VortexBFForever

Part 2 I noticed that the new set of storage bins had received numbers, but they didn’t look exactly the same as the numbers on the original bins: Yes, I was on Train #3 for my first Vortex ride of this evening. As the gates opened, I made sure to stop the stopwatch. When I did, it read a time of 21:08.47, which was LESS than the time I had predicted! I had been assigned to 4-1 by the line separator. 4-1 was literally just ONE ROW up from where I took my first Vortex ride of the day on Opening Day (when I was in 4-2; that ride was on Train #3 too)! So I got into row 4-1, and a few minutes later we were off on an excellent ride. On the brake run I couldn’t tell if it was sprinkling or not because I felt like little teeny tiny rain drops were falling on me but I didn’t see them in the air nor was any sign of it on anything else, not even the smooth fiberglass on the train. Weird… I then headed back to WindSeeker. Its line was a bit shorter. A few minutes later, a cycle began with “The Launch” (from Apollo 13) playing and I had just mentioned to myself earlier, “Maybe ‘The Launch’ will be playing sometime soon.” Any irony involved in this? I ended up on the cycle after “The Launch”. This time I was in Seat 5, behind the seat I had forfeited when WS had to close in high winds on 8/28/2011 (seat 3) and in front of the seat I ended up riding in a lot, also in 2011 (seat 7). I got on at 7:59 p.m. after waiting about 5-7 minutes. At about 8:05, WindSeeker took off for my 2nd cycle of the evening. This time I didn’t know the name of the soundtrack that was playing. All I knew was that the beginning of it reminded me of a news channel-type intro, and it was the soundtrack that played after “The Launch”. Nonetheless, it still fit in with the ride well. WindSeeker landed safely back at ground level just before 8:10. After I got off, I started my journey down the Mall towards Oktoberfest and Action Zone, making sure to be back at Vortex by 9:30 in case the line was short enough for some power-riding/marathoning, like on Opening Day. At this point, the sun had just set and the lights of many rides were coming on. When I was walking past Monster, its lights came on. I looked at Racer’s also-lengthy line and decided against riding it. Before I knew it, I had exited Coney Mall and was in front of Adventure Express’s entrance. I entered at 8:18 to find that it, too, had a decent line. But knowing that it has a high capacity, I knew it wouldn’t take long. At 8:30, I boarded Train #1 in good ole’ row 1-3 (it always seems to have a one- or two-train wait at most). When I sat down, I saw a dime and a penny in a small space between the seat and the side of the car. After I had buckled my seat belt and pulled down my lap bar, I attempted to retrieve them. I managed to get the dime, but I couldn’t get the penny out in time before dispatch. I put the “captured” dime in my camera case. Less than 1 minute later: “All clear!” The ride was fun, like usual, and the lateral G’s were abundant. Of course, I love them because I love being thrown around like AE does it! In the final tunnel, I and a few other riders did the Tiki Dance while the music and the spiel (“You have disturbed the forbidden temple. Now you will pay!”) intermingled with the Arrow anti-rollback – it’s one of my favorite noise combinations… *sighs dreamily* After getting off this great mine train coaster, I had an urge to ride Flight Deck, since I did not get to on Opening Day. So I began another lengthy walk, this time to the secluded end of Action Zone, the home of KI’s youngest Arrow. Just as I expected, I saw long lines for Delirium and Drop Tower while walking through Action Zone. I knew Invertigo would have a long line because of its lower capacity of ~650 riders per hour. So I walked all the way through Action Zone, just to ride Flight Deck. And no, I do not regret taking the time to do just that. After entering the line at 8:43 and waiting roughly 10 minutes, I boarded Train #2 in row 1-2, since I wasn’t willing to wait extra time for 1-1 (it was already almost 9, and I wanted to get more rides on WindSeeker and Vortex after this). This was my first ever Flight Deck ride taken after dusk, by the way! It was really flying tonight. During the ride I’m reminded of How to Train Your Dragon and I imagine the train being like a flying dragon, especially zipping down the drops and swinging around the turns – it’s a neat experience. At 9:05, I started back to Coney Mall. As I walked, I once again took my camera and snapped at whatever I was interested in taking a picture of: Part 3 in next post (don't worry, there are only 3 parts )

