XGatorHead 8904

Yeah, I'm hoping they have XXL available for me. I'm working my way down to XL, but not there yet!

That's exactly why they're changing the poll for next year. There will be "four 16-attraction tournaments, each of which will function as a separate bracket in an overall tournament to select the best overall attraction in either North America or the world." The four brackets are Best Themed Ride, Best Roller Coaster, Best Live Show and Best Mulitmedia Show. When all are narrowed down to the best attraction in each bracket, the best themed ride will face off against the best roller coaster for the title of Best Ride, and the best live show will square off against the best mulitmedia show for the title of Best Show. The winners of those two will go on to compete for Best Overall Attraction. See here for more details. And I'm sad Beast lost. I've never ridden Maverick though, so I can't compare the two.

If we can't use Drop Zone how come this amusement park in El Paso can? http://www.westernplayland.com/ Because that amusement park in El Paso was not a Paramount Park, so the name Drop Zone (for them) was not a tie-in to the movie. I use the new names. Do I like the old names better? Sure do. But they're not named those anymore. When Scooby Doo became Beastie, I gladly called it by the new name. I love Scooby (the character), but when the coaster became Beastie I liked the tie-in to the "big" ride, it mase it feel like I was riding a smaller version of The Beast (hey, go easy on me, I was a kid then). I still slip up with WaterWorks/Boomerang Bay a lot. For the longest time after the change, I still called it WaterWorks. But the past two years I've had to be more careful (and I correct Mrs. Gator a lot now) because GatorGirl will tell her friends that we went to WaterWorks... and they have no idea what WaterWorks is. Tell them Boomerang Bay, and they usually know.

That's true. I was mostly depending on their websites and rcdb. Now that you list all that, Camden looks to be more attractive than just the 9 rides I saw on their website. I would think that the park would want a more complete representation of themselves online, but I realize that there may be reasons they're not able to do it themselves.

I do. I looked at Camden Park as an option, but kind of threw it out. I read Gordon Bombay's PTR, and it sounds like a decent park. However, the reason I didn't list it is because it just doesn't sound to me like there's enough to do there for us. It sounds like a good place to take my family sometime, but when you click on Major Rides on their website, and it lists only 9 rides, it doesn't quite seem like enough. This is also the reason I didn't list Beech Bend. Another park that looks like a fun place to take my family, but not quite enough for a group of KICers. Indiana Beach at least has a nice collection of adult coasters, that's why it was included. And yes, I know Beech Bend has Kentucky Rumbler, Looping Star and Wild Mouse. Indiana Beach's collection just seemed a little more complete to me. But hey, we can throw Camden Park and Beech Bend in the mix too. Why not? I'm flexible. I've never been to either one, so they may surprise me! Camden Park - Huntington, WV (3 hours 25 minutes from KI) Park Hours: 11:00 - 7:30 (7 1/2 hours) Admission Price: $20.99 http://www.camdenpark.com/ Beech Bend - Bowling Green, KY (3 hours 40 minutes from KI) Park Hours: 10:00 - 6:00 (8 hours) Admission Price: Gate Admission $10 + Ride tickets at 50 cents each or pack of 50 tickets for $20. Or the all day wristband includes park admission and unlimited rides for $24.00 http://www.beechbend.com/Amusement%20Park.htm

Well, we could both wear our "Line Jumping Is Not a Sporting Event" shirts and have fun yelling at those pesky kids! I think I remember reading somewhere on here that the first M&S Day last year wasn't too bad, but I worked at the park long enough to know that that can vary greatly from year to year depending on their bookings. But I'm going anyway. And tiggy... a break??? What kind of thoosie are you? I'll be at KI on April 18th and May 1st, possibly on the 26th, then at RWW. I guess some people can have too much of a good thing. As far as my original post, I considered Dollywood to be a long shot, I just threw it in there because it's a nice park and a lot has been added since the last time I was there. And I'm sorry if I seemed a little harsh on SFKK, I know there's people who love the place. But despite my previous bad experience there, since it's one of the closest parks I consider it to be an option. Who knows, maybe they'll be able to change my mind if I go there again.

