Tomkatt7

How 'bout 2 words? no way? LOL Any idea why he was there then? It was a pretty big, professional looking camera. No news crew walking around with him, just him, and a gal in a Kings Island shirt.

I'm not keeping a good, accurate count, but to my best guess....counting today.... I think I am up to.....ummmmm....8 now. Yep, pretty sure thats right. Give or take 1 or 2...maybe.... LOL Listen to me, I sound like Bret Favre. Nope, yep, well maybe.

wonder if the guy walking around with the big camera filming Firehawk today is going to play a part in all this?

Thanks, he isn't sure what to do yet. He is still hopeful that it will get worked out. He wants to study music in college, but isn't sure it will work without having band in high school. I know his parents are prepared to move out of the district if it isn't solved by next school year. He has lost one year already, and you only get 4 to begin with, so there isn't much time! Now, all this DCI stuff...it isn't really band, right? Just drum corps? I have no idea what the difference is, but I do hear him talking about it. ALL THE TIME!!! LOL

Yes, Grove City is his school. Just a small little point to make, without getting into a "political discussion" I don't think Grove City failed to support the school. As you point out, the Football games were quite the site to see. It was a district wide vote, that covered a total of 4 high schools, Grove City only being one of them. The final vote tally was something like 13 thousand for, 14 thousand against. I think the actual total of difference was around 800 votes. I know a lot of parents were heavily involved in trying to pass it, and put in long hours. On the other side, there was some fierce opposition to it as well. It was a very brutal fight, and the worst part is, the kids got played as pawns in their game, and are the ones really paying the price. I'm gonna shut up about it now, I get too worked up when I start thinking about it! I will ask him about Crown though, I'm sure he knows who they are. I can't tell you how big of a kick he going to get out of this though. When I tell him that my trip report turned in to a marching band discussion because of his shirt! The guy running the football pass game at the park talked to him about it as well, when he saw the shirt.

Thanks, Very nice of you to say that. I gotta wonder now though, is there some sort of "musical dispute" between you and Chase? I am refering to the score keeping. My nephew is a snare player, we live in Columbus so he loves the Buckeyes (just like 90% of us), but he does not want to march there. He said he does not like to carry his drum on his hip like they do. He wants to go to OU, (his mom says no way to that!) or Cincinnati. It was right up his alley to see all the bearcats in the park today. hopefully, he can figure out something to keep his music going. He really is very good, but I guess we all say that about our own kids don't we!!! LOL

There was a VERY large pink elephant on the ground at the bottom of flight decks first drop today. I couldn't help but wonder how it got there? It seemed way to big for someone to try to ride with it. Or for someone to be allowed to ride with it, but if it didn't fly off a car, then I have no idea how it could have got to where it was laying. I'm sure it caused a few good comment from guests as to how it got there, I was just to dumbstruck to think of anything! Wow, Missed the fight. I can't believe people can get that upset at a place that is all about fun? We also saw, from a distance, a kid that was either scared to death, or hurt from his ride on The Beast. We waited a long time on the brake run, and after awhile, noticed that the 3rd train was sitting right behind us. We were looking around, and saw a lot of commotion in the station but couldn't really see what was happening. When we got back, and exited the ride, my wife was waiting there for us. She couldn't tell what happened either, but she did see a little kid being carried off the ride by his father,(presumably, it was an adult male) He was crying, and holding his hand up to his ear. I think about that stuff a lot. I hope he was just scared, I would hate the thought of a kid that little getting hurt on a ride. I am one of those softies that hates to see a kid crying for any reason. I hope he is OK. I am thinking that if he was injured, that the dad would keep him there until a medic could see him. Hoping that anyways.

deleted: I found a better thread for this post, so I moved it!

