So I've decided to do something a little different. Since most of our old trip reports are now gone and forgotten I've decided to do a recap report from my best years as an enthusiast. In the years of 2009 and 2010 I made a lot of new friends and I gained a whole lot of new coaster credits. I owe it all to this website! If it wasn't for KIC and my love for Kings Island I don't think any of these trips would have happened. Not to mention all of the wonderful friends that I have made being apart of this site!

I think you can all guess how 2009 started yes that's right it started with Diamondback! Little did I know this one coaster would set off a chain reaction! Let me share with you now my adventures! I will only share a few pics from each of the parks as to cut down on the bandwidth usage for mobile users. I can provide links to albums upon request.

Diamondback and Kings Island 2009

Ride Warriors Weekend 2009

I'll let the video do the talking! =]

Holiday World and my 100th coaster 2009

Voyage was my 100th coaster!

Florida and 5 Parks 2009

2 months later we were headed down to Florida but first we made a pit stop!

After that we were on our way to Tampa!

Now while at Busch Gardens I was not able to take any pictures and I'm sorry for that! But please do enjoy some of these from Sea World and Both Universal Parks!

Cedar Point and Coaster Mania 2009

After I returned from this trip It was off to Cedar Point for Coaster Mania 2009. This is where I really started getting to know some of you and I am glad that we are still friends to this day!

All of the photos from this trip are thanks to Avatar! I was too busy riding coasters to stop and take pictures. You'll see this becomes a habit of mine.

A big thank you go's out to these two for letting me tag along! If it wasn't for you two I'd still be the shy kid who was afraid to meet new people!

The rest of 2009

The rest of 2009 was pretty uneventful. I took a few miscellaneous trips back to Kings Island through out the year but nothing too eventful. To everyone I met in 2009 I want to say thank you for the memories you helped me create. I'm glad to call you guys my friends even if some of us barley talk anymore I will still cherish those memories for the rest of my life.

Stay tuned 2010 and more to come!

You put a lot of work into this. Nicely done.

Awesome report Carl!

2010 and my 100 coaster credits!

Needless to say as the title suggests 2010 was a crazy year for me! Not only did I gain over 100 new coaster credits I also made even more incredible friends!

As you can all assume I made countless visits to Kings Island this year but you all know what happens there. I'm going to tell you about some of the other parks I was fortunate enough to visit!

Michigan's Adventure 2010

If it wasn't for Nick and Mitchell a lot of the parks I visited in 2010 would not have happened. I owe most of these coaster credits to you guys!

Worlds of Fun 2010

Six Flags St. Louis 2010

Six Flags Over Texas 2010

The 7 Parks in 7 days Trip 2010

Sadly on this trip I did not get the chance to take a lot of photos because we had to cram a lot in just a few days. The 7 parks we visited were Hershey Park, Dorney Park, Six Flags Great Adventure (all thanks to Terpy), Kings Dominion, Six Flags America, Carowinds, and Dollywood. What an amazing trip this was and I can't wait to share these parks with all of you guys on future trips! I can not say how fortunate I was to have done all of these trips in on year. I did manage to find these pictures from the trip.

Six Flags Great America 2010

Sadly this was another no picture day as we only had one day to ride everything then be on our way back to Indy. I will tell you that this is one of the better Six Flags parks in the chain and their Carousel is amazing!

Mt. Olympus and the Dells 2010

Indiana Beach 2010

Dollywood and Smoky Mountain Coasterfest 2010

I owe this trip entirely to Violakat and her wonderful husband Nick! If it wasn't for them I might never have known what a true coaster event was really like. Also Christmas at Dollywood is amazing!

Fast Forward to 2014 and Banshee

Photo Credit goes to Malem.

The Moral of The Story

To be honest with you guys this trip report isn't about the pictures. It's not about the amount of parks or the amount of coasters I got to ride. It's about you guys. The amazing group of people who come together for a single common interest. You've all become apart of my family. I know we bicker and we fight sometimes on here but in the end we're all here because of our love for Kings Island and our love for one another! I can't thank Dane and Ryan enough for keeping this site going. Without it none of this would have likely happened. So here's to another amazing year at the park with you guys!

