gabelogan99

I find it interesting that here in the Columbus area there are more TV commercials for Halloweekends than for Halloween Haunt. Of course we all know that they are the same commercial with a few words changed.

What a neat little blast from the past. I remember being in computer class my senior year of high school, which was 2003 and that was when I first went to the Kings Island website. To think that these pages were even before THAT time is a little mind-blowing.

Wow so much for last saturday being the busiest day of the season I guess. Usually Saturday of spirit song is the busiest day of the entire season. I wasn't at KI today but I seriously considered it given the great weather. I think that's probably what drew a lot of people out today, plus the company being there. I'm glad I didn't go. I am instead going to go on Tuesday with my brother. It's going to be a little warmer than it was today--from what I hear it's going to be in the lower 80s which sounds good to me. I'm looking forward to a great open to close vist--possibly my last visit before October!

Well, sort of. At least the no re-entry during Haunt makes sense. And there's not a no re-entry policy at preferred parking, except in certain situations.

Well, I've been away for a while. I have been busy and I was at Spirit Song last Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It was great, but I encountered a problem that everyone needs to be aware of. On Thursday of Spirit Song, I parked in preferred parking and paid the $5 to do it. I left the park and when I came back I was denied entry to preferred parking, even though I had my receipt from that morning. I told the security guard that I had left the park and just used my Gold Pass at the tolls to get back in, which is what happened. He then informed me that I needed a re-entry ticket to get back into preferred parking and that I should have showed the parking attendant my receipt from that morning and she would have given me a re-entry ticket. I knew exactly what he was talking about because of my advanced knowledge of the admissions department. So, I was at fault because I didn't show the right thing and he was right not to let me in because I didn't have the proper paperwork, right? Not in the slightest--and here's why: That night I had thought about it and I should have just told him that I drove to Boomerang Bay and was just coming back to preferred parking. I wouldn't have hit the tolls if I did that. So, I figured out that it wasn't because I didn't have the proper paperwork that I was not allowed re-entry into preferred parking, it was simply because I didn't say the right thing. I should have never mentioned that I left the park. (And by the way, I was pretty upset and said a lot of things that weren't necessarily "right" but I thought were necessary at the time. I didn't get out of my car and jaw about it with him like I wanted to do. I know I have to be careful about how I represent myself when I'm wearing the shirt.) It started raining soon after that so I killed some time, got the right paperwork by walking clear out to the car and going out of the park and coming back in, and got back into preferred parking without a problem. Guest relations would not give me a refund for my preferred parking, which I believed I had earned because of all my trouble. The next day, I didn't leave the park but I did drive to Boomerang Bay and back to preferred parking. No problems. It wasn't the same guy, but he saw the time stamp on my receipt when I re-entered and was inquisitive about it. He let me right in and I even joked that I had been lost in the parking lot since 9. My point here is that Kings Island should not have a policy that states that sometimes they will accept preferred parking receipts and sometimes they will not. I have questioned and questioned time after time why in the world this would be, but I can not understand it even with all of my advanced knowledge. My conclusion is there is no reason for it and that is a fact that can not be argued. I have thought of all of the arguments for this and none of them hold any water. The only thing I can really do about it is make people aware of it. Even if you do use your Gold Pass and get the upgrade and you leave the park, just use your Gold Pass to get back in and don't waste paper. If the security guard seems like he's going to give you trouble, lie. I've just told you how to do it. It makes no difference and it hurts nothing.

I sure am liking the music that Kings Island is playing, especially near Diamondback. Starbucks also plays some awesome music. I heard a Blue October song in Rivertown the other day. Can anybody tell me what that song is?

One thing I forgot to mention that is worth noting is the fact that the drink wristbands are not waterproof. This concerned me a little bit when I was thinking about going to Boomerang Bay. It fit loose enough that I actually pulled it off before I got in the car and slipped it back on without ripping it when I headed back to Kings Island.

