violakat03

I've crashed into a tree branch on Holiday World's, but nothing ever resembling a snap. I find KI's former Eagles (now Woodstock Gliders at Carowinds) to be the easiest to snap, though I also found Stricker's to be pretty good and of course, Knoebels' famous Flyer is a darn good one as well. Sometimes I'm surprised when highly snappable scooters turn up in small parks unexpectedly. For instance: SS Stingray (formerly Mission Macaw) at Columbus Zoo is insanely snappable. As are the scooters at Fun Spot in Orlando. And neither of them had operators that cared, so I happily snapped away on both. Edited to add: I'm overly amused by how far this ancient topic has derailed. But hey, scooters are a favorite topic of mine, so I'll add to the erosion!

For the person asking about 15 year olds, I know they used to hire them in merch, food, park services, games and admissions. Not certain if this is still the same listing of departments. Either way, there are limited amounts of 15-year-old positions available and they fill quickly, so apply early for a better chance of a spot. 16 year olds add rides and lifeguard. You must be 18 to work in security. Unsure about entertainment's minimum age. As for what department .. having worked in 2 KI departments and 3 park departments overall, I'm really enjoying rides/attractions the most but not everyone would. Merch is a much more laid-back pace and is not very physically demanding. There's no actual selling technique involved, just the ability to run a register. You'll also do restocking, cleaning and organization. In my second year, I was called back early (in February) to help set up stores for the new season. Myself and three others basically did the full setup of On Location in Action Zone, which was pretty fun since Delirium was new that year so we had tons of new merchandise. Upward mobility (chances for promotion) are pretty good in merch as there tends to be fairly high turnover. This is also true in foods. Security is also not very physically demanding, except for being on your feet and walking around all day. It's a little more mentally demanding as you are usually called in to de-escalate situations that are starting to get out of control. You need to have a cool level head and be willing to step up to diffuse situations. You also need to be assertive enough to confront people who are breaking rules such as smoking and line jumping. I really enjoyed being in security because you're not just in one deparment, you're involved in all departments. In one shift you may handle situations that involve every department in the park, so you will get to know a lot of people. Plus as an added bonus, since security isn't "operational essential" if another area, like rides, is short staffed, they may pull from security to fill it. I never got sent to rides, but several of my coworkers did before I started. Rides is a whole different beast (no pun intended) from any other department. You are the main face of the park. People remember the rides employees more vividly and tend to have more interactions with them. Not only are you in charge of their safety, you have to be upbeat, energetic and friendly even when it's 100 degrees outside, or raining, or freezing cold. You need to be calm enough to maintain a level head when things don't go quite right, patient enough to work with a child that's upset, and stern enough to handle confrontations over safety issues. You have to be assertive and confident enough to turn people away who are too short or don't meet rider requirements (with disabilities, this can be VERY tricky to handle smoothly). You will be not just on your feet the entire day, but bending, twisting, reaching and lifting. On some rides you will need to be able to handle climbing lots of stairs or catwalks. However, even with the challenges, it's highly rewarding. What other job will you ever have that you get to operate a multi-million dollar amusement ride and bring joy to millions of people a year? Plus you get to learn a lot about how the rides themselves work. You'll learn about how they are maintaned and how their operating systems work. You'll get to explore areas that most people only dream of. At Coaster Con 2012, 6 people paid over $200 a person to climb Wild Eagle's lift hill. During my training, I got to do the same thing and even get paid for it (though my legs were sore for two days after!). I've been all over the inside of Mystery Mine's building and to the top of both lifts. I've been involved in video shoots at both rides. Usually the toughest situations you'll deal with are guests breaking or attempting to break safety rules, and they can get very frustrating. But it's the most rewarding job I've ever had. I love being in rides, and I don't think I'd ever consider another department now.

Our second ride at Disneyland was Matterhorn, and I didn't have time to put my camera into my bag before we boarded. I was shocked they let me ride with my DSLR just hanging around my neck. Then I figured out they just really don't care, so I have photos of all the dark rides at Disneyland and DCA.

I miss our epic Chaos rides!

Judging by the accent and other factors, he was probably a local. There was some giveaway where local residents were able to get free tickets for that day by visiting one of the other area attractions a few months prior and picking up a wristband. He and the kid were both wearing said wristbands and I'm betting it was their first time ever to an amusement park.

