violakat03

I think it depends on whether or not the seatbelts are individual or one-per-seat, because you have to be able to slide side-to-side. Zippin Pippin lost it's status because of individual seat belts. As for Voyage - it's not anywhere near a coaster classic status. Individual ratcheting lapbars, seat dividers, etc. It must have buzz bars, no seat dividers, etc. I can foresee Voyage getting Landmark status eventually, but it will never be a classic. Terpy - I know most parks don't care. I find that kind of sad. I'm not going to argue about seatbelts and their usefulness or lack thereof, I'm just stating that I think it's sad that parks don't care about classic status.

Judging from the picture, I'm sad to see that the Little Dipper will be losing it's ACE Coaster Classic status - those are definitely brand-new bright orange seatbelts I'm seeing. However, I'd rather see it lose it's classic status than lose the coaster all-together, so I can still do nothing but applaud Six Flags Great America for it's decision to purchase and rebuild a classic coaster.

I think it's all a matter of whether you make it worth it. I attended 8 events last year, including 4 that were open to ACE members only. I love reading RollerCoaster magazine and ACE News, and I love being a part of an organization that is so active in preservation. I will be making good use of my membership again this year to attend Coaster Con, Holiday Hustle, and Riding of the Bull, all of which are ACE only events, and will probably add on to those plans as events are announced. To me, the cost is completely worth it for the great events I've been to.

They renewed my platinum pass in the fall, and you can't see my signature at all, it completely rubbed off. They didn't make me resign it or anything, just handed me my card back.

It's all about the shirts. Wouldn't it be great to be wearing a CW Intimidator first rider shirt on I305's first day. I really want to go, but I doubt I will be able to. That's our plan! The other issue is timing. Nick and I just can't take that much time. We can do two two-day trips, but not one four-day trip due to class scheduling, so that's what we're doing.

It's really heartbreaking to see a coaster I thought had a hope of being saved laying in pieces on the ground, but to be honest I am not surprised. I saw the Screechin' Eagle a few days ago, and even though it's been sitting for 3 years longer than the Pippin did, it still looks in significantly better condition now than the Pippin did when it was still operating, and considering how neglected that coaster was it was only a matter of time until it partially collapsed. However, it seems like Bay Beach has really stepped up to the plate on this one. From what it's coming across as, they originally just wanted to save some money, but it's really turned into an effort to save the coaster rather than just save some money. I applaud them on this and definitely plan to donate to their efforts as well as make a concerted effort to visit often once they have it rebuilt, and I hope many others do as well. It's rare that a park honestly cares about saving a historical coaster and we should all support them in this.

I'll be there with my shadow, a.k.a. dare-to-fly

Wow pikeman. That is quite impressive that you plan everything out so well. You probably have a fairly good idea of how many calories you consume each day too. I don't have the patience nor willpower to do such things. I'm also an incredibly picky eater, so there are a lot of 'healthy' things that I just won't eat. I see one on your day's meal plan already - baked fish. I don't eat fish, chicken, pork, or many of the other 'lean' meats. However, I absolutely adore several healthy choices, especially fresh fruit. I do tend to eat at least one piece of fresh fruit daily - it never lasts long in my fridge! I blaze through apples, grapes, strawberries, grapefruit, oranges .. anything except cherries!

It's amazing how much your work has an effect on your weight. I noticed that when I was working retail (a year in a mall, and then 2 years selling cars), I put on a ridiculous amount of weight because I was so sedentary at my job. The big drop that I had shortly after going back to school was from the additional exercise I got riding my bike between my car (in a parking garage) to class (OSU's a big campus!!). Since I wasn't in traditional classes for over a year, it's been difficult to get my weight to do anything more than fluctuate 5 lbs in each direction, but now I'm back in traditional classes so I'll be doing a lot of walking again. I also always take the stairs now (I used to be dependent on the elevator), have no problem with parking farther away (unless it's freezing cold out) and walking further to stores, and I've been known just to wander around in the mall for awhile because I feel the need to be moving after eating out. I can't wait till it starts getting warm out, I'll be getting out on my bike again (which I did none of last summer, but did lots of the summer before), and I have a good feeling there will be lots of random walks with my boyfriend - he loves walking, so he's a great influence on me!