My day started, as usual, in Jamestown where my grandparents live on Lake Shawnee. I went to McDonald's there in Jamestown first and planned on eating there but I had forgot my glasses case at my grandparents house. I decided to instead get my breakfast and take it back to the house, get my glasses case, and then leave for Kings Island after that and that's what I did. When I got to the park, I parked in the first spot of the second row of preferred parking. Then I had to apply some sunscreen. As I was doing that, I heard the horn sound for Diamondback. It was 9:22. So I hurried with my applying and headed into the park to Diamondback. I rode in row four or row five. I saw Tom76257 in the car before mine and that would be the one and only time I would see him before he left. I then headed to The Beast and waited a couple of extra trains for the front row, but by the time I got out of The Beast, it wasn't yet 10:00 but it was very close. So, at 10:00 I headed into Coney Mall and into X-Base for a ride on Firehawk. Of course, Firehawk wasn't running yet. I think I have been there only one time where it actually started running at 10. So I instead waited for a few people to come along and a few of them went into Flight of Fear so that's what I did as well. I got on the first train of the day. I don't have a preference of seating when I ride Flight of Fear. After that, I headed once again to Firehawk and it was running so I got in on the first car of that for the day. I rode in the very back for the first time. That was quite an experience and much more different than I would have anticipated. It was still a great ride for me. I figured it would be a good stratetic move to head over to Action Zone so that's what I did. I passed up Adventure Express, which rarely has a line no matter what time of day it is. I rode Drop Tower. This was my first time riding it this season and I had a great ride and had a great view when we stopped at the top. I only had to wait one cycle to ride it. Then I went to Delerium and waited only one cycle for it as well and was on and off in no time. I then went to Son of Beast. There wasn't much of a line. I waited for the very front because any other seat is rough for me. They were running both trains, but were only loading one. Eventually they started loading it and the line moved faster. I had a great ride in the front! Then I went to Flight Deck and rode the front of that as well. There was less than a five minute wait, not including the time it took me to walk all the way there of course. By this time I was getting a little hungry. It was around 11:30 or so, so I decided to get a soft pretzel and a Coke in Action Zone before moving on to my last ride there. I decided for the first time this season to pay the $9.99 and drink all I want all day. I knew it was going to be hot and I would need semi-constant refreshment. (Yes I know that Coke dehydrates you because of all of the sodium.) I finished my snack and I went to Invertigo and waited one full cycle and was on the front/back seat. (Not to be confused with the back/front seat.) I had a very nice ride and I had rode the front/back seat before but never the back/front, so that's something I can do another time. By the time I got off, I noticed that the line was a bit longer, so I got over there at the right time to have a practical walk-on ride in the front/back. When I got off, it was a little past 12 and I had done everything in AZ, besides the paid attractions. I got another Coke before heading to Adventure Express. (Yes, I decided to indulge a little bit. Afterall, I had to get my money's worth.) So I went to Adventure Express and waited 2.5 cycles for the front. I went to The Racer right after that and The Racer wasn't racing--only the red side was opened. I rode the front car and to the best of my knowledge, this was the first time I had done so. I went on a Racer hiatus for a few years and have just started riding it again. I walked down the midway to Vortex. 5-1 didn't really have a line so I figured I would try it to see what all the fuss was about, although I usually ride in the front. I certainly see what everyone is talking about with that seat. It might be my new favorite seat. Then I went to Spongebob 3-D and rode that before heading into Rivertown and I rode Backlot Stunt Coaster in the front. When I got off of that, it was twenty minutes until 2. I decided to go to Diamondback again since it was relatively close. I used the Single Riders Line and didn't wait very long at all--five minutes at the most. Then I went to Scoody Doo and the Haunted Castle. I have never rode it by myself, but I decided to since the inside queues weren't filled up at all. I got a score of 1440, but again I had no competition so it was fairly easy. Most of the guns in that ride work pretty well, but every now and then you'll get one that doesn't work very well or one that doesn't work at all. When you have three to choose from, it's pretty easy to pick a winner. After SDatHC I went and got an ice water at the drink stand under The Eiffel Tower (in a regular cup, because of the wristband) and I sat and drank that and then headed on up the tower to get a look. It was hot at this time. I looked over at Boomerang Bay and it looked ever so inviting. I wanted to go in and get in the wave pool for a little while but, alas, I didn't have my swimwear...or so I thought. Then I remembered that I had put my bathing suit and a towell in a bag and thrown it in my car a couple of weeks ago in case I needed it. So, even though I wasn't planning on it at the beginning of the day, I was now cooking up a plan to take a dip. I had to eat first, though. I had time to catch a ride on Viking Fury before I headed to the picnic grove. I went to the Backyard BBQ for the second time this season and there was actually a pretty good crowd back there, nothing combared to July during Spirit Song, though. I would say