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Yes! Two days ago, we had flat tires on our jogging stroller and noticed it after we had gotten in the park. I went straight to the Family Care Center and asked the always-awesome staff there if they had an air pump. They always seem to have everything for families like us [emoji23]. They didn’t but called maintenance and the sweetest boy came to the rescue. Pumped both tires up and even did so while I took my daughter inside to change her and wash her hands. He was amazing as were the ladies in the center. I was so impressed! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

X-Base Expansion Plan This is my rendition for the most realistic change that can be made to X-Base should the park ever chose to expand it in the future. The current buildings and rides will stay, however there will be a significant amount of land added to the section to the left of Flight of Fear. This expansion would not only add more land to the section but it would also not make the area a dead end anymore. The new expansion would feature a permanent food vendor, extra rides, and yes, restrooms. There will be extra room for a coaster in the old Dinosaur's Alive area as well. The two pay to ride attractions, Slingshot and Xtreme Skyflyer would move to the new and improved X-Base as well as a witches' wheel to give it a more extraterrestrial feel. The que of Firehawk is enclosed now so guests can feel as if they're walking through an aviation training facility with tvs similar to Flight of Fear and air conditioning. The whole area will receive a cosmetic overhaul to where even the maintenance buildings will be disguised to look like military buildings. The park can use old props from the Top Gun ride as well as any other props from the Paramount days. The area will have a story focusing around Flight of Fear which will go something like this- "In 1996 an unidentified flying object entered Earth's atmosphere and landed within the ground of Kings Island. Department 47 was dispatched and soon encased the UFO in a building away from the public's eye. With the fear of another extraterrestrial encounter, the government turned the crash site into a secret, off the books military facility- X-Base. At X-Base new recruits will tour the facilities and ride multiple rides that would give one the sensations of a 0-100 mph launch, suspended flight, and many other unworldly sensations." I would go further and say that Firehawk is a prototype human propulsion system designed to mimic human flight.

Has anyone else had amazing experiences with the employees this year? When I got on the train on June 1st there where this group of girls who where starting drama with me and the other person that I was with and was trying to pick a fight. We told a near by employee about it and he got a supervisor and we talked about what happened then he sent us out on our way. We went to go ride Beast and after we got off a Security guard stopped us and talked to us about it and started to walk us to our next ride, just encase we ran into the girls again. Well, we did run into them and the security guard talked to them and sent us on our way. right before we got our seats for the next ride we where told that our problem was dealt with and when we where getting our restraints checked we where told the same thing. the whole issue got taken care of in 30 minutes or less. The person that I with had a breakdown on the same day as well and so many employees stopped to ask if everything was ok and if there was anything that they could do. The employees this year are simply amazing!

This is why you follow the rules as a guest. Also, this is why it shouldn’t be play time on the mic as an operator. You have a responsibility to prevent things like this and you can’t have everyone in the station tuning you out. http://m.nbc12.com/story/38419337/woman-injured-by-flying-cell-phone-on-roller-coaster

No one said it was either the ride ops’ faults or that spieling was directly correlated. If you read my original post, you will see that I implied that the safety of the guests is shared: the ride ops give the rules and the guests must comply. The only way that spieling comes into play is the fact that everyone in the station is using everything in their being to tune out what’s said over the mics when they treat being on the mic as play time. So what if they did tell them to put their phone away (I don’t believe for a second that it was secured) and they honestly didn’t hear them because they were conditioned to tune out what’s being said? It’s simply a theory.

The photo booths are so fun! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ride operators can't check for unsecured articles in everyone's pockets. I have seen no indication that the crew did anything wrong in this incident. I fail to see how the fact that one of the operators happened to be spieling on the mic has anything to do with this whatsoever.

I can't believe I'm saying this (), but I actually agree with Tera Ryzing on this one. I'm not sure how a cell phone in a pocket is something the ride operators, spieling or not, could have done something about. It sounds pretty established that the phone was in his pocket, not in his hand.

