Oldiesmann Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Like several others, I took advantage of the great weather today (combined with another Sunday off of work) and spent the afternoon at KI. Before KI, my family and I went to my grandparents' house in Blue Ash to celebrate my grandmother's 84th birthday (which is actually tomorrow, but it was easier to do it today). Left Blue Ash at around 3:00, and was surprised to learn that my grandparents only live 15 minutes from KI. Unfortunately, I thought I had left the sunscreen at home, so I went straight past KI all the way up to Kroger. It was a nice trip (haven't really been up that way since early 2007 when I worked at Holidayfest at The Beach). Got to Kroger, then discovered that the sunscreen had rolled up under the driver's seat... Wasted a good 7 minutes getting up there and another 7 getting back. To make matters worse, the north tolls weren't open at the time. After getting there, I showed my pass to the GP Parking guy, and was hit with "I think the lot may be full, but I think you can probably find a spot". After driving around for about 10 minutes, about ready to give up on finding a spot, I found one near the end of GP 60. By this time it was about 3:40pm... From there it was a short walk to the front gate. I was surprised to see how short the lines were at the gates. Went in and headed straight for Action Zone. Noticing that lines were short, I hit Delirium first. Waited 15-20 minutes for it. Great ride like usual. Next up was Drop Tower. Despite a sign predicting a wait of 30 minutes, I got in line, and was on the ride within 20 minutes. After hitting Drop Tower, I headed over to Oktoberfest. Noticing that Viking Fury was practically a walk-on, I went to wait for Row 14, but a nice Hispanic family in Row 13 made room for me so I got on almost immediately. The ride was a lot of fun because the ride ops were playing the classic "which side of the ship can make the most noise" game, which seemed to be a big hit with the kids in Row 14. Unfortunately, the other side won, but it was still a great ride. As I was leaving, I noticed a nice family of ducks sitting under a tree near the lake, so I stopped to take a picture of them... From there, I headed over to kiddy land to see how long Reptar's line was. Fortunately it was nice and short like most of the other rides, so I got in line and was in the front seat within 15 minutes. I'd forgotten how much fun this ride was, even though I never cared much for Rugrats and have never seen (nor had any desire to see) the movie that the ride is based on. While waiting in line for Reptar, I saw DB calling me, so I headed there next. SRL wasn't open, so I waited in the main line because it was fairly short - 20 minutes later I had my first DB ride of the day. I headed back to the line for another DB ride and again was on the ride within 20 minutes. From there, I headed towards The Beast. Seeing that Crypt didn't have much of a line, I decided to go see just how bad the new program was. Waited about 20 minutes for it, and definitely agree with what everyone else here has said about it - it stinks. A few funny things happened though - someone threw a small basketball at the demon bat thingy, and there was the hilarious "Mommy!" comment from a guest before the ride started... After that I headed over to Beast. Last week I didn't get a night ride due to Beast being closed at 9:30, and I wanted to marathon DB tonight, so I got my Beast ride in early. After Beast, I headed over to BLSC. Another near walk-on - the line was halfway past the bridge. Apparently the "single riders will be paired" policy wasn't in effect today. Was off of BLSC within 15 minutes. Still a fun ride, but I miss the in-car sound effects and the splashdown at the end of the ride (at least they have water in the main part of that pit now). From there, it was off to Coney Mall to tackle my favorite flat rides. After a quick pit stop, I decided to hit Jukebox Diner for an Oreo shake. I find it funny that the sign mentions "thick" shakes, yet you can drink it with a straw. It was good, but I'm not sure it was worth the nearly $5 I paid for it. Next up was Shake, Rattle & Roll. Like all the flat rides in Coney Mall today, this was a nice short ride. I noticed numerous burned-out lights though - maintenance really needs to fix that (every bulb on the arm with the orange cars is burned out, as is a headlight on one of the orange cars...). Lots of fun as usual. The next ride on my list was Zephyr - a literal walk-on. Having had my fill of flat rides for the time being, I headed back to X-base to see what the lines for FOF and Firehawk were like. Seeing that FOF had an estimated 30 minute wait, and Firehawk had an estimated 45 minute wait, I opted for FOF since I rode Firehawk last week. On the way into the building, I noticed that a few kiddies had been there recently. I don't know why anyone thinks this is acceptable, but it's really sad that some folks have nothing better to do than to leave a "calling card" of sorts... FOF was fun, especially since it was in the dark. However, I made the mistake of sticking my feet under the restraint, rather than over it. My left foot was a tad cramped, but my right foot was pinned, with a plastic zip tie digging into it the entire time. As much as I like FOF, I was never so glad to get off that ride, and certainly won't make that mistake again. Seeing that Firehawk still had an estimated 45-minute wait, I headed back to Coney Mall to finish up what I'd started. I hit Scrambler first, followed by Monster, which was a walk-on. I managed to keep the car spinning fairly well, though I probably should have opted for a spin from Josh the ride op. Lots of fun as always. I wasn't really in the mood to get beaten up by Vortex again, so I headed for The Racer. By this time, Blue was the only side open. Walk-on to 1-3. Really fun ride, but it was a little strange without anything to race. At this point it was almost 9:00. I headed back to Firehawk one last time, but much to my dismay, the estimated wait was still 45 minutes, so I gave up and headed over to Diamondback to finish off the night. Surprisingly, the wait was still only 20 minutes. By the time I got off, the SRL was open, so I made a bee-line for it. The greeter turned out to be a KIC member and said he liked my shirt Waited 5-10 minutes in the SRL, and still had 20 minutes til the park closed, so I climbed over