there were probably 50-60 people total, which is pretty light. I wasn't expecting that many, though, on a day like that. I had two hot dogs, two hamburgers, four chicken tenders, and a drumstick for dessert. I'm still overall pretty satisfied with the deal and I thought it was better than having to leave the park and come back. I then decided to go and get my gear and head into Boomerang Bay. Actually, I decided to simply just drive over there. When I got out of the car, a strange little wind was blowing. I couldn't see it until I got in there, but something was cooking up in the skies. I sat there and waited for a bit to see what the weather was going to decide to do and then it started to sprinkly and I headed back out to the car. Shortly after that, I heard them clearing out all of the slides and stuff because of lightning in the distance. I drove back over to the main gate and my spot in preferred parking was still waiting for me. I realized that they shut down everything over at KI as well--so I got an ice water once again and went into the Festhaus for a little shelter, even though it wasn't really doing anything. I saw a good deal of Down Home Country while in there and then headed back out and down the midway once again. The rides were still closed, but Dodgem wasn't. There wasn't even a long line for it. So I headed over and did that while the weather situation was still up in the air at that point. They're not very thrilling, but they were all right with me. I walked around a little more and saw that the rides were running again and so I headed to Diamondback again. Linejumping Incident at Diamondback! It seems to be a pretty common occurance, I know. So I get in the SRL again and in front of me I see about three kids 12-13 years of age jump from the main line into the SRL. This is what frustrates me. I don't really care if a relatively small group goes in the SRL, but just don't linejump in the process. I get to where the end of the line is, which is about halfway up the steps and notice that there are actually around six total in the group. Now, I didn't exactly huff off to guest relations when I saw this, but I will admit that it did make me a little mad. Again, it wasn't the group that bothered me--it was the jumping from one line to the other. There was security presence at the beginning of the line, but that doesn't do much good when kids are able to very easily jump from one line to the next. I was thinking they could fix this by closing up the hole in the handrails. Unfortunately, it didn't just end at the linejumping incident. The kids clearly had no clue as to what line they had just jumped into. When the seat assigner assigned one of the boys to pair up with an odd group, two of them went and it messed everything up. Now it was the time to say something, unless of course the two seat assigners couldn't figure it out for themselves, and they did. The kid came back into the line, in front of me and one of his friends and I just kind of stood there and acted like I couldn't believe what I had just saw and what a bonehead move he just made. I even said something that wasn't so nice under my breath--and even though I wasn't looking at him at the time I knew he was looking at me and could probably pretty easily read my lips. It did make me mad, but it wasn't really complaint worthy. The SRL was moving very well and it didn't actually hold me up hardly at all, so that was partly how I kept my cool. It all goes back to what I said before--they need to find a way to make it impossible to jump from one line to the other. It's just too easy to do right now. One of the seat assigners was Cory Butcher and I informed him of the issue right before I boarded my seat. I decided to once again ride SDatHC after Diamondback, there was no line once again. I got a score of 1560 this time. When I got out of that, I knew the rain was about to come and it was about to come harder than it had all day. I got a Coke in the Festhaus and once again took shelter. I caught a little bit of a performance of The County Line. (Yes, I do mean The County Line.) and then Down Home Country started, and so did the rain. It poured buckets for about 5-10 minutes and that's all it did for the rest of the time I was there. I headed out of the Festhaus and noticed they weren't running any of the rides so I went on SCatHC once again, figuring it would be my last ride of the day. I only got a 1290 this time. It was nearly 7:30 and I figured that they might not be opening the rides up again for the rest of the day. I was about to head out but then I heard Diamondback's horn sound. They were opening it again. I thought there was no harm in riding, especially since a lot of people were cleared out and it would practically be a walk-on. I was right--and even more right due to the fact that the SRL was open. I got assigned the back seat and talked to RWildman424 (Ryan) for a few seconds before heading up for my very first ride in the back row. (I saw Kitten riding in the front row of the same train--I had met her earlier that day along with Justin and Kawana.) The back was awesome. Ryan had told me it was a great seat, his favorite in fact, and that I would have to decide for myself when I got back. The back of Diamondback is just incredible. The way you go down that hill is really quite a thrill. I'm not so sold on it that I'm quite ready to say that I like it better than the front, but it's very very close. I rode SDatHC one final time on my way out of the park. I got a 1290. This turned out to be a great day because I got to do so much. It didn't bother me that it rained a little either because every time that it clouded up and looked like it was going to do something and they shut the rides down, a small chunk of the crowd left. I don't see how I could possibly top this trip and probably won't any time this season until October perhaps. All of the ride crews did a great job as well.

