RD Reynolds

Awesome, I loved it too. They really need to go back to that music on IS... RD

Awesome, I loved it too. They really need to go back to that music on IS... RD

Cool, they answered my question. Really funny other people recite that thing from the train - we rode it on Saturday to utter silence, and all I could think was, "Geez, they need audio - ANY AUDIO! - on this thing!" Hopefully they can find the track, I'd love to hear it again. Can anyone think of any other old soundtracks they'd want to hear? RD

Love the idea of the history of KI...would be really nice to get just a snippet of the old narration from the train ride where a geezer told us "There'll be no eatin', drinkin', or smokin' on this here train...we're goin' through some mighty nice country and wouldn't want to mess it up!" RD

Lots of discussion on the Diamondback Restraints thread got me to thinking...none of us want to do the "Walk of Shame". I emailed KI and asked if they had a listing of the dimensions on the seats of the thrill rides, and a very nice woman called me back and left a message on my cell that they didn't have that. She did note, however, that you could go up the exit (on rides that don't have a test seat outside the ride) and ask to see if you could fit. I didn't know that, but it's very good to know. One idea I had was this: if KI can't give us seat dimensions, what if we, as a group, simply got the measurements ourselves? Obviously, the seat dimensions wouldn't answer ALL the questions, but it would answer a LOT of the questions. Most people have an issue with fitting in the seats, so if we knew, for instance, that The Vortex had a 40" seat, you could easily measure at home to see if you'd fit. We'd just need a few folks (maybe people that work at the park?) to do a couple quick measurements, and the dreaded "Walk of Shame" would largely be gone. I'll take my tape measure next time, but it would be way cool if others would join in. Thoughts? RD

DINING PLAN DISNEY TRIP = DIET DEATH! Been there, done that WAY too many times! I swear I gained 15 pounds on my last Dining Disney Trip! RD

You can do it! Trust me, I used to weigh over 300 pounds (6' 5"). When I went to KI on Saturday, I was at 236. Still too much, but the leanest I can remember being in my adult life was 227, and I REALLY want to get there by mid-season. I've done the walk of shame, and like you, I feel for those folks. That's why I'd love to have more info on the restraints and seats, so those that would like to ride could see where they need to get to in order to ride things. It would be a motivational tool, trust me! RD

I wore my Pink Floyd hoodie yesterday,so I would have to agree. Guys, I like Pink Floyd. Really I do. Just wish they'd play it anywhere in the park except IS. RD

I really wish they'd release details on the sizes of the seats and restraints on each ride. It can be VERY embarrassing to try to get on a ride and realize you won't fit in front of a lot of people. Would be awesome if they'd release this information instead of just saying "guests of EXCEPTIONAL SIZE" may not fit. It would be great to say something like "seat width: 40"" because then you could measure at home instead of trying to squeeze into a seat with tons of folks watching. I'm very glad they list a maximum height now - years ago, I couldn't fit on Son of Beast because I was too tall. They apparently changed the cars at some point, and I was able to ride it a couple years ago before it went SBNO... RD

No worries... Moving to trip reports. Thank you. RD

Oh, and apologies - I didn't notice there was a Trip Report section here. I probably should have posted this there. RD

I can confirm this, as we went on it and it was a lot of fun. I didn't see anything to signify they were going to be changing the movie. RD

My son is a HUGE Nick fan, and loves Spongebob. He thought Snoopy was fine - didn't care about the change at all. Probably due to his age (four). One thing to keep in mind is that quite a few of the characters in the Nick area were kinda outdated; for instance, the Lazy Town folks, whose time had seemingly come and gone (at least in our house). May sound strange, but when you go with something that is inherently older, like Snoopy, you don't run into issues like that. Disney has the same thing - when was the last new Mickey Mouse release? I mean, yeah, there's Clubhouse, but other than that...when has Mickey Mouse been a MAINSTREAM character, other than in the parks? Sometimes I think us parents are more concerned about it than the kids - they're too busy riding the rides and having fun. RD

Understood, but it was definitely not full when we got there (around 9:40 or so). Not sure what the deal was. RD

Do the glasses make a big change in the ride? I didn't really see where it would make a difference... RD

