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I like having the ERT for some rides and for me it is a bit of a challenge to get there early enough to partake of the perk. I believe the early ride time is to entice Gold Pass recipients to return to Kings Island for more visits. Honestly I would rather see the money they spend on ERT staffing and other cost associated to it be put to other marketing enticing activities prompting more visits. Such as Concerts, special activities such as private event for Gold Pass members on select days, current celebrity shows like the Brady Bunch show or Glee appearances. These type of events is what make me want to come more often and even plan visits in advance versus the maybe I will get there for another early ride time of an attraction I have ridden several times already. Again I like ERT but if I got to choose I like special events and not necessary promotional events as of late.

This is great news!!!! So anybody up for a road plane trip down to Tampa at the end of May or first of June?

Holiday World and Splashin Safari is adding a series of Wi-Fi hotspots to the park this season. Free, of course. :0) http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/HolidayWorld

Good to hear some news coming out of that division. They have been working on this stuff for many years and at some point we should see some of their work first hand. I do believe the GM form EPCOT got moved about a year or so ago to head that division. On a personal note, I would like to say I have for the past two years checked in at our Disney resort online and when we arrived at the resort went to a marked On-Line area (which I have never seen a line for) gave our name and showed ID, they then handed me a already prepared envelope that had everything we needed to get started on our vacation. Second thought. Disney charges all guest at their resorts (Deluxe, Moderate, Value) a $10..00 per 24 hour use for internet access. If they plan for guest to reserve online then they better think about lowering that price or they will need to allow online service to a site specific site to reserve Fast Pass tickets from every room like they do now with Disney Photo Pass.

I will keep throwing ideas out there until we figure it out if ever. How about a Zip Line area with the area available to use is within those defined red lines.

Welcome to KICentral!! My family used to arrive early and pay the up charge for the VIP which was usually $5.00. We then entered the park early for early ride times then I would depart about 20 minutes before 10 to drive the car over to the Boomerang Bay entrance and enter with the families water park needs. From there I would enter before the rest of the of the season pass folks with my Gold Pass and go pick out a seat and drop off our towels, swim suits and other water day provisions. I would then change, take a break and wait for the family to show up to help them change. When leaving we were already parked close to the entrance which was nice as we did not need to carry the heavy wet suits and towels through the park.

So do you all think they used the blue highlighter to map out the 10K course and used the yellow highlighter to map out the 5K course or vice-versa?

Sorry to hear about your keepsake memories being a bit clouded by some not so great memories. I am like you and have really enjoyed this thread and the walk back through Memory Lane thanks to Paul. I have not added much to this thread as I appreciate what Paul is adding. I have a bit of old home videos of us touring Kings Island back in the mid 70's, which includes a view of International Street, many long gone rides, POV's of Scooby Doo and Sky Ride, Marathon Oil cars and the Monorail. I will post more of those if you want to see some of them and if it is OK with Paul. Until then I will post this one for a rare look at the Cups and Saucers in action with a bonus look at the food value back then. <object width='640' height='427'> <param name='movie' value='http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=player&.swf' /> <param name='flashvars' value='config=http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=conf%26hs=8f0545e13d41d7f3d4e09fc9bb09d62e%26u=1009485%26a=5016838%26i=121827814%26w=640%26h=427' /> <param name='allowFullScreen' value='true' /> <param name='bgcolor' value='#000000' /> <embed type='application/x-shockwave-flash' width='640' height='427' allowfullscreen='true' bgcolor='#000000' src='http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=player&.swf' flashvars='config=http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=conf%26hs=8f0545e13d41d7f3d4e09fc9bb09d62e%26u=1009485%26a=5016838%26i=121827814%26w=640%26h=427'></embed> </object>

Could it have something to do with this; http://www.visitking...vents/index.cfm

Actually the last time Collective Soul played at Kings Island was back on May 24, 2009 and they played at the TimberWolf. It was a free concert for Kings Island ASA weekend and a heavy metal band called Pop Evil played first Here is a clip of Collective Soul playing at the Timberwolf on that day . <object width='640' height='360'> <param name='movie' value='http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=player&.swf' /> <param name='flashvars' value='config=http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=conf%26hs=eea7fc8a6e5d75383ea87334b09e891f%26u=1009485%26a=3356079%26i=69876870%26w=640%26h=360' /> <param name='allowFullScreen' value='true' /> <param name='bgcolor' value='#000000' /> <embed type='application/x-shockwave-flash' width='640' height='360' allowfullscreen='true' bgcolor='#000000' src='http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=player&.swf' flashvars='config=http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=conf%26hs=eea7fc8a6e5d75383ea87334b09e891f%26u=1009485%26a=3356079%26i=69876870%26w=640%26h=360'></embed> </object>

Just throwing out a guess. Maybe the return of the campground,

Wow what a treat to read and I am sure an awesome experience for you. I was wondering who was taking all the pictures of you on the field until I backed up a bit and realized your friend Jason sat with the wives. Thanks for sharing.

