gigacoaster2k

If you saw a girl with a grey/black/white hat with pom poms, a teal sweater and green cargo pants, that was me! Sorry I didn't tell you I was going.. I kind of like surprising people sometimes, but didn't see you. My friends that work on Magnum were totally surprised to see me!

You're going to CP on a Saturday during Halloweekends? The first time I went to CP on a Halloweekends Saturday, was the last day I will EVER do that unless I'm going for 2 or 3 days. Millie's queue was COMPLETELY full to the switchbacks, with the line pouring out to the lockers. TTD's queue was full, with the line backed up to the grandstand. Maverick's queue was full, and wrapped around the queue with the line all the way back to Chick Fil A. Magnum had close to a 2 hour wait, and Raptor had a full queue all day. Even Wicked Twister, Power Tower, maXair, Blue Streak, Corkscrew, and Iron Dragon (which are usually walk ons) had an hour wait or close to it. There were long lines for food, restrooms, and even ATM machines. It was downright ridiculous how busy it was. I have the PTR to prove it. To answer your question, I haven't had a TTD rollback yet. I want one though.

Yesterday, I was standing watching Dragster, when a train launched and a girl's plastic headband flew off and into the wheels holding the cable. The headband started melting, and next time a train came by, it looked like a Twizzler when it fell out.

I forgot to mention that while in one of my (many) rides for Magnum, I heard this guy tell his son, "This is the mini Millennium." I was like, "um, no, it's not.."

Wow. I've been on Pilgrims Plunge when I barely got misted with water (when they had the water on the drop). The next time I went, they turned the water off on the drop, and we got blasted with a giant wave that left us damp for hours. Either way, it's a water ride, and the world's tallest one. I rode it, so I expected to get wet. Oh.. the seats were wet too. Did I complain about that? No. What do you want the ride ops to do, hand towel off every single boat after every single ride and drain them out? Can we say capacity nightmare, not to mention COMPLETELY pointless? Every boat is going to be wet. Deal with it, or don't ride. You cannot predict how wet you will get, and you certainly can not complain about getting wet on a water ride, you are the one that chose to go on the water ride.

It was freezing in the morning, in the evening, and on every single ride. Those trimless night rides on Maggie were absolutely frigid.. so was riding MF in 47 degrees with a breeze off the lake. But it was all totally worth it. I also forgot to mention that while I was on Maggie's lift hill at night, I looked off to the right and I could see a city lit up in the distance.. I believe it was Cleveland.

