silver2005's trip report thread

[silver2005]

For anyone waiting on what day 3 was like, I'll be posting that as soon as I get back to Cincinnati. Currently gearing up for the 4 hour flight home plus the jet lag (ugh). It may not be until Saturday until it's posted.

[silver2005]

Just landed back in Cincinnati, probably going to relax all day Saturday. Might finish the trip report and post pictures either late tomorrow or Sunday. I'm pretty tired right now. Those long flights and early departures really drags on me.

[silver2005]

I'm going to break this last bit up into 2 posts- this one to cover the rest of the trip and the next to share the photos (took nearly 100, will link the entire album and post highlights).

Day 3- Game Day

Our report time was 9 am, which I'm still unsure why. We were within walking distance of the arena, but we had this absurdly early report time and had to bus there. BTW, we scrapped meeting with Harvard's band the previous night, mostly as there isn't a lot to do nor that great of places to eat in Spokane to house two 30 piece pep bands, plus we learned they were staying on the complete opposite side of town. They had pretty sharp uniforms, crimson blazers to befit their name with black slacks, and a shirt and tie. Certainly different than the average college pep band's outfit.

So we got to the arena, traded tunes with Harvard for about 45-50 minutes until the game started. The place was pretty full for the morning session, all 8 teams' fans in there somewhere (UC, OU, Harvard, MSU, NDST, SDST, Deleware, NMST), and even some Gonzaga fans (Gonzaga's campus is in Spokane). As I mentioned in the NCAA basketball thread, the ones that weren't in UC apparel were rooting for Harvard the entire time. The few, older fans we had were pretty silent. Most of the cheering came from the band and cheerleaders. The pictures I did get were a bit spontaneous as I was switching between that and playing (some may be blurry, not the best angle, etc).

So yeah, the game happened, UC ran out of gas, and despair swept through Bearcat nation. Blah.

Now at that point, we were under the impression we were leaving later that day. Turns out it got bumped to Friday afternoon. While it was nice to not have to go right to a 3 and 1/2 hour flight right after getting knocked out of the tournament, most of us at that point just wanted to get out of Dodge. A lot of my bandmates with stronger stomachs took to drinking. Myself, I went out and took in some more of Spokane, had a few drinks and turned in. The group I was in went back to the park to check out the sky ride. If I haven't mentioned this yet, there was a park right by the hotel which the Spokane River flowed through. Spokane is quite the hilly city, and that made for some awesome waterfalls and dam works which was awesome to look at. The sky ride takes you right over the lower part of the falls. Didn't have my camera for that part, but in any case, it was pretty awesome. We left Friday at noon (PDT), landed back at CVG at 6 (EDT).

I'd also like to mention that on the trips to and from the airport, we had police escort. We probably covered that distance in less than half an hour. For plane experts on here, we took a 737 to Spokane and came back on a 757. This is team, band, mascot and cheerleaders (and school president on the way back).

[silver2005]

Here are the pictures.

Album- http://s515.photobucket.com/user/Strobelyte/library/NCAA%20Tournament%20Trip%202014%20Spokane?sort=3&page=1

Highlights

The first bit is from the tour of Fairchild Air Force Base. The main use of this base is to house the Air Force's KC-135 fleet, which are aerial tanker aircraft. They opened up one of them so we could take a look.

Now, the story of how this occurred goes like this. We found out about the base and said- 'hey, something to do'. Our athletic director got in touch with the base and got us a gig. Unfortunately, we needed someone with access to a military ID. Turned out by sheer coincidence on of our band members had a retired military dad, so just like that, we got the gig. If I make it sound like it was a last minute plan, that's because it entirely was.



The KC-135 flight line. There were 9 aircraft here at the time. It was pretty cool to see them all lined up so neatly. They were very precise on what vehicles went in and out of there. They checked the buses for stoned and things in the tires so they don't make their way onto the area where the planes are kept, to keep that stuff out of the engines.



