XGatorhead's Double Trip Report

[XGatorHead 8904]

Well, I wanted to post a trip report for our first visit of the year on opening day, but last week I was kept pretty busy. And then a week later, something amazing happened, something that rarely occurs, something that when the opportunity comes up, I just have to seize it. And that event is… A SOLO TRIP TO THE PARK!!! So, what follows are two trip reports for the price of one. Ok, ok, so they’re free anyway…

Part 1: 4/20 – Family Trip

We have been planning this one for months. My wife, daughter and I have been itching to get back to get some rides in. Especially my daughter, who stops and stares at the TV whenever the Kings Island commercial comes on. The Friday before our trip, we visited with my mom and sister, and they decided to come along too. Over the course of the weekend, we also added two more people to our merry group, my uncle and my mother’s friend’s 11 year old daughter.

Sunday morning we decide that mom, sister, uncle and friend should go ahead of us since they need to have their passes processed. Wife, daughter and I got to the park around 11:00 and the rest of the gang was almost in the SP Processing center. Overall, it only took them about 15-20 minutes to get through the whole process. Not too bad. But my uncle was stopped at the metal detectors since he forgot about his pocketknife, which he walked back to the car.

While waiting for my uncle to get back, my daughter hugs the Rugrats characters, then we do a little bit of shopping at Convenience Corner since my sister needs sunglasses (however, that need didn’t last long as the clouds and drizzle rolled in). On to Nick U! Oops, must dodge Keyhole Photo people first…

My daughter sees the Scooby and Shaggy billboards and says she wants to ride Scooby. My sister is in a wheelchair for this trip, so we go up the exit to see how many people can go through the exit with her. As I figured, all 7 of us can’t, so mom and sister stay, the rest of us get in line. We get in the queue room and my daughter (who’s only 3, btw) says she doesn’t want to ride, even though she loved it last year. So wife, daughter and I leave the line, my wife takes her to ride Backyardigan’s Swing Along while I stay outside the exit of SD&THC to round everyone else up.

Once everyone is back together, my daughter decides she wants to ride one of her favorites, Swiper’s Sweepers. I love watching the kids on this one. Next is Go Diego Go, the Dora show (same as last year, good for the kids), Plankton’s Plunge and Nick Jr. Drivers.

Everyone’s hungry, and they want Potato Works. I haven’t had it in years, and I was thankful that they have a big sign out front saying they use peanut oil (my daughter has a peanut allergy). So 3 of us continue on to Rivertown Pizza and bring back overpriced pizza and drinks while the rest munch on the overpriced fries, and my uncle has an overpriced beer.

Next is KI&MVRR. Ooohhh, trees have been cut down and there are stakes in the woods! And those stakes are even in the ravine to the left of the train track. This and the unobstructed (gasp of shock and amazement) view of the Swan Lake construction bode well for 2009!

My mom wants to ride Beast (her favorite coaster), and who am I to put up a fight about that? Besides, it’s my 2nd favorite, behind MillF. So mom, friend and I ride 2nd & 3rd seats after a 30 minute wait. I notice that the lap bar goes down easier this year, good thing I lost those 30 lbs. in the off-season. As always, a great ride, and has it always gone that fast? It’s been too long. After all, it has been since the last train of the season, on Halloween night for me. My wife, sister and uncle keep my daughter distracted by taking her into RT Arcade, where she sits at the driving games and thinks she’s playing them. It’s great to distract a 3 year old that way without having to put money in the games!

My wife wants to ride IJ… er, BLSC, which is one of her favorites. So she and my uncle go to ride, while the rest of us wait on the seat wall opposite BLSC, next to Vortex. My mom’s friend’s daughter keeps looking at Vortex, and after awhile says she wants to ride. So she and I go off to ride it. My daughter starts whining to go with us because she’s used to us staying in Nick or BB all day, and not having to wait for us to go on the big rides.

The wait for Vortex is 20 minutes, and in that time, I learn that my mom’s friend’s daughter has never ridden it before! I can’t remember the last time I rode with someone who was a 1st timer! We ride towards the middle of the train, and it’s her new favorite ride. She couldn’t stop smiling the entire time. Before that, it was like that cruise ship commercial where the mom is trying to catch her daughter smiling.

The whole group gets back together, and I learn that they distracted my daughter with watching the 3-point shot game. The rest of the day she is jumping and pretending to sink baskets. Cute!

I direct the group into X-Base to take a look at Firehawk, since most of them had never seen it. The queue was pretty full, so we opt not to ride it. My sister says she rode one like this up north and loved it, it was her favorite coaster, she kept riding it over and over, but she forgot the name of the park. I asked, “Geauga Lake?” She says, “Yeah, that’s it!” When I told her it was the same coaster, they moved it down here, her jaw dropped and her eyes lit up. I could tell she really wanted to ride then, but her health needs to get better first.

Next is Monster. It’s my daughter’s first ride on it. My wife and daughter get in one pod, and my uncle and I squeeze into another. My uncle pulls the bar to close the pod, and soon the ride starts. As we are going, our pod does not move at all. It doesn’t even sway one tiny bit. It’s like it’s locked in place for some reason. But at least this does provide me with a good view of my laughing daughter, enjoying all the ups, downs and spins for the first time. I think we can add Monster to her list of favorite rides. (We later saw the story on 9 News that aired on 4/27, which I had recorded, about ride inspections. When they showed Monster, my daughter says “There’s the ride I like!”)

When it is our time to unload, the ride op is not able to open it right away. Then he lifts up on the bottom of the pod and it locks into place. He turns to the other ride op and asks if we just got on. It turns out it wasn’t even fully closed, and I got to thinking about it, and no one had checked our pod before the ride started. So there’s a lesson: Never close your own pod!

