violakat03's huge RWW PTR/VTR

[violakat03]

To start this out, I want to give a few shoutouts. First, a huge thanks to Kings Island for hosting this event. This was my first enthusiast event and it really set the stage for future events for me, getting me even more excited for Coastermania! and next year's RWW! Second, thanks to KIC and everyone on it. I saw probably 100 members this weekend and every last one of them was just an awesome person. I had a great time hanging out with everyone this weekend, including those of you who stayed behind with me on Saturday when I got sick. For future reference, do not eat a big breakfast/lunch at Frisch's before an excitement filled afternoon. Between heat exhaustion (from a lot of running in the parking lot) and what I think may have been food poisoning, I spend most of Saturday trying to not toss my cookies but still managed to have a ton of fun.

When I arrived, I parked in the 3rd spot of row 51 in Gold Pass. Sitting in row 52 was a car that I'd love to know who owns, just because the plate rocks.

When I got inside the park, I was texting a couple people to find out where they were. I headed for Beast, where I ended up with dare-to-fly and a few other folks (hard to remember now), and grabbed GatorHead after the ride. After that, we ran into the humongous group that included gigacoaster, kittenpooh, pkiruler102 and a bunch of other folks. pkiruler102, Gator and someone else, I think, hit up Backlot Stunt Coaster, where we said hi to Ronny (btw, you scared the heck out of me, just so you know). Then it was time for Diamondback ERT! We got in line back by Rivertown Junction, waiting for the queue to open. We were already part way into the queue when the ROTB arrived (I hate that they let them do this) and seemed highly upset to see a line already! Sorry guys, but we got to be the cool folks this weekend!

After Diamondback, I had to leave the park and make a bank run. The nearest branch of my bank is down in Norwood. What what supposed to be a 45 min-1 hr trip turned into an hour and a half when I got off on Fields Ertel Rd to make a pitstop and got stuck in horrific traffic. I called Angie in a panic because it was 10:59 and I was still trying to get back on the highway and did NOT want to miss The Beast tour that I'd been looking forward to so much. She relayed the message to the marketing/GR team, who made sure I got to join the group. Huge shoutout to Katie and Matt from marketing for waiting for me and making sure I got to enjoy this tour, that really was the bright spot of the whole day.

The Beast walkback/tour was a great photo video opportunity.

First backstage view of The Beast.

An interesting view of Vortex.

Watching a train go up the chain hill was cool from this angle.

Fair warning, I love structure photos. This is from directly underneath the chain hill.

Catching up with the group. Katie told me to take my time and take all the pictures I wanted, that we were in no hurry.

Bottom of the first drop.

My first train fly-by.

Train just cresting the first hill.

Weeeee!

The big group photo. People kept joining in as photos were being taken. Mine was one of the later ones and has everyone in it. HUGE THANKS to TrainedBeast for taking these!

Help fill in the blanks if you know a missing username!

Back row, L to R: IndyGuy4KI, Kittenpooh's husband, Kawana, (blank - can't see you very well), ToastNJelly, popwar, Tom76527

Middle row, L to R: Beast Man, violakat03, gigacoaster2k, kittenpooh, stalkerchick (crouching), CedarPointer, Justin_M17, Avatar, Oldiesmann, pkiruler102

Front row, L to R: IBEW_Sparky, Beast1979, HTCO, KI Man

Oh yeah! Caught both trains in the same pic!

And now for the videos I shot during The Beast tour.

Breaking this up. Told you it was huge!

[gigacoaster2k]

I am glad that you got to go on The Beast walkback. That was so awesome of them to wait for you and tell you to take your time. I was afraid you wouldn't make it!

[Oldiesmann]

I'm the third "(blank)" in the back row of the group photo

[ToastNJelly]

Nice TR so far. I'm going to try and fill in the blanks for the group photo.

