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Hi All, my name is Mikey Mills and I'm an avid band organ enthusiast... So much so that I've been contacting Kings Island about theirs not working working since 2007 -- I was 9 then! In 2014, the band organ returned playing for half of a season, but was silent in 2015... That was until this Monday! I am humbled to have been approached by the park and given the opportunity to fix the organ and get it playing well. There really wasn't much wrong with it! Also, the maintenance department was absolutely fantastic to work with. I'm yet to meet another crew quite as friendly! Just letting everyone here know that the band organ is playing now - and while there's some work and tuning I'd still like to do, here's a video for you to enjoy also! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCAO2NNuvME

Thank you! I still want to do a few more things. The tubing is connected wrong at the moment so that the trombones aren't turning on, (the DEEP bass sound!) but I didn't notice that until AFTER the park opened. Also, the snare drum is playing, but not reiterating, which I fixed, but the part is corroded so it lasted about an hour. When I go back I'll fix that too. Just a few minor things, and a tuning is needed... All of this I'm doing for free by the way. I own a band organ, but it's not exactly the best sounding thing out there. (it's homebuilt and I got it for free - so I couldn't say no!) Kings Island's 157 is my favorite organ, so it's a labor of love! For the record... I also arrange new music rolls to be punched. I even discussed the possibility of a special Halloween roll that could be neat during Halloween Haunt!

Friday morning on Good Morning Cincinnati, the WKRC news team channels its inner Brady Bunch with a GMC family outing to Kings Island. The feature will air between 5-7 a.m. You don't want to miss it!

I didn't even know it operated opening weekend. I hope it's been communicated with the operators to play it! It was radioed in Monday to let the employees know. Happily I have merit to come back to work on it as MY own rolls are what are playing on the organ! The park has a full cabinet of rolls, but it's in the storage facility as of right now. I think that should be moved back as there's a spot in the center of the carousel where it obviously used to be - and changing rolls is key for happy ride operators! (Nobody wants to hear the same 20 tunes for a whole season) I just bought a bunch of more rolls for the purpose of playing them here. It'd be nice if I'd be able to change them weekly... or something along those lines.

You know you've been around here a while when Terp posts things like that and there's still this really small voice in your head that goes, "Was that a hint?"

My reaction entirely:

I was fortunate enough to ride Skyrider last year, so I can say that I rode all three Togo stand ups at the former KECO parks. King Cobra and Skyrider were nearly identical in layout and Shockwave had a slightly different ending. The rides were fun. I thoroughly enjoyed King Cobra more than Mantis or even Vortex at Carowinds. I was not sad to see Mantis retrofitted. I was sad when King Cobra left Kings Island though. Stand ups are on their way out. I wonder what Kings Dominion has planned to replace Shockwave.

Just got home from a great day at the park. It was my first time back for my wife and I in about 8 or 9 years, and the first time for my son (6) and daughter (4) who both loved it. It rained ALL DAY but it kept the crowds away. We knew it was going to rain so we kept a positive attitude about it as best we could, and prepared as best we could. We met up with another family we knew and had a blast. My son (48") loved Beast, Drop Tower, Bat, Racers, Adventure Express and Stunt Coaster but didn't care much for Vortex (but rode it). He was very upset he isn't tall enough for Banshee yet, but hopefully next year or the year after he'll be tall enough. My favorites were Banshee (front seat is amazing) and Diamondback (again, front seat is awesome), and I've always loved Beast and Vortex. Someone asked about the rain, and today they ran everything all day in the rain including FoF (though Firehawk was down most of the day). But a tip for riding in the rain, unless you want to feel like someone is continuously pelting your face with pebbles, don't ride up front. I couldn't keep my eyes open on Banshee in the rain in the front seat from the pain of rain hitting my eyeballs, and my face hurt when riding in the front of Beast and Vortex from the rain. (Luckily I rode Banshee again and also Diamondback both in the front during a short break in the rain.) I rode all of those in the middle as well, and it doesn't hurt near as much when there is a seat in front of you. I was really surprised that The Bat had a 15 minute wait most of the day, while you could walk on Banshee, Diamondback and Beast almost any time. In fact, Banshee was running lots of empty seats at points during the middle of the day. We didn't get to ride Firehawk as it was down most of the day. When it finally started up, we got to the line with a 30-40 minute wait; after a few minutes we realized we could ride Banshee and Diamondback both several times before we would get on Firehawk and left. My wife and daughter spent most of their day in Planet Snoopy and my daughter loved it. Overall, I was able to ride Banshee (x4, including front twice), Diamondback (x3, including front once), Beast (x3, including front once), Vortex (front), Racer, Stunt Coaster (x2, including front once), The Bat, Drop Tower (x2), and White Water Canyon. Not a bad day at the park!

