jcgoble3

OK, who said they didn't like their stay? And why?

From the article: Both of those sound very interesting. I also love the photo with the article.

^ I was talking about rides, but didn't make that clear. Yeah, that was closed too.

No problem. I had to take a second lap on the train to get those shots because they were only visible for a few seconds and I missed them the first time around. As for not running, I probably could have walked all the way from the gate to Invertigo and still been first. That said, I wonder if they made any attempt to slow down the people running to Diamondback and if so, whether anybody there listened.

Congratulations on winning the VIP tour! You want to share it with a few of us? Flight Deck and The Racer were both late to open, and Diamondback went down with a mechanical issue right before the noon storm hit and ran only two trains for a while after the rain stopped (I was told by the employee at the entrance that the two-train operation was due to mechanical problems and not weather). Otherwise, I didn't see anything else down for mechanical reasons.

Thanks for the report!

Great report! Like Terpy said, a room temperature burger is alarming; I was going to try one next time, but may skip it now, at least until I hear that they're no longer being served that cold. That's disappointing. At the Greene in Bevercreek, 2 places have one now, and they are fantastic soda dispensers. I hope that when it gets here, that it will be $2 souvenir refills. Which places at the Greene? I'm nearby and may go over there to try one of them.

Nice report! Thanks for posting!

Thanks for the report! It was a great read.

Thanks for the report! I saw the I Love the 80s store, but didn't go in. Now that I know there's an old Star Wars arcade game in there, I'll have to stop in there next time I'm at the park.

Yeah, they had temporary fences blocking access to the area around the fountain from all four sides. As standbyme said, the park should be applauded for their consideration. Thanks for reading, everyone, and thanks for the likes, Terpy and ziplock!

Last year, I didn't get up to the metal detectors until almost 9:00 and was well back in line, so this year I had two new strategies to get first train of the year. The first was to leave Xenia a half-hour earlier, and the second was to go to Invertigo first instead of Diamondback, figuring that most would go to DB and thus I would have a better chance at scoring first train. I arrived at the gate in front of the toll booth at 8:15, and they let us in at 8:25. After parking, I jogged up to the ropes in front of the turnstiles and was about sixth in my line. From there I waited until I saw employees come out and supervisors begin assigning them to turnstiles. Now, there was a rope between the restrooms and the first pillar that nobody was lined up at. I saw them assign employees to those turnstiles and immediately jumped over there to form a new line. I ended up being the first one through that rope. I took off on a light jog toward Invertigo, turned my head to look behind me, and there was literally nobody following me. I flashed my pass at the gold pass entrance, and the lady there told me to walk. So I fast-walked the rest of the way to Invertigo. When I got there, the entrance was blocked by trash cans. I got the attention of a ride operator, who told me to go on in. I pointed out that the entrance was blocked, so he came out the Fast Lane entrance and ambled over there to move the trash cans. I walked up to the station and into the front seat (forward first), my preferred seat. I had trouble getting the seat belt to release, but finally got it loose and sat down. I go into all this detail to point out that even with the fact that I wasn't moving very fast, the delay at the entrance, and the trouble with the seat belt, I was seated with my seat belt buckled before anyone else even got to the station. So I easily claimed first rider of the year on Invertigo. After that I rode DB, after which I ran into Gator. Neither of us recognized the other at first, even though we've met twice before, but we eventually figured it out. After that, I headed back into Action Zone to try to get first train on Flight Deck. When the rope was dropped, I was the first one back there, only to discover that it was down. I wandered up toward Coney Mall and discovered that The Racer was down but about to open. I got in line and claimed first blue train of the year in the second row. After that, I got my ride on Flight Deck (it was open by the time I got off The Racer) and took a lap on the train. I also tried out one of the new cheesesteaks. It was $8 and change ($8.69, I think) for the cheesesteak and chips; I ordered it without the chips and paid less. They come with onions and peppers, but I ordered it without those. The cheesesteaks are made to order, so I had to wait for a couple minutes to get it. It tasted good; while I've had better, it takes a truly awful one for me to not like a cheesesteak. I give it a B+. About this time, it began raining. Diamondback went down with mechanical problems, so I went back to The Beast only to find them herding people out the entrance. A ride op there told me they were going down due to lightning. I tried BLSC, thinking that it might still be open because it wasn't as tall, but no dice. I started to get in line for Shake, Rattle, and Roll, but thought better of it and opted to take cover in one of the arcades in Coney Mall. Good thing I did: right as a came up to it, there was a big flash of lightning and the rain started coming down. After waiting out the storm and blowing $5 worth of tokens, I went back to The Beast. They got the all-clear a few minutes later and re-opened the line. The station was very crowded; while there was a separator, he made absolutely no attempt to control the flow of people into the station, and so it was Packed with a capital P. After riding that, I walked around a little bit and decided lines were a bit too long for my taste, so I walked out to my car and got my camera. I bought a brand-new Nikon Coolpix L120 last month, with 14 megapixels, 21× zoom and 720p HD video capability, and this was my first real chance to put it to work. I ended up snapping about 80 photos and about 5 minutes of video. Some of my favorite photos are below. The full album of photos is here. The videos will be uploaded to YouTube tomorrow or Tuesday. Repainted slides in Soak City: The Flight of Fear fort is still Fort Kinzel. A duck or goose (I can never tell them apart) sitting on a fountain in Coney Mall, with the area around it closed off and another duck/goose prowling the ground below it. I can only assume she's protecting a nest. Invertigo in all of its repainted glory:

I have a Nikon Coolpix L120. I just wish I had a faster connection. The photo batch is 225 MB, and it's still uploading (89% complete) after an hour and a half. I think I'm going to start captioning the photos now to save time. I'll look into Windows Movie Maker, but for now, the videos are going to be taken unedited from the camera. The videos are another 300 MB, so I'll hold off on uploading them until tomorrow (they'll go onto YouTube once I figure out how to upload there, which I've never done before).

I haven't the slightest clue how to edit photos or videos. I just shoot them and upload what I get. I probably wouldn't have even bothered with videos if not for the fact that last month I bought a brand new 14-megapixel camera with 21× zoom that also happens to be able to shoot 720p HD videos. The first one is actually video of the transfer track on Diamondback as they were putting the third train back on the track. That was the only the second time I've ever seen a transfer track in action and the first time I had a camera with me.

There is only one response to this: LOL! = a great day for photographing said rides. (And before anyone asks, the photos are slowly uploading to Flickr as I type this. They'll be posted within the next day or two. And I made my first attempt at shooting videos, so you may see those as well.)

Eight dollars and change (I think the exact price was $8.69, but don't quote me on that) for the cheesesteak and chips. It's cheaper if you don't get the chips with it like I did (I don't know how much cheaper because I bought a souvenir cup with it and didn't get an itemized receipt, but I know the total was too low for them to have charged me the full posted price for the sandwich with chips). I got one, but my camera was still in the car, so no picture, sorry.

Front seat first train of the year on Invertigo. When the ropes dropped at 9:00, almost everyone took off sprinting toward Diamondback. I took the easy (and I mean VERY easy) jog to Invertigo. I got there, walked up to the entrance, found it still blocked by trash cans, and got the attention of a ride operator, who told me to go on into the line. I pointed out that it was blocked, and he came out, ambled over to the entrance, moved the trash cans out of the way, and I walked through the line and into the station. After all of that, I was seated in the front seat (forward first) before anyone else even got to the station. Easy pickings.

Well, the Smartravel booth was outside the front gates, off to the side where it could be easily bypassed at a distance great enough to not be hassled. If it stays over there the whole season (which I hope it does), it'll be easy to ignore.

I wore a warm long-sleeved shirt and a winter coat, and I barely noticed the cold except on rides. As a bonus, the coat was water-repellant, so the light showers before and after the storm didn't bother me either (I took cover in one of the arcades when the thunderstorm hit around noon). That one line of storms was all that hit the park, unless something hit after I left the area around 7:00.

You have to purchase a pass voucher at the ticket window, then take that voucher to the processing line to get the actual pass.

Lucky you. I've never gotten an evac yet.

That was my first thought, but then again, I live in the Dayton area and know the various news sources in the area. WHIO-TV is often considered the best of the three major TV news outlets in Dayton, and they're certainly not known for sloppy reporting or not getting the facts right. It wouldn't be like them to screw something that simple up. That's why I'm leaning toward this announcement having actually been made.

You got me for a minute there. Then I noticed the date on the article. I didn't know they had said in early 2010 that it would open later that season. I thought there was only one announcement in 2010, that being that it would not operate at all that season.

Thanks for all the photos, TOPGUN1993! Great way to pass the offseason!