Labor Day Weekend

[StalkerChick]

Well, for those that didn't read the Super Secret Surprise B-day thread, Ashley's (Ashers) birthday was technically on tues, but we celebrated it on Sunday, at where else? Kings Island. Ash thought it was just going to be me and her brother Kyle (kjkjkj) and maybe Danielle, possibly Justin, but just the 3 of us really. Boy did I have a surprise for her I picked up Justin in the morning and headed off to the park. I went and got my ID processed, since Danielle reminded me I can get in with my employee ID since i've now used all of my Haunt tickets from last year. People are so smart sometimes! lol We met Kevin (specialk141) outside the gates since he said he didn't see anyone back at DB at 10, and then proceeded towards Action Zone where Kat said she was waiting by the weenie roast entrance O:) Saw Jared's (rotag) green chicken on his head, and Dustin (kiruler) with him. Then we waited on Tracy (AgentSOB) and Gabe (gabe). We got a text from Ash and Kyle saying they'd be there in about a half hour, so after finding out that Gabe had said he would ride drop zone with kat, but then chickened out and walked right out the exit. Since Tracy was with us, we decided now was as good a time as any for gabe to ride his first time, and tracy to relive it *insert evil laugh here* So we left Jared with my camera and got in line.

bad idea to give him my camera, no idea what i'll end up with on it lol

Well after about 4 cycles. as we were getting on, we see kyle and ash walking up. So Gabe wasn't near as much fun as tracy's first time, but they both screamed like girls, so it was worth it. We then surprised Ash by whippin out the boa's and her tiara

Well a few ppl decided to go eat, so off to top gun we went! but on the way i was met with a happy happy site

yay club blood!

Ash being overly happy and jumping down the stairs

I haven't ridden in the very back seat in quite some time. It was rather nice!

Tracy got the cycle after us thanks to an odd number

HAHAHAHA he's going to kill me but i couldn't help it. But in his defense we did make him do it. And ash pulled the whole "but its my bday. you can't do one little thing for me" *giggles* So I have to make it a point to shout out Tim, in the green goofy sunglasses. he was on mic and being upbeat and giving ride stats and asking ppl how their ride was, and i felt like i was at DB for a while! He was awesome! and as we were leaving the station i asked him to call it Top Gun just once. And ashley spouts out "The artist formerly known as Top Gun" and he repeated it and went with it the entire time we were going up the lift hill! He. Was. Awesome! We then stopped at JukeBox Diner to see Derek who was swamped with milkshake orders lol and got some fries and chocolate pudding (which was heavenly) and waited on Dustin, who took the longest way there from DB lol and we sneakily got Kevin as he was playing with our toys lol

we then decided on a Vortex ride. Ash wasn't all up about it, but i told her we'd ride in the front seat and she'd be good. Now this is where it gets interesting. First we have a lady cut us "just bringing dippin dots to a friend" and i commented that there was a fence she could hand them over to, and she told me she thought about it but couldn't climb over it... yeah just bringing them ice cream huh? Then there was a group of about 4 ppl in front of us, and about 4-6 other ppl on the other side of the fence. Mind you we got inline before the fence line even started. ugh. and these ppl came about where the concrete breaks on the right. Well the grandma of the group tried climbing over the fence to no avail, and 2 of the boys got smart and hopped the fence where they could use the concrete around the "garden" right before the stairs where its a line jumpers paradise anyways. and then they had to help grandma and at least 2 others. well while they were holding up the line, i coaxed Jared to go past them, since the line ended at the landing at this point. and at this, this is one of the older boys goes, "they're going in front of us. That's just rude" Ummm.. HELLO?!?! wtf do you think you're doing?! Fortunately for all involved, i didn't hear them say this but the others told me shortly after. We figured since we were already ahead of them, we wouldn't say anything to the ride ops. So off to 1-1 me and ash go. And after being in 7-1 for so long it was a welcome change back to my old favorite seat. I loved it! Oh and i also have to give a shout out to Tom who worked there and had cool sunglasses just like Tim only blue lol And for those that normally ride in 1-1 has it always had so much ejector air?! Me and ash were truly amazed by it! it was great! But even greater was the site i saw when we exited

My Urgent Scare being all set up and ready for me

Here Justin went to go meet his little cousin to go on a big girl ride with her so the rest of us just kinda wandered. I don't know if we planned on DB or what, but we all decided that we should get a potential last ride on Scooby. well of course we couldn't get in line until we took our traditional pic

I of course whipped everyones butt and ended up with an 1139.. how it was 39 i will never know. but yay me! And that was even with Kat swatting my gun out of the way a few times lol Well after this we needed to hit First Aid, since Dustin had gotten bit by The Beast earlier he needed a fresh band-aid and Gabe had gotten a bee sting while in line that was starting to swell regardless of me and kat pulling out the stinger. go figure the 2 ppl allergic to bees are the only ones with nails to pull it out lol The really cool thing tho is that they have an old park map that was either circa 75 or 78 i dont remember on the wall

We walked outside to Ash being dressed up by Kevin and Kyle lol

Injury Row LOL Gabe with his bee sting, Jared's broken arm, and Dustin's bitten thumb

Then it was time to get our DB fix in. Me and Kevin rode in row 3, which I'm still convinced is the best inside/odd numbered row. I got my 20th ride and he got his 50th. And it was a super ride.

