bjcolglazier

You can see it live on the Diamondback webcam, too.

I'm not sure we could ever figure this out such that everyone would be happy. It really depends on the ride, doesn't it? If you've ridden the Banshee more than a time or two, chances are you've sat right next to someone you didn't know. It's just how it is. I hope nobody EXPECTS to get a row to themselves---or even an open seat between them and another person on that one because I'd say you're asking too much. On Diamondback, my daughter and I---on the rare opportunity it arises---we'll queue in rows 7 & 8, for instance, each behind a single rider, and hop on with them. We'd rather do that than sit next to each other and have to wait for another train. Plus the seats on Diamondback are far enough apart in both rows that I might be inclined to do the eye-roll if someone suggested that they wanted the entire row to themselves. Prior to reading this thread it was not something I had even thought twice about though. On other rides that are tighter I understand why people would prefer to ride alone, especially ladies and small children. Although I would hope they would at least consider doubling up when comfortable enough to do so.

My vote is for a 150+ MPH, 500-foot strata-coaster. Simple enough. Should be able to build that over winter, right? Won't take too much park space, but it'll drop Formula Rossa down a notch, as well as Kingda Ka. :-)

The webcams on the Kings Island website are no longer just minute-to-minute still images. There's live streaming video as well. As a long-time stalker of the webcams, this is a very exciting upgrade. :-)

Rode for the first time yesterday morning with my 15-year-old daughter in the same glider. Never ridden one of these before, but I told my daughter, "I want to control the handle thingy". She'd never ridden either, but being in Planet Snoopy with an apparently too-ultra-cool teenager I got a, "Pffft, okay dad" response. Anyhoo, we both really liked it! I was able to get it whipping up and around pretty good, much to ultra-cool daughters surprise. My wife watching off-ride even made her fingers into an "L"---to symbolize "loser"---as we were going around. Apparently I was the only one taking the ride to its limits...lol. Being as it is in Planet Snoopy, and cannot handle a large quantity of riders, I probably will only ride again if and when I see a really small line. However, I really enjoyed it, and would be more than happy to do it again when the opportunity comes.

Anybody on here ever worked at Kings Island operating one of the coasters? Is it even possible that a human-error "oops I hit the wrong button and released that train" type of thing could happen? Sounds possible though not ideal to me, but I've never been behind the controls, or even seen what they look like. I'm thinking a computerized system where it says, "Hey, I haven't received a signal that Train 2 has reached its necessary destination, so Train 3 isn't going anywhere" would make total sense as a fail-safe. Anybody know how they work, and typical fail-safes on coasters these days to prevent such collisions?

It's hard on the shins. Or at least that is my experience---my biggest "complaint", if I truly have one, about this ride. Your legs are not extended in a "Superman" position. Knees are bent, with shins right up against one of the lower restraints.

Looking at some pics online, and yeah...pretty sure you could hold hands with the person(s) next to you.

The Firehawk has only seen me once. I'll ride it again at some point. Probably. Maybe? Nobody has fallen out yet, but it does not score high on my comfort rating scale. It's obviously very safe. The "shoulder harness" you mention is unlike any of the other rides. Hold on all you want...it might not make you feel much better...lol.

When I remember my very first visit to Kings Island a few decades ago, I honestly can't remember very much. At all. Seriously. But there is one thing I remember, and I remember quite vividly. The Beast. It's 2015, and I suppose times have changed a bit. Today...I prefer Diamondback, as does my daughter. But for so long The Beast was the most frightening and amazing thing I could ever have imagined or experienced. An incredibly special ride.

Call me lazy, I think it would be more fun had they really themed it well, and made it some sort of ride. They spent a lot of money on that, and I don't think it was worth it. I had much higher hopes prior to seeing it for the first time. And it's beyond dreadful on a really hot day.

Nope.

While the parks that I visit offer All Day Dining plans, they do not have a "Pass Holder" version. Can't imagine why. Maybe some are going out of their way to use the dining plan 3x per week. Park won't make much off of them. Might even lose money on them. But I watch the webcams, and the park has been pretty well vacant relatively speaking all this week. People are showing up on the weekends, but it's really early in the season so hard to say whether they are losing too much yet I would guess. But what they may or may not be able to measure is how much extra they make keeping people in the park. First year with a dining plan for us, and there's no way they'll lose money on us. I'm hoping for a win-win honestly. But what they have is all of our money up-front. Much of which would have likely been spent at McDonalds and Burger King just down the road had we not bought the plan. It also keeps us in the park when we otherwise might decide to eat lunch elsewhere, to head back to the hotel and swim, or go to a movie, or whatever else. So we stay in the park, buy more soda's, maybe some ice-cream, the occasional souvenir. I think they should be really careful screwing with people on this one. I want the park to make some money, but I want a deal at the same time. And they will most certainly make less money if the masses leave the park (gasp!---has to be a mortal sin in the business to encourage folks to leave the park) and do not stay and find other ways to spend the money they are "saving" by using a dining plan. Just my thoughts...

Hilarious!!!

Lowering the price 6-cents is! :-)

One thing that drives me bonkers is they won't include/eat the tax, and just make refills $1 even. I already bought their overpriced cup that I'll probably forget and ruin in the dishwasher so I have to buy another, and soft drinks for them are beyond cheap to sell. The $0.06 extra means I have metal change in my pocket all day long, and it's really super-annoying. Just one of those little, very minor things, that I would be thrilled to death if they would 'fix' it. :-)

Wow. That's crazy! I'm glad you got your stuff back. Could have been worse I suppose. It's been awhile, but I've stayed at some nice, clean, cheap Red Roofs before. Too bad that one is not up to par.

For me, the best seat in the park is the very back seat(s) on Diamondback. Being pulled over the top by the rest of the train on that first hill is amazing! Then push your hands back on the splash-down to get cooled down.

Family of 5 here. We always stay at this little motel in Lebanon called The Shaker Inn. 10 minutes from the park. I don't know if it qualifies as "budget", but it does for us. It is always clean, and a nice little family owned place. Might not fit everyone's style though. Single story, slightly old-school. But the rooms are excellent if you want sleep and a shower.

Sometimes there's zoning laws at play as well. Probably not often, but it depends where you've put your park. You can't just build a massively tall structure wherever you want...no matter how you light it up for air traffic.

They play Chicago on Sunday, May 24th. Cincinnati on Tuesday, May 26th. Which leaves Memorial Day as an open day on their calendar. Hmmm.

My family is a family of 5, and we have Gold passes, despite the 3-hour-drive to the park. We also buy Fast Lane several times a year. Certainly not every time we go, but maybe four or five times a season. Those days are amazing! And it's one more way for the park to separate us from our money despite getting "free" entry. One thing that surprises me a little is that they don't track who is buying Fast Lane. There's no discount or other incentive for season pass holders buying Fast Lane (not that I'd expect anything major anyway), but providing some minor incentive would allow them to have some record of who is buying. I would think that would be valuable data, but maybe I'm wrong. They can track practically everything else season pass holders buy in the park, after all.