gigacoaster2k

Pictures? Links? Yes please. I would really like to follow this.

Every great amusement park needs a variety of things, from extreme thrill rides to carousels, from games to water parks, from live entertainment to haunted houses. The more people you appeal to, the better for your business. A lot of parks are jumping on the "family park" bandwagon, even Cedar Point. From the view of a corporation, it may seem like an instant moneymaker, but I've heard many people refer to KI as a thrill park. The general public defines parks by what they have to offer, not who they can bring to the park. Companies just slap a generic label on a park and expect crowds to pour in. You are all aware by now that I am a thrillseeker and will ride the tallest, fastest, scariest things around. But occasionally I just like to relax.. a great example is the Giant Wheel at Cedar Point, or I'll exit the park for a walk on the beach. Everyone needs time to chill out once in a while. Everyone wants something different, and if you only have something for thrillseekers or if you only have something for families, you have attracted a specific audience and not the general public. I can't see how that would be good for business in the long run. Having something for everyone will keep your customers happy, and keep the $ rolling in.

Oh! On one of my ERT rides this morning, we were on DB's red train. Who said the red train doesn't get you as wet? You are crazy. I put my hand directly over the scoop. My: restraint, face, neck, hair, left hand, right arm, back, and chest were dripping wet. I seriously got blasted.. it was too funny.

You're all right. I just needed a reason to pick on you to cheer you up. You were being kind of quiet and almost acting like you weren't in a good mood.

I'm not sure if I will be there on the 7th or not, I'll let you know. And I did have the sunscreen situation covered. I had a bottle of 30 in my bag for my face and shoulders, and spray 15 for the rest. But no matter what I do, the tops of my shoulders always end up a tiny bit pink. My lips got sunburned.. good thing I have Blistex Medicated in the blue tube (it really does help).