I decided I was going to take a mini vacation to CP Sunday, because I missed the place so much. I pretty much made this decision at the last minute. My friends that work up there told me it was COLD.. so I put on: 2 layers of socks, leggings under my cargo pants, a knit hat and gloves, a long sleeve thermal shirt, 2 long sleeve ribbed shirts, and a knit hooded sweater. I left my house around 6 am, and made it to CP around 9:10 am, and parked on the far left edge of the GP lot so I could walk around and sprint for Millie first. I made it to the parking lot even before Single Rider Bob did! He started walking to the marina entrance before I did. I stepped out of my car and felt an icy breeze off the lake that made me very glad I wore so many layers. Temperature was reading 38 degrees in Sandusky. I walked around to the marina entrance to see Bob and several of his friends. We joked around quite a bit, and with the others that had arrived. Many people had dressed the same way I had.. even with leg warmers, Carhartts, boots, coats, etc. That's the great thing about going to CP when it's freezing cold.. 9 out of 10 people you meet are going to be enthusiasts who don't give a crap how cold it is! We all also noticed that Millie hadn't sent any trains out yet. They started scanning passes at 9:45 (passholder entry was at 10 am). At 10, the entire crowd at the marina gate bolted for Millie! We got to Millie's entrance to see it was closed. We heard a train go up, but it was making a metallic rattle noise and getting stuck on the lift. The ride op then announced to us after getting off the phone that it was down due to mechanical reasons. So I bolted for Maverick instead. The regular wait was barely 10 minutes. The SRL was open, but when I and several other single riders got to the top, they told us it was closed. I told her to chain it off if it was closed, and went back down the stairs.. ALL THE WAY through the queue and re-entered from the start. I chose my seat in seat 6! Decided I wanted another ride, so I ran back. I was assigned to row 3, but I saw an open seat in row 6, so I jumped in! I LOVE MAVERICK w00t! I decided I was going to hit Magnum, since it was 11 am. My jaw dropped when I saw a completely empty queue and station. My friend Bre was working, and yelling at Single Rider 2 not to run LOL. She was totally surprised to see me. I rode twice (both times were trimless!), and then decided to head for Dragster. TTD barely had a 15 minute wait. I rode in second to last row since the wait for the back was just way too long. I keep forgetting how amazing that launch is.. WOW! Dragster never fails to give me a rush every time! I decided to walk toward the front of the park, and hit Power Tower Space Shot on the way.. total walk on. I hit Blue Streak, and saw my friend Scott in the control booth. I love old Blue.. has some nice air, and has just enough of that wooden coaster roughness to make it a great ride. I acted like I was terrified on the lift hill and made him laugh so hard. I went over to Raptor to see it had a half hour wait.. longest wait I'd seen so far. I waited, and noticed at this point that the sun was starting to warm things up a little. I checked the temperature on my BlackBerry to see the temperature had jumped to 50 degrees. The girl in front of me said to her boyfriend, "OH MY GOD! WE'RE GOING TO GO UPSIDE DOWN AND STUFF??!!!" I got goosebumps listening to the loud rattle-hum of the chain lift, and the signature B&M roar while in line.. I LOVE B&M COASTERS Didn't see my friend Schuyler working, but I did see Raptor Jo. I headed over to maXair to see them hosing the ride down and spraying it with disinfectant because someone got sick. I ducked out of line and hit Wicked Twister instead.. it was posted at 3/4 hour wait but it was a station wait LOL. I went back over to maXair because I saw it running, it was a walk on too. By this point, I was getting hungry. I went over to Burger Patio for a hot dog basket (they give you a regular size hot dog and a 99 cent bag of chips) and a 22 ounce Mountain Dew. I thought $9.68 for all that was a little steep, but I was starving. I got to a table to see that my bag of chips had expired 2 weeks ago (yuck with a capital Y, I DO NOT eat expired food). I took it back and showed the girl, and she spoke to her manager. They gave me a bag of nacho cheese Doritos that were only supposed to be used for the walking tacos. I realized with a start that I hadn't ridden Millie yet, so I went over there. It was about a half hour wait, but I was craving a ride, so I waited. While I was in line, I heard a teenage guy say to his friend: "I hope this is better than that stupid Maverick ride." I debated riding Mantis, but I'm still upset over the Chang situation, so I passed on Mantis. I headed over to Skyhawk, walk on. At the end of the ride, the little girl said to her mom on the right of me, "I think I have a code brown." Then the guy next to me on the left said to his friend, "I hate you! I'm going to castrate you!" I was laughing so hard. I told each one what the other one said, which caused the four of us to all start laughing hysterically. It was a great moment. After that, there was only one ride I hadn't ridden yet that I wanted to ride: Witches Wheel. I rode that, and went back over to Magnum, where it was still a station wait. I rode 3 times, and this time I saw Bre, Megan, James, and Kyle all working. More trimless rides. I decided I wanted a ride on Dragster, but it broke down due to mechanical reasons when I was 3 trains away from riding in the very back seat. Not wanting to guess how long it would take for an Intamin launch stratacoaster to be back up and running, I ducked out and went back for another ride on Magnum. I headed back toward the front of the park for another visit to Scott, Jo, and maybe Schuyler. I hit Space Shot on the way, walk on again. I hit old Blue, and chatted with Scott for a bit as he was on platform. He only gave me 2 clicks but on the lift hill, it lowered itself down 1 more. I yelled "NOOOOOOO!!" and the two little girls in front of me looked at me like I was completely insane, and giggled to each other. LOL I went over to Raptor to see it was down to about a 5 minute wait!! I didn't see Schuyler, but I saw and chatted with Raptor Jo for a bit. I rode again, and had some really weird guy staring at me ask what my first, middle, and last name was. I bolted out of there, and decided it was time to end my night with Magnum and the Magnum crew. All four of my friends were still working, so I rode 3 times. On my third ride, James announced that the crew had a surprise for me as the train left the station.. I was like "huh?" LOL. When I got back to the station, he told me to wait on the platform while Kyle chained off all but the first and last cars. He then motioned to one of the chained-off parts of the train, and told me to pick a seat, and that I could stay on until closing. Two guys also got on in front of me. The one turned around and asked me how I knew the Magnum crew, and then I realized with a start that I was looking at my friend Cameron that I'd never met! Turns out we have a lot of the same friends too.. yay for friend recognition on Magnum's lift hill! I got 4 rides in a row without getting up, the whole time laughing and joking with all four ride ops every time we came back to the station. James hugged me as I left, and Megan made faces at me from the control booth LOL. I walked out the exit with a smile on my face from an amazing, yet somewhat crazy and cold day. Ride count: Magnum - 13 (11 were trimless!) Raptor - 3 Maverick - 2 Millennium Force - 2 Blue Streak - 2 Power Tower Space Shot - 2 Dragster - 1 Skyhawk - 1 Wicked Twister - 1 maXair - 1 Witches Wheel - 1

