Leaderboard

I hope I'm not the only one that'll even edit them sometimes

You would find me at KI..... Duh.

The last place you looked...

You're not. I was partially responsible for getting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WindSeeker'>WindSeeker to Good Article status.

I'll count it as answered on my list of unanswered challenges (which I need to post an update of). Speaking of answering challenges, I'm going to answer three at once, TheCrypt's "hard" challenge and two of KIfan73's in no particular order: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcgoble3/6976888276/'> http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcgoble3/6976996510/'> http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcgoble3/6976882392/'> The last one (actually, all of them) were taken on Opening Day 2012 when RJ was under construction. Easy: Racer queue (KIfan73) Hard: Coke Freestyle machine (jcgoble3 ×3) Expert: Trash can blocking entrance to closed ride (new challenge) I encourage you to try to answer two or even all three at once!

^ You'll be sharing the front row with Original on Opening Day, in that case?

This view is sure going to be different next year.

Probably in the station of Diamondback, being pushed around by various KICentralists. Incase you're not aware..... http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/26723-ki-opening-day-2013/?p=498715 http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/26887-what-ride-are-you-craving-to-be-on-right-now/?p=498460

Easy: Firehawk Hard: Flight of Fear station Expert: The old Crypt building, as seen from the Rivertown midway

It was probably product placement, with Miracle Whip on it! A boss sandwich!

While at Six Flags St. Louis, I happened to oddly see a sandwich in a coaster net.... It was the strangest thing I've seen yet in one of those nets.

I feel so bad for her family, friends and associates. When I look at the ride associates, I think to myself how great their lives will be, they have this great experience, and are having fun at a hard working job at a young age. I'm sorry her time was cut short.

I've been placed in the dog house.

This site used to have an aerial photographer.

Well now you have.... 3 Original SOB trains 3 Villain Trains 1 Raging Wolf Bob Train (formerly on Legend at Holiday World) 2 Red & Blue SOB trains (formerly on Hurricane in Myrtle Beach) and 1 Monster (from Canada's Wonderland) https://maps.google.com/maps?q=kings+island+ohio&hl=en&ll=39.341635,-84.25907&spn=0.000557,0.000603&sll=40.365277,-82.669252&sspn=6.352341,9.876709&t=h&hq=kings+island+ohio&z=21

Good luck finding me. I tend to wander with no particular plan in mind, so I could be found anywhere at the park, though most likely on the dry side.

Yes. It's in the South. Terp, on his way north!

It wasn't in a net, but I saw the same empty lip balm container on the roof of Beast's brake shed as I rode up the lift hill for many, many years. What made me actually think to look for it that many times over that many seasons really makes me wonder about myself!

Here is a link to my most memorable trip…I made a "trip report" about it...http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/8670-can-you-guess-the-year/?p=139968 . I went once when I was too little to remember, but this trip in '92 is what started my interest in all things Kings Island.

1979, the year I graduated from Mt Healthy H.S., curing my coaster-phobia on The Beast. In those days, You could drink beer (3.2%) from buckets, which no doubt helped. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CcOWTVoxauWg http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CcOWTVoxaueA

^its not really being direct, I'm more or less asking where you like to be frequently when you are at Kings Island.

Ppppffffwwww Im just glad I am not the only one who spents there free time read the wiki pages on amusement parks.

You could probably find me in one of the bumper cars.

Stuck on top of WindSeeker.

I'm at river town most of my day. I sit at the potato works watching the trains of Diamondback plummet down until the next hill. I ride the train frequently admiring the whistles and the "clickity clack" of the passenger cars which my grandpa and I both enjoyed. I also walk along the trails of white whatever canyon. On rare occasions you will see me at The Racer turn-arounds. I'm a strange person....

I think that the trains were just moved to KI for their parts, If I remember correctly......

I've always been so impressed with the kids that work the rides at Kings Island, and seeing the pic of her in The Racer queue really hits home. My prayers are with her family and friends.