Fun fact- most of these planes are pushing 50 years old. Needless to say, the personnel informed us that a replacement should be in the works.


This window is for the rear person to control the fuel boom and link it up with aircraft to refuel them. Quite the tiny crawlspace.



The fuel boom. Those winglets help keep it stable whilst flying. (Apologies to thedevariousaffect if I'm using the wrong terminology).



Some of the main hangars.



Why yes, band does indeed rock. That's UC's band director btw, Dr Terren Frenz.



This was my favorite part of the trip. This pep rally at an elementary school on the base. The orange shirts were for a kid who had a bone marrow transplant. For me, who underwent my own medical troubles a few years ago, it was just so great to see kids that age support something like that. Still choked up about that gig.

Ok, so back to Spokane.



A small portion of the park behind our hotel. The water looks calm here, but its split off from the main river. The Spokane River is anything but tranquil.



Plenty of these guys.



And these guys.



A little abstract artwork.



Yes, this big wagon is a thing in Spokane. Yes, that is a slide, which we may or may not have had some fun with while some of us were a tad tipsy. Shenanigans ensued.



Random clock tower in the park.

So yeah, there was also a small amusement park in this area. A few small rides, including a small powered coaster I didn't see (RCDB confirmed there was one there). If it looks like I'm close, that's because you could get that close without trespassing.



Guys, I found Kings Island's future Ferris wheel.



If Spokane had an iconic structure, this would be it. I have no clue what its for other than to string lights to, and the way its tilted isn't settling. I'd guess it was about 200 ft tall, and it was connected to this rail that circled in a wave pattern around the perimeter. The powered coaster is in that large building at the bottom left portion of the picture. There was also an IMAX theater.



A view of downtown Spokane. That building in the foreground houses a small carousel as well as info for the sky ride.



Apparently Spokane housed a World's Fair in 1974. Might explain that weird tower structure.


I wonder why this sign is here, water seems calm...



Oh, that. As you can see by that bridge, most of them spanned across with no supports in the middle. A combination of the pounding water and winds made them sway a little bit. It was a tad unnerving to be right above them. And trust me, that is a LOT of water surging through.



The remnants of a power station that burned down in 1889.



More waterfalls. That rock formation is pretty huge.



A statue of astronaut Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson. He was a Spokane native who perished on Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003.

Oh, right, there was a basketball game.



Inside Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. Capacity approx. 14,000. Reminded me a lot of US Bank Arena. Spokane has a minor league hockey team as well as an indoor football team.



Gearing up for the game.



The Harvard Crimson warming up.



The Harvard Crimson band. While you only see 1 tuba, they also carried 2 bari saxes on them. They sounded pretty good, though they annoyingly only played current pop charts, no classic pop/rock charts. Picture is blurry as I was taking it in between Harvard players flying around.

A better looking scoreboard than most of the game.

Mr. Second Team All-American and the team preparing to take the court.

Ready for tip-off.

Last picture I took. The 2nd half was pretty miserable.

And for something completely different to end off on.

Silverwood brochure!

[jcgoble3]

Great report and pictures! Thanks for sharing!

Now at that point, we were under the impression we were leaving later that day. Turns out it got bumped to Thursday afternoon. [...] We left Thursday at noon (PST), landed back at CVG at 6 (EST).

1) PST/EST? I thought daylight saving time was in effect...

2) Bumped to Thursday afternoon? Left Thursday at noon? I thought Thursday was game day, which would mean that you left in the middle of the game? Did you mean Friday?

[silver2005]

1. PST- Pacific Standard Time, EST- Eastern Standard Time

2. You have it right, the game was Thursday, the original flight was Thursday afternoon, got bumped to Friday afternoon.

Yeah, I'll clear anything I may have messed up in that big post. I'm not going back and editing it.

[jcgoble3]

1. PST- Pacific Standard Time, EST- Eastern Standard Time

I know that. But I thought daylight saving time was in effect, which would make those abbreviations PDT and EDT instead....

