XGatorHead 8904

Certainly one of the biggest innovations in the coaster industry in the '90s was the LIM (linear induction motor), which was used for the first time on The Outer Limits: Flight of Fear at both KI & KD in 1996. EDIT: Since you mentioned Harry Potter, the greatly themed Islands of Adventure opened in 1999, just barely making it into your decade! And then there was the opening of WDW's Animal Kingdom in 1998 too.

We'll definitely ride Zephyr. She likes the swings at Dollywood (Waltzing Swinger), which have double seats so smaller kids can ride with their parents.

^Yeah, I wasn't the only one to point that out to you several months ago when you set that date.

Leland, perhaps you should actually read the article in the original post. This topic is about the Dollywood ride and the lawsuit that Dollywood has filed against HUSS.

I went to that theater the first day it was open to the public and saw the first movie they showed that day, so I was one of the few people in the theater for the very first movie they showed to the public, Beavis & Butthead Do America. There were many times when I worked at the park that my friends and I would head over there after work to catch a movie. Heck, I even went there by myself a lot too since it was so convenient. But I haven't been to a movie there in years now that 1) I no longer work at KI year round and 2) Regal in Deerfield is closer to home and is a much nicer theater. I never liked Rave in West Chester the few times I've been there. Over-run with teenagers and too crowded in general. When I first learned (from this very site) a while back that Rave bought Showcase Kings Island & others, I figured the KI location wouldn't last too much longer. It lasted longer than I thought though, but with the old style seating and Regal close by, I'm not surprised by this announcement.

^When GatorGirl got to the height where she could ride Great Pumpin Coaster (or Little Bill's as it was at the time), I thought that there was no way I was ever going to fit. But that coaster is surprisingly roomy due to the type of restraint it has. It's easier for me to fit my belly in that than it is Woodstock Express!

1. The same as every year - lose weight so I can fit on the rides easier. This is more important than ever because of #2 below. 2. GatorGirl should be 48" by opening day, so getting her first rides on Racer, Adventure Express, Flight Deck & BLSC. Mrs. Gator has vetoed GatorGirl riding Beast & Vortex because of her being "too skinny", so I have to abide by that ruling. Mrs. Gator doesn't like the thought of her riding Drop Tower either, but out of all the rides this is the one I can see Mrs. Gator possibly caving on easiest. In preparation for that, I really need to work on #1 since I need the company of certain people to squeeze me onto DT. 3. Make it over to Soak City, since I didn't go to BB at all in 2011 and only once in 2010 (after visiting numerous times in prior seasons). 4. Change GatorGirl's opinion of KI. The other day we were talking about our trips to various parks this past year (we took her to 11 different parks in 2011), and she said "I'm bored with Kings Island." Now this could be because we had just been talking about how great WDW is and how that's our favorite park (or more correctly, group of parks) and in her mind she may have been comparing WDW to KI. But I think #2 above will go a long way in helping her appreciate KI again.

Palace Entertainment, who operates, manages or is affiliated with several amusement & water parks, has had a class action lawsuit filed against them and has agreed to a settlement. According to the lawsuit, they violated requirements imposed by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act by printing more than the last five digits of credit card numbers and/or the expiration dates of credit cards on their receipts. Under the settlement, anyone who received an electronically printed receipt from one of the parks between December 4, 2006 and December 20, 2011 that has more than the last five digits of the credit card number and/or the expiration date of the card printed on it can submit a claim form to receive a free admission ticket to that same park. Of course, you have to provide that receipt along with proper ID in order to get the ticket. The parks involved are: Kennywood - West Mifflin, PA Idlewild & SoakZone - Ligonier, PA Lake Compounce - Bristol, CT Silver Springs - Silver Springs, FL Big Kahuna's - Destin, FL Castle Park - Riverside, CA Emeralde Pointe Wet n' Wild - Greensboro, NC Mountain Creek - Vernon, NJ Raging Waters - San Dimas, CA (SAN DIMAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES!... I just had to throw in the Bill & Ted's reference! ) Sandcastle - Pittsburgh, PA Sea Life Park - Waimanalo, HI Splish Splash - Calverton, NY Water Country - Portsmouth, NH Waterworld - Concord, CA Wild Waters - Silver Springs, FL Much more detail can be found here, including a link to the claim form: http://www.civ211-cv...info/notice.pdf We went to Idlewild in August and I only made one credit card transaction while there, for a t-shirt. I went home last night, did some digging and found the receipt. It only has the last four digits of my card number, and no expiration date. Looks like no free ticket for me!

Yes they do. We had ours gone at 12:30 am. From http://com.ohio.gov/...s_MLLPoster.pdf So no, on Fridays and Saturdays minors do not need to be clocked out by a certain time. Unless, of course, they are getting close to the end of their five hours (since minors can't work more than 5 hours without a 30 minute break). Our minors in Slaughter House worked until the end of the night. As long as the supervisor times the breaks correctly, there's no reason a minor cannot work until the end of the night for Haunt.

