Faerie Wench's trip report thread

[faeriewench]

Would it be ok to do? Seeing as 2013 may just be an interesting year.

Got a short Orlando trip (its actually school trip for my brother) quickly approaching but I'm gonna hit up SeaWorld for a few hours to catch a few shows (won't bother with the coasters, been on them, love them and can live without them for one trip, lol).

Then during the first full week of May I return to Cali and got SeaWorld out there along with Belmont Park and San Diego Zoo. And almost as soon as I get back my cousin talked me into going to CP, which is something I put off for years, but we'll be in Camper Village, my cousin we consider a 3rd generation RV'er and he's only one in the family (along with his wife) that has continued going to CP (others including my dad kinda try to keep away due to memories of the grandparents there). So should be interesting, at least for me. In June be taking my yearly visit to Cincinnati Zoo. In August its back to Knott's, my friends are trying to talk me into Disneyland so maybe, I'm not sold on the idea yet. And does Kings Island fit into all of this? Yes. Of course I'll do my semi-regular visits to KI throughout the summer since I work close by

So for sure:

SWC

Cedar Point

Knott's

[TombRaiderFTW]

Yes yes yes yes! Please! Just make sure you take plenty of pictures.

[CoastersRZ]

One of these years, I`m going to get out to Knott`s. I also would like to visit the Cedar Fair park up in Canada. I`ll get to those parks eventually. I would love to see a trip report from those parks!

[jcgoble3]

I will knott be going to Knott's until they get rid of their stupid policy on glasses. The rest of your trip, however, sounds great. Have fun!

[faeriewench]

Yes yes yes yes! Please! Just make sure you take plenty of pictures.

Hehe, I think its safe to say lots of pictures will be taken! XD

[faeriewench]

well Las Vegas is actually happening too. Flights and hotel booked. My mom's first time flying, so she wants to see Donny and Marie Osmond and go see Grand Canyon. I seen Grand Canyon several times so I'm just gonna get my rides on Desperado, and the other coasters as well see some dolphins. Yeah, interesting year..

Wasn't sure with this one till it was finalized, such a long painful exchange over the last few months, mother thinks she's "seeing the country" with layovers, and way I see it Las vegas itself is a layover (since I'm used to Cali), flying nonstop to it isn't a big deal. I tell her there is nothing to really see in the other airports...just over priced merchandise and food, my main focus is making sure there aren't any delays, haha. Agh. Yay me (with help from a family friend who is always flying somewhere on business) convinced her to do nonstop flights. XD

[faeriewench]

Kings Island opening day

IMG_5164 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

My younger brother and his friend (they were part of the KIC group) were in the walkathon so we, as well as my dad, got there pretty early. While my bro was away doing the walk, me and my dad stayed back and watched the park wake up, I used to always love opening day at CP and yesterday felt that same excitement after months of staring at the empty parking lot. Personally, I kind of wished I took part in the walk but then I started to see some of the first participants out with all the wild coloring...my first thought was "looks like a rainbow light brite", with that in mind I don't think it would have been wise to go into work later with pinkish red hair. Looks like everyone had a good time though!

The park got crowded real fast at opening, Diamondback's line was even stretched around one of food stands in Planet Snoopy (I forget the name of the one on the opposite side of the walkway from the restrooms). My only rides the entire day were Dback, Adventure Express and Flight Deck while the rest of my time was spent strolling the park. My dad got to ride Adventure Express, it was his first coaster ride since 2002 and that last time was Millennium Force. For those who didn't know, I did go to midday KIC meetup at Tower Drinks, with my scattered mind I actually was there for about 45 mins before everyone got there (I knew would have forgotten about it so better early than not at all...). Even had to txt malem earlier in the morning to find out again what time to be there >_> It was great seeing those I had not seen in awhile! It was also really great finally meeting a few others, and to those and as well as the ones who came up to me to introduce themselves, it was a pleasure. Hope to see you all again some point during the season.

After the meet up I caught the Peanuts party, noticed now we got a Woodstock costume character (I'm assuming he's new this year?)

By 3:30 I was gone as I had to be at work, but it was a great opening day IMO at KI despite the crowds and at times hideous cloud covering. I think my only gripe about the day was it felt like (besides the absences of Sonny, Thunder Alley and the water tower) there was fewer trees around...

Now the best part......some PICTURES!!

IMG_5167 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_5187 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_5207 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_5287 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

^THIS is the kind of random crap that easily grabs my attention. I love the detail in it though which is my favorite part.