We wanted to take my daughter on Scrambler for the first time, but it’s closed, so we head to the Carousel. I love that old ride, but I have one complaint about it for the past several years. When I was a boy, I was fascinated with watching the organ. I loved looking back at the mallet hitting the drum, or the cymbal being struck. So listen up Cedar Fair! Since we are all about nostalgia this year, please, please, please fix the organ. The carousel dates back to 1926, and I found that the organ dates back to 1918, when it was originally used on a carousel in Ocean Grove, NJ. I know it’s probably not the cheapest thing to do, but it would bring back a historic aspect to this grand old carousel. The recorded music in use today just is not the same.

Next up is a trip up the tower to get an aerial view of the construction. But by this time, my daughter is getting tired and cranky, and she says she doesn’t want to go. We unwisely take her anyway, and she starts screaming on our way up. We get off and my wife immediately takes her back on to go back down. So if any of you were on that elevator, I apologize.

I like what I see at Swan Lake so far. Footings, footings and more footings (and I even used the correct terminology so I don’t hear it from anyone on here!) But what’s this? What happened to the floral clock??? They didn’t install it this year! It’s just a circle with mulch in it. Maybe the plants are still growing for it, or maybe the electrical lines for it run from the Swan Lake vicinity. But I don’t remember it not being in place on opening day before. This is a staple of nostalgia for the park!

On to Festhaus to see The County Line. When we first walked in and I looked at the stage, without even thinking, I said “The County Line: Brought to You by Budweiser, the King of Beers!” When you see the stage you’ll know why. The few people within earshot of me have a good laugh. We sit in the front next to the stage and while we wait for the show to start, we decide to get some overpriced drinks and overpriced fries since my daughter is whining that she’s hungry.

We go to the LaRosa’s side of Festhaus, and the have one of the lanes open with guests lining the entire length of the service area and down one queue lane. There are about 15 associates behind the counter just standing around and not doing much of anything. The guy at the front of the line, near the drink station, starts to get loud, saying that he’s been standing there for 20 minutes waiting on pizza and that it should be free. There is a supervisor/manager guy (blue shirt with a tie) working on making overpriced pizzas, and he seems to be the only one doing anything back there. If you ask me, a couple of the line associates should have been making the overpriced food and the manager should have been dealing with the unhappy guests. After standing there for about 5 minutes, since I wasn’t wanting overpriced pizza, I walk past all the unfortunate people ahead of me, grab a thing of overpriced fries and an overpriced drink. My mom by this time had gone over to Panda Express for her overpriced drink, and my uncle is off in search of his overpriced coffee. When my uncle comes back, he says he had been to 3 different food stands that had overpriced coffee on their menus, as well as coffee pots/brewers, and none of them actually had any overpriced coffee. He finally got some at Starbuck’s, which he said tasted nasty (he likes just regular coffee, while I’ve never gotten bad overpriced coffee at Starbuck’s since I always get the flavored stuff there).

Showtime! The County Line is very impressive. We all love how the performers come down during and after the show and interact with the audience. The guy in the dark blue shirt came down and shook hands with my sister during the show and they brought kids up to sit on the edge of the stage waving flags. The singing and choreography were very good. After the show, the guy in the dark blue shirt came down and chatted with my mom and my sister, while I talked to a friend of mine who stopped by. At one point, I turned around and the guy in the white shirt was talking to my daughter (who had dozed off during the show but had just woken up a little before the end, so she was playing shy). Kudos to Cedar Fair and all the Entertainment staff responsible for putting this show on. We look forward to seeing this show again as well as the others opening later this year.

We decide to leave the park, since we are hungry and have had enough of the damp, slightly chilly weather. We head off to Toot’s on Montgomery Rd. for some non-overpriced salads, non-overpriced shrimp baskets and non-overpriced fried pickle chips. And wouldn’t you know it, while we’re sitting there the sun decides to come back out again. Oh well, it was a good day anyway.

Stay tuned for the account of my rare solo trip and the reason for that mysterious ½ in my ride count for The Crypt…

[WooferBearATL]

That's actually kinda scarry about the Monster Pod not being locked.

[The Interpreter]

It's even more scary that the ride's associates did NOT check it before engaging the ride. That is a very, very serious safety violation. Sigh.

[WooferBearATL]

It's even more scary that the ride's associates did NOT check it before engaging the ride. That is a very, very serious safety violation. Sigh.

The year before last, one of my lifting buddies was riding the skyride at SFOG. The associate did not lock the gondola and sent it out.

I think that he got a call from the General Manager and got a free season pass for the next season.

[XGatorHead 8904]

Just wait for my account of Red Racer coming up in Part 2, which features another inattentive ride op... I should have it posted tomorrow.

Also, I think the position of our pod had something to do with it not opening/moving too. The foot end of the pod was over the arm, so the bottom of the pod was probably resting on this, which kept the pod in place throughout the entire cycle.

[Gordon Bombay]

Great report gator head, really enjoyed reading that, looking forward to your second part.

[WooferBearATL]

Just wait for my account of Red Racer coming up in Part 2, which features another inattentive ride op... I should have it posted tomorrow.

Also, I think the position of our pod had something to do with it not opening/moving too. The foot end of the pod was over the arm, so the bottom of the pod was probably resting on this, which kept the pod in place throughout the entire cycle.

Man, that is really scary. Glad that ya'll are ok.

That type of thing should never happen.

[Hank]

I take it the food & drinks are overpriced? I know. And I agree with you about carousel's music. They need to bring the calliope back. It's not that difficult and there are several people around the country that can fix or restore them.

Great and interesting report. I really enjoyed reading it. Can't wait for part deux.

[CoastersRZ]

Technically, it never was a calliope. Calliopes use steam to produce their music. The Kings Island Carousel (PTC Carousel #79) used to have a Wurlitzer Duplex Orchestral Band Organ Style #157. It was removed sometime around 2005 or 2006. It is sadly missed! The Carousel just isn`t the same without it. They should at least install a sound system where you can actually hear the band organ music when you are riding the ride!