OK thanks I actually have always wondered that. And, actually, I thought that when someone said 5-1 it meant the fifth row of the train, inside seat or outside seat--didn't know what the 1 meant. Turns out, I guess I didn't know what any of it meant.

For being a low quality pic, the last pic is really good. Can you or someone clarify where 5-1 is on Vortex? I usually ride the front but I might have to see what all the fuss is about this 5-1 the next time I go. By the way, every time I have rode Vortex this year, I have heard the ride ops refer to it as The Vortex. Is anyone else noticing the same thing? I got to thinking about that after reading Andrew's signature.

That is the best advice and he's been told that, by my count, a million times. Maybe a million and one will finally sink in.

Wait, how could Justin's have been taken only if he was a Ride Warriors participant? It was never stated in the rules that the photo had to be of the Ride Warriors activities. Simply that it must have been an original photo taken at Kings Island during Ride Warriors Coaster Weekend. And how do the reps at KI and others that did the judging know that the pictures were taken furing RWCW? Diamondback FOF just havin' fun and being curious like always. Right, there is absolutely no way to tell when a picture was taken, so they had to just assume that it was taken during Ride Warrirors Weekend I suppose. (And I'm not suggesting that it wasn't taken during Ride Warriors Weekend.) And I meant that Justin's picture was clearly taken by a Ride Warrior, unless there is another way to get that shot without being behind the scenes of The Racer.

I'm not saying it's not a good picture. I actually think that it is a very good picture. The only problem is, this isn't exactly a "Ride Warriors" picture. I figured that something would only win if it was clearly a picture that only an exclusive Ride Warriors participant could have taken. (For example, Justin's.) I guess that wasn't part of the stipulations, so I guess I figured wrong.

The photo clearly could have been taken on any date besides the dates of Ride Warriors Weekend.

We need to start a petition about this guy or something. This is ridiculous.

Man, did I ever see a big wreck last Saturday. First the guy/girl, can't remember which one, got spun and then immediately got slammed into. No ejections resulted though. I love how there's a four strikes and you're out policy, I say two strikes and you're out...or...call me crazy...three. A lot of times I'll sit there on the bench near SkyFlyer and "call" the race. I'm a fan of racing, what can I say. I've never done anything as crazy as after the race interviews or anything like that...yet. If someone ever slammed into me on purpose, they would either find themselves spun out at some point, or find themselves smashed or slammed into the back of at the end like they do in the pros. I'd probably exchange some not so nice words with them afterwards, but try not to get physical or anything. I've never been on Thunder Alley myself. I've always thought it would be neat but I'm not sure if those little cars are much accomodating to a person of my size. Guess it wouldn't hurt to try sometime, I love the thrill of the race.

