silver2005

Got everything booked finally. For the HW portion, I'm staying in Dale, IN as that's where I stayed last time and its more simple than staying in Owensboro. The plan is to leave on June 28th, explore Owensboro the first day and have 2 days at HW. For Chicago and Cleveland, I'm halfway between those cities and the respective parks (SFGAm and CP). I just need to familiarize with Chicago to be able to stay off the toll roads. For Cleveland I should be able to wing it. Itinerary- Leave and do Indiana Beach on July 15th, go to Chicago on the 16th-19th. Possibly do SFGAm the day I go there and do a full day there and one for Chicago exploration. The 19th is a travel day to Cleveland, mainly for the time change adjustment if needed, might visit Port Clinton, at the very least something on Lake Erie that day (not staying in Port Clinton). Then explore Cleveland on the 20th and CP the 21st and 22nd. Just waiting until the week of my trip to scout weather to get my FLU for SFGAm (only getting it for the 1 full day I go) and the R&RHOF ticket. All parts of the trips are somewhat flexible in terms of dealing with weather. silver2005, knocking furiously on wood to not repeat Raven's and Legend's lengthy closures during his last non-HWN visit.

@Shaggy Is that fence where the former Vekoma torture machine was?

You know, even if you try and manipulate your health for what you think are prime black out factors, you still may not because everyone experiences G forces differently. There's no set way of trying to get one or not. Heck, even with me, I get deep grey outs or near black outs on Invertigo a lot, but there are also times where I don't. I thought I'd grey or black out during my rides on I305 but didn't. I will say I do consistently grey out on Millennium Force between the bottom of the first drop until the first camelback hill. In addition, it the amount of G's on an element isn't the only factor in black outs. How long they sustain is another key factor and with Pantherian's speed, you're blazing through that course. The only turn that really has a chance at grey/black out is the one at the bottom of the first drop, which, keep in mind, was redesigned after its first season along with trims on the first drop because of the amount of people experiencing black outs being reported. I also feel if you're relying on a black out to enjoy a coaster, you might be enjoying them kinda wrong....

So I have a pet peeve with how KI treats its south lot. They make it a chore to get over there from the current parking entrance for some reason with the way they direct incoming traffic, and then they are taking their merry time fixing whatever it is that's wrong with the parking spots closest to the marquee sign on the south side, too. Also, they really need to redraw the lines in spots.

Decided to go up to the park after work, Spent from 4 to close there and got a surprising amount done in that time. There were really light crowds from what I expected, managed to ride all the major coasters and included Delirium, Drop Tower, WindSeeker and Viking as well. I got my first 1-1 night ride with the new track on Beast, and I have to say, those newly reprofiled bits have really good floater air in 1-1. I was nearly up against the lap bar on the 2nd drop. I can't wait to see how it rides once its more worn in. Also really want to try to ride in the back in the future with that section.

Digging the spruced up FoF queue. Also, it's about time they added seating beneath the Eiffel Tower with it being a popular location for groups to meet up.

They also had 3 Beast themed coasters at the same time at one point.

I know it has been known that, say, a Kings Island pass with all park add ons will only work at the Cedar Fair set of parks, but I contacted Six Flags Great America to confirm some things for my trip, and that includes in park discounts (food, merch, etc). The Cedar Fair passes only work for parking and admission to the Six Flags parks.

I think I finally have the full itinerary of vacations done. Holiday World- June 21-24, plan is to stay in Owensboro and explore the first evening and do HW for 2 days to get in Splashin' Safari. IB/SFGAm/CP- July 15-23 July 15- Go up to Monticello and visit Indiana Beach July 16- Monticello to Chicago, likely half day at SFGAm July 17-18- One day SFGAm, one day Chicago, favoring the better weather day for SFGAm, may do Chicago Cubs game as the Red Sox are in town, will be using Flash Pass Unlimited for the full day at SFGAm July 19- Chicago to Cleveland- entirely a travel day due to the 7 hour drive July 20- Explore Cleveland, R&R HOF July 21-22- Cedar Point July 23- Back to Cincy Also somewhere in there will be a day trip to Kentucky Kingdom.

