TombRaiderFTW

Hi, and welcome to KIC! Diamondback only has a lapbar. There's no seatbelt. However, the lapbar on Diamondback is much bigger than any other lapbar in the park--it literally covers most of your lap, rather than just your waist like The Beast, Flight of Fear, etc. It might seem somewhat dangerous the first time you sit in the seat, but it's very secure and comfortable. I have ridden Slingshot before, but only once. It was with a friend, but I want to say I've seen people ride alone on it before. Don't quote me on that, though. Hope that helps!

If it's possible, I'd like to see either stuff from the early Paramount days (1992-1998), since that time doesn't seem to get noticed a lot. Bonus points for early Adventure Express or Flight of Fear pictures. Whether or not you post anything like that, I enjoy seeing several aspects of what the park used to be, so I'm very much liking the general mix that's going on right now. Thanks for posting them, TOPGUN1993.

This is the first year that I've done what I've always meant to do but never did: renew my pass before the park closes for the previous season. Is it weird that I'm now a little bummed that I won't have the exciting annual pre-season pass processing trip to KI in early April?

I just randomly remembered of one other detail I've found interesting concerning The Crypt that I've never really had a reason to post (but might as well now, as it's somewhat interesting.) I reposted a TRTR POV video (which was not filmed by me) from Google Videos onto my YouTube channel, and part of the analytics YouTube offers is a listing of where your video has been embedded. One of the most played locations is visitkingsisland.com. (Also in the list: kingsdominion.com, cedarpoint.com, screamscape.com, and technifex.com. Technifex was the company behind several of TRTR's special effects.) So, for what it's worth... apparently Cedar Fair was at least somewhat aware of what the ride experience used to be as they created The Crypt. (I say "somewhat" since the video was well after the ride's prime year, 2002. Several effects are absent, which leads me to guesstimate the video was taken around 2006-2007.) I wonder if any of those views were by Kinzel, Ouimet, or Scheid. It's just something I thought was interesting.

I found opening day 2011 to be exceptionally busy, especially for opening day. Opening day in 2009 and 2010 were much more pleasant, with most rides (save Diamondback, BLSC, Firehawk, and FoF) reducing themselves to either walk-ons or something near it by the end of the day. I don't know what the draw was for opening day 2011, except that it might have had something to do with the later opening date. So, if that's the cause, TOPGUN1993's right--get ready for some pretty crazy lines. I'll probably start KI's 2012 season with a ride on Adventure Express, as that's where I inevitably end up drifting first on most KI visits. With The Crypt gone and Beast's (in my opinion) less-than-pleasant smoothness record in 2011, AE's got significantly reduced competition for my attention. And man, I miss that Arrow mine train something awful. It's not absolutely crucial that I ride it first, but it's something I've got to hit up at sometime soon. If I can't do AE, I'm not entirely sure that it matters to me what I do first. I'll firstly and mostly enjoy the fact that I'm outside at Kings Island (rather than in a gray classroom with entirely synthetic lighting) with friends doing what we love, and if that results in us riding coasters, so be it. Riding Adventure Express would be a cool start to the day, but it's being at KI with friends that I miss the most this off-season.

^ Yeah, I got mine today, too. It was also wrapped pretty nicely, and while mine had some French Chews in it, it had a random Bob Ross postcard in it instead of another shirt. I totally don't understand the connection between Cincinnati and the Ross postcard, but the French Chews were delicious, haha. The shirt itself was comfortable and fit really nicely! It was thinner fabric than I'd expected, but it looked nice, in my opinion.

Or, y'know, maybe they'll take video of it and add it into an opening day compilation video, along with a shot of a flood of people rushing through the metal detectors. That worked out well last year. I'm with Terp: I'm also gunning for consistent dress code/line jumping enforcement, too.

^ A Crabby Patty? Better order it without pickles. (Oh... wait.) Also, I'm not defending anyone, but if teenageninja's friend has been hired into the department that sets up the Haunt props or as a scareactor, the comments actually make sense. (Well, maybe not the "the park plans on operating The Crypt this year" one.)

