thedevariouseffect

Trip report time... So got off base and made it to the front gate about 1730 so not too bad of a time. First things first I hit up FOF, only a 30 minute wait, nothing special here. I will say I wish they'd have the lights off like they did opening day. There really wasn't anything lit opening day and ,Ade for an intense ride and actually quite enjoyable. Only one thing that was odd though, they played beam stokers Dracula in the exit queue. I didn't find that too fitting for a space ride as I was instantly thinking about Gary Goldman and those awesome glasses and gray jacket. Anyways, from there I decided to go check out wind seeker for once. I have never ridden it at ki, only at cap and Knott's. I didn't expect it to be too exciting but I figured give it a whirl. Prior to getting on however quite a great and annoying situation happened, paragraph dedicated as follows. So some asshat on the ride decided that at the final minute where you spin slowly waiting for the ride to find its home position that it would be a great idea to remove his shoe and throw it at his brother waiting at the exit. It did miss him and me by just a bit, the ride ops did take notice and I pointed it out. Security came (after ten minutes quite pathetic on their part). Anyways security came and instead of doing the right thing and kicking at least him if not his whole party out of the park even after he admitted to doing it to have fun and joke around even though he was a ways above the air throwing things at riders, so he got his slap on the wrist and left, pathetic. At cp, security would have been there instantaneously and had him ready to start escort out of the park. People like Adam Kaplan get kicked out for stupid stuff (even though he is a fool and now criminal) but a guy putting others into harms way and could injure someone gets away. If ki security or higher ups take notice of this, you're seriously in the wrong on this one. This needs drastically overhauled and improved... Anyways rode wind seeker. It was nice but cp still has the best view and ride interval/experience. One one note though when did they remove the led lighting at the bottom of the tower that mirrors the four led lights on the top of the tower, I found that quite odd they removed them. After getting off I did manage to take a look at the evac system they ordered for all the parks, I'd love to see it in action just to see how it all works out. Next walked the midway towards the front to go grab food and stuff. I'm not sure of the correct name but the crew on your wave swinger outside of x base is incredible on the mic...Congrats to them, total bosses. Anyways grabbed my food and then headed to Vortex. Great day btw haven't mentioned it so far, no lines whatsoever, maybe 10 min but that's it. Rode front car for the first time, I'm used to riding the best seat 7-1' but gave it a try. Its nice because you really do glide through the inversions, but back is still the best for airtime and overall experience. This crew over the mic was terrible btw, whoever the male was at unload 2 sounded more bored and unenthusiastic than the clear eyes commercial' that is a feat unto itself. Oh and a last minute note I jotted down, has Vortex always had extra supports a the bottom of the drop or have those been added over time to reduce stress in critical ride points? I know arrows have been known to not evenly space their cross beams that secure the rails but that didn't look like it was built with the ride and added later. I noticed this while I waited 10 minutes to ride beast. Afterwards tried back lot, they were stacking and barely hitting any interval and their 15 min posted wait was moreover a 30 minute+ wait. I did get on beast after skipping this. Train one, row two right seat. Hoooooooooooooooolllllyyy shiiiiiit best ride since opening day first train loaded dispatched. It was the smoothest and best I've ever seen out of beast honestly this season. Not sure why but I'll def try again to compare with the other two trains and as the season progressed. Beast platform was OK, but she repeated her spiel every train so it was kinda a broken record going on but ah well. After this went over and rode Diamondback. Also another unruly guest experience. Ride ops who currently work the Park, watch your queues. I caught these three girls trying to catch up with the rest of their group about 20 minutes in front of the queue. I called out and caught them they kinda disregarded and I yelled a bit more to get their attention, mind you they only had two rails open in the main queue house so this was still before we even got to those queues. She decided to keep going so I got out of line and grabbed the ride op, as soon as I pointed them out they left the queue. I got back in line, funny enough I noticed them on the second rail about 10 minutes later. I was amused at how she and her friends (14 year olds, as stated) tried cussing me out and yelling at me, ect...oh this was beautiful...I think my military demeanor and previous ride op experience kicked in here...mouths dropped off of these preppy girls...I really wish I could high five myself...many things were yelled quite loud, direct, and involved some vulgarity of my own after being thrown a couple of words at me already...I don't think this is an appropriate place to repost said scenario. Anyways lesson learned on their part, and now lesson for ride ops especially since I notice it a lot here. Watch the queues its not fair to people before the cut and honestly if they do it once they'll do it again and it just creates problems. Its not hard to screen your line st entrance and watch the queues. Now for Diamondback ride. I rode brown train unfortunately this year that seems to be the rougher of the three IMO but I did ride the very last seat for the first time, usually I'm forced to ride somewhere from the front half up due to the group km with and have only ridden very back like twice. But wow, was I shocked at the first drop...beautiful jolt that I don't remember from riding it before. From there I came up and rode Drop Tower which was good as always, its one of the few rides in the park that still really gets me..I hate that thing but I love it. Afterwards, I walked up to see what slingshot was like price wise. It was 10 but being military the guy bumped it to to 5 bucks.. never have i ridden this before, I always saw the price and kinda said screw it. For paid attractions wow.. this ride is just incredible in so many ways the suspension, the excitement prior to it, the launch, airtime, invasions, and just wow...breathtaking excitement for my first time. It still doesn't beat skyscraper at Cedar Point for me that's my favorite ride of all time to this date for extra attractions, but darn...any day its that same deal I'll hop on it. Lastly, rode tower and got to see the fireworks. Good shoe, got down, talked with girlfriend and went home. Good five hours in the park, good rides, eventful guest encounters, and not crazy busy and great weather. One of my best ki trips of all time, but so far best trip this year thus far...minus the unruly M******'s. Ah well, good day marks my 7th trip this year so far, many more to come.

