malem

Hopefully those pushing the coffins are keen to avoid colliding with anything or anyone!

This season, junior passes were only applicable at the platinum level. Regular and gold passes were one price, valid for ages 3 and up. It's worth noting that the regular pass will cost more than the current price of the gold pass when it goes on sale. Buying during the fall sale gets you more perks at a lower price. Welcome, by the way!

I'm not nearly well-travelled enough to make most amusement park "best in the world/country" claims. Neither are most who vote in the real polls, though. Hence, the inherit bias. Best new-to-me ride for 2015 might be Fury 325, Verbolten, Volcano, or Thunder Road.

Part IV: BGW. And I was reminded again that I still need to finish this trip report. We were one of the first cars at BGW on Tuesday. After a ~10 minute wait at parking tolls, a ~20 minute wait at the front gate, and a ~20 minute wait at the Italy rope drop - we were finally in the park! With its (relatively) low capacity, Tempesto was the first order of business. It's enjoyable with some good intensity, though it sticks out among the park's world-class coasters as a short ride. It's themed nicely with Festa Italia and overall is a nice addition; I just wouldn't recommend waiting a long time to ride it. After Tempesto, we walked onto the rest of the park's coasters (minus Verbolten) in the first hour of operation. I prefer Diamondback or Intimidator, but Apollo's Chariot is well-worth riding. Impressive first drop, nice views of Roman Rapids, and plenty of airtime. Griffon was my first dive coaster, and it didn't disappoint. Riders enjoy a nice view of the Chesapeake Bay in the distance at the holding brakes, and the 10-across floorless trains are an experience themselves. Alpengeist isn't quite a Banshee or an Afterburn, but it's enjoyable in its own way. The theming works well, and its low-to-the-ground layout has effective foot chopper elements. Loch Ness Monster is still a fantastic ride. Very smooth and comfortable for an Arrow looper. I had forgotten how long the was. We slowed down a bit after finishing the coasters. We waited ~30 minutes for Curse of DarKastle as lines started to pick up a bit; the combination of CGI and real set pieces is really impressive - especially for a ride that first opened a decade ago. We then walked around Germany to see if Verbolten was open (it wasn't), then settled for a very dry (back row) ride on Escape from Pompeii before returning to Germany for lunch at Das Festhaus. It's one of the pricier places to eat in the park, but the authentically German food & the very efficient service make it worth the price. Side substitutions generally aren't possible, so picky eaters might want to go elsewhere. (Most meals are ~$12 without a drink before tax; the very large sampler platter is $15.) After lunch, an annoyingly persistent storm cell shut down most rides for over 3 hours. Luckily, almost everything had a minimal wait (while open) with the exceptions of DarKastle and Verbolten - again thanks to ~100° heat indices. While waiting on the storm, we saw one show: Roll Out The Barrel. Though park ownership has changed, and the once-numerous Budweiser carts are gone, this new show is a reminder that the park is still very much in the shadow of a major brewery. The show is enjoyable, albeit very corny; its worth watching while eating at Das Festhaus. Once rides finally reopened, we made a point to ride Verbolten. This is an amazing ride. I avoided reading much of anything about the ride in advance, so you can imagine my surprise at the element. Big Bad Wolf was one of my favorites in 2004, but Verbolten might be better. (Cue the tomatoes.) Ride it more than once during the day (as the experience changes), and don't miss it at night. After this, we re-rode most of the coasters and also did several non-coaster rides. The log flume is surprisingly good & shouldn't be missed. Mach Tower is much more fun than its relatively short stature might indicate. The Rhine River Cruise is a great change of pace from thrill rides, but be prepared to walk down (& up) about 100 steps to get there (& back). We skipped Roman Rapids, as none of us wanted to be drenched at the Thrill_Biscuit level. (Lesson learned in 2004.) Later that evening was dinner at Trapper's Smokehouse in France (again very good food; somewhat better value than Das Festhaus with ~$10 meals), dusk/night rides, and shopping at the main gift shop. Overall, BGW is a very impressive park with its well-themed areas and world-class rides. I'm a fan of terrain, so I particularly appreciate how well the park incorporates the Rhine "River" (actually a cleverly-disguised reservoir). Finally, this trip was coming to a close, but not before a last-minute decision to stop at Camden Park. (Part V coming soon. And I'll try not to take a month.)

