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I very much miss the Sunshine Turnpike as seen behind Fred Flintstone here! I

The taking of pictures and video on all rides and attractions at Kings Island except for the K.I. & Miami Valley Railroad and Eiffel Tower is strictly prohibited and may be cause for ejection from the park with no refund issued. This information will be stated in the 2013 Park Guide & Map.

I've crashed into a tree branch on Holiday World's, but nothing ever resembling a snap. I find KI's former Eagles (now Woodstock Gliders at Carowinds) to be the easiest to snap, though I also found Stricker's to be pretty good and of course, Knoebels' famous Flyer is a darn good one as well. Sometimes I'm surprised when highly snappable scooters turn up in small parks unexpectedly. For instance: SS Stingray (formerly Mission Macaw) at Columbus Zoo is insanely snappable. As are the scooters at Fun Spot in Orlando. And neither of them had operators that cared, so I happily snapped away on both. Edited to add: I'm overly amused by how far this ancient topic has derailed. But hey, scooters are a favorite topic of mine, so I'll add to the erosion!

For the person asking about 15 year olds, I know they used to hire them in merch, food, park services, games and admissions. Not certain if this is still the same listing of departments. Either way, there are limited amounts of 15-year-old positions available and they fill quickly, so apply early for a better chance of a spot. 16 year olds add rides and lifeguard. You must be 18 to work in security. Unsure about entertainment's minimum age. As for what department .. having worked in 2 KI departments and 3 park departments overall, I'm really enjoying rides/attractions the most but not everyone would. Merch is a much more laid-back pace and is not very physically demanding. There's no actual selling technique involved, just the ability to run a register. You'll also do restocking, cleaning and organization. In my second year, I was called back early (in February) to help set up stores for the new season. Myself and three others basically did the full setup of On Location in Action Zone, which was pretty fun since Delirium was new that year so we had tons of new merchandise. Upward mobility (chances for promotion) are pretty good in merch as there tends to be fairly high turnover. This is also true in foods. Security is also not very physically demanding, except for being on your feet and walking around all day. It's a little more mentally demanding as you are usually called in to de-escalate situations that are starting to get out of control. You need to have a cool level head and be willing to step up to diffuse situations. You also need to be assertive enough to confront people who are breaking rules such as smoking and line jumping. I really enjoyed being in security because you're not just in one deparment, you're involved in all departments. In one shift you may handle situations that involve every department in the park, so you will get to know a lot of people. Plus as an added bonus, since security isn't "operational essential" if another area, like rides, is short staffed, they may pull from security to fill it. I never got sent to rides, but several of my coworkers did before I started. Rides is a whole different beast (no pun intended) from any other department. You are the main face of the park. People remember the rides employees more vividly and tend to have more interactions with them. Not only are you in charge of their safety, you have to be upbeat, energetic and friendly even when it's 100 degrees outside, or raining, or freezing cold. You need to be calm enough to maintain a level head when things don't go quite right, patient enough to work with a child that's upset, and stern enough to handle confrontations over safety issues. You have to be assertive and confident enough to turn people away who are too short or don't meet rider requirements (with disabilities, this can be VERY tricky to handle smoothly). You will be not just on your feet the entire day, but bending, twisting, reaching and lifting. On some rides you will need to be able to handle climbing lots of stairs or catwalks. However, even with the challenges, it's highly rewarding. What other job will you ever have that you get to operate a multi-million dollar amusement ride and bring joy to millions of people a year? Plus you get to learn a lot about how the rides themselves work. You'll learn about how they are maintaned and how their operating systems work. You'll get to explore areas that most people only dream of. At Coaster Con 2012, 6 people paid over $200 a person to climb Wild Eagle's lift hill. During my training, I got to do the same thing and even get paid for it (though my legs were sore for two days after!). I've been all over the inside of Mystery Mine's building and to the top of both lifts. I've been involved in video shoots at both rides. Usually the toughest situations you'll deal with are guests breaking or attempting to break safety rules, and they can get very frustrating. But it's the most rewarding job I've ever had. I love being in rides, and I don't think I'd ever consider another department now.

So we can watch our own POV of I305 with our personal voices, instead of listening to Blobb Alvey yell "TWISTYYYYYYYYY" through the whole ride!!!

It was basically a children's water raft ride. It was a small circular boat (not parent friendly) that would very slowly glide around a water canal. It started out with very little scenery and eventually grew to a fully sculpted fiberglass landscape. One employee in the art department commented that his only regret was that management never approved an enclosed ride. So all of the characters and scenery were exposed to weather elements. It was located on part of the land where the boys restroom in the children's area is now. I think pics of this ride are exceptionally rare because it was a kid only ride. I will eventually locate and post pics of the ride being sculpted for the revamp in the late 70's.

I like riding with friends and family, but my absolute favorite person to ride with is my daughter, GatorGirl, especially if it marks some sort of "first" for her. My avatar is the two of us on Tennessee Tornado (picture was taken on the final brake run, which we had been sitting on for over 5 minutes by that point). It was her first time on it, and her first time to be on any coaster with inversions. When we started that day, she said she wasn't ready to go upside down on a coaster, so we let it go and didn't pressure her. But she heard all of us talking about how fun TT is, and she changed her mind. She of course loved it, and also did Mystery Mine that day. Two weeks later, she rode Vortex for the first time (again with me) and loved that too.

My daughter. That said, I would enjoy riding coasters with my wife, if she would actually ride them. #1 coaster chicken.

By the way...Happy Birthday Paul...wherever you may be!

