It has been no secret that Kings Island's classic twin racing coasters have played a major role in history, having ushered in the Second Golden Age of roller coasters upon their opening in 1972.

Very soon, The Racer will make history yet again as it thrills its 100 millionth rider - a feat that very few coasters live to see. Don Helbig, Kings Island's spokesman (and record-holding Racer rider), declined to state exactly when he thought it would happen, but said that it was on the "next horizon."

The lucky rider will get the following prize pack:

-VIP Tour for eight (8) in 2015

-Invite to Kings Island's Halloween Haunt Media Preview

-Recognition on the park's social media

Who is going to be the 100 millionth rider? Could it be YOU??

Let me go ask my magic conch

Wow, that is too cool! I can only hope it holds out till I get back to the park next week, but I bet it won't.

If I did win, I'd probably take KIC members on the VIP tour with me because nobody in my "real" life is into KI like me.

Well, on behalf of the 78,235,409th and 80,124,343rd riders, I'll say congrats to whoever hits that first, nine-digit milestone!

Sweet package, though. Good luck, riders!

VIP Tour in 2015?......

I wonder why the tour will take place in 2015?.....Maybe the milestone wont be reached until very late in the season......?

A huge milestone and a generous prize, for sure. Looking forward to seeing who the lucky rider is!

As a general reminder, anyone who wins a prize of significant monetary value should seek tax advice before accepting.

A huge milestone and a generous prize, for sure. Looking forward to seeing who the lucky rider is!

As a general reminder, anyone who wins a prize of significant monetary value should seek tax advice before accepting.

Significant = $600 or anytime you are informed you will be receiving an IRS Form 1099, Miscellaneous Income.

Terp is not engaged in certified public accounting nor the private practice of law or of tax law, a specialty thereof. There is no legal or tax advice intended for a particular client contained herein. Consult a competent professional should you have, or think you may have, a tax and/or legal problem. This is a disclaimer.

VIP Tour in 2015?......

I wonder why the tour will take place in 2015?.....Maybe the milestone wont be reached until very late in the season......?

What if rider # 10,000,000 takes his ride at approx 9:45 PM next Wednesday. What if said rider was also from Illinois and needed to leave town the next day to get back home (or continue their vacation elsewhere) and did not have either the means and/or the time to return to KI this season for a full VIP tour? 2015 makes a lot of sense for a whole lot of reasons, mainly flexibility for the winner of such a prize to work around. All in all, a pretty cool package.

What's with the milestones this year? It's pretty crazy. First Banshee, then Diamondback, now Racer. Wow!

I guess we can never really celebrate someone's (individual) 100,000,000th ride on Racer. They'd have to be 387 years old, and have never done anything in their lives but ride Racer non-stop, round the clock, on-and-off season, since they were seven years old, with no stops between circuits.

VIP Tour in 2015?......

I wonder why the tour will take place in 2015?.....Maybe the milestone wont be reached until very late in the season......?

Maybe there is a reason that has to do with The Racer itself. Maybe she will get some love over the off season; and they want to show it off to the 100,000,000 rider??? Hard to say, maybe tours are booked?? Who knows. I will be there Sat, so after I get my 50th on Banshee, maybe I might hit the old lady up for some rides ( I mean The Racer, get your mind out of the gutter)

Sent from a signal coming out of the Vega system.

To further put this in perspective- I randomly took Don Helbig's 12000+ Racer rides and divided by 100,000,000 to see how much % of the total rides he alone has taken- it was a mere 0.012%! Much better than me though- my 6 rides from 2000 and 2009-2014 account for 0.000006% of Racer's total.

Just some random numbers for thought.

I'm more impressed with the fact that they've actually kept track for 42 years considering they didn't have computers and spreadsheets to remember all that info for them when the park opened in 1972

I'm more impressed with the fact that they've actually kept track for 42 years considering they didn't have computers and spreadsheets to remember all that info for them when the park opened in 1972

It wasn't that complicated to keep track of the ridership of each of the rides in the park in the 1970's. Capacity for each train is 30. If a train had three open seats, a 27 went in the log for that cycle. There was a big push in the 1970's and most of the 1980's to pair single riders which helped the ride surpass 3 million rides given in a season multiple times including 3.6 million in 1976.

Not to mention there were fewer other rides in the park and the park had more guests per year back then...

BUT, the season was shorter. Much shorter.

Please bring in the push for single riders on ALL attractions...there should be no reason for empty seats on Banshee with a loaded queue..

Just posting my typical operations spiel

That's why I loved when Diamondback had a single rider line, they filled the empty seats.

Hence the 30. Five times six (as Don stated) is 30.

Yeah I don't know what I was thinking, I changed my post. My bad! But I was thinking at one point in it's life that it ran shorter trains? Maybe 4 cars?

I guess not, I'm not sure why I thought that!

Edited July 24, 201412 yr by PKIVortex

The single rider line on Diamondback was abused more often than not.

True..every single rider line will have those that ruin it..good ride ops and good eyes prevent that..oh you said you were single rider and y'all are together, ok..ejection from line..simple and easy

I saw married people in it all the time.

Oh, wait....

Two people who visit the park together can still use the Single Rider line appropriately...

...provided they buy Fast Lane.

Can't tell you how many times I saw the single rider line for Diamondback abused.

It was there only for 2009, maybe 2010. I can't remember. There's a reason it no longer exists.

Yeah. There's money to be made.

I don't like the single rider line for the abuse side, however also it's not needed. If a queue needs a single rider to offset a group call down the stairs for a single rider, it works well. That person self identifies as a single rider, bring em up, queue em on the ride. Most single riders appreciate the jump, and they also will more often than not pair up with an odd group or other single rider. If not you have a single rider to pair up again or to pair in another future group, simple as that.

If crowd keeps a constant bit in the station and keeps the queues full in station, the ride will flow smoothly. Locking and checking empty seats takes more time than a loaded one.Load them all on a capacity ride, quicker dispatch, better interval, better numbers, and more satisfied guests safely riding the ride.

That's why I loved when Diamondback had a single rider line, they filled the empty seats.

More than 90 percent of the single riders on Diamondback were with groups of people who also claimed to be single in an effort to by-pass the line.

And what, pray tell, was wrong with that?

And what, pray tell, was wrong with that?

The single rider line was intended for guests who had no one else in their party that wanted to ride.