Hoeter

See I go to Cedar Point yesterday for the first time and then this happens. It's not my fault, I swear!

You're welcome buddy!

Yes, regardless if you have a pass or not, you are required to pay the $26 to participate in the event. The cost helps pay for such events, including food, drink, the labor that Kings Island needs for the event, and what have you. I'm still on the fence as to if I will be there. It's my birthday, and I am off that day, so probably a sporting chance at this point. My wallet will also be dropping early in the morning at the DMV. Happy Birthday to me from the State of Ohio!

I will be headed up tomorrow night after work. All my stuff is packed and ready to go. Come home, change, grab a few things, then it's full speed ahead. I work for a company that is business casual, meaning my normal attire consists of khakis, a polo, and dress shoes. Tomorrow a big event is happening in the Conference Center at work and business professional dress is required, meaning that I am required to wear a suit and tie. Of all days...

Thanks Chris for clarifying this for BB1! Sort of still not answering the money question, but thanks! I just talked to Timmy. Select the $26 option. If you have a Platinum or Gold Pass, obviously you get in for free. Otherwise, you'll need admission. I trust you have a pass.

Let me reach out to Tim directly and see what he says real quick. Stand by...

Tim Holloran stated on Coaster Crew's Facebook page that the event is open to both Coaster Crew members and members of KIC. You can attend by being a member of KIC and not having a Coaster Crew membership, although having a membership is highly recommended. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 using Tapatalk.

This will be my first trip. Devan, I expect you to give me the ultimate Cedar Point experience!

I really don't think it's a bad deal if you just rent it for a couple hours. I won't rent a locker for the full day, that's where it gets expensive. Firehawk is one of those rides that has the same type locker and price structure. I will not ride with things in my zip pockets on Firehawk.

How much more reasonable in price do you want them to be? Hell, I think $1 an hour or however much their charging is fine. Put your stuff in the locker, ride Banshee, end the rental, and head to rides that have bins...

June 1, 2014: 25th Ride on Banshee Since I went and spent some much needed time with Grandma this afternoon, I figured I'd make use of my pass since I was out this way. Plus it's been a few weeks since I've been out with mandatory overtime and some side projects I'm working on getting done before my trip up to Cedar Point later this week, and my trip to Tybee Island, Georgia with possible stops at both Carowinds and Kings Dominion late next week, I had one thing in mind for this evening: taking my 25th ride on Banshee. Arrived around 6:30pm, and headed into the park where I met up with Lora, Zach, and company. They had just gotten off of Boo Blasters and we then headed to Kings Island Theater for the much-hyped "Cirque Imagine". It's a neat little show, and I was amazed by the performance itself. The acrobatics performed were absolutely astonishing. Halfway through the performance, one of the actors suffered an injury which resulted in a cancellation of the remainder of the show. I hope the young man recovers quickly, but from what I've heard, he left in good spirits. Ran into Ryan and talked with him a bit as well. I will definitely have to check this show out again in it's entirety next time I'm at the park. After this, me and the group headed towards Banshee. Line wasn't too bad- waited only 20 minutes to ride in Row 2. Ride #25 (and every other ride for that matter) is just as good, if not better, than the first ride I took on Media Day back in April. Kings Island definitely has a winner in Banshee and it's a must ride anytime I visit the park. After this, me and Zach headed off to chat a bit while Lora, Melanie, and them rode The Racer. We then headed to Dodgems where it was a 10 minute wait. Haven't been on that in years! I'm quite aggressive when it comes to Bumper Cars! It was at this point that the rides were being shut down due to inclement weather in the area. The rides were closed for a good hour or so before being given the green light around 9:30pm. The park cleared out, and it was worth staying until close! In the last half hour, back to back (yes, same train) night rides on The Beast and a quick lap over on Diamondback during the fireworks. I've never had a walk-on night ride for The Beast, let alone riding the same train and switching seats. Amazing! Short 4 day work week on the plate, and I will be headed up to Sandusky very early Friday for my first ever visit to Cedar Point, and my first ever Coastermania!

I was at the show when the performer was injured. Definitely scary and hopefully a speedy recovery for the injured young man.

I will be there as well. Only question is...leave at 6:00pm after work Thursday night, or leave at 2:00ish or after Friday morning and head up? Hmmm....

I'm trying to figure out what would be realistic drive time wise. I will be hitting Richmond, VA and Charleston, WV in the morning hours.

I believe 2009 was the last sign shop tour offered for KIC for which I was a part of. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Definitely a great experience if you ever have the opportunity to check it out.

The Sunday visit a couple of weeks ago...me, Lora, Dee, and company rode The Bat. They did the whole "Welcome back, Bat riders! How was your ride?" deal but at the end the guy inserted different park names. "When the ride comes to a complete stop, push down pull up on your lapbars and exit to your left. Enjoy the rest of your day at Canada's Wonderland!"