An interesting thing about the band organ that used to reside on KI`s carousel (the front facing of the organ still remains on the ride, while the inner working have been removed, and I`m not certain of what happened to them), but there were only twenty Wurlitzer #157 band organs ever built. The band organ at KI dated back to 1918, which had it still been around for this season, would have made it 90 years old!

[Avatar]

XGatorHead 8904 – thanks for taking the time to share your KI family experience with us. Sorry to hear about your daughter backing out from rides she rode last year, I know first hand how that is. Looking forward to your next report.

[XGatorHead 8904]

Thanks for all of the nice comments on Part 1. I’m saddened to hear that the organ’s innards have been removed. I didn’t know that. If that happened in 2005 – 06, I guess that it wasn’t to be repaired since it’s been out so long.

Part 2: 4/27 – Solo Trip

I wake up in the morning after getting a rare chance to sleep in, and my wife tells me that she is going to visit her sister in Hamilton that afternoon. The wheels start turning in my head almost immediately… could I possibly go to the park for a few hours and actually ride some coasters? I think I can pull this off!

After a quiet afternoon at home, I pull into the parking lot and am inside the gate by 4:35. 3 hours and 25 minutes to squeeze in all the rides I can. The main thing I like about solo trips is that I can walk at my own pace and go where I want, when I want. A large group of us used to make a trip up to CP every year, and a few in our group teasingly said they hated to go with me and one other of our group because the two of us always tended to speedwalk to the next ride. I book it through Nick U and head straight for The Crypt. I’ve always liked TRTR, and learned how to brace myself to guard against bodily injury in the nether regions. I’m looking forward to see what changes have been made.

I get in line, and it is moving fairly slowly, but I don’t mind. But as I’m standing in the outdoor queue area, listening to the people around me, I am quickly reminded of the biggest drawback of a solo trip… no one to talk to in long queue lines! But finally I get the cave entrance.

I enter the cave and the tunnel section of the queue looks very similar to what it did as TRTR. There are tarantulas on the wall, which I don’t remember being there before but I could be wrong about that. There is no longer a ride op standing at the end of the tunnel section before the first antechamber, or what I called the Monkeyman Room. Instead of splitting people into 3 rows in this room, they have turned it into switchback queues. My initial reaction to this was boo…but you are through it within two ride cycles. Skeletons have replaced the Monkeymen, scattered about as previous crypt raiders are bound to end up.

There is no longer a door between the 1st and 2nd rooms. As you enter the 2nd room, you are split into rows. On the left side of the room are two demon guards. On the right, the huge 6 armed statue has been replaced by a tall demon with its wings closed over its front. Every few minutes the demon opens its wingspan, moves its head left and right and snarls at the crowd below. Come to think of it, it looks a lot like something off of one of MeatLoaf’s three “Bat Out of Hell” album covers. I know some people have criticized the photos they’ve seen of it, but it doesn’t look too bad in the dark.

You are then ushered into the ride area. One row has been removed, so now there are only two rows. The bas-relief sculpture is still on the wall in front of you, but has been painted over with black paint. The area below that has been cleared, so you see black garage doors, whereas in TRTR that was hidden. Gone are the icicles and the lava lake, the music is now of the techno variety, and the lights are brighter than before when you enter.

Now, as for the ride itself. It started off great! So far I am loving the reprogramming. The sign outside the queue promised a more intense experience, and it is delivering on that promise. I’m so used to being slowly raised forward and stopping to look at the sculpture that I am surprised when that doesn’t happen, even though I knew it was reprogrammed. There are some unexpected flips, I actually laughed, and the ride has been renewed!

But then, at what I guess to be about halfway through, we are at the highest point, and we swing down. Then we swing the other way, the lights come on, and it basically has become Viking Fury as we swing back and forth. And I am left with an answer to a question I had never though before: Can a Huss Giant Top Spin valley? The answer is yes. The ride op in the control room comes on the loudspeaker and says something, but I couldn’t make out what was said. As we swing freely back and forth, a few people are yelling to stop the ride. The ride op comes on the loudspeaker 5-6 times, but since the music is still playing, it’s unintelligible.

We finally swing to a stop, and a lot of the riders are angry that they wasted close to an hour in line only to have this happen. I’m not angry, I know rides go down all the time, but on the way out I do make a point to tell the two ride ops standing near the exit that next time they need to make an announcement to the riders, make sure to turn the music off. As I am exiting the building, there is a rides manager coming in and I tell her the same thing. Hopefully I did not come off as upset, because I wasn’t. I was in a very mellow mood that day.

I decide to stop by Potato Works for some overpriced fries since I haven’t had them in years and I couldn’t the previous week because of my daughter’s peanut allergy. The service is actually fast and fairly friendly, which kind of surprised me based on food experiences the past couple of years, but I am disappointed that they no longer have two sizes. I get what used to be a large, with cheese and malt vinegar (the only way to properly eat them). I sit at a table and munch on them and people watch for a while. I manage to finish about 2/3 of the container and can eat no more. I hate wasting food, but I had no choice since the small is no longer an option.

I decide to get a dose of nostalgia in and head for the Red Racer. I get to the station and YES!, only 2 groups are in line for the front seat, so I wait for that. Since Mr. Helbig made a point to say that they were bringing back the excitement of racing blue vs. red, I made a point to watch. The first trains are dispatched together, but the red is stopped on the lift as the blue continues on. The red side proceeds to load the next train, and the two ride ops checking the restraints are aware of the previous train being stopped on the lift, as they keep looking at it through the end of the station. The ride ops give the thumbs up, which I think is odd since they still have a train on the lift. The ride op on the far side finally says something to the driver, and she smiles at him and says, “Thanks, I would have figured it out eventually!” She touches the control panel and the train on the lift starts moving again. Its things like this (and my experience on Monster the week before, see Part 1) that are not necessarily the best things to see from ride operators. Serious accidents can and do occur from the inattention of ride ops.

