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This is a photo that was sent to me by a long-time Kings Island employee. It is a circa 1978 photo his mother standing in front of one of The Beast's tunnels. The Beast made its debut on a rainy Friday, the 13th in 1979 and still stands as the world's longest wooden roller coaster.

I took the weather suggestion to heart and asked my dog what the weather was like today. She went outside dry and came back in wet. I can share her forecasts as time allows. Her future forecasts are a little "ruff" to be too accurate, however, she's always right on target as far as current weather. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would love to see that picture. Being so long ago I have very few memories of my trip to Opryland.Scan it and upload it to photobucket or some other host. I think I figured it out. This was probably around 1985-86. I'm the short little guy in the front.

I use a weather rock. Rock wet-rain, rock dry- sunny, rock gone - windy Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

She's just upset that when her son asked if she wanted to see the new roller coaster up close, she thought she'd be riding it. Or angry that he has her on a construction site when she got dressed up to spend the day with him.

Great photo! However, you mean 1979, not 1972, unless Beast somehow debuted 6 years before that construction photo was taken

Yes, if they'll bring back deep-fried cheese on a stick

I hope weather dog is not gone due to windy conditions. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

^Dude they were (except the tos post) just trying to joke around with you. None of us meant to be insulting or anything. We all joke around alot, especially Terp

When I was a 1st Year Apprentice Electrician, the Journeyman I was working with told me "Kid (Ive always looked young for my age and He thought I was 18 or 19), take your last feeling out to the parking lot and put it back in your car, this is the real World." My Commandant in the Police Academy 2 years prior to that said the same thing, in a less PC manner. Moral.... if you cant handle it as a 13-15 year old, you are in for a ROUGH life as an Adult in the Adult World.

*Insert Kansas and Toto reference here*

Going through Dinosaurs Alive! and imagining that they REALLY ARE ALIVE; and having a little house finch hop from between the bushes and scare the crap out of me.

Be aware your travel times are way too optimistic. On I-95, it's very rare there aren't delays for construction, traffic, etc. As an example, I live 17 miles from Six Flags America, all but two of it the Beltway. It's typically a 45 minute trip each way. Planning on speeding? Don't. The Carolinas are rigid enforcers, as is Georgia, Maryland, etc. I'll spare you my DC camera enforcement sermon.

Last year, the Reds Grille was doing the same on the first Friday in May. The bartender told me that there were no alcohol sales allowed until after 5pm because of the education days and all of the kids in the park. It would therefore seem reasonable to assume that when education days end, so will the no alcohol before 5pm rule. (Though when you ass-u-me, you make an... )

With the opening of Falcons Fury, Seven Dwarves Mine Train, and HP and the Escape from Gringott's...I expect Florida to be issuing it's own Fastpass just to get into the state this summer.

Can't wait to meet and greet TheBeast1116 on the 28th.....should be FUN!!

In this case, the "dude" is a dudette. And she's threatened to leave before. Then comes back. Again. Go. Or stay. But the melodrama? Terp, who has never understood people who announce their leaving unless it's due to impending demise, etc.

Well, I just went yesterday, so here are some highlights from that trip: -Nearly everything was a walk-on, and nothing was more than a 2-3 train wait MAXIMUM. Wow. Kings Island becomes so much more fun when the crowds are like this! -Banshee was as epic after a 5 minute wait as it was after 4 1/2 hour one...I'd rather wait 5 minutes though please. -Diamondback was running amazingly well. Very smooth for the most part, and with the best airtime I think I may have ever had EVER on anything outside of my Wildebeest Solo. -The Beast was very fun, even though it didn't quite seem to be running full blast for a section of the ride (Brake shed through middle tunnel- the turns after the tunnel picked up the pace and had nice laterals). But the rest of the ride was awesome. -I won Boo Blasters with a score of 660 versus my sister and her friend. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! -Getting BLASTED on White Water Canyon by the cannons. Can you say "Soaked"? -The chicken from both The Chicken Shack & some place in Rivertown (I don't know where my sister's friend's dad got it) was incredibly tasty. Those are just some highlights from my awesome day. BTW, if you're interested here is a link to the full trip report: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php/topic/29451-mcsalsas-coaster-adventures-the-uncrowded-island-may-13th-2014/#entry616101

I still think its incredibly smooth. But to each his own I guess.

