medford

like Terpy, I love Firehawk, perhaps my favorite ride in the park, its a shame I didn't get to ride it last season, but having a 3 year old in tow kind of limits what you can get on, and the line is always too long to just jump on by myslef while my wife and son did the monster/scrambler the way I could with The Racer or Adventure Express. anyhoo, I've always felt pretty secure as long as as held on to the hand grips. Going superman on that thing would freak me out, but holding onto the handles and using my arms as kind of a brace makes me feel locked in. If your grandmother enjoys Diamondback and other thrill rides, I'd recommend getting on it at least once.

Well yes, I think that's part of it. I'm sure they'll use the data gathered to figure out what the typical buying patern is and allow them to customize your gold pass or serve your experience better. I don't see anything wrong with it, similar to a kroger plus card, they get a little info on my buying habits, I get coupons directed towards the things I buy so I keep coming back. Its a win/win for both sides.

It wouldn't surprise me if a 4x reward bonus came up in the next couple of weeks heading into graduation season.

Good, much better than the "super pretzel" they've had in season's past. My wife wanted one on saturday, so I had her get me one as well, something I usually would not have done in Planet Snoopy (I've always liked the pretzels in the festhause area) figuring it would tide me over until we left for dinner. It was so good, I picked one up on Sunday as well.

So true - I've got several Fairly Odd/Woodstock Express on ride photos and pictures as memories of those times - although the joy continues as said riding partners obtain 48" and finally 54" status. I have little doubt about that. I'm really looking forward to next season; he's pretty tall for his age, he cleared the 40" mark before his 3rd birthday last summer, cleared 42" by the end of the summer and for haunt, and cleared the 44" mark last week which pretty much opens up all of Planet Snoopy as well as the smaller flats around the park that he can ride. At this pace, he should top the 48" mark sometime next season; with a little luck The Beast will be conquered before his 5th birthday.

Saturday - 5/5 got to the park around 5:30, left around 8:30 tagging along 3.5 year old and a 38 week pregnant wife (guess were we spent most of our time?) Boo Blasters was a half hour or so long wait (and it really annoys me how rarely all the guns work on that ride, especially at the start of the year) Charlie Brown's windup was get on as soon as the next ride is available (it always is) Kid Bumper Cars were suprisingly less crowded, got on as soon as the next ride was available. kid car ride was longer than what I'm used to, but moved proportionally quicker than I'm used to, maybe 15 minutes the other kid car ride (the offroad something or other) was like normal, similar to Charlie Brown's windup, get on as soon as the next ride is up. Based on what I saw of other rides, I'd put it at a 4 out of 5. Sunday 5/6 - wife had plans, so it was just me and the 3.5 year old. Got to the park around 12:30, left around 3:30 vikin fury was 1 "ride deep" (ie 4 people in one of the individual ques) in some spots, only 2 people in the other, none were empty, so a little bit busier than what we saw on wednesday evenings, but certainly nothing terrible. Back to kiddi land - Boo Blasters was pretty much the same as Saturday evening, about half an hour. Woodstock express was as long as I"ve seen it, had 4 turnstiles open in the que area, plus up and over the bridge, about half an hour to get on. The kid car ride right by The Beastie was even longer than the day before, I was preparred to "put up with it" for the boy, but by some miracle he picked up on the sense that it would be a long time (and we were well into his nap time by this point) and he said he wanted to go on the train. As we were leaving, we noticed the line for The Beastie was outside of the que area. Train line was normal, ie no line, just wait for the engine to come to the station. With no water park open yet, it was pretty crowded considering. left the train, went to the Eiffel Tower, they actually opened up a turnstile while we were in line (I always assumed that was for show), took us about 10 minutes to catch an elevator. After 10-15 minutes on top of the park, we headed for home. Based upon what I saw, I'd say Sunday in Planet Snoopy was a 4.5 during that time frame. I never would have thought a 3 year old would become my favorite riding buddy, but watching the joy on his face as he holds his hands up thru the entire Beastie course tops anything Diamondback or The Beast can throw at me.

another thought, a Church is now using the old showecase cinemas across the street. One of my thoughts when the theatre closed, was for KI to buy that area as a parking lot for buses and RVs. Then with that save part of parking, you could fit a pretty good sized coaster b/w what is now timberwolf and the last north-eastern most part of the parking lot. Not sure how much it would cost to acquire the land the old theater sits in, nor how valuable timberwolf is to the park, and if something could be replecated elsewhere in the park for its limited use (ie, how many does the stage area behind the Eiffel Tower hold? Could you put tickets in there for things like spirit song, so that the people with tickets would be up close, while the rest of the park could enjoy the music as well? Would you get more benefit out of that long term?