Wonderful trip report Elmer Fudd, I am sorry to hear about your daughters flu symptoms on you last day but it sounds like the best possible situation for the circumstances came to fruition for your family. I can tell by the tone in your report that it was a nice get away for your family and that Disney step up in the way only Disney can. I hope you get that long trip to Disney within your few years goal. BoardWalk is a beautiful resort with the best on site resort pool, I hope it was not to cold for you guys to use it. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

One of the greatest gifts one can receive in life is "Passion". For many including myself we can find ourselves deeply involved or even obsessed in a hobby or activity. For me I have had a few great passions in life such as getting involved with Junior Achievement (as a student and advisor) owning and sailing boats, volunteering to a local hockey league and at present improving my ponds and stream in the yard and also visiting thrill/theme parks with family and friends. Most others in this world find passion in a myriad of activities including marching bands, religion, water sports, flying/space, weather, collecting, photography, volunteering and some find passion in working. When I see others pointing at someone and laughing at their passion/obsession I feel sorry for them as I wonder if they have ever experienced something so great to in life, because if so they would not be laughing at the person but laughing with them. Which brings up another great experience in life to be learned and that is being able to laugh at ourselves. Sometimes when we look back at our life we see something in our past that we can laugh at and ask ourselves "what was I doing/thinking". Well the answer most times was you were enjoying passion for life at the moment. So I feel sorry for those who have never experienced something in life that they were passionate about because they fear they will be laughed at and may have missed a hunger in their life and a great opportunity to look back on their life and laugh at themselves. So I say to the Kings Island Enthusiast Dude "Ride on fan boy ride on" and if I ever see you in the single rider line I am going to ask to sit with you so that I can experience some of that overflowing passion you have for Kings Island. I will tell you that if you ever see anyone pointing fingers at you laughing just remember they have 3 fingers pointing back at them calling them stuffy, boring and too serious. Just to add another thought here and this is only a conversation opinion of mine at this moment; it seems as the video was made by Kings Island and in truth I feel it could be taken the wrong way by some enthusiast. (again this is only my speculation opinion) This video may have been leaked out the way it was to see how the enthusiast community would react to it before it would be released to a broader audience. I wish that towards the end of the video when it starts to scroll Kings Island opening day and general information that it asks the viewer right before that "How Passionate Are You" or "Come See What All The Enthusiasm Is About".

<object width='640' height='427'> <param name='movie' value='http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=player&.swf' /> <param name='flashvars' value='config=http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=conf%26hs=3151e25a2ccf4b92ace9fdeeaab53c94%26u=1009485%26a=1230295%26i=121473645%26w=640%26h=427' /> <param name='allowFullScreen' value='true' /> <param name='bgcolor' value='#000000' /> <embed type='application/x-shockwave-flash' width='640' height='427' allowfullscreen='true' bgcolor='#000000' src='http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=player&.swf' flashvars='config=http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=conf%26hs=3151e25a2ccf4b92ace9fdeeaab53c94%26u=1009485%26a=1230295%26i=121473645%26w=640%26h=427'></embed> </object> Yes that is me being drug around by the tail of Drooper. I miss the old days.

Drooper (lion). Markr I remember those Saturdays as well and even goofing around with them at KI too.

Bingo is the name from the Hanna Barbera Banana Splits. From today standards most characters from back then would seem to scare the kids, but the kids seen them every Saturday morning and knew who they were.

So any hope the menu prices stay anywhere close to Pinks stand alone stores current prices. http://www.pinksholl...om/pgz/menu.htm

Thanks Dave for taking the time to write such a great trip report so soon after you you got back home from a busy week. I enjoyed your report it was a nice Saturday morning read. I do understand how you have that feeling of wishing for your family to have been with you. I have been on several solo trips away from my family the past couple years and I always have that feeling of wishing they could be there too, but then again I do enjoy some times away from them to tour the parks as a coaster enthusiast. The best part of taking those solo trips from the family at a new park is that it gives me a great excuse to plan for another trip back to that park to do it with the family.

