homestar92

And the fact that at least one member of this board scheduled a trip to Canada's Wonderland earlier in this season with the specific intention of riding Wonder Mountain's Guardian, and despite scheduling said trip for nearly a month after the park opened for the year, it had not yet opened... Yes, I am still a little bitter about that.

That ride op must be a doctor or a dentist. "You're going to feel some pressure" is typically medical professional slang for "This is going to be really painful"

In some ways, the machines with expensive prizes are worse than gambling, because in order to win a prize, you have to be lucky, and then you must simultaneously be skilled enough to win the game.

The machines aren't rigged in the sense that it's impossible to win. But many of them have a determined payout rate where the game will prevent winning if its cashflow has not reached a certain threshold since the last prize was given. Once this threshold has been reached, winning a prize reverts back to being purely skill-based. Now, this isn't true as much with claw machines. Those rarely have logic complex enough to do that, so they just set the claw strength to adjust the difficulty in such a way as to prevent easily winning. On newer, computerized games, most notably Stacker, this is very much the case, as demonstrated by this video: Now, to regular claw machines. These are not rigged at all in most cases. I play the claw every time I am at the local Meijer or Kroger. Nine times out of ten, I go home with a prize after one or two attempts. The typical claw machines with plush toys are usually games of pure skill. There are techniques you can learn to maximize your odds. You have to use your angles and look at the machine from all sides. You have to go for the toy that is least wedged in with others and as close to the prize chute as possible. Sometimes shape matters, you need to go for something shaped in such a way that the claw has a vantage point to grab on from. On a freshly filled machine, you can sometimes even use the claw to just "rake" toys into the chute. As a rule, the more valuable the prize, the more likely it is that they are messing with the strength of the claw or throwing in other variables to make it more difficult. With the 50 cent plush machines, the toys are usually not worth much more than the cost of one play, if even that. Typically, they are worth a bit less. Even if they have a really good group of players come in and play, the owner of the machine will be making a profit.

You can get a Harty serving of pizza at a certain park in Louisville (well, unless you are in a wheelchair and would thus require an automatic door...). Then after you eat it, you can go experience The Runs! Oh, my...

Fairfield to Kings Island is a pretty lengthy drive for a seasonal job. I wouldn't recommend it, honestly. I drive from Fairfield to Loveland every day (which is a slightly shorter distance even) and the commute has been irritating enough to prompt me to look for places to live that are closer. And that's for my full-time career. I personally could never justify that commute for a seasonal job. Of course, I'm not you, and if it's something you really want to do, Fairfield is a great place to live. It's where I've lived my whole life (besides the four years I spent in New Concord, Ohio, the happiest place on the planet) and I think I turned out pretty good. Ultimately, what I think it comes down to is, are you looking to work at Kings Island for the income or for the experience? Because if it's the former, then it would be difficult for me to recommend over working at Cedar Point, where they have housing on-site for out of town employees. If it is the latter that makes you want to work at KI, though, my personal recommendation would be to see if you can get a couple other people interested so you can work down here together and split rent.

That said, Auto-spiels get really old really fast, too. While at SFGAm, I got very, VERY sick of the wannabe Mr. T giving the auto-spiel for X-Flight. I'd be all for an auto-spiel in a normal human voice. Theme the rides, that's fine, encouraged even. But don't theme the auto-spiel. The results are usually nothing short of irritating. Alright,stunt team, listen up...

As others have said, it depends how far you'd be willing to commute. The area immediately surrounding KI can be a bit pricey, as are most of the surrounding cities. To the east, you'd need to venture about as far as Milford to find something for a good price. To the west, there's West Chester, which is pricey in some areas, but not too bad in others. Neither of these are awful commutes, but you won't find anything affordable within walking distance like Cedar Point's employee housing would be.

The red isn't a problem. It would look good on the track. It would look good on the supports. As long as another color were involved. The thing that makes it look bad is the lack of contrast. It's the same reason I can't stand the color scheme of Leviathan, and its track and supports are not even identical, just very similar.

Very last train of the day, ask really, REALLY nicely, and if most of the other people on the train are on board with it, and the ride op is in a good mood, they will sometimes be willing to flip the lights on for you. Sometimes, you can get lucky on the first train of the day as well, but from everyone I've talked to, last train of the night will be your best bet. I myself have gotten two lights-on rides that way.