Yes, I know, it’s late. That last week of school I had after 5/26 was busy, especially with final exams and everything! And now, we go…Onward! Part 1: Just after 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 26, 2013, we had just arrived at Kings Island on our second trip of the year. And let me tell you, the parking lot was PACKED - it took us about 5 minutes to find a spot, but I remained optimistic since I knew that crowds would tend to taper off as the evening progressed. Once that was over with, we headed to the Front Gate and did the normal ritual of scanning our passes and passing through the turnstile. When I've gone through the turnstile and entered the park, I always think something like "Wow! I'm actually INSIDE Kings Island!" as I realize the freedom of suddenly having access to every ride and attraction within the park, thanks to the admission that a Platinum Pass (in this case) grants me. I had originally planned to go to Rivertown and check out Diamondback, but by common sense I knew the line would probably be long. To be fully positive (as well as figure out a different plan), I chose the Eiffel Tower to be my first ride of the evening. At roughly 6:19 I joined the Eiffel Tower's line. Since the elevator had just started going up, we had to wait until it came back down. It did so, 5 minutes later. Since I was in the middle of the line for the elevator by that time, I ended up standing in the middle of the elevator, unlike other times where I was at the side. I liked it! At the top, I got my camera ready and snapped some photos: After taking all these pictures I walked back to the side of the platform that was facing Coney Mall and Rivertown, rested my arms on the ledge, and just plain old enjoyed the view as the cool May breeze blew in my face. I loved watching all the activity of guests and rides alike from 275' above my home amusement park. I also noticed Diamondback's long line that was nearly filling up BOTH sets of switchbacks! Once a few minutes of relaxing had passed, I joined the line for the elevator once more. I quickly snapped a photo of Soak City since I didn't think of doing it while studying the rest of the park. When the elevator arrived at the platform, I boarded and then took a picture of the other elevator's shaft: Right after that, we started down. Like always, I enjoyed it, especially for an elevator ride! (I have a slight "obsession" of elevators and escalators, thanks to my Asperger's and OCD!) After that, we headed to the Grand Carousel. I guess my plans did change after all!... (Note: This was BEFORE the ride began, when I was just getting on my horse. ) During the ride I noticed that the music was playing at a quieter volume than it was last season. I wonder why? All I can say is, I hope it's louder during future trips. Just my opinion. Afterward, we went back into Coney Mall, just as we had done on Opening Day. After seeing Vortex's long line from the Eiffel Tower's 275' platform, I decided I could wait a little while. In other words, Zephyr was next. It only had a one cycle wait. I joined the line at about 6:43. When it was time for the next cycle of riders, I picked a yellow seat on the very outside. During the ride, the op started to speak up about a minute into the cycle. He began to play Simon Says with us, but he called it "Troy Says" because his (the op's) name was Troy. During the game I remember him saying to clap your hands, kick your feet, put your arm out like a superhero (when I did that I really felt like one!), put your arms out like an airplane, flap your arms like a bird, and the last one was scream as loud as you can. My high-pitched scream came in handy for that one! I really enjoyed that cycle, just like on Opening Day when the op told us to spread our arms out and make airplane noises... I went down to the far end of the Mall. Vortex's line length hadn't changed a bit. In fact, it reminded me of the only other KI trip of mine where the line spilled out onto the midway like that: September 5, 2010. In comparison, WindSeeker only had a 2-cycle wait. So I hopped in line, eager to ride it for the first time since September. By this time it was 7:00. At this point in time (6:58), Vortex’s chaser lights had come on. (Already?!?!?) As I entered the line, the “Superman Theme” was playing as the cycle was finishing. On the next cycle, a Harry Potter soundtrack played; the cycle after that had “Romantic Flight” (one of four How to Train Your Dragon soundtracks that play on WS) as its soundtrack. Since I was going to be on the proceeding cycle, I knew, and was excited, that my cycle was going to have “Test Drive” play. I had already known the order of the four How to Train Your Dragon songs on WindSeeker (plus one soundtrack--which I’ve heard before--that comes after the fourth HTTYD track, but I do not know its name now know its name as of a 5/07/2016 edit). Tonight, I knew the order of two more, which made the list bigger, in order of playing: -Superman Theme -Harry Potter -Romantic Flight -Test Drive -See You Tomorrow -This Is Berk -Flying (from Peter Pan; found out on a later trip (9/22/13, maybe?) but not added to this report until 5/07/2016) Apparently, I now know the order of just over a third of WS’s soundtrack… Okay, back to this cycle. By the way, the ride’s lights had come on before the Romantic Flight cycle so that means this one would be my first of the year with lights on. I got assigned to Seat 29 for my very first WindSeeker ride of 2013. At 7:17 p.m., I took off my sandals and my waist pack and set them on the ground in front of my seat. It took the attendants a while to check all 64 lap bars. Finally, the “All clear!” came. Test Drive started to play, and WindSeeker began its flight. The last time I had been on a WS cycle with Test Drive playing was in October of 2011, so it was pretty exciting (for me) to listen to it on the ride again. (I love the How to Train Your Dragon soundtrack!). I really enjoyed getting a 30 mph breeze in my face again, although it got a little chilly up there! Once I was back on the ground, at 7:25, I finally decided to join the line for Vortex which still hadn’t shortened. I predicted a wait of about 25-30 minutes, and then I began timing the wait on the “Stopwatch” mode of my wristwatch right when I stepped into line. While my watch was counting the minutes and seconds as I was waiting, I took out my camera and began snapping away: Part 2 in next post (I took 130 images on this trip alone!) (Edit 5/07/2016: The images originally posted with the topic were originally on my ImageShack account, which I abandoned last year after ImageShack changed to a pay-to-use site, and were deleted as a result. As of May 7, 2016, I have reuploaded the same pictures to my Flickr account and restored them to this report for everyone's viewing pleasure, including my own. You're welcome. )

