Creed Bratton

We did do urgent scare...see the edit in original post! The midgets were wonderful! Beast was pretty rockin this year!

All I know is I can't wait to see WindSeeker on my way to the park as well coming down the highway from 71 North....right at South Lebanon, looking through the hills and see it standing their next to Diamondback, the Eiffel Tower and Drop Tower!!

Puppet made it very apparent that they were playing around. It was all theatrics. I wasn't at the show but I've talked to several people who went to the show and who have seen the show numerous times.

Part of me wonders if the 800 number still works.

I decided to travel to the park to close out the season. I didn't really know how to feel about this trip. I was excited yet kind of sad. Here's how the night went. We, my friend Kari and I, got to the park at 6:30....got directly to the ticket booths and waited maybe 10 minutes in line. I went up and paid for my pass then stood in a 5-10 minute line for processing. By 7:00 I was walking through security, to my surprise my friend Adam was the one checking our line! Finally getting through the front gates we headed over to Wolf Pack. Wolf Pack was a no wait. It was weird being in the SOB station again, yet I couldn't really tell where we were. There were some great scares and people hiding. The set up was kind of cool, yet confusing on which way to go. I wasn't happy that they made us take our picture at the beginning of the line. I give this haunt a 7/10 overall. We then headed to Club Blood. Club Blood was interesting. I'm not quite sure how to explain it. I'm not a fan of tons of fog inside of a maze. This one had way too much fog. The scare-creators were really fun and entertaining. I've heard a lot of people say this one was really sexual I didn't really feel like it was. I give this one a 8/10 overall. We rode Adventure Express. I forgot how weird it was at night! So trippy! Keeping up with Haunts after a little break, it's not even 8:20 yet, we go over to Massacre Manor! The host was really cool and funny. We entered the house and I remembered most of it but I kept getting scared! It was quite funny! There was a bit too much fog but I overlooked it. *Spoiler alert* I was the lead person in this one, we went down a hallway and it used to be filled with fog, well this year they had fabric hanging down and two scare-creators threw it on my head making me lose them! We got out of the maze and I was just impressed. I give this one a 10/10 this year. We decided since we were next to them we'd jump on the dodgems. Those were fun! It seemed like there were too many young kids on them though....guess parents don't really care what their kids are subjected to anymore! So I definitely targeted the kids instead of other adults and teens. Haha! After Dodgems we went over to Beast. Here I was a bit disappointed. The line was spilling out onto the midway. At one point I wasn't even under by the vending machines yet and the line was wrapping around the games up to Larossas. As I moved forward I noticed why, none of the queues were open. The lower house definitely was not and then the queues by the ramp were not open. Someone from a random group finally opened that one, as I was on the ramp. I'd much rather go through queues than wait in a line outside of the ride area. We got to the top of the ramp and those queues were not even open! It was okay because since we only had 2 people we got asked if we wanted to go next because the other people's group got screwed up. I tell you what...Beast on a 30 something degrees night is COLD!!! The ride was perfect though. Didn't get a wheel seat and it was so smooth! The fog from the park and the element by the 2nd hill made this ride ultimately just foggy. It was perfect. Kari was giggling the whole time! We got off The Beast and had a friend call to say we needed to wait up for them. We waited up by the train. At this point we noticed that Diamondback was testing. Must have went down or something. So we sat there and people watched. I noticed a lot of people in "costumes". Yet as I got to the park I saw a friend who had a green wig on (in which he's been to the park before in during haunt) and he was told he couldn't come in with a costume. Finally my friend Lauren and her friend Rick showed up and we did Tombstone Territory. Tombstone Territory I did it at the beginning of Haunt. It was more fun this time. Scare-creators followed us more this time and it was just hilarious seeing the others in my group just get scared! I wasn't a fan of waiting after the train drop off but did get to see a guy I used to work with! There wasn't a whole lot of theming for this one. It was okay overall. I give it a 7/10. **EDIT** We then headed over to Urgent Scare. Another friend and his friend met up with us. Urgent Scare was really lame this go around. They combined our group with another, kept trying to push us through. I was not a fan! They then decided to bring another group in the holding room. For the claustrophobic, aka me, this was not a selling point! We went into the elevator and they jumbled all of us up. They then were pushing us out the door, but I wasn't about to leave without my group. We got out....there were hardly any scare-creators around. No one was really jumping out at us at all. There were a few rooms where there would be someone in there and they were bland...they said stuff but it was very bland.....bland it was....get it? The scariest part of this was being forced to take our picture. Oh so happy! I do not like to be forced to take a picture, especially if it's to remember a haunt....because this haunt this time around was very sub-par. I give it a 4/10. The last time I visited U.S. was at least a 8/10. ** We then rode the Zephyr. It was fun and goofy. Such a simple ride but it was fun! I realized that if my hips were any wider I would not be able to ride. We got off of that then Josh and his friend had to leave. So we said our goodbyes and headed toward Trail of Terror. Trail of Terror had maybe a 20 minute wait. We sat there and just talked. It was nice. We got to the entrance and got combined with another group yet again. The group in front of us was okay because it was like 4 teen-aged boys, however we had pre-teen girls behind us. They were annoying as all get out. But anyway...we went through the attraction....there were some good scares at the beginning. Some scares throughout weren't the greatest because you could see them. The guys in front of us kept getting scared and I was dieing. They were getting so scared! I was unhappy getting sprayed with cold water on a 30 something degree night. I enjoyed this Haunt pretty well. I hated it though when I got string hanging from trees in my face. I would give this Haunt a 9/10. We headed toward The Racer. Of course they were only running the red side. Red is definitely my favorite side! It was so much fun! I love night rides on Racer! I forgot how hilly it was! My stomach kept going up and down. We then were going to do corn stalkers but decided against it when Lauren's brother got off of work a bit early. We waited for him. At this point it was close to midnight so we decided to go check out "Half Pint Brawlers". I do admit I was very against them coming to Kings Island. I don't like wrestling period...but this show was just hilarious! I heard some great stories about the midgets from my friend, Gabe, who works the tech for this show. I kept laughing at people during this show they were freaking out and couldn't believe "the fights" that were happening. I saw a dollar bill being stapled to a cheek, tongue, forehead, to junk, etc. It honestly was a great show and I retract my previous statements and think this was a smart move on Kings Island's part! I give Half-Pint Brawlers a 8/10. We then decided to ride Delirium since it was right there! This was a walk on! Oh my gosh this was soooo cold! It was fun though we got people in line laughing at us as we'd swing down past the line. I wish I could have taken a picture of the parking lot from the top of Delirium. It was soooo foggy! At this point the it was getting awfully close to 1 am...so we headed to Diamondback. We ran through the Festhaus and through international street stores. It had gotten so cold. We got to Diamondback and stood in line maybe 5 minutes. We rode in the middle. It was so great to see my friends working! We got right back into line. They announced there was going to be two more trains to run. And we were on the last train! Kari sat this one out because it was too cold! What a perfect way to close out the season! We all rode and held out legs up because it's just fun that way! Getting the last ride possible for me on Diamondback was just great! I gave hugs to those I knew working and headed down the ramp *insert tears here*. We then headed out of the park. Kari and I headed to Waffle House by Fields Ertle and met up with Gabe. We had a nice "dinner/breakfast" and got to talk about the Midgets, Danishes and other random things (including our waitress who had a costume on that looked like she didn't have any eyes.) This waitress was funny. I tried to get her attention but she couldn't hear me. Gabe mentioned it was probably because she couldn't see me. It was a very bittersweet experience going to the park for the last time in 2010. I'll be back my sweet Kings Island! .