the chain and went back. This time there was a 2nd greeter there who was also apparently a KIC member. He introduced himself to me, but I forgot what his username was... Went back down the SRL for another 5-10 minute wait. At this point there were some managers and a park police officer in the main exit talking to the ride ops about something, so they opened the left exit instead. Walked straight down the ramp and did an immediate U-turn into the SRL, and was quite happy to find that there was no line - I went straight up the stairs to the station and was on the ride by 9:58. This was the final ride of the night, and the fireworks started as we were rounding the final curve into the brakes after the splashdown. I stood over on the patio right outside the gift shop (next to the food stand) to watch the fireworks, and decided to take some night-time shots. On the way out, I decided to snap some more photos. I was hoping to get a good shot from the front by setting my camera on the Kings Island sign and hitting the button, but that never happened due to everyone wanting to take pictures there. I did find a nice trash can to set the camera on though and got some great shots of the fountain and parts of the tower. Overall it was a great day at KI. Cool weather, not too crowded and relatively short lines. I was amazed at how many rides I was able to get in despite only being at the park for 6 1/2 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldiesmann Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 Here are some photos from today... Oktoberfest Ducks: FoF Graffiti: Fireworks over Diamondback: Bright orange fountain: Fountain and Eiffel Tower: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWildman424 Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 I'm the greeter guy who said that I liked your shirt. I love seeing members at the park. I haven't been to any of the events, so I only know people by seeing the shirts or recognizing them from pictures I have seen. The other person sitting with me was Captain Nemo. It sounds like you had a good day at the park. Great TR. I hope to read many more like it in the future. EDIT: Awesome pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldiesmann Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 Ah. Nice meeting both of you I did have a great time today. Couldn't have asked for better weather, and it was great to have my favorite flat rides in Coney being a walk-on at the end of the night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DropZone99 Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Sounds like a nice day to be at the Island! You got alot of rides in for a short amount of time! And I think the other Dback worker from KICentral is Corey Butcher. EDIT: Nevermind, the Ride Op. was someone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 ...FOF was fun, especially since it was in the dark. However, I made the mistake of sticking my feet under the restraint, rather than over it. My left foot was a tad cramped, but my right foot was pinned, with a plastic zip tie digging into it the entire time. As much as I like FOF, I was never so glad to get off that ride, and certainly won't make that mistake again.... Actually, you didn't make a mistake. Your feet are supposed to go under the footbar.... And the graffiti in line is sad. Very sad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldiesmann Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 I'm supposed to cram my feet under the bottom of the restraint's hinges? I thought they were supposed to go over the hinges in the open area at the front of the car (at least for the front seat). It was not at all fun riding with a plastic zip tie digging into my foot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveStroem Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 I'm supposed to cram my feet under the bottom of the restraint's hinges? I thought they were supposed to go over the hinges in the open area at the front of the car (at least for the front seat). It was not at all fun riding with a plastic zip tie digging into my foot. I had this happen too on an earlier trip. The front seat on the left side. That 1/4" square of plastic sure did hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
violakat03 Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Yes, your feet go under the restraint. I never sit in the front, so I don't know about the plastic zip tie. Try the back seat next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
standbyme Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Nice Trip Report! I REALLY like your Diamondback fireworks shot...the timing is perfect...I also like how it has a Godfather/sepia tone to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldiesmann Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 Yes, your feet go under the restraint. I never sit in the front, so I don't know about the plastic zip tie. Try the back seat next time. The plastic zip tie is holding the foam on there. Bottom right of the restraint. I don't understand why we're supposed to cram our feet under the restraint as it's not comfortable at all, especially with sandals on. Nice Trip Report! I REALLY like your Diamondback fireworks shot...the timing is perfect...I also like how it has a Godfather/sepia tone to it. That was just pure luck on my part. The color is due to the lighting in the area. They chose a nice soft lighting rather than the bright fluorescent lighting like you see in the background. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beast79 Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Yesterday was my first full day at ki with my little beasties, spent most of the day in kiddie land but I did manage to get two night rides on DB before fireworks. That's funny we were probably in the SRL at the same time since I met RWildman424 and Captain Nemo. I had my Thunder Head t-shirt on, let me know if you seen me. It was a very nice day I'm going to try and post some pics of DB that I took since I couldn't take them the last time I was at the park during the commercial shoot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I_heart_pki Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Those were great pics! Especially the one of the fountains and the fireworks with Diamondback! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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