Back row, L to R: Indyguy4KI, Kittenpooh's husband, Kawana, (blank - can't see you very well), ToastNJelly, popwar, Tom76527

Middle row, L to R: Beast Man, violakat03, gigacoaster2k, kittenpooh, stalkerchick (crouching), CedarPointer, Justin_M17, Avatar, Oldiesmann, pkiruler102

Front row, L to R: IBEW_Sparky, Beast1979, HTCO, KI Man

[UnrealNightmare]

I didn't know you guys were going to take a group photo. I'd have joined in had I known.

[violakat03]

After The Beast tour, a group of us decided we were hungry and headed out of the park to get lunch. On the way out, I shot some video of Diamondback.

So, the group of us (myself, Jackson, Adam (pkiboy), our friend Elissa, and Al (who works in the Emporium)) headed off to Frisch's. We also hit up Wal-Mart. Check out Jackson's PTR for a lot more information about that trip. Either way, the Frisch's breakfast made me sick and I spent the rest of the day fighting that off.

When I felt up to getting on a ride, we decided Adventure Express rarely has a line. We were wrong.

We didn't have time to wait for Adventure Express before the guest speakers, so we went straight to the KI Theater to listen in. It was fun (especially watching the Diamondback POV at the end, because the entire room provided a splashdown sound effect), though it was a lot of information we'd all heard before.

The lines were still ridiculous after that. So we started wandering the park. Jackson got his hug in for Diamondback.

And then we headed for The Beast's birthday party! They gave us free refillable cups:

And birthday cake!

The cake was great, the music was loud (though almost NO ONE danced, what gives?!) and overall the party was a ton of fun. I stayed there until I started feeling a little better, but never really fully recovered.

Heading over to the Diamondback ERT, I had a feeling I wasn't going to get any rides in. I was almost right. I spent the evening sitting on a bench with Trooper Mom and finally decided at about midnight to find a quiet bench to lay down on. 20 minutes later, someone shuffling their feet nearby woke me up and I had been so deeply asleep that I had no idea where I was and why I was looking up at stars. After re-orienting myself, I realized .. hey, I'm feeling a lot better! In fact ... I'm feeling good enough for Diamondback!

Four rides later, I left the park with a huge smile on my face. I'm a little sad I only got in 4 rides on the ERT, but at the same time, I'm just glad I was able to recover enough to ride at all. Ironically, I discovered at The Beast birthday party that my dive buddy from the last class I took (stress & rescue) is also a huge coaster enthusiast! So I got in a couple rides with him

and a couple rides with random people.

After that, I headed to Al's house, where myself, Adam and Elissa all spent the night so we could get up bright and early the next morning!

[violakat03]

After a good but short night of sleep, I felt 110% better on Sunday. We got to the park at 7:50 for the 8 am ERT. Elissa, Al, Adam and I all headed for The Racer and jumped on blue side since it was actually running (and racing!), and raced some friends on red train. Sadly, blue lost. GatorHead was on red train, so he waited at the exit for us and we all headed to Flight of Fear.

I was ecstatic to see that the lights were turned on in the spaghetti bowl. I've been wanting a lights on ride for years and finally got not just 1, but 5!! All of them in the rear car. At 9, they turned the lights back off, so we got in 3 more rides with the lights off. I think 8 rides in a row with the only break in between being the time it took to run from the exit, through the handicap gate and back onto a train, might have been my limit. I was feeling a little dizzy after the last ride.

Before one of the lights on rides, I grabbed a video of the launch, borrowing a spot in line at the front of the train, though we rode in the back. Thank you to those who were line that let me lean in to grab the video.

By this time, it was nearing 9:30 and we wanted some Diamondback action. Rushing over there before the Gold Pass ROTB was a good idea, we only waited 15 or 20 minutes. By the time we rode, the wait was up to an hour. Around 10, we decided that it was time to get out of the now-packed Rivertown area and headed for Action Zone with a group comprised of StalkerChick, Justin_M17 and a couple others (sorry guys, my mind is blanking on who was with us when). First we hit Flight Deck and then we went to Drop Tower. Gator said he won't fit on Drop Tower, but waited in line with us anyway. I told him to give it a try and after a few cycles, we were all assigned our seat numbers. With some help from myself and StalkerChick, he rode! Have I ever mentioned that I believe with some help, anyone can fit on any ride!