I wouldn't really call what I'm doing low-anything, really. I'm just being more conscious of what I'm eating, especially my carb/sugar intake - nothing anywhere near something like the Atkins diet. The switch to diet pop, reduction in the amount of high-sugar things I drink such as juice and chocolate milk, and a general awareness of what I'm putting into my mouth is essentially what I'm doing. I'm just working on reducing the amount of garbage I ingest, such as fast food, candy, and unhealthy snacks like potato chips. The only 'diet' that will ever work long-term is taking in less calories than you burn in a day, the rest is just short-term reductions in certain things that cause your body to freak out and do things it's not really supposed to. I'm not planning to diet for the sake of dieting or losing weight - what I'm trying to do is make a lifestyle change that will lead to me being healthier because I'm eating healthier.

And then there's being female. Ever seen that commercial for a weight loss supplement where the woman says "I stopped drinking soda and lost 3 lbs. My husband stopped drinking soda and lost 15." or something like that .. yeah, that's been my story all summer. I did drop about 10 lbs over the summer which I attribute completely to being very active running around the parks and the lack of snacking that went along with it. I stopped drinking regular pop last April (I live on Diet Mt Dew now), and have been much more watchful of what I eat - I always take the sugar-free options, low-fat or low-calorie, etc and am conscious of what I eat when I'm out. I'm now at the exact same weight I was last February even with those changes. I've been making an effort to be more active this winter (I play DDR and have the at-home version set up in my basement with lexan hard pads) but it's not seeming to help all that much. Hopefully as the coaster season gets here, I'll be able to drop back down to my last-season weight and even more than that. I've been especially conscious of my carb intake as I noticed that my blood sugar was starting to get to the high end of normal, and with adult-onset diabetes running strongly in both side of my family (my mom, dad and grandma are all Type II diabetics and insulin-dependent), I want to do everything I can to reduce the possibility of developing it, especially this young. I think my health, more so than the vanity reasons, has been the biggest motivator for me to make the lifestyle changes that I have.

I'd much rather see the Pippin stay in Memphis. There are several options being discussed in Memphis to rebuild it in the area, especially if it can be paired up with the historic Dentzel carousel from Libertyland. I also don't to see them 'bring it up to code'... that sounds like suspiciously similar to "computerize the braking system," "new trains without buzz bars" and other pieces of what made the Pippin such a wonderful classic. It's one of two coasters I've ridden that still had lever-operated brakes that worked (the other being Leap the Dips) and I'd hate to see it lose those.

Looks to me from that article like they are still trying to negotiate. The Fair Board is still trying, at least. This will be interesting how it all plays out. I'm leaning in favor of a power play on Six Flags' part, but I could be wrong.

Rather than adding my own trip report, I'll piggyback some of my pictures on to Angie's. Sunset over Illinois. The exit for our hotel! Angie forgot to mention that Ninja ATE MY CAMERA. Grr. I pulled it out of my pocket after the ride to snap a picture of Tony Hawk's Big Spin to discover that the LCD had been shattered. I know it was ok before the ride because I took a picture in the station. Grr!! I already ordered a new LCD for it off eBay, at least it will end up only being a $17 repair! Nick wanted a different angle of the arch. Angie <3's the arch! The itty bitty elevator cars that Angie was talking about. Unlike her, they scared the crap out of me. There are probably still nail marks on Nick's leg from my death grip! I have a whole ton more on my camera, I was just taking a few pictures with my cell phone and uploading them to Facebook as we went so my friends and family could track our progress and see what we were up to. I'll have all the pictures off my camera in a few days (my memory card reader is broken, so I have to borrow someone else's) and I'll add them into this thread also.

