Aug 3 and kicentral.com VIP day (Aug 4)

[deb]

Hello there boys and girls. Today we will be discussing my recent trip to KI on Aug 3 and 4. Please open your textbooks to page....

wait a min, I got 2 more weeks til school starts again... scratch that. Here's what I wanted:

We woke up late on Friday, but still made it to the park by about 11:30. We headed straight for Waterwo... Boomerang Bay and tried to find a lounger to stretch out on. Yeah, right. There were NONE. So we sat down at the umbrella covered picnic tables at the Bar for a few until we saw people packing up and leaving the wave pool area, then we went to find a place to sit. (Keep in mind, I woke up and drove 40% of the way from home, all with a severe migraine headache.) We didn't. As we were walking back towards the north end of the pool, we saw 2 loungers (the nice blue ones) together with nothing on them, so we stretched out. My hubby took off his sandals and went for the pool. He had no more than got into the water when some woman walked up to me, and in the most snooty voice I have ever heard said, "You have our chairs. We were here first. You need to move!" I said, rather p*ssy, " Fine, sorry. There was NOTHING here when we sat down." "Well, were here first, you need to move!" I just ignored her, got our stuff, and walked back to our beautiful little picnic tables. It wasn't that she wanted me to move. It was the manner in which she went about DEMANDING it. And then, as I walked away, I heard another woman ask her what *I* did with her towel. I did not touch her towel. Then I heard her tell the towel searching woman, "G*d, they will do ANYTHING! You have to have a towel on the chair or someone will walk right up and steal it! *huffing*" My hubby came back up, saw I had moved and came to find out what was going on. I told him, and he was SURE she was watching and waiting to see if he was going to leave. I've gotta say, this was the rudest patron I have ever had an encounter with at KI. I mean really, she wasn't even wet, there were no kids, and who knows where she had been, and we'd been there a good hour before she came up to me. You'd think she would have been nicer about it.

Ok, on with the tr. After that we went to the Lazy R.. Crocodile Run. There was a line, and a lifeguard with his mop handle measuring children and holding the line. First time I'd ever seen that this year. We waited about 10 mins, I think. The slow movement helped my headache, but it was short lived. Sunlight can make it 200% more intense, and that's what it did today. Once we got out, we sat down for a but because I was still feeling pretty icky. I hadn't eaten much since a 7 am breakfast, so we decided to go to Taco Bell and get some grub. We went in to enjoy some good A/C, but that only aggravated my headache too... and I then wished I'd opted for some grub other than tacos... let me just say they are much less painful going down.

So we went across the street to the BP, I bought a map that had Mason in it, and sat in the car at least 20 mins when one of the guys that work in the store came out and asked if we needed help, and then gave us directions to Bethesda Hospital in Lebanon. I gotta say, that is one of the best ERs I've ever been in. I've never had docs that were sympathetic to my needs, listened to me, and took everything at face value. My only complaint was I had an IV line that blew, then one that stuck, but I had a shot in my hip instead of using the IV, so I had 3 needles where as it could have been just 1 had the nurses just chilled and let the doc do the diagnosis. The doc even gave me scripts for meds because he knew we were out of town and would be sticking around for the weekend, and because he knew they didn't make the meds I normally use (midrin) any more. I can say, though, the pharmacist was a little "slow" maybe? Not sure, but I know he messed up his meds cause one script was supposed to be $52 and he marked it out and gave it to me for $8.... On with the story.. (we did go back to the park once I was feeling better, but I have NO CLUE what we did... I rode Top Gun, and Monster- which had only 4 arms loading, and new bolts in all the arms...)

We stayed at the Kirkwood Inn in Lebanon, it's actually about 5 mins from KI. And I've gotta say, you really get what you pay for. We spent the extra $$ to have a jacuzzi room. These rooms are fantastic! And we got a GREAT breakfast that was comp... REAL scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, oatmeal, pancakes, muffins, fresh fruit, bagels, OJ, coffee, tea, juice... GREAT!

