GL: No rerides, no cameras in line, NO FUN!

[Dane]

Part of enjoying a ride is taking a picture of it later to show your friends when you tell them about it.

[Flying Eagles 1972-2004]

Easy... just make sure an op doesn't see you!

[Gordon Bombay]

You guys need to relax a little. Maybe the worker was an International and did know the exact rules. Maybe he thought u were guys where gonna take it on the ride. wasnt there but I do work with a alot of Internationals from all over the world. Sometimes they do get confussed and thought something else. Yeah a bad employee is gonna ruin ur day. OMG if this happend at KI you would say it ruined your day! CF is good and will do good for KI. Ki has some bad workers and say the worng things to guest. Its normal and it happens at all them parks.

Maybe you need to read a little, we said this was encountered on all their rides.

[harvesterofyoursorrow]

Bill, about your taping in the station, Check this out: http://hoys.extremepki.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-716

I was there the day before you too.

[Gordon Bombay]

The Combat Stupendous89 version of the trip to GL taken with Ryan, Dane and Bill:

So 10 A.M. thursday morning I met up with Dane, Ryan, and Bill at the GWL for the press tour to help cover and photograph the event with them before taking our trip to GL. The tour and event was a great time, but that can be read about here. After the tour we headed to Dane's office where we updated the site to bring you the best and only coverage of the event on the net then it was off to GL in the pouring down rain.

Bill drove the whole way up. Before we even hit the freeway Ryan, Dane, and I complained that we needed to stop at UDF for milk shakes and mountain dew. Then about an hour and a half after Bill had planned for us to leave we finnaly got on I-70 headed for columbus. It was raining and we had to drive really slow and there was noa ir conditioning so we had the windows partially cracked and all Bill had to listen to was awful Def Leppard. So as Bill and I amused ourselved by conversing like regular human beings, Dane and Ryan in the back seats decided to amuse themselves by detaching out headrests then throwing them at Bill along with trash, loose change, cd's, Coke bottles, and keychains. They soon grew tired of pestering Bill in this manner and everyone fell asleep except Bill, who was driving thank God. We awoke to a sunny I-71 in northern ohio and to more amusement of annoying Bill. This time Ryan decided to roll down his window, reach forward and slap bills window, startling him while he was driving. This worked every time for about another hour untill we got to our hotel in Macedonia ohio...

...We had just toured the luxurious GWL and now we arrived at our own resort....the city of Macedonia's Motel 6. The only hotel in the area without Wi-Fi. We checked in, had dinner at a very depressing golden corral. Ryan stabbed Dane with a fork, but thats not important right now...whats important is me getting to the part about GL and getting to the point. We drove around to other hotels to leech their internet connections then went back to the Great Wolf motel 6 to sleep.

Friday morning, Bill planned for us to be up at 9 and at the park by 10. He woke up at 8. Our alarm went off at 9, we ignroed it, slept till 10:30. Got on the road at 11, got lost in Akron ohio, got to the park at 12 and now the real story:

This was my first time going to GL. I had heard nothing but good things. First ride of the day:

X-Flight My new favorite coaster, the restraints are comfortable, the ride is amazing, we rode it 3 or 4 times throughout the day. 10/10

Then we did the Vekoma boomerang, Head Spin:

Head Spin:This ride honestly sucks, theres nothing more to say. 0.7/10

We then had lunch at the tacky 50's diner place with slow service, but ti was really good. Then we moved on to their Huss top spin, its way better than TRTR. The next coaster was Dominator:

Dominator: Bill and some other frinds of mine rant and rave about how awesome this coaster is and how its their favorite. The first dropis amazing, your not in your seat at all, the loop is great. The mid course break run has a grat pop of airtime after it but then the rest of the ride is all headbanging. 7/10

After Dominator we did the Vekoma SLC hang n bang known as Thunderhawk:

Thunderhawk: I had heard nothing but bad things about this coaster. The only bad thing I found was the long wait due to one train operation, but Bill and I rode up front and I loved it. Not bad at all. 7/10

THen we did Dominator again then decided to head over by Villian and the Double loop:

Double Loop: One of the original Arrow Dynamics looping coaster designs, this is the only coaster to make me black out. I blacked out in the first loop. It's short, rough on the head (and im above the OTSR) but packs a neat little punch. 4/10

