Spring Back and Fall Forward

[Avatar]

Usually when we hear the phrase Spring Forward and Fall Back we associate it with an easy way to remember which way to set our clocks to adjust for the day light savings time changes. Since the Kings Islands last operation day for 2008 fell on Sunday November 2 it was the day after the Fall Back time change which gives us 25 hours to enjoy the day. I decided early on that day that the title to this report should have the words Fall Back in it. As the day unfolded the atmosphere of the Kings Island and the laid back mood from the many fellow guests at the park, I realized that this day was the culmination of the whole 2008 season. The title “Spring Back and Fall Forward” is a much better way to explain how great the final operational day of the 2008 season at Kings Island was.

As I mentioned in the opening paragraph of this report, to help me explain my experience of this last day I need to back us up to the early part of April 2008 in fact it was on the third of April. It was announced by this site KICentral that Something Old Becomes New Again at Kings Island, many speculated on the changes and offered their opinions about it. One constant message was repeated over and over as the season went on; we the guests and park enthusiasts would be treated to a very nostalgic year. This included 80’s style shows and a cleaner park to begin with then as the summer began special events were planned just like they were in the early years of Kings Islands operation. Those events included such popular events of;

Robbie Knievel,

Clown Band

1972 Hana Barbara time warp

Rick Wallenda

Brady Bunch

It was very clear from the events scheduled at Kings Island that the park did not Spring Forward in 2008 but instead went Back into its fun past to the delight of many guests and park enthusiasts.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Today we got an extra hour of sleep thanks to day light savings time, also Kings Island rope drop was at 11AM instead of 10AM. That allowed us to make the 2 hour trip more leisurely, so we arrived rested and relaxed but ready for some adventure and thrills.

Do to the last day of operations and last chance to ride attractions; Mostly rides will be ridden today.

Plus Miss Rae has recently decided that she was brave enough to start riding roller coasters and other rides outside Nickelodeon Universe. This day was going to be the first time for her to ride many of the coasters at Kings Island.

We arrived right at 11AM but needed to purchase our 2009 season passes and to swing by guests relations to resolve a ticket matter for Miss Rae’s friend who was joining us today. While I was working with the guests relations staff, some characters came in to invite Miss Rae and her friend to Howl-O-Fest.

Miss Rea wanted to start her day in Nickelodeon Universe as she has for many years and to warm herself up to venturing onto the bigger rides there and beyond. I decided I wanted take advantage of a low crowd morning and ride some of my favorite attractions.

Picture of International Street at 11:20 AM

As I worked my way around through Action Zone, Coney Mall and into River Country I came across several fellow KICentral members such as kjkjk, Ashers and ZosoBeast. Our conversations were upbeat and various opinions about the park where exchanged.

I met back up with my family to find that Miss Rae was ready to ride the coasters in Nickelodeon Universe. Of course Fairly Odd Coaster was first. Afterwards a quick conversation with BeastMan and his lovely girlfriend then onto ride Run Away Rapture.

Now it was time to walk out of Nickelodeon Universe and start riding more thrilling rides in the park for the first time as a family. The first one was Backlot Stunt Coaster.

The best part of Miss Rae’s new found bravery was that with every coaster we rode she wanted to ride one bigger than the last.

I also met pkiruler102 in line at the Backlot Stunt Coaster

It was getting to be around 2PM and time for some lunch, we went to Feasthaus While there the staff of KICentral was also having lunch they invited me to sit with them and also offered if I wanted too, I could join them on an impromptu construction tour at 3PM. I accepted their invitation because some of my best memories this year included time spent with them and participating in other various KICentral activities. I would like to pause at this point in this trip report to publicly thank all the KICentral staff and moderators for their hard work and dedication in informing us about and planning activities of our beloved park Kings Island, not to mention the countless hours that is spent on keeping the KICetnral website a fun place to visit from our homes. So Thank-you Dane, Ryan, Robbie, Gabriel, Ronny and Bill for all you do, I appreciate your efforts and time.

