PKIVortex

Does the resort offer, free shuttles back and forth from the Airport? Well maybe not considering the Airport isn't even in Cincinnati LOL.

So I guess the rumor of the park changing from PKI to NKI is false.

Yeah I was also wondering about that. Typo? Or wrong information. The Racer always had 2 tracks, both sides used to run Forwards until 1982, so i'm not sure if that's what they are referring to or not.

From The Dayton Daily News. Kings Island a thousand times Man to reach milestone at park today By Kimberly Webster MASON | When Don Helbig first visited Paramount's Kings Island, no one had ventured on Adventure Express, Face-Off was faceless and even The Vortex was simply a void. Helbig of Fairfield has seen many changes at the amusement park, but he has remained a constant guest. Today will mark his 1,000th visit. The occasion will be celebrated in high style, with Helbig receiving "true Hollywood treatment," spokesman Jeffrey Siebert said. The day has been officially designated "Don Helbig Day," and during a ceremony, Helbig will receive an oversized commemorative ticket, highlighting his 1,000th trip. Helbig has always paid for his own park admission and is annually on "automatic pilot" to purchase season tickets, so his entrance will be through the turnstiles, as usual. His meals for the day will be on the house, though. For the 21 days preceding the event, Helbig was allowed only three visits so that he wouldn't prematurely pass the 1,000 mark. Helbig first visited Kings Island in 1981. The day was spent with his brother. They received season passes as Easter presents from their parents, and were eager to ride The Beast. Unfortunately, it was closed for the day, so they instead turned to The Racer (which didn't really race then, as there was only one track). Diana Kelly, who had just graduated from high school with Helbig, was new on the job and operating the coaster. After having ridden it about a dozen times, the Helbig brothers asked Kelly for the one-day record of Racer rides. She found it to be 96. They managed a mere 54 spins on that occasion. Helbig's persistence paid off, though, as he and park officials worked together to keep track of his total rides and visits. He earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records when he reached 11,000 rides on The Racer alone; his total is now at 11,670. The world title, though, "was never a reason to do it," Helbig said. "I just did it because it was something that was fun." The first decade as a PKI guest provided special memories for Helbig. "I went to bed at night thinking about the park," he confessed. "You could say in the 1980s I was a bit obsessed." Not that he's not obsessed now. "I like it as much as I always did, maybe even more," Helbig is quick to add. His wife, Laura, is not so passionate about multiple coaster rides. "She's like most people," Helbig said. "She likes to go . . . ride each once and move on to the next attraction. It's not something she'd want to be a priority in her life." **Dane: Here is the PKIC page for this story. http://www.pkicentral.com/Parkinfo/editori.../1000visits.htm

I take I70 to I75 to exit 29. Off Exit 29 I turn left on RT 63, and then right on 741. I'm about 51 miles from PKI and takes between 50 minutes to an hour.

What old traditions?

Was this the Flight Commander speech? I always remember the King Cobra speil and the water works splash pool speil. Bingo we have a winner. Way to go!!

BB Reopened? I didn't even know it closed? Why did they shut it down?

Have you all noticed that AE only runs with 2 trains. I think this has been happening for the past few seasons. When I was a ride op on AE back in '99 we still ran all 3 trains. Is the 2 train operation do to low ridership. When we used to run 3 trains we still brought in a pretty good line. When I was in the park on June 5th, a Saturday, the line was only in the station. Is something happening with AE that we don't know yet? I mean with most of the theming either not working, and I noticed alot of lights burnt out the last time I rode it, lift 2 for sure. Could AE be the next coaster to go? Just think with that land, and the former land of the Cobra hmmmm I could see a pretty good size coaster going in. What do you all think?

I'll have to go with King Cobra. I really miss that ride, and the air time, that the stand-up coaster gave ya.

Yes I know about getting free water at places/park. I should have said they will even fill your sports bottle with water if you want. Sorry about the confusion.

Yes you can. You bought so you can bring it back as often as you like and get it refilled for the refill price. Back in '96 they made special sport bottles for season pass holders, the idea was to bring it back through-out the season and get them refilled. I also know they use to put water in them for free.