[silver2005]

^Ah, I wasn't aware of that differentiation.

silver2005, learning.

[silver2005]

Oh right, I also want to do park TR's in this thread.

I've probably said I would be at opening day before a few times, but that was before I found out it was the weekend of Easter. I will be with family that weekend for the most part. It probably won't be until one of those Fridays in May until I go to attempt to get some lighter crowds.

Scratch that, I'm going to opening day!

[silver2005]

Here's my opening day trip report.

I got up early to meet up with the breakfast crew at Frisch's. Got there around 8, waited with the group to see how many would show up, and had an order of strawberry pancakes.

After that, it was sitting in traffic on Kings Island Drive for about 40 minutes. For some reason, they didn't have the north gate open, at least when I was lined up to go in. Some of the cars attempted to let their kids out early, but Mason PD was all over them in an instant, though one kid got pretty far; past the marquee sign. At the very least, it made the wait in traffic entertaining.

Got to the gate at about 10:15 and met with the KIC group. I do apologize if I didn't introduce myself to any one I hadn't met yet. This was only my third meet up and I'm still learning who everyone is. Its nice to find some people that can talk coasters and parks, most of my friends at school/band, etc aren't so into that.

So the first order of business was Banshee. Obviously, there was a mob rush of gold/platinum pass holders for Banshee 'ERT'. I put ERT in quotes as there was no way that crowd was getting in before noon, regardless of how Banshee behaved, which it broke down for a total of more than an hour. I waited with ohiocolts and his friend for a grand total of 3 hours and 20 minutes before we boarded.

Banshee is wonderful. I think I put my thoughts down in the Banshee experience thread. A great machine from B&M, great combination of forces, excellent pacing, just an extraordinary ride when all said and done. By that time, I was kind of done with Banshee. That is a LONG time to wait. I'll probably go back in mid-May or so to get a good ride session on it. Also go the first rider t-shirt. One thing I hope KI would do but know they won't is to make the 'overflow' queue the main queue, the views of Banshee down there were amazing.

So after re-meeting up with the group at Adventure Express, we went to Racer and then across the park to Boo Blasters, both of those being 30-40 minute waits. I have to admit, I'm not big on criss-crossing the park. I like how it can be a more spontaneous way to go about doing things, but its killer on my legs. I'm built real tight and have to stretch all the time. But eh, that's the way it worked out.

After all that, food was in order (I was starving after Banshee). To keep in line with Good Friday, I had some cheese pizza and some strawberries with whipped creme for a late lunch. Got to see the show inside Festhaus called The Boyz are Back, which was pretty good. Some of the keys they had the songs in made them sound a bit weird, but I enjoyed it. It had a lot of energy to it that made it stand out though.

I wanted to make my way back as I wanted my Beast fix at the very least. A small group of us headed back to check on lines. Beast and Diamondback had pretty large waits, even for opening day, so we sufficed in choosing Vortex. That broke down as well, looked to be a blocking/ghost train issue, one train got stuck on the MCBR and the other at the top of the lift. Eventually they got it back and we rode it, then made our way back to Adventure Express. I wanted to wait out either Beast or Diamondback, so I split off on my own. It was going on 8:15 and both lines looked to be sufficiently above an hour, so I went with Beast. Beast's crew REALLY showed that it was their first opening day gig as a few looked a tad overwhelmed. The line moved decently-ish, but they had all the overflow queues opened up, even the ones in the station. I was right up at the loading gates when they shut it down for a little bit through the fireworks. Didn't get on until about 10:20. Beast was really nice that night, a nice lurch to the side on the first curve out of the tunnel and the helix was relentless as always. The entire ride felt a bit...rambunctious...if I could use a word to describe it, in a very good way.

On my way out, I noticed that the park was really dark. The path between Diamondback and Backlot was not nearly lit up enough. The area by the floral clock was near pitch black if it weren't for the Eiffel Tower and the lights coming from Coney Mall. Not even Grand Carousel was lit up. Seemed kind of weird to me.

