How was your 2018 season?

[super7]

I really like the way Cedar Fair has headed with the Taft parks, especially after Paramount did so much damage.   Each year at the parks seems to make that more solid.  New attractions are being themed, family rides being added and Winterfest is my absolute favorite time of the year to attend.    If one attends a lot, CF season passes with dining are a huge bargain.  Although KI has some of the lowest food quality of any park I have attended. 

Winterfest this year was notably better than last year.  More immersive lights in the trees.  Hopefully they keep improving the lighting each year and it will hands down be the best winter event of any park (although Kings Dominon will beat KI if it catches up because KD has more trees to light and is a more scenic park).  I would take a night at Winterfest anytime over a full operating day at the park in the summer. Its that special.

The former Taft parks are the gem of theme parks and Cedar Fair seems to be rising to their potential.

[VortexBFForever]

I know it's been a week since my first post in this thread, but I have thought that I should include what I said in my "longest post ever" on Facebook, since not everyone has a Facebook for their own reasons. I feel I didn't adequately explain a lot of what I got to experience this year on here yet, so here is the content of my Facebook post, slightly edited:

 
I knew many adventures awaited when the clock struck midnight on the previous New Year’s Eve, but my anticipation still fell short. My second season as an associate at Kings Island seemed to take forever to arrive, but once it did, I got to not only relive some of my favorite things about the previous season but also encounter a handful of new experiences, including but not limited to:
-Getting trained at Monster, Scrambler, Dodgem, Firehawk, Racer, Flight of Fear, Train, Flume, Linus’ Launcher, and Adventure Express in addition to my home rides (WindSeeker and Vortex) and meeting lots of new friends in the meantime!
-Taking my 500th and 600th complete rides on Vortex on May 4 and July 30, respectively.
-Enjoying a fun visit on June 4 with relatives whom I normally see on only Thanksgiving.
-Riding Vortex in a torrential downpour on June 12!

-Bringing more friends with me to the park than any other year combined!
-Being Flume’s last rider of the season on Labor Day, September 3.
-Breaking my single day ride record on Vortex by riding it 32 times on October 21 with a fellow Arrow fan friend.
-Riding Vortex’s third-to-last train of the season and being among the last riders on Firehawk on October 28.
-Seeing family and friends who came to visit me at work throughout the year!
-Working in Park Services for Winterfest! I actually really enjoyed it and I am glad that all the ride crews were full by the time I signed up; otherwise, I would not have discovered how fun Park Services can be. I am returning to Rides for next season, but I plan to hopefully pick up a few shifts to help out my Park Services friends during the summer as well as Winterfest.

I made 103 trips to and from Kings Island, adding nearly 7,000 miles to my dad’s car’s odometer! And I had to pay for gas too, so that was fun...
I spent over 680 hours at Kings Island operating Vortex, WindSeeker, Firehawk, and any ride at which I was trained, and later as a sweep wielding the power of the pan and broom and maintaining the park’s cleanliness during Winterfest.

The fun did not just happen at Kings Island though!
Spring Break (March 4-11) saw an amazing tour through Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee with my fellow Cedarville University Orchestra members, including a day at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure! I finally got to ride the Incredible Hulk Coaster and Despicable Me Minion Mayhem (both of which I wished to ride for at least six years)!
July 24-27 saw a fun Upstate New York trip which included spending two full days (and then some) at Darien Lake, to which I had not gone for five years. It felt great to return to my first out-of-state park and see what was new!
September 23 saw my first trip to Cedar Point since 2016; after hearing numerous people rave about Steel Vengeance, I got to experience it for myself. The first RMC I ever rode is indeed as impressive as people say it is. The only word I could find to describe my experience right after I rode it was “incredible!” And my other favorites (including Gemini – happy 40th anniversary!) were fun as always!

Here are the five rides I rode the most this year:
1. Vortex (192 1/3 times)
2. WindSeeker (32 times)
3. Viper @ Darien Lake (27 times)
4. Flight of Fear (20 times)
5. Shake Rattle & Roll (18 times)