One of my most memorable trips (I can't decide which one's best) was on the evening of Friday, July 23, 2010. This KI trip actually happened "accidentally." You see, my mom and I were going down to see a performance of "Pilgrim's Progress" in Cincy, so we were dressed up in semi-formal clothing. I was wearing brown gaucho pants, a yellow and white shirt, and brown dress sandals. We got there only to find out that the performance was on the next Friday, on July 30. On the way up Interstate 71, I eventually persuaded my mom to stop at Kings Island, since she had her wallet which contained our Gold Passes. It felt a little weird going to an amusement park in gauchos, a pretty shirt and dress sandals, but I still really enjoyed being there. My mom used her cellphone (since she didn't have her camera with her) to take a picture of me standing in front of the Kings Island sign in front of the Royal Fountains. By then it was getting dark as it was about 9 pm, and the park closed at 10. I rode Diamondback a couple of times. Each time my DB train climbed the lift hill, I looked longingly at Vortex while mental debates were raging inside my mind about whether or not I should try it, since I had NEVER been on a looping coaster. At about 9:40, I still hadn't decided if I wanted to ride Vortex, so I decided to ride Shake Rattle & Roll in case I wanted to try Vortex. After I got off SR&R it was about 9:50. Vortex's entrance was right there, so I decided to go for it. As I started to climb that first flight of stairs upon entering the queue, "The March" from the movie March of the Penguins popped into my head as I stepped into Vortex's loading station for the first time to find a really short line, pretty much a walk on. I waited for the front seat, and got all the more anxious when I was next and the train that was going to whisk me through my first six inversions was rolling into the station. The train stopped, the gates opened, and I stepped into the open train. I immediately saw how spacious it was, especially in the front of the lead car. I slowly pulled the shoulder harness down and buckled the seatbelt. The "bell" rang, the harnesses were checked, and...."All clear!" I knew there was no turning back now, as the op was saying, "That all clear means you are rolling outta here! Enjoy your ride on Vortex, at night....." I said to myself, "I hope so..." as the train engaged the lift hill and the soon-to-be-familiar Arrow anti-rollback noise hit my ears. For the first time in a long time, I could smell the already-familiar chain grease smell (I had first smelled it on Woodstock Express and The Beast). The ride's chasing lights and The Beast's two lift hills were to the left of the ascending train, and the rest of the park, lit up in the dark of the night, sat to the right. I looked at the chasing lights and said, "At least those lights are going faster than me." The higher the train climbed, the more nervous I got. I looked at the track ahead as the hilltop got closer and closer, as the train would soon be swooping through the inversions waiting below. The train crested, and I thought, "Here goes nothing..." as the first turn and drop took it away. I didn't scream since I had rode the taller and faster Diamondback beforehand. My method of relaxing and being open-minded during the ride had become a habit long before; I knew the ride was a little bumpy, before the ride I was thinking, "This ride is 23 years old; it's SUPPOSED to be bumpy!" I actually liked the bumps. Finally the first loop was upon the train and I. I sat back and held on tight. The first two loops jerked me forward a little (I had yet to learn about loop forces at the time) but still, it was cool! As the train was slowed at the MCBR, I said, "Going upside down isn't too bad at all! Okay, corkscrews and batwing, I think I'm ready for you!!" Meanwhile, I had been holding on to the harness so tightly that my left hand had "fallen asleep". But when I let go, my hand would "wake up" again, and if I started holding on again then my hand would fall back asleep. So I slid my hands under the handles and held on that way as the train entered the first corkscrew. The hang time caught me by surprise, and I instantly began to love the feeling of hanging against the harness. The train slowly exited the second corkscrew and then maneuvered onward to the batwing, which contained Inversions #5 and #6. It had the forces similar to those of the loops, and a fraction of corkscrew hangtime. The flash from the ride-photo camera was a bit disorienting; almost blinding, as the last inversion was executed, which I thought was also cool. The train wound up the helix and finally arrived at the final brake runs; and later, the station. As the train in front of it was loading the few waiting passengers, I thought, "This is a neat ride! Maybe I can try Firehawk sometime...it won't be that bad." (the only thing that kept me from riding Firehawk was the inversions) When I disembarked, I said to my mom, "Oh my goodness; I can't believe I just went upside down SIX TIMES! I feel GREAT!" At the time it was about 9:55, so I had enough time for another cycle on Vortex before the park closed. So I went and rode Vortex again. From that first ride forward, I loved it. Vortex is truly the ride that began my thrill-seeking and inversion conquering. It totally changed my point of view about "those big, scary-looking rides." Not only did I heroically take my first ride on a looper, it was also my first KI trip that I got to see a fireworks show. What a great (and memorable) night it turned out to be! (I know, it's pretty long, but I LOVE mentioning the little things too )