Now since the train was stopped on the lift for so long, my train and the train before me are not dispatched at the same time as the blue trains. So much for racing, you know, the main reason for bringing nostalgia to recaR. But at least they do have both sides running.

I climb aboard and we’re off. It’s been a long time since I’ve sat in the front for Racer (especially Racer South!). It is a very smooth ride. It’s amazing how smooth this is with the re-tracking. Good job by the wood coaster maintenance department!

I decide to ride SoB next, but as I pass by AdvExp I can’t resist. It’s always a walk-on anymore, so why not? I always liked the Indiana Jones music, which is still played in the station, and how the ride was so close to being like the mine car scene in Temple of Doom. As the ride goes along, I’m reminded after so many years of not riding it just what a good little coaster it is.

I continue on to SoB. This will be my first time riding without the loop and with the new trains. The line is about ½ an hour long, and I get in line for the 5th seat back. I always found the middle seat of the old cars to be slightly smoother, our theory was because this seat wasn’t over the wheels. But as I get closer to the ride, I have a DOH! moment. These are new trains, and there are no middle seats to the cars. Oh well.

I love the first drop, but the Rose Bowl seems to be as rough as always. The second time through it, I grit my teeth as I feel my brain shaking inside my skull (never a good feeling). The rest of the ride is just okay. For me, the absence of the loop is making a big difference. I can now say that SoB is no longer as much of a draw for me, as it has lost its greatest unique quality. I wanted to like it just as much or better, but it didn’t happen.

I debate going on my favorite flat, Delirium, but I decide that since this is my wife’s favorite flat too, I’ll wait for another trip with her to ride it. So instead I’ll go to her favorite coaster, BLSC, since she rode it the week before without me. The line starts at the bridge, so they wait time is excellent, only 2 trains before I’m on it. As the sign warned, I was a single so I was paired. Another good little steel coaster, but weren’t there water effects during the helicopter sequence? Maybe they weren’t on because of the temperature, but it wasn’t that cold. But then again WWC was open… Hopefully BLSC is not on its way to being “Disaster Transported”!

I head to X-Base to see how the line is for Firehawk. Most of the queues are filled so I decide to skip it this time and head to FoF, but that happens to be closed at the moment. So, Beast it is!

I get in line for the rear of the train, and I like the new signs they’ve put in the station. “Ignore the Screaming…” “In the Woods…” “Everything is Fine!” and “Last Chance to Escape…” “The Wrath of…” “The Beast!” When it comes time to pick a seat, there happens to be one with no wait. I go there, and I sit in the seat on the far side. I’ve always preferred this side for a funny little reason. After the 2nd tunnel, and before the 2nd lift hill, I love leaning to the right into the turns in that section. Another lone rider sits next to me, who ends up being a 1st year associate in Merch at Thrill Seekers. We talk a little about how it is to work at KI, and we are soon on our way. Once again it doesn’t disappoint.

By the time the ride is over, the park is closed. I walk through Coney, and decide to walk by the floral clock to see if they’ve installed it since the week before. Nope, it’s still just a circle of mulch. How disappointing. Come to think of it, it kind of looks like the logo for The Crypt but without the lettering, a divided metal circle with mulch inside of it.

On my way out I stop by the new Guest Relations to talk to a couple of people I know in there. It’s a nice set-up. The last year or so that Jeff Siebert was there, he told me about wanting to do this. It makes it a lot easier to interact with the guests at a counter instead of through those 2 little windows, and they can help more people at the same time.

Overall it was a successful solo trip. I got to ride things that I love to ride but usually don’t get a chance to with the little one. She tends to be a daddy’s girl, so it’s rare that I can manage sneaking off for a big ride without her causing a little bit of a scene. But during the first trip of the year, we learned new ways to keep her distracted which will hopefully help the rest of the season. She’s 38” tall now, so only 2 more to go until another few rides open up for her, and I’m counting down the other 10 inches that she needs to become my ride partner to talk with in those long queue lines.

Thanks for indulging me by reading this. Hopefully I haven’t bored anyone to tears with my ramblings. If so, you should have stopped reading this a long time ago!

[WooferBearATL]

Mental Note....

Ride no rides with XGator.

[Gordon Bombay]

Don't worry about boring anyone to tears gatorhead, I loved your trip reports. I hope those water effects come back on BL:SC, although I hate the fact that great rides had to be removed for it, it is a nice little ride. I think those signs on The Beast have always been there, however, one thing I did notice during my visit last week was that the mine shaft by the rides turn around has received new landscaping and looks really nice. I also noticed while waiting in line for Beast that the crew there started really, really spieling every train and the spiels are fun to listen to. It would be cool if crews like that had headsets like at Cedar Point.

Great trip report Gator! Glad to ear you got to have fun with your daughter and then go to have some alone time!

P.S. After reading your description of the fries I am starving and now need to go get some lunch.

[XGatorHead 8904]

Mental Note....

Ride no rides with XGator.

Aw, come on. Just because a ride went 29 on me and I had two inattentive ride ops doesn't mean I'm bad luck!

[WooferBearATL]

Mental Note....

Ride no rides with XGator.

Aw, come on. Just because a ride went 29 on me and I had two inattentive ride ops doesn't mean I'm bad luck!

Well, the Monster incident concerns me the most.

The TR:TC incident is not anything major, but makes ya think about those bad drive through speakers.

The Racer issues is just a lack of caring. If the train was stopped on the hill, it's not like the other train was going to collide with it.

[Gordon Bombay]

^Very true, the block system would have prevented them from dispatching, but I don't think that was gator's concern. What were they paying attention to instead? Then to just laugh it off like its no big deal. Granted, no ones safety was in danger, however, that certainly was not good guest perception.

[XGatorHead 8904]

That's true about the blocks, but for a standard guest who wouldn't have known that it could be a concern. While that train was on the lift hill the driver had been talking to her friend who came over holding a pan and broom and started the conversation by saying "I just made North the cleanest it's been in 10 years!" I would have liked to have seen that!