We got to the park at about 8:47ish, a little past when we wanted to be there. There was a lot of people already in the lot, and more at the entrance. Seems like many got in before the 8:45 posted time, because it took us about 10 secs after parking to get out and start walking. My bil (kenny, cheveytruck1960) and sil (donnell, donnell77) drove and parked in the reg parking right near Face/Off, and we met up at the trees in the median. I walked up and got our tickets from Ryan (I think... because I think Josh asked me if we had phoned in the order... you guys were talking about me!! But remember, I said, nope, I was a day late.. so I wasn't on the original list). Moving on, we sat down for about 5, then we got to walk through the metal detectors... first time I did not make them go off... I did not have my cell on me, it was DOA in the car, and I forgot my charger. (It's a Motorola KRZR, all metal) Scanned our passes then met the group at Paramount Theater for the FoF tour. I have to say, the tour was AWESOME!!! I had never rode KC, and after seeing the trains, I'm glad I hadn't. It really did not look comfy to me. It was also cool seeing all the spare parts on the shelves... And seeing the naked car and the OTSR on the single car. Brought back some ear aching memories! And after seeing it, makes riding it seem more fearful...

It was awesome to ride Firehawk with so little a wait. I believe we were on the third train out, the red one. It was odd to see that they started the red one on the right side then switched it to left for unloading (or did I dream that?) We were in the second car, I'd never been so close to the front. And it was cool that our pic had all 4 of us on it, last time we rode it we were split up because there was 5 of us. It was an excellent ride, and I only have 1 complaint, or more like a suggestion to future riders... Don't take your flip flop sandals off, especially if you have average to small feet (I wear a 7.5 - 8). There were points on the ride that I felt like my feet were going to slip out of the leg restraints, and I am positive that had I been able to pull my legs up farther, they would have slipped out. Better still, wear tennis shoes, like I should have. And I still closed my eyes, and looked like I had been hit with a frying pan in the ORP.

I really missed the SoB tour. I was SOOOO looking forward to it. Can't have everything, though. The scavenger hunt was a cool idea, it was just way too hot to run all over the park searching for everything. I can say this: I KNEW it was fish food as soon as I saw it. We had fed the fishies the day before, and lost 50 cents in one machine, told a dippin dots worker, who told us to tell someone else, who just happened to be a security guard, who said he's check into it and to tell Guest Relations for our 50 cents (we didn't) and who we also saw walking past the pier, seeing us watching him, then turning around to check it out. Some ID10T had pulled the Out of Order sticker off of it... and we didn't see the sticker until it was too late. Seems like instead of a sticker they'd just empty the machine... no one will put $ in an empty machine... Anyways, my sil SWORE it was Dippin' Dots, and I tried to tell her chocolate wasn't that color, and she said it was a different flavor.. but didn't know which. I should have said yep, it's dippin dots, fishie food flavor.... lol

From the Sign Shop tour (I think I'm out of order, but oh well!) we went to Rivertown Tater Works and got some chicken and monster fries. MMMMM that's some good stuff right there, but paying $16 is a little much...)

The Ice Show was fantastic! (special thanks to Ryan for letting me know I could grab a drink and take it!) I had never seen an ice show anywhere. I always watch ice skating on TV, but it doesn't compare to seeing it live. I've gotta say, the actors were fantastic, too. My hubby asked me why they were there instead of the Olympics... I had to explain the age/want to him... Not everyone desires to go to the Olympics. We were really tired by then, so we decided to walk around to get awoken. My bil/sil split up from us, said they were gonna go to the car for something, so Casey and I stopped off at the Henna Tattoos spot near Action Zone and I got a Henna Tattoo on my right wrist, inside. It's looking better every min and is almost at full color, and it's a beautiful butterfly that begins wrapping around. It cost us $20.14. About then is when we decided to find out where my bil/sil had vanished off to. Casey called them, took 3 tries to get an answer, and when we did we found out that they had left. Already. They paid $35 for both to come, did not ride anything but Firehawk (that we know of) AND missed the reason for the $$$, the buffet in the IR. I guess what irked me most about them not staying was the fact that they told us numerous lies as to why they left instead of the real reason (they used their infant as a reason, 3 different times, and the heat. They told my mil it was the heat- nothing about the baby- but really left so they could get back in town to go to the races and race that night. He put another driver in the ER due to a wreck).