I knew this day would be quite chill thanks to it being a weekday and the forecasted rain, but little did I know that even more surprises awaited! The day started off like many others; I worked an opening shift so I arrived at the park at 8:50. Not long after I arrived came the first surprise of the day. It started off normal though, when I went back to Vortex to start the usual morning tasks, such as opening the line, making sure there's no trash on the ground, etc. I guessed correctly which train was in the station (it was Train #3). Looking back from the station, I saw we still had two trains on the track and one on the transfer from the previous day (when it rained a lot). That would not be for long though, as maintenance arrived soon after I did. I got to watch them transfer the third train back onto the track and cycle the trains themselves! It was pretty cool. #geekmoment I had brought one of the chocolate bars that I bought at Sweet Spot last year (which fittingly enough had a Vortex wrapper on it) and I munched on that while I watched maintenance do their thing. After they were done, I continued with the morning tasks, including my favorite task which entreats me (and any associate who walks down there, pretty much) to some cool views from the ride area. When I returned to the station, it was time for startups. Since maintenance was here earlier, we had just enough time to get everything done by 10:00 (we usually finish with 10-15 minutes to spare). In fact, I was the last person to test ride and "Come Alive" was playing as I rode so I belted it out as I test rode! It surely is fun to multitask. My shift was very chill as I expected; my hourly rotations were at Dual, Clean/Separator (and I got to hop on WindSeeker for a ride during the time I was cleaning!), WindSeeker Drive, Break, Unload, and Vortex Drive. Not much happened at all except for a brief downtime at Vortex. We occasionally had almost full cycles on WindSeeker and at least three-quarters full trains on Vortex, but on a day like this, those happenings were few and far between. After driving Vortex for an hour, the time came for me to clock out. I headed to the locker room to change into my street clothes so I could reenter the park as a guest. Little did I know what would await me in the next several hours... ...which actually started out as a typical, sunny, not-busy summer afternoon. Toothless and I rode the Carousel (with our usual pre-ride pic, of course) and I picked up some gummy bears and gummy worms at Sweet Spot before heading to the Kings Island theater to catch Gravity at 5:00. I sat in the middle of the second row (where I normally sat for Origins last year if the first row already filled up). This was my third time seeing Gravity. While it's obviously not Imagine or Origins (both of which I dearly miss), Gravity definitely suffices! I noticed the rola-bola act was missing, so the show ended a little earlier than usual (5:20ish). Toothless got his own seat next to me. If you want a unique souvenir, ask the cast to make silly poses at the meet-and-greet! I had plans to binge-ride Vortex, but before then I had seen that Diamondback's wait was only five minutes. So I went there first, but not before... ...heading to the Inside Peanuts museum and the Peanuts Sketch School, where they had just started drawing Snoopy. After skimming the exhibit, I grabbed a clipboard with paper and pencil and slid into a seat next to @Magenta Lizard. I frantically did my best to catch up (which I didn't need to do much of, thankfully) and my Snoopy drawing turned out pretty good! After that fun detour, I finally reached Diamondback. It had barely a station wait. I waited only one train before boarding Red in Row 14. I got a weird surprise here: I had always been able to ride Diamondback with my fanny pack, ever since I started visiting with one in 2011. This time, however, was the very first time I was told I could not have it on the ride with me. The op said the policy never changed from last year, but the funny thing was that I rode Diamondback with my fanny pack last year (I was even told word for word "You can ride with a fanny pack...") and this year when I last rode it in May! I willingly complied and handed her my fanny pack to put in the bin, but I was SO BAFFLED. Not mad at all, just baffled. After riding Diamondback 100+ times over the last nine seasons (and this year!), I was always allowed to ride with my fanny pack...except for this time. Going up the lift hill, I saw Vortex had gone down. But since it was just after 6:00 and I still had about two hours to enjoy the park, I wasn't too worried, especially when we FLEW down the 215-foot first drop at 80 mph!! Since Vortex was down, the line was short, and my fanny pack rejection didn't stop me from enjoying my ride, I hopped right back in line and rode Diamondback again! This time it had started to rain, so I got my first legitimate (as in, a steady rain) rain ride on the tallest, fastest, meanest coaster to ever strike Kings Island! This time, I did put my fanny pack in the bin along with Toothless when I again boarded the Red train. The only differences were that it was now raining and I rode in Row 11 instead of 14. As you could tell, we had our eyes closed and/or were covering our faces as rain hit us at 80 mph! I had my eyes closed for most of the time as I knew that getting hit in the eye with a stray