KIfan1980

We used the San Diego GOCard for admission to all attractions so I don't have specifics for each, but from what I remember seeing while in line. Legoland admission was higher (~$70 adult and $60 kid per day) versus KBF (~$55 adult and $30 kid), however discounts were widely available for Legoland (I saw free kid with adult and half price coupons). I heard someone ask about a AAA discount at KBF and think they got a better deal. Parking was $12 at Legoland and similar at Knotts (my son's platinum pass paid off here)

I thought of your Facebook request when I wrote that. Next time I see you, you can look at the rest on my iPhone - here are a couple more since you asked nicely though! The Sydney Opera House is an incredible design in person and in miniland. Love Vegas - there is even a working "Big Shot" on the top of the Stratosphere Tower. I miss the Bay Area. Not the best picture (backlight), but amazing colors and detail.

So I just went on a trip where I visited a CF park (one day ~10 hours at KBF) and another park (two days ~ 7 hours once, ~ 4 hours once at Legoland). What happened: At KBF - we ate lunch in the car, had a minimal shared dinner at the park, and then ate at In-N-Out Burger when we left At Legoland - we ate lunch in the park both times What was the difference At KBF, the Hamburger I shared with my son was ~$6 and to make it a combo (Fries and Drink) was +$8 = $14. Water tastes pretty good. At Legoland, the combo meal (Hamburger, Fries, and Drink) was ~$8. We got 4 I'm willing to pay a little more than normal when at an amusement park, but there is a limit - and CF has exceeded that limit.

You've got to feel for the girl, her family, and the ride operator. I'll admit I have a bias, but would much prefer the lawyer to say less.

I could probably bore you to no end with pictures of airplanes, cars, and my kids from this trip - I try to add a few to my PTR's, but figure most on these forums want to see the coasters/theme parks more! Tilt-a-whirl cars were unusual, but didn't stop the spinning. I can see why you are such a fan of KBF! Also, I'd say California is a wonderful state that I love to visit - although I wouldn't want to live there again (four years at school was plenty) Too true Dave - while my kids are probably too young to remember the details of this trip, I know we are building quality relationships as we travel and spend time together that will serve us well in the future. I have vague but fond memories of traveling through Europe/South Africa/and the US with my parents when I was younger. It will be even more fun when they get to be a little older like your kids - they already have the coaster count going (now 7 year old - 38, 4 year old - 12).

i have heard some stuff on what might be new, whats changin, & what will stay the same or leave. but only time will tell, & i dont give out confidentiality until after opening night (as far as the new stuff goes). so we'll just hafta wait n' see. Read between the lines (not literally before someone decides to be a smart alec) - I take this to be a hint that there will be something new and changin, but he won't say any more about it.

Those female rides uniforms at CP are new this season? I guess they aren't going for employee retention.