Not only did you steal my story, you didn't tell it right! Because, you have to realize, there was more to it than that. First, he brings up this girl that is CLEARLY under the height limit by several inches. Then when I ask him if he's doing a parent swap, he stares at me blankly, so I told him she was too short too ride. He stares at me blankly some more, so I lead her to the height scale. He proceeds to PICK HER UP so her head touches the bar. My turn to stare blankly at him and say "her feet have to be flat on the floor." When the bar was several inches above her head he just calmly shrugs and says "it's ok, I'm riding with her." Pause. Continued stare. "She has to be 48" to ride." That was when he then proceeded to ask if we had "a booster seat or something so she can ride." It took everything I had not to tell him to get the hell off my ride.

I remember working in a constant downpour on a cold, dreary day and it was no picnic. Even wearing the rain gear, I was soaked and freezing. We are told if the guests are out in the rain, then we should work in it also. The only time we took cover was during severe thunderstorms. I was a litter getter during those days and not working inside.

I agree, operators SHOULD be consistent. I understand that is where the frustration comes from. Fact is, in a case like this, there is no proof the man has ridden the ride before. He could be lying right through his teeth, knowing well that he couldn't ride the ride. Ride ops get these sort of situations all the time....especially with guests who may be too short to ride certain attractions. "What he's 47 inches?! But he just got off The Beast!", fact is, most of the time these guests are lying, will throw a tantrum, and leave. When people don't get what they want, they get upset. Sometimes unneedingly upset.

I miss our epic Chaos rides!

You can always take it to Disney World!

^I really hope that Fred and his car were not destroyed, that would be a major crime.

Paul??? Here is Gulliver's Rub-A-Dub as it appeared in the early 70's, before being revamped in 1978. There were several areas of this ride including The Flintstons, Yogi Bears Park, Top Cat City and a Haunted House section. If anyone has additional pictures of this ride, please post them!!! In the mean time, enjoy The Flintstones section: Yogi Bear:

These guidelines are also set for the "what if" situations. For example, If there was a problem with The Beast and an evacuation is in order from one of the lift hills, one of the rules is that you have one hand on a hand-rail at all times... that's kind of hard to do with no hands.

In response ^^^ I may be mistaken, but are there not rules and guidelines in place that actually say to keep both hands in the car and to hold on to the bar for safety during the ride? So techincally when you have your hands up you are breaking a guideline

I have pictures and videos of most of the dark rides at Disney World. However, taking video or pictures on a dark ride and taking video or pictures on a roller coaster are quite different. Not sure how anyone could get hurt by video taping Pirates of the Caribbean. If you dropped your camera, it'll be your loss. It's not like it's going to fly back and hit someone in the face at 70 miles an hour!

I go to the park, and see who I may run into. Or how it usual goes, people I know come out of nowhere and "kidnap" me for the day. I have tried to get some of my Screamster friends to ride with me during Halloweekends, they think I'm weird for getting up early (10:30 am) to ride coasters. The others are afraid of coasters. One ride however, I could never drag people on was Chaos. I only had two partners for that, my sister and Kat. Everyone else was afraid of getting sick.

and please dont do it on WindSeeker, Im already scared to death walking anywhere around it! I like the ride,just afraid of a camera or a coin,etc hitting me in the head,I have enough problems already!

Read the post above yours. You are ON the ride at the time. Photography from/on the ride is prohibited, except Tower and Train. This is for good reason. A camera on a lift hill will for many guests just be a start for photos throughout the ride. And a loose aricle is a loose article be it at the MCBR or on the lift.

I usually ride with my cousin (TTD-120-420) or my lady friend, but I love riding with my little sister. She absolutely loves every ride she has been on, and there is just something about seeing a 7 year old on The Beast that I find entertaining. (that sounded really creepy)

You also get a chance to work hard, make life long friends, learn a great deal, and make money.

Except that, if there's a delay, all hell will break loose, because an estimated is apparently an iron-clad promise.

I'm surprised he didn't say anything about donkeys in his reply.

Joining TPR is forbidden. You are banned from this site for life.

Photo #104

Photo #102 Photo #103

Photo #101 - Oktoberfest in it's prime

Photo #100

Photo #99 - Adventure Village 1996

Rides come and go. Kings Island is a different place now than what it was even five years ago. Things change, and there is nothing we can do about it. If things didn`t change, look where we would be now. There would be no internet, or computers. Simple things like communication are now instantaneous, whereas before, you often would have to wait for letters to arrive via snail mail.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/02/post_102.html A nice article about Carousel Works in Mansfield.

Awesome! When I was a kid I loved the Rub a Dub!

Nice photos Josh...i'll add one that I don't think i've ever posted: Perry Meek, the main guy in the photo now designs outfits for Lady Gaga: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/from-hindley-street-to-dressing-gaga/story-e6frea6u-1226095969220 KI "Wall Of Fame" here he comes. Where is Paul? (Hopefully somewhere having fun!)

Kinda starting to be a little concerned for Paul. I hope he is ok! In the mean time, here is another pic I met the former employee who helped construct this piece. The reliefs were sculpted in clay and cast in fiberglass by this individual while the sign department assembled and painted the final product. Enjoy! ~Josh

Here's a few pics to keep the thread alive while Paul is away ~Josh

That's because the little ones love it so much. That makes it worth it. Not all of life needs be spent in the Fast Lane.

I was visiting Dollywood and Carowinds, sorry ha Photo #98

Probably ^ Photo #97 - Photo #98 and stuff will be posted on Monday

Photo #96 (One of my fav designs)

Because the noise the performers called music disturbed the Demon riders?

Photo #95

For females the brakes were fine. But for us guys... Yeah. Ow.

Paul, Not to hijack your thread...but I couldn't resist.

Photo #94 - imagine the wait times if this had fastlane.

Photo #93

^I envy every past & present employee that had that much fun at a summer job.

Photo #92