XGatorHead 8904

Voicetek, were you this fired up when The Living Seas was refurbished to become The Seas with Nemo & Friends, and they added Turtle Talk with Crush to the pavilion? I'm not picking on you, just asking honestly.

I got to see #Jonathan at CP on Saturday! So obviously the one at the UC and Bengals games is #Jonathan's evil twin! Beware of imposters!

Yet Canada's Wonderland has Halloween Haunt. Although the population of the greater Toronto area is a little larger than the population of the greater Muskegon area.

^Yeah, that Princeton/Elder game was somewhere in the 1988 - 1990 time period, so quite a while ago. And I'll have to agree with you on the St. X comment.

From the above linked article: No time stress? November 7th will come quickly, perhaps more quickly than the board of trustees would like. I feel the sudden urge to listen to that CLP Carousel Organ CD I bought last month.

^Ugh... bad memories of The Pit. Elder HS students throwing marshmallows, chewing gum and gravel at us in the Princeton HS Marching Band. I had to peel off gum that had gotten stuck to the bell of my tuba and dump out the gravel that had been been thrown down into the instrument. Real classy. I was hoping that I would see #Jonathan at Cedar Point this weekend, but I guess it's not meant to be. A Bengals game just isn't in the budget and there's no way you'll see me at a UC game, so I guess I'll just have to live with the wonderful memories that #Jonathan and I made together at Kings Island this past summer. Cue up the Grease soundtrack: "Summer lovin', had me a blast Summer lovin', happened so fast Met a noodle, big as can be, Met a noodle, it was really cheesy..."

I remember that day well. I was working as a "media ambassador", basically acting as a liason between a member of the media and the park, making sure they had everything they needed to complete their story about the ride. I was assigned Mike Terwilliger, who was the weatherman for one of the Dayton stations at the time, I want to say channel 22. One of the "explorers" in the khaki shirts and hats happened to be an aquaintance of mine from college who I hadn't seen since we graduated seven years earlier. I still have the media ambassador shirt I wore that day, a nice black long-sleeve t-shirt with the TR:TR logo in gold shiny print. Thanks for letting us know about that video! It brought back some nice memories of a wonderful event and a great, immersive queue and ride experience. It was also nice to see some familiar faces including Mr. Jeffrey Siebert, several other former co-workers, and a clean-shaven KIC member who looked a little less shaggy without the beard he now has.

I've never really had a painful ride on it either. Maybe my many years of riding King Cobra prepared me for properly riding a stand up coaster and it's become second nature to me, my body automatically conforming to the best way to ride. What?!? I finally tried Potato Patch fries this year, and now I have to go back to that wonderful little park to try the corndogs?!? OK, twist my arm...

I'm not sure that I believe the reason given in the article for the collapse of VertiGo. From the videos I can find online of the ride, it looks like a 6 person version of SlingShot. I wouldn't think that the car would be "a main source of support for the two towers on either side of it" (and there were actually three towers).

Sam needs to make sure Princess Sparkles has a great time through Slaughter House. Sorry for the double post, but I forgot to reply to this one too. Of course Sam will be looking out for her!

Sam will be there every night. Of course, with the new house and the new layout, no one knows yet where Sam will be lurking, not even Sam himself. And we love it when we can get someone's name!

Yay, it's almost time to play! I can't wait to see what they have in store for us in the new Slaughter House! Sam's getting impatient wanting to know. He doesn't handle anticipation very well.

Re-entry is allowed on Sundays since Haunt doesn't take place then. As far as the other questions, I'll defer to someone with more up to date knowledge of front gate Haunt procedures since my knowledge of those ended with Paramount. EDIT: Hydra, last year season passes could be used for re-entry without a handstamp during regular season. I don't know about this year since I haven't had to re-enter. EDIT #2: Wait, you're back to being chugh43, not Hydra?!?

I love the front seat on Drop Tower. That's the best seat on that ride!

The way the operate the rides may have given you the impression that some were closed, when they were actually probably not. They have one operator that covers several rides. In Kiddie Land when we were there last week, I believe they had two ride ops covering the rides. Those ride ops would rotate to the different rides as guests wanted to ride them. The only one that we know for certain that was not operating was the fire engines from Idora Park, which have not operated at all since they were purchased. We saw most of the other kiddie rides in action at some point. Similarly, they had one ride op running Flying Scooters and Pratrooper. They also had two ride ops switching between Devil's Den, Witch's Stew & Trabant, and at various times they had one op rotating through all three if someone was on break. If you wanted to ride one that was not operating at the time, all you had to do was line up at that ride. We never really had to wait more than 5 minutes each time we did that. It may be an unconventional way of doing things compared to other parks, but it seemed to work for them with the amount of guests that were there. Saved money on staffing, the guests seemed to be used to it because we didn't really hear anyone griping, and the wait times were minimal. I also forgot to add that we were surprised by a wristband sale they were having the day we went. BOGO ride wristbands... so the park was a little busier than we had anticipated for a Monday. Whether any increase in attendance was enough to make up for what they would have gotten without the promo, I don't know. I don't really think that the manager who told us that meant it as a plus, at least that's not the way I took it. It was more of a matter of fact tone, not a hopeful one. She realized the dire straits ahead for the park, and was very appreciative of our support.

