the park by opening, I lost an half an hour and even with rushing didnt make it into the park until 5 min after opening.

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good trip report. I went there with my daughter and I have not seen that many families in the Nick area all season. it was crazy.

just a suggestion, and I'm sure this has maybe been mentioned before- but why wouldn't they maybe entertain moving the bulk of the HH things to the Boomerang Bay area. It would be entirely self contained (they could even have a slight "up-charge" to it... a $5 admission wouldn't really turn anyone off I wouldn't think and would raise some capital... not to mention give more life to an area that has only a 3-month operating season.... they could even use it for a certain winter themed attraction that they've discontinued. (really, they could use the BB area for a lot more in the ample off-season times)....

Moving the bulk of the Haunt attractions would allow the ride side to continue to be a Ride side and people with small children wouldn't be ushered out of the kids area at FIVE.... When some of you have children and have to work around nap schedules, you'll know what I mean. I was in the Nick area at 4:45 waiting in the longest lines of the year thinking... all of these people are going to leave and take all their money with them. Having BB host the Haunt attractions would allow the park to stay open longer for the general public that may not necessarily be up to all the Haunt attractions as well.

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This is actually an excellent idea...if the area would lend itself to such.

On the other hand, before the days of Fear Fest, October was among the least attended at the park. I almost think the park thrives on those crowds...and would not want to separate the Nick area (or whatever it may be by then) from Halloween Haunt.

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I would go on Sundays, except I normally work 7 am to 3 pm, and it takes an hour for me to get down there.

Call in sick!!! It's worth it. Today was awesome. We did everything we wanted to do in under three hours. And, remember, work when you're sick and use your sick days to have fun....LOL!!!!

--Beatle, who is the victim of Karma and always actually gets sick shortly after taking a phony sick day........

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Actually, "Terpy" the question would probably be better as would the area fit the crowd? October would continue to be well attended, just allowing a more and diverse crowd to enjoy the park. I'd love to go to the park after midnight sometime- I'm not turned off by the Haunt event, but would just prefer not go for that purpose and if that event was moved to an otherwise unused portion of the park... they could even have one heck-of-a haunted trail to get back there beyond the picnic area.... think of all the desolate trails back at BB. all the trees. I would think that it would ruin the "fantasy" of a "Haunt" if in the middle of the scare tactic you had the rush of Delerium go by.

Just a thought... all that real estate is unused 9 months out of the year.

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I would never, ever go to a park after having called in sick.

But that's just me....

Not to mention I KNOW I'd run into six dozen people who knew me. That would be my karma!

I've done it. I have a month of sick time built up due to years of great attendance, and considering the layoff coming up, I don't feel bad about it. The few times I have called off, I get called at home for questions-and this isn't the first job that has happened. Sometimes you just need a mental health day.

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