jcgoble3

Thanks for posting once again! I'm glad you enjoyed your trip.

I saw the show for the first time last night, as Don gave the CFK participants priority seating for the 7:00 show. I agree with most of what's been said here. The dancers were not entirely G-rated, but still reasonably appropriate for a family environment; as others said above, you'll see much more out in the park and especially the waterpark. The tricks were good, and Ed himself was genuinely funny and good with the ad libs. He even cracked a joke about our bright green CFK shirts. Overall, it was a great show.

Yesterday's $10+ purchase at Skyline didn't move me to two stars, but it did give me rewards that were not special limited-time offers for the first time. I can choose one from a free cotton candy (which I don't care for), free popcorn (which I also don't particularly care for), or a free ride on Thunder Alley (which is so ****ing slow that I'm not wasting my time there). Looks like I'll wait until I hit two stars and see what comes up then. From what I've read here and my own experience, I'm guessing $30 in purchases gives you the first reward choice.

Definitely a great time! Coming back into the station "asleep" was my favorite thing that we did. I racked up 105 laps, one shy of last year's total. I'll need some time to get the photos uploaded. I still need to upload all of my Holiwood Nights stuff as well, which may force me to upgrade my Flickr account (which I'd have to do in a couple months anyway). Special thanks to Give Kids the World and Kings Island for doing this, and thanks again to KI for The Beast tour and the early seating for the magic show.

Nice report! Not much you can do about the weather. Hope you had fun at Universal; I look forward to hearing about it!

Really? How'd that work on Demon in Chicago on one occasion? If it just stalled, what was stopping them from just giving the train a push to get it moving again like they do if TTD stalls at the top of the hill? (I mean this seriously and literally, as I'm sure they probably would have done just that if it was possible.)

I've also seen them play Simon Says with the riders. Great crew.

Gordon, I'm out of likes, or you'd have another. That is an amazing photo.

The only reason I've ever been on there is to get the coaster counter. There was actually a few days I think last fall where the coaster counters weren't showing up because the domain registration expired. At least they renewed it, but the list still isn't getting updated (at last check, it still had the pre-Snoopy names for KI's kiddie rides). I may soon begin looking for a new counter to use in my signature.

That's my assumption, as that's where we entered last year. Assuming that they didn't totally reconfigure this road in the Soak City revamp: Take the access road up until you reach a fork (last year it was just before a gate, which you can see on Google's outdated satellite view just behind the original wave pool, but that gate may have been moved or eliminated), take the right-hand side of the fork and go up to the checkpoint. You'll tell the security guard that you're there for Coasting for Kids, fill out a row on a form, and you'll be waved on through. Just before the road curves to the right into the backstage areas of the park, VIP parking will be on your left (it's only one row). Again, that's assuming the basic layout of that road is still intact. I know it had to be rerouted around the new wave pool, so if they redid the rest of the road as well, that information may be wrong. Take it with a grain of salt. Don't trust Google Maps here. That access road had to be redone and rerouted around the new wave pool, and Google hasn't updated their maps yet.

http://dalesdesigns.net/bumper.htm These are leftover bumper cars from the Long Beach Pike amusement park, apparently. Nice to see old bumper cars getting a new lease on life!

Nice report! Two comments: Your comment about Mammoth boats not making it up a hill is surprising. I never encountered that problem. I'm also surprised that they say it happens that often. Also, in regard to the rain Saturday night, I waited it out, and it stopped around 11:15. Voyage was a walk-on/stay-on for many seats after that.

Don says that it's across from Sunoco, which is at the corner of Western Row and Columbia.

Google's map of the parking lot, and especially the area where I assume we're entering, is out of date because it hasn't been updated for the Soak City revamp, which moved access roads around. I don't know where it is either, so I sent an email to Don asking him to clarify.

Beast tour is at 5:30 pm, per the above email. I'd rather not sacrifice ride time to do the photo, as I'm one of those that will probably stay on The Racer the whole time without breaks in order to get maximum laps. That's why I suggested doing it at The Beast tour.

Details from the email I just received from Don:

See: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/25709-cedar-point-has-a-kewl-addition-to-their-web-cams/

Arby's is the worst offender. Their fountain is not self-serve, and when I order my drink "easy on the ice", either they still put too much in because they never show the cup to me and ask if it's OK, or (especially if they're busy) someone other than the cashier pours the drink and isn't aware of my request for less ice, so I get a 20 oz cup with 14 oz of ice and 6 oz of liquid, which means I'm back at the counter asking for a refill before I even start eating.

^Took me a few seconds to get that one!

I think there's a better chance that the park will announce their decision for Son of Beast. We can put "Not pictured, Standbyme" How do we want to do this? I'm bringing my camera for The Beast tour and might be able to scare up a tripod. If I can get (or borrow) a tripod and figure out the self-timer (which shouldn't be hard), I can take the shot. I'm thinking we should take the shot at the start of The Beast tour with The Beast lift hill in the background; that way we don't lose any riding time for it. Any objections to that? standbyme, as for getting you into the shot, you wanna hide behind somebody and just stick your hand out and wave?

I must disagree about the hot chocolate as this is one of the most amazing things I've ever had beverage wise in my life. [video removed] I've never heard of frozen hot chocolate. And that's in Santa Claus, IN? I may have to try that next year when I go down for Holiwood Nights.

If it's cold to begin with, no ice. Otherwise, give me enough ice to make it cold and no more. The less ice there is in the cup, the more room there is for the actual beverage. Except when dealing with hot chocolate, then I want no ice ('cause, y'know, it's supposed to be hot).

I prefer FoF over RnRC. Don't remember specifically why, but that's how I ranked them a while back.

Nice photos and report!

^ There are only 43 participants registered, and of those, only 35 have met the $75 fundraising minimum. So the second train will be far from full, meaning fewer riders overall.