Leaderboard

Found this on Imgur just now... https://imgur.com/gallery/sFm3wan You can probably just imagine the comments...

No the best comment is "So, how did you two meet?" "Well, it was our mutual love of the Backlot Stunt Coaster that really got the sparks flying"

Well, I headed out earlier than I thought I would today. Just exhausted! The "Epic, 2015 Thrill Biscuit Season of Amusement Park Therapy" continues... Was a good trip today. Wore my airbrushed "Tb KIC" shirt and made my way over to Kings Island. Got in early enough to park at the edge of the preferred lot (I call it "half-preferred parking"), and got in the pre-Anthem line. I met fellow KIC'er MDMC01, chatted a bit over some Starbucks and then split off into the rapidly-growing crowds to start another KI day. I Got in a mini-marathon of 3 rides on The Bat (until the line got about to the top of the hill, uncharacteristically fast for that ride so early in the day); experienced my first-ever, mid-ride, claustrophobic "overclick", which scrunched my 6'3" frame into a hunched ball (tall people: avoid the back-seats of Bat cars!) I had to take deep breaths and wait patiently for the train to be released from the "landing zone," back to the "loading zone," so that the oppressively tight horse collar could be mercifully released! Lesson learned! Caught Panda Express right at opening, and enjoyed some noodles, Pepper Chicken and Crab Rangoons on the patio, watching for "harmonic convergences" of Delirium and Banshee, listening to the caller at the prize wheel echo along the crowded midway. I noticed something: there's a never ending stream of people who've never seen (and are blown away by) the view of Action Zone emerging from the overhanging trees as they make their way along the "International Street-to-Action Zone corridor". Watching their expressions as they realize how awesome Kings Island really is never gets old to this old fanboy. Made my way to Banshee and said "Hi" to DonKIPR, who was walking about. Saw that the line was about a span of geological time and, not wanting to stand around for that long, I went toward my beloved landmark, the Eiffel Tower. The elevator ride up was pure sardines, and at the top, the deck was completely wet and there was no breeze! The degree to which "darnest" things were being said was extremely high (despite its bright yellowish-and-red coloring, we apparently now have a coaster called the "Black Diamond!"), and I didn't feel like helping anyone with knowing their attractions today, so I immediately came back down in a less-cramped 'vator (using park lingo) and headed off to WWC, because I simply cannot help myself, savvy? Twenty-seven boats sent to Davy Jones' Locker. As always, amazing fun and laughs ensued and, after a long, slow trek back through the beautiful woods, I made my way towards The Beast, but turned around and headed for the parking lot. EDIT: Removed paragraph to avoid turning into script for next Diane Keaton movie... So, it was another memorable day at my fave park. I'll probably head over there tomorrow, too (gotta get on Vortex sometime this season!)

Didn't find any clues in this mug I found at Goodwill.

NOOOO!!!! Taco Tequila is one of the better food stands in the park, and it only just opened! Also, the buttons on T3's handles are DEFINITELY actually there for me to press during the ride while going "pew pew pew" and pretending to be a fighter pilot. I don't care if that isn't what the manufacturer says. I reject their reality, and substitute my own! I recall my seatbelt releasing itself upon return to the station... But it is also possible that I still hadn't quite finished playing with the buttons and I did, in fact, release it myself by pressing the buttons. Rest assured, though, that much like Firehawk, the buttons do NOT release the seat belt if the ride is not stopped in the station.

Waiting for 3:30 Cirque now, but before that I sat and listened to the guy drum on the paintcans; he's pretty awesome!

Here is something for your pumpkin patch https://www.dropbox.com/sh/apvgb6a02dijj1e/AAB9tLkPzEc5roUs1HhFt1Gia?dl=0

As far as I know there haven't been any tweet-ups since last season (replaced by Twitter-announced Beast behind-the-scenes tours which are in my opinion way better). I have heard Don didn't like the tweet-ups because people started following him around the park rather than waiting for a tweet. I think he likes more natural interactions.

My favorite: "Plot twist, paired with cat..." LOL!

