touchdown62

This went to an error. Is it supposed to mean something? As far as Planet Snoopy, I've been learning not to totally trust screamscape. Sounds like a rumor mill. That being said, I can see sometime in the not-too-distant future the Peanuts gang taking over Kings Island. Perhaps a Battle Royal with Snoopy and Scooby Doo? \/ \/ \/ Edit: Hmmm, looks real enough. I stand corrected.

As of last Sunday it was still using the ID4 theme. If you want a soundtrack, I'd vote for pretty much any song from the "Flashback: Totally 80's" song list. Touchdown, who is a child of the 80s and grew up on that music... no wonder I'm screwed up.

This was in an earlier post: Upgrade to Gold is free with this deal. I suppose if you didn't want to get the free upgrade, you could ask for the regular pass. IDK though.

I wish I could've voted for an Intamin ANYTHING. When you have to be a walking skeleton to be able to buckle the Hoover Dam buckle... no thanks. Touchdown, who's still about Millennium Force having 6-inch-long seat belts a few years ago, and who hasn't been to Cedar Point since.

Even though I live a bit over 2 hours away, I decided to make my 6th in-season trip of the year on Sunday. I think that's a personal single-season record. Definitely got my money's worth out of my season pass. I use the money I save on daily admission to buy the gas needed to get to Kings Island from Muncie. I came with my friend Michelle, who I think is now a KIC member, but is currently a listener, not a caller. We got to the park sometime around 10:45 and had to make the immediate run to the front restrooms. I just can't get enough of those Dyson air blades. We decided to go "old school" and hit The Racer first. Since Blue was feeling down in the dumps, we went on Red Racer. There was actually a line. 10 minute wait. Big whoop. I am really getting used to the fact it goes forward. I do miss the backward Racer, but the Red Racer gives a wonderful forward ride. With the weight I'm losing, I'm getting some wicked air time, and I love it. I haven't tried for that third click on the bar yet, but just as well. I'm becoming an air junky. Where the heck did we go? Getting old is he!!. Oh yes, Flight of Fear. After taking advantage of the 75-cent lockers to store our jackets for the day, we got in line. Another 10-15 minute wait, and we were in row 2-2. Very comfy. I like to wear my sunglasses on the ride, which makes the ride so dark. I've been on the ride dozens of times, but this time it seemed a whole lot longer to get to the starting cobra roll than normal. I was starting to freak out until next thing I know, I think I'm upside-down. That ride has gotten awesome since CF sped the ride up, well, except for the MCBR. The corkscrew at the end, IMO, is the best position of a corkscrew on a ride EVER. Firehawk line was starting to really fill up, so we continued our clockwise trek around the park. The still-spinning head was not ready for Vortex, and the line in BLSC went past the first bypass gate, so it was time to visit the greatest piece of wood ever. The birthday boy... BEAST. Haven't been in the back this season, so went for 6-2. I wanted to be in the back, but didn't want to get the snot beat out of me before noon. Despite the cold conditions, Beast gave a fast ride. Serious air time on the hill after the first tunnel. Next I needed my Diamondback fix. Off to the SRL for me. My friend still can't ride it. I believe this was the line where I met Violakat and Coastersnsich (hope I got that right). They were with Jackson. I've met him before. They were in the group line, so they went on like 3 trains before I did. Oh well. That's the chance you take in the SRL. Got put in row 8. Sat on the right side. Still such a thrilling ride. No incident for this circuit of Diamondback, but stay tuned. We went to the next stop on our clockwise tour... Maestro's Scooby Doo and the Haunted Phantom Theater Castle. Eh, one can dream. I would like to see Scooby Doo dressed and made up like the Maestro. Maybe someone can Photoshop that. The guns actually worked this time. I think Michelle beat me 1120-1060. Like... wow!! Invertigo's line was short, so that was next. Wait was about 20 minutes. Not too bad. I wanted to start in the last forward-facing row, you know, the one that's the highest on the lift, making all those people look like little ants. Well, for some reason there was an empty row that was the facing row for the last forward-facing row. Wow that's a confusing ride. I haven't started backwards in a while, so it was a little treat. I don't get all jazzed up about going down the first hill backwards, but my brains do get sufficiently scrambled going through the inversions backward. When the catch mechanism got us to take us up the second hill, I wasn't quite sure where I was, but the "click" brings you back to reality pretty quick. I enjoyed going through the inversions in this direction. I was a nice feeling seeing the