Magenta Lizard

At the last one, Don strongly implied this will be an ongoing thing through the season. And this one is a different day of the week than the last one. Hopefully one will eventually be on a day/time you can attend.

Looks like they've got another one in the works for this Friday. I can't recommend it enough, especially if you've never been on one. The last Twitter-advertised tour ended up being very intimate-feeling compared to the attendance numbers of the other ones I've been on. https://twitter.com/kingsislandpr/status/603385361222541313

Les Taxis was one side of the antique cars.

If you're a bargain hunter, Coney Confections (aka the "everything $10 and under" store) at the entrance to Coney Mall. They have a couple racks of clearanced t-shirts and ball caps, all for $5 each. They add new ones periodically, so it is always my first choice for shopping. The only problem is typically each shirt will only be available in one or two sizes, and sometimes they will have sun bleaching from having been in other shop windows for too long. There are some other discounted things as well, and if you're looking for merchandise for rides that no longer exist or have been renamed, it's the most likely place to find it. The 80's shop is fun. I'm always finding interesting things I never saw elsewhere. The Sweet Spot is not to be missed. Freshly made fudge, caramel apples, and other confections. A wall of pick-a-mix candy including saltwater taffy in my favorite flavor: maple bacon!

Zephyr used to be my favorite, but when I rode it last year, I discovered it triggers my problems with spinning that came with age. WindSeeker, however, with its larger radius, doesn't cause me any nausea at all. I don't have problems with Shake Rattle and Roll either.

I usually only ride it on days when I've decided to ride all of the coasters at the park, but it is a surprisingly enjoyable little ride. I would ride it more often except its line doesn't move very fast, and I feel like I'm looked upon a little suspiciously being a lone middle aged woman riding what many consider a "kiddy" ride. That's actually one of my big annoyances that the Gliders were put in Planet Snoopy too. It's more of a family ride, but its location makes people think otherwise. And the music over there... :-|

Its thrill rating is higher because of its extreme height. Personally, I have to say that it is the most secure you can feel at that height, though. The very first time I rode it, it felt like being swept up there by magic. Exhilarating and not at all frightening. I find the Eiffel Tower more scary. If your daughter is ok going up in the Eiffel Tower, and especially since she's showing interest, I think she would enjoy WindSeeker.

Not about 2016, but Today is continuing its series on roller coasters with a visit to Cedar Point. It's showing sometime within the next half hour.

Thanks for the encouragement After the first half-day or so, I got so involved with enjoying myself and documenting my own experiences, I couldn't really keep up with what anyone else was doing. At the end, I just knew I had done everything I could* and hoped for the best. At the time, I couldn't help but feel if I had managed to garner the elusive @KingsIslandPR retweet like @kittenpooh did the first day, and gained that exposure, that I might have come out on top. But, I've finally gone and read what she was posting, and I will admit that by and large her tweets are more interesting and better written than mine were on average. I was too excited about the Twitter part of the contest to be paying attention to the Instagram one given first. Who won that? I only remember it was a guy, and someone mentioned all three of us winners were Coaster Crew members. * well, I could have stayed past 8 Saturday and continued tweeting, but I really needed the little sleep I got, and I could have focused more on tweeting and less on spending time with friends the last few hours Sunday but I don't regret that, either. It's been a long time since I laughed so much!

You could upgrade to a platinum pass if you'll be near another Cedar Fair park or parks. It always pays to go talk to customer service, too. Often accomodations can be made for special circumstances, and it can't hurt to ask.

I found out when I visited Friday that his name is Benjamin Franklin. His lady friend is Martha. He really likes to show off!

That is tough, because there were so many great parts. Dennis Spiegel's presentation stands out as being special. He was a very personable speaker, with tons of interesting history and information. The impromptu speech during lunch on Sunday was also quite entertaining. Just getting the chance to geek out and spend time with other coaster fans was fun as well. The variety of swag, and especially the souvenir cups were a pleasant surprise. Obviously, winning the Twitter contest, cool photos and a couple tickets to use to bring my husband to the park in the future were a highlight! The contest forced me to be more observant during the weekend, too. More behind-the-scenes! I would love to get the chance to go inside the Flight of Fear building, the final lift hill of Adventure Express, inside Fort Coney. I realize this may not be feasible, especially with such a large group (smaller groups with special scheduled times throughout the day would be nice), but you don't ask you don't get It would also be nice to get inside the train maintenance building as we all thought we were going to this year, only to be told at the end it was "the rain contingency plan" (to which everyone who heard/has since heard replied "wish it had rained then!")More speeches/park history. I can't get enough! I can't think of anything I'd like less of. Except bad weather, possibly, but if it kept the crowds down a bit, I can't even really complain. I would like to see some sort of park scavenger hunt/trivia game. Things we couldn't just look up online, but would need to hunt down within the park or pay attention to during tours and presentations. Spoiled! I feel like the people responsible for this event went far above and beyond what I even hoped it would be. As a whole, I absolutely loved the weekend. There were only two small let-downs or snags for me on the entire weekend. First was not getting to go in the train maintenance building, but the park history, being behind the scenes, and getting selfies with the set pieces (and Don Helbig ) made it well worth the time anyway. Second was an issue trying to get refills on Sunday. My first one didn't scan properly at all, but the young employee went ahead and let me have it when he saw my Coasterstock lanyard. However, the second time, it scanned as $1 refill and the employee hadn't even heard of Coasterstock nor really understood what I was trying to say about being told we'd be getting refills free both days. No supervisor was available (I told him he should talk to them when they were, though, because I'm sure he was going to encounter more of us), so I went ahead and paid. As always, Customer Service at the front gates put things more than right. She was going to exchange my cup for a new one so it would give free refills, but I was tired of carrying it around anyway and planned to stick it back in my vehicle for the day, so I told her not to worry about it. She also gave me five Beagle Bucks in return for the $1 I spent on the refill. I don't think I'll even use any of them because they're cool So even the small negatives ended up being positives overall. Can I buy my ticket now?

