RexandtheBeast.com

Guys, it has been a while since we have posted here on KICentral, but we have kept you in our thoughts as our site has been a little dormant over the last couple of years (The Beast and I have each had three children since we started RexandtheBeast.com and that limits your theme park and amusement park trips!). We have started back up with a vengeance and one of our recent trips was to Kings Island and we thought we would share our trip report with you. So, Kat, Kitten, Dane, John and others from our Diamondback auction days and other KI and CP interactions, glad to be back on the board! http://www.rexandthebeast.com/parks/kings-island/kings-island-trip-report-don-Helbig-interview/

The promised podcast is now up. You can find it on our blog page at Rex and The Beast's Blog You can also sign up to follow us on Twitter on that page. Talk to you later.

When we come back, we will do a full KI video rather than this short D-Back one! Rex enjoyed getting to ride D-Back at the charity auction with you and the other KIC fans. We will have a podcast up on opening day in the next 24 hours or so, so check that out too!

Hey guys, sorry this is so delayed, but The Beast and I have been dealing with a lot of stuff in our lives the last couple of months. But our video of opening day and the charity auction for Diamondback is finally up at Rex and The Beast's Videos. Let us know what you think and we will talk to you soon.

The Ride with Rex on Diamondback--First Ride on Opening Day went great--once I got to Kings Island. Some of the travails of my trip are listed below. I headed to the Denver airport in a raging blizzard Friday morning to catch my flight to Dayton, Ohio. After waiting for a few hours, that flight was unavailable, so I headed back home to wait for the 6:50 p.m. flight. At 4:00 p.m. I headed back to the airport to wait for that flight (the last available--if this one didn't go I would be missing opening day). The blizzard let up a little around 10:00 and we actually got going around 11:30 p.m. Due to the time change, that meant I would be arriving in Dayton around 3:30 a.m. In the meantime, I made contact with Kat (the winner of Ride with Rex on Diamondback) and told here of the situation. We had contingency plans in place if I didn't make it. I also called the car rental company and they said they would have an agent there when I arrived no matter how late (since they closed at 11:00 p.m. and I would be arriving at 3:30 a.m., I didn't put a lot of faith in that, however. So I arrive at Dayton around 3:30, walk to the rental counter and...there is the Budget worker waiting at the counter for me! Unbelievable customer service--a big shout out the Budget Rent-a-Car! So, now I head to Mason, Ohio to look at my hotel (since that is about all I will have time to do before I have to head to Kings Island at 6:00. Then I realize I have to pick up a miniDV tape for my camera; RexandtheBeast.com has to have video from this awesome event! A quick stop at a Super Wal-Mart fills the bill. I then cruise into the Hyatt Place around 4:45, check in and tell the desk clerk I will be here about 45 minutes, and he cuts the rate more than in half for me due to my late arrival--props to Hyatt Place as well. I grab a quick shower, look longingly at the Hyatt Grand Bed in my room--and hit the road. I arrive at Kings Island at 5:50 and the gates to the parking lot are not open yet. There are about 12 cars in front of me waiting for the opening. About 6:05 the gates open and in we go. I get the still camera, the video camera, the RexandtheBeast.com items together and head for the gates. When I get there, the auction line is off to the left and I jump in line to get my and Kat's info. Amazingly, there is already a 100-200 person line for the season pass holders (and they can't even get in until around 9:00!). About 6:45, Kat shows up and we are pumped to get in the park and head toward Diamondback. Kat is wearing a great KICentral hoodie she created herself and I am in a RexandtheBeast.com shirt. So, a little after 7:00 we head into the park, then we wait in front of the fountains looking at the Eiffel Tower for a few minutes until they start taking us back to the Diamondback area. I have to say things are fairly disorganized back there, but they ultimately got it together and we were all heading to Diamondback around 8:30. Kat ended up being rider 89 and I was rider 90. Another RexandtheBeast fan, Matt, was number 91, and we all headed up to the queue (not the "que" as Kat wanted to make sure everyone knows) together. We all decided to ride in the back (Jackson, another huge KI fan who was spouting Diamondback trivia all morning was also with us), and were on quickly. The ride vehicles were awesome and I was really pumped to get rolling--and off we go! Heading up the lift hill I looked around the park and was really getting pumped..then we hit the first drop, and it was awesome. On both the first and second drops I thought I was going to get thrown out of my seat. The airtime was awesome, the speed was awesome even the rooster tails at the end were awesome. A great, great ride. Once it was over, we all went to get our free on-ride photo and to talk about the first ride. There I ran into Todd, another participant in the Ride with Rex contest who still got to be on the ride, and even ended up on the same ride as me and Kat. I also was grabbed by a reporter and did a quick interview on my experience getting to Kings Island and on Diamondback. After the Diamondback first ride was over we met up with a number of other KICentral folks, including Avatar and others. We decided we had to hit The Beast next. We got over there and since I had not ridden The Beast in 10+ years, I had a great time. Avatar and I rode together and had a good discussion regarding the history of the park, coasters in general and the old Beast Lake (which many of the younger fans didn't even remember). We then headed over toward Flight of Fear--but I had to peel off and call The Beast to update him on the day so far. Remember The Beast was not able to join us due to an illness, but we will both be doing a RexandtheBeast.com trip back to Kings Island very soon. I told The Beast how great Diamondback was and what a fun group I have been hanging around and then started to walk around the park shooting some video for our site. I was already getting pretty tired due to the lack of sleep, so I knew it would be a short day for me. As I kept walking around the park, I was constantly being called out to by others to take pictures with them (Kitten and John, I remember you specifically) and to tell me how much they loved our site. That was really great and I appreciate all of the kind words. I know I was winding down, so since Kat's phone had died, I called Angie (Kat's friend who was with us most of the day as well) and found out they were heading our of the park to La Rosa's to grab a bite, and they asked me to join them. I did so, and was nearly falling asleep in my ravioli, so I had to head for the hotel in Dayton to get some rest. However, as I was driving to Dayton I realized there was an evening flight back to Denver, so I called and got on that flight (ultimately ending up with the same flight crew that I came in with at 3:30 the morning before--they were all pretty surprised to see me again so soon), ending up back in Denver at 6:00. I was asleep in my bed by 7:30 p.m. and did not move until 11:00 a.m. the next morning, exhausted but smiling from a great, hectic 24 hours including opening day at Kings Island! The Beast and I will have a podcast up soon regarding this trip, pictures, and we will also have a trip video as well. We will post and update you when each of them are ready. Thanks for everyone who has Joined the Journey with RexandtheBeast.com!