At first I really didn't care much for Paramount, but now after 11 years (1993 - 2004) it's starting to grow on me. Paramount has done alot of good things for Kings Island, and some bad things. But in my opinion i'm sure alot of the things we have seen happen, we would have probably see it regardless. It was always my knowledge that even though PKI is owned by Paramount, the same people actually run the park, as far as managers, and the people who deiced what the new attractions will be.

Well on Saturday June 5th I made my 3rd trip to PKI so far this year. The park wasn't as busy as I thought it would be for a Saturday. I made it to the park around 3pm and only stayed to about 7pm. But it was a fun 4 hours. I didn't even bother to go into Action Zone, as it was probably really busy over there. My friend who I went with had to get his season pass processed and while we were waiting outside for them to bring his pass out to him, we heard this loud thump, well I looked up and Face/Off was stuck on the first lift. Finally after we got into the park, and around to the Paramount Theater, they were pulling them down slowey. Our first ride of the day was Adventure Express, wait was only in the station, same ol ride. Racer was next, almost a walk on, they were actually racing today, way to go PKI. After The Racer, we went and checked out Days Of Thunder in Action Theater. No one is riding Days of Thunder, they were a line for Sponge Bob. Do people not realize Days of Thunder is open, or does people just not want to ride? But anyway Days of Thunder brought back alot of memories, I enjoyed it quite a bit. We then went and had some blue ice cream in HB land, and then went to ride the Train to check out BB. They did a really good job with BB, but I feel they could have done more to improve the older side of the waterpark. Not much in opinion was done on that side. We decided after we walked around BB awhile to take the walk back to the main park. After that we went and had Pizza at the Rivertown Pizza. Then it was off to The Beast. My friend doesn't have a gold pass, he didn't buy his in time, so we could not take advantage of the walk on ride, so we had to wait in line. Line was probably 45 mins. The Beast was running really good today. After Beast we headed on over to Vortex for our last ride of the evening. We had a funnel cake and an Icee on the way out. Other then that we enjoyed our stay at the park today. I'm glad it wasn't too busy, as I was afraid it could have been being a Saturday. We are probably going to go during the week here soon and enjoy the water attractions at BB.

I thought the park was closed today to the general public (6/6).

I forgot to mention something from my trip from yesterday. While riding Drop Zone these kids sitting next to me, probably no older then 13, started to spit as we were almost to the top. I told them not too, I said if they get caught they could get kicked out of the park, or even face mistermenor charges. That it was against Ohio State law to drop anything or spit from the ride, same as the tower. They stopped after I told them that. Kids are so stupid sometimes.

They had a License to be able to Use the James Bond name. Remember Outer Limits was also not a Paramount name, as the name was licensed to the park to use. That is why the ride is just called Fight of Fear now, i'm not sure on who's part, but for some reason the license was not re-newd for Outer Limits.

