PKI96

#1 - Only working there one year as a teen. What a fun summer. #2 - Not doing a Beast night ride with my kids last summer in 9-10 trips. That is top priority in 2017!

As a personal preference, I won't set foot in Soak City. Way too busy, too much hassle changing clothes, rather spend time on coasters, etc. That being said, I may be a real minority here, but I value a ride like Congo Falls. On say a hot and busy July day, you can ride that within 5 minutes, and get wet and refreshed. It gives me a burst of energy. Plus hiding your feet underneath the lower seating area (there is a recession you can put your feet in) will avoid wet shoes all day. And on a hot day, you don't stay soaked, you dry off relatively quickly.

In my somewhat similar post about best and worst moments, I had the initial walk into the park as a top moment. That moment you enter the park, see the fountain, smell the fresh air, see the tower...and knowing the rest of the day will be pure awesome. That initial entrance is the start of what I like best about the park: that you are sort of "cut off" from the real world, and you are about to be a kid for the rest of the day. To soak in memories, nostalgia, fun and thrills, while being away from the burdens of a normal day.

I worked there years ago, and lived a little over an hour away. A great idea would be to see if anyone else you know would want to carpool with you. I did this with a friend, which cut driving/gas in half. Working at the park for one year, as a teenager in high school doing a summer job at an awesome park...definitely a very great memory for me.

Repeating a lot of ideas already posted, but... I wonder if a lot of these great ideas are not happening due to the fact that there simply isn’t enough employees? It would make sense financially to have more food, for instance, but when they can barely keep the ones currently staffed, I don’t see that happening. One thing I would LOVE is one drink option that is not carbonated pop. Drinking Coca-Cola all day is just not good… A few more flat rates. There seems to be a lot of areas that could use a simple, classic flat ride. Less loud, obnoxious pop music. It seems to be everywhere in the park, and would be nice to have a break from it. More shade in line queue is an obvious and cheap improvement.

If you've never been, the burger, nor any of their food is terribly overpriced. The pricing at RHOFG is fairly comparable to what you would expect to pay at most casual sit down joints anywhere in the country. Considering the pricing of most of the other food in the park, its a pretty good value relatively speaking. I've never had much trouble getting a seat, but the service at times can be very slow. Good to know, thanks for the insight. I must have just hit it at bad times. Will try to give it a shot in 2017!

Some great lists, a lot of things I didn't think about or consider. I'll have to revise mine as I agree with a lot of these. Sorry if this is a tired topic...I'm a newbie.

So I'm bored at work and was thinking of a "top 10" list. The list can be anything, no rules. BEST: 1. Beast double helix 2. Diamondback 1st drop 3. Entrance to park: initial royal fountain / tower view 4. Beast lift hill / 1st drop A nice, LONG incline up this scenic, historic ride. Gives me time to think about what to ride next, talk to my kids, maybe eat lunch, call my mother, pray a rosary or two, then off we go. Awesome! 5. Flight of Fear launch 6. Banshee’s awesome capacity Even on insanely busy days, I know I can get a ride or two in on one of the big 3 coasters. And on slow days, almost a walk on for such a world class ride is just great. 7. WindSeeker view from the top Check out ride cues, see the parking lot…similar to the IT view but with more thrill. 8. Racer / KIMV Railroad Pure nostalgia. 9. Hard working employees that care about their job Most are, and that’s a good thing that frankly you don’t see much these days. 10. People Watching. Sorry. It’s pretty amazing, can’t deny that. WORST: 1. Entrance to park: Invasion of the Photo People! No thanks…ahh, worker, you have a quota I’m sure, ok. Cheese. Look, another one! Cheese. One more…cheese. 2. KIMV Railroad Spiels / Music. The. Same. Spiels. And. Songs. Every. Ride. 3. Adventure Express ending YOU WILL PAY…or, maybe you will just exit the ride. Love AE but the ending not so much. 4. Reds HOF Grille Wait I love the Reds. I love KI. Every time I go, even on slow days, the wait is hours long. No thanks. Someday I will eat an overpriced burger with little wait, while watching my terrible local ball club! 5. SLOW ride capacity / operators at Planet Snoopy I understand the ride op’s need to take their time loading kids, and the difficulties that presents, but lines are so ridiculously slow on most rides (especially Woodstock Whirlybirds, Surf Dog, RFYLCB, Peanuts 500).