After Drop Tower, it was time to take The Racer backstage tour, where I shot a ton of video. These are the ones that came out the best.

I also took some pictures.

Including StalkerChick's ambulance and other Haunt props.

After Racer tour, the park had gotten outrageously packed again and it was time for lunch! We hit up the Arby's on 741 before coming back to the park in time for the Son of Beast tour.

To be continued...

[UnrealNightmare]

I was ecstatic to see that the lights were turned on in the spaghetti bowl. I've been wanting a lights on ride for years and finally got not just 1, but 5!! All of them in the rear car. At 9, they turned the lights back off, so we got in 3 more rides with the lights off. I think 8 rides in a row with the only break in between being the time it took to run from the exit, through the handicap gate and back onto a train, might have been my limit. I was feeling a little dizzy after the last ride.

My g/f and I were on that train with you. We heard you say. OMG the lights are on. We got two rides with the lights on. Then we came back and got one with the lights turned off.

[violakat03]

They walked us into the gate that's used for CornStalkers to get back to Son of Beast, so that was pretty cool.

The back of Timberwolf stage was open, which made for a nice photo op.

We got to snag shots of Flight of Fear's old trains behind Timberwolf.

A new angle on Flight Deck.

As we walked down under the Son of Beast lift hill, everyone stopped to not just take picture, but really just look at the structure. One of the comments I made to Don while down there is that during The Beast and Racer tours, there was a lot of talking, laughter, etc. During the SOB tour, most everyone was very, very quiet. We were all just staring in awe at what an amazing structure it really is. Standing that close to it, touching the wood, looking up under the lift hill, you realize what an outstanding feat even just the first hill was to construct. This tour gave me a completely new perspective and appreciation for Son of Beast.

Approaching the long, steep hill that leads to the ravine SOB sits in.

Look up. No, way up.

Standing directly under the lift hill, looking directly up at the top. This is one of my favorite pictures from the day.

Internal structure of the lift hill.

Former loop area. What amazes me is all the trees that are still right up next to the track. They're full grown trees, so you know they were there before the ride. I'm really glad they worked around those.

Former loop footers:

And finally, videos:

[AgentSoB]

It was nice to finally get to meet the master behind the camera... I snagged a Diamondback ride with you along with Ogrmac and Robin in the morning. Everyone in the group you were in are crazy funny. I tagged along for a bit and had a blast.

As for Son of Beast... I truly enjoy the ride and appreciate what it did for me. (I was terrified of coasters up until 2001 and that ride). I think it is great that so many people were in awe during the tour. Even if you don't like the ride, the structure is amazing. The ride is really is a work of art.

[Tom76257]

Nice trip report, Kat. I had a blast hanging out with you, Justin, Rachel, and the rest of the group on Sunday. Hopefully we can all get together and do this again next year!

[violakat03]

Alright, last post on this one, I promise! I need to get my memory card cleaned off and then pack up. I'm supposed to be driving to Washington D.C. this afternoon and need to get moving.

Couple more pictures from the Son of Beast tour.

You don't really realize just how high off the ground the station is until you're standing practically under it.

Some leftovers from the old theming.

Another shot of the old Flight of Fear cars.

They let us sit on the Timberwolf stage for photos.

Leftovers from Lion County Safari. Nice lamps!

After the Son of Beast tour, we headed to Diamondback. Justin, Tom and I sat it out, deciding we'd rather sit and leisurely drink our sodas instead of waiting an hour in line. By this point in time, Justin had gotten badly sunburned and was ready for a break.

From there, we jumped on the train to get photos and video of Diamondback. The train engineer and crew were really cool, they slowed down the train since we were timed perfectly to get great shots of Diamondback, so we could get our photos and videos. They also replayed a song that Rachel was having too much fun dancing to.

Then we went to watch the SpongeBob 3D movie in Action Theater. That was my first time watching it, and I'll be perfectly fine with only 1 ride on that. We stopped in the Coney Mall arcade, first for some DDR and then for some Guitar Hero. I enjoyed being able to show off my DDR skills and was definitely happy to discover that Uncle Henry can play very well also!