Truer words have never been spoken. Although for me it was only a few months instead of a decade. And it was usually a ride on The Beast or Top Gun at the end of my shift.

On opening day I heard Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" over the loudspeakers right before the Gold Pass holders were unleashed to Diamondback. Anyone find it ironic that this song is on the Forrest Gump soundtrack?

I would like to point out that I am not trying to directly challenge any certain individual or their ideas. I'm simply stating that what's done is done and it will remain that way whether we like it or not so we had better get ourselves used to it. A lot of time was clearly spent in developing the system and it takes a lot of dedication and work to employ the system. I just can't imagine a scenario where they would give all of that up.

I'm not really sure that the park will be quick to take something away just because it's being abused by a few groups. It has been open less than 20 operating days and they've already got rid of the passes. They're trying to perfect the system. They realized it didn't make any sense having not one but two lines. At least, that's what I'm assuming. From what I can tell, the passes are gone for good. The SRL itself still lives. If a group chooses to go into the SRL knowing full well that they will be paired with a stranger, that's their prerogative. Of course, it's stupid for them to do so because a group of say 4-5 people wouldn't have to wait that much longer to ride together on an average day. A group of six or more using the SRL would be even more stupid because they will end up waiting longer than they would if they chose to ride together. I don't think it will take too long for this illogic to sink in, and groups will eventually stop using the SRL. What I do have a problem with are the reports that at least one ride op has sent two single riders at a time. Hopefully that is an isoloated incident and will not occur again. (Again, I'm having patience with the new system.) If I ever saw that, it would be cause for an official complaint, because it's obviously not acceptable and I don't think anyone would agree that it's acceptable. I would compare that to a ride op on any other ride allowing someone else to go in front of me without any given reason. At this point in time, I don't have a problem with the Single Riders Line. It was made for a purpose, it's serving that purpose, and it will stay.

Hey Tom it was great to meet you too. I can't quite remember where exactly we met, but I want to say it was over near the Coney Mall sign on Saturday when you were with Giga and the gang. I definitely remember your face...as far as your name, though, I think I met about three or four people named Tom!

The other day I did see a much much better KI commercial. It was talking about the benefits of having a Gold Pass and it actually showed rides from the park. It's crazy that these two commercials are basically night and day in terms of quality and in terms of actually obtaining real information from them. What I mean is sending the message to buy a Gold Pass because of all the perks is a lot better than saying come and smell the funnel cakes.

It was really nice to finally meet you, Gator. I'm glad we got to have a few words, even though it was brief. I would have thought that our paths would have crossed a lot sooner than the end of day two, but I guess that just goes to show just how much there was to do and how much freedom we had to do whatever we wanted basically. Plus I know that you had some unexpected circumstances that came up and you couldn't be there for everything, but I'm glad I did eventually get to meet you and I'm glad you had a good time. I sure had a great time as well. Major props on the weight loss, also by the way. I had to slim down just a tiny bit for Diamondback, but ten pounds surely isn't as noticeable as 25. The strange thing for me was, depending on where I sat, sometimes I had to be stapled in and sometimes I didn't require the extra assistance.

Even though I was operating under basically no sleep on Saturday, I do distinctly remember that you were eating ice cream when I saw you near the Coney Mall sign and this was, I guess, when I officially met you for the first time. It was great to meet you and I'm glad you liked your ice cream. I had no idea at the time that it was your first ever blueberry ice cream experience.

