Tomkatt7

Yep, I even wasted 20 minutes of my life riding the train!!! LOL Just so I could get some pictures of the excavated ground back by the hammerhead!

My daughter, being a super Ride Warrior now, wants to do more on our next trip. We have been talking back and forth about Skyflyer, and Slingshot. I'm a bit of a tightwad, so I'm not going to pay 25 (50 for both of us) bucks on top of a gate ticket. In the mornings though, they are both marked down to 5 bucks. If we were given the chance to ride just one of them, which one is more fun?

I would not recommend doing this, maybe something was going on that I didn't know about. We stayed at the Kings Island Resort and Confrence Center. It is right by the movie theater, across the street from Great Wolf Lodge. Each morning when we would leave our room to catch the shuttle, we would watch people just pull their cars in to the lot, jump out, and climb on to the shuttle. Same thing when we came back. People would get off the shuttle, go straight to a car, and leave. In the past, they always made guests of the hotel wear a wrist band to ride the shuttle. This year they didn't do that. Maybe people have caught on, and figured out they can park for free. The hotel dining rooms have pretty good food too!!!

Something to remember. People LOVE to over dramatize things. Telling your friends that you "almost" fell out of your seat makes it seem like the ride is life or death. That gives some people a sense of thrill that isn't really there. Just like the people walking through the park almost bragging about the 2386 people that have died on Son of Beast. They like to make it sound like the ride might kill you, and by them riding it, it makes them extremely brave or something. Use your own judgment, if you are nervous about riding, then you should wait. Do not take other peoples trash talking, and scare tactics in to account before you ride. Some people just get kicks out of trying to scare other people, and make themselves seem braver than they are.

yep, they weren't saying that the last time they spent 20 Mil on a coaster at the Island!

I understand the "thrill" question, because we were just discussing it at home. My first ride on Diamondback was, well, hard to put in to words unless I used a lot of swear words! It seemed like we were going down that first hill for about 2 hours! Didn't think we'd ever get to the bottom! As the day went on, and we got more and more rides, it was still fun, but the thrill kind of wore off. I enjoyed every ride, but it got to the point where we were comparing one seat to the other, and trying to figure out which color train rode the best. ( I couldn't tell a difference, but my daughter swear there is something better about the green one) We seemed to lose the scare part of it. Maybe we just rode it too many times in one visit. I only got one ride on all the other coasters, and those seemed to stick with me more. I'm sure on our next visit DB will be intimidating again, this visit we just over did it! It did get me thinking that it's time for a trip to America's Roller Coast. I've always put that trip off because of the intimidation factor, but my daughter rode Db, and Drop Tower this visit, so I think she's ready for the big time!

Exactly!!! At this point they can raise the food and drink prices by a dollar or more. It's nor going to matter. Most people can not afford to eat there. As dumb as it sounds, if they want to make more money from food, they are going to have to lower prices in order to get people to buy it.

I believe it. The Jimmy Flyers are very uncomfortable, and that is a gentle ride.

maybe he is conquering his fear of T-shirts?

Looks like those crazy things over in Nick U. The Jimmy Neutron flyers. Except they are much nastier looking!

That is an Amazing observation!!!! LOL Sorry, I had to

I forgot to add one of the funny parts to my story. Well, funny depending on who you are. When I won the ring toss game, I yelled out for somebody to pick the prize. Of course no one answered. I went to my youngest, and asked her. She just looked at me like I had lobsters crawling out of my ears. The guy had already came over to get the prize for us, it was closing time, and I didn't want to hold him up. I just told him to grab the wolf. It was Gray and White, and looked really fluffy. What kid wouldn't like that? We watched the fireworks, and then he came back. Maddie took a look at the wolf, and didn't want it. She said she wanted the black puppy. The guy said he'd grab it, no problem. I said we would be OK with the wolf. In the end, he insisted that he go and get her what she wanted. The only thing was, it took a REALLY long time for him to come back. When he finally showed up, the poor guy was just dripping with sweat. He said that there weren't as many in there as he thought, and he had to dig under the big stack of animals to find it. We got one of two that were left. I told him thanks, but she changed her mind again. There was a split second of panic on his face, and then he said, thats fine, I'll grab another for her. I told him I was kidding, and that I appreciated all his hard work. He looked very relieved to be done with us. I always hate to put someone out like that. The fact that he did it, and with a smile on his face really made me feel good. On the way back to the room, my wife said she would have rather had one of the big teddy bears, because it had a Kings Island T- shirt on it. I told her that if I really sent that guy back after another animal, he might have actually punched me!!! She enjoyed that thought a little too much!