Looks like you will be having many years of family fun in the years ahead. May I suggest that you may want to experience Discovery Cove for something different during one of your trips. RailRider knowing a bit of your trip I know you and the family will have a blast in and out of the Disney parks. I look forward to your review. About my 6th year in a row, your wish may come true. We decided last year that we should take several long weekends and see some sights we have been longing to visit. On that list Disneyland is one of those destinations, so we may get a chance to go to So Cal. We pretty much decided to spend only one week on Fall Vacation due to the long weekend trips, We are leaning on renting a house or condo in the Anna Maria Island area and visit Busch Gardens and Sea World but mostly just beach time. Now I REALLY LOVED SEA WORLD CHRISTMAS and want to take the family back to Florida in early December to experience that with a possible trip to see Disney Christmas park for their Christmas event offerings. So who knows. LOL Dleseltech20, I got to ask do you still have that car as we are looking for a used car to take down to Florida to leave at my brothers so we will not need to rent a car anymore. On a serious note you actually made my point even more. Several years back I struggled to get my business up and running and bought many used vehicles to keep things on the cheap. So when it came to vacation time we never went to Disney as we thought it was to expensive so we went elsewhere and as it turns out we spent more money going other places versus where we really wanted to go. I just do not want anyone to fool their-selves in not going as we did. Also to add on to RaiRiders comment about the price being all inclusive for 15 days keep in mind the budgeted money we would normally spend on Groceries, Gas Money, Lunch Money and Family Entertainment for those two weeks can be applied to that total to even lower more. Trust me I regret not going on regular vacations during my early adult life so now I make sure I do and do what I have been wanting to do. I wish you the same opportunities.

PREMiERdrum - Just know I agree with you whole heatedly in feeling that Disney as of late has been depending on mediocrity on doing their best. Yes they still do a lot and still set the standard. I am also very glad to see other parks like Universal stepping up in a big way to show Disney they are there to take their crowds if they take them for granted. Speaking of taking guest fro granted; This is the first year that we do not have a standing reservation to go to Disney and it is because Disney is not offering anything to really wow my family back for a sixth year in a row. I still highly recommend Disney for most families to go this year but for us to go for a sixth year in a row NO!!!. There are other parks who have stepped up and are offering new and exciting entertainment for us this year. I must say Holiday World having a live band playing at their water park impressed me, it told me they were more interested in entertaining me at a fair profit than ways to cut the cost to maximize their profits. I guess I am trying to say to the Amusement/Theme parks is please do not take me for granted or we will not be visiting as frequent.