You just hit the nail on the head bud. The BEST coaster experiences I've enjoyed in my 35+ years of riding had nothing to do with the rides... it had everything to do with those I rode with.

<===== Here's proof!

Thanks for sharing this. Fun post!

I want to thank some very important friends for making most of this happen.

Tom

Nick

Mitchell

Kat

Jesse

Sean

Brad

Lora (Mom #4)

Melanie (Mom #3)

Deanne (Aunt) =P

Rick

My twin Tracy!

My two new adopted sisters Katie and Melissa (Even though one of them wears diapers and the others feet smell like cheese).

Amy

Lucas

Matthew

Andrew

If I missed anyone I'm sorry this list has become very long! I look forward to meeting many more of you. If you see us in the park say Hi. Don't be like me and take 5 years to meet people. You might regret it.

Again nicely done! Thanks for being a good Banshee buddy.

You just had to announce that you made the joke about me wearing diapers huh, big brother? Well don't forget to change your little swimmers!! Haha I loved seeing all these awesome pictures!! I hope that we can all go together someday!!

Uhh, UnrealNightmare, I hate to bust your bubble but you claim that this was from 2009...the picture above shows a RED TRAIN on The Voyage. Voyage only had a Red Train- borrowed from Raven- in 2010. It also appears to only have 6 cars, further suggesting you may have accidently put up a 2010 Voyage photo or something.

Other than that, great pictures and glad you had so much fun.

You're ok yourself. Haha. You are so right on this post though. I wish I started posting earlier and met people before the end of last season. It feels like I've known some of you forever.

It's taken something fun and made it even better. It's been amazing seeing Stinky Feet Dragon Butt (it's a tail!) connect with people too. It's nice having extra eyes on her as we are in the park. One thing I thought was awesome was Sunday Katie was with Melissa, Melanie, Melissa's dad and Zach. Katie ended up taking a nap in the Festhaus with Melanie and Zach sitting with her. Even better - Melanie took a pic! Lol

It's already opened up opportunities for us to do more than we could have done like GWL and Media Day. Honestly I would not have considered MD if it weren't for you all. Getting a tour of the Air Force Museum was awesome - the flight simulator was one of the funniest things I've ever witnessed.

Meeting up away from the park has been great too. From McDonald's to Chinese restaurants to Dr Offices have been great too. Well not so much the Dr Office. Even a group came to closing night of Shrek - and she did not have a speaking part.

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You are correct I clicked the wrong photo bucket album for that one. Oh well.

You are correct I clicked the wrong photo bucket album for that one. Oh well.

Hey, it's a cool photo anyway- and Red Train Voyage pics are kinda rare to find anyhow, given it was only for one season, after all. And my best rides on Voyage thus far did come in that Red Train...

You just had to announce that you made the joke about me wearing diapers huh, big brother? Well don't forget to change your little swimmers!! Haha I loved seeing all these awesome pictures!! I hope that we can all go together someday!!

You could have been the one with stinky cheese feet instead but nooooo, you indirectly admitted the diapers lol

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Lol you never had to tell them it was you. =P

Zach,

Thank you very much for sharing and I'm glad to be part of your experience! I've had a blast hanging out with you so far this season at Media Day and on Sunday and look forward to many more rides with you this season. You got my number, text me when you'll be there and I'll try to make it out there.

I've met many people on these forums and I've never had a bad experience. Devan, Ryan, Zach, Brian, Terpy, Lora, Dee, Jesse, the list goes on...

Those who haven't met me, don't be shy. I'm always up to meeting new faces and riding some with you! I don't bite. Or do I? Hmmm...

Hodor will just beat you up.

I never should have worn that shirt...haha

Now you will forever be called Hodor by me!

Andrew we are going Friday.

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I'm kind of on the fence about Friday. My buddy has a pass this year and he hasn't been since 2009-he loved Diamondback so I want him to ride Eve.