A little (ok... not) trip report for 8/23, with a couple pictures

[touchdown62]

Even though I live a bit over 2 hours away, I decided to make my 6th in-season trip of the year on Sunday. I think that's a personal single-season record. Definitely got my money's worth out of my season pass. I use the money I save on daily admission to buy the gas needed to get to Kings Island from Muncie. I came with my friend Michelle, who I think is now a KIC member, but is currently a listener, not a caller.

We got to the park sometime around 10:45 and had to make the immediate run to the front restrooms. I just can't get enough of those Dyson air blades.

We decided to go "old school" and hit The Racer first. Since Blue was feeling down in the dumps, we went on Red Racer. There was actually a line. 10 minute wait. Big whoop. I am really getting used to the fact it goes forward. I do miss the backward Racer, but the Red Racer gives a wonderful forward ride. With the weight I'm losing, I'm getting some wicked air time, and I love it. I haven't tried for that third click on the bar yet, but just as well. I'm becoming an air junky.

Where the heck did we go? Getting old is he!!. Oh yes, Flight of Fear. After taking advantage of the 75-cent lockers to store our jackets for the day, we got in line. Another 10-15 minute wait, and we were in row 2-2. Very comfy. I like to wear my sunglasses on the ride, which makes the ride so dark. I've been on the ride dozens of times, but this time it seemed a whole lot longer to get to the starting cobra roll than normal. I was starting to freak out until next thing I know, I think I'm upside-down. That ride has gotten awesome since CF sped the ride up, well, except for the MCBR. The corkscrew at the end, IMO, is the best position of a corkscrew on a ride EVER.

Firehawk line was starting to really fill up, so we continued our clockwise trek around the park. The still-spinning head was not ready for Vortex, and the line in BLSC went past the first bypass gate, so it was time to visit the greatest piece of wood ever. The birthday boy... BEAST. Haven't been in the back this season, so went for 6-2. I wanted to be in the back, but didn't want to get the snot beat out of me before noon. Despite the cold conditions, Beast gave a fast ride. Serious air time on the hill after the first tunnel.

Next I needed my Diamondback fix. Off to the SRL for me. My friend still can't ride it. I believe this was the line where I met Violakat and Coastersnsich (hope I got that right). They were with Jackson. I've met him before. They were in the group line, so they went on like 3 trains before I did. Oh well. That's the chance you take in the SRL. Got put in row 8. Sat on the right side. Still such a thrilling ride. No incident for this circuit of Diamondback, but stay tuned.

We went to the next stop on our clockwise tour... Maestro's Scooby Doo and the Haunted Phantom Theater Castle. Eh, one can dream. I would like to see Scooby Doo dressed and made up like the Maestro. Maybe someone can Photoshop that. The guns actually worked this time. I think Michelle beat me 1120-1060. Like... wow!!

Invertigo's line was short, so that was next. Wait was about 20 minutes. Not too bad. I wanted to start in the last forward-facing row, you know, the one that's the highest on the lift, making all those people look like little ants. Well, for some reason there was an empty row that was the facing row for the last forward-facing row. Wow that's a confusing ride. I haven't started backwards in a while, so it was a little treat. I don't get all jazzed up about going down the first hill backwards, but my brains do get sufficiently scrambled going through the inversions backward. When the catch mechanism got us to take us up the second hill, I wasn't quite sure where I was, but the "click" brings you back to reality pretty quick. I enjoyed going through the inversions in this direction. I was a nice feeling seeing the boomerang loop track going the other way. That was a fun ride, even though the world was slanted to the right for a few minutes.

Lunch time. Outer Hanks back bar. Had the mega nachos for the first time. I've never had a plate of nachos with toppings piled up so high I had to dig to find the chips. We shared that and the All American cheese fries. Not a bad lunch.