No body is spending the money to open up SOB for 1 more season. Think about the cost of just getting the station and track up to par, the cost would far outweight the benefit. You can certainly fill in the valley behind SOB, but the cost would be extremely high, fill dirt isn't exactly free and the amount that you would need would be huge. Now what you could do, is use Action Zone as a "launching point" for several coasters if SOB was removed. You'd probably have to take out the go-karts and timberwolf theater (is it still called that?) to get stations in, perhaps amazon falls as well, but if you had one that turned right and ran around Adventure Express like part of SOB does today, one that ran outside straight out from the current SOB station area and one that ran out left of flight deck (I'm not sure if the property lines and great wolf lodge would permit that), perhaps even squeeze in one more in that area if they so desired. It would seem awfully crowded however, and would obviously be on an extended time line.

Had a pretzel both saturday and sunday in Planet Snoopy. I must say, they're significantly better than the pretzels they sold last year in Planet Snoopy

Based simply on the lines in Planet Snoopy Saturday from 5:00 to 8:00 was less crowded than Sunday from 12:30 to 3:30.

Overhead the elevator operator on the Eiffel Tower mention that Drop Tower was struck by lightening. One would assume they'd have lightening rods in those things, and the downtime would be minimal, perhaps there are checks that have to be run that couldn't take place either saturday or sunday.

DAY would mostly depend on what airline your flying in. I'm not sure if CVG has any direct flights overseas anymore now that Delta pulled out as a hub there. however, if you're flying thru Atlanta or Detroit or whatever HUB you come in from overseas, you may get into DAY cheaper than CVG.

My son was under 41" last year w/o shoes, but passed the 42" mark a couple of times with shoes on (he also just missed the mark a little a couple of times before clearing it for good in the fall) there are height charts on KIs website, but here is what they can do at 42" from my memory. My son would happily ride any ride in KI if you could safely put him in it so he got on everything his height would allow. at 42" you can ride just about everything in Planet Snoopy except for the flying ariel chase and surf dog, both of those you have to be 44" There is a lot of variety though, 1 super small roller coaster, plus 1 "larger" roler coaster designed for the kids. Boo blasters, an indoor "shot 'em up" ghost ride, which may or may not scare your kids. My son loved it when he was 2, but I could see how it could be a little scary to some kids. There's a little carousel, a beetle bug, a small "train" ride and car ride plus a dodge 'em bumper cars for little kids. In the general park area, there are a couple of flats, Viking Fury, scrambler, monster and shake, rattle & role. Don't know the size of your 3 year old, viking fury is 40", scrambler & monster might be 36" or 40" (all would require you to ride with them at that height). Shake, rattle & roll is 42". You have to be 48" to get on The Racer, Adventure Express or just about anything else in the main area of the park. Don't know about the water park, I know there is a kids area over there, but can't tell you anything about it. It all depends on the nature of your kids. My son is pretty tall for his age, and was on Viking Fury and Woodstock Express before his 3rd birthday, loved every bit of it, though I could tell the back seat on Viking Fury made him a little more nervous than sitting towards the middle where you don't go so high. I won't do the scramblers or monster type rides, but my wife loves them and would take him on those every time, which he enjoyed. Depending on how squirly your kids are (my son won't sit still for long so these are tough for us) there are a lot of decent shows around the park, including in Planet Snoopy. The festhaus is air conditioned and will have shows around lunch time. I'm not sure what times they do them at, but they'll have the characters perform in front of the fountain at some point, even let your children dance with the peanuts gang near the end of the show. Make sure to bring a stroller (or 2 if you don't have a double stroller and have someone else comeing along that can push a stroller) even if you stay in Planet Snoopy much of the day, its a lot of walking for little kids, plus its nice to have a place to store things. Even if your kids out out of diapers, bring a diaper bag and tuck some snacks and sippy cups (or whatever they drink out of) ice water is free all thru the park, they'll even fill up whatever cup you bring from home for your kids. Any day middle of the week should be fine, not too busy. You get more peanut character things in the morning before it gets too warm so that that into mind.

