dare-to-fly

I still didn't swim, but I decided that I really wanted to at least go over there. I people watched and relaxed a little, and the rain didn't set in until I was at the Backyard BBQ, which I thought was a highly appropriate time for such an event. I did, however, have a Boomerang Bay employee squirt me with a water gun. That was rather funny!

I can answer for Mark in this case. Yes, that IS the only thing he does. I see him there all the time power-lapping it. Sometimes I'm surprised when he's willing to stop to talk to me for a minute or two. Personally, I prefer to do other things as well, and I'm really enjoying taking a little of Terpy's advice and spending some time just wandering around the park, hanging out, relaxing, and just enjoying spending time there. I went to the water park today just before the rain and just walked around people watching, and then relaxed for about 15 minutes or so by the wave pool. That was very refreshing. I might also add that I have enjoyed meeting many of you while at Kings Island, and making new friends is quite the pleasure. My casual riding has led me to 36 Diamondback rides so far, and while that isn't all that many, I'm okay with that. Flyer, who has 90 on Beast.

Which is Timmy's Air Tours: The Adult Version. Whoever started that nickname was correct. I have the feeling that the intense ride cycle on The Crypt will be something that makes everyone turn green with envy in 20 years when you tell them you rode it, so enjoy that my friends.

Hmmm. That's a lot like how all of the coasters run trim-free in my heart...and what fun they are! Flyer, who wants to fly free of trims!

The Boss is very much smoother than Son of Beast in my opinion, and the airtime is fabulous. I very much enjoyed riding in the back seat.

My personal best is 35 rides in a day on The Beast. There were other rides that I rode that day as well, including 5 back-to-back rides on Son of Beast, 3 of which are well remembered!

I'm not surprised to hear you say that! Personally, I tend to like hair, though mine is much shorter as of late, but still as long as I could leave it. As for 10,000 - just wow! I'll work on it. I'm up to 86 for the season on Beast so far.

I was waiting for the magic seat when you came back into the station from that ride. Small world! I would have gladly changed places with you, but would have been disappointed when an evac didn't occur. Flyer, who was disappointed when no evac occured on Vortex after being stuck at the mid-course for 15 min.

Just as most people who drive wouldn't want to confront speeders..... It's those who don't that I'd like to confront!

I hope I'm never asked that question. If you've read my TRs, you know that I really don't do shows, though I usually do a meal about noon. Rides are what I'm about. It's certainly one of mine, and the mid-course is in such a place that it couldn't do much damage if it stopped. Neener neener! Boss comes in at 12, and for anything I can't understand why people whine about it. Screamin' Eagle is #13 for me at the moment, and is a great ride! The third drop is my favorite.

I have four comments to make, and half of KIC can probably predict most of them. 1. It's wonderful to have someone that shares my opinions of the mid-courses of the rides. 2. A trimless ride on The Beast is my most desired experience in the world, and will likely never happen. 3. Son of Beast is always rougher than The Beast, but the rose bowl helix is the only part that I find to be rough - afterward, it's trimmed to a crawl except on very rare occasions that do happen. 4. You and I share a tradition in starting with The Beast, and I also make sure to end there, because I have to agree that nothing beats a night ride on the world's longest wooden roller coaster.

Friday was a very fun day for me, for more reasons than one! I'm surprised you didn't see me with several trips on The Beast. I was pretty easy to find there for the majority of the day (though the morning and early afternoon especially) and I didn't ride much else - only Racer and SOB. Yes, definitely. If it was a splash zone, you'd leave it soaked. Then again, there are some people that leave Diamondback's back seat soaked - couKATgh.

A feeling like "I know there's a ride in here somewhere" for me. When they changed it from Tomb Raider to The Crypt, the new ride program brought the two triple flips, and those were my favorite parts to the ride. I also liked the weird backward feeling going over the top. The new program for me is just lame. If they were going to turn it into something like that, I wish they would bring back the original beginning from Tomb Raider that started by moving forward a little while locked, then release and let it rock back and forth a few times. Then on up from there, or backward, or wherever. I don't know what it was, but the rocking always managed to surprise me, and I loved it. There really is nothing surprising or exciting about the new program, and the similar elements seem to have been slowed down. That's getting parilously close to a trim brake! I have missed the double flip in complete darkness from the original program as well. At least I think it was a double. That flip always got my sense of direction so screwed up I didn't know which way was up or down. I also miss the perfect use of the two doors. I have missed the one between the anti-chamber and the pre-show room as it is. Now with both doors, do we have anything to be excited about with Crypt? The music in the queue is nice. I have some of it on CD - Midnight Syndicate.

