June 27, 2009

[gigacoaster2k]

I got to the park a little after 9 am because I was slow at getting up and getting ready. I really didn't expect to see anyone there, because most of the people who I asked if they were going had said no.

Gary (Beast79) said he would be there for ERT on Diamondback. I got 2 rides in, and saw him at the exit, so we crammed 3 more rides in before the ROTB (which was absolutely horrible). They weren't assigning seats yet, so I bolted for seat 2 (seat 1 had way too long of a wait). That sound when you're in seat 1 or 2, when the train peeks over the edge of the lift hill and the chain stops, is one of my favorite experiences.

We headed over to Beast and said hi to Nick (dare to fly). Gary wanted to ride Firehawk as he assumed the wait would be short. We waited maybe half an hour tops. I had been going on about how great the very front is, and wouldn't you know, we got it without even asking!

We headed to Flight of Fear, which had about half an hour wait. Rode in the very front, and this time I didn't take a punch to the head!

Walking back toward the front of the park toward Action Zone, we stopped for a ride on red Racer. I overheard a girl ask her friend if they were going to get wet on this ride, and then they both ran off and exited. I love the air on good old Racer.

I wanted a ride on Drop Tower, so we went that way. It was posted at 45 minutes, but we only waited half an hour. Got the seats facing out toward the park.. I really like that view. I was freaking out the guy next to me because I was pointing out things in the park (like how green Congo Falls' water is), and looked straight down at the very top.

Gary had to leave, and I was really getting hot, so I headed over to Boomerang Bay and met up with Steph (kittenpooh), her hubby Ryan (rypie91d), and her adorable 2 year old daughter Kelsey.

The first thing we went for was Great Barrier Reef. I love wave pools, and the four of us spent quite a bit of time goofing off in the waves. Kelsey didn't seem to like it too much at first, but she got used to it.

Some little brat splashed me directly in the ears/eyes like 8 times, and laughed even when I said "ow" because some of it had gotten in my contacts. I finally got fed up and blasted her with a big splash.. she left me alone after that.

We wanted to go in the lazy river, but the line for it was insanely long, so we gave up on that. Ryan and I wanted to hit up a crazy water slide, so we went for Bondi Pipeline while Steph stayed with Kelsey. I chose the far right side and he chose the middle. That was fun!

We were walking by Jackeroo Landing when the horn sounded and everyone went crazy. The more we looked at this water-crazed funhouse, the more we were intrigued, so we went inside and played. Steph and I found the giant squirtguns and were squirting passersby with them. Eventually we all got under the bucket and got drenched. That was crazy. I felt like I was little again.

Steph and Ryan had been trying to find slides that Kelsey could ride. We finally found two that she could ride. Steph took her up to Wallaby Wharf, and it was so cute. She loved it.

Next for the little thrillseeker-in-training was Koala Splash. I went with her this time, and this is just too cute. She saw the slide, broke free of my hand and started running up the entrance! When I told her this was the big kids' slide and asked if she wanted to ride it, she said "yeah!" When she saw our raft coming, she smiled and said "yay!" She loved the ride and laughed the whole time. It was just so adorable.

The three of them went back to the wave pool, but I was getting hungry. Justin (M17) had said he was at BB, but I never found him. I went back out to my car for the food in my cooler, and met up with Tom (76257). He had said earlier that he wasn't coming, but I told him he should come out. LOL.

Tom and I re-entered the park, and headed straight for Diamondback. On the way out the exit, we met up with Kyle (kjkjkj) who had randomly texted me saying he was at the park.

I suggested we hit Drop Tower, which no one disagreed with. In the queue, I was going on about how scary the last seats are because you can see how far above Skyflyer you are and that it freaks me out a little. Wouldn't you know, we got those seats. After that ride, we met up with Justin. The four of us hit Racer, and as we exited, I got a text from Steph saying she was over at Monster.

The six of us headed to Beast, where a girl passed out cold due to hunger and heat exhaustion (reason why I make myself eat on hot days, and drink water after water after water!). Several people said she had hit her head on the rails on the way down.

Thanks to parent swap, I got a re-ride on Beast.. one with Steph while Ryan watched Kelsey, and one with Ryan while Steph watched Kelsey. Thanks again, guys! We met up with Adam (pkiboy) at the exit.

We all headed to the Grand Carousel. I believe we all started getting a little slap happy on the way to this ride (throwing ice at each other, play fighting, etc), and on it. We were all goofing off during the ride and making each other laugh.

By this time, it was getting late. We all wanted last rides on Diamondback, so we headed that way. I have never in my life seen so many line jumpers in one queue. We even reported a group that had done it right behind a ride op's back, but he said something about they had asked permission from one of the ride ops first, so the ride op granted them permission.