And while a lot of other fan sites for various things don't have such a requirement, we usually have a very good relationship with the park, and we get events that other groups don't, such as the lights-on Haunt tours on closing weekend. And at the end of the day, it's in the TOS that you agreed to when you signed up. It's just our policy. Don't like it, you have two options: don't repost material originating from the park, or don't use this site. I'm not going to lie, I don't love the policies regarding linking to photos and using trademarks with proper capitalization either. But they are a condition of posting here, so I respect them and live by them. I have a very good friend who really had a problem with some of the things the park asked of us, and was very vocal about it. He's not here anymore. What it comes down to is, if you want to use this site, respect the rules. And if we call you out on failing to cite something, don't take it personally, we're just trying to enforce the rules so everyone can keep enjoying the relationship this site has with the park.

When I was at Carowinds a couple years ago, a ride operator instructed me, and everyone on the ride, to "Enjoy your ride on the Southern Star". I thought that was pretty crazy considering what an impossible task they were asking of us.

Vortex, far too many times to count. And the coaster I rode the least, excluding Planet Snoopy, was Diamondback. If I want to ride boring coasters, I'll go to Sandusky and ride Millennium Force. At least there I can have cheese on a stick while I wait in line. Actually, despite Kings Island being my home park, there were several rides at other parks that I rode more than I rode Diamondback this year. Namely, Magnum XL-200, Phantom's Revenge, Leviathan, Viper (of the Darien Lake variety). And I couldn't even tell you how many times I experienced The Runs at Kentucky Kingdom. When referring to roller coasters, The Runs are a wonderful experience.

^ If you want to see the Rock-a-fire Explosion, there's a restaurant in Huntington, WV that has the whole "Band". It's called Billy Bob's Wonderland and unlike Chuck E. Cheese, you do not have to be accompanied by a child to go. If I return to Camden Park in 2015, I may swing by there and visit too.

Don't expect as much action as we were used to on the Banshee cam. Flying Scooters can be installed in just a couple of days, if that. Even still, it's nice to be able to watch in when there is action happening.

Bumper cars have always been a topic to "spark" my interest. Tee hee.

Nor is it like the music on Beast where it is easily recognizable as a song from a TV show that was VERY popular when the music was implemented.

^ It spends the majority of its time in sleep mode or off. It is exceptionally rare for us to need to print anything, so I just run upstairs and fire it up when it's needed. It boots fast because since it isn't really used, we have essentially no services running at boot other than the standard Windows stuff. My parents aren't tech-savvy, they like the equipment they have, and they know how to use it. I'm happy to leave the old hardware in operation if it means I don't have to provide free tech support. I have my own server that runs 24/7, but it's a substantially more modern machine with significantly better power management than that dinosaur. But it's a headless Linux box with no GUI, so there's no way I'm going to try to move the printer to it. Plus, when I move out, that machine comes with me, so it would be silly to delegate it to a task only to have it be moved within a few months.

^ There's a lot about that park to be criticized for sure. That's not to say there aren't things to be praised (Thunder Run <3) but operationally, that park's management looks clueless at best. The decision to install a Drop Tower still boggles my mind a year later. Stay tuned, folks. Tonight is a fairly important evening for the Kingdom. Not as important as November 3rd, 2015, but important nonetheless.

AND, since the Offseason is back among us, time to revive this thread. Today at work, I got some of my code back from the QA department that was ready for release. They sent me the ticket with the comment "All clear". Naturally, my follow-up comment when I sent it back to inform them that it had been merged into our release candidate was: "That all clear means this code is out of here, so sit upright and hold on tight because this changelist will be released tonight!" And no, I won't get in trouble for that. Our ticket tracking system is purely internal, so we will often try to inject humor into our notes. One of the things I like about my job, they don't expect us to be proper and professional all the time as long as we project a professional attitude to the customers and release stable, high quality software, the higher-ups are good with that.

Kings Island has, in my opinion, one of the most "complete" lineups of coasters out there. I think at this point, we have all the coasters that are needed, except perhaps a Wild Mouse. Focus should be on flats for a while. We're adding a family flat and a kiddie flat this year. Time for a large, thrilling flat ride (I do enjoy WindSeeker, but it is not exactly a thrilling ride). I'd personally love an S&S Space Shot or a Screamin' Swing. Either would do well in X-Base I think. A Ferris wheel would be a nice touch as others have said. I'd really REALLY love something like Cedar Downs, but I doubt those are being produced anymore. And besides, it's always a treat to look forward to when I venture to Sandusky. Superb capacity, incredibly unique, and a lot of fun.