Adventure Express was right there, even though I started calling it American Express. With me, it was bound to happen. I'm glad it took 10 years for that faux pas. Hopefully it's out of my system. I just realized, sitting here typing this. This was like my 10th anniversary trip to Kings Island. My first trip was in August 1999. Wow. Nostalgia. King Cobra. Yeah.

Hmmm, Blue Racer was open now, so we decided to finish our first circuit on that. Boy oh boy is that becoming a rough ride. I hope they give ol' Blue some love in the off season.

FoF, line too full. Firehawk must be shut down. I think it was. There was a ride op turning people away. Somehow, I'm not surprised.

Speaking of nostalgia, we went to the Grand Carousel. Nothing beats riding a true classic like that carousel. I wish they could get the caliope working again. I was happy though. My horsey went up and down!

Now it was wandering time. We hit The Beast again, and again in 6-2. Still fast and still nice air time, especially for a shrinking fat person. The retracking in the helix is holding up. That area is so incredibly fast and smooth. I also sense an extra G or two in there.

We went for another classic icon of the park, the KI&MVRR. Busy place. Went to the far end of the platform and ended up in like the 7th row in the first car. This is where I took the only pictures of the day. I hadn't taken any Diamondback pics from this angle yet, so this is what I got...

Almost too slow on the shutter

That's better.

One more time... from the top.

This was too cool to see, so I made the memory last forever...

Watering and oiling the locomotive

With a squirt squirt here, a squirt squirt there... here a squirt, there a squirt, everywhere a squirt squirt...

That engine was mighty thirsty.

After the train ride, I went for another go on Diamondback. Row 7. Paired up with a nice family. Momma Bear, Daddy Bear, and Little Girl Bear. Ride was as exciting as ever, until the MCBR. This was my 14th ride, but first "COMPANY HALT!" in the MCBR. Not cool. 60-to-0 in approximately the length of the train. I thought it E-stopped. Thank goodness, no. It started rolling almost immediately. Kinda took away from the ride experience, though. I can go a long time before that ever happens again.

Spent some time on the Eiffel Tower. Didn't know anyone on the way up, but Jennifer (pkipoodle) was working the elevator on the way down. She's pretty cool. Tried to scare some of the guests on the way down by perpetuating some of the myths of the park. Didn't get anyone, though. We kept the next group from going up for a couple minutes just shooting the shot (can't say @#$% now, can we). Got some nasty looks when we finally got off the elevator. Deal. Forgot to mention, when we got to the top, the operator didn't give the customary warning about not looking down through the gap, so I was more than happy to oblige. Got a little girl to look down, and she freaked out. Hilarious.

Day was winding down, so we decided to say bye to The Beast. Rode 4-2 this time. The ride was fast and furious all day long. You can tell The Beast likes thrilling people. I still believe that is the only ride in the park that actually has a soul. You can sense and feel the essence of The Beast.

It was 7:00, but because of the jolt of my previous ride on Diamondback, I had to get on again and finish with a kick-a$$ ride. Little did I know the kicking of a$$ would take place in line. I was #4 to go in the SLR when a couple guys started going at it in the group line. Sad really. Looked like 1 guy was drunk and started something with another guy. The drunk guy was being restrained by the other guy, and when the drunk guy tried to get out, he actually kicked his own kid. I felt bad for the kid. He looked so embarassed... like "why here and why now?" Poor kid. Once security settled that down, I got my ride. ROW 2!!! My first front-car ride. Still waiting for that front row ride. I thought it was kinda freaky when you couldn't see the track and watching the train in front of you disappear, but OMG. Being able to see the track and watching the track disappear freaked me out. I LOVED IT! Totally new sensation. The air time was almost better in the front than it was in the back. I still have the odd thought of "what if the restraint unlocked right now?" Adds to the excitement. I'm learning to let myself go and just float there. Totally amazing. Oh yeah, the hurricane-force wind in the face is an experience. I need front row.

I think that's all for now. Thanks for listening. WINO time is *bing bong* five minutes past the big hour of 5 o'clock.