IMG_5255 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_5322 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_5214 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_5425 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

I'll be busy over the next day and a half with going through my pictures, so if you get bored feel free to check the album! Thanks for reading this post, I think I'll just leave this here for the moment...... hehe

Kasatka2006 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

[IndyGuy4KI]

Nice PTR Amy. Good to see you on opening day!

[faeriewench]

Nice PTR Amy. Good to see you on opening day!

It was great seeing you too! Btw....thanks everyone for the weight loss compliments

[RingMaster]

The new Bier Garten patio looks incredible. Now I wonder if they'll utilize the new and extra space to extend the Cut-Throat Cove Haunt maze and make it bigger (curse my constant Halloween frame of mind).

[Avatar]

Great pictures and and report. It is always good to see you at the park and smiling the way you were on Saturday.

[faeriewench]

(curse my constant Halloween frame of mind).

Nothing wrong with that Shoot Knott's already begun hiring for Haunt build so now I have some halloween-ish thoughts going through my head at times currently.

Great pictures and and report. It is always good to see you at the park and smiling the way you were on Saturday.

Great seeing you too!

[faeriewench]

Belmont Park

Didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked with this one due to it being a downpour of rain the entire time :/ But I did get the ride Giant Dipper though! Not as bad as I was expecting, certainly find its lift hill quite unique to listen to...kind of like how SOB was but not as painful to the ears, lol. Anyway, for those who probably never heard of this park, its a seaside park with only a classic woodie and several flat rides and its not far from SeaWorld. Had the weather been nicer I would have stuck around longer honestly.

IMG_5536 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_5541 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_5542 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_5567 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

Now to bed and to work on the SeaWorld TR when I wake up (which I'm expecting to be a long one)

[Thrill_Biscuit]

I must say the close-up picture of the fountain is one of the coolest KI pics I've ever seen! I also love your pic of Drop Tower, Sling Shot and XSF silhouetted against the twilight (mostly because of the illusion that the DT appears to be leaning). Beautiful pictures, faeriewench!

[faeriewench]

Thanks Tb!!!

IMG_5247 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

Well had 4 spectacular days at SeaWorld, despite the rain the first couple days. Shockingly? I managed roughly around 5,000+ pictures, and as one of my LA friends put it "for you when it comes to SeaWorld that's not enough" Gee thanks, dude.

The first day we pulled up to a quiet and extremely rainy SeaWorld. The rain did make seeing the animals more interesting as the dolphins and orcas love it when it rains anyway... they were all playing in the rain. During one of the morning breaks from rain I got my first ride on the Manta and oh my goodness I loved it! It started out kind of meh, but after the second launch is where it actually got me, and there were some great moments of airtime too which I loved. By afternoon it started to clear to partly cloudy and warmed up considerably, and I remembered my biggest gripe with SWC, and that's lack of shade. This was also the only day I did Wild Arctic, not a fan of the ride itself, the belugas at the exit I always find more interesting, and from a photographer standpoint I like the SWC exhibit better cause its has better lighting than the Orlando park. On the other hand though....belugas naturally love dark arctic waters so the exhibit at Orlando in that aspect is best, but its such a pain in the arse to get any decent shots at This was also my first time seeing the "baby" luga named Pearl and she was stinkin' cute. XD The One Ocean show was really good, kind of sucks though the SWC show is a couple minutes shorter than SWT and SWF, it was good to see Shouka again too (have not seen Shouka since she was living at SFWoA) and she looks great. I do like the Blue Horizons show better here than Orlando's, much more improvement, albeit SWF had theirs for about 5 years longer but I still prefer the San Diego's show. Was kind of bummed they didn't bring out Argo (the male Pilot recently transferred from Kamagowa SeaWorld Japan) in the show, been dying to see him in person, thankfully they brought him out after the show for a couple behaviors while patrons exited the stadium! Pilot whales are among my favorite cetaceans.

The second day wasn't as rainy as it only drizzled and lasted bout an hour after park opening. By noon I was even getting bit of a sunburn...I had a reservation with Dine with Shamu on this day so 1pm was at that. last time I got to partake in a DWS was 2009 at Orlando so this was my first time at San Diego. I actually do love SW's food in some ways better than KI's o_o I had totally forgotten there was a Skyride at this park! Before Manta was built that was kind of real dead area of the park so I never usually ventured there too much, and is it just me or are there fewer of these rides now? Didn't go on it that day, but I took some pics of it. One Ocean show was better because Kasatka and her new 3 month old baby got to participate in it! I hadn't seen a killer whale calf that young in well over a decade which made it so neat watching him mimic momma, big brother, and sister. Before leaving the park for the day I caught a showing at the Sealion and Otter Stadium, and those guys never cease to amaze me, was dying of laughter. I always loved seeing the Clyde & Seamore Shows at the Ohio park growing up, California sea lions are really smart animals. SeaWorld seems like they are trying to make Oppa Gangnam Style popular again with that show... *facepalm*

