6/9/04

[specialk141]

hey guys.... finally made my first trip of the year! Yay! i've never written a trip report, but i'm gonna give it a shot. heres how it went... sorry its so long... i just like to include detail!

finished up my exam this morning then took a nap.... bout 6 i made a random phone call and asked my friend if she watned to head to the park for the evening.

arrived to a nearly empty parking lot around 7pm. Headed straight for Delirium since she has never ridden. Waited 10 minutes (two rides) and then we were up... great way to kick off the year. Next we headed to Drop Zone. Again, waited around 10 minutes, and for some reason it just didnt seem to pack the punch it normally does.... maybe it was the lightning in the distance... ha ha...

As we were leaving the exit for DZ (7:40) the storm alarm went off and i becamse upset because the rides were closing. headed over to the festhaus. Had some extremely over-priced chicken tenders and a Coke; then i gave DDR a shot just to kill some time... yeah, i'm not hte most coordinated person in the world... ha ha.

Anyway, we were tired of sitting in the festhaus, so we walked in the rain over to the emporium to look around. the rain stopped around 9 and that left us with an hour in the park... this is where it gets fun! As if the park wasnt already slow, now it was literally dead empty!

Made a quick run for the dodgems while the costers were drying off (running empty). by 915 we were in line for FOF, but the train in front of us stalled in the station.... blah, so we decided to cut our losses and head for Vortex. Of course it was a Walk-on as was everything, but it seemed to be rougher than i remember (perhaps it was the rain???)

After The Vortex we ran over to The Beast. While sitting in the last seat on train 2, i look up and in line is a young girl with a PKI-C shirt, with her sister and middle aged mother... i heard a comment about the Chicago White Sox and it was then i realized it was obviously Mrs. G and her daughters (were you in the park or am i just an idiot) lol... I waved and screamed PKI-C Rules to them as our train exited the station. Now, I have been riding The Beast for over 10 years (i'm 19 now) and this was HANDS DOWN THE BEST RIDE I HAVE EVER HAD! It was back seat, just after the rain, and a nice misty fog back in the woods. It was running FAST! Just the way i like it... I dont know what made it so great, (perhaps it was the little tickle my friend gave my stomache while going through pitched black tunnel 2 or maybe it was just the aptmosphere that was created after the rain... i truly don't know, but it was an awesome ride! The only thing that sucked was the mid course brakes... but those have always sucked. ha ha GREAT RIDE!

After The Beast, we headed over to Tomb Raider around 945. no more than 10 people on the ride. it was good, but every time i ride i'm dissapointed because i keep hoping there may be a new ride program.... oh well.

At 958 we got off TR:TR and ran back to The Beast for one last ride. We made it just in time for the final ride of the night. we were in line for the front but they made us move to the middle cause the ride op's knew it was the last train. Not as good as my first ride, but still a great run on a great wooden coaster, and i got to spend some quailty time with a great girl and a great friend.

Overall it was an amazing trip to the park. i cannot decide if the rain was a good thing or a bad thing. i mean i guess it was a little of both, it cut a good 45 minutes to an hour of our already short ride time, but it also cleared the park and set up a picture perfect ride on The Beast.

Delirium : 1

DZ: 1

Dodgems: 1

Vortex : 1

TR:TR : 1

Beast : 2

not bad for 3 hours at the park, one of which was spent inside due to rain.

[Dane]

Wearing a PKIC shirt at PKI automatically makes you a celebrity!

Glad to hear you had fun and Mrs. G and family supporting PKIC.

Even been in the park when theres only 2000 the entire day? Those days are fun.

[Mrs. G.]

We always support PKIC! Unfortunately, my "middle-aged" (lol, I remember when 40 sounded OLD) brain forgot my shirt at home this time.

We also met the Rickster briefly as the girls got off the Eagles. All these years I've always walked right past those things, I guess once you snap you can't stop? Thanks, Dane.

How to make the most of the day after you travel 300+ miles, dying to see Boomerang Bay, and it monsoons?

We got there about 12, beautiful, hot, sunny - today was going to be Boomerang Bay Day for us, we decided to ride our way over to the train. Backwards Racer was closed so we strolled over to SR&R, and before the end of our ride the rain starts. No problem, we'll go get a footlong and wait for the rain to stop; while there the thunder starts. Wishful thinking: Trouble says, "That's not thunder, that's just the train."

DETERMINED to see Boomerang Bay we head over there anyway, rent a locker - and the sky really opens up. So we sit by the lockers for a looong while until Mother Nature decides to be kind. It was awesome. That Tazmanian thing was just too cool, well worth dragging my old bones up all those stairs - twice. Better than I expected. We got to do all the slides we wanted and the lazy river, a dip in the wave pool, just not long enough. Too much Crocodile Dundee for me, and why does he say "White Water Rampage" when the ride is called "Snowy River?" And the music gets tedious. Men At Work had a lot more hits, I don't want to hear "Down Under" ever again, and Kylie over and over and over? I'd even prefer Olivia or INXS. The shops are clean and nice, all the new stuff is gorgeous, maybe in August we'll get to spend more than three hours.

Went back to the park, rode The Beast, headed to Action Zone and the rain starts again. So we went to Flight of Fear and missed most of the storm, it was still raining when we came out but the smaller rides were running, so we rode the Antique Cars, bumper cars, Eagles, and went to The Beast - have to agree, best Beast crew and best Beast ride ever.

I stink at crowd estimates but I have been to PKI on days as deserted as this evening was, not for many years though.

Glad to find out who the mystery "PKIC rules" guy was! A great day despite the rain, just a few hours to sleep now and tomorrow is our last day until August, no more rain please!

[specialk141]

yup, it was none other than ME!

forgot to mention The Beast crew... they were awesome!

"if your gonna ride The Beast clap your hands"

ha ha... great times!

[PKI_Diana]

945 closing number was 205 guests in park... the rain scared everyone off, and it got real dead for the evening

--Di

[Dane]

forgot to mention The Beast crew... they were awesome!

"if your gonna ride The Beast clap your hands"

That sounds like James.

You should leave them a good GR when you leave the park. It means alot to them and the rest of PKI to know they have a good crew back there.

[KIBeast]

Sounds like you had a great trip. On my trip, I thought that The Beast was unusually smooth.

[specialk141]

were you sitting near the front? one thing i find is that The Beast is much smoother towards the front of the train.... me i still prefer the back just because of the way you are pulled over the top of the lift by the momentum of the rest of the train....

You should leave them a good GR when you leave the park. It means alot to them and the rest of PKI to know they have a good crew back there

next time i will do just that... part of the ride experience is how you are treated by the ride ops, and what they do to make your ride more enjoyable. I think that last night they created a near perfect atmosphere.

[KIBeast]

Actually, I did sit near the front.

[Knoxville]

I love the song by the Men at Work band but the entire music cycle is really really short. But I do know they are mixing a new soundtrack to make it about 3 hours long.

PS: I miss Jimmy Buffet.