It's actually on Kings Mills Road, not far from KI. Awesome, thank you both! RD

This was my first ever opening day at Kings Island, and also my first as a season ticket holder. I've been going since the 70's, and last year we (family of three, with me, wife, and four year old son) had so much fun we decided to get a season pass. Thought I would share some random observations of opening day. - Crowds were heavier than I was expecting. Last few times I've been, there've been a lot of walk-ons for rides such as The Beast. Not so yesterday! - Had a Gold pass, but didn't get to park in the Gold parking. I waved it at the guy directing parking, and he waved me down to the Invertigo lot. Hmmm... - We were sitting at the Starbucks next to the Eiffel Tower and I mentioned to my wife that "listening to Pink Floyd on International Street is just wrong." A woman next to me overheard, and said, "I just texted my friend that exact same thing!" If I could wave my magic wand and have KI change one thing, as silly and trivial as it may seem, it would be this. It makes a big difference. You want to escape the real world at KI, and theme music on IS is a very simple way to do this. - The revisions to Planet Snoopy look REALLY nice. I was among those who thought losing the Nick license and getting Snoopy was a huge step down, but the modifications really gave the area more than just a fresh coat of paint. The redesigns all made sense, and some, like the Kite Eating Tree and Snoopy vs. Red Baron were way, WAY better than what was there before. The new paint job on the Enchanted Voyage building (told you, I've been going since the 70's!) of the pumpkin patch looked better than anything that's been on there that I can ever recall. Cannot give this area high enough marks; I really had to eat my words on this one. - Adventure Express is my wife's favorite ride, and we were both really happy to see so much working in the final tunnel! The drummers, the lava, everything looked really good. If we could just get some fog effects in there (I think it had it way back in the day?), I'd gush even more. - Had lunch at Fest Haus, and was really good. See notes in the "Increased Prices for 2010" section for more. Also got an ear of corn that was really good, but about the size of a corn cobette at KFC! I hope those get larger as the year goes on and they can get bigger ears! Also got blueberry ice cream, and was happy to see sprinkles were there. Made the Mrs. very happy. - Noticed lots of down rides. Adventure Express was down for a while, and Firehawk was as well. Wound up riding them both, but never got on Flying Aces, which my son was looking forward to, because we were told by an employee it was too cold to run. - Was glad to see Spongebob was still in the Action Theater. My son is a huge SB fan, and he was happy because this year he was tall enough to ride in the motion seats. - Speaking of that, kudos to KI for giving out wrist bands to the kids for their heights. Makes it sooooo much easier for parents than taking kids to a ride and hoping they will be tall enough. This is a major issue at, say, Disney World where they have measurement areas for each ride and the 44" at one ride is NOT the same as 44" at another. So you go up HOPING that your child will be able to ride it. I love Disney, but when they took a sheet of paper and slid it under my son's head to show he wasn't QUITE 44" and thus could not ride Everest, even though he rode OTHER rides that were 44"...man, you've never seen a child cry like that. We even had people in line behind us chastising the poor Disney employees for not letting him on the ride! All of that could have been avoided with the wrist bands. So thank you, KI. - Went on the Eiffel Tower, and saw big bubbles on a blue circle in Coney Mall. Asked two different employees what they were, and got two different stories, neither of which was correct (they were the Eurobubbles as we later found out). Absolutely NOT knocking the employees for not knowing this, just thought it was funny that no one knew what they were and they weren't on the map! - Finally, and I think most importantly...every employee we talked to was INCREDIBLY FRIENDLY! No matter what they were doing (changing trash bags, trying to help us find a lost hat (my son lost his favorite hat, a rainbow Disneyland ballcap - if anyone knows where I can get one, please let me know!), selling us pizza, running a ride, etc.), everyone was super nice. Some in my party speculated that was due to it being the first day of the season and they weren't run down yet, but I hope that's not the case - it was a very pleasant experience, and we can't wait to go back. All in all, a very fun time. I didn't think I could want to go more than I did last week, but I think the great time we had makes me all the more eager to be there. RD

Interesting that everyone is complaining about the food prices. My family (of three: me, wife, four-year old) and my best friend's family (of four: him, wife, 9 year old, 6 year old) had lunch at the Fest Haus. We got a pizza, two extra slices of pizzas, three orders of breadsticks, a side salad, three milks, and two new souvenir cups (which the adults split). Wound up at at the cost of about $10 per person, same price as the Backyard BBQ. Thought that was fine as the food was REALLY good (well, the pizza was, the breadsticks were kind of a joke); I love LaRosa's, and we have none of those in Indy. Now that we have the souvenir cups, that same meal would have been like $8 per person. The souvenir cups are a key to saving money for sure. I think it just kinda depends on what you are looking for. You don't have to spend a fortune to eat at KI, but you easily CAN do that. Is it more expensive than eating outside the park? Absolutely! That's why we eat one meal in the park, and when we leave, we eat some place cheap; yesterday, we hit Chick-Fil-A on Fields Ertel on the way out of town. (Is there a Taco Bell around there too? That's the best cheap place to eat for my family.) RD

See my Avatar! lol RD

The big question...will SPRINKLES be available this year? The reason I ask is my wife was REALLY unhappy last year when there were no sprinkles, and I just want to know what to expect next week when we get to the stand. Sounds silly, but it's a major issue for her!!! LOL RD Well I know for a fact that we did indeed have sprinkles, I am so sorry if we didn't have them when you were served. But I am pretty sure if things stay the same as last year then we should have sprinkles but do not quote me, we may we may not, but I don't see why we shouldn't!! Hope I helped!! Thanks. Rest assured, we will be swinging towards the ice cream stand on Saturday! RD

There were sprinkles last year... I even got them once. Weird. I think they were just out when we were there...wanted to make sure it wasn't something where KI was abandoning them. lol RD

I promise I will NOT be bringing a heavy downpour! RD

Oh trust me...if I find out there's no sprinkles, I'll be bringing them! ALready had that one planned. RD

Are there unusually large crowds for opening day? I've never been, but plan on going this year, weather permitting... RD

The big question...will SPRINKLES be available this year? The reason I ask is my wife was REALLY unhappy last year when there were no sprinkles, and I just want to know what to expect next week when we get to the stand. Sounds silly, but it's a major issue for her!!! LOL RD