As far as the Monster pod, it wasn't scary while I was on it because we had no idea why it wasn't moving until the end. But the past couple of days I've been wondering what would have happened had the bottom not been resting on the arm. I can just envision us at the top and the pod opening. Now that is scary. We were extremely lucky. I will never close my own pod again! That way I'll know 100% that a ride op checked it.

[WooferBearATL]

That's true about the blocks, but for a standard guest who wouldn't have known that it could be a concern. While that train was on the lift hill the driver had been talking to her friend who came over holding a pan and broom and started the conversation by saying "I just made North the cleanest it's been in 10 years!" I would have liked to have seen that!

As far as the Monster pod, it wasn't scary while I was on it because we had no idea why it wasn't moving until the end. But the past couple of days I've been wondering what would have happened had the bottom not been resting on the arm. I can just envision us at the top and the pod opening. Now that is scary. We were extremely lucky. I will never close my own pod again! That way I'll know 100% that a ride op checked it.

If you think about the possibilities (and all of us could) it's a very scary thought.

Glad you're ok big man.

[The Interpreter]

Actually, I can tell you what would most likely have happened. The occupants of said pod would most likely have been fine...but in the first swing of the pod around the arm, there would have been a minor collision, with damage to the pod, putting it out of service for at least days, if not weeks. Do not ask me how I know this....

[Kawana]

Mental Note....

Ride no rides with XGator.

Aw, come on. Just because a ride went 29 on me and I had two inattentive ride ops doesn't mean I'm bad luck!

Ok what does that mean. A ride went 29 on you? Must be ride op speak. After reading your TR about the Monster, I think it's a good idea for me not to close, or do anything myself so that the checkers know it's done, and done the right way.

[The Interpreter]

Yes, 2-9 is ride op speak (or radio speak. It means the ride is not operating. Or at least it did under Paramount (and Taft-KECO before it, I believe).

[WooferBearATL]

Yes, 2-9 is ride op speak (or radio speak. It means the ride is not operating. Or at least it did under Paramount (and Taft-KECO before it, I believe).

Yeah, there are a variety of different codes that used over the radio's.

They're usually division specific.

There are general ones (for weather and attendance) that go to everyone's radios.

[The Interpreter]

I think you will find Cedar Fair is MUCH more restrictive with just who gets attendance figures nowadays....

[WooferBearATL]

I think you will find Cedar Fair is MUCH more restrictive with just who gets attendance figures nowadays....

Well, I'd think not. Attendance figures are used for staffing issues. Being that CF seems very cognizant of staffing, they would likely not discontinue hourly reads.

[Gordon Bombay]

Cognizant of staffing as in having maintenance and other area workers working as ride ops in some cases like today's trip reports indicated?

[WooferBearATL]

Cognizant of staffing as in having maintenance and other area workers working as ride ops in some cases like today's trip reports indicated?

Well I think today's trip reports just indicate either poor training or poor hiring.

Combine that with a lack of concern on the part of some rides workers and it just is a dangerous situation.

So essentially, they can save the money but possibly injure guests/workers?

[XGatorHead 8904]

I thought I would start a list of highlights and lowlights of each of my trips this year. I’ve found myself visiting much more often than I had thought I would so far. I realized last night that out of the 8 weeks KI has been open so far, I've been there 7 of them!

Trip #3 – 5/10

This trip was completely spur of the moment. We usually don’t go on Saturdays, but after dinner we decided to make a quick trip to the park. We figured by then Nick U would be pretty much cleared out, and it was!

Highlights: - Even though we walked through the gate at 7:45, my daughter was able to ride all of her rides in Nick U.

- My daughter’s first ride on Scrambler. I rode it with her and she laughed the whole time. She loved it!

- Our first fireworks of the year, in our usual spot between Tower and BLSC. The three of us shared a Cinnabon next to the fountain afterward. Yummy!

Lowlight: - Still no Floral Clock!

Trip #4 – 5/18

My wife went to see the movie Baby Mama with her sister, so that left my daughter and I to find something to keep us occupied. So what better way to pass the time than at Kings Island? My wife met up with us after she was done seeing the movie.

Highlights: - My daughter’s first roller coaster ride ever!!!! As some of you know, I lost weight during the off season just so I could ride with her on her first time. Well, little did I know that the lap bars for LBGC are very forgiving (even if the leg room is not) and I could have actually done it last year! Oh well, losing weight’s a good thing anyway. Now if only I can lose enough to finally ride an Intamin again! Anyway, she loved it and had her hands up the whole time. That’s my girl! Of course I bought the picture and it’s sitting on my desk at work.

- My wife got “checked for Ticks” during the County Line show. My daughter played shy and smiled when Josh and the other guys came up to talk to her after the show. Kudos to the County Line guys for taking the time to talk to us again. We never get the women talking to us for some reason… but in all fairness they are busy interacting with other tables.

Lowlight: Still no Floral Clock!

Trip #5 – 5/24 – Robbie Knievel Day!

This trip was the 3 of us plus my uncle. My sister really wanted to go with us but she was not feeling up to it by the time it finally came around.

Highlights: - The Floral Clock is back!!!!

- This was the first time we ever attempted to eat out at our car, and it worked wonderfully. All my fears of my daughter not understanding that we would actually go back into the park were for naught. However, it took us a good while to get to and from the car. But we saved our nickels by having some nice sandwiches, chips, apples and black cherries brought from home.

- We got to see the HB characters do The Hustle.

- We all enjoyed the jump. We were right behind the trailer of the last truck, between the Tom Raper RV and the big Chik-Fil-A inflatable cow. My daughter just loved the skydivers, it was the first time she had ever seen that. I had to hold my daughter the whole time, and every time the fireworks and flames went off, my daughter would jump, but she laughed at the same time. We asked her at the end of the night what her favorite part of the day was, and she said “The motorcycle”. But I think she meant all the events leading up to the jump, as the only part of the jump we saw was him landing on the ramp. This was because of our position behind the trucks, the fact that he jumped over the cabs of the trucks and not the trailers, and the fact that since there were no loudspeakers in our vicinity, we had no idea when he was actually doing it. It was just like “Oh look, there he is landing!”

