JonathanPKI Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 So this day was awesome, was a beautiful day and I got there early. When I got there there was this long line stretched out onto KI Drive and the managers wouldn't let us into the park until 20 till opening time. We got into the park and raced into the season pass processing building and it surprisingly only took 20 minutes. We got there and got about 5 pictures with the employees and headed to Tomb Raider because most of the rides were down. We get onto TRTR and the video starts playing and the control guy turns it off after getting off the phone in the building. A message went through saying there would be a minor delay and the employees had us leave. We headed for Vortex to find out that it stopped on the lift hill then stopped near the end again on the first ride. Not good. My group headed for FOF and we got on the ride in an instant. It broke down at first but it was minor and we got on shortly. The room didn't seem to be as dark as it usually was but we still enjoyed every part of it. Then we go to check and see how tomb raider was going. It was still closed and we saw that Vortex was running fine. We headed to Vortex and got on it soon as well, we didn't experience any problems at all but I heard that it broke down again with the same problems. We got off it and headed for white water rafting. Oh we got WET. After that we headed for The Beast and got to sit in the front and had a blast. The very end was discouraging because the ride shut down and left the passengers waiting for about 20 min 30 min tops. We got off The Beast and soon heard TRTR was open, we raced to get in line and found it was open. We get into the building and ask an employee what happened and why the ride shut down for so long. The employee said the effects stopped working on the previous ride and they had to replace some lights before re-opening the ride. We got on the ride and had a blast on it too, but i never knew how short the ride was. I also noticed that some of the effects weren't there. We headed for congo falls and got soaked again. Then we headed for top gun and waited in line but it was sure worth it for being my second time riding it. Then it was getting late so we headed for FOF and waited for two hours in the line and then headed home. So yeah, thats my day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastergirl Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 My group headed for FOF and we got on the ride in an instant. It broke down at first but it was minor and we got on shortly. The room didn't seem to be as dark as it usually was but we still enjoyed every part of it. When my kids said that when they rode it all of the lights were out and it was darker then they had remembered! I'm not sure what time they rode it but they must have changed something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 When i rode FOF they had most every light in the building off and it was basically pitch black. But the sad thing is that there is no camera now. I like FOF a lot better with no lights on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKIVortex Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 It looks like they went with a new picture company once again this year, for on ride photos? Could it be they haven't got the new equipment installed yet? They were a sign up over at the picture area at FOF that said Pardon our Dust. Not sure if that was for Firehawk or not. I don't know just guessing. I would think FOF pics will return. Only time will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWildman424 Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 I remember that last year, the on ride photos didn't show up until my third trip sometime in May. I figured they didn't feel like paying someone to stand there until the bulk of the season started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mutedarkness Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 when the lights were on i saw them taking video inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
italianchef Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 I also rode FoF in the dark today. Quite frankly, I prefer some light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonathanPKI Posted April 22, 2007 Author Share Posted April 22, 2007 Hm, must have been me because I could see the majority of the track Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cincyboy79 Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 as a forme employee and having worked on FOF, this is how we rode FOF all lights off in the "drum" i love this ride when its dark. we called it a nigth ride :-). i enjoyed opening day, however Vortex was broken down quite a lot that day. so far so good with the CF team running the show, in my opinion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonathanPKI Posted April 22, 2007 Author Share Posted April 22, 2007 Yeah, and Drop Zone seemed to be down for the whole afternoon. Tomb Raider was down for 3 hours I think before it opened back up to ride again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cincyboy79 Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 ah well the rides are just waking up, this is pre-season. the crews and rides are only in full time operation for 2 days a week give them some time to work out the kinks. now i might be seeing things but was Vortex and beast running 3 trains which they werent running during the later years of the paramount days? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 The Beast would always run three trains, regardless of whether it was pre-season, full season, or post season (pending any mechanical difficulties with any of the trains). Adventure Express and Vortex used to only use two trains for part of pre season and post season, to give the maintenance team a head start on winter maintenance of the trains. As you mentioned, Vortex was running all three trains yesterday, and Adventure Express was running two, but the third one was on the tracks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 Its amazing how much faster the line moves for Vortex when there is 3 trains on the track. But it also got stuck a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuskin Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 I always loved riding FOF when the lights were off or burnt out lol It makes the ride that much more thrilling! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIAlumnus Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Opening day for the park was rough. However, things like these are expected under new management. I was up there early Saturday and it started off slow. the line to get into the parking lot stretch all along KI drive and this was due to the fact that the computers kept crashing. nothing like the computers crashing 5 times in 8 minutes. Anyways, inside the park, most of the rides were not up and running when we got in near 11am. Most of the coasters either shut down to mechanical issues or were not running during the day. They say that first impressions make a lasting impression. i hope that Cedar Fair works on a few issues before many out of towners come in and have a bad experience. I am being optimistic here and saying that with any new process or management, there are a few hiccups along the way. Kings Island will get better as the year progresses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKIVortex Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Vortex always ran 3 trains at the beginning of the season, they usually go down to 2 trains after Labor day weekend though. Really the difference between 2 and 3 trains on Vortex isn't that much of a difference. Especially since they were stacking trains like crazy on Saturday. The days before that annoying exit gate, Vortex used to get better capacity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browntggrr Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Opening day is difficult at any park, aside from new ownership. Take a look back at some threads for opening day 2006 and you will see much of the same problems. Anybody who expects any park to be hitting on all cylinders is looking for perfection. The park can prepare for months in advance of opening day, but unless they are going to run the rides in "AUTO" mode for a few days prior to opening day there are going to be glitches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKIVortex Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Amen to that, some people do think that the ride are suppose to run without glitches from day one. The bugs will work themselves out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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