Beastbuzz

[standbyme]

Well, I don’t usually write trip reports, but I figured that if Beastbuzz wasn’t worth one, what was. Being that it is over a 3 hour drive for us to get to Kings Island, we left the night before Beastbuzz. We (my sister & brother-in-law & I) arrived at the Kings Island campground at around 20 ‘til midnight…so while they set up camp, (the cabins were all booked up) I quickly ran over to try and get a night-time ride in on The Beast. I went through the gates at quarter ‘til and still managed to get 2 rides in. (Although I did not get the “coveted†last ride of the evening.)

On Saturday we were slightly behind schedule…we arrived at the park a few minutes after 9 A.M. There was about 20 or so people in line waiting for their Beastbuzz passes. Jeff Siebert was standing near the front of the line making his way back towards us just saying hi and thanking everyone for coming. Up until that point I had never had the pleasure of meeting him. Let me say, on this website and all of the others I have visited, EVERYONE always says how nice he is…he deserves ALL the praise that I have ever read about him. A nicer person you couldn’t hope to meet.

Anyway, by the time we got our badges & passes we had missed The Beast walkback by a few minutes. Since there wasn’t any line, we decided to ride the Antique Cars just in case they really are going bye-bye this year.

At around 10:30 we arrived at Tomb Raider for the behind -the-scenes tour. We were early and waited about a half an hour before the tour actually started. Jeff led everyone to the gate that led to the back of Tomb Raider. There was kind of a fire escape on the backside of the building. Jeff climbed to the first level and gave us the details of what we would see inside…he also asked that no pictures be taken for legal reasons. There were 3 separate rooms we went into. The first room had a normal everyday PC that was used to program the ride, Jeff explained that the programmer would sit at the computer, look out a nearby window towards the ride and program it’s moves as it went at a much slower speed. The information was then sent into a HUGE computer that stretched the length of the wall. Jeff was also asked if the program had EVER been changed…he said no. Everyone was then invited to glance out a door to see the ride in motion from the front view. That was the peak of the Tomb Raider tour. The next room was a whole room of computers and machines that controlled the special effects of the ride…about the only thing that I recognized was an equalizer for the sound. Room 3 was nothing more than the room where the steam was made. (People were staying in this room about an average of 6 seconds!) The tour wasn’t exactly thrilling…but I was still glad to have seen it.

At around Noon we headed over to The International Showplace to sign up for the scavenger hunt. Once again Jeff was there and explained that the scavenger hunt would last from 12 - 6 and you could have a maximum of 4 people on a team. It was 8 pages long and had 40 questions…all in rhyme. (He gave Steve credit for creating it.) As an extra bonus, we were all given a Son of Beast patch & pin just for being there...so no matter what, we already had something cool! There was nothing physical to collect…you “just†had to count things or find out what was written on certain things.

To be perfectly honest from the very start of this I felt “out-classed†by a lot of the people around me in terms of park knowledge. Most of the interesting trivia that I know, I know from this website. I tried to convince my sister and brother-in-law that they had no idea how much information some of the people in the crowd knew. I even joked that some of them probably wouldn’t even have to leave the showplace to find the answers…they would just fill out the sheets there and turn them in! I usually like a challenge…but I also don’t like to look like a fool…and that’s what I thought was sure to happen. But, they still insisted on trying, so after a little planning, off we went.

It’s amazing how many things are in that park that you “kind of†notice…but not enough to remember where! I don’t know how other teams did, but there was no leisure time with us. We worked non-stop up until around 5:30 to finish it. (We even skipped the free lunch with the guest speaker.) We then went to the clock where Jeff & Steve were waiting to collect all of the completed entries. They asked us if we had a good time and which questions we liked the best. ( I would say counting The Beast’s paw-prints was the highlight for me…and yes we DID get the hidden one.)

We hurried to Wings to get something to eat…we needed strength for what was next….The Beast behind-the-scenes tour! (This is the whole reason I went.) At 6:30 we met up at the same gate we were at that morning for the Tomb Raider tour to start our trek back. I won’t try & describe what anything looked like…but I will say it was fun seeing this ride from angles that I have never seen…not even in pictures. The ONLY downside of the tour was that there were SO many people that you couldn’t always get close enough to hear what Jeff was saying. Seeing The Beast like this made the whole day worthwhile. (Isn't my life pathetic!)

Next up was the Son of Beast tour…and believe it or not we passed! (I know…what were we thinking?!!) But, after working on the scavenger hunt so hard…I also walked that parking lot up & down twice…so I wanted to rest…plus to be honest I am not a BIG fan of SOB. So, that, plus I have seen so many construction photos we decided to pass. We went back to the campground…although NOW we had a cabin because somebody cancelled. (YEAH!!)

