VortexBFForever

I don't think Vekomas are that bad. Invertigo and Firehawk are a lot of fun, as is Boomerang at Darien Lake. I even like Mind Eraser (also at Darien Lake) though I am well aware of all its shakiness (and why people have a strong distaste for SLCs); I was crazy enough to ride it four times in a row and have no bad memories of it. When the day comes for me to experience Kentucky Kingdom for the first time, I do plan to give T3 a spin and see how it stacks up. Obviously, Vekoma coasters are not the best rides, but I like them! -BFF, who is thankful that her home park has one of the most, if not the most reliable Invertigo in the Cedar Fair chain.

When the sun set on the 2016 season, my assumption of how I would start the 2017 season came nowhere near what really happened. In December, my parents encouraged me to apply for a job at Kings Island, which surprised me because I thought they wouldn't let me take a job that required a fifty-minute drive one way. But since I now had my driver license, my need to make/save money for college, and my parents' approval, I took the first of many steps on December 12, 2016, when I applied for a Ride Operator position at Kings Island. Wednesday, January 18, 2017 started out as normal day, then when I got home from Zumba that night...I found a voicemail and an email from the Rides Department asking to set up an interview!! I responded to the email and set up an interview for the following Wednesday. January 25 could not come soon enough, but when it did, I marveled at the quiet and empty Kings Island as I headed to the Operations building for my interview. The interview was fun and it went extremely well, ending with both me and the other applicant each being offered a position! I hoped that working WindSeeker/Vortex would be one of the choices, and surely enough it was. I walked out of the Operations building with a new job at my favorite ride! The other applicant there with me chose to work Drop Tower/The Bat. After finishing my senior year of swimming and also turning 18 years old, the month of March arrived, bringing Processing (March 5), Orientation (March 18), and Rides General Knowledge (March 25) along with it. I got to see Delirium and Sling Shot testing. I was unable to attend my on-ride training on April 9, but I only had to wait six more days before I could get trained. This is where my Opening Weekend adventure begins... At 9:26 p.m. on Sunday, April 9, I received a notice saying that my crew's schedule for the first two weekends of the season had been published, so I confirmed the notice and looked at the schedule. I noticed my crew had a lot of unassigned shifts, including one opening shift on April 15. I had no school from April 14-17 in observance of Easter and my family had nothing special planned that day, so I would be able to work. After much talk with my parents making sure they were okay with it, I picked up the shift on the evening of Monday, April 10, and with it came much anticipation. Finally, the day came. I was now headed to my very first day of work. April 15 Part 1: Associate Standpoint of Opening Day 2017 Knowing that Preview Night traffic had backed up immensely on Interstate 71 (and anticipating that Opening Day would be the same), I used my alternate, traffic-free route (State Route 48 to Mason-Morrow Rd/Columbia Rd to Kings Mills Rd) to get to the park, passing by a nearly full left turn lane into a long line for the parking gates on Kings Island Drive as I headed to the associate lot. When I walked into the park, the very first song I heard was How To Train Your Dragon's "Romantic Flight," one of my all-time favorite movie soundtracks! It sounded so amazing in the wide entry plaza and it, like the other instrumental songs, complements International Street extremely well! I met my crew and my supervisors, and I showed them the picture I had drawn on April 11 for Vortex's 30th anniversary. When they saw it, they said it looked really cool and that it should be shown in the window of Vortex's drive box. Even the area supervisors loved it! Here's what it looks like: In just a matter of moments, a drawing I had made just for fun had become another new thing to see in Vortex's station! What an honor for that little picture. As we headed back to Vortex, it started pouring!! The rain let up for a moment when we arrived, but started pouring when we all stood under the roof of the station, where Train #2 was parked with the other two trains on the lift and brake run. The trains were cycled a few times as my supervisor began my location training. The rain persisted, which delayed opening by not too much time. When the rain let up again, this time for the rest of the day, we began cycling again, during which I practiced checking restraints. The supervisors started asking who wanted to test ride, as they needed three of us (one on each train) to ride. Of course, I volunteered, and hopped aboard Train #1 in the front left seat -- the SAME seat that took me on my 100th, 200th, and 300th rides!! Since it had just rained, I felt a wonderful mist at the bottom of the first drop! The ride went quite smoothly and without any problems, and yes, I greatly enjoyed taking my 318th Vortex ride as the first human rider of Opening Day of Vortex's 30th anniversary season. How sweet is that?! Once we opened, things really got kicking. My first ever position on Vortex was one of the two "unload" positions where I checked the restraints on the first three cars (though on the first time I got carried away and checked the whole train. ) and manned the exit gate, as well as open/close the appropriate storage bins