He knows the Blue Devils very well. Talks about them a lot. His high school has/had a very good marching band. They got to go to Phoenix last year, took second place in their competition, and first place in the parade. (Fiesta Bowl). On top of that, their band has marched in Macy's TG Day Parade, Orlando, for the Queen of England, and I think they did Clintons inauguration as well. After all of that, plus lots of other stuff that I'm sure I'm missing, the district's tax levy failed this year, and they cut out ALL extra activities. No football, basketball, band,prom, homecoming...nothing. High schoolers don't even get bussing now. That was one of the reasons we went today. He was talking about wanting to go, but wouldn't have time, because of his band practices. It got cancelled, so we figured we could take him to the Island, and help him forget about all of it, even if it's just for a few hours.

We wanted to do the KIC event, but we couldn't.So we decided to hit the park today, along with my nephew who hasn't ever been to park, well, not sense he was a wee little one. He wanted to try riding the coasters, he watched a bunch of POV's on Youtube, and thought he was ready. He wasn't. He did try though, so I give it up to him for that. We got him on 2 coasters today, maybe next time we can get him on another, and end up turning him in to a "Ride Warrior"? Who knows. We got to the park very early, and what was waiting on us at the gate? You got it. We took the Keyhole Photo, and ran back for The Racer. We thought it would be a good first coaster. He has seen it before, but never ridden it, and he wanted to give it a shot. I had a plan, I was going to ride with him, in the middle cars of every train, just to get him used to the "feel" of a coaster. I had no idea though, that we would walk on to The Racer, and be the ONLY ONES there. We were the first riders of the day. I forgot about helping him, and jumped straight in to the first car!. Well, my wife was thinking better, so she took care of him. His first ride was described by him to be, "Super Fun, Super Scary, and I'm done riding"! We came off of that, decided to go watch Delirium run for awhile. They wanted to try it out, but alas, the test seats were as far as they got! We went over to take a spin on Back Lot, and I was surprised to see that, after a discussion on the boards, the water has been cleaned on the splash down area of Back Lot. Can we still call it that even though it doesn't splash anymore? My daughter likes to ride, and this "taking it easy" stuff didn't suit her. So, her and my wife decided to do a lap on Diamond Back. Got a picture of them, riding row 14, coming over the small hills. We left there, and headed towards Flight Deck. Took a turn on that, waiting for the front car. By that time, we decided to break for lunch. The park seemed VERY crowded today. We are used to visiting on week days, and this Sunday stuff wasn't working for us. Long lines, lots of people, but at least it was cool out, and no rain. After a brief trip to Wendy's, we came back to the park, and accidentally parked in the "Gold Pass" lot. It really was an accident that we ended up there, but I didn't figure out where we were until we were already in there, so I just pulled all the way to the rear, and parked where there was no one else. I don't think I was taking a spot away from anyone. There were empty spots around when I parked, and when we left, so I was OK with it. Back in the park, it was time for my lap on Diamondback. We walked around a bit more, I stopped in to one of my favorite places at the park, took a picture just prove to you all that some people do actually use these spots! LOL We ended up doing a lot of walking, My nephew wasn't grooving on the coasters at all. He rode Adventure Express after lunch as well, he did enjoy that one. A few side notes. We stayed from about 9 to 6 today, Got to see the Cincinnati Bear Cats Football team. The entire train on my Diamondback ride was full of the players. Witnessed a total of 2 people smoking outside of the designated area, and ZERO line jumps. We were blown away by the fact that there were three times as many people at the park today than when we went on a weekday, but we saw many, many more line jumpers on our weekday visit. Maybe the line jumping punks were afraid one of those big football players would snatch them up for jumping? who knows? It was a nice thing to not have to see though. I couldn't leave the park with out a ride on The Beast. So in closing, here are a few shots of me and Katie on it, plus a couple of other random pictures. Thanks for reading, Had a really good time today, the place was just a bit crowded for my taste. One more thing, We noticed a really foul smell today at the park. Mostly when walking down Coney Mall towards Vortex, and again while in the station for The Beast. It smelled like raw sewage. Very nasty. Is this something that happens from time to time at the park? Or was it something new? I have never noticed it before in my other trips, but I know a lot of people here go a lot more often than we do. Thanks again.