[calakapepe]

Nice trip report! Sounds like you had a great day, aside from the amount of walking harbored by the way you ended up getting on rides.

And that does sound very weird, the lights not being on for that much of the park.

Anyways, thanks for the report!

[silver2005]

Yeah, my legs are punishing me today, they have had moments they've been throbbing with pain.

[silver2005]

After seeing that there's a ERT ride night on May 9th, that'll be my next visit in all likelihood.

[silver2005]

My TR from 5/9/14.

I got a bit of a late start as I wanted to sleep in plus I had to run a few errands before heading up. Got to the park at about 9:40, just in time for one ERT ride on Banshee in the back, which I have to admit, is a pretty darn good seat. I also met up with malem. I wanted to get most of the rides I missed on opening day, so then we went to Bat. I didn't notice the decal logos on the sides of the trains until then, though it was a nice touch. It runs pretty good, but overall, its just nice to see it in an actual color rather than being the color of paint primer for all those years. Who knew a little color could do so much.

We then headed towards the back of the park getting on rides as we went, though we skipped Adventure Express initially. Go on Racer, Flight of Fear, Firehawk, Vortex, and Beast during that next stretch. Diamondback was on the list initially, but it had a stroke of downtime as we got to it, which turned out to last most of the morning and into the early afternoon.

We then ate at Chicken Shack right as the only real rain threat of the day came upon us. This was my first time at Chicken Shack, and though there was a slight off-taste to the chicken due to the oil or some added salt, but its still leagues better than the chicken I'm used to eating at the park. I also like the sauces they provide. Its also a nicer building than what they had set up for the Action Zone Grille. Banshee and that added TLC to Action Zone has really done wonders. Hopefully they can get Drop Tower up and running soon to complete the area.

I needed to burn off food, so we walked around the park for a while. It was also getting close to the statue unveiling, so we headed towards Rivertown/Planet Snoopy. Rode the train to burn some time, then rode Aerial Ace and Woodstock to burn more time. We met up with Jonathan before the ceremony. Overall, its just cool to see Kings Island doing something like this. I kind of hope other Cedar Fair parks so something similar, especially Cedar Point given their reputation.

This started various attempts to pass #jonathan with Jonathan in toe in attempts to get him in a picture with the almighty noodle. None succeeded, but hey, a little shenanigans thrown in the day makes everything better. I admit, the noodle is growing on me.

We decided to stick around Rivertown in hopes Diamondback would re-open. We saw it re-open, but we were set on Backlot before hand. One thing of note on that ride for me, it had a few moments of some nice floating air at a few points which I never get on it. Kind of a nice surprise. Then we did Diamondback which was a relief for me as I skipped it on opening day and it was just so nice getting back on it after so long. I know most of this site praises Banshee, but for me, Diamondback is still my favorite steel coaster in the park. I will say Banshee is better at night though if you've seen my reaction in the Banshee experience thread.

At that time we met up with ohiocolts as well as the group who came from Indy soon thereafter. Some of the rides we got to were 2 more on Banshee, Delirium which was walk on or 1 cycle wait all day, Adventure Express, a few Coney flats (Dodgems, Monster, Scrambler), I think Racer, FoF and Firehawk were in there, and Vortex. We headed to Viking and met with Duncan (Fire-Beast-OF FEAR), rode Viking, then got dinner at Festhaus. Went back to Action Zone, and one group did Invertigo while malem and myself did Bat. I wasn't feeling up to Invertigo that day, the g-forces get to me more on that ride as it sustains them longer.

We decided to start towards the back to get a Beast and Diamondback night ride in, and with time to spare, we did Boo Blasters. I have to admit, I'm not the biggest Boo Blasters fan, but doing it with a KIC group is just loads of fun. We then did Beast at night, and with a 23 minutes to go, got to Diamondback which the group rode during the finale of the fireworks show.

