5/15 PTR

[Tchu]

Took a trip down to Kings Island on Friday, May 15th. I knew it was Math & Science day, but I knew that this had been the case past Friday's and that the park had been fairly empty. Hoping for the same, I got up early to cook breakfast for my wife (I felt bad... I was heading for amusement park fun, she was headed to work ), did some work on the car, cleaned up, and headed for the park around 9:30AM.

Unfortunately, Columbus (despite its many wonderful traits) is situated poorly for coaster enjoyment in Ohio. KI is closer than CP, but I was still looking at a 90 minute drive (assuming traffic was light). Upon arriving at the park a little after 11:00, I was shocked to see just how busy the park looked. There were tons of buses in the parking lot. I believe someone in another topic mentioned that they counted about 150 buses, but I'd put the number closer to 34,648.

Anyways, there was a ten or fifteen minute weight just to get through the metal detectors. With it being Math & Science Day, that meant a lot of students. And if there's one thing almost all students have in common... its that they bring backpacks to parks. So that meant each and every time someone went through the security check, the guards had to stop and rummage through a bag.

Finally got into the park and the good times began. Place was crowded up until around 3:00 or 4:00PM, but while the lines stayed long, I enjoyed the park atmosphere, walking around, snacking, taking pictures. First ride I hopped on was Diamondback. SRL was closed due to borderline abuse and extreme length, but that was fine because I wanted to request a specific seat anyway. Seat Assigner was gracious enough to grant the request, and I got a fantastic ride in on Row 2, right side of the train. I still contest that the front car trumps the back.

I was glad to see in the first month of operation, that the trim brake on the hill following the hammerhead hadn't been ratcheted up. While you could definitely feel it grabbing, from the front seat, I was still ejected from my seat with what is easily the most forceful burst of air on the entire coaster. And its because of this more-or-less ejector type air on the 5th hill that I prefer the front sit.

After some DB rides and a bite to eat, I headed over to Flight Deck. Due to living in Montana for awhile, and not getting over to Flight Deck during my trips to the park last year, it had been years since I'd been on the coaster. Saw Zach (Ki Man) chillin' further up in the line. Ride was short but sweet. I'd forgotten just how much fun Flight Deck really is.

After that, I headed for The Beast (which had been home to a very long line all day). Luckily, it was down to about a 15 minute wait, and I got a great ride in on what is still my favorite woodie out there (even if the trims are a bit overboard). Walked around for a little while longer, bought a Diamondback t-shirt, then headed for one last ride on DB. Spent a coupld minutes staring at the queue debating on whether to use the SRL or the main line, and finally decided to wait in the main line. Would have only been a very short wait, but unfortunately they shut down the ride for 10 or 15 minutes due to some technical difficulties. Unfortunately, this happened in the one section of switchbacks that are completey without shade, and the sun pretty much fried the back of my neck. I did get a chance to speak briefly with Zach (who was once again just ahead of me in line), introduced myself and complemented him on his spectacular photographs he's been kind enough to share on these boards (and some others as well). Already thought he did amazing work, but after trying (and failing) to capture some awesome shots of Diamondback, I now have even more respect for how fantastic his photos are.

Also bumped into Skaterboy, I believe it was, waiting in the SRL. Hope ya got through the pretty quickly, bud. Last time I had waited in it, the thing was hardly moving. Here's hoping you had more luck than I did!

Finished off the day with a backseat ride. Great fun, and awesome outta your seat action on the first two drops. But, I noticed the vibration in the back of the train seemed stronger than it had just three weeks earlier when I'd visited. Might have just been my head, it had been a long day and I was pretty exhausted at that point. Still, fantastic ride and a nice cool down from the splash down before heading home for the day.

All in all, a fantastic day. Looking forward to doing it again.

Here are some of the pics I snapped. Use Photobucket and automatic resizing, so pics should be ok... but i apologize in advance if some of them are huge, and if so... I'll do what I can to resize them before they blow up someone's laptop.

Tried to get some pictures of rides from locations and angles that I haven't seen much of so far. But that's often easier said than done.

What do they say? Two is company, Three's a...

Liked this shot,, set it as my new desktop background.

DB from an angle I haven't seen so far (and now I know why... lousy spot for a picture!)

Diamondback at the bottom of its first drop. Great speed, nice forces.

Somewhere in this picture was supposed to be a coaster train...

Two things I love!

Vortex over La Rosa's. Not as good as Diamondback and Shaved Ice

Up and over the second amazing hill

Top of the lift, about to begin the awesome journey!

From the ol' train. Love the way Diamondback just hides behind all the foilage

More shots of Arrow goodness. Vortex is very photogenic. Here it is hiding.

Though there transitions can be jerky, I've always loved Arrow's lattice work. Going into the boomerang...

...and exiting.

Just a bit of what 5 minutes up in the Eiffel Tower can give you.

And last but not least, a shot of Diamdonback+queue+blooming trees. This one is my favorite.

[Hoeter]

Nice PTR....you had some very interesting pictures. I was going to go yesterday but heard it was so crowded. I'm going to try to go Friday, but I'm not sure what the crowds will be like since it's Memorial Day weekend.