KI trip 8-5-13 (aka my boy finally makes the jump)

[medford]

So a little background. As a family, we've been getting season passes for 3 years now. My wife worked in the park growing up, I visited many times, so we were well familar with it, but its a completely different experience going as a teen or even a college kid to going w/ a young kid (or now 2). 2 seasons ago, my son hit the 40" mark just prior to his 3rd birthday (yeah for The Beastie and viking fury, two found memeries of my youth). Last season he hit the 44" mark just prior to his 4th birthday (yeah flying ace arial chase which I had never ridden until last season, a good, no make that great intermediate coaster for kids not quite up to the standards of the KI classics). So it was with anticipation that somewhere near the end of June we'd be taking him on The Racers, Beast, Flight Deck, etc.... You could see the dissapointment on his face each time he just barely missed the mark. However, this time we were stocked w/ a few millimeters of growth, plus a new pair of shoes that shot him well north of the 48".

Despite all the anticpiation, he still wanted to do Boo Blasters, his traditional 1st ride. Good news for me, despite a fairly crowded parking lot when we arrived at 7:00 pm for a Tuesday evening, it was a walk on, even better a new all time high score for myself, 2519 (how It gets to those randome uneven number some time I have not a clue)

From there we asked him what "big" roller coaster he wanted to do 1st (he knows Diamondback is still out of the picture, otherwise that probably would have been his choice) and he said he wanted to ride the blue racer. His favorite color is blue, the blue racer is the one he's anticpated riding for the longest, however w/ the walkon conditions at Boo Blasters, I was fearing the Blue side of The Racers was going to be closed. He got on with his mother, and to my delite the blue side was open. Once off the blue racer, they met up w/ me and our 1 year old waiting outside. Now he was ready to tackle the red racer w/ pops. Hands up thru the 1st three hills before I think he decided it was time to hold on. The Red Racer won, so he informed now that the Red Racer is his favorite since it won.

After that, mom went to pick up dinner, while my son and I took on Adventure Express. Another walkon, I think he enjoyed the laterals, but most of all he enjoyed the tiki dancers. He didn't even need to be instructed, he started doing the tiki dance all on his own. I warned him to brace himself at the top of the hill, that a huge drop was coming. After the short decline back to the station, he just looked at me like the idiot that I am.

A quick bite to eat in the Biergarten, then we worked our way over to flight deck, he's really been wanting to ride the "one that hangs upside down" for the last couple of weeks. Along the way, wife asked me what the height requirement was for Drop Zone. When I told her it ws 48" her eyes light up. I won't ride it, but she loved it, and it didn't take much convincing to get our 5 year old on it. Word from mom was he talked the whole way up the ride, and loved having his stomach go up to his throught on the drop. Seeing that it was another walkon, he asked if I would join him, no way jose`. We turned the corner and headed back towards flight deck, however we made a quick stop at the 2014 attraction setup. I've got to say, the tombstones look awesome, I hope that those are kept around and used for the theming of the ride in some form or fashion. If the ride is indeed called Banshee it would be a great addition to the theme.

Anyhoo, my son and wife jumped on flight deck 1st, while I waited w/ our 1 year old in the area where the ride swoops by the old SOB line. Again another walk on, so after they rode, my son and I took a spin. Did I mention he liked the tiki dancers? He was doing the tiki dance on Flight Deck's lift hill as the sounds of the chain lift reminded him of the rythem of the dance. Once off of Flight Deck, he begged and begged us to do the sky flyer attraction. "no we're not paying the upcharge, but in th future we'll get you on it". he stopped to check out "the guy" at the gap in the construction fence, then we worked our way over to zephyr.

