Kings Island PTR 5/26/2013

[VortexBFForever]

Yes, I know, it’s late. That last week of school I had after 5/26 was busy, especially with final exams and everything!

 

And now, we go…Onward!

 

Part 1:

 

Just after 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 26, 2013, we had just arrived at Kings Island on our second trip of the year. And let me tell you, the parking lot was PACKED - it took us about 5 minutes to find a spot, but I remained optimistic since I knew that crowds would tend to taper off as the evening progressed.

 

Once that was over with, we headed to the Front Gate and did the normal ritual of scanning our passes and passing through the turnstile. When I've gone through the turnstile and entered the park, I always think something like "Wow! I'm actually INSIDE Kings Island!" as I realize the freedom of suddenly having access to every ride and attraction within the park, thanks to the admission that a Platinum Pass (in this case) grants me.

 

I had originally planned to go to Rivertown and check out Diamondback, but by common sense I knew the line would probably be long. To be fully positive (as well as figure out a different plan), I chose the Eiffel Tower to be my first ride of the evening.

 

 

 

 

At roughly 6:19 I joined the Eiffel Tower's line. Since the elevator had just started going up, we had to wait until it came back down. It did so, 5 minutes later.

 

 

Since I was in the middle of the line for the elevator by that time, I ended up standing in the middle of the elevator, unlike other times where I was at the side. I liked it!

 

At the top, I got my camera ready and snapped some photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After taking all these pictures I walked back to the side of the platform that was facing Coney Mall and Rivertown, rested my arms on the ledge, and just plain old enjoyed the view as the cool May breeze blew in my face. I loved watching all the activity of guests and rides alike from 275' above my home amusement park. I also noticed Diamondback's long line that was nearly filling up BOTH sets of switchbacks!

 

Once a few minutes of relaxing had passed, I joined the line for the elevator once more. I quickly snapped a photo of Soak City since I didn't think of doing it while studying the rest of the park.

 

 

When the elevator arrived at the platform, I boarded and then took a picture of the other elevator's shaft:

 

 

Right after that, we started down. Like always, I enjoyed it, especially for an elevator ride! (I have a slight "obsession" of elevators and escalators, thanks to my Asperger's and OCD!)

 

After that, we headed to the Grand Carousel. I guess my plans did change after all!...

 

(Note: This was BEFORE the ride began, when I was just getting on my horse. )

 

During the ride I noticed that the music was playing at a quieter volume than it was last season. I wonder why? All I can say is, I hope it's louder during future trips. Just my opinion. 

 

Afterward, we went back into Coney Mall, just as we had done on Opening Day. After seeing Vortex's long line from the Eiffel Tower's 275' platform, I decided I could wait a little while.

 

In other words, Zephyr was next. It only had a one cycle wait. I joined the line at about 6:43.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it was time for the next cycle of riders, I picked a yellow seat on the very outside. During the ride, the op started to speak up about a minute into the cycle. He began to play Simon Says with us, but he called it "Troy Says" because his (the op's) name was Troy. During the game I remember him saying to clap your hands, kick your feet, put your arm out like a superhero (when I did that I really felt like one!), put your arms out like an airplane, flap your arms like a bird, and the last one was scream as loud as you can. My high-pitched scream came in handy for that one! I really enjoyed that cycle, just like on Opening Day when the op told us to spread our arms out and make airplane noises...

 

 

I went down to the far end of the Mall. Vortex's line length hadn't changed a bit. In fact, it reminded me of the only other KI trip of mine where the line spilled out onto the midway like that: September 5, 2010.

 

In comparison, WindSeeker only had a 2-cycle wait. So I hopped in line, eager to ride it for the first time since September. By this time it was 7:00.

 

 

 

At this point in time (6:58), Vortex’s chaser lights had come on. (Already?!?!?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I entered the line, the “Superman Theme” was playing as the cycle was finishing. On the next cycle, a Harry Potter soundtrack played; the cycle after that had “Romantic Flight” (one of four How to Train Your Dragon soundtracks that play on WS) as its soundtrack. Since I was going to be on the proceeding cycle, I knew, and was excited, that my cycle was going to have “Test Drive” play.