The Villian: I had always heard good things about this wooden coaster with steel supports built by Custom Coasters Intl. It cant be seen from the parking lot and throughout most of the park. It looks amazing. We get on, Bill and I in the very back seat. as we get pulled over the first hill the airtime is incredible.....then you hit the bottom....and saying every curse word 3 times each can not describe how much it hurts. This ride was more painful than SOB on a wheel seat. I kid you not, this ride is awful. It hurts so bad. The airtime is killer, but what really kills you is the roughness. We tried it again in the front..still awful. Bill summed it up best when he said "I believe it ruptured my left lung, I'm not kidding." 3/10

After Villian we rode Raging Wolf Bobs:

Raging Wolf Bob's: I had heard that this coaster was bad and rough and when I saw it had the same gerstaulter trains as the Villian I feard the worst but this ride surprised me. It starts off sluggishly, but has some good airtime and isnt too short. The Racers are even rougher than this thing. I enjoyed this coaster. 7/10

After the wolf Bob's we rode the topspin again and then the Beaver Land Mine Ride rollercoaster:

The Beaver Land Mine Ride: Dont be fooled by it's kiddy coaster look, this coaster with its insanely long train, is fast, fun, exciting, and never loses pace. Then they let you do another cycle. 8/10

Then we wanted to go see some live shows. I've heard people blast CF's shows about how awful they are and I've heard people blast PKI's shows. Letme start off by saying one thing.....you have no idea how lucky you are to have PKI's entertainment department.....they can run circles around GL's with all due respect to GL's. First we saw the peanuts rocking funtime hour show by the dominator, as we walked by we saw people leaving mid way through the show and one lady on stage just standing there with 3 dress up charecters, every now and then in the song they would turn to the left. We passed this one up. We then saw the magic show, it wasnt bad, the magician did a really good job and his assistant was really great too. This show was kind of cheesy and at times slow but was well spent time, if they gave this guy and his assistant any type of budget it oculd be really cool. I wish PKI had a magic show. Dress up charecters. They are all over NU at PKI and have their own meet and greet theatre and locations. At GL they had one snoopy walking around and we saw him only twice throuhgout the day. He stayed in one spot. The first time we saw him, the charecter was sitting on a bench, he didnt wave to our camera, and the attendant with him was standing in the mulch playing with a tree branch. After this we rode the big dipper:

The Big Dipper: The seats on this classic coaster are extremely comfortable and the airtime is so fearsome that you are thrown up so hard you find yourself nearly standing up with not control over yourself. A very classic and good ride. You get ejected from the seat time and time again. 9/10

After that we rode the time warp flat ride thing that hurt male members of the species in certain regions of the body so bad that the ride could not be enjoyed by all. After this we walked across the bridge to catch a gorgeous view of the park and see the water park. We just breifly walked through the water park, which looked great and seems to be a lot of fun and the checked out the robots of mars 4d adventure. The 4d effects are ggreat, the story and movie are not. They are as awful as the funtastic world of hannah barbera. The story is impossible to folloow and just stupid. The effects are the only thing worth checking out on it. We then rode our favorite ride: The Golf cart shuttle back to the other side of the park:

The Golf Cart Shuttle: We were greeted by a very friendy driver and had a fun and smooth ride back to the otherside. This shuttle service is great. Best ride all day besides X-flight. 10/10

We then rode Dominator a few mroe times, Villian once more since we just didnt learn our lesson the first time, then 2 more rides on the amazing X-flight. We went souveneir shopping then left.

Over all GL is a good park. The low crowds are good, but I guess this is why they only run 1 train on most coasters. On most of the coasters this was ok but on rides like thunderhawk and X flight it made waiting pretty long. The no cameras in line rule was kind of dumb, I understand parks have policies and I have no problem complying with them, but when no employee could give me a definative answer as to why the rule was in place it was a tad bit annoying as I like photography and will try hard to get a shot I see. Steel Venom was SBNO which I'm sad I missed it but over all I liked the park. The setting is weird, as its just in an older suburban neighborhood outside of Akron. Not a bad park at all. After we left the park we leeched someones internet connection to find a chipotle and nearly got bill pulled over by a cop by playing with fire in his car and slapping his window some more but it was totally worth it to find a chipotle. We drove him annoying Bill some more and talking the whole way back. I had a fantastic time, definently one of the best times I've had this summer. Heres some pictures:

2/3 of PKIC's heavenly staff.

