MagnumFan

^ Oh that's right! I'm too used to CP (where one can also run to the rides if you choose to do so). Gates open at 7PM, IIRC.

My wife and I are planning our only Haunt trip to KI this coming weekend (Sep 30-Oct 2). All other weekends are spent at CP. I remember from last year Saturday being crazy-busy which we are expecting. So, I'm thinking of buying Fast Lane passes for her and I just for Saturday. I see they are still available on the website. I'd like to wait as long as possible to buy them, so we can make sure the weather will be good, etc. Does anyone know if these sold out for last Saturday, and if so, when did they sell out? We are planning to do all the scary stuff Friday (after Diamondback during early entry), then rides Saturday during the day, and more scary stuff at night. Of course, she wants to see the shows on Saturday but I'm thinking with the Fast Lane pass we will have had more than our fill of rides by that time.

I noticed the same thing starting last year. Last season the green train seemed particularly rough (by DB standards) especially toward the rear of the train. This year the trains all seem equal, but since I tend to ride in the first couple seats where it is MUCH smoother I don't really mind. I enjoy the back too, but prefer the smoothness of the front. Back in my 20's I probably wouldn't have cared!

That SOB cup looks mildly similar to something really inappropriate! Still sad I never had a chance to ride it, though...

For Boomerang Bay, something like Wildebeest at Holiday World would be cool. Of course if they could make it a few feet longer/taller/faster that would help too, as it would record-setting. Honestly though, Boomerang Bay has been crowded enough already this summer that I'm not sure additional rides are needed to improve attendance?

^ x2. My son watched in wonder as I rode DB a few times during early entry. He's 47". It breaks my heart to tell him it will be a few years before he can ride DB. Beast next year, though, is a sure thing. Same for MIllenium Force at CP. Watching my son ride the rides has added a whole new excitement that I never expected. Because for just me, rollercoasters were starting to bore a little.

^ Very cool! With things like this it's really luck of the draw. Some employees are cool, others may not be. But in general I have noticed much better employee attitude at KI than at CP (my home park). The only real difference between the two is that I suspect much of KI's crew is local, whereas CP employees come from far and wide (and local too), especially since they offer employee housing on-site. Why the locals offer better customer service than the non-locals at CP, I have no idea. Maybe it's those sleepless nights at CP in non-air conditioned dorm rooms, crawling with bed bugs? I know that would make me cranky! The more I visit different Cedar Fair parks, the less homogeneous they seem to be in terms of their way of operating, and interacting with guests.

Cedar Fair is constantly changing promotions, offering discounts, and adding events, presumably to adapt to rising/falling crowd levels, or anticipated crowd levels. I can't speak as much for KI, but this is really common at CP. This seems to be happening more often, and with more success, as they are hitting the social media sites hard (FB, twitter) As for me, I always check before planning a trip, as I try to avoid crowds. But sometimes when you have to plan trips far out in advance, that information isn't available at the time you're booking hotels, etc.

I was at the park for four days right after this started. It was absolutely packed all four days (Sunday being the lightest crowd). Especially the kids rides. Lots and lots of kids. We had to be very strategic about what we did with the kids, and when. I was a little bummed because I planned my trip during what I thought would be a slow time. We still had fun though. I would expect high crowd levels for at least another week (at which point more schools are in session)

Done. Mods, can we close this one now? I've got nothing else to say on the matter, and aside from casting aspersions, nobody has contributed anything meaningful to this thread in quite a while.

I'm sorry if you are not able to understand my point. I thought I had made it abundantly clear, even after admitting in my last few posts that my initial reaction (and the OP itself) was largely a mistake. Others seem to understand by now. Why not you? Maybe you didn't read the entire thread....

Nobody in sight, meaning nobody in front of me. Lots of people running behind me, though they were at least 20+ feet back. Are we really going to get that nit-picky? I've already admitted the act of running was wrong, and admitted I was wrong in part of my OP as well as my attitude on the issue. I think that's pretty responsible and mature. It's not easy to admit when you're wrong (at least not for me... just ask my wife!) What more do I need to say to end the flaming?

See? We all make mistakes! Just to be clear, I was not running through crowds of people. Remember in the OP I stated, I was the first one at the ticket gate, and first one at the platinum/gold archway. Therefore, the first one jogging ahead. Which is probably why I got busted. It was actually kind of nice jogging through an empty park with nobody in sight. I would never run through a crowd, dodging and weaving. I did enough of that during my marathon running days (20's) and a badly sprained ankle taught me that lesson.

One other thing. While at the park this weekend I did see something (and I can't remember where) in regards to the Fast Lane pass, that said basically buy the wristband, then RACE to your favorite rides. I really wish I could remember where I saw that, because it completely validates my point about the conflicting rules/instructions.