Someone with experience working the Haunt will probably reply soon (or send you a PM). If you go in with a great attitude & do whatever they ask for the audition, I can't imagine that you'll have a problem. Have fun, and good luck with your interview!

A recent letter from the FAA, brought up in discussion on PointBuzz yesterday: https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/WebBlobServlet Note that Cedar Fair purchased that airport a few years back, closed it, and has plans to demolish & redevelop it into a local sports park.

Last season, the free Fast Lane wristband was loaded onto the card if renewed at the park and printed as a voucher if renewed online. If offered as a voucher again this year, it would be attached to your pass renewal voucher(s), a link to which is e-mailed to you following your purchase. If you don't have the e-mail or need to look up a past order, you can do this via KI's season pass store. From the store, open the "hamburger" menu (☰) and select Order Lookup.

Today might have been a good day to redeem the free Fast Lane Plus for renewing a season pass. (If only it worked at food locations..)

^^^ I wasn't sure at first how that post related to the topic of this thread. Then I realized that there was white text, and I have this forum set to the Invision Power default theme (dark text on a light background) instead of the "KICentral" theme (the inverse). Just noting for anyone else with the theme setting changed.

On Dollar Days in 2013, Don Helbig was grilling hot dogs. What people will do to save $2 on a slice of pizza...

And Chicken Shack doesn't even have the $1 food items.

Look what's still there. https://www.visitkingsisland.com/2014/the-ride/ride-information

I love how Coaster Crew made sure to thank the Carowinds staff in a very special way following the Fury-ous event this summer. Definitely the type of group I like being associated with. Photo: Leresa Thompson/Carowinds via Twitter

KI's pizza is consistently served hot. The same can't be said of CP's pizza, which spends a lot of time under a "heat" lamp. Doneness issues aside. I have yet to throw away an entire plate of food at KI because it wasn't edible. The same can't be said about CP. Reds Grille is miles ahead of any* food establishment at Cedar Point, in my opinion at least. *Not having visited Tomo Hibachi, Bay Harbor, or Famous Dave's outside the park.

That is correct. Your 2015 gold (or platinum) pass is good for admission to Haunt. Just not if you visited earlier in the day and left, because that would be considered a re-entry.

Kings Island doesn't allow re-entry during Halloween Haunt. (If you want to get back in, you would need to purchase an admission ticket.) Note that if you exit the park during the day on Saturday, you must re-enter before the appropriate time (6pm or 7pm, as posted at the front gate) if you want to get back in without paying.

Albeit one directional after 6pm or 7pm on fall operating nights.

Just a general note for the future: Cedar Fair parks prohibit camera use in restrooms or changing areas for any reason. Technically, merely using a (camera-equipped) phone in a restroom violates the policy. (Just don't want anyone getting in trouble and/or being accused of doing anything illicit, since a few individuals caused Cedar Fair to become very strict with this. I know the intention here was good!)

Cedar Fair take note: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/mobile-friendly-web-pages-using-app.html

Even if the device won't fully boot, it might be possible to recover them via USB. (Though the usual interface wouldn't work.) This is one reason why I like micro SD cards in phones.

^ At Kings Island, yes, that is the current rate. Sales tax in Ohio increased by 0.25% in 2013. Total lodging tax in Warren County, Ohio is 12.75%. It's higher in Hamilton County. Thanks in part to efforts of members here, there is no admission tax in Mason, Ohio.

Hitting a squirrel on Adventure Express was bad enough; I'd hate for a skunk to be on the track!

Coming back to this thread makes me feel old. It's odd to think that it's been three years. This was actually my first time meeting anyone from this site. I had planned it to be my final Kings Island visit of 2012, but I enjoyed it so much that I had to come to another meetup. (And another, and another...) With lower 40°s and steady rain much of the night, this was also one of the few times I regretted not wearing a jacket. I didn't repeat my mistake on a rainy Haunt night in 2014.

Fright Lane is available for purchase on its own in the Kings Island online store. There is no product panel in the main Haunt store, so you have to use the drop-down menu. (Haunt->Fright Lane)

You may be thinking about the "forgot pass" admission, which Kings Island offers complimentary to passholders once per season. (A second time would require paying the replacement pass fee.) It's worth noting that the replacement pass (for a fee) is also offered only once per season. A second time would involve buying admission ticket(s) or a new pass.