Hoeter

I'm assuming that change took place after the 9-11 attacks? I remember when you didn't need a passport to get into Canada...

I'm on the east side of Cincinnati so probably about the same up to Canada's Wonderland. 4-5ish hours up I-75 to Detroit then across into Canada?

I'll be going up at least once, but I wouldn't mind (time and money permitting, of course) visiting some of Cedar Fair's other parks.

I'm on the fence at this point about next year. I know at the very least that I'll get a gold pass, but I'm leaning more towards platinum. I'm having trouble justifying in forking out the extra dough for the platinum pass. I recently purchased a new car (2013 Ford Focus, new with only 580 miles). I've been wanting to get up to Cedar Point BAD and have never been, but with the old car that I had, 235k miles and all, I didn't want to chance driving that distance. Next year I'm determined to get up there for the first time. My question is, should I pay the extra amount or just stick with the gold pass? The installment option has me interested. Thoughts?

Thank you for sharing with us! It was one of the most memorable days I've had at Kings Island and I've been there more times than I can count. Thanks again!

Sadly, and I said the same thing to the group I was with Sunday, I never got to experience The Racer backwards. If that's not enough for you, I didn't even experience any of coasters other than forward Racer and Adventure Express until 2008 and 2009!

Yes, one side of The Racer was turned backwards in 1982 to compensate with the excessive downtime and closures that The Bat faced. It ran backwards from that time until it was turned forward again in 2008. One person who knows more about The Racer than anyone on here is Mr. Racer himself, Don Helbig. Originally thought it was done in 2007, so The Racer ran backwards for the first full year of Cedar Fair ownership.

Edited to reflect your username in the trip report. Happy? I was half asleep when I initially wrote the trip report and I could not remember your username for the life of me.

Thank you for sharing Brad! Glad to meet you finally and some others yesterday!

Here's the link to the 65 pictures I took yesterday. Taken on my Galaxy Note II. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151866778257249.1073741828.504292248&type=1&l=78bcb4e6d0

Anyone on KIC that's also my Facebook friend, I uploaded 65 photos from yesterday if you'd like to see them.

Same here buddy, will have to plan another meetup before the end of the 2013 season!

