XGatorHead 8904

I'm going solo, but I figured there will be plenty of KIC folks there as well!

WCCVB Rep 1: "Hey guys, let's hold a press conference, but let's not tell the press where it's going to be. They can find their own way to the super secret location." WCCVB Rep 2: "Why, that's genius, pure genius! How else could we keep this super secret news until we release it? They can wander around the county, visiting spots they might not have before. We could even expand on that idea... tell people about attractions in Warren County, but not tell them the city they're in. That way, we can insure that all areas of the county are visited!" If you hold a press conference and nobody comes, is it still a press conference?

I've been to Vegas only once, and one of the things I was most looking forward to was going to Stratosphere. We went to ST:TE, rode Manhattan Express, Mrs. Gator talked me out of Speed , we foolishly didn't check Adventuredome's hours the day we went to Circus Circus, so it was closed when we got there. We also had side trips planned to the Grand Canyon and Death Valley National Parks (I know, opposite directions ). And we were saving what I considered to be the highlight, Stratosphere, for the end of the trip (you know, "save the best for last"). Well, we flew into Vegas on Sept. 8th and were flying back on Sept. 16th. The year? 2001 Needless to say all of our plans were altered by the events that occured on Tuesday of that week. We ended up driving back home and making the best of our trip along the way, stopping to see things that we had no plans to do originally since we were going to be flying back. Stratosphere was still closed when we left Vegas, so I never got to do anything there. And now High Roller's gone (and yes, Terpy, it would have been nerve wracking for me ). Now that we have a kid, who knows when or if I'll make it out that way again to experience the other things Startosphere has. It's still on my list...

Really? I would have assumed (being that this is my first off season since becoming an enthusiast) that the first days of pass processing would have long lines. The first few days of season pass processing, when the park is not yet open, are the best days to go. As Ryan said, as the time comes closer to park opening day (April 15, 16th, 17th for example), the wait becomes a little longer, but still much better than what you can see on opening day. April 1st - 17th are definitely the days to go! If you purchased your 2009 pass and had it processed Fall 2008, you would not need to repurchase another 2009 pass. But as others have advised, it's always smart to bring your receipt the first time you go in 2009, just in case. If you purchased by phone or online, they should also be able to look up your order if you've misplaced your receipt. Take your printout to the season pass processing center (the glass door on the left side of the building). You typically do not need to take it to the season pass sales windows, unless you have other things to purchase or if there's a problem. They sure did. And with their new ability to use the prior year's picture (which works most of the time, however we had to have our pictures retaken for 2009 because for some reason it didn't work for us last fall) the process is quicker than it was in the early part of the decade. Believe me, the ability to use pictures from the prior year was on management's wish list for a long, long, long time... Don't worry too much about that. Take it from someone who worked many an opening day, and many of those in Season Pass Processing... it just makes the day go quicker when you're busy! Don't think about how long the line is (if you're working inside processing, you won't be able to see a majority of the line anyway). Just make sure you're working as accurately and quickly as possible (but not so quickly that you start making mistakes!). Park guests pay a lot of money for passes, and should expect and receive great customer service. I'm pretty sure it was. And I guess the people also didn't realize they could procrastinate more because a season pass is good for one time admission with the bar code. So technically you could enter and then come back later when the line is shorter. A word of warning though: don't just assume that you can get in without having your season pass processed first. Most of the time you will need to get it processed before entering the park. Historically the only exception to this is when the season pass processing line has reached a certain length, and management has made the exception to allow people into the park on unprocessed passes. When this happens, they will typically send a couple associates out to the end of the line to tell people that they can do so. It's always smart to check first, that way you can avoid having to go through the metal detector lines, going to the turnstiles, getting turned away, then having to go to processing and going through metal detectors again! Yes, when you order online you are able to print your season pass certificates. You will need to take these to the processing center. If you also bring your 2008 passes with you, they may be able to just transfer your data onto your new 2009 card. There is a chance that you may have to have your pictures retaken though. Closing remarks: If you did not get your 2009 pass processed in the fall, the best times to do it are these days that they have available before the park opens, April 1st - April 17th. The absolute worst times are opening day, plus the two weekends prior to any season pass price point increase. Those times will have the longest processing waits. Also, as others and I have said, it's not a bad idea to bring your receipt to the park on your first visit, even if you did have your '09 passes processed in the fall of '08. I know I'll be bringing my email confirmation of my order with me on 4/18, since it will be the first time our '09 passes will be scanned at the gate.

Channel 5's videos never work for me. And it never says that I have to download something, so I don't know what the deal is. Oh well. I've waited this long, I can wait longer. The youtube video is good enough for me!