raindrop at that speed would not feel pleasant. Vortex was still down and I didn't feel like putting Toothless in a locker for five minutes just so I could ride Mystic Timbers, so I headed back to The Beast. ...which was a great decision! I walked right on to Row 17 (second to last row). I heard about how much fun The Beast is in the rain, so I was excited to see what my very first rain ride on the world's longest wooden roller coaster would be like. And, it was Toothless' first Beast ride! I will definitely say that this was my favorite ride EVER on The Beast. It was absolutely HAULING! I clutched Toothless in my arms as I was at the mercy of The Beast, hurtling through the woods at 65 mph with a steady rain coming down. It was EPIC! My favorite part (the shallow drop into the helix following the second lift) was fun as always, and my train passed right next to the next train coming down the first drop!! Note to self: RIDE The Beast WHEN IT RAINS!!! I may not ride it very often as I prefer twisting through inversions, but it's definitely fun! Vortex was still down, but the rain was light enough that it could be open. I noticed Troika (Shake, Rattle & Roll) was open and literally waiting for people to board. So I did, along with two ladies who had entered behind me. I enjoyed a great rain ride on Troika! In fact, while I was riding, I noticed that one of Vortex's trains had been transferred off and the ride was once again in 2-train operation. I figured it would not be too long before it reopened... ...which it did, ten minutes later! I stood outside the entrance as one of my crewmates opened the line. Not surprisingly, I was the first rider on the rain-laden Vortex. I had Train #1 all to myself as the rain picked back up to a steady rain. I knew I was going to get wet (as I already was from my other rain rides) so I had no choice but to feel my clothes getting wetter by the second. Like the other rides. I had to either close my eyes or look to the side, as getting pelted in the face with rain at 55 mph hurt as much as it felt good! The inversions each offered me a half-second break from said pelting, which was nice. I took Toothless along with me on the first ride, but he was already getting pretty wet, so I put him and my fanny pack in the closet adjacent to the station (where we store our belongings while working) so they had the chance to dry off a little. I rode Vortex a few more times, aboard Train #1 in rows 7-1, 1-1, and 3-1 respectively... The rain let up a little and had slowed to a sprinkle by my fourth ride, so I was actually able to keep my eyes open for a good amount of the time. But it wouldn't stay that way for long, as my last surprise for this day would be the biggest yet. I finally ended up on Train #3 in 4-1 for what would happen to be my last ride of the day. The rain was still steady at dispatch, but during the climb up the lift hill it started POURING. And I mean POURING. The visibility was soooo low that I could hardly see anything past the loops. I had to put my hands over my face like a visor so I could at least see as much as I wanted/needed. What followed was an experience I can barely describe. The view from the lift was unreal and would make for an amazing picture if picture taking was allowed and I didn't need to sacrifice my camera (which in the meantime was in my fanny pack in the closet, THANK GOODNESS). The downpour continued as we plummeted down the first drop and through the loops. It was a bit of a struggle to breathe as the 55 mph rain pelted me and the two other passengers on board to seemingly no end. I covered my face from the watery onslaught as I felt an abrupt stop as the train stopped in the mid-course brakes for a brief time before continuing. As we hit the corkscrews and batwing, the rain slowed once again as I finished my 537th, and by far most epic/wet, ride on Vortex: That ride was SURREAL, considering Vortex usually doesn't run in a downpour. It was truly an experience like no other. And yes, it was so worth completely soaking my clothes. My two fellow passengers up front enjoyed the crazy experience as well! I can now say that I rode Vortex in a downpour. I will remember Tuesday, June 12, 2018, for a long time and quite possibly forever. Rain rides are something one must experience firsthand to find how great they truly are. After I got off Vortex, it went down once again for weather. Vortex has a love-hate relationship with the rain, and today definitely epitomized that; it can run in a steady rain but to a certain extent (especially if it spontaneously downpours!). Today was definitely anything but ordinary. I didn't care that I was soaking wet, because the numerous rides I enjoyed in this rain were sooooooo worth it!! After hanging out with my crewmates and filling them in on my crazy adventures aboard the first water ride to go upside down six times, it was time for me to head home and close the book on one of the best days I have ever had at Kings Island. I retrieved Toothless and my fanny pack from the closet, said bye to my Vortex family, and headed out. I keep saying this, but it's true: today is a day I will not forget anytime soon, ESPECIALLY my 537th ride on Vortex!!! +Vortex: 6 YTD: 44 Total: 537 +WindSeeker: 1 YTD: 9 Total: 128 +Grand Carousel: 1 YTD: 4 Total: 40 +Diamondback: 2 YTD: 4 Total: 113 +The Beast: 1 Total: 17 +Shake Rattle & Roll: 1 YTD: 4 Total: 35