This visit was long overdue, being that the last visit was the Banshee announcement-exactly one month ago today. With that in mind, I was looking forward to the events planned for KIC's 10th Anniversary ever since Don posted the itinerary several days back. Before I get to the details of this visit, I want to thank Ryan, Dane, Ronny, and the rest of the KIC team for allowing us a place to discuss Kings Island and the amusement park industry in general. Additionally, a BIG thank you goes to Don Helbig for allowing us the opportunity to participate in special events that the general public does not get to take part in. I know a lot of members will probably say the same as I have. Again, a big THANK YOU to both the KIC team and Don for all that you have done and allowed us to do today. Enough with the techno mumbo-jumbo horsenuggets and on to the details of the day! I arrived around 1pm, right as the Todd Frazier Q&A was concluding and was in contact with IndyGuy4KI about meeting up. I met up with him, Brian5475E, Dieseltech20, TheDevariousEffect and others at the Reds Hall of Fame Grille. I took this opportunity to sample some of the food that this establishment offered as well as catching the Bengals game. I ended up having the boneless wings in a spicy garlic sauce. 12 wings in total for $11.99, the wings were hot and delicious, and the price was comparable to that of a similar chain such as Quaker Steak or B-Dubs. I was satisfied! Kings Island got it right with the restaurant and I hope it's a staple for many seasons to come. After our meal, our group headed over to the train- a nice, relaxing way to allow our stomachs to settle after filling them up. Station wait for the green locomotive. It's been awhile since I've been on the train, but Pikachu has a friend out there with him now! Once the trip was over, we headed towards Coney Mall and our group got in a ride on The Racer, red side. 1 train wait towards the back of the train. Love the ride, it's a classic, but those seat dividers make it uncomfortable for me being a bigger guy and all. After this ride, we headed to Adventure Express, 5 minute wait and no noticeable sewage smell. We went through Wolf Pack next and it's amazing to see how different the whole area looks without Son of Beast there. The controls for Son of Beast are still intact in the drive box from what I saw in one of the zones. Waited 25 minutes for our tour. At this time, our group decided with time to kill before the Banshee construction tour, to hit up Congo Falls. First time I've been on that ride in years and I was probably one of the luckiest on the boat, I hardly got wet at all! After this, since there was still a little bit of time to kill, half of the group headed to Delirium while me, TheDevariousEffect, his girl, and Exscream Team headed to the Festhaus to take in some AC, refreshments, and "Rock and Roll Never Forgets". Kings Island has really improved the quality of their live shows in the past few years and it's great to see that! At this time, Don met up with us in Action Zone for the construction tour. I am amazed by the change in elevation and the sheer size of the project that is underway. I'm also amazed with the progress made thus far, just one month after being announced. It was after this that our group headed over towards The Beast for the backstage tour of Diamondback. On the way there, I decided to take advantage of the Dollar Days promotion by getting me a blue ice cream. I'm 26 years old, have been coming to the park for years, and I just now try it for the first time. Hard to believe. We met up with Don here at 5:30 and I ended up getting some pretty great shots of the ride from this angle. Once the tour concluded, the group split up. I went along with NoChickens, MrsNoChickens, and a few others with us heading to Diamondback. 20 minute wait for brown train, row 6 and 7. Amazing as always, did not notice any jackhammering or anything. We then met up with IndyGuy4KI and the others and then proceeded to the International Restaurant for the Don Helbig Q&A, lasted around 40 minutes. There were some very good questions asked. After the tour, the entire group headed back towards The Beast for the final rides of the summer. 2 train wait for the very last train of the summer, first row in the rear car. Amazing as always, the entire train was in an uproar coming into the station. A semi night ride I may add. All in all it was a great time! If you met me or if I talked to you at some point today, it was good doing so. I'm absolutely horrible with names in general. Cannot wait for Haunt to start here shortly. A midnight ride on The Beast is LONG overdue. I'm also long overdue on some Z's and 5:30am comes quick. With that in mind, until next time!

Yea I saw where Ryan stated that previously. I guess that person didn't get the memo...

28 times? The person probably submitted the first one and started sending the rest when Don would not respond. Then again said person possibly has Frontier's award winning internet! Times out 90% of the time. Glad I don't live in Brown County anymore. Now I have Time Warner and their award winning internet!

A big thank you to Don for planning these activities. See you all on Sunday!

67 years old and too much Plastic Surgery. Back in her younger days though Oh well, doesn't take away from the fact that she is a very nice and giving person. Plus she has been in some of my favorite movies. I had to double take when I read that she is 67 years old...surprisingly enough she is. I could have sworn that she was in her 70's to near 80. I must have her confused with Joan Rivers or something...

I heard the elevators were last updated around 2005? Originally they were Montgomery elevators and I'm pretty sure they still are.

I'm on Verizon and I've mostly had no issues so far this season with getting a signal for mobile data. The only time I had a problem was last Thursday night for the ride announcement.

When did the color change from olive green to blue?

Terpy, real man of genius, I didn't know there was a difference between the two. I do mean silicone.

The restraints for this new attraction, well they're big, two per seat, and made of silicon. Andrew, keeping it G rated...

Diamondback's systems are powered by one of the most advanced PLC's on a rollercoaster today. The train will not dispatch until the restraints are secured. I have had no second thoughts about getting on Diamondback since the New Texas Giant incident and Banshee I'm guessing will use the same AB PanelView Touch system.

It's in the front. Same place it was Thursday when I drove past.

http://www.700wlw.com/media/podcast-scott-sloan-on-demand-scott_sloan/sterling-in-for-sloan-8913-hour-23563349/ Skip to around the 15:50 mark. Sterling, who filled in for Scott Sloan, calls Don "Den Hellig" by mistake! MODS: Please feel free to move this if it's not in the correct location.