After lunch as we walked up International Street we had conversations with Cory and met XGatorHead89 for me the first time.

It was now 3PM and time for the construction tour which consisted of eight of us including Don Helbig of which was leading the tour; 2 Acers, 4 KICentral Staff members and me. I enjoyed the tour as a small group as it allowed us to ask more detailed questions and time to pause when someone was engrossed with particulars of the project.

As you go into the construction area behind The Crypt it is hard not to pause to enjoy the unique picturesque view of an old iconic fixture of the park being met with a new one.

Then throw in the Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad steam train running underneath the new structure and there I believe you can hear this Kings Island Park enthusiasts heart beating as I am sure you could with other enthusiasts as well. I have watched this video several times since that day as I think it captures the trains steam, whistle and bell very well, so I wanted to share it with you who may enjoy the train as much as I do.

As we moved further back into the construction area I was in aw of the how well the Fall foliage blended in with the under construction roller coaster Diamondback.

We went even further back to the edge of the tree line and it was pointed out to us how close the new coaster will come to the edge of a steep ridge.

I had not noticed at how close the coaster was going to come to the tree line and the ridge. I think this is going to be a great feature of Diamondback to be able to look out into the back woods at Kings Island, especially when the tree foliage is as pretty as it was today. (Keep in mind in that area the coaster will be another 20 feet higher off the ground)

On the way back Ryan shared some great tips on some photography and camera settings with Don and his impressive camera.

Don did ask our small group if we would be interested in going to The Beast’s first drop for some more photo opportunities and we all expressed that we would.

After several trains roared down the first drop and we all got the shots we wanted Don with his camera in hand announced to us we would leave after the next train goes over the first drop. Well when the next train passed us by Don turns his head towards us with our cameras already at our sides and says with a slight grin “you guys want to wait for one more”.

The reason I told you all the story about Don above is because it will help me explain to you how I feel about Don Helbig. I think Don is like many of his predecessors in the past and that they all seemed to have passion for their job as Kings Islands Public Relations Area Manager. But I think Don goes just a little further with his passion, when I witness him in situations as the story above I see he also has a true passion for Kings Island and I think Cedar Fair, Kings Island and us enthusiasts are lucky to have him in his present position.

After the construction tour I said my goodbyes to the guys as I needed to catch up to the family and to enjoy this first day of a new coaster enthusiast, Miss Rae. We all rode together Adventure Express, Racer and finally the biggest one for her for this trip The Beast. All day she showed little fear but The Beast had her nervous and convinced that she had to sit with dad to get through this one, in truth I was glad to sit next to her.

I have read many reports of other parents riding a coaster with their children and the thrill it gave them on those first time coaster rides but I did not realize fully how much of an emotional impact it would have for me as well. I mean it was thrilling, invigorating, exciting and prideful all rolled into one type of an emotion I felt during and after our first ride on The Beast together. Well I had to buy the picture to mark this time in Kings Island history.

As I was buying our picture another KICentral member introduced himself to me as a long time reader but seldom poster of the forums and he shared his thoughts and enthusiasm about the park. One of the wonderful things about belonging to the KICentral community is that I have met so many fellow members and have enjoyed the many friendships I have made here. It is amazing to me the wide diversity of ages and backgrounds of the members here but we are brought closer together because of our enjoyment and interest in Kings Island. As we left the park for the last time this season I was already looking forward to the 2009 season with all the possibilities it holds for my family and the park enthusiast side of me. That last statement was what struck me about what was so special and what made this last operational day different than others in the past.

As we all enjoyed the last operational day and conversed with each other I noticed no one was complaining or suggesting they wished the season was not ending. This to me suggested that we all were very content with the past season and our park needs and thrills have been well satisfied, in fact I think we where ready to let go for this year. Also I noticed in the conversations that everyone was excited about next year and embracing Diamondback and the possibilities she will bring to the area.