I got to see the show yesterday for the first time this year. If you saw the previous incarnation of the show, it is much the same, but that isn't a bad thing. It's clear the dogs are enjoying themselves (which I definitely couldn't say about the Doberman show).

I took a progression series of pics while I learned how to draw Charlie Brown at Sketch School (I ended up attending all seven sessions yesterday, and all three Gravity shows, which involved a lot of speed-walking across the park). This should give you an idea of how they break it down and make it easy for anyone to draw a reasonably recognizable Peanuts character

ASA opens 5 new rides this season, mostly on the dry side. Here is an interview with Pat and Dan. I really miss Pat in Indiana. She always had the best park commercials! http://abc3340.com/station/talk-of-alabama/talk-of-alabama-61318-splash-adventure Looking at this thread they did exactly what some were asking for, a few classic rides: Scrambler and a Tilt-A-Whirl. http://www.alabamasplash.com/attractions/

We just published a blog on the K.I. website about the show that includes an interview with Lou Mack. Kings Island dog show features world-class canine athletes

I got into an altercation with an idiot at SFGAM recently over a camera in use on a ride. He rode Goliath directly in front of me, while attempting to video the entire ride with his hands stretched in the air. Because he was an idiot... he couldn't control his arms... so they flailed backwards into my face the entire ride. I spent the entire time dodging the possibility of him letting go and my getting hit with his cell. I cant tell you anything about the ride except that I had this dummy being negligent the entire time. He had pulled the cell out and begun filming BEFORE we left the station... I even yelled for him to put it away going up the lift - but he "couldnt" hear me due to the loud lift I guess. (Oh brother) Ride ops clearly saw it and turned a blind eye. When we hit the final brakes, I grabbed the hood of his sweatshirt and tugged it as hard as I could to get his attention. I then had to parent the punk... who of course called me every name in the book, on why what he did was moronic. When we reached the station, I promptly told the ride ops, who did nothing - literally NOTHING. My opinion is, it is because of their age and attitude, they either dont care - or are too afraid to deal with the rule breakers. Now, if I (who avoids conflict, and is about as non-confrontational as they come) was able to get that agitated, its a wonder more parks dont often have more altercations far worse. Ambivalence to the safety of others is a plague affecting parks. And it needs addressed or more accidents of this type will continue to occur.

Don't forget - tonight is the passholder ERT event featuring Diamondback, Woodstock Express & Great Pumpkin Coaster.

For me, the most disturbing part of the story is that the offending rider simply walked away without identifying himself to the victim or the park. To injure someone and then not take responsibility is cowardice and wrong. Hopefully he's found and cited for his failure to follow the ride's safety instructions.

Better name than Drop Tower

The playtime comments are getting old Ryan.

I check my zippers multiple times before a ride. I check them in line, when I'm next in line, when I sit down, and often again on the lift hill. If your zipper is not zipped, that's purely your own fault for not checking to be sure.