I wanted to mention something after reading the posts from TheBeast1116. If you (anyone on this forum, not singling out TheBeast1116) are a minor looking to meet up, please make sure you tell your parents. If they are not comfortable with you meeting people from online please be obedient. Your folks love you and want you to be safe. I am an adult. Even when my daughter and I did the first meet up, I let someone know we were meeting up with people from this forum. It's just necessary to be safe. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It was a metaphor

I just don't understand the sudden oversight here. Absolutely proper names should be capitalized and information should be accurate more than it's inaccurate, but what major amusement park doesn't have an unofficial dedicated fan site or discussion board or community? And of the ones that come immediately to mind, ours here at KICentral.com/forums is absolutely among the best moderated, most positive, pro-park, open discussion communities out there. This is not an outrageous garbage dump of accusations and anti-park / anti-Cedar-Fair nonsense. Altogether, this is wonderful and positive community that shares a common love and appreciation and respect for Kings Island and its direction under Cedar Fair. It's odd that "the park" even has a presence here in the form of DonKIPR. That's not typically the case - at least publicly - on the limitless other discussion boards out there. Look at Theme Park Review, which runs rampant with speculation, rumor, and downright negativity. The owner of that site is infamously rude - sometimes even offensive - and posts his questionable comments and opinions right alongside exclusive interviews and ERT photo reports, associating his particular brand of annoying-crazy with the site's exclusive content provided by parks! And yet, guess who's at Banshee media day? Look, too, at MiceChat, a community focused solely on Disney Parks (Disney being one of the most valiant defenders of intellectual property in the world today) where speculation and rumor are off the charts, every day, constantly. The site specializes in "leaks" and inside information from anonymous sources. Certainly there is no official "DisneyParksPR" account posting vaguely-threatening comments and sometimes being downright off-putting to the community there. (EDIT: Imagine "DisneyParksPR" commenting: "Not sure where you got all this inaccurate information but this site sure has a lot of it..." It's sort of laughable to imagine. Sort of like "Wow this is a pretty fun site. Too bad... Hope nothing happens to it.") There was a time when fans of Kings Island were celebrated for their enthusiasm and interaction. There was quite another time when they were seemingly ignored. The presence of an official "PR" account in this community seemed a shift toward the "old way," but now it's actually become off-putting. Does Kings Island have every right to view these boards and even participate on them? Sure, why not? And if something here falls out of alignment with their legal expectations, I should expect the site administrators to be contacted. But the downright dismissive tone is becoming tiresome... We're not the enemy, or some horrible vitriol-spewing Facebook fans. We're not even a "bad" fan community, as far as fan communities go. I'm glad for the park's presence here and I understand the account owner's obligation to defend the product he represents, but at this point it's like... we as a community are not harmful. We are not tarnishing Kings Island or Cedar Fair Entertainment Company. It's just frustrating to feel like we're being moderated by a multi-million dollar company when we're just fans having fun, being optimistic, and speculating together. It first occurred to me in a personal way two years ago when the park tweeted "What would you like to see added to the park map for 2012?" I said "TREES!" The "park" responded "It's a map of attractions, not of individual trees." Like, is that professional? Is it kind? I understand that as the most aggressive consumers of the product, we can be annoying. But c'mon. In what universe would Disney respond to a fan that way on Twitter? Universal? SeaWorld Parks? Six Flags? (EDIT: By the way, trees were added. Or... bushes. Either way, The Beast no longer looks like it's sitting in a field, making the map a much more accurate representation of the ride, thank you very much!) And that tone appears to be mirrored here, again representing the park as a sort of "big brother" whose presence here is only to scold us or keep us in line and remind us that we're in thin ice all day every day. Very odd. Not very welcoming. Not very FUN. Don't get me wrong: We're lucky that the park we love has become an active presence on this site. We're lucky that rather than ignoring us, news gets posted here and we're invited to participate in exclusive events at the park we all love. We're lucky that, in general, it seems Kings Island's management views this community as the positive, helpful, enthusiastic, and beneficial community it is. But the oversight... the sort of vaguely dismissive treatment... it's not exactly precedent, and that's my point.