On the topic of the midget wrestling....I enjoyed it, I went when I said I'd stay clear of that place. It was actually not bad. As for the close of the season last night was my last night at the parks for the 2010 season. It's kind of bittersweet. Check out my blog in my signature for my final TR. I hope there will be updates as well about construction of the WindSeekers. As I told my friend last night, it's hard to believe that the next time I walk through the front gates it will be to ride a new ride!

Diamondback was definitely running when it was 31 degrees.

Diamondback this year ran 2 trains, unless we were told otherwise in rain mode. light sprinkle yeah, i don't understand that either. I remember last Halloween Haunt I rode Diamondback in a down pore and it hurt, but the ride didn't feel any less safe. I believe it was a 2 train op. I agree CoasterRZ shutting down rides for a sprinkle is ridiculous.

I always find that policy funny. Some rides have rain mode, some don't. So it's raining, you don't have rain mode.....you're not operating. I do find it unacceptable when rain modes allow for 2 trains on the ride and the operators only will run one train. I’ve been told we needed to just do 1 train when we were being pushed to increase capacity…some things I’ll never understand!

Great find Jasper!! Seeing Top Gun painted Red and Black makes me smile. I liked the fog coming up out of the station. I wish they would bring at least some of the theming back!

I do like Drop Zone (tower). This clip makes me miss SOB.

I go for both! I like the rides, I like the haunts. I like going to see friends from the park and that visit the park.

If these forums had a like button, I'd like this....heck I'd love this!

BoddaH1994 at your comment about Satan, I started laughing out loud in my apartment and my roommates had to come investigate as to why I was laughing. In turn they started laughing too. I'm sorry but no matter what religion you are, if you don't like Halloween things or Halloween Haunt don't visit. Just because society isn't like you doesn't mean you need to change it.

Whether SOB is staying or not, not every single piece of the coaster (brakes) will be removed by haunt. If it will end up leaving everything will stay until it ultimately has to leave.

