Magenta Lizard

Opening weekend last year, the wait for Panda Express was, literally, two hours at prime time. This was due in large part to the employees not being "worn in" yet, combined with large crowds. It was very annoying at the time (there's a reason "hangry" is a term that has caught on), but it fortunately was not a lasting problem as the season progressed. I'm generally pleased with the plan, but like most things at KI, I purposefully avoid times when things get busy. My worry this season is still that RHoFG and Rivertown Potato Works are thus far missing from the website pages listing what meals/restaurants are included. Taking out two available restaurants, and only adding one in return, partway into the season when Soak City opens, is going to make lines at all the other restaurants longer. I'm still hoping they won't actually be removed when it comes down to it, but so far the park has been cagey about questions.

^If you see a 40-year-old woman with black pigtails, men's cargo pants or shorts, and rainbow colored shoes, please feel free to say hi to me! Once they open for weekdays, that's when I'll be going. And welcome to KIC!

It is a capacious miracle, that Banshee! It's funny that the number I threw out there that I would be ok with KI selling is exactly how many KD is supposedly going to have I had no special info, I promise

^ yes, that. It was a nice bit of theming with no good reason to remain missing (even if construction required its temporary removal). I was certain it would be back, and then it just... wasn't.

^wider, not taller. But I wouldn't advocate for that, personally.

^yep, that's what I was talking about on the last page. What's particularly scary about it for me is that I had my arms crossed at the wrists, and was not leaning to the side. I got jostled a bit just before entering the tunnel, and my arms shifted a little left of center over my head. And the contact point wasn't my fingertips but the corner of my wrist, so it could be contacted by someone with about six inches (the length of my hand) less reach.

Yeah, I just got a new TiVo this week and discovered my old one was lying to me by not picking it up. I'm very excited to be wrong! I'm annoyed I missed the first few eps this season, but I'm sure they'll replay them as a marathon here at some point and it will pick them up.

Well it depends on which tunnel you're talking about. And the scar on my wrist suggests they didn't feel the need to run clearance tests on the helix tunnels at that stage of tort law (still my fault for having my hands up)

^Like season-long drinks or dining, I would assume you could add it to your pass later, if it does become available this season.

Ah well, if the price goes up before I can buy it at the park, so be it. I'll either pay the new price, or not buy it at all, depending. But if I do buy at least I will know /all/ the money goes to KI rather than some price gouger that charges more than 50 times the processing fee of a decent online sales manager/credit card processor. Every time I've complained about that in the past on the boards, Terpy (still miss him!) would post something implying he thought maybe KI got part of the Accesso fee as well, but if I buy it at the park, I can be sure they do.

I think this would be an extraordinarily bad idea for KI. Remember what it was like when all renewing passholders got a single free one to use on something like one of six days? Remember how the regular line and Fast Lane ended up being about the same? Even though there is supposed to be a daily limit on the number of Fast Lanes? That was only 1/6 of people who had renewed early, not including new pass sales, etc. I suspect it was as though maybe 1/10 of passholders had a Fast Lane on each of those days. But most of us didn't care because it was free. However there were also some people who paid full price for their Fast Lanes (and probably tickets) on those days, because they didn't know about the copious free ones handed out. I bet that is money they will /never/ be willing to pay to Kings Island again, if they even come back. Now imagine this is pretty much every day, all season. Passholders have paid extra money to stand in line with mostly the same season passholders they would have likely otherwise. But, people paying full fare are going to be upset, and likely not come back again to spend nearly the same amount in one day at the park as some season passholders do all season. Right now, it is good for the park to have season passes relatively cheap, because when we fill the park, it makes regular guests (and a handful of passholders) much more likely to pay quite a bit extra to shorten their lines. However, if we start filling the Fast Lane lines too, it doesn't make anyone happier (including the season-long Fast Lane purchasers), and loses that extra potential big money from daily Fast Lane sales. So, unless the sale of these is limited to maybe 500, and/or priced a lot higher than a single day's Fast Lane (like, at least 5X), it would be a very poor financial move for a park like KI that is already so heavily passholder populated. I absolutely love KI and I want them to do well financially, even if it means losing something that might make things a little better for me. But I don't think it even would be a pleasant experience for the people who buy in. I think it is throwing away big potential money in return for trying (and likely failing) to make enthusiasts happy. I know personally as an enthusiast (with season-long dining added) I probably end up costing the park money over the course of the season. I don't want the park to fail because they've added more perks for jerks like me!

^ you were right about timing. The season pass paper cup refill option has been added to the Kings Island website for purchase. Hope we can also do it at the park because I hate paying accesso fees.

Not one you got wet on. It was little boats that traveled along a trough of water.

Parts of Days of Thunder's video were dated even when it started. I do wish there was still a motion ride in there tho.

^Does White Water Canyon count? Seems awfully rivery to me.

Aren't those cables attached to that stump at the bottom? It looks like there is some sort of connection on the right side of it there. That is really weird! I didn't notice any of that when I saw the snap. I think the red chicken scratches were meant to draw attention to the cables, tho. I'm intrigued even though I can't make head or tails of it.

A Christmas Carol was one story written in the tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas. It isn't the only one; it isn't even the only one written by Dickens.

They might only be giving first rider shirts to people taking part in the first rider auction. Does anyone know what Cedar Point did with t-shirts and their first rider auction? edit: heh, simul-post with Chris

For visual reference: The track presumably now comes through the area on the far side of the fence from the change machine in that pic. As I took it, the tubes to shoot at WWC were to the left and behind me. I think they will be preserved.

^unfortunately it seems to have been cancelled. At least there weren't any new episodes last fall. It sucks, because I really enjoyed that show.

^ I may not be the best judge of scariness, because none of them scare me (every once in awhile one might give me a jump scare), but... I would suggest either Board to Death or Carnevil. Both have some classic funhouse elements to them. Honestly, I think for various reasons, and depending on the person, Blackout could be one of the worst mazes to begin with.

From the first time I rode it in 1989 (and it drove my earring posts into my head) until a couple seasons ago, I was very much in the "tear it down!" camp. When I was still a young teen it always made me so angry to hear people play it up as the one to ride to show how brave you were. Beast was so much better! Then I had a friend (NoChickens) who I often ran into at the park around Vortex, and he wanted to ride it. I had heard about 5-1 previously, and rode that but wasn't impressed. NoChickens introduced me to 7-1, and I realized I could ride with very few punches to the jaw. As I learned to avoid the restraint in the spots it still hit me, I also learned to really appreciate the ride. I even ride it alone most visits now. I've been told that steel coasters have a lifespan, and have accepted that eventually Vortex will have to go regardless. But I'm hoping it is awhile before that happens. There is something beautiful about that turn before the first drop, when the entire park comes into view. I particularly love to ride at sunset for that reason. And that first drop is among the best moments in the park!

There are a couple panning shots of the ride on Snapchat right now.

Amazing work! Thanks so much for sharing with us!

^^ welcome back! You sure know how to make a comeback! Those are great pics