June 16: A Real Life "Throwback Thursday"

[VortexBFForever]

 

With nothing but sunny skies in the forecast, I knew today was going to be nothing but gorgeous as my dad and I enjoyed the park for the second time this season.

 

 

The park's American flag and the three flags in front of the Royal Fountains were all at half mast to honor the victims of the tragic events in Orlando.

 

 

In the meantime, the park had also upped its security. Thankfully it didn't take too long to go through and the security guards were very friendly.

 

 

 

Since there were only mere minutes until opening, a large cluster of people were gathered in front of the ERT entrance. It took a moment to find a pathway through the mob so we could get through the entrance (showing our passes to the guard of course). Walking back, I took in the fountains, beautifully illuminated by the rising sun, and I could feel the anticipation of the park getting ready to open as the minutes became moments. Surely enough, as we entered Planet Snoopy, I could hear the opening announcement starting. While walking through, a rare moment happened where no music played - it was just the other park noises often overpowered by said music. I enjoyed the brief silence as we headed toward Diamondback...

 

 

...which was closed, even though the park had already opened. I wondered why Diamondback had been sitting still while WindSeeker and Vortex were awake and actively finishing their morning test runs. I looked across the midway and saw Race For Your Life Charlie Brown, open and ready to go, so I headed there and made Kings Island's oldest Arrow my first ride of the day.

 

 

I was on its second ride of the day, aboard Log 20. I sat in the front, as I always like to do. My ride proved that being the only rider in the boat didn't mean that said rider wouldn't get wet. After a nice, watery ride through the woods, I got splashed pretty well on the final drop, getting nice, cool water on my shoulders and back. Of course Snoopy was happy to add to that!

 

It was a nice change to my routine. Starting a hot day on the log flume is a great idea, and an even greater way to start an already lovely morning!

 

 

 

 

 

While Vortex soared behind me, carrying its first riders of the day, I noticed how short Backlot Stunt Coaster's line was. Having not ridden this fun-but-low-capacity ride since July 2, 2015, I decided to ride it before the line got long.

 

 

 

It was a three train wait. The attendant was diligently checking to see who was waiting/riding together with who. When she saw that I was by myself, and there was still an empty row in the station, she sent me ahead to occupy the empty row (there was a group of three in front of me so I wasn't that far) which reminded me of several similar instances at both Kings Island and Cedar Point (on Drop Tower, Delirium, Top Thrill Dragster and Millennium Force, to be exact) where they were looking for a single rider to fill an empty seat and I ended up being that single rider.

 

The attendant sent me to the third row (first row of second car) and I boarded the Blue Train before being launched up through the parking garage and speeding past police cars, dodging "bullets", feeling the heat of the fire, and of course my favorite part - the pitch-black tunnel - and busting through the billboard before reaching the journey's end. It was a fun little ride as always.

 

 

Now to take in a well-known view - and get some pictures in the process, of course - of a well-known ride as the sun illuminated it as beautifully as the rest of the park. Two weeks after my first trip of the year, I was once again face-to-face with Kings Island's oldest steel coaster, the first in the world with six inversions. While oohing and aahing and photographing, I remembered Terp's post about the old-fashioned lamps on the "Random Photo of the Day" thread when I had posted a picture of WindSeeker and Vortex with one of such lamps. That one lamp in front of Vortex's batwing had been there every single moment of all the years I've come to Kings Island (this year is my tenth season as a loyal patron!). I'm sure it stood long before I even saw Vortex for the first time. Never before had I had so many feelings for a lamp as I once again included it in my pictures.

 

 

 

This is one of my favorite Vortex pictures to date. I have so many mid-afternoon pictures where the sun is right overhead, but with the sun at an angle, it sheds a different light on the photo opportunity (pun intended). I don't have many morning pictures like this because usually I'm speed-walking to either WindSeeker or Vortex to nab the first train/cycle of the day.

 

After watching Vortex for a cycle and a half, it was finally time to ride. With a short line and all three trains doing their thing, I figured I could get a good number of rides in, as I decided to see if I could get the count to 310. But the count obviously wasn't the only reason I was riding. One ride on Vortex just isn't enough. Plus, I wanted to see if any of the crew members I met on last year's Closing Day would be here today!

 

 

 

A few minutes later, Train #3 arrived to take me on my first Vortex ride of the day. Apparently the left seat harness was roped off, but it wasn't a problem for a single rider. Even though I usually ride on the left side of the train, I enjoy riding the right side as well!

 

As I boarded, I spotted a quarter on the train's floor in front of the left seat. I picked it up as I sat down, looked at the quarter's mint year, and gasped.