For our summer vacation this year, my family decided to fly to the West Coast and visit Legoland, San Diego, and Knott's Berry Farm. We had a wonderful time and I wanted to share some pictures, stories, and thoughts from the trip. I hope you enjoy! Logistics Summary - we flew into LAX (cheaper and direct flights), stayed in Carlsbad (home to Legoland), and spent most of our time in San Diego area (although did venture back to LA for Knott's). San Diego GOCard was purchased/used for entry into all attractions. Day 1 - after a day of flying and driving, we decided to hit up Legoland as it was 10 minutes from our condo. Legoland is an AMAZING park - it is obviously designed for the young family crowd, but is fun for people of all ages. Some fun rides and great Lego attractions throughout the park - my kids absolutely loved mini-land and all the Lego building throughout (so much so we ended up visiting again on Dad 6 of the trip). Here are a few of the many pictures we took at Legoland from both days. One of many huge Lego creatures The Volvo XC90 at the entrance to the Volvo Driving School And the driving school - kids loved being able to "drive" on road with real traffic lights, stop signs, etc... Miniland - New York Miniland - New Orleans Miniland - DC Miniland - San Francisco Miniland - Vegas (love the details) Lego Characters on Fairy Tale Themed Ride Fun family Ride (propel the Fire Trucks, spray the water to put the fire out) Fun, Acrobatic, and Education Show OK - I'll stop boring you with the Lego Pictures now! Day 2 - venturing down to San Diego for the first time, we began by hitting up Balboa Park, a huge city park where many of the buildings from prior expositions have been re-tasked as Museums (I think there are 15 museums in the park). We all enjoyed the Car Museum, Air & Space Museum, Model Railroad Museum (used to be largest before EnterTrainment opened I believe), and the natural beauty of the park. Getting around is easy via a free tram. Later in the day, we ventured down to the waterfront for a Harbor Cruise (I'd have liked to go on the USS Midway Museum, but that will have to wait for a future trip). Los Angeles Class Nuclear Submarine in port (from the harbor cruise) USS Nimitz Aircraft Carrier (from the harbor cruise) Day 3 - following a relaxing morning, we returned to San Diego visiting the Birch Aquarium, followed by a trip to Belmont Park (10 ride amusement center on Mission Beach in San Diego). While the initial purpose of this trip was to ride the Giant Dipper (originally opened in 1925), the end result was that my family and I had an awesome time in a wonderful entertainment area. The rides were fun - seeing the ocean from the lift hill rocks, the bumper cars were insane, the Krazy Kars were an absolute blast, the Tilt-a-Whirl spun us like crazy, and the Beach Blaster (internal swinging revolving ride) almost made me sit down and rest. All that and the beach/ocean was only half a block away! Giant Dipper I was surprised at how well these spun! Day 4 - big drive to Knott's. Absolutely wonderful park - loved it. One incredible coaster - Silver Bullet. Several really fun coasters - Jaguar!, Montezuma's Revenge, Sierra Sidewinder (Camp Snoopy Coaster that my 44" tall was able to ride), Ghostrider. Great family rides and attractions - Shows, Calico Mine Ride, Two Trains, Spinning Sombrero's, Blacksmith Shop, and a Stagecoach ride (that unfortunately we missed out on timewise). Note that I liked the looks of Xcelerator (even the paint scheme) but didn't ride as it was not operating much of the day. Really well themed park that I can imagine visiting again, although it did have the CF food pricing problem. Definitely a Theme Park! Love this ride, especially the corkscrew elements. Fun, Short ride with a very interesting ride vehicle/restraint setup. Multiple Trains! A very nice woodie in my opinion A great kids coaster (Camp Snoopy ride with a 42" height requirement!) They even advertise it as "Rob"ery I'll have to get these next time. Day 5 - another relaxing morning at the beach was followed with a trip to the SD Zoo. A huge zoo that even offers Bus tours and has a skyride. The highlight here is the Panda exhibit, which ironically had about the longest queue of our entire trip! Worth the wait Hope you enjoyed reading - I highly recommend this part of the country as a place to visit, and feel lucky that I was able to take this trip with my family.

Wouldn't Dent be considered in the "Midwest" ...

In all honestly, what from the other Paramount Parks would you be interested in receiving? Perhaps we would have received BORG Assimilator (now Nighthawk) from Carowinds? Oh the unmitigated irony of it all! Not saying I had any specific ride in mind - just wondering. Although I think Carowinds has a nice set of scooters Agree with this statement - while I recognize that some information must be kept confidential and private in any business, communication and customer relationships are vital to the long term success of an amusement park in my opinion. Understand your concern and agree that quoting times is a dangerous thing to do in this situation. Yes, KI (and HW and many other parks) do use this line. The frustration with KI (and CF) communication stems from other examples like the following: - I've previously told the story about a Snowy River Rampage being down for a "safety break" when there was an operational issue. Telling the truth never hurts - Comparisons with Holiday World Facebook updates on Timberliner train status, Wildebeest issues, ride downtime following the recent lghtning, etc. versus the silence from KI after the power outage, discontinuation of the 5@5, etc - Timeliness and completeness of communication. A few examples - Planet Snoopy announcement versus every other old Nick park, Ride Warriors weekend 2010, power outage, SoB status for 2010

So ride rotation would have seen KI lose FOF. The question I'd ask before calling this a fail is what would KI have received?

I think you are on to something here. It's a clearing for the next KIC Trailer Tower. Will we be watching a rebuild or a removal is still tbd.

Thanks Jesse for another wonderful trip report! I also thought the Train Tour was fantastic and hope it is around in the future when my kids are old enough to truly enjoy it. The knowledge and information shared by Ronny and Steve was incredible. And to think the other option would have been to wait for 50 minutes of ERT while Diamondback was struggling to wake up! Great to see you and your family - I can imagine it was a very long day for y'all, but also knew you'd make it to midnight as well! What a great day for your first Starlight Experience - I love the interaction of music, lights, and the Eiffel Tower.

Somehow I missed the start of these reports and have been looking forward to them! Loved reading Part One - excited to move onto Part Two and Three. I'm sure lots of arm twisting is required - Way to go Nancy! I'm glad you are now enjoying the rides also.

