jcgoble3

Yes, antique car rides like this have a single pedal (press for gas, release to brake) and a working steering wheel. A guide rail prevents riders from drifting off course, but it is otherwise fully rider-controlled.

The dialogue there has been switched up a few times. When I saw it a couple weeks ago, that line was "We shoulda went to Kings Island." With 2019 passes now on sale, I'm not surprised that they decided to change it to that.

Assuming it works the same as the last several years (which seems like it should be a safe assumption), those should be already loaded onto your pass. For the bring-a-friend ticket, go to the ticket windows at the park, give them your pass, and tell them you want your free bring-a-friend ticket. They will scan your pass, verify the ticket hasn't been used, and print out the ticket and hand it to you. The FL+ pass is the same way, except you would go to the Fast Lane booth inside the front gate (to the left as you walk in).

So now that the dust has settled, or hopefully started to at least, my thoughts in no particular order: The ONLY misdirection by the park here was holding the announcement on National Roller Coaster Day, but even that was justified by also being the anniversary of the date the old 'tiques closed. Anyone who thinks the park deliberately misled them is deluding themselves. I don't get the mentality by some "enthusiasts" (scare quotes for a reason) that the park is obligated to put in a big new roller coaster every year and that they have to complain loudly when the park does something else. Enthusiasts are only one demographic, and a pretty small demographic. Families pay the park's bills. And on that note, this is something the whole family can do together. My 67-year-old dad, when he saw it, said "finally, something I can ride!" My 64-year-old mom is excited for it too. This is something parents and grandparents can ride. That is important. Although my parents took me to Paramount's Kings Island a few times as a kid in the mid-90s, I have almost no memories of the park in those days. But one that has stuck with me is riding the antique cars, and how I was scared of the big rides but loved the scenery and driving the cars. So yes, I'm excited for it too. It's childhood nostalgia for me. It's awesome to see the park correcting the biggest mistakes made by Viacom. First we got flying scooters again (even if they aren't as good as the originals), and now 'tiques. I can finally begin to forgive Viacom for the travesty of what we now call Backlot Stunt Coaster. Although it wasn't announced, I hope Racer gets some substantial track work and refurbishment, including a paint job. Such routine things aren't generally announced this far in advance or at a big public presentation like this. Much more likely that it would just be a post on the park's blog around February or something like that talking about it, perhaps even with pictures of the partially completed work.

There are three endings, and you were lucky because the tree is the rarest of the them. If you don't mind being spoiled on the other two, look below:

It might not even take a malfunction to force responsibility. I seem to recall a case several years ago at one park (I want to say Dorney, but I'm not at all sure on that) where a guest successfully sued the park over something stolen from the bins, and the court ruled the "not responsible for lost or stolen items" sign unenforceable (or in legal terms, unconscionable). Can anyone confirm this? Or is my mind making things up?

I loved it when they brought out the actual car onto the floor. That was my favorite part of it. I hope they do go under Racer. There's already a cutout for them where the Dinosaurs Alive entrance was.

I traded in my Pixel 1 toward a Pixel 2 just a couple months ago and got $325 credit for it through Verizon, cutting the cost of my Pixel 2 in half. With that credit, I'm paying less than $14/month on the Pixel 2. Flagship model lines will always be worth more than anything else. For Android phones, that's the Samsung Galaxy and Galaxy Note series and the Google Pixel series. Those will carry good resale value into the next few years, especially if you pay attention to carrier promotions (which you often have to go into the store and ask about, as I did to get that $325 credit). All other Android phones have basically no resale value the moment you buy it. Like anything else, you have to know the market and watch for opportunities to take advantage. EDIT: Also, iPhones may carry a little higher resale value, but they also cost more than most Android phones to begin with (which is WHY they have more resale value; a two-year-old BMW is going to be worth more than a two-year-old Kia, right?). It's not about the resale value alone; it's about the net price of the new phone after the trade-in or resale value is deducted, i.e. what you're ultimately paying for that new phone. $325 for my Pixel 2, the current flagship of Android itself, is a pretty good deal.

Not even remotely the same. That still requires you to pull out your phone every time you get to or leave one of the those locations and explicitly perform an action to do so, at which point you might as well forget it and do it manually in the first place. Tasker detects your location, Bluetooth connectivity, when you open an app, and much, much more, and does everything 100% automatically without you even having to think of it, which is the entire point (because you might forget to turn your Wi-Fi on when you get home if you're tired and have stuff to carry in, or you might forget to silence your phone when you get to college because you're late and rushing to get to class on time). Also, I have the Google Pixel 2, and have never had any lag issues with either it or the Pixel 1 that I previously had. Samsung loads so much junk on their phones and modifies the UI to the point that IMO they barely deserve to be called Android. I had a Samsung Galaxy S5 and didn't care for it. The stock Android experience on the Pixel series is orders of magnitude better than Samsung's crap. The Pixel (and the Nexus before it) is the equivalent to the iPhone in the sense that both are designed by the same company that makes the operating system as well.