I'll be there...girlfriend got the day covered too so instead of working in the park she will be doing the tour with me

Same here...waiting in girlfriend to get done closing her ride and then head home, details tonight

Not sure I just got out of fof, let me look and I'll let you know

So just got to the park so it's not a true trip report just yet but thought I'd ping in...in line for FOF now, 35min wait not too bad, parking kit about half full maybe a tad over that...good day so far. Anyone wanna meet up or whatever maybe catch a few rides if anyone else is here. If not ill keep people in the loop with park details as much as I can

^So much for decoding 2014

KI 2014...Enthusiasts want a ride, preferrably a coaster...No KI developments yet, decoding in standby. Waiting for further information

Speed and height aren't everything... Guess someone wasn't too impressive with the ladies hahahaha

Bringing branches into this eh? At least coast guard wasn't brought up haha...but meh...army are a bunch of cool dudes to work with but Jesus christ...they do some stupid **** haha. Their leadership is really good though, great supervisors p, ours should take a look from time to time at some sncos and the discipline they instill... But meh, air force isn't afraid to set down what were doing and save the day from time to time :-)

I just want a coaster...as long as one goes in I don't care. A B&M giga to me would be exciting because I haven't ridden Levi. at CW and I would like to see the outcome of this, plus it'd really put KI up there w/ the big boy parks. However, the park is in desperate need of an invert IMO, plus B&M inverts can be quite exciting for how they're done. But like I said, my speculation is done for awhile, the new signs & all tbh just seems like creating buzz & hype over the new stuff but nothing is really in development there. From opening day to now, not much has changed yet, so I'm not going to hold my breath & wait just yet

I'll help if assistance is needed like I said, the corkscrew seatbelts were a ***** for guests I won't lie. However we can tell who fits and who will do the walk of shame. For instance for corkscrew the bars on the side, if the harness was above them we knew they wouldn't fit, if it was close, we would assist, but we could somewhat tell.

Parking fees then for this or no?

On mil base & don't have access to much. 1 Do season passes grant admission or do we still buy a ticket. 2. Date & times for stuff. 3. Any other deals..Been to CP gay day & it's a blast, might go to this one if it doesn't contradict

Right..I'd help a bit to see if I could get the restraint in or if they were just having difficulty with the belt which was a usual case, but if it didn't secure, I'm not pushing or slamming you in. I'm not promoting obesity here anymore. Going from on a military base and going off base, I see a big difference in waist measurements

I'm just going to wait for more development, and leave this dormant...last time I was there, they had a bit more, but nothing too crazy just yet. I'll just be patient and wait it out. I would think they'd be moving constantly but it's in short small spurts of construction & development. In due time we'll see what we get

Heartline roll to be removed once testing completed...Returned to Maverick as a grand reopening

I will say, favorite soundtrack was the Crypt inception music. Even though the music was tailored to the movie, the queue music fit actually quite nicely. Also ride music for that was great too, but terrible cycle. TR:TR will still be better no doubt esp. because of themining & whatnot, but the music was great. Plus to really hear that fanfare at the end of the cycle was awesome, they def. made it blast. Beast queue music is still awesome too, I forget what the current track used for it is, but I do like it. Transformers--Arrival to earth for Top Gun...No Drop Tower is awesome, but barely heard once you start moving & now they spiel safety info at ride start, but in the queues, it's awesome unless it's an hour long queue, then you get tired of it haha.