Depending on which day you go that should be pretty easy.

What day of the week will you be at KI? If you're mid week, you may not really need that fast pass line. It won't hurt your experience, but it might be money best spent elsewhere. If you're coming on a saturday, then it may well be worth the cost considering the distance that you're traveling. If you have access to ERT, I'd hit Invertigo first as one of the 2 ERT "adult" rides. Its a fun ride, but the lines can get long, and its something that really only needs to be experienced once, unlike The Beast or other rides. I'd then head over to Planet Snoopy and hit Boo Blaster on Boo Hill. Its a family style ride, but the lines can get backed up, might as well knock it out during ERT. Like Invertigo, its something you can experience once and be good (unless your traveling with young children like mine who want to ride it at least twice every visit) After that, I'd head over to Diamonback and ride that as long as ERT affords you. Once ERT expires, I'd attempt to hit some of the long wait time rides that people have mentioned, particularly Firehawk. Its personally one of my favorites as it offers a very unique experience in comparision to other rides. After that, Flight of Fear is right next door, so take a spin on an awesome indoor coaster. After that, I'd work your way around the park, ride The Beast both early and late at night. Take a ride on the train, while you're in that part of the park and work you way over to Vortex. Using ERT, and hitting Invertigo, Boo Blasters, Diamonback, Firehawk, Flight of Fear, The Beast and the Train, its probably time for lunch. The menu options are said to be upgraded this season, but if its not a busy day in the park, I'd consider leaving the park for an hour and a half and eating outside of the park. There are many options w/n the area if you take up that coarse, or you can do this for dinner if you'd rather stick in the park thru lunch. If you don't want to leave, or are looking to spend as much time in the park, skyline is great, the ones in the park are not as good as the chains in the area, but its distinctly cincy. Might not meet your english tastebuds, but worth a try at any rate. anyhoo, after lunch, I'd hit up the coney mall area. Their are numerous "classic" flats in the area, as well as the original roller coaster for the park The Racer. Work you way back to the Action Zone, Adventure Express is on your way and the lines are generally short, flight deck is way in the back, and lines are usually short as well. Drop zone can be a wait, as well as Delirium, congo falls will be a short wait. At that point, you should be done w/ Action Zone where you started the day on Invertigo. Hit up viking fury on your way back to the middle of the park After that, I'd hit up Eiffel Tower for some views of the park and area, then the back lot stunt coaster located behind Eiffel Tower. At this point, you've hit just about everything in the park, it should also be getting close to dinner time, so if you left the park at lunch, grab something in the park, or vice versa, or just stay in the park and try something different. At night, definently plan on a night time beast ride, hit a few other rides that you enjoyed earlier. enjoy your holiday.

So you're telling me that the difference b/w wearing a thin pair of flip flops and wearing a thick set of basketball shoes is going to affect your safety riding The Beast or 52" to ride the diamonback when your feet may not even touch the floor anyways? Come one, use some common sense and realize that everything is built with a factor of safety taken into account. I deal with codes every day, and they're all written beyond the true minimums to prevent the odd circumstance. If that is the case, then KI really needs to tell their employees to stop telling kids to stand as straight as possible and to keep their feet together when getting measured for a wrist band cause my son mad the 42" mark with the same pair of shoes one week and didn't make with the same pair of shoes 3 weeks later. Part A - section 2 of the code you listed above is far more important than the difference b/w a thin pair of flip flops and a pair of basketball shoes which would apply to section 1. And forwhatever its worth, I don't think the KI height measurers do anything that would put the park in jeopardy, telling a kid to stand up as straight as possible and with their legs together and held up high would be in the realm of legal standards (I would think) so the arguement is minutia.