Just messin' around. I wouldn't recognize you in non-cartoon form either! Just felt like changing my avatar for awhile. We'll see how long I leave it. I am awfully fond of the Wally Gator pic...

No, Don didn't mention any pricing. But start collecting your nickels!

^Yes. And it was called The Rotor if memory serves.

I remember that too.

You've never heard of The Bat? See here. It was the first modern suspended coaster (there were others in the early 1900's), and it was located where Vortex is now. Vortex's station was originally The Bat's, and the extra footings you see around Vortex are from The Bat. And RailRider was nice enough to post video of The Bat here.

It happened to me the other day when I clicked that link in the Highlands article. Luckily I though to click the "Help" link on the right side of the blue bar at the top of the KIC pages. There I found the information about the "Options" drop box (which I had never noticed before either). Problem was solved in about 15 minutes... but I was getting very worried in those 15 minutes. I like me some "Standard Display Mode"!

^And if there is ERT that day, the auction rides will most likely cut into the ERT time. Just a possibility... nothing's been finalized yet that I'm aware of.

I was going to take the Purple People Bridge Survey, but the 1st question is flawed and the answer I need isn't an option. The question is "Have you ever heard of the Purple People Bridge? If so, when was the last time you visited the Purple People Bridge?" The answer I would need is "Yes, and I have never visited". Even though I've never visited, I wouldn't want it to disappear. It's a good idea, just one I've never had the opportunity to utilize yet.

There are some exceptions. Here's an incident I had with an international at Racer last year:

Sorry to correct you, but Bill Balfour was not the head of Entertainment for all Paramount Parks (unless this happened after 2004, when the company and I parted ways). He was the Manager of Entertainment for KI during the Paramount years, and I'm 98% certain he never moved to Charlotte to work at the Corporate office... but then again there were a few (very few) corporate people who were based at KI. There are others here that were there during Bill's final years at KI that would know better than I.

^You need a subscription/login to access that.

That will be the shortest route. If you took the path between BLSC and DB, you'd be on the wrong side of DB and have to walk through the majority of Rivertown!

"Now, can I get this in standard, or is automatic the only option?"

But they sure can't spell a lot of times. The most recent example was on Fox News this morning (definitely not my favorite source for news, but I had to take the car in for service this morning and that's what they had on). They had a word on the screen, spelled "comittee". For those spelling impaired folks out there, there should be two m's in that word. Locally, channel 12 seems to be the worst spelling offender that I've noticed, followed by 19. Channel 9's pretty good, and I never watch 5 so I can't speak for them. Proper spelling is a pet peeve of mine, and has recently become a growing concern personally. One of GatorGirl's daycare teachers makes at least one spelling error every time she writes anything for the parents. I'm going to bring it up to the center director one of these days, after I get all the examples together. This is one of the people who's responsible for teaching my daughter... and the center only hires college graduates with degrees in Education, and current college students whose major is Education! I shouldn't have to see the words "spageti" for spaghetti, or "sorce" for source, just to name a couple of examples.

I'm resisting the urge to measure GatorGirl. I want to be surprised on April 18th. We did measure her in December, without shoes, and she was 39¼", so she'll probably be 40" in shoes by then... tall enough for FOC, VF, and Danny Phantom Flyers!

And some people wonder why I've never made the switch to digital, still using my trusty 22 year old (has it really been that long? ) Canon that has taken so many great pictures for me since Jr. High... If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

^ And I proposed at KI, and we spent our honeymoon at Busch Gardens Tampa and Epcot. Jeez, what kind of people are we on this site? Great TR, luff! I especially like the Tweety's Escape comment. I could use one of those at home for my daughter. I'm just kidding...maybe! For some reason I'm leary about Six Flags as a whole, I just don't have too much respect for them. But to be fair, I've never personally visited one (unless you count KK, but that was a few weeks before they became SFKK... and the last time I went to Great America in IL, it was still Marriott's Great America). I've wanted to ride X... err, X2 since it was built, though. That ride looks like some serious fun. And from reading comments on this site, there are some bright spots in the chain.

Thank you for that, Ronny! I've had a very rough day at work today (heck, it's been a bad week), three people have yelled at me over the phone today because they weren't getting their way, and I've been in a crappy mood all day. But when I read that last sentence, I seriously LOL'd, to the point my co-workers looked at me funny. I seriously needed that laugh!

Great idea, standbyme! I was curious when I saw the word "webcam" in the title. It was cold and wet, but it was fun! Glad someone got to enjoy it, at least vicariously, while staying warm.

Although Bill Balfour does work at EnterTrainment Junction, it was actually Bill Mefford who spoke at the SOAR event about EJ, not Bill Balfour.