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What does Dale Earnhardt have in common with Pink Floyd? Both of their last big hits were with The Wall. Had to...sorry

Well, it DID get knocked out of the park!

They could reverse the direction of the great pumpkin coaster and it would be about like NASCAR...

Hey! Bear with me on this post, it's so early and I have not gotten much sleep. Alright! So, yesterday I went to Carowinds with the school chorus, and it was super fun, we left about 2:30AM Friday, and arrived at around 9:10, for some reason the park opened at 9 and closed at 6. First we headed to Vortex, I give it an 8 for fun and a 10 for the crew working this coaster, they were all really nice and were cracking jokes the whole time we were in the station! After Vortex, we headed over to Intimidator, it had a fairly short line, but not that it matters, it always flies by. I give it a 9 for thrill and a 6 for the crew, they were kind of grouchy and just not very social-able after being compared to our greeting from The Vortex crew. Moving on to our next ride, Nighthawk, even though it was still relatively early, this ride had an awful line, and I was the only one in my group who had rode it's kin, Firehawk, so no one else really knew what to expect, and this is honestly the only type of rides at a park I'm afraid of, I give this ride a 9 for thrill and their crew a 6, again, grouchy, and just not very talkative, and the main ride op, her mouth was so close to the mic, I couldn't understand a word she said. From the Nighthawk, we moved over to the Caroline Cobra, and as we went their, as I expected seeing as it was windy, guess what was open? Not WindSeeker, but I'm not interested in that rid after riding it 3+ times, it gets boring. Back to our main topic, the Cobra line was a little long but not long enough to have the turnbacks(?) opened up. I give this ride an 8 for thrill and their crew an 8, they were a little talkative which is a nice thing after having two rides in a row have boring ops. After we rode the Cobra, we went over to the little shack restaurant, across from Goldrusher, and beside the hanging shark, they wanted 9 bucks for a basket holding 3-4 pieces of chicken tenders, and the rest of the basket was full of fries, I dished it out, but dang! Oh, I also bought my souvenir cup here, I don't like the price raise, and the enforced rule of free refills only on day of purchase, so this now means when I go to Kings Island on the 18 & 19 next month, I'll have to pay a dollar for refills one day, even though all I drink is water, and it's tap water I'm getting, yuk! A while after eating, and waiting on some friends to come back, we headed over to the Carolina Cyclone, had a huge line, but went by sort of fast, we rode it then upon returning to the station, I saw a ride op pushing a button and nothing happening, so he then gets on the mic and says "Sorry guys, we're experiencing some technical difficulties." I am just so glad that they have the manual release buttons on the trains. After that, we headed toward Afterburn, but a friend wanted to ride Vortex because she hadn't gotten to, so we stopped their, same old funny crew! Anyways, back to Afterburn, this ride had a long line but went by pretty fast, seeing how we had to be back at the front gate at 5:30, and it was 4:30 when we got in line, and we had enough time to ride that, spend almost twenty minutes at the photo booth, and then go get another ride on a now open Intimidator, it had been closed a while, apparently because someone fainted on the ride. We didn't do Hurler, Thunder Road, or Ricochet. All in all, I had a good time, a very nice close to my middle school years, and it's still hard to believe that in two months I'll be roaming the halls of the local high school! The park itself has a very nice atmosphere and the climate is a very nice touch, I'd love to live there, just not in hurricane season, that derecho last summer was enough for me! Now I can't wait for Kings Island, and now that school is out, the days will fly by! Thanks for reading, Jasonondropzone

Considering the weather, I'm guessing very few.

As bad as this weather is for Soak City, imagine being the General Manager of The Beach this morning.

Soak City at Kings Island opens for its 2nd season today, Who's ready to splash?

New for 2014: Charlie Hustle 309... Charlie Hustle 4192... the first coaster in the world to top 4000 feet! (it could actually be 4192 inches... that is 350 feet)- not my vote, but could be...

A good day for Polar Bear Club members perhaps...