Then Kat had to leave to go to work, and sold her Skyflyer ticket to Kevin, since Dustin bought his earlier, and ash and kyle decided they were hungry. but looking at the time, Dustin and Kevin decided to go either check out the line, or go scalp their tickets to someone else. So the rest of us stopped at LaRosa's on I-street and as we were sitting there someone comes up and hugs me. It was Peanut totally surprising me out of nowhere. I love her lol and wait to scare the crap out of them in a few weeks But the kids were having fun talking about Jared's hair choice and i was pointing out all the other Haunt workers. then Peanut and mom and kids were off, and so were we. The guys ended up getting their money back and selling their tickets to others for their original $5 back since it was $10 at that point in time, and as we walked back to go try to get a ride in on Beast before we had to leave, we noticed Racer didn't have much of a line and opted for it. Got a back seat ride with Gabe on red side, and I gotta admit it was flying!!

my camera must have accidentally went off as we happened by Urgent Scare O:)

We then headed over to Beast. saw the bottom switchbacks open and said screw it. But I needed to go up and say hi to Nick so we just walked up the exit to go talk to him. But on the way up someone commented about sleeping in the cave and i went what cave?. has anyone else never noticed this before!? cuz they were all giving me crap

continued....

[StalkerChick]

We then left Gabe and pulled and prodded Tracy to join us at Skyline down the road, which was a first for both him and Jared. And after a few cracker and straw fights later.. "how old are you guys?!" LOL we were off to Price Hill to go meet Kevin and mine's mutual friend Jenn, who we just discovered we both knew her. She was the one that accompanied me and Uncle Henry to disney for Spring Break On the way, after suggesting going through Clifton, and being shot down by kevin, we hit a rolling road block just past exit 2 outta nowhere. literally. doing 58 one minute, and not even a slow gradual crawl. a stop. So me justin and kevin being in the lead car of 4 pondered what was going on, and the best we came up with was that Obama came into town 2nite already. cuz after about 20 minutes traffic was going like it never stopped and motercade was the only logical thing we could come up with since it was still way to early to be closing down the 71/75 bridge yet. We parked at Jenn's house finally and loaded the 9 of us into 2 cars to save on the parking/following dilemma. Kevin had already parked downtown and taken the bus up, so we parked in the garage next to his for $5!! score! and then gathered a few blankets and hoodies and headed down towards the river. we got a nice spot between the ball parks just past the pretty bridge that looks like the brooklyn bridge who's name escapes me right now and set up camp.

clockwise from top left: Dustin, Jared, Justin, Kyle, Tracy, Kevin, Ash, me, and Jenn.

at this point a few of us went in search of facilities. and we walked towards the main bridges, to no avail and then headed back to hit up some porta pots we saw while walking, and picked up ash on our way back, thankfully since she accompanied me to the other side of the parking lot to a corner of it down from the stadium since all the other ones we'd passed were not girl friendly, for lack of a better word lol. we then headed back, and upon return to our spot, we noticed that someone had splurged on "presents for his niece [and/or] nephew" (yeah right lol) So we had some light saber and camera fun for awhile whilst we waited.

this one absolutely cracks me up!! lol

how many of us can squeeze in a pic that was only originally gonna have 2 ppl in it lol

And then the fireworks started yay!!

smiley face fireworks!

the little floating sticks. these are SOOOO... awesome and i dont know why lol

Everyones favorite part! the Waterfall. Altho they only did it off of one bridge this year :'( so that kinda stunk

i think this looks like little flower bouquets

and then the wind stopped and there was too much smoke to see anything.

The Kentucky Skyline

the purdy bridge lol We finally headed back to Jenn's and then sat outside her house just talking and being stupid and what not. Then Tracy, Dustin, and Jared headed home while me, kevin, justin, ash, and kyle then headed off to Ash and Kyle's house. After a quick stop at Kroger, and over one heck of a bridge that Kevin felt the need to slow down on in front of me... (my biggest fear is bridges which ppl found out that night going to Price Hill lol) we finally got back to their house way out in the middle of nowhere. It took awhile for Kevin to get the fire started, but half a bottle of lighter fluid and 3 newspapers later we had one going. Even the other brother Brian came out and joined us. We sat around just enjoying the night and being dorks with some OAR chillin in the background. Finally about 2am we all decided it was time to head home, but then spent an hour sitting in the driveway telling stories and planning a trip to the place no one knows about in a few weeks *giggles*

Stricker's on next post...