Ouch... I may be in a minority (or not), but from the first time I rode a Chaos it quickly ranked near the top of my favorite flat rides. Both of the ones I've ridden, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and Cedar Point, are no longer there.

I'd take everything except for the extreme heat that got to me on the Voyage walkback and forced me to take a nap in Plymouth Rock Cafe. Heck, I'd even take the alien mutant crickets that provided us entertainment in the cabin!

But... but... but... it can't be over! We're not even half way through the off-season! I haven't even finished eating all of my Halloween candy! (sorry for the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving reference, I just had to... ) But seriously, thank you so much for doing this, and especially for going above and beyond and emailing the pictures to me almost every day so that I can keep current on them (darn those internet filters at work!). I looked forward to those emails then checking out the comments in this topic, and was shocked when I saw the subject line of today's email. But all good things... All the hard work is appreciated by a lot of us here. Now to go home tonight so I can see what you posted as a thank you in posts 449 & 450. (Yes, I was planning to be online tonight anyway... a rare occurrence, I know!)

Friday's photos - 2011 wins As much as I would like to ride the sky ride, I wouldn't trade it for Viking Fury. Sure there's my "tastes great, lessing filling" memories from when I was a kid in the 80's, but even better are the memories made within the last few years with GatorGirl. With a height requirement of 40", VF was one of the first "big" rides that GatorGirl could ride. I'll always remember her first ride on it, when we got that little pop of negative g at the top, and looking over at her at that moment and seeing the big smile on her face and the giggle coming out of her mouth. She immediately wanted to ride it again... and I love the way she described it: "That ride tickles my tummy!" So VF all the way! Monday's - it's a draw. I still like the train, but yes it was better with the animatronics. But since I can't see those in the picture I refuse to vote one way or the other! Today's - hmmm... if it's HB's station, then 1974 wins. If it's Oktoberfest's station, then 2011 wins. I'd rather have a ride than a shop, but I'd rather have Adventure Express than a sky ride. Unfortunately I'm the same way. I've had people ask me how to get to area hotels, and I couldn't tell you which one's which. If it's not someplace I go on a regular basis, it's just a generic building to me that doesn't really get my attention. If the addition of a "tire shop" is the way the trend is heading, then please, no more! How does a tire shop fit in to an old time town? It doesn't.

I have trouble setting a firm place for HW's three woodies on my rankings too! Voyage was always #1, and Raven & Legend always swapped places. This year, with the way Voyage was running all three have at some point been #1, #2 & #3! I became well acquainted with your Raven love in June. What was it, 12 or 16 Raven rides for us without leaving our seats to close out Holliwood Nights? (let's do this cycle looking left... let's do this one looking right... let's do this one looking up... let's do this one with our eyes closed...)

You may be interested to know that Skillet is headlining the Winter Jam show at US Bank Arena on March 17th. Only $10 at the door. http://www.premierproductions.com/tour/winter-jam-2012-tour-spectacular/cincinnati-oh

^You are correct. There have been a few other spring and fall Christian music festivals in Timberwolf before, but Spirit Song was always in July since it's first year in 1997.

^It doesn't appear that they are.

^Sorry, I missed that! I saw the big "BUY TICKETS NOW!" on the top right of the Spirit Song site and thought they were already on sale. Silly me!

The dates for Spirit Song 2012 have been announced, and tickets are available now during their "Christmas Pre-Sale". As usual, they have a very good line-up of acts: June 28th: Switchfoot, Jeremy Camp, Lecrae, Icon For Hire and Manafest June 29th: tobyMac, Owl City, RED, Royal Tailor and Jamie Grace June 30th: Third Day, NEEDTOBREATHE, Family Force 5, Nine Lashes and Sent by Ravens Complete information can be found here: http://www.spiritsongfest.com/

Nope, I'm not Jen Grams.

This reminds me of when my mom dragged us to Cypress Gardens and Silver Springs when I was a kid. My mom was crazy about the landscaping, my sister and I not so much. Of course, Cypress Gardens had the ski show and Silver Springs had the glass bottom boats that we could look forward to.

^ That's exactly why I was prepping 6 year old GatorGirl for months! She did very well on Jurassic Park (except for an incident at the bottom of the drop, which I'll cover if/when I get the TR done this off-season), and even kept her eyes open the whole time on Haunted Mansion this time (which is the ride she was worried about the most). I was so proud of her!

I know... I"m just still bitter about it being closed in July and not getting to take GatorGirl on it after I prepped her for months. I'll get over it in time.

So were the ride ops' lackluster performances caused by declining popularity of the ride, or was declining popularity of the ride caused by the ride ops' lackluster performances? That is, if in fact the ride has shown a decline in popularity... I have no way of knowing that. All I know is the two prior times I'd been to the park (1997 & 1999), the ride ops gave great performances and greatly added to my enjoyment of the ride. From what I've read on a few websites since the closure was announced, the ride ops the past several years didn't give a crap about how they performed. Sad.... sigh.

But a lot of roller coaster enthusiasts I know do it in the back seat!