It's a discussion forum. Guesses, clues, positive indicators and ridiculous ideas all abound. And the topic is decoding...not deriding. It's important we discuss and critique ideas, not each other as people. There are many friends here, and many who one day will be. I've seen no one say someone else is silly. And many of the posts you may think are about nothing are actually more significant than that. Some far more. Others may be diversions, but which are which?

Just thought I would share some recent photos from the plant in Bativia. Photo Credit to Ben Gehring

Not only that, the original obstetrician was costing too much and behind schedule, so the park fired him and did the delivery itself. The park then sued him, won, but never collected a dime. Years later, the state would claim the original delivery was defective, and one of its operatives would accuse the park of using only Band-Aid brand adhesive bandages to fix it.

Which is what caused all the problems. They both appeared on Maury Pauvich, and had a DNA reveal. The Beast was relieved, but SOB turned to drugs, lost its loop, and started getting all violent and acting out. The writing was on the wall.

It turned out The Beast wasn't the actual father of SoB.

I have this feeling that Kings Island under Cedar Fair is going to knock this one out the park! They really ought to consider having Joey Votto at the announcement of this thing!

Just don't post from the rides themselves!

New for 2014: Charlie Hustle 309...

Typical Ohio weather. We have 80 degree days throughout the whole month of May, and right when the unofficial start of summer comes around, the temperatures drop to the 60's. The funny thing is, the temps will be back up to the 80's on Tuesday. Mother Nature just doesn't like us, I guess.

Given the very definition of ignorance is not knowing....

I'd imagine it would since it is at a B&M plant. There is just no link to KI here. Here is a link https://www.visitkingsisland.com/

Las Vegas IMG_5664 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr Just got back from a nice hot week at Las Vegas. I'm gonna be covering just about everything, not just the measly rides so just bear with me. I did manage well over 1,000 pictures, about 750 (or just tad closer to 800) of which were at the dolphin/tiger exhibit at the Mirage. I think I controlled myself a bit better from the 5,000+ at SeaWorld alone! LOL! Our trip started Tuesday afternoon after we had just arrived to the hotel (Flamingo). We originally got on a bus that took us to the Luxor, from there we walked to Mandalay Bay where we went to the shark exhibit. I was actually impressed with that, on top of that, gorgeous hotel (well nearly all of them are). After the sharks, (and some food) we were brave enough to walk all the way back to the Flamingo! Not until after making visits to MGM Grand, and Walgreens next to Planet Hollywood. Yes, I realize that is a LONG walk. Oh well....it is exercise after all and exercise is good for you... by the time we got back to the Flamingo we were pretty tired so we crashed for a few hours before catching the Bellagio fountains that evening. Day two Me and my mom kind of split our separate ways. I had already bought my ticket to the Mirage Dolphin/Tiger exhibit a couple months ago so that is where I went to begin my day. I must say I LOVE the Mirage! Hotel and the animals. (*note to everyone: I do not participate in gambling so I will not be talking about that. I am a penny pincher, with that said I like to hold onto my money when possible and rather not take the risk of blowing it all on gambling and end up with....nothing) Anyway, back to the Mirage. It was really cool, for me personally, to see Duchess and Lightning in person after only just hearing stories about them. Both are older dolphins (well into their 30s). I had the under water viewing area to myself for a good while (it was rather quiet at the exhibit anyway) so Lightning kept swimming up to the window checking out the SHINYYYY keychain on my camera bag x___x (dolphins love shiny things). Checked out the kitties of course! I love kitties! I was shocked to see they were all awake. The other nice thing I loved about the Mirage was that is was walking distance from the Flamingo, so after I went right back to the Flamingo to chill for awhile before going back out. By the time I caught my breath, I walked all the way to New York New York to give the Manhattan Express a go. (yes, I WALKED, I am nuts, I am well aware.) This ride kept being shut down due to high winds...I was able to manage two rides on it though. The second time they stopped the ride just before the lift for about 10 minutes before it got going again. My reaction was....well I was actually shocked at first. Then it started to make me think of King Cobra, and my experience with King Cobra from what I can remember wasn't too pleasant. I started the long hike back to the Flamingo and got back just in time to join my mom to catch a showing for Donny & Marie Osmond. My mom was a Donny fan as a teenager and I agreed to go along just cause...well it would be the only thing me and her can do together anyway. I'm not exactly a Osmond fan, however I do like Donny's "Soldier of Love" and also the song his brothers did, "Crazy Horses". I actually found myself enjoying the show. Marie looks great after her weight loss. Mom, of course, liked it well enough she had to buy a ticket for the following nights show. While I enjoyed it I declined. lol It is a GOOD show though! Day Three After the walk to and from New York New York, I caved and decided a bus be the way to go for Circus to visit Adventuredome. For what it is.....I LOVED Canyon Blaster! Enough I had to ride it several times before I finally got a headache and had to stop. It's been awhile since I did anything like that *cough*Flight Deck*cough*. I loved it especially in the very back due to the airtime I got going down its drop. I think Canyon Blaster did scramble my brain a bit though because I do not remember what I did after Adventuredome....LOL. I remember walking up and down the strip during the evening taking in all the sights. Day Four This was a busy day. Desperado started this day off. I don't get its operation hours....Fridays through Sundays, closed rest of the week? I often hear mixed reviews for Desperado, some love it, some hate it. I liked it. I found it a bit shaky, like Magnum.... I was at a loss for what to do after we got back to the hotel though. I found myself debating whether or not see if I can get a better ride on Manhattan or go back to the Mirage. I opted Mirage. Once I bought my ticket and was inside the exhibits....I'm glad I chose Mirage over the coaster. Got to watch 4 training sessions with the dolphins (this where most of the picture taken happened of course.....) and saw the tigers and they were awake again! (my mom went to the Mirage day before and for her the tigers were passed out) This is what I can remember at the moment. Las vegas in general....is a very entertaining city by night. LOL! IMG_2189 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr IMG_3135 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr IMG_3049 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr IMG_2387 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr IMG_3469 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