The third day I got my rides in at Skytower (made me miss Space Spiral), Skyride, final ride on Manta and the Journey to Atlantis. I have mixed emotions for JTA, kind of prefer Orlando's personally. I loved the view of the marina's from Skyride, having grown up in the Lake Erie region, so we spent a lot of time around the lake itself and the boats, I was loving the view entirely. The One Ocean show was interesting. Looks like they installed news gates at the Shamu facility so the trainers no longer need to open the gates by hand anymore, it appears the gates had gone wacky considering while they were setting up the shows with orcas they were using for it. At one point after sending mom, calf, Orkid and Kalia to the back the gate reopened and every orca at the park zoomed into the show pool minus Corky. It looked like a party there for a moment. The gates reopened, everyone went back...the gate opened again, the baby went into the show pool alone and the gate closed right behind him! Didn't take long for miss Kasatka and Kalia (calf's big sister) to notice he was missing so both girls sat at the gate screeching and vocalizing. After a couple minutes they started to get really PO'ed and Kalia began to ram into the gates which created a loud rattling noise that echoed in the stadium. They finally got the gate to open and the calf returned to them. Kasatka is one female that is not accustomed to being away from any of her kids for a lengthy period of time so you could see the semi angry and worried looks on the trainers faces. The entire stadium was filled with "aawwwwww"'s over the calf swimming and leaping about at the gate by himself and then it became loud gasps when Kalia smacked the gates.The show was primarily carried by the bulls when the family got reunited so it was nifty seeing giant bulls doing this show xp After One Ocean we went to Pets Rule, and out of all the shows in the park, I think this one delivers one of the best messages. It always upsets me how people dump kitties and doggies off at shelters once they outgrown the kitten/puppy stages, in other words....no longer are cute. All the animals featured at Pets Rule were basically victims of that as they are all shelter animals. The story attached to Kelsey (one of the kitties) was a rather touching one, she been calling the San Diego park home for the last 6 years and they brought her out to be petted by patrons after the show. I saw a happy kitty there, with little to no assistance from her trainer allowing all them hands to stroke her and loving every minute of it. That's one very tolerant cat.

A side note...I got a nifty sunburn on my face, shoulders and arms from the trip

Anyway....that's what I remember more clearly, LOL. Here are some pics:

IMG_6427 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_7901 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_9084 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_0722 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_0589 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

Shouka by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

Calf by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

Angry mom and sister, see Kalia up against the gate

Kasatka and Kalia by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

[faeriewench]

It actually is kind of weird to me saying its almost time to get ready for my next adventure...

[faeriewench]

Kings Island 5-19-2013 (Brady Bunch day)

This will be an extremely short TR since the Brady Bunch thing was the only reason for going today with my mom and brother. Plus I am kind of in a hurry, lol.

Since it was quite apparent nearly everyone wanted to see the Brady Bunch, we mainly hung around KI Theater for about 2 1/2 hours for the 5pm showing. My brother decided to go off and do some coaster riding while me and mom stuck together for the most part. My mom was one of those moms who always picked "Peter" as her favorite when they were kids, so obviously she was looking forward to seeing him. I'll be honest...I don't think I haven't gotten reacquainted with Ohio humidity YUCK! It was a relief to be inside the Theater. I LOVED the show they did, cool seeing Barry/Greg again. They all look like they are doing well which I was glad to see. too bad I didn't get to ask the question I wanted. Oh well, lol. Yes, I did take pics...of course I did. When do I not?

IMG_1978 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_2000 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_2014 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_2016 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_2041 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

My ride count for the day? One ride on Flight Deck. HECK YES! How cool am I? Anyway I got a feeling this my last major post till I get back from Vegas.

[stashua123]

I was at the 5 P.M showing!

[DBInternational]

IMG_5167 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

Umm... Why does drop zone look like its falling over??? Ooh this could be the start of a new rumor! Got any pics of Vortex sinking?

[faeriewench]

Las Vegas

IMG_5664 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

Just got back from a nice hot week at Las Vegas. I'm gonna be covering just about everything, not just the measly rides so just bear with me. I did manage well over 1,000 pictures, about 750 (or just tad closer to 800) of which were at the dolphin/tiger exhibit at the Mirage. I think I controlled myself a bit better from the 5,000+ at SeaWorld alone! LOL!

