pcc

This week and next is when most coal miners have vacation...so there is no doubt a bunch of people from KY and WV there.

I wish I could find the picture, but I can't....anyways, we had a picture taken of us that was completely fogged over. All you could see was the whites of our shoes. Nothing else. Good thing we didn't want to buy. On with my rant. I usually do not complain about the photographers. I understand they're only doing their job. We always ALWAYS pose for them, even if we've been there 3 days in a row. I have more pink slips than I care to admit. Almost all have been pleasant and quick experiences. This year, ugh.... ...Our first trip this year, we decided to stop and let them take our picture. Family pic x2...Okay, no prob. Kid pics without parents, okay, again. Mom and Dad without kids...mmmk. Individual kid photos....this is getting redundant. Our first day, we arrived a little late, so we spread out to Action Zone first. Well, we were over there a while, and the girls decide they want a stroller. We get the stroller and walk through the front area over to Planet Snoopy. On our way to PS, we were stopped not once, but twice by photographers. Hello? We have a stroller from the park, and we came from that --------> direction. Leave us alone. After that, we decided to take a different route and avoid the front altogether. Second day, more of the same...except we were there for ERT. Which only had 30 minutes left. What happens as we make a mad dash through the Gold Pass line? We get hit up by 2 photogs. They would not take no for an answer and did the family, kids, parents (thankfully no individuals). At this point, my husband is furious. For the first time ever, I did not grab a prtscn (don't judge me) of our photos. Everyone looked annoyed. I understand they work off sales and what not...but being so in your face just makes you angry. And yes, I feel like a celeb being stalked. If I wanted that, I would have packed my bags and gone to Hollywood. But no, I want to enjoy a family outing without the hassle of flashing lights. Do I enjoy getting a photo of us? Absolutely. Do I feel like the tactics and amount of pictures are overkill? YES. It would be nice if there were some sort of system in place out at the front gates, say...if you want a picture taken, take a brightly colored piece of paper and flash it as you walk in. Have a certain area for photographers to reside, and YOU make your way to them, not the other way around. The rest of our trip was spent dodging the photographers....our trips usually consist of that as the season wears on. It gets old. /off my soapbox.

Weird, the blue ice cream I had tasted like it always does. It was fablueous (I couldn't resist)

You can also find Blue Ice Cream in Action Zone. I get one EVERY time I go. It's delicious.

Our last trip, we decided to play games. I played Plinko (which was way fun, simply because when I was little, I always wanted to go on Price is Right to play it ) and won a small stuffed dog. A random guy won a Smurf and gave it to my youngest daughter, which made her day. We won a few Spongebob's throughout the park and various things from the Age/Weight deal. We had our stroller full of stuffed animals. Nothing larger than your average toy, but it was fun Largest thing I've EVER won playing games would have to be a 3-4 ft tall Spongebob plush. It lost it's novelty after a few months and now resides in the basement.

I do not drink, but I do go to the bar for their loaded cheese fries. Service and food is outstanding.

I submitted a compliment as well. I had to give a shout out to the Woodstock Express crew (my kids did their first marathon session ever on that ride during our visit) and some at The Beast, as well as a food worker in Action Zone. If any of the employees are reading this, know that the little things you do are not going unnoticed. This is one of many reasons why KI is my home park. Employees can make or break a place, and KI has some of the most friendly and helpful workers out there. And yes, Mr. Helbig personally replied to my comments as well. It's nice to know our positive feedback reaches beyond a website.

My daughter had to write a paragraph about travels. She naturally picked KI. Here's her paper, I thought I'd share Why You Should Travel To Kings Island To prepare for a trip, you must first have a plan. You must decide where you are going so that you can pack what you need. First, you have to pack up the important things you need. And if you have enough room, you can bring some toys. And you bring stuff like shampoo, toothbrushes, and toothpaste. And take a hairbrush. And that's how to first get prepared for a trip. You should travel to Kings Island. Because it is so much fun. And it has a bunch of rides. And a lot of food. They also have gift shops with a lot of t-shirts and toys. And hats. That's why you should go to Kings Island. I think it's kind of funny. Our family is known around school as the Kings Island addicts....I don't know why

Absolutely. I could justify the prices if the burger were say, oh, hand pressed or whatever. Ya know..beefy beef. Not knocking the food, cause it is good for what it is, but I can get the same type of burger at a local deli here for $1.99. I almost fell over when my girls asked for an ICEE and noticed it was $9.99. That was one time they were told no, and when they noticed the price, they no longer wanted it. When kids under the age of 10 think prices are high, it might be time to reexamine the issue at hand. Just saying.

Rehashing the food price issue..... We ate in the park on the days we were there last week. Normally, we leave or pack our lunch. We were very time limited, so we didn't get to pack our cooler, and we were too tired to run back and forth when hunger would strike. For five of us to have burgers and fries (NO drink).... $58.00. We ordered our burgers without cheese, to save a few dollars..brought our cup and refilled with free water ALL day. Several hours later, everyone was hungry again. This time...pizza and chicken sandwiches. All in all, $70. So, in only one day, we spent what we usually do on groceries for 2 weeks. Is that a hard hit on the wallet? Absolutely. $30 for fudge and a candy bar. Not necessary, but it's one of those things we do when we go. I didn't realize just HOW bad food prices are until last week. That will be the last time we eat in the park. Keep in mind, we spent roughly the same amount 3 days in a row. What we spent on food for three days is what we spent on five season passes.