(This is an extremely long and wordy report. You have been warned. There are also no pictures. There were far more talented photographers there for RWW than myself, with far better equipment than my 2 megapixel camera phone.) Now that I have finally caught up on my sleep and have a pretty clear head, I'm ready to report on my adventures. I'm remembering all of this to the best of my ability but the advantage is that everything that I did on Saturday and Sunday was centered around the Ride Warriors activities, so I have the schedule handy as a little bit of a cheat sheet. My adventure actually started on Friday night. Friday, May 8 I live two hours away from Kings Island. As I've said a couple times here before, I have what I call a "halfway" point where I usually stay on nights before and after Kings Island--my grandparents own a house on Lake Shawnee in Jamestown and so does my aunt. This is roughly fifteen miles from Prime Outlets in Jeffersonville if any of you know where that is. However, I did not want to stay there this time because it takes nearly an hour to get to Kings Island from there and I just wanted to take driving out of the entire equation to make my trip as relaxing as possible. Although I originally made my reservation for the Kings Island Resort, I switched my plans and stayed at the Super 8 instead and saved $140 doing that. My brother had stayed there the week before and said that it was very decent for the price, so I made the switch a few days before the big day. (A review of my hotel stay will be posted later, but I will say that I have stayed at the KI Resort before and the Super 8 really wasn't all that different.) I left Jamestown a little after 5 on Friday evening and got to the hotel a little after 6. It was raining very hard when I first arrived at the hotel so I just turned on the TV for about an hour and it didn't exactly clear up, but it at least stopped raining and so I headed to the park. As you can imagine, and as some of you know because you were there, the rained cleared a great number of people out of the park. I headed for Diamondback and held my breath. On Opening Day I had every intention of riding Diamondback. I got there with my family for the ERT that Saturday and had my concerns over whether or not I'd be able to fit on the ride. I tried the test seat and I failed. So, for the next three weeks I did a little exercise and employed some dieting techniques, including some crash dieting, and I lost about ten pounds. I figured that would be enough because it was so close to clicking three times on opening day but it just wouldn't do it. The other thing that was different on Friday was that I was wearing lighter clothes--short and a t-shirt. So, on this night, Friday May 8 2009, I sat in the test seat and passed and I used the Single Riders Line and waited roughly ten minutes for my first ever ride on Diamondback. Needless to say, it was worth all of the work I did to lose those few pounds. I required some extra assistance by one of the ride ops, but at least I got to ride. After Diamondback I went to The Beast for a second row ride. (This is my favorite row to ride in.) Then I went to Vortex and while on Vortex it started to sprinkle. I figured I had better head back to the hotel before it started to rain any harder so I did but it never started pouring again that night. Friday was over. I got maybe two hours of sleep that night. Saturday, May After a virtually sleepless night, I got up and showered and went to the park and got there at about 6:15 for check-in. I got three or four rides in on The Beast during the ERT that morning. One of the front seat cars went down in train 3 so they took that train off, and that took about ten extra minutes. At the time, I was waiting for the front seat so that took some extra time too. 8:00 rolled around and I went over to Backlot and got two rides in, one in the very front row. I had never rode the front row of Backlot before so that was nice. Then after that I went over to Vortex and rode that 3-4 times. What almost everyone did at a certain point was gather around near The Crypt and wait to be taken over to Diamondback--which as I understand did actually end up happening. I didn't know that it was an option to get in Diamondback's normal ERT, and I didn't really care anyways. After my rides on Vortex I waited at the point where security was cutting everyone off near Juke Box Diner and then I headed through Coney Mall into X-Base for one of the first rides on Firehawk. By this time, of course, it's 10:00. So I rode Firehawk and rode it early which ended up being a smart thing to do, and then I walked on to Flight of Fear after that. I don't believe I rode anything after Flight of Fear, I headed back over to The Beast eventually for behind the scenes tour. Since so much of The Beast and its supports are hidden, this was really a great time to get some unique views that I had never seen before. Now, I have to admit, I'm having a little trouble remember what I did after that. What the heck did I do between around 11:30 and the next Ride Warriors event at 6? Well, here's