 

I had already known the order of the four How to Train Your Dragon songs on WindSeeker (plus one soundtrack--which I’ve heard before--that comes after the fourth HTTYD track, but I do not know its name now know its name as of a 5/07/2016 edit). Tonight, I knew the order of two more, which made the list bigger, in order of playing:

 

-Superman Theme

-Harry Potter

-Romantic Flight

-Test Drive

-See You Tomorrow

-This Is Berk

-Flying (from Peter Pan; found out on a later trip (9/22/13, maybe?) but not added to this report until 5/07/2016)

 

Apparently, I now know the order of just over a third of WS’s soundtrack…

 

Okay, back to this cycle. By the way, the ride’s lights had come on before the Romantic Flight cycle so that means this one would be my first of the year with lights on.

 

 I got assigned to Seat 29 for my very first WindSeeker ride of 2013. At 7:17 p.m., I took off my sandals and my waist pack and set them on the ground in front of my seat. It took the attendants a while to check all 64 lap bars. Finally, the “All clear!” came. Test Drive started to play, and WindSeeker began its flight. The last time I had been on a WS cycle with Test Drive playing was in October of 2011, so it was pretty exciting (for me) to listen to it on the ride again. (I love the How to Train Your Dragon soundtrack!). I really enjoyed getting a 30 mph breeze in my face again, although it got a little chilly up there!

 

Once I was back on the ground, at 7:25, I finally decided to join the line for Vortex which still hadn’t shortened.

 

 

I predicted a wait of about 25-30 minutes, and then I began timing the wait on the “Stopwatch” mode of my wristwatch right when I stepped into line. While my watch was counting the minutes and seconds as I was waiting, I took out my camera and began snapping away:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part 2 in next post (I took 130 images on this trip alone!)

 

(Edit 5/07/2016: The images originally posted with the topic were originally on my ImageShack account, which I abandoned last year after ImageShack changed to a pay-to-use site, and were deleted as a result. As of May 7, 2016, I have reuploaded the same pictures to my Flickr account and restored them to this report for everyone's viewing pleasure, including my own. You're welcome. )

Edited May 9, 2016 by VortexBFForever

[VortexBFForever]

Part 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

I noticed that the new set of storage bins had received numbers, but they didn’t look exactly the same as the numbers on the original bins:

 

 

 

Yes, I was on Train #3 for my first Vortex ride of this evening. As the gates opened, I made sure to stop the stopwatch. When I did, it read a time of 21:08.47, which was LESS than the time I had predicted! I had been assigned to 4-1 by the line separator. 4-1 was literally just ONE ROW up from where I took my first Vortex ride of the day on Opening Day (when I was in 4-2; that ride was on Train #3 too)! So I got into row 4-1, and a few minutes later we were off on an excellent ride. On the brake run I couldn’t tell if it was sprinkling or not because I felt like little teeny tiny rain drops were falling on me but I didn’t see them in the air nor was any sign of it on anything else, not even the smooth fiberglass on the train. Weird…

 

 

I then headed back to WindSeeker. Its line was a bit shorter. A few minutes later, a cycle began with “The Launch” (from Apollo 13) playing and I had just mentioned to myself earlier, “Maybe ‘The Launch’ will be playing sometime soon.” Any irony involved in this?

 

 

I ended up on the cycle after “The Launch”. This time I was in Seat 5, behind the seat I had forfeited when WS had to close in high winds on 8/28/2011 (seat 3) and in front of the seat I ended up riding in a lot, also in 2011 (seat 7).

 

 

I got on at 7:59 p.m. after waiting about 5-7 minutes. At about 8:05, WindSeeker took off for my 2^nd cycle of the evening. This time I didn’t know the name of the soundtrack that was playing. All I knew was that the beginning of it reminded me of a news channel-type intro, and it was the soundtrack that played after “The Launch”. Nonetheless, it still fit in with the ride well.

