jcgoble3

I saw a post from a friend on Facebook where somebody claimed in the comments that a little kid was thrown out of one of the cars on Linus' Beetle Bugs. Take that with a grain of salt, as I don't have any confirmation of that, but it's a possibility.

Since some rides have chronic problems with spieling and some don't, it sounds to me as if the issue falls on the shoulders of individual ride supervisors, rather than upper management. In the 6+ years I've been going to Kings Island, I have heard many, many false countdowns on Flight of Fear. It's far from a one-time thing. In fact, I've heard them often enough that it's more of—yes—an annoyance than anything else, but only in the sense that any overly repetitive attempt to be funny becomes annoying.

He did. It was on Terpy's recommendation that I decided to give them a try in the first place.

Also, it's worth noting that while Kings Island doesn't do this, some parks will actually prohibit you from wearing glasses on some of the more extreme rides unless you have secured them tightly with a strap. Last time I checked, Cedar Point enforces this policy on several different rides, including Top Thrill Dragster, Millennium Force, Maverick, maXair, and a few others. So if you plan to travel to Cedar Point or other parks that have such a policy, it is well worth investing in a good strap.

As they said, get a safety strap and use it. There are many different styles out there. I find that the ones sold at the park are overpriced for the quality, but still OK in a pinch (e.g. if you accidentally forget your regular strap at home). I highly, highly recommend Croakies brand straps; they are slightly more expensive than what you get at the park, but far better quality. I use this style every time I go to an amusement park. They are made of neoprene, which has very good grip on your glasses, doesn't wear out easily, and can safely be worn in wet environments (water rides, rainy days, etc.) without it losing grip on your glasses when wet like fabric or rubber straps can do. My current strap is several years old and still functions like new. Don't feel that way. If you look around enough, especially in a crowd of enthusiasts, you'll see more people than you think wearing glasses straps. Like a fanny pack, it's one of those pieces of attire that would get you strange looks in most places but which is perfectly "in fashion" at an amusement park. You certainly won't be the only one in the park wearing a strap, and if anyone does start looking at you, they ought to mind their own business.

Great report! You forgot to mention that the real reason we didn't get to ride WindSeeker was because of a father arguing with a ride op because she told him that his kid wasn't tall enough to ride. That was enough of a delay that they couldn't get the dispatch off in time. Had that argument not happened, I think they would have been able to dispatch the ride before the phone rang to tell them to shut down. So I blame that father, not the weather, for not getting to ride.

I believe they allow souvenir bottles on the train provided that the lid is secured. The idea is to prevent spills; the train rocks around due to the fact that the rails aren't 100% perfect, so it would be easy to spill an open cup of pop. I think open cups of water are also allowed, on the basis that water spills will be much smaller (thank you Kinzel cups) and don't have the problems associated with a sugary pop spill (sticky residue and all of that).

I think somebody said that you had your choice of mild or spicy sauce.

A million times yes! I love going to the park by myself, because you get the complete freedom to ride what you want and go where you want when you want without the rest of the group dragging you to something you're not in the mood for.

CORN PUDDING?!?!?!?! If they can add decent food service to that, I may be eating every single one of my meals at the park this summer at the Smokehouse. Corn pudding is my absolute most favorite food, but I usually can only get it once a year at Thanksgiving.

I believe they discontinued the Pro version a while back and now only have the free version, with an option to pay 99¢ per month for a VIP subscription which hides ads. (I have a free lifetime VIP subscription since I was one of the people that purchased the Tapatalk app back when it was only offered as a paid app.)

Welcome! As for using the forum via phone, check out the Tapatalk app. KICentral and many other forums out there are available through Tapatalk.

I'm a bit late on this, but... As of the weekend of our SFOG trip, they had chocolate-covered Oreos in the case down by the fudge "department". While you and Daniel were riding rides in the rain, I bought a couple of them (though I don't recall the price). They were good.

Yeah, because they obviously read the forums and thus know my addiction to those stupid things. jcgoble3, owner of a $20 KI game card waiting to be used on the wheels...

^ The Random Photo of the Day thread is working fine for me on the latest version of Tapatalk for Android.

You are correct that Beast and Diamondback are both just camera flashes. Beast's camera is indeed on the left at the bottom of the first drop. As for Diamondback, the camera is in the middle of the course on the left side, at the lowest point between the trim-braked hill and the MCBR. In the official POV video below, you can see the camera as a white object on a pole next to the fenced area ahead at the 1:19 mark (just to the left of the spiral staircase). Correct; none of those have on-ride photos. In line with MDMC01's warning about the Great Pumpkin Coaster camera flash, I would also be wary of The Vortex camera flash at night on the midway. When standing near the 3-point challenge game, Vortex's camera is just below the midway at the bottom of the batwing right there. The light bulb itself isn't visible unless you walk up to the fence and look down, but the bright flash is very clearly visible at night. Similarly, Banshee's camera flash, or actually two camera flashes (one on each side of the train), are near and facing the midway just to the right of the ride's entrance. I don't recall how visible those flashes are at night, but be careful in Action Zone as well.

Another option is to bring your good camera and fill up a couple of SD cards. Then you'll have plenty of material for the offseason photo contest!

Mother's Day and Father's Day are often crowded because of the cheap bring-a-friend deals, and combine that with the beautiful weather forecast for this weekend, it might be packed. Honestly, I wouldn't go even with Fast Lane, because Fast Lane doesn't get you past the food lines. Given what I've come to expect from KI's food service, hour-long lines for food are not out of the realm of possibility this Sunday.

This reminds me of third grade, where the entire class was punished because one person wouldn't behave. Except in this case, the consequences are effectively permanent. The NHTSA tried that in the 1974 model year. New cars that year were required to have an interlock system preventing the engine from being started unless the front-seat occupants were buckled up, with the seat belts fastened after the occupant sat down (so you couldn't just buckle the seat belt and sit on top of it). This system was universally hated, in part because the front passenger seat sensors were so sensitive that they would pick up a shopping bag or a purse sitting on the seat as a passenger and force you to buckle the seat belt. One year later, Congress passed a law banning the NHTSA from requiring or permitting any system that would prevent a vehicle from starting with an unbelted occupant. Or any type of locking restraint, for that matter. See Shoot the Rapids.

If true, then it is clearly rider error and in no way the park's or Intamin's fault. Though I wonder what, if anything, will be done to this ride and others like it (e.g. White Water Canyon at KI) to prevent similar occurrences. We shouldn't have to protect riders from their own stupidity, but unfortunately doing so is often necessary and often interferes with the enjoyment of the ride by those who are smart enough to not pull stupid stunts in the first place.

New Jersey's Finest Theme Park, aka Six Flags Great Adventure. Credit Terpy with that one.

I-71 will be closing again this Sunday from 6 AM to 11 AM for another attempt to demolish the old bridge. http://www.whio.com/news/transportation/closed-for-third-time-for-bridge-demolition/4JLn87SOH7P7VudMorprpK/

Please not a floorless conversion. The Mantis paint job I'll take, though.

Can we take Georgia Scorcher away from SFOG and bring it to KI? It's a decent B&M stand-up that isn't getting the care or operations it deserves. KI would be able to do justice to it.