Wow; I don't have multiple lenses for my camera! I always have trouble taking focused pictures in low light, but lately I found two other shooting modes in my camera (Handheld Night Scene & Low Light) that take great pictures in low light. Now I'm griping (to myself) over how I did not think one bit of using those modes on my camera when I was at KI after dark (especially last Sunday, 5/26)! haha I guess I'll just have to wait until my next evening trip.

I see.... I also have a Canon Powershot. It's an ELPH 110 HS model. For a compact digital camera, it takes some good pictures as well (did I mention it has a nice 20x optical zoom? )

Lovely pictures! What camera did you use?

Both times I was KI so far this year, I've seen Canada geese by the Royal Fountains: April 27 May 26 Also at Cedar Point last year I saw a group of sparrows hanging out by Top Thrill Dragster. I think it's cool how they get used to the sometimes loud(er) life of an amusement park.

My parents and I were driving past Kings Island on 71 when one of the storms had come through. All the rides were still down (probably because it had been less than 30 minutes since the last lightning strike by the time I was going by the park). I've always wondered how interesting a Kings Island trip gets when a storm passes through...

On Opening Day when I rode Zephyr, the op made us stick out our arms and make airplane noises to "make the ride go faster." When I was riding it last Sunday (May 26), the op was playing Simon Says. It was quite fun, actually, and interesting to say the least.

Wet n' Wild sounds like a great place to visit! (I've never been there) I think you summed it up pretty well in this short-and-sweet TR.

I like Christian, soul, pop, and a little bit of rock and techno. Occasionally I listen to some 80's-type songs, particularly from artists like Eurythmics, Aha, Tears for Fears, and Chicago. But I have to say that I thoroughly enjoy movie soundtracks! <3 Very often I listen to scores from The Lion King 1 & 2, Happy Feet 1 & 2, How To Train Your Dragon, and March of the Penguins.

I heard about The Beach on the radio this morning - they also stated that daily operation begins May 25.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Pictures are now up, along with three new additions to the notes list! I am currently working on my Opening Day video collaboration in Windows Live Movie Maker and I plan to upload it to YouTube and post it here by the end of today! Update: Video is still in the process of being uploaded to YouTube. Expect it to be up by the end of tomorrow, or Tuesday at the absolute latest. As for now, I'm going to bed. I have school tomorrow! *starts snoring* ZZzzzzzZZzzz Update May 15, 2016: After FINALLY getting around to successfully saving the video in the correct format and uploading it to YouTube, my Opening Day 2013 video is now live, three years later!!

I wish I would've met you when I was there during the evening! Hopefully another chance will come along soon. Glad you had fun!

Very nice! I can't wait to go to The Beach this summer!

I'm sure the 5K was fun for you guys. Looking forward to the next part!

Very nice TR so far. Can't wait for the next part!