My biggest issue with RaptorGuy's post is that he has called for people to be fired without reasonable cause. He's called for them to be fired because they came up with an idea he disagrees with. If this were how the world works, man we'd have even more unemployed people.

I haven't seen the lower queue ever. I've always hoped to see it one day. Thanks Paul for posting these pictures. If there are any more you can find I know I'd be happy. Darn my parents for not taking me to the park more when I was younger!!!

Anything said by an scarecreator should be taken with a grain of salt. Half of the time they're saying something that just pops into their heads that second. In regards to that, Halloween Haunt is just an event. It's not church. There are going to be things that aren't "god like" /- Erosarrow05

haha pizzababy, yeah caffeine this late is not a good idea elmer fudd, i totally do agree that its possible to avoid the haunt stuff, but like the site said, no one is off limits. i'd just have to say that there are better times to just go and ride than going on a haunt night.

If you choose to not participate, shouldn't you choose to not go? The fact of the matter is, if you go to KI during Haunt, you are going to be assumed as a patron who is there for Haunt, thus the scarecreators will be there to scare you. If you are annoyed by them, go some other time. Also, if you look at the haunt website in the FAQ, it says under the question are children permitted "Halloween Haunt includes graphic scenes, suggestive themes and intense imagery and is intended for mature audiences; not recommended for children. No one and nothing is off limits!" So if you're there just for rides, looks like you're out of luck.

Time and time again we talk about Winterfest. It will not come back under current management. If you don't like the atmosphere during Halloween Haunt, simply don't visit during that time! As for the crowds/security thing that you brought up. People show up to Haunt however they deem appropriate. Those security guards at the front gates with the scanners, will not allow someone in if they do not act appropriately. Not to mention people can buy alcohol at the park unless they are a complete mess and bothering a large quantity of guests or doing something inappropriate they won't be kicked out. As for smoking in lines, unless there is a security guard or a ride operator in line nothing will happen unless you have a large number of guests complaining. Often times when security is walking around the park, they're walking to deal with another incident and may be focused on something bigger than the smoking policy. As for the things that happen at thr front gates, it's not that big of a deal. I have found it very entertaining as many other people do. I'm sorry if you're coming to the park just to ride Diamondback and you are hindered by Halloween Haunt. Perhaps you shouldn't come on a Haunt night. No one should be fired because you think that something shouldn't be the way it is. SATAN himself hu? Wow, I should have got an autograph!!! You know when I walk into the park on a Haunt night, I automatically think "Wow, this is what Hell is like!". Seriously? It's a display of the what is seen as Halloween. If you don't like it don't go! Then you state whoever came up with this idea should be fired.....so there's another thing you don't like, so whoever did that they should be fired. Well if that were the case for everything else, man I'd be getting everyone fired. If the fog were dangerous, the park wouldn't do it. Since you've ran into people, carts, ran over by other people maybe you could walk around with a fan . The park can't do anything about it being dark. Welcome to night time! I've found out that most people I talk to at the park and those who have visited, they love the fog. As for the decorations, I believe they are in very good taste compared to some Halloween attractions away from Kings Island. The reason Halloween Haunt is so popular is because of how it is, how many haunts there are. I seriously do not see where you get everything as Satanic. I'm a Christian and I do not see these things as Satanic. This is where you need to step aside from you're beliefs and realize that it is all for entertainment. If you weren't at the park during the beginning of the season, there was a show, I forget what it was, at International Show Place that had a constant boom, scared the bejezus out of me while working on Diamondback. I still have to say the park does not celebrate Satan, Hell and Death. Everything has been very tasteful. If you want to go to KI and just ride your coasters and rides go during a normal operating day. They won't scale it down due to its popularity and there's nothing wrong with it. As for Winterfest, how about the people who get offended by the words "Merry Christmas" and what not? The fact of the matter is, no matter how much you dislike these events they're still going to happen no matter if you're offended or not. I believe that "evil, unholy, and all that is wrong with our society right now" is an unfair statement. Most of the people that I know that work at the park or visit the park at this time are Christian, less than evil, do good for society and try to live a good life. Trust me I'd love for Winterfest to be back, but there's just no way. The economy wouldn't allow for it and neither would the weather. The reason that Dollywood does a Christmas event is because of the park itself and that it's in Tennessee. Tennessee weather provides for better winter events than Ohio weather does. King's Island's Haunt has been an amazing experience for me, as a Christian I'm not offended by any of the displays, workings, interactions that I've had at Haunt. I've stepped aside from everything and realized that none of that stuff is real.

Glad you had an amazing first night ride on The Beast! I always love having night rides especially when it gets colder, it makes the ride so much better! Have you tried riding Diamondback at night? It's another ride where you can't really see where you're going!

This has been done for quite some time, not just this year. I believe that the roamers are instructed to make sure there is a clear distance between the instrument and the patron. Personally, I like that they do that, especially when I'm not paying attention it scares the crap out of me!