At Cedar Point today, I heard: In line for Millennium Force: Teenage guy to his friend: "I hope this is better than that stupid Maverick ride." On maXair, in full swing: Guy: "GET ME THE F*** OFF THIS RIDE!!!!" On Skyhawk: Little girl to her mom: "I think I have a code brown." Scared dude to his friend: "I hate you! I'm going to castrate you!" On Raptor: Weird guy looking at me: "What's your first, middle, and last name?" (Of course I didn't tell him) Girl to her boyfriend: "OH MY GOD! WE'RE GOING TO GO UPSIDE DOWN AND STUFF??!!!"

Although I do not quite understand why the 200 foot mark has been declared a stopping point for a wooden coaster's height, I have to say without hypocrisy to my previous post that if GG or CCI built a woodie of extreme height, it could be amazing. SOB was built by RCCoA, none of whose 7 coasters I have ever heard of. Never had the glory of being on a GCI yet.. (one day, I hope..) so I can't make a comparison there. Just my 2 cents.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Raven at Holiday World and Blue Streak at Cedar Point are perfect examples of why wooden coasters don't need to be at staggering heights to be a great ride. Maverick at CP is also a great example of why the same can go for steel coasters. On another note: Voyage does give me a bit of a headache, but holy God, it's worth it.

Props go out to ALL of you that work at KI. I know how hard it is to work in an environment where customers can be extremely difficult. I can't even begin to start naming everyone that I know deserves recognition. THANK YOU ALL, from the bottom of my heart.. your efforts are NOT going unnoticed!!

Whatever you do, don't stay in the Econo Lodge right by the causeway. Trains woke me up every half hour on my visit there last year.. I got about 5 hours of sleep in 3 days. That and I found a crusty can of Pepsi by the TV, and there were spiders and webs in my bathtub. Then I went to buy a bottle of Vault from the vending machine.. I took one drink and spat it out. It was 5 months beyond its expiration date. Travelodge is a nice place to stay, and it's fairly inexpensive and just around the bend from CP.. I stayed there, and I found it to be as comfortable as Breakers Express.

