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Back around 1990, Friends and I all piled into my car for fun at Kings Island. It was a Monday and Memorial Day weekend. About 20 miles from the park (I have a 3 hour drive) My car broke down. I had little idea of what to do. Cell phones were not the norm for anyone and I had no idea of how we were gonna get to Kings Island. We were a few hundred yards from a highway exit ramp, so I left my friends to the car, so I could possibly find a pay phone. I phoned Kings Island, told them my situation, then asked, "What should I do?" They transferred me to a manager of some sort. He asked "What highway exit ramp was I near?" I told him and he said " Stay right there, he knew where I was" . He personally came and got me and my friends. By then, I noticed a state trooper pulling into the closed gas station parking lot (He had noticed my stranded car, and came to get me) I told the trooper that I had talked to KI, and they were on their way. He even waited until the Kings Island manager arrived. I told him thanks for the help. When we arrived at Kings Island, the supervisor(manager) took me into his office. Gave me a note pad and pen, plus his phone to use. We called a nearby hotel, to book a room for the night, since repair garages were generally closed on the holiday. This generous employee told me he would call a wrecker service to tow my vehicle to a Toyota dealership, since that is what I owned. He also told me not to worry and to go enjoy the park for the day. I was instructed to meet with the Head of security after the park closed, so one of his men could take us to our hotel. The security guard dropped us off at the hotel (He walked into the lobby with me to make sure that I was checked in and we were ok) Tuesday we waited for my water pump to be fixed, then we proceeded to go back home. The employees that I encountered went way above the call of duty, and helped a stranger out. From the gentleman who came to pick us up, to the security guard that made sure we go into our hotel room, we were helped in every way of customer service that could of been done. Several days later, I wrote a Thank-you letter to the staff, I was very grateful for their help and friendliness. That is why I think the experience will never be forgotten, by the very helpful and friendly Kings Island staff.

Having never ridden it, I don't really have any feelings for it. And a controlled demolition sounds cool. Wouldn't you like to see a wooden version of this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opTO_D_9aBA

As you may have figured out, I read darn near everything I can (except FaceBook for a multitude of reasons). I always consider the source when evaluating information. It's much easier to find information than decades ago, but the reliability of much of it is lower than in days of yore.

That'd be a pretty cool PR stunt. I'll never forget the implosion of Riverfront Stadium.