So one of the ideas I had going into the Chicago portion of this trip was to try and catch the Reds while they'd be there, but unfortunately, they won't be there in July. There is a Red Sox series the days I'm there, so I might go and see a game at Wrigley. Though, I now appreciate the seat pricing of the Reds now- $64 for nosebleeds at Wrigley.

Wait times at the beginning of the season are likely going to be longer than the rest of the season due to having more trainees going through the motions. KI doesn't really hit their stride in terms of efficiency until a week or two into daily operations, maybe a little before that. That is, unless you're the Banshee or Orion crews.

Or, if the park doesn't want to pay royalties for using sports teams' logos, use food logos- Red- LaRosa's, White- Graeters, Blue- Skyline.

I was extremely pleased with the reprofiling of the turn into the brake shed as well as the removal of the first set of trims on Beast. Going over that 2nd drop without the trims the first time totally took me by surprise. I'm excited to get to try it in a few different spots along the trains to see where it gets the most air on that 2nd drop. Seeing Queen City Stunt Coaster get some love was also a pleasant surprise. I will say it was a pretty good preview day all things considered, especially with the food service. And good googly moogly was it crowded. I may or may have not parked nearly to the Soak City entrance today (though I came at around 3). A solid first step into the Six Flags era.

So apparently the flume is being evaced including them needing to drain the trough.

I will say, the weather forecast somehow improved slightly for tomorrow. I'm really hoping that is the case as I won't be there today until I get off work, either at 3:30 or 6.

I'd also recolor the trains for sports teams- red for Reds, orange for Bengals, and blue for FC.

I'm hoping whoever owns that Skyline isn't that insane where the employees wear a shirt and tie. I'm really hoping this is just a corporate promotional image.

Well, considering the weather tomorrow will be far more appealing than on Saturday, I expect some decent crowds tomorrow.

You don't want coney buns soaking with chili for extended periods of time. Also, mustard gets added before the chili. Also doesn't account for chili cheese sandwiches, which, to me, are a bit tougher to make. I do agree there should be a 2nd location though, but I can't think of a great place to put one. I time myself at work all the time for efficiency's sake. From seeing an order pop up, it takes me about 20 seconds to make orders of 3 or less coneys and 30-40 to make 3-5 ways regardless of how customers want them. I can make a full rack of 8 in under a minute. Heck, I just had a $660 Door Dash order a week ago where I work at the Ft Wright location that we knocked out in 15 minutes (which included 2 coney kits and 20 fries). Using coney racks really streamlines production and also makes the food look better because you learn to control the chili runoff, even if the coneys are different and ways are even simpler. I also think KI should expand their Skyline offerings to at least include chilitos and simple burritos (not the deluxes). I have a pet peeve with how the KI Skyline isn't consistent on cheese portions either, especially on coneys. For running the Skyline stand at KI, I would say an ideal staffing would be 2 people on coneys, 2 people on ways on busy days, and for reduced staffing, 1 on each and have 1 extra as a floater (who can also help stock things) where the individuals make the whole coneys and ways orders in full, not as an assembly line.

As a Skyline employee at an actual restaurant, there are ways to teach speed. At the Clifton location, you either learn speed or not work there with the demand. Kings Island needs to take notes from the actual restaurants. The other busy ones to look to for advice on speed are Oakley, Dent and Newport. I think the problem they have just by my observation is that they try and do it assembly line style when they should have one person doing only coneys, one person only doing ways, etc.

Well, I was going to go opening day, but the forecast is pure suckitude, so I'm going preview night after work. On the unlikely chance the weather isn't as bad as the forecast, I may go up Saturday, but that's a really, really big if at this point.

They seem to have their dates mixed up...

So no one thought to check that this still exists? Thrill Ride | Monster | Kings Island

Vortex was more forceful than Banshee and it was only 48". It's more about ride restraint and seat design.

Hot take- just outside the front gate before you get to the metal detectors.