BFF's Fall Break - October 20-22, 2017

[VortexBFForever]

Day 1: October 20

Since the beginning of the school year, I have been able to go to Kings Island one day per weekend. However, an exception was made during my Fall Break allowing me to go Friday, Saturday, and Sunday! With that came a great balance of work and play. I spent the entirety of Friday's visit as a guest, worked all day Sunday, and did both on Saturday. Friday was my first guest visit since Labor Day, and my first full-length guest visit since August 13. I felt super-excited, especially since Friday night would be my designated "binge-ride night" on Vortex and WindSeeker, as I wanted to boost my count on Vortex as part of my special plan and get a few more flights in on WindSeeker since I don't ride it often enough.

I arrived at the park just after 6, headed through the group of monsters roaming the entry plaza inside the gate (and watching my back, as one or two had their eye on me should I let my guard down) and went straight for the back of the park. The perks of your favorite ride being at the back of the park? No line for at least the first hour after opening! I began my night with a great early-twilight ride in the front row, as there literally was no line for that row! This happened on my second ride as well.

Since I rode on the different trains, I figured it would be fun to see how many times I would ride each train, so the Notes app on my phone became very handy tonight.

I noticed WindSeeker was at the point where several of my favorite tracks were playing, so I mixed a few 'Seeker flights into my already fun binge-riding. After my third ride on Vortex, I headed over there and rode in Seat 58 to the tune of "The High and the Mighty." I don't think I had that song play on any of my rides since 2013! Needless to say, I LOVED hearing it once again as I soared 256 feet above Coney Mall and the park.

I returned to Vortex and rode it a few more times, all while a beautiful sunset painted the sky and the line began growing to almost a full station wait. Meanwhile, Train #3 and I apparently had a five-ride streak, as Rides #6-10 tonight were all aboard Train #3, which in my opinion is a bit smoother than the other two trains. It may be a small difference, but I noticed.

I returned to WindSeeker to fly again, this time in Seat 51 to "Test Drive." The sun had just set and it nicely complemented the view, breeze and soundtrack for a fabulous twilight ride. I always seem to underestimate twilight rides, as I always appreciate them!

Back to Vortex. The wait was now five minutes. On my way back around, I noticed the "Sliders" were making an appearance down at our end of Coney Mall. One of them tried to sneak up on me from behind but I was watching.

After several more rides, I returned for my third and last 'Seeker flight for the evening. I flew in Seat 12 to my still-favorite track, "Flying." But "Cody's Flight" and "Ollo" aren't too far behind; they're my favorites too. In addition, this was a full-blown night ride. Do I even have to recap why night flights are so cool?!?!? The fog in the park below, and the chill that had me shivering, added to that effect!

Vortex's line kept growing, so I returned and kept riding. I made the most of the photo opportunities during the ten-minute wait, especially since I have no idea when I waited up on the bridge last!

What better game to play than RCT Classic while waiting in line at an amusement park?!?

I rode my way to my fourteenth ride of the day in various sections of the train. By the time 9:30 rolled around, I still had not yet reached 18 and with a fifteen-minute wait, I wouldn't be able to before I had to leave at 10:00. That is, if I didn't walk all the way to the front of the park to purchase a Fast Lane, which is actually exactly what I did! With fifteen minutes to spare, I used it to ride Vortex several more times before leaving.

And it obviously goes without saying from my perspective, but I definitely got my fill of dark, chilly, and wild night rides, for one of which I decided to keep my eyes closed. It was really fun, but the sensory conflict made me feel queasy, as I was feeling and hearing everything but saw only the inside of my eyelids! Fortunately, with fifteen minutes in between that ride and my next one, I no longer felt queasy in a matter of minutes. I had just learned (thankfully not the hard way) how easily I could get motion sick, even with my stomach of steel, if I rode with my eyes closed enough times and closely enough together!

By the end of the trip, I had tied with October 14, 2012 for most Vortex rides in one day (18). It is safe for me to say I may break it next year.

For the individual trains, I rode Train #1 seven times, Train #2 five times, and Train #3 six times.

+Vortex: 18

YTD: 171

Total: 488

+WindSeeker: 3

YTD: 35

Total: 115

[Saerenzea]

Awesome report. I didn't get to go to KI for the haunt so it's great to see pics. Thank you. Also RCT classic is awesome. 

[IndyGuy4KI]

Great report BFF!

Here is to #500 in April!