After that, we went and caught a ride on Top Gun. We usually wait out the front seat, but we didn't have the time to wait through 4 trains, so we took the first front seat of a car we could find. Even after all this time, and all the rides I've taken on it this year(10, I think...), it's STILL my fav coaster. Then we got some Ice Cream, I found some lemonade, and we headed to The Beast backstage tour.

By now I had some pretty wicked blisters. I wore my fav sandals, and I usually don't have problems out of them. But since it was near boiling, my tootsies were sweating and my feet were rubbing my Birkenstocks. I've got a blister than goes all the way down to the muscle. But I did NOT complain. My shoes, my choice, and now my blisters that will scar me for life.

It was really neat seeing what we can't normally see on The Beast. I loved the enthusiasm of the riders. And again, if anyone has a pic of the "inappropriate gesture" please let me know, it'd make my week to have a copy of that!!

Dinner was great. Casey and I waited until everyone else had gotten a plate... we're used to it, he's got a huge family (2 brothers, 1 sister, and his Mom is one of 9, I believe, plus each of his aunts/uncles has at least child, most is 5 I think, and then they all have at least one child each, and then some of them have 1 to 4 kids of their own...) and we have a family dinner every year at Christmas. I do wish we had a few more choices for sides, not every one likes potato salad and baked beans(me) and it would have been nice to have some other healthier meat choices other than burger, hot dogs, and fried chicken. Not that it wasn't good (mmm, those burgers), I just would have been in heaven had I been able to have a salad with my chicken!

Ooh, here's the fun part. We went out to the car and took a nap. Well, at least Casey did. I was just sitting in the car watching SoB, Slingshot, Drop Zone, Face/Off, and Delirium. That's almost as much fun as riding them! (except DZ. I will never know of that insanity.)

( I had a "wardrobe" change between casey sleepy time and media presentations... I became "uber dork" by adding socks to my feet and wearing sandals. Apologies to anyone who likes socks + sandals, no disrespect.)

The media presentations were great. I must admit though, I did not know anyone in the "spoof" videos, except Maureen, and that's only because I saw the Firehawk promo video. They were funny, though. And we were prob the only people there that had NOT seen the 25th Anniversary Beast video. And it was neat to see the POV for the test runs on The Beast.. man, was that a FAST coaster when it first opened. I don't see how the riders stayed in their seats with those dinky bars way back when... I would have came flying out, or never rode again from the fear!!

After the videos we had planned on riding Face/Off because it was dark, but we decided we were too sore and tired.

We had a great day, and we got to spend a lot of time together. I did not meet anyone, I didn't introduce myself to anyone, either. I think since I was still reeling from a killer migraine the day before, the heat, and the fact that I had on a shirt that plainly stated I wasn't too friendly ("does not play well with others") might have had something to do with it. Don't worry though, I am not unapproachable, and I am quite friendly. It just wasn't one of my better days.

oh, yeah, and again, THANK YOU RYAN, DANE, JOSH, and DON! you guys ROCK!!!

deb

[BoddaH1994]

Seems like there's a bit of clarification as to who's who:

Don Helbig: Don is the PR director of the park. He was the bald guy dressed in a tie.

Josh Hackenberg: Other park employee. 21 years old (I think he's single, ladies!) Also dressed up.

Ryan Suhr: (Me) I was the one who did all of the announcements and stuff in the PT

Dane Thomas: White shirt, black pants and a tie.

Bill Ware: Collared shirt -- worked the registration table.

Tom Wilson (SOB_TOM) : Wore the Bengals jersey and worked the table.

I'm sorry that I didn't get to introduce myself to as many of you as I would have liked to. I was kind of tied up that day quite a bit for obvious reasons. I was, however absolutely flatter and excited to see that so many people brought their family. It means a lot to the staff that you feel comfortable doing that.

