Hoeter

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.

May 9, 2014: Post Workweek Stress Relief and Banshee/Bat Night ERT Arrived after work around 6:45pm to find a park that was almost dead. My kind of visit! I met up with my friend that I went to high school with and caught some rides with her for a little bit. Banshee in Row 8 was the first ride, 20 minute wait. Headed over to Diamondback and waited 15 minutes for a ride in Row 2. After this, me and her headed towards The Beast for her first ride in quite some time- 10 minute wait for first row. Vortex in 7-1 was up next, 5 minute wait for this one. Before she left, we got a ride in on Flight of Fear. My first ride on it this season, and very close to being a walk of shame. 30 minutes for the first row on this one. She had to leave, so I headed to Racer and got a front row ride on Red. 10 minute wait. I met up with Zach, Lora, Melissa, and company over by Vortex and we got in a ride on Flight of Fear, my second of the evening and my second close shave with a walk of shame. 20 minute wait for round 2. Next up was The Bat-10 minute wait for this ride. After this, it was all Banshee for the rest of the evening. Got in 4 more rides during the ERT with waits less than 20 minutes down to 5 minutes, hell even a walk on there towards the end. The evening was capped off with a ride in Row 8, which also was the last train of the night. $1 ice cream and $1 20oz drinks for the ERT event wasn't bad either. I hope Kings Island puts on more of these ERT events throughout the rest of the season! Updated ride totals for the season, as always, in the signature below. TODAY'S RIDE TOTALS: Banshee (5), Bat (1), Beast (1), Diamondback (1), Flight of Fear (2), Red Racer (1), Vortex (1) Additionally, tonight I took my 50th all time ride on The Beast, my 110th all time ride on Diamondback, and my 15th all time ride on Banshee

There's no contest here for me. Banshee, all the way. I had the opportunity to ride Son of Beast in it's final season. It was a great concept but one that I feel was poorly executed- blame previous park ownership for that. I loved the speed, not the roughness. And I never had the opportunity to ride it with the loop. All rides were in it's last season.

It's been getting great press. At Media Day, Don was interviewed by WGN out of Chicago. They had a live crew there and all. Chicago is 200+ miles away and they drove to Cincinnati just for Banshee.

Is he planning on driving or flying to Orlando? If he's driving, will he be leaving from this area?

I have heard that the current Mark VII trains are still the old Mark V trains, just redone from their mid-1980s design. Same frame and all of that. I've heard rumors for years that Disney was going to expand their monorail system in Florida. Apparently it was in their plans to have a line ready for MGM when it opened in 1989. From what I've heard it costs north of $1 million per mile to expand it. With the bus system that they have between Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios I've heard it's highly unlikely they'll ever expand it. One can hope.

I'm kind of on the fence about Friday. My buddy has a pass this year and he hasn't been since 2009-he loved Diamondback so I want him to ride Eve.

Wouldn't be hard. I have a super clean version of the old spiel from way back on my computer. All we need are some speakers and something capable of playing a CD or with line in

I never should have worn that shirt...haha

Don't know if I brought this up but I rode The Beast right before close on Sunday night with either Malem or thoe124. I was sitting in the first row of car 2 and going up both lift hills the two girls in the front row had their phones out taking selfies. Was wanting to see them stop us on the lifts and call them out but that did not happen. Security was also in the station upon our return and from what I saw nothing happened there either. Of course, being the ass that I am, yelled out "WAIT! Let me take a selfie!" while they were doing that. Don't think they liked it...