in the front half of the station. I also helped guests who needed alternate access, as I would be the first person they would see. At some point while working Unload, someone else from KIC came up to me and asked if I was from KIC, to which I of course said yes. I didn't recognize him, though, as I had never met him, but it was great to see someone else who knew about KIC! Once it was time to rotate, I finished my training at Vortex and officially signed off as a Level 3 Vortex associate before heading to WindSeeker to train there. At WindSeeker, I shadowed another crew member in the Op-3 (separator) position. After a few cycles, I began assigning seats, as well as checking the lap bars and holding down the button when the driver said "Ready." The first cycle I ever cleared on WindSeeker flew to the soundtrack of Dimitri Tiomkin's "The High and the Mighty." Before I knew it, the hour was up and it was time for me to go on break. After finishing at WindSeeker, I embarked on an extremely brisk walk (as I had only 30 minutes) with one of my supervisors and another crew member who was also the only other newbie (yes, everyone else on my crew who were there this day were all returners!). I had two slices of pizza, chicken tenders with honey mustard, and a cup of lemonade for my very first lunch break at Kings Island. And yes, the sauce on the pizza was rather sweet. I kept thinking about The Interpreter's posts on here regarding such pizza and the sauce tasting "sickeningly sweet." It was still good though! After we finished eating, the three of us speedily walked back to Vortex. I was originally supposed to go back to WindSeeker but the wind had picked up and it had closed by the time we got back. So I went back to the same position I worked during the first hour after opening until the next rotation, when I became the separator. This was the part of the day that I was most nervous about. Yes, I am well aware that this job involves interacting directly with guests; I just had never faced thousands of them in so little time before! I actually started to feel the slightest bit light-headed out of nervousness, but after saying a quick prayer I sucked it up and started doing what a separator does. Eventually, I got comfortable enough that I would ask the guests in the front of the line how their day was going, what have they done yet today, what their favorite ride is, etc. I talked with guests who had ridden Vortex when it first opened in 1987, and also with guests who were riding it for the first time. A few guests commented on how fast the line was moving, and they were impressed that they had waited only fifteen minutes and they were already almost to the front of the line. All the guests I asked said they were having a good day, which was great to hear. It made the hour more fun to engage with the guests, and I'm sure it added to their already good day! The only setback was that the lemonade I had at lunch was now working against me. I was so thirsty and my throat was dry, but that did not stop me from doing my job! My last position of the day was back on Unload, though this time I was responsible for checking the back four cars of the train and for the storage bins on the back half of the platform. I had no exit gate to open or close, which bought me a few seconds of spare time to entertain my thoughts about my job, including one moment when I was thinking "Am I actually working on Vortex?!" after I had cleared another train and it was rolling out of the station. But I couldn't reflect on my personal thoughts for long, as just a moment later the next train would arrive and the next riders would board. This job is so fast-paced that if you get distracted even for a moment, you may fall behind or miss something important. I'm in for a crazy summer! One of the things that helped speed up the loading process was to offer to put riders' loose articles in the bins for them. As a train came in I would scan the people in front of the line and if any were holding backpacks and/or a bundle of souvenir bottles, I would offer to put them in the bin when they got on, which they appreciated. The trains rarely stacked, which helped the line go faster and of course help the hourly capacity! My crew and I were really rolling, pun intended. Finally, it came time for me to end my shift as I passed off my position to an associate who had just arrived for her shift. I was having so much fun (albeit I was a little tired) that I felt a little sad when I had to clock out. But that's a good thing, because it means I love my job (even though now it is so overwhelming) and I am eager to return for my next shift (which won't be until after my school musical is over)! I walked (though not as briskly as earlier ) out of the park and to HR where I changed into my guest clothes, since I was planning to enjoy a few rides as a guest before I left for the day. Part 2 (Guest Standpoint) Coming Soon! P.S. I don't know if this is too much information about what I'm doing at work; if it is, I'll modify this accordingly as soon as possible. I have already checked that I have not gone into too much detail. I triple-checked the Associate Handbook and what I read from it was that basically as long as I post as myself and not on behalf of Cedar Fair (and not disclose any confidential information), I should be good. I have not seen anything in said handbook against associates posting about their job (general details, anyway). 4/24 Edit: I found out earlier today from my supervisor (who read this, by the way!) that everything I said here is perfectly okay to say. Good to know for sure I'm not going over the line!