The God darn Batman haha I used to start spieling in French on platform at Corkscrew at times...priceless reactions

Tickets purchased, should be a fun day. Getting out of WPAFB Fri & heading in the park, enjoy a few rides, have this event at KI saturday, then head up to CP sunday for gay day shenanigans before coming back on base...Good times haha

Vekoma that dives underwater & interacts w/ Beast Track Lulz

Cedar Point: Magnum Force Ocean Erie Millenia Force Does corkscrew go upside down Deaths at CP Magnum is rough because it's made of wood This job has made me loose faith in humanity

Best prank...Working whatever ride I was on, usually corkscrew or something...I'd get the whole station to clap and cheer as the train rolled in. I'd ask them how their ride was & congradulate them for being the 1millionth riders on corkscrew or something, it always changed, and ask them if they were ready for their prize...It was either the exit to go see the rest of Cedar Point, or just nothing haha...The face of sheer excitement and awe, then to instant...fffuuuu..beautiful

I like Kings Island, yes I'll still love cp more just because that's my park and my rides...these are things that could shoot this park up big time though and help... I agree matt is all about the guests,..that's why there's a big change coming through the Parks as I've stated...plus he loves Kings Island, I've seen it and I know it...he comes in and boom, several changes and new things, and honestly I kinda give him credit for sob demolition...all those years of leaving it there and playing with their thumbs...I honestly saw him as the one to say, alright, get rid of it, bad reputation, its been sbno for ages, let's get some new stuff going... Also as a ride op I still see the day to day operations of my rides and work with people of several other rides and have a good picture at what's going on. This also allows for a good inside look at the parks operations standpoint. Biggest reason I'd like to see more people moved quicker or interval hit better is plain and simple. Kings Island does not have very high capacity rides other than a few like diamond back, beast, Vortex, and I believe Adventure Express...everything else has low capacity...just improving a few things here and there and shaving off a few seconds can improve ridership. Two good examples showing the difference. At power tower this year the maint. department has been messing with the turbo drop primary tube charge a bit this season and it fills quicker and starts the drop sooner and ends the ride sooner..these few seconds mean every hour a few more dispatched can be sent which means more riders. Stuff like this is a great move for the park. However for my old ride changes this year by the new paramount lady are crazy..for instance now our one load has to only clear from the front and not the back always means after checking his whole train he must come back up to the front of the station to give his clear and he's the first clear in the order...so these few seconds hinder the ride, amongst other policies they started this year but those are for another time I need sleep for an early wakeup and long day on the base tomorrow... If you start with low capacity rides, then add policies that hinder reaching theoretical capacity, the lines move even slower and the ride moves less people. When you help these rides work their best, you get closer to theoretical, and more people ride. Plus the quicker they're out of the wishes, the more rides they get, the better guest experience, the more money guests have the potential to spend in the park on other stuff which brings the company revenue and helps with future plans, expansion, ect which I'm all for... I just want to see improvements to help...I'm not bashing to bash and drop down and say well y'all suck cp ftw screw ki...its constructive criticism...I just want to see the park get better at stuff, and this is one thing from my experience and knowledge I can see and know can be improved. Back in the day before Cedar Fair had ownership..it was either ki or Cedar Point. It was almost a battle as to which one to go and a decision had to be made, I don't see or hear that anymore. The park has great potential and has lot to work with and has a great track record and history thus far..all these improvements can mean a lot in terms of what guests get on a day at the park