What's better than a planned trip to Kings Island? An unplanned one! My daughter got to go with her school so I thought she was gonna be the lucky one this time. But as it turns out, they were concerned that with her Autism there could be some problems. So at the last moment I scraped up a few bucks and headed out myself. She got to the park a couple of hours before I did and, as it turns out, did very well on her own. She got separated from her group so she found her teacher and relocated her group. It was during this time that I arrived, but since she was with her group again everything was cool until their check-in time. I had 90 minutes to kill before then so I headed off for some coasters. First ride was Flight Deck. I don't know if they did something to it or if it was just me, but the ride seemed more intense, faster, and seemed like it "topped out" several times on the swings. One thing I miss about the ride is the theming it used to have as Top Gun. I know Cedar Fair isn't much on theming but if they focused at least half the energy they do on Peanuts on the adult rides it would be a 100% improvement. But anyway... Next ride was Vortex. Last time I was at the park (been a few years) Vortex seemed to be having issues. Not this time. It, too, seemed faster and was definitely much smoother than last time. Definitely a 10/10 when compared to then. 9 After those two rides it was time to meet up with my daughter's school check-in. She wanted to spend the rest of the day with me, so I signed her out from the school group. Now, as I mentioned before, she has Autism, so I thought maybe the bigger coasters were gonna be a problem. Boy was I in for a surprise. We headed off to Rivertown because she wanted to ride Diamondback. When we got there the line was backed up a bit so we mozied on up to one of the kiddie rides she wanted to ride. Back to Diamondback and the line had moved a good bit so we got in. This was our longest wait of the day, but no more than 30-45 minutes. This would be the first time riding for both of us. Definitely a 10/10 ride! Very smooth, very fast, and love the amounts of airtime! Up next was the grand old favorite, The Beast. A little bit of a wait here too but nothing to complain about. The ride, on the other hand... I like a good shaky, rattly wooden coaster but The Beast seemed a bit angry. I like the fact that the trim brakes were toned down a bit (or so it seemed) but there were a couple of places where things got unusually rough. I thought a couple of those bumps were gonna sling us from the track but, alas, The Beast didn't get us. I'll give it an 8/10, fix the potholes and all will be good. We then took a spin on the log ride (forgot its new name lol). Not very eventful and didn't even get a splash until Snoopy spit on us. I don't like getting too wet but have to say it felt pretty good in the heat and it didn't drench me. I'm not a game player but my daughter wanted a Hello Kitty. Don't remember the game but it was the one where you spray a button to make the game piece rise. We were the only ones playing so either way it was a winner, so why not. She beat me and got her Kitty. I'll take that loss any day. The half a pretzel my daughter gave me earlier was by now well worn off, so time to eat. LaRosa's pizza was the final choice and we got the combo slice with breadsticks. They had a piece up but it looked like it had been there awhile, so I waited on the fresh. Very good. Back to The Vortex, as she hadn't ridden it yet. Once again, another great ride. I could ride that thing all day. She wanted to try Firehawk, but when we got there it was more than 60 minutes wait time and neither of us wanted to stand in line that long so we went for The Racer instead. Wait time was a little extended due to only the Blue side running at the time, but still not too bad considering. It was a good ride for an old classic, and didn't beat me up like it used to. The kids behind me provided a little entertainment, which made it a bit more fun. She took a spin on the Scrambler. She was antsy for it to start, and it was funny watching her get off - it made her quite dizzy. Next up was Adventure Express. Still week on the theming but at least what's there was working this time. I'm still undecided on this coaster though. It's like a love/hate relationship; I love the ride but hate how it beats the heck outta me every time I ride it. The addition of a NASCAR-style Hans Device probably wouldn't hurt this thing... Delirium was closed when I got there so I thought I'd be safe. Somebody fixed it (dang) and she wanted to ride it (oh crap). I don't do spinny rides very well and heights aren't my favorite either (other than coasters) but there's no way I'd let her ride it alone. She drug me into the queue but changed her mind when she saw that it was pretty much full. Whew. I wanted to hit the Flight Deck again but never made it. Drop Zone caught her attention (oh crap, again) so she drug me in there. Wait time wasn't too bad but when I did get on, I made sure eveything was as tight as it would go. I will admit the view from up there is awesome - so long as you don't look down. Not too bad of a ride on the way down, either, and the braking is a lot smoother than I thought it would be. Guess I can add it to the list of things I'll ride, but still not a big fan of the height lol. Our last ride ended up being Invertigo. I noticed upon my arrival to the park that it had been repainted. The red and yellow wasn't bad but it was dated to the Face/Off theme / McDonald's / old-school Hulk Hogan lol. The blue looks better. Anyway, it was my daughter's first time on it, and a girl across from us was also riding for the first time. Neither one liked the backwards part but they seemed to enjoy it. Wasn't my choice to be the last ride of the night but since it was such a good day and I plan to return during the summer, I can deal with it. After the Invertigo ride we just wandered around the park for awhile and picked up a couple of souvenirs, waiting for the crowd to diminish and the parking lot to clear out a bit. Now, some stuff I noticed: The park was definitely the cleanest I've ever seen it. I don't know if it was just a good crowd or good sweeps walking around but things were very nice. Smoking areas need to be highlighted. I walked around the park all day not knowing there were designated areas, and not one single employee told me otherwise until we played the game. All the employees and ride ops seemed to be in a good mood. I know everyone has a bad day every now and then but if anyone was having one this day I didn't see them. Bring back the music! I miss the Paramount movie themes playing, and the few rides that did have music had the same track playing over and over. These need to be fixed; there's all sorts of music out there that could be applied to rides and to the park in general. It's not like people are going to complain because such-and-such song was playing or they don't like a certain kind of music, they're there for the rides. But no music at all just makes it seem too quiet. I don't mind the different (though somewhat outrageous in some cases) prices in the restaurants, but special refill options should be the same price everywhere. I bought one of those 40th Anniversary drink containers and refills for it were different prices here and there. Well that's all I can think of at the moment. Overall it was a great day and like I said, can't wait to return later this summer with the rest of the family. Since I paid full price for my ticket I took the second-day-free option, which will offset the expense of that trip. See y'all then!