After a quick spin on Zephyr, we worked our way back to The Beast, we thought about stopping at Stunt Track, but the line looked pretty long (our first noticable line of the evening) so we kept on working back for both his first ride on The Beast as well as his first night ride on The Beast (is there any better way to break in The Beast than in the pitch dark?) We got to the que right about 9:25. My wife had already laid claim to going with our son on his first ride on The Beast, and the line looked long, but our son was not detered. They were just short of the station when the ride shut down for firworks at 9:53, but once the ride started up they were on the 3rd train to leave. After our daughter and I took in the fireworks, and knowing there would be no one working their way down the exit, I pushed her stroller up to the station so I could spot them and see how close they were. My wife hasn't been on The Beast at night in about a decade, so she forgot just how dark it gets back there, said once they crested the hill she couldn't see our son again until they came to the 2nd hill. She asked him how he was doing, not sure if he woudl be scared or not, he just gave a big ol' smile that indicated everything was "perfect". My daughter and I were waiting on the exit side of the ride when they returned to the station, he gave me a big old thumbs up as they worked their way back, in return I presented him with his new The Beast t-shirt I had purchased while we waited to commerate the occasion.

All in all, a great night, even if it started later than usual for us. Only the 2nd time we've stayed to the fireworks this year; probably the last time this season as well as school starts back up next week meaning the son is back in pre-school and my wife is back teaching.

[jcgoble3]

48" is such a magical number.

I'm surprised he wasn't scared of Drop Tower at all. What a true thrill-seeker.

I hope you have the same experience in a few years with your youngest!

[medford]

48" is such a magical number.

I'm surprised he wasn't scared of Drop Tower at all. What a true thrill-seeker.

I hope you have the same experience in a few years with your youngest!

Thanks,

I wasn't sure what his reaction to drop zone was going to be, worst of all, if he freaked out, there's not really much you can do about it. My palms were getting a little sweaty just watching them getting strapped in before the ride went up. When we go up the tower, he pretty much runs out to the edge to take everything in. I have to brace myself and slowly make my way onto the platform. I've done drop zone 1x and it was enough for me, heights are not my thing, though being on most roller coasters doesn't bug me for whatever reason. the only one that really gets my palms sweaty is ironically flight deck b/c of the sensation of no track below you. Don't know why that inspires a little fear in me and going up Diamondback is a joy, but that's just how I'm wired.

Truth is, I'm pretty sure if you could safely strap him into any ride, even when he was three, he would have enjoyed it. I'm working on the little one, I strap her into her "car" riding toy, push her up the hills in the neighborhood, then let gravity bring her back to level. She seems to enjoy it, we'll see if it carries forward, b/w her mother and her brother she probably doesn't have much choice.

[zombieninja]

As the proud parent of a 5 year old who had a similar experience, I cannot say enough how happy I am for you! Has he expressed any interest in The Vortex yet?

[medford]

yeah, he wanted to ride that last night, just not enough time and The Beast was a higher priority. He'll probably hop on Vortex our next trip. I'm guessing Stunt Crew as well which I think coves all the 48" min. rides that are not an upcharge. He says he wants to get on skyflyer and Sling Shot as well, and asked if he can get on the new coaster (I'm guessing we'll find out tomorrow and the answer will be "not yet") but we'll probably hold off on the upcharge rides, try to make them a bit more special.

[TombRaiderFTW]

Aw, I loved this! So glad you were able to have a good time with your son. Sounds like you've got a little thrillseeker on your hands.

[PKIVortex]

Any Plans on trying him out on Vortex? Or he is not ready to go upside down yet?

[Creed Bratton]

So glad to hear that he was finally able to make "the jump!" I love that he didn't have to be instructed to do the "tiki dance!"

Thanks for sharing!

[DiamondAceExpress]

It's so fun when they grow up! And new shoes can do wonders for their height! Glad you had fun!

One ride on Drop Tower was more than enough for me as well!

[medford]

Any Plans on trying him out on Vortex? Or he is not ready to go upside down yet?

He wanted on Vortex, but we didn't get to the park until 7:00 pm, so there wasn't much time, and by the time we worked our back to The Beast, Vortex was a much lower priority and we wanted to make sure he got his first ride on that. When going up The Racer, he kept saying he wanted to get on Firehawk (obviously can't) I don't think loops will be an issue with him. We may head up this sunday if the opportunity arises w/ his cousin, if so, I'm guessing he'll check off Vortex and the Back Lot Stunt Coaster. I think those are the last two 48" mark rides he can get on, other than skyfler and slingshot. He'd like to get on those, but we're not real big into the upcharge fee. I'm sure it will happen some day, just not today.