Tom shot a video of StalkerChick and myself playing. StalkerChick on left, myself on right:

From there it was on to the Monster! Uncle Henry insisted on sitting by himself so that he could spin his car to his heart's content. And boy did he!

After Monster, we went to Delirium. StalkerChick had been promising Justin that she would ride Delirium if he rode Drop Tower. He rode Drop Tower earlier today, so she kept her promise and rode Delirium. Tom shot a video of us on it. The blood curdling scream you hear on each swing was StalkerChick. She had a death grip on both my and Justin's hands.

By then it was time for the final rides on Diamondback so we headed that way and met up with Gator and the rest of our group. Gator and I got a ride on the back seat of red train, which is now missing the safety grates on the scoops and doesn't get you nearly as wet, much to our disappointment. I had to really work for it to get my forearm wet, and red train used to get you the wettest. They let us stay on if we had an open seat, so we started scrambling around to empty seats. I ended up with three final rides for the night. On the way out of the park, we stopped at the Mystery Machine for some photo opportunities. I think one of these is going to end up as my RWW photo submission, rather than one of my more 'artistic' shots, because these pictures really embodied the ridiculous amounts of fun our group was having and the memories that I will take away from this weekend.

Tom76257, StalkerChick, violakat03, Justin_M17

StalkerChick, violakat03

XGatorHead8904, Tom76257, Justin_M17, StalkerChick, violakat03

Uncle Henry, XGatorHead8904, Tom76257, Justin_M17, StalkerChick, violakat03

I think the fourth one was my favorite, but Uncle Henry got mostly cut out of it.

As we left after an amazing and long day, somehow, StalkerChick and PhantomTheater still had energy and were dancing down International Street.

[PhantomTheater]

I had to get my energy up, i had to drive home. What better way then to dance on I-street.

[gigacoaster2k]

!!!!!!!! That picture is hysterical!

I so wish I could have gone Sunday, I had to work. I'm really upset that I missed The Racer walkback.

Glad to see you felt better for the last day.

[Tom76257]

Kat, if you don't mind, I'd like to put that last pic on my MySpace and Facebook. Show it to Ryan and Dane too! This one's gonna become a KIC classic, I can tell!

[StalkerChick]

Kat, if you don't mind, I'd like to put that last pic on my MySpace and Facebook. Show it to Ryan and Dane too! This one's gonna become a KIC classic, I can tell!

<< already has it as her facebook pic O:) i'll play with myspace tomorro tom add me!! down there vv lol

[gigacoaster2k]

I have a MF avatar on here, and a DB avatar on the CP forums I'm a member of, because adhering to a norm is just not my thing.

[Hoeter]

Kat, looks like you had a lot of fun this past weekend (minus the part where you were sick from eating at Frisch's)

I would have loved to go, it looked like an absolute blast, and I would definately love to do The Beast walkback sometime.

Nice photos and videos to describe your experience. Here's to next year- I will definately be there!

[StalkerChick]

I have a MF avatar on here, and a DB avatar on the CP forums I'm a member of, because adhering to a norm is just not my thing.

jeez ang... that's such an ACer thing to do hahaha (wheres kat, justin and Gator when i need them )

[trevor75]

Stalker, nyce quote on the bottom. Hot Midway dancers are all the rage!

[StalkerChick]

Stalker, nyce quote on the bottom. Hot Midway dancers are all the rage!

LOL ty. Giga texted me that on sunday when we were discussing how much we missed each other already

altho Just has a great one too that i'll have to add

[Ashers]

Great PTR/VTR Kat! I noticed the same thing about the SOB walkback tour being EXTREMELY quiet. I was saying to my brother that I didn't think it would have been nearly as quiet if it would have been a GP tour. I think everyone was just taking it all in!

It was nice meeting you on Sunday. It looks like you guys had a blast....I love the Mystery Machine pics.

~Ash

[Justin_M17]

I have a MF avatar on here, and a DB avatar on the CP forums I'm a member of, because adhering to a norm is just not my thing.

jeez ang... that's such an ACer thing to do hahaha (wheres kat, justin and Gator when i need them )

I believe that Kat's description of an ACEr was...