Sorry to continue hijacking the thread, but yeah, they are getting really hard to find, and it makes me crazy. I've been to a great number of festivals within an hour drive of me, and it has dwindled down to the one woman I mentioned, at least as far as I've found. There used to be a different trailer/operator at the Miamisburg Spring Fling (where I often left with more money than I started!) but it hasn't been there the last three or so years. Playing the quarter game and visiting different festivals searching for quarter games used to be the highlights of my summers, before I got my season pass to Kings Island last year. I haven't found any other kind of gambling I enjoy anywhere near as much. If they had them in Vegas, I'd probably have spent a lot more money than I did.

I finally scanned in the photos I won for the Twitter contest. I know a lot of the others at Coasterstock were really excited to see them, which was why I set up an impromptu photo shoot for some other fans on the pavement near the front gates right after I got the envelope I think I nearly gave Don a heart attack by laying them out on the ground because he came over and asked if I was enjoying my very rare photographs?! I was just in a very sharing mood after spending the weekend sharing all my experiences through Twitter. Anyway, this is a better (safer) way to see them. Since they're big, I don't want to post them in the thread, but you can get to them in this directory: http://crowchet.com/images/ki/ While the Phantom Theater picture and logo are very special to me (I really miss that ride!), I think my favorite of the bunch is Screamin' Demon with snow on the ground, before it even opened. That's one I only wish I could have ridden, it was removed long before I got into coasters.

Yes. You can also buy discounted admission to Dinosaurs Alive for others you've brought with you.

On three row cars, the center seat isn't over a wheel, so it is smoother. It wasn't your imagination. I rode Racer on a "wheel seat" last year, accidentally, and it vibrated so much it made me think I had gotten too old for riding Racer.

I'm talking about these: http://midwaymarketplace.com/wp-content/uploads/awpcp/dozers-trailer-1-large.jpg I used to have a pic on my phone of a close up of the playing field when it was about to pay off big, but I had to delete it for space. I think I have it on my computer but can't access it at the moment. If I find it I'll post it. I kind of swore last year at the Brookville Community Picnic that I wasn't going to play it as much this year (just a couple hours before the fireworks Saturday night, rather than all afternoon and evening Friday and all day Saturday) after the operator was extremely rude to me (we had previously been on quite friendly terms, I don't know what she was going through but she definitely was different). I don't think my resolve will hold out when the time comes around. Until she was so rude to me, I had been actually following her game the previous few years to a couple of other festivals in the fall which are an hour or more drive for me. I love that game. I almost never leave with more money than I started with, but I get hours of entertainment out of playing. It's way cheaper than the movies when I consider cost/time. Edit: found the pic That's actually only the left half of the playing field, the chute for the quarters is on the right side of the pic. Looking at it makes my fingers tingle, wanting to play!

Local festivals have them fairly often, still. Local high school principals, etc, are very popular as the dunkees. Trying to remember if there was one at last year's Brookville (Ohio) Community Picnic. I'm a bit of a festival junkie because of a specific type of carnival gambling I love. The Wizard of Oz coin pushers at KI are the closest I've found to a good quarter-dozer trailer. I go to a lot of festivals hoping for a good quarter-dozer.

It's funny how things sometimes turn out. When Days of Thunder (the first Action Theater attraction) was added, I thought "wow, these acceleration rides are the wave of the future!" Ones only large enough to fit a couple people were brought to malls everywhere. They were popular and fun! Now interest has dwindled to almost nothing, while classics like Troikas and woodies keep trucking on (ok, some of them). I have to assume maintenance on the acceleration rides, in addition to consumer boredom (I guess that while other rides don't have a story, the scenery is always a little different every time you ride) is what did them in. I'm sad I missed the Spongebob years.

It is one of the most awkward coasters in the park to get into. I once managed to get my ankles crossed and both feet under the same side of the little foot bolster. I was worried they were going to have to dismantle it to get me untangled, but with a hand from a ride op I was able to fix things. I still like the restraints better than the old ones. I rode it once when it was new, and said "never again." (2. Partly because I didn't put my head against the rest for launch) 5. Now it has become one of my favorites, and is a must-ride when I'm at the park, usually more than once. 4. As for seat placement, my favorites are the front seat and front of the back car. I prefer the front of any car to the back of cars on it because otherwise (3.) I feel like the front headrest blocks off what little view you already have on the ride. 1. I find that early in the ride, after the launch, I have to make a concious effort to keep my back loose. If I tense up, sometimes I'll wrench my neck, etc. It's probably a result of my age and scoliosis, though.

It was open as of yesterday I know for sure. I haven't seen it closed again after the first time it was opened this season, a couple weeks in.

I got desperate and looked at the website No shows Tuesday Saturday: 1:30, 3:30, 5, and 7 Other days 3, 5, and 7 I've got to get going if I'm going to be there for the first show

The theatrical colored lights have been on /most/ of the times I've rode this season, and I've been there 11 days so far, riding at least once per visit. I agree they offer the best experience.

So, the app isn't showing Cirque times, and they didn't have the new times guide out when I was at the park yesterday... When is it showing? I am trying very hard not to use up gas driving down there just to watch Cirque tonight, but I have a feeling I may not be able to resist. Wouldn't want to show up at the wrong time if I end up going.

So, the app isn't showing Cirque times, and they didn't have the new times guide out when I was at the park yesterday... When is it showing? I am trying very hard not to waste gas driving down there just to watch Cirque tonight, but I have a feeling I may not be able to resist. Wouldn't want to show up at the wrong time if I end up going.