- My daughter’s first “ride” on SBSP3-D, but it wasn’t really a ride since it was a motionless seat. She was excited about it, but didn’t like the end with Robo-Patrick’s saw and Paddleball of Doom.

- Great fireworks, but in our usual fireworks viewing area we can never hear the music so we missed out on that aspect of it.

Lowlights: - We completely missed the Clown Band! This was one of my main reasons for going. As I’ve attested before, I love them! I wish I had known when and where we could have seen them, but that wasn’t listed in the special brochure for the day.

- The music from the DJ in front of Kings Island Theater was WAY too loud for my daughter to handle, so she did not get to interact with the HB characters at all.

- We got to the park in the early afternoon, and we were directed to park in the grass right next to South Tolls. I expected as much, so it’s not really a gripe. At least I got some exercise to and from lunch!

- We decided on Cinnabon to snack on during the fireworks. I got mine fine, but my uncle, who was in line directly behind me, was told that it would be another 15 minutes for any to be ready. Boo to the Cinnabon associates for poor planning on a crowded night when there was still 20 minutes to go before the posted park closing time (and 1 hour and 20 minutes until the time the park actually closed due to it’s extended hour). There were lots of people in line behind us who were none too happy also. But I decided to be nice and shared with my uncle.

More to come as I write them...

[XGatorHead 8904]

Trip #6 – 6/1

We weren’t planning on going at all this weekend, but my mom called us a few days before to get a group together. We had a prior commitment in the early afternoon, but met everyone at the park when we were done with that. It was the same group as trip #1, but in place of my sister was my mom’s fiancé.

Highlights: - My wife actually rode two major coasters! I told her how smooth Red Racer was, so she rode that, then surprised us when she got in line with us at FoF. She hasn’t ridden any coasters but BLSC and AdvExp (and now LBGC) the past few years because she doesn’t like how they make her feel anymore. But she did just fine on these two.

- My first ride on Avatar this year (and only my second ever)!

- Our first ride on Wild Thornberries River Adventure this year. My daughter rode it once with us last year, and that was enough for her. After that, all she wanted from that ride was to watch the elephant spray people. This time, she surprised me as I got off Avatar when she told me she wanted to ride the boat ride. No one in line at all, got right on. She loved it and wanted to get right back on. We went straight from the exit back to the entrance. That was the first time she ever asked to do that on any ride.

- My daughter decided on her own that she wanted to go up the Eiffel Tower (the total opposite of our first visit). While up there, she found a cicada clinging to the railing. She absolutely loves cicadas, so she was petting it and talking to it. When we were ready to go back down, she made sure to say goodbye to it!

- Our first Smurf cone of the year (sorry, going old school).

Lowlights: - The Robbie Kneivel display in the IR stairway area has been replaced with a display on the Carrousel. The placard in the display stated that it features the 1918 Wurlitzer Duplex Organ. But as has been posted here before, the innards of the organ were removed a few years ago, and now, sadly, all you hear is faint recorded music from a speaker. I miss the organ.

- I didn’t ride it, but my uncle reported that none of the fire and water effects were operating on BLSC when he rode it. Could the Disaster Tranport-ization of this ride have begun?

- Of the 3 ride cycles of Racer that left while I was in the station (including my own), Red and Blue were dispatched together a grand total of 0 times.

- When we got in line for Red Racer, we picked a seat with no one waiting. My wife got in and buckled her seatbelt, but mine would not come out at all. We got out of the seat and back in line, and my wife just narrowly missed the gate closing on her leg. A ride op, who shares his name with the largest actor on Lost, looked at us like “What’s up?” I told him the seatbelt didn’t work. He got an attitude with me and in a snotty tone of voice said “It works.” I admittedly got a little attitude back with him and said “No, it doesn’t. It doesn’t come out at all. Don’t tell me it works when it doesn’t.” The ride op said, “It does work, I’ll show you.” As they were checking the restraints, the ride op told the girl checking my side to show me how the seatbelt works. And of course, I had a HUGE laugh when she couldn’t get the seatbelt out either. I’ve been using seatbelts since before that ride op was born, and he’s going to show me how to work one. HA! Sorry, but I don’t appreciate snide attitudes from park employees, and I wouldn't have gotten rude with him if he hadn't with me first.

Trip #7 – 6/8

It’s a hot day, so Boomerang Bay is the cure!

Highlights: - We started our visit by seeing Endless Summer on Ice. Great show, as it was last year. We sat right under the balloons and didn’t tell my daughter about them. She loved seeing Yogi, the shark and Scooby in the show, and she was surprised when the balloons dropped. We ended up taking 2 of them home.

- Such a nice day for the waterpark. My daughter loved going up and down in the waves of the wavepool, going down all the slides, and walking around on her own in Kookaburra Bay.

- This was the first time we took her over to Jackeroo Landing. She had no fear of doing the slides there, which are considerably bigger than the ones at Koala Splash and Kangaroo Lagoon. She did the blue one first and loved it. Then all three of us headed to the green, then the orange. It was great that all three of us could actually do the same ones!

Lowlights: - There were no lifeguards at the top of the curvy white slides at Koala Splash. I know this was most likely due to staffing levels, since it was this way at the end of the BB season last year too. But I guess this is better than having those slides closed. I just don’t like telling other people’s kids to get to the back of the line when they cut in front of all the other kids, which happens all the time. It’s amazing how many little kids are there with no parents watching them.

- They were only running 2 rafts on Koala Splash, so that made the line extra long for my wife and daughter. But on the plus side, the lifeguard at the top was aware that they needed more and was waiting to get the chance to talk to a manager about getting more, since 3 other rafts were sitting down below with problems.

