BavarianBeatle

First trip to KI was 1972. I was 3... I'm not sure what my first ride was, but the first one I remember was Scooby Doo (now known as Fairly Odd Coaster). I still have vague memories of my mother holding my hand while taking me on it. I remember being disappointed when I couldn't ride Racer......... Now, it's The Beast first and last.... I can't imagine starting a park visit without walking back there and doing that first, or leaving without the nighttime ride as the last (unless it is raining and I have no choice)

My youngest says its his favorite ride (He likes Slingshot too)... My oldest is afraid to ride both. But I think the younger son will eventually taunt the older one enough to ride them... This is funny...Last week we rode SOB and the younger one rode with a woman who was scared to death (Her two kids sat in the seat in front of her). She asked him if he was big enough to ride as we were getting on. Then he put his hands up on the first drop, kept them up for the whole ride and scared the HELL!!! out of her........ My other son and I sat behind them and saw the whole thing....... They were polite enough to avoid laughing until she was out of earshot after the ride, but we all wound up laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes........ I should have bought that ride photo!!!!!!!

And I'll go back to doing a few things you guys wouldn't have dreamed of ever being able to do when you were my age, YAAAY! Sorry, had to say it But, to Bavarian, which rides are the "54' rides"? Just out of curiosity. Do you know or can I look it up on the KI site? I am reminded of this constantly, so I know it by heart: FoF, Firehawk, Invertigo, The Crypt. Delerium is 52 inches (one can ride, one can't)

Hey, if you'd like to meet up, let me know Our "Group" Will most likely just consist of me and one friend, so the more the merrier It will be me and my two kids, ages 9 and 8. They can't ride the "54 inch rides" yet, but they would love a ride or two on The Beast, Vortex, or SOB with some people from this site..... I let them read the stuff on here and some of my posts are their ideas. They would love it. Hmm...I don't know if I could go a day at KI without riding Firehawk and FoF, lol. But I'd like to meet you there. That is if you don't mind spending the day with two youngsters apart from your own =P Like I said, not the whole day, just a couple of rides, then you could go back to doing your thing. The kids would love it. I know kids your age don't want to spend TOO much time ith an oldster like me, but, for me, KI is all about the kids having a good time and has nothing to do with me (Yeah, right... ) Oldster? Nahhhh. As long as you've got a strong enough stomach to ride the big stuff you're cool with us. And don't think you're walking out of this park without a picture taken! The only problem is, niether of us have cell phones. So we'll have to arrange a certain time to meet at a certain place. I can ride anything there. So can the kids, to the extent they are able due to the height rules. (I have refused their request for platform shoes...LOL) Just PM me and name a time and place.

To the younger generation, I'm ancient!! (Like you said it's all comparative). They seem to have two categories of age: 1. Young; and, 2. Over 30........

Hey, if you'd like to meet up, let me know Our "Group" Will most likely just consist of me and one friend, so the more the merrier It will be me and my two kids, ages 9 and 8. They can't ride the "54 inch rides" yet, but they would love a ride or two on The Beast, Vortex, or SOB with some people from this site..... I let them read the stuff on here and some of my posts are their ideas. They would love it. Hmm...I don't know if I could go a day at KI without riding Firehawk and FoF, lol. But I'd like to meet you there. That is if you don't mind spending the day with two youngsters apart from your own =P Like I said, not the whole day, just a couple of rides, then you could go back to doing your thing. The kids would love it. I know kids your age don't want to spend TOO much time ith an oldster like me, but, for me, KI is all about the kids having a good time and has nothing to do with me (Yeah, right... )

Hey, if you'd like to meet up, let me know Our "Group" Will most likely just consist of me and one friend, so the more the merrier It will be me and my two kids, ages 9 and 8. They can't ride the "54 inch rides" yet, but they would love a ride or two on The Beast, Vortex, or SOB with some people from this site..... I let them read the stuff on here and some of my posts are their ideas. They would love it.

Yes, I was able to upgrade from gold to platinum, so just tell someone at the ticket window and they should be able to help you (that's all I had to do, and it took less than a minute). If they can't, then walk over to guest relations...

Better than mayflies...IMO!! I always hated those things when I lived up there...... They have a distinct odor when lots of them die together!!!

We will be there that evening, but I have no friends who are interested in going with us......

Well, I can only speak from my own experience of raising two kids on my own. An "ass whooping" was always reserved for acts of danger (like sticking things in electrical outlets or grabbing a dog's tail while it was eating) or knowing and/or repeated misconduct. And "tantrum prevention" was simply never an option for giving one of mine what they wanted. If children learn that tantrums get them what they want, getting them to stop throwing the tantrums is far worse than ignoring them to begin with.....

My per cap spending will not change no matter what. I always bring (in cash) the amount of money I am willing to spend on that particular trip (usually $50 on a weekend and $20 when we don't eat a meal at the park, which is most of the time). Then I let the kids help decide how to spend it. When its gone, its gone. I think (hope) that I am teaching them some kind of a lesson about responsible spending by doing this. I do have a "hidden" credit card in case there's an emergency of some kind, but they don't need to know about that .

No Victor?????

They should be gone in about two or three weeks..... If you find a blue eyed one, FYI, there are insect collectors who will pay money for them.......

Those in the South know that Coke means most any drink. It was the same in the small Ohio town where I grew up. Beatle, whose wife, when she was alive, used to call him (probably accurately) "a redneck with an education"....

I think they're cool. They are harmless and rare, as in once every 17 years. The brood in 2004 was HUGE here. People's trash cans that they would put out in the morning would be completely covered by the end of the day. And you would have to stop and pick them off off yourself before going into the house. We even found several of the really rare ones with the blue eyes. And the noise was indescribable. I just hope to be around to see that again......

I thought the exact same thing, but I figured I'd wait for you to speak for the "older crowd" on this one

I was able to upgrade my gold pass that I bought at the end of last year to platinum, if that helps.

Love this topic. It's very informative. Taking my kids for their first trip right after the 4th of July. We will be at the park the 6th, 7th and 8th. We are planning to take advantage of the ERT's and enjoying ourselves a lot.

Well, that brood will be gone for 17 years. There are several broods of cicadas. True. Except that this years brood seems very localized around Mason (at least thats the only place I've seen them this year), unlike the huge one four years ago. The one that is concentrated around the park will shortly be gone for another 17 years......

Those are 17 year cicadas..... They will be gone in about a month and won't be back for... well, 17 years........

It's been after 5 every Friday, but at various other times on the weekends, from around 11:00 am, to 3:00 p.m.

We have been to the park fifteen times this season. My pass has been checked at that lot twice. One of those was on opening day, so, since then it has been once out of fourteen times.

Just like everything else that used to be a park rule (for example, line jumping, smoking, etc.)

My kids have taken to trying to guess how many trains away from riding we are. Thy've gotten pretty good at it. Now they're starting to bet on it, winner picks the seat he wants......