That's what I was wondering. Regardless if my plans include Kings Dominion or not, I will be getting on I-64 in Grayson, KY taking that to Charleston, WV and taking I-77 South. At that point the best routing I found was getting back on I-64 in Beckley taking that across to Richmond and hopping on I-95 North to Doswell. I need to update the maps on my TomTom. Been awhile. Gotta love lifetime map and traffic updates!

May 18, 2014: Another Buddy Rides Banshee Another one of my buddies texted me last night while I was in line for The Beast and asked me if getting a season pass was a good deal, to which I said absolutely. My pass for this year has already paid for itself, and it will pay for itself with a trip to Cedar Point in a few weeks, and possible stops to both Kings Dominion and Carowinds should I decide to do so. He hasn't been since the Paramount days so it's been quite some time. Today he took his first rides on both Diamondback and Banshee! I arrived about 12:30pm or so to find a decent sized parking lot, similar to the one found yesterday. I had to park in the way out section today, in Adventure Express 20. That's near the end of the parking lot park side, near Great Wolf Lodge for those of you playing along. I met up with him and his girlfriend, and it only took a couple of minutes to process their passes. First up was The Bat. 20 minute wait for 7-1. He hasn't been on this since it was Top Gun many years ago. Blew him away as to how fast and intense it is! Second was Banshee. Line moved very quickly today as we waited only 25 minutes or so for Row 4. My buddy loved it. Had a smile on his face from the time we went down the first drop to the time we hit the brakes at the end of the ride. He heard me say good things about the ride so he wanted to check it out for himself. Next up was Diamondback. 30 minute wait for this one. I wanted Row 2, as it's my go-to on this ride, but being the gentleman that I am, gave it to my friend so him and his girl could experience the ride with nothing but pure track in front of them. I took Row 3 which was an amazing ride as always. Few of you know this, my Grandma was admitted to a long-term facility out off of Fields Ertel Road. I try to plan my visits to Kings Island around going to see her as it's only 5 or 10 minutes from the park. It's been a tough road for my family but everything is slowly but surely improving. For being in her mid-80's, her mind is still as sharp as a tack. I closed out today by going to visit her and now it's time to wind down from 2 days at the park before a long workweek including mandatory overtime. Until next time...ride on!

May 17, 2014: My Buddy Rides Banshee My buddy and his family decided to get Gold Passes for the 2014 season, so right after he purchased them he wanted me to go the park with him and his family and show him the park from an enthusiast point of view. We did that yesterday, and let me tell you, it was an amazing day even though it was the busiest that I've seen since Opening Day. Arrived around 10:30am, met up with my buddy and his family while they were getting their passes processed. The line moved pretty quick for them, they were in and out in under 10 minutes. After this, we headed into the park. Lot of school groups here as there was an award ceremony for the Music in The Parks program. I went out to the car in the middle of the day and I actually lost count of how many busses there were out there. Quite a bit of them! It was actually quite chilly as well, which was an epic fail for me as I wore my "Hodor" t-shirt and my cargo shorts- Zach gave me that nickname several weeks ago as it's a play on my last name. First, we headed towards Banshee. The line was almost to the Festhaus due to the fact that there was an employee at the entrance inspecting and informing people entering the line. I saw several people come to him when I was very close asking to enter the line to join their party which was already within the queue. Of course the answer was no and both people got upset at him for enforcing park rules. With the rain and the temporary closure of Banshee, we waited about 90 minutes to ride, in Row 8 of course. Wanted my buddy to ride here as this is my row of choice and the ride is much more intense here. I was in 84, he was right next to me. He loved the ride, but hated the zero-g roll. Our group split up next, 2 of us did Adventure Express while me and my buddy did The Racer. 25 minute wait for a seat in the middle of the train. My buddy hasn't been on it in several years. He thorougly enjoyed it, but on several occasions he brought up the fact that he was super bummed that one side does not go backwards anymore. When we got off of The Racer, the other 2 were getting off of Adventure Express. Perfect timing. The group made it's way to Flight of Fear next. I decided to sit this one out, as did my buddy, for his fear of getting the dreaded Walk-Of-Shame like I nearly did the week before. Me, him, and his Mom sat and chewed the fat back in X-Base while the other 2 waited in line for an hour and a half to ride. Firehawk also appeared to have almost a 2 hour wait during this time. Next up was Vortex. We joined the line when it was out past Troika near Juke Box Diner. This line moved quickly as we waited no more than 45 minutes to ride. Rode in 7-1, first drop again took me by surprise. Shouldn't have, as I've been in that exact same seat for most of my rides this season. Painful and rough ride for me, but not for my buddy as early on he put his arms up next to his neck to eliminate any head banging. As always, it was enjoyable- not trying to diss Vortex or anything. At this point, we were all getting hungry. The people in the group wasn't sure what they wanted, so I showed them how much value you get at the Reds Hall of Fame Grille. Started off with the mozzarella sticks, and finished with the Red Leg Burger. They were impressed with the quality of the food itself and the price as well. They are also highly considering getting the meal plan as well, as am I, but I'm on the fence at this point. After we ate, we figured it would be best to calm down for a little while to allow the food to settle. We headed back to Dinosaurs Alive! which was my first time ever going back there. It's pretty neat back there I will say that, but it's not something I will do every time I visit the park. I was surprised how big it was back there. The sauroposeidon is huge! Took about 45 minutes to an hour to get through, start to finish. At this point it was 7pm so our group definitely wanted to get rides in on The Beast and Diamondback before calling it a night. The Beast was first- we waited 90 minutes for a ride in the front row. My buddy commented that the ride felt faster than he ever remembered it. Amazing as always. It was just getting dark as we were riding, so no night ride on the books so far in 2014 for me. We finished with Diamondback, 45 minute wait for Row 10. It was dark at this point and very chilly, so it's safe to say I was freezing my you-know-what off when the ride was over. An amazing day with great friends! Can't wait to get back out there with them again! I actually have on ride photos of me and my buddy on The Beast and Vortex and will share them as soon as the files are sent to me! Updated season totals in the signature below. Until, next time...ride on!