Sorry for my absence long workweek and then enjoying four days off base away from military life haha..time to respond First in response...earning my credibility, OK understandable, whatever. Second in response I never worked kind...if you clearly read my signature block I worked at cp...also stated I believe in this page or a few others, and the rides I listed in this thread are all cp rides. I'll never work for ki, sorry haha. I'd go insane with everything that's out of whack. Plus I'm happy with the military now, no more amusement park seasonal work for me. Also stacking for me only involved guest illness, weather, VIP, or special access, other than that my crew was really good at busting ass when I was assigned to coasters. Plus when working Maggie you really can't afford to stack. Corkscrew we could but like I said, good crews. Also downing the ride means things like say cameras, loose articles, guests being stupid and unbuckling their seatbelts, etc. I was big on that crap and its still a big deal to me. As for Diamondback blocks, its ridiculous how the blocks are set up. If you have a train on the lift, as soon as it gets to top of lift area it enters next block. If train hasn't passed mid course brake it will stop st the top of lift as designed to prevent collision. So if train drops off, runs through the course, as soon as it clears mid course, dispatch should be enabled, and could actually be even earlier factoring in lift hill time. For instance corkscrew we could dispatch when it was halfway through the loop because by the time b was cleared its already a bit up the lift and hasn't hit the b entry prox yet. So the first train passes through the mid course, bang, dispatch. Train hits the end of the second block and stops at the safety brakes (what you call main brake). With this you have one train on lift/ running course, and one train in the station. The train before the station does not need to fully stop as those blocks are clear and can advance to the ready brakes (brakes before station). If you look at what I'm saying a fourth train is possible. However Diamondback already hits 1600pph and is one of the few close people pushers in the park in the same boat as beast and Vortex, ect. Dispatching at the end of the brake run as soon as it reaches the safeties is loosing time. As soon as mid course is clear or at a point on the track where you won't have to stop a lift because it'll approach b block and cause a b set it should be dispatched, but sadly is not the case. Mic use, I know coaster bob has a video here somewhere I'll have to see if I grab the link after im done typing, however you can even hear him say "I could stand here all day and listen to this guy talk." Also looking on Pointbuzz...our crew was voted as right up there for crews and our/my mic use was heavily praised as the best that year. But no...Kings Island doesn't spiel like us...you never really have you never will. Brief glimpse at spiel with one train op due to weather. Few Pointbuzz people about our crew...I even posted there on the old account, wow..anyways I still say wind seeker, Gemini, or Millie were the best crews that year, but for once we were right up there with them. We went from worst to close to the top, and that's a feat http://pointbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/26916.aspx?page=3 Unenthusiastic or not you still push the mic you still keep going. But no I know when you rotate and all that. I have many friends who work in the park currently so I know how operations work there..sadly they actually say practically the same thing as me regarding all of this. I asked my girlfriend if she would come on and vouch for all of this. She basically told me a good bit of ki ride ops don't like KICentral for various reasons, she works there right now so she doesn't want to loose her summer job, and honestly what I say should be good enough, it shouldn't have to be vouched, if you all can't see it its somewhat sad. As for cp vs ki for ride ops courtesy...I will give it to ki, my main focus is to get you on and off as quickly and safely as possible and make sure you're having a good time...ki ride op training and policies are a great deal different...its def showing now that an ex paramount employee is now in charge of ride ops at cp now..my old ride is getting destroyed with her new policies. I agree we needed to be a bit nicer and better with the guests...but that's what sets us apart in terms of what were here to do...at cpwere there to move the people on the rides and be RIDE OPS whereas at ki you are there for the guests experience Bringing in mantis...mantis would keep three trains if guests would cooperate and would not have been an issue. Having to constantly open and c,rose and recheck both seats and harnesses creates a lot of downtime on top of normal procedures. When we say stand up perfectly straight that doesn't mean slouch or sit on the seat, it means stand haha. Also I have been under the impression when opening there were three ops per side for load and unload, now there are only two so it increases time there as well..two train op allows interval to be hit better and maximize riders...

Lol that's why today even with as short of lines while I was in station you stacked on db... Also if safety is a priority...why did Firehawk have practically a safety every day for a month last season? A write up every day... Sadly I don't get how you think my attitude doesn't promote safety...I was a Nazi about that stuff when I worked there...I downed rides due to stuff like that cause I'm not dispatching people if something is wrong or they're doing something.. minors don't need to be ride ops, the ride ops need to be taught efficiency and ridership increased..Diamondback can theoretically have four train op same with beast easily. Last mini rant, spieling while I'm thinking about it...compare your Mic use to mine...epic fail on ki part...I hear more spieling on the way up the lift hill on beast than I do in the station...