I guess I should stop obsessively checking your site for updates then, shouldn't I? I've been looking at least once an hour to see if you've posted anything. And your forgot to text me when you got to your hotel yesterday. Sorry about that...I ended up going straight to the airport to catch an early flight back to Denver and totally forgot....so...I made it back!

Great report, Kat. It was great to meet you Angie and the others...I'm just sorry my day had to end so soon (due to the circumstances to be expanded upon later)! Rest assured, Rex and The Beast will be planning another blowout day at KI in the near future and we hope to have a huge group of KIC'ers out with us when we have that trip. We will let you know when our podcast and video go up on our site. Thanks again, and we will see you around the forums!

Kitten, loved having the opportunity to meet you! Thanks for the great trip report. Rex

Guys, I say so many people I can't even name them all, but thanks to Kat, Angie, Avatar, Matt, Todd and others who welcomed me to KI and with whom I had a great time. As most of you know our circumstances were crazy (I was going on no sleep having flown in from Denver which was having blizzard at about 3:30 then having to drive from Dayton to KI...no sleep that night for me and The Beast was terribly sick and couldn't make it), which The Beast and I will be podcasting on very soon, so I couldn't make the 3:30 meeting at Outer Hanks (was sleeping by that time).

I would have tried to make it (I'm flying into Dayton), unfortunately we are having a blizzard here in Denver and I have to take a late flight tonight. Wish me luck on flying out tonight (Kat, if the flights get cancelled tonight, I will contact you about how to handle things tomorrow so you still get your ride!). Hoping to see everyone tomorrow! Rex

Yes, it's still Outer Hanks...the Bubba Gumps thing didn't happen...at least not yet. Terpy, who at first wondered what BG--Busch Gardens--had to do with Outer Hanks, tee hee Thanks for the update...I was going off of the park map shown on KI's site....but, we will still make the meeting place there.

We wanted to let you know that one of KIC's own--violakat03--won the Ride with Rex on Diamondback Giveaway. We look forward to meeting Kat and many other KICentral members at KI on opening day! Hopefully we will be able to get some pictures and video for our site reports of KIC members thoughout the day. The Beast and I (and Kat if she is still interested in hanging out with us by then!) will be grabbing an afternoon snack at Bubba Gump Shrimp Shack at 3:30. If any of you are around, drop by and say hello, we'd love to meet you. I'm sure we'll see you around the park (we will have RexandtheBeast.com shirts on), so when you see us give us a shout!

Hey guys, we wanted to let you know that assuming we win two seats on the first ride of Diamondback through the charity auction (our two bids are currently 77th and 78th) , we have decided to have a giveaway to have someone Ride with Rex on Diamondback on Opening Day (April 18). You can get the info on it at RexandtheBeast Diamondback Drawing. We would love to have a KICentral member with us! Also, we will post later in the week where we are going to be in the park sometime in the afternoon, and would love to get a chance to meet some of you. I'm sure we will see you around the park, so if you see us (we will be in RexandtheBeast.com t-shirts), stop and say Hi.