People are inherently nostalgic creatures. That which you grew up with is always the best. Even if it isn't. Think of it from the park's perspective. The reason they give is that they just decided to make both sides go forward again. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that PTC does not approve their trains to go backwards. In this case, it would be true that KI, being in Ohio, could not allow them to run backwards. But if this were true and you allow it to be known that this is why the trains were turned forward, then people would think that the ride wasn't safe before (after all, there had to be some reason that PTC would make this recommendation). So from the park's perspective, it makes more sense to tell people it was a decision that was made by the park. It's easier to deal with peoples' nostalgic yearnings for the older days than it is to quell concerns that a ride had been operating in an unsafe way. Another example, I had always heard that the loop on SoB was removed because Gerstlauer would not give approval for their trains to go upside-down. Whether there is any truth to that, who knows? Regardless, that's not the official reason the park gives (if they ever gave one...) so that's not the information that they would want being spread on social media. You have to keep control of the information (or possibly misinformation) being spread in order to maintain a good reputation for your brand. All that really matters is that both sides on Racer go forwards now, so you're riding it forwards. This comes with the added benefit, too, of being able to close one side on less crowded days and few guests will be upset that the experience they deem superior is unavailable to them.

If FoF can perform inversions with out the OTS Restraints. Then SO CAN Vortex. Grr Am I not the only one that speaks of behalf of Vortex, that the ride would be MUCH more enjoyable with different restraints

I second MC, the parking lot is packed!

Quite the match...

Few people will get this...

Funny story. So Mt. Olympus posted something on Facebook and people (including myself) were making comments about Wednesdays events. The comments were not bashing the park at all, just acknowledging what happened. Whoever runs their social media pages deleted all comments and blocked me from viewing their FB page, which im not upset about. It seems like Mt. Olympus would rather cover up or run from their problems rather than address them and assure to their guests that guest safety is a priority to them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's crowded today; most of Banshee's queues were filled, but it was about an hour wait.

Hope the ride e-stopped!

A shout out to a neglected group of employees, those in food service. Just wanted you all to know that I appreciate your hard work as I know that food service is not easy.

The Backwards Racer being "so great" isn't just a nostalgia thing. Riding backwards gives an entirely different feeling to the ride, and it was fun going up the lift hill with riders on either side facing each other (making it much easier to yell back and forth about which side would win). When I rode The Racer back then, it was almost always on the backward side (and it was frequently the much longer line) because nothing else in the park (or anywhere else I visited) gave that different experience of riding backward. If the park made the change to make it easier to close one side without upsetting people, they'd have been better off making both go backwards, because that was more popular than forwards.

^Sounds like a great day! Still haven't tried Drop Tower... Thanks everyone for the answers about rides running in the rain! I'm looking forward to a fun day with my cousins next week. Here's hoping that the all star game and Nascar race don't bring many people to Kings Island on Monday!

Feel better!

I'll take all 4 for the win.

Negligence? Stupidity? Saving money? Not caring?

I just got back from the park and had a blast! Though it was pretty crowded (because Saturday), I still got to enjoy a decent amount of rides/attractions. Highlights include: my first ever Starbucks drink (thanks Tb!), Slingshot, petting the adorable piglet at the Petting Farm, Delirium, Dodgem, Banshee's insane line (approx. 1 hour wait, but she was still worth it!), Cirque Imagine, and Blue Racer. I also took 2 flights on The Bat, which was pretty fun.

And I was going tommorow without knowing that.... Kings Island: Sorry for the inconvenience!

Get there early. Tomorrow's one of those Bring A Friend For Less Than $15 days!

I just walked past it and wow does this thing bring back memories. I remember being at the 1900 Park Fair at Grand Floridian hearing the organ in there and this definitely sounds like something straight out of a German fair. Excellent job!

We'll find out whether it's real or not in a little over a month and a half

I must respectfully disagree. The tweet-ups are something that sound fun in theory, but in actual practice at best are a complete waste of the social media platform because all prizes go to whoever literally follows Don, and at worst encourages people to run in the park and endanger their own and others' safety. The behind the-scenes tours have been fantastic, because they use the PR Director as a font of information rather than some sort of treat-dispensing machine. It can bring people to the park on a day they might otherwise not have come, and a larger number of people get a positive experience. With the tweet-ups, you generally just have to accidentally be in the park already, and nearly everyone who participates is going to be disappointed. I've been on four Beast tours now (two of those the Twitter-announced ones this season), and every time I have learned something new, seen something different. It's much more valuable to me than a free Banshee poster or other trinket. For people who just want free stuff, they've added that as a thing in the app. It makes more sense to use that as a random prize dispenser than a living human being. I enjoy seeing Don around the park and when I get the opportunity to talk to him about the park. I don't want him to start feeling like he can't go out and walk among park patrons and share his knowledge and experience because a certain subset of people are treating him like a slot-machine.

https://twitter.com/Coaster101/status/619356145908494336 for those that cant read it states new for 2016 worlds first launched wooden coaster with an announcement date of August 26th

Not only are you supposed to include a link, but without it most of us on mobile cannot read a word of the image...