I voted B&M. I don't have all the coasters under my belt as most of you do. Kings Island is pretty much the only park we go to. My only comparisons are to rides there. Diamondback is the first Roller Coaster that has made me "pucker up" on both ends at the same time. Scared to death, and happy as a clam at the same time! I can't even describe how much fun my first ride was. After that, I agree with what was said about Arrow. I have ridden Vortex, the old Double Loop at GL. and I think, Corkscrew at the Point is also an Arrow? Not sure. Anyways, they were the pioneers, so respect must be given.

I think the lap bar on FoF is more comfortable for sure, but like others have said, you go a lot faster through the inversions on FoF, and the restraints probably aren't needed as much as they are in the corkscrew on Vortex.

I went there in the late 90's. I remember the park being a bit small, but very comfy, if that makes sense. Everyone was very friendly, the place was spotless, and the rides were kid friendly, meaning we could take our kid on anything as long as we rode with her. Except the big coasters of course. I have very fond memories of my one trip there.

Sounds like a pretty AMAZING trip. Wish I was there to help you out with that LaRosa's pizza

Thanks for the kind words. We really enjoy our trips to the park. I really enjoyed getting to meet Avatar. I also noticed KiMan working Diamondback. I wanted to talk to him, but those guys were WORKING! I was amazed at how much they ran around, gathering up items for people, and keeping the train coming in and going out in a very smooth manor. I was impressed with their work. I didn't want to be the one to disrupt it. So I just yelled "Hi" at him as we rode by!!!! LOL

I was thinking about this during my recent visit. We did a 2 day visit. On the second day, I became dehydrated. Really bad. Had to go back to the hotel for a rest, bathroom visit, and as much water as I could put down. Once I came back, I decided to test my system on Flight Deck. I was so sick that I almost passed out. Got the blurred vision, light headed, it was kind of scary. I got to thinking about SoB, and it's reputation. I am really bad about not drinking water, and I have been dehydrated several times in the past. For someone else though, it would be really easy to blame being sick like that, and getting woozy, sore, on riding SoB. Sometimes a reputation can get a ride blamed for stuff that it had nothing to with! I might have blamed my sickness on SoB myself, had it been open, because I can tell you, I would have ridden it!

Ask Mr. Helbig how hard it is to get out the locked restraints! How long was he stuck when he just wanted to try out the seat when the trains got there during construction?