I've got everything except: Across: 22, 30, 35, 39 Down: 1, 7, 28, 31 I *think* 35 Across has something to do with Half-Pint Brawlers, but nothing I think of works.

(Bolded for emphasis.) Your dad's to blame for all of this? (Hope your day gets better!)

I don't know whether to feel really sad or relieved. Like 74Gibson said, I really hated watching TR:TR die. But it's still that ride that set the stage for me becoming an amusement ride fan, even if the experience was very poor for its last three years. Guess I'll settle for both. My biggest curiosity now is how they'll make it clear the ride isn't operating. Will they fence in the area till Haunt time, or will they just remove the sign and put "this ride isn't operating" signs at the entrance? EDIT: Changed the punctuation in the thread title to fit the occasion.

...Isn't Adventure Express supposed to look like that? And what's wrong with the landscape? And Firehawk was repainted in (I think) 2010. Whatever paint they used in the initial de-X-Flighting was chipping off pretty quickly. The new paint's coming off in places, too, but this coat's working a lot better than the original. (This isn't supposed to sound argumentative, so sorry about that! Just making conversation.)

Okay, so I ordered my shirt as I posted a while ago. I received a confirmation email immediately after I placed the order, but I never received a tracking number. I chalked this up to it being delivered USPS, as my order said, rather than FedEx, which the site says it normally uses. Then today, the order disappeared from my credit card statement. I ordered it Wednesday night, and I live about an hour and a half from Mason. Maybe I'm jumping the gun and it'll arrive Monday or Tuesday, but it seems weird that the order would have disappeared from my statement... Anyone else have this happen? I'm going to try to contact them tomorrow.

I'm pretty excited about this. Poor Invertigo's been looking pretty sad for a few seasons. Wonder if it'll look like Dorney's new invert (whose name escapes me at the moment).

^^ Then I guess I've underestimated the downtime of Timber Tower, as the comparison that came to mind was Top Thrill Dragster's downtime (or maybe slightly worse).

I've never had an interview at KI, but I'm sure it's like any other interview: show you actually care about the job with how you dress and what you say, and you'll do fine. I'd say your outfit sounds fine, though you might optionally consider switching the jeans out for dress slacks.

I kinda thought Bluegrass Boardwalk was one of the more creatively appropriate names the amusement industry's come up with lately, but apparently I'm the only one. It carries the same charm with it that I associate with Jazzland: appropriate for the area, but without seeming cheesy. (Then again, I've never been to Jazzland or Kentucky Kingdom, so maybe I'm off base. Six Flags was nice enough to announce KK's closure about an hour after I bought my 2010 pass, and I'm still waiting on my refund.)

Sounds like they haven't done much than improve on Intamin's Reverse Freefall "coasters" (like Superman: Escape from Krypton at Six Flags Magic Mountain)... and increase the price.

^ I'm with you. I just now caved in a bought a red Bat t-shirt. They're a little pricey, but I used the coupon code "cincytweep" and saved 15%.

^^ Financial and management aspects aside, if they want to keep moving west-northwest and pick up Kings Island, too, I'd be entirely okay with it. Both Cedar Fair and the Kochs have their pluses, but I prefer the "home away from home" feeling of Holiday World than the "big coasters, big thrills, and a googolplex of trashcans" atmosphere of most Cedar Fair parks. (See also: Dollywood, which is by far one of my favorite parks in spite of its comparatively small coaster collection, although I do love Thunderhead and Tennessee Tornado.) Then again, we'll see what Mr. Ouimet brings to the table come coaster season 2012.

I feel like there's a Wendy's-related pun hiding around here somewhere, needing to be made, but I can't find it.

These actually were posted on here at some point, but I don't believe it got its own thread. Regardless, these are awesome... I still REALLY want a Bat tee.

Something I found interesting today: John Hildebrandt, Cedar Point GM, joined Twitter recently. I don't know if that's just something personal he decided to try, but it's something that didn't happen under Kinzel regardless. (With Ouimet's emphasis on Internet presence, I wonder if it was encouraged.)