I must sadly report that, in my experience, park turkey legs look and smell much grander than they are. Every one I've ever bought has been either dry, tough and chewy or so salty I couldn't eat it, or both.

Chili cheese fries from Skyline and blue ice cream. Those turkey legs are looking very tasty though, think I'll try one next visit.

The Rivertown LaRosa's whenever possible. I love the atmosphere of that little place versus the Festhaus. The International Street location is nice, too, but it doesn't have Vortex right above your head. Whenever I'm in the mood for it, blue ice cream--but only from Ice Scream Zone.

One has to be a certain age to remember that. Feel old yet?

I recommend one of these before entering the park: And ofcourse Blue Ice Cream with sprinkles.

LaRosa's or Panda Express...I love Panda Express...orange chicken with cho meng...mmm!

^^ I'm sure there are plenty die hard fans of NASCAR all over, but I think the point is that the fan base in the areas around KD and Carowinds is more densely populated and established. Kentucky Speedway just received it's first Sprint Cup race in 2011. Regardless of how many fans of NASCAR there are in this area, I sincerely hope we don't get a NASCAR themed ride at all... The two Intimidators are great looking coasters, especially Kings Dominion's, but I think the NASCAR theme is tacky (Sorry if that offends any fans, not intended to).

Woodstock Gliders from Carowinds....

As far as Mr hart and company starting a new park from the ground up. Something tells me that building a brand new park is anything but cheap or easy. Out of all the parks currently in operation how old is the newest one? Hard Rock Park anyone?

She is truly a gem of a human being and I'm very glad to be from the same foothills as she.

Alot? And you edit? I see. I trust you are not fixing spelling!

Really? I've seen Koch family members riding Son of Beast, but...

I got out permanently on April 27th with a diploma in my hand! Still tossing around the idea of grad school... A master's would be nice, but I don't know if I want to fight through two more years of engineering school. For right now, I'm kind of past the "school" portion of life.

Batman? A clue? Chicago! Nah.....

It did. Yesterday morning was very warm. By the time I left work. I wished I had brought a sweater.