Usually, with my husband (dare-to-fly), though if we're with friends I like to switch up riding partners so I can ride with everyone at some point.

We actually had this exact situation happen last summer, where someone with no hands was turned away after being able to ride before. The issue was that one operator didn't enforce the rules and another did. However, there's a comment towards the end of the article that said the policy was changed after the fact. If that is the case, then yes, there was a violation involved. However, if the policy was in place before hand and the operator was just following manufacturer rider requirements, then the operator was in the right and there's nothing the man can do. He was kept off it for his own safety. That being said, manufacturers do change rider requirements after rides open. GCI changed their requirements last year on leg amputations. It used to be that an individual with one amputation above the knee could ride, but now they cannot. This is not the park's change, but the manufacturer's, but I'm sure it led to quite a number of unhappy guests at parks with GCI coasters.

Not only did you steal my story, you didn't tell it right! Because, you have to realize, there was more to it than that. First, he brings up this girl that is CLEARLY under the height limit by several inches. Then when I ask him if he's doing a parent swap, he stares at me blankly, so I told him she was too short too ride. He stares at me blankly some more, so I lead her to the height scale. He proceeds to PICK HER UP so her head touches the bar. My turn to stare blankly at him and say "her feet have to be flat on the floor." When the bar was several inches above her head he just calmly shrugs and says "it's ok, I'm riding with her." Pause. Continued stare. "She has to be 48" to ride." That was when he then proceeded to ask if we had "a booster seat or something so she can ride." It took everything I had not to tell him to get the hell off my ride.

I'm surprised nothing useful came up with a search for this one. I've only had the opportunity to enjoy WindSeeker three times this season, but each time I've found the wait to be much more enjoyable thanks to the ride's soundtrack. I believe it is comprised all of movie music and I would love to try to get together a playlist of the songs it rotates through. So far the only one I know for certain is How To Train Your Dragon's "Flying Theme." Anyone recognize any other songs? I've really enjoyed all the music changes so far this year, with the exception of Beast. I really do like the new lift music (has anyone figured out it's source yet?) but preferred the old lift music from Independence Day. The queue/station music from Inception is pretty wicked though.

Great report Dave. I didn't realize handstamps were normally that expensive - opening weekend they were $24 (with coasters) on Saturday, and buy-one-get-one-free at the $24 price on Sunday, so we paid $12 a person for an empty park on our second day. I absolutely adored Knoebels. From getting to finally ride the carousel I've been dying to ride for at least 10 years (and catching the brass ring on my first ride!!) to their huge collection of flats, from camping out 20 feet from Twister to a new top 5 wood coaster (Phoenix) for my count, I really, really enjoyed our weekend there last month and cannot wait to go back. I just wish it was a little closer! Their bumper cars are out of this world - I thought I'd ridden some good ones until I rode the Skooters. You can get air time on them if you hit hard enough - even with a one-way/no head-ons rule (which is actually necessary there!!) you can get some serious collisions. I also thought their indoor himalaya was what the indoor scrambler at Carowinds could have been - the lighting effects and music went together great and made for one heck of a ride experience. Looper was definitely one of a kind to me - you should ride it with Nick some time, he has mastered the trick necessary to make it just flip non-stop over and over and over again. Even I got to a point where I had to say stop - though it was more for the fact the seat belt was hurting than because of the flipping.

I just checked their website (as we will be there for the ACE event on the 16th) and it says the park WILL be open this weekend. However, the racetrack and campgrounds are flooded and the concert in the pavilion is canceled because the pavilion is flooded. www.beechbend.com

Nick and I are almost as soaked as you are and we didn't take Will's Plunge! Rain rides on Legend did that to us! Though the POURING rain rides on Voyage on Sunday were a whole different story ... remember our epic KI trip in the downpour last year after SFKK? It was kind of like that. I'm pretty sure I could wring water out of my t-shirt, and that's from under a jacket!! We decided since we were already soaked we'd ride Raging Rapids, and only Nick got wet.

