MagnumFan

I remember The Beast "paw-prints" on the asphalt coming out of the entrance leading all the way back past Larosa's towards the bathrooms up on the hill. Many a time we would get in line near the bathroom at about 9:00PM hoping to be the last train to ride. The park employees would come around later on as the closing time got closer, and randomly pick a person in line and say that everyone behind him would not be able to ride. This created a lot of anxiety, but remember timing it perfectly many times, being the last guy NOT to get cut out of the line.

Got a phone call from KI lost and found people. They found my keys! I need to call them back tomorrow during business hours, but my understanding is they will ship them to me. Cool...

Hadn't been to KI in nearly 15 years, and being a CF platinum pass holder, I decided to make the drive down by myself and see what had changed last week. I got into the park around 4PM. It had rained earlier in the day Wed, but had cleared up. Headed to Invertigo first, waited 5 mins. Then Diamondback (less than 5 mins), Beast (walk-on, stay-on), Vortex (same) and FOF (15 mins). Firehawk had a 10 min total wait, which isn't bad considering it can take that long just to get on the ride depending on when you walk up. Went back and started riding DB again. On the third time, about 8PM, some weirdo started talking to me as we were getting on the train, and got me distracted. I failed to button my cargo pocket as is my custom. As I was getting off the ride, a guy from a couple rows back stopped me and asked if I had lost my keys. I did. He said he tried to grab them when they came back his way but couldn't, and they were lost "on the second hill". I pressed him for more details, but he seemed like he was in a hurry and didn't really care. If I could have gotten more specifics from him it would have been VERY helpful. I talked to the ride supervisor (Ryan) who was awesome, and sent someone out looking right away. I walked over to watch them look, and they guy (who I think worked at the KI&MV RR) spent about 4-5 mins walking around aimlessly before deciding "there's no way we're going to find them". At this point the light was fading fast and I knew my best/only chance of having the keys found was to get someone out there looking ASAP. I went up to guest services who were friendly, but useless. They said "just wait till 10:30 and see if the ride ops bring them up to lost and found." Well, that wasn't going to get it done... I'm from Detroit area, and was here in town by myself, so I'd be stuck at tha park if that plan backfired. I went back to the ride and talked to Ryan again, and then the area supervisor, Tyler, who was also friendly. The two of them sent someone up front to grab a flashlight (it's dark now) and a young fellow named Jacob spent 45 mins in the dark after the park was closed, looking for my keys. They didn't find them, but I was so appreciative of the effort. This was all MY fault anyway. So I had to call a locksmith. Apparently I have a very difficult vehicle to make a key for because of the security chip inside the car key, so it was 2:30 AM in the morning before I got out of there ($200 later). The next day I still made it to the park for EE and rode Diamondback 5x before heading to the waterpark which was PACKED. Left the park for the afternoon and came back for some good night riding on DB and Beast. Friday, rode DB 6x before leaving town at 11AM. Overall impressions, from a very frequent CP visitor... KI is great, the ride ops are WAAAAY better than those at CP (more enthusiastic and friendly) and not so ridiculous about rules and extreme safety measures that CP employs. It's interesting to see such a difference in procedures between two parks owned by the same company. Of course, there are similarities too like the ridiculously overpriced food... but at least the quality seemed somewhat better, at least the Larosas pizza I ate.

Spent Wed-Fri this past week at KI. Haven't been there since college in 1995. We are closer to CP and the rides there are more plentiful. Anyway, The Beast has always been one of my two favorite rides in the world. I have great memories of riding it at night, trying to always be the last train to run and sit in the back seat. In those days, it was an art, as they would come around BEFORE 10PM and whack the line shorter in order to finish the que by 10PM. Anyway, when I got there Wed I ran straight for The Beast. This was bout 4PM. Grinning ear to ear, I got into the station only to discover it was a walk-on. WTF? I had never seen this before. So I got my usual back seat. Somebody has desecrated this ride. Cedar Fair, I presume? First, the main hill climb takes FOREVER. Second, there some serious trim brakes that have been installed since last time I rode... namely, in the long straightaway with the roof over it, and secondly, on the second drop before the double helix. This has completely ruined the experience for me. The ride is so much slower now. I know there used to be trim brakes on the first hill, and I was OK with that, but what's with all these new brakes??? I rode it a second time after which point I had enough. The second night (Thurs) I managed to ride back seat on last train for the evening after fireworks. The trim brakes still annoy, but The Beast remains a FANTASTIC ride in total darkness. Almost as good as the 90's. Almost. I asked several ride operators when the changes went into place, but seeing as they were all 18-20 years old they had no idea what I was talking about. One girl said, "I was only 3 years old when you last rode this ride". That made me feel a little old (I'm 33).

Since I have a platinum pass, I don't really get any value from the free parking. In fact, I'd probably drive in and park anyways so I have someplace to keep my stuff. I thought maybe there would be some perks with staying at the Kings Island resort, ie, early entry or something, but then again I should get the same thing already with my platinum pass, right?

This really isn't my first trip to KI...we used to go there every year when I was a kid, but I haven't been since high school, which was 16 years ago (gasp!). I have many fond memories of riding The Beast at night, trying real hard to be the last car to run, as they kept chopping the line as closing time got closer. Anyway, I'm headed down there tomorrow and am planning to visit the park Wed afternoon/evening, all day Thurs, and then Friday morning before heading home. I have a Platinum pass and we normally visit CP with our fifth wheel, but I'm not bringing it for this trip due to the distance (I'm from Detroit) and short trip duration. Instead, I'm looking for lodging. I can get a room at the Kings Island resort for $80.99/nt. Is it worth this, or should I stay at an off-site dump for cheaper? I want to keep this trip cheap, since my wife is not happy I'm leaving her at home, and this is more of a recon trip for me to see where we would camp next time, what to do with the kids, etc. Any help is appreciated . I'm hoping the park is not crowded and I'll have plenty of time to ride everything. There are a LOT of new rides since I've been there. The newest ride last time I went was that indoor rollercoaster....