You may have noticed a new tasty treat around Kings Island this year. The "Fudge Push Pop" was invented in-house by a long-time employee who created many of the flavors of fudge sold in Kings Island's Fudge Shop to this day. Don't be fooled - these aren't frozen. They're actually made of the same fudge that's found in the shop. The container allowed for more creativity with the presentation and flavors as well as the ability to more easily take it home to share with friends and family. You'll notice some differences between this and the fudge. Mainly it's the varieties available. If you look at the photo above, the simple "fudge" flavor is sprinkled with M&M's and there's even a Ice Cream Sundae flavor! Oh, and the cherry on top of the Ice Cream Sundae flavor? Cherry-flavored fudge! This is definitely something you'll want to check out on your next visit to Kings Island. They are available in limited locations immediately but should be available at almost all merchandise stores at the park within the next week. Enjoy!

Would you like some cheese with your whine?

WARNING: TRIP REPORT HUGE!!! What da? It is time for ANOTHER trip report already? Well, having a season pass has its perks. The group I was with was mostly the same as the previous TR, but minus a few people. OK, now for the ride rating system... 10: Amazing 9: Excellent 8: Very Good 7: Good 6: OK 5: Meh 4: Bad 3: Very Bad 2: Terrible 1: Garbage 0: Garbage's Garbage from the Land of Space Poo! Ready? To quote Mario...Here We Go! We left for the park around 8:00, but due to needing to stop for bathroom breaks and all that, we didn't reach the park until around 10:00 and thus missed ERT. D'oh! But would we need it? Our group split- a few of us wanted to go ride Diamondback, but we heaed for a ride which I promised my sister we'd ride while in line for Beast @ Night (we skipped it in favor of Beast) on the last trip... RIDE #1: Flight of Fear (x2) Wait: 5 Minutes 1st Ride (Needed to cycle 1 train), 10 Minutes 2nd ride Hehehe, after waiting 90+ minutes for this once it is sure is fun to just hop on with a minimal wait. The ride itself is quite turbulent- after reading some discussion about violent vs. rough and then riding this, I realized FOF actually is not so rough but is in fact the former- a very violent, aggressive ride that WILL throw you around. There were some rough spots though, but nothing too drastic. Very forceful as usual, too. A solid ride. We headed outside and found Firehawk broken, so instead of riding that, we decided to head back and ride FOF again since the line was short. We rode in another train, which was actually smoother but we also rode much closer to the back and thus it was even more violent than before! A very fun ride both times. Score: 9/10 After FOF, we found Firehawk was running but the group was wanting to "meet up with us" at... RIDE #2: Banshee Wait: >5 Minutes!!! From 4 1/2 Hours to just 2 trains...wow. What a reduction in wait time your choice of day can make! This time we sat in the middle, since my sister's friend can only ride the ride there, and to be honest the view was not too obstructed- good job on the train designs in this regard, B&M. During the ride, I forgot the loop around the lift even existed, so boy was I caught off guard for a second..."OK, here comes the Zero G...WAIT WHAT DA!?!?" Thankfully, I didn't forget any of the rest of the ride! As for the ride itself...mostly the same as before. Restraints were a bit tight on my shoulders but didn't tighten, very forceful, and very fast-paced. However it was a bit rougher, it seemed, as there was a vibration from the seat but it was still smoother than Flight of Fear. Banshee was worth a 4 1/2 hour wait the first time and thus it was easily worth a 2-train wait. Score: 10/10! With the group re-united, we headed from Banshee to a nearby coaster I have ridden before, but not under its current name/theme... RIDE #3: The Bat (formerly Flight Deck) Wait: Walk-On...unless you count the q-line, then it's 5 minutes. Well, consider me a teeny bit disappointed. The re-theme of Flight Deck is just a new paint job and a re-name, and while