I'm at the park right now and the organ sounds amazing in person.

I couldn't be happier that FoF no longer has them.

Thank you! Great job, it sounds so much better than it did on Coasterstock weekend, when we begged the ride op to turn the organ on for us. Carousels are always so much better with an actual organ playing the music! Do you mind taking a trip to Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania next?

You can see the video in the link at the OP Yes, but the video is shot from far away and shown with no audio. In any situation, a cell phone video of that quality is far from telling the whole story.

Another Togo bites the dust.

Mandatory suggestion: The Beast. It matters. It might not seem like nighttime would matter, but it does, moreso than any other ride I've ever ridden at night. It feels so much faster than it does during the daytime, and the darkness of the helix swallowing you may give you goosebumps. If you can only ride one at night, make it The Beast. That being said, I personally think Adventure Express is an under-appreciated night ride, especially when its theatrical lights are functioning and turned on (although the second-to-last tunnel can be really disorienting when the lights aren't on.) It too feels faster and more forceful at night. Banshee has some nice lighting at night, from its signage to the queue to the station to the ride itself. For me, the ride itself feels pretty consistent between day and night... which isn't a bad thing by any means, as Banshee's a great ride! Certainly something worth experiencing more than once. I personally don't get it, but there are folks here who love Diamondback at night. Then again, I'm not much of a Diamondback fan during the day, either. I'm certainly not going to discourage you from trying it out--for as many people as there are that like it, there's obviously something there I'm missing. It's all in what you like in coasters!

Those who know, dont tell, and those who dont know, tell. This employee was likely just promoted from the Dippin' Dots stand.

GOLD pass includes parking, which can run upwards of $30 at some Six Flags. Regular passes do not...

Well, no matter the evidence, I'm sure all sides will be displayed fairly in the media, and nobody will overreact. Everything's going to be just fine. (There isn't a large enough wink emoticon.)

Oh FoF OTSRs were horrid. The Banshee vests are comfy though. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Heck I feel safer with OTSRs.... And to be honest if something popped off of the ride when I was riding I would have flipped Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

He actually wasn't a teen. He was 22. Regardless, it's still very sad as this was a completely unnecessary death.

Seems like a big enough space to accomindate a dozen or so Taxi's.

That sounds like an awesome day. Glad you had a good time.

Out of park spending means exactly what you thought it does. Carowinds also has a campground. And Knott`s has a hotel on property as well. I believe that the out of park money also includes the TGI Friday`s location (it is a franchise) at both Breaker`s and across from the main entrance to Knott`s.

I honestly hear a lot of GP, being my friends, people I talk to in line, as well as the always correct YouTube commenters, that they feel much "safer" with OTSRs. I showed my friend a video of me on Dragster (my dad recorded it from the stands) and said that it should of "literally killed me" because all I had was a T-bar and a seatbelt.

^Diamondback is one of the smoother coasters in the park. It has a bit of a vibration, but (to me) nothing bad. It focuses a lot on height, speed and airtime. It does have some semi-decent positive and lateral g's as well. I'd be one of those people who like Diamondback at night. It looks like a big black void that you're dropping into from the lift hill. It's also awesome seeing the silhouettes of the hills at night as well for me. Backlot can be a bit fun at night as the police lights and the fire effects really pop at night. If you want a trippy experience, ride WindSeeker or Shake, Rattle N' Roll at night. As mentioned, Beast, Banshee and Adventure Express are must-ride night rides. Bat and Vortex are also pretty amazing at night. Vortex in the front at night, evening or early morning has an amazing breeze. If you want a bit of craziness at night, Delirium delivers nicely. My least favorite is Firehawk. Its too well lit and the on-ride photo flash is blinding. Its very awkward for me in that riding position.

I have no idea if/how it would work, but Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor for Haunt would be awesome!

Thanks so much for your hard work! It's great to have it working properly again. I especially missed it after hearing the band organ on Kentucky Kingdom's carousel.

Many small flat rides would be perfect for the area selected. It would also pull some traffic to an area quite sparse with only grass and some scattered trees here and there. I would much rather look at a ride than grass. However, I believe trees would be more beneficial. Masking areas with trees makes a park unique. Cleared land with grass rather bores me.

-hints to Kings Island- Return King Cobra plz. Sure it's not THE King Cobra, but it's the same model.

Man, Adventure Express has been pretty popular lately!!