That was too funny! - Rolling up to DB with 22 people in tow during RWW. - Driving the hour down to KI after working all day on 2 hours of sleep, because my friends from Cleveland were texting me from KI and telling me to come down, and realizing no one in the group had any sleep, and feasting on candy the whole night.. we were SO hyper and took so many stupid pics. - Tom76257, violakat03, and I driving back up to KI after Six Flags and Holiday World, and lapping Diamondback in a torrential downpour.. and the weird ride on Drop Tower in rain mode. - Going with my dad and seeing the look on his face after he rode DB for the first time. - Meeting all the other KICers.. so many of you have become a part of my life, at KI, other parks, and outside amusement parks. So many of you have become friends that I will defend until my dying breath, and I wouldn't trade you for the world. - Having my flip flop take a road trip around Ashers' and kjkjkj's seats on DB. - Not being able to hear an air horn now without thinking, "Diamondback??!!!" - Borrowing kittenpooh's kiddos at RWW so we could all get our Little Bill's credits. - When I was sunburnt, tired, felt nauseous, and hadn't had a shower.. yet violakat03 convinced me to drive to her house so we could go to KI for a few hours. There are probably so many more.

Oh trust me, I can and will find something to do a PTR about during the dreaded off season that is worth reading, and may emit several LOLs from the members of this site. XD

I saw carousels and spookies, and I thought, z0mg Kat. Must snap photo. I'm glad he got it too! I got him a discount with my season pass too. w00t

Yeah, they already started. There was some kind of tarp wrapping around the fence so I wasn't able to get very good photos.

Back across the time zone we drove.. to Kings Island! We got caught in a nasty traffic jam about 75 miles south of Cincy, and encountered a few more slow clogs. We finally made it to KI around 10:45-11 pm. No one was at the parking tolls. We met up with Ryan (BoddaH1994), Robbie (CoastersRZ), Aaron (pkiVortex), Adam (pkiboy), and Dave (DaveStroem) and his kiddos, and got 4 rides on DB! Tom sat out and I rode DB a 5th time, then the group split off and some of us headed to Beast. Nick (dare to fly) was working so we waved at him and made faces at him LOL. Then we all ran back to DB and got last train of the night. Ride counts: HOLIDAY WORLD: Voyage - 8 Legend - 8 Raven - 5 Liberty Launch - 2 Eagles Flight - 1 Turkey Whirl - 1 Kings Island: Diamondback - 6 Beast - 1 ** DAY THREE: MONDAY, OCTOBER 12: JUNGLE JIM'S AND PETLAND ** I had never been to Jungle Jim's before, so we went even though we were almost flat broke from the roller coaster weekend LOL.. hey, why not? Coney Island bumper cars now double as candy aisles! And it was off to the famous bathrooms! Using the hand soap in the glorified bathrooms hahaha The big cheese. I wouldn't have noticed these signs at the exit if Tom hadn't pointed them out. Monorail photos. Then we stopped in at Petland to say hello to the animals that we love so much. The budgies I was playing with.. I love birds. Tom was playing with a cat. And finally, the coaster shirt photo. If you made it this far, guess what.. you've reached the end! Thanks for reading.. I hope you enjoyed it! <3 Giga