it looks great now, I can still clearly see TOP GUN/Flight Deck's old aircraft theme under the new paintjob. As for the ride itself? Same-Old, Same-Old...Fun, Furious, Fast...but a bit too short. Score: 8/10 Our journey through Action Zone continued, as after heading back up Bat's ramp (on the way, I turned and "looked up"...and saw clear sky where previously a mountain O' wood stood), we headed back to the AZ Midway and towards a ride my sister seemed to be leading us to...which was something I have not ridden since 2010... RIDE #4: Invertigo Wait: >5 Minutes (1 Cycle) When Invertigo has a short line, you KNOW the park is dead! This was my first ride on the coaster since its repaint in 2012, and to be honest, I recall my 2010 ride being better. This one was forceful and fast, but also head-bangy rough! Ow! It gave me a headache too. Thankfully, we had painkillers that nerfed it quickly and it was no longer a problem for most of the day. A decent ride in spite of this, but...I can't give more than a 7 here. Score: 7/10 After Invertigo, we hit up Chicken Shack (again- we had done it on opening day as well) and split up a plate O' Chicken yet again. As it was last time, it was delicious, but I took care not to eat too much- I still wanted to do rides. So did 2 of my sister's friends...and they had their eyes on a big spinny frisbee ride nearby... RIDE #5: Delirium Wait: >5 Minutes (1 Cycle) While in line, I saw some dudes using Fast Lane. A waste of money, as they rode Delirium on the same cycle we did, and we were in the regular line. The ride itself, which I last rode in 2011, is still good, airtime-and-speed filled swinging fun. But it's better than ever now, since you can "kick" Banshee now! The only drawback? Ride Cycle could be a BIT longer...the fun ends too soon. Score: 9/10 After Delirium, the group expected to hit Adventure Express next, but after some discussion we ended up cutting across the park...and first up, my sister wanted to ride... RIDE #6: Boo Blasters on Boo Hill Wait: Walk-On The Q-Line is so dark...I could barely see anything. The effects seemed to be (mostly) working, save the chase scene which was broken down and the epic "ghost face wall" ending from before is gone. All 3 of our guns worked, which is a plus. Another plus is I actually won with a score of 660! Not terrible. As for the ride, same thing, but I would not be against a new dark ride replacing it, or at least fixing the broken stuff. Score: 7/10 After BBoBH, we headed for a much larger ride I was easily more excited to ride- but also a little curious, as I heard it has had a recent change since my last visit. That ride is... RIDE #7: Diamondback Wait: >5 Minutes Yeah, the lines were very short all day, as you can see by now! The trains did stack a few times, but it was kinda 50-50'ish- sometimes the crew did perfect, other times not so much, but it was never horrible. As for the seat belts? These things are supposed to save me HOW should the main restraint fail!?!? Seriously, it was so loose on me it may not as well have even been there! I assume these were added just to appease lawyers. However, the plus to this is that since the seat belts are fairly loose, they don't affect the ride at all. In fact, I was riding near the back with my sister and got killer airtime- it started off as floater, but turned into ejector as the ride dropped down nearly every hill, and there were surprise moments where there was airtime and I didn't expect it, and it was nearly always fairly strong...as for "The Rattle"? On this ride, I felt it it at the bottom of the first drop and that was it. Smooth the rest of the ride. Score: 10/10! After the awesome ride on Diamondback, we decided to head for a KI Classic that was for some reason closed on opening day... RIDE #8: The Kings Island & Miami Valley Railroad Wait: 5 Minutes (for train to show up) Well, it may lack all the animatronics and stuff it once had, but the conductor on the train was very fun to ride with as he gave facts about the park and other rides, and did point out the various "cool" things that the train still goes by...all while very fitting western