Despite what some imagine, none of us is rooting for the park to close. Why would anyone who adores this industry wish ill on a park that means something to even a single person? We all want Kentucky Kingdom to succeed. Even if we laugh and joke, I certainly don't wish to take any pleasure from watching the park's stumbles. But you're right - it's so easy to see the issues, and such a brilliant case study in this industry. We'll watch and listen carefully, and yes, we'll talk about it.

That sounds like a great idea with the Halloween Haunt sounding theme. Do you know when you are going to get to work on it again? Thanks for fixing it!

The only place I've ever heard of getting tickets for SFStL is at the park or online (online being usually a better deal.) As with many Six Flags parks, a season pass is usually very comparable to any multi-day ticket deal, so if you are planning a multi-day trip or a trip to another Six Flags (e.g. Great America, which is only around five hours away), you may want to consider a pass. Whichever way you do it, I hope you have a great time. I personally love Six Flags St. Louis (so much so that someone is probably groaning while reading that I am once again talking about how much I love the place) and especially The Boss, Mr. Freeze, and American Thunder. The new dark ride looks pretty dang good, too. You should post a TR!

On the website, entering the word Coke in the promo code will get you a large discount, which varies from park to park. Getting a gold season pass Labor Day weekend is usually the best deal, but it's too late/early for that...

#DemolishBacklotandPutShockWavein2015

I was next in line for Flight of Fear back on July 2 when I heard this: Op: Say "Ahhhh..." Riders: Ahhhhh-*train launches* When I was doing a mini-marathon on The Bat on the same evening, the crew there were having a lot of fun with the riders. One of the the attendants on the platform convinced the train in front of me that it was the operator's birthday and started singing Happy Birthday to the person in the drive box (I forgot his name! ). It also carried over to my train, because some riders, myself included, had overheard all that he said and we too were saying "Happy Birthday" as we left the station. I wasn't sure if it was really his birthday, but he was laughing and shaking his head and had a "What have you done?" look on his face as we were going by. The other attendant started talking about Christmas. He sang part of the Campfire Song Song twice before singing part of White Christmas (this was between trains). It literally went like this: Op: "Let's gather 'round the campfire and sing our campfire song..." Other Op: "Hey, we already sang that!" It's Christmas now!" Op: "I'm...dreamin'...of a white...Christmas.." And as others were getting off he would say something like "Enjoy your Christmas, 5 months early!" That was one of the most fun evenings on The Bat. I'll be remembering that for a long time.

I'll be sure to watch it while I'm getting ready to go to the park!

YouTube comments, Facebook comments.. It's really pretty much everywhere that the masses discuss roller coasters. Even for Fury 325, there are those who claim they won't ride it because it "only" has a lap bar. The only time I personally feel any benefit from an OTSR is on a ride with inversions, and even then only when they're the more modern style like Banshee's.

I'm curious what happened before, and why police are around a bus stop dealing with this to begin with....

^ To an amusement park in Italy. http://rcdb.com/12069.htm

The software put this reply in the wrong place. That was odd.

I missed out on King Cobra and SkyRider, so I'm definitely glad that I'm going to KD before this type disappears from North America. Shameless plug: We still have room for someone to come with us to take Last Stand(s) on Shockwave (& last ride(s) on Thunder Road) next weekend! http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php/topic/30835-carowindskd-weekend-roadtrip-summer-2015-dates-tbd/page-4

I've mentioned this before in other threads, but I'll say it again here. I absolutely loath the music that's pumped through the park in recent year. It's the same junk all the time in every single area of the park. It's the same stuff you hear on the radio on the ride to the park. Why in this world would I want to come to KI to hear what's blasting on the radio 24/7? I wouldn't. I want music that sets a certain mood. When I walk through the gates, I want to feel like I've left reality behind me and entered a new dimension of fun. I remember back in the 90s, when you walked through the front gates and saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time. They used to play instrumental music and there was something about hearing that music and seeing the fountains and looking up and seeing the tower in the middle of it all. The combinations of those things just made you excited to be there. Not anymore. Now, no matter where you are in the park, you get the same type of pop music. Whether you're on International Street, Planet Snoopy, or Coney Mall, you get the pleasure of hearing Taylor Swift sing about another failed relationship or any of the other similar sounding songs. Now I'm not bashing this type of music. I think there is a place for it and it can definitely be fun to crank the type of music in your car, roll down your windows and go cruising down the highway in the summer time. However, for me it just doesn't seem to fit within the park setting. If I'm in a particular area of the park, I want to hear music that makes me feel like I'm in that area. However, since we are losing the themed lands one by one, I guess it's not going to matter much anymore. I'd really like the instrumental music back though, at least on International Street. I think you need that big first impression when you walk into the park. That's just my two cents.

