jcgoble3

Well, I made it to the Great Ohio Coaster Club's 2011 Holiday Party and Winter Tour at KI today. This was the first time I'd ever been in a closed park, other than the walk back to The Racer the morning of Coasting for Kids. The tour entered through security post 3, turned to the right, went through backstage areas, into the Picnic Grove where most of the ride cars were stored, then down the train tracks to Rivertown. From there, we went through the gate next to The Beast's entrance and were able to walk around in the area back behind the Crypt around Diamondback. I believe I heard that this was the first time KI has ever taken a tour back there since DB was built because of the potential hazard of stuff (cell phones, etc.) flying out of riders' pockets. After that, we walked past BLSC and down through Coney Mall before going up International Street to the International Restaurant for the party. I think the best way to do this is to get straight to the photos. I snapped nearly a hundred photos, all of which can be found in this Flickr set. I'll post some of the more interesting ones below. So that's where Action Theater's old motion seats went! On the other side of the fence is the parking lot. Two classic cars parked backstage. One of the Haunt hearses. White Water Canyon's not as deep as I thought it was. Wonder why this light was on? "Oncoming riders, please secure all loose articles or place them in the green bins." Demonstration of how to make more water dummies. Interesting. The protective film or whatever in front of the laser maze area has "Coney Squirt" painted on it several times. I wonder if that means anything? Just from my observation, it didn't seem to me like the laser maze was very busy at all this year (the operator was usually standing there doing nothing almost every time I walked by), so maybe they're replacing it with something else? Look what I won! A Diamondback media invite! Again, the rest of the photos can be found here. Let me know what you think!

I'll be at the GOCC event Saturday, so I'll try to remember to let you know what, if anything, is said about SOB. Though I agree with jdawg in that it's unlikely they will.

Totally agreed. When I'm at the Beach Waterpark walking down a path with sand next to it, I automatically move over onto the sand because it's far more comfortable for my bare feet. I would spend a lot more time in Soak City if I had sand to walk on instead of hard concrete.

Do I sense a fellow Star Wars geek?

http://www.groupon.c...beach-waterpark Figured somebody here might be interested. $44 gets you a 2012 season pass ($80 value) and a beach towel ($20 value). Deal expires at 11:59 pm next Friday (12/9).

KI classifies Surf Dog as a coaster. Others disagree. See: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23549

http://tickets.knotts.com/shop/shopping_corporate_partners.cfm?corp_id=fastlane With all other Cedar Fair parks closed for the season, it seems this is a second test. I would assume that if it is successful, we will likely see Fast Lane at most, if not all, CF parks next season. I do notice that it appears to only be offered on certain days in December, though; it won't let you select any date past the end of December nor most weekdays. Thoughts?

I like the idea of the "X-ray" shot. 2011 wins for me by default because I never got to ride the monorail.

I've never had any interest in that general type of movie, but yours seemed fairly good. (Note that I did hit the like button on it yesterday. )

What are those in the upper left corner of the 1974 shot, right next to where the restrooms are now? Are those picnic tables?

http://ki.com/ Already taken, though that would be nice.

http://www.networksolutions.com/whois-search/kingsisland.com kingsisland.com expires in September of next year.

Oh, forgot about that one. Surprised it still works. But it expires soon, doesn't it? http://www.networkso...-search/pki.com http://www.networkso...?domain=pki.com According to those, not until August 2013.

I just use the bookmark on my toolbar. Even quicker.

That sure looks fun. For some reason it reminds me of Tornado at Stricker's Grove. The one downside I see to it, if the rendering of the train is accurate, is that only holds 12 riders per train, and we know full well what that does to capacity (*coughBLSCcough*). So it would work best at a smaller park that won't have a lot of guests at any given time.

http://www.dinosaursalive.canadaswonderland.com/ The public announcement has finally been made.

Seven dolphins dead in three years at that park? That doesn't sound like a park that should be allowed to keep such sensitive creatures. Somebody needs to step in and take control before more animals die.

I remember the antique cars from when I was a kid. Good times.

Can I say "all of the above"?

http://editor.ne16.com/vo/?FileID=5c5f9739-3aa9-44dd-9a88-666fa6de7607&m=af973a9c58251e45a0cdf9667aa564a1&MailID=21823788 According to the latest issue of HW's e-newsletter, the new swing ride has been named Sparkler.

I had no issues at CP either when I was there in June. My pass scanned once at the toll booth, five times at the CP gates, once at the Soak City gate, and twice at the Ripcord/Skyscraper ticket booth, all with no problems.

They're shock absorbers For me they made quite the difference that they sit still a bit more when trying to get in/out of the seats when I was there. Personally, I'd like KI to install them on WindSeeker there, that's the one thing I hate most is fearing that middle piece on the seat >.> Yes, that band near the top of the pole is a row of shock absorbers, AKA hydraulic dampers. KI's, CP's, and CW's versions have hydraulic dampers as well, but they're smaller and not as noticeable. I took this photo of them at Cedar Point: My guess is that the ones shown in this photo were determined to not be quite effective enough, so the ones seen at Knott's were developed. My guess is that the two new WindSeekers being built will have the Knott's version of the dampers, and I would not be surprised to see the WindSeekers at CP, CW, and KI get the Knott's version soon, possibly over this offseason (I haven't actually heard anything, just guessing here).

How about lunch with Don Helbig for twenty dollars? Better yet, lunch with Dick Kinzel for fifty bucks! Or would that be a thousand nickels?

^ Same here! Maybe a Soak City construction tour? Pretty please?

I know that as of May 2010 when I purchased my first gold pass online, both the service and printing fees were zero. I also know that as of early August of this year, when I purchased a Fast Lane pass online, the printing fee was $3.