standbyme

I am not an expert on drinking glasses...is this one?

I made a solo trip to the park today. (The rest of my family didn’t feel safe attempting it.) My opinion...because I know everyone cares. I give the park credit, I think they have done ABOUT all that is possible to make the park reasonably safe...but in the end, you just can’t fix stupid...or arrogance. (It will be a job to enforce all of the rules if the park REALLY gets busy.) Here are 2 examples I saw today...I think the second one falls into the stupidity category...I’m not sure about the first one... Example A: I was next in line to enter the tent to have my temperature taken, I glance behind me...and I kid you not, a guy is within a foot of me! He couldn’t even make it through the “turnstiles” without breaking the rules...he did have a mask on though. (I swear, if I had a nickel for every time I’ve shaken my head at stupidity during my lifetime would have been able to outbid Cedar Fair for the parks back then. ) Example B: A mother and a daughter were walking down one of the “main drags” without masks on, drinking cups of water. An associate called them over to explain that they had to have their masks on. I felt so bad for the associate, what should have been about a 30 second conversation went on for about 3 minutes. The mom seemed to think that because they were drinking it was a “get out of jail free card”. (In my hometown, grocery store cashiers are receiving “hazard pay”...maybe the park should consider something like “stupidity pay”. ) I thought most people seemed to be wearing their masks properly...but I wasn’t purposely staring at everyone. Keeping masks on the little kids seemed to be the hardest thing...but it also seemed like parents were trying. I thought that most of the time people were doing a good job at social distancing...but, since the park wasn’t crowded it was easy. I did notice that people bunched up into a normal crowded line to collect their Orion ride tickets though...I just don’t know how many extra associates it would take to stop that from happening. My overall opinion, I wanted to be able to say that I experienced this COVID style Kings Island...and I don’t regret doing it...but, I didn’t think of something in advance that I should have...“this” Kings Island would be lacking one of the main ingredients of why I visit the park...escapism from the real world...unfortunately, it followed me to the park. I hope the park can make this work...I don’t envy them. I did pick up quite a few souvenirs...because as @BeeastFarmer said earlier “because you help people when they are down.“ (That, and I love all of the new pins! ) Out of everything I bought though, I thought this souvenir summed up a trip to Kings Island in 2020 perfectly! (The idea of getting a caricature now just seemed so ludicrous...something I’d expect to see in a “Naked Gun” or “Airplane” movie.

If The Interpreter were still here he would say: “Well, if they could care less, that must mean they DO care to at least some degree!” (It’s when they couldn’t care less that we’ve hit rock bottom.)

It’s kind of like one of those clickbait “news” articles...you see “Is there Construction Going On at Vortex Site?” and punch on it...and after 24 pages later it simply says “No”!

I also own a couple of Kings Island tiki glasses...but do not have them readily available at the moment...but I am guessing they are about the same thing. Mine have what I call “the crown logo” on them. As far as I know this logo was abandoned pretty quickly after the park opened...probably only used for the first year or so. ( @TombraiderTy, @Shaggy, @KIghostguy) The type of souvenirs that this logo are on are pretty generic...like the park just bought an item from a wholesaler and slapped their logo on it. So if your mugs do have this logo I would guess 1972, 1973...but keep an eye on this thread for when the experts weigh in!

I ain’t touching that one.

But those children, who it doesn't usually affect badly will be going home to their parents, who, according to statistics are usually older.

Just wondering if the 20-49 age bracket has the highest percentage because they do not fear it as much as the over 49 population and are not as cautious? (No data to back it up, just wondering.)

Thanks for thinking of me! (I am looking forward to seeing it in person.)

The world would be a lot nicer if more people felt that way.

@Oldschool75, Thanks for posting these! I smiled when I saw the Festhaus one...didn't see that one coming. I will buy them all...hopefully...but Adventure Express deserved to be better than that.

Aye matey! I think he was referring to the fact that when these impressive vessels sailed the seven seas, glass had not yet been invented...so they used wood panels instead. (Life was much more brighter with the coming of glass.)

I also would have liked to see a little more detail on the paint job...but overall it is still great to see it spruced up...especially with our current Covid conditions. I know money has to be tight for the park right now, so it’s nice that they still went to the trouble to do a project that could have easily been postponed another year.

It could be worse...at least they don’t have a mandatory buddy system.

I understand why the park is limiting reservations to one day initially...there’s just no way for them to predict the demand...but it is about a 3 1/2 hour drive each way for me and my family...it’s not thrilling to think we will be driving for 7 hours total to be in the park for just 8. (We usually make all of trips 3 day trips to make it worth our while.) I can live with every other condition the park has listed, but this might be a deal breaker for my family. I wonder what the odds are that it will change in the near future...not that anyone can really predict that.

Yes, congratulations TOPGUN1993!

Will this be added to the TOS?

I think the color choice is good...it does make the ride stand out a little more...it has been blending more and more into the background. (Do the supports match the fence around Hank’s?)

What, no additional behind the scenes story about how the park chose that particular shade of brown... or do we have to wait for your book...speaking of which, any update on its release?

Maybe Don’s a Godfather kind of a guy...keep your enemies closer.

They lost me at "Stand up for our rights!"

Finally, a silver lining in all of this!

Darn...if The Crypt were still around I’d have an easy joke.

I don’t think this has been shared...it’s from the Dis site. It would certainly be a memorable photo op. https://universal.wdwinfo.com/visiting-universals-parks-after-the-covid-19-closure/