** DAY TWO: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11: HOLIDAY WORLD CLOSING DAY, AND Kings Island ** Driving down I64 west toward *drumroll* HOLIDAY WORLD!! (with a nice close up of my fuzzy steering wheel cover lol) We saw a hitchhiker with a sign that said ANYWHERE BUT HERE.. lmao! OMG OMG OMG OMG Getting closer.. it's around the bend somewhere! LKLSDLJKFHSJFS w00t WE'RE HERE!! And check out the sweet ride in front of me! We were almost to the gate when I decided I was cold, and wanted my hoodie. We were walking back to my car when this guy in the parking lot offered Tom a one day ticket for $20.. he had four of them he couldn't use! Tom took him up on it.. our day was off to a very good start! First stop: Raven! Raven's empty station! Look at that, Terp.. don't you wish you were there (or were you)? hee hee We got 2 rides in a row without getting out of our seats! Then it was off to LEGEND! Tom loves his lats. We got THREE rides without exiting the station, and the school bell was working! Kat, this pic is for you. (inside joke) Then it was off to.. *intense drumroll* VOYAGE! The most beautiful thing I've seen at an amusement park.. VOYAGE'S EMPTY STATION AS SEEN FROM THE VERY BACK SEAT. THREE RIDES IN A ROW WITHOUT LEAVING OUR SEATS!! Yeah, we pretty much got 8 rides in 45 minutes.. the park was THAT dead. After all this, we were thirsty! Off to the Oasis we went, for some of Holiday World's free drinks. Walking around a bit, Tom pointed out this plaque dedicated to America's heroes. We ran back and rode Raven again, then Legend again, and decided it was time for Liberty Launch! We then decided to explore the park a little bit. Kat, I took a pic of the kiddie carousel for you, haha. I took this opportunity to take some photos. LOOK AT THE LINE FOR SCRAMBLER!! We rode Raven, and decided we were hungry, so it was back out to the car to eat. Got a little busy while we were in the park! My sweet tooth was driving me crazy, so we headed for Mrs. Klaus' Kitchen. I bought: a bag of candy corn flavored taffy, a giant chocolate chip cookie, and two candy sticks.. guess how much it cost total? $2.38. That's right. Back to Voyage we went! I've never eaten at Plymouth Rock Cafe (I've hid out in there LOL), but I need to.. this menu looks GOOD! Mean looking Voyage track! *shudders* YUMMY! We rode Voyage, which was killer sweet awesome amazing as usual, and then it was off to Turkey Whirl (yes, I have found out I can ride Tilt A Whirl rides!). And then it was back To Voyage, you know, since it WAS right there.. hehehehe We saw a kid wearing a shirt that said WHO NEEDS HALLOWEEN.. MY SISTER IS SCARY ENOUGH. lol Then we were both craving a ride on Legend, so off we went! z0mg LEGEND (can't tell, but we are both wearing DB shirts haha) We stopped for food at Goblin Burger.. which may have been a mistake. The food was a little greasier than I liked. Sitting in GB's eating area, I noticed we were right next to Legend, so I snapped a few photos. Legend structure shot! Then it was off to Eagles Flight! Hard as we tried to snap ours, they just wouldn't do it. We did get going pretty high, though! We hit Raven and Legend, and then back to We rode that, and Liberty Launch. It was getting close to closing time, and I wanted more rides on Voyage, but the food was getting to Tom and he sat out while I got 2 rides on Voyage without leaving my seat. He came with me for a third ride, but Voyage's train started smoking in the station, and it was about 5:10 pm CDT (park closed at 5:30), and Voyage showed no sign of reopening. So we said screw it and booked it for Legend. Tom rode with me once, and got off, then I got a solo ride. As Holiday World closed, I couldn't leave without some fudge. I went to Mrs Klaus' Kitchen and got some fudge for me and my family, then we went to a gift shop and Tom got the Legend shirt he'd been wanting. As we walked toward the exit, we were greeted by Pat and Will Koch.. Tom and I got our photo with Will! I'm going to miss you. Goodbye, my precious baby.. see you next year. *stifles a sob* STAY TUNED!