music plays. Also, apparently a celebrity of sorts has checked into the Inn...a very fun ride, but I also saw more potential- add some more stuff back there like the train had in its young years, and you're golden. Score: 8/10 After the train, it was off to ride my favorite coaster at Kings Island... RIDE #9: The Beast Wait: 5 Minutes (for front row!) Well, I don't know what it was, but this Beast ride, while still very fun...felt a wee bit disappointing. After the amazing rides Banshee and Diamondback gave earlier, and the downright epic night ride on opening day 2014, I guess I was hoping for more from Beast. The ride started out great as usual- awesome first drop and second turn, then the smaller drop into the ravine. The section where the ride "flopped" was after the brake shed- it felt a wee bit sluggish compared to my last few rides. Thankfully, after the tunnel, the next few turns got the ride back on track with some solid laterals and the helix, of course, was epic. And the ride was pretty smooth for a wooden coaster throughout. Even a "bad" Beast ride is still awesome, though. Score: 9.5/10 After Beast, our journey continued around the park. Up next was a tiny little coaster that I had ridden on opening day... RIDE #10: Backlot Stunt Coaster Wait: Walk-On Odd but true- BLSC was ROUGHER than Beast. Weird. The ride was as I remembered otherwise- packing a punch in spite of being small with great g-forces, and some pops of airtime. The Fire Effect wasn't working this time, though. Still, it didn't need it too much- a good fun ride on a small coaster that my sister's friend's dad called a "Mini Maverick". I can kinda-sorta see that, I guess... Score: 8/10 Our counter-clockwise journey that began with Diamondback continued, leading us to an old coaster that has thrilled KI Fans since 1987... RIDE #11: Vortex Wait: Walk-On There were like, 5 riders on our entire train. Talk about empty trains, eh? I rode in 5-1 again, and got some solid air on the first drop. Vortex is quite rough, though due to my build and the way the OTSR's are, I didn't bother me much at all since I cannot get head-banged by it (and I still feel Invertigo was worse). The loops and corkscrews were fun and forceful, and the ride was pretty good. However, there is one problem for Vortex: Banshee's debut has kind of made Vortex a bit weaker in my eyes, as it does many of the things Vortex does (strong forces, numerous inversions) and does them with an inverted element and with much smoother transitions. However, Vortex is still a very good ride and I do hope the park does keep it. Lapbars, if possible, though would be a HUGE help... Score: 8/10 After Vortex, we took a short break in Coney Mall. Afterwards, we hit up the park's classic wooden coaster. RIDE #12: Red Racer (Blue Racer was SBNO) Wait: 10 Minutes (crew was super-slow in sending out trains at times, WTF?!?!) Yikes- what a difference weather conditions and 2 years can have on a woodie. In 2012, I rode Red Racer from the front seat and had a blast, with plentiful airtime and smooth track. This time? Same seat- but there was much less airtime in most spots (there were still some spots where I did get some decent ejector air though) and it was MUCH rougher- though still nowhere near Vortex or Invertigo levels, but well beyond Beast. I slammed my legs into the lap bar a few times. Ouch. It wasn't too bad, but this was a far cry from Racer's best. It just was not a great day for the wooden coasters of Kings Island... Score: 7/10 After Racer, we hit up another nearby coaster in Oktoberfest... RIDE #13: Adventure Express Wait: Walk-On While the jerkyness and rough transitions hurt Vortex pretty bad, on AE, due to the decreased speeds of course, they are OK and add to the charm. This is a very fun mine train coaster, and today all the theming and effects were working. AE basically did its thing, and was its usual fun self with good forcefulness and twists and turns. (I also turned my head to check what the view to the left from the 1st lift is like now that SOB is gone- it's mostly air now. Banshee really doesn't use much of the old SOB land...) Score: 8/10 