electricsun

It's a beautiful day at the park. A tinny bit chilly with the breeze but the sun is quite bright. Short lines for rides. We had a 15 minute wait for The Beast and now headed to the other "big" rides.

I'm surprised no one posted this video yet of a guy's friends recording the proposal. http://ktla.com/2015/09/26/life-is-like-a-roller-coaster-man-makes-touching-speech-during-proposal-at-indiana-theme-park/ If you listen to the video, you can hear them being told to put away his cell phone. Running the risk of losing the ring and getting hit by a camera - sounds...fun? Or stupid. (electricsun who is clearly not feeling sentimental tonight!)

I thought the display at The Beast was creative. I thought of it as a way to decorate for Haunt while not making things too scary for the younger guests (or adult scaredy cats like myself).

There was a (non-haunt) maze where I worked that had motion sensor boxes. I can't remember if it was triggered by a timer for a certain number of passes or distance the person was from wall. It played a short burst of sound as a person walked past. That small effect made so many people scream. The goal wasn't to terrify but to add ambiance. Small things like that can be very effective.

A high school friend lives near Charleston and has been sharing pictures from the local news. Thankfully, we are a bit west of Charlotte. Last night the wind and rain picked up for a against the house. We were talking about going to the Carolina Renaissance Festival tomorrow before I drive home. Nope, they closed for tomorrow too. The combination of the hurricane and fronts are doing a number on all the scheduled events this weekend.

Many events in Charlotte have been cancelled. The Carolina Renaissance Festival is also delaying its opening day to Sunday because of the unique weather conditions. We had a packed weekend of the boy's Friday halftime show and Saturday band competition as well as Autumn of Oz. All three have been cancelled. I do understand the why behind the cancellations, it's just disappointing.

We were so excited to go on Sunday. Unfortunately, the event has been cancelled because of the weather (concern of flooding, high winds and risk of landslides) from Hurrican Joaquin. Here are some stories with pictures to tide me over...and maybe encourage other folks to visit this curious place. http://dcist.com/2015/07/abandoned_states_the_not-so_abandon.php#photo-1 http://www.npr.org/2015/09/16/440770660/to-follow-the-yellow-brick-road-youll-have-to-go-to-north-carolina Electricsun...who is waiting for time where skies are blue.

I'm with Thrill_Biscuit. As amazing as it would be to explore other planets, there is still so much more on Earth that I want to explore and discover before I leave for a different planet.

A ride like Hershey Park's Laff Trakk would be a great use of that building space and height. Four people can ride together - whether all together or two sets of two. It's a fun ride that has the surprise turns and drops like a Wild Mouse but include a dark building with glow in the dark artwork. It says it spins but it wasn't wild or spun enough to cause me to get sick. It has enough elements for it to be a family ride but not too "little" that adults won't want to ride it. 42"-48" can ride with a responsible adult. My niece and nephews would have loved that ride. Take that idea and theme it around Peanuts...you have a great experience that can connect different generations.

Okay...two Haunt related questions as this has been on my mind the last few years. 1st - The names on the large mausoleum type buildings - are those current/former/notable team? Or just random names? 2nd - In the parking lot, several rows of the parking lot were blocked off next to (south side) of the large KI sign and middle grassy area. Is that to allow for easy access of emergency vehicles (if ever needed) from the main road? Or is it some other use? Having never been to Haunt in the evening, I was confused each time I saw it.

Yesterday was a great day at the park - nice weather and small crowds.

Planet Snoopy lines were picking up about 30 minutes ago. The Beast was a walk on and Backlot was less than a 10 minute wait.

But why do people search out fights and drama? Why do some haunted/scare events seem to be a target for such things? I personally dislike the saying "blank will be blank" as I think it gives people a blanket excuse for poor behavior. I know many calm level headed teenagers and I know some adults that fly off the handle at the hint of an slight because they jumped to the wrong conclusion.

So, what is the solution for parks to prevent these situations? What are steps they can take to show there is due dilligence to make these events safe and fun for their guests? I'm asking as I'm curious; I don't attend these events as they aren't my cup of tea so I have no experience with what could be the main cause and solution.