I just got back from SeaWorld a few minutes ago. Park opened an hour early due to the anticipated crowds. Fortunately, we were able to walk right into the ride. First of all, let me say the entire area is BEAUTIFUL. They really did an outstanding job at transforming what was a very dated area of the park. It is rich in detail, in a very Disney or Universal like fashion, and has a lot of hidden corners and areas to explore. The exhibit itself is very well done. You can get incredibly close to the penguins and the Park has continued its recent trend and enriching the animal encounters. The underwater viewing area is fantastic. Again, I think it is a nice improvement over what used to be. The ride? I'm not sure where to begin. The queue line is wonderful. The preshow rooms do a nice job of setting up the story of Puck. Unfortunately, that's about where it ends. The ride system is stunning and it was awesome to finally experience it after seeing prior installations that GYK pointed out. Our "wild" ride ended up with our pod being the only one going through. I've read that multiple pods are capable of going through the show, and it seems that way based on my observations, so I think it would be interesting to see them interact with one another. The ride does absolutely nothing and telling the story that was set up so well in the preshow. It is mostly a lot of pointless meandering with a few screens along the way with the animation of Puck. The elaborate theming from the queue doesn't quite carry over as much into the ride itself. There were a lot of dead spots with little to no theming at all. The ride ends with a quick view of the real penguins. It is incredibly short and if I waited more than 30 minutes for it I would be quite disappointed. I'm incredibly disappointed with the execution of this. It dumps you out into the exhibit, which really is 30 degrees inside. Crazy cold when you are in shorts and flip flops, but a nice touch and making the experience authentic. What I am disappointed to see is that it seems like you HAVE to ride the ride in order to see the penguins. This trend started with Turtle Trek and I don't like it at all. Hopefully with time, as the popularity dies down, this will change and you'll be able to by pass the attraction. Overall, the area really is a solid addition for SeaWorld and I do think it will be a game changer for them. While it is easy for us, as enthusiasts, to pick everything apart, the guests seemed to really be enjoying it. I do think that SeaWorld raised the bar for themselves as far as executing the area and it really does look spectacular. I'm looking forward to heading back after the Memorial Day crowds go away to try some of the new food options as well as the South Pole Chill. -Todd

It's the same in DC, if that makes you feel any better. I'm sure it's warmer in Atlanta, but I'm happier here.

Inspiring: http://m.knoxville.com/news/2013/may/23/knoxville-celebrities-dolly-parton-my-people-2013/ Well worth the read.

I am so looking forward to our first ever visit to this wonderful park next month.

I am still firmly in the giga camp, but I don't care what kind of coaster ki puts in. Those supports in the pics look small to be for a giga, but they could be for the end of the coaster. Of course the supports could not even be for ki. If we get a giga, a kiddie coaster, or just a flat ride, I will be happy.

I find it really interesting that while some of us are making obvious wishes/speculation as to what could be happening at K.I. There are people who keep popping into the thread to tell everyone how silly they sound. Now I have no idea what is going in but I do look at every picture and I'm at the park way more then I should be seeing what's going on to try and figure it out. This thread is titled "starting to decode 2014" doesn't that make you realize that this is a thread for detective work and speculation? I have not seen a single post yet that says "I know what's going in and it's a ______" because yeah we don't know but we are trying to "decode" it.. Maybe a new thread should be started for people who only say things they are positive about for this new area. Someplace for those who would condem someone's speculation/dreaming/hoping to go and post about well nothing..

Thank goodness.

^ Was it Lori or Dan behind the push for Bluegrass Boardwalk? If Dan I'd say his intentions were in the right place, if Lori well I have nothing nice to say.

... This thread is full of ignorance now.

In my professionial internet amuesment park forum user opinion, I'd say those are supports for an inverted coaster.

Please explain to me your obsession about the color of the coaster.

^ Well, according to Jr For Birdy, you can't trust what Don says. Plus I think Don pushed him and took his lunch money. So, there's that.

This sounds rather familiar......

The former SOB station will be used for a Haunt attraction this year and beyond.