Alright, SonofBaconador, I admit it. I cheated. I bought the cat from Cedar Point.

Last year, I didn't get up to the metal detectors until almost 9:00 and was well back in line, so this year I had two new strategies to get first train of the year. The first was to leave Xenia a half-hour earlier, and the second was to go to Invertigo first instead of Diamondback, figuring that most would go to DB and thus I would have a better chance at scoring first train. I arrived at the gate in front of the toll booth at 8:15, and they let us in at 8:25. After parking, I jogged up to the ropes in front of the turnstiles and was about sixth in my line. From there I waited until I saw employees come out and supervisors begin assigning them to turnstiles. Now, there was a rope between the restrooms and the first pillar that nobody was lined up at. I saw them assign employees to those turnstiles and immediately jumped over there to form a new line. I ended up being the first one through that rope. I took off on a light jog toward Invertigo, turned my head to look behind me, and there was literally nobody following me. I flashed my pass at the gold pass entrance, and the lady there told me to walk. So I fast-walked the rest of the way to Invertigo. When I got there, the entrance was blocked by trash cans. I got the attention of a ride operator, who told me to go on in. I pointed out that the entrance was blocked, so he came out the Fast Lane entrance and ambled over there to move the trash cans. I walked up to the station and into the front seat (forward first), my preferred seat. I had trouble getting the seat belt to release, but finally got it loose and sat down. I go into all this detail to point out that even with the fact that I wasn't moving very fast, the delay at the entrance, and the trouble with the seat belt, I was seated with my seat belt buckled before anyone else even got to the station. So I easily claimed first rider of the year on Invertigo. After that I rode DB, after which I ran into Gator. Neither of us recognized the other at first, even though we've met twice before, but we eventually figured it out. After that, I headed back into Action Zone to try to get first train on Flight Deck. When the rope was dropped, I was the first one back there, only to discover that it was down. I wandered up toward Coney Mall and discovered that The Racer was down but about to open. I got in line and claimed first blue train of the year in the second row. After that, I got my ride on Flight Deck (it was open by the time I got off The Racer) and took a lap on the train. I also tried out one of the new cheesesteaks. It was $8 and change ($8.69, I think) for the cheesesteak and chips; I ordered it without the chips and paid less. They come with onions and peppers, but I ordered it without those. The cheesesteaks are made to order, so I had to wait for a couple minutes to get it. It tasted good; while I've had better, it takes a truly awful one for me to not like a cheesesteak. I give it a B+. About this time, it began raining. Diamondback went down with mechanical problems, so I went back to The Beast only to find them herding people out the entrance. A ride op there told me they were going down due to lightning. I tried BLSC, thinking that it might still be open because it wasn't as tall, but no dice. I started to get in line for Shake, Rattle, and Roll, but thought better of it and opted to take cover in one of the arcades in Coney Mall. Good thing I did: right as a came up to it, there was a big flash of lightning and the rain started coming down. After waiting out the storm and blowing $5 worth of tokens, I went back to The Beast. They got the all-clear a few minutes later and re-opened the line. The station was very crowded; while there was a separator, he made absolutely no attempt to control the flow of people into the station, and so it was Packed with a capital P. After riding that, I walked around a little bit and decided lines were a bit too long for my taste, so I walked out to my car and got my camera. I bought a brand-new Nikon Coolpix L120 last month, with 14 megapixels, 21× zoom and 720p HD video capability, and this was my first real chance to put it to work. I ended up snapping about 80 photos and about 5 minutes of video. Some of my favorite photos are below. The full album of photos is here. The videos will be uploaded to YouTube tomorrow or Tuesday. Repainted slides in Soak City: The Flight of Fear fort is still Fort Kinzel. A duck or goose (I can never tell them apart) sitting on a fountain in Coney Mall, with the area around it closed off and another duck/goose prowling the ground below it. I can only assume she's protecting a nest. Invertigo in all of its repainted glory:

If I went to KI, where would I most likely find you?

It hurts having to tell anyone this, but I think it deserves some attention on this board. On Wednesday, December 26th, Kings Island lost one of their own. Jessica Galley, a former rides associate at The Racer, lost her life in an car accident. She was only 18 years old, a freshman at the University of Cincinnati, and a graduate of Mason High School. I was lucky enough to work with Jessica Galley the past two years of her life, and become a close friend to her. She was a terrific young women who had an incredible heart. She always wanted to make people smile, and make sure nobody was left out. Every time I saw her she always had the biggest smile on her face, that seemed to light up a room, one that can't be matched. I'll always remember the fun quirky moments at work, the Cedar Point trips, the concerts, and everything that made us friends. When you work at Kings Island, you don't just "meet" people. You meet people that will change you forever, people you will never forget. Jessica was one of these friends that have impacted my life greatly and I know she left the same impact on everyone she has spoken to. Please pray for the Galley family, I simply can't imagine what they must be going though. Pray for Jessica's friends and hope they stay strong through this. Below I have included a news article on the accident, which includes a video of a reunion her friends had to remember her. Rest in peace Jessica, you will be greatly missed by everyone you have touched. Best regards, Cody Johnson http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/news/local_news/nb-i-71-at-standstill-after-fatal-crash

Astros4477, I have a small note on my user page about my Maverick00 name here. I've always wondered if Goneln60 contributes on Kings Island Central because Kings Island looks to be his home park.

The weirdest thing I've seen are flip-flops in the net on Diamondback's brake run, down where it makes the 180° turn to enter the station. How in the world do you manage to keep your flip-flops on throughout the entire ride only to lose them at about 3 mph on the brake run?

Beast Station Oscars KI Theater Festhaus Express FOF Racer

While working at Diamondback in 2010, I saw underwear, shorts, t-shirts, basketballs, tons of change, lighters, pocket knives, cell phones, towels, glasses, feminine products in the net next to Crypt and the ones on the helix.

Somewhere in the dry park.

If you went to KI right now, you wouldn't find me, as I'm not there. (Sorry, had to be a jerk about it. Serious answer now.) Before 2012, you would have almost certainly found me in Rivertown. It's just where I ended up a lot of the time, particularly in 2008 (when I first started buying my own pass and rode The Beast a bajillion times) and 2011 (because The Crypt with the Inception score really grew on me.) Since then, it's really hard to say. I ride Adventure Express and Racer a lot more than before, but I also find myself looking in the stores on International Street a lot more than I ever used to. I still love KI as much as ever, but for different reasons, as the changing reasons change where I usually go when I'm there. Heck, I even made it to the waterpark for the first time in about eight years this season.

Vortex or The Beast most likely. Those are my two favorite rides of all time at KI.

With a different gage, but sharing many parts.

My most memorable KI trip. My brother and I took a trip to "The Island" on my birthday June 6th, several years ago. The lines were mostly "walk-on" and we literally grabbed 6 rides (each) Beast, Vortex, SOB (rip) Flight of Fear, Racer, 3 laps (each) on Adventure Express, and Flight Deck, and Face/Off. Sorry, I don't recall the year, and coaster names may have been different at that time.