Well by tip toes, I guess I should have said balls of their feet. Trust me, a 1/2" over a 40 or 48" height measurement is rather arbitrary. If it wasn't, the height check employees wouldn't have worked with my 2 year old son last year, teaching him how to stand with his feet together (something you kind of have to force on a 2 year old as they don't understand that instruction), hold his head up high, back straight, ect... Like marketing express eluded to, they do all they can to get a kid to pass, they won't allow them to stand on their tip toes as I wrongly pointed out, but you can pick up an extra hair or two by standing on the balls of your fee ensuring that your back is straight, head up, etc.. My son passed the 42" height one day in the middle of the summer, actually I think he passed it 2 times. He just failed to miss the mark the next 3-4 trips. Not a huge deal, I think their are 2 rides you clear at 42", shake rattle and roll which he rode both times he cleared the height and the lay-down flying ride in Planet Snoopy which he have yet to take him on. The difference was likely the way he was standing and the shoes he had on those days. he finally cleared it again for good during the haunt. I doubt he was any less safe in July when he cleared the 42" mark on shake rattle and roll than he was in August when he couldn't clear the height, than he was in October when he cleared the height again. A 1/4" is well w/n the range of margin of safety they calculate into those heights.

So, can I assume that there are no more pictures coming in this thread? How dissapointing, thanks for spoiling us over the winter topgun, its been a blast viewing all of these old shots.

2oz is a bit of an exageration the dixie cups many people have sitting by their bathroom counter are 3 oz. The cup is probably exactly that, a cup (8 oz) perhaps even a shade bigger, maybe 10 oz. while still small, the good news is, they'll give you as many cups as you ask for, as often as you ask for them. Plus I love ice, which will help cool you down, so you can drink 2 cups pretty quickly on a hot day and suck on ice while walking to the next ride. Load up again while moving on to the next ride.

Middle of the week is pretty slow, though once the water park closes down (7:00 still?) lines fill up quickly for a couple of hours until the people start to exit the park for the evening. There are some meal deals (or at least there were last year, not sure about this year) for gold pass holders. the Festhaus had a whole large pizza, salad and 4(?) drinks for a decent price (relatively speaking) If you're going to go in the morning, might as well take advantage of the early ride times and get to the park at least 30 minutes before it opens to the general population. Might as well check the ride heights for your kids, if you haven't done that in past seasons. I'd imagine the 11 & 12 year old can get on most anything they want, the 7 year old might be a question mark. I'd imagine it would put a hole in your heart to see your kid wait in line, only to be told by the ride op that they need to grow another 1/2". If they're quesitonable, get them measured up front at the begining of the day for a wrist band so they don't have to be measured at each ride again. And if they're questionalbe, teach them how to stand on their tip toes and hold their heads up without obviously trying to extend the last 1/2". If you can stand the heat, the hottest days middle of the week are generally pretty light on crowds. We two days last summer in the evening when the heat index got up into the 100s. With all the rides and trees, there's generally a nice breeze blowing thru the park so it never feels as hot in the park as it does outside, but the lines are really, really short. an hour and a half is a pretty good distance, but if you have a pass, might as well take advantage of the random days in the summer when time presents itself a quick trip

Except for the thousands of people every day who don't believe the rules apply to them or simply don't care. That goes beyond just smoking, King's Island has trash cans all over the park, designated areas at each food station to deposit your trash, yet there are still numerous litter getters roaming the park sweeeping up trash customers were too lazy or too indifferent to toss away themselves.

Invertigo/face off was testing as I drove home last night. I didn't notice any test dummies (or humans for that matter), though at 70 mph from 71, it could have been easily missed.

Its been touched on, but as easily as I can explain it: Its much easier to tend your shop when your present and active there every day. The family that owns 1 park, and sees success, is likely successful because they are there every day, they live in the community that the park serves, they have a solid feel for what their customers like and want. They see small problems and nip them in the bud before they become large problems. They have a close relationship with the people they hire, know their families, know their struggles and dreams, know what they're good and and where they struggle. The family that owns 2 parks, often seperated by a large distance can't be in the all parks every day or even week/month, therefor they have to hire people to manage these ventures for them. Small problems creep up and are overlooked until they become big problems, its significanly tougher to understand the markets they serve, they're not as familar with their employees, it becomes tougher to retain them, its harder to put them in position to succeed.

This, this is your answer. We took our 2-3 year old son on that a lot last year when he cleared the 40" hurdle in early summer. My Wife & I both grew up with that ride being called The Beastie, so we continue to call it that even thru the name changes. Our son, who can't read yet, so just calls everything by what we call them, asks to go on The Beastie. I doubt we're the only ones, which is likely what happened with esquire's husband. He was with a group of people that had spent almost a decade calling it the scoobie doo, so they referred to it as the scoobie doo and it sticks.

I miss the backwards racer.