Hoeter

What is all of this motel talk? Andrew, one who never eats the complimentary chocolates on the pillow.

Made my third trip out to Kings Island this season. Arrived at 3:45pm and saw many buses in the parking lot. Started off, as usual, with the longest wooden roller coaster in the world- The Beast. Good ride, but I still complain about that trim break in the straightaway killing the momentum and bringing the train into a leisurely stroll through the tunnel. Waited 20 minutes. Second ride of the day was Diamondback. Used the SRL, waited in line 25 minutes or so, and got assigned row 14 on red train. Cory Butcher was working, so I chatted with him for a little bit. Being only two rows from the back, I felt no mist at all from the splashdown. Kings Island has really hit a home run with Diamondback! After Diamondback, I headed over towards Action Zone and checked out Flight Deck for the first time this season. Flight Deck desperately needs a paint job- it looked much worse to me than it did last season. Ride was fun, but short and was a walk-on as well. Following Flight Deck, I decided to hit up Son of Beast. Last week when I rode it, it was my first ever time on that ride, it had little to no wait, and was very enjoyable. Tonight was a complete 360. I waited about 40 minutes for Son of Beast, or as I like to call it now: Whiplash Express. Part of this blame lies on me as I sat towards the rear of the blue train over a wheel. I've seen many times mentioned on this board that Son of Beast will beat the absolute snot out of you if you are riding over a wheel. Last week when I rode it, I was in the front of a car in the middle of the blue train and wasn't as rough as my experience tonight. Son of Beast is an awesome structure to look at, and the ride is enjoyable as long as you aren't getting jolted to death. I decided to head towards Coney Mall to hit up Vortex. I rode it last week in 5-1 and had a very good ride. No headbanging against the OTSR's, plenty of legroom, and later I find out that 5-1 is the very row in which the ride is designed around. For some reason, 5-1 had a very long wait, so I figured 5-2 wouldn't be that much different. Boy, was I wrong! Sitting in 5-2 was very painful for me for a couple of reasons: I'm a taller guy, about 6' 2'' or 6' 3'' and found I was very cramped in the seat. Also, my neck and head banged into the OTSR's the whole ride. When I ride Vortex in the future, I will definately make sure to ride in 5-1, no matter how long the wait is. I waited about 10 minutes to ride. After this, I decide to take multiple laps on Diamondback. I first rode Diamondback last Friday, and absolutely loved it. I rode two B&M's last month while down in Florida and they were smooth as glass and the best rides you'll experience anywhere, and Diamondback certainly isn't any different. Used the SRL for my second ride of the day, waited 30 minutes and was assigned row 5 on red train. Row 5 delivered by far my best ride on Diamondback yet! After I got off, I went to the entrance of Diamondback to find that the SRL was closed. Since the SRL was temporarily closed, I decided to walk around a little bit and take in the sights. I returned to Diamondback about 9:00pm and got in the SRL since it reopened. I was in line for 15 minutes or so at the top of the stairs, getting ready to await my seat assignment when my ears were treated to the lovely tune of a downtime spiel. Green train was stuck in the station-already boarded with passengers, Red train was on the brakes after the splashdown, and gold train was on the MCBR. I decided not to wait and took a relaxing ride on the train. I haven't been on the train since before construction started on Diamondback. The track from the first drop going into the second hill runs very very close to the train, and it's cool how the entire ride looks back there from the train. Walked right onto the train without waiting, and upon return 10 minutes later, I find out that Diamondback is running again. I get into the SRL for my third and final ride of the night. Waited 15 minutes and was assigned row 10 on green train. My first night ride on Diamondback was amazing...not as amazing as a night ride on The Beast, but very close. That about sums it up for my experience. What would a PTR be without pictures?!? Please note that these pictures were taken with my cell phone so they're not going to be the best quality, but at least I tried. Enjoy these pictures that I captured... Thanks for reading my PTR. Take a look at my signature for my latest creation: The Kinzel Nickel Count!

If you are planning on visiting the park Friday, check out this thread that I started on Monday. http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17849

Danielle, hope you get better soon. Hopefully you'll be back at KI very soon and enjoying SDATHC and your gummy whales.