what I most certainly did do: right after The Beast tour, I went out to the car for lunch. I had three six-inch turkey subs from Subway to have at various points of the weekend and I ate one of them at this point and then I headed back into the park into Action Zone. I went to Flight Deck, which had a bit more of a line than I was expecting. But, I waited for the front seat which is the only seat I ever sit on when riding Flight Deck. I knew Son of Beast's line was at least 45 minutes so I opted out of that. Drop Tower and Delerium were both down at the time due to high winds, so that is why everyone was flocking to the coasters in AZ. I decided to save everything else in AZ for either later in the day or Sunday morning. I believe that I actually went to The Racer after leaving AZ. I wanted to ride it because I had not ridden it in a really long time. In fact, I'm pretty sure I had not ridden it since they turned the Red Racer forwards, so I rode Red Racer. I was also curious to see if I could still fit in it and I did and got two clicks out of it, so that was good. After that I believe I went into the arcade for a while, but I didn't really win a lot of tickets. At 3:00 I headed to the picnic grove the Backyard BBQ. No complaints about the Backyard BBQ--it was good as usual and for $9.99 it was a great deal. The only thing about it was that it was a little windy and cups and plates were blowing all over the place. I got a drum stick (ice cream) and that made me thirsty so I got some water and while I was doing that I was motioned over by a fellow KIC member, who turned out to be none other than Avatar and he was with ZosoBeast. (There was also another guy there whose name I don't remember. Then another KIC member, who is actually more of a lurker joined us.) We sat there until 4:30 and then we all as a group headed to Adventure Express to check out the line, which was long, so we instead went to Red Racer and rode that. After that we went to AE again, which had a shorter line, and rode that. None of the guys in the last tunnel were working. After AE, we went to the KI Theater for the guest speakers at 6. I got some pretty good insights and obviously my favorite speaker was the guy who supervised the building of The Beast. (Not good with names.) The entire session lasted longer than I expected, and it there wasn't too much time to do much of anything before The Beast's party in the picnic grove. I separated from the others for a bit and walked into Coney Mall and sat down and just took in the environment for a bit, and then I headed to the party. I have to say that they really put on a nice little party for The Beast. The cake was delicious and the special cake that had The Beast on it looked great. I also got some pretzels and some Coke in my nice little complimentary free cup that they were giving out, so that was a nice little souvenir. It was around this time, about the time that they started calling names for the raffle drawings that I encountered my first problem, and my first challenge, for the weekend. It was starting to get cold. I knew there was no way I was going to ride Diamondback in the shorts and the KIC t-shirt I was wearing at the time and it was ten after 9. So the challenge was to get from the picnic grove to the hotel and back near The Crypt's entrance for the Diamondback ERT in less than an hour. I did it--and I did it with even a little time to spare without ever once actually running. In retrospect, I obviously should have just brought my jeans and pullover with me that morning, but I didn't think about it. The thing that saved me a lot of time is that I paid for prefered parking that morning, so I didn't have a lot of walking to do in order to get to my car and didn't have hardly any walking to do when I got back either. Shortly after I arrived where I needed to be, the fireworks started. It was really neat seeing them from this location, as I never have seen them from there before. (Facing Beast's entrance plaza) Soon after the fireworks, we were walked over to Diamondback where I got in two "regular" rides and then it hit me that I had better get in a ride on the front since I might never get the chance to do that again. So I did--and the front of Diamondback at night was amazing. I knew I couldn't top that. I had my on-ride-photo for that ride e-mailed to me. That was another very nice service that they provided to us Ride Warriors--I liked that a lot. So, after a total of three rides on Diamondback I was ready to go back to the hotel. I slept fairly well that night. Sunday, May 10 Festivities didn't start until 8 this morning, and so I liked getting up at 7 a lot better than getting up at 6. I knew there wasn't really any rush to get over there today because check-in wouldn't take as long as Saturday and I figured there wouldn't be as many people there and I was right. Once we were let in I headed over to Firehawk, as did most everyone else. I mentioned that it was a good thing I rode Firehaw on Saturday because Firehawk wasn't just down for the Ride Warriors' ERT, it was apparently down all day. I went to Flight of Fear