** DAY ONE: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10: SIX FLAGS KENTUCKY KINGDOM ** Tom and I packed bags for the trip, jam packed a cooler full of food, filled up Stormy (my Sebring) with gas, and we were off to Six Flags! Forecast was partly sunny with temps between the 40s and 60s, so we were excited to have a good day at Six Flags! Driving down I71 south to SFKK! The hills of Kentucky are so beautiful, I love driving through them! We arrived at SFKK around 12:30, I think. At first we thought this was horse crap that I parked in. It was some kind of muddy grass, and there was a lot of it. I parked there anyway because I didn't care. Tom and I are hopeful for a good day at SFKK after the fiasco last time. (Yes, my shirt says I <3 COASTERS.. lol) Since the last time we went, we hit my favorite ride first (Greezed Lightnin), so this time we hit Tom's favorite at SFKK.. Thunder Run! I high fived Tweety on the way. Thunder Run has some sweet airtime! It's a tad rattly, but what woodie isn't? We started walking over to *gulp* Chang's area, and I decided I wanted to ride the Giant Wheel. It was my first time on that.. I honestly like CP's Giant Wheel so much better. Nice views from this one though. Most Ferris wheels rope off the ones they aren't using. SFKK got creative with theirs. I'm going to miss you, Chang. Thunder Run going up the hill! Park was kind of busy, but not really bad. After that, it was time to face the reality of Chang being torn down. This pic just makes me mad.. YOU'RE REPLACING A B&M STANDUP WITH A WATER PARK??!!! I mean, are they for real? Back to Thunder Run we went, as we were both craving another ride on it! Then it was off to Greezed Lightnin.. my favorite! We rode that, and then decided we were hungry, so we went to the car and ate out of my ginormous cooler instead of spending $946 on a hot dog. We came back, and rode Greezed Lightnin again, because the queue was empty! Tom pointed out the logo on this trash can, from before Six owned the park. Then it was time for my favorite spinning ride.. Enterprise! I like this better than Witches Wheel at CP. After that, we headed to Himalaya, one of our favorite spinnies! These rides always make me a little dizzy, but worth it because they're so much fun! LOL at the clown riding. After this, we decided to explore the park for a little while.. because those who stop, look, and listen will often find more than what they are looking for. FOUR BUCKS FOR A 20 OUNCE BOTTLE OF "VITAMIN" WATER??!!! Why don't you just yank my wallet and run away?? Flying Dutchman.. can anyone clarify if this was the one that used to be at Kings Island? Tom and I weren't quite sure, I don't remember back that far. Twisted Twins.. I never got to ride you. I wish. I like the message on the trash cans. SFKK is probably one of the cleanest parks I've seen. I think I saw two pieces of trash on the ground throughout the whole park. This message is also on the back of the ride ops' shirts. That's how I feel about it.. Chang is the stand up coaster that made me like stand up coasters. Tom and I being dorks. I wanted to ride their swinging ship ride (I love swinging ships!), so we headed toward the front of the park. Greezed Lightnin, Skycoaster riders, Roadrunner Express, and Giant Wheel, all in one shot! Bluebeard's Bounty! Of course we chose a seat on the very end.. what other way to ride a swinging ship? They were having a screaming contest on our ride. This guy was screaming bloody murder like a girl and had everyone cracking up. Back to Greezed Lightnin we went! Here is a video I took while waiting for the very front seat! Back to Thunder Run we went! I took some pics on the way. FULL QUEUE FOR BREAKDANCE??!!! Greezed Lightnin and Thunder Run were walk ons! Give it back. Now. I looked up to see Thunder Run's empty train stuck on the lift, so we walked over by the water park deck to get a better look at when it would be running again. Hey SFKK.. drain your nasty wave pool. Who wants to go for a swim? Thunder Run was up and running again, so off we ran! We got hungry again, so it was back out to the car for more food, and for our hoodies since it was getting nippy. Roadrunner Express had a line almost all day, and it had finally died down, so we got in line. This is one fun wild mouse! We ran back over and rode Greezed Lightnin again, and then it was back to Thunder Run again! While we were back there, we rode Flying Dutchman. Heading back to the front of the park, we skipped out on the haunts because there was an up charge. So we hopped on Giant Wheel for a night ride. I don't have a good photo of it, in fact it's a terrible photo, but it was so cool to see the Louisville skyline at night from atop the wheel. I absolutely love big city skylines. We ran over and got a night ride on Greezed lightnin (which was totally awesome!), and ran back and got a night ride on Roadrunner Express. Back to Greezed Lightnin we went.. check this out! EMPTY station, AT NIGHT! I was one happy giga! We sat in the very back, and got 3 rides in a row without leaving our seat!! Our last ride of the night was Thunder Run.. again, EMPTY queue at night! We chose the very front seat this time. I found someone's LG Dare in the front seat.. unfortunately she had run out of the station before I could catch her, so I handed it to the ride op. We left SFKK cold, tired, and happy, and passed out for the night. Ride count: Greezed Lightnin - 8 Thunder Run - 5 Giant Wheel - 2 Roadrunner Express - 2 Flying Dutchman - 1 Bluebeard's Bounty - 1 Enterprise - 1 Himalaya - 1 STAY TUNED!