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It has been no secret that Kings Island's classic twin racing coasters have played a major role in history, having ushered in the Second Golden Age of roller coasters upon their opening in 1972. Very soon, The Racer will make history yet again as it thrills its 100 millionth rider - a feat that very few coasters live to see. Don Helbig, Kings Island's spokesman (and record-holding Racer rider), declined to state exactly when he thought it would happen, but said that it was on the "next horizon." The lucky rider will get the following prize pack: -VIP Tour for eight (8) in 2015 -Invite to Kings Island's Halloween Haunt Media Preview -Recognition on the park's social media Who is going to be the 100 millionth rider? Could it be YOU??

Turkeys are flying? Perhaps it's a WKRP themed ride, "as God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." (Possibly the funniest single episode ever on tv.)

Don isn't required to comment on all the moves the park makes, he's got plenty of things to do. I'm sure they aren't dismantling the ride because they just felt their maintenance workers didn't have enough to do. We'll eventually find out, whether that be from seeing a new ride erected or Don does find the time to post on here. Right now all we can do is be patient and wait to find out.

Let me go ask my magic conch

It wasn't that complicated to keep track of the ridership of each of the rides in the park in the 1970's. Capacity for each train is 30. If a train had three open seats, a 27 went in the log for that cycle. There was a big push in the 1970's and most of the 1980's to pair single riders which helped the ride surpass 3 million rides given in a season multiple times including 3.6 million in 1976.

Troika Troika Troika !!! Maybe it works like Beetlejuice. ?? It was worth a shot. Sent from my iPhone using Taptalk

That was the quickest Photoshop job... ever...

What's with the milestones this year? It's pretty crazy. First Banshee, then Diamondback, now Racer. Wow!

Beyond hilarious! Although, you might have just designed a new ride for Huss.....hmmmm. Ready to ride?

SF is reporting an attendance drop (blaming weather, mostly), while CF seems to be experiencing different results: http://money.cnn.com/2014/07/21/investing/six-flags-attendance-drop/index.html

I believe those are references to Mr. Ed Hart. Or a vulture. Is there a difference?

What if rider # 10,000,000 takes his ride at approx 9:45 PM next Wednesday. What if said rider was also from Illinois and needed to leave town the next day to get back home (or continue their vacation elsewhere) and did not have either the means and/or the time to return to KI this season for a full VIP tour? 2015 makes a lot of sense for a whole lot of reasons, mainly flexibility for the winner of such a prize to work around. All in all, a pretty cool package.

A huge milestone and a generous prize, for sure. Looking forward to seeing who the lucky rider is! As a general reminder, anyone who wins a prize of significant monetary value should seek tax advice before accepting.

^no comment...I'm chuckling.

At least this Huss from all the shaking, rattling, and rolling only needs a good bit of TLC. Not like you have to take a Chance and ride a Morgan, but end up spinning down the midway on fire.

I talked to Don today about it and he emphasized that the sign says that the ride is TEMPORARILY closed. We [based on his comments] know it's coming back, just not when. It will be back, but do not necessarily expect it this year.

My brother worked with a woman that called them 'pastries' . I drew her a birthday card of a woman wearing stratigically placed danishes and a croisant.

Gets to the top of the stairs..forever alone

Rain thinned the crowds. 15 minutes for Diamondback. Station wait for Beast. I just saw "Nico" from Cirque get off The Beast. He was with a woman, may have been the one on the trampoline but I have never seen her out of makeup to know for sure. Really cool to see the performers get to enjoy the park too

Given how terribly that a large racing coaster in Illinois' trains are running, one is forced to wonder about the future of THAT particular ride. Some owners respect, even revere wood coasters. Others, on the other hand.... (And the new steel coaster in that Illinois park is glorious. I woodn't and won't call it wood.)

It is really nice to see how much progress is being made on Rampage. With what feels like a large number of wooden coasters getting axed lately its nice to see one coming back to life!

And Terpy visited. Terpy, adding stuff.

Maybe they just aren't satisfied with the 'ride experience' yet. I recall those comments regarding a certain largest wooden roller coaster being made as trees were growing through the tracks. Who knows what's up. Don probably hasn't comment because he only comments when there is news to comment on. SRR's future, depending on the severity of the problem, probably has yet to be determined.

I doubt they have a "This ride is permanently closed and will soon be removed" sign.

Goble ya' ought to know better than to ask a question like that. Hahahaha The building is coming along nicely. It's much larger than I had first thought it would be.

Here I thought the Single Rider Line was to find me a date

The single rider line was intended for guests who had no one else in their party that wanted to ride. I guess I didn't realize that was the official purpose of the Single Rider line at Kings Island. At Disney Parks, many groups enter the Single Rider line and are simply reminded that they will be split up and ride separately. Observationally, most say, "Yeah, we know, thanks!" and, at the ride, their party is split as needed to fill extra seats. I guess I'm so used to that, I don't see anything wrong with it. If Jack and Jill visit the park together, and both want to ride Diamondback, but they don't "need" to ride together, then isn't the Single Rider line a viable option? I guess not. Disney just presents it – officially or unofficially – as a way to wait stand-by for an open single spot, not necessarily that it's purpose is ONLY to serve those who visit alone or want to ride the ride alone. Ah well!

More than 90 percent of the single riders on Diamondback were with groups of people who also claimed to be single in an effort to by-pass the line.

I wonder what Ed Hart will be doing then. I hope he nearly hits the ceiling. I also wonder what Mr. Dan Koch will be doing. And Mr. Bruce Lunsford. I'm funny like that.

Not to mention there were fewer other rides in the park and the park had more guests per year back then... BUT, the season was shorter. Much shorter.

