markr

I have a few loads of laundrey to do tomorrow. I don't mind it but I hate ironing.

A private kiss in the dark on Boo Blasters is one thing. Another thing is couples in queues showing off for others by groping and giving each other long, deep kisses. I find the latter conduct annoying and I think that is exactly the couples' intentions, ie to annoy others.

^Although Famous Dave's has good food, the service there was terrible last time I was there. We waited 2 hours for our food. They did take 1/2 off our bill after I approached them about this.

If you like a good breakfast, highly recommend Castaway Bay breakfast buffet.

I have several suggestions where you can find reasonably priced accomodations: 1. Plantation Motel in Huron,Ohio-just about 10 miles from CP. Rooms are very reasonably priced and clean; 2. Seacrest Motel which is in Sandusky about 3 miles from CP. Very reasonably priced, clean rooms. The owner, Vicky, is a real sweetie: 3. Maple Motel-never stayed there but have heard great things. Very close to CP on Rt 6. You should be able to find these motels online.

I was at CP yesterday which was a Sunday and actually it wasn't bad. For example Millenium Force was a little under a 40 minute wait which isn't bad. In the past I have found Sundays to be one of the least busy days of the week. Also, at Coastermania weekend the first weekend in June, it wasn't busy at all on Saturday. Crowds can be unpredictable. Keep in mind though it is now July which tends to be a very busy month at CP. Even if it is crowded you can still have a lot of fun. If you have a Platinum Pass or are staying at the resorts, take advantage of ERT from 9AM - 10 AM>

Me too. ( However, strongly recommend you try LaRosa's away from KI if you haven't done so. )

Nine minutes for you to respond to my TR-what took you so long, Terpy? ( LOL) Anyway, I agree with you, the park pizza ia absolutely gross-very greasy. Luckily found some hungry guests near us who I was able to unload the last three slices on. ( Being the child of Depression parents, hate to waste food however gross.)

I took in a day trip to CP with my friend Larry who had not been there since our trip 4 years ago, so he hadn't ridden Maverick. Since I've done a zillion trip reports on CP I will not burden you with every detail, just the higlights. First Larry's opinion of Maverick. This was his first ride on Maverick, so I was anxious for his opinion. Not one of his favs-he was pretty shaken up by the sudden twists and turns. We also hit Shoot the Rapids. Capacity is not bad-50 minute wait from the entrance with all queues filled up. There has been so much debate about this ride on these forums before the ride even opened. Now that I have ridden the ride, I would highly recommend it. An absolute blast on a hot day. The trains were built for 10 people but for some reason, they don't fill the back seats-I guess an engineering issue which I don't understand. Larry and I were about to get into row 4 when we were requested to move to row 2 apparently because they needed more weight in the front rows. ( Thanks a lot!) Anyway, the ride starts off by going through a refreshing dark mist. After you come out of the mist, you meander a bit more before going up the first lift hill. After going down, you don't get soaked but get a nice,refreshing splash, although I think the people in the back of the boat got wetter. You then meander along a course nicely themed after The Ozarks. Although the second lift hill is not nearly as tall as the first lift hill, you get much wetter from the second drop than from the first drop. My verdict? I give the ride a solid A. Now the not so positive aspect of our trip-the food service. ( Surprise, surprise.) I wanted to treat Larry to lunch as he and his wife had treated me to a nice dinner the night before. Larry was in the mood for pizza,so we hit Stockade Refreshments, which is right near Snake River Falls. ( My fav water ride. ) Big mistake. First, $24 for a large pepperoni pizza. Not only that but there was hardly any pepperoni on the pizza. Since I refuse to pay the outrageous soft drink prices that we have often discussed on these forums, I requested ice water. They put the ice water in tiny little plastic cups. I saw a stack of cups similar to the water cups at KI and requested water in one of those cups and the service person, who was very nice, advised me that they were not allowed to put water in those cups because of so many requests for water on such a hot day. ( Let's hear it for customer service.) The service person did give me a few cups of water, which I appreciated but it is still extra stuff to carry. I also spoke with a supervisor about the lack of pepperoni on our pizza when I had paid such a high price-she offered to make another pizza for us with more ingredients which I thought was a nice gesture but since we had waited almost 10 minutes for the pizza I declined. She said she would speak with the staff about this issue which I also thought was a nice gesture. For dinner, we went to Chuck Wagon because I wanted Montgomery Inn Ribs. A half slab of ribs set me back a little over $15 and it included 2 sides and a biscuit. The sides and the biscuit were very good but the ribs were just so-so. Not very fresh. What wasn't so appetizing were the bugs that were flying all over the salads-I think that problem could have been solved if the doors had been kept closed. All in all, we both had a very nice day at the park. However, our visit yesterday convinces me more than ever that the top brass needs to get its act together with respect to food prices and food quality. ( No complaints about the food service workers-very nice and professional.) What can I say folks? I guess I got spoiled by HW last week. ( I wonder how long before Terpy puts in his 2 cents,er, nickels concerning the above?)