And then, after Adventure Express, we hit up the park's icon- a long overdue ride, since my last one was in 2010. RIDE #14: Eiffel Tower Wait: Walk-On The Eiffel Tower gives such great views of the entire park- and being up there clearly showed me why WindSeeker never opened. Boy was it windy! Banshee looks awesome from up here, as do many of the other rides. It was also cool to try and see how far away I could see stuff. The Eiffel Tower- yeah, it's almost always fun. Unless it's freezing cold out. Thankfully, that was not the case this time. Score: 8/10 After the Eiffel Tower, our next ride ended up being a re-ride on Diamondback. RE-RIDE: Diamondback #2 Wait: Walk-On Rode from 1-2 (First Car, 2nd Row) this time. Was expecting a good drop in the amount of airtime, due to being in front, and while it was a drop-off it was not a big one at all- I still got a LOT of air. Also, this time the ride was very smooth from start to finish- no "Rattle" at all. Heh, Diamondback was just awesome today. Score: 10/10 again! And we followed that up with a ride on a much wetter ride... RIDE #15: White Water Canyon (x2) Wait: 5 Minutes due to path, otherwise walk-on White Water Canyon- the wooded setting alone makes this ride awesome IMO. Then you have the pure fun of spinning and wondering "Who will get soaked the worst?" Well, that's hard to answer- because during our 2 rides (we got off and back in line) we got DRENCHED. In part due to the water cannons, because Friend's Dad was using them on us! Score: 8/10 After this, my sister took me and her friend through... RIDE #16: Snoopy's Splash Dance Wait: None I am not sure how to rate this- basically, it gets you wet with hoses and nozzles. It really is more aimed for kids, but it does drench you...ehh, I'll give it a 7 since it was kinda fun. Score: 7/10 And then we hit our last ride of the day, another water ride...and a Kings Island staple from 1972... RIDE #17: Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown Wait: Walk-On The name for this ride makes so much sense now- this ride was easily the scariest of the day. No lap bars, OTSRs, none of that to keep you in. Nor even a seatbelt. Just a metal bar on the side of the log...hang on. And our log rocked and shook A LOT during the ride down the canal...then came the final drop. Is this the Log Flume, or did Pilgrims' Plunge/Giraffica somehow come to Kings Island, because the wave was much bigger than expected...yeah, as far as "scare factor" goes, this made me quite the nervous wreck while riding it. It was fun though...I wonder if maybe we were too heavy or something. Ride alone next time, perhaps? Score: 7/10 After hitting RFYLCB, we did some shopping in the park (I got some nice Postcards) and then we headed to the car. It was only 6:30'ish...wow, never thought we'd be done with Kings Island so quickly. Yeah, we didn't ride Firehawk (couldn't get enough people to want to do it) and Drop Tower & WindSeeker were closed all day (DT due to needing parts apparently, and WindSeeker due to...Wind...) but other than that, what an awesome day at Kings Island. Totally makes up for only getting in 3 rides on Opening Day. Grand ride totals... RIDE TOTALS FOR TRIP Flight of Fear x2 Diamondback x2 White Water Canyon x2 Beast x1 Banshee x1 Vortex x1 The Bat x1 Adventure Express x1 Backlot Stunt Coaster x1 Invertigo x1 Red Racer x1 Delirium x1 Eiffel Tower x1 Boo Blasters x1 KI & MV RR x1 RFYL CB x1 Snoopy's Splash Dance x1 Total: 20 Rides 20 Rides in 1 Day...could have likely done much more had we had a smaller group, but it was still awesome. Now for the good and bad of the trip... PROS +NO LINES!!! +The B&M's were running amazingly well +Food was delicious- hiring a head chef seems like it was a good call thus far +Park was pretty clean and tidy +Staff was friendly and- mostly- efficent CONS -Wooden Coasters weren't running 100%, however -Racer crew was VERY slow at times Overall, this was a very good visit to Kings Island. I am SO looking forward to more visits like this in the future. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this trip report. Comments/Questions are welcome. See you!