I am so very sorry. So much in life happens that we cannot understand. My heart goes out to her family, friends and her Kings Island family. Terp, with tears ih his eyes as he types.

You passed.

I know I've written about memorable trips on this site before, but one has now come to the forefront in my mind (I think mood affects which trip is most memorable for me; there are so many to choose from). I'll set the scene: It was 2003. I hadn't been to Kings Island in 18 years. I had been away, serving in Texas, New Jersey and Montana, then Turkey, then off to college in Maine. I lived a lifetime away from my "hometown" (this region that stretches from Downtown Cincinnati to Miamisburg, and points in between), and never thought I'd have a chance to come back and visit the park I loved so much. But, as fate would have it, I met my wife, got married, moved back to Mason, the town I was virtually born in. I could see the park, watch it's nice little fireworks displays from points around town, but I hadn't planned on visiting just yet. Then, just out of the blue, my wife saw that I was feeling down one day, and she said "Come on, honey, I'm taking you to see a doctor, Dr. Pokaei." Not being sure exactly who this doctor was, I figured it was her family doctor or something. When we rolled into the parking lot of (Paramount's) Kings Island, I immediately figured out her clever play on the acronym "PKI." For the first time in 18 loooooonnngg years, I was being led through the familiar front gate. It was one of those perfect, cloudless days where the sky looks impossibly blue, and the air is of the most comfortable temperature and humidity. The powerful, bombastic theme from "Superman" by John Williams was booming over the loudspeakers as we waited in the gathering line. The Face/Off, which I was finally seeing up close and in person, was lifting into position high above and to the left, ready to drop a cycle of eager riders into what lie beyond the obscurring trees and season pass center. The scent of many perfumes and sun screen blended miraculously well with the aroma of funnel cake and french fry. The signature, multi-chime steam whistle of the train echoed into my soul with just the right harmony to well up such long-built-up feelings of joy that I almost cried like a dork. -Thankfully, said coaster released with a dramatic, mechanical clunk, followed by a kind of thrill-borne scream I'd not heard "live" in quite some time, which threw my emotions into another, wonderful direction! As we got closer to the gate, I looked past the booths and could see the majestic Royal Fountains, (which, by the way, have you noticed how they tower out of view past the ceiling of the front gate as you come in?). We made our way into the "lobby" and as I came out into the plaza, I don't know if it was timed to do this or not, but the closing crescendo of the Superman Theme was building, and so were the fountains! It was like the dag-gone park knew I was coming! I could go on and on about this trip, but I just wanted to show what was so memorable about coming to the park after being away for so long. I will say that I rode the brand-new Delirium that day, which was memorable, because during one high swing, it felt like time slowed down, and I looked around at the park, under the amazingly bright, blue sky. For some reason, I locked on to the flashing, white lights (of the hammer game?) on Coney Mall, and watched it disappear out of view as the ride swung back through and under. For some reason, that will always stick out in my mind as one of the most memorable trips to Kings Island I can recall.

Easy: The Racer Hard: Linus' Beetle Bugs Expert: Adventure Express brake run

Probably back somewhere around 1998 when I ran from a character in Hannah-Barbera Land and ended up under a table in Rivertown. I don't remember much of it, but my parents always like to tell that story to my friends and at family gatherings...

It works on my Iphone when I type the: img`] with the image file location between the brackets. Ipads work the same way I believe.

I'm willing to bet that's not your own picture. http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/26808-a-fun-newcomers-guide-to-the-kings-island/?fromsearch=1 First image. Please stop searching for images. It's really annoying.

Just for fun, here's a mashup of a couple of trips we took this year. One was early in the season, the other was back on 8/4. This is kind of a preview; there's a lot of footage I want to make into a 2012 "video yearbook" of sorts, but it takes a lot more time than I had. Contains the world's fastest "Dinosaurs Alive" and "Wall of Fame" segments... ends with BLSC at night. Enjoy!

Funny video! Nice footage too! "But above all, beware of the tiki's!" Love it!