May 12, 2014: The Park is Dead Headed up after work for a little bit. Arrived at 6:45pm to find a park that wasn't busy at all. At first, I was debating coming out due to the 8pm close but because I had an errand in Monroe, I decided to swing by for a little bit, so this gave me a little over an hour to get some rides in. Met up with Brian5475E for a little bit. Got 5 laps in on Banshee. At the end of the night, I was at 22 rides on the season. Waits less than 5 minutes, even walk on for some of the rides. After this, headed over to Diamondback and got my first Row 16 ride in several years. Forgot how amazing that first drop is in the back seat. 5 minute wait. When we got off, it was 7:57pm so I figured if we hustled, we'd have enough time to get back to The Beast and get a ride in real quick. As we were walking up to the entrance, the employee put the trash can in front of the entrance, alas no ride. But I did get a lot of rides in in the hour and 15 minutes I was there!

Not trying to backseat mod here, but since you're a newer member here on KIC please keep in mind that one word responses are NOT acceptable per the Terms of Service. The TOS can be viewed here: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php/topic/4128-terms-of-service/ Welcome to KIC!

Interesting...I will be driving I-75 on the way back. Time permitting I will be golden to stop by Dollywood, it's just a matter of seeing if it's financially possible at this point.

A few of you know that I will be going with some buddies down to Savannah, GA for a week in June for some much needed rest and relaxation! This season, I took the plunge and went with the Platinum Pass instead of the usual Gold Pass. This trip will be taking place from Friday June 13th to Sunday June 22nd, with my first trip up to Cedar Point for Coastermania! the week before that on Friday June 6th. When I requested the time off and paid for the beachfront condo down in Tybee Island, I was set on driving separate and visiting Carowinds. If I have the pass this year, I want to get the absolute most out of it that I invested, right? Now, I'm seriously considering adding Kings Dominion to that list as well. I have come up with an itinerary, which of course is subject to change, but I wanted your input as to if this will be too much or if it should be adjusted. Thank you in advance for your help! Trip 1: Cedar Point (Friday June 6th) · Coastermania! Event at Cedar Point- Friday June 6, 2014 · Registration for event starts 7:00am, ERT begins 7:30am · Trip time: 4 hours (220 miles) · Leave home at 3:00am, stay the night, drive back Saturday Trip 2- Georgia (June 13, 2014- June 21, 2014) · Home to Kings Dominion: 513 miles (8 hours) · Leave home Friday 5:00am, arrive at 12:30pm · Kings Dominion open 10:30am-8:00pm · Leave KD at 8pm, drive to Carowinds- 327 miles (5 hr) · Arrive at hotel, check in at 1:00am · Carowinds open 10am-10pm Saturday · Arrive at Carowinds for ERT, leave at 7pm · Carowinds to Tybee- 4 ½ hours, arrive 11:30pm-12:00am (257 miles) TOTAL MILEAGE ON THE WAY DOWN: 1057 miles

You can get a good glimpse of the park off of State Route 741 south of the intersection with State Route 63. It's a good 7-10 miles away so you can make out the Eiffel Tower more than anything. Best on a clear day.

As Malem said, rain and storms tend to keep people away. Hopefully it is another great day to ride with minimal crowds. See Fourth of July 2013: rain storms. Minimal crowds allowed me to get 5 rain rides in on The Beast and 15 rides in on Diamondback.