 

 

WindSeeker landed safely back at ground level just before 8:10. After I got off, I started my journey down the Mall towards Oktoberfest and Action Zone, making sure to be back at Vortex by 9:30 in case the line was short enough for some power-riding/marathoning, like on Opening Day.

 

At this point, the sun had just set and the lights of many rides were coming on. When I was walking past Monster, its lights came on. I looked at Racer’s also-lengthy line and decided against riding it. Before I knew it, I had exited Coney Mall and was in front of Adventure Express’s entrance.

 

I entered at 8:18 to find that it, too, had a decent line. But knowing that it has a high capacity, I knew it wouldn’t take long.

 

At 8:30, I boarded Train #1 in good ole’ row 1-3 (it always seems to have a one- or two-train wait at most). When I sat down, I saw a dime and a penny in a small space between the seat and the side of the car. After I had buckled my seat belt and pulled down my lap bar, I attempted to retrieve them. I managed to get the dime, but I couldn’t get the penny out in time before dispatch. I put the “captured” dime in my camera case. Less than 1 minute later: “All clear!”

 

 

The ride was fun, like usual, and the lateral G’s were abundant. Of course, I love them because I love being thrown around like AE does it! In the final tunnel, I and a few other riders did the Tiki Dance while the music and the spiel (“You have disturbed the forbidden temple. Now you will pay!”) intermingled with the Arrow anti-rollback – it’s one of my favorite noise combinations… *sighs dreamily*

 

 

After getting off this great mine train coaster, I had an urge to ride Flight Deck, since I did not get to on Opening Day. So I began another lengthy walk, this time to the secluded end of Action Zone, the home of KI’s youngest Arrow.

 

Just as I expected, I saw long lines for Delirium and Drop Tower while walking through Action Zone. I knew Invertigo would have a long line because of its lower capacity of ~650 riders per hour. So I walked all the way through Action Zone, just to ride Flight Deck. And no, I do not regret taking the time to do just that.

 

 

 

After entering the line at 8:43 and waiting roughly 10 minutes, I boarded Train #2 in row 1-2, since I wasn’t willing to wait extra time for 1-1 (it was already almost 9, and I wanted to get more rides on WindSeeker and Vortex after this).

 

This was my first ever Flight Deck ride taken after dusk, by the way! It was really flying tonight. During the ride I’m reminded of How to Train Your Dragon and I imagine the train being like a flying dragon, especially zipping down the drops and swinging around the turns – it’s a neat experience.

 

At 9:05, I started back to Coney Mall. As I walked, I once again took my camera and snapped at whatever I was interested in taking a picture of:

 

 

Part 3 in next post (don't worry, there are only 3 parts )

Edited May 9, 2016 by VortexBFForever

[VortexBFForever]

Part 3

 

I joined WindSeeker’s even shorter line (only about 7-10 minutes = 1 cycle wait + slow dispatch times), noting the “Superman Theme” playing on the finishing cycle. I immediately knew those on the next cycle would be listening to the Harry Potter track as they rode. If I was one of the next 64 people in line after them, then my cycle would have “Romantic Flight” playing!

I couldn’t stop marveling at WindSeeker’s lights. They are just soooo cool! I also couldn’t stop snapping pictures of the changing light patterns.

At some point I switched to the “Super Vivid” mode on my camera so the colorful lights would have more emphasis in my photos.

 

 

 

 

My camera was still on “Super Vivid” for some time after, including when I walked to my assigned seat, Seat 61. Yes, I made it onto the cycle after Harry Potter, which was the “Romantic Flight” cycle! I was excited; like “Test Drive”, I had not heard “Romantic Flight” on any cycle I rode since Closing Day 2011 - until 9:28 p.m. tonight, of course….