I wear an 18/20 and fit easily. It all depends on where exactly the weight is and how 'compressible' it is. Definitely try the test seat. I can get four clicks, and only three are required to ride. On a side note, I'm a tight fit in Drop Tower, and it has nothing to do with thigh size and everything to do with size in another part of my anatomy... so just because she doesn't fit in Drop Tower doesn't mean she won't fit in Diamondback.

I'm at 146, will definitely get to 150 by the end of the season. On my 146th ride, we got stopped on the mid-course for about 15 minutes. That was a new and interesting (and COLD, this was on Saturday night!) experience!

I don't think they've ever sent a G-force meter down the track, the estimates were based on the virtual models and scientific calculations. Until they do that, there's no way to really 'confirm' it's air time amount. However, through rough estimates, I believe it's safe to say that it would take the record from Voyage and that 30 seconds is a fair rounding of the air time. I've 'counted' the seconds of air time and have come up to between 29 and 31 seconds of air time every time I've done that.

It is about a Kings Island show ... I recognized it immediately at the end of the show. Godsmack - "Vampires" from their album Awake. I used to be a rather large Godsmack fan and have their first three albums on my iPod. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised to hear it.

I'm going to try to un-derail this topic (I know, I usually go the other way). But I think the original point of this post was wonderful. Many people forget about the employees other than the rides associates. Yes, the rides department arguably sees the most customer interaction and tends to be the most memorable. But I think there are a LOT of associates at Kings Island that work just as hard (or harder) than the rides associates do and get far too little recognition. First, how about the ecology department? You know, the ones who walk around wearing bright yellow with a broom and dustpan in their hands? They are out there in the sun, rain, cold, wind and every other imaginable kind of condition, walking until I'm sure they have blisters on their feet, picking up the garbage that the GP is too lazy to put into trash cans. Fighting off the bees that congregate around every trash can to change them when they're full. Cleaning the bathrooms and making sure you have enough toilet paper and soap when nature calls. And the most amazing part is that I've never had a negative interaction with any of the ecology associates. They are ALWAYS upbeat and friendly, ready to answer any questions a guest may have, offer directions, or give out park maps. I want to give a GIGANTIC thanks, one so big I can't express it in words alone, to these associates. They are what keep the park sparking clean and enjoyable for every person that visits. I personally could never handle working that job, and I definitely applaud those that do. Second, don't forget the nice folks in guest relations! They probably receive a thousand times more negative responses than positive ones. They have to deal with guests who are in the worst mood possible and maintain a smile on their face the entire time. They have to deal with parents angry over height restrictions, people mad because they got wet on a water ride, people who refuse to understand that there's no re-entry after 7 pm on Haunt nights, people who have lost their season passes and don't want to pay for a replacement, and I'm sure millions of other complaints that we just can't even imagine. The fact they manage to maintain their calm and even stay positive and happy with all that they deal with is really something truly extraordinary. It's impossible to go through all the departments that are under-appreciated, but keep this in mind when you're at the park. How often have you put in a good comment at Guest Relations? What department was it for? If the only department you come up with is rides, please consider doing so for other departments as well. One of the most satisfying experiences I've ever had during a park visit was courtesy of two girls in the merchandise department at Michigan's Adventure. I put in a good comment for them at Guest Relations and received a personal letter from the park operations manager! I'm sure that it not only made my day, but the two merchandise employees days when they got word of the compliment. A "good GR" is one of the best things any employee can receive and can often times brighten their entire week, so don't forget that there are plenty of hard working employees in that park, and put in a good word any time you see someone going above and beyond their job duties. Also, as Terpy pointed out, there are so many associates that are never even seen by the public and yet are an integral part of the smooth operations of the park. There are associates in the call center, cash control, maintenance (including rides, food service, games, merchandise, etc), marketing, associate services, human relations, first aid, and many, many other departments that are never (or incredibly rarely) seen by the guests and are just as essential as the rides, merchandise, food and other high guest-contact associates are. I hope everyone appreciates the hard work they put in, I know I do!