Which brings up a question, for anyone still paying attention (and thank you for doing so), he asked if he could get on the new ride next year. I assume not, though assuming its a full circuit B&M invert, I don't know what the ride height requirements are for raptor or something like that. Do they typically release that info when they announce the ride? If you've got to be 52" there's a decent chance my wife & I miss out on whatever they're building next season. Perhaps we'll sneak away for a day by ourselves like we did a week or so ago, but going as a family is much easier.

[TheCrypt]

Thanks for the report! 48 is such a great number and I'm glad you could finally ride some bigger rides with your five year old.

[jcgoble3]

Which brings up a question, for anyone still paying attention (and thank you for doing so), he asked if he could get on the new ride next year. I assume not, though assuming its a full circuit B&M invert, I don't know what the ride height requirements are for raptor or something like that. Do they typically release that info when they announce the ride? If you've got to be 52" there's a decent chance my wife & I miss out on whatever they're building next season. Perhaps we'll sneak away for a day by ourselves like we did a week or so ago, but going as a family is much easier.

From the looks of things, Banshee has the same restraints as Gatekeeper, which is 52". So I doubt Banshee will be 48". The height requirement was not announced with the ride.

[medford]

A continuation of the trip report, to answer some questions above. Our Niece was in town for the weekend from C-Bus, so we used one of th $19.99 passes sent out to funperks users last season and spent about 6 hours in the park yesterday. Other than the Haunt, its been a long times since I've been to the park on a weekend, and it was packed. When we got there, my niece wanted to get on drop zone w/ my son, so my wife and them waited about 30 minutes to take the plunge, then on over to Adventure Express, which also had a short (10 min maybe) line, that's always been walkon on during the middle of the week, new territory for me. After that we headed over to The Racers for a ride on the blue coaster, Racers were near walkon. Finally, it was time to take on the last 2 coasters our 5 year old hasn't been on yet, and is tall enough for. Backlot Stunt Coaster was first (anyone know why they have the 143 mph speed limit sign? I assume its tied into something, but I'm not sure what, perhaps from the movie, been awhile since I"ve seen it. My son loved it, he always likes looking at the helicopter and flames from the top of the tower, now he got to see them up front, he was surprised by the pitch black tunnel, I don't think he was expecting that, and I think it was his favorite part. From there, we headed to Vortex. My niece sat it out, so my wife took my son for his first trip upside down. He said he enjoyed it, didn't seem like he likes it as well as The Beast.

From there we headed to The Beast, where it claimed its latest victim. My Niece and son were sitting in the 1st car, 2nd seat. I was directly behind them in the 3rd row, seating by myself. After the double helix, we were heading down the little dip at the end that takes you under the hill leading into the final tunnel(s). As we were coming down, a decent sized hawk landed on the hill going up into the break run, we obviously weren't too far away and I was anticipating the hawk taking right back off, must have been a mouse or something, cause you think it would have felt the track vibrating. Anyways, as we started back up the hill, the hawk remained on the track, surely it would fly away now, but no, a split second later (or however long it takes you to climb that last little hill) the hawk came face to face w/ The Beast and meet its end. I don't know the people in the 1st row on the 1st car, but they told me they hit it (don't think anything came up above the car themselves). When we got off the train, about half of the train came up to the 1st car to see if there were any remains sitting there (there was not) so I think pretty much everyone on the train saw what happened, those in the back probably saw the hawk being thrown off to the side after impact.

From there it was on to Boo Blasters, then a quick bit outside the park before meeting up w/ my mother in law who was driving our niece up to C-Bus to take her back home. I think the only thing that remains for my son in the 48" catagory, are the 2 upcharges, skyflyer and Sling Shot, and the dodge-em cars. Can't think of anything else in the main park that he's missed.