XGatorHead 8904

Hmmm.... interesting design. Sounds good overall, but I'm really curious about those panels on the sides of the back of the seat. How high up do they go, and will the average rider be able to see over them? I don't like having my peripheral vision blocked, unless it's a coaster with OTSRs; I like a panoramic view while riding! Looking forward to trying these next year!

Wow… so many good memories this season. I can’t rank them, so I’ll do it chronologically. 1. The Off-Season Blues Party: I had only met a few KIC’ers before this, but it was great to get to meet more of you. And I’ll never forget our treks across the frozen tundra, particularly the walk back with giga and Phantom Theater, and wondering how PT was able to walk all that way in his shorts without getting frostbite! 2. The Diamondback Tour: We finally got to get up close to this monster, and got some awesome pictures in the process! 3. Opening Day: *Getting up early, meeting up with friends I didn’t know were going to be there, and getting that first ride on Diamondback, in row 15. When we hit the splashdown, I turned around and saw that huge column of water right behind us. *GatorGirl’s first ride on Viking Fury (her new favorite ride for the season). She laughed the whole time, and we had to ride it again as soon as we got off… plus she wanted to sit closer to the end so we would go higher! *GatorGirl’s first ride on Fairly Odd Coaster. It’s her first woodie, and one of her favorite rides anywhere. 4. The Unofficial KI Road Trip, Day 1: Took the day off and met up with Kawana, kittenpooh, violakat and others to enjoy some of the “grown-up” rides for a change! And that’s when this occurred: Oh, the lengths we went to to get her back on DB... This was also the day of my first (and only, so far) DB ride in the rain… OUCH! 5. The Unofficial KI Road Trip, Day 2: Went to Holiday World on their opening day with violakat, Beast Man and clbehymer. Most of the rides were walk-ons, and we got to enjoy Raven, Legend, and 8 rides on Voyage. Then there was our shoeless and sockless ride on Pilgrims Plunge, and the nicely priced, good quality food! 6. Ride Warriors Weekend: What a great event, hanging out with my KIC friends and meeting new ones. I loved all the ERT and the chance to get so many night rides on DB. Even though I had to leave in the middle of both days, I was able to come back in the evenings and have loads of fun. Hopefully this event returns next year! 7. Alumni Weekend: We’ve gone both years of this event now. This year had a great Beast walk-back. I’ve driven the service roads back there before, but this walk-back included sections I hadn’t been to before. Plus Mrs. Gator had an interesting conversation with Don on the way back from the walk-back… 8. Halloween Haunt: At first I was a little disappointed that I wasn’t returning to Club Blood, but I had a great time in Slaughter House. Working the same room as Typical Guy was a blast. “You want a bite? Free sample! On sale today, only $3.99 a pound! Available in original, Cajun, or honey barbecue!” Even serving as the host on the final weekend was a lot of fun (although I still prefer scaring people). And who can forget the wild times at Steak ‘n’ Shake (or should that be Stake ‘n’ Shake since it was filled with Haunt people)? 9. Closing Day: Got rides #47-50 on DB. Hung out with rotag for the first part of the day and we hit a lot of the big rides (including my first ride on Skyflyer in about 7 years) before Mrs. Gator and GatorGirl met me for the latter part of the day. We did something special for our last ride on Scooby (see my current avatar), which apparently was a topic of conversation in the park because later that night Agent SOB told me about “some guy and his two daughters had signs that said ‘Bye Scooby’ in their ride photo”. Got tons of pictures of Nick U and the outside of SD&THC, and GatorGirl got her last rides in on everything before Snoopy takes over. Then the last ride of the night on Beast with the KIC gang, then we got our last Mystery Machine pictures. Ended the night with another trip to Steak ‘n’ Shake. It was a great year, and I can’t wait until April 2010!!! At least I have Dollywood this weekend. Hello Dolly!