I voted for Taz. I haven't been on Coolangata yet, but it looks fun. I want to get on it, I just haven't had the opportunity yet. Maybe this year...

Now I'm depressed after looking at all those pictures. Time to visit the Diamondback site and get happy again!

And please see here. Ryan has already posted that a sixth train has been added.

Here's the carousel.

^See #7 here.

The Beast, no question. The past two years I've been lucky enough to be on the last public ride of the season on that coaster. Nothing beats a night ride on Beast, although the night ride on Racer with Urgent Scare's lights and the fog sounds great too!

OK, I've mentioned this before, and here’s what I have in mind…an unofficial KIC road trip! Mrs. Gator and GatorGirl are going to be in Florida visiting my mother-in-law (aka Nana Gator). I’m not able to go because I don’t have as many vacation days as Mrs. Gator, and I need to save mine up for our trips the rest of the year. So while they’re enjoying Daytona Beach, I decided I should have some fun too…and only use one precious vacation day! On Friday, May 1st, I’ll be going to Kings Island. Yes, I know its Math & Science Day. Yes, I know it will be full of kids. But…I can deal with that. Rare is the time when I can ride as many of the “big” rides as I want. I love going with GatorGirl, and I wouldn’t trade anything for those trips. But it’s nice to get away for an adult trip. If anyone would like to go and meet there, just let me know! Just to let you know, I ride anything and everything, all the coasters, all the flats…except Drop Tower. Believe me, I’ve ridden it before and I love that ride, but due to Intamin’s tighter restrictions I no longer fit in it. Darn seatbelts! But if you want to ride it, I’ll gladly wait… Now for the main event. The next day, Saturday May 2nd, would anybody be interested in an unofficial KIC road trip to visit another park? Unfortunately, CP won’t be open yet (which is probably a good thing, given the number of Intamins they have and my inability to enjoy them now… the day would be torture for me if I went there not being able to ride Maverick, Millie, TTD and WT!), but there are plenty of other parks that we could go to. Below is a list of parks I have in mind, with some basic info and the positives and negatives (in my opinion) of each park. So, in no particular order… Holiday World - Santa Claus, IN (about 3 hours from KI) Park Hours: 9:30 – 5:30 Central (10:30 – 6:30 Eastern, 8 hours) Admission Price: $39.95 at gate, $35.95 online…or best deal: bring a Pepsi can to the gate to get $7 off ($32.95) http://www.holidayworld.com/ Positives: 1. Voyage 2. Legend 3. Raven 4. Pilgrims Plunge, only the tallest water ride in the world! 5. Turkey Whirl 6. Voyage 7. Some of the friendliest park employees I’ve ever encountered anywhere 8. “Free” drinks! 9. “Free” parking! 10. Yummy food at pretty reasonable prices (Plymouth Rock Café is wonderful!) 11. Voyage 12. Gobbler Getaway… 13. …and other fun flats 14. Personal greeting by Pat Koch (at least both times I’ve been before) 15. Trams 16. Voyage 17. I’ve only experienced the Dive show, but from what I hear the others are good too 18. Voyage 19. Voyage 20. …and oh yeah, did I mention Voyage? (This is based on my personal opinion, not just “popular opinion”. For me, it’s tied with Beast as my favorite woodie. Just as others love SOB and Mean Streak *shudder*, I do truly love this ride…and Raven and Legend are right up there too). Negatives: 1. It’s their opening day 2. I’m already going on June 15th…but can this really be counted as a negative though? Two visits is a good thing! And I'd have more opportunities to ride Voyage, Legend and Raven on this trip than I would going with Mrs. Gator and GatorGirl! 