Android hands down. No contest. There are so many things you can do on Android that just aren't possible with the hilariously locked-down iOS devices. The biggest for me is Tasker. I tinker with Tasker all the time, and have it set to automatically turn my Wi-Fi on when I get home (or a few other places where I have the Wi-Fi password) and turn it off when I leave. It's also programmed to put my phone on vibrate when I get to a few defined places (like my college campus) and re-enables the ringer when I leave, puts the phone on Do Not Disturb mode while driving, and disables the screen timeout while certain apps are in the foreground. You can't do that stuff on Crapple devices, and that's just the basic stuff. You can do far more complex things as well.

To be fair, I've been coming to Kings Island since 2010, and that restroom has always (in that time, at least) had only one stall. No, it's not good design, but let's not manufacture a connection between it and this year's restroom "updates" where one doesn't exist.

2008 and 2013 may have not had a ride or any major new thing, but in both of those years, attendance was driven not by new things that year, but by construction of a huge new thing for the following year. Word got out about the construction and people wanted to come to the park and get a first-hand look at it. 2018 doesn't have that; this is the typical "year off" adjacent to a major roller coaster, but instead of the year off preceding the roller coaster, here it is following the roller coaster. Without a new ride or construction to drive the turnstiles, yes, it's not a surprise to me that attendance is down.

No complaints about portion sizes or quality at Battle Creek BBQ at Worlds of Fun. This stack of delicious brisket is after I ate a few slices. Kansas City definitely knows BBQ. Kings Island needs to step up their BBQ game.

Uh, what?

I've used BAF tickets several times in the past, both as the passholder and as the friend, and they have consistently allowed the friend access to ERT. So it seems to be a standard policy that's been in place for a while, and security is well aware of it. Note that BAF tickets are available on any operating day (though normally a bit over $40), and the same rule applies to those, so they probably deal with BAF tickets at the Gold Pass gate every day (or at least most days).

Nice! I don't mind the loss of WindSeeker either, though @VortexBFForever will probably be extra mad at you for taking out BOTH of the rides she works at.

Idea for @Maverick44 and/or @Hawaiian Coasters 325: Remove Vortex. Put the station and queue near where Vortex's is now. Lift hill over Coney Mall, dropping down into the old Dinosaurs Alive area, where it dives down into the trees and then comes back up above the canopy. Return track comes back over Coney Mall and does a few things (maybe a helix; I dunno what else) in the old Vortex area before entering the brake run. Alternative options: Replace the lift hill with a launch, elevated over Coney Mall. Do a pre-lift inversion in The Vortex area! Wouldn't that be cool? The terrain in The Vortex area is definitely low enough relative to the midway to support such a thing. Or combine the two: a drop out of the station into an inversion, before reaching the launch track which shoots upward at an angle. Has that combination ever been done before?

The Reds were getting pretty hot up until the All-Star break took the wind out of their sails and killed their momentum.

To which I echo malem's comment here: Indeed, there is truly no such thing as "unlimited". Everything has limits, and anybody who believes something doesn't have limits is deluding themselves. Also, it's been common knowledge on KIC since early 2017 that the drink plan was limited to once every 15 minutes. It's also clearly stated in the FAQ for the plan, as you demonstrated in the screenshot. Therefore it was not "misrepresented". If you bought it without reading all of the material on the website, including the FAQ, that's on you for failing to do your research. Research? Yes: because when something is advertised as "unlimited", there is ALWAYS a catch, and it's your responsibility as the consumer to read the fine print and determine what that catch is BEFORE buying.

This is a big reason why I always do a "taste test" before I walk away from the fountain. This applies not just at Kings Island, but at literally any restaurant I ever go to with self-serve drinks. I never leave the drink fountain area without confirming that the taste is correct.

I'd love to attend, but I have plans to be in Missouri that weekend. Have fun!

Just like rain, heat can drive crowds away. Once you break 90°F, most lines in the dry park start getting shorter, though water rides and the waterpark get more crowded as people look for ways to stay cool. Above 95°F, the water rides in the main park get quiet, as people stay exclusively in the waterpark. And when you approach or even exceed 100°F, even the waterpark crowds go down as people decide that it's better to stay home in the air conditioning. One of the best summer visits to Kings Island I ever had was on a day that broke 100°F. There were hardly any lines anywhere that day.

I love the name Big Red Machine for a coaster. It's perfect.

I will never, ever pay for a locker just to ride a roller coaster. If there is not a free locker system (like Universal) or a non-rider in the group that I can leave my phone with, then I will be that non-rider, even if it means not getting the credit. What about people who have a job where they are on call 24/7 and are required by their employer to be able to answer their phone immediately or return any missed call within X minutes, regardless of what they are doing? I know at least one person bound to a requirement like that. Such people are now essentially banned from Steel Vengeance. Ridiculous.

I'm hearing rumors on Facebook (100% unconfirmed) that Lightning Rod's LSM launch may be replaced with a chain lift. This may or may not turn out to be true, as there has not been a reputable source on this yet that I'm aware of. But if you care about such things and haven't ridden it yet, I might suggest considering a trip down there this year just in case it does get confirmed.