violakat03

^ Not to mention those awesome blue LED chaser lights! I love those!

Remember to wear lots and lots of sunscreen. Bring a hat to keep the sun off your face. You'd be amazed how much leaving your skin unprotected will overheat you. Consider bringing a swimsuit so you can hit the waterpark. An hour or two over there will cool you down for a long time, much more effectively than a water ride will!

I worked in the Emporium for several months during the off-peak season. You'd be amazed at how many people walk into that store (especially the side closest to the Tower, which used to be the bulk candy section) and ask where the Eiffel Tower is!! They usually mean how you get to the elevators, but there were some that you wonder if they thought to look up.

^ I think he means coasters that have faded to pink. Such as Invertigo which is looking very pink.

^ Yeah, I thought the train haunt was pretty lame. There were very few people getting the surprise scare. When will people learn that saying "scary" things to people isn't the least bit scary? I wouldn't mind working during Haunt this year, but not as a scareactor. I've worked at haunted trails for over 5 years and from what I've seen, KI's Haunt is a little too structured for my taste. I like having a strong say in where I go and what I do.

Glad they weren't on when I went. I'd have been upset as well. It was warm when we were there (lower 80's) but the park was absolutely dead.

Timber Wolf has misters? They weren't on when I rode it if they're still there. However, the first drop trim brake was.

I like Georgia Scorcher's scheme too. Fits the 'scorcher' theme nicely. http://www.rcdb.com/ig556.htm?picture=1

I've got a few, it's hard to decide on just one. My most epic was King Cobra in summer 1999. I'd spent all day (and the night before) hanging out with someone I'd only met recently and eventually became one of my best friends. She and I had spent the night together the night before and hadn't slept much because of the excitement, so by the time night rolled around, we were incredibly slap-happy and goofy. We spent the last hour at the park marathoning King Cobra as at the time it was our favorite steel coaster (this was when FOF had OTSRs). On our last ride we went for the front seat (as we had many other times since there was no wait at all) and the fireworks started going off as we ascended the lift. Traversing the rest of the track with no light except the flash of the fireworks was just amazing and awe-inspiring. Both of us remember that moment as the best moment of an amazing day at Kings Island. Taking my brother on Flight of Fear in 2000. He'd never ridden it before and isn't really into coasters, but he'd gone to Cedar Point the year before and ridden everything (except Millie, as it hadn't been built yet!) so he decided he'd do everything at KI this time. There was a decently long line for it and they were still assigning seats, so you got an unobstructed view of the launch. We got assigned to the back (the ride that made me fall in love with the back car), and I told him to make sure to watch as it left the station. There's something incredibly entertaining about seeing my older brother watch that train launch. His jaw hit the floor and he tried to chicken out! He did end up riding it and even enjoyed it. My first ride on The Beast, 1996. Honestly the ride that made me an enthusiast. I worked my way up to the 'big' coasters the year before, after getting over a debilitating fear of them. First The Beastie, then Racer (forwards only!) and then the next year, I went with my best friend and I was ready for the big ones. Oddly, we hit Flight of Fear first since it was the new coaster, but it didn't make me love coasters (those OTSRs!!) even though it's my number 3 steel coaster. We immediately went from FOF to Beast (decided to wait on Vortex due to our FOF headaches). We decided to wait for front seat and I was terrified. My picture from that ride is a riot - I'm white as a ghost, as is Stacey. Dropping into that dark tunnel on the longest drop I'd ever experienced was terrifying. But as we got off, I had a giant grin. We headed immediately to Vortex and I haven't stopped smiling on Beast since!! Five zen rides in a row on Grizzly at Kings Dominion, in May of this year. I was there about 10 minutes before close and jumped on front seat since there was no wait. The station was empty and I was in for a zen ride on one of my favorite wood coasters! Returning to the station there was still no one there and there was still a little while before park close, so off I went again! The last three rides were actually after park close, but the ride op let me continue riding until I was tired of it. He was trying to time it so that I wouldn't even stop in the station (he did it perfectly once). Just slid right through the brakes and onto the course again!

^Your signature is huge. It ate my BlackBerry. Some people have pointed out a few more I'd add to my list. Manta, T-Express, Nemesis and Expedition GeForce.

I can't remember for the life of me where this one happened, I'm thinking it was at Worlds of Fun, but I can't be certain. It was a park out of state, I remember that much. I was wearing a Kings Island shirt (The Beast, IIRC) and someone asked how Diamondback was. I replied it was awesome. Someone else in a different part of the line said "Oh yeah, isn't it the tallest in the world?" <-- I gave them that exact face and said "um.. not even close." This person apparently did not realize there are two 400+ foot coasters, so I had to explain Dragster and Ka to them.

so up until recently Indiana Beach's Tig'rr was not a roller coaster in your terms? Jackson, knowing where you're coming from, but pointing that out. And Leap the Dips still isn't! I have to protest that one part of the definition because of that. On Leap the Dips you sit in the car. There is no lapbar, seatbelt, shoulder harness, or any other device holding you in besides your toucas sitting on the seat. It is also not firmly attached to the track because there are no up-stop wheels. But then, it's a side-friction roller coaster which is one of two kinds of coasters with no upstops (the other being a bobsled). Back to the original question. I refer to my justification that Avatar is not a coaster. Does it roll? No. Does it coast? Yes. Unless both questions can be answered with a 'yes' then it is not a coaster.