Trip #8 – 6/15

Another trip to the Bay…

Highlights: - Lifeguards at the top of the curvy white slides at Koala Splash!

- 5 rafts running on Koala Splash!

- We actually got decent service at Festhaus. We only got 2 pieces of pizza, watermelon and a drink refill, so the food was already out for us. So all we needed to do was pick it up and then wait for our cup refill, unlike the debacle last time.

- We went to see Girls Night Out after BB closed, and the cast went out of their way to interact with my daughter. We were in our usual front row (er, table) seats and when the cast came out before the show, the one in the black vest and pink skirt, I think her name is Kayla, sat down next to my daughter and talked to her for a while. Then during the intro to “This One’s for the Girls”, the soloist pointed my daughter out and said she wanted to see her clapping along. So my daughter put down her pizza and started clapping. She loves it when the performers talk her to like this, and the Girls Night Out and County Line casts are doing a great job interacting with the crowd!

Lowlights: None!

[XGatorHead 8904]

Trip #9 – 7/4 - Rick Wallenda/Independence Day!

After 2 weeks without going to the park, we sure made up for it this weekend with two visits in three days!

Highlights:- We got to the park at 1:45 in the rain, and the parking lot is almost empty! The crowd does pick up later in the day, but looks like the rain kept people at home for the early part of the day.

- With Wallenda’s first walk pushed back due to weather, we saw Endless Summer. Good as always.

- After a few Nick U rides, we headed to the picnic grove. We spent 659.4 nickels online the day before to purchase the Backyard BBQ tickets, and overall it was a decent experience. The food was plentiful, although the chicken could have been juicier. It wasn’t as good as what the grove used to serve years ago. I overheard one of the associates tell his supervisor that he had a lot of people complain that it’s called the Backyard BBQ, but there’s no BBQ to be found (menu consists of hotdogs, burgers and fried chicken). The burgers and hotdogs were okay, and come to think of it I guess I may be basing my “decent” rating on quantity rather than quality. But my daughter loved it all, especially the ice cream.

- My daughter hugged Dino and Barney Rubble! She had no idea who they are, but she hugged them anyway.

- OMG HE DID IT! We stood between ET and the fountain on the Starbucks side to watch the 2nd Wallenda walk. We didn’t see the 1st because we figured the little one would only be patient enough to sit through one of them, so we waited for the longer walk. Once he made it about ½ way over the fountain on his way out of the park, I went over to Starbucks to get us some blended Chai drinks for a total of 222.6 nickels while my wife stayed outside and my daughter played with some friends she had just made. I got back out just in time to see the last part of Wallenda’s return over the fountain. I’m not sure I would have wanted to be one of the park associates they had holding the support lines. If he had fallen while I was holding it, I would have been emotionally scarred. But thankfully he made it alright.

- While waiting for the fireworks in our usual spot (the slab of concrete where a food cart used to be between ET and BLSC), we got to talking to an older gentleman who had come to watch the fireworks. He said he used to bring his grandkids to the park all the time. But now his grandkids are all grown, and their grandmother is now gone, but he decided to get a season pass this year so he could come to the park and enjoy the shows and the atmosphere. He told us he has lived on Western Row for years, and he was able to watch the fireworks from his bedroom window at one time, but now he can’t because the area has grown so much, he can only hear them now. So he decided to come up that evening to see them. I told him that we hear the fireworks every night from our house off of Fields Ertel too, we love the fact that we can, and that I could never understand how someone could buy a house close to the park and complain about that. My daughter talked to him a little, and she also made friends with a woman and her family sitting in the grass near us. I like how a small group of strangers were able to bond for a short while in a place that we all love, and my daughter’s reactions to the fireworks: “Ooh, that was a big giant one Daddy!”, “Ooh, that was a pretty one!”

Lowlights: - We missed the clown band again! ARGH!

- I wished they had been able to do the airshow that day, but they pushed it back until 7/5. I thought that the weather was clear enough to do it, but then again I’m not a pilot or parachutist.

- After the Wallenda walk we decided to see Flashback. We were told by the usher there that the show was going to be pushed back ½ hour. No problem, we’ll go ride LBGC. While in line, we hear music coming from Showplace. After we get off the ride, another group who had done the same thing as us and we headed over to find the show had already started. The show had apparently been pushed back only 15 minutes instead of the 30 we were told. Thanks for the misinformation! But we figured that we only missed the first song, as the song was something about the 80’s in general and not an actual pop song from that era.

- The Flashback show is the weakest show we’ve seen at the park this year or last. We’ll give it another shot, maybe they were just having an off performance. Everyone but one singer sounded really nasal, and if it’s one thing I can’t stand it’s nasally singing (Randy Travis comes to mind in that respect…ugh). I thought maybe it was the sound system since everyone sounded that way, with the exception of one person. Even Josh, who we’ve enjoyed in the past in other shows, seemed to be a little nasal. And I’m sorry, but there’s something not quite right about having a tenor sing the male part of “Time of My Life”. It needs a good, rich baritone like Bill Medley on the original recording. And then that same tenor sang “I Love Rock & Roll” by Joan Jett, a traditionally female song. I liked the giant boom boxes they brought out on stage, and how the speakers moved in and out of the box. However, the row of buttons for the tape deck on one of them was very crooked. It looked like it had been made for an elementary school play. The real star of the show was the girl who did the Tina Turner impersonation and “Let’s Hear It for the Boy”. Wow, she was excellent! But like I said, we’ll try it again and hopefully it’s better next time.

- While the fireworks were excellent, I wouldn't say that they were "the largest fireworks display in the 36 year history of the park" as it was advertised. The years when they shot from 2 different sites and the tower seemed bigger to me. But that's the typical KI Marketing overhype that we've come to know and love.

Trip #10 – 7/6

Another trip to the Bay, this time with my uncle in tow.

Highlights: - Started this visit once again with Endless Summer.

- We had a great time, even though the water was a little chilly!

