Magenta Lizard

Welcome to KIC KingsIslandJunkie!

My last ride this season was Adventure Express with my husband, during that gorgeous sunset we had closing day. Looking forward to many more rides with him in 2016, since we finally got him his own Gold Pass again.

I'm in awe, and a little jealous, of those of you who can keep track of your individual ride counts. Since I can rarely keep it in my head for even a short "marathon" (was that three times or two... Maybe four?) it would take significant work to do myself. Thanks to the computerized gate system, I do know one total: I visited KI 59 days this season. That's including my birthday, when I only entered the park to take a quick shot with the floral calendar because I was in the neighborhood anyway. The vast majority of those days I was there from ERT until close. I also finally went on Coaster Count this summer to see how many total I've ridden in my life. Although I don't really remember most of them, I went by what parks I visited during which approximate years, and assumed I rode every coaster available at that time (which I would have). That total is 47.

I saw him a lot this summer, taking advantage of ERT on DB. He's well rounded tho, I also saw him a number of times at Cirque Imagine. Really a nice guy.

Yeah, they just tweeted about that. Gary Coleman just took his 13,000th ride on Diamondback https://twitter.com/kingsislandpr/status/660473685439066112

The reason I thought this one was rented was that it's a very modern one, not a classic one someone fixed up. It didn't have any special touches I'd expect on one not currently operating, either.

I think somebody rented a hearse to come to the park in style tonight. It looks to be of the type currently in use, and raced past me in the parking lot on its way to handicapped parking.

If the Kaman employees regularly offered to take the pictures in front of the fountains, they probably would reach their quotas more easily and make more sales. That's one of the things that annoys me so much about it, they ambush you the moment you walk away from the gates: "stop, right there, as you're trying to get your bearings and put away your wallet, with the picturesque dark turnstiles area as a backdrop. Don't you want to memorialize this epic moment?" If it was a pic in front of the KI sign in front of the fountains, or anything else attractive or indicative of being somewhere special, it would make sense to pay someone else to take your picture. But it is clear they just are trying to force as many snaps as possible, without any respect to them being good pictures, something someone would be willing to pay for. The only worse background they could find in the park than the underside of the front gate would probably be a restroom.

Apparently today everyone is using their free Fast Lane for renewing. The line for Fast Lane at BLSC is all the way back to the queue entrance. The regular line is only about twice that.

That's a matter of opinion. I did not find it awesome when I did it last year. After a 10 minute wait for a train, followed by more than an hour of waiting in the woods while /only/ the Fright Lane passengers from several trains that came after mine went through the maze (and it being impossible to bail out because the only way back was through), finishing with a walk back through a predictable layout with minimal theming and tired and bored scareactors, I just wished they had let us continue to ride the train through some theming instead of doing the haunt at all. It had better /potential/ with the train, but it was wasted potential in my opinion.

Awesome! I've been on several Beast tours now, and I just can't get enough. I go on every one I have the opportunity to.

They should give Sam a half hour or so to go sample his wares...

I forgot to post this, thanks for the reminder.

The food is pulled pork barbecue, fried chicken, hot dogs, baked beans, pasta salad, corn on the cob, and chocolate chip cookies, with unlimited fountain drinks (unfortunately not Freestyle though). It's not bad. The first couple weeks, the front of the line pass was getting people into the skeleton key rooms. They have revised their rules, and it is supposed to not include the skeleton key room, now. The Fright Feast only includes one of these passes, so you can only use it for a single maze. It is $5 plus tax for Fright Feast if you have a gold or platinum pass with the dining plan. I believe it is ~$15 without any pass, or $13 with a gold or platinum pass without the dining plan. I need to recheck those figures though. Edit: online it is $14 without a pass, or $12 with one (but will have the accesso fee added on). I will have to double check the flyer I got last weekend to see if it is the same if you buy at the park. There are also apparently deals online where you can get admission plus Fright Feast.

I'm thankful for the respectfulness of the warning, too. Someone else pasted it directly in a post to a Facebook group for coasters, and the image showed up, un-warned and unwanted, directly in my Facebook feed. Here, at least, I could read about it without having to see it.

If you are who I believe you are (Stan, right?) you're awesome! You made a big impression last year when I just saw you interacting with people in line before they entered, even though it was briefly. This year, I was lucky enough to get to do the Skeleton Key room, and you made that very fun! Every actor at Slaughterhouse that I've had any real interaction with has been excellent. I love Mama! Of course, Sam is great in or out of character. Even the ones I haven't so much talked to manage to be the creepiest in the park. Is it wrong that a trip through Slaughterhouse makes me hungry? I may be disturbed.

Games! Trivia that can only be answered by hunting around the park, scavenger hunts, photo contests, etc. Tour of the second lift hill of Adventure Express! Lights-on tour of FoF. More speakers, this year they were one of the best things about an otherwise already awesome weekend!

i wanted to note that the $5 (plus tax) Fright Feast with all-season-dining is officially official now. There was a tweet mentioning it earlier today, and the flyer I just got at the parking gate mentions it as well.

I don't have pics, but from what I noticed, the letters seemed to be completely obscured by painted blood spatter. I thought it was a little odd, but thought it was a design choice rather than intentional de-theming. I think it should switch to Beta Omega Omega. Or even more clearly, Beta Omicron Omicron.

Considering the only real trouble I've seen so far this Haunt was a woman who was drunk and belligerent, it is a possibility. Which sucks a little for those of us who just get a little happier and friendlier when we drink. Some people seem to drink for the "excuse" to act like jerks, though. If drinking makes you into an entitled jerk... maybe don't drink.

I always assumed they bought a bunch of broken ones for cheap on eBay or something.

I went through Blackout again last night, and it was a lot better than the first time through. The ropes are helpful, and there were actual scareactors in the maze this time. The arrows seem to be replaced with much brighter ones, or they just weren't "charged" up the first time I went through. The best change was that they were allowing more time in between groups, and with the ropes to keep groups together, we weren't piling up so much anymore.

This was a surprise to see when I got here tonight:

Not from PT, that I know of, but the big vulture from The Beastie sign is hanging out near the Kings Island sign at the front of the fountains. I was so excited to see it!

It's a holdover from the time "smart phones" were new (specifically Blackberries) and it was a status thing to have one, and be "important" enough to use one for work. It quickly went from cool, to obnoxious and pompous, to hopelessly outdated and out of touch. See also "I'm calling you from my car phone!"