No, I was sitting in the right seat.

The Lost River at Coney Island was an ideal place for couples to smooch. It was just like a tunnel of love.

Anywhere but the ride queues. Drives me crazy seeing couples getting kissy facy in front of me.

The last time I rode the front seat on Flight of Fear, the foot restraint felt like it was crushing my right foot. Before this year, that never happened.

Especially on rides such as Beast, where within the car is important-if you are sitting in the third row, you are sitting on the wheel which will bang up your back.

Thanks for the info.

Could you explain this in layperson's terms Terpy? How does it affect Cedar Fair's debt?

Hope you had as much fun as I did. I hope you rode the Voyage more then I did lol Six times. I got on one time. Did you go to it when it opened? First we did Raven, then Legend, then Voyage in the morning. In the late afternoon, we went back to Voyage in did 5 more rides-by that time it was close to a walk-on. Since it was a real hot day, a lot of people were at the water park.

Hope you had as much fun as I did. I hope you rode the Voyage more then I did lol Six times.

Hope you had as much fun as I did.

I remember the old victorian house in the first picture as the Haunted House-it was all skeletons, very similar to Boo Blasters. ( Just the theming-it wasn't interactive. ) I remember going on that with my dad and sister and being scared half to death-I remember my dad and sister laughing.

Saw the Timberliner trains and am anxious to try them-looks like it will be a smoother ride with more airtime. Also, caught the tail end of one of the shows, Vinyl Daze, while we were eating our ice cream. This is the show where a group of singers performed oldies from the 60's. Very enjoyable show. Would have loved to catch some of the other shows, especially the high diving show ( wish they still had that at CP ). Maybe next time.