Our trip started Tuesday afternoon after we had just arrived to the hotel (Flamingo). We originally got on a bus that took us to the Luxor, from there we walked to Mandalay Bay where we went to the shark exhibit. I was actually impressed with that, on top of that, gorgeous hotel (well nearly all of them are). After the sharks, (and some food) we were brave enough to walk all the way back to the Flamingo! Not until after making visits to MGM Grand, and Walgreens next to Planet Hollywood. Yes, I realize that is a LONG walk. Oh well....it is exercise after all and exercise is good for you... by the time we got back to the Flamingo we were pretty tired so we crashed for a few hours before catching the Bellagio fountains that evening.

Day two

Me and my mom kind of split our separate ways. I had already bought my ticket to the Mirage Dolphin/Tiger exhibit a couple months ago so that is where I went to begin my day. I must say I LOVE the Mirage! Hotel and the animals.

(*note to everyone: I do not participate in gambling so I will not be talking about that. I am a penny pincher, with that said I like to hold onto my money when possible and rather not take the risk of blowing it all on gambling and end up with....nothing)

Anyway, back to the Mirage. It was really cool, for me personally, to see Duchess and Lightning in person after only just hearing stories about them. Both are older dolphins (well into their 30s). I had the under water viewing area to myself for a good while (it was rather quiet at the exhibit anyway) so Lightning kept swimming up to the window checking out the SHINYYYY keychain on my camera bag x___x (dolphins love shiny things). Checked out the kitties of course! I love kitties! I was shocked to see they were all awake. The other nice thing I loved about the Mirage was that is was walking distance from the Flamingo, so after I went right back to the Flamingo to chill for awhile before going back out. By the time I caught my breath, I walked all the way to New York New York to give the Manhattan Express a go. (yes, I WALKED, I am nuts, I am well aware.) This ride kept being shut down due to high winds...I was able to manage two rides on it though. The second time they stopped the ride just before the lift for about 10 minutes before it got going again. My reaction was....well I was actually shocked at first. Then it started to make me think of King Cobra, and my experience with King Cobra from what I can remember wasn't too pleasant. I started the long hike back to the Flamingo and got back just in time to join my mom to catch a showing for Donny & Marie Osmond. My mom was a Donny fan as a teenager and I agreed to go along just cause...well it would be the only thing me and her can do together anyway. I'm not exactly a Osmond fan, however I do like Donny's "Soldier of Love" and also the song his brothers did, "Crazy Horses". I actually found myself enjoying the show. Marie looks great after her weight loss. Mom, of course, liked it well enough she had to buy a ticket for the following nights show. While I enjoyed it I declined. lol It is a GOOD show though!

Day Three

After the walk to and from New York New York, I caved and decided a bus be the way to go for Circus to visit Adventuredome. For what it is.....I LOVED Canyon Blaster! Enough I had to ride it several times before I finally got a headache and had to stop. It's been awhile since I did anything like that *cough*Flight Deck*cough*. I loved it especially in the very back due to the airtime I got going down its drop. I think Canyon Blaster did scramble my brain a bit though because I do not remember what I did after Adventuredome....LOL. I remember walking up and down the strip during the evening taking in all the sights.

Day Four

This was a busy day. Desperado started this day off. I don't get its operation hours....Fridays through Sundays, closed rest of the week? I often hear mixed reviews for Desperado, some love it, some hate it. I liked it. I found it a bit shaky, like Magnum.... I was at a loss for what to do after we got back to the hotel though. I found myself debating whether or not see if I can get a better ride on Manhattan or go back to the Mirage. I opted Mirage. Once I bought my ticket and was inside the exhibits....I'm glad I chose Mirage over the coaster. Got to watch 4 training sessions with the dolphins (this where most of the picture taken happened of course.....) and saw the tigers and they were awake again! (my mom went to the Mirage day before and for her the tigers were passed out)

This is what I can remember at the moment. Las vegas in general....is a very entertaining city by night. LOL!

IMG_2189 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_3135 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_3049 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_2387 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_3469 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

[The Interpreter]

I'm stunned you didn't detest Roller Coaster at New York New York more than you did. How much do they have the nerve to charge for that piece of crap these days? And what about Desperado? It sounds like it's not doing well money-wise.

Great pictures, as usual. What and where'd ya' eat?