(Excuse me? What is that? Now ride ops are giving people permission to line jump?? I am to the point where I don't think I'm even going to say anything about line jumpers to park employees anymore, because I have learned that at Kings Island, getting an employee that actually enforces that rule is a hit or miss situation! Ridiculous. Either enforce the rule or take the signs down.).

Anyway, after the rides had closed, some of us went to I-Street Fudge and Candy Shop. I really had to stop myself from reaching for the giant peanut butter cups.. they were a little pricey, but man did they look good! I have the worst weakness for peanut butter cups!

Kyle left the group, and the rest of us went out to the parking lot. The lot was jam packed with people trying to leave. I mentioned that I usually chill out in my car for a little bit while the lot clears out, so that is what we did. Steph, Ryan, Tom, Adam, Justin and I watched Ice Age in Steph's van while we waited.We were getting tired, so we headed out around 11:15 pm.

Thanks everyone for a great and fun time. I totally did not expect a KIC meetup, but hey, why not if you can?

My ride count:

Diamondback - 8

Beast - 3

Drop Tower - 2

Racer - 2

Firehawk - 1

Flight of Fear - 1

Carousel - 1

Great Barrier Reef - 1

Bondi Pipeline - 1

Jackeroo Landing - 1

Koala Splash - 1

[kjkjkj]

Great TR! I was at the dry park from 12:00 until whenever I texted you, with a nonmember friend. So she ended up having to leave early so I remembered that you were going to be at the park today, so I texted you to see if you wanted to meet up. I am glad I did!

It was a great time hanging out with you guys. This is the first time I actually met Tom, Adam, Stephanie, and Ryan. I have seen them all before, I just never actually got to talk to them. It was nice to meet all of you! Standing in line was half the fun on the rides last night, because of all the joking going on! Some of the stuff was hilarious! lol

The line jumping for Diamondback was pretty bad yesterday! When I rode it around 12:15 or so, the entire queue was full, and someone line jumped all the way from just past the entrance sign all the way over towards the lower overflow queue!!! It was pretty bad last night when I was in line with you guys too. Whenever the park has special events going on, and the park is crowded, it always seems to be full of complete idiots!

Thanks again letting me meet up with you guys, I had a great time hanging out with everyone! Can't wait to do it again sometime!

[FOFreak]

Hey Giga, are you going to be at the park on July 7th?

[IndyGuy4KI]

Enjoyed reading your TR as always. Glad you had fun in the heat. You did not mention sunscreen this time. I am guessing you had that covered?

[gigacoaster2k]

I'm not sure if I will be there on the 7th or not, I'll let you know.

And I did have the sunscreen situation covered. I had a bottle of 30 in my bag for my face and shoulders, and spray 15 for the rest. But no matter what I do, the tops of my shoulders always end up a tiny bit pink. My lips got sunburned.. good thing I have Blistex Medicated in the blue tube (it really does help).

[KIfan1980]

Nice TR, glad you got a chance to experience some of the fun at BB finally and it seemed like your dry park rides worked out great.

On the linejumping situation, it is a shame that it is so hit or miss with the different ride ops. I had a good one today on Diamondback (unfortunately his nametag was hanging flipped over or he'd have gotten a positive report at GR). In one 15 minute wait, he removed a couple from the line as one tried to rejoin the other right at the last switchback next to the lift hill, he also sent two kids who ducked into SRL (when it was closed) back to the queue.

[Justin_M17]

Awesome TR, Angie. I wish I had gotten to hang out with you guys at BB cause I was really up for some water rides, but I only managed to get one ride on the middle tube on Bondi Pipeline. It's cool though, I had a great time hanging out with everyone. And uh... I apologize for the mean jokes I rarely ever think before I open my mouth, Lol.

[gigacoaster2k]

And uh... I apologize for the mean jokes I rarely ever think before I open my mouth, Lol.

You're all right. I just needed a reason to pick on you to cheer you up. You were being kind of quiet and almost acting like you weren't in a good mood.

[Justin_M17]

And uh... I apologize for the mean jokes I rarely ever think before I open my mouth, Lol.

You're all right. I just needed a reason to pick on you to cheer you up. You were being kind of quiet and almost acting like you weren't in a good mood.

My bad I was only quiet cause I was half asleep all day. Like I said, that was my fourth day at KI this week and I got less than two hours of sleep the night before. I'm usually a lot more talkative than that >.<

[gigacoaster2k]

Oh! On one of my ERT rides this morning, we were on DB's red train. Who said the red train doesn't get you as wet? You are crazy.

I put my hand directly over the scoop.

My: restraint, face, neck, hair, left hand, right arm, back, and chest were dripping wet. I seriously got blasted.. it was too funny.

[Tom76257]

Nice TR, Angie. It was fun hanging out with you and the rest of the group as always!

[trevor75]

Hey Angie, glad to hear you got another great trip in this season. Also glad you got the score even on FOF.