silver2005

I don't think there are Gold/Platinum Pass discounts on lockers. I know for certain that the lockers in the main park are, but I'm not 100% sure about Soak City lockers, though I would lean to saying they aren't either.

I just got it during my Memorial Day visit and just happened to not need it on Thursday, so I have no input as of yet.

Here are the route options Google Maps is giving me from shortest to longest- 1- I-74 to Indianapolis, take US-31 up through Indiana which merges with I-196 for a short time in Michigan, however, once I'm ultimately on US-31, its a straight shot to Muskegon- 5 h 40 m 2- I-75 up to US-33 (just south of Lima), get on I-469 and I-69 around Ft. Wayne, do some zig-zaging through MI to Muskegon- 5 h 53 m 3. I-75 up to Toledo, get on US-23 up through Ann Arbor (takes me somewhat close to Detroit), take I-96 to Muskegon- 6 h Part of me wants to do option 1 just to do a new route and I've never been through Indy before, though, if my drive to Santa Claus last year was any indication, Indiana is pretty sparse outside major population centers. This route would take me along Lake Michigan as well which sounds pleasant. Option 2 would be the next likely as I'm more familiar with I-75. I hear Dayton is finally done with their never ending construction of I-75. That's probably my biggest dilemma concerning travel for this. I'm well aware of how to avoid the Ohio Turnpike concerning the trip from Muskegon to Sandusky and then back to Cincy.

The only pain I had on T3 was getting stapled even though I let the bar have some distance between my legs. Its that much of a positive g beast. My legs nearly had the circulation cut off.

Kind of intriguing actually. They already have a GCI, and 100 ft is a bit above a family coaster height. A Grizzly RMC overhaul comes to mind, a Mack looper/launcher sounds plausible, maybe a small B&M flyer.

Something I'm considering is doing ride reviews of everything, even stuff I've been on before. I want to see how my tastes have changed. That and I want a reason to write stuff.

I also wore my BUCKeye State shirt to the park (where UC and State are highlighted in white, its an official UC made OSU troll shirt), and I got a lot of props from people including a Delirium attendant who thought I went to OSU (the C in buckeye is a C-paw). Another reason I let myself have this kind of visit is to prepare myself for CP.

I got a goooood ride session in today. This is the kind of damage I can do when left to my own devices for a day with only the usual suspects over a 15 minute wait- Rides ridden once- Invertigo, Timbers, X-Base, SRR, Zephyr, Viking, Delirium, Eiffel Tower, KIMVRR, Congo Falls, WWC, Backlot Banshee- 4 including night ride Bat- 2, once for front seat Drop Tower- 2 WindSeeker- 2 (including a spectacular sunset ride) Adventure Express- 2 including night ride Vortex- 4 (including a front seat zen ride just after opening, prior to said zen ride, I introduced myself to VortexBFForever) Diamondback- 5 (twice in a row during morning ERT) Beast- 4 including night ride, twice in the front including said night ride Racer- 6, 2 front seat rides, 3 per side I did manage the ultimate night ride trio by getting in Beast right before they closed for the fireworks, power walked a la malem to AE, then barely made it in line for Banshee, but was the train before the fireworks ride. BTW, they are closing Beast closer to 9:35-9:40 for the fireworks now. The line separaters were a bit over zealous today, in that they were so intent on getting exact amounts that they were not paying attention to the station and often sent half empty trains, mainly on Flight of Fear, Beast during about mid-day, and Diamondback. Food service is improving little by little though. Diamondback, for most of my visits, had its crew on their A game. They were dispatching trains, at times, when the train ahead was just hopping off the MCBR. And they didn't have to rush anyone, includes letting people use the bins, but still being efficient about it. Vortex's crew also had a great showing, especially later in the evening. Beast's crew is a bit sluggish and Banshee's is still on Red Bull and caffeine pills (aka, just mowing through lines with ease). Oddly enough, Adventure Express had the longest wait outside the usual longer wait rides for a good part of the day. It didn't die down until the late afternoon. I ate at the Smokehouse in SC for the first time, and they blew me away. Had the wings, which, while a bit tough, was still easily the best thing I've eaten in the park...ever. Now can we get that kind of quality and service in the main park? I ate on I-Street for dinner at LaRosa's with a helping of a full rendition of Rhapsody in Blue which really puts the cherry on top for I-Street. Off the Charts still does a great show, probably my favorite show in the park with Imagine disappointing me. I'm also glad its back at the band stand. Overall, a perfect day at the park including incredible weather. Glad I took the day off!