Well, what do you know! We were there on the same day! I'm hoping to get a TR posted soon, but it's not looking very promising. Tuesday's downtime was obscene, but it was still a fun day. I didn't notice that they had to have an evac on Blue Streak, though I did pick up on the fact that they seem to have screwed up the electrical system on Blue. I'd pay big bucks to trade places and get to walk down the lift hill. An evac of any ride is very appealing to me, though I'd prefer the top of lift 2 on The Beast. I had no fewer than 3 of KI's managers/supervisors mention to me that they had seen me at Cedar Point. If any of you see me at any point in any park for any reason - say something! I don't bite!

Now it's personal! How dare you...just how dare you...neglect poor little Blue Streak. ***giving you a hard time here, but still serious*** Blue has more enjoyable airtime than any other ride at Cedar Point. Millennium's air isn't strong enough, and Magnum's air is a little hard to appreciate due to the style of lap bars they use. Now let's compare Blue's air to SoB's - the first drop on SoB may have good airtime, but other than that almost all of it is ripped away by that annoying thing in the center of the ride, which is after the rough parts, I might add. Despite the hill that has obviously been reprofiled in the past, the hills on Blue Streak are fabulous and provide excellent airtime...all without trims...at least for now, though I'm waiting in fear. Flyer, who is partial to Blue Streak because of its distant similarities to another coaster close to his heart.

I've been Terpied again! I've never marathoned on any coaster that isn't a sit down coaster. My record is 13 in a row on The Beast on a really light day when I marathoned on it for over two hours.

That probably would have been a better way to word it! Flyer, who has ridden many rides in a row without getting up on certain rides. That means staying seated.

Why old? Consider for a moment Leap the Dips, which was built in 1902. Now does The Beast still look old? I'd say middle-aged. Flyer, who misses Screechin' Eagle, another rather "old" coaster.

Well that's a matter of opinion. My very best rides on Son of Beast have been the rare trimless ones. It's nice when the second half of the ride is more than just a crawl and actually has some force to it. Even with absolutely no braking at the mid-course, there are no forces even close to that of some of the other coasters even in the same park, so no SOB does not "need" the brakes. Nor, I might add, do most if not all of the coasters I've ever been on. I tend to prefer the airtime on Cyclops at Mt. Olympus - must be 18 or older to ride in the back car. Yes, they have a sign in the station that says that! And NO it's not trimmed, nor are any other of the parks 4 wooden coasters! Parks can actually let the coasters move, if they desire them to do so.

It's one of many reasons that I like Flight Deck as well! I was meaning a trimless ride on a trimmed coaster, though, of course. Flyer, who's waiting in fear for a trim to show up on Blue Streak or Millennium Force, his favorites at CP.

Beast has brakes???? WHAT??? Oh, yeah...in FOUR locations. *Flyer watches tongue here for fear of slipping into trim rant essays.* Just look at my signature for my opinion.

It does that EVERY time you ride it! Flyer, disgusted.

Since we're talking about trims here, I feel like this is a perfect opportunity to jump in. Since I'm not the one that brought it up, I can now say that I was rather disgusted that there wasn't a single trimless ride to be found on anything during the entirety of ERT. (And not even upon nice request...but Flyer of course wouldn't request such a thing...not a peep, Jackson!)

My height is 6'3" and as long as my arms are down during the entry into the tunnels, they are fine going through the actual tunnels themselves if they're straight up. I'm too big a chicken to see how far up I can leave them before they hit on the way in - and don't anticipate ever doing so. I've developed very intricate hand patterns during the course of that 4:50 ride, and it's down to a science. I did, however, lean into the curve exiting the brake shed too soon and clipped the end of my finger on the last of the brake shed's supports. Oops! But...that didn't hurt whereas the helix would!

It really depends on when you go. If you go on busy days, you can expect to wait an hour, but usually on weekdays, the wait is not that bad. You might expect half an hour or less for a wait time. Likely less. Judging by how long it's been since you rode it, expect a much stronger mid-course brake than you once had too. It almost completely stops the train these days.