It was those thoughts that made me feel that nobody at Kings Island on November 2, 2008 was Falling Back or had the desire to do so but in fact we were all ready to Fall Forward into the 2009 season at Kings Island.

I thank you all for taking the time to Spring Back with me in this report and just know I am excited to Fall Forward with you all into the 2009 season - Avatar

[CoastersRZ]

It was getting to be around 2PM and time for some lunch, we went to Feasthaus While in there the staff of KICentral was also having lunch they invited me to sit with them and also offered if I wanted too, I could join them on an impromptu construction tour at 3PM. I accepted their invitation because some of my best memories this year included time spent with them and participating in other various KICentral activities. I would like to pause at this point in this trip report to publicly thank all the KICentral staff and moderators for their hard work and dedication in informing us about and planning activities of our beloved park Kings Island, not to mention the countless hours that is spent on keeping the KICetnral website a fun place to visit from our homes. So Thank-you Dane, Ryan, Gabriel, Ronny and Bill for all you do, I appreciate your efforts and time.

You forgot to mention me in your thank you to KIC staff!

All kidding aside, this is another one of your excellent photo trip reports Jesse!

[Avatar]

Thanks Robbie and sorry about inadvertently leaving you off. I had to go back and reread that part again and sure enough I did, sorry.

[CoastersRZ]

No worries.

During that Diamondback tour, I was sharing my construction knowledge with everyone, as seen in that picture.

[TOPGUN1993]

Something along these lines?

[DropZone99]

Great PTR! I remember my first ride on Beast! Is your daughter over 54"? Maybe she could ride Diamondback in 2009?

[Avatar]

^^Yes you did and I learned a few things from you that day. I learned on park tours Ronny has a wealth of interesting tidbits and during construction tours Robbie is a great asset for those hard to answer questions about what we are seeing.

Angrybeaver – no she is just a little over 48 inches and for her age short. We tried to get her on Flight of Fear but she ended up being too short. She is probably a couple years away from Diamondback in height and bravery.

[touchdown62]

Nice TR, but now I'm seriously jealous. I saw Ryan and Dane in the Festhaus for lunch, and if I had the knutsens to say hi (knowing full well they wouldn't know I was a KIC member), I could possibly have been fortunate enough to go with on the tour. Oh well. Nice pics of the back area of Diamondback. Makes me that much more excited for 2009. Forget 2009. I want to ride it NOW! I can stand a little frostbite.

[King Maple The Tree King]

Something along these lines?

I wouldn't poke fun, someone could do that to a picture of you in the same situation, then again you would have had to have been at an exclusive construction tour such as that one.

[CoastersRZ]

No, I was not contesting the terminology of footing as you implied there TG1993.

As Jesse and Bill can both account for I was offering quite a bit of information on the construction process throughout the tour.

In the picture above I was explaining how the steel bearing plate of the support is held a couple of inches above the top of the footing, and then they come back later and pour in expansive grout to monolithically tie the steel from the support into the concrete of the footing to more evenly transfer the forces that the ride creates.

If I were you, I would wise up a bit and not poke fun like that. After all, I have been known to spread my knowledge on architecture and construction on these boards fairly often. If you notice however, I have not brought up the whole footing thing in quite some time, and have not made a point anymore to call people out on using the slang term "footer." That is just another one of the many reasons why KICentral is THE site for Kings Island fans. I can offer some insights into the technical side of constructing rides that can`t be found on most other sites.

And KICentral has wonderful users like Avatar. They take time and create wonderful trip reports like this one. Not only does he write his trip reports well, but he selects thoughtful images and movies to accompany them. Furthermore, his trip reports come from the viewpoint of a father who is not only experiencing the joy of Kings Island for himself, but able to see his own daughter experience the same magic that he has whenever he visits the park. Add to that the fact that he lives a couple hours from the park, and his trip reports are always a must read and a true work of art. While us staff members keep the site running, it is users like Avatar posting excellent trip reports as these that help keep KICentral the tremendous site that it is today. Keep up the nice work Jesse!