I would hope she would sue for damages for whos ever phone that was. I only take my cell phone in the park and it always is left with a non rider or is in a zipped up pocket. With passes being on Apple wallet now I dont even need to take my wallet into the park with me anymore. I see ride ops at KI get on the PA system while a train is going up the lift to tell riders to put their phones away and the riders do not listen. No further action was taken by the park either. Start kicking these people out and keeping us safe.

I have said this before, but does a retweet by a CF park like Kings Island of a patron selfie post on a coaster that someone posted imply that CF is okay with cameras out on the ride despite the announcement and postings? Or simply spend 10 minutes next to a lift hill on a coaster and hear the ride op over the speakers inform the patron to put away the cell phone and they do not put it away and the ride is not stopped and the patron continues with the video. I am sure an attorney would make good use of that argument when a suit is filed at some point for a flying camera disfiguring someone. Otherwise why have the rule if it isn't enforced? Now I realize that according to the offender, he claims he forgot to zipper his pocket. Why wasn't policy to keep everyone on that train "captive" for witness statements and stuff. I cannot believe nobody held on to that phone to get offenders name and simply gave it back and let him continue with his day... But as we have seen in the industry, real change only seems to happen after an event and lawsuit. I would expect in the upcoming weeks to see a stronger enforcement of the phone policy. One questions what they will do at rides like Banshee and Mystic where I have seen them physically hand something back to the patron (cell phones, glasses, etc.) to hold in their hand while they ride the ride - that is a recipe for disaster - I suspect we will see those patrons not allowed to ride now.. I have seen plenty of people holding cell phones on Mystic - not taking photos, but holding onto them because they had no place to put it. Do we see metal detectors at ride entrance... Will this be spread to all coasters... Time will tell... And to those that have posted that any object is moving with coaster and won't really hurt anyone riding same train forgets about air resistance and once object leaves person it becomes a projectile - just look at that forehead... Unfortunately, patrons totally tune out ride ops, or any other announcement (looking at you smokers not in designated area as the announcement is made). Spend a few minutes at Twisted Timbers or Steel Vengeance and watch how many people pull down their lap bar despite repeated attempts told not to. Granted for whatever reason that doesn't happen at Steel Vengeance as often as it does on Twisted Timbers.

**Double Post** This is an area here that is in need of a major coaster or attraction. This is on the left side of FOF and this would be a nice area for an entry plaza and a giga station. All they have to do is bulldoze those mounds there to make this area flat and then construct.

Great report

Even though I try to keep my luggage down to things I can fit in my cargo pockets, I can understand the need for a backpack to some degree. If one intends to spend the entire operating day at the park, often changes of clothing/alternative clothing (like jackets or pants/shorts) are necessary. Personally, I use my truck as my locker for things like this, but teens are much more likely to be simply dropped off by parents in the morning, I would think. They'd need to carry in anything they want to change during the day. Also, people who have vehicles but don't get to the park as early as I do, it can be quite a hike through the lot since there aren't trams anymore. Even though I rarely use the lockers, if there was a season long roaming locker pass, I would seriously consider it just for the convenience of not always having to hike out to the truck if I buy something or come up with extra ways to squirrel away hats and gloves on Haunt nights (where it often starts at 70 degrees and ends in the 40s) when I can't go back out to the vehicle.

You literally had to interpret what he was saying sometimes!

Check out that Drop Tower name!

I honestly don't understand why people need to take a backpack full of stuff into the park. (I understand medical needs.) Even when we have all 3 of my kids we don't carry any more in than when we are at the park without them. We do push a stroller, but no big backpack of stuff. Anything I may need I can walk back to the car and get if necessary. The last thing I want to do at a park is carry stuff around.

What if you leave your wallet in said locker and it charges you. How do yo get your stuff out?

I personally am for a renovation of the building. But I don't think a new front gate would do too much. Being in admissions one grows accustomed to their work environment. And the front gate plaza area definitely serves it's purpose well. Handles enough crowds. A bit of a modernization would make an already good but dated design perfect.