instead and rode in the very back seat for my first ever lights on ride on that. Then I went to The Racer and that's where it got interesting for me. At first I rode Red Racer and I rode it in the very front. After that I got off and rode Blue Racer close to the middle/back. I marathoned Red Racer and I knew that if I kept riding it I would eventually lose count, and I did. However, I know it was either 14 or 15 times. The thing I loved about it was that The Racers were actually racing. I saw some of the other people on the blue train ride after ride as well. I chose to bow out after that marathon--my body wasn't really feeling it but my head was starting to swim a little bit. After that I walked over to Vortex. Vortex was dead also--by that time most of the Ride Warriors there were opting to take part in the normal 9:30 ERT on Diamondback, which was officially announced that we could do today if we wanted. Anyways, I walked onto Vortex and got in the front seat. I was the only one on the train that time. When I pulled back into the station there was still nobody there and they asked me if I wanted to go again. I said "sure." So I did it again. By this time my head was starting to swim even more. When I got back into the station the second time, the guy asked me how the ride was and I said "great." My next words were "I'm done." So I took it easy for a while and sat down near Outer Hanks where security was once again blocking us all off so we couldn't go into Action Zone until 10. Since I missed out on most of the Action Zone rides yesterday, I rode Delerium first and then went on Son of Beast and Invertigo. After that I headed to The Racer tour. This was the shortest of the tours but I still liked it--I had never been in that area before. I noticed some haunt props which included the ambulence, as already mentioned, and two caskets. I wondered if the caskets in particular were confusing to anyone who didn't know why they were there. After The Racer tour, I needed a break. I was operating under very little sleep and had just got in about 20 total rides on everything combined. Plus, I was starving at that point. So I walked down International Street and walked out to my car. Something funny happened--I was in prefered parking and on that day I was in the very first spot of the very first row. When I left, there were two guys who couldn't believe I was leaving that spot. So I went back to Burger King first and then went to my hotel room and ate my lunch and then took a short nap. I headed back over to the park a little after 2 and got to the CornStalkers area in time for the Son of Beast tour at 3 and I stopped at the ice cream place in AZ to get a complimentary Fanta before heading over there. This was a great tour also. You never realize just how much wood it takes to support that ride until you see it from that angle. This was the longest of the tours, but that was in part due to the fact that it was a pretty long walk back. Soon after that tour was over, I went to Flight Deck which had a pretty long line as it did yesterday. After that I got a soft pretzel and a Coke from the ice cream place in AZ. Then I walked to Diamondback and briefly spoke with my brother who was there with his girlfriend. Then I once again headed back to the hotel for a little rest. I left the hotel at a little after 7, giving myself time for one ride on something else before going to the Diamondback ERT. I chose Adventure Express. Then I headed into Rivertown. I was looking for a place that was still serving drinks because I wanted another Coke in order to wake up a little bit. The only place still serving was Potato Works. So I got my last Coke of the trip and headed over to Diamondback for one final ride before leaving and going back to my hotel one final time. Needless to say, I slept great Sunday night and I left the hotel Monday morning. This was one of the most incredible experiences that I have ever been a part of. The weather was absolutely amazing, which made it that much better. Don and the folks at Kings Island deserve major props for putting this thing together and it was well worth the wait. Everyone I met from KIC was great also. I know I didn't call out a lot of names except for the two guys I actually did spend some time with, but it was really great to meet those of you who I did meet and I plan on wearing one of my "777" KIC shirts every day that I go to the park this year. I didn't get to talk or spend time with as many of you as I would have liked, but I know there will be more opprotunities for that sort of thing later on. I also feel a little bad that I didn't make it much of a point to come and introduce myself to some of you who I already knew who you were but you might not have necessarily known who I was, I focused more on the people who I wasn't sure who they were. It was great seeing everyone though, and I look forward to more events with you all. This was my first ever event of this type anywhere, and it was an absolute blast--it certainly won't be my last. Thank you to everyone who made this event so remarkable and I will see you all next year.