PTR: KIC Day, August 16th

[iChase]

Yesterday was KIC Day's Second Coming, and what a coming it was. Awesome job to everyone who coordinated the day. Everything was flawless. I had one of the best visits to the park I've ever had. I also met many of the posters here. Great to finally meet you guys.

I had a friend lined up to go with me yesterday but things fell through for him so it ended up just being me. I wasn't looking forward to being lonely, but after the whole day I'm actually glad I came single.

My alarm went off at 6:45 yesterday and after my predictable morning routine I roll out of my driveway around 7:40 to face an hour drive. It's really a nice drive to Mason though. One of my favorites. If any of you have the chance, head out on 177, it's a very scenic trip. Driving alone really gave me some nice reflection time as I listened to the likes of Billie Holiday, Sinatra, Miles Davis, Coltrane, and several others.

I arrived at the tolls around 10 'til 9. Just the right time to get the first space in the gold pass parking area.

Walked up, registered, and became a Venomous Important Person. While heading through security I finally met Mr. Ronny Salerno, or Gordon Bombay in person.

We glided past the accumulating crowd and proceeded to the Club Blood lights on tour. On the walk I met a very nice character named Jesse or perhaps better known as Avatar.

Once we stepped backstage we were reminded just how special(?) we were.

On the way there we passed a graveyard of FoF cars with OTSRs.

From the backstage area you see the park from a whole different angle.

We made an attempt to go through Club Blood's back door, but we weren't welcome.

So we made our way around front.

We were greeted by some rather bloody theming.

And I couldn't resist adding this:

We wrapped up our tour of CB and headed back over to the Invertigo pavilion.

The great people at KIC scored us a half hour of ERT on Invertigo. So after two trips through, I decided slow my head rush by taking pictures.

A nice HDR of Invertigo.

As I watched Invertigo I was soothed by the gentle splashing of boats creating deathly walls of water and the smell of chlorine. (I actually like the smell)

We finished up on Invertigo and waited for the park to officially open. Once it did, we were off to some free time.

I headed off to Coney Mall and passed the Scrambler and was reminded of it being my old favorite ride. I used to ride them at fairs and the one at KI with my dad all the time when I was a kid. I became a little sentimental.

In order to tour SOB's back stage we had to ride the Carousel. An experience I wasn't really looking forward to. But while sitting on my stationary horse (I think there's a weight capacity for a moving horse) I was taken back. I realized how out touch I had been in only riding roller coasters at KI. I realized that these rides are real classics and that I should be riding them more often. I was immediately reminded of my mom, who's favorite ride is the carousel so I would always ride it with her. Great memories they are.

I dismounted my trusty steed with a head full of new (or old) thoughts and received my ticket for the backstage tour of SOB.

I still had an hour before the SOB tour began so I strolled over to Vortex and took a ride on it. It was a nice pleasant (yes, pleasant) trip.

By this time I was about starved, it was something like 10:30 and I had yet to eat breakfast. So I stopped by Subway on my way back to Action Zone. I ordered a footlong tuna sub on honey oat bread with shredded cheddar. "Sorry, we don't have footlongs, honey oat, or shredded cheddar." Arrg. I settled for two 6" tunas on wheat with American. This was my first time utilizing my drink band. It was quite handy but I felt kind of guilty. Oh well. Cedar Fair should feel guilty charging nearly $4 for a drink.

After I finished I had just enough time to congregate back at the Timberwolf South Entrance for the SOB tour.

We were led down under the massive wooden structure. I thought it was massive just looking at it from a distance but it's completely different when you're under it. It's just absolutely huge. Whether you like the ride or not, you can't help but be impressed by the amount of engineering that went into a structure this size.

We entered the center of the ride area. I felt absolutely dwarfed. Just completely tiny.

I had the opportunity to watch the ride run several circuits so I took advantage of my opportunity and got a snap of the first hill:

Pay particular attention to the kid in the eighth row. Hehe.

One thing is for sure. This ride is one of the most photogenic in KI's arsenal.

We wrapped up the tour and scaled the hill leading to the High Security bridge over Flight Deck's que then returned to the "normal people" area.

At this point we had an hour an a half of free time. I made my way through Octoberfest and went to an area I haven't been to in years. The Paramount Story. Since Paramount is gone I guess it's just "The Story." I stood in front of the waterfall and had a bit of an introspective time, which was really nice in that area. Then I strolled around the rest of the area and looked at the abandonment. I was really saddened. That area was so nice and now it's being neglected. It should definitely be a focus for the offseason.

