jcgoble3

LOL! At least I know I'm not the only scaredy-cat that will be there! I know that and yet it doesn't help much... ...and that's not helping! You're supposed to be talking me into it, not scaring me away!

I don't know, but I would guess something along the lines of "if you have to ask, you can't afford it."

Nice article, but the link to the park's website is broken. On another note, despite putting Haunt into the "confirmed trips" list in my signature, I'm a giant chicken, and I normally stay away from scary stuff like haunted houses and horror movies, so I'm still trying to talk myself into going. Anybody want to help talk me into going?

And coincidentally (or not), most every opening day since has been plagued with mechanical issues, staffing issues, long waits, closed rides, and unhappy guests, some or even many of whom paid to be there and don't get to come back on a "better" day like season pass holders can. And this is why I'd like to see the season pass preview days brought back. Not because I want to have a half-empty park early in the season or because I feel a sense of entitlement, but because it gives them time to work out the kinks without negatively impacting the single-day paying customers. I'm not even sure if I would bother going to a preview day (knowing that there's likely to be mechanical issues and closed rides), but I would like to see it back for that reason.

Noted. I'm now looking more at flying and using public transportation for the trip rather than renting a car or driving at all. However, where are you finding a rental car for $175/week? The few searches I did the other day turned up nothing cheaper than $300/week. If I end up having to trade a park for Discovery Cove, it will probably be one of the Universal parks. Disney is my first priority, followed by Discovery Cove, SeaWorld/BGT, the waterparks, and finally Universal/IOA in that order. What I meant was that I'm not usually big on exploring, but I will explore some at each park, particularly if there's something interesting. And the other stuff is noted. I'm really looking for the "whole experience". If I want to "ride ride ride", I'll go to KI or CP. I can realistically come up with $2,500 in cash; $3,000 may be a bit of a stretch. I do have a credit card that I can charge another $1,000 or so to if need be. The current plan I'm working on is to fly in on 8/22, stay in a cheap hotel 8/22 through 9/2 or 9/3 while I attend the convention (8/23–26) and then hit non-Disney parks (8/27–9/2), then transfer to a Disney resort on the evening of 9/2 or the morning of 9/3 with an 8-day Disney ticket, flying home the afternoon or evening of 9/10. However, after accounting for tickets, meals, the first hotel, airfare, and a little bit of spending cash for souvenirs, I'm already looking at over $2,500 without Disney, so it's looking like I may have to cut something. I've got a few months to work on it before I plan on finalizing anything.

Noted. All noted. I've actually been shopping for a new digital camera to replace my five-year-old Panasonic for a few months, and I've been considering going the waterproof route. That's pretty much what I was thinking for Disney. I don't have a problem with paid line jumping systems (I've used KI's Fast Lane once myself), so I'll definitely look into them. Question: can you buy the Disney Dining Plan without staying in one of their resorts, or is it for resort guests only? I had never considered paying for parking at the hotel, since no hotel I've ever stayed at, including the one I stayed at in Orlando last year, has charged for parking. I will take that in consideration.

Possible, but I'd like to finalize hotel reservations, ticket purchases, etc. no later than May, so I'm not sure if anyone would be willing to commit that early. I may give it a shot though. The issue here is that between gas (34 mpg @ $4.00/gal.), two nights in a motel in Georgia (one each way), and meals on the road, I estimate that it would cost about $500 to drive to Florida and back. A couple quick online searches show that a one-week car rental would cost between $300 and $400, so I would need to keep the airfare, with all fees including baggage fees, under $200 for the round trip to make it worth flying instead of driving. If it turns out I need a car for the convention, then the cost of a rental car alone would exceed the cost of simply driving my own car. I tried several airlines' websites, but none that I checked will let me see rates that far in advance yet. EDIT: As GYK pointed out, I might be able to fly and not rent a car at all. I'll look into all options. I'm trying to figure out how many days I need at each set of parks. Right now, I'm looking at, in no particular order, a week at Disney, three at Universal, two at SeaWorld, one at BGT, (EDIT: and one at Discovery Cove). Does that sound like it would work, or do I need more time at SeaWorld or somewhere else? Like I said in the OP, I'm just trying to come up with a figure that I can use as a savings goal right now. Nothing will be finalized until at least January. I'm already familiar with the I-Ride Trolley, having used it several times last year when I needed to go from my hotel to the convention center or vice versa when the free convention shuttle wasn't running. Interesting. I would prefer to not be totally reliant on public transportation for everything, but I'll consider it. As for the Disney "experience", being that this is my first time doing this and possibly my last as well, I would definitely like to get the full experience if at all possible. Noted. I'm not much of an "explorer" but I'll probably do some exploring anyway. As far as Disney, I am looking to do their waterparks as well, so that would add an extra couple of days there. I'll definitely look into that. Actually, I didn't even know about that experience. I would love to do that. I'm going to find a way to shove that into my budget no matter what. Thanks for the tips. A little more feedback on number of days per park (specifically at SeaWorld and BGT), and I'll be able to come up with an estimated price, which is all I'm looking to do right now.