[Gordon Bombay]

Well said RZ, Avatar's trip report here is wonderful and just an example of how great all the users on this site are. We have a great community here and I can speak on behalf of the whole staff when I say we love seeing and reading your guys trip reports and feed back.

That being said, I can't believe how quickly this season went be. It seems like just yesterday I was in my car driving from Athens to Cincinnati when I got a call from Boddah: "Turn on your radio, Kings Island is announcing something BIG!" Sure enough just as I passed KI on I-71, 700 WLW was reporting the announcement of the Robbie Knievel jump, then like nothing, we were standing next to the landing platform shaking Knievel's hand. Soon enough Diamondback was announced and before that could even settle in Haunt started, school started again, and as we all got our final glimpses of the park it was over. Too quick, too soon, but darn, what a great season that was!

[WooferBearATL]

Something along these lines?

OH My Gawd!

That's the funniest think I've seen this week!

[74Gibson]

Nice work Avatar. Well written and nice pics. I've got a 4 mo old daughter and you have really given me something to look forward to... not that I didn't already but your pics and tales took it to a whole other level. Thanks!

RZ I had been wondering about the gap. I knew it had to do with transfer of weight and force but didn't know how they actually made the final connection. I'm still curious about what looks like I beam (you can correct me on how I should've written that) between the flange and footing (and apologize as I always use the slang term, even when I pour em).

[CoastersRZ]

That wide flange beam that is mounted to the bottom of the flange which fits into the pocket of the footing, help to tie the steel support beam into the footing. Doing so ensures that the support and footing act as one structural piece, successfully transferring all of the gravitational forces to the ground.

[Kawana]

Avatar, one of these days the stars will align and I'll get to meet you at the Island. Excellent trip report, thanks for sharing. I always like hearing about great family days at KI, and it inevitably makes me look forward to days to come with whatever family I may have in the future.

This was indeed, for me personally, the best season ever at KI. I'd always gone to KI in the past years, but nothing like I'd done this year. Being able to see my girlfriend transform from a casual park goer to a budding enthusiast was just awesome for me. Having met the KIC staff was a treat, and hanging out with them was even more of a treat thanks to their friendliness. Once again thank you all for what you do for this site. This site has helped to rekindle a love for KI that a few years ago I wasn't sure was ever going to return.

[G-Force]

Another extraordinary PTR from Avatar! I love reading these so much! You should get your own show on the Travel Channel, they look for people like you to share your trips with on that channel. Avatar Hits the Parks debuting 2009!

[Captain Nemo]

Wonderful entry Avatar, I enjoyed seeing you on that day as well as the many others from this site! It was IMO Kings Islands greatest year ever. Its been an honor working with people like Ryan, Dane, Bill, Robbie, and Ronny during the events that happened this year. Can't wait to see you all next year!

[XGatorHead 8904]

Another great TR, thanks for sharing with us! It was good meeting you, as well as all the other KICentralers, that day. And hopefully next year Miss Rae can finally get that Delirium ride she wanted!

This made me look forward to the day that GatorGirl finally rides The Beast. And you can bet that's one picture I'll be buying too. I currently have the picture of her 1st LBGC ride on my desk at work, and I can't wait to add to the collection. She's already let me know she can't wait to ride the big rides. 10 more inches to grow before she's on The Beast...

We are so lucky to have a place like KI close by where we can enjoy this time with our young ones. I've learned that going with your child lets you see things in a whole new way, and it's like experiencing things for the first time all over again.

Here's to more fun and memories in 2009!

[RailRider]

Excelent report once again Avatar.

Looking forward to when my little girl is able to ride the big rides. But not to soon, she is growing up way to fast as is.

Thanks for sharing.