Then I proceeded to my very favorite attraction at KI. A place where I could spend an entire day or more. Eiffel Tower. I went up and spent nearly an hour up there. I talked to and great ride op named Brian. He seemed to really enjoy his job, which was nice to see. He was pretty curious about KIC so we just might see him around here in the future.

From there I walked around the Nick U and Rivertown route and took a leisurely ride on the train. It was great to just sit and enjoy the breeze and look at the scenery. When we were almost to BB the ride op mentioned KI's own grizzly bear and I saw the wood sculpture. This was new. Right? I never noticed it before.

I departed from the train and walked around and sat down under Vortex across from BLSC. I always loved that area. Then I proceeded to Coney mall and "stole" another Coke.

Then I made my way over to Dodgems. We had to ride them to be able to participate in the Diamondback construction and Beast tours. It was good fun. Avatar and CoastersRZ took me out.

I finished that and headed out to The Beast plaza where we were supposed to meet. There was plenty of time left before the tour began but there wasn't enough time for standing in line for The Crypt or Beast so I sat under the trees just taking it easy. (Noticing a pattern?)

We then headed back stage to the Diamondback tour. No souvenirs. darn, I wanted a bolt. We progressed into the ravine which is much larger than it looks from the train.

Footings were scattered everywhere. I actually managed to snap this while walking up a gravel-covered hill and not tripping.

Out into the woods was the overbanked turn around area. Which was much shallower than I expected.

We headed back to The Beast area and we finally (KIC dayers get it) got a picture of the train. The conductor put on a little show for us.

After emerging from the construction we were greeted by a sight most of us aren't used to seeing.

We went back to the first drop area and got to see a neat view of the ride:

We had a cool photo op in seeing the first drop in action.

Safe?

After The Beast tour it was time to eat. (Thank God.)

We went over the the picnic grove and waited for it to open. Once it did we all headed in and I was shocked at how expansive it was.

Our group sat in the Carousel area of the grove.

I signed up for the raffle (didn't win anything) and was handed a media package for diamond back and a 2008 media kit on CD. I was really impressed with the quality of the whole package. It was great that they would do that for us.

I made my way over to sit at a picnic table with some up and coming friends, Standbyme and KIFan73.

Finally the food came out and we massacred the buffet. It was a (surprisingly) good meal of hamburgers, awesome mac and cheese, potato salad, and pulled pork. (With a few extras here and there.) Top this all off with unlimited ice cream and it made for quite the meal. A+ to KI.

After eating we all went over to the Nick Theater for a Q&A with Tony Carovillano, and Jeff Gramke. It was quite an awesome session. Definitely learned some things about the park.

When they finished talking, we got together for our group picture. Totally going on the Christmas card.

We headed over to Festhaus around 7:30 to catch the 8:00 showing of Girls' Night Out. A very special treat because it featured our very own Ryan (BoddahH1994). Worth the price of admission alone? Perhaps.

After regaining composure, I decided to call it a day. I had stolen way too many Cokes and I figured riding The Racer would result in me ....regretting it.

So after saying my goodbyes to my friends I shuffled out onto I Street. This was when I had that feeling. You know, when you've had an entire day at KI and walk alongside the fountains listening to the music and watching the colors change in the water and just exhale. I couldn't have been more happy last night.

Thanks to all of you involved, it was wonderful.

[Beast1979]

Nice Pictures, It was a great day. I think I saw you a couple of times.

[DropZone99]

Great PTR! I really wish i could of gone to KIC Day.. I especially love the pictures you took of SOB and Invertigo!

[Justin_M17]

Nice pics and awesome TR. I wish I could've been there

[Gordon Bombay]

Chase, wonderful photographs and report! It was very nice finally meeting you yesterday and I am glad to see you had a good time.

[Avatar]

IChase it was really great meeting you first hand and you are as happy go lucky as you come across on KICentral and to be honest I figured that would be the case. Your taste in music really caught my eye in your report as I’m a big Billie Holiday and Sinatra fan and you might as well throw in some Koko Taylor too. Below is a couple pictures I have of you at the event feel free to download for your own use and if you want the full size version just PM me. The first photo is right before me and Robbie seized the opportunity to take you out if that is possible on the Dodgems.

Your facial expression tells a story of one who is having a wonderful time with friends on a mid-August Saturday.

Well I will get my report out soon so I will save more for that time and thank-you for sharing your time with us, I hope we get to have some ride times in future visits together.

[Gordon Bombay]

haha, well Avatar, I'm so glad you, chase, and RZ had a god ride on the dodgems, I think I got the slowest car on the ride, i just coasted around the outside ring, it took nearly the entire ride cycle to do a full lap.