Aside from the Christian concert from last year, do they still draw any acts? I can't recall the last time I heard someone was playing there...

It would be nice if FunTV actually had, well, fun programming. They'd play an occasional random music video, but mostly just the same commercials all season. If I had a nickel for every Mobile Strike commercial....gah....

Good grief, I guess I am not suggesting that, apologies. However, I personally do bring an energy bar in my pocket, or a small bag of peanuts. I'm not smuggling a 4 course meal or anything. Bad service + overpriced + long waits + lack of nutritional options to keep me going for a full day = yeah, I don't feel like much of a criminal for bringing in something small like that.

The Bat is, to me, a considerably better ride in the front seat. And usually not a huge wait. Other that than, doesn't matter to me.

I don't understand the outrage over the food. If the line is long, skip it. Don't want to wait a long time at Reds HOF? Don't. Bring a bottle for water and don't drink pop all day (thus avoiding waits). Pack some high protein snack in your pockets (peanuts, beef jerky, energy bar). And I guess I don't expect a lot when it comes to fast food / deep fried stuff. But I suppose if I spent the $$$ on a plan, I'd understand the annoyances. Just my 2 cents.

I don't see Banshee as being a fair gauge of future plans, since that was almost, at least to me, a way to make up for the SOB fiasco. Like they finally removed it and, having so much relatively free land post-SOB, they had to get a sure fire, A+ coaster to replace it and make the general public forget about SOB. That being said, I'd expect to see a lot of minor improvements to make the casual visitor more happy, and maybe a kids ride or two. Planet Snoopy is a cash cow for them, and always crazy busy...so why not expand that?

Location is lousy. Ride is decent. The real problem for me is the capacity...there is what, 8 per train? The insane wait is not worth the ride itself, imo.

I wouldn't call that sad. Even on busy days I know I can get a ride or two on one of the "top 3" since Banshee is so great at capacity. The older I get, the less patience I have for lines. I love the coasters but refuse to wait past 20/30 minutes.

Sunday, 10/16: Too darn Busy! 1pm on was way too busy for a Sunday in October.

Is Peanuts really that popular? I like them well enough but I don't see a ton of kids really into them at all. Even with Disney owning darn near every children license nowadays, I can't see the Snoopy theme lasting more than a few years IMO.

Agreed about WWC. I think the train will be a huge increase. Mystic Timbers plus Soak City. Banshee will increase as well, that team was awesome every time I went this year. Poor old Vortex will keep falling, I don't mind it being a bit rough but those restraints just kill my shoulders. It might be just me, but man the ride ops in Planet Snoopy were sloooooow all season.

thanks for the info, VortexJD. Sounds like a Saturday early trip might be worth it.

How are Fridays looking? Crazy busy like Saturday?

Don't get rid of: the 25 cent Ms. Pac Man game in the 80's store! And I may be in the minority here, but I love Congo Falls...a quick, wet relief on hot days. And never a line. That really helps get me a boost of energy when needed and I'd miss it if it were gone. Wouldn't mind getting rid of - Dinosaurs Alive, while interesting in itself, seems really out of place for me. The uneven landscape makes its a pain on hot days with kids, and the mosquito are brutal. Plus when you walk it once, you're pretty much done with it. I wonder if they would eventually use that space for something more enjoyable.

Antique cars to Strickers.

Playing the same few songs on *every* train ride can be irritating. I bet the train workers despise hearing them all day. I do like that The Racer plays classic rock. Guess it makes sense as it is an older ride.

It's a cultural problem. If your kids are old enough, or are ok with going, awesome. Good on you. Age limits really isn't the answer. But I think it's fair that, if your kid requires a stroller...the kid shouldn't be in there. No scare necklaces or not, some kids are way too young and can get really harmed by that, but the parents refuse to put their main priority (to raise their kids to the best of their abilities) ahead of their self interests (to go get scared, have a good time). So many issues in our society can be traced back to one major issue: parents not parenting. Sorry to be a downer. Looking forward to taking my older kids later in the month!