We headed down I-71 on Tuesday night. Ready to check in to the hotel, get some dinner, and be fresh for a 2 day adventure at our favorite park. Everything was good until after we got hit for the Keyhole photos. We were waiting for the park to open, and the rain hit. Our original plan was for me and the oldest kid to start out with the smaller coasters, while Momma and the youngest went to Nick Universe. Then we would meet later over at D-Back. Once the rain started falling, we weren't sure what to do. So we all headed over to FoF. Figuring it would be crowded, but still running. We were wrong about that. It was indeed running, but nobody else was over there. We took turns watching the little one, and we all got a ride. Not a bad way to start the day. By time we all got a ride in, it had stopped raining, and all the coasters were running. Momma and Maddie headed over to Nick, and me and Katie went towards The Beast. Took a couple of DB pics along the way. After our ride on Beast, we decided to head over to Diamondback without Mom. I wasn't really to worried about it. The last 2 years my oldest has went down to KI saying all the stuff she was going to ride. She would always get in line, and then have a change of heart halfway through. We could never get her on Crypt, SoB, or anything bigger than Vortex. I was looking up at Db in the queue, and thinking no way, was this ride going to happen! LOL I don't like to pick on people, but in this case, I must. Take a look at the guy riding right behind me. On the brake area after the splashdown, I could hear him telling his friend how bad the ride was, how it doesn't compare to anything at Cedar Point. It wasn't scarey, creampuff. Blah blah blah. When we got into the photo area, I thought I was gonna pass out from laughing so hard!!! Anyways. We met up with the other 2 members of our family, and switched. Tammy and Katie went to take a DB ride, and I got to have some fun in Nick U. We snuck out of there, and went over to Coney Mall as well. It started raining again, so we went back to the hotel. Got some food, and decided to wait out the weather. We didn't end up getting back to the park until 7 o'clock. We were really upset that we had lost nearly 3 hours due to rain, but we quickly forgot about that, when we realized that the park was empty! We ran around from ride to ride, didn't take many pictures, as we were too busy going through the lines without stopping!!! Katie ended up with 10 Diamondback rides. She was swapping between me and her mom to ride, but she was good enough to sit with Maddie for one ride so that me and Momma could get a ride in. It was starting to get late, and I am "Old School", so I must be in Coney Mall at the end of the night, for the "carnival" feel and the fireworks. I don't know why, but thats just how it is. LOL. We were able to get a night a night ride on Racer which was just FLYING. It slowed down on the turn around, but not much, I can't remember the last time it ran that hard. We still had about 5 minutes until the fireworks started so we decided to play a game. Ring Toss. I know that nobody ever wins these games, but we figured it would keep the kids busy while we waited for the fireworks to start. On my second handful of rings, one stuck! I couldn't believe it! So we watched the fireworks while they got our prize. While we were leaving the park, we were walking past the theater, and saw a little skunk messing around there. Tammy decided to take off after it for a picture, I dont know what she was thinking about. By time we screamed at her long enough to leave it alone, she got this picture. You can just see his tail sticking out from the landscaping timbers. Got back to the hotel, and wanted a picture of my girls, with the big prize. I was hoping for a big banana, but this is what we got! The next day was a total washout. Very crowded,rain off and on all day. The highlights were Katie and Tammy rode Drop Tower Katie was the only one wearing jeans! Maddie got to see Dora and Boots. Maddie was very excited for a ride on Viking Fury! Tammy and Katie were riding Diamondback, so me and Maddie went over to Nick. We rode Avatar, which was a bit intense for a kids ride IMO. I can't figure out how Maddie was not allowed to ride White Water Canyon, but this was OK... Then Swiper Sweepers, then to Maddies Favorite part of Kings Island. As Maddie enjoyed her Blue Ice Cream, Tammy and Katie were off on DB AGAIN, so I sat down to watch the trains come downs the first hill over the first hill, that was my favorite area, He he he, also because it is near the smoking area. Avatar ended up walking by, and he sat down with me and chatted for about a half an hour. It was cool to finally stumble across someone from the site. I really enjoyed the company, and was very jealous when I found out how much he gets to come to the park! Tammy and Katie finally came back, so we decided to ride the long flume, then hit The Beast one more time. While we waited for the flume, it started raining again. We decided to ride anyways. Then they closed it down for lightning. As we were leaving the station, an announcement came over the speakers about severe weather. The sound was so distorted where we were, we got the idea, but not the entire message. In short, it was time to go! LOL. We went back to the hotel, and that was it. No real ending to the trip, which was disappointing, but we still had fun. Katie is now the family "Ride Warrior" she rode Diamondback, Crypt (which she re-named Crapt), and Drop Tower. She wanted to ride skyflyer, but the rain didnt allow it. We were amazed at her fearlessness. Last year we had to drag her on to Vortex because she was scared of it, and SoB was WAY too big for her to even consider. I'm sure I'll remember more about the trip later. And maybe post a few more pictures. Hope you enjoyed reading.

yep. They are. They let us on White Water Canyon, then stopped the ride and told us she had to get off and get measured. They made her stand up against the thingy, and swung it to check her height. It was brushing her hair, but not hitting her head, and they wouldn't let her ride. We were pretty bummed. I thought she was tall enough. I think the ride height is 46 inches. She ended up being 45 and 3/4 LOL. After that, we went and got her a wrist band. She was so close on everything, that she got measured at every ride. It got annoying after awile, so I would recommend getting the band, because they will check her a lot.

Whats the story with the target on the tower? We were so disappointed with the rain from our 2 day visit, that we were going to go back this day. We drove by the parking lots, and then decided against it. Looked like it was gonna be pretty crowded.

Yep, SBNO would be the most likely option, my guess only though. I hope it doesn't come to that. I have just finished a 2 day trip, and I sure did miss riding it. My hope is that it gets fixed. It would be a shame to have a ride that big, that holds all those records, and not be able to see it run. Rain put a bit of damper on our trip, but I was more bummed about missing a ride on SoB even more. At least I got to put a face to 2 names on here. I got to meet Avatar, and KiMan. KiMan, You guys are AWESOME on that new coaster. The line moved steady, and I could tell you guys work really hard to keep it that way! Avatar, I enjoyed our visit. It was great to meet someone on here face-to-face. I'll stop hijacking the thread now, and get going on a trip report. I just wanted to say that I really missed riding the biggest,baddest, woodie on the planet!!!

Everything that has been said here, the stuff that people dont seem to understand,was all repeated over and over by the gal with microphone yesterday. "Single rider line may be 5 minutes long, or 45 minutes, depends on the regular rider line. Single riders will be paired up with odd numbers of our main line. You can not pick your riding partner from the single rider line. The most creative line jumper I saw yesterday, two kids in the single rider line. When the ride op turned to assign seats at the rear of the train, one of the kids slipped out and snuck up to the front. When the assigner went back to the front, there was one kid standing there, so she turned to his buddy in the SRL and sent him up there with the other single!!!

Not Diamondback, but on Runaway Reptar today, I noticed a very nice looking touchscreen phone laying on the ramp of the lift hill.