[deb]

ah yes. I knew who you were, who Josh was, who SOB_TOM was, who Don was, but other than that, I was cluless. I did hear Bill speaking to another woman while we were waiting for the sign shop tour to begin, amidst all the BB waiters. I've not got the best eyes (esp when I'm wearing contacts) and I hate staring at people, so I didn't try to see everyone's tags. But ty for clearing that up!

deb

[Guest kwindshawne]

Hello there boys and girls. Today we will be discussing my recent trip to KI on Aug 3 and 4. Please open your textbooks to page....

wait a min, I got 2 more weeks til school starts again... scratch that. Here's what I wanted:

We woke up late on Friday, but still made it to the park by about 11:30. We headed straight for Waterwo... Boomerang Bay and tried to find a lounger to stretch out on. Yeah, right. There were NONE. So we sat down at the umbrella covered picnic tables at the Bar for a few until we saw people packing up and leaving the wave pool area, then we went to find a place to sit. (Keep in mind, I woke up and drove 40% of the way from home, all with a severe migraine headache.) We didn't. As we were walking back towards the north end of the pool, we saw 2 loungers (the nice blue ones) together with nothing on them, so we stretched out. My hubby took off his sandals and went for the pool. He had no more than got into the water when some woman walked up to me, and in the most snooty voice I have ever heard said, "You have our chairs. We were here first. You need to move!" I said, rather p*ssy, " Fine, sorry. There was NOTHING here when we sat down." "Well, were here first, you need to move!" I just ignored her, got our stuff, and walked back to our beautiful little picnic tables. It wasn't that she wanted me to move. It was the manner in which she went about DEMANDING it. And then, as I walked away, I heard another woman ask her what *I* did with her towel. I did not touch her towel. Then I heard her tell the towel searching woman, "G*d, they will do ANYTHING! You have to have a towel on the chair or someone will walk right up and steal it! *huffing*" My hubby came back up, saw I had moved and came to find out what was going on. I told him, and he was SURE she was watching and waiting to see if he was going to leave. I've gotta say, this was the rudest patron I have ever had an encounter with at KI. I mean really, she wasn't even wet, there were no kids, and who knows where she had been, and we'd been there a good hour before she came up to me. You'd think she would have been nicer about it.

Ok, on with the tr. After that we went to the Lazy R.. Crocodile Run. There was a line, and a lifeguard with his mop handle measuring children and holding the line. First time I'd ever seen that this year. We waited about 10 mins, I think. The slow movement helped my headache, but it was short lived. Sunlight can make it 200% more intense, and that's what it did today. Once we got out, we sat down for a but because I was still feeling pretty icky. I hadn't eaten much since a 7 am breakfast, so we decided to go to Taco Bell and get some grub. We went in to enjoy some good A/C, but that only aggravated my headache too... and I then wished I'd opted for some grub other than tacos... let me just say they are much less painful going down.

So we went across the street to the BP, I bought a map that had Mason in it, and sat in the car at least 20 mins when one of the guys that work in the store came out and asked if we needed help, and then gave us directions to Bethesda Hospital in Lebanon. I gotta say, that is one of the best ERs I've ever been in. I've never had docs that were sympathetic to my needs, listened to me, and took everything at face value. My only complaint was I had an IV line that blew, then one that stuck, but I had a shot in my hip instead of using the IV, so I had 3 needles where as it could have been just 1 had the nurses just chilled and let the doc do the diagnosis. The doc even gave me scripts for meds because he knew we were out of town and would be sticking around for the weekend, and because he knew they didn't make the meds I normally use (midrin) any more. I can say, though, the pharmacist was a little "slow" maybe? Not sure, but I know he messed up his meds cause one script was supposed to be $52 and he marked it out and gave it to me for $8.... On with the story.. (we did go back to the park once I was feeling better, but I have NO CLUE what we did... I rode Top Gun, and Monster- which had only 4 arms loading, and new bolts in all the arms...)

We stayed at the Kirkwood Inn in Lebanon, it's actually about 5 mins from KI. And I've gotta say, you really get what you pay for. We spent the extra $$ to have a jacuzzi room. These rooms are fantastic! And we got a GREAT breakfast that was comp... REAL scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, oatmeal, pancakes, muffins, fresh fruit, bagels, OJ, coffee, tea, juice... GREAT!