First of all, I was not told TWICE by security not to run. Only once, and I could not hear him (honestly) at all, over the music. But admittedly I figured he was saying "walk". Secondly, I have young children myself, and would never do anything to endanger myself, and especially not other children. Where you guys get some of these fanatical assumptions is beyond me. Third, the security guard at the platinum/gold gate did in fact tell me it was ok to run and "get my exercise". There was a couple minute long conversation there that I omitted, to shorten what was already becoming a lengthy post. You will all have to just take my word for it (or not. I really don't care at this point). Now, having said all that, allow me to demonstrate my maturity and offer a mea culpa. I shouldn't have been so enraged over the fact that I was stopped after not listening to security. That was wrong. My anger towards the cop was probably also excessive, though I did not show it to him personally (only here in this post). I made a couple childish remarks in the OP. I'm an adult, and I'm not too proud that I can't admit when I'm wrong. What I still firmly believe, however, is the conflicting "rules" situation needs to be addressed. On that point I will not budge. Brownttgr, I think your responses are a little over the top. I find it highly hypocritical you are acting like the rules police, yet in your own signature it states "KI fan since 1979 when mom & dad put paper towels in my shoes to get me on Beast!". If that's not a safety issue, I don't know what is. At the risk of beating a dead horse I'll stop here. Can't we all get along?

I'm glad you are amused. I'm amazed that some people just can't understand the point I was trying to make. Perhaps that's my fault for not doing a better job explaining. Yes, I was jogging. Yes, I was caught. Yes, I was wrong to do it, and wrong not to listen. That's not the issue in question. I am not perfect. Sometimes I make mistakes. Anyone who states otherwise is probably a hypocrite. My issue is that I was following the suggestion of a security officer, which directly conflicted with the instructions of yet another security officer. Doesn't anybody see the problem with that? When I went to customer relations later and spoke to one of the heads of security, he APOLOGIZED for the way I was treated, and also APOLOGIZED for the conflicting instructions. He acknowledged that this is a problem within the security department and he would be sure to address it at their next department meeting. By his own admission, there should not be conflicting policies. And by his own admission, I should not have been talked to in the manner I was by this officer. He was in my face. I don't care whether or not you believe me. I'm in my mid 30's, so it's not like I'm some kid trying to cause trouble. Throughout the ordeal and afterwards, I remained calm and polite. When the head of security asked if there was anything he could do for me, I specifically stated I wanted NOTHING for the trouble. Just to bring the issue up so that the rules are uniform across the park, so things like this don't happen to others. To accept any form of remuneration would have, in my mind, invalidated my argument and sent the wrong message.

Yeah, I'll definitely walk in the future. I'm not an idiot. In fact the next day (Sunday) I walked, while plenty of other people ran. It's unfair, but I'm not risking it again.

Nobody was running like a "psycho racehorse". It was a mild jog. Did you not read the OP?

Friday, I had the pleasure of taking my brother, father, and an in-law for their first trip to KI. We got there at 9:10AM to be the first ones in line for early entry at 9:30. I was excited to see their reaction to Diamondback, which is a top-3 ride on my list. After getting through the main gate, we had to wait about 60 seconds at the Platinum/Gold archway entrance because it was not yet 9:30. We were the first ones there. Now I have done this many, many times before and enjoy being the first person to the Diamondback station so I can claim front seat, followed by 8-12 subsequent rides without ever leaving the station thanks to KI's generous re-ride policy. The security guard (white shirt) said "You guys sure got here fast" and I said "Yeah, this is our exercise for the day, I like being the first one back to DB". Well, as 9:30 approached he gave us the "On your mark, get set, GO!" after which, we started running. Normally I would sprint but my family is not in the greatest of shape so it was nothing more than a mild jog. I was still far out ahead of the rest of the crowd. In the past, on occasion, I have had a sweep, or food service worker, or security person yell "WALK!" to all the runners, which usually gets ignored, or followed only for a brief moment. But this day, a security guard (brown shirt, with gun) yelled walk, and we all ignored him, most of us because we could not hear over the BLARING music they were playing. As I rounded the turn towards the DB station near Planet Snoopy, another security guard flags me down (but not the rest of the crowd), and says the police guy wanted me stopped and to have a seat, he would be over in a minute. Minutes pass and I'm beyond angry, but still manage to be cool and polite to the security guy who stopped me. He sent me down to where the other police guy was (in front of International Fudge), and this jerk gets totally up in my face, telling me he "has the power to throw me out of the park and destroy my season pass". I calmly explained that I was encouraged to run by another security officer, and he says "I don't care what he told you. YOU WILL FOLLOW THE RULES AND REGULATIONS!!" By now my blood is boiling but he's still yelling at me. This old man was on a serious power trip. I was about ready to pistol whip him with his own firearm. Not really, but you know what I mean. He tells me that "It's YOUR (my) problem that there are two sets of rules" and "when he tells me to do something I darn well better do it". Finally he lets me go and I arrive at DB about 15 minutes later, at which point my family had already ridden the ride 3 times and I completely missed their reaction. I went to the customer relations office later to complain about that cop. It's not that he was doing his job, it's that he was rude, disrespectful, and had shown me (IMO) discrimination and was harrassing me. I never mouthed off to him, I was polite the entire time, and yet he had to yell in my face. I've been running for rides all my life. It happens at CP, KI, and all the other Cedar Fair parks I've been to. I'm so angry at this tool of a cop and would love to get him in trouble, but that's probably not happening. So from now on I guess I'll walk, but it sure doesn't seem fair for me to have to walk while everyone else runs? My beef here is that: 1. Policies like no running are not only randomly enforced, but sometimes the opposite is encouraged. I've been encouraged to run many times by CF employees at various parks. 2. The way I was treated by the cop was inappropriate, offensive, and after hearing my side of the story, really didn't give a rip and proceeded to tell me how much power over me he has. Has anyone else had a similar experience, or is it just me??