There's no chance of getting somebody to travel with me; I've always been a loner and have few friends, and I know them and my family well enough to know that they wouldn't be interested. Will Disney pick me up at the airport on 8/22 if I'm not going to stay at a Disney resort until 8/27; likewise, if I check out of the Disney resort around the beginning of Sept., will they take me back to the airport a week later? I already know there's no way I can afford the expense of a resort hotel during the convention as well, so I plan to just find the cheapest hotel or motel I can until after the convention. Also, I don't know yet whether I'll need a car during the convention; it depends on what hotel I end up at and whether shuttle service is provided for that hotel or it's within reasonable walking distance to either the convention center or public transportation. Noted, but I do want to hit as much as possible; considering my life situation, I may never again get the chance to do this. Makes sense, but keep in mind my note above that this may not be something I can do every year; depending on how things go in my life, it may be the last chance I have to do the Orlando parks.

I'm in the very, very early stages of planning for my 2012 vacation. Every two to three years, a Star Wars convention is held somewhere in the U.S. The last one (in August 2010) was in Orlando at the Orange County Convention Center, and I was able to go to that, albeit on an extremely tight budget because I only had a couple months to save for it. As a result, I was not able to hit any of the Orlando area parks during that trip, except for one evening at Disney's Hollywood Studios. The next convention will be held August 23–26, 2012 at the same location. This time, I have almost an entire extra year to plan and save money for it, so I would like to spend a couple of weeks after the convention hitting the area's parks if I can afford it. The budget is going to be tight, though; depending on how much I can save, I'm looking at a projected budget of around $2,500, maybe $3,000, for the entire trip. I have a credit card that I can charge a little excess over that to, but the credit limit is low ($1,500) and 1) I want to make sure there's enough room on there to cover emergency car repairs, and 2) I strongly prefer to pay off the card in full every month and don't like carrying a balance. I'm looking for general money-saving tips in the field of hotels and tickets right now. I will be traveling solo and plan to drive to Florida and back and find a cheap motel just south of Atlanta for the night (just like I did in 2010), as I can do so significantly cheaper than what it would cost to rent a car in Florida after flying down. The specific questions I have right now are: —Considering the budget, would it be better to 1) find a cheap hotel/motel in Orlando to stay in for the entire trip or 2) spend more to stay in each park brand's resort hotels to take advantage of the benefits each offers? Ideally, I'd like to do 2), but I'm not sure my budget will allow that. —Assuming I stay in the area for 14 days after the convention (through Sept. 9), how many days should I plan for at each park or group of parks? I know nothing about any of the parks in the Orlando area, so I'm going to need some guidance here. Remember that 1) I'm traveling alone, 2) I'll be visiting all of the parks for the first time, except for Disney's Hollywood Studios, and 3) the weekend in the middle of those two weeks is Labor Day weekend. I'm looking to hit the Disney and Universal parks, as well as SeaWorld and maybe Busch Gardens Tampa, but I may have to cut something for time or budget. If I can figure out a way to do any associated waterparks as well within my budget, that would be a bonus. Any general tips that will help with planning will be a huge help right now, as I'm trying to come up with a total price estimate that I can use to set a specific savings goal. Thanks in advance.

Having seen this year how fun Wildebeest is, I voted for a water coaster. A speed slide (in terms of comparisons to The Beach, I'm thinking more like the Banzai than the Cliff) would be my second choice.

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I only have a cheap prepaid phone from TracFone, so I couldn't download it if I wanted to. My 57-year-old mother has it on her Droid X, though...

Obviously some of the thrill ride descriptions in the Haunt site are a few years old. The Racer's description says it received ACE Landmark status last year, but according to the ACE website, it was awarded that status in June 2007.