We got to the park at about 8:47ish, a little past when we wanted to be there. There was a lot of people already in the lot, and more at the entrance. Seems like many got in before the 8:45 posted time, because it took us about 10 secs after parking to get out and start walking. My bil (kenny, cheveytruck1960) and sil (donnell, donnell77) drove and parked in the reg parking right near Face/Off, and we met up at the trees in the median. I walked up and got our tickets from Ryan (I think... because I think Josh asked me if we had phoned in the order... you guys were talking about me!! But remember, I said, nope, I was a day late.. so I wasn't on the original list). Moving on, we sat down for about 5, then we got to walk through the metal detectors... first time I did not make them go off... I did not have my cell on me, it was DOA in the car, and I forgot my charger. (It's a Motorola KRZR, all metal) Scanned our passes then met the group at Paramount Theater for the FoF tour. I have to say, the tour was AWESOME!!! I had never rode KC, and after seeing the trains, I'm glad I hadn't. It really did not look comfy to me. It was also cool seeing all the spare parts on the shelves... And seeing the naked car and the OTSR on the single car. Brought back some ear aching memories! And after seeing it, makes riding it seem more fearful...

It was awesome to ride Firehawk with so little a wait. I believe we were on the third train out, the red one. It was odd to see that they started the red one on the right side then switched it to left for unloading (or did I dream that?) We were in the second car, I'd never been so close to the front. And it was cool that our pic had all 4 of us on it, last time we rode it we were split up because there was 5 of us. It was an excellent ride, and I only have 1 complaint, or more like a suggestion to future riders... Don't take your flip flop sandals off, especially if you have average to small feet (I wear a 7.5 - 8). There were points on the ride that I felt like my feet were going to slip out of the leg restraints, and I am positive that had I been able to pull my legs up farther, they would have slipped out. Better still, wear tennis shoes, like I should have. And I still closed my eyes, and looked like I had been hit with a frying pan in the ORP.

I really missed the SoB tour. I was SOOOO looking forward to it. Can't have everything, though. The scavenger hunt was a cool idea, it was just way too hot to run all over the park searching for everything. I can say this: I KNEW it was fish food as soon as I saw it. We had fed the fishies the day before, and lost 50 cents in one machine, told a dippin dots worker, who told us to tell someone else, who just happened to be a security guard, who said he's check into it and to tell Guest Relations for our 50 cents (we didn't) and who we also saw walking past the pier, seeing us watching him, then turning around to check it out. Some ID10T had pulled the Out of Order sticker off of it... and we didn't see the sticker until it was too late. Seems like instead of a sticker they'd just empty the machine... no one will put $ in an empty machine... Anyways, my sil SWORE it was Dippin' Dots, and I tried to tell her chocolate wasn't that color, and she said it was a different flavor.. but didn't know which. I should have said yep, it's dippin dots, fishie food flavor.... lol

From the Sign Shop tour (I think I'm out of order, but oh well!) we went to Rivertown Tater Works and got some chicken and monster fries. MMMMM that's some good stuff right there, but paying $16 is a little much...)

The Ice Show was fantastic! (special thanks to Ryan for letting me know I could grab a drink and take it!) I had never seen an ice show anywhere. I always watch ice skating on TV, but it doesn't compare to seeing it live. I've gotta say, the actors were fantastic, too. My hubby asked me why they were there instead of the Olympics... I had to explain the age/want to him... Not everyone desires to go to the Olympics. We were really tired by then, so we decided to walk around to get awoken. My bil/sil split up from us, said they were gonna go to the car for something, so Casey and I stopped off at the Henna Tattoos spot near Action Zone and I got a Henna Tattoo on my right wrist, inside. It's looking better every min and is almost at full color, and it's a beautiful butterfly that begins wrapping around. It cost us $20.14. About then is when we decided to find out where my bil/sil had vanished off to. Casey called them, took 3 tries to get an answer, and when we did we found out that they had left. Already. They paid $35 for both to come, did not ride anything but Firehawk (that we know of) AND missed the reason for the $$$, the buffet in the IR. I guess what irked me most about them not staying was the fact that they told us numerous lies as to why they left instead of the real reason (they used their infant as a reason, 3 different times, and the heat. They told my mil it was the heat- nothing about the baby- but really left so they could get back in town to go to the races and race that night. He put another driver in the ER due to a wreck).