Goodness, where do I start? First off would be the offseason blues party. It was cool to finally put faces to names, but at the same time I wish I'd been able to meet more people. That was followed by the construction tour a few weeks later, and not just getting to put more faces to names but getting hang out with some of the coolest people I'd met so far, going to Jungle Jim's and Krazy City with a group of KICers. Group of KICers (CoastersRZ, Cory Butcher, Kawana, Gordon Bombay (standing on light pole), violakat03, Radar, clbehymer, Captain Nemo, Beast08, zosobeast, Avatar) at Jungle Jim's after the construction tour. Second would be opening day. Finding out two days prior that I was going to get to take an auction ride thanks to RexandtheBeast.com. Spending the night before at a hotel with Angie (gigacoaster2k), shooting random videos, getting very little sleep, standing in the cold at some ridiculous hour of the morning and line after line before finally get our very first ride on Diamondback. Our two-some turning into a humongous group by the end of the day where we all rode Diamondback as a big KIC group. (Ogrmac, Ogrmac's mom (I think?), gigacoaster2k, kiruler102, violakat03, keiko_coaster, PhantomTheater, Beast Man, iChase, Avatar, rollercoast19) Third would be a mix of many days .. I originally went into this season expecting to have a lot of solo days, but it turned out that I never had a single one. I always ran into at least one, if not more, KICers every time I went to the park this season and never had a single day where I was completely by myself. Then there would be Ride Warriors Weekend. That insanity was a class of it's own! From the ERTs to the backstage tours to the crazy randomness of the people I met that weekend, it will remain one of my favorite memories ever. And the next would be CoasterMania at Cedar Point. Again an awesome experience with a great group of people. For more information about CoasterMania, because it's just a rather indescribable experience, check out Jackson's PTR (http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18991) and Angie's PTR (http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18102). Then there was the Angie/Kat/Tom trip to SFKK, Holiday World and Kings Island. http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18874 And the violakat03/dare-to-fly adventure to Chicago, with stops at Indiana Beach and Holiday World mixed in. http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19343 And finally, the two weekends in a row that dare-to-fly and I headed to a ridiculous amount of ACE events (4 events and 4 total parks in 4 combined days), rode a ridiculous amount of El Toro, and did an even more ridiculous amount of driving. I'm still waiting on his pictures (since I didn't take many) so that I can do a trip report. So in general, looking back, the people, especially the people from KIC, have made this an unforgettable and unimaginable season for me.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the park not open again tomorrow, honestly. It's going to be cold and possibly rainy. However, if they are open, I still think the student ID discount is a wonderful idea, especially as that's the crowd Haunt seems to attract the most of.

Angie - Great trip report as always. I appreciate the photo shout outs. By the way, I'm really glad to see Tom got the awesome Legend shirt he was wanting most of the season. Posted from my BlackBerry mobile device.

I was there this Friday, and I think the biggest factor for the lack of crowds was the rain. It was COLD rain. I wouldn't say riding the coasters was miserable, because riding a coaster can never be miserable, but they weren't the most fun rides I've ever had, that's for certain. However, even with the rain, I was a little surprised at the fact there were still small lines for some rides (though this may be attributed to the fact everything but Diamondback was only running 1 train - meaning a normally 5 minute wait was over 20 minutes for Beast), and even the Haunts. We waited about 5 minutes for Urgent Scare and passed on CarnEvil because it had about a 30 minute wait. If it hadn't been raining, I think the park would have been significantly more crowded, but not quite as bad as a Saturday. If you want to go when there are very little crowds, go on a Sunday. This Sunday was dead, and it wasn't even raining!

I'm assuming so. Intamin rides tend to be picky about weather. I think on days that it's close to or under 50 degrees, you'll see a lot of rides not operating due to the cold.

It was still there on Sunday night. Though the sound effects seem to be out of sync with the motion.