I would be one of those someones. Mrs. Gator was a bridesmaid in a wedding just down the street from GL years ago, so we passed the park numerous times that weekend. GatorGirl at the time was too little to enjoy the park, so we didn't take the time to go. The following year was to be its last and I'm still kicking myself for not going. The Gator family and Hydra went to Conneaut Monday of last week, and we were met there by Tom76257 and his friend. It hasn't changed much since we were there last year, except there were fewer bumper cars running, the haunted house (Hostile Hostel) was not open and appeared to have not opened at all this year, and the carousel organ was much more out of tune than before. The airtime in the back seat of Blue Streak was something else, I rode there numerous times in a row without getting out of the seat. I'm glad Hydra and Tom76257 finally got a chance to experience the park, which Mrs. Gator's cousin described as "a shell of its former self." Luckily this time I was able to get a CLP shirt in my size ("I Got My Ride On at Conneaut Lake Park"), a shot glass, some other various knick-knacks for GatorGirl and a CD of the CLP carousel organ. I haven't listened to it yet, but presumably its from when it was in tune. I figured I should get it because who knows where that piece of history will end up. The next day all six of us went to Waldameer, what a great little park (with the exception of the waterpark... I flipped out of my tube on Wild River and cracked my head hard on the slide, went down the rest of the way on my belly)! We loved Wacky Shack (rode 4 times), Pirate's Cove (5 times), Ravine Flyer II (4 times) and Steel Dragon (5 times).

We went to see Dimensions: A Cirque Experience at Canada's Wonderland this past Friday. We got 2nd row on the right side on the aisle. GatorGirl's seat was wet, so she decided not to sit there. Mrs. Gator came in a little after us and sat there but decided to move because she thought someone may have relieved themselves in it. I figured it was wet from someone who had ridden a water ride, so I agreed to sit there so Hydra wasn't sitting on his own. But halfway through the show I got to thinking... wouldn't the other people in that group have ridden the water ride too, so the other chairs around it would be wet also? But then I realized that the back of the seat was damp too, putting my mind at ease that it was from a water ride... I hope.

Me too! Two more days!!!

From http://www.sanduskyregister.com/article/5926601 I suspect that that gift shop employee has found that they're suddenly no longer employed...

I like it! The whole Gator family is excited about this ride. We didn't make it to HW this year for the first time in years, but we will be there in 2015! I even forsee a return to HoliWood Nights, which I haven't been to since 2011. The name and theme are great. I like that they took a Native American legend and incorporated it into a ride. I especially look forward to the barn flythrough.

Interesting interview with VP Eric Snow in this Holiblog: http://www.holidayworld.com/holiblog/2014/07/24/wishing/ $22,000,000 investment "We're answering the call to our guests that have been requesting something like this for many, many years" "It includes a lot of steel" I'll be otherwise occupied at 9:30 tonight, but you can bet that I'll be online as soon as I get home to find out what it is! Tonight is just filled with exciting news for me, both HW's announcement and the other thing I'll be doing!

It's a good thing that Sam's in hibernation right now. If he read these comments he'd get a big head! Of course, I mean that figuratively but Sam would take it literally and go on the prowl for victims with large noggins.

I will be finding out whether Sam will officially be setting up shop again very soon... You all will just have to wait... (But thanks for the concern!) You mean Dent's side attraction, Queen City Slaughter Yard? Perhaps. I doubt they'll try some of the things Dent did last year (multiple chainsaws, nipple pasties made to look like gaping wounds, etc.), but hopefully it'll be enough of a change-up from previous incarnations for it to feel fresh (maybe going the route of Kings Dominion's Slaughterhouse redo). I can safely say that there is no one from last year's Slaughter House that I'd want to see in pasties. How was KD's redone?

^I saw that same coupon at my eye doctor's office last week. I thought it was an odd place for KI advertising, but since they're located in Maineville, very close to the park, I didn't give it too much thought.

People. But only when they are in season! (Hi, Sam.) Hi Terpee! We lyk peepul if there in seesun or not and if there not than we jest put em in seesnin! Mama purfurs em in hunny barbq butt I lyk kayjin. -Sam Sorry for that. The whole Jekyll & Hyde-like thing that Sam and I have seems to be starting already. -Gator