Trip Report 7-18-15

[Voicetek]

For whatever reason, this summer has seemed pretty busy and my wife and I have only made it to the park once so far.  However, with the midnight closing times on Saturdays, we decided to head on over to KI Saturday night.

 

We had some things to do already on Saturday, but figured we could still make it over to the park early enough to get in a good 3-4 hours and enjoy some epic night rides!  After we finished running our errands, we grabbed some dinner and got to the park around 8:30 or so.  The day had been crazy hot so far, and we were hoping that it might cool off once the sun went down. 

 

We walked through the gates and decided to change things up a bit from what we normally do.  Normally we go right and go through Planet Snoopy, hit up Boo Blasters, Diamondback, Beast, etc.  This time we decided to go left.  My wife asked if we should hit up Banshee first.  It wasn't quite dark yet and I was hoping to enjoy a night ride on Banshee that night.  I suggested maybe we could take a ride on Adventure Express instead and kill a little bit of time waiting for it to get completely dark.  We decided that this was a good idea.

 

All day I had checked the weather report by hour.  Everything looked good.  I was afraid with the humidity being so high, that we'd get crazy storms.  So far though, everything was looking clear.  We were waiting in line for Adventure Express and watching FUN TV.  Interesting enough, a weather report screen came up and pretty much lined up with what my weather app had predicted - clear skies all evening with a possible storm moving in around midnight.  A few minutes later we're still standing in line and I notice something through the cracks in the wooden walls....lightning!  Lightning?  It's only 8:30 and the skies were clear a few minutes ago!!!  I was hoping that it might just be some heat lightning and it wouldn't get too bad.  Well, we finally made it into the loading station and I noticed that the lightning was getting crazier.  Now it was not just flashing, it was striking!  I was waiting for them to make the announcement that the ride was closed.  However, we continued on, selected our seat, and were seated and buckled.  By this time the lightning looked really bad and I was actually getting a little concerned about even riding this ride in that condition.  Just about that time, the phone rang in the station.  A minute or so later, they were announcing that Adventure Express was now closed due to weather conditions.  Dang it!  They came by and released out lap bars and my wife and I got up out of the train and exited the station.

 

By this time the wind was picking up and the skies were flashing like crazy.  We made a mad dash for International Street so we could get inside the shops before the rains came.  We made it just in time!  For the next 45 minutes to an hour, we waited patiently inside the shops.  They were quite crowded as everyone had the same idea - duck inside the shops and stay dry.  After a while, the rain let up and we decided to make our way over to Planet Snoopy so my wife could find a restroom and we thought maybe we could take a ride on Boo Blasters too.  After a quick visit to the restroom, we headed over to Boo Blasters and noticed that the rain had stopped and the lightning was back to just flashing.  We entered the building to find all the lights on and a queue full of people just standing around.  Was it closed? We didn't know.  We found a worker and asked them.  He confirmed that the ride was, indeed, shut down and that it wouldn't re-open until 20 minutes after the last sign of lightning.  After explaining this, a lady, also standing there, asked why an indoor ride would be closed.  He explained that when it rains, most people head to that ride because it's indoors.  Because so many people pack inside, it becomes a fire hazard so that's one reason why the close the ride.  The other reason is because the lightning could cause a power outage and leave people stranded on Boo Blasters.  Ok.  I had never heard that before. 

 

By this time it was around 10:30 and the skies were still actively flashing.  20 minutes after the last flash of lightning might never come.  My wife and I decided to just leave the park and try to salvage what was left of our Saturday night.  We exited the park without riding one thing.  As we headed back to our car, we noticed the lines and lines and lines of people trying to leave the parking lot.  We made it to our car and decided to wait for awhile before trying to leave.  We watched the fireworks from the car and then decided to snag a place in the lines of cars and patiently wait to exit the lot.  30-40 minutes later, we were finally out of the traffic mess and on the road headed home.

 

In all my years of going to KI (probably around 33 years or so), I have never had such an uneventful visit LOL.  The closest we came to riding anything that night was being strapped in to Adventure Express for a minute or two before having to exit.  Oh well, at least we got to check out some shops and catch the fireworks show.  Also, while talking to the worker on Boo Blasters, he shared with me some info on the building itself and a little bit about the remains of Phantom Theater, so hey, I even learned a little something! 

 

I guess we'll have to make another visit soon and make up for this past weekend!