Magenta Lizard

Saw something interesting and new yesterday at the park. As we were walking along International Street, in the distance I heard drumming and initially thought it was The KI Five. But as we got closer, next to the fountains, there was a man wearing a multicolored-paint-splattered white painter's outfit, sitting next to a cart that said "Kings Island Paint Dept" with two overturned big plastic buckets that he was playing like drums. If this is a sign of bringing back multiple types of wandering entertainment, I must say I am a big fan. I hope it won't be only on weekends tho, because yesterday convinced me not to go on the weekend again for awhile Another highlight of the trip was a couple free offers showing up in the app. I got a rock candy stick at Sweet Spot and a Sally keychain at Peanuts Emporium. I discovered that with the latest update, I have to set my iPhone setting to "always allow" location based services before offers will show up. I had it set to "while in use", and it would show ride wait times but no offers.

The wi-fi now requires you to click "I accept" in a browser before you can go anywhere with it.

In case anyone is curious, despite WDTN's assertion that "Diamondback breaks down" is one of the top five things you need to know this morning, it is indeed running just fine. Also, the path between Eiffel Tower and Beast is closed off for Banshee Brew Fest.

From a picture I saw on Facebook posted by someone who was at the park, it didn't appear to be very far up at all. Enough that the whole train was on the hill, but not much farther.

The road construction worker who was killed last week on I-70 received less news coverage in my Facebook feed than either yesterday's Diamondback evac OR the pigs that were spilled in the wreck near Xenia. My husband didn't even hear about the worker being killed except from me, but he forwarded me a link to the story about Diamondback tonight. I don't really know what to say about it except it has to do with a combination of media sensationalism and the public's desire for such sensationalism.

I was unaware it was even against the rules to carry alcohol into queues. The major difference in alcohol rules/sales I remember* from pre/post the Flight Commander death is that there used to be stands all over where you could buy beer but afterward they limited sales to a few locations like the Festhaus. *my memory is poor enough it should never be taken as gospel

I believe it is the same music as last year for the ring, yes.

I forget which station it was, but a news report popped up in my Facebook feed that was surprisingly non-sensational. Something like "ride evacuated safely after safety feature triggered." Somebody may be listening, finally

I'm kind of jealous that others can keep track of those things. My goldfish brain makes it difficult to even remember how many times and/or which rides I've rode that day. I'd have to be really concentrating, and keeping count on my phone as I went, which just feels too cumbersome to bother.

I know someone here with a count much higher than that, but I'll let her chime in herself As for me, I'm somewhere between 15 and 20 this season, I think? I lost count after 13.

Snake Pit. I have an addiction to the park as well. I figure as far as addictions go, it's probably a good one to have

It's an app that allows social media broadcasting and viewing of live video.

I can still watch the Periscope things, if I link directly from the post about them in the Twitter app to the Periscope app. It's almost impossible to actually catch them live. The Cirque one last Friday, my Twitter app alerted me to the post (I have it on immediate alerts for @KingsIslandPR and @DonHelbig just in case they post time-dependent tweets like tweet ups) and when I got to Periscope, it was already over.

And while the price for a regular ticket is higher the day(s) of the event, the non-drinking ticket stays $20, according to the website. Since I haven't decided yet if I want to go, that works out well for me that I don't need to buy in advance.

You mean, like video recording inside a water slide later the same day? I don't ever go to the wet side, but I'm assuming it's not allowed over there either. At least he wasn't endangering anyone else at that point.

I take back what I said earlier about the person with his cell phone out being escorted from the park. I found a video he posted that touches on the incident, and while he was taken to a room somewhere where he filled out a written statement he was apparently then allowed to return to the park. Even though he directly told security that he had his phone out on the ride. I'm not going to post a link here because I don't want to bring him more internet attention. I know I personally won't ever bother trying to report jerks with their phones out after seeing how this was handled. If one hits me, you can bet I'll sue everyone possible, including the park although it pains me. They really need to take this seriously, because their current laissez-faire attitude is laying them wide open for liability. It isn't a question of if someone will be injured, it is only a question of when.

I think it's referring to the price for a non-drinking ticket to the event, not a ticket including a designated driver to get you home Suddenly I am more interested in this event!

We did learn yesterday that it is a bad idea to get mouthy when another rider chastises one for having one's camera out during the whole ride. The ride op may not have taken the calling out seriously (seriously?! Is it going to take a phone to someone's face before policy becomes actually calling security when these complaints are made?) but if an ensuing verbal argument between guests on the exit ramp lasts long enough apparently they /will/ eventually call security (and arguing that you are too special for the rules long enough gives time for security to show up). If the guy had just said sorry or acted in any way abashed when he was reprimanded rather than getting an attitude, I doubt he would have been escorted out of the park, which I believe to have been the ultimate outcome. Which should always be the outcome, at the very least, in my opinion. Since it is against state law as well as park policy, as far as I know, I don't think an arrest would be too harsh. I really want the park to begin to make their policy abundantly clear, before someone gets hurt (anyone else gets hurt?) getting hit by a phone. And to take it /very/ seriously when someone is so brazen that it angers another rider to the point of complaining, or when the employees themselves see it on the cameras. Even the brim of a ballcap hurts enough when you get hit at the speeds of Diamondback, for example. Getting hit in the face by one of these jerkwads' phones could cause someone to lose an eye. I don't want that to happen, or for the park to lose money in a settlement or lawsuit when an accident happens and their employees' history of blowing off complaints comes to light.

Ooh, it's functional too Hope it keeps better time than the floral clock currently is at KI!

Tuesday this week may be a little busier than an average Tuesday, because of Monday's weather. Since it is supposed to rain and storm all day today, many people may postpone their trip until tomorrow. Plus Tuesday is Cirque Imagine's day off, so if you go Tuesday you can't watch it (always a factor in my weekly planning)

If it was ciders, or even hard alcohol, I'd be all over it. But I just never got into beer :-/

Funny you mention it, I did see the daytime POV for The Beast on FUNTV while I was waiting for my nighttime ride on The Beast. Edit: as for rides from other parks, one visit I saw the Carolina Cobra multiple times. I feel like I've seen Millenium Force as well.

For some reason one of the racks of $5 t-shirts is now missing from Coney Confections. I think it will eventually return (I'm sure they didn't sell all the shirts that had been on it), but for the moment they're trying some new display configurations. Good news is that they have clarified the sale on their glassware. It used to have a sign saying "up to 70% off" leaving one with the impression whatever price was on the bottom was the sale price. However the sign now says "70% off" and I asked to make sure that was off of the marked prices and they said yes. I bought four of the brown ceramic Diamondback shot glasses and two of the blue ceramic ones. The marked prices on the blue ones was $1 higher, but they rang up the same price as the brown ones, less than $1 apiece after tax. Since I had been hoping for a repeat of last year's sale of $1 each (which I stupidly didn't take advantage of at the time), this made me really happy! If you're in the market for Kings Island drinkware, now is a really good time to buy! The selection isn't enormous but the price is right! Also, if you have the Kings Island app and you sign up with Facebook or email, when you are in the park, check the "offers and notifications" tab. There should be an offer of "Buy one, get one 50% off" at the Int'l Street Emporium shop.

This year I've noticed they seem to be doing a very good job of starting the red and blue trains at the same time.

Wait for Delirium is indefinite since it has been up and down all day. Down just after I got in line for it this time. I've waited about as long as I expected the line to take, most people have left, and now I'm trying to decide to stay or go :-/