[Beast1979]

^I swear those things get slower every day.

[gnarkiller]

Wish I could of made it I really wanted to go on the sob walkback.

[Avatar]

haha, well Avatar, I'm so glad you, chase, and RZ had a god ride on the dodgems, I think I got the slowest car on the ride, i just coasted around the outside ring, it took nearly the entire ride cycle to do a full lap.

Oh I so wished I saw you then, I would have had organized a everybody get Ronny experience.

[Justin_M17]

haha, well Avatar, I'm so glad you, chase, and RZ had a god ride on the dodgems, I think I got the slowest car on the ride, i just coasted around the outside ring, it took nearly the entire ride cycle to do a full lap.

Oh I so wished I saw you then, I would have had organized a everybody get Ronny experience.

Only slightly evil...

I like the way you think

[iChase]

Chase, wonderful photographs and report! It was very nice finally meeting you yesterday and I am glad to see you had a good time.

Thanks Ronny! It was good to meet you other than on Facebook.

IChase it was really great meeting you first hand and you are as happy go lucky as you come across on KICentral and to be honest I figured that would be the case. Your taste in music really caught my eye in your report as I’m a big Billie Holiday and Sinatra fan and you might as well throw in some Koko Taylor too. Below is a couple pictures I have of you at the event feel free to download for your own use and if you want the full size version just PM me. The first photo is right before me and Robbie seized the opportunity to take you out if that is possible on the Dodgems.

[picture snipped]

Your facial expression tells a story of one who is having a wonderful time with friends on a mid-August Saturday.

[picture snipped]

Well I will get my report out soon so I will save more for that time and thank-you for sharing your time with us, I hope we get to have some ride times in future visits together.

Thanks Jesse. I figure that there's enough negativity in the world, I shouldn't add to it.

Thanks for the pictures too, they're great. You know, I just can't help but be in a great mood when I'm at KI, especially walking under a legend.

I'm looking forward to reading your report! If you're ever going to be at the park, just send me a PM.

[standbyme]

Chase,

Your pictures turned out great! The SOB ones look awesome...better than being there in person. I also had a great time at the picnic area...I wished that we had "met" earlier in the day. I am sorry that I didn't get to say goodbye to you...when they started to organize the group photo I just snuck out...I am sorry that that meant I didn't get to tell you how much I enjoyed talking to you.

See ya,

J.D.

[iChase]

Thanks! I love taking pictures of SOB.

I wish we had too! It was great to talk to you. Don't worry about saying bye, it's cool. It's the thought that counts after all.

Good meeting you man!

[Avatar]

So J. D. I take it you don’t want me to post the picture I took of you then?

It was nice meeting you to.

[standbyme]

^

My family "knows" not to take my picture...and people who consider themselves my friend know how I feel and also indulge me...even if they don't agree...so to that end yes, I would appreciate any courtesy that you wish to give me.

Keep in mind, everyone that knows me knows that I love to TAKE pictures...just not be in them...but I am NOT a hypocrite, I never take anyones picture that I KNOW hates it also.

(Chase, sorry for hijacking your great thread.)

[iChase]

Hey, it's alright buddy.

[taynes]

Chase,

It was a great day. Maybe someday we can go together. Me and my daughter was there. And Avatar told me you were from Richmond. I am also from Richmond. Great TR and pics....

[iChase]

I would be glad to go with you. I wish I could have met you.

Really? You're from Richmond? What area?

[BoddaH1994]

Awesome trip report!

[iChase]

Thanks Ryan!

[taynes]

I would be glad to go with you. I wish I could have met you.

Really? You're from Richmond? What area?

I live right behind Johns Mansfield on the Westside... NW D

[iChase]

Oh okay, I know where you are. I'm out in the edge of town on Inke.

[Kawana]

Great TR. It brings a smile to my face to know that people love KI as much as I do. I was at CP over the weekend and the whole time, while it was a blast, I just kept thinking, "I wish I was at KI." Thanks for the pictures as well. Sonny is very photogenic.

[iChase]

Thanks Kawana.

I know exactly what you're talking about. KI is just my home park where I feel at home. CP is great with all its rides but you can't replace the KI charm.

[Cory Butcher]

Chase, it was great watching Natalie....er Flashback: Totally 80's with you! lol

[iChase]

Haha!! Why yes, she...er...it was a great show.

[Ogrmac]

Excellent TR iChase! We didn't really get to talk, but I rode Invertigo across from you. It took me a little while to start talking to people, I'm kind of shy sometimes. Glad you had a great time! I think we all did!