I vote for Saturday/Sunday. I figure that Saturday/Sunday would be better for the people that work Monday through Friday. I missed out on RWW this year. and after all of the fun things I heard about, I will not be missing out on the next one.

^ You'll be amazed at the odd types of restrooms there are. There was even a special on the Travel Channel with the 10 coolest restrooms. Sorry to go off into a tangent. Moving right along...

-Build a ride just like King Cobra (probably a B&M stand-up) -Paint Flight Deck -Remove Timmy Sr. Air Tours or whatever it's called and build a ride just like KCKC in it's place. -Repave the parking lot since it's not getting much love these days. -Remove BLSC and bring back our beloved Flying Eagles and Antique Cars. -Build a dome that covers the entire park, kind of like in The Simpsons Movie, so we can enjoy Kings Island year-round.

XGatorHead, sorry to hear about the whole line-jumping fiasco. As Terpy stated two posts above, instances of line-jumping is reported here on KIC on a semi-regular basis and it is very sad that employees permit it to happen. Action needs to be taken, and it needs to be brought to the attention of the higher-ups at Kings Island and Cedar Fair for that matter. So far this season, I've seen way too many things occur that is against park policy within eyeshot of an associate or manager. I'm glad that you did get to enjoy Memorial Day weekend at KI and thanks for sharing your experience with us.

I wasn't there so count me out. Good luck to all those on here who submitted pictures!

I've only ridden in row 8 and I will say that there is a ton of airtime in that row. Also got a little bit of mist from the splashdown as well.

Sounds like a good day to power-lap. I'll be there Friday and I hope to get multiple rides on DB. WOO-HOO Post #150!

You don't wish any I'll on Holiday World?

I noticed on Friday that the straightaway before the second tunnel absolutely kills the speed and I did not like it. Also, I do not like the trim going down the second lift hill into the helix. I'm pretty sure I had a trimless ride on The Beast last June. Went on it right after rope drop and the trims did not slow the train down in the straightaway or before the helix. Of course this was my first ride and I didn't know what to expect....

Let's rewind to 1999....my first year with a Kings Island season pass. I was absolutely petrified of rollercoasters, and if you forced me on one, I literally kicked and screamed. I rode forwards Racer in 1999, and absolutely hated it. Same goes for Beastie. Also rode Adventure Express and Top Cat's Taxi Jam, it was okay. Let's go forward to 2007...we took a vacation to Disney World and rode Rock n' Roller Coaster and absolutely loved it! I decided to buy a Kings Island Gold Pass in 2008 and I made my first return to Kings Island for the first time in 9 years. Since returning, I have ridden every roller coaster at Kings Island and conquered every Disney coaster and Universal coaster. I am addicted to roller coasters and find myself with withdrawals in the offseason!

Rock n' Roller Coaster, 2007.

Fairly Odd Coaster, hands down. I rode it once last year and before that rode it as Beastie. The tunnel needs to return!

I've only been to three MLB venues: Riverfront Stadium (Cinergy Field), Wrigley Field, and GABP. I know people who have personally been to Busch Stadium and say it's a very nice ballpark. I also like how there are color video boards similar to what the Reds are doing this year.

^ Better not divulge the location of this as people will try to take advantage and abuse it.

Excellent TR. Even though you visited last year Ronny, it looks like a lot of fun and I'll definately have to head up to Huntington to check it out.

What's all this news about the diamond being back? Andrew, running for the door.

When you go on a ride, and store it in a bin, and accidentally forget it, you're covered. There was a sign in the DB Trading Post that said the regular price is $1.99 and the special is $.99 I didn't forget my picture. I figured I'd give it a try to see how it worked. Had it been $1.99 instead of $.99, no deal.

^ I'm guilty. I hope Dick Kinzel is happy counting all of those nickels!

Scanning really isn't a lot of work. I just got one of those all-in-one printers and have yet to find out how the scanner works on the darn thing.

That's awesome. Thanks Ryan for sharing that. I bet people were calling 911 like crazy!

The most fun I've ever had at Kings Island was this past Friday, May 22. I hit up all of the roller coasters that I've never been on before (Vortex, SoB, FoF, and Diamondback) Until then, my tallest coaster was The Beast. I even rode with a nice gentleman on The Beast. A member of ACE, he's already ridden Diamondback almost 125 times and is shooting for 500 this season.