The Chipotle

Thunderhawk Action.

Panoramic view of the park from the wooden bridge.

Link to all the GL pics from the trip.

Sorry this was long, but if you take the time to read it, then thanks!

[Guest kwindshawne]

You guys need to relax a little. Maybe the worker was an International and did know the exact rules. Maybe he thought u were guys where gonna take it on the ride. wasnt there but I do work with a alot of Internationals from all over the world. Sometimes they do get confussed and thought something else. Yeah a bad employee is gonna ruin ur day. OMG if this happend at KI you would say it ruined your day! CF is good and will do good for KI. Ki has some bad workers and say the worng things to guest. Its normal and it happens at all them parks.

On a coaster or something like that, I would just go to a different area and sneak the pics-maybe a post 9/11 rule, or an insurance rule? Now it's getting petty!!!

[Guest kwindshawne]

You guys need to relax a little. Maybe the worker was an International and did know the exact rules. Maybe he thought u were guys where gonna take it on the ride.  wasnt there but I do work with a alot of Internationals from all over the world. Sometimes they do get confussed and thought something else. Yeah a bad employee is gonna ruin ur day. OMG if this happend at KI you would say it ruined your day! CF is good and will do good for KI. Ki has some bad workers and say the worng things to guest. Its normal and it happens at all them parks.

On a coaster or something like that, I would just go to a different area and sneak the pics-maybe a post 9/11 rule, or an insurance rule? Now it's getting petty!!!

Or better yet, do they have something to hide???

[Flight Of The Dead]

If theres no re-rides at King's island next year, I'll be mad, i always ride The Beast like 12 times in a row has any one tryed ridein tomb Raider in a row!! i have heres the trick. when you get in line and you see theres like 10-13ppl in line......well get on a ride TR:TR and when geting off walk kinda backwards when your almost out and if the staff ask you what you did, you can say you were puting the unbrallea down or a bag or sumthin big .

[thejoker8388]

Combat, I have to agree about Villian. The first time I went last year I expected a great ride but as soon as the ride went over the lift hill I wanted off. I gave it a second chance this year and it was actually better. I kid you not, but by better I mean this time it didn't make me bleed. Last year it somehow managed to bust my elbow and my friends lip during that two minute ride.

I remember last year in my TR saying that SOB was smooth as glass compared to Villian and that people should be glad SOB isn't as bad as Villian. I'm glad more and more people are starting to see that SOB isn't the roughest coaster around. For anyone who says SOB is the roughest coaster in the world I again challenge you to go ride Villian before making such a decision.

[Jasper]

I can kind of understand the no re-ride policy but the camera one that just blows my mind. I would try to send a complaint in. God help PKI if CF brings their rules in.

[Gordon Bombay]

As Klockster said, Busch Gardens tampam rather Busch Gardens Africa now, doesnt let you film from certain midways. My freind, was down there, filming sheikra when a security guard told him to put the camera away in a locker, the reason, according to the security guard, was that since there on on board cameras that film each rider throughout the ride for a dvd purchase later, that they dont want people filming from the midways. Kind of ridiculous if you ask me. Top Gun the Jet Coaster at Paramount's Carowinds has the same on board cameras and they do not have this rule.

[coaster1robert]

welcome to cedarfair,if i where you, i would expect the same at KingsIsland too.

[Admiral Ackbar]

That stinks you didn't like Geauga Lake. It is one of my favorite parks in this region!

[The Interpreter]

(I am beginning to worry about either the esteemed Admiral or me...Geauga Lake is probably my second favorite of the old Cedar Fair parks, with Dorney being first...and yes, I DO like Kentucky Kingdom...and yes, I DO realize he is trying to be sarcastic, but I am getting more and more worried. What's not to like about Borg without the 45 minute to two hour waits, the great Big Dipper coaster, Batman Knig....er Dominator, and, of course Steel Superman, er...Venom? I despised the park under Six Flags, but see the improvements that Cedar Fair is making.

It will take a lot to get the business back in that park, though. TWO things have hurt badly under Cedar Fair--losing the animals and building the waterpark with nonunion labor. The latter saved the park perhaps a couple hundred thousand dollars. They have paid for that savings several times over, including at the flagship park, Cedar Point...company picnics cancelled, union members boycotting the park--for which Cedar Fair initially SUED the unions...yep, they did!)