I'm glad we don't have to dump out bags anymore. Back when that was REALLY enforced, I had 2 in diapers...talk about a pain, going through diaper bags. Ugh. I have never once felt as though my safety was threatened in the park. Do metal detectors need to be there? Meh, probably not. I go into many crowded public places without them. I would like to think most, if not all, going to an amusement park are there for a day of fun. (Let me be naive) As for clothing, I didn't see anything 'skanky'. Of course, it was in the upper 40's, low 50's during our last visit. Nonetheless, my only gripe is language. No, not at Diamondback, Vortex or the like. But, Planet Snoopy. I know you can't control what comes out of mouths, but what happened to respect (I'm sounding old here) We were there during Math & Science days. One particular day, it was EXTREMELY crowed. My kids were in line for Kite Eating Tree. Three teenage boys practically knocked the girls down, got in front of them. said a few choice words and got on the ride. Screams and a few obscenities were yelled out. Was that necessary? That is a kid ride, afterall. Yes, the ride op said something to them...but later I did get the "What does &$&*( mean?" And that brings me to my final old lady gripe. POV movies. On Beast. My daughter and I were riding with a group of kids. (well, 16 or 17ish year olds) who had a Blackberry out the entire ride...passing between themselves and the riders in the front. There were a few times I thought the thing would fly out of their hands and hit someone. Did I report it? No. It was too crowded, they ran off as soon as we were back at the station, and well, I was tired. I kind of feel sad for the lack of respect for rules and whatnot with this generation. I hope to instill values in my kids that make them respectable members of society. I'd probably slap my kids right on the bottom if I ever caught them doing some of the things witnessed last week /old lady soap box rant finished

We are leaving. 90-120min wait for coasters...just waited 20 for viking fury. It is busy. *edit* 9 more buses and 5 tour buses pulled in as we were exiting. Today is a good day to walk around and people watch.

It was pretty cool...walking through the park and random people yelling my name, hehe. The park is busier today than the past few days. Longest wait was 15 min for a front seat on DB.

It wasn't official...just random meetings ...park has a lot of students today

Oops! I was carried away riding and updating facebook...lol. it wasn't bad today. I enjoyed meeting fellow kic'ers today!

I may check in periodically, if I don't forget!

I just want to say that the background music is awesome this season. My daughter said ' what up with the scary music for beast?' It really added to her excitement. As well as the music for Drop Tower. Her first ride was met with building anticipation simply due to music...kudos!

It was walk on for ALL rides today. Verycold, but it was the first time my kids have experienced the ability to marathon everything. We arrived at 11 and left at 7:45....rode DB twice, beast 5 times, Vortex 3, SR&r 5, racer 4, bumper cars 4, monster 2, scrambler 5 (love the ride op who asked if I was over 16, lol), zepher 2, flight deck 3, Delirium 1, Drop Tower 1, viking fury 2, woodstock express 16, boo blasters 1, flying ace 2, blsc 2, carousel 1, and im sure I have forgotten....we could have ridden more, but dang. Mama got tired

We use Hotwire every time we go to KI. Here's a copy/paste of last year's trips and the hotels that we ended up getting: Cincinnati, OH hotel La Quinta Inn & Suites Sharonville Cincinnati, OH hotel Livinn Suites - Cincinnati Sharonville, OH hotel Holiday Inn Cincinnati-I-275 North, OH Cincinnati, OH hotel Crowne Plaza Cincinnati North Hotel Cincinnati, OH hotel Crowne Plaza Cincinnati-Blue Ash Cincinnati, OH hotel Drury Inn & Suites Cincinnati North Mason, OH hotel La Quinta Inn Cincinnati N.E. Mason, OH hotel La Quinta Inn Cincinnati N.E. All of the hotels were clean and within 5-15 minutes of the park. Sharonville was the furthest away (15 minutes) but I think the hotels were better in that area. Especially LivInn Suites. We were pleasantly surprised with that hotel.

I must be the only one thinking this could lead to a pretty sweet dino-themed 4,000 ft long Haunt attraction.... Anyways, my kids are excited about the new addition. Not thrilled about the amount of walking that will be required, but I'm sure we knock out that size of a walk many times over when we visit. Being in a wooded area, it will be a nice shady spot as well. As for paying $5, we will. If my kids enjoy it, it will be worth every penny.

Re: Hand driers I, for one, miss my bacon.

Whatever it is, I'm happy to get it. One more attraction means less people clogging up lines to other rides. Think positive! Besides, if it is a dino walk-through, I think it will be neat. When I was in Jr. High, we traveled to Ashland Mall to check out a dino exhibit. I was fascinated by everything presented to us. Replicas, fossils, dino-poo. We had a passport that was stamped for each exhibit. 20 years later *cough*, I still have the passport. Things of that nature aren't for everyone, but I do enjoy a nice stroll now and then. Yes, I loves me some coasters...but sometimes it is nice to just people watch and chill. Leisure time in a park is just as therapeutic for me as riding. I'm in my favorite place, doing awesome things and escaping reality for a few hours.

Ugh. Thieves rub me the wrong way. Could be because I was robbed earlier this year. Anywho, copper thieves have knocked our power and phone out for days. One dude fried himself a few miles from my house. Was his life worth it for the copper? And did these fools think they'd get away with such brazen acts at Kings Island? I mean really. *sigh* I'm thankful I was raised to be respectful of others belongings.

So is the 'perfect coaster skirt' short? That could be an intresting sight on some coasters! Knee-length, but yeah, I've had a few *ahem* 'wardrobe malfunctions'. That's when I began wearing short leggings underneath, lol

This topic amuses me for many reasons. When shopping for skirts, I always look for that 'perfect coaster skirt'. My family members shop with that in mind too I try to buy things with zipper pockets. My usual park skirt has seen better days, so, I have plans on modifying one with iron-on velcro in the pockets. My husband usually wears cargo pants, but I do need my phone. I keep a baggy with me at all times too, in case it rains or I decide to get wet. Velcro and plastic. The answer to all of life's problems.