Thrill_Biscuit

I sometimes get sick after a coaster ride, but I've discovered that it's always when I've had too little sleep the night before. Riding while tired makes me a little nausious, but seldom to the point of hurling. I'm 40, ride big coasters, and feel great! So if you're younger than I am, my answer to your post title would be "no way, man!"

Whew, It's a good thing Diamondback wasn't around 20 years ago

Another fine example of "airtime" taking on a completely different meaning for cell phones... -Tb, milking an old joke for just....one....more......laugh...

I wish the experience of entering the park were as much on their minds. The music they're playing at the front gate/International Street/NU, etc., is just killing me! I think they'll expand northward (X Base) years before they begin encompassing Beast.

Wow! Those things cost, like, five thousand dollars! Each! You must be like, a bejillionaire! Awesome!!!

^Love the good old Phantoms! The unmistakeable roar of the venerable flying brick!

I don't remember the helicopter being all that noisy, but then again I spent 6 years in and around twin-engine UH-1N Iroquois (usually called 'Hueys') in the air force, so smaller choppers like flight crew's seem quieter to me by comparison. It was neat to see the helicopter at Kings Island, but I never got a chance to ride it. Incidentally, except for the trees, that area of the park looked eerily similar to the helicopter area of the base where I was stationed, Malmstrom AFB, Montana, which is notorious for.........UFO sightings. Uncanny.

That skull kinda looks like Alice Cooper... who uses snakes in his act... and lives in Arizona... home of the Diamondbacks... hmmmm.... I smell a celebrity endorsement opportunity...

Great photos! Kinda sad how empty the games were in the "Atmosphere" shot of Coney Mall. I like the flowers/splashdown perspective shot. Very creative! I dare someone to peel the stickers off that Rubik's Cube ...

Ah, yes! The George Lucas method of naming things.

I, too, miss the front gate/international street music. Even before the movie theme days, they played that kind of symphony music there that matched the grandeur of the tower and fountains perfectly, and set the mood for adventure throughout the day, no matter what they were playing elsewhere in the park. I'd take Elmer Bernstein's "Theme from the Magnificent Seven" or John Williams' "March from 1941," or Danny Elfman's "Breakfast Machine" over what they're playing now. I've written KI about this. They said the music they're playing now is supposed to get us excited about the day at KI. Yeah. Nothing gets me in the mood for sharing KI with my family like "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones, or "Hey You" by Pink Floyd. Fail! What It Oughtta Sound Like

First Ride of Any Kind: - Marathon Turnpike (fire engine) First Water Ride: - Whatever Thornberry's was before Paramount. (I think it was themed to 'Barney Rubble')... First Rider-Controlled Flat: - The Dumbo thing at WDW (but you could only go up and down)... First Ride-Like-An-Egyptian - Electric Rainbow at Americana (because you could pose like heiroglyphics to the tune of Bangles' music)... First Ride That Made Me Plea With The Operator To Please Stop: - Der Spinning Keggers First Ride with a Drop of Any Kind: - Giant Slide, Coney Mall, Kings Island

I guess he was busy and just skimmed over the part that read: "Interior: 1950's House. Zoom in on Lead-Lined Refrigerator..."

Unintentionally, it kind of resembles the whole "Indiana Jones" film franchise. Great, gradual beginning, fun twists and turns (Raiders of the Lost Ark), a slow climb with loud, fake creaking and monkey noises, followed by a long, drawn-out non-drop (Temple of Doom), then a wonderful coaster experience with lots of lateral forces, and more twists and turns (The Last Crusade), and then another climb, filled with anticipation and cheesy hype, only to discover you're at the end of the ride (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull).

I guess a giant Atari joystick wouldn't evoke as many 80s memories as the venerable Cube.

Sounds like a stock electronica loop, or the techno2 accompaniment on the Yamaha PSR 510. The beginning almost sounds like "Welcome to the Machine" by Pink Floyd, though, but no clue here.

I always wear either my huge, white Tennessee Titans jersey-shirt or my custom "Tb" shirt, with tan cargo pants/shorts and Calloway Golf hat and UA shoes. Comfortable, cool (temperature wise), and I don't have to worry about losing things out of my pockets.

It'd be a nice place for a Jump2.

I ask them if their camera is insured, and they usually laugh. We always let them take our picture, but haven't bought one in a while.

I'd love to visit Coney Island in the 1940s, to see the Island Queen in all her glory. My dad has told me for years about how magnificent that experience was to him, and how he wishes the boat hadn't exploded, so that he could have shared it with us.

So, you're asking us to... trim... the trim comments? Tb, who just....

Nothing reminds me of spiraling through space like the Kings Island Eiffel Tower!

It requires a bit of running around between Rivertown and NU, but Fresh Cut Fries from PotatoWorks, and Cole Slaw from Chick-Fil-A make a good midday snack.

I went twice in 1986 (23 years...wow!). Once in late July for my mom's company picnic (Dosimeter), and then in late August for my dad's (Dayton Superior). Both times the park was full and alive with vivid color, laughter and the smell of great food. Local TV and radio commercials had the happy, musical jingle "The rage of the summer is Raging Thunder at Americana!" It was a fun, new log flume ride with a psyche-out sheet of water inside a tunnel that shut off right before your log hit it. You had to hike halfway around the lake to get in line for it, but it was worth it. There was an attraction similar to Cinema 180, where you stood inside and watched a film projected on a huge, concave screen. It wasn't 3D, but it was fun (and funny) to watch. A huge arcade at the front of the park had "Hercules", the world's largest (mass-produced) pinball machine, complete with giant flippers and double-sized pinballs. The skyride still worked, and it took you over a lake that seemed a little dark and murky, but you could look down and see the reflection of your car, making it seem like you were much higher than you were. Screeching Eagle was in desperate need of a paint job, and literally had areas of the superstructure that were rotted away, and actually swung and wobbled as the train went over the hill! My favorite ride was the Electric Rainbow, a flat spin ride that tilts upward as centrifugal (or "-pedal?") forces held you against the wall. I think I remember a flying scooters ride in the southwest corner of the park. It seemed to fly too slowly to 'snap'. I was too chicken to try anyway. There was a local band who sang songs from the 50's and 60's called something like the "Chantelles" or "Mantells" or something. They wore purple sportcoats and had a zany stage show as they played hits from that distant era. It was a good little park. So many memories, all from two small trips two decades ago. Sad to see it gone. Long live KI!

Shake, Rattle & Roll, Zephyr and Avatar are fun without being jarring. The Eiffel Tower, KIMVRR and Grand Carousel can be enjoyed as well.