You guys have fun at the park this weekend. My school's Wizard of Oz performances are this and next Friday and Saturday so no park for me!

When did that happen (if it happened this past weekend)? I know it didn't happen when I was there working, thankfully.

@Melody @PKIVortex That's weird. How come my video turned out fine when yours didn't? I'm not in Merch, so I am just as puzzled as you are.

@Melody Did you save your picture via the kiosk? I was told you get the video only if you use the kiosk to save your photo (the video saves automatically when you save the photo). I got my picture from the kiosk and my video works just fine. ... As for Vortex's kiosk, all I ask is for some way for the photos to be viewed by non-FunPix users (albeit without an option to purchase). Right now, the only way for them to see their photos is if a rider with FunPix happens to be nearby. In fact, when I ride and then scan my pass to find my photo, I let the other riders see their photos before I find and save mine.

When I walked into the park yesterday, I couldn't stop getting chills up my spine from the music. That instrumental music fits International Street so well! (Especially since the pop music never sent chills up my spine) I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but wow! What a wonderful way to start a Kings Island adventure!!

I saw that while walking in yesterday. I'm not a big fan of Airheads so I decided to pass. It was nice that guests were getting free candy!

^I agree! I talked two of my friends into riding Firehawk for their first time last summer. They were "traumatized" at first but quickly grew to love it! I really wanted to see and even buy the photo from that ride...but there were no photos. Needless to say I was mildly disappointed. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

^In fact, Vortex's FunPix kiosk was not updating new photos tonight, so I was unable to see any photos from my eleven rides. Even after my last ride, the latest pictures that showed up were the ones I saw after my first ride (which was roughly an hour earlier). I was indeed disappointed because several photos probably turned out great, yet I never got to know for sure. Hopefully this problematic kiosk will be fixed by the next operating day, or at least have someone on immediate hand to help. Maybe even have some means of allowing non-FunPixers to see their photos if they so desire! (They just wouldn't have the option to buy the photo) Either way, Vortex's photo stand looks so bare without all the monitors, merchandise...and people to help with such merchandise. It may be only three days into the operating season, but I am already not a fan. Something needs to be fixed here, especially since a number of guests (myself included) have already had a damper on their #KIBestDay because they couldn't see their epic photos... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I still have all my Cedar Point ride photos from last year! And they were from an all-day FunPix, not an all-season! What a pleasant surprise. On a side note, I have one major gripe with Vortex's FunPix only deal; with just the kiosk there, no one is there behind the counter to help you if a problem with the kiosk arises. As Vortex is in the back of the park, calling someone from Merch to come take a look at the kiosk uses even more time. Plus, the FunPix-less riders who want to see their pictures can't because they need a card to scan. Where's the fun in that? Okay, I'm done. Just had to get my opinion out on Vortex being FunPix only and how that has been working. I had to regretfully tell multiple guests that they needed a FunPix card to see their photos when I was working yesterday.