With the day being ERT night, we obviously went to Action Zone. Boy was it packed. We decided to try Bat first and hope the Banshee line would die down, but Bat had a bit of a wait, too. I was hoping to get a few rides in, but only did one on each. However, both were equally as awesome. Bat at night was a nostalgia trip for me as my first ride on it, back when it was red and called Top Gun, was at night, and it is among my favorite night rides at Kings Island. Banshee was just pure liquid awesome at night. I won't go into as much length as I did the Banshee experience thread, but it just blew me away. I still prefer Beast at night, but to be honest, it isn't by much. Kings Island really did a good job in creating that atmosphere at night for Banshee. I'm looking forward to seeing how they'll dress it up for Haunt.

[silver2005]

Things I forgot to mention in the trip report-

1. malem and I went up the Eiffel Tower early on, but it closed for wind whilst we were up there. It was enough wind that required bracing, the first time I've felt the tower sway THAT much, elevators went about half their usual speed

2. In the evening, our group later broke Flight of Fear in the unload station. It stopped 18 inches before it was supposed to and couldn't let the lap bars up, probably a good 10-15 minutes there

[silver2005]

Looks like I'll be headed back the first week they're open 10-10, probably that Tuesday. I'm looking to go to Soak City for a while too, enough to get the achievement of doing all the attractions in the same day. Will be going early for Banshee ERT of course. Might be eating breakfast near Mason/Kings Mills as well.

EDIT: Looks like I'll be going June 3rd.

[silver2005]

So I slightly overtaxed myself today. It was warmer than I expected and might have pushed myself a little too hard. Had fun no matter how you slice it though. Will post a TR tomorrow.

[silver2005]

Trip report from 6/3/14

The day started a little slow for me. I woke up feeling a little weary, so I took a few meds to help me out and I mostly felt okay through the day. Arrived too late for ERT, thus I decided to skip Banshee in the morning as I had my Soak City clothes with me. I managed to ride Racer, Vortex, Beast and Woodstock Express before Soak City opened. Diamondback was down the first few hours with trains stuck on the lift and the mid course brakes. Met up with malem en route. We pretty much did everything in the water park minus the kids areas, but including the Pipeline Paradise body surfing ride. Crowds were pretty light in the water park. Aside from 5 minute waits for Mondo Monsoon (the Tornado) and Zoom Flume (the multi-person raft), sildes were walk on. Waits for the whole park didn't exceed 30 minutes, at least for the rides we went on (didn't do Delirium or Firehawk due to personal preferences).

We got to a large amount of the rides in the park throughout the day. Managed to squeeze in a viewing of the Cirque Imagine show around dinner. I really liked it. It had a bit of an abstract aura to it and at a few points it kind of seemed like the performers were ad libbing (making a few things up) in their routines, at least early in the show. Felt like it had a certain bit of sophistication to it, but I can't exactly pinpoint why that is. Its refreshing to see something like that at a seasonal chain amusement park.

Stayed until closing where we got a few Banshee night rides in before close. It only had a 5 minute wait or even walk on waits that night. The crew was really working fast. I figured they'd take it down a little bit with the lack of line. They need to turn down the volume of the speakers and talk slower as I had a hard time understanding what they were saying. On the other hand, Diamondback was stacking really bad. I'm not normally one to complain about stacking, and if it were about spending more time checking restraints, I wouldn't mind. But half the time they were standing around doing nothing. The seat belts or bins weren't the reasons. They could have dispatched trains much faster than what they were, but for some reason, they were holding back. I don't understand it. Diamondback actually had the longest wait for that, and it could have been half or a third of what they were doing if they were dispatching in timely intervals. Ugh. Oh, and during our dusk ride, we heard there was a fight in the station which held things up a bit. Kind of odd.

I do admit, I pushed myself a bit much towards the end of the day. 3 in a row on Banshee really got to me with all that balls-to-the-wall intensity. But in the end, I had a fun day.

[silver2005]

Two things to add to the thread.