Lowlights: - We had gotten our hands stamped after Endless Summer and drove to the waterpark entrance. When we went through the metal detectors at the waterpark, no one checked our handstamps. The one Admissions associate that was on that side was over near the exit with the stamp pad in her hand, not paying attention to us, and no one was exiting at the time so she should have been checking the handstamps. As a former Admissions associate, that really irks me! That and something else at that entrance which I won’t mention because I don’t want to give anyone ideas. It’s fairly easy to figure out and I’m sure it’s already being abused, but I won’t spread it.

- We always bring in very little to the waterpark (towels, sunscreen, souvenir cup all in a Walmart/Kroger bag…that’s it, besides our passes and a little cash that we keep on us) and set it on/under a chair. Since our souvenir cup had ice in it, we put it under our chair, whereas we usually put it in the bag under a towel on the chair. We came back to the chair at the end of the day, and our cup was gone! Someone had come along and stolen our cup, of all things! I guess we’ll spend another 139.8 nickels for a new one next time. Dang it, that one lasted us since the beginning of last season…

[XGatorHead 8904]

Trip #11 – 7/23

While my wife went to see the American Idols tour with her sister, I had to find something to occupy my daughter. I had the idea to go to KI for a cheap night of fun, but my wife had already told her we were going to see Space Chimps. I get to daycare, and my daughter says, “I want to see the space movie”. I said, “How about if we go to Kings Island instead?” She says, “No, I want to see the space movie.” I say, “But we can ride all the rides at Kings Island”, to which she replies, after a slight pause, and you can just see the light bulb going on in her head, “I want to do both!” Now I’ve gotten myself into trouble…

We manage to get over to Showcase across from KI for the 6:30 showing of Space Chimps. After seeing Wall-E two weeks before, I was not too impressed with it, but she had fun.

We get out and head across the street, getting there at 8:15. For a Wednesday night, there were a ton of kids there around her age with their parents, so I didn’t feel too bad about keeping her out late. Usually Nick U dies down later in the day, but not that night. We get a few rides in (with Scooby being first, naturally), and we share a blue ice cream. It was a good little night of some daddy/daughter time.

Trip #12 – 8/6 – The Big Reveal & My 2nd Solo Trip of the Year

I just had to be there for the biggest announcement in the park’s 36 year history, so I took the day off and went to the Island. Knowing this was probably one of my last chances to get some big rides in was, of course, another motivator.

I got to the park at 9:45 and waited for the ropes to drop near Keyhole Photo. Once they did, I was off to Firehawk for my first ride on it of the year. After FH it was on to FoF, then Racer. Once again, they were not racing The Racer, but I excused them this time because Red had just gone down for a maintenance issue and all the people that were in line for Red were asked to go over to Blue. Then on to AdvExp and Delirium after that. I got 5 rides done in an hour and a half! I love days like this!

I had to leave the park at 11:15 to meet some friends for lunch down at Fields Ertel for our annual Bristol-Nascar-Weekend-Planning Lunch. I get back to the park at 1:15, which is just enough time to go up the Tower to check out the Swan Lake construction before I head to Rivertown.

I find a spot with a good view of the stage. My wife will love the news that the Bradys are coming, I know where we’ll be 8/31. After those announcements, finally the news we all have waited forever for…Diamondback! I love that logo! Many of us were right on with the snake theme, which wasn’t too hard after the snake eye teaser appeared on the KI website. My only disappointment with the presentation was that there was no visit by Montel Williams! After the stage presentation, I head over to look at the animation and the model.

I must say I’m very impressed and can’t wait to ride this thing next year. I love the fact that that in addition to the animation, they had an actual working model. It just brings home the reality of what this coaster will be. While checking out the model, it was also nice to finally meet a couple of people from this site (hello, Kawana and Captain Nemo!). And the elusive XGatorHead was captured in this photo, to the far right in the black shirt:

For some reason I don’t look too happy, but I was having fun that day, I swear!

After I had my fill of Diamondback (for now), I decided to give Crypt another try, since the last time I only got ½ a ride in. While in line, I heard something absolutely hilarious, which I recounted here. I was not enamored with Crypt this time. No music, and the program I found to be not as thrilling as the old TR:TR program. I think I liked it on my ½ ride earlier this year because it caught me off guard. But on a full ride cycle without the music, lighting and other effects, it was just Flipping in a Box. Not very thrilling.

I had to let KI redeem itself, so I went to Beast next, and waited for the front row. Finally, some fun again! BLSC and Vortex are next. After Vortex, I felt like a cool tasty treat, so on my way to Action Zone I stop by the frozen lemonade stand and order a frozen limeade. What she gave me tasted more like sour apple than lime, but it was still cool and refreshing so I didn’t complain. I was just hot and was glad to have something cold.

I get in line for DT, and heard something else hilarious which is also recounted in the same post as the Crypt comment two paragraphs up. After not much of a wait, I get in my seat, lower the restraint, and very quickly realize that there is no way that I am ever going to get that thing buckled. No amount of pushing and pulling and sucking in is gonna do it, so I just leave my seat and exit the ride before the ride ops even come around to check the restraints. I wish that DT had the same “seatbelts” that Delirium has on its restraints instead of the one end being hard-mounted onto the restraint. But that’s comparing an Intamin to a Huss, so I know that’s not really a fair comparison and not likely to happen. Oh well, just another Intamin I can’t ride.

I go to Invertigo next, and it’s 5:00 when I get off. I have a little time to kill before I have to leave to pick up my daughter from daycare, but not really enough time to wait for a ride, so I go to see Girls Night Out again. They’re wearing different outfits than before… I wonder if there’s a reason for that or if they had two sets of wardrobe all along. And of course I get singled out a little bit (as a male, sitting alone, in a show with an all female cast) when Kimber points directly at me while singing “Why Haven’t I Heard From You”. At least I wasn’t the one dragged up on stage!

What a great day… 11 rides, a show and the presentation all in 5.75 hours! I can’t wait for Diamondback!