[StalkerChick]

I totally didn't wanna wake up Monday morning. So i naturally slept in then decided that I really wanted a Scooters fix. So a text to Jared and a prodding at Justin and off we went around 3ish into the drizzle.

I see a Tornado up ahead

yay for being open!! We got there just as they shut all the rides down and were on dinner break. And i still had a cooler full of food we didnt eat at KI so me Justin and Jared feasted on that in the shelter house. I love that they let you bring in coolers so you dont have to sit in the parking lot. it was nice. Then it was off to fulfill my small plan i mapped out the night before

I . Love. Scooters.

For those of you that didn't know... this little kiddie turtle coaster is TOTALLY a coaster credit!! and i got it now woot!

2 bunny hills + 8 laps = 16 hills! haha

Then off to Teddy Bear in the backseat. Was loving the kids behind me that were lapping it, but Tornado "was too big and too high" they're faces were adorable! and they even did hands up with me! Then it was Tornado time. I think I went for seat 3 on this one since it was mentioned to be the ejector air seat. and yes... after the backseat... it totally is. The boys then headed for the Electric Rainbow, and i said no way. they got me on it last time, wasn't happening again. So i opted to take pics and flirt with the cute ride op O:)

the lesser seen side

Then it was off to the helicopters. But the boys picked the 2 red ones which we found out don't work and don't go up and down. This ride threw me for a loop when i realized the lap bar is what made it go up and down. but again think this was disabled since mine went up on its own

Then we went and rode The Whip to escape the drizzle that had started again while we were on the helicopters

then it was time for some free drinks followed by the nice roofed carousel. I truly love this thing. It may not be overly ornate or anything, but the fact that it still has the working organ and the drums makes me happy

Where's Ash when i need her LOL

Me being artsty and loving it!

the whole set up

Then it was on to the elephant ride!

me being artsy from my elephant

And then ugh. i was gonna attempt to get on every ride at the park, not all in one day i was not doing rainbow or til-a-hurl again, but just to say i've ridden them all, so for some stupid reason I agreed to go on Tip-Top... fortunately Justin went and got in a car all by himself so i opted to ride with Jared since i figure he's only got one good arm to use so I should be safe from the spinning Thank you Jared for not caring if i was being a sissy So we just kinda took it easy at first... and then when the darn thing starts bouncing, holy crap. It spun itself and caused me to keep bouncing from one side of the car to the other! it was crazy and scary and fun as heck all at the same time! Well as the ride was coming to an end i decided i felt fine, and let loose on the darned thing. so fast in fact i couldn't slow it down. But i figured out if i keep my head slightly down and look at the middle of the wheel which looks stationary i'm good. Until Jared tells me to look up ugh. Then it was time to take another drink break. which i thoroughly enjoyed. And it was here that we realized Justin lost his phone. So we scrambled around looking on the last 2 rides for that and calling the phone, til finally some girl answers and goes "why do you keep calling me?!" like it was her phone?! and she admitted to finding it on tip-top and then when asked where she was so we could get the phone back, she hung up and turned the phone off. I mean really?! REALLY?! that was the last thing i'd expect at Stricker's but people sometimes....

Then it was getting to be about that time, so it was one more ride on scooters, that i got 3 good snaps that could be heard on. then off to Teddy bear where some little kid was just staying on in the back. so I just kinda mentioned to the ride op if there was no one in the station he can feel free to just let it go again. and he totally did!! And as we pulled in he asked if we wanted to go again, but remembering what happened last time i said no thanks and we headed for Tornado. They weren't as cool there but i opted for back seat, since i still hadn't and i wanted to feel this cliff from there since i watched the entire back car literally come off the track when i watched it while the boys were on electric rainbow and the ride op told me to watch the back car. note to self: don't let your seat belt loose back there. omg i have bruises on my thighs and hips from the ejector on it. and my knees hit the buzz bar. but it was still epic!!

Thanks to everyone for a great season!! I may make it up to the park before i work on saturdays, or sundays of Haunt, but i believe this was my last full trip to KI. So to all of you... Thanks! <3 its been one of the best summers i've had in awhile!

[rotag]

Those two days I didn't want to end, but as the rolling stones put it best "you can't always get what you want".

[The Interpreter]

What a truly wonderful trip report. I think you all could even have fun on Ninja!

[StalkerChick]

*giggles* I think it looks like a fun little ride O:) all 3 of them haha

I don't care what anyone else says i <3 Arrow's

[The Interpreter]

You know which dastardly contraption I meant...

The one that has only one advantage: You can see the finest wooden roller coaster in that part of the country from it, and Goliath.