I hope this isn't the case. Being followed around and "identified" by people is exactly the kind of positive social media presence the park should want. It means people are paying attention to what is going on at the park, even when they are not there. I'm sure Tony Clark can't go anywhere at Cedar Point without being identified and asked about tweet ups. I'm not sure exactly how the different parks handle social media. I know Cedar Point has a team of people that manage it, which I believe is a little different than other parks in the chain.

2 different coasters, red track that has been there, and the Dive track; which is is a burnt orange with a silver bottom.

I will never use Twitter, I only followed him around because he is my Idol.

Mr. Hart probably imposes his own drinking tastes on the park.

^ And she, of all people, should know. She's good at this stuff! Terp, old fuddy-duddy, and proud of it.

Maybe that's what they get for selling crappy knock off Tequila drinks...and having bad Tequilas...Patron is one of the worst culprits of this

Here's an example: https://mobile.twitter.com/kingsislandpr/status/603385361222541313 Follow @KingsIslandPR Usually: Follow @DonHelbig If there is one and you get in, tell Don that O'Terpy sent you. He'll be amused!

Looks like I'll never get to ride a TOGO stand-up. I missed out on King Cobra, there was no way for me to get to SkyRider, and now I don't see myself making it to KD at all for the foreseeable future.

I certainly wouldn't advise driving there. (Guadalupe, not Williamsburg). But that's just me. It could be..interesting.

Sounds serious, good luck. I'm sure some of us will be waiting for Thursday

Love the themeing but Williamsburg is just a bit closer

The challenge is on! See topic "jump in fear like an RCT peep" - challenge.edit: The challenge is off.

All other factors being equal, Tuesday through Thursday are generally the lightest days. Monday and Friday can be a bit heavier because of people taking the day off work to create a three-day weekend. That said, I have no clue what effect, if any, the MLB All-Star Game next week is going to have on KI attendance. Certainly, a lot of people that traveled in from out of town will want to take advantage of other tourist attractions in the area, but I don't know if there will be enough such people to have a noticeable impact on crowd levels at KI.

I had the unfortunate luck of requiring an emergency appendectomy this week so I won't be riding for a couple weeks. On the fortune side, I am off of work this coming week and will probably feel up to taking the kids. We normally visit on weekends, so I was wondering what the lightest day of the week normally is (less any significant weather conditions)? I'm guessing crowds will be a bit heavier once all of this rain passes, but I'd still like to go on a relatively slow day. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Rode Diamondback 4 times today, once in the pouring rain. Banshee 5, rode Drop Tower my first time, and them 2 more times. Had a great time!

The paragraph at the end of that article certainly doesn't make me want to visit that park anytime soon... Why would you not follow all recommended maintenance procedures?

We had great timing today; there was a slight drizzle when we arrived, but no more rain until the skies opened up as we were leaving the parking lot. I've chaperoned a few trips to KI and CP and it is always interesting to hear the reasoning and logic behind a kid not wanting to ride certain rides. Some rides were deemed too scary or extreme because they lifted above the ground but the Whirlybirds and Sally's Seaplane were okay. The Scrambler is almost too fast. Space Buggies bouncing is okay but not Kite Eating Tree. I love kids. We reached a point in the afternoon when I realized they needed a break from standing in lines at Planet Snoopy. Executive decision made and we were off to see Cirque Imagine before dinner. Smart choice as all three of them (and me, of course!) loved it. Their reactions were so fun to hear and watch. It was a very different trip than my norm as I volunteered to take the non-coaster riding group. I go so often that I figured I would let the chaperones that don't get to visit ride all the big stuff. At the end of the day, my group of kids seemed to have a blast and that is all that matters.

I vision flower pots on top of cement in the near future.

Indeed, I would enjoy watching Vortex get torn down. jcgoble3, pushing buttons What's the point in tearing it down? It's sinking, you know. :-[