1. Bald or balding, but still trying to keep the hair they had left

2. Wearing a coaster shirt from a park other than the one they're at (Which kinda works with Angie's avatar)

3. Wearing a fanny pack off to the side

4. Age 40-70

5. An ACE jacket, or a pair of the things that hold your glasses on that say ACE on them

[gigacoaster2k]

Oh God. Please don't start labeling me as a nerdy ACEr.

I'd rather stab my eyes out with a flaming screwdriver than look like some of those people.. I only joined for the coaster events. I dress like a normal person.

AND I AM NOT BALDING OR 40-70 YEARS OLD, I AM ONLY 27!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darn you all.

[Justin_M17]

Oh God. Please don't start labeling me as a nerdy ACEr.

I'd rather stab my eyes out with a flaming screwdriver than look like some of those people.. I only joined for the coaster events. I dress like a normal person.

AND I AM NOT BALDING OR 40-70 YEARS OLD, I AM ONLY 27!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darn you all.

I have this feeling in the back of my head that i'm going to be in an unrealistic amount of pain the next time i'm within arm's reach of you...

[Tom76257]

Oh God. Please don't start labeling me as a nerdy ACEr.

I'd rather stab my eyes out with a flaming screwdriver than look like some of those people.. I only joined for the coaster events. I dress like a normal person.

AND I AM NOT BALDING OR 40-70 YEARS OLD, I AM ONLY 27!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darn you all.

Don't worry, Angie. I'd rather die a slow painful death than be like some of the snobby ACErs I saw over the weekend. One guy didn't like The Beast because he couldn't fit in it. When Kat asked the same guy what he thought of Diamondback, he said that it was no Magnum. Like I said to the rest of the group when I was with them, "Old rickety Arrow coaster, or brand new B & M? I don't know about that one!".

[Justin_M17]

Oh God. Please don't start labeling me as a nerdy ACEr.

I'd rather stab my eyes out with a flaming screwdriver than look like some of those people.. I only joined for the coaster events. I dress like a normal person.

AND I AM NOT BALDING OR 40-70 YEARS OLD, I AM ONLY 27!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darn you all.

Don't worry, Angie. I'd rather die a slow painful death than be like some of the snobby ACErs I saw over the weekend. One guy didn't like The Beast because he couldn't fit in it. When Kat asked the same guy what he thought of Diamondback, he said that it was no Magnum. Like I said to the rest of the group when I was with them, "Old rickety Arrow coaster, or brand new B & M? I don't know about that one!".

I remember that guy. His rudeness was matched only by his ignorance

[kjkjkj]

We saw quite a few glasses strap, fanny pack, knee sock wearing ACErs on Sunday

Cool PTR/VTR Kat. I really liked the "structure pictures" of The Beast. A lot of them turned out really cool. I think it's cool your probably going to enter one of the Mystery Machine pictures into the contest. It shows how the KICers we're having fun and enjoying the event.

[Justin_M17]

We saw quite a few glasses strap, fanny pack, knee sock wearing ACErs on Sunday

Cool PTR/VTR Kat. I really liked the "structure pictures" of The Beast. A lot of them turned out really cool. I think it's cool your probably going to enter one of the Mystery Machine pictures into the contest. It shows how the KICers we're having fun and enjoying the event.

Yes, I should've entered one of those pictures rather than the one I entered, but it doesn't matter. We were all a part of the photo, I really hope that it wins, regardless of who gets the credit for it.

[The Interpreter]

I believe that Kat's description of an ACEr was...

1. Bald or balding, but still trying to keep the hair they had left

2. Wearing a coaster shirt from a park other than the one they're at (Which kinda works with Angie's avatar)

3. Wearing a fanny pack off to the side

4. Age 40-70

5. An ACE jacket, or a pair of the things that hold your glasses on that say ACE on them

Guilty only of number 4, and the day will come soon enough I can't even claim that one!

Terpy, card carrying member of many organizations...