Without coming down on one side or the other, if officers were to wear body cameras you could see what was happening from their side. No one deserves to lose their life or to be treated poorly, but at the same time these officers have to make decisions in real time and assess danger. Officer Sonny Kim didn't react with an appropriate level of response and was killed. The cop in Fergusen almost had his gun taken away (based on evidence at the scene). If I make a mistake at my job, a kid may or may not make a /k/ sound correctly. If a ride op makes a mistake, the train doesn't dispatch. Maybe this cop over reacted to the threat. Maybe the kid was super respectful and was just up talking on the phone. Maybe the kid threatened the cop verbally and when he put his arms up, the cop reacted physically. I talked to a cop buddy a few months back and he said in training you are taught to end the threat. There is no good way to test officers about how they react with a white perp vs a black perp. Videos online have tried but they can't replicate the same problems in the same situation with the same responding officers. The best we can do when approached by an officer is to comply 100%. At my old school, the students would tel us that at home they were told to always fight back against the police. To never listen. They were instructed to run from a cop no matter what and to be physical if a cop got into their space. The parents would actively tell kids to fight police because of the threat the police were to the kids. We the staff would of course tell them the opposite but we were mostly white teachers speaking to kids that did not share our backgrounds. In every instance, 3 sides. His side, my side, and the truth. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It seems to me that many officers today could use a refresher course in proportional response – the "punishment" fitting the "crime." After this seemingly endless wave of violence against predominantly black young people, I sense a thread connecting the incidents: a sort of god complex where a police officer thinks what he or she says is infallible. If someone talks back, take them to the ground. If someone won't answer your questions, put them in a chokehold. If someone runs, shoot them. No. If someone doesn't do what you want them to do, you don't get to stop them from running by killing them unless they pose an imminent danger to others. There's a legal process to follow, and mighty police officer doesn't get to impose vigilante justice on any who don't immediately comply. I can appreciate that officers put their lives on the line and must err on the side of caution, but there's this consistent and quick escalation where an officer "goes there" in a situation that doesn't require it, which in turn makes the confronted party feel bewildered and confused. Like, "is this really happening?" The two things at work here: First, we all should comply with officer demands. Second, officers need to re-evaluate. After being on the job for 5, 10, 15, 20 years you're likely to be pretty jaded and, put simply, think the worst of everyone. I get that. But while you should be safe and consider your own well-being first, you cannot enter every situation pre-escalated and enraged and frustrated. This officer tackled a 17-year-old for refusing to sit on a bench. Given the racial angle, we can ask if this is Birmingham 1963 (and it would be fair to ask, "Would the officer have reacted this way to a 17 year old white child in the same situation and saying the same things?"). Even not bringing that into it, this is a disproportionate response on the officer's end and a bad choice on the young man's.

Thank you! I've written probably a hundred features for that site, but the new line of in-depth recollections of forgotten attractions is one of my favorite. And of the four or five of those I've written so far, I think I'm proudest of Alien Encounter. What an attraction it was!

I agree I feel the highlighted area has a lot of potential. Think it'd be a great area to keep as kind of a gardens type space but with some new ride. Thinkt he back side of the Eiffel Tower int eh space next to the theatre and Diamondback as well as the patch next to BLSC would be a great spot for an antique car ride to make a return. Then add in a couple more small flats like a tilt-a-whirl or such and fill in lots of landscaping like trees and flowers.

That's awful. Freak accident or not, you hear people hurting themselves all the time with fireworks. I've even personally seen it. Respect and safety goes along way.

Id like to give a shoutout to the security office in Soak City that helped my friend and I when we could not find his shoes. They were very courteous and helpful. I thank that one officer who decided to give my friend a free pair of sandals so he could walk back to the park. I would also like to give a shoutout to the countless employees and workers that have helped me over the three years I have been regularly going to Kings Island. (I can't believe it has been that long). Those times I couldn't find something, talked about what was happening to Son of Beast. Or when I had gotten stuck on The Racers brake run and they helped entertain us for 45 minutes before we got out. Thank you Kings Island, Soak City and their employees for providing a great park experience and for trying and making everybody's day better and more fun. I have seen Alex roaming around on Diamondback many times and I feel like I should say hi sometime. Your a great employee for Kings Island.

I'm definitely doing Coasting for Kids next year with my dad. Although which park I'm doing it at is still to be decided. I only learned around 2-3 years ago that I was probably going to get skin cancer some point in my life. A few weeks later, I got a cancerous mole removed, and another a few weeks later. Got a scan, and had a, albeit small, tumor. Anyways, got a surgery less than a week later. I am VERY glad that I was able to have it detected and disposed quickly. I was in middle school then and I was freaking out. I can imagine what these kids are going through, and how horrible it is. How close I was to being one...