I made it to the parking lot by 9:10 and was able to park 3 cars back from the barriers in section 52, which was great. I stood in line behind a family of people who kept asking each other if they were in the right line or not and I think they must have been with either the UAW group of the Health Care group that was enjoying the day at the park. There were a ton of them by 11:30, whoever they were.

I made the long, neverending trek back to The Beast and walked through the que. There was one guy in the train leaving the station. The next train pulled up and I got in the 4th row. There was no one in front of me but all the way in the back was a kid and what I think was his sister. The very kind employee gently helped me squeeze into the seat and she pushed the lap bar down two clicks (after verbally walking me through exactly what she was doing and making sure I was OK). I might have ridden this when I was like 11 or 12 years old but I don't remember. All I know is that the first hill's steep decline really surprised me! I was also surprised at the roughness; I actually expected it to be worse. I was also grateful for the times when the coaster slowed down to give me a chance to reposition myself in the seat and prepare for the next intense part of the ride. Now, I was moving along pretty fast heading down a hill and I'm not sure but is it possible that I saw a deer next to the track? It didn't look fake and it seemed like a random place to put a fake deer anyway, so I assume it was real, but please don't make funy of me if a) I was hallucinating or I'm stupid for not realizing it was fake. :-)

After The Beast, I watched a few Diamondback trains splash down and waited for them to drop the rope for the rest of the park. Again another rude and inconsiderate unpatriotic American talked through the national anthem, but I'll give her a pass because 1) she looked Swedish and 2) the coasters were whizzing by and it was hard to hear the singing over the not-so-loud speaker. For some reason, the BLSC was not running so I thought about walking over to Flight of Fear and giving it a try but I honestly chickened out before I got there. I headed for the Eiffel Tower instead and it was pretty windy up there. It was also crowded, which made it not so much fun. On the way down, there was a young woman who was in full blown panic attack mode in the elevator. Her family was just ignoring her but I felt bad because even if she is a drama queen, she wasn't faking her fear of heights.

I noticed them testing trains on BLSC so I made my way back over there. For the first time that I've ridden, a girl was assigning seats for the ride. I asked her for the front and she was nice about accomodating that request. I only had to wait for one train and it was a nice smooth ride. I must have lost some more weight because I had very little trouble getting in the seat this time, though I also am more familiar with how my body has to fit in that particular ride.

After this, I headed towards the Miami Valley Railroad and took a nice leisurely train ride. I could have sworn that three weeks ago when I rode this the train stopped at Boomerang Bay but today it just drove right on by and I didn't even notice a station for it to stop at? Who knows, maybe the heat was getting to me.

I thought about trying a ride on BBoBH or Viking Fury before I headed back home to get ready for work, but the crowds were really picking up and I didn't feel like fighting through the masses. After all, that's the beauty of the Gold Pass - I can ride again whenever I want!

I'll probably not try to go up this weekend, with it being Bring a Friend Day on Sunday I assume it will be packed.

Um...how do i say this lightly...

That kid on The Beast was ME!!!

Um...how do i say this lightly...

That kid on The Beast was ME!!!

You mean the one on the train that left before me by himself or the one that rode with me??

Nice TR Kirk, thanks for sharing! Glad you had a good time.

The one that rode with you.

That plastic deer confused me too.

The one that rode with you.

That plastic deer confused me too.

HA! Well, it was nice riding with you. Was it a plastic deer???

I think so.

Oh, one other thing I forgot to mention in my report... The ride op (maybe supervisor) of BLSC who's name I THINK is Ronny is super great. He always remembers me and today said "Nice to see you again, sir," which made me feel nice yet old all at the same time. But kudos to him and others like him that I've encountered so far at KI - the employees have been great!