My son and I are on The Bat, sitting front row. The family behind us had the matriarch as a know it all. All through the ride, he is narrating the course, starting with him being really scared on the way up the "enormous" lift hill. I paid it no heed, as I was laughing the whole time about it. On the way out, he was telling them it used to be called Top Gun, but they had to change the name as a sequel was in the works. Biting my tongue, we followed behind. They then decided they wanted to ride again. At this point, I thought I would be the nice guy and tell them how to take the 1st left after they got off. I was ignored. I also mentioned the 2nd place. Ignored again. They walked all of the way out by Blackout and then back down. I just shook my head and went on.

Originally, I was supposed to spend this day at home doing (more) schoolwork. But on the night before, my cousin messaged me saying she would be at Kings Island with her family the next day and wanted to know if I was working. Of course, I was off on this day. When I told my parents, they wanted to go meet them at the park and spend the afternoon with them, since the only other time we see them is on Thanksgiving. In other words, my day off would turn into another Kings Island trip...and a special one at that. And for once, I didn't have to talk my parents into it. I didn't even NEED to. That's definitely a first. For the first time since the 2016 season, I entered the parking lot via the normal (guest) entrance. As much as I enjoy the associate lot, I loved driving up and seeing the huge parking entrance appear in front of me! Also, I was able to scan my pass at the kiosk in record time, compared to 2016 when it would take me forever! Glad they improved the kiosks so you don't have to hold your pass every which way just to scan it. My parents and I arrived at the park around 1:30, and we met my cousin, cousin-in-law, and their two sons (a.k.a. my nephews) in Action Zone by Chicken Shack and Delirium. One of my nephews is just above 36" tall and his younger brother is an infant, so we spent a lot of our time in Planet Snoopy. They had ridden a couple of rides before they met us, and we wanted to get some more rides in that my nephew would be able to ride. So we headed back to Planet Snoopy together, with me leading the way. Since it was my nephews' first trip to Kings Island, they had never ridden any of the rides, so any rides that my 36" nephew rode were his first times on each of them. When we arrived at Planet Snoopy, we were in the mood for a water ride, and the perfect ride for that was nearby! So my first ride of the day was the Flume. I got to enjoy my nephew's first Flume ride with him and his dad (a.k.a. my cousin-in-law!)! We all had fun and got a little wet, of course. My nephew was giggling throughout the ride, so I knew he had a blast! In fact, he enjoyed it so much that he wanted to do it again. So we hopped back into the 10-minute line, this time with my cousin! While waiting in line, I managed to re-download the Kings Island app onto my phone so I could find the other rides that have a 36" minimum height requirement. One of those rides was Woodstock Gliders, which we rode next. We waited two full cycles before just making it onto the next cycle. My dad decided to ride with us, so he and I squeezed into one glider while my cousin-in-law and nephew rode in another. During the ride, I happened to almost snap my glider (I got as far as moving the fin at the right times for my glider to speed up and slow down in a way characteristic of snapping) but I was careful not to take it too far in case the 2015 snapping ban was still in effect. I apparently know how to snap now. And of course, my nephew loved his first flight on the Gliders (and my dad enjoyed his too. ). We took a brief restroom/snack break. My dad visited the Planet Snoopy Grill and bought some chicken tenders and French fries, which he shared with my mom and me. And yes, they were very good! After a few minutes I suggested riding the Kite Eating Tree, which was one of my favorite rides growing up. So my cousin-in-law, nephew and I got in line and waited three cycles before being the first people on the next cycle. For me, this ride on Kite Eating Tree (which to me will always be Plankton's Plunge ) was a nice trip down memory lane, and for my nephew it was a really fun first ride! Speaking of memory lane...Woodstock Express (a.k.a. the Fairly Odd Coaster) was nearby, and I was feeling rather nostalgic and wanted to revisit my first real roller coaster and take it for a spin. Since Woodstock Express' minimum height requirement is 40", my nephew couldn't ride it yet. So my cousin and I rode. I felt pretty much all the nostalgic feels possible as I walked through the familiar queue and joined the short line just outside the station. The only difference between this time and the others was that I rode in the very last row, unlike in 2007 where I rode exclusively in the middle (and my front seat ride in 2014 and the 2015 Last Rides ERT where I rode near/in the front!)