Were the lines really that short for pass processing? I'm getting mine processed this Saturday, and my lack of any-park-besides-KI-or-CP knowhow has me cringing with horrible flashbacks to LONG April/May weekend processing lines. Haha. I really want to get that first ride on Voyage as soon as possible! Just saying. dare-to-fly and I got there maybe 15 minutes after park opening and literally had zero wait for our processing. We paid for them at the season pass window, walked over to the processing line, where the door was immediately opened into the processing room where a very friendly admissions associate took my picture and handed me my new season pass ... my fourth this year! (CF, SF, DW, and HW) However, there was a line of about 10 people when we got to the park at 11 CST on Sunday waiting to process. Holiday World is one of two places I have not had a problem with my pass scanning - the other being Dollywood. So far every other park I've been to this year as a passholder has not been able to scan my pass at the gate. It was also really awesome to be able to just show my pass and receive 10% off EVERYTHING I purchased!

I can see them making it an upcharge on their cheap night, because the park is packed on Wednesdays. We waited well over an hour for LTD, because yes, it does only have one 4-person car, and they don't seem interested in filling it if there's a group of 2 followed by a group of 4. The line moves like molasses. However, on normal nights at full price for the wristbands, it makes no sense. I'm betting a lot of enthusiasts (and probably a lot of GP) will skip out on the full price wristband and just buy enough tickets to ride LTD and Skyliner.

I agree, shooting themselves in the foot. I wouldn't ride it more than once at that price, if at all considering I already have the credit. That's more than a ride on Phoenix at Knoebels, which you CAN buy a wristband for, and I personally find to be more worth the price. You ride Leap the Dips for its historical significance, not for the thrill.

Coney Island Rocks, you must be too young to remember Hanson. They were my favorite band in junior high. I may have to call up a friend from high school and see if she wants to go with me to this!

Great pics, as always Dave. Though I know your wife deserves the credit on many of those. Her photography never ceases to amaze me! She manages to get some great shots of everyone on the coasters! Though your shot of the four of us on Trailblazer was great - I didn't even know you took one until I saw it on Facebook! I think the shot of Fahrenheit at night is my favorite.

Yes, SpongeBob is still at Carowinds. gad198 - too bad we didn't know you were there! We had an epic KIC ride on our Eagles. We had almost a full ride cycle (9 of 10 tubs) full of KICers snapping the heck out of them.

Probably because they're the first seasonal park to open each year, and therefore are going to be the ones that have to work out the bugs for the other parks. We were also told that SFOG uses a different computer system than the other parks do at their parking tolls. This is the only SF park I've been to that actually scanned the pass at all to park. The five SF parks I went to last year simply looked at the pass, confirmed that it said "parking" on it, and waved me through.

I believe Bay Beach originally tried to get the Big Dipper, but found that getting information or buying it was next to impossible. Hopefully another park will try and the Big Dipper will ride again. Also, the Zippin Pippin had seatbelts at Libertyland. Since the train has run off to an Elvis museum somewhere, I'm hoping Bay Beach reopens it with classic style trains (buzz bars, etc) like it ran in Libertyland .. though I definitely would not mourn the loss of the seatbelts!!

Nick and I had the same problem on Saturday and complained to guest relations about it (and quite literally a long list of other things). We arrived a few hours after park opening on Sunday and were waved through. Dave, I have a feeling your complaint (and possibly others) had an effect on their handling of the parking situation for the rest of the day.

I am so glad to hear this!! While it's not as good as having the entire coaster relocated like had originally been hoped for, this is nothing but great news. I can't wait to see the Pippin rise again and you can bet I will be among the first to visit the park to ride it!!

The 11 pm cutoff time puts Nick and I in the same situation as you Dave - either miss the tailgate, or miss classes. That will be the first weekend of spring quarter for me and I'd have to miss an entire day of classes, and Nick would also. Looks like we'll be fighting the masses on opening day, as we really can't leave until 5 pm on Thursday.

At this exact moment, I'm looking forward to a week from today, when my off-season ends. The decision to make the trip to Atlanta was a very random one and the fact I am taking it with someone very special to me makes it even more amazing. The thing I look forward to the most this season is visiting New York City for the very first time and conquering a coaster that I have wanted to ride since I first became an enthusiast almost fifteen years ago - the Coney Island Cyclone, possibly the world's most famous roller coaster.

My comment on their Facebook post: Apparently they've closed the line for the day. Must be close to park closing time!