3. The waterpark is closed. Some would consider this a good thing, but I like their waterpark. Oh well, I’ll be there June 15th anyway. Indiana Beach – Monticello, IN (about 3 hours 45 minutes from KI) Park Hours: 11:00 – 6:00 Eastern (7 hours) Admission Price: Free to enter, rides and attractions are separate. A book of 10 attraction tickets is $23.00. Pay One Price (POP) tickets are $26.95. http://www.indianabeach.com/ Positives: 1. I’ve never been there, so this would be a new experience for me 2. Cornball Express 3. Steel Hawg 4. Hoosier Hurricane looks fun 5. Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain looks…interesting… 6. Can you really go wrong with a Galaxi? 7. Air Crow – some of the best flying scooters around according to flyeraddicts.com, and they’re over the lake! 8. Water Swing…it’s like Zephyr, but over the lake! 9. A relaxing ride on the Shafer Queen sounds nice. 10. Tilt-A-Whirl! 11. Dr. Frankenstein’s Haunted Castle – “Voted the World’s #1 Walkthrough Attraction for 2008” 12. Pronto Pups. I’ve had corndogs, but never a Pronto Pup, which are endorsed by KIC’s own Gordon Bombay and multiple times by Terpy. Negatives: 1. It’s their opening day Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom – Louisville, KY (2 hours from KI) Park Hours: 11:00 – 7:00 (8 hours) Admission Price: $39.99 at gate, $24.99 online http://www.sixflags.com/kentuckyKingdom/index.aspx Positives 1. … 2. … 3. … 4. …cricket chirps… 5. … 6. …anyone?...anyone?...Bueller?…Bueller?… 7. OK, here’s one… KI’s old Flying Dutchman! Nostalgia! 8. Could be the last chance to go while it’s owned by Six Flags Negatives 1. This park, along with Lesourdsville Lake, rank as my two worst park experiences ever. Dare I give it a second chance? 2. Twisted Twins…just SBNO… Dollywood – Pigeon Forge, TN (5 hours from KI) Park Hours: 9:00 – 8:00 (11 hours) Admission Price: $53.50 http://www.dollywood.com/ Positives: 1. It’s one of the best parks I’ve ever been to 2. Thunderhead 3. Tennessee Tornado 4. Mystery Mine 5. Blazing Fury 6. Mountain Slidewinder 7. Daredevil Falls 8. Dollywood Express 9. Some of the best, most well produced shows I’ve ever seen at a park 10. As with HW, some of the friendliest park employees I’ve ever encountered anywhere 11. Terrific food 12. Wonderful craftsmen and shops 13. It's hours are the longest that day of any of the parks listed Negatives: 1. The admission price is a little higher than the other options, but worth it. 2. With the 5 hour drive each way, to properly enjoy the park at least one overnight stay would be ideal… it may be a little too rough to drive down, go to the park and drive back all in one day, but it could be done. But if we did an overnight stay, you’d have they added expense of a motel room too. I'm sure we could share rooms if everyone is comfortable doing so (but do we know each other well enough, or want to know each other well enough to do that? ). Boys in one room, girls in another of course. If Dollywood is the prevailing park, we can discuss later whether to do a one day trek or stay overnight. My only limitation is that I have to be at the Dayton Airport by 5:45 on Sunday to pick up the family, which should be no problem. 3. Sha-Kon-O-Hey! looks like a good show, but it won’t be open until the following weekend. So those are my thoughts. I'd like to spend as much time as possible at whatever park we end up at, so that may mean a bright and early start (but who of us wouldn't be willing to wake up early for a park?). If you’d seriously like to go, just post that you would and what park(s) you prefer. I wanted to get this topic posted in enough time for people to make arrangements for going, whether that be requesting off from work or whatever. Once we get some responses here, I’ll keep a tally of the votes each park gets from those interested in going. And then once we’ve settled on a park and as the date gets closer, we’ll finalize the plans. And don’t forget the trip to KI on May 1st if you’re interested too!