I actually have to be totally honest, Internet Explorer definitely wins the award for "Most Improved" in the browser world. I use it regularly on my tablet since it's the only browser available for Windows with a remotely competent touch interface. It's honestly pretty tolerable. Now, when using any other device, I go Chrome all the way. I used to be loyal to Firefox, but it's gotten really bloated and the UI changed too much, too quickly, and not for the better in my opinion. I do have a machine still on IE6, but it doesn't get used for web browsing. Its one and only reason for existing is as a print server. It's our "family computer" and it's what the printer is hooked up to. Nobody directly uses it anymore, but when delegated for that one specific job, it works well. Also, Windows XP was installed on that computer within the first 6 months of its release. It's still running that same install of Windows. I can't get rid of it, it's like a trophy. I have a Windows installation that's over a decade old and still works pretty well. Do you know how rare that is?

Their WindSeeker is in Kansas? Now what would be their MO for putting it there? On topic, I assure you that Larson flyers are snappable even on the low speed. I snapped a few times at Kentucky Kingdom. I snapped about 5 times in one cycle at Cedar Point. I can't imagine they would have Larson put in a set that runs at a special, lower speed than normal just because they are located in a childrens' area (which, as it happens, the Lake Erie Eagles are too). If anyone on here has only ever ridden the ones at Holiday World or Stricker's Grove or the Columbus Zoo, I assure you, those don't even compare to the Larson flyers. On the other hand, if you've been to Carowinds, or rode them at Kings Island in 2004 or earlier, the Larsons also don't compare, but in the opposite way. Regardless, if the ones we get are as good as the ones in Sandusky, we're in for a treat.

Well, I only track my coasters. I rode a lot of new flats, too, but I don't track those. Favorite, however, is easily either Sledge Hammer at Canada's Wonderland or Rattler at Camden park. Maybe Lake Erie Eagles, but I'd ridden Larson Flying Scooters before, so I can't justify that as legitimately counting as a "new" credit in the same sense. Now then, first, I will list my new credits of 2014, in the order they were acquired. I'm going to use the spoiler tag to prevent this post from being enormous. As for favorites, probably Lightning and Thunder Run at KK (In that order), then Goliath, then Banshee. And all the way at the very, very bottom of the list, below even the Great Pumpkin Coaster, is Flight Deck at Canada's Wonderland. If I never ride that infernal contraption again, it'll be too soon. I think the highlights of 2014 for me were Banshee Media Day, my three visits to Kentucky Kingdom, my impromptu trip to SFGAm, and my trip with TDE to Cedar Point (during which I discovered Cheese on a stick, and my life will never be the same again...). To quote Brad Paisley, "As great as it is, you know what's a bummer? I ain't ever gonna beat this summer"

I thought it was very worthwhile, for a few reasons. First, the economical fact that it didn't take that many meals to make the price worthwhile. Now, that said, we don't know how food prices will be next year. They could go up, they could go down, they could stay where they are. Assuming that prices stay where they are, you should have no trouble making it worthwhile if you visit 8 times. There is also the convenience factor. You can leave home knowing that you can eat when you get to the park, and knowing exactly what it will cost you (nothing!) to do so. You don't lose a bunch of time leaving, going somewhere, coming back, finding a new parking spot, etc. It also gives you the freedom to sample the different food options with little risk. Get something to eat and don't like it? No harm done, next time you'll know not to get that. For Platinum Passholders who plan to visit multiple parks, it's even more of a no-brainer, as it eliminates one expense from the trip and makes it a little more economical to visit other parks. I plan to visit Kings Island, Cedar Point, Carowinds, Kings Dominion, and maybe even Michigan's Adventure next year, and it's nice to know that I won't have to worry about spending money on food when I go. For those of us who live or work very close to the park, it's REALLY a no-brainer. There were many days in which I would visit the park after work, grab pizza at the International Street LaRosa's, and just sit and enjoy my food by the fountains. Many of these trips, I didn't ride a single thing. It was great, and it really did save me money in the long run. Your results may vary, of course, but I think with 8 visits, it'll be worth it. Just be aware that on the season-long dining plan, (unless policies change) your meal will not include a soft drink, and if you want one, expect to pay around $4 for it if you do not have a souvenir cup. Before Banshee and before they stopped allowing you to leave them in the station on Firehawk, I would have also said the souvenir cup was a no-brainer. Now, I'm not so sure. I collect them, so I'll be getting one for that reason alone, but I think the only time I had mine in the park this year was the day I bought it. Water is, of course, available for free at any food stand, so if you do not want a soft drink, free water is always a great option.