Yu shuld sneak some pic If he values his job, I would advise against that... Well, I'm one Haunt worker who fully intends on returning next year. Hopefully a few others change their minds and join us again! Ah, you didn't scare me too much. You just caught me off guard when I heard someone behind me saying "Gator...", and I turned around and didn't know who you were!

Kings Island: 19 (includes opening day, RWW and closing day) The Beach: 3 Coney Island: 2 Holiday World: 1 (opening day) Hershey Park: 1 Sesame Place: 1 Cedar Point: 1 Dollywood: planned for sometime in November or December

^Good answer (and I totally agree)! The finale alone nearly made me pee myself, I was laughing so hard when I saw it.

^And that park is still there on Kellogg, I went there twice this year. At least I think I did... or was I magically transported back in time?

^I'll be wearing my SD&THC shirt on Sunday.

I read the original Beast book one day while I was working The Beast souvenir stand near the ride's exit in '94. What can I say, it was a slow day there that day... I enjoyed it for what it was, but I hated having people tell me all about the park that was there before Kings Island, and then having to correct them. I never did read the 2nd book.

Does anybody else think it's time for standbyme to clean out his inbox? Actually don't do that... If we ever have any more questions about old park emails, we know who to turn to!

I know that wasn't 2003, I was in Admissions then and I'd remember that one. I doubt it was 2004, since my last day in Admissions was 10/28/04 (right before closing weekend started), and I would have remembered preparing for that. I think coasterville is right in saying it was 2005. And I just realized today is the 5 year anniversary of my last day in Admissions, aka my last day of working there every summer since 1989!

Thanks for the tip! I just tried it at my desk and I can see how that might work. I'll have to try that this weekend when I slam the DB restraint down on my legs.

The Saturday I went for HalloWeekends, September 19th, wasn't too bad at all. The longest wait I had was an hour for Maverick. Magnum was a 15 minute wait, Raptor had a 25 minute wait for Mrs. Gator (I failed the test seat so I marathoned Blue Streak...6 rides...while she was in Raptor's line), Mantis was about 20 minutes. We didn't wait for Millie or TTD since I failed those test seats. Haunt-wise, 10 minute wait for Club Blood, 40 minutes for Happy Jack's (so worth it!), 15 minutes for Undertaker U. and 30 minutes for Eerie Estates (mostly because the fire alarms went off and they had to evacuate the building while we were in line).

^Nice link. And I completely forgot about the Dolly Madison sponsorship!

For all you parents who say your kids don't know the Peanuts gang, get them in front of the TV tonight! As I said in <a href="http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=19472&view=findpost&p=332351" target="_blank">this post</a> last month, we're coming up on prime Peanuts viewing season, and it all starts tonight! At 8:00 ABC is airing the wonderful "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown", followed by (the less stellar) "You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown". "Great Pumpkin" (without "Elected") also airs on ABC tomorrow at 8:00 if you don't get a chance to see it tonight. Yes, I know it's on against the "Monsters vs. Aliens" Halloween special tomorrow, but NBC is re-airing the MvA special at 8:30, immediately after the first time they show it. <img src="http://www.KICentral.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="blink.gif" /> GatorGirl is excited about watching it tonight. We watch all the Peanuts specials whenever they're on. I put this in the Kings Island forum rather than the Multimedia one because I'm trying to help those parents who's kids will see Snoopy and the gang at KI next year. -XGator "I got a rock..." Head 8904

Mrs. Gator and I were talking about DD last night, and we were both wondering the same thing. I know back in the 80's the then-Marriott's Great America in Illinois had one, but I don't know if that one is still there, or if any other parks still have one.

^ I didn't know how else to put it... we put the plate with the letter (much like those on an old printing press) on the bracelet, attached a little metal rod to the plate, then literally pounded the rod with a hammer...