I got to the park a little after 9 am because I was slow at getting up and getting ready. I really didn't expect to see anyone there, because most of the people who I asked if they were going had said no. Gary (Beast79) said he would be there for ERT on Diamondback. I got 2 rides in, and saw him at the exit, so we crammed 3 more rides in before the ROTB (which was absolutely horrible). They weren't assigning seats yet, so I bolted for seat 2 (seat 1 had way too long of a wait). That sound when you're in seat 1 or 2, when the train peeks over the edge of the lift hill and the chain stops, is one of my favorite experiences. We headed over to Beast and said hi to Nick (dare to fly). Gary wanted to ride Firehawk as he assumed the wait would be short. We waited maybe half an hour tops. I had been going on about how great the very front is, and wouldn't you know, we got it without even asking! We headed to Flight of Fear, which had about half an hour wait. Rode in the very front, and this time I didn't take a punch to the head! Walking back toward the front of the park toward Action Zone, we stopped for a ride on red Racer. I overheard a girl ask her friend if they were going to get wet on this ride, and then they both ran off and exited. I love the air on good old Racer. I wanted a ride on Drop Tower, so we went that way. It was posted at 45 minutes, but we only waited half an hour. Got the seats facing out toward the park.. I really like that view. I was freaking out the guy next to me because I was pointing out things in the park (like how green Congo Falls' water is), and looked straight down at the very top. Gary had to leave, and I was really getting hot, so I headed over to Boomerang Bay and met up with Steph (kittenpooh), her hubby Ryan (rypie91d), and her adorable 2 year old daughter Kelsey. The first thing we went for was Great Barrier Reef. I love wave pools, and the four of us spent quite a bit of time goofing off in the waves. Kelsey didn't seem to like it too much at first, but she got used to it. Some little brat splashed me directly in the ears/eyes like 8 times, and laughed even when I said "ow" because some of it had gotten in my contacts. I finally got fed up and blasted her with a big splash.. she left me alone after that. We wanted to go in the lazy river, but the line for it was insanely long, so we gave up on that. Ryan and I wanted to hit up a crazy water slide, so we went for Bondi Pipeline while Steph stayed with Kelsey. I chose the far right side and he chose the middle. That was fun! We were walking by Jackeroo Landing when the horn sounded and everyone went crazy. The more we looked at this water-crazed funhouse, the more we were intrigued, so we went inside and played. Steph and I found the giant squirtguns and were squirting passersby with them. Eventually we all got under the bucket and got drenched. That was crazy. I felt like I was little again. Steph and Ryan had been trying to find slides that Kelsey could ride. We finally found two that she could ride. Steph took her up to Wallaby Wharf, and it was so cute. She loved it. Next for the little thrillseeker-in-training was Koala Splash. I went with her this time, and this is just too cute. She saw the slide, broke free of my hand and started running up the entrance! When I told her this was the big kids' slide and asked if she wanted to ride it, she said "yeah!" When she saw our raft coming, she smiled and said "yay!" She loved the ride and laughed the whole time. It was just so adorable. The three of them went back to the wave pool, but I was getting hungry. Justin (M17) had said he was at BB, but I never found him. I went back out to my car for the food in my cooler, and met up with Tom (76257). He had said earlier that he wasn't coming, but I told him he should come out. LOL. Tom and I re-entered the park, and headed straight for Diamondback. On the way out the exit, we met up with Kyle (kjkjkj) who had randomly texted me saying he was at the park. I suggested we hit Drop Tower, which no one disagreed with. In the queue, I was going on about how scary the last seats are because you can see how far above Skyflyer you are and that it freaks me out a little. Wouldn't you know, we got those seats. After that ride, we met up with Justin. The four of us hit Racer, and as we exited, I got a text from Steph saying she was over at Monster. The six of us headed to Beast, where a girl passed out cold due to hunger and heat exhaustion (reason why I make myself eat on hot days, and drink water after water after water!). Several people said she had hit her head on the rails on the way down. Thanks to parent swap, I got a re-ride on Beast.. one with Steph while Ryan watched Kelsey, and one with Ryan while Steph watched Kelsey. Thanks again, guys! We met up with Adam (pkiboy) at the exit. We all headed to the Grand Carousel. I believe we all started getting a little slap happy on the way to this ride (throwing ice at each other, play fighting, etc), and on it. We were all goofing off during the ride and making each other laugh. By this time, it was getting late. We all wanted last rides on Diamondback, so we headed that way. I have never in my life seen so many line jumpers in one queue. We even reported a group that had done it right behind a ride op's back, but he said something about they had asked permission from one of the ride ops first, so the ride op granted them permission. (Excuse me? What is that? Now ride ops are giving people permission to line jump?? I am to the point where I don't think I'm even going to say anything about line jumpers to park employees anymore, because I have learned that at Kings Island, getting an employee that actually enforces that rule is a hit or miss situation! Ridiculous. Either enforce the rule or take the signs down.). Anyway, after the rides had closed, some of us went to I-Street Fudge and Candy Shop. I really had to stop myself from reaching for the giant peanut butter cups.. they were a little pricey, but man did they look good! I have the worst weakness for peanut butter cups! Kyle left the group, and the rest of us went out to the parking lot. The lot was jam packed with people trying to leave. I mentioned that I usually chill out in my car for a little bit while the lot clears out, so that is what we did. Steph, Ryan, Tom, Adam, Justin and I watched Ice Age in Steph's van while we waited.We were getting tired, so we headed out around 11:15 pm. Thanks everyone for a great and fun time. I totally did not expect a KIC meetup, but hey, why not if you can? My ride count: Diamondback - 8 Beast - 3 Drop Tower - 2 Racer - 2 Firehawk - 1 Flight of Fear - 1 Carousel - 1 Great Barrier Reef - 1 Bondi Pipeline - 1 Jackeroo Landing - 1 Koala Splash - 1

I voted to get rid of it. If it's not the old program, I don't want to ride it. I believe I am joining a growing crowd with that statement.

I was there, didn't see you! Congrats on ride #100. I managed to get in 18 dry park rides and 5 water rides today. I'm a ride warrior like that.

I'm 5'5" and skinny, and even I have trouble with the FOF seats. They are very restricting for someone who has long legs. You're squashed into a very small car.