I'm seeing the opposite (closing at midnight Saturdays and 9 pm Sundays), so either you misread it, or it's been fixed.

^ From http://www.visitkingsisland.com/goldpass/faq.cfm"]the FAQ Sounds like the free 2011 visit is now attached to the pass instead of a separate paper ticket.

Yes. Somebody knows. jcgoble3, answering the question as asked (welcome to KIC!)

It is on the concept drawing; it's just difficult to see because you're looking almost straight at the back of the tower. Also note that the "Compare for Yourself" page has a photo of it at the top and lists one 4-person racing slide in the table. EDIT: coaster_junky beat me. And no, there was only one.

The original Dayton Daily News story, including a quote from The Beach Waterpark's manager: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/kings-island-to-double-waterpark-with-10m-expansion-1244765.html

Not quite. If you read the end of the second page of the first article linked in the OP, that incident only got him banned for the rest of the season. It was trying to re-enter in violation of that ban that got him banned for life (as well as arrested for trespassing).

Perhaps a compromise when it comes to the idea of making Soak City a separate ticket would be to drop the price of a regular season pass by about $10, raise the price of a Gold Pass by about $10 (creating a price gap of about $25–30 instead of $5–10), and simply include Soak City with Gold Passes but not regular passes. Knott's Berry Farm does it that way; they charge one price for a regular pass that only includes KBF and $25 more for a Gold Pass that includes KBF and all three area Soak Cities. That way, there would be a more reasonably-priced alternative to the Platinum Pass for people who want both the dry and wet parks but aren't interested in traveling to other parks.

Nice, a waterpark expansion. I was debating about whether to renew my Beach season pass that I only was able to use twice this summer, and this may be the "kicker" that leads me to not do so. I'm most looking forward to the second wave pool, ability to ride tubes in the wave pool, and the action river. I think this is what the park needed. Now, I do not agree with the "de-themeing", but I'm sure there was a reason behind it, and far be it from me, a simple park guest, to question that reasoning. From the end of the now-locked 2012 speculation thread: I, for one, agree with you. On my trip to Cedar Point back in June, I had planned to spend an entire afternoon in the waterpark. I was surprised to find that, in the middle of the afternoon, all attractions had very short waits, if any wait at all. It only took me a moment to realize that this was due to the separate ticketing, which prevents the situation commonly encountered at KI and HW, where a large portion of the general public migrates into the waterpark for the better part of the afternoon, creating long lines. I would be thrilled to see it as a separately ticketed park. As for the fanboys' whining about how it was included with admission for 20-some-odd years, my response would be "get over it" (hence why I don't work in public relations). Kings Island reserves the right to change their policies, including but not limited to, gold pass perks, at any time without notice or regard to prior announcements (WindSeeker/Vortex ERT, anyone?), and this is one thing that I think they should invoke that right on.

...They're holding an announcement in the Room of Requirement? Heh. If I don't get a reply to my last tweet, I'll just stop in Guest Services on my way in tomorrow and ask them.

While there has been relatively little hype and from what I could tell at the park on Friday, no visible construction yet, I am more intrigued now that the park itself is referring to this as a "major new attraction" for the park's 40th and the fact that they are making the announcement on Friday at the park at the beginning of a busy holiday weekend. Gives the impression that they are proud of what they are announcing as opposed to posting the new attraction on Facebook at 3 AM... Indeed. On another note, I will be at the park tomorrow. I wonder where in the park the announcement will be made. I'd like to see it in person. EDIT: I finally gave in and created a Twitter account to ask them. This is the reply I received. My response: http://twitter.com/#...321608262455296

More details: http://www.visitkingsisland.com/goldpass/faq.cfm Key points: —$69.99 price valid through October 30 —A processed 2012 Gold Pass will be valid for one free visit this fall Also, see http://tickets.visitkingsisland.com/shop/shopping_season_pass.cfm —Adult Platinum Passes available for $149 renewal or $159 new purchase

It's interesting to note that while the first four were marketed as $5 million investments, the Carowinds and KD models are listed on their respective park website pages as costing $6.5 million. What, I wonder, is the difference? Are these two going to have new features that the first four don't? Does the $6.5M figure take into account the problems with the first four and what it took to fix them (e.g. the hydraulic dampers)? Is inflation partially responsible? My guess is B.