boomerang loop track going the other way. That was a fun ride, even though the world was slanted to the right for a few minutes. Lunch time. Outer Hanks back bar. Had the mega nachos for the first time. I've never had a plate of nachos with toppings piled up so high I had to dig to find the chips. We shared that and the All American cheese fries. Not a bad lunch. Adventure Express was right there, even though I started calling it American Express. With me, it was bound to happen. I'm glad it took 10 years for that faux pas. Hopefully it's out of my system. I just realized, sitting here typing this. This was like my 10th anniversary trip to Kings Island. My first trip was in August 1999. Wow. Nostalgia. King Cobra. Yeah. Hmmm, Blue Racer was open now, so we decided to finish our first circuit on that. Boy oh boy is that becoming a rough ride. I hope they give ol' Blue some love in the off season. FoF, line too full. Firehawk must be shut down. I think it was. There was a ride op turning people away. Somehow, I'm not surprised. Speaking of nostalgia, we went to the Grand Carousel. Nothing beats riding a true classic like that carousel. I wish they could get the caliope working again. I was happy though. My horsey went up and down! Now it was wandering time. We hit The Beast again, and again in 6-2. Still fast and still nice air time, especially for a shrinking fat person. The retracking in the helix is holding up. That area is so incredibly fast and smooth. I also sense an extra G or two in there. We went for another classic icon of the park, the KI&MVRR. Busy place. Went to the far end of the platform and ended up in like the 7th row in the first car. This is where I took the only pictures of the day. I hadn't taken any Diamondback pics from this angle yet, so this is what I got... Almost too slow on the shutter That's better. One more time... from the top. This was too cool to see, so I made the memory last forever... Watering and oiling the locomotive With a squirt squirt here, a squirt squirt there... here a squirt, there a squirt, everywhere a squirt squirt... That engine was mighty thirsty. After the train ride, I went for another go on Diamondback. Row 7. Paired up with a nice family. Momma Bear, Daddy Bear, and Little Girl Bear. Ride was as exciting as ever, until the MCBR. This was my 14th ride, but first "COMPANY HALT!" in the MCBR. Not cool. 60-to-0 in approximately the length of the train. I thought it E-stopped. Thank goodness, no. It started rolling almost immediately. Kinda took away from the ride experience, though. I can go a long time before that ever happens again. Spent some time on the Eiffel Tower. Didn't know anyone on the way up, but Jennifer (pkipoodle) was working the elevator on the way down. She's pretty cool. Tried to scare some of the guests on the way down by perpetuating some of the myths of the park. Didn't get anyone, though. We kept the next group from going up for a couple minutes just shooting the shot (can't say @#$% now, can we). Got some nasty looks when we finally got off the elevator. Deal. Forgot to mention, when we got to the top, the operator didn't give the customary warning about not looking down through the gap, so I was more than happy to oblige. Got a little girl to look down, and she freaked out. Hilarious. Day was winding down, so we decided to say bye to The Beast. Rode 4-2 this time. The ride was fast and furious all day long. You can tell The Beast likes thrilling people. I still believe that is the only ride in the park that actually has a soul. You can sense and feel the essence of The Beast. It was 7:00, but because of the jolt of my previous ride on Diamondback, I had to get on again and finish with a kick-a$$ ride. Little did I know the kicking of a$$ would take place in line. I was #4 to go in the SLR when a couple guys started going at it in the group line. Sad really. Looked like 1 guy was drunk and started something with another guy. The drunk guy was being restrained by the other guy, and when the drunk guy tried to get out, he actually kicked his own kid. I felt bad for the kid. He looked so embarassed... like "why here and why now?" Poor kid. Once security settled that down, I got my ride. ROW 2!!! My first front-car ride. Still waiting for that front row ride. I thought it was kinda freaky when you couldn't see the track and watching the train in front of you disappear, but OMG. Being able to see the track and watching the track disappear freaked me out. I LOVED IT! Totally new sensation. The air time was almost better in the front than it was in the back. I still have the odd thought of "what if the restraint unlocked right now?" Adds to the excitement. I'm learning to let myself go and just float there. Totally amazing. Oh yeah, the hurricane-force wind in the face is an experience. I need front row. I think that's all for now. Thanks for listening. WINO time is *bing bong* five minutes past the big hour of 5 o'clock.