[jzarley]

Are you still planning the day trip to the Grand Canyon? If you can, avoid the bus tour to the canyon from Vegas if at all possible...it's basically eight hours on the bus & 90 min at the canyon. If I had it to do all over again, I'd rent a car and drive it myself...I hate to have anyone else controlling my itinerary (probably why I've never had any desire to go on a cruise :-))

[faeriewench]

Yeah, little Canyon Blaster ended up being my favorite of the Las Vegas group. One of my LA friends swears up and down the front row of the last car on Manhattan delivers a somewhat better ride, but didn't get a chance to give that a try when I decided to go to MIrage instead. I had a coupon for it that allowed double rides so I took advantage, but they charge 14.00 per person while it was 10.00 at Desperado.

When we first got there....well we were hungry enough McDonalds was ok at the Luxor. Speaking of food, I was constantly seeing people coming out of the Walgreens locations up and down the strip as well as CVS taking bags of food and cases of pop/water back to the hotels. We were among those people, got a case of water and mom got a case of her Diet Dr Pepper. During my first visit at the Mirage I got a souvenir cup from there and proceeded to fill it with ice from one of the ice machines in the hallways of the hotel and just drank water most of the time with occasional pop. One of my friends told me they prefer going to places, like Walgreens, for their alcohol as opposed to the hotels themselves because its cheaper. 3.00 for bottled water at a vending machine is a bit extreme IMO. The food options at the hotels are very pricey. Me and mom did go to Margaritaville at Flamingo, very pricey but was really nice. There's a small pizza place at the Flamingo when you heading towards the flamingo exhibit that does some MASSIVE pizza slices. One slice of pizza from Pizza Joint equals two slices of LaRosa's from KI to give an idea. Me and mom just split that, no way either of us would finish that off on our own. Some people do love those giant slices though... Safe to say everything we did eat, was burnt right off.

[The Interpreter]

May be a good thong you caught Donny and Marie together now:

http://m.celebdirtylaundry.com/2013/marie-osmond-ready-to-ditch-brother-donny-osmond-once-vegas-contracts-up-0526/

(Does Terp have diverse reading habits or what?)

[faeriewench]

Such a shame, though I'm not entirely surprised. :/

[faeriewench]

Kings Island June 4th 2013 visit

IMG_4009 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

I went really primarily for the Ed Alonzo show more than anything else, but I did manage to hang around a lot longer than I thought I would. I rode Dback first thing during ERT, (just one ride) and finally got my first ride of the season on The Beast. I've really missed Beast! WindSeeker was a walk on so I did that, on my way to that I had started to have one of my random brief coughing fits (they always seem worse in Ohio than in Cali) For whatever reason it cleared at the top of WindSeeker and once back on ground level starting coughing again for several minutes before it stopped. Visit to first aid followed to rest for a couple minutes to sit in the A/C. By noon time I was really just browsing around the park, taking photos and visiting inside the shops (didn't buy anything) and got some ice cream after going up the Eiffel Tower. About 2pm I felt I was ready for at least one more ride and it was off too.....you guessed it..my favorite Arrow, Flight Deck XD. Though I was a bit surprised to find over a 20 minute wait there, that was the longest I actually waited all afternoon/morning.

I went to Ed Alonzo's show right after leaving Flight Deck. I won't spoil anything for those who have not seen the show yet because it is pretty different from last years. Go see it! I really enjoyed it.

Picture time:

IMG_4131 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_5754 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_5763 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

Also this trip was the first time I ever seen any of the Canadian Geese swimming inside the fountains

IMG_3840 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

IMG_3924 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

[VortexBFForever]

Lovely pictures! What camera did you use?

[faeriewench]

Canon Rebel T3 mostly, however I do keep and use a Canon Powershot Point n Shoot as well. Both cameras were used yesterday. When I have the Rebel with me, I try not to do a lot of riding cause I'm scared of leaving it and the lenses behind at the stations, lol. Too much money went into all that.

[VortexBFForever]

I see.... I also have a Canon Powershot. It's an ELPH 110 HS model. For a compact digital camera, it takes some good pictures as well (did I mention it has a nice 20x optical zoom? )

[faeriewench]

For the Rebel I carry a kit 18-55mm lens, 50mm, 55-250mm, and 75-300mm lenses. Despite a lot of the negative reviews I read for the 75-300mm, and its weight.... I like it. That picture of Vortex I have posted with this trip report was taken with that lens. I love the 50mm best for low light environments, like what is seen at Haunt. I'm still looking at a particular Nikon slr, just waiting for the best moment to go in for the grab. haha! The Powershot are great cameras, mine is a SX120IS model, so it kind of functions like a mini slr, and it is easier to carry around (not small enough for pockets though >_>) than the Rebel which I love too!