Darn-it!!! I was trying to not post in this topic but I feel I have some info to offer on the subject. First off I must address the affordability of a Disney vacation. I have posted in many threads about how there is very little difference in price to go to Disney, Universal, Sea World. For overnight vacations one should expect to pay more for a Cedar Point vacation versus a Central Florida vacation. I only bring this up again because I do not want any young or first time to Disney family to put a trip off to Disney because they have heard it was too expensive compared to other vacation destinations. In addition if you look at the hours of operation and the entertainment line-up most will agree Disney really offers a lot of value for the price paid. Below I am putting up my invoice for my family's last trip staying on site at Disney. I am doing this to show the true cost so others can see first-hand the cost of a Disney trip. The invoice includes 4 adults staying at Disney POP Century and includes 2 meals per day for each person (one quick service /w desert and drink and one full service meal/ w dessert and drink) on snack per person and a one day ticket. We always add the rest of our Disney tickets when we arrive and this year we added 8 day pass including Water Parks and more option. For a add on price at the front desk of $954.24. This brings our total for 14 nights and 15 days at Disney to $3067.30. Keep in mind that is for everything Resort, Food, Transportation and park tickets for 15 days for 4 adults. Now let's break that down $3067.30 divided by 15 days = $204.48 and then divided by each person 4 = $51.12. So $51.12 for all the above listed entitlements per person to me is a bargain and I have yet to find a better deal anywhere from any park. So those who have been thinking about a Central Florida trip just know it is affordable, not cheap but very affordable for what you get. Now to address the topic at hand; the elimination of some character workarounds. Every individual and family have their own personal favorite reason to visit a Disney park, some for rides, some for shows while others to visit with a character they have always wanted to meet. We have been visiting Disney for years and see all side of the topic issue. If one is worried about a magical moment waiting around the corner then they need not worry when at Disney as Disney offers so many special moments in the streets all day long. True it may not be a character but they have many impromptu shows in a wide variety of taste that everyone should be pleased. Now to be more direct on the character walkarounds, we have been a part of 3 types first one a organized character meal where the characters came around to visit at the table for a private moment. The other is walk around which was exciting but in truth it was bit hard to get a picture and the character seemed distracted by all the children calling their name and walking up out of turn. If there was a bit of a mob or a line the character would dismiss there selves for a break but promise to come right back out. The last one is the wait in line option. The con on this is typically the time in line. Pro side is an individual or family can rest assure that they will get a semi private moment with a character of their choosing. Honestly when guest spend hundreds or thousands of dollars and they really want to visit with a special character I am glad there is a place they can go for that versus a happenstance meeting. At Disney World they would have a line in an air conditioned theme building. While in line you do not see the characters at the end of the line, this is done so they can have about 4-5 sets of the same characters in different rooms. This helps speed up the line. When you get towards the front of the line a Disney Cast member will come and walk about 4 groups of individuals or families to one of the rooms with 3 characters in it (in that line all rooms have the same like characters in it) I liked that atmosphere as it seemed more personable, quiet and not at all will you feel rushed by the cast members or the feeling that others are staring at you to hurry up. Here is one of the sessions we had. We did the princesses First Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) <object width="640" height="479"> <param name="movie" value="http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=player&.swf">'>http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=player&.swf"> <param name="flashvars" value="config=http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=conf%26hs=90530ac2c14bf3f6528e56f991e7161d%26u=1009485%26a=1007746%26i=1196725%26w=640%26h=479"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" bgcolor="#000000" src="http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=player&.swf" flashvars="config=http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=conf%26hs=90530ac2c14bf3f6528e56f991e7161d%26u=1009485%26a=1007746%26i=1196725%26w=640%26h=479" width="640" height="479"> </object> When we were finished with Aurora we had about a 2 family wait to get our next visit with Cinderella, which gave us some time to reminisce those previous moments. <object width="640" height="479"> <param name="movie" value="http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=player&.swf">'>http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=player&.swf"> <param name="flashvars" value="config=http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=conf%26hs=1ea8f588a4af1862974cdb4f6c5c61cd%26u=1009485%26a=1007746%26i=1196727%26w=640%26h=479"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" bgcolor="#000000" src="http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=player&.swf" flashvars="config=http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=conf%26hs=1ea8f588a4af1862974cdb4f6c5c61cd%26u=1009485%26a=1007746%26i=1196727%26w=640%26h=479" width="640" height="479"> </object> Then the last one with Bell you can see Cinderella in the background with another group and I feel it can give you an idea of what it is like. <object width="640" height="479"> <param name="movie" value="http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=player&.swf">'>http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=player&.swf"> <param name="flashvars" value="config=http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=conf%26hs=cb4d0afa7261c6657bcf699dcaf5456a%26u=1009485%26a=1007746%26i=1196730%26w=640%26h=479"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" bgcolor="#000000" src="http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=player&.swf" flashvars="config=http://albums.phanfare.com/video_config.ashx?m=conf%26hs=cb4d0afa7261c6657bcf699dcaf5456a%26u=1009485%26a=1007746%26i=1196730%26w=640%26h=479" width="640" height="479"> </object> I am glad Disney spends the extra money to have many rooms of the same characters so that the lines move quickly and so anyone who spends a lot of money to visit can have an equal opportunity to meet their favorite character. I do still like the roaming characters but feel a bit disappointed that still to this day I have not been able to get a picture with Jimmy the Cricket (my present favorite charcter) and that is from not trying. Photopass. Please keep in mind that Disney is there to make a profit but the prices of the pictures or not to bad especially in a package. Also note that any Photopass photographer will be happy to take your picture with your own camera and all you need to do is just ask. How nice is that for some people? I mean if they were not there you would not get that picture with you in it with your camera, so in a good everyone is given an opportunity of a great picture with your own camera or theirs for purchase. I do recommend anyone taking their family down to Disney for several days to buy the Photopass CD. Note that the above videos were being taken by me while I rest assured that the Photopass photographers were taking the photos. Kind of having the best of both worlds. Also keep in mind most families have one person who takes 99% of the photos and are seldom seen. With the Disney Photopass system everyone gets to be in the pictures including me. Final thought for those who go, Please consider paying for some keepsake photos from a park you visit as we spend a lot of money to go and the price many years later for a great memory is priceless. In the above photo it shows my families first visit to Disney and I would pay triple to have that picture and now feel the price I paid for that photo was the best bargain of any souvenir we bought that year.

Well at least for heavy theme anyway. Give the people what they want and they will come and pay more for it.

That is why I like competition it brings out the best of us, usually sooner than later. Noticed that Holiday World really had a great year last year, I knew they would from all the comments I was hearing around Indy about them. I just wonder if Holiday World's per cap spending went up too.

No need to envy as we are sharing the experience with you and you will to with us in due time. I dared to skip Disney for several reasons. We only had 3 days to get what we did in with Saturday being the only whole day in Florida. For feasibility purpose and the price of tickets then it would mean we should have done all Disney or since I had a season pass for Universal and we got to go to both Sea World and Busch Gardens for $50.00 total. Plus the fact Robbie has never done Sea World or Busch Gardens it was the best choice for us. I also really wanted to experience Sea World Christmas and see Mannheim Steamroller in concert. Now have said all that I really want to do Disney during Christmas and think that we would have been better off skipping Universal on Saturday and went to one of Disney parks for their Christmas events even though it would have cost us more. But there is always next year.