Have a fun visit to KI! (By the way, people here can sometimes be humorous or sarcastic in their responses. This doesn't mean that anyone was making fun of you.)

A message board I frequent has a rule that if you make a "goodbye forever" post, you better mean it, because you will be banned (and banned again if you start up a new account). It stops any over-dramatic plays for attention. I feel a little bad about this one though, because I don't think it was necessarily meant for attention as much as inexperience in interacting with virtual strangers in real life or online, and this kid was probably "picked on" a little more than warranted (mostly teasing and jokes more than attacks, I don't think anyone was intentionally mean, it just felt that way to the one it was directed at). But, on the other hand, it's a lot more mild than one is likely to get when talking around many mixed groups online or in real life.

September 2015? Yea the crowds will be smaller by then Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Should I stay or should I go now... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I hope they take absolutely all the time they need to ensure safe operation. I really wouldn't want to go thud on my vacation.

After the ride would be the best time to wash your hands or grab the Purell, anyway. Many people touch the ride restraints, some decide to spit, and a few lose their lunch. Those with personal space issues must have been very uncomfortable outside the front gate on Opening Day, just after they started letting people in.

While I've never been accused of invading someone's person space in line, there is one thing that I have been trying to stop doing. Without thinking or looking I will grab the Speed-Rail. Most of the time its fine, nothing happens. Occasionally though there is that awkward moment when I touch the hand of someone who is also grabbing the rail. Then we make eye contact and in that split second we are both thinking the same thing, "Was that an accident that I should ignore or do I need to run screaming to a security guard?" The latter has yet to happen. After I determine it was just an accident, I will then try to gauge the personal hygiene of the person whom I just attempted to hold hands with. "Can I wait until after the ride to use the restroom and wash my hands or do I need to run screaming to the nearest Purell dispenser?" (In my mind the option of running and screaming is always there somewhere.) A worse situation is when I have my hand on the Speed-Rail and someone on the other side backs into it. Even though we both know it was an accident, there is never a time when touching a strangers butt isn't awkward.

If I eat garlic the night before people usually keep their distance from me.

This isn't a Gold/Platinum Pass perk but I really like the idea of the flash drives they are doing now for ride photos. You can utilize your pass discount to purchase the flash drive for around $20 (if I remember right) and then each picture after that will be $5.49 with your discount. We never bought pictures because one they are too pricy and two they usually ended up getting messed up. The flash drive and discount has solved the problem. Plus once on the drive they are yours to do with as you wish. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Vortex has only a 48" requirement. Thanks, but I'm positive I rode Son of Beast before Vortex. My parents haven't liked Vortex for quite a few years. Remind me to force them into 5-1 next time.

Did that not add to the excitement? Like being pushed down a hill in a Meijer shopping cart, when you rode Son of Beast you knew anything could happen!!

Tonight while training at Thunder Run I learned ACE would be at the Kingdom this Saturday. We were told to watch out for their questions as they would be asking a lot of things we aren't supposed to answer. So I think it is funny how we got a "warning".

If you could care less, then you do care some...

BREAKING NEWS: The Republic of International Street has just invaded the sovereign nation of Planet Snoopy in an attempt to annex the region known as Boo Blasters. The leaders of International Street claim Boo Blasters is rightfully theirs and its employees identify as International Streetarians. Most other regions of Kings Island have pledged their support for Planet Snoopy and claim they will react swiftly to halt any advancement of International Streetarian aggression. Neighboring regions Action Zonia and Coney Mallistan remain on high alert. The remote nation of the United Attractions of Rivertown is considering many options including but not limited to freezing the Dippin' Dots tabs on many high ranking International Street officials. Now back to your regularly scheduled message board.

I have a dog.

The 23rd? May as well ask your dog. Seriously.

Yeah I never demanded answers. I just said I've never understood the secrecy about rides that are down and that I would think it would be easier for them to be upfront with information instead of getting frustrated with misinformation. I also don't think its a big deal for people to question why something is down as we are all fans and interested.