Clean laundry mostly just appears in my closet - I'll have to ask my wife how it gets there! (disclaimer - my wife and I have a fairly equitable agreement on division of household chores so please don't take this joke out of context) And Terpy, if you want to talk about the product - I could Cheer about some products all day long, better Bounce into the kitchen to get a snack to Tide myself over. I'd hate to fall Down...y

I'm not alone! I <3 clean laundry... There is a BIG difference between what you said "I <3 clean laundry..." and what Terpy said "I really, really like doing laundry..." I agree with one of you

I saw that and did some research. This firm initiated coverage in 2006 with a strong buy reco - and units at ~$26. Since then they've downgraded and upgraded a few times - they do not inspire any confidence.

Did those comments disappear? Neither of the two I saw were that interesting. On the family discussion - like Gator, I spend a lot of time at the park with my family and see many, many others doing the same. I actually believe that KI does a good job of catering to the family market and does a pretty good job balancing the various different demographics it tries to appeal to the full range (from those looking to enjoy Planet Snoopy to those looking for Major Thrill Rides and Coasters). What is lacking (in my opinion) is a few flats that could really help bridge the gap (the way I think Racer, Flight Deck, and BLSC do on the coaster side). As examples: Ongoing frustration that there are no Antiques or Flying Eagles, and only slower than other parks Dodgems I really think KI could use a couple more classic rides like the following from CP: Tilt-a-Whirl, Super Himalaya, Calypso, Witches Wheel. I know KI has Viking Fury, Shake Rattle & Roll, Monster, and Scrambler - I'd just like a couple more with a slightly higher thrill factor.

In response to Alluna, I guess articles like this are subject to interpretation. I read it and thought the author was sharing a positive impression of Kings Island as a family park, with a complaint about prices. To me this is a fair assessment of the park.

You are right that you can't make everybody happy. And yes the fact that it takes a scrubbing to come off is a pain so I don't like it. This is likely also because I never had a problem with prior inks (the blacklight from a couple of years ago was best IMO). Either way it's not going to affect my day at the park though.

For the record, as a guest, I really dislike the new ink - especially when it comes to trying to remove it from my kids hands. I don't really want to scrub that hard. What was wrong with the blacklight ink like used at CP?

I think some of the younger generations on this site don't understand that at one point, Top Gun was considered a major addition to the park. While it is no longer a big thrill coaster - there are now much bigger at the park, it still serves a purpose in the KI lineup and is very enjoyable to many.

This discussion gets to the difficulty that I have with defining "top" lists or answering "favorite" questions. Both Millennium Force and Maverick are great coasters that are among my favorites and that I could enjoy riding just about all day, but the reality is I wouldn't. Why - because there are times that I want the speed and drop of MF, there are times that I want the twists and turns of Maverick, and there are also times that I want the inverted loops of Raptor, the classic woodie feel of Blue Streak, the acceleration of TTD, the carnival feel of Wildcat, or the pain of Mean Streak (ok, maybe not!). And that's just the coasters at Cedar Point. What makes amusement parks such a wonderful experience for many of us is the variety of experiences that they provide. And back on topic a little, this is my issue with this list - I'm left asking so what? OK, great, these are 7 extreme coasters - I could argue the list (or ask why not 10?), but this kind of list just doesn't do anything for me - this is just a list of some prior record breaking or current record holding coasters.

Sparky - you hit the nail on the head there. I'd also point to the level of information shared about the situation as a factor also - HW hasn't hidden behind a wall of silence; they've been out front with what feels to be honest communication (even though they haven't shared any real data) the whole time. Compare this with a couple of Kings Island examples: The classic - SoB being down for maintenance the second half of 2009 The recent - at Boomerang Bay yesterday, we were next in line for Snowy River Rampage when the boat lift shut down. The lifeguard/ride ops tried several times to restart, called for support (I'd guess maintenance), kept trying to restart things - before finally informing those of us waiting that the ride was down for a "safety break". About 10 minutes later, another ride op shows up on the platform - pulls the boat that was on the conveyor blocking a limit switch out the way and everything restarts automatically. Note that I have no problem with what happened (things like this are going to happen on a ride). I just don't understand why the ride ops didn't say "we've got a minor technical issue and have called for help" - I'm betting that they have been trained differently for some reason.

I find it telling that people are so willing to give HW and GG a break on this, when they would crucify other manufacturers and parks. If this was Intamin and Kings Island, I believe it'd be a different story.