dtk1378 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Here's a funny story. I was at the white-and-red geysers, and someone was at every other geyser at Whitewater Canyon, when, through the woods around the bend echoed the voice of the watchtower supervisor (the first one you encounter before the guest-geysers), professionally reminding someone to put away all electronic devices. Then, it happened. The second reminder... and then... the telegraph of all telegraphs: the desperately authoritative "Sir?" when you know the person simply ignored the rules, and was doing it "his way..." You know, I've played in many softball games in my life where, for those rare, wonderful moments, the opposing pitcher just lays a freakin' meatball across your plate, so primed and ready for swatting clean out over the lights. At times like these, I can't help but lick my chops, rub my hands together and await what I just knooowww is going to be a most satisfying barrage of precision water-logging in a long, long time. Sure enough, a guy (and his apparently unsuspecting boat-mates) came along, down below in the rapids, and he had his huge, expensive-looking tablet out, ostensibly filming away at the wonderful surroundings and brightly-colored tubes. For added measure, he had his pretty shoes up on the ring... on a water ride... a water ride with signs... signs that warn... We all kinda looked at one another, and with an almost harmonic "Mwa ha ha ha ha ha!", we unleashed the Kraken! Oh, the gratification (and the quick pace through the woods back to the park... whistling... you know, like nothing ever happened...) I remember riding WWC when I was in my teens (about 15-20 years ago), someone on the ride pulled out an umbrella on my boat (this was back when they paired riders up to fill up the boat so I didn't know the person). The person shooting the geyser warned the rider to put away their umbrella which of course they didn't listen to. All of a sudden I had something happen that had never happened before, they stopped our boat in the middle of the ride and she just started pounding us with a geyser until the rider eventually put the umbrella away. Too bad they didn't do that to this particular rider, I can assure you no electronic device would of survived the water beating I took that day. 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBEASTunchained Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Ha !! Wow! Now THAT ^ gave me a good laugh this morning. Thanks. Wish I could have been there for that! .....one can see the strangest things while visiting Kings Island....... 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benny1388 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 I swear it's going to take a serious injury, or worse, from a flying phone before the park takes it seriously and cracks down on it. In my opinion, ANYONE found to have a phone or other device out on a coaster should be IMMEDIATELY ejected from the park, banned for one year, and arrested for violation of Ohio's RIder Responsibility Law on the FIRST offense. No warnings should ever be given for such a dangerous act. A second offense should be a lifetime ban and another arrest. Sadly, that's probably the case. I can see not enforcing the rider responsibility law on guests with arms up, because that's not nearly as likely to cause injury. That and really bad PR. However, loose articles in hand should definitely be taken seriously. We just got back from Carowinds where I saw quite a few guests with phones, GoPro, and even glasses in hand. Even on Fury 325; an op told her she could even leave them on, so long as she didn't turn her head..? I'm no lawyer, but I just read over the law...I see no mention of putting your hands up (honestly, though, it wouldn't surprise me for Ohio to make that illegal), just obeying posted signage. Am I missing something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malem Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 ^ Riders in Ohio are required to follow safety instructions, which (on The Beast) say to keep your arms & legs inside the car at all times. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtk1378 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 I've always thought keep your hands inside the car meant to not have them out to the side of the car. Didn't think that was in relation to having your arms straight up in the air. On the second lift hill on The Beast it does specifically state to keep your hands down if I am not mistaken. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsus Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Failure to comply with park employee (ride operator) instructions is a misdemeanor in the state of Ohio. Technically, raising your arms on a roller coaster is a criminal offense so long as it is posted and/or mentioned by the spieler. Raising your arms involves putting them (further) outside of the car (than they would otherwise sit). For obvious reasons, they don't enforce that one.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuskin Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Its sickening how much trash is left in the parking lot after a day at Kings Island. People are so freaking lazy it drives me mad. Almost as mad as someone driving in the left lane of the highway at 65mph or less. Forgive me for going off tangent a bit but, that really does grind my gears (in my best Peter Griffin impersonation). And in my favorite Top Gear rant "Think of it like the lavatory, you go in you do your business you get out, you don't stay there all day!!" If there is one thing I hate more than anything in the world its people riding the Fast Lane when they have an empty lane to their right. GRRRRRRRRRRR.End rant, I hope everyone has a great day today! haha 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WindingSon Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Probably not a good sign when people are walking off the brake run on Diamondback right? It ran a few trains through and now people are leaving the line. I checked the app and it says Diamondback is closed. App also says Invertigo, Vortex, and WindSeeker are closed too. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freaks76 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Here's a funny story. I was at the white-and-red geysers, and someone was at every other geyser at Whitewater Canyon, when, through the woods around the bend echoed the voice of the watchtower supervisor (the first one you encounter before the guest-geysers), professionally reminding someone to put away all electronic devices. Then, it happened. The second reminder... and then... the telegraph of all telegraphs: the desperately authoritative "Sir?" when you know the person simply ignored the rules, and was doing it "his way..." You know, I've played in many softball games in my life where, for those rare, wonderful moments, the opposing pitcher just lays a freakin' meatball across your plate, so primed and ready for swatting clean out over the lights. At times like these, I can't help but lick my chops, rub my hands together and await what I just knooowww is going to be a most satisfying barrage of precision water-logging in a long, long time. Sure enough, a guy (and his apparently unsuspecting boat-mates) came along, down below in the rapids, and he had his huge, expensive-looking tablet out, ostensibly filming away at the wonderful surroundings and brightly-colored tubes. For added measure, he had his pretty shoes up on the ring... on a water ride... a water ride with signs... signs that warn... We all kinda looked at one another, and with an almost harmonic "Mwa ha ha ha ha ha!", we unleashed the Kraken! Oh, the gratification (and the quick pace through the woods back to the park... whistling... you know, like nothing ever happened...) I remember riding WWC when I was in my teens (about 15-20 years ago), someone on the ride pulled out an umbrella on my boat (this was back when they paired riders up to fill up the boat so I didn't know the person). The person shooting the geyser warned the rider to put away their umbrella which of course they didn't listen to. All of a sudden I had something happen that had never happened before, they stopped our boat in the middle of the ride and she just started pounding us with a geyser until the rider eventually put the umbrella away. Too bad they didn't do that to this particular rider, I can assure you no electronic device would of survived the water beating I took that day. Oh man, that would be so great, It'd be even better if it broke umbrella. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKitchen Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Tomorrow I'm making my first return to KI in years, and first time going with kids. I love KI, but with young kids we just haven't made the trip (which I did annually as a kid). Tomorrow my wife and I will be taking our 6 year old boy and 4 year old girl. The girl will have fun in Planet Snoopy, but my son loves coasters. He's 49" so we'll hit the 48" requirement rides. We're coming with another family with two boys (one 48"+ and one 54"+) and a 4 year old that will hang with my daughter in PS. Not having been in so long, I'd love any advice you can provide. I've spent the last week reading through the message board and tips on various other websites. I'm guessing with it being a Wednesday and given the weather forecast that the crowds will be lighter, right? Should we have any particular gameplan (like starting left and going clockwise, or back to front, etc.)? We're hoping to be there, parked and ready to go in at the 10:00 opening. Any advice is greatly appreciated! **Edit --> I just noticed my profile pic (pulled from FB) is my son and I on the 7 Dwarfs Mine Cart ride at Disney from the spring.** 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WindingSon Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Hit the low capacity rides first. Those are the two X-Base rides in Firehawk and Flight of Fear. They will have the least lines first thing in the morning but will fill up to pretty hefty waits later on. From there, any ride will likely have a wait from 5 minutes to 20 minutes. More on Diamondback if it's having problems or a slow crew. A Wednesday it is, but it is one in July. There could be some crowds, but it will likely be minimal. Oh, welcome to KIC and have a good trip! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WindingSon Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Rain storm! And Banshee keeps on truckin' 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiperArcher Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 I enjoy watching the webcams, and I've noticed by watching the streams that the coasters run in the rain a lot. Do they normally run in the rain if there is not lightning around? My cousins from PA are coming to visit next week and we are planning on going to KI either Monday or Tuesday, but the forcast is rain for both. I'm hoping things will keep on a runnin' so we can have a good (and most likely damp) day. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magenta Lizard Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 A few weeks ago, I rode coasters and other rides in the rain for about four hours straight. Fairly significant downpour the whole time. So, yeah, unless there is a chance of lightning, they tend to run them. Unfortunately, if they do close for storm activity, it does seem to take a little long to get started back up again after the systems appear to have passed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsus Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 It's really a judgment call that park operations makes by constantly monitoring radar. If there is a storm that is producing or is likely to produce lightning in the area, they'll shut down pretty much everything. If it's just a little rain and expected to stay that way, a lot can stay open. If it's pouring rain or they expect it to, then they might start shutting down more rides. One thing they don't want to do is rush to reopen a ride just to have another storm roll in that shuts it back down. They also need a little time to run empty test trains after downtime. They might also take a train off of the coasters on rainy days rather than shutting down completely. This gives trains a little more room to stop due to wet brakes. Rain is a great crowd-deterrent (most of the time). So long as it's not raining all day, a rainy forecast can keep lines short, making for a FUN day. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electricsun Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 I do believe there is a set judgement call as far is lightning is concerned. If lightning is detected within a certain distance of the park, things shut down. Rides don't reopen until a set time has passed since the last lightning strike. I remember being told to start packing up with 30 minutes left in our day because of what was showing on the radar. It didn't look bad at the park but as we started to pack up, it started to look worse. We were able to get everything in our truck and just as we climbed into the cab, the skies opened and the downpour began. Speaking of downpour...I might need to pick up a poncho tonight to use tomorrow. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterOhio Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Its sickening how much trash is left in the parking lot after a day at Kings Island. People are so freaking lazy it drives me mad. It's bad, but trust me. There is a machine that is ran by Park Services that cleans up the entire park (A motorized Vehicular Sweeper pretty much) But it is bad how much trash is left behind. But in most cases, the trash is in the middle of the parking lot. Farthest away from trash cans on either side of the lanes (Well mainly one side, but still) ----------- Onto the lightning question... If a storm is near the park, or quickly approaching the area. Lightning or not, rides will go into "Stage 1" meaning that rides like Banshee, Diamondback, Invertigo, Drop Tower and WindSeeker will close. This only happens at times when a downpour may occur (A real downpour. Yellow to red rain on radar) This happened about a month ago when many scattered, but powerful storms were rolling all over the park. Those rides listed were shut down about twice. Usually a warning came on the PA system. Now obviously it isn't always the case. They will continue rides sometimes, just like yesterday. But It's usually when the storm is a threat. What happened yesterday was quick, and pretty light. (Even though it was a downpour) "Stage 2" is pretty much a full park shut down. Lightning is in the area. All ride operations will be shut down, and guests are advised to seek shelter. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterDirected Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Speaking of rain, does anyone know if FoF runs in the rain? I know its indoors but Disaster Transport was indoors but it closed due to leaks in the building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterOhio Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 It is the only ride of exception from stage 2. (That, and Boo Blasters) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKitchen Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Just got home from a great day at the park. It was my first time back for my wife and I in about 8 or 9 years, and the first time for my son (6) and daughter (4) who both loved it. It rained ALL DAY but it kept the crowds away. We knew it was going to rain so we kept a positive attitude about it as best we could, and prepared as best we could. We met up with another family we knew and had a blast. My son (48") loved Beast, Drop Tower, Bat, Racers, Adventure Express and Stunt Coaster but didn't care much for Vortex (but rode it). He was very upset he isn't tall enough for Banshee yet, but hopefully next year or the year after he'll be tall enough. My favorites were Banshee (front seat is amazing) and Diamondback (again, front seat is awesome), and I've always loved Beast and Vortex. Someone asked about the rain, and today they ran everything all day in the rain including FoF (though Firehawk was down most of the day). But a tip for riding in the rain, unless you want to feel like someone is continuously pelting your face with pebbles, don't ride up front. I couldn't keep my eyes open on Banshee in the rain in the front seat from the pain of rain hitting my eyeballs, and my face hurt when riding in the front of Beast and Vortex from the rain. (Luckily I rode Banshee again and also Diamondback both in the front during a short break in the rain.) I rode all of those in the middle as well, and it doesn't hurt near as much when there is a seat in front of you. I was really surprised that The Bat had a 15 minute wait most of the day, while you could walk on Banshee, Diamondback and Beast almost any time. In fact, Banshee was running lots of empty seats at points during the middle of the day. We didn't get to ride Firehawk as it was down most of the day. When it finally started up, we got to the line with a 30-40 minute wait; after a few minutes we realized we could ride Banshee and Diamondback both several times before we would get on Firehawk and left. My wife and daughter spent most of their day in Planet Snoopy and my daughter loved it. Overall, I was able to ride Banshee (x4, including front twice), Diamondback (x3, including front once), Beast (x3, including front once), Vortex (front), Racer, Stunt Coaster (x2, including front once), The Bat, Drop Tower (x2), and White Water Canyon. Not a bad day at the park! 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WindingSon Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 That sounds like an awesome day. Glad you had a good time. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohiocolts Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Flight of Fear just... Valleyed? I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malem Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 ^ Valleyed? Or just rolled back (to the launch tunnel)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterOhio Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 It's possible for both to happen. If you saw it then it rolled back. It almost did it to me a while ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohiocolts Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 A rollback I believe. It was at the end of the launch tunnel just before the first inversion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterOhio Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Yes, that's most definitely a rare FOF Rollback. (Or it might be a bit common, and only happens in the mornings or something) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCandyManCan Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Eh, rollbacks were quite common last year...believe two evacs as a result of valleys weren't there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterOhio Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Two evacs from "fire" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 The park has repeatedly stated there was no fire, only smoke. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterOhio Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Why do you think there were quotes around fire? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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