The lights were on in the double helix on Friday, but off in the second concrete tunnel. Saturday, the second concrete tunnel lights were on, but the double helix lights were off, thankfully. And yes, the retracked portions were immediately noticeable, even to my wife who hates the ride. Don't ask.

Yeah, I don't particularly care for FOF. It's OK I guess, but I've been dealing with a neck injury for a while now, and FOF and Vortex are two rides that give me problems. Something I meant to add in the OP, I have always been a huge fan of Magnum XL200 and Millenium Force at Cedar Point. Probably my two favorite rides. But I'm 90% certain that my new favorite is Diamondback, with the caveat it HAS to be the front seat. Leaning way forward on the downhills is amazing, there is no other ride like it. I may have to change my screen name here...

Though Cedar Point is my home park, the wife and I decided we couldn't wait any longer to ride some coasters so we headed to Kings Island for the weekend. We got a great rate ($76/nt) at the Springhill Suites which was a fantastic hotel for the money, and I'll definitely be staying there again. We arrived Friday around 4PM and hit up Diamonback, front seat, for our first ride of the year. Wow. This ride just keeps getting better and better. There were hardly any lines at all at the park. As evening wore on, the lines all but completely evaporated as most of the field trip kids left the park. Had some LaRosa's pizza for dinner which was good, but the girl shorted me $.90 in change and then when I told her about it, just as she shut the register drawer, she shrugged and said "sorry, I already closed my drawer". HUH??? I would be embarrased, first of all, to make that mistake, but worse yet was her flippant response. Terrible service. Fortunately, this was our only bad service experience of the weekend. Beast was a walk on all day Friday, even at dark! The new track on a few of the turns was a welcome change. They need to repeat this for the turn heading into the long covered "tunnel", the one without walls. Heading into that stretch is still really rough. When I rode Beast on Saturday, there were lights on in the tunnels. I don't remember these from years past. Even the double helix had lights on throughout, which really ruined the experience. Saturday we got there for early entry and got in 6 rides on DB (three of which were front seat) and then headed over near the Eiffel Tower to be the first ones on Firehawk shortly before 10. There were some teenagers with the same idea who thought they could beat me in a foot race, which they initially did, but as a marathon runner I took them down at the end. This was a lot of fun for everyone (including my wife who was laughing histerically when I told the teens to "bring it" during the national anthem). We exchanged high fives at the end and had front seat on Firehawk for first train of the day. Saturday's lines were definitely longer than Friday's but still really not bad at all. I think the forecast for rain all day scared most people away, but it only rained briefly, and that was during the time we went to Viva Tequila up the road for dinner. $3.99 32oz ice cold beers were awesome, as was the food. Highly recommend this place! Sunday we again arrived for early entry, but was very surprised to find the line to get into the park MUCH more crowded than Saturday. No big deal because we had to leave by noon, but it was evident that the forecast had indeed been a factor on Saturday, as the Sunday lines were much longer all around. In short, a fantastic trip to start the year. Here's the ride tally. Not really impressive given the low crowd levels, but then again I was there with the wife and we were just having a good time being at the park, not in a hurry to do anything. Diamondback - 14 (6 front seat) Beast - 6 Firehawk - 2 Racer - 4 Delirium - 1 (for wife, not me, I can't handle it) Flight Deck -2 Backlot - 2 Vortex - 1 (I'm getting too old for this one, it hurt my neck) Invertigo - 2

Funny stuff indeed!

Thank you very much for the info. I appreciate it. Coming up 71 from the south, I've heard it takes a while to get off the freeway and into your parking spot on Fridays. How much extra time should we plan? We're staying at the Laquinta about 4 miles south of the park right off 71.

I'm a regular CP visitor, but have been to KI once earlier this year. As I recall, platinum pass holders get in 1/2 hour early at KI? Is this correct or am I getting confused with KD? Does the 1/2 early entry apply during Haunt, ie, should I plan to be there for 6:30 opening tonight?