I think the thing looks killer! I think a Nascar, or racing in general, theme is going to fit it perfectly. The high banked, high speed turns are be great! The only thing that makes me scratch my head is the name. I know it is based on the height. But this thing is named/endorsed by DEI, Childress, and Chevy. Any Chevy guy would agree that the 305 V8 is the absolute WORST V8 engine Chevy made! LOL. They should have made it 304, or 306, just to keep that number away from it!!!

If you get get number one to happen I will be very happy. I on the other hand would be creeped out since both Ricardo Montalban & Herve Villechaize are dead. I was thinking the same thing, but I didn't want to "show my age" LOL

Losing Nick U will be very disappointing for me. My kid really loves the area, watches Nick at home, and can identify with all the characters. She has no idea about Snoopy, or Peanuts. I think it will be a big "downer" for the park. I know though, that it's all about the money. Mr Kinzel hasn't collected enough of our nickels to justify spending any of his own, to keep the licensing.

They had to make a licensing agreement with both DEI, and RCR. Dale Earnhardt INC, and Richard Childress Racing. DEI holds the rights to Dales signature, and likeness, while RCR holds the rights to the number 3 style. If you search the letters DEI, and RCR you will probably find the article that covers it. I read it on here yesterday. I think it had to do with them using the Earnhardt name on this ride, and on the Carowinds coaster. Carowinds makes more sense to have a Dale Earnhardt ride to me. He is from a town that can't be more than 20 miles or so away from there.

Honestly: As much as I LOVE Voyage and Diamondback, and how they overtake Millie as far as ride experience (except for the fact that Millie's first drop is a gut wrenching hell that has yet to be topped by any coaster I've ridden, and has no trims or MCBR to slow it down or ruin it), Millie has a special place in my heart for many reasons. It always has and it always will, and that is why I get so angry when so-called enthusiasts start bashing it. So even if 305 turns out to be a better ride, it will never take Millie's place in my heart.. no coaster ever will! The same way a lot of people on here feel about The Beast. It isn't at the top of the thrill charts anymore, 30 years later. Some people still keep it at the top of their list.

I think it's going to be a cool ride. The right hander right at the bottom of the lift hill is gonna pin you so hard into your seat that your eyes will feel like they are popping out! Then as soon as you get over that, you go over the next hill and get thrown OUT of your seat! Looks like lots of back and forth G's followed by -G's. That will make for a great ride, even if it does seem a bit short in duration.

Hello, Mr Turnip? I'm here to collect some blood... One time in my whole life, I have had to contact an attorney about filing a lawsuit. It was many moons ago, but he told me pretty much the same thing. "Anyone with 250 dollars can sue someone else, but winning is a whole different story". That, along with the situation I was dealing with, made me look at our legal system in whole new light. It's not always about right, and wrong. It's more about who has more money, and who will submit first due to rising costs.

Man, I would love to go to the park when it is that dead. We are going to get down there on Sunday. Hopefully it won't be too bad?

After following the drama of Dale Jr. and Teresa Earnhardt, I wonder how tense the negotiations for the naming rights were. The media makes her out to be a very shrewd business woman, and usually gets what she wants. I'll bet KD paid through the nose to get that name!

Sounds good, but I haven't made it to a KIC group trip to KI yet

Somebody needs to make a "Should McSalsa stop the polls" poll. That seems to be what this thread is turning in to anyways

No problem, I'm just trying to keep things light.

Thank you! It's about time someone agreed with me What am I, chopped liver? LOL

I think that the forums should be used as people want to use them. As long as they meet the TOS. I do not get upset about the polls. There are several topics posted daily that do not interest me, so I don't read, or respond to them. People that don't like the polls are free to do the same. Instead of complaining, just read another topic. Why is it harder to do that, than it is to bash someone for doing something you don't like?

If they are close, and you don't get a wrist band. They will be pulled off and checked at every ride. If they have a wrist band on, the ride ops don't check them. That was the situation that I delt with anyways.