I liked both lazy rivers at HW. I think my favorite ride that we rode was Otorongo.. that thing was insane. The Bahari Wave Pool's waves were so choppy that they nearly knocked me over! I wore flip flops to HW's waterpark for the reason that I hate walking on scorching hot pavement. When I took them off to ride stuff in the water park, I'd dip them in water if they were really hot. Kat had the bright idea to turn our flip flops sole up so when we came back, we wouldn't have to slide our feet into hot shoes.

As unbelievable as it sounds, I have never set foot in KI's water park. With the blazing hot temperatures, and remembering the fun I had at Holiday World's Splashin Safari, I definitely plan on hitting BB the next time I go if it is this hot. I used to not be a fan of water parks, but that was actually my first visit to any water park. Besides a lake, log flumes, or a community pool, I have never really used the water to cool off. After SS, I realized how much fun I have been missing out on. What slides are the best ones? I'll go on anything totally crazy. And who would be up for joining me?

The answer to packed stations is not assigned seating. The answer to that is ride ops properly pulsing the line of people waiting for the station.

Assigned seating doesn't annoy me so much. It's when the ride op at the entrance to the station is pulsing the line to the station improperly. Several times when I've been to Cedar Point, I've entered the station for Magnum, Dragster and Millie to see the ride op at the station entrance let the station get packed like a sardine can. When I go to DB, I see them stop people from entering when there are only 4 or even 2 people in line for each seat. I've even seen the Wicked Twister ride op stop people from entering the station when there were several empty rows and the ride was running just fine. I really do not understand this.

I wore a bikini to Splashin Safari at Holiday World. But I made sure it looked right in the mirror before I walked out, and before we re-entered the park, I threw my tank and shorts on over it. There is a difference between showing off a nice body and looking like a skank. I wish more girls would have some respect for their bodies and for those around them.

Gosh I love Cedar Point. You made me miss the place.. and I felt a huge smile on my face when I saw your second photo of the coasters from the causeway. Seeing that while driving to the gate always gets me so darn excited.

That reminds me.. when Kat and I were on Voyage's lift hill, I looked down and to the right and said "Ew, look at how dirty the water is!" Pilgrims Plunge's water pool is already turning a gross shade of greenish brown.

Thanks for the concern! Kat and I tried our best to stay hydrated, cool off, drink fluids and apply sunscreen, but the heat was just terrible. Voyage seemed to cool me off pretty well.. so I just HAD to keep riding it.

Was it really necessary to go there? God forbid I should defend myself and my friends. The days are long gone where women are supposed to be seen and not heard.. and we all learned in what, grade school, to think before we speak?? I'm aware that he apologized, but crap like what you just posted is so infantile that I shouldn't even be typing a response. This discussion is done and I will promptly report any more childish replies to this post. I'm tired of fighting with people who think I should keep my mouth shut.. sorry, not that type of girl.. never have been, and never will be. -BACK ON TOPIC- I saw a girl at Holiday World on Monday wearing a ripped tank over her bikini, and her shorts unzipped over her bikini bottom. She barely made it 10 feet out of the waterpark before she was stopped by an employee and told to cover up.

Diamondback, Drop Tower, Racer, and hanging out with the KIC crew. And I've never been to BB so I want to do that sometime this summer.

My friends and I are not adding fuel to the fire. No person that made a comment about us stated that they were kidding when they made the comment, but only said they were kidding AFTER they were confronted. That doesn't exactly validate something that insulted several people at once. I was not the only one who was offended by what was said, and if anyone wants to feel sorry for me and my friends because we stood up for ourselves, then so be it.

You took the words right out of my mouth.

Haha I know right? But there is an up side to that.. once the rain stopped and the rides reopened, Kat and I didn't wait over 10 minutes for Voyage.. in fact, our last few rides were a station wait, with a 2 train wait for the very front seat!

Hey, that's MY line, you thief! I kid. Those seats are so comfortable. I wish I could sit in one all day.. preferably with DB running in the meantime..

Oh I almost forgot.. here is a photo of the Voyage shot glass I got. I really like it. There was another smaller one with a boat inside it that I want.