VortexBFForever

I had to wait no longer than five minutes today. I walked on to Invertigo, The Bat, Diamondback, Mystic Timbers, Vortex, and The Beast, riding each at least once all in the span of two hours. Now that's a great way to have fun after work!!

When I finished my shift, Vortex's wait was approaching 15-20 minutes. When we had two trains earlier today it peaked at 30. WindSeeker was a full cycle wait.

Glad everyone is okay, @Xdog42. Vortex hates high heat, especially if it's as hot as yesterday. I was told the heat index was 108 degrees Fahrenheit at the time of your half-ride. Glad you had a good experience, and I hope you can give Vortex another go soon! It was nice to meet you and I am very glad my crew treated you well!

I believe it was so that Drop Tower (then Drop Zone) would be (and could be marketed as) the tallest Kings Island attraction at 315 ft, because the Eiffel Tower was taller than that when it had the antenna but its removal shortened the Eiffel Tower's height to 314 ft making Drop Tower one foot taller.

As much as I want to write detailed reports about every day, I simply don't have the time because I work so much. But I will still make sure to include the highlights of my days at my #KIBestJob! Also, in time, I'll post reports about my adventures at the park as a guest. They're too much fun to not tell about! And I also really want to tell about when I got trained at Tower and Drop/Bat a couple of weeks ago! But for now I'll start with how my all-day went yesterday, as I have to catch some Z's in preparation for my Open tomorrow (and I actually have time to write about this as today was a day off). July 19: One of my fellow associates had his 18th birthday on the 18th, so he got drive trained at Vortex which was exciting (and in my opinion would be the best 18th birthday present ever!). I found it rather interesting that I spent only one hour at WindSeeker and the rest of the time at Vortex, but I liked it! My crew supervisors are making sure they rotate us through the positions we like, and apparently they like me working at Vortex (which makes sense because even amongst stress, I love working at Vortex, no surprise - especially at Unload and Dual!). I spent a total of one hour at Op-3, two hours at Separator, three hours at Unload and four hours at Dual throughout that day. Since I had gone a couple of days without working Dual recently, I guess yesterday made up for that! I also spent a total of four hours spieling. Good thing I am now quite comfortable with the mic, lol. Good night! Don't want to be too groggy to get to the park early for my Open tomorrow.

That's the complicated part. I noticed that the 633 Squadron Theme and the E.T. Theme play over top of each other as one track, and this happens three times - between Apollo 13 and Cody's Flight, between Harry's Wondrous World and Ride of the Valkyries, and between the Star Trek Main Title and The High and the Mighty. I have no idea why the two tracks play on top of each other, but that is what I always hear. But you are correct, @Rallyomalley. The E.T. theme does play. It's just overlapped with the 633 Squadron Theme for whatever reason.

I just identified another soundtrack! A two minute excerpt of "Cody's Flight," composed by Bruce Broughton for the 1990 movie The Rescuers Down Under, played when I took my 99th flight on July 18. Thanks to the Voice Memos and SoundHound apps on my phone, I finally know all of the soundtracks that play on WindSeeker! From 0:59 to 2:55 is the excerpt that plays on WindSeeker. Happy listening!

I'm 5'7" and you can say I'm one of the people who can handle it; I have never gotten a headache on Vortex. I must admit I have come close to getting a small headache some times, though, as some rides on it have rattled me more than others. I can't help but feel sorry for those who can't handle Vortex's wild ride as well. Vortex is definitely not for the faint of heart (or head, for that matter. ).

Last night while I was working I met a guest who had grown up riding Viper at Six Flags Magic Mountain. He rode Vortex once (his first time!) and he told me (when he came around to ride again) that he liked it better than the hundreds of rides he's taken on Viper! He likes Vortex better because it offers better pacing and a smoother ride than Viper. That being said, if I ever get to ride Viper at Six Flags Magic Mountain (which I REALLY REALLY hope becomes a reality), I probably shouldn't expect it to be as smooth as Vortex. I have heard this now from two people (the aforementioned guest, and one of my fellow crew members who also grew up in California - he says Vortex feels like Banshee compared to Viper. He's also ridden Demon at California's Great America 732 times. ). Long story short, be thankful we (still) have Vortex and that Kings Island takes great care of their Arrow Megalooper!