Wow. 262 feet in the air. Having been on both platforms of the Eiffel Tower, I can appreciate how high that is. Now just imagine being that high in the air with nothing more than a wire the diameter of a nickel (why does it have to be a nickel at a CF park?) under your feet. I'm already nervous for him, and I won't even be there. This will truly be an amazing feat when he takes those last steps onto the Eiffel Tower.

I made it to a dozen!!

There are some significant G-forces experienced in Raptor. The first time I ever rode it I almost blacked out. I had previously ridden Batman the Ride at SFGAm, so I thought I knew what to expect from an inverted coaster. Boy was I wrong. I absolutely loved the ride, but I think at one point, most of the blood in my body was in my feet. I certainly hope this was all this rider was feeling, and that there wasn't some other more severe underlying cause.

I don't do the spinny flat rides. They all make me queasy. Of the rides I do go on, Vortex makes me dizzy. I'm dizzy after the double loop and barely get my wits about me again before the corkscrew.

^Hence the winky face

Enough with chastising people for not using the search function. Maybe some people don't want to read to a 400+ post thread. Maybe it's easier to start a new thread. This also is a new question on the situation, based on what someone just heard on the TV.

Yesterday was a good experience with the parking controls. I have been very happy to see traffic being routed through the parking lots, including the turn-off for Gold Pass Parking. Traffic flow, both in the morning coming in and in the evening leaving the park, has greatly improved since Cedar Fair has taken over operations. I also liked the fact my KICentral.com shirt worked, if only 1 time. Got to meet and chat a bit with KIMan while waiting for Diamondback.

I love THE RIDES... such as Beast Racer Diamondback Vortex Invertigo even Viking Fury There are some world-class rides at KI, and also some historical rides. I do love the history of the park. I also love the layout, the landscaping, and the landmarks. The view when you enter the gates of International Street, the Royal Fountain, and the Eiffel Tower is spectacular IMO. I even love the air blades in the restrooms. Very high tech.

I believe it is illegal in 47 states and the District of Columbia to remove a coaster that has received ACE landmark status.

Diamondback is 230 feet tall. The (first) drop is 215 feet.

A couple years ago, it was raining in the early part of the day, but not enough to shut anything down. My buddies and I walked back to Top Gun (BEFORE name change, thank you very much). It was a walk-on/stay-on, so we marathoned it. With the rain, the ride op on the PA would say "Enjoy your ride on Kings Island's newest water ride, Top Gun!" We had fun because they were having fun with it.

I considered they might "have thousands of DB pics," but I really liked the way this came out. It was my entry into the contest. I also considered this photo, again, just because I liked the way it came out. First successful attempt at a panoramic...

What, Neil Diamond is back?!?! I love Neil Diamond!!! Touchdown, whose favorite artist really is Neil Diamond.

Without for sure. He's already a bad a$$ for riding The Racer almost 12,000 times. The dome just makes him even more of a bad a$$.

^It was a... hairier... time? 10,000 rides on 1 coaster. Unimaginable. Incredible. I'll be lucky to get to 1/10 of that total in my lifetime.

OK thanks. I must've gotten it confused with last year's show of the same/similar name.

I thought about using the panoramic shot of the fountain as my entry for the photo contest. I didn't think that had anything to do with Ride Warriors, so I chose to send in this picture: I just love how the track was eclipsing the sun, putting everything into silhouette (sp?). The train going down the false drop on Vortex was a pleasant bonus to the shot. The picture was taken just after 10 am on Sunday. I'm sure there were a bunch of Ride Warriors on that Diamondback train.

If you confront someone who spit on you, do this... Have the ride ops call security or the deputized officers in the park. Tell them what happened, with the other party there, then ask that they be arrested and charged with assault with a body fluid. That could change someone's tone really fast.

PS, I love comments! They make me feel... special. (Haha short bus. I heard that!)

A SIGHTSEEING TOUR!!! While waiting for the Son of Beast walk back, I just had to take more shots... We're coming, big boy. and WHEEEEEEEEE!!! (it's just starting its cycle) Looks like a charm bracelet. The high bright white cloud and deep blue sky really added to this pic. I think I have a better one for the photo contest. Ummm, no. Congo Falls demolishing anyone on that bridge. The gates were open, and we were off!! Yikes What happened to Outposts 1-4? That's a long way up there. I know. I'm not the only one to get this shot. The Rose Bowl really is impressive. I also hear it's a great football game. Sonny blessed from Above? Train coming into the area formerly known as the loop. Heading for the home stretch. *Sigh* Managed to get the blue train. Inside-the-Skull Brain Scrambler! Inedible morsels burped up after Sonny has dinner. *Sigh* 2 monuments to the never-forgotten loop. On the way back, decided to get a few picks of Flight Gun, umm, Top Deck, oh, whatever... Up by the maintenance shed, we ran into a ride op from Top Snooze Flight whatchamacallit. He was quite panicked. "What are you doing back here?" "Why are there people in lockout?" The lanyards apparently weren't enough. I said we were on a tour, just going back to the main park. He still looked like I was coming after him with a Scream mask on. Then I dropped Don's name. That settled it. Name dropping works, especially when you drop the right name. We were dead-dog tired. There was no way we were going to make it until 8, especially with a 2+ hour drive home. After touring Sonny, we decided to go ride Papa one more time. Of course, that's at the complete opposite end, probably the farthest point in the park from that area (I know it's not, but it's darn close). We took a bit of a shortcut through the Festhaus and caught the last half of The County Line show. Now, I'm not a big fan of country, but they were doing some older stuff, which I can handle. We sat down and watched the last half of the show. I was very impressed with the talent of the cast. They all had good singing voices and dance moves, even though I'm not big into line dancing or anything that requires you to grab your belt buckle as a required element. The casting seems to be getting better as Kings Island and Cedar Fair puts in more shows. In the past, I've been to shows where the singers just MURDERED the songs. These cowboys and cowgirls really could sing. Well, we had our last ride on The Beast. I was afraid it was going to kick my rump since I had left it for a newer piece of tail the night before. Maybe it's saving up its a$$-whooping for a later date, or even Beast was getting a little drained and tired of us enthusiasts abusing it all weekend long. Oh well, I'm still waiting for Beast to exact its revenge on me for cheating on it with Diamondback.