***YouTube video is now live!!!*** Disclaimer: I did not bump into or talk to any KICer, primarily because I decided not to text malem (sorry). But I still had a good time riding solo. The Beach is looking nice! My mom and I arrived at Kings Island at roughly 7 p.m., when a lot of people were starting to leave. Our first stop was the Season Pass Processing Center, because we had upgraded from Gold to Platinum so we wouldn't have to pay for tickets on our annual visits to Cedar Point. We were greeted with a good-looking line; the employee at the line's entrance nicely said that the wait would be no more than 15 minutes. He sure was right - the line moved really quickly! - so about 15 minutes later we were escorted to Station #9, where our pictures were taken and the passes were issued. After exiting the Processing Center we proceeded to the Front Gate, where our brand new Platinum Passes were used for the very first time. I was half expecting to hear "Secrets" by One Republic playing as we entered, like on May 16, 2012, but we didn't - although during the course of the trip I heard five familiar songs: "I Won't Give Up" by Jason Mraz, "Hey Soul Sister" by Train, "Bubbly" by Colbie Caillat, "First Cut is The Deepest" by Sheryl Crow, and "Wake Me Up Inside" by Evanescence. As we started up on the left side of the Royal Fountains, I saw a pair of Canada geese with two cute goslings. Not long after that, I noticed that Vortex was down and had gone down not very long ago. As I walked under the Eiffel Tower I noticed that the train stopped on the lift hill had passengers on board. I also noticed a couple employees walking up and down the lift, probably informing said passengers of what was happening. I was just about to enter the Eiffel Tower's queue, but I was informed that it was down, too! Hopefully not because of the light rain (I doubt it). Then I just decided to head into Coney Mall. Just before I passed the Juke Box Diner, though, Vortex started testing. The 20-something riders on board seemed very happy that the ride was going again, but a couple test cycles afterward, the ride was down once more. It would be that way for just over 20 minutes. I waited in the line outside for about 7 minutes from 7:35 to 7:42, then at 7:42 I decided to bail out, since Shake, Rattle & Roll and its 2-3 cycle wait line seemed to be calling my name. So I walked around and joined the line for SR&R, which was just inside the entrance and in no switchbacks. Guess what: what was happening now would be the exact opposite less than 15 minutes later. Yup! 10 minutes into the wait, when I was supposed to be on the next cycle, SR&R went down but Vortex had opened back up. I told you, it was TOTALLY THE OPPOSITE!!! I waited for 5 more minutes, then forfeited my spot in line because now this Arrow mega-looper next door was calling my name even more than SR&R had done! At this point it was almost 8; I had been in the park for an hour and had ridden NOTHING. I joined Vortex's line and used my 25 minutes of waiting to snap pictures until I was next in line for row 4-2. Photo Restoration Edit: This PTR has been divided into two parts as of May 14, 2016, as this originally was posted before the 50-photo limit was implemented on the forum. Part 2 will be in a new post!

I went during the evening (7 p.m. - 10 p.m.). It was still a little crowded at first, but during the last hour the lines were pretty short. Vortex's line was so short that I was able to stay on it for 4 consecutive cycles (I got to the ride at about 9:47; had I got there earlier I may have gotten more rides in). Racer and Adventure Express had station waits.

My detailed report on this (since it had occurred when I was there ) : I had just entered the park, not long after 7 p.m., when it happened. That was when I also found out that the Eiffel Tower was having problems as well (I was originally going to start out my trip on it, but apparently didn't get to). I headed back into Coney Mall when Vortex started going again. The riders that were stuck seemed very happy that it was working again, even if it was just a cycle's worth. Meanwhile, the other trains were being dispatched empty. About 2 minutes later, the ride was down again - this time, with no riders. It remained that way for roughly 20-25 minutes. (I also took some photos as well, but it may be a while before I get them up)

When I got to the park at 7:00 p.m., it was still a bit crowded. I had to wait 15 minutes to get my new Platinum Pass processed; when I entered the park, Vortex and the Eiffel Tower went down, and Shake, Rattle & Roll did the same thing about 20-30 minutes later. But during the last hour, the lines were pretty short. Racer and Adventure Express had station waits of about 5 minutes each, Zephyr was nearly a walk-on, and Vortex's line was about a walk-on as well. I was able to marathon Vortex for 4 consecutive cycles with the last one (my 140th Vortex ride ever) being a fireworks ride! I'll be writing the TR shortly

The buttons are still "bugging" me, so to speak. As of now, it STILL takes me to the Community Index when I try to view the drop down menu under my username - it's starting to get annoying... Edit: Never mind. It's working correctly again.

Riding Vortex again! And don't forget the other rides, of course...