SOB/Gun Steve-O

I believe that was the same night that the tornado hit Blue Ash. Maybe thats why.

I wasn't there, but I would think they put them back - its not very easy to simply walk out the security gate with two large plastic missiles hanging over your shoulder.

The crowds on opening day depend entirely on the weather. 2 years ago, it was snowing on opening day. Last year, it was sunny and 70. 2 years ago, there were more employees in the park than guests on opening day. Last year, it was obviously very crowded.

I would think that after what happened last year, the only tickets given out will be to the radio stations and to the employees (we always get 4 for dry run day) - not passholders. No way to prove that, though. And in the past the water park has opened Memorial-Day weekend. No way will it be open for dry run day or opening day.

I will be there hopelessly trying to stuff the other Steve into SOB!

www.rcdb.com - they have pics of The Bat and Cobra, I know.

Pretty much ever ride has that, I think. I know SOB and Gun do, we just have to hit the button for all of them, and people never pay attention to the PA unless someone is screaming through it, so we generally don't use the auto-speil.

I believe that engineering and construction has made several attempts to smooth out SOB since it opened, especially in the offseasons.

They are park-sponsored employee activities and that calendar is from last year anyways.

Call security and have people thrown out of line (and I think the entire park in one case) for making out and attempting to take each other's clothes off - one was a couple with 2 senior citizens, I believe.

So true. We have had to do this a few times in SOB's line. And for the record, I vote the SOB rose bowl. For god's sake, it looks like a giant hole from above with the train going into it!

There were some plastic missiles, smoke from black ice, music, some screens that looked like radar screens, some flags with logos of fake fighter squadrons, I think they may have had some of those random announcement-theming things they have outside FOF now. There were no moving gates, just some doors that opened electronically with the driver's key to reveal the missiles and such. The controls for it don't work now, and many of the props have been damaged or destoryed by weather, animals, rowdy crowds, and the like. I have heard rumors, however, that it might be brought back. Don't know though. Top Gun is one of the most popular rides in the park - it has more riders than Son of Beast (as you will learn, Steve). It just has a shorter line because we can dispatch the trains a lot faster because the ride is shorter and the bar-checks are not as intense and time-consuming. We once had a day in which 10,000 people rode it - a BAFFD, I believe.

The queue gates below that station, along with the theming down there, have been damaged by wind, weather, animals, and people. Many of the electronic doors down there that contained the missiles and what not either don't work or have literally fallen apart. I have also heard that guests used to often pass out under there during the hot weather.

I was in Vegas right after Christmas and rode Manhattan Express down there. It was cold as ^#$*. Pretty good ride, but a little rough for a steel coaster.

The coasters use an automatic counter that displays the # of trains and rides - the driver enters in how many empty seats there are on each train. I think the other rides use hand counters. The numbers on the webiste, for Gun and SOB anyways, are not accurate at all. Maybe SOB could get up to near 1000 with three trains (I think we normally get 600-700 people and hour), but with Top Gun is says 1400 - if we were flying and had no empty seats, we might get close to 900. It is unusual to break 750 - even with nearly full trains.

We came up with a list of songs played in the OC and AZ. Click here

I think "scheduled maintence" means scheduled maintence.

If by "R.C. parts" you mean "weeds" then yes.

You clearly haven't been at PKI long enough.

There's no minimum number of blocks between trains I've ever heard of. You just can't have 2 trains in one block (this is the whole reason we have a block system). There must be at least one more block than there are trains for it to work. SOB has 4 blocks and 2 trains. I believe Vortex has 4 blocks as well, I know FOF and Beast must have at least that - I think FOF has 5.

Alright, since I started this whole best ride poll trend I guess I should end it. Best ride in the park - name it.

Well, you did vote for SOB in the AZ poll...At least you're consistent.

Check this out For your very own backyard...

OK, I don't know about the station being moved or anything about losing a block. I'm not saying thats wrong, I'm sure its not, I just didn't know that. But I will tell you why there is no third train, to my knoweledge anyway. SOB could run with three trains. However, because of some extra saftey precautions we have to take with people on it, running it with three trains is almost impossible. The third train would constantly stop in the brake run just before the loop and sit there until we could get the station train out and the train on the ready's in. This is part of the ride's saftey system. Suffice it to say that this would not be much fun for the riders, or for us. For those of you who come by a lot, you may be able to see that we sometimes have trouble even loading and dispatching 1 train before the second one stops in the ready brakes. No way we could do it right with 3.

Yeah, I remember riding it on training day last year and having it break with us on it.