After that, we went and caught a ride on Top Gun. We usually wait out the front seat, but we didn't have the time to wait through 4 trains, so we took the first front seat of a car we could find. Even after all this time, and all the rides I've taken on it this year(10, I think...), it's STILL my fav coaster. Then we got some Ice Cream, I found some lemonade, and we headed to The Beast backstage tour.

By now I had some pretty wicked blisters. I wore my fav sandals, and I usually don't have problems out of them. But since it was near boiling, my tootsies were sweating and my feet were rubbing my Birkenstocks. I've got a blister than goes all the way down to the muscle. But I did NOT complain. My shoes, my choice, and now my blisters that will scar me for life.

It was really neat seeing what we can't normally see on The Beast. I loved the enthusiasm of the riders. And again, if anyone has a pic of the "inappropriate gesture" please let me know, it'd make my week to have a copy of that!!

Dinner was great. Casey and I waited until everyone else had gotten a plate... we're used to it, he's got a huge family (2 brothers, 1 sister, and his Mom is one of 9, I believe, plus each of his aunts/uncles has at least child, most is 5 I think, and then they all have at least one child each, and then some of them have 1 to 4 kids of their own...) and we have a family dinner every year at Christmas. I do wish we had a few more choices for sides, not every one likes potato salad and baked beans(me) and it would have been nice to have some other healthier meat choices other than burger, hot dogs, and fried chicken. Not that it wasn't good (mmm, those burgers), I just would have been in heaven had I been able to have a salad with my chicken!

Ooh, here's the fun part. We went out to the car and took a nap. Well, at least Casey did. I was just sitting in the car watching SoB, Slingshot, Drop Zone, Face/Off, and Delirium. That's almost as much fun as riding them! (except DZ. I will never know of that insanity.)

( I had a "wardrobe" change between casey sleepy time and media presentations... I became "uber dork" by adding socks to my feet and wearing sandals. Apologies to anyone who likes socks + sandals, no disrespect.)

The media presentations were great. I must admit though, I did not know anyone in the "spoof" videos, except Maureen, and that's only because I saw the Firehawk promo video. They were funny, though. And we were prob the only people there that had NOT seen the 25th Anniversary Beast video. And it was neat to see the POV for the test runs on The Beast.. man, was that a FAST coaster when it first opened. I don't see how the riders stayed in their seats with those dinky bars way back when... I would have came flying out, or never rode again from the fear!!

After the videos we had planned on riding Face/Off because it was dark, but we decided we were too sore and tired.

We had a great day, and we got to spend a lot of time together. I did not meet anyone, I didn't introduce myself to anyone, either. I think since I was still reeling from a killer migraine the day before, the heat, and the fact that I had on a shirt that plainly stated I wasn't too friendly ("does not play well with others") might have had something to do with it. Don't worry though, I am not unapproachable, and I am quite friendly. It just wasn't one of my better days.

oh, yeah, and again, THANK YOU RYAN, DANE, JOSH, and DON! you guys ROCK!!!

deb

I remember seeing you and your shirt...actually, I got a kick out of it

[Keysersoze]

Seems like there's a bit of clarification as to who's who:

Don Helbig: Don is the PR director of the park. He was the bald guy dressed in a tie.

Josh Hackenberg: Other park employee. 21 years old (I think he's single, ladies!) Also dressed up.

Ryan Suhr: (Me) I was the one who did all of the announcements and stuff in the PT

Dane Thomas: White shirt, black pants and a tie.

Bill Ware: Collared shirt -- worked the registration table.

Tom Wilson (SOB_TOM) : Wore the Bengals jersey and worked the table.

I'm sorry that I didn't get to introduce myself to as many of you as I would have liked to. I was kind of tied up that day quite a bit for obvious reasons. I was, however absolutely flatter and excited to see that so many people brought their family. It means a lot to the staff that you feel comfortable doing that.

You can say whatever you want to, I have been involved in other kinds of group activites, other clubs even conventions(Not coaster stuff) and I thought you all were very organize, it all seemed very professional to me. 2 days later and I'm still buzzing from it, that's rare for me anymore!