First, I need some people familiar with The Beach to advise me on how long it would take to get through all the attractions there in a single visit or anything else I should do while I'm there. I'm planning on going towards the end of June.

Second, I'll be back at Coney Island on the 3rd with the UC Jazz Band for the Balloon Glow.

[jcgoble3]

If all you want to do is ride everything once, The Beach is a half-day park at most. It does not draw anywhere near the crowds that Soak City does, as the small size of its parking lot would suggest. You could even get a few re-rides in during that half day. I think it would be difficult to make a full day out of The Beach, unless you are truly a waterpark fanatic.

[silver2005]

Well, I've checked my schedule out, and I'm feeling a visit to Mason this Thursday. I'm hoping to actually get there for ERT (I missed out my last few visits due to oversleeping) so I can finally manage a front seat ride on Banshee. May also take a camera to do a little photography.

I'm also aiming for a Beach visit during the first full week in July, probably Tuesday or Wednesday.

[malem]

^ Thursday is likely to be very crowded at Kings Island with the Spirit Song festival, in case that would affect your plans. Also, the Monday of the first full week of July is the KIC/Coaster Crew event, with a registration deadline of today, in case you missed the other thread.

The Groupon offer for The Beach is still available, by the way: http://www.groupon.com/deals/the-beach-8 (I believe they offer an extra $5 off for new Groupon customers as well.)

[silver2005]

^I'm unable to go to the KIC/CC event. Forgot about Spirit Song, I might change plans a little bit then. Might try to go on the 1st then.

[silver2005]

Just found out I don't have band on Wednesday, and seeing that it'll be slightly cooler and have a smaller chance of rain than tomorrow, I'm choosing to go on the 2nd. No Soak City this time, so Congo Falls and WWC will be my go-to cool down rides.

[silver2005]

Trip Report 7/2

This has to have been one of the most spontaneous trips I've ever done. Not from going to the park at random, but just the random-ness of the day.

After breakfast at Frisch's, I headed in for ERT right at 9:30. It was then I reached the next level of enlightenment, also known as my first ride on Banshee in the front seat. Holy cow, what an unobstructed view looks like on an inverted coaster. It was sheer gracefulness. Its probably the smoothest ride I've ever had on her. I will say that the forces are better in the back, especially the first drop, but the view alone makes up for the difference. The crowds through the morning were pretty typical for a weekday. I hit about 9 rides worth of action before lunch, which I ate early at 11:30, at Juke Box which was really good. I also invested in an all day drink band which I abused and got more than my money's worth, including the best thing ever to come out of a Coca-Cola Freestyle Machine- Strawberry Minute Maid Lemonade. The strawberry flavor smoothed over the sourness of the lemonade and it was just pure liquid gold. I'm sooooo glad of the existence of those bands now. I'll likely use them every trip as long as they're around. Well worth the $10.

Suddenly between noon and 3, the crowds just exploded. Lines got long in a hurry. I had energy to make it the rest of the day, but the weekend-esque crowds came out of nowhere. I then gave in and purchased my first Fast Lane pass. I went with the standard as I didn't want to ride Firehawk and Banshee's crew was working its magic enough to where I could tolerate that line. A lot of rides near the back got waits close to an hour though. Beast had both queue houses open and Diamondback was on the verge of opening the lower switchbacks at one point. Diamondback's crew stunk on toast today, at least in the evening. They talked to guests boarding that the train would leave in 45 seconds each, which I understand they want to get better capacity numbers, but the way it was said and just the tone of voice made it seem they were angry at guests for no reason. I could just feel the tension in the station, they must have got the wrong end of a lecture from someone higher up. It was not a fun station to be in that evening.