I'm glad Verbolten opened while you were there! It was a favorite in June. Before my visit, I was very much impressed by someone's enthusiasm for the ride and he said there was something completely different about the experience. I then made sure not to read anything about it until after my visit - which was super hard! I rode it twice, with the same theme, but once in the front and once in the back - the back was better for me. That ride...jeez...it was fun and nothing like I was expecting. There were several texts back and forth that may have included lots of exclamation marks. I can't wait to ride it again soon.

KI Planet Snoopy has a great variety of rides. I like how they have some of the bigger ones (Flying Ace, Surf Dog) next to the smaller ones. My niece and nephew have spent the last two or three years looking forward to getting taller so they can ride them. For them, being exposed to them let them feel as though it was a natural progression and it wasn't as scary.

That is a great point Terp! Just a candid observation but in my line of work, I've noticed an increase in snow days in the last few years. Some schools that would never call a snow day, are doing so. It makes it harder for the teachers as they have so much to teach their students before the testing window starts. Also, by shifting the calender forward, they can still end in May if there are a ton of snow days to make up. Districts can pad their calender to make sure they have enough days/hours of instruction even if there are several snow days.

A girl was trying to convince her friend to ride Lightening Run in the back row. According to her, the back row is much safer than the front as that is where stuff can happen to you. In line for T3, a guy and girl unhooked the chain and stepped into the line, basically cutting half the line for the front row. No one else said anything so I spoke up (which I know will suprise at least one person here!), and simply said "The end of the line is over there." His response was to just shrug his shoulders and they stepped out and to the end of the line. Methinks they've pulled that before.

WMAJrKY - with the time you posted, it looks as though you were leaving as I was arriving. The crowds were very light the entire day. Everything, except T3, was a 1-2 cycle wait. Cleanliness from my eyes still leaves a bit to be desired - restrooms were dirty and looked as though need a good scrub down - as well as still trash in the ride areas. While most staff was friendly, it was very odd to see a few with their cell phones. Saw a safety/police officer walking around with a mouth full of chew and a cup...blech. A bit surprised that it was allowed while working. The two groups of ride ops at Skycatcher were the friendliest and highest energy I had seen all day. As for the kid at T3, he continued for about 5 more minutes and it stopped quickly when a supervisor came up. I did stop at guest services to say something. The girl was a bit surprised but a guy walked up and told her that she knew who it was. Apparently, from what she said, the kid is a regular and most of the ride ops around the park will let him talk in the mic for a sentence or two. Here is my thought. This kid's enthusiasm is great! He clearly spends a lot of time roaming the park (not sure if there were adults with him as he was alone on the platform). The ride ops were getting a kick out of him. However, as a guest in the park, that was not a positive experience. I can see people wondering about the ride ops attention to the ride. And if that was my solo experience at the park, that wouldn't encourage me to return. Based on the guest services response, this is the norm. If that is really the case, I'm good with today being my last visit to KK. Edited for spelling and swapped words. Someone is a bit too tired to type coherently.

Last September, Blue Streak had a "roof" that was a bit terrifying as from inside it looked like tarp or trash bags covering holes. Weird question about the front car. Could it be so people can't look down and see the state of the track? I rode it once in the front row on the front car and there were several rough spots that very much deterred me from riding it again. When you look down and it looks as though wood is missing, that didn't sit well with me. But, hey, I could be overthinking it.

My phone is dying but oh good grief. Going on 30 minutes of an elementary aged student talking on the mic for T3. Giving instructions and talking about how much better T3 is to T2. As much as I love this age, this is not appropriate.

The lines in Fest Haus are long but moving quickly. I volunteered to watch the little kids while my cousin and her friend and the two oldest girls ride Banshee.

If you want some boos or an early taste of Haunt, there is a guy doing just that for guests outside of the KI Theater. He's very friendly and will pose for pictures. No me gusta.

Make that 25 minutes for Banshee. Drop Tower looks to be about that long too.

Wait time for Banshee seems to be about 35-40 minutes. Lots of folks walking in look like they are headed for Soak City. I'm just trying to get a few rides in before meeting up with a cousin and her girls.