malem

Nope, the code looks good, assuming that Banshee overtakes Diamondback next year, which isn't a certainty. Diamondback caters to a wider demographic and will be more re-rideable, though Banshee will be brand new and will probably have a faster crew. My guess is that the numbers will be close. Just to nitpick, you should be properly using whitespace to make your code easier to read. I'll give that to you, though, since you were typing into a comment box and not a proper editor.

On Friday night, several of us got together for the second annual "Haunt Night" meet-up. In a nutshell, it was a fantastic evening at the park. The weather was absolutely perfect, lines weren't too long, Ed Alonzo was great, the screaming contest was surprisingly entertaining, and scareactors were upbeat all the way until park closing. Interestingly, they don't seem to be doing Fast Lane on Haunt Fridays, and not too many people had Fright Lane. For the long-winded trip report, read on! Before the park opened, jcgoble3 (Jonathan), ohiocolts (Lucas), DiamondAceExpress (Laura), and I (Matthew) met at Outback Steakhouse on Kings Center Ct. for dinner - celebrating Laura's birthday! I ordered the ribs/chicken combo; the 1/3 rack of ribs was great if a little small, but the piece of chicken was tiny and dried out. Unfortunately, Laura wouldn't let us have the wait staff embarrass her with a song - not even for free dessert! We got to Kings Island around 5:10pm, meeting thedevariouseffect (Devan), his girlfriend (Lindsay), NoChickens (Rick), Mrs. No Chickens (Dee), and YoungStud (Brian). Before long, OhioColtsPapa (Matt), silver2005 (Mike), and KI Man (Zach) joined us at the entrance. I received texts from Beastie1980 and elyk saying that they wouldn't be able to make it. A few others apparently tried to find us, but there was some confusion about where to meet. While waiting on the park to open, we chatted about our plans for the night and grabbed another guest to take our group photo. Except for jcgoble3, we were all intrigued that YoungStud finally made an appearance. Despite his posting style and sometimes-annoying online antics, he's very nice in-person and is an interesting guy to talk to. At present, he's banned from this forum for violating site policies, so meet-ups are the only way he can talk with us! Once inside the park, we headed to Action Zone first for "Scream Like a Banshee" registration. They only register for one competition at a time. The first competition at 8:00pm conflicts with the first Ed Alonzo show at 7:30pm, so we decided to return later. While we were over there, everyone except silver2005 (who doesn't do haunts) and KI Man (who we lost at the gate) went through Slaughter House, which had an empty queue at this point. We figured that Slaughter House would make a good starter maze since it's lighter on the scares than most, preferring black comedy and fake gore. Lucas was terrified about going through, so I went ahead of him and spoiled as much as I could. He would greet each ghoul after I pointed him/her out, mentioning that he didn't want to be eaten. When we got to the kitchen, Sam (XGatorHead 8904's character) had birthday wishes for DiamondAceExpress in lieu of his usual scare. One of the new scenes here was impressive, but unfortunately it activated too late to scare me successfully. Drop Tower was next! After waiting one cycle we were first to board, giving us a great view of Banshee from the top. It turns out that Lindsay enjoys Drop Tower only slightly more than Fire-Beast-OF FEAR. Even if you hate the ride, it's a must-do for the unobstructed construction views! Lucas was ready for another haunt, and he wanted to get through Wolf Pack before it got dark. Laura, Jonathan, and I accompanied him through the maze while everyone else went to marathon Flight Deck. I again provided spoilers, but I accidentally misidentified one hiding actor as an animatronic. (Sorry, ohiocolts!) We regrouped around 7:00pm and went to Kings Island Theater to get an early spot for the Ed Alonzo show. I was expecting hilarity after reading reviews, and he delivered! There are new tricks, and his improvising is truly impressive when he's let loose. Make sure to see this if you haven't already, but be aware that it contains adult humor and is not intended for children. Afterwards, we separated to wait on the 9:00pm "Scream Like a Banshee" contest. Jonathan and Laura registered right after we got out of the show with only three slots left! Some of us took a night ride on Adventure Express, and I explored a couple scare zones on my own. The screaming competition