! As expected, we got a lot of airtime in the back seat. The second drop surprised me as it had even more ejector air than the first! I had a great ride down memory lane (again)! And yes, my shirt was still wet from my two Flume rides. At this point, my nephew needed a small break from the rides, and my cousin-in-law and I wanted to ride Vortex. So we started heading toward the other side of the park. As we headed out, the Holly Jolly Trolley from WinterFest (which was now the Peanuts trolley, decorated with Peanuts theming) stopped by Snoopy Boutique and the characters and their escorts got out and started dancing to the music. I joined in, and Sally came over and danced with me. We boogied together for a few moments as other kids joined in. I may have been the oldest guest who got into the dancing, but I didn't care. It was fun! Vortex is the favorite ride for both me and my cousin-in-law, so we were both excited to take it for a spin!! For some reason, no separator was present when we got there, even though the line went up to the bridge. Fortunately, our fellow guests did a good job separating themselves (the lines for each row were distinct), so it was easy for us to join the line for the front row. After waiting about 10 minutes from the time we joined the line, we stepped into the front seat on Train 3. It was my cousin-in-law's first time riding in nearly ten years, and it was my first time riding since...well, the previous day. Both of us greatly enjoyed our ride together on our favorite ride! "Still as great as I remember!" he said as the train hit the brakes. We wanted to ride WindSeeker, but we were running short on time and we still had not taken my nephew on Scrambler and the Carousel (which I kept mentioning), so after riding Vortex, we headed to Scrambler. We waited one full cycle and then some before boarding. My cousin and nephew rode in one car and my mom and I rode in another. As I much as I enjoy riding Scrambler by myself, it does not compare to riding it with another person. It was the first time my mom and I had ridden it together in nearly three years, so this ride was extra special! Last, but certainly not least, was the Grand Carousel. We just barely missed boarding the current cycle so we waited that one cycle before being the first people onto the next one. My cousin-in-law, nephew, both my parents and I rode all together. The recorded music was still playing because the organ currently was not sounding too good at the moment, so the recorded music was playing to spare all of us our ears and a potentially cringe-worthy ride. Hopefully the organ will be back in service soon!! Taken before the ride, as always. In the roughly three hours we spent at the park, it was a pretty good day! I loved finally getting to see some relatives on a day besides Thanksgiving, and being able to just relax and hang out as a guest since I had the day off and didn't need to worry about working (as much as I love it). I'm glad to be a part of my nephews' first trip to Kings Island (and get to ride some of my previous favorite rides, with plenty of nostalgia on the side) and this was probably the best day off I've had in a while, if ever! +Flume: 2 YTD: 4 Total: 14 +Woodstock Gliders: 1 Total: 2 +Kite Eating Tree: 1 Total: 4 +Woodstock Express: 1 Total: 15 +Vortex: 1 YTD: 34 Total: 527 +Scrambler: 1 YTD: 2 Total: 26 +Grand Carousel: 1 YTD: 2 Total: 38

Why does it no surprise me that there are more photos of Vortex in this post than anything else?

My predictions: CarnEVIL dead (RIP final John Hawkins/Oak Island Designs maze) X-Gatorhead’s Skyline Patio show moves in there for WF New kids show next year. Kind of interesting- some of my younger friends tried to argue that this place never existed. That’s how packed away it has been. Stupid kids.

^ I could dig a park with rides like that. I would also not be shocked if at some point they decided to add a 2nd wooden coaster (probably Gravity Group) to Alabama Adventure given the family's reputation. Add a nice dark ride, some more waterslides, and perhaps a small wild mouse or something and you'd probably have a great small park that would attract not only lots of locals, but the hardcore coaster & park enthusiasts as well who travel to such parks.