Mad props to the Diamondback crew. They have been on their A game on my last few visits.

Mostly 5-15 minute waits for most rides sans X-Base and MT. EDIT: Updated park average waits now at 10-30 minutes.

Just over 10 days away! Still deciding on a route between Cincy and Muskegon though.

Just for reference, if we could add more wait times than Mystic Timbers' as that is the new ride, that'd be kind of better. Just stating what the new ride's wait time is often hardly evidence of a busy day, especially one not up to par from a capacity stand point as the line chewers at KI (Vortex, DB, Bandshee, Beast, etc). I expect MT to have long waits regardless of day.

I must have gone on a good day for ride ops as I found their dispatch times quite sufficient.

Looks like KI is looking to improve its food staffing- they put up a post on FB saying that starting pay for Food and Beverage is $10/hr.

I know parks don't line up big investments with anniversaries, but I think they're missing opportunities in not doing so, at least for as big a milestone as 50 years is.

I have a feeling the entrance will either be changed up either before or right at the 50th anniversary, even if its just minor aesthetics. Now that they re-tooled the parking entrance, I think the entrance building will follow suit. Also, insert obligatory restrooms in X-base wish here. As for rides, I'm sure we'll see some flats, maybe something for Planet Snoopy by then. It's honestly hard to pin down what coaster KI gets next because I think the last 3 coaster additions rounded out the line up nicely. It's kind of hold on and wait to see where the park chooses to go from here. Now that they have a lot of the modern basics for a modern chain park, we'll probably see some variety, hopefully things that will give the park a bit of its own character. I'm honestly okay with the park going a little outside the box at this point.

My overall point (and yes, I know very well about the B&M clause with CF) is that, IMO, we'd be worse off under Paramount and SOB's timeline wouldn't have changed all that much.

I'm saying it would be lamer than Banshee because Banshee is that awesome and Paramount, at least going by their track record, didn't build anything up to Banshee's level when they had the Paramount Parks. Banshee is among my top 5 favorite steel coasters for reference. BTW, Banshee has the length and a shared inversion record for inverts. In fact, its the largest inverted coaster in the chain in every way imaginable.

What incentive would Viacom (who owned the Paramount Parks) have in keeping a coaster condemned by the investigator who overlooked the 2006 incident, which happened mere days after CF's purchase of the Paramount Parks? The 2006 accident would have happened either way since Paramount was too blind and cheap to fix it properly. I don't think the timeline would play out so differently, but we'd probably have something lamer than Banshee in SOB's place since Paramount only built 1 B&M in their tenure and was on the prototype bandwagon in the late stages of ownership as well. Though, in all likelihood, we'd probably still have Tomb Raider since the original ride program probably wouldn't have been messed with. Perhaps a slower demise.

So Goble, after you rehab that Star Destroyer off of Craigslist, you should definitely think of assisting Kings Island's security.

Are all the BBQ items using just one sauce or is there a variety?

Does the Smokehouse have an indoor our outdoor patio?

I probably should try to kick myself into hiking out to Soak City for this on my next visit, mostly because going out to Soak City for a meal is a foreign concept to me.

I'm kind of afraid to ask this, but how much is the steak? Also- seafood!

I have to say I like Imagine better than Origins. There's better flow between set pieces in the former show. Origins seems to have a lot of dead air between certain sets. Imagine has better music as well IMO, a better percussive soundtrack that added a bit more life and intensity to the show. Origins does have a nice foreign soundtrack and use of synths plus the use of a live drum set, but as a whole, Imagine does the music, and everything else (including more elaborate choreography) better.