 

I don’t know why dispatching the ride takes a long time. In fact, on the previous WindSeeker ride this evening (the one with the unknown soundtrack that came after “The Launch”), it took them like 5 minutes, alone, to check the bars and give the “All clear!” Seriously, I don’t know if they’re still trying to get used to the routine or if they’re taking their dear old time. Just wondering …

 

 

Despite the slow dispatch, I knew I was in for a treat when “Romantic Flight” began to play and the ride began. The beginning of that song, combined with the upward motion of the ride, always gives me the feeling I’m floating away. As we rose higher and higher, the lit park looked cool from far below while the ‘Seeker’s colorful lights flashed sequence after sequence. By the time the song had built up in volume and then reached its key change, the ride had become unforgettable. Needless to say I felt so free! I was flying on WindSeeker, at night, with bright colored lights flashing and with my arms spread out; my favorite soundtrack was playing, and the rest of the park lay almost 300’ below my own two feet (let alone the ride’s own 64 seats). It was spectacular! <3

 

Once I was back on the ground, I noticed Vortex’s shorter line, which was not as short as I had expected but it was still shorter. At 9:38 I entered and joined the line while slowing down periodically but quickly to take pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

The shadow in the center of the image is the one of me.

 

 

 

 

 

After waiting for 10-12 minutes, I hopped into line for 2-1. A few more minutes later, I stepped onto Train #2 for the first time this season (the other times so far were on #1 and #3). Great for my first night ride of this trip. I checked my watch as the train ascended. It said 9:56. At this rate, I would have to run if I wanted to ride again (and the line was still too long). I saw The Beast with a train parked on the lift; a normal occurrence that always happens minutes before the 10:00 fireworks start. I glanced at the bright chaser lights and listened to the anti-rollback (that sound NEVER gets old! ).  All of a sudden the train had crested and was sailing down the drop, a reminder that this ride was gonna be good. Needless to say, night rides are always fun! As the train went up the helix, I looked at my watch, which said 9:58. “Oh my goodness, this is definitely going to be a close one!” I thought. When I was back at the station and about to get off, one of the attendants told another attendant to go block off the entrance. As I was jumping off the train and scrambling to the storage bin to get my things, I remember the same attendant saying “The Park closes in ONE MINUTE!” I jogged out of the exit, passing the brightly lit WindSeeker, making sure not to bump into anybody as I went. On the loudspeakers there was someone speaking from in front of the Royal Fountains with a couple of first-time KI guests who were going to help set off fireworks for the night. I reached the line entrance. There was an attendant moving a trash can to said entrance to block it off for the night, and he nicely let me pass him. I had once again won a race against time (this isn’t the first time something like this has occurred). My prize? Being the last rider of the night on Vortex, of course! I slowed down to a walking speed, knowing that I was now a rider on the last Vortex train of the day. On the way to the loading station, I took even MORE pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I stood near the queue for 2-1, unsure of what row to ride in. Then the attendant said for anybody who wasn’t the first or second in line for a row to move so that there would be no more than two people in the queues, for this next train would be the last of the night. Then loud BOOMs sounded from up in the sky – the fireworks had started! As the small line for the front seat (1-1) split up, it turned out that said line consisted of a group of about 4 with a single rider in front of them. Now this was an opportunity for me to get a ride in the front seat during the fireworks! So I waited in the queue for 1-1, behind the single rider. The train that arrived for us last riders turned out to be Train #1, the same train I rode during the fireworks on Opening Day!

 

While walking to the storage bin, I took this picture:

 

After I had boarded, my mom took a picture of me:

 

So my first front seat Vortex ride of 2013 was during the fireworks. Wow.