Wow what a great day at PKI. Arrived at the park at about 11:45am, and stayed to about 6pm. First ride of the day was Son of Beast, rode in 1-1. I enjoyed the ride, but it seemed a little rougher from my first ride of the season. My knees kept hitting the grab bar. Delirium was up next, what can I say about this ride, has to be one of the best flat rides ever put into PKI. Loved it, only had to wait 1 cycle to get on. I went on Drop Zone for the first time this year, had about a 3 cycle wait. I hate those seat belts that are on there now, they are different from when they first put belts on the ride. I guess they want to make sure you don't take them off while on the ride. But Drop Zone still gets that rush out of me every time. Frontwards racer (backwards closed) Walk on ride, running pretty good, only rode once. Went on to FOF after racer, FOF was probably the longest wait all day, waited about 30 minutes. Rode in the front seat, the lights where on in the drum (is this something that has been happening alot this year?) I seen the Cobra trains and what looked to be a car for FOF down their, also a bunch of other things. Went onto SP3D after FOF, seen the new signs about Days of Thunder, I'm really looking forward to riding Days of Thunder again at Action Theater. Funny little fact, Days of Thunder first opened 10 years ago this year. Had to ride Vortex after SP, rode Vortex in 7-1. For some reason the train was in, kept making some really weird noises as it was going around the track, almost sounded as if the cars were going to come undone. I'm one of the few people who doesn't really think Vortex is rough, but today it wasn't running at it's best for some reason. After Vortex it was time for some food, almost every food place in the park was closed today, but I know it was limited operation day, but come on PKI at least give your guests a list of things that will not be open. First walked over to Wings to find it closed, then I remembered while I was in AZ that Stunt Crew grill was open, so I headed over there. But guess what, by the time I got back to Stunt Crew it was closed. So I ended up going to Festhaus, and just having 2 pieces of pizza and some cheese fries. After lunch, I went back to Action Zone to ride Face/Off actually had a walk on ride. Is it me or has this thing got jerky? I banged my ear somewhere while on the ride. I also had my first ride on Congo Falls, I actually got pretty wet while on the ride, and not from the sprayers either so that was cool. ( I hope the rumors of this ride being removed is not true) I went to check out Top Gun for the first time this year, Top Gun was running great, why doesn't people tend to like this ride? After that, we rode The Beast in 1-1. Funny thing happened right before it was our turn to get on. The driver stopped the train passed where it's suspose to stop. So the ride ops on the floor had to use the nails and open up all the bars manually. I also noticed that all 3 trains can now be stopped in a row. You can have 1 train in the station, and 2 on the long break run outside the station. In the past, if you had a train waiting to come into the station, the 3rd train would stop the 2nd lift. So that kinda freaked me out seeing the 3rd train comin in. But with the clamp breaks that make it possible. After The Beast I was ready to go, so I went and bought a couple of t-shirts and I was gone for the day. Something I noticed today, ride ops where being nice with letting people ride again, when they were no line. When I was a PKI ride op we were not permitted to let riders ride again, if they were empty seats

I say The Beast, cause it's still the Worlds Baddest Wooden Rollercoaster.

You can also get season passes at Meijer. They are the same price at Meijer then they are at the park. If you buy them at Meijer you will save a step. If you buy them at Meijer all you have to do is go right to the season pass processing area. (if you buy at Meijer make sure you pick up the pamplet so you can fill out the information inside). If you buy at the park you will wait in line twice. Once to purchase your pass, and once again to process the pass. I have purchesed my pass at Meijer for the past 2 seasons, I kinda like that.

I noticed when I was in the park on Sunday, that QTV no longer plays the same things anymore. Now on the TV's in the que lines, they play video's from VH1 and looks like I seen one of the shows they show on VH1 on there as well. Anyone else notice that?

Well I finally made it to PKI for my first trip of the 2004 season. It was a pretty good day. First ride was on Son of Beast. Line was about 1/2 hour, ride in 6-2, it was an okay ride, I did feel a difference in the rose bowl. Others still have mixed feelings about this ride. Next we went to eat at Bubba's Gump. My next ride of the day was on Backwards Racer, wait was about 10 minutes. Great ride, seat belts didn't make any difference to me, the same ol ride. We then walked to the end of Coney Mall and I rode Vortex. Rode in my favorite seat 7-1. Great ride like always, it didn't beat me up, but it never does. After The Vortex it was time to ride The Beast, the longest wait of the day. The video was neat, but I agree with what other people had said before, it's hard to see the TV's sometimes to view them. The ride though was a nice one, the sound affects are kinda cool. After that we rode the Train to check out Boomarang Bay, it looks really cool, looks like they are still doing some finsihing touches. After The Train, we went and watched The Magic of The Movies Live. I thought the show was interesting. What was up with all the Brittney Spear jokes? Hahahaha. After that we went and had some ice cream at the ice cream zone, then I rode Delerium. Delerium was expierencing some problems through-out the day, with the floor not coming up after the ride. We also rode Sponge Bob, Frontwards Racer, and then we headed home. But it was great to get back to park. I'm planning on going again, on Tuesday May 25th.

The water for Congo and WTB are contained in a man made resevoirs. So they are no pond around Congo falls, or Wild Torn Berries. White Water Canyon water does come from the nearby pond.

Thank you! But you won't have to worry about it anyway, as the park is closed to the public on Friday Oct 1st.

The use to be an unofficial gay day at PKI. It was always the first Sunday in June. That's when the red shirt thing went on was the unofficial day. Now the park is always closed for a park sell out the first Sunday in June. I did some research and the first official gay pride night was held in September of 1998. So this year will be the 6th year of having an official gay pride night.