Since I had started finding change on rides, I always thought it would be cool if I found a coin with a mint year that matched the circa year of the ride I found it on. Six years later, that moment had finally arrived, as I saw the year 1987 on the quarter!! I had found my "Vortex quarter" at long last. I slipped it into my buttoned pocket with my camera as I pulled down and buckled the harness. The grease smell on the lift hill, the unparalleled view of the layout, and the clacking of the anti-rollback (especially the clacking heard on an Arrow) will NEVER get old!! And of course, it was a joy to speed through my first inversions of the day. During the ride, I still like to think "That was my first inversion EVER!" whenever I go through the first loop, the only loop in the world that will ever have that title. <3

 

And of course, I HAD to get a picture of my new coin and Train #3 after the ride.

 

Now came the time for my first flight - a flight on none other than WindSeeker, which is five years old this year! I still remember its announcement, construction (and the webcams!), when it first opened, and my first ride on June 30, 2011, a mere nine days after it opened.

 

 

As I got in line, a cycle started and it had "The High and the Mighty" playing (for those unfamiliar with the songs on the soundtrack, I have a playlist on my YouTube channel that has a number of the songs). Knowing "The High and the Mighty" plays before the "Superman Theme" I knew I would finally be on a cycle with that song for the first time in a few years. In fact, the "Superman Theme" was what played on my very first WindSeeker ride!

 

Since wind speeds were getting up there (If I'm not mistaken, the wind speeds surpassed 20 mph but didn't surpass 30 as WindSeeker remained open) we had to wait for more people to show up before we were let on the ride, to ensure that the ride would be weighted/balanced enough to still operate safely. For that reason, I (and a number of others) waited a few extra minutes in the queue. By the time we were let on the ride there looked to be around at least 40-50 of us, or around 3/4 capacity. I very well enjoyed the "Superman Theme" as I embarked on a windy flight in Seat 21!

 

 

 

 

Since I knew that more of my favorite soundtracks were coming up, and that those at the ride would wait a little longer for more riders, I had enough time to squeeze in another ride on Vortex, on which I enjoyed my second run of the day on my "special milestone" train, Train #1, that I rode on my 100th, 200th, and 300th rides. In fact, during the 148-foot lift hill ascent, I recalled the pivotal events taking place on last year's Closing Day. In other words, "Throwback Thursday" became all too real with the throwback I experienced as I gazed at the blue and orange inversions below before plunging 138 feet into yet another crazy, twisted ride. As great timing would have it, WindSeeker was lifting off the moment I exited Vortex.

 

I got back in line right before the "Harry Potter Hedwigs Theme" cycle finished so I could ride on the next cycle with "Romantic Flight" from How to Train Your Dragon, which I enjoyed in Seat 30. That soundtrack, coupled with the climb to the top (especially when we reach the top right as the song reaches its big key change), is a truly amazing experience. It reminds me of when I rode a cycle with that song on the night of May 26, 2013, and it made for a truly spectacular flight over a brightly lit Kings Island. Day flights on the 'Seeker are fun already, but night flights are a whole new experience!

 

One can easily tell how windy it is (and the wind's direction) up there when the "circle" becomes deformed...nevertheless, WindSeeker soldiered on in the midst of those 20+ mph winds. Not once did it experience any problems or technical delays, which I think is good for the WindSeeker that has supposedly been the most reliable of its kind in the Cedar Fair chain, if I'm not mistaken!

 

For the "Test Drive" (also from HTTYD) cycle, I rode in Seat 48. This was the soundtrack that played during the also-spectacular ride on May 23, 2014, when I rode it during the fireworks for the very first time. Needless to say, it was great hearing it again especially during one of my windiest flights ever! I noticed the first row of empty seats swinging pretty closely to the riders sitting right behind it on the way down (I was a few rows behind). That's a glimpse of how windy it was! I'm thankful those horizontal shock absorbers were installed - I'm sure all 18 fellow riders were too!

 

Last but certainly not least was the "Flying" cycle. Enjoyed in Seat 52, this was THE WINDIEST WindSeeker flight I have been on to date! As you will see in my ground-level video of that ride (which will be posted here at a later time as part of my video compilation), the ~40 of us riders were swinging pretty wildly up there, especially while we were coming down! WindSeeker sought, and received, a lot of wind this morning. It was quite the adventure, to say the least!!

In the meantime, during the loading process, I saw a few of my new friends I had made on Closing Day. They remembered me from the wondrous occasion that took place that day. One of them asked what my Vortex ride total currently was as he checked my lap bar and I told him 304. Since it was almost time for the crew members to rotate positions, I would eventually end up seeing them again at Vortex when I would return to ride later.

 

And yes, WindSeeker remained open for the entire trip. I wonder if it stayed open for the whole day...