[VortexBFForever]

Day 2: October 21

After working a fun open shift, plus staying an extra hour to help get things rolling again after a technical delay, I headed back into the park as a guest with my crew-mate and friend Kayleigh, who also worked an open. We originally planned to get Fast Lane Plus, but since this was the second-most-crowded day of the entire season, Fast Lane of both types had sold out by the time we entered the front gate just after 6.

Knowing that many of the coasters would have long waits, we spent some time deciding which ride to ride first. Moments later, we were on our way straight back to Vortex, because 1. We love riding it, 2. We love visiting our fellow crew members, and 3. It always has a fairly short wait even with a full queue!

The end of Vortex's line extended to about halfway between the gazebo (where the big, refurbished sign is) and the end of the black railing. It was then that I re-realized just how much fun waiting in line can be...without electronics. Kayleigh and I talked the entire time about various things related to work, which of our fellow crew members were working as we spoke, and our different experiences riding and working on Vortex, just to name a few. 23 minutes later, we excitedly hopped into the back row for a fun twilight ride to start out our evening adventure!

Of course, we had to ride WindSeeker as well, so we entered its nearly full queue, talked some more and said hello to our other fellow crew-mates in the meantime.

Half an hour later, we took Seats 47 and 48 for our flight together on a full 'Seeker cycle. "See You Tomorrow" played during the wonderful (and cold) night flight!

After WindSeeker landed us safely, we headed down the Coney Mall midway to check out lines for the other rides. Zephyr, as always, had one of the shorter lines, even though it filled up one switchback. Even then, we had to wait only two cycles/ten minutes!

And yes, our Zephyr flight was well worth ten minutes, even with the driver saying "It's faster and sleeker and better than WindSeeker" on purpose because he knew we worked at WindSeeker. During the ride I found it very thrilling to look down while leaning slightly forward. With the cool breeze, the red lights, and the cover of darkness, it definitely made for one of my favorite rides on Zephyr!

We met the troll! I found him funny, especially when he farted out fog, lol. We were hungry, so we stood in the Subway line for about five minutes only to not move at all. Then we just decided to book it to the associate cafeteria, where there would be no line and we wouldn't have to pay an exorbitant sum of cash.

But first, we decided to ride Dodgems, as one of our crew-mates (who was promoted to assistant supervisor for Dodgem, Monster and Scrambler) was working there at the moment and we wanted to say hi! So we waited twenty minutes to do just that. And we rode, of course.  

I always love riding Dodgem. Where else can you bump into total strangers and not have to apologize (and vice versa) than on a bumper car ride?!?

For dinner, I enjoyed some barbecued ribs and apple cobbler...for only $3. I know, you're jealous. After we finished at 9:00, we wanted to ride Racer and then Vortex again. But we feared that Racer would take too long to wait for and ride for us to ride Vortex again by 10, so instead we opted to ride Vortex twice. Back to the back of Coney Mall we went!

Vortex's line was longer, so much so that it spilled outside the queue. No surprise for a night like this. It was also no surprise that we waited 24 minutes!

We decided to ride near the front this time, to add some variety. Intense as always! Vortex was really flying tonight.

And I know the number of "selfies" is more than I usually take, but I was just making sure we got one with each train. I know, I'm weird, but even the LITTLEST details count!

Peek-a-boo.

Our third and final Vortex ride of the night was aboard Train #3, which is why we are both holding up three fingers in that photo I took right before our ride. Since there were four people now working on the floor instead of two, we had to wait only 16 minutes instead of 24 even with the line at the same length as the previous rides! We rode in the back row again for another epic, speed-tastic, ejector-airtime-filled night ride on our classic Arrow looper before it was time for us to head out. While we neared the front of the line, I was literally jumping up and down, and having flashbacks to the 2010 season, when I was 11 and I would wait in lines this long to feel the excitement well up as I realized I was next to ride and only seconds away from boarding the train that would take me and 27 other riders on my next inverting adventure!

This extremely crowded night could not have been a better opportunity to value quality over quantity. We rode only six rides in four hours, but each and every ride was special -- living proof that on a crowded evening, one does not need Fast Lane to have a #KIBestDay, or in this case a #KIBestNight!

+Vortex: 4 (including that morning's test ride)

YTD: 175

Total: 492

+WindSeeker: 1

YTD: 35

Total: 115

+Zephyr: 1

YTD: 4

Total: 25

+Dodgem: 1

YTD: 2

Total: 8