We were back in the park in time for the awards ceremony at The Paramount Theater. Jeff (from Coasterbuzz) kicked it off by thanking PKI & Jeff for being so kind, then Jeff took the stage to thank his “team†and present the awards. He said that they had 1 first place team that had answered 39 questions correctly…and that there were 3 teams tied for second, third & fourth place…even though in the end there wasn’t going to be a fourth place winner. He explained that he would call out the 3 team‘s names, and that the captain of each team had to come up on stage to answer some tie-breaking questions to decide who was second & third. I TRULY was shocked when our team was one of the three called…we DID try…but I really didn‘t think we had a prayer of even being in the top 10 let alone 4! Jeff said that the way to determine second place was kind of a “Price Is Right“ kind of question…whoever could guess how many bolts were used in making The Beast without going over was their second place winner. We were handed a piece of paper and a marker. To make a long story short (too late) my team won second place! Believe me it WAS luck…I had no idea. I was in awe of the questions that the other guys answered in order to get Third Place…they obviously know a lot more about Kings Island than I do. If you guys are reading this, you were amazing and DID deserve to beat me…I was just EXTREMELY lucky…but I was/am also extremely happy to have won!

(In case your interested, the First Place winners each received a Gold Season Pass for next year, a Gold Medal, a Beast mug & a blanket, all wrapped up in a cool Boomerang Bay bag. Second Place received a Silver Medal & a Beast Mug. Third Place received a Bronze Medal…quite the generous prizes I thought.)

After that, we watched a film about the history of The Beast. (obviously) Being that I don’t live in Ohio, I had never seen the original commercial for The Beast before.

After the film was over we went outside the theater to watch the fireworks…then after the park had cleared out a bit more we started the ERT. All in all, I rode Delirium 3 times, skipped Drop Zone…even though I have sky-dived in the past…and loved it, I really don’t ENJOY Drop Zone. (If you beg me to get on it I will…but I don’t like it.) From there we went over to Flight of Fear…and then onto The Beast! I got in 4 rides total…including the (in my opinion) “coveted†last ride of the evening! And, as stupid as it may sound, we all sang “Happy Birthday†to The Beast before we took off! (I’ll take “Things you never thought you would do†for 500 Alex)

So, that HAS to be one of the longest days anyone could spend at Kings Island…from 9 A.M. until around 1:30 A.M. the next morning!

So, thanks To Jeff at CoasterBuzz & Jeff at Kings Island For a great day. I would ALSO like to thank Jeff’s “team†Steve B., Kimberly T. & Maureen B. you were all VERY nice and made the day even better.

(Maureen, my sister really did enjoy talking with you…also, I find it funny that now, even YOU know that I am having either a niece or a nephew before I do!)

[Mr. Christopher]

Good TR. Pretty cool how I recognized everything in the Technifex room at the TR tour; stuff like the Crown amps & Peavey Processors to the Strand lighting computer. I also had a great time at BB.

[Ryan]

Good TR. In my opinion, I liked the Son of Beast tour alot more than The Beast one. Not only was it easier to walk(not shorter though)the size of it was just incredible. Pictures don't do it justice, you really have to stand in the middle of it all, and look up at it, it's amazing. The TRTR tour was great too. I loved seeing the ride from the floor.

[beastdude]

Your right it was a long day and I am still recovering.

:stupid:

[StXBomber]

I was at BeastBuzz and even though my team had 2 employees at the park (I thought we were a given top 3 team), we didn't make the top 4! That was alot harder than I thought it was going to be. One answer I knew right away without looking though was question #40. When you work on Beast, you get to learn the audio part of that film quickly (I can recite the opening sequence word for word), so I knew right away Carl Eichleman (spelling?) has ridden Beast more than any other person, and worked for the Internal Revenue Service!

[ZosoBeast]

I knew he worked for the IRS but we had to go back to find out the name. I did however know that a BEAR was hiding in the woods without having to ride the train!

By the way StXBomber, I am the dude that had that "friendly" chat with you as we were coming off The Beast first ride. You said "PKIU" was where it was at and I told you that they dont close topics at "PKIC" and I seen you smirk to your friend. I told you I was just messing around. Remember me? All in fun!

Bill

[beastdude]

great times.

[DeliriumDreamer]

Like I said before in an earlier post, if you came to Delirium for questions, and talked to a 'really nice' brown haired girl, you talked to me. I read through some of the questions on your scavenger hunt sheet, and I knew more than one. Obviously, the one that pretained to Delirium, the clockinspiel question(the chicken dance), the FoF question(fort cooper). Earlier that day some one gave me the scooby snacks answer, but I wasn't sure if it was true or not; they said it was 12 boxes.

[DeliriumOWNS]

Man is sounds like it was fun.

[PKIDelirium]

shoot, it WAS Fort Cooper? The other sign, and my sheet i turned in, was J.G Cooper, Special Forces Compound

[BoddaH1994]

Yes, Ft. Cooper was the answer.

[PKIDelirium]

crud, another Wrong one for my team. What did you get for the SPongeBob combo meal rpvie?

[Dane]

On the ride.

[PKIDelirium]

i mean, what was THE PRICE?

[Mr. Christopher]

i mean, what was THE PRICE?

Maybe this'll help...

(Look closely, It's $3.99)