 

As Train #1 ascended, WindSeeker was already at the top, treating its last riders of the night to another great view of the fireworks. While going down the drop, I got a nice cool breeze in my face – the type of breeze only a front seat rider would get. It felt AMAZING. Meanwhile, I saw that the fireworks were still going! On Opening Day, they had stopped when we had reached the top of the hill. Not this time; this show was definitely longer! We turned into the first loop, with the fireworks continuing their reign in the sky over Kings Island. I still heard the booms while enjoying the hang time in the corkscrews, and when going toward the batwing I saw some bright flashes of light accompanied by more booms! This was an absolutely “true” fireworks ride, even more “true” than watching them while going up the lift hill on Opening Day. Two inversions and a positive-G-abundant helix later, the brakes kicked in and brought us to a stop. At the exact same time, the fireworks had stopped as well! (Perfect timing!). We arrived back at the station, fresh from the exhilarating journey. My ears noticed it was quieter – Train #3 was already parked in its “sleeping place” on the lift hill, since Train #1 had the last riders; Train #2 was traveling the course and came into the brakes just a couple minutes later. It was then parked behind Train #1.

 

 

 

 

I said the usual good night to Vortex and its neighbor, WindSeeker, and then began the walk back to the Front Gate. Until next time…take care!!

 

 

 

Familiar Songs (time played)

“Chances” by Five for Fighting (6:12)

“Wide Awake” by Katy Perry (6:19)

“Lights” by Ellie Goulding (7:30)

“Firework” by Katy Perry (9:15)

“Catch My Breath” by Kelly Clarkson (10:07)

 

In case you’re wondering, I’ve been using the time my individual pictures and videos were taken to estimate the exact times I was riding what, walking where, etc.

 

+Eiffel Tower: 1

Total: 4

 

+Grand Carousel: 1

Total: 20

 

+Zephyr: 1

YTD: 2

Total: 11

 

+WindSeeker: 3

Total: 21

 

+Vortex: 3

YTD: 8

Total: 143

 

+Adventure Express: 1

YTD: 2

Total: 19

 

+Flight Deck: 1

Total: 18

 

Notes:

-Vortex's chaser lights came on pretty early (and also turned off early too...they were already off during my fireworks ride)

-it was actually the first time I discovered all the coins lying on the ground (and on that part of the roof that I took a pic of) around Vortex's transfer tracks (I wonder where they came from... )

-I found $0.11 on Adventure Express and was able to retrieve $0.10 of the $0.11

-the dime I got on AE said the year "2013"

-Fireworks show was longer (5 minutes) than the one on Opening Day (< 3 minutes)

-I was actually looking around to see if I could spot a KIC shirt somewhere

-Quite a few guests were wearing white or gray T-shirts but none of the ones I saw were KIC shirts

-WindSeeker seemed to be spending more time at the top during its fireworks cycle

Edited May 9, 2016 by VortexBFForever

[Big Sexy]

Great report.

[jcgoble3]

Great report and photos! The ones that were on the Super Vivid setting look really nice. I also like the one looking straight down at the Eiffel Tower's base; very interesting shot!

[TheBEASTunchained]

Great trip report! I always love seeing your pictures.

On a side note, You must have very good memory about what exact time you do things!

[VortexBFForever]

You must have very good memory about what exact time you do things!

Kind of, yeah. I was referring to the times that my individual photos and videos were taken (they say what time it was when they were taken). Of course, that doesn't mean I don't have a great memory!

Glad you enjoyed my huge PTR (of course, this also goes to all who have read it)!

[TheCrypt]

Great trip report and photos as always. Thank you!

[coasterfanatic83]

I like the first Flight Deck photo with the sunset!

[Fire-Beast-OF FEAR]

awesome, i always love long ptrs . also it looks like you got a picture of me with zephyr running. i was with troy that day and its always fun to be a zephyr with him.

[ohiocolts]

Great report and photos! WindSeeker also looks great at night. Thanks for sharing!

[SupremoSteveo]

Fantastic report and great pictures!

[The Interpreter]

Awesome, as always. I'll have to look at many of the pictures later, since Sandusky's cellular won't load them all. Something to look forward to!

[VortexBFForever]

I have now put together a video from this trip, in which I believe is a good reason to bump this topic. And it is not primarily Vortex videos this time!

Once again, yes, it has been three years, but better late than never, right??