Well, light crowds on weekdays are not uncommon, especially if it is hot (since most go to the waterpark). In fact, on those days, most if not all the rides have very short/non-existent lines. Weekends are definitely busier by a long shot. And Haunt is going to be busy too, which is going to help us get to one million.

Especially during Haunt. Since one of the Haunt attractions is in the former Action Theater, WindSeeker and Vortex are very often packed because they are the closest rides. Plus, on any given day, the two rides' showy, "in your face" views and the fact they are clearly visible from almost anywhere in the park are one of their main draws. -BFF, whose crew firmly believes that Vortex is on track to give one million rides this season.

I had my first night rides on Backlot Stunt Coaster tonight! I took advantage of the nonexistent line and rode it three times. Then I went to The Beast but the thunderstorm beat me to what would have been my first night ride on The Beast since 2013. Oh well. But BLSC was fun! I always underestimate how intense it is for such a small coaster!

I'm heading to the Island as well, for sure! When I get there I'll start with Diamondback, and then head back to WindSeeker and Vortex. Even if a storm comes, hopefully I can reach all three of my milestones in due time!

If my dad lets me go to KI this afternoon/evening, I'm going to try to hit 400 on Vortex and 100 on Diamondback and WindSeeker! Hopefully the weather will cooperate enough for that to happen.

Just a day prior, on July 10, I got to test ride Shake, Rattle & Roll in a small thunderstorm. I got so wet but it was so much fun!!

Last week I met a guest who was convinced Kings Island had had an observation tower (the kind with a rotating cabin) at one point. Now when I think of it, maybe he was thinking of the late Space Spiral at Cedar Point. Maybe.

On Facebook and Instagram, when KI posts about Vortex, most of the comments are always negative, which irks me. Yes, there are people who don't like Vortex, but at work I have met many more who love it and call it one of their favorite rides, including kids in the 48" crowd as Vortex is the only looping coaster at KI that has a height requirement of 48". That being said, the positive view of Vortex is quite often underrepresented on social media...and Facebook is definitely no exception.

On WindSeeker this season, I noticed a new soundtrack that I had never heard prior to this year. I had heard it on occasion while working (often times it would end up being skipped because it either would not play automatically or we would mistake the track's quiet intro for the music not playing) but it seemed to elude me whenever I tried to record it (while there as a guest) and identify it...until today. On my 96th ride on WindSeeker, this "mystery soundtrack" played and I was able to audibly record the cycle (with my device safely zipped away in my waist pack, obviously) and use SoundHound to identify it (of course I waited until AFTER the ride finished to use my phone, of course ). Turns out, this track is called "Ollo," composed by Hans Zimmer for the movie Megamind. I have added it to my WindSeeker soundtrack playlist on YouTube. Ollo plays on the cycle after "Ride of the Valkyries." The track that 'Seeker plays starts at 0:53 and goes to the end. Happy listening and riding!

I took advantage of the rides during the 6:00 dinner hour (7:00 as well) and ended up catching the next Eiffel Tower elevator up just in time and waiting one cycle for Carousel, two cycles for Scrambler, a station wait at Vortex and a cycle wait at WindSeeker. With today's crowds I am so glad I spent the 5:00 hour watching Origins and Amazing Dobermans. Both shows were great, by the way.

^ Especially with that hashtag. It may not be that long before the meteor hits...but don't ask me! I may work at KI but I know nothing about Dinos.

I was working there during that instance, and it was interesting (because it was actually my first time dealing with something like that!). It was something very minor, though, and Vortex reopened within twenty minutes. Nothing big at all!

I never knew that either! One really does learn something new every day.

I thought it was cool, including the preshow act the two purple-costumed fellows did about ten minutes before showtime. I would say that my favorite act (so far) in Origins is the first act of the show (on that bending pole thing). My favorite act in Imagine was the aerialist act, so I was slightly bummed that Origins doesn't have one. But all of Origins' acts are great, and I would watch it again when I have the chance (and time)! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Today is just as awesome as yesterday was! I walked onto Vortex for all eight of my rides this evening!

Just waited fifteen minutes to take my 97th ride ever on Diamondback. Now I am in line for Mystic Timbers, which looks to be the same wait.