My experience at other parks in these circumstances is the other lines may be slightly shorter, but it is partly a matter of timing. At some times, people may flock to D-Back and you can get on the other rides quickly. However, some times people decide to "take advantage" of people going to D-Back and rush to the others. My advice...stay alert and be ready to move quickly and you will be fine.

Yeah, I guess they've never really assigned a specific time for the auction rides. But if they want a big media event, I don't know what they'd do... In our Podcast with Don Helbig he stated the auction rides will take place when the park opens (around 10:00 he says), because they want other guests to be able to see the winners and enjoy the excitement of the first rides. (You can listen to the podcast at Audio Journeys with Rex and The Beast (Helbig).) Also, on Opening Day Rex and The Beast will be on the first rides of D-back as part of the auction and then will be enjoying the rest of the park. In addition we will be doing some opening day videos and interviews with various visitors. We would love to meet with some of the KIC fans, and when we get a little closer to Opening Day, we will post where we are going to be in the park at certain times and would love to say hello and meet some of you. Let us know if you are interested!

I really believe that KI is in a position to weather the economic storm better than most parks. It has a great pull with a huge number of people who come back year after year, and does not have to rely upon pure destination visitors as teenageninja mentioned. I think it will have a bit of a dropoff, but I don't think it is anywhere near the risk of Six Flags or certain other regional parks that don't have the same affection built up for them as does KI. Certainly, the Diamondback auction shows there are people and companies that are excited about the park, the coaster and the opportunity to help a great charity (which gives KI positive vibes as well).

I think these numbers will get worse before they get better, and I would expect at least the first half of 2009 to be terrible for Disney and Universal. I know that Universal is responding to the economic issue in part by expanding seasonal closings and other cost-cutting measures. However, from our perspective as fans/visitors, I agree with Avatar that if you are heading to one of the parks this year, you need to check out the options for deals, because they are certainly out there right now (but you should also check on closings to make sure the ride(s) or restaurant(s) you wanted to go to are going to be open).

That possible gas leak is pretty interesting. Universal (at Islands of Adventure) is really betting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter becomes a huge draw for it in Orlando (as most of you probably know, IOA is themed around "islands" and HP is going to become a new "island." The Beast and I were there in December and the construction is really moving forward. I am not a huge HP fan, but I am pretty excited about seeing how they incorporate the HP island between the Jurassic Park and Lost Continent islands. The great coaster Dueling Dragons (currently in the Lost Continent island) is also going to be rethemed to fit in the HP world. I will be really interested to see the visitor numbers for 2010 (and 2011) to see what it does for Universal's status in the "visitors drawn" catagory (historically Universal is around 6th and IOA is around 8th in the US in theme park attendence).

Hey, as I mentioned in a previous post, we at RexandtheBeast.com had Don Helbig, area manager in the marketing department at KI, as a guest on an Audio Journeys with RexandtheBeast podcast. In the podcast interview segment with Don, we talk about KI generally, and the Diamondback auction in particular. You can access the podcast at Audio Journeys with RexandtheBeast. Thanks, and we look forward to seeing some of you on April 18th!

Buf, we interviewed Don Helbig on our Audio Journeys with RexandtheBeast podcast (which will be available tomorrow, I will let you guys know when it is available), and we asked him this question. He confirmed that the ticket will be in addition to winning bidders getting into the park for the day, and it can be given to anyone. Logistically, you may have to get it inside the gate at Diamondback and walk back to the front to pass it along, but I think you will be able to do that.

This is what I was thinking might happen when I made my earlier post in this thread. However, it does seem that this is going to be the only increase in the number of trains. Also, Tigellinus, I think the auction states only the first bidder gets to pick his or her seat and then the others go in order of bids until the 5 trains are all full.

I remember this ride well. King's Island was the first "major" theme park I ever attended and I thought Hanna Barbera Land was the greatest thing of all time. Dark rides are my fav, so I remember the ol' Smurf Voyage. Pretty cool.

Hey Bodda, thanks for clarifying, my concern was the language a "minimum of 96 seats" in the release and some of the comments I have seen flying around various sites about how extra bids would be handled. The yellow line wasn't up when I made my last post and I think that helps confirm it. So, thanks.

So far, this auction is succeeding beyond my wildest dreams. It certainly blows away any of the other first ride auctions that we have participated in or are aware of. The one thing I wish they would confirm, and that I believe will be in the best interest of the auction as well, is the hard number of final seats being auctioned off. If it is going to stay at 96 (which I think is best) they should say so. Lets face it, if they were going to let everyone who bid ride first (which in this case would just mean before the general public), everyone going to the park should bid, since the minimum bid is not that much more than the price to get in the park, in which case the fun of being a "first rider" would be greatly limited. In any event, can't wait until opening day!