is put together very well. KI's undertaker character did a really great job of improvising. Somehow, he made listening to fifty people screaming in succession entertaining to watch. The technical situation was less impressive, though, annoying the geeks in the audience! The "decibel meter" for measuring results consisted of a powered vocal mic connected to the 1/8" audio connector on an iPad. An iOS app was used to calculate an approximate decibel reading from the input volume. This was wildly inaccurate, as the beginning of nearly every scream was measured between 120dB and 133dB. This indicated that the input signal was clipping. My guess is that either the microphone was popping, the mic amplification was turned too high, or someone forgot to turn off automatic volume control. OhioColtsPapa and I had a good laugh at the absurdity of the results, which seemed completely unrelated to the perceptive loudness of the screams. None of the screams were anywhere near 120dB, let alone 130+dB. This contest is all for FUN and marketing, so it's not a big deal. Amusing, nonetheless. (For the curious, the loudest human scream ever published by Guinness World Records was 128dB.) Jonathan had an impressive scream, but sadly he didn't win even with YoungStud cheering him on. DiamondAceExpress apparently came in last place, but at least she got her shirt. Matt left the park after the contest to check on ohiocolts's sister (Dollmondback) at home. By then it was approximately 9:30pm, and lines were at their longest of the night. We waited 35 minutes for an excellent night ride on The Beast. Faeriewench (Amy) joined us as we exited the ride. We had ohiocolts pick a haunt for us to do, and he chose CarnEvil. We waited about 40 minutes for CarnEvil, which is still fun even though it's showing its age. I was intending to bring lineraly polarized 3D glasses for everyone to wear, but sadly I left them at home. The hiding locations are easy to spot, especially if you've been through it before, so the glasses would probably help with the scare factor. (On my to-do list for next year!) After CarnEvil, we met up with Fire-Beast-OF FEAR (Duncan) and went through the two new mazes - Delta Delta Die and Board to Death. Lucas stayed behind and got food with DiamondAceExpress instead, since he had experienced enough scares for one day. Delta Delta Die was the least effective haunt of the night. There's no story involved, and there wasn't much creativity involved with the acting. Hopefully this improves as time goes on. Board to Death was rather impressive, especially considering that it's brand new. Their takes on board games like Monopoly, Twister, Battleship, and Trouble are very funny. A well-hidden actor was able to catch me off-guard here, startling me well as I laughed at one of the games. Ohiocolts and DiamondAceExpress rejoined us for a ride on Flight of Fear, which is always one of my favorite things to ride. Interestingly, we noticed that Fast Lane was blocked off and closed. Nevertheless, even though the line only filled one switchback outside the building, it took about 30 minutes to reach the platform. There seemed to be more guests than usual asking ride ops to stow loose articles, and no one seemed to be in a hurry at all. (In fairness, it was after midnight.) We exited Flight of Fear at approximately 12:25am and decided to ride Diamondback before the park closed. The queue looked to be about 20 minutes long at 12:35am, so we skipped it to return just before closing. Most of us then waited about 10 minutes for Madam Fatale's Cavern of Terror, while NoChickens and Mrs. No Chickens took ohiocolts to ride Backlot Stunt Coaster instead. Madam Fatale's was again impressive. The props are top-notch, and the actors were on the ball even at 1:00am. DiamondAceExpress decided to block her peripheral vision with her hands, to which the monsters responded by stalking her all the way to the end. Had the screaming contest taken place here, she might have won! All of us got to Diamondback by 12:56am, and we waited about 10 minutes to board. A great way to end our night! Overall, we had a great time at the park, and I'm already looking forward to next year's Haunt meet-up. Haunt keeps getting better each year, and a KICentral meet-up is a great way to enjoy it! Aside from getting to know some of the great people who post here, meet-ups like these are an excellent chance to experience the park with others who share a passion for it. Again, thanks to everyone who participated! (And thanks Jonathan for trying to put up with YoungStud, notwithstanding your inner-Wikipedian.)