 

 

 

 

I returned to Vortex to continue making my way to 310 if I could before 1:00 (it was currently noon). No sooner had I arrived at the station did Train #2 arrive, in which I rode in 2-1. It was on this ride that I came up with an interesting idea. I was trying to find something to think while going down the first drop, and "I'm Flying" from Peter Pan came to mind. In a way, the lyrics can relate somewhat to the experience on Vortex! During the ride, I thought of the first, second and last verses of the song:

 

 

I'm flying

(flying, flying, flying)

Look at me, way up high

Suddenly, here am I

I'm flying!

 

I'm flying

(flying, flying, flying)

I can soar, I can weave

And what's more, I'm not even trying!

 

I'm high and as light as I can be;

I must be a sight lovely to see!

 

...

 

I'm flying

(flying, flying, flying)

Over bed, over chair

Duck your head, clear the air

Oh, what lovely fun!

Watch me, everyone!

Take a look at me and see how easily it's done

I'm flying!

 

I did modify the last verse a little to fit better with the ride. Instead of "Over bed, over chair, duck your head, clear the air" I thought "Over track, over trees, feel the heat, feel the breeze". However at the time, I didn't know all of the lyrics, so between rides 309 and 310 I looked them up. In the meantime, I was experiencing another throwback, this time to when my school performed Peter Pan this past spring (hence why I know the song) and I was a pirate. Fun times! Even now, it was fun singing the song in my head while soaring through the inversions!

 

 

 

I decided to ride in 5-1, since I don't ride in that row very often and I thought, why not give it a spin after hearing all these things about how it's known for its smoothness? Train #1 got another turn for ride 306. The paper slip I had been using to record my rides had become detached from my travel size notepad, and as I attempted to write 1-5-1 (Train #1, car 5, row 1) on the paper I learned a lesson: My lap does not make a good writing surface, however, the fiberglass car does! So from there on out I would use the car's wall as a writing surface to jot down on my paper where I was sitting and stow the paper and pen away in my waist pack before pulling down and buckling my harness. Hooray for fiberglass! And yes, 5-1 lived up to its smoothness. It's fun, though not my preferred row as you already know.

 

Right before ride 307, one of my friends from school began texting me. After letting her know I was at Kings Island and I was literally about to board Vortex for my 307th ride (not kidding! I was typing while walking through the queue and I hit Send right as the gates opened and I stepped onto Train #3), she did some math and found out that the number of rides I had, and assuming each ride was three minutes long, equaled over fifteen hours spent riding Vortex!!

 

Of course, I was only texting between rides. After hitting Send and boarding the train, my harness was down and buckled when I felt my phone vibrate in my waist pack. I thought "Well, I'm eager to see what she said after the ride" as Train #3 was cleared and dispatched for ride 307. Being a rule follower, I always keep my phone zipped away in my waist pack on any ride, from the time the restraint is secured to the time it is opened after the cycle is complete.

 

 

 

Before ride 310, I sent another text saying "310. Last ride of the day!" and my friend replied "Oh my." I always enjoy others' reactions when they hear just how many times I've ridden my favorite ride. After spending rides 307 and 308 in 6-2 and 309 in 3-1, all of which were also on Train #3, I boarded #3 again in row 7-1 for my last ride of the day. Need I say more that the ejector air is always a favorite part of riding in the back?

 

For those who want to know: 310 rides on Vortex is roughly 930 minutes = 55,800 seconds = 15.5 hours (based on a ride length of three minutes), not to mention 1,860 inversions included in the mix!!!

 

This lovely Thursday trip had to come to a close. But I plan to return to the Island again in two weeks!

 

 

One more picture with my Vortex quarter!

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading through my adventure! I only took 39 pictures but I still had just as much fun!

 

+Race For Your Life Charlie Brown: 1

YTD: 2

Total: 8

 

+Backlot Stunt Coaster: 1

Total: 4

 

+Vortex: 8

YTD: 10

Total: 310

 

+WindSeeker: 4

YTD: 5

Total: 76

 

Notes:

-The crews I saw on the rides I rode, and not just Vortex, did a good job in guest interaction with a smile!

-The efficiency I saw from The Vortex crew during the first and second hours is something I hope to see continue throughout the season! I left a compliment for them via the Kings Island website since I forgot to do so at Guest Services.

-Of course, it was great seeing a few of my new friends from last year (and keeping them updated on my ride total!)!

-WindSeeker really showed its reliability operating without problems in the face of those 20+ mph winds, at least while I was there! It was as if it was proving itself - "Hey, watch me operate in these winds without stranding anyone!!"

-On a hot day, start on the log flume if you start your trip in that part of the park! I recommend it!

-One who is familiar with Peter Pan finds it fairly easy to connect it to Kings Island experiences in a way, especially if said one is a big roller coaster fan!

- WindSeeker is one of three rides (Diamondback and The Bat are the other two) on which my ride totals are approaching the 100 mark. I'll be preparing for such occasions later this season!

-It is indeed possible to experience "Throwback Thursday" in real life and not just on Instagram.

[stashua123]

Great trip report as per usual.