Well, I finally made it to Holiday World. My friends have been on my back for I don't know how long to give this park a try. I drove down yesterday with Brian ( Raptorguy) and Derek. What can I say? Holiday World lived up to all of my expectations and then some. I am not going to babble on with a chronological report of my trip as that would take pages and pages. I will simply divide my report into several sections. 1. The rides. a. Coasters-Although I prefer the steel to the wooden coasters, Raven, Legend and Voyage were a blast. Speed and quick, sudden turns are the name of the game on those coasters. I was astounded at how disorienting Voyage can be-I bet it packs a punch at night! b. Dark rides-absolutely loved Gobbler Getaway, the interactive ride in which you shoot up thanksgiving dinner. It is similar to Boo Blasters except you are shooting at turkeys with your blaster and it is not frightening at all for children. I loved the grandmotherly woman in the queue area explaining the object of the ride-was utterly charmed. c. Water rides-Pilgrim's Plunge was a blast. Brian and I got kind of nervous as the elevator was lifting our boat. We rode in the back which is kind of rough on your back as it is on the wheel. We did not get as wet as I thought but it was very refreshing. We did 2 rides on this. Wildebeast, the master blaster coaster in the water park, was my fav water ride. It is best not to ride in the very front as the water can get into your nose-otherwise, a very refreshing ride on a hot day-would love to see Boomerang Bay build such a coaster. We also took in Frightful Falls, the park's version of the log flume-it gets you a lot wetter than KI's log flume but very refreshing on a day as hot and humid as yesterday. d. Flat rides-Revolution-this is HW's round up ride. Hadn't ridden round up ride in years. It didn't make me dizzy as I always focus on one object when I ride such a ride. However, felt a lot of pressure on the abdominal area ( I guess from the g's) which could be uncomfortable- a fun ride but glad it was a short cycle. ( Make sure you ride before, not after lunch) Eagles Flight, their version of Flying Scooters, was fun although flying scooter rides not one of my favs-can pretty much take them or leave them. Loved the Holloswings, HW's version of, you guessed it , the swings. This version swung a bit higher than the Zephyr which made them a bit more thrilling. Also love HW's train-it is themed after Mother Goose and the train operator recites the nursery rhyme as you pass each Mother Goose character ( Found myself reciting along. ) 2. What was really so special about HW was not the rides but the outstanding customer service. Here are some examples: a. The prices-when we got to the parking lot entrance, my hand went immediately into my pocket like a reflex reaction to get money or my pass to take care of the parking fee. After a few seconds, I remembered that parking was free. The free drinks totally blew me away. I am not a softdrink person but I love drinks like juice and fruit punch as I think they are better for you. I was in heaven being able to drink all the Tropicana Fruit Punch and Gatorade that I wanted. For lunch, we went to Plymouth Rock's Cafe. I had fried chicken with 3 sides which set me back just a little over $9.00. How can you beat that with the free drinks? And the food was plum tasty. ( lol. ) I also had a soft serve ice cream for $1.69-over $2.00 less than KI's soft serve. I would also say it was the best soft serve ice cream I ever tasted as much as I love KI's soft serve-it had kind of a whipped creamy texture which I love. Finally, I had a slice of peanut butter fudge at Mrs. Klaus' Kitchen for $2.79 ( Compare that to $6.99 at KI.) Once again, plum tasty. b. Cleanliness-I have never seen such a clean park. Normally, when you go to an amusement park, you might see clean rest rooms in the morning but, by the end of the day, they are totally trashed. Not HW-those rest rooms were as clean in the evening as they were in the morning. The midways were also spotless. c. Employee attitudes- the staff at HW goes out of their way to see that you are enjoying your day. For example the young lady who rang up my lunch asked me how I was enjoying my day before she rang up my food. I was just about in a state of shock. And I was also shocked at how quick I got my ice cream- after I paid my money, to my chagrin my ice cream was ready!I have to say that most of the staff at KI, in particular the ride staff, are awesome but there have been times that I have been put off by negative attitudes by some ( not all ) of the food staff people. Not so at HW-you get the impression that every employee is there because they want to be and want to do the best job possible. Final verdict: If you have never been to HW, get out there immediately.

With all due respect, there are many households that do not fit that definition. Many families are single parent homes as a result of divorce or, worse, death. Perhaps that would describe the children you see with just one parent in Planet Snoopy. I am sure they would consider themeselves to be just as much a family as 2 parents with 2 children. I recently became friends with a young man who sadly lost his mother last year and who now lives with his aunt with whom he has a very loving relationship. Are they not a family? I can go on and on with this discussion as to what constitutes a family. That being said, let's assume for the sake of argument that a family is 2 parents and children. You assert Cedar Fair is ignoring families. There are members of families who love coasters and thrill rides and members who can't stand them. Kings Island not only has DB and Beast for the thrill seekers ( many of whom are families ) but Back Lot Stunt Coaster, Adventure Express, 3 great water rides, great shows and other attractions for the non-thrill seekers. Cedar Point not only has great thrill rides but plenty of activities for those who cannot stand thrill rides-not one but two great children's areas ( Planet and Camp Snoopy. ) three water attractions, great shows, I can go on. I just don't understand your reasoning that both Cedar Fair and Paramount have avoided "families."

What is your definition of a "family"?

In my opinion, Arrow's masterpiece is still Gemini-it just seems to have aged better than its other creations. It is as smooth as it was when I first rode it 24 years ago and that head chopper in the middle just can't be beat.