jcgoble3

That's indeed possible. I know it was available in late July, though.

Also, last year you could go to area McDonald's restaurants and get a coupon for $10 off the ticket price at the park. That's the option I used last year.

This is my recommendation.

WHAT. I MUST SEE THIS. *adds it to his bucket list*

According to Dictionary.com, "couple", in a formal sense, refers to only and exactly two. The use of "a couple of" to mean more than two is classified as an idiom, and dropping the "of" from that idiom is further classified as informal. On the subject of weather, this far in advance looking at "normal" forecasts of exact temperatures, precipitation, and so forth is pretty much useless. I don't start looking at that until about three days out. Until then, you're better off reading the National Weather Service's forecast discussion, which for Kings Island can be found here: http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=ILN&issuedby=ILN&product=AFD&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1&highlight=off (Thanks to malem for cluing me in to that a while back. )

(Can't believe I'm getting drawn into this argument... ) If you want to be at 1 day left on the 17th, then your current system is at odds with that goal. To wit: To get 1 day left on the 17th, then on the 16th you should have 2 days left. Therefore on the 15th you should have 3 days left. Therefore on the 14th you should have 4 days left. Therefore on the 13th you should have 5 days left. Therefore on the 12th you should have 6 days left. Therefore on the 11th you should have 7 days left. Therefore on the 10th you should have 8 days left. Therefore tomorrow (the 9th) you should have 9 days left. Therefore today (the 8th) it should be 10 days left. This is similar to the math error made by people who say that 2012 was Kings Island's 40th season. Direct subtraction produces a number that counts one, and only one, end. Since that is what you are trying to count, you therefore should not be subtracting an extra day, as then you are counting neither today nor opening day.

^ How many different names are you going to give to Fast Lane?

As it should be. The ride operator has as good as view as anyone to be able to STOP the ride if something were wrong. And if there was absolutely no sign of anything being wrong until it was suddenly too late for an e-stop to prevent catastrophe?

Kings Island has some updating to do to the signage in Dinosaurs Alive!: http://www.vocativ.com/culture/science/brontosaurus-is-real-dinosaur/

^ I really think that's an overreaction. The ride is buried way in the back of kiddie land. I really don't think that Fast Lane is going to be bombarded even on a busy day. I've been in Planet Snoopy on busy days before, and I rarely ever see Fast Lane being used. I mean, I do see it occasionally, but it's very uncommon. I highly doubt it will have much of an impact.

I want to be there, but unfortunately I cannot.

For me, it's the backstage tours and photo ops that I'm most interested in. Next to that is the free food. Honestly, I'm not that interested in the ERT sessions. Over the past couple of years, my priorities have shifted from getting in as many rides as possible to just relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere. Last year, on a busy Saturday, I've been known to go over eight hours without riding anything at all except the train or the Eiffel Tower. jcgoble3, transitioning from a coaster enthusiast and thrill-seeker to an amusement park enthusiast who enjoys an occasional thrill ride

Thank you for changing the subject. jcgoble3, facepalming at the previous discussion (if the park hasn't opened yet, then the correct length of time until opening day is always "too long" )

^ GoPro is a registered trademark of GoPro, Inc., and should always be capitalized as such.

Somebody's eventually going to have to spill the beans on the story of the naked Russian. I didn't catch enough of the story to be able to explain it myself.

Yes, cargo shorts are your best bet. I got a pair of shorts made of quick-dry material with one zipper pocket and one Velcro pocket from Dick's Sporting Goods last summer, then I had my grandmother remove the Velcro flap and sew a zipper onto that pocket, so it now has two zipper pockets. Zipper pockets are by far the best choice. Failing that, buttons work also. I'm wary of Velcro and snaps and don't fully trust them. As Magenta Lizard said, you can't even enter the line at Banshee with a waist pack of any kind, so that option is about as good as a backpack.

I've never been to California's Adventure, but have seen reports on various websites that Disney doesn't really care about you having cell phones or other recording devices on the rides. I'm not sure if that's actually the case or it's more a matter of "Hey! We're at a Disney park! We have to record ourselves on this ride!" and Disney not catching people doing it. In 2010 when I was at Hollywood Studios, the guy beside me in the front row on Rock 'n' Roller Coaster pulled out his camera on the launch track and proceeded to shoot a POV of the whole ride. When I circled around to get back in line for another ride, I asked the cast member at the point where we were being held short of the pre-show room whether cameras were allowed, and he said that they were not allowed. Now, having said that, 1) that was in 2010, and rules may have changed since then, and 2) Rock 'n' Roller Coaster is quite possibly the most extreme ride in all of Walt Disney World, so that rule may very well have applied to only that ride and not to most others.

^ Duh. I should have been smart enough to just give that link. (To be fair, I had been up for 18 straight hours at that point, so my brain was a little scrambled.)

The Android version has now updated. Or more accurately, the old app has been deleted from Google Play and a new one uploaded with a different internal package name. So if you have the old one installed, it will not auto-update. You will have to hunt it down through the search feature and install the new one. Also, as of this writing, if you type "Kings Is" into the Play Store search bar, it offers you a direct link to a "Kings Island" app as the first suggestion. Don't tap that, as it's the old, deleted version, and you'll just get an error message. Until Google's cache updates itself, you must perform an actual search for "Kings Island" and then select the app from the result list (it was way, way down on the list for me due to the very small number of downloads).

Try this link, to which I added the "?mobile=0" suffix that (in the past, at least) has avoided the mobile redirect. Failing that, the quote is from the ride night for Banshee/Drop Tower/Delirium on Friday, May 15 (i.e. the night before Coasterstock).

I'm guessing that's Fast Lane/ADA access.

Only if it just Shakes and Rattles. If it starts Rolling, then we'd have Chaos.

Meanwhile, the Android version of the app is still "Updated for 2013".

Fast Lane Carowinds?

Sounds good. I have to contend with I-75 between Dayton and Cincinnati, as well as I-675 before that, which are likely to be busy at that time of day. So I'm going to aim to get to Tylersville Road by 5:15 to 5:30 so I'm not late if I hit traffic jams, and because I don't mind waiting an hour if I don't encounter traffic. If I have time, and weather permitting, I may head over to VoA Park as well for a walk. My bulging belly could do with some decent exercise, especially if I'm going to eat a large meal.