Wouldn't you prefer a bolt instead?

And oftentimes you cannot be sure why they are here. Some seem to enjoy merely merrily stirring the pot.

And sometimes well behaved children become unrestrained, immature, inconsiderate adults. I particularly get upset at shrill, pretend shrieking on rides, though the culprit is usually teenage girls. Why they think this is "cute," I have no idea. Such antics often cause headaches.

Be very sad. Grab the tissues!

If it were to be refurbed and/or changed significantly and reopened, many of the tear it down folk might try it again - and if accurate admit "even though I wanted/thought it would be torn down, they actually made it an ok/good ride". Remind me again, except for just having a bad attitude, why would you be laughing?

I got a free cotton candy receipt saturday,at first i thought it was the same one from the website,until i read it.The person who i purchased ice cream from took the receipt and gave me a cotton candy. I believe it said redeem this receipt for a free cotton candy.

Looking at all the updates with pictures of the demolition, it is amazing how a water filled lake can be quickly changed into a sea of dirt.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg is a fantastic park. It is rightfully named the most beautiful park year after year. As said above, DarKastle is a great ride. Griffon looks like a piece of art. Busch is probably my second favorite park, after Island's of Adventure.

You might think so, but you'd be amazed how quickly a site can be cleared.

If Paula and Daniel are involved, which they are, I think (It wouldn't surprise me if) they will say this is a better water park than HW. Just purely from a marketing standpoint (Which they are good at! And thats not meant to be a bad thing) I meant the glorified as sarcastic because the water park is far from glory days. It wont fool me though. I still think the park is doomed (If it ever gets started) especially if they don't have/add a major attraction within 1-2 years.

Maverick. Otherwise, it isn't worth my time. Oddly, on The Georgia Cyclone, I only ride the very back, preferably the right side. And the forces on The New Texas Giant are much, much stronger in the back. On Vortex and other Arrow steel loopers, I ride in 5-1, the seat that Ron Toomer designed to be the optimal one.

What? EVERYONE didn't shoot that person down. In fact, the conventional wisdom was that 2012 would be waterpark expansion/renovation. Your claim that everyone pilloried that poster is an example of the conduct of which you would now complain. Terp, opponent of general statements and sometimes contrarian.

Not a popular opinion, but I would like to see a controlled demolition, and I think it would be awesome to push the button. That thing was wrong from day one and it needs to go. Beast on the other hand-that thing is running the best I have seen since opening year. Wow.

Our guests don't surprise me anymore. Then you should see Disney World when the roudy South Americans come around, its "Brazil Brazil!" all around the parks.

Shaggy, I whole-heartedly, knee-slapping-rising-to-my-feet-whistling and applaudingly agree with your conclusion. Yes, yes, yes!!! I'm sure Cedar Fair would handle the visual aspects with great care. But as I have said many, many times before: If they're going to blast music over the loudspeakers at the front gate (and along International Street for that matter), they really, really, really, really, really need to play something that evokes the same kind of emotions that the movie themes did during the Paramount era; and that the Pops Orchestra, International Symphony music in the prior years did for the entrance --like you're entering a really special kind of place! The stuff they play now over the front gate and fountains sounds just plain wrong.

So you were the one who inconvenienced all the people on here who have miserable trip reports saying that they waited twice as long as normal for every single ride this past Saturday! .. Oh, wait... Glad you had fun! Happy birthday to your son!