I love pulling the ripcord and yet I hate it at the same time. But then, the whole ride is like that. It scares the bejesus out of me and that's why I love it!

I think they should stick with wood. They're known for their outstanding wood coasters and I don't feel like the park is 'missing' anything by not having steel track dominating their skyline.

Flight Deck, for sure! I mean, who doesn't love grey peeling to reveal faded red?! Honestly though, I like Alpengeist. I think it really works well with the "runaway ski lift" theme. http://www.rcdb.com/ig277.htm?picture=2 I'm also a fan of Dragster's scheme. http://www.rcdb.com/ig1896.htm?picture=40

Favorite steel: Diamondback Favorite wood: Voyage I don't mix the two. If you want to see my full top ten wood and steel lists, they're in the Coaster Tracker app on my Facebook.

I have a permanent injury to my ankle from being a klutz. None of the rides bother it. However, walking and standing for extended periods of time can, so when I'm at a park for multiple days I wear a brace on it and am conscious of how much walking I'm doing. My best suggestion is to keep off of it as much as you can since it's a recent injury. Keep it elevated to keep the swelling down. If it's bothersome enough to be a concern on rides, it's probably best to just not go to the park in your off time. Ask if you can get a chair when you're working until it has healed completely. Trust me, a little nuisance now and letting it heal correctly is nothing when compared to what it can cause further down the road if you don't let it heal.

.. Apparently I'm the only one who got that joke. It's from an Apple ad many many years ago.

My husband and I took a Carnival cruise for our honeymoon back in 2006. We were on the now-retired sister ship of the Holiday, the Celebration. If I hadn't known it was the smallest and second oldest (it's a year newer than Holiday) in Carnival's fleet, I'd have never guessed it, until we docked next to the Valor in Freeport! Holy cow that thing was monstrous! But they did a fantastic job in keeping the ship feeling new and making sure you still had an amazing experience even though it was the 'little' ship. I hope you guys did eventually eat at the formal dinner. The food was absolutely outstanding on Celebration and I'm sure it is on Holiday as well.

Yes, I noticed they were advertised for cheaper in Indianapolis. Probably because people are less likely to buy them that far away. Make it a deal too good to pass up and you might attract a new audience. And HTCO listed exactly where I head. Except it's a right out of the park, not a left. There's just about everything you could think of on 741, and that's where I always head to eat if I'm spending the day at the park.

http://www.neworleanscitybusiness.com/view...cfm?recID=33648 Just a thought to ponder...first Mall of America (where Cedar Fair used to be the contract operator and have Camp Snoopy), now this. How likely do you think it is that Viacom and Cedar Fair have not reached an agreement on exclusive licensing for Nick at Cedar Fair parks, or even just the legacy Paramount Parks? Just a thought to chew on.... If I remember correctly, Southern Star Amusement was the company interested in a purchase before that never came to fruition. Also if I'm remembering, it was due to lack of cooperation on the city's side. We'll see if it actually plays out this time.

On Sundays it's $5 for gold and platinum pass holders. Went on it today with dare-to-fly, that's my third time on it this year. I pulled the rip cord. That still scares the bejesus out of me and I love it. What was really cool was giga and Tom76257 rode together too and they had us fly together. My husband shot a video of all four of us.

The only shirt I've had problems with is my original Son of Beast shirt. The silk screened design started cracking almost immediately. I haven't worn it in over 5 years and it looks like I've worn it every day for 5 years! I'm not going to wear it much to prevent it from falling apart further, as it's the original logo with the loop. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I have a Beast shirt that I bought in 96 or 97 and I've worn a whole lot. Still looks brand new, except for the trace of blue paint on the back of one sleeve from art class in junior high.

Shirts. I have a large collection of coaster shirts that has grown exponentially with my travels this year. Second would be postcards. I like sending them to friends. And my husband collects patches so I buy a lot of those too. I used to collect keychains but my collection got ridiculously huge so I stopped buying them.

All of the indoor waterpark hotels are going to be very pricey. I usually camp out at the Bayshore Estates campground, but I've also stayed at the Travelodge. It's a couple miles away, but closer than Kalahari. The price was very good and the room was really nice. The breakfast left something to be desired, but I didn't have much room to complain with how cheap the room was.