Let's turn the tables, you (you reading this right now) if you were to be the Kings Island PR person and your friends/family ran the park in various different departments, with Don and others currently working at the park being the guests/pass holders/enthusiasts, how would you feel if you had to field questions on a day to day basis over the same exact things? How would you like to work in the call center and a majority of your phone calls are fielding questions/comments about things seen on a site that has a relationship with your park? You: "Thanks for calling Kings Island, how can I assist you today?" Don: "I read on KICentral.com that WindSeeker hasn't operated at all this year due to one of the arms coming off during testing" You: "Uh....that's not true That is just a rumor that is completely untrue, is there anything else I can help you with today?" Don: "Well I'm really upset because I saw on KICentral.com that the Banshee crew is not allowed to have water in the station, how is that fair to them, what happens if one of the crew memebers passes out due to heat exhaustion because you didn't give them water." You: "Again, that is a rumor, each and every ride crew has access to water and is provided cups to drink from." Don: "Oh, okay....so I heard that Drop Tower hasn't operated yet this season because it's not certified from the state and that you have to wait for a part from Germany to arrive, at least that's what I saw on KICentral.com." You: "Again, that is a rumor, weather has been a major factor in the operation of Drop Tower, it will open again as soon as possible." Try fielding those kind of calls over and over and over each day. It gets tiring. It does happen, I've heard stories from a friend who worked in the Call Center getting phone calls about rumors that were seen on this site. Don and the park is not trying to control this site. They're trying to protect the park, themselves and ultimately you. Don does not have to even respond to enthusiasts let alone this site, but he does. There are several park PR teams that do not respond unless you are affiliated with a site that they've built a relationship or strictly news media. As someone said earlier, the park isn't going to give an exact date or even a guess to when Drop Tower will open. If they do and it doesn't happen, the phone calls, tweets, Facebook messages, emails, etc. will flood all over again often angrier than the first round. Remember when you signed up for this site, you have accepted the Terms of Service in which state: If something were to ever come to it, your information can be used against you in court even if you were just posting a rumor. Property/intellectual rights at their finest. Knowingly posting false information can cause you to be banned from the site if it becomes an issue as well as posting info that has not been released to the public. So Don, responding as he has, protects the park, himself and you. Just be smart when posting and we wouldn't have to have these posts.

I don't think anyone has said that it's wrong to question (or even to speculate about) what's wrong with Drop Tower. (Just avoid posting information that is false.) What gets really old are the comments criticizing people like Don for not volunteering specific information. Kings Island doesn't have to be interactive with this site at all. I sometimes wonder why they continue to do so when they get mostly backlash and criticism from us. Regarding Drop Tower, I imagine that they prefer that the media focus be on Banshee and the rest of the Action Zone attractions that are open already. After all, they just opened the biggest investment in park history. I'm sure that KI wants Drop Tower open just as much as we* do. *excluding Duncan and Lindzey

Being a part of this site and/buying a park ticket/season pass doesn't entitle us to any information. Rides go down from time to time. It happens.

Interesting. So do you take this approach with with every product you buy into? "Sir, the burger you want is not available even though Its on the menu. No I will not tell you why. Have a nice day though" Actually, I have had something similar happen to me at a resturant and I did not feel I was owed an explaination. "'X item' is not available, would you like something else?" Knowing why, or throwing a fit about it, wouldn't make it anymore available to me. Same goes for Drop Tower. Knowing why it isn't operating isn't going to make it start operating any sooner.

It bugs me when people call out other people for doing their jobs. We are not owed any information about when the ride is going to open. Maybe its down, maybe there is no crew, maybe Mason has said no rides with 90 degree drops. Who cares. The ride is not up right now. If that bugs you then, honestly, get over it. For everyone else who gets bugged about what has to be said on here and how it has to be said, get over it. Seriously grow up. No one cares about your complaining and all you do is potentially ruin some of the perks this site has built with KI. There once was a time, where Don answered questions we posted to him. Not because he had to but because he wanted to. If you want to complain and make up stories please go visit kiextreme. Im sure you can get some people to drink your crazy over there... On a more on topic statement. Never been a huge fan of rides like Drop Tower. Something about the heights and just sitting there. I think I may have only ridden the ride less than a handful of times...

It hasn't been.

The ride has been open this year. Thousands of guests have ridden it since Opening Day. A lot of inaccurate information about the park has been posted on this site this year.