Caught today's 7:00 show. They have four clowns again. Sam has been replaced I was hoping he would recover and rejoin the show. The new guy is really good though. I can no longer refer to Julian as the long haired clown now (guess he's the tall long haired clown, and the new guy is the shorter long haired clown), because the new guy also has long hair. He's quite impressive on the trampoline, too. They also did the longest box play at the beginning that I've seen for awhile. It was energetic and fun. No return of the teeter totter, though. In the playing around in the audience at the beginning of the show, they found a woman in the audience with hair as red as the clowns (more red even than mine is now) and put some makeup on her nose and cheeks to make her match them. It was cute

But only when it's 50° and overcast.

I guess we can never really celebrate someone's (individual) 100,000,000th ride on Racer. They'd have to be 387 years old, and have never done anything in their lives but ride Racer non-stop, round the clock, on-and-off season, since they were seven years old, with no stops between circuits.

Rampage tweet / photo update from Mr. Dan Koch via Twitter (@SplashinDan) "Rampage looking good. Still lots of work to be done. #SplashAdventure" "I love the smell of fresh number one grade lumber in the morning.Smells like victory.Rampage rules! #SplashAdventure" "The Koch family loves Alabama, America and the Rampage. God bless Alabama! #SplashAdventure" "Woo hoo! Rampage. #SplashAdventure" "Not pretty! Real train is at PTC in Philly. I'll tweet when it comes back completely refurbished. #SplashAdventure" .....And just to clarify the above photo and tweet for those of you who aren't aware......The train that Dan mentions above, is in fact in Philadelphia right now undergoing refurbishment from PTC. The train you see in the photo sitting near the station is Rampage's second train, which has not yet been sent to Philadelphia for refurbishment.

Significant = $600 or anytime you are informed you will be receiving an IRS Form 1099, Miscellaneous Income. Terp is not engaged in certified public accounting nor the private practice of law or of tax law, a specialty thereof. There is no legal or tax advice intended for a particular client contained herein. Consult a competent professional should you have, or think you may have, a tax and/or legal problem. This is a disclaimer.

Well, they should've been on sale last Friday apparently, but it's been a very difficult job setting them up this past week. It's not easy!

Just asked the woman working the photos what the new screens were for: "Video. They should be on sale tomorrow."

Photoshop is a registered trademark and, as such, is always capitalized here and, preferably, should not be used as a verb.

Oh it's very thrilling! On any given ride you could capsize, and even drown!

Well, on behalf of the 78,235,409th and 80,124,343rd riders, I'll say congrats to whoever hits that first, nine-digit milestone! Sweet package, though. Good luck, riders!

As Darth Vader would say "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

Six Flags has maintained pricing integrity. Per caps up 11 percent. Earnings up.... Also read that CNN article carefully. It acknowledges that FUN recent attendance is not up. Thus the sales, events, etc. Profit is far more important than attendance. See also today's SIX and FUN prices...

I just want to make a little shout-out for Wellbutrin XL. Unlike most antidepressants which can make you gain weight, it can actually act as a weight loss aid. To the point they won't prescribe it to people with a prior history of anorexia. It is part of the reason I was able to lose an extra eighty pounds I was carrying around for ten years. It can also help with other addictions, like smoking (not that I smoked). One of the really good things about it, is that since my weight loss came about gradually (about a pound a week over a couple years), as I modified my general relationship to food and started counting calories, I have kept the weight off even after no longer taking it (or any other antidepressant). I would recommend anyone who is both unhappy with their weight and on an antidepressant that they aren't entirely happy with to at least talk to their doctor about trying Wellbutrin. It really did help change my life.

Technically, I didn't ask anything. I simply stated that I didn't know and probably didn't want to. No question was asked. It was Terpy who took it upon himself to tell me. So I blame Terpy. At least Terp didn't describe tasseled pasties and how those work...lol.

I started gaining weight when I was on medication for anxiety and depression. Well done on getting help. That's hard to do. I have been off my meds for a couple of years now. I did not think I could get "well" enough to get off the meds. I know I am absolutely blessed that I have gotten to this point. I do want to add, some people have other issues than what I have. Some may have chemical imbalances creating the life time need to be on medication. The cause of my anxiety and depression was due to a family crisis, it was classified as situational anxiety and depression. July 25 marks the 11th year of the start of changes in my life. It was the day I stood up for my family and got my voice. Please note: I got extensive therapy (years of it) prior to going off my meds. Never take yourself off medications for anxiety and / or depression without consulting your doctor 1st. Sorry to go on like that, just thought it might be an encouragement to know you're not alone.

Think about this: If its being removed for good, why would they want to destroy a ride that parts could be hard to get when they have another one just a few hundred miles North that might need parts in the future? Wouldn't make much sense.

I am so glad Terp was the one to reveal that. I had quite the chuckle at the fact.

Shields to cover the nipple area, typically worn by female strippers to avoid obscenity charges in certain areas.They are typically pasted in place, and star shaped. Terp, when you joined this forum did you ever foresee a time when THIS topic would come up?

I've only been on Shake, Rattle, & Roll a few times. When I first started going to KI as an adult, I went simply to power ride all of the coasters. One trip, I decided to ride other rides and was pleasantly surprised at how thrilling this ride is. Hopefully, it will be around for a while. If not, I had some good rides on it. On a side note, two years ago, I took my son, who had just turned 4 to Camden Park. We rode the Scrambler, the Whip, Big Dipper, the Train (Halloween time) and the Haunted House. I had really forgotten how other rides can be loads of fun, especially when sharing the experience with your kid. I'm not sure who's smile was bigger, mine or his.