[jzarley]

They have paid for that savings several times over, including at the flagship park, Cedar Point...company picnics cancelled, union members boycotting the park--for which Cedar Fair initially SUED the unions...yep, they did!)

What did they sue the unions for...cancellation of existing event contracts? It's not like a boycott of a business is a litigious action in and of itself...

[The Interpreter]

They filed a complaint with the Labor Relations Board for an illegal secondary boycott. After the PR people realized how dumb this was (I think), it was quietly dropped.

[jzarley]

They filed a complaint with the Labor Relations Board for an illegal secondary boycott. After the PR people realized how dumb this was (I think), it was quietly dropped.

jeesh...talk about a fight you wouldn't want to win!

[Williams]

I dont see the big deal about rerides... just get off and walk around. As for the cameras, i guess i understand the reasoning behind it (gotta buy the pictures, ride ops woried about "responsiability of articles left") but it seems kinda dumb. Then again... if the rules bother you... don't go.

[The Interpreter]

I dont see the big deal about rerides... just get off and walk around. As for the cameras, i guess i understand the reasoning behind it (gotta buy the pictures, ride ops woried about "responsiability of articles left") but it seems kinda dumb. Then again... if the rules bother you... don't go.

Hmmm....perhaps a reason attendance is down at most Cedar Fair parks?

Just a thought.

[The New England Snapper]

At six flags the same policy applies. No re rides

[Mikewhy]

I have been to Geauga Lake several times in the last two years and I really love it there. I think some of the criticisms are overly harsh if you ask me. Cedar Fair have really improved the place, and they have a great selection of coasters! I also think the park continues to improve in looks and operation. It is not perfect yet, something the park itself admits. But they are well on their way. The new waterpark is beautiful, and Dominator is one of the best coasters in Ohio!

I read a post here from someone who had they had headbanging on Dominator and that they found the restraints on x-Flight to be comfortable. I have to wonder if they rode the same coasters I did! I had zero headbanging on Dominator, and found the restraints and seats on X-Flight to be extremely UNCOMFORTABLE, although I loved the ride itself. B&M Flying coasters are much more comfortable than the Vekoma ones like X-Flight! Now, I did notice this year that while Dominator had no headbanging, the coaster did have an odd shaking in places that felt wrong for a B&M coaster. Perhaps it needs new wheels or something? However, I found that the further you sat in the back, the smoother the ride was. I love this coaster! In any case, there never was any headbanging when I rode it.

I also read negative comments about SFKK on here. I found that SFKK was 200% improved this year in many ways. From better ride ops, more dedication to stopping smoking (which simply does not exist at PKI), and a better appearance overall. PKI is of course far better, but I think SFKK gets the most improved award this year, at least during the first half of the season.

I will say though that Geagua Lake really hurt themselves by not keeping the animals on the waterpark side. I think it would have been something that would have really made them stand out...But I do love the park and always enjoy myself there. It does not matter to me about the rerides. I need the exercise anyway! (The manager there told me that the reride police has to do with the counts they have on the coasters. They want to the counts to be as high as possible, and that is why they do not allow rerides.)

[The New England Snapper]

I AGREE!!! !

[ZosoBeast]

At six flags the same policy applies. No re rides

The whole PKIC staff went to SFKK a few months back and enjoyed multiple re-rides on multiple different rides. Maybe SFKK is the exeption?

[The Interpreter]

At six flags the same policy applies. No re rides

a. And attendance is up dramatically at the Six Flags chain....not.

b. Six Flags "policies," even under Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Snyder, seem to vary wildly from park to park, or at least vary in how they are applied from park to park, and seem to vary even more in how they are applied over the course of a season.

There are many good people at Six Flags. There are good parks at Six Flags. What is lacking at Six Flags, more than anything else, in my opinion, is consistency...over time, from park to park and over the course of a season.

The re-rides policy, or lack thereof, is just one example. I have seen many rerides given, and refused, at Six Flags Over Georgia. I have seen re-rides not an issue, and a huge issue, at Six Flags Great Adventure. I, too, have never had an issue about re-rides at Kentucky Kingdom...this year or in the past.