Oldiesmann

Son of Beast as it originally opened (with the heavier cars and the loop) would be my favorite, but since we all know that's not going to happen again, I'll go for Beast

When I was at the park this past Saturday, in line for Flight Deck, a couple of kids behind me kept insisting that Son of Beast was Gemini, despite their dad telling them that there was no such coaster at KI.

Really like the new look. Thanks for all your hard work!

"Arrival to Earth" from Transformers: (I used an app on my phone called SoundHound to identify the tune earlier in the season).

I'm surprised nobody's posted this yet. Just announced on Thursday. Complete details at http://www.visitkingsisland.com/forthecure/ Summary: They'll be doing the duck toss again this year, but they'll be using pink Snoopys instead Discounted admission tickets ($29.99) for the first three weeks of August On July 31st, the park wants to attempt to break the world record for the Largest Pink Ribbon - Made of Humans The last one should be interesting, but I'll be in Nashville that day so I won't be able to attend.

Interesting how the stories between that site and Cincinnati.com are a bit different, even though both sites are owned by the same company.

I love how it says "Operators found a problem with the chain"...

The Enquirer finally picked up on this: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110713/NEWS01/107140318/Kings-Island-closes-Vortex-indefinitely?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

I also love how she says "out here" - amazing how KI was in the middle of nowhere when it opened (my dad has said that Fields-Ertel was a narrow two-lane country road back then...).

Where did you find that?

I really wish I could have been there this year, but I ended up picking up a shift at work and didn't realize that it was the same night as balloon glow until after I'd already said I could work. Glad to hear it was a huge success this year, and hopefully I'll make it out there for the event next year.

That hasn't worked since 2005 from my understanding. The rumor is that the guts of the clock were removed, though I'm not sure if that's true. It's likely similar to the carousel organ - too expensive to maintain and something that most guests won't notice / care enough about (eg not something they'd lose money on in the long run).

KI does indeed let you take your own scooter into the park, as I've seen people with scooters that are much nicer than what you can rent at KI. While the hotel does have free shuttle to and from the park, the passenger drop-off area is a good distance from the entrance (it's right along KI drive about halfway between the south (main) entrance and the rarely-used north entrance), so it might be better for your family to pay the $10 per day to park at KI instead.

I wish I could, but I'm going out of town from the 28th through the 1st, so I really can't afford to take the day off for that.

I really need to find time to visit that zoo this summer (along with Cincinnati's - I live 10 minutes from the Cincy zoo and haven't been there in a year and a half...). Looks like a really fun place!

Just wanted to share a picture from Sunday. I think they should re-route the line back through there for some more effect. even if it would be more walking distance. This is a good step, although I find it to be barely much. I guess I will always miss the good old days of walking through the Top Gun pictures and whatnot They might if the line were actually long enough to warrant that, but there's rarely more than a one or two train wait for any seat on that ride these days.

No, that sign is long gone. Not sure when it was removed though.

Stuff I'd like to see: Restore the water in the "splashdown" area of BLSC (even something like what they had there last year, since it seems filling it all the way up was causing track corrosion or something) Turn off the darn lights in The Beast tunnel (I can understand them forgetting to turn them off every now and then, but they've been on every time I've ridden it this season, which seems to indicate it was done intentionally) Restore the fancy lighting effects in The Beast station like they had for "power hour" at The Beast years ago (flashing lights, the "Beast has been unleashed" sign, thunder, etc.) Less trim brake in FoF (I still say it brings the entire train to a complete standstill) Restore original ride effects on FoF and AE as much as possible (fog, mist, lighting effects, etc.) Fix the issues with Starlight Spectacular (if anyone has seen it recently, you'll know what I'm talking about - stars with huge sections that aren't lit up, dark sections in the "stripes" on the tower, etc.)

The park map indicates that they have lockers in three locations (it can be found under "Explore Our Resort" on the menu). I didn't see anything about changing rooms but I would assume they have those near the water park.

I think I heard this on WindSeeker on Thursday as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzf0rvQa4Mc (Bonus note: The conductor in this video, James Levine, is from Cincinnati)

I saw such a situation on Thursday night - a larger guest was in the seat and the belt was buckled, but the light on the side of the seat indicated that his restraint was still unlocked.

Nice weather plus the first weekend that WindSeeker is open. You chose a bad day to go.

I can understand that it's difficult for staff to stand out there in the summer heat, but there are plenty of solutions that the park could come up with to get around this. Option 1: Replace the little stand thingy with an actual booth like you'd find at many parking garages. This gives them protection from the weather and makes things more comfortable for their staff. Option 2: Automation. Remove the staff altogether, install a couple of gates and a pass-scanner. This would be expensive initially, and would require the park to get their pass system working properly (so a platinum pass is guaranteed to scan at any park in the chain regardless of where it was originally purchased), but it would save them money in the long run because they wouldn't have to staff the lot. Of course, this could cause some problems, and it's still not perfect (if someone was sneaky enough, they could tailgate a passholder and get into the lot even without a pass), but it might work better than having a staff member there. I doubt we'll see either option right away, but if the park gets enough complaints, they may eventually do something about it. I wonder if any of the other CF parks have this problem.

My sister got there around 1 today and said nobody was there checking passes.

You haven't ridden it recently have you? The first 3 cars basically fly past the brakes, the brakes slow down the last 2 cars and tries to stop, but it doesn't stop the train anymore. At least that's how it was 2 weeks ago. Really helps the pacing, IMO. I rode it just last week. The brake brings the train to a complete standstill. It's particularly annoying due to the angle of the track just beyond that point.