That's so true. When we go, we have a rental car anyway because we're driving from Daytona Beach every time. We use the bus to go to MK, and they are fast and reliable... however if you stay until park close and you're staying at a value resort, expect to wait awhile for a bus to take you from MK back to the resort. This has been our experience the last three years there, and our last visit we waited 45 minutes (while holding a very tired little girl) for the bus back. A car is nice to have if you want to visit the other resorts, which we did during our last trip, since the busses don't travel from resort to resort (you would have to go from resort to a park and then hop on transportation to the other resort you want to visit). We drive our car to all the other parks except MK, but I would have no problem taking the resort transportation as it's very reliable. And as Terpy said, the monorail is not to be missed. We did the complete monorail circuit on our resort visit day. Why not? Sure, Disney typically offers very few discounts, but if you can save money, why not do it? As the old saw goes, a penny saved is a penny earned. However, if you buy tickets at some of these places, you run a risk of buying fake tickets. Many vacations have been destroyed for families that way. That's true too. I've read many reports online about, and have had to deal with personally, people being sold fake tickets. It happened on multiple occasions during my time in Admissions at KI, and we unfortunately had to tell the people who bought them that they were basically out of luck. We would do whatever we could for them, such as possibly offering a discount, but there was no way we could let them in on fake tickets, or tickets that had been sold to them that turned up as already used. You just have to be smart about where you buy them, make sure it's an authorized seller for the park such as AAA, which the casual or first time Disney visitor might not know to check first. As a rule of thumb, Ebay is not a good place to buy park tickets from. There are even people who sell coupons on there and try to pass them off as admission tickets. Caveat emptor!

Wow, there's a few things I disagree with here... Some people may like this, but not me. I LOVE planning out my own trips. I think Avatar may share my mindset on this...just take a look at his wonderful itineraries! Why not? Sure, Disney typically offers very few discounts, but if you can save money, why not do it? As the old saw goes, a penny saved is a penny earned. As much as I would love to stay in a Disney deluxe resort (or even a moderate one), for many people on a budget that's just not possible. When we go, we're typically in the room just to sleep, and the value resorts' pools and amenities are just fine for my family. See my comment above. I'm at WDW, I expect it to be a little crowded. But the three times we've stayed in the value resorts, the crowds there haven't been horrendous. And sure, there are "cheaper hotels on U.S. 192 and International Drive", but if you stay at those you don't get the ERT available to all Disney resort guests. Other than these items, there is some good advice here.

XGatorHead 8904 would just like to state for the record that this is not a picture of him. XGatorHead 8904's skin is much less bumpy, less dry, and less green than the guy in this picture. Anyway, nice PTR, Jackson! We love the Cincinnati Zoo. We go every year in August during their half price weekend. Of course, with the temperature the way it was yesterday, you probably had a much more comfortable visit than we usually do!

Skylab was great to ride with a date, with the way you were situated in the car. That's about all I'm sayin' 'bout that... Gator, who took many a spin on Skylab in his teenage years...

^Someone knows. The first couple of years of FearFest, season pass holders did have to pay extra to go to it. That changed. And things usually don't change for no reason. Gator, just sayin'...

Nice...I've never heard that term before, I like it. However, I prefer to think of myself more as an amusement park connoisseur. "Drifter" just has an unsavory ring to it.

Well, group me with the other old timers on here because my first was Screamin' Demon (but I was in my single digits in age too).

And yet another reason to avoid the high food prices at the park this year: Blue Ash Chili just opened a second location, this one just down Western Row from the park. If you've never been to the original location, they have wonderful double deckers (and the chili's not bad either). We just went to the new location Friday, and I'm sure it'll be the first of many times. Also in this same new plaza is a Donato's and a Penn Station...yummy! Map to new plaza

I like the idea. Like others have said, if you need any help I'd be willing to lend a hand.

Ah yes, Voyage. I've ridden it once so far, and started with my hands up. That didn't last through the whole ride though. I'll try again this year... I will not be defeated!

Any coaster with OTSR's is hands down. Anything else is hands up all the way (except for lift hills).

^Now that made me laugh. Sad, but so true...