Do you ever have a caricature done of yourself or someone in your family? No Have your name made out of wood at the wood shop? No, but the year I worked in Merch (Leather Shop, 1994), I put people's names on leather bracelets by pounding the letters into them and then staining the leather so that the letters stood out. Do you ever play games in the arcade? If we have time after getting off Monster, GatorGirl loves to play a few games of skee-ball and then that chicken game they have there. Have an antique photo done? Yes, once years ago, probably around 1995 or '96. My sister, her then husband (now ex), the future Mrs. Gator and I had one done. I consider it one of the best pictures ever taken of me. I had a good amount of stubble, a sunburnt face from being out in the sun at the park so much, and I looked like I belonged in that era in that picture, with the cowboy hat, coat and rifle. Ride the Zephyr? YES, ABSOLUTELY! We got our cake topper at the glass blower shop at KI. It was a bride and groom standing about 8 inches tall. We gave it to the woman who made our cake and she said "You're kidding, right? It's too heavy!" But she made it work. Today it sits on display in our living room. I also got my groomsmen's gifts there, beer mugs with their names engaved in them. They all liked them, but one of them didn't last through our wedding night...

I'm glad I got to ride DD last month when I went to CP since it'll be years before I ever make it out to Knott's. I knew it had been for sale so Mrs. Gator and I made sure that we rode it. I love that ride and I'll miss having it only a few hours away.

^Nope: http://ufos.about.com/od/ufohistory/a/wp1.htm As a kid I was VERY interested in UFOs. I read many a book on the subject and always thought it was so cool that the remains of the Roswell crash were so close to home.

It's actually a reference to the rumored Hangar 18 at Wright Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, which many UFO conspiracy theorists believe houses evidence of the 1947 Roswell UFO crash. The Megadeth song is also named after the supposed building at Wright Pat.

Good one! This time you put a disclaimer on your opinion, which makes it alright in my book!

The smell is pretty much gone from Slaughter House now, except for the possibility of one room. It used to be pretty much the whole house that smelled. This topic is the perfect opportunity for me to re-state something I said last year. If you don't like an attraction, tell us why you don't like it (or if you liked it, why did you like it). One of my biggest pet peeves is people who just say "It sucked". Thankfully I've seen a lot less of that this year than last, and most of the people in this topic so far (with two exceptions) have been good about this. As a scareacter, it's good to get feedback, whether it be good or bad. It lets us know what works and what doesn't, and we can use that criticism to improve. I realize, and I hope other scareacters do too, that not everyone will like the same things. One person's favorite will be another's least favorite. So if someone says something negative about your favorite (or the attraction you work in), there's no need for backlash. Now before I possibly get called out on it, I realize I may have been a little harsh on one person who criticized Slaughter House in another topic, but that person had only been through it during rehearsal week when A LOT of the effects and props had not been put in yet, so I felt that they couldn't give an accurate assessment of the attraction. Now that it's open to the public, accurate assessments can be made. (And I'll add that I don't hold any ill feelings towards that person. He was just stating his opinion based on what he saw at the time, and I probably would have had the same opinion of it if I had been in his shoes. But now that it's done, it's a completely different experience!)

I love it when guests interact with me (unless of course, they're being rude). It actually helps my performance. There's been many times when a guest will respond to me, I'll say something back, and then I'll incorporate that into my regular rotation of lines. Then there's been 2 or 3 times where a guest will say something so great, I'm left speechless, without a response. Those are the truly fun ones.

As the original poster (or OP) of this topic, I said nothing about the mobile site. I was just trying to spread the word that Haunt had been cancelled that night. It wasn't until Reclaimer posted that the mobile site was brought up in the conversation.

I'm excited about this. Phantom was always my favorite musical in high school (everyone else was raving about Les Mis at the time, which I didn't give a chance until after I graduated college... and found that I liked Les Mis slightly better). And to set it at Coney Island will give them the opportunity to create some awesome sets. I can't wait to see the production. I'll have to wait until I have a chance at home to watch the video, since I don't have sound hear at work.