[StalkerChick]

ROFL!! it's not horribly dastardly... looking anyways. omg I need to get out of Ohio parks lol

[rotag]

I beileve we could have fun at guntown mountain, in cave city ky. Granted most of there rides are gone, but they still have a chairlift that takes you up a hill to there western town. Last time I was there you could pay the sheriff some money to lock someone up for 5 min. Not to mention that there are caves and roadside attractions all over the place.

[Justin_M17]

I beileve we could have fun at guntown mountain, in cave city ky. Granted most of there rides are gone, but they still have a chairlift that takes you up a hill to there western town. Last time I was there you could pay the sheriff some money to lock someone up for 5 min. Not to mention that there are caves and roadside attractions all over the place.

If I went with Rachel I guarantee i'd spend the larger portion of my day "locked up". So that wouldn't be much fun for me

[XGatorHead 8904]

I beileve we could have fun at guntown mountain, in cave city ky. Granted most of there rides are gone, but they still have a chairlift that takes you up a hill to there western town. Last time I was there you could pay the sheriff some money to lock someone up for 5 min. Not to mention that there are caves and roadside attractions all over the place.

I was just down that way two weeks ago. We drove by Guntown Mountain on our way to Mammoth Cave.

[rotag]

I was thinkin for her while we were catchin one of the shows. I go to restroom, then sneek off to pay him. Thus he waitin at end of show and creates a great photo op.

Plus there are wax and wildlife museums. Put put & go carts.

[rotag]

Hey gatorhead, whadja think of the caves?

Last time I went I got an idea from the tour, that whenever I find that special someone. Take them there and at the section where they turn out the light, secretly sneak onto one knee and when lights come back on. Suprise with a proposal.

[StalkerChick]

hmmm... is it open in november

[Diamondback FOF]

What a wonderful, loooooooooooooong trip report! My family and friends always go just past the bridge you guys did and watch the fireworks. We go like right between the bridge and GABP. Where did you guys park? We not park right beside the Bengals' practice field, on the side facing away from their stadium. There is a road that runs parallel to it call Smith Ave and we park there...for FREE!! You should check it out next year. It isn't too far of a walk, and you don't feel too unsafe because it is decently lit and there are plenty of other people around.

[rotag]

I think the attraction & some of the caves close down for late fall-early spring. But mammoth is open year round offering different tours for the season. There's also a special type of bookstore nearbye, & some distilleries around clermont.

[kjkjkj]

One of the best Labor Day Weekends EVER! I had so much fun! We (mostly Rachel) did a great job planning Ashley's birhtday Surprise! I can't wait to hang out again (hopefully very very soon ) Thanks for making this such a fun weekend everyone who came!

[StalkerChick]

What a wonderful, loooooooooooooong trip report! My family and friends always go just past the bridge you guys did and watch the fireworks. We go like right between the bridge and GABP. Where did you guys park? We not park right beside the Bengals' practice field, on the side facing away from their stadium. There is a road that runs parallel to it call Smith Ave and we park there...for FREE!! You should check it out next year. It isn't too far of a walk, and you don't feel too unsafe because it is decently lit and there are plenty of other people around.

we parked off 6th street? maybe 5th and i think plum. it was $5 so it wasn't too bad. we had 5 ppl in the car so it was only $1 haha

[Diamondback FOF]

I just looked that up. It is right by the Convention Center, and it looks like it is about the same walk as we had. But, next year, if you liked where you watched the fireworks from, you can always try parking on Smith St. and it is free.

http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navcl...cincinnati+ohio

Justg move the map up and you can it is between 71/75 and US42

[StalkerChick]

One of the best Labor Day Weekends EVER! I had so much fun! We (mostly Rachel) did a great job planning Ashley's birhtday Surprise! I can't wait to hang out again (hopefully very very soon ) Thanks for making this such a fun weekend everyone who came!

Thanks DB FOF i'm gonna try to remember that for next year

And thank you Kyle I know it was hard for you to not say anything to her either and you did a good job. I can't wait for soon! *giggles*

[Gabe]

Nice TR Rachel!! BTW the 'purdy' bridge is the Roebling Suspension Bridge-built by Roebling just a few yrs before the better known Brooklyn Bridge...so you could say th Roebling is a 1st gen bridge and the one in nyc is a clone..lol! Also, the park map in first aid was from 76 if I recall correctly. We lawyers get paid big bucks to remember details..lol! I'll look forward to seeing you at Haunt and in mid-Oct for your next adventure

[Tomkatt7]

I must say, every time I see a group trip report. Justin has the coolest shirt on in the whole bunch!!!

[Justin_M17]

I must say, every time I see a group trip report. Justin has the coolest shirt on in the whole bunch!!!

Gee, thanks Lol.

[Ashers]

Wow so....I know I'm late in posting in this, but great TR, Rach!! What an epic weekend. You did such a good job planning my super secret birthday suprise! I <3 you guys!!