Kudos to these guys for the hard work they do. Glad to see they're getting some recognition.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130402/NEWS01/304030056/Kings-Island-crews-always-testing-fixing

So much appreciation for what those guys do to keep the rides running every season. I'll never get tire of hearing about the behind the scenes workings.

I always think of them when I start to get scared on a ride. I wouldn't be on the ride if they found anything wrong.

Rides Maintenance is definitely one of the unsung departments of the park. They do a lot of hard work that mainly goes underappreciated by the public.

Caption under one of the photos:

Kings Island Offseason: Kings Island maintenance crews are working long hours to get the park ready to open for its 41st season on April 27.

This is actually the park's 42nd season (41st anniversary).

Rides Maintenance is definitely one of the unsung departments of the park. They do a lot of hard work that mainly goes underappreciated by the public.

Caption under one of the photos:

Kings Island Offseason: Kings Island maintenance crews are working long hours to get the park ready to open for its 41st season on April 27.

This is actually the park's 42nd season (41st anniversary).

This may make me sound stupid, but how is that possible? Lol.

Because the first season, 1972, was year 0. The second season, 1973, the park would be one year old but in season two. The park is now nearly 41 years old, and about to start its 42nd season.

Alright, thanks Terpy! *Praying my sickness goes away so I can have cohesive thoughts*

Cohesive or coherent?

Being sick isn't fun. Hope you're better soon!

Exactly! Wow...I'm feelin a bit better, minus being able to have a good thought.

Back to the original post, I am thankful for this team working hard while we wait....I know it's a pain for us to wait, but they make sure we're safe!

Did anyone see the Ricdoulessness on MTV. Rob was mentioing The Racer and he seemed very upset it no longer goes backwards.

I don`t watch much TV, and when I do, I do not watch MTV so I did not see that. Yes, I miss the backwards Racer, but don`t look for it to come back anytime soon.

I agree with Gary, that maintenance is the unsung heroes of the parks. There work seldom gets noticed, and they put in some long hours. Few people realize that they tear the trains apart and disassemble most of the rides in the winter to inspect them. It always fascinates me to see parks in the midst of their off season maintenance work.

At Coney, they have begun re-assembling the rides. They just moved the Rock O Plane cars out to the ride on Thursday, and will likely be putting them on the ride next week. They still haven`t done too much work on the new Como Cruisers though, but there is still some time before the park opens for the season.

I always love seeing all the work that goes into keeping a park running - it's just very interesting. One of my favorite things in the mornings at Dollywood was walking past Thunderhead while they were doing the morning trackwalk, or even better, minor retracking. It was just very cool to watch. Probably my favorite part of working on a coaster was getting to see all of the mechanics that go into it, learning how the controls systems work, and everything that was done as far as maintenance.

I think it would be pretty cool to work on coasters for a living. It would definitely be much more fun than working in a lumberyard, which is what I do now.

I spent 10 years in machine repair, best time of my life. The average size of the machines I worked on was probably 6 feet wide and maybe 20 feet long. To work on a machine that covers ACRES?!?!? I both appreciate, and respect these brave people that walk the tracks, tighten the bolts, and watch out for our safety.

As an Engineering student this is more fascinating than the riding the rides! Great article.

Big shout out to all the staff that keeps all of the coasters around the country up and running. A pretty thankless job for sure.

I'm always amazed when I hear all the work they do to keep the rides running. Its absolutely something I take for granted.