Yesterday I actually heard a couple songs that I heard at Kings Dominion on International Street! In fact, the very first one I heard upon arrival at the park was "Romantic Flight" from How to Train Your Dragon, (which I heard at Kings Dominion while walking out after closing) and it was so cool that the very first song I heard at Kings Island for the 2017 season was one of my favorite movie soundtracks!! Also, when I was on my way out of the park, I heard Dimitri Tiomkin's "The High and the Mighty," which, fun fact, was the soundtrack that played on the very first WindSeeker cycle that I cleared. I agree wholeheartedly that the instrumental music makes walking up or down International Street soooo much more relaxing...and I hope it carries on to many future seasons!

I have heard Adele's "Send my Love (To Your New Lover)" at Kings Island so many times that whenever I hear it elsewhere I pretend I am at the park. Such was the case when the song played on Mix 107.7 while I swam at the Y yesterday... Also if Michael Franti's "Say Hey (I Love You)" isn't on the list already, that's another great song played at the park. I have also heard Jordin Sparks' "One Step at a Time," Ellie Goulding's "Lights," Jason Mraz's "I Won't Give Up," and Colbie Caillat's "Bubbly" each a number of times as well.

One of whom is me. I just hope Saturday isn't too stressful, but I think I should get used to my job in due time. -BFF, who picked up an opening shift on Opening Day so she could help out her fairly understaffed Vortex crew.

I may help out my Vortex crew (who are understaffed at the moment for this weekend...they need help!) this Saturday if I pick up an opening shift that is currently unassigned, and therefore, up for the taking. So my "first day of work" picture may not be as far off as we think! And if I do get to work for sure on Saturday, that makes this weekend even more thrilling/torturous to look forward to, especially since I'll likely be back Sunday as a guest. FIVE DAYS EVERYBODY! Edit: I have now requested to pick up the shift! Once I hear back from the manager, I'll know for sure if I'll be working on Saturday! Edit #2: I got the shift!!! Come visit me on Saturday!!!

^Maybe it doesn't want me to know anything more about Mystic Timbers until I ride it next Sunday. (WOW! NEXT SUNDAY??!??!?!?!? Where has all the time gone??)

I got a "Page Not Accessible" error. Interesting read indeed.

LED chasing lights would look cool. Or better yet, blue and orange colored lights!

I'm excited to see what else will be done to celebrate Vortex's 30th anniversary!!! I hope I can take part in the festivities!!!

I'm also considering a trip to KI on Easter Sunday, as I can't go on Preview Night (my sister's birthday dinner is that night) and Opening Day as I know it would be way too crowded. One of my friends (who is also an associate!) will tag along with me on my first trip of the season! Edit: She just texted me saying she can't go on Easter. Looks like I have my very first true solo trip in the works (as neither of my parents will be going).

Contrary to popular belief, I ride relaxed and with my head slightly forward. The "relax" bit was advice from my brother when I went with him in 2008 and I rode next to him on The Beast, fun fact. It has benefited me greatly, and I hope other riders are benefited too! As for the "head slightly forward" part, it is extremely helpful as well, especially if you relax. I clearly remember a few rides on Vortex where my head was jostled from side to side but it did not hit the restraint (when it would have otherwise) as I was leaning slightly forward enough for my head to be just in front of the restraint. The only time I ever remember pushing my shoulders into the restraint is whenever I'm in a corkscrew. @harveyhaddixfan, I'm sorry, but I politely disagree with you. -BFF, who knows Vortex like the back of her hand, after 317 rides and counting. She's also virtually immune to headbanging.

I miss the hour long ERT! But 30 minute ERT is still better than no ERT at all. Of course, when I enjoy Cedar Point's hour-long Early Entry, I can't help but think about the seasons Kings Island had hour-long ERT (including 2010, when I attended Gold/Platinum Passholder ERT for the first time!).

^That is the very reason why I love riding the last two cars. The front is quite fun as well, and obviously offered the unparalleled views.

Opening Day is SO CLOSE that I can hardly realize/believe how close it really is.

I can't wait to ride it, PERIOD!! I hope I get to go on Easter Sunday! (after I go to church, of course. )