^ Until the appellate decision was released, we didn't have the facts of the case. Opinions here were based on news reports from trial court briefs, public statements by Lori and Holiday World, and peculiar online postings by Dan. This illustrates the danger of making inferences without having all the facts. The litigation has cost both sides millions of dollars, and the entire situation is truly a tragedy all the way around. We have criticized apparent cost-cutting by current management, but in fairness we don't know the constraints they're operating under or how litigation has affected the park's finances. Ownership disputes aren't good for recruiting talent, borrowing money, or even managing effective public relations. Regarding Dan coming into the picture, recall that it was Lori (as the representative of the estate) who hired him to fill in after Will's untimely death. Litigation did not start until (per the court) bad faith efforts were made to acquire the majority ownership from Will's estate. It would seem that Lori trusted him to protect both of their interests, which he clearly failed to do.

http://www.unixguide.net/freebsd/faq/16.19.shtml

^ HarvestmanMan did.

^ Here's the full appellate decision: http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/10031306pdm.pdf And here's the topic with previous discussion: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/26939-hw-matt-eckert-named-new-president-and-ceo/

^ The map is on the mobile version of the Haunt website. https://www.visitkingsisland.com/mobile/haunt/

^ Re-entry is forbidden according to the 2013 Haunt map, and presumably according to signs at the turnstiles. I have no idea how it's enforced for season passholders scanning their pass for re-entry. Experimenting would mean getting shut out of the park for the rest of the night or having to purchase a ticket. If for some reason I absolutely have to return to my car this Friday, I'll just buy a 2014 platinum pass and use my "free" admission.

^ Re-entry isn't allowed after Haunt starts, so you'd need to get anything out of the car before then.

And enthusiasts get upset when the park does a promotion to get people to visit on such days.

^^ You wrote to corporate, not the park? Your eye protection issue seems to be with Knott's Berry Farm, not (directly) with Cedar Fair, L.P.

^ Did you ever write to park management?

^ Good to know. The official rules say to sign up in Action Zone, so I would guess that the registration table/tent/booth should "usually" be there. The group of us on the 4th will need to find it early, so that jcgoble3 (and any other prospective screamers with us) can sign up.

Seasonal hiring for the 2014 season will probably begin after the 2013 season ends. Information will definitely be posted on the park's website. They're likely continuing to hire for this season throughout the fall, so you could probably apply for a job (weekends through 10/27/13) now.

The access to the amusement park via Cedar Point Rd is, of course, private property. "Closing" that to the public was presumably the neighborly thing to do, especially when those neighbors included the CEO. The road itself (outside the park) seems to be publicly maintained, and thus open to the public. Interestingly, though, Cedar Fair owns the strip of land that currently carries Cedar Point Rd from the mainland to the peninsula. That wasn't posted private as of the last time Google Street View was updated.

As I understand it, Cedar Point Rd ("the chaussee") is a public street.

^ According to reports here, and Don on Twitter, yes. Does that mean you'll be screaming this Friday?

Relocating GL's X-Flight (as Firehawk) involved a substantial capital outlay. Supposedly, not much money was saved verses what building it new would have cost. Firehawk's station is rather impressive, and terrain modification (to match the existing coaster) was not cheap.

From reading the official rules, I figured that they were using an actual decibel meter for judging. Taking the volume from a vocal mic is going to be less accurate. (Not that it really matters.) Clipping applies to analog as well. The mic has a maximum response, which doesn't depend on whether you use an analog or digital recording system to measure it.

The park shared a picture of tonight's contest via Twitter: My question: since this is a competition to find the loudest scream, why is that microphone needed?

The Little Miami River east of the park has a scenic designation, so good luck getting a permit to do anything that would alter the flow of that. On the bright side, your moat would only need 3 sides.

For Cedar Point, your choices are regular ($112.50/each) or platinum ($180/each). Both are good for Cedar Point's entire 2014 public operating schedule. If you purchase a new pass, both get you one "free" admission this fall. Platinum includes parking, access to Early Entry (1hr before park opens), and admission+parking to all Cedar Fair parks including Kings Island and CP Soak City. There are other perks as well - platinum ride nights, hard-to-use food "deals", etc. Regular only includes gate admission to Cedar Point. There are no perks, and you must pay for parking each time you visit.

Another image for the benefit of those reading this thread later: http://belle.zzxc.net/fun/20130927.Banshee2.jpeg (The final section of lift hill is being lifted into place.)

^^ That's a direct link to the webcam, which thedevariouseffect said is blocked. You need to upload it elsewhere, eg. http://belle.zzxc.net/fun/20130927.Banshee.jpeg Another benefit to doing this is that people can refer back to it later. The live webcam link will update itself, and people won't see the image you were posting about. EDIT: ˇ Yes, that image is rehosted properly, on the tapatalk server.

You're the first to make that comparison! (The only other actor/character I've been likened to is Matt Smith, around the time he was introduced as the 11th Doctor.) 1. So that extended arms wouldn't get in the way of seeing everyone's faces. 2. To be in complete compliance with safety guidelines in the photo. Who? Brad and Jonathan (Goble) in the KIC shirts?