Fast Lane was nice to have, obviously. I have to admit, I did feel a little weird being the one with Fast Lane instead of normally trekking through the line and watching other people use it to their leisure. I did go on a wicked marathoning spree on Diamondback and Beast in the evening to close out the day, including one of the best Beast night rides I've ever had. I'll put it this way- first of all, I go the front seat, add that over cast skies, also some rain soaked track as it rained during the fireworks closure, and a little ongoing mist, and it just worked out beautifully. Beast also had a really fun crew to juxtapose the Diamondback crew's tension. The wait for the fireworks was quite enjoyable. I also rode Racer and Vortex aplenty. I also think I may have helped a girl be less afraid to ride Banshee the first time. She was happy coming off of it, so I must have done something right.

Oh, and I rode with Gary Coleman on my final Diamondback ride. Didn't talk to him out of courtesy, but I did watch how he rode. He was very relaxed and nonchalant it seemed. I imagine after 10K+ rides, you tend to know how a ride goes enough to ride it without much need for bracing and whatnot.

[silver2005]

I have one last question regarding The Beach- Do they allow people to wear water shoes on slides and pools? I didn't see any info on that on their website.

EDIT: Nevermind, I found the answer.

[silver2005]

Trip Report 7/10- First time to The Beach

Having lived here for all my life, I seemingly never saw fit to go to The Beach. I've been a pass holder at Kings Island for most of the last dozen years, and I either didn't get around to going to The Beach or it just slipped my mind. I remedied that today. Got there at 11 am, got dressed and started the visit. It was a nice change of pace from going to Soak City. The Beach just feels like it has a more natural feel and feels more vibrant. There were things going on besides guests clamoring around the park, such as all the volleyball courts being used, picnics going on, etc. It felt like a more personal atmosphere, more geared to guests comfort rather than putting the big rides on a pedestal. I will say the layout is a bit confusing, but they had signage in all the right places which made finding my way round easier, especially being a first time guest. My only things about the water park was it could use more music pumping through the area as it seemed rather bland with only guest noise and some of the surfaces could use more friction surfaces as some paths were slippery, especially around the slide known as Kamikaze near the front.

Speaking of slides, they were all awesome. I didn't get to do Big Kahuna, the slide with uphill sections as I went alone, but the rest were great. Some slides, particularly The Cliff, Banzai Blast, and the yellow slide on Cowabunga Curl had airtime. Banzai Blast is probably my favorite slide there for now. It isn't just little bits either, you're airborne for a really nice length of time on some. Its a little hard on the back, but totally worth it. Kamikaze, Cowabunga Curl and Pipeline Plunge had nice speed to them, the turns had some nice banking to them with really good pacing. The only one I didn't particularly like was the single inner tube slide which I can't find the name of. It was slow, awkward, and took a lot of effort to get going again if they stalled. I also have a new pet peeve concerning water parks- people pushing their way through and/or causing the tubes to stall in the middle on the lazy river.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. They definitely have a new repeat customer in the future. I really hope they find ways to keep adding and expanding to what they have, it looks like it has a lot of potential.

On a side note, I was glad to see they had Empress Chili there. Glad to see not everyone in the tri-state area is under the Skyline and Gold Star empire.

[jcgoble3]

Glad you had fun!

I found the use of Empress Chili to be interesting, as I expected that they would have either Skyline or Gold Star. The Empress stuff seems to be significantly thicker than what you get from Skyline or Gold Star.

As for volleyball courts being in use, The Beach is actually hosting the National Volleyball League Midwest Championships today through Sunday.

You and I will have to arrange a day to go together, as I have also never been able to do Big Kahuna either due to always going by myself.

[silver2005]

Yeah, of all the area chili, Empress lies at the bottom for me, but in any case, its just nice to see some variety. If they want an opinion from me concerning chili and staying away from GS or Skyline, they should go with Blue Ash. That stuff rocks.

I also wanted to add that today was a very good day to go if you were a heterosexual male. I'll let that speak for itself.

[thegajone]

Mt. Washington Chili or Price Hill Chili for me. Glad to see you enjoyed the park. I've lived in Cincinnati my whole life and been to KI countless times, yet I've never been to The Beach.